#but that's the asoiaf fandom for you lol

[meraxesmoon]

FR THO!

Cersei lannister and alicent have NOTHING in common. Cersei is a narcissist, she doesnt love anyone but herself, she only "loves" jamie because he is a copy of herself physically and it was like having sex with herself 💀 and they stay comparing to my queen girl boss aly.

And when people compare daenerys "started from the bottom now we're here" targaryen to rhaenyra... WHERE? HOW?

Love them both but dany is clearly superior, and she is not fighting for a throne against a man... She fighting against cersei

Of couse there misogyny... Its westeros... But thats to every woman

Dany doesnt want to be like the targaryens while being a targaryen, her might and mind doesnt even compare to rhaenyras.

Team black power comes from jace, corlys, rhaenys and jace not her.

Thats why the ending of the show felt so wrong and forced, dany had always cared about her people and peers first, and had always outsmarted her enemies.

(i love it here in this blog, i feel like opinions are respected and heard)

I didn't really like Cersei, even in the show, because she's just plain gross. She doesn't love her children in the slightest, she just sees them as extensions of herself. In the books she has this weird possession over Tommen, and it made me SO uncomfortable.

Not to mention, Jaime is a whole victim. He's moved on with Brienne now, and unlike in season 8, I don't believe that he'll go back to Cersei because he's finally discovered what healthy love feels like.

And yeah, I get pretty annoyed when I see people compare Dany and Nyra as well, because the whole point of Daenerys is that she's the opposite of the Targaryen's. Rhaenyra grew up in a castle, she was spoiled by her father, and she lived in luxury for the majority of her life, even when the war was going on. Daenerys, however, was basically living from place to place as a child. Not to mention, Dany was a literal child bride. She was only around 13-14 when she was married off to Drogo and she lost her baby when she was very young as well. Like, I know we all hate Viserys (Dany's brother, damn Targ's and not being original with their names), but he did everything in his power to keep her safe.

Also, Rhaenyra wasn't a feminist icon like a lot of people portray her to be. She didn't want equal rights or anything, she just believed since her father named her as heir that she was the exception. I definitely prefer show Rhaenyra to book Rhaenyra, they made her much more likable in the show.

Daenerys is different because she grew up watching the commonfolk suffer, she knows that the cycle of kings and queens is poisonous to the people! She doesn't really seem (to me) to want to be like her ancestors, because they really weren't all that great. This is why I think Dany and Varys would have been a great combo, because they both have the people's interest in mind.

She never would have burned Kings Landing, the DnD were just getting lazy with the writing.

I'm glad that I'm providing a safe place for you to voice your opinions! I definitely grinded on some nerves with the last rant thing I posted because someone reblogged it and spouted all sorts of nonsense. That just proved my point that you can't criticize team black without them getting mad and petty. I've blocked both people because I don't have to deal with that, but I thought it was super funny.

in the tags they were like #team green sucks blah blah blah

It doesn't bother me because I'm not team green lol.

[gendrie]

"No sign of your daughter, Hand," the Hound rasped down, "but the day was not wholly wasted. We got her little pet." (Ned, AGOT) "It's not the same," Sansa said. "The Hound is Joffrey's sworn shield. Your butcher's boy attacked the prince." (Sansa, AGOT)

when arya befriended mycah the characters around her attributed a sense of ownership to arya. she is highborn. mycah was lowborn. he is her responsibility. thats not an inaccurate representation of the dynamic between highborns and lowborns in general. which is a feeling arya herself assumes to an extent bc we see her internalize a lot of the grief and guilt when mycah is murdered. on page nobody else really cares, but arya did. he was her friend and she felt responsible for him as the higher born of the two.

"A girl will obey," Arya said. "What should I do?" "A hundred men are hungry, they must be fed, the lord commands hot broth. A girl must run to the kitchens and tell her pie boy." (Arya, ACOK)

jaqen uses similar language in harrenhal when telling arya to enlist hot pie's help. he knew arya's identity as a highborn lady so its reflective of the same concept. again, arya takes responsibility for hot pie after they escape. he slows her down but she will not leave him behind. arya sees him as her friend, her pack and therefore her burden. arya naturally assumes responsibility in most situations.

