rhaenin-time

[rhaenin-time]

oh hell no did they reblog with a direct reply only to deactivate as I was typing my reply. For context, op accused me of not reading the tags that are no longer visible, which I fortunately did and tried to reply to before finding them deactivated.

My reply:

Cool, let's have a read…

Okay, why is it Alicent's staunchest defenders refuse to understand her? And now Aemma?

The single scene we get of Alicent and Aemma together is Aemma outright endorsing the system while Alicent smiles and nods along.

I have no idea where the sentiment came from that Aemma, who believes in the same system Alicent upholds and weaponizes, would take issue with a by-then probably 16 year old — the same age at which Rhaenyra was also pressured to marry and was forced to marry in the books — marrying a grown man according to the very convention she believes in, aside from the fact that Alicent was her daughter's friend who operated at Otto's behest.

Again, this is the system that Aemma accepts and Alicent actively upholds and weaponizes, and I have no idea why her suffering under that system is lauded as it is. Alicent herself is unable, and unwilling, to grasp that her suffering that's endorsed by the system she upholds is indeed, suffering. Hence why she scapegoats and directs that ire at others she wields power over — including a woman she condemns specifically because she doesn't maritally rape her gay husband, said gay husband, and children, and perpetuates that suffering through her daughter, and again, through upholding the system.

Now, there is someone who would realistically, and was demonstrated to, feel and express pity for Alicent. To see how the system has hurt Alicent. And that person is… Rhaenyra. Yes, we see at first she puts up boundaries and isn't interested in continuing their prior level of intimacy — as is her right — but not only do we see her later reach out several times, we see that she is the one who feels that what happened to Alicent, and countless women and girls throughout the Realm, isn't right. And Alicent wants none of that pity, at least not for the true cause of her unhappiness, not in a way she can accept, because again, she's unable and unwilling to accept that if the system endorses her suffering, there's something wrong with the system.

So no, Aemma wouldn't give Alicent her pity, and Alicent wouldn't want it. Not for the patriarchal elements of her circumstance, at least. She'd want pity for being unhappy for being subjected to whoever she managed to blame for her suffering, like say… Rhaenyra. Who resists that suffering and expresses her fear of following in Alicent and Aemma's footsteps. Which is why you can't factor out Rhaenyra — or Alicent abusing Rhaenyra — in a conversation like this.

aemma was married at eleven and then deflowered at thirteen and from then on her entire life was spent as a broodmare birthing babes that died in their cradle and mourning children who had never taken their first breath but somehow you think this woman who suffered so much would be glad to see another woman suffer too

#honestly alicent deserves fans who are actually fans of HER #she deserves cersei's fans but no instead ppl invent this whole new non-character in their heads #hotd #asoiaf #hotd sexism #asoiaf sexism #this is why i should have learned not to waste my time with thoughtful replies to people who aren't interested in THINKING about the subjec #this is going up because i already wrote it but at this point these people only deserve sarcastic memes that take 30 seconds #shame on me for forgetting

[rhaenin-time]

TIL that the majority of France didn't speak French by the time of the French Revolution, and neither did a significant amount of people until the turn of the 20th century, despite the government's desperate attempts at nation-building since Napoleon. The French they did speak had dialects so diverse that the language could be mutually unintelligible between regions. This while French was used as Europe's lingua franca, especially as the language of diplomacy between empires as far flung as the Ottomans.

Really brings home how fucking recent, artificial and an inherently colonizing force the concept of a nation is. It's literally barely glued together with military coercion and propaganda.

[rhaenin-time]

ffs the way people talk about an abusive GROWN WOMAN

aemma was married at eleven and then deflowered at thirteen and from then on her entire life was spent as a broodmare birthing babes that died in their cradle and mourning children who had never taken their first breath but somehow you think this woman who suffered so much would be glad to see another woman suffer too

#hotd #asoiaf #Oh no did you know that MAEGOR was also once a BABY? #why the obsession with coddling and infantilizing CERTAIN KINDS of women? hmm? #anti alicent stans #hotd sexism #asoiaf sexism #no i don't think aemma would like the grown woman who stabbed her daughter while trying to plunge a dagger into her grandson's skull #after said grown woman spent 10 years abusing her daughter and dehumanizing her grandsons #i don't think she'd be “understanding” either #And no I don't think if Aemma realized how bad her situation was that she would be understanding of the grown woman who UPHOLDS that system #And weaponizes it against her daughter. #just a theory tho

[rhaenin-time]

GRRM seems to have gone out of his way to stress that any possible parallel or resemblance between the Dothraki and various Turkic groups — including the Ottomans — is purely incidental and in most cases either general or superficial.

