#this is a targeted post (towards aegon specifically)

[dirtytransmasc]

Step dad Criston Cole HC:

his kids never got too big. never too big for him to (at the very least try to) hold close, to carry around, to rock them to sleep, to let them sit in his lap or be buried in his side. they're never too big to run to him for comfort. they're never to big to need their tears wiped away. his kids are never to big for him, they never 'age out' of his love and care, he will always be their dad in every way until he draws his last breath.

[horizon-verizon]

What makes Criston’s behavior unsettling is the way he channels such intense hatred and moral condemnation toward Rhaenyra’s sons. His scorn for Laenor also feeds into this, implying that the boys will grow into immoral men like their "father" and corrupt the realm. The fact that these are children doesn’t matter to Criston; their existence fuels his hatred. Jace, Luke, and Joffrey are still young, yet Criston doesn’t see them as innocent. Instead, he projects adult guilt, corruption, and malice onto them. This projection is deeply disturbing to me.

following this post.

In case others don't know what anon's talking about with the part about Laenor, they're specifically talking about bk!Criston in the green council ("The Blacks and the Greens"):

In the show, in S1E7, he chuckles at Alicent's comment abt Laenor "entertaining" squires instead of being next to his own wife and kids. And in S1E6, he pulls Jace or Luke around, doesn't bother to really invest in teaching them until Harwin points it out, and encourages/yells at Aegon to go even harder and harder in beating I think Jace in the training yard until, again Harwin stops it. So in both/either version he's projecting his own feelings and hatred onto them. He's much too obsessed with Laenor, another sexual deviant and "diobedient" both because he doesn't like women that way AND/and yet he doesn't "allow" Rhaenyra to face "punishment" as her "jilted" husband and instead protects her and her sons. Even claims her "bastards" as his own, an affront to masculinity itself twice, thrice over.

Like Alicent, Cole had much more room to act out his rage using the more vulnerable persons at their most vulnerable and when they are under his direct authority when he can't get to the target he claims. He can't get to Rhaenyra so he goes in on her sons, and he's very willing and waiting to use Rhaenyra's sexual "disobedience" through innuendos against any of who protests his behavior...as he did w/Harwin in that scene. which is both meant to bait and also reduce Rhaenyra's or anyone else's ability to call him out for it.

Thus, it is because they are children--the perfect channel--that he goes after them. They are also not innocent to him precisely because they are the products of the sexual disobedience AND open and accepted reminders of his own weaknesses when Rhaenyra denied him his way out and highlighted the willful oath-breaking he himself performed and is ashamed of. That, and, he's possibly still very attracted and desires her and hates himself for it, but emotionally depends on it to feel justified so he can stay in this affirming cycle of purity principles.

It's all meant to be unsettling because it indicates a twisted person's strong desire to destroy and distort reality in order to do so. Willfulness hiding and deluding itself as rightfulness; an inherent hypocrisy to have the excuse to dominate and indulge in violence for self gratification.

[queenvhagar]

While I can understand people being frustrated with Alicent’s writing this season, I do have to admit that some people seem to take it a little bit too far. Like I literally had to leave the green Reddit because people were being straight up nasty towards Alicent.

So people can still enjoy Aegon and Aemond despite the shit writing they’ve been given but fans aren’t allowed to like Alicent anymore? Again, I understand people not being happy with the writing for Alicent (trust me im pissed too) but idk some of things said makes me uncomfortable.

I don’t know, I feel like as an alicent fan (and even as an alicole shipper) the fandom just feels… less inviting know, ya know? I now just enjoy her S1 and book characterization but seeing how much hate Alicent is getting honestly makes me both sad and mad cause it means that Ryan Condal making her a rage bait this season essentially worked.

Sorry if im bothering you, i just needed to vent to someone😅

Her writing this entire season has definitely just been rage bait and it's working for both her critics and her fans.

For me, it's just completely turned me away from the show, and particularly the Dragonstone scene in the finale is the last straw in terms of her character being completely ruined. This writing choice has made her objectively one of the most pathetic and despicable characters in my opinion in ways that the real Alicent is not. I've kind of separated her characterization this season and particularly the finale, which is ultimately rage-inducing and worthy of criticism, from her real character that exists in the books and was hinted at in moments in season 1.

