#have a gifset of lyanna being pretty

[jackoshadows]

The ASoIaF fandom can be so frustrating sometimes.

It’s okay to admit that one doesn’t like this or that character. There’s nothing wrong in disliking a character.

I am pretty open on my blog about my indifference towards or dislike for Sansa because of her stans. I don’t make disclaimers about how much I love the character before proceeding to criticize Sansa. I am not a Sansa stan and that’s okay. My blog is a place for me to jot down my thoughts and celebrate characters, books and shows I do like. If you love Sansa as a character, block me, don’t follow me etc.

What’s obnoxiously annoying are the folks who claim to love all the characters the same and then give their ‘unbiased’ opinions which are held up as canon facts because they came from neutral book reader experts. To hell with that nonsense.

These posts reek of hypocrisy and double standards. It often tears down some characters while subtly propping up others - and it’s gobbled up by the wider fandom as unbiased interpretation of the text.

One example is pushing forth the notion that calling Arya pretty (Something that both her father and brother tell her she is in the books) is wrong, it’s sexualizing her, it’s okay for Arya to be ugly, she’s canonically not pretty because Cat/Sansa said so and no other interpretation is allowed etc. And then the same person who says all this celebrates Sansa’s beauty and ships her with a 27 year old man who falls in lust with Sansa.

Or when they say that the Arya-Lyanna (and Sansa/Lyanna parallels, because it’s always important to mention Sansa with respect to Lyanna even if said person claims to not care about Lyanna as a character) parallels are overrated and not important and they don’t care about Robert’s Rebellion characters but on their blogs there’s all these posts, fanarts and meta about Elia Martell - a Robert’s Rebellion character.

A so called book expert would note that GRRM has several characters outright compare Arya to Lyanna or mistake Lyanna for Arya in the books while Sansa has no such comparison. But no, the unbiased book expert thinks that the Arya-Lyanna and Sansa-Lyanna parallels are equivalent and are both overrated.That post just annoyed me excessively into writing this long ass rant post.

Why are these neutral, unbiased folks so interested in stripping away from Arya’s story?

In the books Jeyne Poole is masquerading as Arya Stark - but that story is only Jeyne’s, has nothing to do with Arya or Arya’s importance to the North. 

Arya is a strong warg, Nymeria and her wolf pack are a ‘Chekov’s wolf pack’ that GRRM has hung on the wall  -  Our expert opinion is that Direwolves are not all that important in the grand scheme of things.

Arya is pretty - why needlessly call Arya pretty, it adds nothing to Arya’s story and is all about sexualizing a child.

Arya-Lyanna parallels - why do we need these parallels, Arya is distinct and interesting without them.

These aspects are all important parts of the character’s story. There are so many very well written essays exploring these concepts with respect to Arya’s journey of self discovery in the books, the narrative significance of her parallels to Lyanna, her bond with Nymeria and her warging talents. For those who are interested, here are two bloggers who actually like Arya and have written about her character and character arc.

https://donewithwoodenteeth.tumblr.com/meta-masterlist

https://ashotofjac.tumblr.com/tagged/arya-stark

Some of these same people will rush to condemn any reading of the books that does not have Sansa wielding power at the end as being ‘Sansa hate’. But they will have no issues to undermine and devalue Arya’s actual book story, the relationships she has, the parallels she has, the skillsets she has, her appearance, her importance to the current story happening in the North.

There is a whole ass plot currently in the books of Northerners rallying for Arya Stark and preparing for battle against the Boltons for Arya Stark. But that’s not important because it’s actually Jeyne Poole and Arya’s story is about sailing off west of westeros.  But hey, Sansa will definitely go North and hold power and that’s like 100% happening because we are the unbiased book experts and we say it is so.

Or when all else fails - Arya is a Mary Sue, she’s a fantasy character, she’s a ‘strong female character’ because she fights with a sword, people like her because she’s a tomboy who fights. Sansa is realistic, Sansa is complex - but here are all the essays that basically transfer Arya’s complexity and story to Sansa - because it fits more with their fave, because these aspects would fit better with the traditionally feminine character even though they never tire of talking about how GRRM is deconstructing tropes. Because the trope deconstruction is only applied to Arya, Jon and Dany. Never Sansa.

And honestly, why are these people reading a high fantasy series if they hate fantasy and fantasy characters so much? We love Sansa because she’s so non-magical! Then go read non-fiction books. They also twist Jon, Arya and Dany into ‘fantasy’ characters - despite these characters going through some very real and human experiences. What’s fantasy about Arya’s experiences in war torn Westeros, Jon dealing with bigotry at the wall, Dany trying to rebuild Meereen, while dealing with famine, disease and insurgency?

Or how Jon and Dany getting any kind of happy ending or becoming rulers would be so boring, sweet, predictable, conforming to tropes, a happy ending etc. But Sansa getting love, romance, going home, becoming the Stark in Winterfell, getting her fairy tale ending - that’s totally what GRRM is going to do! No trope deconstruction there!  In may ways, Benioff and Weiss’ ending is not all that surprising -  Mad Queen Dany, Jon remaining a bastard with the freefolk, Sansa having power as a leader - are all popular theories among bnfs in the fandom. D&D wanting to wind up the show quickly with easily found fan theories is not that much of a stretch.

ASoIaF reddit is equally frustrating. Instead of Sansa stan bnfs on tumblr who pretend to like Arya and Dany while subtly undermining their story and importance, on Asoiaf reddit it’s Stannis stans who dislike Jon and Dany because these characters present a challenge to Stannis. The mere suggestion that Jon may play a role in the battle against Ramsay sends them into frothing at the mouth rage. They hate Jon, Jon is a Gary Sue because he dared advice Stannis - the greatest general ever - on Northern military strategy. Never mind that Jon grew up in the North and learned from Ned, how dare Jon Snow know more than Stannis! Unacceptable!

