#also tyrion appreciation post

[terr4ance]

I have a terrible habit of not reading the books I own, so I am going to post here on tumblr to force myself to act. I am like 130 pages from the end of game of thrones, 1/3 of the way through brave new world, halfway through rethinking suicide, and very near the beginning of my late granddad's memoire. I want to finish game of thrones this week, and get further through brave new world. I will do this. this will definitely work. I never make false promises as far as goals are concerned I promise...

[coraniaid]

It’s always very odd to me when I read criticism of A Song Of Ice And Fire online (by which I mainly mean: on Tumblr) which takes for granted that this is some sort of obsessively dark and edgy and mean-spirited fantasy, because ... that's not what the series is actually like at all?  

I mean, yes, some awful (and graphically described) stuff happens in these books, but this is at heart a deeply optimistic and almost embarrassingly romantic story, full of a very obvious sympathy and tenderness for the unhappy and the hurt and the powerless.  The weird gritty-for-the-sake-of-it books that the series's detractors describe wouldn't have recurring POV characters like Sansa Stark or Tyrion Lannister or Davos Seaworth or Samwell Tarly or Brienne of Tarth.  They certainly wouldn't obviously empathize with and respect these characters to the extent the actual books do.  They wouldn't be so obsessive about the importance of hope and kindness and understanding in an otherwise uncaring world.  Whenever the text suggests the world isn't fair or kind there's always an unspoken "but it should be,and I wish it was". You are clearly not meant to think that characters like Roose Bolton or Twyin Lannister are being held up as role models to emulate!

I mean, maybe the TV show is more like that -- I gave up on the show after only a couple of seasons, it was a terrible adaptation of the source material, even before the final season that everyone apparently hated -- but so much of the open disdain for ASOIAF I come across on here reads like the people writing the posts haven't even read a single one of the books. Yes, the popularity of ASOIAF inspired a lot of "dark" fantasy novels that actually are bleakly nihilistic and seem to revel in their characters meeting pointlessly sad and violent ends, but Martin's books are just not like that.

Yes, lots of the world-building for ASOIAF is patently ridiculous, and yes, key parts of the plot are just cribbed from the War of the Roses (or, rather, from historical novels like Sharon Penman's The Sunne in Splendour)  and yes, Martin has said some very stupid things in interviews while busy not writing the series.  And no, I'm not sure I could actually bring myself to recommend the books to anyone who's not read them before (especially when it's so unlikely that the series will ever be finished, let alone in a satisfying way).  I haven’t reread them myself in years.

But honestly, back when I was a quietly miserable teenager these books really meant a lot to me, in part because they are the opposite of the caricature often discussed online.  Yes, they acknowledged that sometimes the world was awful and unbearable.  It is!  But they also suggested that it was still important to try to be fair and kind and to appreciate the moments when things were better.  They are books about trying to do the right thing even when it’s so hard as to seem impossible and nobody else will even know that you tried, written in a way that takes for granted that “the right thing” is also the just and the optimistic and the quietly heroic thing; that doing the right thing when you afraid is more praiseworthy than never being afraid at all. And it is baffling to me how often I see people talking about them now who don't actually seem to have ever even skimmed them but are still vocally passionate in their hatred of something that, as they describe it, simply doesn't exist.

[atopvisenyashill]

that bit about joffrey is FASCINATING have you ever written about this in depth? I've always loved his character but I would never be able to like. Describe why exactly he is the way he is so I really appreciate your analysis of him loving BOTH parents and incorporating only their flaws - I always just assumed that he hates his dad and is annoyed by cersei (still loves her) but then the way we sexually humiliates and abuses sansa etc is so robert-coded like of course he emulates the bevavior of his father.

Also slightly off topic but i always forget that Joffrey is like canonically so good at all the proper princely things (thinking of that scene at Sansa and Tyrion's wedding when she's so upset that a monster like Joff could be so good at dancing) and - not to go on about GOT again - but I wish we had actually gotten to see that and him being charming etc. Huge props to the show for giving Joff the perfect wardrobe (the only thing they did right) but also f them for waiting all that potential

yes, they really said joff gets to have all the swag and then the moment he died they put cersei in that fuck ass bob and no one in the lannisters was allowed to serve again smh. and thank youuu i actually had to stop myself from rambling over him before haha, but i'll go into more detail here! so this was the comment from the other post-

joffrey is a kid just ruled by his first, most base instinct. his instincts, his core emotions, tell him to love and trust both robert and cersei, and imo he twists himself into a MONSTER to try to appeal to both of them. no one else matters - not his siblings, not his uncle, not his grandfather, not the realm. he needs to be the sort of vicious person they could both be proud of, he needs to be better than them both at violence, so he absorbs all of their faults and none of their virtues.

i definitely do see very often that people feel he only loves one or the other parent and while I do understand that reading, I don't think it's quite how Joffrey operates. I think he does love them both, and holds them both in high esteem. I do agree that he's annoyed by Cersei but that doesn't mean he doesn't value her opinion (as much as Joffrey puts value on anyone else's opinion, I mean).

Joffrey and Cersei

Joffrey relies on his mother more than almost any other male character we see in the series. We see him call for Cersei basically every time he's hurt, in trouble, or wanting to whine about something. Not only that, but you have everyone from Robert to Renly to Tywin himself saying that Joffrey is doted upon and inseparable from his mother. A few choice quotes:

"Fear is better than love, Mother says." Joffrey pointed at Sansa. "She fears me."

He takes Cersei's lessons to heart, however flawed they are. Her opinion matters to him, he wants her to see him as strong.

Nine cases out of ten seemed to bore him; those he allowed his council to handle, squirming restlessly while Lord Baelish, Grand Maester Pycelle, or Queen Cersei resolved the matter. When he did choose to make a ruling, though, not even his queen mother could sway him.

It's Cersei he listens to the most. We know that if a little King, even with his mother as Regent, doesn't want to deal with her, he can simply ignore her - that's what Jaehaerys does with Alyssa, after all. But Joffrey doesn't do this; he'll fight with her, he'll insult her, and he's not shy about doing it in public but he never disregards her out of hand.

Joffrey lurched to his feet. "I'm king! Kill him! Kill him now! I command it." He chopped down with his hand, a furious, angry gesture . . . and screeched in pain when his arm brushed against one of the sharp metal fangs that surrounded him. The bright crimson samite of his sleeve turned a darker shade of red as his blood soaked through it. "Mother!" he wailed.

His instinct, every time, is to turn to her for help. He loves her. He adores her. She's the only person around who tells him he's strong and smart and will be a good king. He leans on her for guidance, for comfort, he talks to her about fucking whores. He shares everything with her because he doesn't have a single friend. She models anger and violence for him constantly, she excuses his disturbing proclivities, so he molds himself to be the person she wants him to be, the king she wants him to be. People - including Tyrion and Tywin! - are always wondering why Cersei is blind to his cruelty, but the reality is she knew he was cruel and loved him for it.