And her brothers and sisters were with her, many and more of them, fierce and terrible and hers. They would never leave her. (Arya, ASOS)

honestly, she kind of thrives on it. arya takes comfort in her wolf dreams and claims the pack for her own with pleasure. theres even a possessive quality to this particular quote. arya will not give them up nor will they leave her. they are hers. she isnt bothered by the sense of obligation to others whether thats people or wolves. arya will take on all the responsibility in the world if it means she is connected to a social network. thats what leaders do.

[fromtheseventhhell]

Daenerys and Arya knowing they're the main ASOIAF girlies that have everyone from dudebros to (fake) feminists feeling threatened because of their importance

[lostchildofthenewworld]

oh i see the hotd fandom has quickly reached the levels of racism in the asoiaf fandom concerning non-white/non-valyrian characters; how majority fandom ships a problematic white couple at the expense of the poc around them and how it’s detrimental to the narrative. ah yes, i am familiar with your game…unfortunately

[evadingreallife]

DISCLAIMER: i have my own opinions but mainly i just enjoy stirring up chaos. Tell me in the tags what you all think!!✨

Reblog for sample size etc etc you know it

ps. Yeah thats not a walrus emoji but its the closest i had cmooon cut me some slack guys

pps. bts as in BEHIND THE SCENES dont come @ me talking about BTS the group yall (<-actual mistake i have done. multiple times. yay.)

[laufire]

I know there HAS to be amazing ASOIAF/GOT fic out there, long and plotty and flowery, centered in the female characters and preferably the (either canon or speculated) dynamics between them with little to none het romance. I’m just too lazy and too wary of the shit I might encounter in the way to go look for myself LOL.

[alleyskywalker]

I posted 809 times in 2022

104 posts created (13%)

705 posts reblogged (87%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@agameofstarks

@centrumlumina

@team-mom-wannabe

@destinationtoast

@catelynhightower

I tagged 809 of my posts in 2022

#asoiaf - 233 posts

#fanart - 113 posts

#op - 103 posts

#hotd - 89 posts

#theon greyjoy - 80 posts

#sansa stark - 71 posts

#game of thrones - 67 posts

#alicent hightower - 47 posts

#meta - 41 posts

#asoiaf - 36 posts

Longest Tag: 95 characters

#i wish i could still tag stuff for organizational purposes without putting it in the global tag

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

See the full post

128 notes - Posted March 4, 2022

#4

See the full post

131 notes - Posted March 30, 2022

#3

See the full post

131 notes - Posted May 1, 2022

#2

See the full post

147 notes - Posted May 29, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I always had a suspicion that that scene with the knife would be after Aemond gets hurt because, damn, in Alicent’s place I might’ve snapped too. Like, even all the other baggage they’ve got aside, your kid just gets stabbed and permanently disabled by one of the multiple other kids who ganged up on him in a 4-on-1 fight (two of whom had already been involved in lowkey bullying him before), and your husband, your hurt child’s father, seems far more concerned what mean things your hurt child had said to “provoke” being stabbed. (The things happened to be mean but also true.) Then, the brat’s mother says your already seriously injured child should be tortured until he confesses where he heard the mean-but-true things he said. And while that doesn’t happen, literally no one is punished for your child being beaten and stabbed for no fucking reason other than saying some mean things. I mean, come on...

270 notes - Posted October 2, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[renfairewolverine]

There are people upset???? That there’s incest????? In the dragon show?????

[gendrie]

arya meeting lady stoneheart is about closure. it’s about coming full circle. its about the cycle of life and death and rebirth. it’s about family. it’s about purpose. its about mercy and justice and grief and, yes, vengeance. but i don’t think its in a “ohh arya needs to learn revenge is bad” sort of way and i seriously doubt thats the effect this meeting will have, at least from the character’s perspective. 

arya already knows revenge doesn’t make her feel any better. she’s under no illusions about that. she associates the ability to kill with survival and with good reason because, for better or worse, that what it means. 

