#the seven faith

[horizon-verizon]

The way Alicent “forever upholding the kingdom, the family, the law” Hightower protect and align herself with a kinslayer, even saying that Larys’s help has not gone unnoticed and she will have need of it in the future (“the day will doubtless come when I require such a friend, with not only skill but discretion as well), and a murderer who broke guest right (an ancient and sacred custom in Westeros). Alicent’s character is quite basic and not hard to understand, like SO MANY religious people, her definition of “morality” is entirely rooted in bigotry and her own hypocritical patriarchal self-serving (mis)interpretation of religion.

Maybe a response to the chain of posts that began as Rhaenyra-as-leaders-and-her-flaws to Alicent-is-a-better-politician-bc-she-has-a-"cooler-head" asks I wrote. Most recent HERE.

In all those posts I strictly commented on the book!versions of both characters. Not the show. Still, you seem to observe how the past two asks' anons or so have tried to make book!Alicent who she isn't while having skewed interpretations of her. Maybe you feel that such a skewness would also apply to their views on show!Alicent bc Alicent stans/green stans tend to conflate certain aspects.

BC they see the shared quality of what you say here: "like SO MANY religious people, her definition of “morality” is entirely rooted in bigotry and her own hypocritical patriarchal self-serving (mis)interpretation of religion".

Except, of course, they don't see her faith as bigoted or think the bigotry is enough to morally condemn her non-instigated actions against Rhaenyra for power. They rather see it as a virtue of hers, her being resolutely dedicated to a Catholicism-modelled religion, her family's prestige, and their symbiotic relationship with said Catholicism-modeled religion.

The family's history is so interconnected with the origins of Oldtown, even though they aren't considered the ones to really build Oldtown, they basically are culturally and politically synonymous with the Faith itself. The Hightowers frequently had their own members become septons, even becoming High Septons. The High Septon--being the Westerosi version of a medieval pope when popes had an active role in how rulers/leaders conducted themselves and made decisions--lives and makes declarations from Oldtown. He--never has been a "she"--has such influence because they are known as the direct link to the Seven and responsible for the Andal-descended person's confidence in "salvation", or having a better afterlife. (Thus why the unnamed HS who raged against Maegor for his physical abandonment of Ceryse Hightower [niece] to marry Alys Harroway and against Aenys for marrying Rhaena and her brother Aegon together.) The Hightowers also fund the Citadel, so they also gain prestige from being kinda patrons of the central knowledge center of the entire society that itself supplies and reaffirms some key Faith teachings/aristocratic ideals and values. The Faith's influence/growth in Westeros is seen as a purely admirable thing by those persons. They either don't fully realize or care that Faith's hegemony also affirms abuse of power, and violence to preserve chivalric "honor" and the existence of itself, classism, blood purity, and misogyny in Westeros.

I think that show!Alicent is less "complicated" in that she's not written well in her being inconsistent and the idea behind her motivation is reduced to desperate, not very well-thought-out kind of protectiveness instead of an even more nuanced ambition reflective of how women in an Andal/Faith patriarchal feudalist state try to seize power AND believe in its definitions of womanhood simultaneously. A savvier, more self-controlled (except for some events where her misogyny really makes her downfall), and more capable Cersei. (For posts on what I mean by her similarity to Cersei, look HERE & HERE).

Book!Alicent, like Cersei, is "simple" & "complicated", but really I can only say this about Alicent because I'm aware of Cersei and see the likeliest existing parallels.

[jellolegos]

queen in chains

[daenystheedreamer]

faith dashboard simulator

💙 maidenlover Follow

its actually so faithphobic that so called "friends of rhaena" have appropriated maiden devotion... it sexualises a very personal relationship with a real facet of the seven that many of us have ACTUALLY DEVOTED OUR LIVES TO

⚢ rhaelissatruther

girl you forgot to private your likes you're one of us

💎 mothermaidenhoe

🕯️traedwyfe Follow

🎶 red orange yellow green blue indigo purples in the sky

summer's in the air and baby, seven heavens' in your eyes 🎶

#the rainbow faith #rainbow not rhaena #laena of dell rae AKA the lady bard #dollaette #coqaette #faithofthesevenedit #please i'm a star #septa urge #lady manipulator #light acaedaemia

⚔️ knightofthefaith

FUCK they're sending me to be the septon of the night's watch... girl you know what they do to sexy slender wide eyed septons like myself!!!