And I love Stannis Baratheon. I want Stannis to crush and defeat the Boltons. But unlike reddit dudebros, I can see that he is a secondary character, a tragic character who is most probably going to perish and Jon takes over because Jon Snow is a central protagonist in the story.

I feel it’s the same with Sansa. IMO, GRRM clearly doesn’t see Sansa in the same way as he does Arya, Jon, Dany, Tyrion and Bran. Whenever he is asked questions about the books, book plots, long term arcs, endings, age gaps etc it’s these characters he often brings up and references. It’s these characters who are important to him.

And that’s why there’s a lot of undermining and undervaluing of these character’s and their stories, them being described as fantasy characters, tropes, Mary Sues and Gary Sues, ableist rhetoric about Tyrion and Bran to undermine them.

I am damned certain that if it was Sansa who had all the parallels to Lyanna, or if she was the warg, or Jeyne Poole was impersonating her, this would all be ‘VERY IMPORTANT’ and on all the gifsets and essays. But she isn’t. So fandom bnfs are reduced to talking about how these aspects are not all that important anyway.

It’s like how this quote - ‘You may be as different as the sun and the moon, but the same blood flows through both your hearts’ turns up on gifsets every other day on the Arya tag but this quote - ‘Sansa could never understand how two sisters, born only two years apart, could be so different. It would have been easier of Arya had been a bastard, like her half brother Jon. And Jon’s mother had been common, or so people whispered’ very rarely does and will not get reblogged when it does.

Or when Sansa sees Joffrey trying to kill Arya and sides with Joffrey or when Sansa throws Arya under the bus and tells the Lannisters that it’s Arya who is the traitor - just sisters being sisters y’all!

It’s all about maintaining a certain narrative about Sansa - and when others point out her actual relationship with Arya in the books, we are accused of hating and wanting Sansa dead and how we should be criticizing Tywin and the Mountain instead. This is nonsensical whataboutism and ignores that people talk about  these aspects of the books because sometimes bullying, getting mocked for one’s appearance, abuse and neglect from parental figures etc. can resonate with certain readers unlike getting one’s head smashed in by Frankenstein.

At the end of the day, I wish these people would be honest about the characters they like and relate to. We are all biased. That’s why our opinions and interpretations are subjective. There’s nothing wrong in saying, hey, I like Sansa more than Arya or Dany, I relate to her character more.

I relate to Jon Snow a lot, I see things from his POV, I would disagree with the characters who disagree with Jon,  I enjoy his story at the Wall and the North. My interpretations of the text are therefore colored by my bias towards Jon. 

For others, it’s Dany or Sansa or Arya or Tyrion or Jaime. And that’s okay because these are fictional characters and liking one more than the other is not going to earn anyone woke points and lead to women’s rights.

And finally, there’s nothing edgy or cool about disparaging the central protagonists of a high fantasy series as being fantasy characters - go read other books if one is not into fantasy.

[yennefers-geralt]

Hi, I’m reading fire & blood & can’t for the life of me, seem to get how Alysanne is compared to salsa when she comes across as Arya the more I read. Fierce, independent, believes in women’s rights; befriends everyone and is loved by the small folk. Went to her bro when she learned she might be married to a Baratheon against her wishes. Is interested in activities like riding and is an archer. How do people think she’s like salsa at all and why?

I’m not sure how Alysanne is being compared to Sansa. I saw one edit years ago that gave no explanation about how the two were connected. It was just a gif of Sansa next to a gif of an FCed Alysanne. The only thing I can guess is that, like usual, Sansa stans just want to link their fav to other characters and concepts that she has no connection to, the same way they try to connect her to Lyanna for unknown reasons. To be fair, the two have commonalities when it comes to enjoying reading and music. That’s pretty much where the commonalities end, though. Even when Sansa wanted to be queen, she wanted to be a conventional queen consort, not an administrator and a councilor to the king.

But I do completely agree with you that Arya and Alysanne have lots of parallels. Before Fire & Blood came out, I made this gifset with a bunch of parallels that could be drawn from the limited info we had at the time. With the release of F&B and the fleshing out of Alysanne’s character, the amount of a similarities between the two has multiplied. They’re both initially overshadowed by their older siblings, pretty rather than beautiful, assertive, opinionated, unconventional, feminist, care about the common people, easily gain the loyalty of others, good at listening, bonded with monsters, etc. IMO, GRRM intentionally made Alysanne and her brother-husband with the intention of mirroring them with Arya and Jon. They even have the same initials.

[joanna-lannister]

i have been trying for some days now to put into words what it feels to say goodbye to Game of Thrones but i can't. I have so many feelings, the show has been part of my life for half a decade and it's not easy. whatever if i liked the final season or not, it doesn't matter, the show helped me in so many ways. and it's funny because at first, i didn't want to watch it, everyone was talking about it and it annoyed the hell out of me. i looked at the synopsis and i was WTF IS THAT? but i gave it a shot and i was so lost at first... so many characters, so many storylines but i kept going and oh god, i loved the journey. and i remember so many things...

i remember that Cat was my first crush, i remember the moment i fell in love with Cersei, i remember Jaime and Cersei first conversation and being wtf are they talking about and at the end of the episode being ah okay cool, i remember losing my head about who was Lyanna, who was Rhaegar, i remember being on my ass when Ned died, when Dany gave birth to the dragons, i remember The Rains of Castamere playing at Edmure's wedding and Cat's face, Robb's death... i remember starting to like Jon because of Ygritte and crying when she died, thinking that Oberyn was going to win against The Mountain because we expected him to die, i remember wanting Joffrey to die and then being devastated for Cersei, i remember having faith in Melisandre to resurrect Jon, crying when Sansa reunited with him, shaking when Cersei blew up the Sept, i remember when Dany was bitch valyrian is my mother tongue, i remember Tyrion killing his own father, i remember that some moments pissed me off and i remember so much more, so many lines... and i will remember Jorah and Theon's death, i will remember Dany who wanted to do good, Arya killing the Night King and i will surely remember Jaime and Cersei's death... i'm grateful for all these memories and i will cherish them. i laughed, i cried, i loved (and hated sometimes), i was exalted and devastated. i shipped hard too. it made me feels a lot and that's amazing.

