#asoiaf rant

[horizon-verizon]

There is an enduring sense in the fandom that if you cannot structurally change the entire or major parts of an oppressive status quo, it's somehow better that one does absolutely nothing. Bc you're "messing up the stability of an already stable social order, which proved itself to be the best or most reliable bc it's endured for so long".

And I despise it. Because it essentially means that any effort except a huge, topsy-turvy one where the whole system gets upended or severely so doesn't matter. (At the very least those that don't seem like it.)

It's a perfect partner to racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. & people use it not just against Rhaenyra but Dany, Rhaenys, & Alysanne!!! Any Targ woman, really. Aegon V, if one mentions his laws. Ironic, bc Jaehaerys had progressive laws for peasants ONLY bc of Alysanne, but it's obvious why they prefer the female-heir denying Jaehaerys over Aegon V!!!

Coupled with this sense, some say that these women are totally complicit in those systems bc use they happen to be born into royalty or aristocracy, actively use their privileges at times for their own ends instead of ALWAYS to create or influence others for groundbreaking policies & laws, or manage to just escape certain abuses other women face bc they were reserved for the specific task of having children for their male spouses.

Daenerys was a bridal slave, for example. She doesn't face SA from random men every other night, but that doesn't stop the risk of her facing that fate if she were to ever fall out of her husband-owner, Drogo, favor. That doesn't stop her haters from arguing that she should have done more for Mirri & those Lhazareen women, that she even profits from slave labor when she clearly is allocating and directing funds from taxes to the city of Meereen! From ignoring how all those she freed are not still slaves, that the slave masters time and time again have said, point blank, that she is a danger to their enterprise CONTINENT-WIDE!!! She makes mistakes and the biggest one compromising too much with the slave owners of Meereen, yeah, bc she is in the beginning of her leadership journey, and still she manages to inspire loyalty, faith, and hope in many of her followers and she also still manages to keep most people alive w/o actually giving all the way in and that terrifies the slaveowners! For good reason. Read the last few pages of the last book and tell me that she won't come for their necks, either literally or figuratively idc. She's obviously not fucking up so bad or has totally failed in her role as a protector, and she will make mistakes as other leaders before her and after her will! Why this level of negative & bad faith scrutiny?!

And let's go to Rhaenys the Conqueror. She created the rule of thumb & the rule of six, where no man could legally beat their wives to death when she decreed that the rod could not be thicker than the husband's thumb and he could not whack her more than 7 times. Some argue why didn't she outlaw wife-beating entirely if she and her siblings conquered Westeros. First of all, these are the very same people who bleat abt how the Targaryens destroyed and colonized Andal culture without bothering to offer material evidence of such. If Rhaenys & her siblings actually have "colonized" the Andal-FM lords, & it was Andal custom for men to beat their wives indiscriminately…then the Targs couldn't have actually destroyed any part of Andal "culture" and replaced it entirely with Valyrian ones where seemingly men could not beat their wives at all! If you can even consider this "destroying culture", as I'm sure a few would argue. If anything, this was a cultural compromise, and it obviously functioned and was intended as a form of protection for women when before there was absolutely none! Aside from male relatives, but that's not system-wide, makes such cases seem not serious enough or that people across communities shouldn't care too much about others when you personalize it, AND that just reinforces the idea that only men have a property claim over women, be they biologically family or by marriage. Secondly, if you argue that Viserys should have obeyed the "laws" of male primogeniture bc he is a feudal king--the "Protector" of their customs and interests--that is only supported by the swords & loyalty of lords, that the GC of 101 proves that (as if Jaehaerys also didn't use that to enact his own will passively for a male heir), then why is it that Rhaenys seems to do something along those lines and WORK with the current Andal customs, her efforts--which actually are protective to those who needed protecting!!! Rhaenys & her siblings were new monarchs of a newly unified-ish realm, & as unifying conquerors tend to do, they opted for the strategy that would keep them seated bc it made "the lords" comfortable that they would not force them to change the bulk of their religious and cultural practices. Not only did Visenya & Rhaenys arrange strategic marriages that both benefited them and those married (their families), but Aegon made it a point to go on progresses and hear various lords and peasants' issues to arbitrate. Which made it so that these lords felt they would not be led by a leader who'd enforce his laws willy-nilly without considering his subject's conditions or desires. It is in this context that Rhaenys, we could see and assume, was taking a bit of a risk with not one but 2 new laws against men's "rights" over their wives' bodies!

