Women Written By GRRM:

Season 1 from Alicent's POV:

You wake up one morning and your mother is dead. You are told to ask no questions. Your father didn't use to pay much attention to you, but now he calls you to Red Keep. Maybe you will be useful. The King has an only daughter after all, close to your age. You like it there, and you become friends with the King's daughter. But then, her mother dies. You are not allowed to relive the grief of losing your own mother or grieve with your friend, because suddenly, the Queen is dead, and that leaves up space for another. Your father says so. More importantly, the King's Hand instructs you so and tells you to be the King's friend. "But we don't have anything in common," you say, "He very well could have been my father," you think. No matter. "You should wear one of your mother's dresses." And you do. And you try hard not to say the wrong thing, but you don't know whom you should please and you're not allowed to be yourself. "What would Rhenyra think? What would father think? What would the King think? What would The Seven think? What does that mean for me?" you wonder. You are advised to not talk about what you are doing to anyone. Oh, and don't tell your best friend you are secretly meeting with her father. Let this poison your relationship. Your King tells you so.

It has now become known that the King wants a new wife. You pray you'd get out of this somehow, but you realize that he wants you. Now, what will you do? Well, your father would be pleased and proud for once. Viserys would make you his Queen. Maybe Rhaenyra will understand? Maybe this is what you want too? No, don't think about what you want. It doesn't matter anyway. The King has declared that he will marry you.

The wedding is on. You see Otto's eyes glowing with pride and his smile is beaming. Rhaenyra does not even look at you. It pains you so much and you want to tear up but the King is watching. The feast is over and your father calls you to his chambers. He tells you about your duties as the King's wife. "If your mother was alive, she would know how to best put this," he says, as he explains that you have to yield to Viserys' desires. Yes, he uses that very word. So you do that. You go to your husband when he calls you. He says he will try to be gentle with you, but you loathe his very touch. Somehow it feels so wrong; he is your friend's father, and he is twice your age. But he is the King. And you are a Queen now.

The days pass without Rhaenyra's friendship. When did you stop dreaming? When did you stop being a little girl? Why can't you roam the halls again, arms linked together? Oh. You suddenly find out why. You are pregnant. You are a big girl now. Your first thought is to tell your friend, go to Rhaenyra, and share the news with her. But she wouldn't like that. Then who can you tell? Who else do you have to share such big and important news with? Your father doesn't need to be told, he guesses right away and calls you to him. "You will have to be very careful now," he says. "Queen Aemma had lost six children." Somehow, everyone is suddenly more attentive. Not to you, but to your royal womb. You panic when it's time to give birth. Everything is so new and terrifying. Viserys is happy. It's a son! You send word to Rhaenyra, to meet her baby brother. "I hope that is alright?" you think. "It's not like my son will be heir to the throne. That's still Rhaenyra's."

Your father hits you with the stark reality, however. Your children are growing up in an uncertain future with Rhaenyra as heir, constantly vulnerable to the threat of war. You still try and support her, you trust her, and you encourage her father to find a suitable match for her. But she lies to you. Or does she? You can't be sure. She is serving you half-truths. Does she really think you are stupid and you will not find out that she is no longer a maiden? How can you trust her again after that? If she is lying to your face, then why wouldn't she threaten the lives of your children if need be? No, you need to act. Your father was right. It's you or her.

Ten years have passed and you can still see through Rhaenyra's lies. She still thinks you are a fool, doesn't she? Of course none of her children are Laenor's! Why can't nobody else see that? But you can. Because you used to be friends once. And as usual, she is getting what she wants without questions and she avoids all consequences, whereas you have to fight for all you have, alone. She will always have Viserys' support, and you will always have four heirs. It's not about you and Rhaenyra anymore, but about the survival of your family. Yet, you still want decency and honor to prevail, and you want to serve the realm above all.

At this vulnerable time when you need council the most, your informant over the years finds a way to cast his net over you. Did you really think he was being a genuine friend, and that he would not want anything in return? Now you could be implicated in two murders. How did you end up in this situation? Larys becomes another person to whose wishes you should comply.

Then the most tragic thing of all happens. Your son, Aemond, is maimed. He loses an eye. You have never felt more excruciating pain at the sight and a flaming rage toward those responsible. It was Lucaerys, Rhaenyra's son. He should apologize. She could show she's sorry and deeply saddened over what happened. But no, she manages to use the incident to position herself as the victim. "Is she for real now?" you think. "How can she be so heartless, so cold, so cruel? Doesn't she know what I have lost, all in her hands? Does she really have the nerve to pretend that she is offended by mere words, while MY SON LOST AN EYE? She really knows no limits, does she?" And you finally snap, and you hurt her. You have never done this before, and now you see her blood trickling. Goodness, it's really her blood you spilled!

