Couldn't have said it better
Sorry people this is gonna be a long post, but I needed to vent.
A lot of people in the HOTD fandom are so quick to say that everything Alicent does "against" Rhaenyra is because she's judging her for not following the "rules" of the patriarchy, but imo the anger and conflict between them is way more personal than that. After Alicent is chosen by Viserys as his new wife, Rhaenyra, showing all of her immaturity (understandable, she's so young) feels betrayed by Alicent and starts treating her poorly. Of course Alicent in turn feels betrayed by her closest friend cause Rhaenyra abandoned her when she needed her the most. She was too sheltered and comfortable in her privilege to realize that other women cannot simply say no, Alicent was considered her father's property and then her husband's to do with as they pleased. She is continuously raped by a man she did not choose to marry, forced to carry child after child and on top of that she is refused the only comfort she had, her only friend. She never had the luxury of choice, but Rhaenyra in her naivety, still punished her for it. Alicent tried to hang on, still caring about Rhaenyra and still trying to reconcile with her and being constantly denied and judged by her.
Then, the moment Rhaenyra did something that would surely put her in trouble, she lied to Alicent's face. Alicent believed her and defended her with the king, insisting that Daemon must have lied, that her father must have been misinformed. Viserys knew this to be false, he knew Rhaenyra had lied, but still she was not punished for it. Instead Alicent is indirectly punished again, losing her only ally (Otto is a vile person, but still for Alicent he was the only piece of home, of familiarity she had) because of Rhaenyra. Naturally when she learned that Rhaenyra had lied to her, it was another huge blow to Alicent's heart, because trusting Rhaenyra has literally cost her the only bit of protection she felt that she had left. It's only natural at this point, that Otto's claims about Rheanyra's character began to take root in Alicent's mind. Rhaenyra proved that she could not be trusted and Alicent wasn't about to put her children's lives in the hands of someone who had betrayed her so. She realized that no one would protect her, not Viserys, not Rhaenyra, so she must do it herself.
From then on things were bound to go downhill cause Alicent began resenting Rhaenyra as she still remained oblivious to her privilege and she benefited from it again and again, perhaps even using her father's affection for her to her advantage. And Rhaenyra (understandably) grew tired of Alicent's treatment of her.
In light of that, what happened with Aemond inevitably had a massive impact on their situation, especially on Alicent, whose faith in Rhaenyra was already broken. Her son lost an eye (taken by one of Rhaenyra's kids). Rhaenyra refused to even acknowledge the magnitude of this offence, so quick to defend her kids (and their birthright), who would never do anything wrong and were simply defending themselves (despite there being 4 of them against Aemond) And even in such a dramatic circumstance, all Viserys cares about is protecting Rhaenyra from what essentially is, the truth.
So in my opinion Alicent is not only saying "it's not fair" because Rhaenyra constantly did things that were not "proper" and was never punished for it, what she's saying is more along the lines of "Rhaenyra abandoned me, betrayed me, punished me, hurt me, my son and others to fulfil her selfish goals and nobody ever punished her for it or even had the decency to admit that she might have been wrong".
Alicent is not questioning Rhaenyra's claim to the throne because she's a woman, she's questioning her integrity and wether or not she's trustworthy, she's doing it to protect herself and her children, who she feels could never be truly safe as long as Rhaenyra rules with Daemon by her side.
And feelings like these cannot be simply dismissed, not even with an apology, one must really work on rebuilding trust in each other in order to fix years of betrayal and mutual hurt and resentment, and sadly they just didn't get enough time to do it.
Yes lmao I just remembered the Tyrion one is from Got ahahah
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“The Blacks won because it’s Rhaenyra’s bloodline that continues on.”
Ok, first of all, Aegon II made Aegon III his heir. Rhaenyra was dragon chow by then. Rhaenyra wanted the iron throne more than anything else, and she only held power for 6 months before the small folk had enough of her bullshit. Six months. She managed to rule for half a year before she was overthrown, not by a usurper, but by her own people. Clearly, not a good ruler if you can’t even make it a year without getting chased out of your castle.