There's Alysanne, who took it a step further in her women's courts, and the right of first nigh abolishment, her attempts at the Citadel, & the Widow's Law. Again, if not for her, Westeros and KL would be 3 steps behind in infrastructure and women's protection. Alysanne was a Queen Consort who had even less power on her own than Rhaenys & Visenya and we see that she had to convince Jaehaerys to implement his laws; it took Septon Barth's interference/support for Jaehaerys to even go along with the abolishment of the right of first night! Later with Viserra, I believe that she arranged the much older Theomore to Viserra bc it coincided with Jaehaerys' plans for that marriage alliance between the Manderlys and the royal house. And to please or to go along with some of her husband's plans was to also add onto her own power…bc a royal Consort only has power by their monarch spouse gives them license to influence and status! Was it clumsy writing? Of course, it was pretty bizarre and partly due to how F&B is written as a historical document despite how this portion of history is better documented than others. Did Alysanne indirectly cause Viserra's death in her refusal to relent from her suspicion that Viserra was trying to become queen, as she interpreted it? Arguably. and I think that GRRM was telling us that over time and over the disappointments w/Jaehaerys, she slowly got more determined to retain any sense control…and where does her control end up coming from? Yeah, GRRM is showing that tightrope, I think.

Rhaenyra was not actively progressive in policy nor direct action as all the prior 3, but to argue that she should be feminist so that the usurpation and the femicide done against her becomes unjustified is absurd! Oh, she wasn't a feminist at all or progressive, she didn't implement any sort of law at all for women or smallfolk [did Aegon?! or Alicent?! or Aemond? Daeron, Otto?! so why are they better?!!!], so that's why she shouldn't be queen even though by the very "law of the land", she is by right the heir to this throne that never actually was about who would make a good, consummate ruler in the first place. 🙄.

So there is a vague & un-discernable, forever shifting, & impossible goal-post-level of feminist activity or "being" that these nihilistic or conservative naysayers use against women being leaders or even passively having positions of power that may still benefit the women of Westeros through setting a precedent &/or actions of necessary intervals that build on the past ones under conditions that are already limiting how much they can do or say in order to be able to put forth those feminist (really proto feminist), anti-slavery, etc., progressive steps--on a damn psychological and psychosocial level that:

diminishes how much brain power and time a woman can put to policy or things outside of the "house" because their power depends on the husband's regard towards them

makes it much harder for women to really commit themselves or fully expect to implement their goals & dreams for any sort of change (or even dream of any) when there's such subtle and unsubtle obstacles in their way: Rhaenyra, her stepmother an siblings plotting against her and then the usurpation, that we see in the microcosm of how the treasury stolen from her and the crown led to the smallfolk turning against her at KL AND the ongoing war, thus preventing her from really establishing herself as Queen/ruling at all; Alysanne, I described with Jaehaerys; Rhaenys, Andal patriarchy; much less, in Rhaena the Black Bride's case, find just actual happiness and plain old security against male aggression!

provides a setting where women become more compelled to compromise with some patriarchal ideas/practices to maintain a certain level of power or defense (there's a thing line to measure and transgress the "right way" and without other's judgement and impatience or lack of faith adds an additional pressure of, outside of fiction but applicable)

leads up to Daenerys having to have the strength to pursue her goals on with her own instincts and compassion and wit, work harder than most men would face in her position...not that any could since men cannot and have not largely had the bridal slave’s experience!

Anyway, all of it ignores or tries to hide the fact that it is exactly that undisrupted male authority over female (of any class or wealth) & under-classed people that is the true destabilizer and destroyer of lives. That there is still so much meaning and real impact in what people like Alysanne and Rhaenys did/do and huge upheavals or entire sweeps of structural change like Dany does takes measured steps!

That through multiple Targ women dying form childbirth, raped, murdered, or sidelined and critically limited in political authority or agency, this becomes so obvious! you cannot oppress half of your population, reduce them to sex-giving broodmares who you can kill if you think they have a male heir on the way or have cheated on you and call yourself progressive! You're actually 10 steps behind where you're supposed to be because half of you is not involved enough in the development of your society!

