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okay i was asked to post this on tumblr since i posted a mini essay about it on twitter so here it is, i added some more examples and elaborated on my points that i couldn't over twitter.

so, when i first watched episode 207 i thought it was weird how religious rhaenyra was, until ryan condal mentioned the cult imagery. now i think instead of the show making her paranoid and neurotic in the final arc, they're going to make her more of a cult leader figure.

i think rather than leaning into her paranoia and the idea of a "hysterical paranoid mother" after she loses her sons, they're going to have her drink her own kool-aid more and more. it's interesting that this is what emma and ryan discuss in this scene with the dragonseeds in the inside the episode.

i think it's interesting that instead of the show positioning her like "a leader amongst the smallfolk," this episode positions her in a darker light, like someone who is manipulating the people there for her own goals. and when vermithor turns on the bastards, she doesn't let them run, the guards keep them barricaded in.

she is literally enraptured by the fire in these scenes. now that she knows it's possible for others to claim the dragons, she has been vindicated and wants more. this is not a merciful queen who is reaching out a hand to the smallfolk, she's throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks. after all, these are just smallfolk. bastards with no honor. ryan literally describes the scene as a ritual sacrifice.

and who do you conduct sacrifice for? the gods. but in this case, the gods the seven or the old gods, they aren't even just dragons, but the fact that rhaenyra sees herself in the dragons. she says as much in the literal pilot of the episode when viserys asks her what she sees when she looks at the dragons. she understands the power they wield.

she knows that their power lies in the dragons. but she doesn't reflect viserys' belief that they are a power that man never shouldn't have trifled with. she leans into the chaos and fire and blood of the dragons, we see that in the sowing, clearly.

rhaenyra inherited the worst of both viserys and daemon and that will lead to her madness. she's got viserys' strong belief in prophecy (one now exacerbated by her desperation).

we see that faith in the prophecy falter but never truly fade. rhaenyra has always taken is seriously, to the point that everything she's done this season is in response to the prophecy. her pacifism isn't just due to avoiding bloodshed. she makes it clear to jace that before plunging the realm into war she had to know there was no other option because of the burden of the prophecy.

even though daemon has never believed in prophecy or superstition. she's also got daemon's desire and lust for power and strength (something she confessed wanting specifically because daemon is a man when she was speaking to mysaria).

it's a great deconstruction of the chosen one archetype to have her drink this koolaid and believe herself the chosen one only to have that belief corrupt her. emma d'arcy speaks on this in their interview with gq when discussing rhaenyra's growing fanaticism.

I think something that has been happening for Rhaenyra throughout the series is a growing religious fanaticism. After her father’s death, there is this desire to be connected to him in some way. And losing him happens at the same moment as having her throne usurped. And so that thing that would have been such a direct connection to him is also stolen. So in lieu of that, there’s that searching [through] the histories. I think imagining that at some point her name will feature next to her father’s is in some way comforting, and I find it very moving to see a person who in grief has committed themselves to the history books. As the series goes on, I think we see her more and more invested in her faith. She returns to the old gods. I think all of these actions are in search of her right; the thing that she thought she had received from her father, she is looking for evidence again and again. And part of it, I’m sure, is a choice. I think sometimes in times of loss, we can choose the anchors that we are going to cling to, and her faith becomes one. But I think there’s a narcissism in it. I think her connection with her religion is about wanting to reinforce a divine right. And I think, looking at [episode] seven when this miracle takes place, and this man claims Seasmoke, I think she feels that it’s a gift from the gods. I think it’s what allows her to ride roughshod over Jace’s very legitimate concerns about his own status. I think it’s what allows her to stage a massacre, essentially. She feels that she is riding on the wings of her faith. But her faith, and her belief that she is the ruler that is supposed to sit on that throne, are completely enmeshed.