Her show character is not something I can enjoy at all post-Dragonstone, and while the character assassination has been strong for show Aemond and show Aegon (and all the other Greens), it has yet to be so completely illogical that it absolutely breaks the story and character and the role they play in the story. So this might be where other people are coming from when they say they can be fans of other Greens but not Alicent anymore.

I'm just checked out and can't even go along with the idea that any version of Alicent would do what she does because it goes completely against everything essential to her character. If I was still able to have immersion in the story and the ability to try to think through or justify her choices and motivation or find any connection or coherency in her character change over time, I might have more to say about her, but that's gone for me. It is just so transparent what the writers are trying to do with her, the Greens, and the Blacks that I no longer have any buy-in with this show as something that feasibly could exist in-universe. It's like I can see the writers manipulating and changing the story so strongly to fit their specific vision in every scene that I can't even view the story or characters independently from that anymore.

So yeah, I'm not a show Alicent fan anymore (nor am I a show fan after this). But book Alicent will always be supreme. That's the real Alicent. And I prefer the book versions of basically every other character as well.

I suppose people can still be a fan of show Alicent and try to justify her choices, but it definitely will continue to get harder and harder to defend her because the writers are clearly and so transparently determined to completely humiliate and butcher her character to uplift Rhaenyra and fans will be continue to be critical of her because of this targeted writing, unfortunately.

And the sad result is the fandom will just get more toxic 😓 take care out there and definitely feel free to avoid spaces that are getting too hostile or leaning into the misogynistic hate that the writers are inviting fans to direct at Alicent through their misogynistic writing.

[horizon-verizon]

Daeron I & Baelor I

*EDITED/EXPANDED POST* (11/28/23)

HERE, I answered an ask about Daenaera's fate and family, where this post stems from a question that came up as I went to edit that post.

After the loss of dragons, the House Targaryen struggled with defining themselves without the existence of dragons and being able to ride them. Aegon III hated dragons after seeing his mother die between Sunfyre's jaws and yet later tried, his Viserys (II) to revive some eggs with 9 Essosi mages means and failed. His reluctance to battle with his need to subdue enemies or use them as a deterrent against other possible reluctance might have not helped and even hindered his relationship with his own heritage and relationship with his brother and older sisters, which is hinted at in Rhaena's offense at Aegon not allowing Morning into the castle walls. Even he and Viserys's relationship took a serious dip after Aegon removed all eggs from the Keep to Dragonstone after Baela's daughter Laena's mutated and deformed dragon took a chunk out of the newly-born girl. It would have also made some of the mental alienation he had in his depression, further exacerbating the alienation from those closest to him (though I can't blame him for the egg-transport one, Laena, like Rhaenyra, was eaten by a dragon!). This would have been felt and observed/passed down to his children, who all had different responses, but I want to talk only about his sons here.

The very meaning of what a Targaryen is came into question.

🎨: Amok

Daeron

Daeron--in trying to subjugate Dorne and pull it into Targ-Andal domination while probably looking back at the Dance's consequences (no dragons and lords' resentment towards his father's "coldness")--developed an interest in displaying his and Targ power. He seemed to wish to say to his subjects, esp the nobles, that he/the Targs still had the quality of supremacy or "strength" from the first of their line, Aegon I, without having to have actual dragons and sort of redeifng what a "dragon" was. It's like he was saying, yes, we won bc of dragons but there is something within us-me that allows me-us to accomplish our duties and more.

It could have reflected the already present Andal-Targ blood consciousness and relied on that element running in the back of everyone's collective social consciousness and means to politically define themselves apart from other nobles as well as smallfolk. As this is a militaristic, patriarchal society that prizes military achievements above almost all else, Dorne remained independent and already practiced equal primogeniture since Nymeria, not long ago the throne was fought over a woman ruling or not and the "precedent" against women leading became stronger then ever, Dorne may have gotten more attention. As a state, it was out of monarchial control and its people were equivocally ambiguous as to their relations to other parts of the Targs' realm, perceived as an "Other", and thus became the first part of Daeron's mission, his target. It also explains why and how Daeron even bothered to begin a racialization of Dornish folk: "salty" vs "stony" vs "sandy".