We wanna be all "feudalism is bad", "blood purity is bad", "the Targs didn't end feudalism so they are the most evil and responsible for all evil in Westeros" but when they see someone either passively or actively seem to make any progress to mitigate the pressures and power of patriarchal boundaries or concepts or whatever....they go screaming "not feminist enough" or "they're actually just like everyone else"! And some of us will also try to say that Daenerys is either entirely too much like her colonist ancestors or she will end up that way as D&D published because she is Targaryen (a bio-essentialist argument) to argue about why SLAVEOWNERS should stay in power!

And it all is very anti-intellectualism, anti-critical thought or introspection and examination...because on closer look and investigation, you will see how F&B is a text that was always anti-misogyny on GRRM's part (attemptively) even as it is misogynist as an-in world text! And it's on purpose--both the writing and how people wax "it's a dragon show, nothing at all to do with misogyny or wokeness!"

Because then you are not challenging the status quo...because you can't reason through it or against it and when it happens in seemingly harmless manifestations people will think it innocuous.

[sansas-amythest-hairnet]

I love seeing the styles of clothing that people use for their asoiaf fanart, some people use general medieval, Tudor style seems to be very popular, and then I use Italian renaissance. I do find it very funny that people rarely ever use the fashion from the show as inspiration for book art.

[sylvanlore]

Thoughts on Arya and Melisandre

Most readers see A Song of Ice and Fire as being represented by Jon Snow and Danaerys Targaryen, as ice and fire respectively, but I think they represent the good of ice and fire - the tamed and useful and protective. The warm heart and the burning of the foul; the cool logic and the preserving of the fair. Yes, they have some hurdles to cross, some mastery of their own elements to learn, but this is who they are.

The actual extremes of either side are Arya and Melisandre. In the books they haven't interacted, but in my opinion a meeting between these two would be very interesting:

Arya is an acolyte of the God of Death, Melisandre is a priestess of the God of Life. They both use magic and tricks to hide their true appearance, and they both can see through deception. Arya is plain/ugly and uses stealth, Melisandre is beautiful and takes the spotlight wherever she goes. Arya is darkness and Melisandre is light. Arya is young and Melisandre is old.

I'm not saying these two should be enemies, or on opposite sides - I'm sure they'll both fight against the Long Night. But on their own Arya and Melisandre are ... unhinged. Unbalanced. Arya is a cold-hearted killer and Melisandre is a burning zealot. In ice versus fire, they are the Long Night versus the Doom of Valyria. But the story is all about balance. Jon and Dany are ice and fire balanced, which is what makes them heroes. It's what Arya and Melisandre will do - as allies or as opposing forces - that I find intriguing.

(... Although, not yet. Arya has still a lot of training to do before she can properly stand up to Melisandre.)

[lookthetart]

Between 285 AC-298 AC (13 years), Tywin Lannister:

Sent Tyrion to give a cleaning to the septic tank

Got his fleet burnt

Lent money to Robert

Spent 0 time educating his grandchildren, heirs to the throne

Tried thrice to buy Valyrian steel weapon on Craigslist, failed every time

Took a nap for the disappointment

Tried very hard to not realize what was going on between the twins

Literally nothing else in 13 years??

Since he was not having any relevant position at court nor we have any indication that there was something urgent going on in the Westerlands, it seems to me that somebody who is supposed to be the absolute political mastermind slept on problems that were already evident (Jaime in the KG and Tyrion being unsuitable) or preventable (Joffrey being a weakling) for quite some time.

(Tywin Lannister for 13 years, in Casterly Rock, just waiting for things to solve themselves)

[mneiai]

I absolutely refuse to only use "warg" for people connected to wolves. You're telling me after THOUSANDS OF YEARS that there's only two words for it and one is exclusive to a specific type that is neither super common nor super rare and the other is inclusive of all types? L-O-L, George, that's not how language works.

Plus, the word is taken from Tolkien and itself has two roots, one of which fits to describe every type of skinchanger ("outcast") (and I dislike the word "skinchanger" because it's so close to "skinwalker").

I mean, "were" literally means "man" but a werewolf or weretiger or whatever can be a woman, so no one whining about semantics has any real strength behind their argument.

