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i think saying 'rhaenyra was afraid for baby joffrey' is such a huge misread of that scene and kind of a disservice to rhaenyra honestly. like that is not what was happening. it was all about power and the amount of influence they hold over viserys. alicent was showing rhaenyra what she had the power to do whilst also indicating that she was aware of her childrens true parentage. to me it seems clear alicent had been consistently using the strong boys as a way to put pressure on rhaenyra to concede her claim. but rhaenyra refused to be indimidated and immediately exercised her own power and won. she didnt have to get up and take joffrey herself, she wasnt afraid for him, rhaenyra made a conscious descision to rise to meet alicent's challenge. she was (very understandably given the circumstances/her pov) antagonising alicent right back.

so how can it be that all those years alicent was "abusing" rhaenyra when we see very clearly there would need to be different circumstances for that. a power imbalance or some kind of manipulation that isnt reciprocal. no, it was just a feud guys. they were feuding. alicent ranks higher technically but rhaenyra so firmly holding viserys favour evens that out. rhaenyra making decisions that endanger the people around her and alicent subsequently being a bitch to her about it doesnt make anyone abusive. its just two women having the most prolonged, fraught, not-so-covert confrontation in westerosi history. rhaenyra being so distressed by all of it that she leaves for dragonstone doesnt mean she was The victim, there is no victim, or if there is its either both or neither - they are literally both at the end of their tethers - we definitely see alicent at her most neurotic during this time period as a result of rhaenyra and viserys actions. who was more justified in their motivations is at least somewhat subject to perspective and interpretation but the fact is.... we see rhaenyra and alicent both abuse their power to act against the other.

and thats the point. they are narrative foils. they exist parallel to each other. respresentative the two types of womanhood this society overwhelming allows for; the hostage or the whore. that neither is inherently good or bad or right or wrong is important. what rhaenyra wants for herself isnt wrong, she should be allowed to freely experience love and desire, but given the context how she goes about that comes across short-sighted and often selfish. likewise, what alicent "wants" is demonstrably damaging to herself and other women, but she pursues it out of fear, trying to protect herself and her family and other women (as we see with dyana) from a world she understands all too well. for either of these women to be an abuser and the other the victim would be damaging what is indisputably the core element of their stories.

evelyncelia coded

I have two, a mushroom and a dagger lol

Ps I’d love to hear what the tattoos are of in the comments or notes! don’t forget to reblog for a bigger sample size please ^-^