Tommen did as he was bid. His meekness troubled her. A king had to be strong. Joffrey would have argued. He was never easy to cow.

For Cersei, cruelty is strength and in her eyes, Joffrey is as strong as they come. This isn't by accident; just like his constant cries for her are reinforced by her rushing to coddle him, his cruelty is reinforced by a mother who sees it as strength. It's almost like what Coldhands says to Bran - Joffrey is a monster, yes, but in Cersei's eyes, Joffrey is her monster.

Joffrey and Robert

Joffrey had never had a close friend of his own age, that she recalled. The poor boy was always alone. I had Jaime when I was a child . . . and Melara, until she fell into the well. Joff had been fond of the Hound, to be sure, but that was not friendship. He was looking for the father he never found in Robert.

From Cersei's point of view, I think she knows very well that Joffrey is searching for love, acceptance, and himself in Robert. She doesn't like it, but she seems to accept that it's natural for Joffrey to search for some sort of father figure, and doesn't seem to begrudge him that - imo, I think because she knows Robert is always going to reject Joffrey for his cruelty.

“Why would he [care]? Robert ignored him. He would have beat him if I’d allowed it. That brute you made me marry once hit the boy so hard he knocked out two of his baby teeth, over some mischief with a cat. I told him I’d kill him in his sleep if he ever did it again, and he never did, but sometimes he would say things…”

Whenever they interact, the few times they do, there's violence. People always take this as Cersei not allowing Robert to "teach" or "properly discipline" Joffrey but, well...does the above seem like helpful discipline? Knocking out your child because he freaked you out? Punishing extreme violence with more extreme violence? And it's not just Cersei that this moment sticks with, because Stannis brings it up as well-

"Joffrey . . . I remember once, this kitchen cat . . . the cooks were wont to feed her scraps and fish heads. One told the boy that she had kittens in her belly, thinking he might want one. Joffrey opened up the poor thing with a dagger to see if it were true. When he found the kittens, he brought them to show to his father. Robert hit the boy so hard I thought he'd killed him."

Since Cersei says Robert would "say things" and we see him threatening Cersei (the "or I'll honor you again" line), I don't think it's a stretch to say that Robert threatened to beat Joffrey nearly to death several times over.

And yet...Joffrey compliments his father, especially in comparison to his other relatives.

He wrenched free of her. "Why should I? Everyone knows it's true. My father won all the battles. He killed Prince Rhaegar and took the crown, while your father was hiding under Casterly Rock." The boy gave his grandfather a defiant look. "A strong king acts boldly, he doesn't just talk."

And Cersei believes this came from Robert-

"Father, I am sorry," Cersei said, when the door was shut. "Joff has always been willful, I did warn you . . ." "There is a long league's worth of difference between willful and stupid. 'A strong king acts boldly?' Who told him that?" "Not me, I promise you," said Cersei. "Most like it was something he heard Robert say . . ."

And of course, Jaime is the one who pieces together why Joffrey sent the catspaw-

“Yes, I hoped the boy would die. So did you. Even Robert thought that would have been for the best. ‘We kill our horses when they break a leg, and our dogs when they go blind, but we are too weak to give the same mercy to crippled children’ he told me. He was blind himself at the time, from drink.” Robert? Jaime had guarded the king long enough to know that Robert Baratheon said things in his cups that he would have denied angrily the next day. “Were you alone when Robert said this?” “You don’t think he said it to Ned Stark, I hope? Of course we were alone. Us and the children.” Cersei removed her hairnet and draped it over a bedpost, then shook out her golden curls. “Perhaps Myrcella sent this man with the dagger, do you think so?” It was meant as mockery, but she’d cut right to the heart of it, Jaime saw at once. “Not Myrcella. Joffrey.” Cersei frowned. “Joffrey had no love for Robb Stark, but the younger boy was nothing to him. He was only a child himself .” “A child hungry for a pat on the head from that sot you let him believe was his father.”

When you put it all together, you have a child who is ignored by his father unless he's being threatened with a beating, who is constantly calling him a monster, who watches his father harm and humiliate his mother day in and day out, who has no other paternal figure around but this violent, angry man who he is supposed to model himself off of, and a mother who encourages his cruelty because she believes it's the only way to protect herself, to protect her son. He's not just emulating his mother's cruelty, he's emulating Robert's violence specifically when he humilates Sansa at court, when he openly talks shit about Cersei - it's what he's seen modeled for him as kingly behavior!

The Abuse And Jaime Of It All

King Joffrey's face hardened. "My mother tells me that it isn't fitting that a king should strike his wife. Ser Meryn."

He knows Robert is abusing Cersei and he takes her dislike of it seriously even as he doesn't make the connection that she means he shouldn't be striking his wife period. Whether it's because Cersei directly told him (which could make sense; she's purposefully hiding it from Jaime but perhaps she confided in Joffrey) or because he witnessed it himself, he's aware of the abuse enough that he takes his mother's comments about not personally striking Sansa to heart.

"No," [Robert] thundered in a voice that drowned out all other speech. Sansa was shocked to see the king on his feet, red of face, reeling. He had a goblet of wine in one hand, and he was drunk as a man could be. "You do not tell me what to do, woman," he screamed at Queen Cersei. "I am king here, do you understand? I rule here, and if I say that I will fight tomorrow, I will fight!" Everyone was staring. Sansa saw Ser Barristan, and the king's brother Renly, and the short man who had talked to her so oddly and touched her hair, but no one made a move to interfere. The queen's face was a mask, so bloodless that it might have been sculpted from snow. She rose from the table, gathered her skirts around her, and stormed off in silence, servants trailing behind. Jaime Lannister put a hand on the king's shoulder, but the king shoved him away hard. Lannister stumbled and fell. The king guffawed. "The great knight. I can still knock you in the dirt. Remember that, Kingslayer." He slapped his chest with the jeweled goblet, splashing wine all over his satin tunic. "Give me my hammer and not a man in the realm can stand before me!" Jaime Lannister rose and brushed himself off. "As you say, Your Grace." His voice was stiff. Lord Renly came forward, smiling. "You've spilled your wine, Robert. Let me bring you a fresh goblet." Sansa started as Joffrey laid his hand on her arm. "It grows late," the prince said. He had a queer look on his face, as if he were not seeing her at all. "Do you need an escort back to the castle?"

I think it's pretty clear that Joffrey is dissociating here which also explains his very detached way of looking at Robert's abuse of Cersei. It freaks him out enough that he uses Sansa as an excuse to leave (giving her the Hound, then running off himself) but he doesn't show it. He's not even particularly upset during this scene, not throwing a tantrum or making whiny remarks like he does when he's usually upset. He only has a "queer look" - the stress of trying to reconcile his adoration of Robert and his love of Cersei just makes him fully shut down instead of confronting it.