They continue:

What is going through Rhaenyra’s mind as she watches the Targaryen bastards be devoured and torched alive? I think she feels like a god. I think she feels super proud. I mean, I think it’s uncomfortable. I think there’s something, actually, also that ties into the religiosity — even being back in proximity to dragons, to that fire, is to somehow be living her birthright. To be soaking up the divine, somehow. And do you think that she feels as though the decision to essentially stage a massacre, as you say, is vindicated when the two new bastard dragonriders are found? Totally. Without a shadow of a doubt. I mean, it’s horrendous, but I think she is now this sort of emboldened fanatic, [and] I think she’s experiencing events within a far bigger timeline. She’s imagining the history books. And you know, what’s happening right in front of her is awful. But in 300-400 years, what will be documented is possibly a very short war; a huge civil war that was averted, that this was the first ruling queen, that this ruling Targaryen queen expanded the Targaryen’s ability to have dragons within their armoury.

emma's read on this supports what we see on screen when it comes to rhaenyra's newly found zealousness. the religious aspect could lead her to do things that might have been seen as atrocities by her. it could lead to mysaria abandoning her, her riders turning on her, and we would see more of that targ madness.

gods are mentioned several times in 207. first by addam, who says that the gods are calling him to greater things. rhaenyra has never been the extremely religious sort but, in this scene, she looks like she's had a moment of clarity.

importantly, rhaenyra doesn't know who addam's father is, or hugh's or ulf's. this is simply the first time in history that a non-targaryen (at least in her eyes) has claimed dragons. it's something that she believed impossible. it can feel like destiny to the desperate and she's been extremely desperate after losing daemon, rhaenys, and continuous loss after loss with no hope of recourse.

mysaria says that rhaenyra is lucky addam chose to bend the knee to her rather than himself. and her reply is that it is ordained. this religious vocabulary being used is intentional!

her complaint against the lowborn is that there is an ancient fealty from highborn houses. she essentially implies that bastards do not have honor. mysaria corrects her by pointing out that her legitimate half-brothers aegon and aemond aren't exactly delights, but that doesn't make rhaenyra see the light. instead she recognizes that there's fealty to be had from lowborn people too. the order of things have changed, as mysaria says, so she realizes that she can lift up people who have been historically stepped on and give power to the powerless, calling them her army of bastards.

but when jace calls this out, predicting that someone (perhaps hugh?) could lay claim to her throne if she legitimizes these bastards if not by name then by offering them the power of gods. obviously, jace's concern is real, his entire legitimacy lies on both viserys' past support and also the fact that he has a dragon of his own. if any bastard can claim one, what does that make him? but rhaenyra's response isn't logical. she believes that the throne is part of her and her son's destiny. their right.

for years, on some level, rhaenyra has believed that even though people have insulted her sons, they are full-blooded targaryens. she says herself that if she was a man she could father a dozen bastards, and as heir, she gives birth to three without hesitation. these aren't strongs or velaryons to her, her sons are targaryens.

but even when jace essentially begs his mother not to give commoners dragons, bringing up her past sins and pointing out his own struggle knowing that he's harwin strong's son, her response is somewhat cold. she says now that the gods have laid this in front of her and she has no choice.

the dragonkeepers call what she's doing blasphemy and note that it isn't the gods who brought the dragonseeds to her, but she herself has done that.

Dragonkeeper Elder: This is an abomination. You sent an Andal before a dragon. The judgment was delivered. Now you would send more. Rhaenyra: Ser Steffon Darklyn was the blood of the dragon. Dragonkeeper Elder: It was a blasphemy. He was no dragonlord. Neither are these. Rhaenyra: And yet the gods have set them before us. Dragonkeeper Elder: You have set them before yourself! The dragons are sacred; they are the last magic of Old Valyria in this sad world. They are not pieces on a board for the games of men. Our order will take no part in this.

to the dragonkeepers, she's using these bastards and dragons like chess pieces in her war. but to rhaenyra, who has seen addam claim seasmoke, it seems like this is a divine right — a sign from the gods. and that's proven again when hugh claims vermithor.

