theonewhoshouldbeleftalone

[theonewhoshouldbeleftalone]

i’m aunt cindy

[theonewhoshouldbeleftalone]

12 Realistic Woman Body Shape Chart by NinaSquirrelly

[theonewhoshouldbeleftalone]

[theonewhoshouldbeleftalone]

can you rant about bloodraven? i didn't really care about him until i found your blog and aegor-bamfsteel

O-ho-ho boy, can I ever!

I was kind of pro-him until striking up a friendship with @aegor-bamfsteel​, save for what I felt was tricking Bran into coming north (”You will never walk again, but you will fly” - DICK MOVE). I think I got sucked in by the mystical crap and his speech about the things he missed in his life. I was also never super-comfortable about him (non-sexually) creeping on and grooming a 7-year-old boy through his dreams, and taking advantage of the event that made him disabled in order to sculpt himself a protege, especially Bran’s resulting depression. But truth be told, I don’t think I thought about it much.

My biggest issue with Bloodraven, apart from the cheesy-as-fuck chosen name, is the fact that he has absolutely no moral compass and fandom insists on twisting everything he does to suggest otherwise. If people said “Bloodraven is an amoral, power-hungry sociopath who’s a lot more like his father than he cares to admit, and I love it,” I could respect that. They’ve done that with characters like Daemon Targaryen, Original Flavor. But fandom’s perception of him is of a selfless ascetic whose actions were always directed towards The Good of the Realm™, and that…that’s just blatantly incorrect. (I know I use the trademark symbol a lot. I think it’s funny. :D)

(ETA: Tumblr apparently won’t let one do readmores. If you read the whole thing, I get nasty about BR and those who like him. You have been warned.)

These posts are a good place to start in terms of why I dislike Bloodraven, containing both my opinion and Aegor’s. I also ranted at length in another ask you sent me, which is linked here for anyone who’s reading this and doesn’t already have the details.

Basically: since Bloodraven’s conception, GRRM has warped the entire fabric of his narrative in ways that make it crystal-clear that BR is his self-insert. They also don’t make medical sense. I can buy that Brynden was born with albinism, since the condition tends to be autosomal recessive and one gene could have been carried down the Targaryen line without anyone manifesting it. Melissa Blackwood carried the corresponding gene, obviously. However, most RL people with albinism, due to UV light damage and a lack of pigment in the eye, are legally blind or close to it by the time they reach adulthood.

The red eyes thing is also dramatic as fuck, a trope that unfairly demonizes real-life people with albinism, and unrealistic besides; if anything, his eyes would more likely look very pale blue or purple, like his father’s. (You might want to check out the essays of lunaplath, who has albinism and is an ASOIAF fan, here on Tumblr. I’ve gotten some of this info from her blog. I’m not hotlinking her because we’ve never spoken and I don’t want to drag her into an argument she may dislike, but her blog is worth a look, definitely.) However, having said that - he’s a literal example of the Red Eyes Take Warning trope, and we’re not supposed to figure out that he’s evil???

I’ve already gone into why I dislike the Melissa Blackwood-Barba Bracken-Targaryen family narrative with regards to how Melissa is lifted up and practically canonized in the bits of text about her we’ve gotten. (Again: NAERYS WOULD NOT HAVE LIKED HER. She would have been horrified by her age, and then probably resentful and critical of Melissa herself, no matter how beloved she was by the court. I’ve read fic that has them bosom friends, at the “immodest” Barba’s expense, and I’m disgusted by it.) Brynden is another example of how that played out. He, unlike Aegor, was never quasi-disowned and forced to witness or at least hear about the murder of his family. Tell me, what disadvantages did this little fucker have?

Bloodraven is painted by fandom as Aegor’s foil, an obsequious Targaryen loyalist who - again - does everything For the Good of the Realm™, and possibly to fight the Others once his greenseeing powers kick in. BLOODRAVEN IS NOT LOYAL TO ANY CAUSE BUT HIS OWN. Every one of his actions comes across as performed specifically to kick Aegor in the nuts. The whole Shiera thing, for one (check out this awesome meta). Also: no matter how horrible Shiera was, Bloodraven should have left her the FUCK alone the first time she said no. Nice Guy much? Anyway. Major examples of his power-grabbing personality are embodied in his term as Aerys I’s hand. Unlike what the rest of fandom seems to think, he was not content to be the power behind the throne. If he was, he would have pushed Aerys into at least semi-competence and cultivated an image of himself as the wise, meek councilor. But no, every one of the brutal actions to come out of that regime had his stamp all over it; he wanted power and he wanted attention, and he WANTED to hurt people in doing it. (I dislike Cersei for the same reason. Sorry, I know you like her.)