Because the Valyrians have the strong Turkic, and more importantly, Ottoman, parallel. Not just in aesthetics but also in their "historical" function. Yes, their linguistic and technological legacy has Roman and especially Byzantine elements, especially if you look to Andal Westeros as an "Occidental Rome" comparison, but their political origins and relationship with other civilizations in Essos share deep similarities with the Ottomans if you're willing to think about it. And when you do think about it, there's some interesting commentary about Dany's endeavors and the Targaryen Dynasty's assimilation into Andal patriarchy in there, as well as how the fandom views and judges various cultures.

Yes, I'm going to be annoying and leave it there for now.

#yes I actually think the Andals have the best claim to the strongest (Western) Roman parallel #no I'm not saying ANY parallel is 1-1 GRRM is a better writer than that and more importantly I'm smarter than that #how hypothetically dare you hypothetically make that hypothetical assumption

[rhaenin-time]

The world isn't ready for my "As a Native 'aMeRiCaN', I find Rhaenyra Targaryen comparable to and actually less frustrating than Leslie Knope," take.

Which is good, because I'm not QUITE ready to make it.

#yes the greens are Jeremy Jamm in this situation #asoiaf #hotd #fire and blood #rhaenyra targaryen #The thing is even if you think Leslie is uplifted by and in turn uplifts an exploitative settler-colonial system #That's still no reason to root for Jeremy Jamm????

[rhaenin-time]

I love when people try to argue that Rhaenyra "coerced" Cole by asking, "What if the genders were reversed???? Hmm???? Would you be willing to admit that Rhaenyra had power over Cole if he were a woman and she were a man???"

??? Excellent question. Right. What if Rhaenyra were a man????????? Wouldn't things be different if she were a man?

Wait, I think they might be on to something!

#asoiaf #hotd #fire and blood #asoiaf fandom #hotd sexism #rhaenyra targaryen

[rhaenin-time]

My big issue is how dismissive and often plain disingenuous the stance the point of asoiaf is that feudalism is BAD and it's equivalents across fiction and even non-fiction often are. Because it's often used to dismiss the notion that anyone has the moral high ground, which unfortunately means too many people seem comfortable in giving themselves license to indulge in their implicit biases under the guise of "objectivity."

The reason I find it disingenuous is these people will often claim, "The whole point is that feudalism is bad," and then in the same breath express various sentiments that amount to, "Oh no, the more I look at it, the more I see the parallels between how the power structures of Slavers Bay and Westeros are both dependent upon exploitation, and how "slavery" actually comes in many different forms by many different names. I worry that when Dany gets to Westeros, there's a decent chance she might look around and decide that feudalism is bad. And that would be very bad of her to do."

love and light to everyone but if i see one more post that’s like “the point of asoiaf is that feudalism is BAD” i’m going to rip out my hair and start eating dirt and worms. like yes, it is bad. yes, monarchies are bad. yes so true it’s annoying when people ignore all of that and focus on who they think deserves the throne more. but that’s not the point—that is the premise? it’s the beginning of the exploration and deconstruction. functionally this system is rigid (specifically in terms of gender and class) and horrifically violent: so what it’s really like to live in it? to try to be a hero, a knight, to be a lady in a world where your body belongs to your family, your lord, your order? is it possible to be a good person in a hierarchal world like this, with such vast power imbalances woven throughout it and every relationship and interaction that you have informed by that? how do you navigate that imbalance in order to have meaningful relationships—can you every truly do it? and who decides what is good? how do you know if it’s truly right or it just felt right because it’s what you wanted to do? what about the people who have no name, no family, no order: what happens to them? don’t they matter? what if in a lifetime of looking the other way or actively causing others harm, you do a few things—maybe one thing—that’s objectively good: does it mean anything? does it matter, even if no one ever knows? what if the best thing you ever did broke every vow you made, every law that governs your society? how do you live with that dissonance?

what’s it like to be a ruler, to be a king or queen—is it possible to be a good one in such an unequal system? to wield power justly? who decides what is just? who decides who should rule? at which point does the amount of power someone can have cross the line into too much? is it when you stop trying to figure out how to use it correctly and worry only about how to keep it? if holding onto it costs you everything, your family and all your relationships, is it still worth it? what if having that much power available is necessary to the survival of your people, maybe even your world, but when it’s misused the carnage left behind is beyond articulation—is it still worth it? are the lives it saves worth the lives it took? how do you measure that? who carries the weight of that choice and how? how do you live with it? how do you go on living in a world that can be harsh and cruel and unfair, a world where your good intentions and your personhood seem to matter very little in the face of someone else’s greed or when compared to the yoke of your duty? and the questions never stop and the answers when and if they come are rarely easy, but the point is that you keep asking and keep trying because that’s what it means to be alive lol