Arya edged farther into the room. Joffrey's dead. She could almost see him, with his blond curls and his mean smile and his fat soft lips. Joffrey's dead! She knew it ought to make her happy, but somehow she still felt empty inside. Joffrey was dead, but if Robb was dead too, what did it matter? (Arya, ASOS)

arya is aware that joffrey dying didn’t bring robb back nor did it make her happy. she still feels empty. in her own way this is fairly similar to the comments made by catelyn and ellaria - grown women and mothers with a lot more life experience then her.

in order for arya to have a “revenge is bad” moment she would need to think it’s good to start with. she doesn’t. arya doesn’t think her actions are heroic. she actually has more self awareness on that account then most povs who run around making excuses for their actions or close their eyes to their wrongdoings. 

“As I cannot be the hero, let me be the monster, and lesson them in fear in place of love.” Mercy mouthed the last lines along with him. They were better lines than hers, and apt besides. (Arya, TWOW) 

she recognizes the relevancy of tyrion’s monologue in the bloody hand, literally mouthing the words about being a “monster”. arya knows that whats she’s doing is dark and dangerous. since the very beginning, arya has felt she is bad and unwanted that feeling only intensifies as the series progresses because of what she has done.   

Knights were captured and ransomed all the time, and sometimes women were too. But what if Robb won't pay their price? She wasn't a famous knight, and kings were supposed to put the realm before their sisters. And her lady mother, what would she say? Would she still want her back, after all the things she'd done? Arya chewed her lip and wondered. (Arya, ASOS) 

it cannot be stressed enough that arya really doesn’t think revenge and killing are good. nor has she ever prioritized it over her family. that is not why arya is at the house of black and white. arya has every reason to believe she is the last stark left and that she has no home. 

A long time ago, she remembered her father saying that when the cold winds blow the lone wolf dies and the pack survives. He had it all backwards. Arya, the lone wolf, still lived, but the wolves of the pack had been taken and slain and skinned.

Winterfell is burned and fallen, Arya reminded herself. Old Nan and Maester Luwin were both dead, most like, and Sansa too. It did no good to think of them. All men must die.

There is no place here for Arya of House Stark, she was thinking. Arya's place was Winterfell, only Winterfell was gone. When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. She had no pack, though. (Arya, AFFC) 

"Do they frighten you, child?" asked the kindly man. "It is not too late for you to leave us. Is this truly what you want?" Arya bit her lip. She did not know what she wanted. If I leave, where will I go? (ADWD) 

that could not be clearer in the text. arya’s pack has been “taken and slain” her home is “burned and fallen”. she has no one and nowhere to go. even grrm has said this:

“She’s having a very hard time letting go of those last remnants of Arya...but where else does she turn?” George R.R. Martin

arya believes she has no other options. her family is gone anyway so what is left for her? sure, she could take the kindly man’s advice and become a wife or a courtesan, but those paths are dead ends for arya of house stark. instead? she can risk the faceless men’s indoctrination in exchange for their skills; which might actually give her the power to do something. 

arya’s list serves a couple functions. initially, its a way to cope with fear and self hatred. 

She hated the villagers for their sheepishness, almost as much as she hated herself. (Arya, ACOK) 

the only way arya can deal with the march to harrenhal - where she watched torture rape and murder day after day - is by promising herself one day she will right these wrongs. it was traumatizing for her to witness those things AND be powerless to stop it. she is filled with GUILT. in the hob&w the list does become a connection to arya’s identity. because, again, she believes it’s all that’s left to her. 

but thats not true. the list is not the only thing left to her. news of the north is going to arrive in braavos sooner or later. bran is calling out to arya across thousands of leagues. her connection to nymeria doesn’t just endure but grows stronger. arya is going to return to westeros where i think her path will cross with lady stoneheart’s. the meeting of these two will close the circle. it’s only fitting arya do that. she made beric swear to reunite her with catelyn. nymeria pulled her body out of the river. beric gave her the kiss of life, ensuring that his his promise to arya would be fulfilled. 

lady stoneheart isn’t catelyn, though. she had a mental breakdown at the red wedding and was dead for three days before being resurrected. her heart doesnt beat anymore. 