i'm grateful for the characters: complex and never truly evil or good (except 1 or 2 lol). i'm thankful that i've seen so many different women on my screen, women who inspired me and always will, who helped me becoming a woman, who are all strong and unique in their own ways. i'm thankful especially for Cersei, it was the first time i could relate so much to a fictional character and i guess that's why i never understood why people hated her so much. she taught me to be more resilient, taught me that it's okay i can be angry, ambitious, proud, i can love power, i just don't have to crush others lmao. she was the first regnant woman of Westeros and was the last one to sit on the Iron Throne. i hope one day i will love my child as much as she did and i hope i will die with someone i love. and a toast the Lannisters. the most dysfunctional family in the realm but in the end, they still loved each others. To Jaime, thank you for loving unconditionally. To Tyrion, for your wit. To Tywin, for your strategic mind and your iconic death. You will always be in my heart. And also Sansa, you reminded me the young girl i was, dreaming of fairytales and pretty things. And Dany, for believing in your dreams. Thank you to all these amazing characters.

thanks to the cast (and the crew) who worked their ass off to give us something magic and unforgettable. without them, nothing would be the same. shout-out to Emilia, my first crush on this show. she is a ray of sunshine and she literally fought for her life. i can't wait to see what's next for her. shout-out to Lena, for being a fantastic actress and human being. you fucking deserve your Emmy. shout-out to Sophie. to Nik. to Peter. to Maisie. to Kit. shout-out to Natalie, Alfie, Iwan, Carice, Isaac, Iain, Richard, Gwen, John, Pedro, Pilou, Kristofer, Nathalie, Raleigh, Conleth, Joe, Liam, Rory, Charles, Jack, Rose, Jason... and all the ones i forget right now. i love you.

i'm proud of all the content i have created, even if sometimes i don't publish it or think it's ugly but it's okay, i can do better. no show inspired me as much as GoT did. the gifsets, the fanfictions... yeap. the memes always makes me laugh so much. and all the theories and predictions, it was part of the fun too but i'm glad it's over, my brain can rest now.

and last but not least, even if i'm tired of the discourses and drama, and sometimes i want to gouge my eyes out because of what i read and open my big mouth, i've made tons of friends here. for an introvert as me, it's something. even if we spoke only once or twice, i remember you: i know who you are, i know your name. all the persons i've met here are amazing and i'm sooo thankful. and i'm thankful for the all the messages i got, the late conversations at night, everything. it wouldn't have been the same without you.

it was an experience and i'm glad i took part in it. it was intense, maybe too much sometimes, and it's over now but i will continue to do gifsets and others stuffs. it was a big part of my life, and i'm honestly crying while writing this, but i will never forget it. it's not a farewell, only a goodbye. i love you 💖

[yvvaine]

Sansa + Lyanna Parallels, Please!

Hello lovelies !! As you might know I making a series, and need help finding more parallels.... heres the ones I got so far; words like this mean I’ve already posted gifsets about it, words like this means I’ve already edited them and have them waiting in my drafts to post, and words that are written normally ‘this’ mean they’re on my radar to do. :) Im in particular looking for quotes either from the show and (esp.) the books!!

- She-wolves quotes -beautiful “child-women” quotes -You saw her beauty, but not the iron underneath. / Porcelien to Ivory to steel -My Joff and your Sansa shall join our houses, as Lyanna and I might once have done. [i.e. broken baratheon engagements] -He [Ned] could still hear Sansa pleading, as Lyanna had pleaded once. - "I bring her flowers when I can," he said. "Lyanna was … fond of flowers." / It was enough that she could walk in the yard, pick flowers in Myrcella's garden, and visit the sept to pray for her father. Sometimes she prayed in the godswood as well, since the Starks kept the old gods. -To the other maidens he had given white roses, but the one he plucked for her was red. "Sweet lady," he said, "no victory is half so beautiful as you." Sansa took the flower timidly, struck dumb by his gallantry. / Ned remembered the moment when all the smiles died, when Prince Rhaegar Targaryen urged his horse past his own wife, the Dornish princess Elia Martell, to lay the queen of beauty's laurel in Lyanna's lap. He could see it still: a crown of winter roses, blue as frost. -“Love is sweet, dearest Ned, but it cannot change a man’s nature.” … “Robert will never keep to one bed,” / “Joff might restrain himself for a few turns, perhaps as long as a year, but soon or late he will show his claws ” [I.e. A Mans true nature] -“Beautiful, and willful, and dead before her time.” / “It was as if she had become a ghost, dead before her time.”

What else? Are there any others? They have such similar stories (if not looks/personality: thats aryas connection) like being captives in the south, both their father/brother killed by the same family as her captors/husbands, etc, I just need quotes to illustrate / represent the similarities. Help pretty please?

[tiny-little-bird]

Holy f**k! There's fire in every single scene wiht Jon and Sansa, EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. I can't believe I glossed over it while watching the show, incredible! I mean it is freezing in the North, so of course they need fire to keep them warm, but we don't need to see it in all of the shots. The directors made sure to include it, however. This cannot be coincidental, no freaking way.

Hi nonny,

I totally glossed over it too, until I noticed it while making a gifset a while back. It’s not every single one, but it’s there in almost all of them and no nonny, nothing is coincidental on this show, they pay attention to every little detail, this was intentional. I mean, yeah, it’s cold in the North, but there was indeed no need to add fire in almost all their scenes, but as you said, they still did it.

The Jonsa scenes where there is no fire:

1. the scene where they meet Lyanna Mornont. 