Anyway, using them interchangeably is not half as sloppy as GRRM himself is (tell us more about how nearly every single noble is a "lord," George, hey, hey, George, tell us more about how an entire society can survive multi-year winters without any winter weather innovations, George, oh how tall is the Hightower in a society without automated elevators? how long is the average dynasty again, George?). Like lol people nitpicking fanfic writers who won't first look to the source material and realize we're only as serious about this shit as the author is.

[knightingale]

The "Sansa reminds Sandor of his sister" motive that some people try to hitch to his character really just flies in the face of his actual attachments to her, doesn't it? Sansa reminds Sandor of himself. He sees the little boy who used to love knights in this girl who's been swept up by the same romanticism. He sees his abuser in her abusers, the much larger knight(s) beating on the helpless child. He sees how she is betrayed by every level of authority that should have saved her and remembers his father's neglect and Tywin and Robert's apathy for Gregor's crimes. He's protective of Sansa because he was Sansa.

And GRRM's design, that one of the strongest warriors in the series, a fearsome and cynical 6'8" guy who's "muscled like a bull" and has the face of death itself, sees himself in this soft and effeminate teen girl, and empathizes with her because he was an abuse victim too, is INFINITELY more compelling than "Oh yeah I bet she just reminds him of his sister," who he's never mentioned and who we know literally nothing about. Way to unnecessarily water down a character, you couldn't have ignored the black and white text more efficiently if you tried.

[knownoking]

i actually hate talisa maegyr. i think her whole plot with robb was so stupid. like in the books robb’s marriage with jeyne is this tragic situation that’s really a culmination of the stress and grief that robb has been going through and unable to truly process because he is a child trying to lead his people in a war. he gets injured and then learns that his former best friend has just betrayed him, captured his home, and killed both of his younger brothers which adds to growing list of loss in his life. his father got executed, his sisters are being held hostage, his best friend betrayed him, and now his brothers are dead. so while he’s injured and kind of being consumed by his grief, jeyne westerling is there to comfort him and they do the deed and this only makes things worse because of how robb was raised and instilled with his father’s honor, as well as seeing how jon was raised, robb feels compelled to marry jeyne to preserve HER honor which ends up being his downfall. but nooooo in the show robb falls in love with foreign beauty talisa maegyr and dies because he’s an idiot and couldn’t keep it in his pants. like don’t get me wrong i love robb’s scenes in the show richard madden call me i just think the story could have been so much better and been true to the tragedy that it is in the books.

[chemicalreal]

Viserys is just as despicable as Daemon and Otto, except in a different way

It's weird enough how King Viserys is widely well seen by the audience despite his evident selfishness, which is perhaps one of the most pronounced traits throughout the show. This perception is predominantly fueled by Rhaenyra's camp, who views Viserys' unequal treatment of his children in her favor as a redeeming quality of his character.

The subtle detail of Rhaenyra eagerly desiring a sister while her mother is still pregnant often goes unnoticed, just like her displease of the life she is supposed to endure going through many difficult pregnancies. Her strong insistence that it will be a girl contrasts with her father's wishes, hinting at an awareness of the changing dynamics within the royal family in case a boy is born. Despite spending her early years as the king's only child, the frequent pregnancies of Rhaella imply the king's persistent efforts to secure a male heir to the throne.

Therefore, Rhaenyra is effectively being sidelined as a potential heir in favor of a yet-to-be-born phantom brother. The king's intense desire for a male heir leads him to make the drastic decision of sacrificing his own wife during childbirth. While it's understandable that a mother would prioritize her child's life over her own, the scene becomes disturbing due to Aemma's clear distress and pleas for help let alone the fact that she was literally cut open while being awake, highlighting the king's unwavering determination that will lead to others suffering and this is a leit motive for the rest of his life, be it physically or emotionally.

The claim that Viserys, a now seasoned king, was manipulated by a teenager into marriage is one of the most absurd ones in this fandom, especially if we take into account how Alicent is portrayed. In reality, it was another self-centered choice driven by his own desires. Alicent, despite being urged by her ambitious father to seduce the grieving king (much to her horror), maintains the demeanor of a respectable lady. During her time with Viserys, the focus is on shared interests such as history and books, creating a dynamic more akin to a father spending time with his daughter. Alicent even mends the temporary rift between him and Rhaenyra giving him genuine advice. Viserys undoubtedly married Alicent out of his own desire, not coercion as some suggest. The scene where he announces it reveals Alicent's almost shocked reaction, indicating her lingering hope that he might not proceed with the idea. If Viserys were a virtuous man, he would have found Alicent a suitable match with a respected lord to acknowledge her services and simultaneously spite her father's ulterior motives.