"Lady Catelyn?" Tears filled her eyes. "They said . . . they said that you were dead." "She is," said Thoros of Myr. (Brienne, AFFC)

"She wants her son alive, or the men who killed him dead," said the big man. "She wants to feed the crows, like they did at the Red Wedding. Freys and Boltons, aye. We'll give her those, as many as she likes.” (Brienne, AFFC)

lady stoneheart is also driven by the only thing that she believes remains to her: vengeance. she turns on brienne who faithfully served catelyn even after her death. stoneheart and arya aren’t the only ones either. stoneheart has “galvanized” (as per grrm) the brotherhood down a darker path too. she hasn’t forced them. those who remain? lem, harwin, and gendry chose to do so. 

but they search for arya too. in the ASOS epilogue stoneheart and the bwb are searching for arya. arya can bring out the humanity left within lady stoneheart. arya can give her a little bit of peace before she dies - regardless of how that happens. maybe even let her know bran and rickon and sansa survive. in return lady stoneheart can give arya the acceptance she needs. arya doubted that catelyn even wanted her back. arya deserves to know that she did. 

that is what arya needs. not for someone to tell her “revenge is bad!!!” (she knows) but to tell her she is loved and wanted despite everything. lady stoneheart can deliver arya a new purpose too. she will entrust in arya robb’s crown - the symbol of northern sovereignty. arya can take control of the brotherhood and lead them on a different path just like she did at the stoney sept. she will always pursue justice but arya will not serve death any longer. 

a meeting between arya and lady stoneheart will derail their mutual need for vengeance because in their hearts arya and catelyn value their family above all else. thats what drove catelyn in life. thats why lady stoneheart will entrust the future of their family to arya because she cannot be with them any longer. its up to arya now. 

[arte072]

you ever think about how the asoiaf fandom will go on and on about Arya’s “traditionally masculine” journey and then you read her chapters and it’s like

being criticized by adult women for not sufficiently excelling in useless gender roles 

getting a puppy!! 🐶

losing the puppy 😿

picking flowers for her dad  💐🥰

being victim blamed for the actions of a guy 😑

being bullied for her appearance 😞

becomes homeless

takes care of a bunch of kids

gets engaged to men she doesn’t know

becomes a prisoner of war 

forced to cook and clean under extremely violent and abusive circumstances

witnessing and experiencing war crimes

female rage 🤬😡💢👿

gets a crush on a boy with shaggy hair and blue eyes~~ 😳💙🔨

talks to god 🌲

gets kidnapped by a loser 🙄🔥

worry that her mother will reject her for getting dirty 😭

gets depression

learns blood magic

becomes an academic 🏫🎓🤓

becomes a theater kid 🎭

awakening the magic from within ✨🐺🌕🌙✨

if all of these are inherently masculine then I do wonder what is considered acceptably “feminine” in these people’s eyes. crying in a dress? because she does that too... but y’know this fandom and their desperation to separate Arya from her girlhood lol

[fromtheseventhhell]

Arya watched them die and did nothing. What good did it do you to be brave? One of the women picked for questioning had tried to be brave, but she had died screaming like all the rest. There were no brave people on that march, only scared and hungry ones. (Arya VI, ACOK)

--

The night she was caught, the Lannister men had been nameless strangers with faces as alike as their nasal helms, but she'd come to know them all. You had to know who was lazy and who was cruel, who was smart and who was stupid. You had to learn that even though the one they called Shitmouth had the foulest tongue she'd ever heard, he'd give you an extra piece of bread if you asked, while jolly old Chiswyck and soft-spoken Raff would just give you the back of their hand. (Arya VI, ACOK)

Arya: *restrains herself from acting out when captured by the Mountain and his men because she knows fighting back/being brave wouldn't accomplish anything*

Arya: *takes note of the temperments of several Lannister guards so that she can learn how to navigate around their behavior*

Fandom: Arya is a feral idiot with no self-control uwu 🤗

[mothdruid]

Within the past 72 hours the TGM fandom got a fire put under it's ass, for lack of a better term/phrase. Even though I'm not as active in the fandom anymore, it did make me want to talk about a few things. This isn't the first time that I've had to make a post similar to this, usually speaking about reblogs and keeping your fanfic writers feeling wanted within the fandom spaces, but today I'm going to talk more about fandom etiquette and my experiences in fandom spaces. So, if you want to hear my opinion on fandom etiquette, how I learned fandom etiquette, and my thoughts about the doxing situation that has happened, keep on reading.