But what strikes most deeply at the heart of my hatred for Bloodraven is the fact that he’s not only a kinslayer at least six times over (and arguably a kingslayer and a torturer, depending on what was done to Daemon II down in those dungeons), but a childslayer as well. The man killed children. Personally. On purpose. Possibly out of vengeance. No two ways about it. Whether it was him or one of his magic flunkeys on that ridge, the fact remains that he and his people shot “a rain of arrows” that killed two twelve-year-olds who were functioning in the protected role of standard-bearers. He also did the same thing to Daemon, when Daemon tried to protect his already-dead oldest son. Twelve is not the age of majority, either in ASOIAF or our world, no matter how Alyn Cockshaw editorializes them as “wretched witless bullies.” (Dude. That’s the war PTSD and retroactive reaction formation talking. Daemon himself never says a word about any of his brothers.) Aegon and Aemon didn’t deserve that. No child does. Bloodraven went ahead and did it anyway.

I’ve already ranted in the linked asks about how he got to go north WITH DARK SISTER AND AN HONOR GUARD THAT PROBABLY GOT HIM ELECTED LORD COMMANDER in the linked asks, so I don’t think I need to go into more detail about that. He was barely punished at all - bad form, Egg. Seriously, he should have been executed.

What really makes me rage, though, what really strikes at the heart of my hatred for him? Well, that has to do with the GOT finale (spoiler alert, obviously). This is kind of tinfoil hat territory, but I doubt that it’s something GRRM has thought of, so he can’t really refute the horrifying implications as of yet. It’s canon that dead greenseers go back into the trees and interact in that whole area, right? Well, King Bran is still connected to the weirwood network; in fact, that’s pretty much his only personality in the show. Which means that, essentially: Bloodraven, by proxy, ends the series as king. One among many, possibly, but for all his atrocious, sadistic, plain disgusting actions, he’s rewarded at the end. And he may have known about it for years - known that if he just stuck it out for a few decades after deserting, he would die (provided GRRM actually kills off this particular darling), but he’d also get all he ever wanted. Even thinking about it makes me feel sick.

So, yeah, I hate Bloodraven. He’s a fandom darling, and he doesn’t deserve it at all. (Another sickening bit of fic I read, from an author I can’t believe I once liked, has Maekar [on Baelor’s orders, no less] hunt down and kill Blackfyre supporters with a raven-warged Bloodraven providing greenseer input “on his shoulder.” Holy fucking shit.) He hurts and kills people of all ages on purpose, sometimes for no other reason than that they said something about him that he disliked. He’s an irredeemably evil Gary Stu of a character who I hope gets his comeuppance by the end of the series, and if he doesn’t…well, I think that’ll tell me where GRRM’s priorities really lie in terms of the message he’s sending. Gardener, my ass.

[theonewhoshouldbeleftalone]

A companion to my Alicent.

Style wise I'm sure Alicent would insist that Helaena should wear clothes similar to hers in cut and modesty.

Thin veils, capes and no skin showing.

The blues in her outfit would be influenced by her dragon and her embroidery is slightly show Halaena influenced because I love her.

Commission post

[theonewhoshouldbeleftalone]

the wicker man (1973)

may morrison’s sweet shop

[theonewhoshouldbeleftalone]

[theonewhoshouldbeleftalone]

Hi I love the Stormlands and your wonderful posts is the only insight I’ve seen of the unloved Stormlands for clothes 😍 Would it be ok if you could elaborate on the clothes and styles with house baratheon in the steffon and cassava era? How do you think baratheon court changed from rhalle Targaryen to cassana estermont to renly? Do you think they had more Targaryen influences with rhalle or she embraced Baratheon styles, I have complete blank on what cassana era would be but I can so see renly going tyrell!!! Thoughts???? I’m so so loving your series my girl!!!😍😍😍 baratheon style and Stormlands get so unloved even the masters didn’t add their tree in the book they made for Robert

Ofc!!! The stormlands are my unloved favorite, and I’ve been meaning to get into them more so let’s go girls 🏃🏻‍♀️