Viserys continues to treat Alicent as an object throughout their marriage, often demanding her to fulfill his physical needs, even after he is plagued by illness and Alicent shown to be visibly uncomfortable because of it. After a somewhat "honeymoon" phase, which is still marred by a strained relationship between Alicent and Rhaenyra which puts the former in isolation despite her efforts to show support for her as the heir, Viserys is suddenly consumed by guilt for his actions towards Aemma. At this point, Alicent and their son Aegon (and by consequence their future three children) cease to exist for him. It's important to highlight that despite this epiphany and subsequent emotional neglect, Viserys' requests for physical intimacy with Alicent persist, which only makes him more of an hypocrite who still can't help but indulge in his selfish needs at the expense of others.

Viserys' insensitivity towards Alicent is further emphasized when Daemon returns to King's Landing and both he and Viserys mock Alicent's attempts at conversation about the new tapestries. Even Rhaenyra is visibly appalled by their behavior and chooses to support Alicent to prevent her from feeling humiliated. The temporary resumption of friendship between the two women adds layers to their tragedy, as their later falling out is ultimately induced by the men who view them merely as tools of power.

In addition to Daemon's emotional hold on Rhaenyra that will lead to their scandalous marriage, Otto's influence over Alicent, and his manipulative schemes, Viserys perpetuates the conflict through his inaction and convenient stance in the middle ground. He neglects his other children, projecting guilt towards Aemma onto them and Alicent. While he outwardly shows love and favoritism for Rhaenyra and ignores her infractions, it seems more like a projection of guilt rather than genuine support, as he fails to take concrete steps to legitimize her ascension, especially now with the presence of sons. Viserys' actions ultimately work against Rhaenyra's favor, rather than supporting her. His handling of the family feud after Laena's funeral closes the door for any potential reconciliation between the queen and the princess.

The truce dinner in episode 8 is unmistakably a ticking time bomb. The Rubicon was crossed years ago, but Viserys prefers to maintain the illusion of a happy family, akin to the illusion of Alicent being Aemma, for his own peace of mind. Rather than addressing the underlying issues, he opts to create a facade to avoid dealing with the potential chaos of his family members turning against each other once he is gone.

In conclusion, Viserys embodies those problematic people who often evade accountability for their actions due to their seemingly kind and sympathetic demeanor. His ability to project an amiable facade masks the deeper issues and consequences of his decisions, allowing him to avoid the scrutiny he might otherwise face.

[meleys-the-red-queen]

The amount of blood-purity comments I see in HOTD discussions is honestly wild to me because it’s like. There’s legitimately people saying Rhaenyra can’t or shouldn’t be queen because she’s trying to put “bastards” in the line of succession.

1. Who. The hell. Cares. Who their actual biological father is? Why do we care? What difference does it make? Laenor, Corlys, Viserys recognized them and reaffirmed them in the line of succession MULTIPLE TIMES. No one *who is actually important to the issue* cares who the boys’ biological father is, and their claim comes from their mother, the named heir, the Queen, who can then decide who her heir is, just like Jaehaerys did, and just like Viserys did. Laenor was a gay man, they said they tried to conceive. They couldn’t. What other option was there? Laenor seemed to have no problem with Harwin helping them sire their children while he went off and enjoyed himself.

(Also, the plot to usurp Rhaenyra came long before the three Velaryon boys were born because *she was a woman.* The appearance of her three oldest boys was just another convenient excuse)

2. Would a child in modern day conceived through surrogacy or sperm donation be considered illegitimate/a bastard if one of the parents dies but still has that child in their will? Can the other family members contest it on the basis of “well they’re not blood related so they can’t inherit anything.” Nope. Because that child is recognized and legally theirs, therefore entitled to whatever the parent/family says.