My Fandom Experience.

The first fandom that I was ever a part of was The Hunger Games fandom in the 8th grade (if you don't include my anime fandoms). I was 12-13 at the time. This was when I was first introduced to Tumblr and being involved within a fandom online. At the time I was super young, barely even knew who I was as a person, let alone in a fandom space. All I did was reblog little gifsets and fawn over Josh Hutcherson. I remember getting my first hate anon, even though I didn't do anything that would generate that to even happen. Even when I was 12-13, I couldn't understand why anyone would send a hate anon. That was when I found out a friend of mine found my Tumblr and actually secretly hated me, so she sent me hate anons. Still, before I knew it was her I didn't understand.

Fandoms were a formative part of my childhood. I think that main one that helped form me though was the Supernatural (yeah, I know, eye roll), Naruto, and The Hobbit fandoms. I had made friends on Tumblr and Instagram through these fandoms. During these times was when I had first started consuming fanfiction. Specifically, destiel and thilbo fanfiction. This is how I started to find the things in fanfiction that I loved, and the things that I hated. Instead of sending hate to the writers for their thoughts and stories that I didn't agree with, I would back out of the story or just scroll past. Not only that, I also started to use the filters on AO3 constantly, ensuring that I was only reading the fics that I knew I'd enjoy. Also, I was careful to read warnings and tags prior to reading the fic. Never once did I blame the writer for something that I knew I didn't like and accidentally read or read for see what it was about.

After high school was when I started getting into fanfiction writing. I've written for a lot of fandoms during this time. The IT movies, Total Drama, Haikyuu, Attack on Titan, Marvel, Bridgerton, Top Gun: Maverick, and currently ASOIAF. As a writer I've never gotten hate, thankfully, but I have had a lot of friends that have. It's sad to see so many people who take the time to write, whether it's enjoyable or not, receive hate. As writers we are simply expressing our creativity for the things that we love. Since posting fanfiction on tumblr, I have experienced a lot of people pestering for new updates and when the next fic is, and so have a lot of other writers on here. Even though people only know us as a little icon and username, fanfiction writers are people. We have lives outside of writing fanfiction. Everyone also isn't the same type writer. One person may easily write multiple fics every week, some of us take longer, and some of us are even just passion writers (me lol).

The TGM fandom has been one of the most negative fandom experiences I've ever seen/had. It is full of some of the meanest people/anons I've ever seen. From writers being attacked for fic ideas, people being sent hate for something that the anon has full control over, and people constantly expecting new stories to read on the daily. Yes, I do know that other fandoms have these issues, but it seems to be almost a weekly, hell, even daily thing within this fandom. A lot of the issues that I see happen in this fandom are from people who don't understand fandom etiquette.

Fandom Etiquette.

If you had noticed there was a few things I put in bold above. These are key things that I learned during my time that attribute to fandom etiquette. So without further a do, I'll list out some fandom etiquette rules that I follow all the time.

Don't send hate anons to people

Block/unfollow people you don't like

If you don't like an idea or fic, don't read it

Read through all warnings and tags that the writer provided

Use AO3 filters

Don't blame the writer/creator for reading things they created that you actively know you don't like

Writers/Creators aren't "content farms"

There are people behind these blogs/usernames, treat them like someone you'd see on the street

Writers/Creators are expressing love/passion for something, don't hate them for doing that

If you see something fandom related that you don't like, scroll past it or ignore it

YOU CURATE YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE (ESPECIALLY ON TUMBLR)

The Doxing Situation.

For those who are unaware but decided to read this anyways, recently there was a writer (Mama Mayhem) on here who got doxed from another writer in the fandom. Mayhem has since lost her job due to the doxing. This was apparently from her breaking HIPAA by posting a picture into a private groupchat/discord. This picture was posted almost a half year ago. Meaning that the person who reported/doxed Mayhem had known about this picture for months and only recently decided to do something about it.