addam claiming seasmoke changed everything for her. she talks about claiming a dragon as a transformation, and, in many ways, this claiming has transformed her as well. she tells the dragonseeds that their purpose now is the end the hardships of war.

she paints a lovely image promising them peace at the end, but it is a wholly false image. with vermithor and silverwing now in her arsenal, there will be more suffering, more bloodshed. there are no promises of peace now that the war has been given to the dragons, not until everyone is dead. and if that happens, well, the gods willed it, not her.

in this moment, when she says "may the gods bless you" i have to wonder, is she talking about the seven? or the valyrian gods? or the dragons? i don't think she's fully in deep, but i can see the set up for a much darker storyline for rhaenyra rather than the book plot. every time her beliefs are proven or something impossible happens, that could reinforce her zealousness.

i have always said that rhaenyra is a combination of viserys and daemon, and i think that still. i think that she has both of their madnesses within her. as she loses more, the only thing she'll have to hold onto is that prophecy and the divine right she believes in now.

even this scene from the finale promo has over-the-top messiah, chosen apostles, last supper vibes. her saying "i have entrusted you with a power only few have known" as if she wasn't desperate for them and had no say in who the dragons chose. i love it!

honestly i'm totally here for it, i think it's an exciting direction to take. i don't think rhaenyra was always like this, she might have had the proclivity for it growing up under viserys' wing, but it's the war that's pushed her to this point. desperate people will turn to things like faith in order to guide them when the real world disappoints. i think it's a far more nuanced look at a sort of "madness".

and i'm here for the conflict that will happen with daemon as a result. i think daemon will be in direct opposition to this. he's NOT the type to follow cult leaders. this will be their conflict on top of the existing power struggles. this, to me, is far more interesting of a struggle as opposed to nettles causing romantic tension. this show has a tendency to lean away from harmful stereotypes about women. pitting woman against woman is one of them, as is the hysterical woman.

daemon dying for her could be a form of devotion, or perhaps even a command from a delusional rhaenyra who believes he will survive it. daemon could end up drinking the kool-aid too after the devastations of the war or simply realize that this is the last thing he can offer to someone who is too far gone to be saved.

THIS IS THE FIRE I WANT FOR RHAENYRA. this is the mad queen setup that we could have had! targ exceptionalism and completely going off the deep end as a way of coping with an unwinnable conflict. without viserys, without rhaenys, no one is there to temper the fire within her.

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and then, the madness, the frenzy, the boiling blood and the smoking brow

nothing by drenge • hannibal (coquilles) 2014 • discipline, resistance, solace and the body by christine gervais and amanda watson • the flagellation of christ by ludovico carracci • psalm 129: 3-4 • the passion of the christ (2004) • wrath of god: religious primes and punishment by ryan mckay, charles efferson, harvey whitehouse and ernst fehr • ixion thrown into hades by jules ellie delaunay

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She could admit it was perhaps overindulgent but she also could not find it in herself to apologize or feel bad for it. She loved her sons dearly and loved the opportunity to celebrate them, she hoped as well, that the celebration for Joffery's name day would be an opportunity to maybe bridge some of the distance between she and her siblings. It was likely not a good start to that endevour that she had to strong arm Alicent into bringing them but it couldn't be helped.

She hoped that the presence of Princess Amelia would help soothe things. Rhaenyra might be a contentious figure but their visitor was not. The children were already playing or making quick work of the treats, it made her happy to see things alive with laughter from so many children. Her own childhood had not been so full. She took the opportunity to speak to her adult guest. "Thank you so much for coming, it truly means so much."

@wornkindness asked for a celebratory starter .

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Helaena ( @edrurysz ) said ❛ death has left its mark once again. ❜

"So it has sweetling." and what horribly black ones they were. Lord Strong had been a truly good man and Ser Harwin her fiercest protector, to lose Laena who had been as true a sister to her as any in the same brief span was devastating. She felt sick with it. Everything reminded her of losing her mother. Added to the graveyard growing in her heart. She wished she could stop it's spread now before it touched anything else she held dear.