Joffrey gave a petulant shrug. "Your brother defeated my uncle Jaime. My mother says it was treachery and deceit. She wept when she heard. Women are all weak, even her, though she pretends she isn't. She says we need to stay in King's Landing in case my other uncles attack, but I don't care. After my name day feast, I'm going to raise a host and kill your brother myself. That's what I'll give you, Lady Sansa. Your brother's head."

I think people often take his comments about how women are weak to mean he doesn't view his mother as a competent advisor. But you notice a pattern here - he gets shitty with her when it's about Jaime specifically.

"A great many people are sorry for that," Tyrion replied, "and before I am done, some may be a deal sorrier . . . yet I thank you for the sentiment. Joffrey, where might I find your mother?" "She's with my council," the king answered. "Your brother Jaime keeps losing battles."

"She's with my council" he says, because he sees no reason to not let Cersei run things without him, something Robert never lets her do. But "your brother Jaime" not "my uncle Jaime" which is a shift because he doesn't stop calling Renly or Stannis his uncles even after they rebel. He knows, he suspects, and what he resents is not Cersei fucking Jaime but Jaime fucking Cersei.

My read on this is that Joffrey sees his mother as weak for allowing herself to be seduced by Jaime, and sees Jaime as a lecherous seducer who is the cause of all his problems. If only Jaime hadn't seduced his mother, maybe his parents wouldn't hate each other. His claim wouldn't be under question. His mother should have just taken the abuse and bided her time instead of putting herself in danger and having bastards.

He loves his mother. He loves his father. And that's the human heart in conflict with itself that resides in Joffrey. Does he honor his mother, the only parent he has, or does he honor Robert, the patriarch he is supposed to emulate? If he has no other example of what strength looks like, is he even capable of figuring out a different path for himself?

[pinkheart22]

Taylor Swift's Purple Outfit is for "reputation taylors version" heres why:

THIS IS TYRIAN PURPLE - LOOKS LIKE HER OUTFIT COLOR. ITS WORTH ROUGHLY 66,000 ( 6 AS IN TS6 REPUTATION )

TYRIAN PURPLE IS A LOST ANCIENT PIGMENT ( LIKE REPUTATION IS A LOST ALBUM TO HER / SHE LEFT THE SPOTLIGHT DURING REPUTATION AND BASICALLY SHE WAS LOST TO THE PUBLIC EYE ) AND MORE VALUABLE THAN GOLD ( TAYLOR REFERENCES GOLD A LOT IN REPUTATION AND HER SONGS )

( PLUS TYRIAN PURPLE WAS ALSO KNOW TO BE USED TO MAKE A DEEP BLUE COLOR "DEEP BLUE BUT YOU PAINTED ME GOLDEN" - DANCING WITH OUR HANDS TIED

PURPLE IS OFTEN USED IN PLACE OF BLACK IN COMIC BOOKS AND ANIMATIONS( REPUTATION IS THE BLACK HEART ALBUM )

PURPLES VALUE IS EXACTLY HALFWAY BETWEEN RED AND BLUE ( 1989 AND RED ) AND HALF WAY BETWEEN WHITE AND BLACK ( REPUTATION )

EDIT: ON THE ERAS TOUR IT'S RED SET, 1 SPEAK NOW SONG, REPUTATION, THEN 1989. IT'S LITERALLY BETWEEN RED AND 1989

THE COLOR COMPOUND OF TYRIAN PURPLE IS 6.6 ( 6 as in REPUTATION )

THE COLOR SHIFTS OF THE DYE ARE FROM BLUE, YELLOW, ORAGNE, REDDISH PURPLE (PINK) AND GREEN, PURPLE - THE COLORS OF THE 1989 TV SET ON THE ERAS TOUR - + THE PURPLE COLOR GETS MORE INTENSE AS THE CLOTH AGES ( LIKE HOW TAYLOR HAS GOTTEN OLDER / HOW LONG THE ALBUM REPUTATION HAS BEEN LOST PURPLE HAS BECOME MORE VIBRANT) + PURPLE WOULD BE CONSIDERED THE 6TH SET CAUSE THE REST MATCH WITH 1989 TV SONG "SLUT" AQUAMARINE GREEN, TANGERINE NEON LIGHT, 1989 BLUE, FLAMINGO PINK AND SUNRISE BOULEVARD. PURPLE ISNT IN THE SONG.

ARISTOTLE WROTE ABOUT TYRIAN PIRPLE AND HOW IT WAS OBTAINED AND PRODUCED - WE KNOW TAYLOR KNOWS ARISTOTLE - FROM THE SONG SO HIGH SCHOOL

THE SNAIL THAT CREATES TYRIAN PURPLE SECRETS THE SUBSTANCE WHEN ATTACKED BY PREDATORS OR ANTAGONIZED BY HUMANS - THIS WAS WHAT HAPPENED TO TAYLOR DURING THE REPUTATION ERA

REPUTATION ERA USED A LOT OF PURPLE LIKE THE LIGHTS AT POP UPS

AND ON HER ACTUAL REPUTATION TOUR STAGE

AND PURPLE MERCH DURING THE REP ERA - LIKE THIS PURPLE SNAKE RING

EDIT: Tyrian purple was paraded by the most privileged in society for millennia – a symbol of strength, sovereignty and money. Ancient authors are particular about the precise hue that was worthy of the name: a deep reddish-purple, like that of coagulated blood, tinged with black. SOME TYRIAN PURPLES WERE TINGED WITH BLACK!

EDIT: TYRIAN PURPLE AND PURPLE IN GENERAL IS ASSOCIATED WITH ROYALTY AND POWER : REPUTATION RESEMBLES THIS

SHE SITS ON A THRONE IN LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO

THEY TOOK THE CROWN BUT ITS ALRIGHT - CALL IT WHAT YOU WANT

I DON'T LIKE YOUR KINGDOM KEYS THEY ONCE BELONGED TO ME - LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO

AND WE RULE THIS KINGDOM INSIDE MY ROOM -KOMH

KING OF MY HEART, BODY AND SOUL -KOMH

I'M YOUR AMERICAN QUEEN -KOMH

MY CASTLE CRUMBLED OVERNIGHT -CIWYW

DRAMA QUEENS TAKING SWINGS, JOKERS DRESSING UP AS KINGS - CIWYW

ALSO SHE WROTE REPUTATION WHILE WATCHING GAME OF THRONES

S4E2 OF GOT (WHICH CONVENIENTLY 4+2 = 6 ) IS CALLED THE PURPLE WEDDING (SPOILER) - WHERE JOFFREY DIES BY POISON - THE POISON USED TO KILL JOFFREY IS SMUGGLED IN THE DEEP PURPLE AMETHYSTS AND THE KING DRINKS THE WINE - ITS DESCRIBED AS DARK RED THEN PURPLE - LIKE THE TYRIAN PURPLE COLOR ( FUNNILY ENOUGH A CHARACTER NAMED TYRION HANDS JOFFREY THE GOBLET. TYRION LIKE TYRIAN PURPLE )

TAYLOR BASICALLY IS THE KING AND DRANK THE POISON. "SHE CAN'T COME TO THE PHONE RIGHT NOW, CAUSE SHE'S DEAD" BECAUSE OF ALL THE DRAMA THAT WENT DOWN. SHE DRANK THE PURPLE POISON.

