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daenaera velaryon 🐚

“She sparkled, and when she smiled, the singers in the gallery rejoiced, for they knew that here at last was a maid worthy of a song.”

—Mushroom, Fire & Blood

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MILLY ALCOCK AS RHAENYRA TARGARYEN

fire is such strange power. everything that house targaryen possesses is owed to it. yet it has cost us both what we loved.

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MILLY ALCOCK AS RHAENYRA TARGARYEN

The wheel of fortune [...] tells us that we all only want victory. We all want to triumph. But we all have to learn to endure what comes.

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see the thing is he's just such an intensive arsehole that I can't imagine that would be good for getting along with the mentees, winning over the capital etc. not to mention if brynden was another mentor he'd just try and make his mentee kill brynden's mentee and it would be a thing

Submitted by @whichgreathousewouldtheybepartof

Keep Reading for Mentor Info and Restrictions

All submissions are closed at this point and will stop posting on this blog after June 14th. Thank you for your support and may the odds be ever in your favor!

Mentor Name: Aegor "Bittersteel" Rivers

Age: 69 (prior to death)

Media: Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire series

Restrictions: Cannot use magic of any kind to assist tributes and can only provide items existing in Panem as sponsors to them

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OLIVIA COOKE AS QUEEN ALICENT HIGHTOWER

and all I loved I loved alone

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MILLY ALCOCK AS RHAENYRA TARGARYEN

When the daughter of the Opal Emperor succeeded him as the Amethyst Empress, her envious younger brother cast her down and slew her, proclaiming himself the Bloodstone Emperor and beginning a reign of terror.

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EMMA D'ARCY AS RHAENYRA TARGARYEN

I see before me the route to virtue, at an intersection with the route to love. Do I step to the left or the right, to the wrong or the right?

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𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐍𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐖𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐒 〚0 / 10〛

╰┈➤ ❝ You may take my castle, but you will win only bones and blood and ashes. ❞

The sole child and heir of King Argillac the Arrogant, it was his pride for his House and daughter that spurred Aegon's Conquest; in an attempt to ally with House Targaryen, Argillac offered land as well as Argella's hand in marriage to the then-Lord Aegon, only to mutilate the messengers who returned with Aegon's counteroffer of Argella marrying Orys Baratheon. Argillac was slain in battle against Orys and Queen Rhaenys, and so Argella became Queen of the Stormlands.

Soon after, Rhaenys flew to Storm's End on Meraxes to parlay. Argella, unshaken by the dragon and its rider, declared that those within Storm's End would die before giving it up. That night, the garrison revolted, frightened by the news of Harrenhal's destruction, and delivered her captured to Orys Baratheon as part of their surrender. Despite the circumstances, Orys freed Argella and treated her with great respect, with the two wedding soon after he was given the Stormlands by Aegon as a reward.

While not technically a Lady Regnant, she was the only female ruler de jure during the Conquest outside of Dorne, and likely continued to wield significant power from Storm's End afterward. It is through Argella that House Baratheon descends from the ancient Storm Kings, with her direct descendants including multiple Hands of the King, Knights of the Kingsguard, Queen Consorts and Baratheon Kings of the late second and early third century post-conquest.

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Oh the IRONY of seeing people in the notes of that one post about fandom misogyny claiming that GOT and HOTD fans don't have this problem.

They do. It just looks different. Same with the MC fandom.

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just a thought #8

currently working on my ladies regnant series, and it's interesting to me seeing how house targaryen actually undermined women's rights in Westeros, low as the bar already was. we don't have a lot of information pre-conquest, but most of the disparate kingdoms had queens regnant at some point, and all had legendary female warriors, ladies etc. even when aegon had just conquered, the vale was ruled by a female regent, the storm lands by argella durrandon after the death of her father, dorne (obviously the exception) by meria, and that's without mentioning how the earliest targaryen monarchies were co monarchies.

the idea of co-rulership is exemplified by elaena targaryen, an ancestor of aegon who was de jure lady of dragon stone in a co-lordship with her brother-husband. aegon was co-monarch with visenya and rhaenys, even crowned by his wife with them leading armies and wielding considerable tactical and political power. aenys and alyssa also seem to have shared power, and alyssa would go on to be jaehaerys' regent through some of the most turbulent political chaos in Westerosi history. even in his early reign, jaehaerys and alysanne worked as a team, and I think there'd be room to argue that they were a co-monarchy.