He tries to suppress the Targness-is-being-only-a-dragonrider while still using the heritage of dragon-riding to define his/Targ supremacy. Thus an internal conflict with his own masculinity, heritage, etc.

Baelor

Baelor's problem came from him trying to use only & purely Andal core principles to justify his Valyrian-descent house's right to rule with a very specific principle of socio-religious "devotion" that is actually extreme mortification ("denial of the flesh", the Christian terms), or self-denial.

By claiming he was cleansing his house of sin through his own interpretations of Faith or Andal principles of anti-carnal devotion and martyrdom through denying the body's (his own and others') expressions or movements, he was also:

blinding himself to others' feelings or motives aside from what he felt they were/could be -> one way paranoia and abuse get encouraged

ensuring carnal/sexual rebellion from those he oppressed/repressed and tried to make look evil through his shows of extreme religious mortification

exposing himself to actual physical danger

stoking the urges to perform "sinful" behavior bc the lack of nuanced thought prevented him from thinking rationally about his own motives and urges to begin with

Before going on, it's crucial to understand that Baelor sincerely believed in the Faith religion's principles. Religion whoever, does not escape political history and can never be claimed to be completely non-affective in how people organize their societies and behaviors...

His Sisters

*(11/28/23)* As I already alluded to later in this post, one of the "sins" the house Targaryen performed, in Baelor's public and private policies, was also the house/dynasty's central principle & means to self-affirm or separate itself from Andals to justify its own right to rule: incestuous marriage between siblings. Thus him imprisoned his own sisters. Check out the previously known Brideoffires' Twitter thread about how Baelor works against himself specifically in how he treats his sisters:

In this thread, OP makes it very clear that there WAS a threat of rape against these women: "by claiming his actions were to purify the sin of incest, baelor inadvertently revealed his own sin of incest, by seeing all of his sisters as temptations of the flesh, beyond just the one he married dissolving the marriage only to imprison Daena and her sisters because he was so possessive over them. he wanted to keep them to himself." Others have added that he could have sent them or just Daena to other regions like Essos and a theory that he eventually believed and justified their imprisonment from a fear that they'd usurp him. Perhaps his spiritual/Seven advisors/hallucinations guided him toward this. Then OP points out how Baelor, if he was serious about them remaining faithful and spiritually "pure", could have forced them to become septas. Rhaena was already one.

If dragons had continued to exist as they were before and during the Danc, the man also would have tried to at least stay away from dragons and see them as a curse or imprison them just as he did his sisters and either refuse to let dragonkeepers properly take care of or organize their eggs later in his life if he were still king OR reject any attempt to let others inform him of them. It would be a mistake to think Baelor was, in his heart of hearts, totally against violence or didn't use violence to affirm himself and the dynasty.

The act of jailing someone or forcibly separating them into an isolated space is itself still an act of violence and a show of force. Again, add this to how he had many options on keeping them "pure" or removing the "threat" of incest and temptation he instead keeps them all together and relatively close to him where he can keep an eye out for their movements WHILE if he ever felt he couldn't stop said temptations...oh lookie there, a fresh sister to make "sin" with and blame his own actions on....

Chilvary, Religion and Masculinity in Real Medieval History & Westeros

The thematic inspiration behind Baelor's fervent faith in the Faith and how he imprisoned his sisters stems from the same things that inspired Daeron in his conqueror mission: the Dance's effects (personal and political regarding gender) and the loss of the dragons while having to marry Targs to the dominant religion of the subjects for the dynasty to maintain its own hegemony (not that kind, the racial one. just the kind where he has authority over other states that you see in any period of hierarchical human history).

A knight is described in Andal-Westeros as a "devoted" protector of the weak, women, children, and of God/the Faith. They are supposed to be morally positive forces of good who uphold the feudal order through violence. Baelor could have felt this internal struggle between the Andal militaristic masculinity, the image of a king being "generous" but also "strong", and the memories of Rhaenyra, his father and now his brother, and after Daeron's death he might and probably have felt that House Targaryen had to prove its importance and position by the mode of self-sacrifice serve its subjects through the Faith/the dominant religion AND the house brought it's own tragedies to itself, having had multiple "punishments" from the gods after his brother's and grandmother's heretical "arrogance".