#PRAYING theyre sexy murderers not uggo ones... manifesting

⭐️ brideofhugor Follow

No. You know what? F*** Y'ALL.

As many of you know I have recently been assigned to a certain castle in the stormlands and have been aiding the maester in reorganising the large library.

I just found several illuminated manuscript of an er*tic nature detailing s*xual acts of septas and septons. Including one of Hugor (blessed he be) Himself.

I don't expect much of you SINNERS (we all know of the recent poll circulating...) but sexualising those who devote themselves to loving only the gods... and crucially making the choice to remain celibate in this mission... the audacity. Enjoy the Seven Hells!

🫦 swordinyourstar

im gonna go to a septry fuck all those bald brothers so hard the hair in their tonsures grow back cos my seed is THAT strong

#why are they called holy brothers if im not supposed to fuck their holes

🔘 old-friends-senior-seven-septry-deactivated-101AC

I just want to get dicked down again =/

🌠 faith-struggle-posts

official faith struggle post

🌟 starrysepta

i do finally feel at home finally out of my noviciate and as a full septa of the faith but they do NAWT tell you how catty your sisters will be... they sent me to a motherhouse in the WESTERLANDS just outside of lannisport 💀 if another one of these fake bitches tries currying favour with house lannister im gonna get myself sent to the silent sisters.

🌟 starrysepta

beheading myself omg another suspiciously blonde-haired green-eyed hill surname haver has joined the noviciate please mother above get me reassigned to the vale id rather risk getting stolen by a mountain clansmen over having to deal with this whore

#girl he's not gonna legitimise you #and she's having an affair with the laybrother too but like whatever im not a lickspittle

🪽 rivermaiden

the mother of my motherhouse 100% got dicked by our local lord back in the day maybe now too and its ruining my life. she keeps speaking in metaphors about the warrior entering the maiden and its making everyone soooo uncomfortable. AND he's the lord of a certain castle in the riverlands stars with h ends in arrenhal and i swear he's bringing the fucking demons into our sept everytime he visits

#cryyyyingggg i survived the riverlands for one-and-twenty years only to die of blood curse cos knights love chasing septa pusswah omg cant have shit in the riverlands

🌈 septa-septon-suggestions Follow

forever hoping that the light of the seven will one day shine over all westeros ✨

🍁 hearttreehugger Follow

don't go near any weirwoods bitch im watching you 👁️

[ginny-anime]

People saw Visenya and maegor fight against the faith of the seven and assumed that the faith doesn’t exists within house Targaryen and that alicent having the faith as her religion is fucking horrible.

Alysanne literally sent her daughter Maegelle to become a septa as a thanks to the mother for giving her many children. her son Vaegon became an archmaester and studied at old town.

Aegon the conqueror was literally crowned by the high septon and so was Jahaerys I. Princess Daella didn’t marry Royce blackwood because he believed in the old gods instead of the faith of the seven.

So the faith of the seven isn’t just something alicent brought into the house Targaryen to go against them. By her time, most of them were already part of the faith and believed in it.

Also having her faith is not a bad thing! Just because she decorated the castle with the faith symbols doesn’t mean she was changing everything! The Targaryens symbols were still everywhere, which are dragons.

The dragons are the symbol of house Targaryen and the faith of the seven is everything to house Hightower. And Alicent is the current queen and a Hightower who has Targaryen children. So it’s not wrong to combine both symbols of the families.

[inquisitor-apologist]

Thinking about how, at the end of the day, at the fatal moment, the sunset of the Republic, it wasn’t Yoda, or Obi-Wan, or even the Chosen One himself standing in the way of Palpatine. It was Mace Windu.

Mace Windu, the inventor of Vaapad and Master of Form VII, the Jedi's strongest duelist, the only person to ever defeat Palpatine in combat. Mace Windu, Master of the Jedi Council and the youngest Master ever appointed to it, the revered leader of the Order. Mace Windu, who forgave even those who tried to kill him, who risked his life over and over again for his troops, who, after 3 years of desperate war, tried to negotiate with battle droids. Mace Windu, who knew the clones were created by the Sith and chose to trust them, who saw every Shatterpoint in the Republic, and loved it still, and fought for it until his last breath, until he was betrayed by Anakin, who he believed in and trusted despite everything.

Mace Windu, High General and hero of the Republic, the embodiment of the Light, the last and greatest champion of the Order, the best Jedi to ever live.

