thereturnofsansastark
thereturnofsansastark
I Tried to Grasp a Star, Overreached, and Fell.
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Multi-Purpose Sideblog. Anti-GoT. Pro-ASoiaF. Black Girl Defense Squad. She/Her.
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thereturnofsansastark · 6 years ago
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Cersei of the House Lannister, First of Her Name, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Protector of the Seven Kingdoms. The first and last queen to sit the Iron Throne. *excluding Rhaenyra Targaryen who reigned half a year
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thereturnofsansastark · 6 years ago
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Idk if you take requests but could you do a pic where Jon is allowing Arya&Sansa to play/style his hair?
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thereturnofsansastark · 6 years ago
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The Gift of the Old Gods
The major conflict for Arya in “Arya IX” ACOK is the problem of any genie/wish story - what to do with one’s last wish. Indeed, Arya herself thinks in these terms:
Jaqen still owed her one death. In Old Nan’s stories about men who were given magic wishes by a grumkin, you had to be especially careful with the third wish, because it was the last. Chiswyck and Weese hadn’t been very important. The last death has to count, Arya told herself every night when she whispered her names.
The obvious answer as the chapter begins seems to be Ser Amory Lorch. The author reminds readers right away how much of a villain he still (very rightfully, of course) is in Arya’s mind: the opening scene has Arya suggesting she and Hot Pie spit on tarts once she learns they’re intended for Amory Lorch, and taking pleasure in depriving the Lannister commander of one of his treats. She realizes as she practices her makeshift swordplay that she needs to have Amory Lorch killed, because only then will she have a true chance to escape and return to Winterfell. Of all the people (then still alive) on Arya’s list, Amory is by far the most present, not only in appearance in this chapter but in relative position to her at Harrenhal; his death would certainly be swifter than would be, say, Joffrey’s or Cersei’s, if Arya named them. In every aspect, Amory Lorch is a man who deserves to die: from throwing the child “Lord Tarbeck” down a well to stabbing the toddler Princess Rhaenys dozens of times to setting his men on Yoren and his pledges for the Night’s Watch to terrorizing the Riverlands and those unfortunate enough to live there, Amory Lorch has proved himself a sadist, murderer, and generally awful person fit for just punishment. 
Yet when given the opportunity to name Amory, Arya doesn’t. Instead, she uses her last wish as a mystical trump card, turning the rules on Jaqen’s head to accomplish something greater than a single death. More to the point, she thinks not only of herself with her last wish, but her fellow northmen. They are not simply her means to get home (although they of course are, at least in her mind); they are “[her] father’s men, and Robb’s”, people that she as a Stark instinctively thinks of as her own. Given the opportunity to claim immediate, personally satisfying vengeance, Arya puts the freedom of her northern people first. She uses her wits to trick her would-be (and up until now actual) murder genie into doing exactly what she wanted, effecting the prison breakout of the captured northmen (even if the whole plan was a bit superfluous, given that the Bloody Mummers had already switched sides).
Arya received three wishes from Jaqen, but only two deaths - or, maybe more precisely, only two of the men she named really died. Yet Arya is not left bereft in this aspect once the no-longer-Jaqen leaves Harrenhal. She has an alternate source of justice through death - the old gods themselves.
Arya went to her knees. She wasn’t sure how she should begin. She clasped her hands together. Help me, you old gods, she prayed silently. Help me get those men out of the dungeon so we can kill Ser Amory, and bring me home to Winterfell. Make me a water dancer and a wolf and not afraid again, ever.
And what do we see happen at the end of the chapter?
And that evening, a page named Nan poured wine for Roose Bolton and Vargo Hoat as they stood on the gallery, watching the Brave Companions parade Ser Amory Lorch naked through the middle ward. Ser Amory pleaded and sobbed and clung to the legs of his captors, until Rorge pulled him loose, and Shagwell kicked him down into the bear pit.
The bear is all in black, Arya thought. Like Yoren.