SHE'S ALSO WEARING A LION PENDANT ON THE 1989 TV SET ON THE ERAS TOUR. THE EPISODE TITLE OF GAME OF THRONES PURPLE WEDDING IS "THE LION AND THE ROSE"

AND HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED SENT HER ROSES.

DO YOU THINK TAYLORS 1989 TV PURPLE SET ON THE ERAS TOUR IS IN REFERENCE TO REPUTATION TAYLORS VERSION - LET ME KNOW :)

PLEASE USE ME AS REFERENCE IF YOU TALK ABOUT THIS THEORY. I WORKED REALLY HARD ON IT. THANK YOU. I WOULD APPRECIATE IT :) XXX

POSTED: AUGUST 4, 2024

@taylorswift @taylornation

[axelsagewrites]

How They React to Teasing

Charecters: all the GOT show ones I could remember. Let me know who I've missed for more posts like this.

Masterlist Here

Would tease you and love watching you get flustered 

Robb, Arya, Tormund, Obreyn, Margery, Ramsay, Beric

Would get flustered when teased but secretly love it 

Sansa, Bran, Theon, Catelyn, Jojen, Jorah, Jamie

Teases you and wants to be teased back 

Jon, Ned, Daenrys, Sandor, Tyrion, Bronn, Brienne, Yara, Thoros

Can't handle teasing 

Cersei, Tywin, Gilly, Sam, Missandei

A/N: gonna put HOTD ones in a separate post but lemme

Also the amount of tags, charecters, and weird spelled names made my brain hurt which is why I appreciate the simpleness of Jon

[gwenllian-in-the-abbey]

I know that you dislike how Aegon was portrayed in the show, but I really like alot of the elements they added to his character. The decision to invent an entirely original character just for him to assault was one of the strangest choices by the writers. However, I appreciate how they depicted his relationship with his parents. For instance, Viserys adored baby Aegon because he thought he could be a replacement for Balon. But as Aegon grew older and began to resemble his mother, he was no longer what Viserys wanted. Balon's shadow still looms over Aegon even in his adulthood. This is very similar to the dynamic between Tywin&Tyrion, and how Joanna's shadow still looms over both of them. Aegon's relationship with his mother is also very interesting. She loves him because he is her firstborn, but she also resents him. She believes that by crowning him, she could save him, but that's what ultimately leads to his death. There's so much to Aegon's character in the show, but most of it has been left unexplored. I wish that in S2, instead of vilifying him even further, they would explore the elements they added to his character.

Actually, I agree with a lot of this. It's mostly the invention of the OC to assault that I take issue with, and the way the show's writers can't seem to decide if they want Aegon to be an outright villain or a more grey character (which I think he certainly was in the book). But this is how a lot of the S1 characterization went. Given the time jumps, they had a hard time establishing a consistent characterization that felt like it developed organically over time. It's fine to have characters act in an inconsistent way, but you have to establish that this character has two warring sides and why. As GRRM likes to say, his favorite stories are about the human heart in conflict with itself. A character can do things that are unexpected or against their own interests, but we need to understand the conflict. Aegon really only got a handful of episodes in S1, so it's not surprising that his character is undeveloped compared to Alicent or Rhaenyra or Daemon.

There are lots of things I do like about the show's portrayal of Aegon though, and some of it is down to TGC's acting choices, but some of it is on the page. I think actually the show did the best job with the writing of younger Aegon in episodes 6 and 7, where you really see a spark of happiness in Aegon dim from the start of episode 6 to the end of episode 7 as the weight of expectations settles upon him. I also like that the show has made Aegon more or less an abused and neglected child. While I don't think that Alicent is an abusive parent per se, she and Otto both get physical with him even when he's not done anything (the kick to the ribs from Otto I think does cross a line). From episode 6 onward, there's not an episode in which Aegon is not being manhandled to some degree, and I think that's a really interesting choice. He's kicked around and slapped and grabbed and all of this culminates in him finally being metaphorically shoved onto a throne against his will. I think it gives this sense with Aegon that he is never really allowed to exist as his own person, that his very body isn't his own. He is either a vessel for kingship (and thus the protection of his family) or he is a representation the challenge he poses to Rhaenyra. His feelings don't matter, his wants don't matter, his pain doesn't matter. His father, very literally, erases him, and he's raised believing his sister probably wants him dead. I think it feeds very well into his hedonism, and I'd like to see that explored more.

But I agree that Season 2 should develop his character, rather than vilifying him further. I don't actually think show!Aegon is a total lost cause but the writers are treading a thin line with him. Most of what I enjoy about book!Aegon hasn't happened yet on the show, and there will be plenty of time post-Rook's Rest for Aegon to reflect upon his life and his choices, so let's hope they use it! A lot of people die in the Dance but we've got Aegon until the last episode or so, so the show really needs to make sure he's compelling to people who aren't already invested in his book character.

[tyrionsource]

Thank you for Tyrion's Seasons of Love!

A very quick thank you for Tyrion's Seasons of Love! It has been an epic journey and all of the beautiful fanwork and fan support for the project is immensely appreciated. There will be a Master List of all the fanworks created for the Spring Event as well as Master List of all the fanworks that were created for the entire event. So keep a look out for those posts soon. You can also, as always, post creations late, just remember to tag @tyrionsource so that your work will be reblogged!

Thank you! Thank you again!

[the-daily-dreamer]

What do you think of the Aemond scene in the streets of silk? I saw a lot of people fawning over it and sexualising it, but I never understood why. It made me so uncomfortable knowing he was literally 13 and was ”forced“ to engage in sexual acts with a much older woman just to spend time with Aegon. I know this show is all about incest and doesn’t shy away from dubious sexual themes, but I think this fandom is taking it a little too far. A young boy being taken advantage of and then meeting his alleged abuser after he‘s grown again isn’t sexy at all. I felt bad for him.

If you want the the TLDR, here it is: I think it’s absolutely disgusting.

I reblogged a post for the gorgeous and talented @aemonds-war-crime talking about this, but here’s my two cents on the whole “Aemond liked his experience at 13 and was turned on when searching for his brother” debate.

