Criston Cole/Alicent Hightower
| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | Criston Cole x Alicent Hightower |
| Alternative name(s): | Alicole |
| Gender category: | Het |
| Fandom: | House of the Dragon |
| Canonical?: | Yes (in show) |
| Prevalence: | |
| Archives: | |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Alicole is the pairing of Alicent Hightower and Criston Cole in the House of the Dragon fandom.
[meowmeow_haught]
sworn protector and his queen???? kills for her at the drop of the hat and shes like dude pls chill?? and hes like no chill i wont suffer insults to her grace the queen?? alicent “is there no one in kings landing to take my side” then criston takes her side in all things always with ZERO ulterior motives, the only person she didnt give birth to who isnt using her to get something??? helps her beloved son overcome his disability to be one of the greatest warriors in westeros??? is her sons close confidant (father)??? hes maybe the only person in kings landing she can look at and not be reminded of her traumas or what a mess her life has become??? and for him she quite literally saved his life?? gave his life meaning, that there was something worth upholding and fighting for in the world (even if its all pretty misguided and they should pack up the kids and go sell oranges in essos)??? so much to unpack with these two
Canon
Season 1 depicts them having a "courtly love" type relationship. In that period, fanworks had two divergent ideas about sexuality in their relationship, often simultaneously expressed by the same shippers.
[elegantwoes[1]]
I am so torn on Alicent and Cole. Like on one hand I want them to be a chaste and tragic courtly love pairing and that their love and longing for each other completely stays in subtext, but on the other hand I want Alicent and Cole to at least experience some consensual and guilt free sex before they die.
[Anonymous[2]]
To me, Alicole as a ship is extremely versatile in terms of narrative potential.On one hand, you can write their relationship as harking to the courtly romances of old where the nature of their affair is purely emotional, within the bounds of the medieval-adjacent social mores, and thus sex is neither expected nor desired.
Or a courtly romance where beneath the veneer of propriety and restraint, there is actually simmering sexual desire that nevertheless will never be consummated due to their sense of honour, duty and moral righteousness, as well the sexual trauma they went through.
Or on the other hand, it could be a passionate affair of body and soul, with the two of them finding power, fulfilment and even healing in sex that wasn't forced upon them, that they both chose to have and actually enjoy having.
Season 2 depicts them having begun a sexual relationship offscreen, in a manner that many fans found jarring.
[alicentsgf[3]]
to be clear im not anti alicole so much as anti the lack of development of this sexual side of their relationship. as far i was concerned both of their sexualities were calcified under layers of repression and locked away in a dungeon somewhere. im struggling to understand how this jail break happened.
Fandom
Popular tropes in fanworks
- Courtly love, also known as the Guinevere/Lancelot aspect
- Them bonding over being Rhaenyra's burned exes (see Criston Cole/Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower/Rhaenyra Targaryen)
- Criston being a father figure to Alicent's children. This is heavily associated with the phrase, "I'm not the step-father, I'm the father that stepped up."
by musenssang
by arterysophrosyne
Fanworks
Fanfic
Fanart
by annes-andromeda
Alicent and Criston by dudlesdudles
The Queen and Her Justice by cyrranka
the green queen and her sworn shield by pookiebearsnookumsalicent
by alicentdeservesbetter, commissioned by _necrotica_
by debustee, commissioned by weirwooddreams
Queen Alicent and her Sworn Shield, Ser Criston Cole by lonelymagpies, commissioned by mejcinta
somewhere in the red keep… by fuckalicent (2023)
Based on Pre-Raphaelite paintings
by littlzbird
(based on La Belle Dame sans Merci by Frank Dicksee)
The Queen and The Knight by dudlesdudles and mmmotionnn
(based on La Belle Dame sans Merci by Frank Dicksee)
by snake-berry
(based on God Speed by Edmund Leighton)
The artist greenknightofmalachite specifically did a whole series based on Pre-Raphaelite paintings.
Regret on Driftmark
(based on The Meeting on the Turret Stairs by Frederic William Burton)
After the Wedding
(based on The Dedication by Edmund Blair Leighton)
Reaffirmation
(based on The Accolade by Edmund Blair Leighton)
In the Kingswood
(based on La Belle Dame sans Merci by Frank Dicksee)
A Favor for Rook’s Rest
(based on God Speed by Edmund Blair Leighton)
Fanvids
- Somebody to Die For by KR Almario
- Worth it by bunnywo
Meta
- The way they paralleled Criston and Alicent both being pressured into having sex with the targaryens is interesting, Archived version by anon
- how they are so clearly intimate in their relationship with each other, Archived version by aryas-mercy
- criston’s status as a lowborn dornish man living in this particular time period, Archived version by aryas-mercy
- "Toxic"?, Archived version by squgs
Memes
The phrase "the father that stepped up".
Resources
- Archive of Our Own
- Criston Cole/Alicent Hightower tag
- Alicole-Centric Fics collection
- Tumblr tag: alicole
References
- ^ elegantwoes (17 Oct 2022). "I am so torn on Alicent and Cole". Tumblr. Archived from the original on Nov 2, 2022.
- ^ Anonymous (Oct 20, 2022). "Alicole as a ship is extremely versatile". Tumblr. Archived from the original on Nov 2, 2022.
- ^ alicentsgf (17 June 2024). "not anti alicole so much as anti the lack of development". Tumblr. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024.