This, I think, is a sort of supernatural reward from the old gods for Arya. Arya didn’t simply kneel in front of a sacred weirwood and beg her Stark gods for help; she used a gift which could have benefited her only for the benefit of all the northerners at Harrenhal. She had made the right choice - and because she had made the right choice, the old gods would grant her what she had prayed for, the justice of death for the one she had prayed to die (somewhat akin to the legend of Corlos son of Caster, rewarded by the old gods for his choice of mercy with the incalculable riches of Casterly Rock). The deaths provided by Jaqen H’ghar were perversions of the natural order - Chiswyck had no more reason to fall off the wallwalk on the night he died than he did on any other night, and Weese should never have been killed by the dog he had raised and doted on from a pup; the death of Amory Lorch instead fits in the natural order watched over by “the he gods of the forest, stream, and stone”. While bears are not confined to the North, bears do have a strong association with the North, and more generally still-wild places of the First Men - a fitting vehicle of justice for the gods of nature the First Men had taken. That the bear is, as Arya notes, “all in black … like Yoren” adds a double sense of justice to Amory’s death. Gravity wasn’t wronged by Chiswyck before he fell, and Weese’s dog wasn’t the victim of his abuses (at least so far as we know), but the black bear is as close as the narrative can get in Harrenhal to having justice delivered by the wronged party. Amory had committed many wrongs, but to make his way onto Arya’s list, he had violated the neutrality of the Night’s Watch and killed one of the Watch’s own; Yoren doesn’t personally come back from the dead to kill his killer, but his supernatural avatar sent by the gods of the North (and the Night’s Watch’s home) does the deed for him. Amory’s death is the gift of Arya’s Stark gods - not only justice done to a man who sorely deserved it, but the answer to the prayer she had shown herself worthy to earn. 
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thereturnofsansastark · 6 years ago
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Hiya, Cersei ask this time. Was thinking on her relationship with Taena and how she herself admits that she's always had trouble liking other women/girls even the ones she enjoyed being around. The power dynamics and their mutual agendas complicate any actual friendship with Taena but would that always be the case? What do you think Cersei would be required for Cersei to have a healthy friendship with someone? (Other than Tywin falling off Casterly Rock shortly after she was born of course)
Lol @ the last bit! I love your asks.In my opinion most of Cersei’s problems stem from the combination of her problematic childhood and her individual character. But her personality was, indeed, affected by many emotional voids… so, she overcompensated. While there’s no doubt that she was always the bolder/ambitious twin, the lack of empathy within her family has shaped her view of the world. You know, the tragic irony is that Cersei acknowledges this need. She may justify it with the pragmatic necessity of feeling safe/protected:
Many of her father’s bannermen were here, and knights who had fought beside Lord Tywin in half a hundred battles. The sight of them made her feel more confident. I am not without friends.
… but there are moments when her guard slips and she admits to longing for closeness/intimacy:
A pity I am not supping with Lady Merryweather, the queen reflected. It had been a long day, and Taena’s wit always cheered her. Cersei had not had a friend she so enjoyed since Melara.
Though Cersei often slept alone, she had never liked it. Her oldest memories were of sharing a bed with Jaime, when they had still been so young that no one could tell the two of them apart. Later, after they were separated, she’d had a string of bedmaids and companions, most of them girls of an age with her, the daughters of her father’s household knights and bannermen. None had pleased her, and few lasted very long. Little sneaks, the lot of them. Vapid, weepy creatures, always telling tales and trying to worm their way between me and Jaime. Still, there had been nights deep within the black bowels of the Rock when she had welcomed their warmth beside her. An empty bed was a cold bed.