Second, Rhaenyra’s bloodline managed to fumble the ball two feet from the finish line. It started with Aegon the Unworthy and it ended with the mad king being overthrown just before the long night. Just one more generation was all they needed to last, and they fucked everything up so bad it put the entire world of men at risk. That… that takes skill. You have to actively TRY to fuck up that much.
After the conquest, there was noted to be one “good” king, and that was Jaehaerys. Between conquest and dance, Jaehaerys was noted as being a good, wise king. Aenys managed to have a mob trap his oldest two children in a distant castle right before he died. Then Maegor stepped in. He may have been decent if it weren’t for the brain damage. Most of the things he did before the battle on the hill were either rumors or just not that bad. He was also very against Kinslaying. Imo, one of the worst things he did was punish everyone involved in the Kinslaying in The Eyrie. Seems kind of strange he would dole out such a harsh punishment only to then kill his nephew in a very one sided dragon battle. That was the first thing he did after he woke up, though. Considering he had such a drastic change in personality, we can’t say how his rule would have been otherwise.
After Maegor’s death, Jaehaerys steps in. You know what made him a good, worthy king? Not the fact that he was a male, or could fight, or held the bloodline, or even that he rode the bronze fury. It was because he listened to the council of his queen. Alysanne was the real MVP of his reign. She did more for women’s rights than any other queen. She listened to her people. That is the mark of a good ruler. Walk softly, but carry a big stick. Know when to speak and when to listen.
People who know they have power and control don’t need to constantly remind others. They know. It’s not necessary to maim or murder people for speaking the truth, yet Viserys and Rhaenyra do just that.
When Saera majorly fucked up, they handled it. Not the way Alysanne wanted, by the way. She was sent to apprentice with the Silent Sisters just for sleeping with men while not married. Yet Rhaenyra can have 3 obvious bastards, insult the house with the largest naval force and prove to the entire kingdom that her words mean nothing, and Viserys still declares anyone who calls the strong boys bastards would lose their tongue.
Sorry, what? The Valaryons are one of the richest houses in the realm. They control most of the naval fleet. Maybe don’t make their son a cuckold?
“They had an open marriage!”
NO ONE ELSE KNOWS THAT. To the court and the small folk, Rhaenyra promised to be faithful to Laenor in front of the eyes of the gods, and she very obviously didn’t keep that vow. Why should they trust anything she says as Queen if she can’t even do something as simple as not birthing bastards? That’s what most people don’t realize in the bastard debate.
Whether you can prove it or not, the strong boys don’t look like either of their alleged parents. Like, at all. Even Aegon’s drunk ass could tell shit didn’t add up. Commoners are not going to be any different. They are going to know, and whether they can say it or not, it will still affect how they feel towards her. Can’t keep your marriage vows, why should I believe that you have my best interest at heart?
Because she doesn’t. She is a horrible ruler that lasted less than a year before the small folk rose up and drove her out. She feasted while they starved. It’s that self centered mentality that taints the bloodline and leads to The Unworthy.
Clearly no one learned about not having bastards, and this mofo decided to legitimize them on his death bed. Wasn’t going to be his problem, now was it? He died, someone else has to clean up his mess.
Hmm, not knowing how to clean up your own bastard mess, sounds familiar… oh, like Rhaenyra forcing her father to crawl from his death bed to make sure no one said mean (and true) things about her.
So I’m sorry, what were people saying about her being a good ruler? ‘Cause everywhere I look, I see another reason she should not have ascended the throne.
"healthy" doesn't always mean good in fiction. Eremika's unhealthiness is what makes the ship compelling and interesting. It's built into the core of the story. Also your "healthiest ship" requires ignoring that he emotionally manipulated her into keeping her mouth shut about his genocide plan and threatened to have her memories erased. Historia never expressed any interest in him that way. Men and women can in fact just be friends.
Ohh boy, you're bold anon, I have to hand it to ya.
Yes healthy doesn't always mean good, in fact it can actually lead to some very boring ships, but that is still a perfectly good thing to look for in a pairing.
In contrast unhealthy can be interesting, but mostly leads to abusive relationships that get glorified by the fandom in spite of their toxic nature, and in this aspect Eremika is no exception. These two are just awful for one another.