In the scene with Lyanna though, there is a window open and the ray of light directly hits Sansa and Jon when they enter the room (you could say that they are both stepping into the “light”, together, as two equals, two companions, working as a team, to take back their home and free the North from the Boltons, which is just beautiful to me, it’s a beautiful visual metaphor.) And then, both Sansa and Jon are shown being hit by it (the ray), separately and together, several times. (click here to see gifset)

Oh… you know what? nvm, rule this one out from the list, because there is fire in this scene too for crying out loud! They legit purposefully filmed Jon and Sansa from this particular angle, as to include the fire from the fireplace!

2. The reunion scene where they hug. (fire is shown in this scene, but not when they are hugging; you’ll see why I mentioned this in a second.) 

3. The scene in which they receive the letter from Ramsay, where Sansa grabs and holds Jon’s hand.

4. The forehead kiss scene

5. The scene where Sansa grabs and holds Jon’s arm.

Ok, so… I smell a pattern here…

Basically, we have fire in ALL of their scenes EXCEPT the ones where they TOUCH each other; there, fire is nowhere to be seen. 

It really got me thinking, why? 

I think it’s because their touch is meant to replace it, their touch becomes the fire. This is my personal opinion on why the directors didn't include any fire and flames in the scenes where they are touching. Jon and Sansa become (the) fire when there is physical contact.

In EVERY OTHER SCENE of theirs there is fire, except for these. 

Though I absolutely love how, visually, Sansa’s hair pretty much makes up for the lack of physical fire (and its colour), since her hair is red, since she’s kissed by fire.

Every single time these two touch the audience can see how much they care for and love one another. I for one find myself sighing any time I see or make gifs of them hugging, of their forehead kiss and of Sansa reaching for and holding Jon’s hand and arm. They are powerful and meaningful scenes/moments, where you can clearly see how close they are gradually getting, where you can see how intense, beautiful and strong their relationship is.

So yeah, I love the fact that pretty much all their scenes have it, but when it comes to touching, the directors etc. decided fire isn’t needed, because their touch is powerful and strong on its own, it doesn’t need anything else, no candles, no fire, no nothing, just them.

Thank you for the ask nonny,

#JonsaIsComing 💙

[kittykatknits]

What are some positive commonalities b/w Sansa and Ned? (I am kind of sick of seeing only negative traits of Sansa in character parallels meta/gifsets) Thanks!

Hmm…dunno that I’ve ever seen gifsets comparing the two now that I think about it. Went looking but couldn’t find them. My tumblr skills are awful so this isn’t a surprise tho…

I wrote this post about the two of them in GoT which helps set up why their similarities are so often missed. The two have the same story and make many of the same decisions, but Sansa is introduced into the narrative in a much more negative way. I mean, Ned is set up as the One True Hero in the first book. The result is that Sansa kinda ends up being Ned’s “fall guy” for lack of a better term. Sometimes, I think this conditions the reader to not notice their similarities. 

I’d also add that some of what is perceived as “negative” by the fandom, isn’t. At least not always, it depends on context and framing. 

So, here is a partial, but by no means exhaustive or complete list of similarities between the two of them.

They both share the same philosophy about lying:

A lie is not so bad if it is kindly meant.  

-Sansa I, aFfC.

That’s Sansa thinking of what LF is feeding her but she later employs this same thought with SR. They share the same belief that a lie is OK if it brings comfort to others. It’s something they both do and it comes from their shared empathy for other people. It’s why Ned tells his sister that Robert would be a good man and true. He’s trying to comfort her. He does the same with Robert at the end, he gives a lie of omission about his “children” and then gives another variant of a lie:

For a moment he was at a loss. He could not bring himself to lie. Then he remembered the bastards: little Barra at her mother’s breast, Mya in the Vale, Gendry at his forge, and all the others. “I shall … guard your children as if they were my own,” he said slowly

-Edward XIII, GoT

Both are trying to comfort and help someone else. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. 

They employ the same coping mechanisms when it comes to trauma. Both of them avoid dealing with it and the accompanying painful memories. They will both also rewrite their memories. Most famously, we have the unkiss, followed by Sansa’s transfer of responsibility for the Trident onto Arya/Mycah. However, this is one of those characteristics that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. 

First, it’s very clear that Ned is still dealing with a lot of pain and is still heavily traumatized by RR and surrounding events. He lost his brother, father, and sister in a short period of time with Benjen going off to the wall. He saw the bodies of dead children placed by the throne, had his life threatened, and would have seen the aftermath of the sack of KL. It’s very clear all of it still haunts him, even so many years later. The way Lyanna creeps into his thoughts is very similar to the way Sansa’s family does in hers. It’s there but it is so painful, Ned actively tries not to think on it. 

It’s a coping mechanism and it’s one Sansa desperately needs at several points in the story. Her chapters, especially in aCoK and SoS, have a very “in the moment” feel to them. She’s very centered in the present and devotes large amounts of mental energy to planning what to say, how to respond, anticipating the words/actions of others, and so on. It means she doesn’t let her thoughts linger on anything too painful. 

They both rewrote the Trident incident as well. Ned transferred all of the responsibility for it it on to Cersei, even though it was Robert that ultimately gave the order for Lady to be killed. 

The thing is, Sansa’s ability to do this is what helped her to survive. Long term, she will need to confront much of what she saw/witnessed. While a captive, not necessarily so and not always and not right away. The context on when she employs it matters. Ned never confronted any of this while Sansa still has the opportunity to do so. She did it with Joffrey but we are still waiting on LF.

Sansa’s courtesy armor is really only a different flavor of Ned’s lords face. The lords face is the persona Ned wears in his professional capacity. It’s the public version of Ned but inside his head we see the real him. He’s a very kind and emphatic man who feels deeply. Outside, he can come off as cold and reserved. Sansa explicitly tells us courtesy is a lady’s armor. She hides behind it and uses this armor in public, to protect herself and navigate the world around her. We get in her head and, like Ned, it’s very different than what she shows everyone else.