[15-lizards]

Dothraki clothing ideas or as I like to call it trying to fix George’s mistakes

The Dothraki sea is gigantic I don’t understand why they’re all wearing the same thing. Weather affects what you wear!! There should be heavy furs and leathers farther north and light wools near the center. And everyone should be wearing multiple layers why are the Dothraki always half naked. The sun and the wind are your worst enemy if your constantly riding, you need to cover up!! Also colors need to be a thing (yes even for the average Dothraki not just the Khals)

Again why are Khals and Khaleesis essentially wearing the same clothing as slaves and common folk. These people are said to have immense pride, so they should use their spoils from raids and pillages to decorate themselves lavishly. The daughter of a Khal should be dripped the fuck out in beads and metalwork and dyed heavy fabrics. The common members of the Khal would be the ones wearing worn leathers, so they can protected themselves while riding and herding

Hats and Headdresses oh my goddd why is every fantasy show afraid of covering their heads. Imagine how cool horsehair headpieces would look, maybe they’re significant for a bride or married woman or religious figure. And there should be everyday hats as well. There’s no shade in the Dothraki sea, so everyone should be wearing a variety of hats depending on weather and their status.

Silhouettes should have some similarities, but still differ from each other based on location. The basic look would most likely be a wrapped tunic with slits on the side to easily mount and ride horses, and a belt to hold everything together. And this should just be the basic shape, people would add their own embroidery or overcoats or detachable sleeves etc etc

Finally: Khalasars need to be DISTINCT from each other. It doesn’t make sense that every single Khalasar we see wears tan leather and horse hair and blue paint. Maybe one tribe can be recognized by the shape of their hats or the fact that they have some clothing inspired by YiTi, because they are so close. Maybe another can be recognized by their bright blue pigment they use to dye most of their garments. This is a huge culture there needs to be distinctions based on location

[nightswatchdisbandmentera]

ASOIAF discourse would be a lot more fun if we all realized that every single person who has been put in a position of leadership/rulership fails in one way or another. Jon and Dany failing is not an indictment on their abilities to lead or rule. They’re kids, they still have shit to figure out. Given “what was Aragorn’s tax policy”, I doubt GRRM will write a story that will feature the appearance of a most perfect ruler ever who will be a total success instead Jon and Dany who were tOtAl FlOpS. Especially if this person has no previous experience that has been detailed within the text itself. That’s not only antithetical to the series, but also not how you write a narrative.

[pixiecactus]

reunion?

i heavily dislike when people depict arya hitting gendry in anger when they are reunited with eachother, other than feeding into the feral(she's too far gone)!arya headcanon that this fandom loves, it does not makes sense at all, from the end of agot we can see that arya is developing abandonment issues, that they get stronger and stronger during acok and lastly asos, that's why when gendry takes the decision to stay with the bwb and make a living out of it, arya is not mad, (sure she lashes out in telling gendry that it does not matter to her if he gets hanged due to now being an outlaw) but that is her hurt feelings speaking, she's deeply hurt that another person she considered a close friend is choosing to leave her, this ties with arya's class blindness but i digress, and it's deeply connected to arya's low self-esteem issues, her thinking how she's not good enough for people to actually want her in their life. and that's one of the saddest things about gendrya misunderstanding eachother, we know how much arya's kidnapping affected gendry, how much he has changed, and the brotherhood too, he's doing things that arya would have done/wanted (taking care of orphans) and (meeting her mother and working under her house) when he wasn't sure about them in the first place, he joined the brotherhood because he witnessed them holding a fair trial and most importantly the bwb wanted to help the smallfolk caught in a war-torn country, and he's actually class conscious, gendry knows that his friendship with a northern princess will never be accepted, and all around them indicates that their friendship has run it's course (nevermind they were literally getting jealous about eachother) and exactly at the other side we have arya thinking how everything it's her own fault, and she thinks herself stupid for even trusting gendry and hotpie when it was clear that they never wanted her as a friend in the first place... so with all of this context in the background: why would arya be mad and hit gendry when they finally meet again? i'm not saying that i want them to be the bestest of friends when they see eachother again, they clearly have issues to work on, and honestly i don't see arya considering gendry as trustworthy from the get go like they once were, but after sometime in eachothers company again, i can see them sharing a hug

[sansas-amythest-hairnet]

How do you think mock Valyrian steel would be made? How would it be used?? Im fascinated by the concept since you mentioned it

I AM SO HAPPY THAT YOU ASKED!!! So Valyrian steel is based on Damascus steel, a type of steel from the early CE that was super strong and super light, but we no longer know how it was made. My dad is a blacksmith so I have watched him forge modern day Damascus which is essentially just metal that is layered to create a really interesting visual effect. So Valyrian steel is described to have this same layered rippled appearance so I think that mock Valyrian steel would be like modern Valyrian steel but with some specifications. Similar to the requirements for becoming an American mastersmith, which requires you to construct a blade with no less than 300 layers, mock Valyrian steel must also have a certain number of layers depending on the size of the accessory, it almost solely used for decoration since using it for a weapon is seen as cheap and disrespectful to the targaryens.