Aemond was a child and clearly did not appreciate the sexual situation he was placed in. Aemond has consistently been shown to be a character who generally follows the rules and is very traditional and proper. Even as a child at 10 years old, he is strict with most of the rules of propriety. He scolds his brother about respecting his sister/future queen. He walks with head held high and arms behind his back. He deals with tense situations with dignity, intellect, and extreme calm. He, of all the Green kids (and kids in general) is the most proper and mature of the bunch.

As an adult, we also see he still has his strict sensibilities and propriety. Aemond is first to fold his hands in prayer. He studies history and politics. He looks down upon his brother for his deviant nature. Yes, he has moments of irrational and improper behavior, but by and large, he has a strict code of propriety both religious and societal that he abides by.

No child would be interested in a sexual circumstance with a much older woman under the pressure of their older brother. And even if they said they were, they are not old enough to truly consent to it. And in Aemond’s case, this multiplies as he has such a strong moral conviction as a child. He knows that certain behaviors (specifically sexually deviant ones) are improper and shameful in his society, so it’s very unlikely he would want to shame himself and his mother (whom he adores) by partaking in a sexual encounter with a sex worker. In the end, Aemond was taken advantage of and clearly uncomfortable with the whole ordeal as child.

As an adult, Aemond is once again explicitly shown to have a great distaste for his brother’s sexual antics. He looks down on it. While searching for his brother in the silk streets, he is shown to be annoyed, uncomfortable, and quite frankly angry with his brother’s behaviors. He has seen how Aegon’s behaviors have put a lot of stress and grief on their mother, and I really don’t think he would enjoy these things based on that fact alone. I never got the vibe that Aemond was in any way interested or appreciative of encountering individuals and a location that is tied with his rape as a child. He looks very unhappy and uncomfortable.

However, the greatest piece of evidence I think there is about Aemond clearly not being an overtly sexual man with interest in sex and sex workers is that…the show would show it.

We’ve seen that GOT and HOTD have zero issue with explicitly showing dubious sexual situations and deviant behaviors for the appropriate characters that have those characteristics. Aegon pleasures himself out a window and rapes Dyana. Larys wants his foot fetish satisfied for information. Tyrion enjoyed the company of sex workers. Daemon has an orgy. Rhaenyra pressures Criston is to sex. Characters that have sexual liberation or comfort in defying societal rules of sex and propriety are shown to do it.

If Aemond was turned on or interested in any way in sex workers or sex in general. They would take the time to show it. Especially with the chokehold that Aemond has on the fandom. They would absolutely take advantage of a sex scene with him if it was in character. But it isn’t, so it doesn’t happen. Instead the show focuses on his intellect, his strength and skill, and his devotion to his family. Because that is his character. I have no doubt he will be shown in a sexual scenario, but it won’t be purely a physical relationship where he pays for sex. It’ll be with Alys because he will love her, have passion for her, and likely marry her first.

In the end. It’s gross that a faction of this fandom is obsessed with sexualizing a 13 year old boy being taken advantage of by an older woman. He was a child who could never consent, and clearly didn’t want it to happen. Aemond is a gentleman of his era and follows his society’s rules. He showed no interest in the silk streets, and instead was frustrated and uncomfortable. And if he was a sexually liberated man comfortable with sex, they would show it.

[dracowars]

a little update

hi! uhm.. i don't even know how or where to start this after basically just disappearing without a word so i'll just start with: hey, i'm still here! i didn't want to leave, it just happened..

so much was and still is going in my life that i just didn't have the time to be active on here. unfortunately, that hasn't really changed and i feel incredibly sorry about that. this blog was my safe space for a long time, but life just got too overwhelming at some point and i couldn't enjoy anything anymore. either way, i couldn't be more grateful for everyone who is still reading my fics on a daily basis and leaving all the love on my blog in general - i love you all 🫶🏻

this post is supposed to update you on what will happen with this blog in the future and what has been going on in my life. the latter will be at the end so i don't force you to read it!

most importantly: this blog is very dear to my heart and i want to start writing again soon. i really missed the daily routine of writing a few words and i want to get back into it but i genuinely can't promise anything. there are still a few requests in my inbox but i don't even know if these people still want me to write their requests since it's been ages and they probably don't even remember. i don't really know what to do about that :( i also have a lot of unfinished drafts with my own ideas and it just got really overwhelming ngl

another reason i didn't enjoy writing as much anymore is also the liking/reblogging/commenting system of tumblr. as a writer, it simply sucks to 'only' get likes when we all know that reblogs are what pushes fics. as a reader, i usually don't reblog every single thing i read either or i just forget so i'm torn between those two sides and genuinely don't know what to do. i don't write and have never written to get the most likes/reblogs, i write because i want people to feel safe, to escape reality for at least a few minutes and because i enjoy it. but in the end, appreciation for what i write is also important in some way..

either way, i'll try to figure this out soonish and hopefully post a new fic in the foreseeable future 🥺 i missed it so so much

so, what has been going on in my life since i stopped writing? well, i'm almost done with my studies (which is fun but also scary) and i literally have only been breathing and living for university. it was a lot. it still is a lot to be honest but at least i can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel! yayy

when i did have time to myself and allowed myself a break, i grabbed a book or watched a movie/show. i finally got to read some of the books i wanted to read for ages (a court of thorns and roses, king of scars, etc) and i reached my goal of reading 50 books last year and currently i'm at 18 books for 2024!

i also watched a few new shows and movies like dune 2, damsel, challengers or the hunger games and the one piece and atla live action, derry girls, and - what probably took in my whole life at this point - house of the dragon and game of thrones!!! i can't believe i finally watched game of thrones after all these years, it still feels surreal. and listen, i'm OBSESSED. i watched it with my best friend who has seen it 10+ times and we started with house of the dragon (can't wait for season two!!!) and then went on with game of thrones and OH MY GOD. it's just so so good, i love it so much and can't believe i missed out on it for all these years. i know it's unbelievable but i went into it with basically 0 knowledge and only minor spoilers i have seen over the years so the impact was incredible. the whole experience was absolutely amazing and i will definitely rewatch it! my favourite characters are jon (what a surprise), sansa and tyrion <3 oh, and i love alicent and criston in hotd, i'm 100% team green~ who would have thought that now i of course want to write something for jon snow and maybe even some other characters from got/hotd, we'll see!

also, i can't believe the european championship is starting on friday and what do you mean it's happening in my country??? i'm so excited, can't wait to watch all the matches!!

i think this is enough for the little update. i genuinely hope that i will be able to write & post something soon and that i can finally turn this blog into my safe space again 🫶🏻 ily

[agentrouka-blog]

Hi there. I'm not sure how much of a Lannister fangirl you are but i just wanted to say that you (and a few others on here) tend to articulate my thoughts on this complex and messed up family that too often are painted with "broad strokes" so to speak by the fandom at large and casual audiences. This is especially the case for jaime (who gets portrayed as a jelly bean sweet boi) and Tywin (who's often seen as the smartest man in the world who never makes mistakes), so i find your critical posts on them extremely refreshing and lowkey kind of vindicating.