Their wants and desires are the same. Ned is a LP and Sansa is expecting she will be a queen. However, Ned was the second son and never expected to have any of it. Sansa’s desire to be queen isn’t about power, it’s about family and a husband who loves her. Ned really leaves us with the sense he would be perfectly content to spend the rest of his life inside the walls of WF, with his children around him, and Cat in his arms every night. That’s Sansa’s dream too. Compare that to Bran who wants to be a knight and a member of the KG or Arya.

Both are deeply emphatic. Let’s look at Sansa’s behavior and understanding of the Hound. After he tells her about his burns, she responds that his brother was no true knight. He’s pretty awful to her at multiple points but she continuously looks for the best in him and understands what drives much of his actions. Compare her relationship to Sandor with Arya’s, for example. It’s the same with Ned and Cersei. Ned isn’t angry with her, rather he puts himself in her place and tries to understand. 

Both are internal and can refuse to act until absolutely needed. Compare Ned after Robert’s death. LF and Renly both came to him and said to act but he waited until Cersei summoned him. Sansa tends to do the same thing. 

They are both idealistic and look for the good in people. Sometimes, I see them called naive which is kinda an incomplete way of looking at things. Yes, Sansa starts out as naive in the first book, but considering her life experiences at that point, it is to be expected. Ned does place his trust in the wrong people (LF and Cersei) but he also makes a point to know his people and looks for the good in them. It’s part of what inspires the loyalty in people back north. Also, remember Davos’ visit to the Sisters? I love this story:

That was when Stark said, ‘In this world only winter is certain. We may lose our heads, it’s true … but what if we prevail?’ My father sent him on his way with his head still on his shoulders. 'If you lose,’ he told Lord Eddard, 'you were never here.’ “

- Davos I, aDwD.

Here, Ned put his trust in Lord Godric’s father and chose to see the best. It payed off for him. Sansa does the same, she sees the best in people, she sees the world as it should be (to borrow from Cinderella). So, in Westeros, with years of war and the ice apocalypse coming, it seems to me that a person who sees the best and who sees what is possible is ideally suited to be in a leadership position afterwards. Sansa is not only the type of person who can rebuild, she can make it better.

Lastly, we have one of Sansa’s best lines in the entire series:

"I will remember, Your Grace,” said Sansa, though she had always heard that love was a surer route to the people’s loyalty than fear. If I am ever a queen, I’ll make them love me.

- Sansa IV, aCoK

Where do we think that came from? That’s Ned and his approach to ruling right there. Ned, who inspired love and loyalty from his people because he gave it back. He invited someone different to sit with him at supper every night. He took the time to visit the mountain clans. He dispensed his own justice. He made his people fight for “The Ned’s little girl.” Sansa adopts that same approach during the Blackwater with the ladies she tries to comfort. It’s the same approach to ruling we see her starting to use in the Vale. Look at the servants in the Eyrie. 

And here is one thing that really stands out with this style of governance. Robb and Jon both think on Ned’s teaching and try to adopt them. Sansa never does, it’s all unconscious.

Hopefully this answered your question some anon!! Thank you for the ask!!!

[alexiethymia]

Lyanna + Rhaegar / Jon + Sansa

Already made a list of parallels between Jonsa and Nedcat way back during S6 here, but I thought it would be fun to list more parallels. Pretty much inspired after seeing that one gifset of Sansa at the crypts with Lyanna’s statue. Some j*nerys shippers might say I’m ‘reaching’, but what the heck it’s for fun. Also, I am aware that Arya has the most common with Lyanna out of the Stark kids; not discounting that, I mean I love Arya, but again just some things I noticed. 

- So anyway, in the show we first get a glimpse of Lyanna’s face in the scene with Sansa with her statue at the crypts (before LF comes and provides narrative exposition). I find it interesting how at the time of this scene Sansa was posing as a bastard (in the books she pattered her persona after Lyanna’s son), and she had to dye her hair black, making her look more closely with Lyanna visually.

- The color blue; Lyanna is associated with her love of blue winter roses, while Sansa tully blue eyes have often been commented on. (While a warrior like Arya, Lyanna’s love of winter roses makes me think she had a romantic side just like Sansa)

- The War of the Five Kings and Robert’s Rebellion both started with the death of a Stark patriarch, and the ‘kidnapping’ of a Stark sister(s) also factored into it. Robb (like Ned) fought to avenge his father, but also to rescue his sisters (much like Ned tried to rescue Lyanna). Arya had already escaped by that time, so only Sansa was left behind.

- It started with a Baratheon; it ended (hopefully) with a Targaryen. Both Lyanna and Sansa were originally promised to a Baratheon (though Robert did genuinely love Lyanna and Joffrey was a Lannister in truth), but ended with/in the arms of a Targaryen prince eventually. 

- Sansa saved Dontos with her words while Lyanna saved Howland Reed with her skills, both showing the innate compassion these two have.

- Personality-wise, Jon is more Stark than Targaryen. He takes after his mother in looks, and likely in temperament. Meanwhile both Sansa and Rhaegar are known for their musical talent, courtly grace, and love of beautiful things. There are still parallels between Rhaegar and Jon though.

- Both were known and revered as great leaders and great warriors, also both show the traits of a stereotypical prince charming. Rhaegar in looks and manner, Jon, as we know, is ‘brave, gentle, and strong’. 

- Rhaegar left Lyanna in the Tower of Joy to protect her leaving behind his guard with this important duty; Jon arguable did the same when he left Sansa in Winterfell, and the missing scenes tell us that he entrusted Ghost with her safety. 

- Rhaegar battled Robert one-on-one for the love of a woman (though the audience was confused which woman it was. the readers now know it was Lyanna). Meanwhile Jon battled Ramsay one-on-one for the honor of one (his ‘sister’ Sansa). The difference being, Rhaegar was beaten and killed, while Jon was triumphant and would have killed Ramsay until he saw Sansa. 