[bbygirl-aemond]

so emily carey came on the official house of the dragon podcast and confirmed that she, miguel, and ryan all agreed that alicent gets her faith from her mother, that her mother was always the religious one, and that this faith is "something alicent carries because of this connection with her mother" and that's why we get the scenes depicting alicent's relationship with the faith. to remind us that this is a little girl who lost her mother and is spending the rest of her life having to deal with the empty space her mother left behind.

alicent brings rhaenyra to the sept to help with her grief from her mother because the sept is where alicent goes to remember her own mother:

alicent wears icons of the faith on her clothing:

and she brings those icons into her home in the red keep:

and she does all these things because she's bringing her mother's memory with her. because she is a scared girl navigating the misery of a forced marriage with no friends and no family aside from her manipulative father and she is trying to grasp for this maternal protection and compassion that is nowhere to be found.

[blissfulphilospher]

I saw a post of @very-straight-blog and I agree!

People need to know this!

According to the ANDAL LAW the succession should be like this in HOTD after Viserys I and this is what Greens wanted in the book

Aegon II — Jaehaerys (rip little prince) — Maelor the Missing — Jaehaera — Aemond — Daeron the Daring — Rhaenyra — Aegon III — Viserys II — Visenya (if she lived) — Helaena (in case everyone above her die) — Daemon — Baela — Rhaena — Rhaenys (if everyone with Targaryen surname die)

Not including Strong Boys because like it or not they are bastards and shouldn't be in line of inheritance. They could have been if Rhaenyra married Harwin. She didn't.

Also wanted to specify that ANDAL LAW is better than Valyrian and Northern. Only second to RHOYNISH LAW and Targs in this era hate Dorne. It's funny if they adapt their laws.

According to the Valyrian, Jaehaera, Rhaenyra and Helaena will come after Daemon and his sons. (I am saying this after reading the mess of Maegor's rule and Jaehaerys calling GC 1.)

And this is Alicent, House Hightower and majority of Westeros' religion.

She didn't sinned or betrayed anyone by having him crowned, her son has the right to the Iron Throne. His ascension should not have been a misunderstanding, he has the right to the throne and there is a reason history remembers him as the king.

[ohithankyou]

i for one am so excited to see any bit of the more flawed side of tommy we can get next season. we generally got the good parts of tommy last season but i want to see the other parts as well. i want to see the not so perfect guy. the guy who makes mistakes. the guy who doesn’t have all the answers. the guy who’s still figuring parts of himself out. the guy who messes up. but the guy who doesn’t stop trying to be better. i think that’s equally important as seeing the good parts when developing him as a character and in developing his and buck’s relationship for the better.

[lionofchaeronea]

The Seven Virtues: Faith, Giotto, 1306

[addamvelaryon]

Addam & Benji praying together at the Isle of Faces

Artist: Jota Saraiva (deviantart/instagram)

[cherryredlove]

☆ the eyes of the weirwood ☆

Alicent Hightower x Targareyen Septa! Reader

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• • • • • • • • • • • • ✦ • • • • • • • • • • • •

The childhood companion of the Princess turned Septa sits grieving by the weirwood tree. You seek out the love you have always denied and comfort her aching heart.

Word Count: 1.1k

Themes: angst, lesbian angst, just let my girl alicent be a wlw queen cmon, religious guilt, kinda OOC soz

• • • • • • • • • • • • ✦ • • • • • • • • • • • •

The godswood is silent, save for the soft rustling of leaves in the gentle breeze. The sun sets, casting a warm glow over the Red Keep and painting the sky in shades of crimson and gold. You walk through the ancient grove, your footsteps hushed on the moss-covered path. The old oak trees stand tall, their branches reaching out like welcoming arms. Your robes sweep the floor, and you heart thuds in your chest. 

In the midst of this serene setting, you find yourself drawn to a familiar figure seated on a stone bench beneath the weirwood tree. Her auburn hair glows like fire in the dimming light, and her shoulders tremble with silent sobs. Queen Alicent Hightower, once your childhood companion, now the widow of King Viserys, grieves alone. You are not unknown to this grief yourself. He was your father, despite only ever seeing Rhaenyra as a true Targaryen princess.

You stop for a moment, taking in the sight before you. The woman who once laughed with you under the very same tree now sits, silenced and wrought. The years have carved paths of worry and weariness upon her face, but to you, she remains the beautiful girl you once knew—a girl you secretly loved.