this changed as jaehaerys aged, and displayed what I think are hallmarks of extreme misogyny. he gate kept dragon riding from his daughters, with the sole exception of alyssa; he neglected and even actively disdained saera, viserra and daella, and even as alysanne began to be weakened and pained by continued pregnancies he insisted on continuing into her 40s. instead of protecting and promoting rhaenys' claim from the get go, despite her being his eldest, and perhaps best-suited to the throne, direct descendent, he instead dithered and left it to a council that likely followed his lead into picking viserys.

while the anarchy of the dance and the loss of a generation of lords briefly empowered women as regents and regnants, this progress was lost as soon as a new generation was born. while daenaera was loved, she doesn't seem to have had much political power; larra rogare was widely hated by the populace and went into self-imposed exile; baelor imprisoned his sisters and encouraged the physical policing of women's 'virtue' while aegon the unworthy abused his wife and countless others. under those kings, there were no ladies regnant recorded, and while we don't have much in-depth detail conducive to affirming that, I do believe that it's intentional; a way of displaying how the Targaryens diminishing the power and agency of their own diffuses down into their vassals.

this seems to have slowly changed as daeron ii came into power alongside his martell wife; we start to see the reemergence of female ladies regnant, regent and consort, and this is most obvious in how he empowered his cousin elaena. she was essentially a female master of coin through her husband, with daeron being noted as respecting her and giving her substantial influence in state affairs, as well as allowing her to marry whomever she wished. while Westeros remained on a sliding spectrum of consistent patriarchy, Targaryens who assimilated into the cultures and practices of the people they ruled tended to take on pre-conquest attitudes to women, whilst maddened and 'targaryen supremacy' kings practiced the inverse.

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Best Dressed Queen of the Seven Kingdoms - Vote

Did I promise you a Cinderella vote yesterday? Yes, and I haven't forgotten about it but I need more time for research, but I also really, really wanted to do a Best Dressed vote this week because my birthday is coming up and I just wanted to do one (great reasoning, I know).

So welcome to voting on the Best Dressed Queen of the Seven Kingdoms we have seen on screen so far. The order of the options is the chronological order in which they came to claim the title, no matter whether as consort or as regnant.

Why I didn't include...

Rhaenys Targaryen: She is the Queen who never was, so she never actually held the title, so as much as I love her and think her claim is superior to Viserys', she doesn't count.

Sansa Stark: She is only Queen in the North which is only one of seven kingdoms. The closest she got to the title was her engagement to Joffrey.

Yara Greyjoy: Same as Sansa. She was only Queen of the Iron Islands.

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Examples in gif sets

Aemma Arryn | Alicent Hightower | Rhaenyra Targaryen | Helaena Targaryen | Cersei Lannister | Daenerys Targaryen | Selyse Baratheon | Margaery Tyrell

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♕ QUEEN NAERYS TARGARYEN

〝Daeron II Targaryen, also known as Daeron the Good, resembled his mother far more than his father; in that he had her kindness, her gentle nature, and bore a quiet yet profound wisdom. It may have been her suffering under the tradition of incest that compelled him to end it, at least between his own children. 〞

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Princess Rhaena and Samantha Stokeworth taking a ride on Dreamfyre redo.

I actually like the background... and that's all.

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what gif series should I do next?

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The Queens Who Never Were 〚18 / 17〛

╰┈➤ ❝ Robert will never keep to one bed. I hear he has gotten a child on some girl in the Vale. Love is sweet, dearest Ned, but it cannot change a man's nature. ❞

The only daughter of Lord Rickard Stark, Lyanna was described as iron-willed, wild and free-spirited. She loved horse riding, the scent of winter roses, and may have even practised tilting; with her brother, Ned, telling his own daughter that Lyanna would have picked up a sword if she could. She is remembered not just fondly but also vividly by many of the Northmen for these things, and those memories seem to be the truest indicator of her nature separate from the romanticised descriptions of the South.

As she grew up, she began to develop what is described by most who knew her as beauty, so much so that it remained fabled and honoured decades after her death. Robert Baratheon became infatuated with her, and after bringing his suit to Lord Rickard, secured their betrothal. Despite this, she remained mischievous and tomboyish, attacking the squires who bullied Howland Reed with a tourney sword and even being rumoured to have ridden in his honour as the Masked Knight of the Laughing Tree - beating the knights those squires served.

