#( 🐲 ) ⸻ a mother never forgets : about.

[rhaenin-time]

As much as I believe that questioning the parentage of a married woman's chiIdren feels like a witchhunt, I do think it's time we start an honest discussion about the Dance of the Dragons and the legitimacy of the contenders.

Because too often we forget that Alicent's bastards are just as ineligible for the throne as Rhaenyra's bastards.

By Andal convention, only Aegon the Younger and Viserys are eligible for inheritance. Even if Alicent's bastards wanted to push their claim through Daemon, their true father, they could never inherit over his trueborn sons.

In fact, her children are less eligible. At least Jace's claim comes through his mother! At least least Luke was promised to Rhaena and has Velaryon blood regardless. But Alicent, trying to put the bastards of a man who was disinherited on the throne ahead of the King's trueborn daughter? She's fortunate that Viserys was conflict averse enough to show let it pass and quietly keep Rhaenyra, his only trueborn child, as his heir.

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Keep in mind that the question of Rhaenyra's sons' parentage was strongly dismissed by Septon Eustace. But at no point does any reliable source argue that the rumours regarding Alicent and Daemon are fabrication. Instead, we have only the far weaker defense that they're "unsupported."

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Now, I think we can all agree that the most plausible explanation is that, once Alicent worried she might be pregnant by Daemon, she immediately seduced Viserys to cover the matter. Whether this happened before or after Aemma's death, and whether she turned out to be truly with child, is a matter of debate.

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But even on the small chance Alicent did manage to bear a child of Viserys's blood, she should have known better than to put herself in situations where the question could even arise. And Daemon did not help matters with his public display of jealousy.

Because once the truth is out there, there is no way to "prove" that Alicent's children are not Daemon's bastards.

Not only do her children resemble him, but Daemon is a dragonrider. Which means geography is not an obstacle. All it takes is a few moonlight rides, and a quick trip through the secret tunnels, and you have another bastard sired with no one the wiser. And indeed, he did seem committed to secrecy, even taking precautions like distancing himself from Alicent and his bastards in every public setting.

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The question of motive does remain. Was Daemon siring bastards out of true affection for Alicent? Or was it simply a mutually beneficial arrangement because they were both wed to spouses who could not give them heirs? Alicent feared being set aside, and Daemon feared dying without a legacy. And it is noteworthy that Alicent stopped bearing his bastards after he became free to wed Laena Velaryon.

Another interesting area of debate is, of course, Viserys's knowledge on the matter. Some might argue that he affected a willful blindness. But surely he would be understanding of Alicent's predicament if it was he who was no longer able to produce heirs. Indeed, the text does support the theory that he was aware.

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Now, it's pretty clear that while Alicent was comfortable throwing stones from her glass house of bastards, Rhaenyra was not. Be it from feeling above the matter, respect for her father's wishes, or simply a lack of desire to see Daemon's bastards publicly shamed, she seems to have held her own tongue even when faced with Alicent's hypocrisy. Which I find admirable, if maybe a little unhelpful.

I suppose we can give Alicent a little credit. She did originally acknowledge her good fortune of her bastards all bearing a vague resemblance to Viserys. And it seems she even encouraged Rhaenyra and Laenor to hold onto hope that they might one day share that fortune. As long as they keep trying the way she did.

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Or was it in fact, a brazen taunt? A flaunting of her privilege of having bastards that resembled their supposed father?

Regardless of the sentiment behind the comment, it does open up questions regarding whether she'd previously "tried" and "failed" only to end up with dark-haired babes she was forced to send away. After all, with Viserys in such poor health that surely his ability to sire heirs would be whispered about, it was essential they resemble him.

Another question worth pondering is Alicent's true feelings toward Daemon. Did she, perchance, ever entertain hopes of wedding him once Viserys had passed? Of him legitimizing her bastards for the Realm to hear?

But what would she gain? Well, potentially a lot.

What is not disputable is that once she'd given up hope of Viserys installing her bastard above his trueborn daughter, Alicent turned her hopes to usurping Rhaenyra based on her gender. But perhaps she worried that, should she cross that line, Rhaenyra would no longer turn the other cheek. She likely worried that Rhaenyra would point out the obvious fact that Alicent's bastards were ineligible for inheritance.

But Daemon wasn't.

Per the Council of 101, Daemon should have been heir over Rhaenyra. And it's not illogical to assume that Alicent might have nursed hopes of usurping Rhaenyra after Viserys's death (which she did do) and installing Daemon as King. A King whose wife had passed leaving him only daughters — therefore ineligible under the precedent they established. A King finally free to marry the mother of his bastards and name them bastards no more. To name them his heirs.

Unfortunately for Alicent, Daemon had moved on. And not only that, he appears to have set the example for Rhaegar by naming his son Aegon despite already having a son named Aegon! (History truly does repeat itelf!) A message to Alicent that he would never claim her bastards as his heirs.

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Alicent might have thought she was clever in the moment — to select a man who resembled her husband. But it also works against her.

Because her children resemble Daemon. And not just in appearance.

Remember that, when Aenys proved to be a sickly boy despite being ostensibly sired by a man of Aegon's vigor, that was when his parentage was truly put to question?

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But does the opposite not apply? Viserys was in poor health, yet Alicent's bastards did not seem to share those troubles.

Now, you can hardly fault Alicent for bearing healthy children. But that does not mean she couldn't have taken other steps to make her bastards' parentage less obvious. We can credit her with notably dressing them in green as children to avoid easy superficial comparisons, but it seems like her attention, or authority, on the matter lapsed as her bastards grew older.