#feudalism #asoiaf #asoiaf fandom #No I'm not saying Dany is going to lead the “proletarian” revolt. #I'm saying she is somewhat set up to possibly function at times as a moral-if-not-outright “reckoning” for the Powers That Be in Westeros. #Which is part of why she makes some people SO UNCOMFORTABLE. #Because for some reason even many of the people who like to use “it's the system” as a way to hand-wave away individual accountability #(for their faves) #are uncomfortable when the issues of that system said faves participate in are brought to the surface. #And it's easier to finger-point at the characters who make the system visible and accuse them of either “hypocrisy” or “tyranny” or BOTH #to avoid engaging with the idea that EVERYONE is operating within the system & some are just more conscious or critical of it than others. #Which unfortunately means it's usually the characters who push against or criticize the system the most (and sometimes even just a LITTLE) #that end up being criticized and vilified for EXISTING in it. #daenerys targeryan #And you know what I'm going to include #Rhaenyra Targeryan #because she's on the other side of the spectrum of this phenomenon that gets the “hypocrisy” side of the finger-point more often than not. #Except we all know it's full of shit now that we've seen how those people react when a Targaryen woman DOES decide to abolish the system. #There's truly no winning aside from “don't question the system” these people CLAIM to think is BAD which is why I can't take them seriously

[rhaenin-time]

This is your reminder that ambiguity in a (competently written) story functions to force the reader or viewer to engage on a thematic level, rather than a literal plot level. In other words, you don't "answer" ambiguity with conspiracy-grade theories born and "proven" through easter egg hunts and counting breadcrumbs. The thematic answer, the message of the ambiguous part of the story, should fit regardless of whichever of the likely possible "answers" is the "true answer." Because in cases of ambiguity, the thematic answer is the "true answer."

Do with that what you will.

#literary analysis #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #lucy gray baird #fantasy is probably the most metaphorical genre in general people #asoiaf #fire and blood #hotd critical #hotd #asoiaf fandom #hotd sexism #rhaenyra targaryen #amethyst empress #velaryon boys #strong boys #Did you know that Rhaenyra's story is about MiSoGyNy? #And how in the absence of codified law enforced by a higher power that it's the UNDERSTANDINGS between us that keep society together? #And that weaponizing misogyny and other forms of bigotry to justify severing those understandings for opportunism's sake #is how you end up DESTROYING the social order? #And that even in a “bad” system that's still a “bad” thing to do? #Because you're not abolishing the “bad” system you're simply destabilizing it and seeding the ground for MORE opportunism? #Where FORCE is valued above all else? #In this world in this era we MIGHT call that “fascism.” #And we most certainly wouldn't call it “liberation.”

[rhaenin-time]

Oh good, I have a place to put this now.

List of Non-Targ Westerosi In*cest Marriages

Tywin Lannister x Joanna Lannister (1st cousins)

-- Issue: Cersei, Jaime, and Tyrion

Rickard Stark x Lyarra Stark (1st cousins)

-- Issue: Brandon, Eddard "Ned", Lyanna, Benjen

Cregan Stark x Lynara Stark (just says "distant cousins")

-- Issue: Jonnel, Edric, Lyanna, Barthogan, Brandon

Serena Stark x Edric Stark (uncle-niece)

-- Issue: Cregard, Torrhen, Arrana, Aregelle

Sansa Stark x Jonnel Stark (uncle-niece)

-- Issue: NONE

Paxter Redwyne x Mina Tyrell (1st cousins)

-- Issue: Horas, Hobber, Desmera

Samantha Tarly x Lyonel Hightower (previously step mother-stepson)

-- Issue: 6 unknown children, all illegitimately born before their marriage

POSSIBLE CLOSE RELATIONS (exact degrees unknown)

Jon Arryn x Rowena Arryn

-- Issue: NONE

Shella Whent x Walter Whent

-- Issue: 4 unknown sons & 1 unknown daughter

Benfrey Frey x Jyanna Frey

-- Issue: Della & Osmund

Alys Frey x Jared Frey

-- Issue: Tytos & Kyra

#asoiaf incest #westerosi history #asoiaf #got season 8 #why is the lighting so bad and whyyyyyy did you decide to rehire the SAME GUY

[rhaenin-time]

The situation of the Congo Genocide is complicated because we are all implicated in it. We can’t ascribe it to a foreign policy state interest as we can regarding Palestine. It is something we, as consumers, all have a hand in and given the ubiquity of the resources involved, a lot of us are caught off of guard by this premonition of the type of wars to come. This is that nasty intersection of neo-colonialism and hyper capitalism that pits the Global South against the Global North. It’s a war of sustaining a way of life means imposing slavery and genocide on others. This is an instance of global capitalism and hyper consumption as a lifestyle and convenience is being pitted against the humanity of those we deem expendable.