Joffrey had never had a close friend of his own age, that she recalled. The poor boy was always alone. I had Jaime when I was a child…
The power dynamics get in the way because ambition is (primarily) what drives Cersei. It gets worse: this priority compromises her relationships - in others, she looks for obedience (not just as a queen, but as Cersei), for devotion, for those who are fine with simply stroking her ego - thus removing any chance for a healthy relationship because the people she keeps surrounding herself with are not interested in her wellbeing, they are ok with pleasing her only because they get to have something in return. Having a healthy relationship means to be accepting of disagreements - but Cersei doesn’t want constructive criticism, she abhors it. She loves spending time with Taena because she tells her exactly what she needs to hear, and Taena is aware of Cersei’s weakness. Cersei is definitely attracted by her: she’s sexy and witty… but does this attraction stem from a genuine liking of the woman or from Taena’s (apparent) devotion to her? In my opinion, when it comes to Cersei, the safest choice is to always answer with: “It’s both” - one of the reasons why I don’t buy the “Cersei is 100% narcissist!” theory is that it erases her complexities. She��s not entirely incapable of genuinely loving someone, BUT a huge part of the love/respect she gets back is also something that she will attempt to use to her advantage. It’s not evil, it’s just… sad.
Cersei could well believe it. The Myrish woman was too beautiful by half; long-legged and full-breasted, with smooth olive skin, ripe lips, huge dark eyes, and thick black hair that always looked as if she’d just come from bed. She even smells of sin, like some exotic lotus.
“You have a strange look in your eyes. Are you unwell?”“I was just… remembering.” Her throat was dry. “You are a good friend, Taena. I have not had a true friend in…”
The queen’s skin was white and wrinkled from her long immersion. “Stay with me,” she told Taena. “I do not want to sleep alone.” She even said a prayer before she crawled beneath her coverlet, beseeching the Mother for sweet dreams.
Orton Merryweather had gone running back to Longtable, taking his wife, Taena, who had been the queen’s one true friend in these terrible times.
Cersei’s greediness is an overcompensation for the void inside her. She attempts to fill it up, in part, with relationships (Cersei’s “I want” means that she wants everything). She looks for completion through Jaime, she takes an immediate interest in Taena the moment she knows that she can please her. When you have someone so dissatisfied like Cersei, I don’t think that there’s any room for a healthy relationship. If Joanna had survived? Yeah, why not. And I’m convinced she’s had happier times. She took comfort in Jaime’s company and their “Us against the world” childhood (until Tyrion - another threat) because she was taught not to trust people… she looks for intimacy and closeness but she will never find a satisfying, deeper connection outside her family, and especially with someone who isn’t her twin (“It had never been any good with anyone but Jaime.”). Cersei is kind of doomed from the beginning - and unlike most ASOIAF fans, I don’t think that she is a ‘narcissist’ because she loves herself too much. I believe that the opposite is true. And although she admires people who radiate power and strength (Tywin), she can’t accept being second to anyone. For a healthy relationship, she would have to take a step back and consider other’s advices and constructive criticisms first, but she is not willing to accept it.
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thereturnofsansastark · 6 years ago
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If she could have gotten away with it, do you think Catelyn would have had Jon killed?
Catelyn’s no Cersei. This is what Catelyn wanted for Jon:
It came as no surprise to her, in the first year of her marriage, to learn that Ned had fathered a child on some girl chance met on campaign. He had a man’s needs, after all, and they had spent that year apart, Ned off at war in the south while she remained safe in her father’s castle at Riverrun. Her thoughts were more of Robb, the infant at her breast, than of the husband she scarcely knew. He was welcome to whatever solace he might find between battles. And if his seed quickened, she expected he would see to the child’s needs.
[…]
She might have overlooked a dozen bastards for Ned’s sake, so long as they were out of sight.
- Catelyn II, AGoT
She wanted Ned’s bastard provided for materially - but away from Winterfell and away from any implication that said bastard was in any way equal to her own children, either socially, or in his father’s affections.
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thereturnofsansastark · 6 years ago
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If martin wants to show us what an awful person is tywin , why stannis says tywin had the look of a king ?
I think that’s the very point of the scene, in fact.