Helaena and she were not very close — Alicent worked tirelessly to keep her from spending any meaningful time with siblings — but she was glad to see her now and speak to her. To see her hale and alive, pink cheeked and growing. She had wanted a sister growing up, now she had one and they were so far apart in age she scarcely knew how to treat her sometimes. She was only a few years older than Rhaenyra's own children, how did one be a sister when you only knew how to mother? She supposed she could try once more here. Alicent couldn't stop her from spending time with her, not at a funeral of all places. Her mantle of decency wouldn't allow it.

"Would you mind if I sit with you? I find myself in need of good company."

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“How dared you give my soul a skin, a face, a voice and let it set your tongue ablaze and let it scald your belly and let it burn your nights and let it taint me.”

— Pauline Albanese, The Lost Arrows (via mythaelogy)

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THE BELLS S08E05 Dir. Miguel Sapochnik

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Silent Hill (1999) | Platform: PlayStation

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Iraestra ( @silksworn ) said " the laws of men mean little to me "

She tries to not egg her on or show her amusement — those laws she mocks will one day be the ones Rhaenyra must uphold — but she cannot stop her crooked smile or raised brow. She supposes this is also good time to gauge her cousin. Daemon had told her much more about Iraestra than Rhaenyra had known during her brief time at court and she knew the older woman to be duplicitous and self-serving. She just wondered what that meant for them now.

"And if those laws were suddenly now that of a queendom would their value raise in your estimation?"

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The proof is here for all to see.

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updated my rules/directory page! it's not perfect but i added the content warning i use on aemond and aenaella's rules bc i realized how old and specific on the elryses the old one was which no longer makes sense. also i didn't have my newer blogs linked etc etc.

it's all basically the same + that content/dead dove warning and some added links

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Her smile falters her heart pained by his words. Jace has become so different, he has become someone she fears she understands less and less everyday. It is, she supposes, one of the many costs of war. There was no way he could pass through this conflagration unscathed, not with so much death and loss living inside their very home. Their bodies. Still she mourns her sweet boy, her first. The very first thing that had ever been truly and wholly hers. Blood of her Blood and Flesh of her Flesh, with none of her looks and yet every inch of him so obviously Targaryen. She loves his dark curls, how striking he looks. She'd never thought her children with Laenor would take after Rhaenys of all people but she had taken it for a good omen, she was well loved and strong. Perhaps it still would be for him.

She hopes her hurt does not show on her face. She knows her boy did not mean anything cruel by it. He is a man now and simply trying to be adult. Her boys had always been so dear that there had been little rebuke of her affections. She has no more boys with black curls, the thought of it shorn, or worse, no longer being able to tend to it or touch it lovingly had her near tears.

"Why would you do that? You're hair is so beautiful."

❰❰ HAIR ❱❱ sender pushes receiver’s hair away from their face | from his mother / @unk1ng sent a MEME

He had never considered a moment when he might have distrusted his mother. As a child, he had always held steadfastly to his belief in Rhaenrya Targaryen, his mother, who had done nothing to cause him to question her until recently. The war had changed all of them, but the pair of them especially, and their relationship. No longer could he blindly trust her judgment, not when she was so adamantly determined that her actions were divinely prompted.

Even now, when he had so recently nearly lost his own life, and she was offering him a moment of a comfort, her hands brushing his hair back from his face, an oft familiar gesture that would have made him feel precious as a child, he is torn. Torn between the feelings of a boy, who has lost two of his brothers and sister, wanting the comfort of his mother, and a man near grown, knowing that her actions were unjustified, maniacal at times, and he cannot bring himself to think she is right.