During that same Tourney, Prince Rhaegar, a man of 22 years, passed over his own wife and named Lyanna his Queen of Love and Beauty at 14 years of age. The following year, he abducted her with the help of two knights of the Kingsguard, spurring Robert's Rebellion as the Starks, Baratheons, Arryns and Tullys all raised their banners in her name. It is unknown what Rhaegar did with Lyanna; some, such as Robert, claim he r***d her, while others claim they were in love. All that is known, is that when Eddard found her at the Tower of Joy, she died "in a bed of blood", weakened by fever. Her last words were "promise me Ned".

Perhaps the ultimate Queen Who Never Was, both of Lyanna's hypothetical paths to becoming Queen are mutually exclusive. Had she married Robert and lived with him peacefully, he would never have rebelled and become King; were it true that Rhaegar took her with the intention of marrying her, and himself become King and thus her Queen, Robert would never have rebelled, or may have failed. A near-mythological figure in the current ASOIAF timeline, it is widely theorised that Jon Snow is her son by Rhaegar, as is shown in the Game of Thrones TV Show.

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The Queens Who Never Were 〚17 / 17〛

╰┈➤ ❝ Princess Elia was a good woman, Your Grace. She was kind and clever, with a gentle heart and a sweet wit. I know the prince was very fond of her. ❞

Elia Martell was born to the ruling Princess of Dorne a month premature, with her family not expecting her to survive infancy. While her health remained fragile for the rest of her life, she survived nonetheless, and as a child was very close to her little brother Oberyn. She was said to be a delicate beauty, with a kind heart, gentle disposition and sweet-natured wit that made her beloved of her family and people.

When she came of age, her mother took her on a tour of the realm to find a suitable husband. Those considered included Baelor Hightower, a Lord of House Dayne, Jaime and Tyrion Lannister. Eventually, she was wed to Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, heir to the throne; potentially a slight to the proud Tywin Lannister by both the Targaryens and Martells, as he had rejected Oberyn's suit to Cersei stating that she was meant for Rhaegar.

Elia seems to have had a warm relationship with the Queen Rhaella, as well as a courteous and contented if not amorous marriage to Rhaegar. Giving birth to their two children, Rhaenys and Aegon, left her long-bedridden and almost dead, and this seems to have alienated Rhaegar as it was soon after Aegon's birth that he began to pursue Lyanna Stark.

When Robert's Rebellion began, Aerys held Elia and her children at King's Landing as nye-on hostages, using them to coerce the support of the Martells and, hypothetically, Rhaegar. As he died and Lannister forces stormed the Keep, Amory Lorch and Gregor Clegane brutally murdered Rhaenys and Aegon in front of Elia. Gregor then r***d Elia and murdered her. Despite the circumstances of her death being shrouded in rumour, House Martell knew the truth, and never forgave House Lannister.

It may be the case that Aegon escaped his mother's murder, as Young Griff claims to be him. However, it is notable that only does he never mention the horrific death of his mother and sister, but his caretaker, Jon Connington, also seems to consider Elia with active disdain. Should he truly be Aegon, and win the Iron Throne, Elia would be the second Martell to have a son rule Westeros.

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Marrying your cousin is obviously incestuous (especially to our own real life modern society) but marrying your cousin is not a Valyrian tradition. Valyrian incest is marrying your sibling or your aunt/uncle. But cousin marriages are seen as "normal" in Westerosi society and many other great houses including the Starks have married cousins. That's pretty much the only form of familial marriage that is not seen as "truly" incestuous. And it's very similar to real world history with royal or noble marriages between cousins.

(I'm going to try and not be too excited bc this is my first ask xD)

So, interestingly enough, I think this kinda opens up a discussion about the borders between Valyrian tradition and Westerosi; because (weirdly) enough, uncle/niece marriage isn't just practised by the Targaryens. In fact, the Starks seem to be very open to it, with the daughters of Cregan Stark both marrying their own uncles with little protest from the rest of the Realm.

It seems like within the world, the definition of incest is kind of decided by your culture/religion. So to me, marrying in the Valyrian Tradition is marrying a close relative to 'preserve the bloodline', which connotes the typical features and hypothetical dragon blood (which is very subjective I know!). Under that definition, Viserys marrying Aemma would count, as would Aerion marrying Daenora and Aenys to Alyssa.