Why was Aegon allowed to cavort in Fleabottom the way Daemon once had? Why was Aemond allowed to style his hair and clothes so that he resembled a young Prince Daemon? Alicent should have better stressed to them the importance of appearance — and masking appearance. Because she ended up letting her sons undo all her efforts.

Honestly, the more you think about it, the more undeniable it becomes. Undeniable because, I repeat, there is no way to prove otherwise.

Well, I think that's enough evidence for now. I honestly never thought it was worth dwelling on the matter. If Viserys knew, if he made arrangements to keep Alicent's bastards both safe and respected while preserving his line, it truly should not matter.

But the problem is that Alicent pushed too far. Not just by trying to seat her bastard on the throne — something that, unlike with Rhaenyra and Driftmark, she did not have the blessing of the Head of house for nor did she take steps to ensure the line remains intact — but by also then being brazen enough to point her finger at Rhaenyra, knowing Rhaenyra was above doing the same.

Well, I don't think that's fair. And I think it's time we acknowledged it, and put the 'bastard' talk to rest. Honestly, it often feels both disingenuous and steeped in misogyny. And in a world of fundamentally unjust systems, it's best to just accept that these matters should be kept quiet, and resolved within the family.

[the-great-ladyg]

5) what’s the dumbest thing you’ve heard about your f/o, either on the internet or irl?

Hello! Sorry for taking so long on this one, but here I am at last. For this one I'll use Maegor, I have to rant about him.

5) what’s the dumbest thing you’ve heard about your f/o, either on the internet or irl?

Oh, this is going to be long, ig

TW: Violence, domestic violence, rape

"He was the worst king in Westeros history"

Okay, let's start: 🩸🐲 was not the worst king

He did some wrongs like killing ONE of his nephews (the other one was Tyanna's doing) or continue a war that wasn't ending, but he also did some goods like starting the process of disarming the Faith or uniting the realm under one cause.

Don't forget many of the things said about him were rumors (like when he killed a cat the first time he held a blade, or that he killed people from the smallfolk saing they were Warrior's Sons and Poor Fellows), or were Tyanna's actions (the death of Viserys, the kidnapping or Aerea and Rhaella, and the death of Jeyne Westerling and her son, and the stillborn baby of Elinor Costayne).

Now, people say Maegor's killing of every architect and person who worked on the Red Keep was cruel. Okay, what would you do? Those people knew the secrets of the king's castle, they could easily reveal any secret entrance and have the king killed. Even if he decided to cut their tongues and break their fingers, smallfolk would still say he was cruel.

Besides, there have been way worse kings than him, I'll give a few examples:

His brother, Aenys I. Aenys was a terrible king, he couldn't decide on anything, even if his kindom or family were in danger. Rebels trying to rise and get independence? He can't decide who to attack first. The Faith has his eldest son and daughter as hostages? He can't act bc he doesn't to act on undoing the marriage or attacking the Faith. And he made the worst decisions when he acted, like marrying his children with one another or sending his brother, his most powerful supporter since he had Balerion and both Targaryen swords (and he didn't try to take the throne from Aenys) to exile, sending away his most valuable protection from the Faith. Dude died from a stomach cramp lol.

Aegon II. This dude was an idiot who only wanted to act and kill, no negotiation, the only times he decided to negotiate were because his mother, grandfather and wife convinced him to do so, even 🩸🐲 could be reasonable at times without someone talking him to do that. He was an usurper since his father never named him his successor, and this dude only lasted two years as king, and those two years he had to fight in a war he started by taking the throne. The bloodiest civil war in Westeros' history happened because of this man.

Baelor I. Okay, maybe I'm kind of anti Faith of the Seven, but you have to agree with me on this one. This dude trapped his three sisters in the Maidenvault just to keep them as virgins, don't giving a shit about their consent, and that didn't stop Daena from giving birth to a bastard. "Oh, but he gave to every person a loaf of bread", yeah, and he also outlawed prostitution, burned books, did stupid things like "I'm granting tax exemptions if you put a chastity belt to your maiden daughters", named a child as the fucking pope. He was a fucking septon but didn't disolve Aegon and Naerys' marriage even his cousin was suffering and almost dying after every pregnancy. Hell, Baelor would have started a holy war against the North and the Iron Islands to convert people to the Faith, if he didn't starve himself to death.

Aegon IV. Anyone who know his story knows this piece of shit is an useless king, no wonder he's remembered as "the unworthy". He wasted lots of money on favoring certain lords, on trying to conquer Dorne even when his son Daeron was married to princess Myriah. He raped Naerys, don't doubt about it, he killed his sister by forcing her to give birth to all of his sons, and after she and his brother Aemon died he said Daeron was Aemon's son in a tantrum, and it's said he killed his father Viserys to become king. Aegon had sons and daughters with any woman he desired, and he decided to legitimize all of them before dying, because of this piece of shit there were the Blackfyre rebellions that brought death and despair for almost a century.

Aerys II, you know, "the mad king". We all know why he was a terrible king. He tortured and burned people for the most stupid reasons, he raped and beat his sister Rhaella multiple times, the Targaryens lost their most valuable ally, Tywin Lannister, after Aerys threw tantrums over his own stupidity to rule, he caused the fall of House Targaryen because he thought it was a great idea to kill several Northman lords and their sons, including Ned's father and brother.

Honorable mention: Joffrey I Baratheon, you know why.

🩸🐲 is considered the worst king of Westeros because maesters, the Faith and the Hightowers were angry at him, and these people are the ones who write down the story, of course they would say the worst things about him this way "Yeah, he drowned puppies when he was four years old... but that's a rumor".