They had taken King's Landing, the capital theirs, the usurper in hiding and his prince-regent having ran to the Riverlands, where Daemon might await him, if he had not already come to Rhaenyra's side. Jacaerys stood by his mother's side when she sat the Iron Throne, listened to her at council, and even today, her smile so familiar and comforting, his chest squeezed in discomfort. "Once the war is truly over, I might have to cut my hair, so you no longer have the ability to do this." The words are said with a smile, and he can only hope it reaches his eyes ('your face is an open book' words that reverberate from over the years).

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HOUSE OF THE DRAGON (2022—) Rhaenyra Targaryen + Season 2 Hair Appreciation

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I AM NOT YOUR FINAL GIRL, p2          .    .    .

[  *  ]      writing prompt      )         :       below, you will find a series of various prompts from claire c. holland's, i am not your final girl. these can also be altered as seen fit to better suit the characters in question. content warning: the following prompts may not be suitable for everyone as they contain references to violence, sex, blood, death, and murder.

"some women never adapt to walls that close in like grabbing hands." "it always begins with the good intentions of men." "like a leash, bringing me back to you by inches." "I have not learned how to be obedient." "I only hurt myself as much as you." "I am God and Punisher, Mary full of rage." "I can't exist in a way that comforts you." "it tugs at my ribs and yanks at a place where I keep my grief, hidden and warm above my belly." "you are callous, but I would not change you." "I want to hurt you. I want to offend." "if you follow into the thicket, don't forget to take up the ax." "tell me why I should mythologize this." "if we were able to evolve as we wished, women would all have wings." "you're in here with me." "they are harder to set apart than you know." "slip into my skin, hug it close to your bones." "you'll want to carry a weapon." "it's not the devil you need to worry about, but the devil you know." "your empathy. it's that sad, fragile, beautiful thing that will ruin you." "I know your thoughts." "together, we will remake the fragmented world." "don't you want to come with me?" "it's exhausting, all this." "I thought you liked loaded weapons." "you won't be right every time." "for once, I'll remake the world in my image." "I know you'll laugh, and it will feel like a slap to my jaw." "I will use all this against you, and you will not see it coming." "I am the person who goes back into the house because I cannot stand waiting on the lawn." "pick up this steel rod, clench it in both fists. " "I can't be preserved in this expectant state." "it is shocking, how easy it is to become the force that infiltrates, that brings the sad building plunging into ash. to join a lick of flame with air." "flesh on fire smells like something disoriented, a creature running blind." "this is the wake for all things lost." "there is no ending for me here." "you don't know it yet, but your world is shattered. " "are all of us daughters doomed to become our mothers?" "I'd rather arm myself in blood than be a pretty statue to stare at." "they don't like something that slips through their fingers like water." "hands can make cradles around bodies or throats." "a wound needs pressure to stop its overflowing." "so maybe this is how the world ends. not with a bang or a whimper, but with revolution. the promise of something new." "if I lay my hands on you, will you falter? dissolve beneath my palms and leave me gasping bare?" "grief is a wild dog snapping jaws alongside my neck." "if this is too savage and beautiful to bear, I'm sorry."

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` * 𝖘𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖓𝖈𝖊 𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖙𝖊𝖗 : THE BAND GHOST pt. 3

PREQUELLE.

* this wretched mischief is now coursing through your souls. * never to let go. * you let them in. * suffer punishments beneath the wrath of god. * there's nothing you can do. * they're still coming after you. * the accuser sends the bill. * i am all eyes. * i am all ears. * because faith is mine. * many a sin i have witnessed. * none could compare to you. * drink me, eat me. * every day that you feed me with hate, i grow stronger. * if i could turn back the time... * i'd make all righjt. * how can it end like this? * there's a sting in the way you kiss me. * something within your eyes said it could be the last time. * i wanna bewitch you all night. * it keeps on giving me chills. * i feel the closer we get. * do not forget your knives. * don't you forget about dying. * don't you forget about your friend death. * don't you forget that you will die. * you would never want me to appear. * you never want this to be over. * you never want it to reach out to the edge of time. * someone's flesh is rotting tonight. * still, your soul will suffer this plight. * can you hear me say your name forever? * can you see me longing for you forever? * would you let me touch your soul forever? * i know the light grows darker down below. * we dance once more, i feel your hands are cold. * you strike my side by accident. * your laws do not compel me. * i, myself, am the pedestal. * you must learn what makes me kind. * i have begun to long for you. * you say you've gone away from me. * do not dress in those rags for me. * i know you are not poor. * it is your turn, beloved.