Also the more people hate on cersei and blame her for stuff she had little to do with is the more i like her out of spite. do you feel the same with other characters who get alot of hate?

Hi there! Thank you, I am happy you enjoy my posts. :)

I'm not really a Lannister fangirl so much as a Jaime/Cersei tragic mess appreciater - and a commited Tyrion hater. I think they are compelling villains, but the twins are by far my favorite and I expect their ending will be the most poetic and sympathetic of all the villain endings.

I'm a Sansa fan from the first, and I also appreciate Catelyn, so there are obviously some hateful opinions around my faves. But thankfully I missed the era where it was widely popular to hate them and found the welcoming Sansa community on tumblr around the time the show ended.

Otherwise? I have a soft spot for some of the female villains who are rarely given consideration, like Lysa or Selyse. I think there is an underexplored well of complexity with Joffrey. Sweetrobin is going to Show Them All. Obara is going to be the most compelling Sand Snake in TWOW. Sybell Westerling is a crap mother, but she is not evil for betraying Robb. Neither is Barbrey evil for not loving the Starks, only for her complicity in Jeyne's treatment.

Honestly, I am much more prone to criticize popular characters I feel are not held to proper account by the fandom, though.

[daenerysstormreborn]

IS EACH POV CHARACTER A DOG OR CAT PERSON?

Tell me if you agree or disagree. Discourse encouraged.

Jon: tough one. All the Starks are tough because of their canine associations. Ultimately I think he’d love both but I lean towards cats for Jon because of his gentle, quiet, brooding nature.

Arya: she would love any animal placed in front of her but dog with preference

Bran: dogs, but specifically more mellow large breeds

Sansa: cats. She would love some dogs the way she loved Lady, but I can imagine her being overwhelmed by loud, rowdy, energetic dogs

Ned: dogs. Ned would be the type who thinks every cat is the same. He would act like he thinks dogs are too messy and don’t belong in the house or on the furniture but he’d let the dog sleep in his bed and feed it more table scraps than anyone

Catelyn: dogs. Cat would want to like cats but I think she would find them vexing

Tyrion: really hard to place. I lean toward dogs but I can’t explain why. But I think he’d be very amused by cats

Jaime: he’d think he prefers dogs until he lived with a cat and saw their mischief. Like Tyrion, he’d be very amused by the audacity and brazen attitude of cats

Cersei: neither. I think she’d think dogs are gross and dirty and would be frustrated by the independence of cats

Brienne: neither, in the “didn’t grow up with pets” type of way. She’d be hesitant and wouldn’t know how to interact with them but I think she’d love both once she learned about them

Sam: cats because I’m pretty sure it’s stated in canon that he specifically loves kittens. I think he’d want to like dogs but their energy would freak him out a bit

Davos: dogs, due to a lack of experience in cat ownership. He has a fixed idea of what cats are like in his head and he doesn’t like it

Theon: neither. Not sure about post-Reek Theon but pre-Reek Theon would not like pets

Asha: she would appreciate the nature of cats but prefer the company of dogs

Victarion: I cannot imagine this man loving an animal

Aeron: I do not think Aeron thinks about such things

Daenerys: she’d appreciate dogs but ultimately cats for their attitudes. I’ve always thought of dragons as being cat-like in behavior. Somewhat reclusive and occasionally testy, intelligent and curious, sometimes lazy, independent, and strong-willed

Arianne: dog lover vibes. Doesn’t hate cats but definite dog preference

Quentyn: also dogs but I think he wouldn’t like cats. Has the vibes of the guy who says he doesn’t like cats because one scratched his dog when he was a kid

Barristan: this is a man who says “no we will not get a pet” but ends up loving the pet the most. I think he’d get on better with cats based on vibes

Melisandre: cat person. No explanation needed I think

JonCon: absolutely no clue someone else help me out

Areo: also no clue please someone else decide

Hopefully I didn’t forget anyone. I didn’t include prologue/epilogue POVs. Please discuss.

[jandjsalmon]

2022 Fanfiction Reading Challenge

October Stats 🎃

Happy November, my friends! We managed to wait until today to get our first real dusting of snow - so that’s fun for us. Halloween is one of my favourite holidays - my daughter dressed as Princess Peach and her friends were various Mario characters. They were a hit! We just moved into a new neighbourhood - and literally only had 34 little trick-or-treaters. VERY different from our last house where we’d have steady kids from 4pm-10pm and go through several boxes of treats... now I have two big bowls left over. Whatever shall we do? 😏

Fandom-wise, I’m two tasks away from completing the @fanfic-reading-challenge​​ - in fact, I’m only waiting on the month requirement tasks (fics that have to be read in Nov and Dec) and then I’m completely done the Regular, Hard, AND Extreme challenges. Thank you all for joining me on this journey - for the messages with fic suggestions and for being patient with my monthly run-downs. What started as my comfort!fic rundowns in April 2020 (after the infamous leak™️) has become something fun for me anyway - even if no one else is reading these. lol. 

The last few weeks were pretty challenging as far as doing the fic challenge - because I had to read several longer-ish stories from fandoms I am not part of and don’t really know much about. It gave me an appreciation for some new fandoms and pairings - and it also made me miss the Golden Era of my own fandom and the quality of the fics profoundly. I think I’m going to spend my November rereading those stories. Suggestions for your faves would be welcome.

I started reading Daemon/Rhaenyra this month and have been SO pleased with the stories - there is one that is currently a WIP that is absolutely glorious and I drop everything when it’s updated to read it right then! I legit read 46 different fandoms in this one month - most were because of the challenge, but I know I’ll return to many of them in the future. If you were to read one fandom outside of your norm - what is it?

–  

Anyway - as per usual, here are a few recs for the month (and if you’re still into SPOOKY READS - you should check out my Bughead Halloween Fic Rec Post) - and as always, if you have any favourite stories (that you loved reading or even that you wrote - in any fandom), please let me know. I’d love to know what you’ve been reading and I never complain about new stories to read. 👻

foolish hearts (series) by @catthecoder​​ (5 fics - Bughead)

Summary:  When a federal agent Betty Cooper gets assigned a case featuring an art thief and forger Jughead Jones, she doesn’t really think much of it. But as months pass, alongside the irritation caused by both the lack of progress in the case and the criminal himself, other feelings start to blossom as well; particularly the ones of respect and admiration. And the fact that Jughead is more intrigued by the agent on his case than terrified of her certainly doesn’t help much with keeping their relationship strictly professional. In their lines of work, pleasure and business certainly shouldn’t mix, but who’s there to stop their foolish hearts?