I'll start by saying that I also work in healthcare, and know many other people here who do. I understand that a HIPAA violation is 100% an offense that gets you fired. I'm not excusing the HIPAA violation if one did occur.

Some people have brought up the idea that maybe the person that reported the picture, and doxed Mayhem, was doing it out of the goodness of their heart. Due to the timeline of it all, that doesn't seem likely. I had a previous coworker get fired for HIPAA violations and it took a total of a week from the initial report for her to be gone.

The biggest thing I want to convey is that TWO WRONGS CAN HAPPEN AT THE SAME TIME. Yes, if Mayhem violated HIPAA, it is wrong. But at the same time, the person held onto this information for months only to use it out of spite, pettiness, and cruelty, is wrong.

My Thoughts.

Due to Mayhem being doxed, a lot of people have decided to leave this platform, take indefinite hiatuses, stop writing, or move to AO3 exclusively., and I don't blame them. I'll be honest, I'm thinking about moving to AO3 exclusively now. AO3 feels a lot more rewarding in my experience. I already only post my fics for ships to AO3, so why not just post everything on AO3 (which I usually do).

I think a lot of people have forgot what it feels like to feel shame in something they say or do. When I say this, it's directed towards people who send hate or do other malicious things in fandom spaces. Fandoms were never this clique-ish and mean. I think it has to do with the pandemic, meaning that a lot of people who would have never joined a fandom did because they weren't allowed to do anything outside of their house. So, those mean girls that made fun of fandom girlies (g/n) previously, joined the fandoms and decided started bullying the people within them.

This situation is super shitty and people are now scared. It makes complete sense, especially after seeing someone, that many of you were close to, be doxed. A lot of people are scared of it happening to them now. I don't think this fandom will be the same after this situation, but who knows, maybe everyone will just forget and move on. Either way, I think I'll be taking a step back from the TGM fandom. I'll still be here, but until further notice, I won't be posting any TGM fanfiction. Maybe a gifset/picture here and there, but I don't think this is a fandom I feel comfortable writing for anymore.

If you've read all of this, thank you.

[melrosing]

Do you think Jaime sincerely regrets what he does to Bran despite only thinking of it once?

ya of course. I think something that maybe needs to be said more often (particularly regarding Jaime’s POV but also broadly applies to others) is that you are not always going to see a character doing the workings that lead them from point A to point B. you have to fill in some of the gaps yourself and surmise the changes in thinking that have taken place offscreen.

The Jaime and Bran thing is a good example of this. we can gather from the scene in which the push takes place that this isn’t something Jaime wanted to do, but felt compelled to: he helps Bran up when he initially falls, and when he asks Bran his age etc a reader can gather when rereading the scene that this is Jaime trying to make time as he deliberates what he’s going to do next. then ‘the things I do for love’ is said with ‘loathing’. already we have plenty to determine that Jaime was not happy w this line of action, but felt he needed to take it.

then we get the AGOT-early ASOS scenes where Jaime comes across as a cut and dry villain and does nothing to help himself, half-jesting to Bran’s own mother about what he did and demonstrating no remorse whatsoever. shocking on first read but a rereader should be able to go back based on what they learn of Jaime later on and realise that he talks differently to what he feels, and maintains this darkly careless front specifically to avoid digging up his true feelings on difficult subjects. this is made apparent over and over again.

then there’s a big gap where Bran is neither mentioned nor thought about by Jaime, when suddenly right towards the end of the book he declares himself ashamed of what he did. so now the reader realises that Jaime has been thinking about what he did, even whilst we haven’t read those thoughts. and then looking at how the act was performed in the first place, we can realise he’s always been ashamed of what he did, has just been telling himself and others differently for his own complex reasons.