As “Davos V” ASOS begins, we see Stannis grappling with the political situation in the aftermath of the Red Wedding. The contrast between pragmatic, pessimistic Stannis and the jubilant, supernaturally driven party of Melisandre and her supporters is deliberate and dramatic, and the author underlines the tug of war between the two. While Stannis resigns himself to pursuing pardons and conciliation toward the former partisans of Robb Stark and Balon Greyjoy, Melisandre and her party urge him to up the supernatural stakes - and the only way to do that, they assure him, is by sacrificing Edric Storm to get himself a dragon. Through Davos’ eyes, we can watch Stannis push back and back against the suggestion - refusing to believe in the power of Melisandre’s visions, refusing to consider sacrificing the innocent Edric. Eventually, however, he comes to this anecdote:
Melisandre put her hand on the king’s arm. “The Lord of Light cherishes the innocent. There is no sacrifice more precious. From his king’s blood and his untainted fire, a dragon shall be born.”
Stannis did not pull away from Melisandre’s touch as he had from his queen’s. The red woman was all Selyse was not; young, full-bodied, and strangely beautiful, with her heart-shaped face, coppery hair, and unearthly red eyes. “It would be a wondrous thing to see stone come to life,” he admitted, grudging. “And to mount a dragon … I remember the first time my father took me to court, Robert had to hold my hand. I could not have been older than four, which would have made him five or six. We agreed afterward that the king had been as noble as the dragons were fearsome.” Stannis snorted. “Years later, our father told us that Aerys had cut himself on the throne that morning, so his Hand had taken his place. It was Tywin Lannister who’d so impressed us.” His fingers touched the surface of the table, tracing a path lightly across the varnished hills. “Robert took the skulls down when he donned the crown, but he could not bear to have them destroyed. Dragon wings over Westeros … there would be such a …”
Stannis is being guided, nudged, indeed outright pushed toward the abyss by Melisandre, Selyse, Axell Florent, and the rest of their cronies. For the power of a dragon - that ultimate superweapon of the Targaryen kings, the trump card that could well give Stannis the upper hand against any remaining usurpers or foes - all Stannis has to do is kill one child. Tywin wouldn’t even blink at that situation: for a man who dispatched his pet monsters to brutally murder the children of Prince Rhaegar (and Princess Elia in the bargain), for a man who casually accepted the massacre and incredible social crime of the Red Wedding by claiming that it was better to kill “a dozen” men at dinner than 12,000 on a battlefield, the sacrifice of a bastard boy of no great dynastic importance in exchange for a dragon would probably seem a ludicrously easy choice. In this moment where he’s coming dangerously close to allowing his nephew, his daughter’s friend, a 12-year-old boy to be burned alive for the supposed magic contained in his royal blood, Stannis reaches to Tywin, a man who has built his political career in no small part on his willingness to use ruthless methods, even towards innocents, to achieve his political ends. It’s a potent and tempting point of comparison.
Yet as the anecdote underlines, it’s a falsehood. The dragons might have seemed fearsome to the little Baratheon boys, but they were skulls, the last of them no less than a century dead; stripped of flesh and life, the dragon skulls represented only a past glory, and could pose no threat to Robert or his younger brother. Robert and Stannis automatically assumed that the golden young man on the Iron Throne must have been the king, and that because he appeared so impressive, he must have been a noble person. What neither Robert nor Stannis could have known at that moment, though, was who Tywin really was - the same man who had drowned dozens upon dozens of Reyne noncombatants and wounded to end a rebellion, who a decade and a half later would release his troops in an orgy of bloodshed in the capital of the very king he was then serving. Tywin was and is indeed as noble as the dragons were fearsome - which is to say, not at all.
What this anecdote does, then, is bring Stannis right to the brink, before Davos intervenes to pull him back (at least a little, for now). The choice for Stannis in this moment is not simply the life of Edric Storm against the would-be stone dragon, but the turn toward a more Tywin-like approach to the war, his reign, and his very person or the determination to be the man Tywin would and will not be. Davos alone in this scene emphasizes that the Red Wedding was a grievous crime, an unnatural act which will haunt its perpetrators; he alone tries to show Stannis the falsehood of this approach. Tywin might have looked like a king to the toddler Stannis, but his power was and is based on crossing any line and authorizing any crime he can to further his own power and the glory of House Lannister. Stannis can look like the man he thought as a child was a king - or he can be the king Westeros deserves.