Why you should read it: HOW DID I MISS THIS THE FIRST TIME?! This is wonderful. THE WHOLE SERIES. Glorious. I was stuck in my feels the whole time. I legitimately LOVED each character - flaws and all - and I FELT for them. And the writing is beautiful. I was physically sad when I reached the end and there was no more to read in this universe. What a gift.

-

Hold the Rock by @avocadomooon (1/1 - Tyrion/Sansa)

Summary: "Nag? No. A bad wife nags. A good wife advises," Tyrion said. "And you are a very good wife." "Thank you, my lord," Sansa said. "Now comes the part where you tell me I'm a very good husband." "You are passable, my lord," she said, and Tyrion laughed.

Why you should read it: Okay - so I know you’re skeptical because it’s not a pairing people generally think “oooh that sounds good” - BUT TRUST ME - this was REALLY good. Alternate universe a bit - where Ned doesn’t go down to KL. It’s arranged marriage - but I promise, the depth of these characters is just TOP NOTCH. It’s a one-shot but it’s a long one - and you’re love these two by the end of it.

-

Let Her Own Works Praise Her in the Gates by @chronicbookworm​ (1/1 - Mary Bennet/Mr. Collins)

Summary:  Circumstances (and Mary) conspire to make Mr Collins propose to Mary instead of Charlotte Lucas. The new Mrs Collins finds a place for herself in Hunsford, finds a cause to champion, and finds more courage than she knew she had.

Why you should read it: OKAY OKAY - So I know you’re going to give me the side eye and say “Jandy, why are we reading about very well boiled potatoes?” - but I have to tell you, this is how Austen should have written the Mr. Collins storyline. Mary is FANTASTIC here. A bit manipulative, but for the good of everyone. Honestly - if you like Austen or Austen fics at all, please give this one shot a try. It was very very well written and the characters are really likeable (even Collins) - well, except Lady Catherine (BUT - Mary tells her off, so it’s fabulous). Anyway - read it. It was a joy for me this month.

I hope you enjoy the recs and I hope you have a wonderful week.❤️

[atopvisenyashill]

wait i’m gonna post some fanfic recs later so i stop being less of a hater for a while but my last, most haterific take is that while i spend a lot of time yelling about tyrion and bloodraven, i appreciate them as characters bc they make me FEEL even if that feeling is often “BRO WHAT ARE YOU DOING. WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM.” the one (1) character i truly hate, i hate bc everytime he shows up my main reaction is “ugh him again” like if u can’t make me muster up some righteous fury over your actions i don’t want you being a weirdo in my book!!

also aiden is overrated as an actor, whisper speaking while chewing the scenery and spitting it back out isn’t acting sorry!!!!

[crazysleepydreams]

FAR FROM LOST

Ok I'm late for the party but I want to party too so I shall post the promps for the next week let's thank @albinokittens300 for the fantastic idea! This is the Beta'd version, thank elliecat78

Sansa felt lost many times in her short life. 

The first time was obviously when her then fiance ordered her father’s death and all that came after it, but she realized during her time at the Eyre that in Kings Landing she had been far from lost because even if she hadn’t realized it back then, she had a protector. And not any protector: she had the bravest, gentlest and most handsome man as her protector and husband. Even if she had been a stupid little girl, who could never look past his height and what society deemed beautiful, back then she shunned him and he was patient and gentle with her in turn.

Then came her time in the Eyre; it wasn't the best time of her life nor was it the worst: for the biggest part it simply was. It was the place where she realized how ugly the world was, how she couldn’t trust people even if they carried the same blood as her, it was the also the place were she learned the most about the game… not that she had realized it as she was still a foolish stupid girl clinging to the last hopes about life beeing a song. It was also the place where she remained sane mostly thanks to the ghostly memories of her husband's kindness and smiles avoiding her from getting lost.

Later came her time with Ramsey: she had hoped for a husband as kind as her first, she would later realize that she would have been content with a tenth of that kindness, even if he only wanted her to secure the North (wasn’t that the reason she had been married off to Tyrion in the first place?). That time was the one where she was the closest to losing herself  even with the ghostly memories of both her father and her true husband doing their best to help her: they didn't, they made everything worse somehow no matter how kind they were, she had been a fool and failed them both and they were probably both dead by then. But before she could resign herself to her life two things happened: Theon and she remembered Tyrion's words about how her mother would have wanted her to live...so she did, she took her destiny in her own hands and killed her husband (a fake, a fake nothing, no one, not even the gods could make her accept him as such).

With the help of Jon they got Winterfell back, but it felt cold for the first time. Then the long night came and with it the Dragon Queen and her husband, during the preparations she felt so lost as she saw her husband with his queen or simply with others: he was so close yet so far away. He wasn’t the man she had married so many years back - he was bitter, he was insecure, he was scared and none seemed to notice. Why didn’t they realize there was something wrong with him? Was it finally lost? Had the world finally succeeded in killing that beautiful man she once married and like the rest couldn’t appreciate? She couldn’t stand to be in the same room as that pretender: so she did everything she could to avoid him, she was even hurtful and petty towards him, but as always that didn’t matter, he was kind and gentle to her.. 

At one moment in the crypts she almost agreed with him, almost asked him the unthinkable, but she couldn’t, instead she reminded him that with his divided loyalties they could never work. Even if she didn’t want to, it seemed for a moment that her words killed whatever was left of the man he had once been and then they fought the undead. She couldn’t tell him how sorry she was and how she wanted to ask for his forgiveness, but she let him go with his queen without telling him anything: feeling lost once more.

The massacre that was the battle of the Kings Landing happened and she wasn’t there for anything except for when Tyrion abdicated his rights to the crown in favor of her little brother Bran. She didn’t stick around long after Bran’s coronation due to her own, but because of ravens she learned of Tyrion's appointment as Hand of the King: he seemed to be born to be a Hand. Tyrion and Bran wrote to her regularly: Tyrion about the any matters that might concern her regarding the North and some small advice and he spoke some about his health when she inquired, and Bran seemed to give endless reports about Lord Lannister’s health current pastimes and anything she might have wanted to know about her once husband. When Tyrion came North for the first time for some political-diplomatic things that concerned both realms they represented, Sansa felt hopeful: not all was lost. Tyrion seemed healthier, happier and more like himself during his stay. They spoke for hours on end about anything and everything: clever japes thrown at each other in a battle of wits, he spoke about Joy’s legitimization, her marriage to Pod and how they were expecting their first child and said child being his heir: a last favor to his father, the child of a legitimized bastard and not an important noble would carry on the Lannister legacy. Tyrion drank, even if it was a small fraction of what he once drank, and he had learned how to wield a sword at some time, much to her confusion and often had friendly spars with her guards and his. Before he left the North it seemed that everything would be alright. Tyrion was finding his way back to her and more importantly he was finding and rediscovering himself: all was far from lost. Maybe, just maybe, she could try to court him slowly and from afar until his next visit: her council approved of the match.