He headbutts her, call her names, tells her he hates her (I know he didn't mean it, but it wrecked her emotionally so my point stands) put her in a situation that could have gotten her killed, never confided in her regarding his plans etc...
She was an overbearing mama who constantly treated him like an incompetent child that couldn't do anything on his own.
What's compelling in a relationship with this dynamic:
"Eren eat your veggies!"
"Eren put on a coat, or you're gonna catch a cold!"
"Eren don't run you're gonna trip!"
Oh and don't get me started on this
She literally deluded herself for years into believing that everything he did was somehow tied back to her. Even Armin, Reiner and Berthold gave her the 🙄 look.
Also her entire character revolves around him and it makes her super boring and robotic. Even after he dies she spends her life worshipping his grave and dies with that gosh darned scarf on her neck. She only took it off once ( when she gave an ounce of development) before cruelly snatching it from the hands of a dying girl that was using it for comfort (something I'll never forgive her for).
She was originally meant to break away from him but alas, good writing died after 134.
Annd the story never revolved around them. Mikasa only became the protagonist in the last chapter out of fucking thin air and it looked soo forced. Lmao Hisu had more parallels with Ymir than Mikasa of all people.
The only time their relationship mattered was at the end of season 2, but after that we got nothing important.
Last thing on this dumpster fire of a ship... They're boring asf.
Like I know some unhealthy relationships that are toxic and all, but the characters have chemistry, and it can make up for the awful shit they can do to eachother. Eremika has no chemistry. I would rather watch paint dry than think about them romantically.
Regarding Erehisu... Have we read the same aot chapter? Or just the same conversation between Eren and Historia? Because I don't think so.
What? When did this ever happen? She chose to stay silent. Hell he didn't even need to tell her his plans, it was quite risky, since she could have snitched on him to the Mps and ruined everything.
He chose to confide in her cause he knew she wouldn't tell, cause she was the worst girl in the world who saved him, the girl who chose her selfishness over the world already, in that cave when she saved him, when she told him that she would always be his ally, that they were enemies of humanity.
She never wanted the future that she was destined to if she accepted the 50 year plan. She had accepted it for the greater good. Something selfless that only Christa could have done.
He knew that, and reminded her of who she really was. A selfish, normal girl like everyone else.
She was shocked by the genocide that awaited them if they followed Eren's plan but ultimately chose it over sacrificing herself and her future children. Totally in character, no manipulation involved lmao.
Nope. She was upset so he offered to lighten her burden by erasing her memories if she wanted to. It was a proposal made out of empathy for her shock. No threats, where did you see em?
Say what you want about her feelings for him, interpret them how you please, but you can't deny a connection from which feelings could blossom. This meme perfectly sums up my thoughts about this:
Yes men and women can be friends, I just don't see it this way for Erehisu. Actually I could tell you the same thing for Eremika. Better as siblings lol.
Being Alicent Hightower's granddaughter
Being created by Aegon II's sperm
Being autistic
Marrying the son of the woman her father killed in a political marriage
Not making her traumatized husband happy
Having "diluted" blood
Being named after misogynistic King Jaehaerys
I hate that man I hate him so much
Vaemond deserves so much better than to have his house stolen from him like this
He deserved to be heard not unhonorably executed
He was murdered and his Muderer got away with it
Daemon is fucking EVIL
He is not a protective hubby
He is not a great step-dad
He is a racist and a murderer
And he deserves to die like the bitch he is
BEHOLD KING AEGON SECOND OF HIS NAME 🗣️
KING OF THE ANDALS, THE RHOYNAR AND THE FIRST MEN 🗣️
LORD OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS 🗣️
AND PROTECTOR OF THE REALM 🗣️
Watching everyone somehow enjoy the ending while you sulk in the corner, cause you read the last chapter 2 years ago and have been hating it ever since:
Please can an artist draw Criston wearing the
"I'm not a step-dad I'm the dad who stepped up"
T-shirt cause that would literally make my day.
Mainly a Hotd blog but I also enjoy talking about Asoiaf and Aot. Book!Alicent and Criston slander is not permitted here. 19
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