I think there are a lot of people who can’t accept that character work sometimes takes place off the page as well as on it, and a character won’t always declare every step they take in a new direction, but sometimes a certain line here or there will tell you that that work has been taking place. if executed well, this is just good writing: it’s boring having the writer spell everything out for you, good books should feel like you’re working with the writer to build the full story.

a lot of people do want it spelt out though lol, you see that a lot with discussions re Jaime, because I’d say he’s maybe the most ‘show don’t tell’ character in the series. and like I always say this isn’t fuckin Paradise Lost or whatever you do not need a degree to crack it but idk like. reading is a skill?? spend any amount of time in asoiaf fandom and truly u will realise that some people just. well they haven’t honed that skill yet lol

[mummer]

i see the term gender horror used alot in certain parts of asoiaf fandom and i dont think i fully get it like sure theres def a rigid and violently enforced structure to gender and sexual violence is both ubiquitous and a currency but is it just those things or is there something beyond i feel like its not clicking for me

honestly im p sure it is just those things lol you got it. i think asoiaf does take the violent structure of gender and commits to exploring it to its most remote extremes, so you get stuff like sam being chained up and bathed in blood or gilly being forced into marriage with her father or however many other examples of gendering as an abusive practice (as requiring you to either do violence (masculinity) or bear violence (femininity) to participate in society). which i think is where the horror part comes from, the extremity of it? the no-holds-barred dont-look-away blood-under-everything structural inescapability of it. idk that’s how i view it at least

[slexenskee]

The Continuation of Satoru Supremacy

Am I just going to slot this poor boy into every fandom? Signs are pointing to yes at this point lol. Ok so I've had either a JJK/HOTD and JJK/GOT crossover rumbling around my brain for ages now and its gotten to a boiling point lol. The JJK/GOT would probably be Satoru/Robb Stark and the JJK/HOTD probably Satoru/Aegon II. I have them pretty fleshed out in my head ngl.

THE PROBLEM is that I love his name, Satoru, and it literally makes no sense to have him reincarnate into ASOIAF works and somehow end up with that name, which means I would need to change it, and I don't know wtf to change it to.

Literally grasping at straws rn lol. I lowkey like Soren since it sounds Valyrian enough and also I feel like Satoru would be over the moon about it because he'd share a name with one of his favorite Fire Emblem characters.

Anyway the HOTD one would be a isekai/reincarnation AU with Satoru as Daemon and Rheanyra's surprise brothel baby that Rheanyra had to get shotgun-wedding'd to Leanor for 😅 so yeah Satoru is once again causing chaos and problems for other people just by existing... this time before he was even born! He's also called the Radiant Prince and also still the Honored One because he's basically a god and everyone in HOTD is going to damn well know it.

WIP:

In this life, as in his last, his birth was heralded with reverence and veneration, and wrought with untenable legacy. 

He was the firstborn son of the Realm’s Delight, lovely and fair and every bit as preternaturally beautiful as his mother. He was said to have his grandmother’s Arryn blue eyes, the king’s tousled white curls, his mother’s smile, and the very birthright of his great Valyrian heritage etched into his very existence; from his heavenly features, to his dragon, to the very name bestowed upon him. 

For days on end the whole realm celebrated his birth as a magnificent affair; bells tolled long into the night, nobles spilled from the four corners of Westeros bearing gifts of abundance and splendor, the smallfolk celebrated en masse along the streets of King’s Landing. 

They called him a blessed child, a perfect child, a glorious new heir for the throne. 

Upon his very birth the Princess Rheanys was said to have looked into his heavenly eyes and pronounced him a gift from the gods of old Valyria. Those same eyes, a precious, celestial blue resembling the late Queen Aemma, were said to have reduced his grandfather the King to tears from the moment he opened them. Lord Velaryon had named them a mark of the gods’ favor; such a curious, mystifying color, never settling no matter the lighting, as mercurial as a tempest sea. 

Just the mere sight of such a marvelous child, a mortal so obviously marked by the gods, so destined for greatness, could easily quell the rumors beginning long before his birth. 

Such derelict hearsay would never grace the ears of such a divine prince, of course. But he heard it anyway.

They rushed the wedding, they said. 

The princess was meant to start her royal procession to select her prince consort, but instead was married to the Velaryon heir within a moon’s turn. (The King had to appease the Velaryon’s somehow, after the way he snubbed their pure Valyrian heiress for his Hightower bride.)

The babe came early— so suspiciously early. (The Princess Rheanyra was so young, of course she would have difficulty carrying to term. Didn’t you see him? The babe was born so small!)