As you step closer, your heart pounds in your chest. Your decision to become a septa instead of marrying had not been an easy one. It severed any chance of relationship with your father and sister. You were too pious and meek for their dragon blood. It was a path that granted you freedom from the duties of court life, yet it had also been a means to escape the yearning you felt for Alicent—a love you dared not speak of, not even to yourself. You remembered the hot shame you felt when your sister teased you for wanting to dance with Alicent instead of handsome suitors as a younger maid.

"Alicent," you whisper softly, your voice barely breaking the solemn silence she sat in.

She looks up, her eyes red from crying, yet they soften upon seeing you. The weight of the crown seems to slip away, if only for a moment, and before you sits not just your Queen, but also your Alicent.

"(Y/N)," she breathes your name like a prayer, as though your presence alone could aid her stricken heart. "What are you doing here?"

"I know not, my feet took me here of their own accord," you reply, though your true purpose is far deeper. "But seeing you here... I couldn't leave you alone in your sorrow."

Alicent wipes her tears with the back of her hand, trying to compose herself. "It's foolish," she says, her voice cracking. "To weep like this. He was your father too."

"It's not foolish," you reassure her, taking a seat beside her. Your hand hesitates before resting on hers, and you feel the warmth of her skin—a touch you've longed for, yet denied yourself for so long. "Grief is the heart's way of speaking when words fail."

The two of you sit in silence for a moment, listening to the whispers of the trees. Your mind drifts back to those days of youth when you and Alicent would escape to this very spot, finding fun and companionship away from the prying eyes of the court. You would steal away with cakes stolen from banquet tables and regale each other with reenactments of legends of old. Back then, your feelings were a secret, even from yourself, masked as the innocence of friendship.

"I miss him," Alicent confesses, breaking the silence. "Viserys... he was a good man, even if our marriage was... complicated."

Your heart aches for her loss, but there's something deeper—an ache for what might have been if circumstances were different. You glance at her, taking in the sight of her gentle profile, the elegance that is Alicent, and suddenly, the words you've held back for so many years press against your lips. The blood of the dragon finally roars within you, urging you to be brave, be true.

"Alicent," you begin, your voice trembling with the weight of a thousand unsaid words. "There is something I must tell you... something I've kept hidden for far too long."

She turns to you, curiosity and concern mingling in her gaze. "What is it?" You believe she already knows. How could she not, when all you ever did was gaze longingly at her?

You take a deep breath, steeling yourself for what you are about to reveal. "I've loved you, Alicent. I have always loved you, from the days of our youth until this very moment. From when you would declare yourself the Rhaenys to my Visenya, I have loved only you."

Your confession hangs in the air between you, the air heavy and thick. Alicent's eyes widen, and for a brief moment, you fear rejection. But then, something shifts in her expression—a softening, a recognition.

"(Y/N)," she murmurs, her hand squeezing yours gently. "I have longed for you as well. In the silence of my heart, I wished things could have been different." Her face is fraught. Fear of shame is etched into her, but yet she still holds your hand.

The relief that washes over you is mingled with a bittersweet realization of the paths you both chose. Duty, family, and honor had dictated your lives, pulling you away from each other. Yet, in this stolen moment beneath the weirwood's watchful eyes, those burdens seem to fade.

Your gaze locks with Alicent's, and without another word, you lean forward, capturing her lips with yours. The kiss is gentle, filled with the yearning of years unspoken. It is a taste of what could have been, a glimpse into a world where your love was not confined by duty and titles.

Alicent responds, her kiss tender and hesitant, as though afraid that acknowledging this love will unravel everything she has built, everything she has fought for. She has given her maidenhood and life for the crown. But within this fleeting moment, the world outside the godswood ceases to exist, leaving only the two of you and the unspoken bond you share. The kiss is not just a kiss. It is a promise, and the weirwood tree's eyes watch knowingly.

As you finally part, reality returns, bringing with it the weight of your choices. Alicent's eyes glisten with tears, and you know this moment, as perfect as it is, cannot last.

"I must return," she whispers, her voice laced with sorrow. "To my children, to the realm. There is no place for us in this world." That cuts you like a knife.

Your heart breaks at the truth of her words, yet you nod, understanding the burden she carries. As a septa, you have vowed to live a life of celibacy and devotion to the gods, but your heart will always bear the mark of this love. Your true devotion will lie with her.