- This one’s a bit of a far reach, but Rhaegar crowned Lyanna ‘The Queen of Love and Beauty’ which is a symbolic title, nothing more, since his queen at the time would have been Elia Martell, his wife. Meanwhile, Jon leaving Sansa in charge of Winterfell could be symbolic in him crowning her ‘Queen in the North’ (yes, I know her official title is Lady of Winterfell). 

Feel free to add some more!

[qqueenofhades]

hello! i was wondering if I could have your opinion on jon and dany having a relationship? I know you may not watch it but i know you are well versed in the subject because your fanfic got GRRM approval (which is so amazing congrats). I know there is a lot of controversy around their relationship so I was wondering where you stand

I actually answered a Jonerys ask a few days ago (here) that basically boiled down to I don’t watch the show and haven’t for years, but I don’t begrudge anyone for shipping it at all and have enjoyed watching everyone enjoy it. I think the Rhaegar/Lyanna parallel they drew with it last night (at least from what I can infer from gifsets) doesn’t necessarily bode well for them long-term, but they are obviously Fire/Ice and a pairing that makes sense/was anticipated for many years. I thought about writing Jon/Dany in TNR, but I ended up going a different route because I wanted Jon’s resurrection/ultimate arc to be something else. It’s one of the things that I think will probably be different in the real ending, but hey, it’s just fic.

As for the incest angle, obviously that’s pretty much a moot point in GOT, and fictional ships don’t (or at least don’t usually) reflect on someone as a person, because we enjoy things in stories we don’t plan to ever actually do in real life. For example, I am a person who doesn’t like war, doesn’t plan to ever go to war, thinks the glorification of war/military throughout history is a problem, and yet I almost always enjoy war movies. I like fictional things with darker themes I wouldn’t want to face myself, and GOT if nothing else is good at skewing and shaking ideas of morality/right and wrong/etc. Besides, Jon and Dany don’t know they’re related (and they’re Targaryens, it’s kind of what you do in their world) and since I enjoy them as characters (at least their book versions) I am for them being happy and having that connection, even if, as I said, the Rhaegar/Lyanna parallel is obviously a bit foreboding.

Overall, as ever, I think major kerfuffle about ships is a bit pointless, people like what they like, and right now, I definitely don’t want to get too meta-y or into my problems with the show and so forth. I think everyone just wants to enjoy #Boatsex, as they obviously should, so I totally support this. :)

[thestagthatlovedthewolf]

I was tagged by @justwinginoverthings :) Thank you so much :) - YEAH!!! “Survivors”!!! I love “Survivors” - it is so GOOD!!! I hope you’re feeling better, and good luck on your finals!!! :D

Do This: List all the things you’re currently working on in as much or as little detail as you’d like, then tag some friends to see what they’re working on. This can be writing, arts, gifsets, whatever.

I have a lot of projects going on, so prepare for a long list :)

I’m focusing now on my fic for @alternatesongs, which I can’t share anything about. And if I finish this one with time, I may write a second one as well

Another thing I was giving my full attention (befre moving on to the one mentioned above) was the next chapter of “Being a Teenager is Like Being at War”. This one I can tell you a bit about. It’s a Robert and Elia POVs chapter. Robert is back in school, trying to get to his life (finding a balance between the old and new aspects of his life); and Elia, we get to explore a bit more of her relationship with Jaime, and then we’ll be having visits from familiar faces

I also started working on three projects that are not asoiaf related, so that’s new

a Gareth/Madalena from Galavant fic, that I started back in March, and it was not going well... But it is a soulmate AU (color one), post S2, so I’ll see if I can get back to it

a The Catch one, in which I was following Tessa, Margot and Ben on the run (of course with hints of Ben/Alice and Margot/Danny), but the crime aspect of the fic was certainly not going well

a Dwight/Angela from The Office fic - this one is defintely going better. And it is an AU where she doesn’t accept Andy’s proposal, and then it picks up from that. I’m thinking of doing small scenes from episodes from the show. And this pretty much will happen because @notquiteandrea keeps pushing me and inspiring me to write it

Now onto my WIPs that have been on the works for a long time.

Three soulmate AU started (and one to be started): a Sansa one, that will be multi-chaptered, and I want to have everything written before posting; Myrcella and Aegon, that follows right after “Searching”; and then Jeyne and Theon, which will be sadder and darker

A Shadowhunter AU, which follows “The Moon and the River”, but I’m missing a plot. Maybe with reading Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy, and Lord of Shadows, and catching up with Shadowhunters, I’ll be inspired. But the rest is going well, with developing Ned and Catelyn, and Ned and Robert, who already were the main focus of the first fic

A superhero AU, which I started for a Ned/Catelyn week, and then put it aside, because I was 10 pages in, nowhere done and they hadn’t even interacted. This will be more a study of Ashara Dayne, putting her in a leader position, but ill still include Ned/Catelyn. It seems like a weird combination, because I think most Ashara fans don’t like, or even hate Catelyn and Ned, since they believe Ned belings with Ashara; and Ned/Catelyn fans are annoyed at Ashara because of how the fandom sees her. So while I want to write it, I don’t know if this fic will have any public...

Now moving on to the ones I started, but there’s not even one page written. This one:

There’s a 5+1 Lyanna and Robert fic. 5 times she hurt him, and one time she kissed him better. I have all the scenes planned, I just haven’t written it. Also if or when I finish this, this goes out to you, Meli, I started this after you wrote the most AMAZING fic - “Snowed In“!!!

There’s also the fic for a shuffle challenge. It’s Davos/Marya, and I was planning one for everyone of my favorite ships. And I started this when this challenge took over the Arya/Gendry page on Ao3

And another called “I Finally Understand”, which is Myrcella/Aegon, but I don’t really remember what I wanted to do with it

So this is everything on my desktop, and I still need to plan my Gendry/Arya week fic or fics, so there will be more :D

Tagging: @dknc3, @indigoraysoflight, @starkfish, @sprinkles36, @myrishswamp, @habitualfacepalmer, and anyone else who wants to do it :)

[youremyonlyhope]

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

So which knight are we talking about? Is Dany gonna knight Brienne? Because that would make my life.