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thereturnofsansastark · 6 years ago
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People who were mad at Sansa for not kissing Dany's ass moodboard
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thereturnofsansastark · 6 years ago
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I dont even hate Dany but this shit is so funny and it's doubly so because people were apparently calling for Sansa's head just one short week ago for betraying the mad queen! I can't just not laugh
Hey to all two of my followers ya girl is here to post nothing but the finest of “Sansa Stark was RIGHT!” memes, courtesy of Black Twitter
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thereturnofsansastark · 6 years ago
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Idek what kind of character TV!Sansa is but I know she saw this shit coming a mile away and that's good enough for me!
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thereturnofsansastark · 6 years ago
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Hey to all two of my followers ya girl is here to post nothing but the finest of "Sansa Stark was RIGHT!" memes, courtesy of Black Twitter
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thereturnofsansastark · 6 years ago
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All the people crying about how ooc this is for Dany and how the writers pulled this out of nowhere...
Don't read the books when they're finished because honey you got a big storm coming. Ya girl was always going to end up here. Always.
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thereturnofsansastark · 6 years ago
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I give the GoT writers a lot of flack for being the living breathing worst when it comes to writing for female characters, but GRRM doesnt need to be let off the hook either. It's not nearly as bad in the books but it's still fucking bad. We get graphic depictions of sexual abuse against children far too many times (one is too many tho tbh). Rape and abuse are too frequent in the books and too detailed. The least that you could do is stick to alluding things or throw in two good sentences that get the idea across.
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thereturnofsansastark · 7 years ago
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*rolls up sleeves* *cracks knuckles* so I hear you’ve been hatin’ on my girl, Sansa Stark  (งಠ_ಠ)ง
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thereturnofsansastark · 7 years ago
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蒋采苹 Jiang Caiping
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thereturnofsansastark · 7 years ago
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We stan the one true king right over here in these parts! Stannis Baratheon is and always will be THAT bitch!
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thereturnofsansastark · 7 years ago
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You are the Stannis guy! When Stannis was mentioning the vision he had in the fire to Davos, about how the crown burned up on his brow (or something to that effect, can't remember), Stannis told Davos that he didn't need anyone to tell him what something in the vision meant. Was he referring to how his obsession for the crown could potentially consume him? Sorry, it kind of confused me!
“I never asked for this crown. Gold is cold and heavy on the head, but so long as I am the king, I have a duty…If I must sacrifice one child to the flames to save a million from the dark…Sacrifice…is never easy, Davos. Or it is no true sacrifice.”
At this point in Stannis’ story, it goes beyond the throne itself. After the shattering defeat on the Blackwater, Melisandre recommitted Stannis to the fight by giving him a glimpse of the fight for which she’s actually come to prepare him: that against the Others and their zombie army. As she tells Davos, she doesn’t remotely give a damn about who sits the iron chair and wears the golden hat. She wants to sit Stannis on the throne as an organizing principle for the cause that matters, that of “life itself.”
And Stannis takes it seriously. As Davos notes, there is a note of spiritual conviction in Stannis’ voice after he sees this vision that was not there before. It’s very important for Stannis’ arc that this conviction results from Melisandre describing a vision not of Stannis sitting the throne, but of the apocalyptic threat he must face. It is duty, not ambition, that calls Stannis to the edge of the abyss. When he describes his crown of fire, it is this devotion to the greater good that is burning him alive, body and soul. That’s the point: that trying to do the right thing, checking off boxes on the Hero List, can lead you to unimaginable horror. “There is no creature on earth half so terrifying as a truly just man.” We are meant to contemplate what hideous means we might adopt in the service of the best possible ends. When you save the world but destroy that which you loved best in it, what is it precisely that you’ve saved?
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thereturnofsansastark · 7 years ago
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There is a truly astounding number of batshit insane theories floating around in the asoiaf fandom, but Tyrion having two biological fathers in order to slip in the Tyrion Targaryen theory is definitely top 20.
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