I Physically Can Not Comprehend Why Ppl Like Gabe Like Hes Not Hot, Hes Musty, He Has A Receding Hairline,

THIS IS SUCH A LAYERED JOKE 💀

maybe togachako will be canon in the Spanish dub

No but like actually considering turning this into a Duffer Brothers hate account right now

"Alicent resents Rhaenyra having the freedom that she never did." This is a pretty common hotd take which is complicated by the fact that Rhaenyra doesn't actually really have that much more freedom (she also has to marry and have children, and also ends up in an abusive marriage). So I'm wondering what if Alicent knows that? What if her resentment isn't that Rhaenyra never has to pay the price for her transgressions/freedoms, but that Alicent and her family are the ones who pay for Rhaenyra's freedom. When Rhaenyra goes out with Daemon, putting her reputation and marriage prospects in jeopardy, it's Otto who loses his job (after he saves her from likely having to marry Daemon). When Rhaenyra has obvious bastards that will create multiple succession crisis's, it's Aemond who loses an eye and is threatened with torture, and Vaemond who gets murdered. Alicent spends most of the series under the assumption that if Rhaenyra has to choose between giving up being queen and murdering her half brothers she'll choose the latter, gaining her freedom by harming Alicent. In this context her resentment makes a lot of sense and is more than just spite and jealousy (though I'm not saying those aren't present).

This also has me thinking what if Alicent is the more self aware one of the two of them? I think she knows how shit her situation is in a way that Rhaenyra might not until episode 10 when Daemon chokes her. Alicent at least by episode 9 recognizes her father for what he is and in her own small way able to fight for what she wants (Rhaenyra's survival and peace). She at least knows she's in a prison and is able to build a window in it, as Rhaenys condescendingly described. Rhaenyra on the other hand might truly believe that she's the exception to all the sexism in Westeros. That her name, her dragon and her father mean that she isn't like all the other girls. And for a while that's true. She gets to do things that no other woman in Westeros could get away with. She either doesn't see the cost to Alicent and Criston and Otto and Aemond and Vaemond, or she see their fates as their own faults. That all collapses in episode ten when she sees how completely alone she is. The men who are supposed to be obeying her seem more inclined to listen to Daemon and Daemon will not place her needs above his own or at least won't without first assaulting her.

This then allows for an interesting thesis of the show if it was intentional. We're given two women who have very different responses to patriarchy, but neither approach can save them. Obedience won't save them, promiscuity won't save them, a dragon won't save them, the right husband won't save them, the right father won't save them. The only thing that could have maybe saved them is solidarity, something that we see Alicent give up on in episode 5 (whether Rhaenyra has ever considered using her position or privilege to help another woman is an open question).

Obviously there's no definitive proof of this idea, but I find it interesting and that it adds depth to the tension and bitterness between Rhaenyra and Alicent.

“You attract what you fear.”

Ahhhh I’m so scared of getting a girlfriend oh noooo 😱

Being a Byler shipper is hoping my posts age like wine 🍷 and not like milk 🥛

that ship is toxic to YOU. to me it's a complex, multi-layered, essay-worthy dynamic that'd take numerous hours to dissect (during which i'll spend crying screaming tearing my hair out)

I think this is the funniest thing I’ve ever seen in my life

I saw some who said it should be reversed so I wanted to add:

- L is more apathetic than concerned

- Light is flexing false confidence convincing himself he can get out of this but is actually on the verge of a mental breakdown

i either see gay ships as my two fathers or my son and his stupid little boyfriend

“ronance isn’t canon” okay then why does their ship name literally rhyme romance🤨

Whenever I see someone claim that Alicent has a crush on Criston, I lose twenty years off my lifespan