Ugh. Another ad incorporated into the episode. Maybe it’s just HBO? Because Crazy Rich Asians was also HBO. Maybe I’m blaming Amazon when I should be blaming HBO... Oh how I love these little ice tiles in the opening leading to Winterfell. This whole time I’ve been wondering who has the Spider emblem in the opening credits, but too lazy to look at the cast list. It just hit me. Varys is called the Spider. I am so dumb. But who’s the butterfly though? Still haven’t figured that one out. Ok I gave in and checked, it’s Missandei. More reason to love her. I love butterflies. Is the symbol of Naath the butterfly then? Aww I didn’t notice until now that Jacob Anderson as Grey Worm has the 3 dragons in a circle emblem. You know what would have been cool? If the big dragon skull (I forget the dragon’s name) had the crack in it in the animation too. But maybe it does and it just moves too fast to notice it. Oh god, I happened to move my mouse and see there was a giant blurb of trivia. I read it. This episode is described as a “love letter to the fans” because it focuses on the characters preparing and the calm before the storm that is episode 3. Oh god.

LOL everyone’s tearing Jaime apart. “The things we do for love.” HAHAHAHHAAHAHA BRAN YOU’RE THE BEST. Awwww Gendry’s so impressed with Arya’s knife throwing. I’m honestly surprised Bran didn’t call Jaime out to everyone either. Only called him out to Jaime himself, no one else. Spikes of dragon glass on the wall! That’s genius. Good thinking from whoever did that. Aww. Jaime’s in love. Two men being in love with her is exactly what Brienne deserves. She deserves the world. Can Brienne sit on the Iron Throne please? Awwwww Brienne is so proud of Podrick. For some reason I thought Dany and Sansa’s conversation was in either episode 3 or 4, I was spoiled it would happen, but I’m glad they’re going to at least attempt to not drag this rivalry out more than an episode. I’m glad they came to some sort of agreement.... but still the whole kneeling thing can’t be overcome. Ugh. I know people ship Sansa and Theon. I don’t know if I do. But I love that she trusts him. Yay Gilly! Haven’t gotten to see her in a while. Awwww Davos and Gilly see a little of Shireen in that little girl. My heart. EDD AND SAM TOGETHER AGAIN!!!!  AND TORMUND INTERRUPTING EDD AND JON’S REUNION. LOVE IT. “How long do we have?” “Before the sun comes up tomorrow.” Ok now I feel physically shaken up and scared. OH THEON. OH BRAN. AWWWWWWWWWW.

Yes he attempted to kill Bran. But I’m just remembering how the scene a billion years ago of Theon coming into Bran’s room to announce he’s taken the castle was more like an older brother annoying his little brother,

Awww Grey Worm and Missandei. I’m still completely worried by the fact that I saw Missandei included in a gifset I saw that included all characters who have died. I’m so scared. Hey it’s Ghost! “And now our watch begins.” Full circle. I love/hate it. “Everyone seems to forget that I was the first man to kill a White Walker.” YOU TELL THEM SAM. Tormund. That story was ultra creepy. Even for you. I’d been spoiled for Gendry and Arya, but it was my own fault because I decided to read the Buzzfeed article about it. Pretty sure I mentioned it in one of the posts... Yep that was back in Dark Winds Dark Words. Before Gendry even rowed away. But yay! I’m glad Tormund’s insulted by the fact that Brienne hasn’t been knighted and that women can’t be knighted in general.

SER BRIENNE OF TARTH, KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS. THAT. IS. MY GIRL. I wish Dany would have knighted her, but Jaime will do.

Oh little Lady Lyanna. Arguing with her uncle (?) Jorah about fighting. I love it. I love her. But also. If you make me watch Lyanna die, I will kill someone. Ohhh, cousin, not uncle. Got it. Ok Jon told Dany about being Aegon and before they could get into what it really meant, they were interrupted by White Walkers. Ugh. I appreciate that the last shot of a main character before we saw the Walkers was of Tyrion. Didn’t George R.R. Martin say that he considers Tyrion to be the protagonist, if he had to pick one?

SO. That was eventful. Gendry and Arya happened. My girl, Ser Brienne, is a knight. Sansa and Theon might end up being a thing based on that last shot of them. Podrick can sing. Jon told Dany he’s her nephew.

Also. And this is something I mentioned a long time ago, in Oathkeeper. But.... how are White Walker’s made? Where do they come from? Did the Children make all of them? Because at first it seemed like there were only 4 of them, then Sam killed one, but then there were like 5, and just now we saw a whole line of them. Sooooo how are they made?

In Oathbreaker, I asked if they were all Craster’s sons. They’re all male, so far. And the White Walker (or was it the Night King) that took one of the sons touched it while it was still alive and it turned white and had blue eyes. Sooo.... would that baby grow into a White Walker? Or is it just a wight like the rest of them and the touch killed it since it wasn’t already dead? A baby wight wouldn’t help them much, but if it could still grow after being touched, it would be useful to the Army. So do Craster’s sons become White Walkers? Are all the White Walker’s Craster’s sons?

AND IF THEY ARE ALL CRASTER’S SONS, WHAT WILL THEY DO TO LITTLE SAM??? I NEARLY FORGOT ABOUT LITTLE SAM.

I don’t want to google it. I literally have just 2 more episodes until I’m caught up. Not taking that chance. But that’s my theory for now. White Walkers are Craster’s sons.

[joanna-lannister]

we already know you ship jxc but maybe tell us why and some of your feelings? fav scenes or aspects to their relationship?

Hi Nonnie!

To be honest, I wasn't sure if your message was an accusation because you were the anon whose sent me the cersei x euron ask and you ship it or if you simply ship Jaime x Cersei and were curious why I ship it too lol. I'm always cautious when I receive that kind of ask ahah and sorry for the late reply, I've spent too much time writing it.

So here I go!