I think the main aspect of stormlands clothing is durability. They need something that can last the constant harsh rain and wind and terrain. The air is probably always damp and the ground is rocky, so clothing is mostly sturdy cottons and other fibers, along with thicker coats or jackets made of animal skin to keep rain off. Hair is covered too, more for practical reasons than religious

Stormlander men keep it simple, partially bc they’re hard masculine #real men (Steffon doesn’t fuck with that “girly” shit at kings landing) and partially bc it’s just easier to deal with. Life is harder in the stormlands, and it would be even more difficult if they had long clothing and belts and jewelry getting in the way. Just leather, wool, and anger issues

They still have fancy clothing and such, but it’s not worn nearly as often and Stormlanders idea of “fancy” is probably different from the Reaches. Nice articles are probably reused and saved for important occasions. Detailed embroidering and patterned fabric are probably a luxury, so only the richer houses have that kind of stuff. However it’s my headcanon that there is a lot of precious metals in the mountains of the Stormlands, so essentially everyone has access to it for their accessories

And honestly smallfolk clothing isn’t that much different than most minor nobles. It’s essentially the same type of fabrics and layers, though not as neatly made. Smallfolk clothing can be defined as rough wool shifts, sturdy pants, one or two stiff overlayers tied with corded belts. Clothing good for work and marching to endless wars in the dornish marches

Also I kinda love the idea of more folk-like clothing worn by smallfolk on holidays and special occasions. Like each area of the stormlands and every village has their own variation of cultural clothing, and it gives them something nice to wear on holidays instead of old scratchy wool. Since Cassanna is a character in name only, I have a headcanon that she was a big promoter of cultural events native to the stormlands, and frequently paid for tourneys and festivals where Stormlanders could come together and celebrate more

[theonewhoshouldbeleftalone]

Shout out to all the Black ppl that can no longer participate directly in the fandom they love because of the stresses of racism 👍🏾 you contain multitudes of value and I'm sorry that the color of your skin and the power of your voice makes people not want to acknowledge that.

[theonewhoshouldbeleftalone]

the prince and princess of dragonstone in aegon's garden

belated valentine's day post... it's my blog, i get to make sappy art of one of the most tragic couples in asoiaf. i maintain that there was a sweet spot, once they got used to each other's oddnesses and before everything went to shit, when they were happy.

[theonewhoshouldbeleftalone]

two-stylish-young-men-making-fun-of-creepy-older-mans-fashion-choices.png

[theonewhoshouldbeleftalone]

Hebden Bridge, Calderdale, West Yorkshire (England)

[theonewhoshouldbeleftalone]

If there is one major influence I want King’s Mister Miracle to have on mainline New Gods continuity, it is the existence of Jacob Free.

Let Scott and Barda be parents.

[theonewhoshouldbeleftalone]

What are your thoughts on Northern fashion? You mentioned in an early post that it would be different depending on the location, can you elaborate on that? I also feel like the style changed soon after Catelyn married Ned, since she would bring styles from the Riverlands and Winterfell is the King's Landing of the North when it comes to fashion

Let’s goooo 🏃🏻‍♀️

Starting in the Neck, they would definitely be more like the riverlanders in terms of clothing. It’s a fairly similar wet and muggy climate. Everything is mostly made of wool and hemp and linen. Thinner clothes for the muggy summers and warmer, thicker ones for when winter comes. Leather/animal skin shoes to keep the mud off. Also whenever I imagine the Crannogmen I imagine cloaks and hoods to stay dry in the swamps. So lots of those.

To the East and a bit father to the north, that costal area around White Harbor is colder than the Neck. So theres a lot more layers, and clothing it way thicker. Also the Manderlys are dripped tf out they got that White Harbor money. Wyman has fur lined EVERYTHING his damask coats could put Cerseis to shame. Wylla and Wynafred pull up to the Sept with lace and silk and jewels eating all the other bitches up. Also since they follow the Faith and are originally southern, this area probably follows more southern customs (fabrics, headpieces, etc)

And we finally make it to winterfell 🤸🏻‍♀️At this point everyone’s freezing their tits off, so fur lined everything. Indoors, I think they can wear lighter stuff bc of those hot springs. Even in the spring months, you can catch Cat wearing at least one shift, underdress, overdress, AND a jacket bc I feel like she never acclimated to the cold. Lots of leather and wool for everyday wear, but when Ned throws a feast or something they get to wear more fur and velvet (even Jon gets to wear a nice velvet surcoat, as a treat). Since the Starks are bordering on ascetic sometimes, there isn’t a ton of ornamentation, but Sansa likes to wear southern-ish styles as much as she can, so you can frequently find her wearing clothes from white harbor (aka I want to see Sansa in a kokoshnik)

