♔ character inspo ♔
for Aerea Velaryon
the obvious
A dash of Rhaenyra Targaryen, though less than what I think people assume given the face claim. I was inspired by Targaryen women in general, but the ones who went into Aerea the most are the original Aerea (obviously) who was brave enough to claim Balerion and received madness and suffering as a result, Daena the Defiant, locked in the Maidenvault but always herself, and Baela, daughter of Daemon and Laena, rebellious and spirited enough to take on an impossible battle. There is so much tragedy within the Targaryen women, but so much potential too, and Aerea is very much a woman molded after them.
madness, greatness, and the coin flip
What is madness? How much does blood play into the conception of madness, and how much does gender? Why is it when a woman craves more, she is immediately slandered and labelled as mad, while a man must do so much more? I wanted a character who played with that idea.
always an angel, never a god
What is it like to lose everything, including your very faith in the world that has molded you and shaped you into what you are? What is it like to have the ground move beneath your feet, to live in mourning and in blood, and to always know you were left behind? What is it like to want more ?
this is a man's world
Gender, rebellion, learning to love your skin in a world that does not have the language to convey what you are. Skin that itches, that will never fit right because there are no words or no poetry, because your own are inadequate and you are not an artist. The role you are expected to play and the one you want, what you push away and the cost of that- and how to form yourself out of all that, the firmament of sexism that is the structure of all you know.