How can things ever be right now that she has that visible proof? Yet, you still think she would make a great queen. That is, until Viserys tells you that "Aegon" should be King and that you must "unite the realm against the cold and the dark." You are the only one who can do it. Now what? Once again, you face a dilemma. Should you stand by Rheanyra as heir, or should you trust Viserys' dying words? Can you really trust that Rhaenyra will ensure the survival of your children, after all her lies? And what is really best for them, and for the whole realm? Before you even have time to think, your father and the Small Council tell you that the succession is settled and that Aegon is to be crowned King. Once again, the desires of others precede yours. They want to kill Rhaenyra! Now, that's too much. You could never consent to anything like that. You were once friends and still--you still don't know how you quite feel about her. But you know you could never be the one to kill her.

The Silent Sisters cover up Viserys' body and you can finally mourn him, along with your lost years of innocence. Your abuser is finally dead. But your ordeals are not over yet. You will have to crown Aegon as King, this is the only way. Rhaenys violently disrupts the coronation and now you know that no one is safe. She will go to Rhaenyra, and Rhaenyra will react. Did you do the right thing? Did you try and protect your children and the realm as best you could? Time will only tell. You are used to the twists of fate after all. But one thing is certain: nothing will be the same again because you are the Green Queen and she has the blood of the dragon.

Tell me you don’t understand the medieval setting without telling me you don’t understand the medieval setting

BT: omg consistent laws on who gets power is basically supporting slavery!

At this point I can only laugh

If you must know why keeping consistent laws around power transfers are important, I’ll draw a little comparison. Imagine if the US president decided that Joe Shmo from Canada will be the next US president without any election. That’s basically what Viserys did in medieval terms. Does it look weird to modern people? Yeah, but when you actually put yourself in that time frame you understand why having consistent laws creates stability and avoids war. Like how the inconsistent handoff of power from Viserys to his kids caused war!

Which version of this do you prefer?

Further notes:

I've done a combined ASOIAF books vs GOT/HOTD poll before, but I said in the tags then that I was thinking of doing an individual F&B/HOTD poll, so here it is!

I am a hundred precent certain that Wittebro is an ancestor to the Clawthorns.

Exhibit A: Birds are a Clawthorn thing.

Dana Terrace has said before that the Clawthorns have a thing for birds, and this is proven true in the show. Every member of the family has a bird palisman-

Now we have seen background palisman who are birds (such as bell goose) but weve never see another witch with a bird palisman until Flapjack chose Hunter.

We know Flapjack had an owner before, and everyones certain its the Wittebro, wouldnt it be weird if birds were a Clawthorne thing but Wittebro was the one exception.

Exhibit B: Dell Clawthorne looks weirdly like hunter.

Dell is most likely the orginal holder of the Clawthorne name. I say this cause Gwen says that the Clawthornes are known for their Palisman carving skills and Dell had that role. That being said, look at their side profiles together,

The bridge of the nose and how their hair flows backwards especially sick out here, their far from identical but they definitely look like they could be related.

I think its especially noticeable when you compare hunter to young Dell.

With his hair up you can see the how similar their hair falls.

Exhibit C: the mind portraits

Okay so this is the biggest piece of evidence is the portraits within Belos' mind, and how they seem to tell the story of how Philip killed his brother after he fell in love with a witch. This post pretty well interprets them as such.

Where I Overanalyze

Where I Overanalyze

Two brothers growing up. Working diligently together, doing the same jobs together... Raised to be witch hunters, it’s what they’ve always w

But look at the witch in the portraits,

That first one really looks like young Eda from Echos of the Past.

Thats signature Clawthorne poof hair right there.

Exhibit D: what did gwen say again?

The Clawthornes are known for their Palisman carving skills.

And what does one of the portraits show Wittebro doing?

Carving.

Its never stated that you need magic to carve palisman, Hunter doesnt need magic to have one and Eda never says anything about it when she brings the palistrom wood to Luz.

It would be the only skill he could use to in the demon realm to gain a living without magic.

Exhibit E: Whats behind the Clawthorne estate

When Eda runs out to the back of the estate she finds these ruins aswell as the damaged portal door.

Going back to the portraits, in the presumably last stand between the brothers we can see that wherever they are, its on fire.