Instead of forcing rule to display strength of arms, he felt he had to express first remorse towards the previous aggression (especially with the small of Dorne rising up after their lords lost) and then show leadership through something inspired by what Catholic-Christian medieval societies of real-life described as "martyr" strength of doing extreme, sacrificial actions facing intense persecution for that faith and doing anything to protect God's word and presence on Earth against "infidels" and "pagan" disbelievers. It is why several saints have stories of great suffering and violent deaths in the Catholic canon. It was and still is to many, a means to display a uniquely Christian sort of bravery, especially as Christianity is/was not an ethno-religion but a religion dependent on converting people. Thus, martyrdom is absolutely needed/needs violence wasn't ever far away from Christian identity. With the Andals and lords' already present history of "promised land"ness justifying their migration to Westeros thousands of years ago, the Faith of the Seven mincing Catholism's own principles and role in society, and how knighthood and chivalry themselves come to be defined from their Andal roots, that importance about self-sacrifice in "trials" of great danger would have been a huge factor in how Baelor felt he must appeal to even those in Dorne but especially to lords at home. (We know that the Warrior's Sons were a group of nobles' sons who claimed to protect the Faith through violence and we know that the Andals desperately fought against the First Men for resources, presumably with their ASoIaF "chosen people's" justification--or at least enough of them used that excuse.)

Now while Dornish people do worship the Seven and it is the dominant religion, being the target of violence for months from one of the same family and wanting their political independence would have been part of why--if not all--Lord Wyl was so unimpressed with Baelor's Boneway walk and his request to release his captured uncle Aemon the Dragonknight. Instead, he decides to play with him, and we, the readers and maybe some of Yandel's readers, see through Lord Wyl's action straight at the folly of zealotry disguised as perfect devoted bravery.

What is interesting is that the Christian mode of bravery made bravery and strength themselves more accessible to people who were not men--many women were canonized as saints for their great personal and public humiliation and violent acts for not converting away from Christianity, converting to the religion, or--less often told in narratives--putting themselves into direct harm's way for their fellow Christians through housing them or helping them escape from authorities or even leading banned services. We see that Baelor eschews the Andal notion of masculinity (facing your enemies with a sword and intention to violently push off and kill) in his self-subordination rituals of the walk, his attempts to abase and put himself in danger for the sake of his uncle, and his later fasting to death as if he made sin (but really expressing his ability to inflict on himself his own determined punishment). Because part of sainthood and the martyr's bravery is to submit yourself totally to God's will and mercy while you "advocate" for his rule on Earth, which decidedly crosses over with the Andal idea of femininity.

All may explain why Baelor was so adamant about locking his sisters up for, what he planned, for the entirety of their lives not shortly after he became king (besides the info in the linked Twitter post by former brideoffires). It's already been noted and discussed how dragons and female Targs are narratively and phenomenonologically linked together. In the Faith and maesters'/Citadel's perspective, dragons by themselves were anathema by being "impossible" creatures of fire that most people cannot dominate. And since Targ women can and have bonded/claimed dragons and their Valyrian heritage was less restrictive against female authority and autonomy (Alysanne, Rhaenys, Rhaenyra, and Visenya), the Targs just were too seen as "Other" and always have been, will continue to be so. Both Valyrian and Andal/FM lords drew their house identity from patrilineality and patriarchal customs, but out of the Andals and the Vlayrinas (who also had women go out to those conquered Essosi outposts to rule in the name of Old Valyria), which had women actually practice leadership and real autonomy? The Faith and the Targs have always had contention over the supremacy of Westerosi society after the Conquest, enough that there is a running theory that they and maesters are responsible for several mysterious tragedies the Targs suffered (multiple miscarriages for certain periods, Syrax going off, the Shepherd, etc.). There are multiple instances of Targ women's autonomy being linked to the decline of Targ power and political integrity, and the consequences of its suppression:

the last female Targ's death and personal loss spelling the end of dragons

(but) the last dragon rider before Daenerys was Rhaena, Daemon and Laena's child, bc she independently successfully hatched Morning and got to bond/ride with her

Daenerys Stormborn reviving dragons towards her own rise, it is pretty clear that