First of all, I think this is the most important ship in the show I mostly speak about the show because I haven't read all the books yet with Ned x Cat (I could add Rh*egar x Lyanna but I don't ship it). Without them, no story because no war of the five Kings. And by that, I don't mean ''Cersei wanted their bastard(s) on the throne''. No, I mean people like Littlefinger (or Varys, Stannis and Renly to some extent) found the evidence of their dirty little secret and used it to start a war for their own profit. Littlefinger comploted with Lysa Arryn to kill her husband and then let the Starks believe that the Lannisters were responsibles of that murder.And Jaime pushing Bran out of that window to protect them lead that spark. Without that defining moment, Cat wouldn't have tried to search proofs in the tower, wouldn't have gone to King's Landing to warn Ned, wouldn't have kidnapped Tyrion and hurt Tywin's pride, Ned wouldn't have found Jon Arryn's researches and confontred Cersei about Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen being bastards, etc.Littlefinger said "Chaos is ladder." and he was right, this relationship lead to the actual chaos in Westeros. You remove it from the equation and you lost a big part of the story. I wish some people could see that.

This is something they both want. People will say : "But this is unhealthy!!! Well sure, Jan but this is Game is Thrones ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ What do you expect? Even then, shipping something doesn't mean accepting everything they do and frankly, unlike some people like to believe, it goes both ways with these two. So yeah, this is something they both want, they said countless time they love each others. Hell, even Jaime told this to Edmure and said he can laugh at it if he wants to, like "eat it, bitch !". Jaime wants to marry her, he's angry when she refuses and jealous af. It's worse in the books but we can see it during the season 7 with Euron. And he's ready to give her another child after Joffrey's death (I wanted by the way making a gifset with this quote and when Cersei tells him she's pregnant with baby!Lannister in the S7 but I forgot because I'm a dumb bitch... 🙄). As for Cersei, she choose love over the kingdom, she choose to have her children with the man who made her feel safe, not her abusive husband, Jaime gives her the little agency she can have. This is terribly human...

Forbidden love! I'm such a slut for this trope and honestly, Romeo and Juliet are pretty boring next to Jaime and Cersei. Well, I remember back when I watched The Borgias and I shipped (and I still do!)  Cesare and Lucrezia, I used to feel so ashamed for shipping them but now, I don't care. Yeah, I love this trope and shipping is supposed to be fun. Give me two persons who romantically love each others but aren't supposed too, hello the angst! I'm on board! After all; We don't choose whom we love.

Time. They spend their lifetime together! This is another trope I love. They are born together and they are obsessed by it. My romantic ass can't help but loving long-term relationship. They can't see themselves without the other (if this phrase makes sense) and it makes me laugh when people say "Jaime is so over Cersei ass" sorry but hello? They lived for 42 years together, have been involved for almost 30 years romantically, had 3 (almost 4) children together and you except him to forget her just like that? LMAO

I think I could add more reasons but this is really the first ones that pop into my mind and if I keep going, I will never finish...

As for my favorite scenes :

The Reunion in S3: This is by far my fave! The look on their faces OMG... especially Cersei, she looks like she can't breathe. No words needed or big love declaration, simply their faces. That's what I call good acting. Oh, I remember this fanart, where they fall into each others arms, it was so pretty! I felt robbed after seeing that. But I don't remember the author. 😭

The Morning After in 7x03: I know most of the fans hated this season but theses scenes were pure bliss for me and I was ready to take every crumbs I could have. And oh God, this scene looked like I wrote it myself. And the maid... I want her face when she saw Jaime in the bed on my grave, I will never be over this!

The Moment After Cersei Told Tywin The Truth in 4x10: Well, it was pretty hot!

The Hug in 1x03: Same as the one above. And I think Jaime's quote sums up their relationship : And if he does, I'll kill him. Him, Ned Stark, the King... the whole bloody lot of them, until you and I are the only people left in this world.

That Scene Just After Jaime Came Back with Myrcella in 6x01: Cersei is devasted by Myrcella's death, she's depressed and it breaks my heart everytime. 😭 And at the same time, it's a beautiful scene but yeah, I always end up in tears.

And so many more! I could also talk about the moments when they are apart and think/talk about the other. Theses little clues people barely notice. Like Cersei, talking to Sansa saying Jaime was with her during Joffrey's birth, or saying to Tyrion she wonder what Jaime is doing, worried, or saying to I-don't-remember-who he's not been forgotten, or just before they reunite, when she's looking at the shell, I can't stop thinking this is a reminiscence of their childhood at Casterly Rock (I know someone else wrote that too not so long ago). Or Jaime, saying to Jory Cassel (I think) that Robert is humiliating her by whoring in front of everyone, or when Roose Bolton tell him that Stannis attacked King's Landing but he failed and that Cersei is safe, Jaime fell on his knees, everyone think it's because of the loss of his hand and he's exhausted by the trip but he's simply relieved that Cersei is alive. All these little things...Yes.

There is one micro moment from the books I would have loved to see on my screen tho, that kiss Ned catched during the Hand's tourney. He see Jaime kissing a woman and we all know it's Cersei disguised, but not Ned. It's short but I really love that moment.

I wish GRRM could write a book only about them to be honest, at this point. There is so many possibilities and I have so many headcanons. This isn't nice George, make a girl happy! I also think there relationship is more toxic in the books than in the show and they freaking need to talk! And my stupid romantic ass also want them to have a happy ending sometimes, I can't help myself, even if I know it's not gonna happen. Oh, and I also think their fate will be slightly different in the show but I could be wrong.

Yeah, I really love them. I have to admit that sometimes, it really piss me off to see how people treat them, the double standards they instaured between these two make me want to gouge my eyes out and I'm disgusted by the fact they want them to f*ck someone else, especially while Cersei is pregnant. 🙄 But at least, I stay in my lane.

Honestly I could add other stuffs, I want to but like I said I will never finish this post otherwise... But here's my opinion. 😊

Have a nice day! ❤️