And then even farther north we start to see Bolton and Umber territory. The conditions are even more brutal than at Winterfell and they don’t even have hot springs :/ like Sansa and Arya could probably get away with not having to cover their ears during warmer days, but the girls of last hearth and the dreadfort have no warm days. At this point clothing becomes a bit bulky and harder to move around in. Dresses are lined stiffly and almost drag the floor, and everyone is always bundled up to the neck. However materials and fabrics are cohesive and nice atp.

And by the time we nearly reach the wall, conditions are almost unbearable during the winter. Even during spring, all the villagers in the gift are wearing at least four layers (bc I hate hate hate how the show made the people at and around the wall just chill in a thin jacket when they were near a gargantuan frozen block of ice). Clothing is a lot less structured here, resources are getting sparse so most people stitch together a patchwork of whatever furs they can get their hands on. You will rarely see a person without a big hood or thick gloves on. And even though they aren’t wildlings, you can probably see a lot of animal head hoods, bc these people do NOT waste any part of the animal

[theonewhoshouldbeleftalone]

What are your thoughts on Northern fashion? You mentioned in an early post that it would be different depending on the location, can you elaborate on that? I also feel like the style changed soon after Catelyn married Ned, since she would bring styles from the Riverlands and Winterfell is the King's Landing of the North when it comes to fashion

Let’s goooo 🏃🏻‍♀️

Starting in the Neck, they would definitely be more like the riverlanders in terms of clothing. It’s a fairly similar wet and muggy climate. Everything is mostly made of wool and hemp and linen. Thinner clothes for the muggy summers and warmer, thicker ones for when winter comes. Leather/animal skin shoes to keep the mud off. Also whenever I imagine the Crannogmen I imagine cloaks and hoods to stay dry in the swamps. So lots of those.

To the East and a bit father to the north, that costal area around White Harbor is colder than the Neck. So theres a lot more layers, and clothing it way thicker. Also the Manderlys are dripped tf out they got that White Harbor money. Wyman has fur lined EVERYTHING his damask coats could put Cerseis to shame. Wylla and Wynafred pull up to the Sept with lace and silk and jewels eating all the other bitches up. Also since they follow the Faith and are originally southern, this area probably follows more southern customs (fabrics, headpieces, etc)

And we finally make it to winterfell 🤸🏻‍♀️At this point everyone’s freezing their tits off, so fur lined everything. Indoors, I think they can wear lighter stuff bc of those hot springs. Even in the spring months, you can catch Cat wearing at least one shift, underdress, overdress, AND a jacket bc I feel like she never acclimated to the cold. Lots of leather and wool for everyday wear, but when Ned throws a feast or something they get to wear more fur and velvet (even Jon gets to wear a nice velvet surcoat, as a treat). Since the Starks are bordering on ascetic sometimes, there isn’t a ton of ornamentation, but Sansa likes to wear southern-ish styles as much as she can, so you can frequently find her wearing clothes from white harbor (aka I want to see Sansa in a kokoshnik)

And then even farther north we start to see Bolton and Umber territory. The conditions are even more brutal than at Winterfell and they don’t even have hot springs :/ like Sansa and Arya could probably get away with not having to cover their ears during warmer days, but the girls of last hearth and the dreadfort have no warm days. At this point clothing becomes a bit bulky and harder to move around in. Dresses are lined stiffly and almost drag the floor, and everyone is always bundled up to the neck. However materials and fabrics are cohesive and nice atp.

And by the time we nearly reach the wall, conditions are almost unbearable during the winter. Even during spring, all the villagers in the gift are wearing at least four layers (bc I hate hate hate how the show made the people at and around the wall just chill in a thin jacket when they were near a gargantuan frozen block of ice). Clothing is a lot less structured here, resources are getting sparse so most people stitch together a patchwork of whatever furs they can get their hands on. You will rarely see a person without a big hood or thick gloves on. And even though they aren’t wildlings, you can probably see a lot of animal head hoods, bc these people do NOT waste any part of the animal

[theonewhoshouldbeleftalone]

Possum mom figurine ♥️

[theonewhoshouldbeleftalone]

Possum mom figurine ♥️