Daena is described as a typical "dragon" out of all her siblings except Daeron maybe and retaining pride from Daemon (even if not her own father Aegon) to her son Daemon -- her daring to have a bastard in her own way of claiming back some of her autonomy --> from that event of her imprisonment, she births a "superstar" player in the next Targ conflict and probably instills in him his right to a place in the Targ lineage despite his bastardry

Queen Dowager Rhaena giving her siblings Alysanne and Jaehaerys their dragons (by legend) out of sisterly love and her dragon Dreamfyre being the one who probably birthed Dany's dragons / her conflict with her daughter

Aerea, who claimed Balerion and found both freedom and danger with him after her great uncle/new stepfather held her and her mother hostage -> leads to her mother's trauma and bad handling \/emotional imprisonment of her, thus her flight on Balerion -> against

Saera trying to get a dragon to run away from the imprisonment and abuse Jaehaerys put her in after her sex debacle -> making the first of two rifts b/t the Golden Couple (Alysanne & Jaehaerys)

Alysanne, while faithful to the Seven, also has a dragon and supplies most of the most well-known policies protecting women and a few protecting KL infrastructure with the help of Septon Barth's support (right of the first night, the Gift, improved North-Targ relations, KL's sewage and water system; unfortunately, no girls in the Citadel, but again that theory...)

Visenya and Rhaenys have their own dragons and not only participate in warfare but out of warfare making laws in the absence of their brother and thus making several laws and an institution for the better of Westeros and the beginning of the entire dynasty: the Kingsuard, the rule of thumb and the rule of seven, Rhaenys' masterful manipulation of the court, and Visenya's conquest of the Eyerie // Visenya's instrumental role in making Maegor king and supporting his reign and her better advice to Aenys before then, before Aenys allowed Targ-Faith relations to worsen so bad open rebellions came and Maegor's firmer hand was needed

Anyway, thematically, Targ dragons and Targ prosperity need its women free and competent, which cannot come from patriarchal oppression of women's bodily autonomy and authority. Thematically, Baelor proved to be the antithesis of the conventional image of Targness to better and fulfill that long and steady attempt at full Targ-Andal assimilation I talk about HERE. Part of Andal masculinity itself is to have and show control over female sexual partners, which translated into having control over who they marry and have children with (competition or allies). By isolating and reserving his sisters' bodies away from his physical presence but just close enough where they are still more limited and controllable, he assures the less chance of his own temptations for their bodies (as traditions of incest would and could encourage genuine attraction but again, he himself obviously was just attracted to them all or thought that he'd become so...it's not as if he couldn't have self-control), debilitates their access to accruing power amongst the court for themselves, and outwardly expresses his devotion to Faith anti-sibling marriages (he canceled his betrothal to Daena).

Therefore, it is a means of self-repression as well as his way of reassuring his masculinity, focusing on the aspect of being obedient to the religion above all and acting as a "godly" king who may "protect" the gods' dominion on Earth. That displays his generosity-openhandedness-ability to provide sustenance (another expected kingly trait) for the smallfolk: "he emptied the treasury regularly to fund his charitable acts, including the year when he donated a loaf of bread daily to every man and woman in the city" (AWoIaF; The Targaryen Kings -- Baelor I). However he also eventually took septon's vows after cancelling his betrothal and thus prevented himself from producing any direct heirs completely--which is another knock against his claim to conventional masculinity as well as his kingship.

Ironically, because he put away his sisters in a very accessible way, Baelor basically created/encouraged his own temptations and thus his continued devolution into worse and worse zealous narcissism that stuck him in various self-contradictory phases that only a scandal or another internal act of rebellion--Daena's escape and her sex with their cousin Aegon--could change immediately. He even tried to use tax exemptions to encourage others to prevent their daughters from "losing their 'sacred' virginities" in marriage with chastity belts. And the zealous narcissism grew worse in some way like Cersei's narcissist preoccupancy with gaining destructive power over men to become like a man.

He was not actually acting self-sacrificing for the sake of Dorne's real well-regard but for the sake of fulfilling his role as the gods' king, using Andal principles of martyrdom. He was fueled by his own performance of martyrdom, but maybe like Cersei, never really got complete satisfaction both because his arduous emotions cyclically kept getting in his own way and he could not seem to accept that he could never quite be the perfect Faith-Andal king, which I think breeds his own need to prove his uniqueness amongst his family.