But, alas, it was not meant to be - a fortnight after Tyrion had left the North she received a raven from her younger brother; in truth she received two: one that informed the Northern Kingdom of the passing of Lord Tyrion Lannister, first of his name, Lord Hand, Lord of Casterly Rock, Shield of Lannisport and Warden of the West, during a pirate attack on a village. His group was passing through and he died valiantly protecting the villagers along with his men against the savages; it also informed how after the appropriate mourning period Joy and Poddrick Lannister shall become the new Wardennes and Warden until their child was of age. The second letter was much less regal and more personal, it was also shorter:

I’m sorry, I should have seen it and warned you or him … I was far too lost in the future your decision had created: it was beautiful. He loved you until his last breath: I can only hope you can find it in yourself to ever forgive me. He has always been a good good-brother.

 Bran

 In the end all had been lost… if she had only kissed him or told him she loved him.

[bleakbluejay]

Fresh-Eyed Review of A Game of Thrones (1996)

As a disabled autistic person, I really took to the Song of Ice and Fire series back in my youth. I decided to try reading it on a whim when I was 15 years old, year 2014. And I loved it in a way I rarely love things. However, it's been a long time. I've now just turned 24 years old, the year is 2022, and I decided to reread AGOT on a whim again after reading the Dunk & Egg series. So, what did I think about it?

George is my favorite author. Clear and simple. If I didn't know any better, I'd think he was actually entering Planetos himself and documenting what he saw there. I love how descriptive he is, how much attention to detail he has, how compelling the characters are. I thought that in 2014, and I think that again now.

I was a child when I read it and viewed these things through those childhood eyes. Now I'm an adult, and I do see things I never saw before. Now that I'm old enough to understand certain things, I absolutely dread Daenerys chapters where I used to love them. I think her chapters are my biggest complaint about AGOT. They are so needlessly oversexualized. I've seen some arguments this way and that on why she's sexualized the way that she is, but it doesn't stop the fact that she's still written the way she is. Without getting too into spoilers... she deserved a lot better and George really failed her when he wrote her. I just made a Reddit post documenting my feelings about it, and I have no more energy to discuss this at present. But feel free to message me if you want to discuss it!

Dany aside, though, I have as much love now as I did then for everyone else. In fact, I found myself loving Sansa a lot more than I did before. Originally, Sansa had been my least favorite chapters. Now, I love her. To me, she comes off as a gullible autistic child who wanted the world to be as her special interest of songs and stories was, and she had a rude awakening when the manipulation she fell for led to the death of loved ones. Most of her story is told in her thoughts, which makes it so her show counterpart is very boring and hard to relate to. However, book!Sansa is very appealing and relatable. I wish I appreciated her better back then.

Jon is a lot more clearly kind of a whiny emotional teenager, and good for him. Also, I do believe he and Samwell are boyfriends. Sorry. I don't make the rules.

I'm also delighted by Jon having mechanical difficulties with his hands after the incident in the tower. Something I always loved about ASOIAF was its huge cast of disabled characters -- Tyrion, Jon, Stoneheart, Davos, Jaime, to name a few. It feels good.

Littlefinger littlefingering is also fun. Something that I had forgotten after having watched the show is that Littlefinger is everyone's friend, aside from maybe Cat and Ned. He's a very, very friendly guy who plays all sides. The show makes him out to be a weasel that everyone knows sucks... it's hard to manipulate so many people if they know what you're up to. That in contrast to how Varys is even less trusted than Littlefinger but is a better person than him? I loved that.

I like the book for the most part. I have half a mind to start skipping Dany chapters when I start the next book, but maybe it'll be better this time around? Who knows.

AMA, by the way! I love talking about ASOIAF and I love discussing things and reliving the same excitement I felt originally reading it in high school.

[themutationstation]

The Mutation Station : Heterochromia Iridium

The Colourful Spectrum of Genetic Mutation

Genetic mutations have sculpted the evolutionary story of humanity, presenting us with a variety of traits that make us uniquely who we are. Welcome to the The Mutation Station Blog series, an sumarised offshoot to The Mutation Station Podcast, a place where we explore the fascinating world of genetic mutations like heterochromia iridium. Today, we dive into the significance of these mutations, understanding and embracing the diversity they bring to our world, and the importance of accepting our unique traits.

The Science of Heterochromia: More Than Just Eye Colour

Heterochromia iridium is not just about having different coloured eyes. It's a genetic mutation I'm intimately familiar with, as someone with one brown and one green eye. There are different types of heterochromia: central heterochromia with a ring around the pupil, sectoral heterochromia a flash of colour or section of colour made famous by that little kidnapped girl Madeleine McCann who was easily identifiable by the flash of different colour in one of her eyes, and limbal ring heterochromia with a dark outline of the iris. This diversity in eye colour is determined by the concentration of melanin, painting a vibrant picture of our genetic individuality.

Tales of Two Tones: Myths and Legends

Beyond science, heterochromia is steeped in myth and legend. In Ancient Greece, it was believed to grant the power to see the future and the intrinsic nature of people. North American indigenous cultures saw it as a connection between the spiritual and physical realms. Even in Egypt, those with heterochromia were revered and believed to have the ability to converse with the Gods. These stories highlight the mystical allure that has surrounded this mutation for centuries.

From History to Hollywood: Famous Faces of Heterochromia

Heterochromia has marked not only the likes of Alexander the Great but also modern celebrities and fictional characters. The condition has found its way into pop culture and literature, shaping characters like the X-Men's Mystique and Game of Thrones' Tyrion Lannister. These portrayals contribute to the narrative of heterochromia, sometimes casting it in a villainous light, which we hope to change.

Personal Reflections: Living with Heterochromia

Growing up with heterochromia iridum was a mixed experience. As a child, I felt different and sometimes out of place. However, as I matured, I began to appreciate the beauty of my unique eyes. They became a source of pride and identity, and a doorway to fascinating encounters and stories from others living with heterochromia. It's these experiences that enrich our lives, making us appreciate the diversity of the human condition.

Conclusion: Perfectly Imperfect Mutants

Heterochromia is a striking example of the beauty found in genetic diversity. It's a trait that I, and many others, have come to embrace. The podcast journey reminds us to celebrate our distinctive features and the stories they tell. Whether you have heterochromia or know someone who does, cherish this unique aspect of appearance. It's the perfectly imperfect quirks like these that make life so rich and varied. After all, we are all perfectly imperfect mutants in our own way.

This blog post is a summarized version of The Mutation Station podcast, aimed at sharing the wonder of genetic mutations with a broader audience. It encapsulates the scientific explanations, cultural beliefs, and personal reflections that make genetic mutations a fascinating topic to explore.