And he looks every bit a Targaryen, not a speck of Velaryon to be seen on him. (But of course the blood of Aegon the Conqueror would run strong within the royal line— and the Princess Rheanys is his paternal grandmother, such features run on both sides. Why, look at Queen Alicent's children! Do they look Hightower to you?) 

The Rogue Prince dotes on him, shockingly so. He perhaps even reconciled with his brother just to remain near the young prince. (The Rogue Prince has always remained stoutly devoted to his family, no matter his unsavory reputation, his loyalty to the throne is unquestioned. That he is just as devoted to his brother’s heir as he is to his brother is merely filial piety.) 

No matter the rumors swirling around him, it only took a single glance from his blessed blue eyes to halt the whispers in their tracks. 

His divine beauty and grace, his mystical eyes, his magnificent dragon— such pedestrian slander seemed silly and absurd in the face of them. 

To question the legitimacy of the Radiant Prince, the Honored One… no mere mortal could possibly be capable of uttering such blasphemy. 

[oldshrewsburyian]

I see a lot of posts about how ASOIAF isn't obligated to be accurate to real medieval history since it's a fantasy world rather than real life.

For example, I saw a post saying this:

"Asoiaf fans: "Here's a fantasy story written by someone with an understanding of history and how the societies that often inspired fantasy worlds functioned, as well as an understanding of gender and class relations throughout western history. This work explores a lot of questions that most fantasy stories brush off, and it deconstructs a lot of the romantic (and often conservative) narratives about-"

Person who gets mad when fantasy stories aren't the same Tolkien clone over and over again: "But you have ice zombie and dragon? And it's wrong to think about plausible implications of anything. Having dragons means you can't try to write humans realistically. Also this isn't actually historically accurate because..." (Proceeds to incoherent rant that ignores how both history and fiction work.)"

I wouldn't say that GRRM has an "understanding of history" beyond surface-level, let alone an "understanding of gender and class relations throughout western history" or how the societies the cultures in the books are based on functioned.

I can name the dothraki as an example of entire diverse and fascinating cultures being reduced to one-dimensional racist caricatures, which can't be excused by being set in a fantasy world.

My questions are:

Is the way GRRM portrays race, gender relations and other aspects of his worldbuilding harmful to our understanding of past societies?

Does GRRM succesfully accomplish deconstructing "romantic and conservative narratives" common in other fantasy stories?

To what extent does GRRM understand how societies that inspired fantasy worlds functioned (feel tempted to ask about race and gender relations, but you already covered it in an earlier ask so lets leave it as optional).

Hi again. As a sort of prolegomenon, I'd like to object to the straw Tolkien fan, here. There are immortal races in Middle Earth. There's a giant spider. There are Ents. Tom Bombadil is there. It's not as though LOTR is devoid of fantasy elements; it's just written by a man who spent decades immersed in medieval literature and culture (deeply affectionate.)

Based on my experiences in the classroom and beyond? yes, 100%

I'm not sure what "other fantasy stories" are being invoked, here, so I'm not sure what GRRM is allegedly trying to deconstruct. I would argue that even and perhaps especially Lewis and Tolkien are a lot more complex and less essentially romantic/conservative than is usually acknowledged. But, uh, my short, more or less instinctive answer would be "lol no." If a narrative trying to deconstruct narrative conservatism and romanticism still focuses on about 5% of the population and tends to insist that women's sexuality matters to the narrative more than anything else about them... mm. The deconstruction, I am not seeing it. It is very clear to me that GRRM wants us to believe that this is a nasty world where people are nasty to each other by default, where power is routinely abused with impunity. And? I want to ask. So what? What's the intended gotcha, here, besides a reinforcement of bad medieval stereotypes?

Oof. Um. The thing is that based on the three novels of the ASOIAF cycle I've read so far: I have no idea. His societies don't function the way medieval and early modern societies in Eurasia did. I would also argue that his societies mostly don't, uh, function, at least on the evidence we see. But his historical cherry-picking means that I simply do not know how much he has learned, or cares to understand, about historical realities. And honestly: this is fantasy! It has no intrinsic obligation to correspond to historical reality! I'm just mad because both GRRM and his fandom seem to think it does. Moreover, this is, in a very real sense, my problem (see the answer to #1, above.)