[horizon-verizon]

What do you think of having made Helaena a dreamer in the series? I personally have mixed feelings about this, but one thing is for sure, giving him autistic traits was a mistake.

*EDITED POST* (3/19/24)

Disclaimer: I really don't know anything about neurodivergence or autism.

Here is one earlier post that I wrote about an issue with Helaena’s new characterization.

I used to think that it was nice to see some neurodivergent representation and that she got to be a little more than just the “plump” “fine mother” Gyldayn describes her. But it’s just that: “little”.

Now:

A) Dragon dreams are...dreams. Not visions you have while fully awake. So...

B) I think that it Helaena’s characterization suffers from the reliance on her neurodivergence. Neurodivergence does not equal personality. We don’t know her other than one small scene of her unintentionally(?) calling Aegon out, that she liked to play with bugs in her youth, and that she doesn’t like her own mother. These aren’t personality traits they are conviences for the greens’ image.

And the prophecies she speaks does nothing but tell us what we--the book readers--already know will happen, except for Rhaenys, but that was a scene that also never should have happened. We’re supposed to be wowed by how she is like Cassandra--the prophet who no one believes after cursed by Apollo for not sleeping with him or otherwise disobeying him. At least Cassandra is trying and much more active in her story, using her visions to try to stop catastrophe even though she knows or we may make the argument she already knew and thus this is where the Greek tale's futility comes from. HotD is not using this kind of futility but it is expressing a futility while keeping Helaena a passive victim.

But using the futility of Cassandra’s story element to express how “futile” and “tragic” the Dance was diminishes human choice more than i needs to--how Alicent decides to go after Rhaenyra and tries to get Aegon on the throne for power. Diminishes the activeness of human decision specifically for the people already having lost their ambition in the adaptation from the original story to the show:

Alicent is a such younger sexual abuse victim (after years of fans having said that there was too much sexual abuse or violence esp against women in GoT) who apparently can't really reason as she would have in the book version and is more vulnerable to her father's machinations rather than her being a go getter herself

Rhaenyra's muster has also been greatly diminished

even Aemond's whitewashed and made less active by his killing Luke made into an "accident").

Then there is what another writers says about how we know what will happen to her. The show gives us the only neuro-divergent character and we know she’ll lose her son to Blood and Cheese, of which she obviously blamed herself for, driving her into a mad grief. That she will die a horrid, “suspicious” death. Her suffering will be used to generate more sympathy for the greens, while diminishing and ignoring that Daemon only uses B&C for what Aemond did to Lucerys. (Again, eye-for-an-eye is not moral or justifiable. I’ have said over and over that it is rather Aemond and Alicent’s fault for targeting Rhaenyra.) The show till then inadvertently act like the biased Maester Gyldayn, who also just refers to Helaena's death; the writer ponders over how her death inspired rebellion against Rhaenyra and seems to lean towards Rhaenyra actually doing it, even though it brings up the missing Larys and the possibility that he spread the rumors to incite the peasants against Rhaenyra more than they would have otherwise.

This cheapens her, especially because we don’t really get to see her apart from her Alicent, her brothers, and her kids. Nor do we see her interact with Aemond or Aegon like the two eldest boys do in episodes 6-9.

Rhaenyra’s story was about how women in Westeros would be pushed further back into practically subservient positions, and Daenerys was meant to be a penetration into that element. Rhaenyra is the story of how a precedent against women in power came to be; Dany is when a women pushes back and begins to regain that power.

So Helaena doing nothing more than tell visions that don’t matter while she stays in her room with her children and tries to get her own mother to stop touching her and knowing that she’ll die a horrendous death after long grieving and torturing herself for her son’s death just so she becomes some sort of Martyr for green-stans makes for a more disheartening picture than I’d like.

Oh, and it doesn't really make sense for her to know what's going to happen to not just her siblings and parents but her CHILDREN and not go to Viserys, the most prophecy-focused person in her family as well as the most able to actually do something to turn things around.

Dragon dreams in ASoIaF are fixed but they do not say that a specific person WILL do this so much as someone must do this for that to happen...unless they're Dany, Daenys, Rhaegar, & Aegon I.