#ceedaryaps

Like I don't care in my mind that is MY Rhaegar Targaryen, that's exactly how I pictured him in the books.

TikTok has struck once more. Taking an extremely complex character and reducing them to a singular stereotype. The most recent victim? Fang Runin.

I feel like alot of her actions are being misinterpreted as "Yay girlboss girl power" when in reality a lot of the things she does are driven by a few things.

A. Fear and desperation.

Rin didnt do all of that studying for Sinegard because she wanted to prove herself to be the best. It was out of pure fear and desperation of being sold and married off to some skeezy old man. Her choice of Sinegard among all the schools she could have chosen was also proof of this. Sinegard was far, and it would be a guaranteed way to make it far away from her current situation. Personally, I also believe that her choice in getting rid of her uterus was also one of those types of choices. Rin did not want to fall behind more than she already has, so, possibly out of fear and desperatio,n she got rid of it.

B. Pure recklessness.

As much as I love Rin she can also be very bullheaded, but it is a quality that I do like in her. Fighting a privileged kid (Nezha) when she's already looked down upon due to her skin and lack of social standing was incredibly stupid and risky. The odds are stacked against her, and it shows throughout her entire time at Sinegard, and a lot of these actions are made out of pure impulse. The same goes for her words AND actions. Mouthing off to the professors and Atlan is a bold move, but it's HER.

C. The innate need to prove herself.

Against her better judgment, Rin tends to go along with plans (mostly pertaining to Atlan) just to prove herself to him because she looks up to him. Despite the multitude of warnings she was given, she needs to prove herself so badly to Atlan that she will do nearly anything he asks of her.

A lot of the time Rin feels like she has no choice but to act out in these matters, not because she's some sort of girlboss go-getter, but because she is a terrified GIRL in the middle of a war. I emphasize the girl because she is a girl. This is a CHILD having to make tough decisions outside of a war planning room. Her willingness to go to extremes against the enemy and do nearly anything to destroy them is also an interesting thing I want to talk about.

We've seen throughout the book that a lot of what was taught to Rin about the history is wrong. Reducing the enemy to monsters and not people helps Rin make these harsh decisions. Of course, it didnt start out that way. Rin, at first, was very apprehensive about causing harm and did so out of fear of "if it's not them, it's me." But by the end of the book, she gets into a fiery argument with Kitay about her basically losing her humanity and wiping out the enemy, or rather, who she perceives as the enemy, as innocents were caught in the crossfire.

This isnt some power move on her part; this is the direct result of everything that has gone on in Rin's life up to this point. The training, the torture, the trauma of losing friends all made her the way she is right now.

I'm seeing folks clock the weirdo dynamics between the inner circle and their VICIOUS hypocrisy towards everyone else when they do the same exact things, if not worse.

Like the whole Nesta intervention because she was "drinking and whoring," when Cassian and Azriel have fucked and drank everything within Velaris for HUNDREDS of years is insane.

I also love that they clock the sheer emotional immaturity of the inner circle as well. Like for people who are hundreds of years old, they are NOT very well adjusted individuals at all.

We saw during the trial by seven that Aerion is actually an exceptional fighter. For the majority of the trial, he was putting major injuries on Dunk. He was agile, quick, and brutal.

What saved Dunk is A. His sheer size and strength, one singular strike from him is probably worth 2 of Aerion's. And B. foregoing the knight training and just straight up brawling like a treu kid from flea bottom. And in my opinion, Dunk's win is mostly attributed to the latter. Even with his size and strength being an advantage over Aerion, the prince was still carving him like a pumpkin, and it was hard for Dunk to not only get a hold of him but maintain the hold; Aerion is slippery.

So why demand a trial by seven instead of a trial by combat? I believe Aerion wanted to humiliate Dunk. I don't think Aerion was scared to fight him. I think he wanted to humiliate him as he was humiliated in the puppet tent for all to see. Here's my reasoning:

It was highly unlikely that Dunk was going to be able to find six other men to fight beside him; in all honesty, he was lucky to get the 5 he did get. Aerion knew this and wasn't counting on anyone helping. Baelor deciding to aid Dunk was really a stroke of luck.

The premise of the Trial by Seven is that if your cause is just, you will find plenty of help, even though the Targs have definitely fallen from the public's grace; there are still not a lot of people who would have signed up to go against them. So this would have just been a lesson to Dunk. Even if those who agreed that stopping Aerion was the right thing to do, as many did agree with Dunk, in the end, a lot of them were simply not willing to fight against the royal prince in favor of a hedge knight (props to Ser Lyonel, Raymun, Hardyng, Beesbury, and Rhysling for not ducking the fade).

Daeron drowning himself in alcohol, Aerion likely setting something on fire or torturing Egg and his cat, Aemon with his nose in a book, Egg never being where he's supposed to be, and Rhae mixing potions to give to Egg.

Maekar standing to the side, shaking his head in pure dissapointment and Daella standing beside him coppying him.