IMPERA

* our brotherhood of good faith. * it's the sound of another deadline. * you tried to rid your mind. * i know you need it now to make you feel alive. * it ain't over now. * i ain't talking about forgiveness. * you try to mask it. * i can save you if you do. * you will never walk alone. * you can always reach me. * call me when you feel all alone. * it's been a long time coming. * i'm coming back for you, my friend. * now it's time for me to strike again. * i'm dying to see you, my friend. * you're the next in the chain of command. * i'm with you always. * remember always that love is all you need. * tell me who you wanna be. * there's a darkness at the heart of my love. * suffering for the lord is not an easy thing. * i won't back down. * are you righteous? * you want a seat at the pyre? * you shine like the sun and the moon and the stars in the sky. * did no one hear the distant thunder? * we will break away together. * i'll be the shadow, you'll be the light. * we will go softly into the night.

PHANTOMIME & MORE

* i want a nice little boat made out of ocean. * i get your point, you're so sharp. * i'll get you everything you wanted. * i'll get you everything you need. * just believe in me. * do you believe in god? * just do as i say and not as i do. * so what do we do with our lives? * is it all or nothing? * luckily he wants to do you too. * it ain't always what it seems. * you know that it takes two. * i never let you go. * if you choose to run away with me ... * i will tickle you internally. * and i see nothing wrong with that. * the good ones get shot. * won't you hear me out? * i will hold you close for the minute. * when push comes to shove, we don't have to be enemies. * we don't have to be enemies. * the future is a foreign land. * let us pray for more. * we could grow old together. * we could love one another.

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There is a cool knowing that runs through her. a pound of flesh is still needed for his eye. His poor eye. She will admit privately she handled it poorly, when the heat of the conflict left her she knew she had erred, tried to salvage what she could to save face, protect her position. But the window had closed. And beyond that she was a mother, the thought a poor boy maimed for life pained her. She could not help it. But it was done and there was nothing to be done for it. Clearly not so in his eyes. She couldn't say she was surprised. Alicent had bile where mother's milk should be, all her children were weaned on bitterness.

To hold power meant negotiation and at times, prices and sacrifices. The house of dragons was unwell, poisoned by the rats that gnawed at them desperate for scraps of their majesty. His grandfather was the worst of them, the viper that created all this horror. The gods have given their house a special, sacred duty, to rule and to be above all others. If they tear themselves apart all is lost, no crown to wear and not kingdom to rule under it. Her thumb strokes leather then gently works the patch away. To see the consequences of Luke's actions, of her own. To face the eye of true judgement. Luke had paid his price, it seemed she was due to give hers.

He is beautiful, somehow the damage had not taken away but enhanced. She rests her palm on his cheek and does not look away. A true Targaryen, as if his blood wasn't polluted by Hightower filth. Truly he had been purged, scoured into the steel underneath by the bond.

"What will soothe you brother? What can I give to help repair the shattered foundation? An eye?"

A snake looking to vine him, his elfin half-sister, motherly in her entitlement as if arrived at a vein of her choice on him to drink from.

And her damage?

Aemond eyes her tied waist and splits a path to her womb, where its seed began. All of his wrongs and all of his black euphoria are native to it. The Seven’s monster maker for whom merely Balerion would have been answer enough. A base Targaryen need of Aemond’s has gone denied among others—to see about whether he fits in her still.

With the hand that reached for Luke’s splashing bone, he takes Rhaenyra’s milk-white skin, his hard thumb to her palmheart as smooth as any inner thigh. Together they cup over his eye covering: a fruit in the ripe to be destemmed.

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