[dr3adlady]

she mad at her husband😑

I've got a few words with other people who, like me, are fascinated with GRRM's writing and characters :) Apparently it's *trendy* to dunk on this ship and bully its shippers these days. It's beyond me why we should fight over every little silly thing. First and foremost, a Song of Ice and Fire is a hobby for me, and many others, and it should be treated as such. It should not affect our real life in a negative way. If you care immensely about lives of fictional characters to an extent that you find online bullying and insulting others for no real reason a 'moral' thing to do, I am seriously worried for you. It speaks of a certain immaturity when there are real problems in the world, when real people are being hurt, killed, thrown out of their houses, deprived of their human rights, etc, and some people here spend their lives fighting over some non-problems.

Sorry to rant, anyway, good day to everyone 💙

[greenqueenhightower]

Why did I just notice that???

Do you see how Alicent is so dissatisfied in the scenes during the Green Council meeting in episode 9? How utterly surprised and somewhat disappointed?

It's not because she falls from cloud nine to discover the possibility of Aegon becoming king when she learns about the lords' "long-laid plans" from Tyland Lannister. She knew that it would make sense for Aegon to inherit the throne for both the realm and the survival of her family, and basically gave us hints she realized this as early as the hunt scene in episode 3.

More specifically, she understands that she might have to put Aegon on the throne during the scene when a heavily drunk Viserys laments his fears of making a mistake in naming Rhaenyra his heir since he now has a son, and reveals to Alicent his prophetic vision of seeing his son with the conqueror's crown. Even if at that moment, Alicent reassures Viserys he made the right choice, you can see that the doubt lingers in her mind, and in seeing Rhaenyra return from the hunt covered in blood in absolute and ruthless callousness, Alicent recognizes the danger.

It is a wake-up call: in the end, she might have to choose her son over Rhaenyra.

And of course, we know that as Aegon was growing up, Alicent spent hours musing these doubts and even confronts him with them in episode 6: "You are the challenge, simply by living and breathing. You are the king's firstborn son and what they know, what everyone in the realm knows in their blood and in their bones, is that one day you will be our king."

So what explains her dismay during the Green Council meeting??

As I see it, the cause of Alicent's distress during the Green Council among other things is not that the lords planned a whole operation to crown Aegon as king, but that they did so behind her back, as if she is not fit to be included in these discussions, let alone be consulted for her own son's future and survival.

She rightly says: "Am I to understand that members of the small council have been planning secretly, to install my son without me?" and right after that comes the condescending reply: "My queen, there was no need to sully you with darkling schemes."

No sh!t.

Remember how betrayed and distraught Alicent felt went Aemond lost an eye and everyone dismissed her concerns as that of an overreacting and overbearing mother? The Green Council scene gives flashbacks to this.

Once again, Alicent's wishes, her wills, her thoughts, and her whole person as a mother, queen, advisor, and woman, are sidelined and minimized by members of her own council.

So this is why I think it makes sense that episode 9 is called "The Green Council" which contrasts the name given to a different council meeting in episode 10, namely, "The Black Queen." Because apparently, Rhaenyra owns her council meeting, even if she has to shut down Daemon to do so. But Alicent is not yet perceived as her own council's queen.

I hope we can somehow see Alicent truly become her own Green Queen in season 2.

[mneiai]

GRRM says a lot of bullshit and clearly doesn't actually know what constitutes abuse (or rape) and it's such obvious bullshit when people act like one of his quotes about abuse (or rape) should be taken as the complete truth of what was on the page. It doesn't matter what he, a super privileged white American cis man, said about something if what he clearly actually wrote and published is the complete opposite of his claims.

Nevermind he clearly wishes to retcon a ton of AGOT and literally any quote by him that contradicts what's on the page in AGOT is his attempt to gaslight readers.