"Know that you are not alone," you tell her, your voice steady despite the ache within. "I will always be here, by the weirwood, in your heart, should you need me."

Alicent nods, and though her eyes are filled with gratitude, they are also heavy with the loss of a love that can not be. She stands, and you watch as she walks away, her form retreating into the shadows of the evening.

As the night falls over King's Landing, you remain, like a statue, your heart tethered. In the quiet solitude of the ancient grove, you pray to the Mother and the Maiden not only for peace but for the strength to accept the path you both have chosen.

Yet, even as you bow your head in silent supplication, you know that your heart will always linger in the godswood, where the echoes of your love for Alicent remain eternal, like the whispered prayers carried on the wind. And so, you continue your vigil, hoping that one day, perhaps in another life, your paths may cross again without the chains of duty holding you back.

• • • • • • • • • • • • ✦ • • • • • • • • • • • •

AN: very sappy and ooc, very much inspired by Alicent and Rhaenyra’s scene in the sept. Alicent just can't catch a break lol

[ivansbadart]

Aemond the Kinslayer took up the iron and ruby crown of Aegon the Conqueror. "It looks better on me than it ever did on him," the prince proclaimed. Yet Aemond did not assume the style of King but named himself only Protector of the Realm and Prince Regent.

more upclose of his face, and details of his outfit, it's from the last panel of my Aegond Brutus piece (And amongst my faves!) I loved designing his cloak, it's a (quite literal) nod to when Rhaenyra tells Alicent "It felt good, didn't it? Hiding under the cloak of your own righteousness. But now they see you as you are", as this is him at his most morally bankrupt/corrupt, yet he's covered head to toe in the seven pointed star. Apple's rotten right to the core, from all the apples before and what not.

[alicentflorent]

People really hating on Alicent over her getting an abortion (or more likely using the equivalent to plan b) and some going as far to say that the use of moontea is “against her faith” like girlie what happened to a woman’s right to choose?

[goosebasedcryptid]

thinking about aeron and davos not worshipping the same gods probably means they won't go to the same heaven (-or hell-) and they know it soooo

them being so afraid that if they die, they won't even reunite in the afterlife and will never see each other again

kid aeron going to his septon and asking where the followers of the old gods go when they die and the septon either telling him they go to the lowest of the seven hells or that they have no afterlife at all and then crying himself to sleep afraid davos is doomed

davos hearing that the brackens felled a weirwood on their lands and praying with all his soul aeron had no part in it, not knowing aeron begged his lord to leave the heart tree untouched

during an argument aeron saying something like "i wish i could die now so i'd be rid of you" and that hitting davos so hard he replies with "well i'd be happy to help you meet your false gods" and then they both regret it instantly

them falling asleep together beneath a weirwood and both getting one of those crazy trippy dreams in which they see themselves dying at each other's hand and being dragged to their respective hells by their deceased family members, and waking up so disturbed they don't talk or see each other for like a month, too afraid they might actually cause the vision to happen

them at the burning mill, realising they could never be together after slaughtering each other's families and both begging the other to kill them out of guilt and despair but neither accepting and fighting to get to die first, arguing that it's their fault, only to die together

probably so many more things that drive them both apart from the sheer terror of making a wrong move that would separate them for eternity and also make them want to enjoy every second they have together because they know it's all they have

[greenbloods]

whats funny to me is that demons canonically exist in westeros. we get vague references to demons from the seven hells, so they must be part of the theology of the Seven, but theyre not elaborated upon much. it also makes the name daemon much funnier like yeah thats the king (consort) demon targaryen yeah he rides a red scaly firebreathing horned beast from the doom ruins of a civilization consumed by fire and brimstone. no dont read too much into that

[greenqueenhightower]

Alicent finds solace in religion from an early age because:

she had a difficult childhood/upbringing

the death of her mother was traumatizing (and religion was probably important for her mother too)

she felt like a foreigner at King's Landing and this was a way for her to embrace her heritage and reconnect with her roots

she felt pride in the faith of the seven hailing from Oldtown the same way the Targaryens feel pride in the "blood of the dragon"

she yearned to be heard/understood by a higher power

she was looking for help and guidance in her life to deal with anxiety and her domineering father

she is haunted by the fatal flaw of self-loathing, as is evident from her skin-picking disorder

she uses religion as a way to escape reality: "you desire not to be free, but to make a window in the wall of your prison"

What a complex and compelling character for real <3