[rhaenin-time]

Honest thoughts on Alicent Hightower?

I have a lot of empathy for women like Alicent Hightower. I know and love quite a few women like her, with similar experiences, and fears, and who make similar decisions. 

Some women who align with the system that is oppressing them do so due to their inability to envision the possibility of freedom. Therefore, they opt to join the oppressive system in the hope of gaining some power from it. They sacrifice their dreams to the patriarchy and more often than not, they're fine with this exchange because they can wield power as wives, as mothers and less commonly as daughters.

Which is understandable, sad but understandable.

It is a miserable existence, and they feel resentment when they see other women who do not want to conform to the narrow lane that patriarchy (especially African patriarchy) designates for us. They become bitter and resentful, but they never direct that bitterness towards the men who are oppressing them. They direct their bitterness towards the women in their lives, bucking patriarchal oppression as best they can, instead of the men who are actively oppressing them. 

It makes them very dangerous. Women whose entire identity is tied to the men in their lives will gladly set you on fire to keep a man, any man, warm. They'll rarely encourage men to hurt you explicitly, but they'll cheer when they do. They'll tell you that being hurt by the patriarchy is the price that you have paid for stepping out of line. For daring to aspire to more than three predetermined roles that women are destined for.

My whole life has been balancing my love and my anger at the patriarchy princesses in my life. How do you love someone who is in community with people who want you dead? In my experience, painfully and from a distance. 

#you took the words (more eloquently) out of my mouth #so grateful to come from a community where it's still passed down that the “higher authority” is in the wrong #because outside of native circles and sometimes even within when the patriarchy slips into communities and recreates itself... #i meet these women all the time and I can only conclude they were never given that “lesson” #& strangely enough I think Alicent has many parallels when it comes to MEN in colonized/oppressed communities who turn their ire to women #which is why I find how the fandom and to an extent the show talks about & views Cole to be such a WASTE and tbh quite troubling #asoiaf #fire and blood #hotd #hotd critical

[rhaenin-time]

It's because I said I wouldn't firebomb a walmart

[rhaenin-time]

Yes.

And thank-you for pointing out that Alicent's "confrontation" with Rhaenyra in the Godswood was a gross abuse of power. She abused her authority as both queen and stepmother, neither of which position entitles her to confront her stepdaughter and the heir behind the King's back, to break down any and all boundaries in their relationship and to punish Rhaenyra when she doesn't give her the intimacy and submission she thinks she's owed.

How anyone can look at that scene and convince themselves Rhaenyra is in the wrong is honestly baffling. Or rather, was baffling. Because it's become pretty clear from the takes on Alicent vs. Rhaenyra, Alys, and Dany, that any woman who tries to exercise or reclaim their agency in an 'improper' way is obviously the aggressor, or at least never a victim, in any given situation. Because don't think for a second that if it had been Rhaenyra, rather than Alicent, in that scene with Larys, that there wouldn't be dozens of Larys's foot soldiers out there claiming that "Rhaenyra used her power and knowledge of Larys's crimes to coerce him into subservience whilst simultaneously humiliating him over his disability."

You guys are always yapping about how Criston Cole is Rhaenyra’s victim. Even though the show contradicts you on this point many times. Even though the producers contradict you on this point repeatedly. 

However, no one wants to reckon with the fact that those men took a tale about a misogynistic paedophile and the child he groomed and isolated and then turned his child victim into the initiator/aggressor. 

It’s par for the course with the adaptors. We watched it happen with Dany and Jorah, Doreah and Xaro Xhoan Daxos, Loras Tyrell and the homophobic way they adapted his story. The racist, heavily sexualised way they adapted the sand snakes and Ellaria Sand. I had hoped the fandom would know better by now but alas!

#fire and blood #hotd #hotd critical #hotd fandom #hotd sexism #rhaenrya targaryen #can't even tag the greens because their stans are obsessed

[rhaenin-time]

where is fairuzfan?? their blog is gone

She got spontaneously terminated by Tumblr !!! She’s trying to get in contact w Tumblr Support rn !!!!

[rhaenin-time]

I do worry that if GRRM really does make the Others a creation of the Children of the Forest, that he's going to thematically tie it to Greyscale and its history with the Sorrows and if he does what I think he might do I might need to stare at him in Native "American" and tell him to meet me in the parking lot.

#asoiaf #fire and blood #asoiaf racism #grrm critical

[rhaenin-time]

[rhaenin-time]

Made cat heaven.

On another note, my packing assistant is not helpful.