This could be an explanation for the ruins, if this is the old Clawthorne estate then Philip destroyed it.

It would also explain why the portal door was there, if Philip didn't have it of course his brother would. And if his brother knew about his plans to exterminate this place he could bury it to hide it, hence Eda finding it in the dirt.

So what if this is correct, and the mordern Clawthorne clan are descendents of this guy?

Well it looks like that witch cursed Philip with something and that Eda's family is way more involved with this that previously thought.

It also means Hunter, on some level, is canonically related to Eda in some way.

"Alicent should have killed Aegon for what he did to Dyana. Is this how she defends SA victims?"

Has to be one of the shittiest takes I've ever had the displeasure of reading in the hotd fandom.

I genuinely cannot believe that a lot of people think this, like, are you guys insane??? Lmao casually saying this as if they aren't demanding a mother to execute her child.

I get it blacks, you are mad that Aegon raped Dyana, trust me, it upsets me too. It's horrible and unexcusable, I don't condone at all. It would be very concerning if I did.

With that said, what exactly were you expecting Alicent to do?

Tell all of Westeros that because the prince assaulted a servant ( I would like to remind you, a generous chunk of nobles has certainly done it as well to some degree.) he has to face justice and be executed.

Whaaat? Westeros is not in the 21st century, it doesn't work like that, by their standards it probably wasn't even considered rape! They would just think the prince had honored her with his attention and she had showed ungratefulness.

She would be punished instead for attempting to taint his image and have her tounge cut out or something. We're in the middle ages!!

Rape in Westeros is unfortunately super normalized, his execution would cause a shit show. Oh and sorry, how are you demanding a mother to have her firstborn killed?

Ali is veery disappointed with her son for many reasons, obviously including this one, and she's not shy to say it to his face, slap him and tell him he's no son of hers. But he is still her son, and she will always love him no matter what. There is no way in hell she would ever kill one of her kids.

Lmao if one of the strong boys did the same thing would you demand Rhaenyra to kill her sons as well?

Oh and also kinslaying. The circumstances of it are irrelevant, kinslaying is always considered one of the worst crime one can commit in Westeros. Hell even people who unwillingly kill their kin are cursed and ostracized, imagine what the realm would think of a mother, the fucking queen, killing her son.

Team black will really find any excuse to shit on Alicent, even if said reason is dumb as hell and devoid of any logic.

I’m not team green in an “Aegon should be king” type of way. I’m team green in a “I would die for Alicent Hightower and team green is just more complex and has better and more interesting characters than team black” type of way.

I'm sorry but people hating on Aemond and calling him an asshole for "stealing" Vhagar instantly piss me off.

Like come on seriously.

Now I'll be honest and agree the timing wasn't the best.

(Claiming a dragon at it's rider's funeral is a bit out of touch.)

But people love to demonize him for it as if he had strangled a baby or something.

"Vhagar was meant to pass to one of Laena's daughters!"

I'm sorry when have dragons been passed down like a house? 'Cause last time I checked they are living creatures with their own wills. Your dad could tell your entire life that his dragon is going to you when he dies, but if the dragon doesn't want you, you can't exactly force it to accept you.

Unless you like being burned to death.

If Vhagar wanted to have Baela or Rhaena as her rider she wouldn't have accepted Aemond, heck she wouldn't even have tested him! She would have turned him into the dragon equivalent of a chicken nugget.

He proved his determination and resilience in riding her, a determination that had been born from being mocked and bullied by his brother and nephews for God knows how long!

The boy was frustrated by being seen as less by the other kids. Especially by Rhaenyra's, since they were bastards. As soon as he saw his chance to prove his worth as a Targaryen prince he took it and rode the greatest, most ancient dragon left in Westeros.

It was normal for the twins to be mad at him. After all they were two little girls who had just lost their mother, and I admit, Aemond reacted poorly at their insults, though after finally proving himself, I can understand why he got so cocky.

That said the fight was completely on them and the Strongs. They hit him first, and started ganging up on him. The kid was just defending himself, and remember, Jace was the one who took out a knife. Aemond may have taken a rock and threatened to harm them, but when you're up against 4 other kids all by yourself, you have get a weapon to try and balance out the fight if you want to get out all in one piece.

THEY CALLED ME CRAZY FOR STANNING BUT WE ARE WINNINGGG!! RAHHHHHH💚💚

Hollow Mind AU where everyone ends up in Belos’ mind

MAYA ANGELOU ‘Phenomenal Woman’