witchlingcirce

[witchlingcirce]

imagine your Simon Lovelace Lewis and you have a beautiful girlfriend who throughout multiple stages of your relationship have quoted Star Wars — specifically the extremely famous Leia & Han quote. one could even say Han and Leia are foundational to your relationship. after three years of being engaged, the world nearly ending, you all miraculously survive and have the double wedding with your bestie you've been planning this whole time. you probably quote Star War and Han & Leia in your vows. and then The Force Awakens come out and bam! divorce! evil son! Han Solo DEAD!

[witchlingcirce]

What really sucks about a previous post of yours where you mentioned the Stark children trying to do everything to save their siblings life or grieving for them, is how Sansa is completely left out of it. She is constantly thinking about her siblings, including Jon and talks about missing them. Yet they never even think about her. Especially Robb and Jon barely give her a thought. That is really heartbreaking to me.

hmm I don’t know if I fully agree with this. the starklings generally think about sansa just as much as she thinks about them, although her relationship with robb is definitely complicated (and upsetting).

if we look at our pov starklings first:

Jon:

He missed the girls too, even Sansa, who never called him anything but ‘my half brother’ since she was old enough to understand what bastard meant. (AGOT, Jon III)

“My lord, what of my sisters? Arya and Sansa, they were with my father, do you know—“ (AGOT, Jon VII)

The girls do not even have that much, he thought. Their wolves might have kept them safe, but Lady is dead and Nymeria's lost, they're all alone. (AGOT, Jon VII)

He found himself thinking of his sisters, perhaps because he'd dreamed of them last night. Sansa would call this an enchantment, and tears would fill her eyes at the wonder of it. (ACOK, Jon III)

“That's pretty.” He remembered Sansa telling him once that he should say that whenever a lady told him her name. (ACOK, Jon III)

“Then you saw us all. Prince Joffrey and Prince Tommen, Princess Myrcella, my brothers Robb and Bran and Rickon, my sisters Arya and Sansa.” (ASOS, Jon I)

Winterfell would go to Robb and then his sons, or to Bran or Rickon should Robb die childless. And after them came Sansa and Arya. (ASOS, Jon XI)

“By right Winterfell should go to my sister Sansa.” (ADWD, Jon I)

Jon said, “Winterfell belongs to my sister Sansa.” ADWD, Jon IV)

Of Sansa, brushing out Lady's coat and singing to herself. (ADWD, Jon XIII)

jon and sansa are also just…not as close, though they obviously love each other. they’re kids, their family dynamic is dysfunctional, and they’re products of their environment (like sansa taking her mother’s “side” where jon is concerned).

we get a sense of their simultaneous distance and love for each other with the classic (and beautiful !!!) sansa passage:

She had not thought of Jon in ages. He was only her half brother, but still . . . with Robb and Bran and Rickon dead, Jon Snow was the only brother that remained to her. I am a bastard too now, just like him. Oh, it would be so sweet, to see him once again. But of course that could never be. Alayne Stone had no brothers, baseborn or otherwise. (AFFC, Alayne II)

and as for your statement about sansa thinking of jon vs jon barely thinking about her, sansa only thinks of jon about four times throughout the entire series, so I don’t think there’s any crazy imbalance here.

Arya:

She wished the Rush would rise and wash the whole city away . . . But she knew it wouldn’t, and anyhow Sansa was still in the city and would wash away too. When she remembered that, Arya decided to wish for Winterfell instead. (ACOK, Arya I)

Sansa used to make a face at the taste and say that wine was ever so much finer, but Arya had liked it well enough. It made her sad to think of Sansa and her father. (ACOK, Arya II)

When she thought of seeing Robb’s face again Arya had to bite her lip. And I want to see Jon too, and Bran and Rickon, and Mother. Even Sansa . . . I’ll kiss her and beg her pardons like a proper lady, she’ll like that. (ACOK, Arya VII)

Sansa would have known who he was, and the fat one too, but Arya had never taken much interest in titles and sigils. (ACOK, Arya VII)

Sansa would know it, I bet. Her sister had known all the songs, and she could even play a little, and sing so sweetly. All I could ever do was shout the words. (ASOS, Arya IV)

Sansa would have sighed and shed a tear for true love but Arya just thought it was stupid. (ASOS, Arya VIII)

That’s stupid, Arya thought. Sansa only knows songs, not spells, and she’d never marry the Imp. (ASOS, Arya XIII)

Polliver said that Sansa killed him, and the Imp. Could that be true? The Imp was a Lannister, and Sansa . . . I wish I could change into a wolf and grow wings and fly away. If Sansa was gone too, there were no more Starks but her. (ASOS, Arya XIII)

In there she was Arya of Winterfell, the daughter of Lord Eddard Stark and Lady Catelyn, who had once had brothers named Robb and Bran and Rickon, a sister named Sansa, a direwolf called Nymeria, a half brother named Jon Snow. (AFFC, Arya II)

I smell Hodor laughing, and Jon and Robb battling in the yard, and Sansa singing about some stupid lady fair. (AFFC, Arya II)

Needle was Robb and Bran and Rickon, her mother and her father, even Sansa. (AFFC, Arya II)

She drank it down at once. It was very tart, like biting into a lemon. A thousand years ago, she had known a girl who loved lemon cakes. (ADWD, The Ugly Little Girl)

Bran:

Bran felt all cold inside. ‘She lost her wolf,’ he said, weakly, remembering the day when four of his father’s guardsmen had returned from the south with Lady’s bones. (AGOT, Bran VI)

(this is particularly sweet moment because robb is bewildered and angry as to why sansa would write to tell them about ned’s treason, and bran reasons that it’s because she lost lady)

“I’d sooner be a wolf. Then I could live in the wood and sleep when I wanted, and I could find Arya and Sansa. I’d smell where they were and go save them . . . ” (ACOK, Bran I)

Back in Winterfell Sansa had told him that the demons of the dark couldn’t touch him if he hid beneath his blanket. He almost did that now, before he remembered that he was a prince, and almost a man grown. (ASOS, Bran VI)

Some books. I like the fighting stories. My sister Sansa likes the kissing stories but those are stupid. (ADWD, Bran III)

and now for our non-pov starklings!

Robb:

it’s a bit unfair to compare robb to his siblings because we don’t actually get his inner thoughts/conflicts when it comes to them. we get the words of king robb but only glimpses into robb as a brother (through catelyn nonetheless). we know he loves his siblings, we see that from his interactions with them in agot and from their own memories of him. part of the tragedy of robb’s story comes from the horrific choices that this kid has to make for the sake of “duty” and how this rigid sense of duty leads to his own death.

for instance, when he chooses his duty to the north over his sisters, he’s doing so because feudal society deems two hostage girls be less “valuable” than a hostage male knight. robb adheres to these patriarchal values and he’s extremely firm in his decision, but he also doesn’t feel *great* about it:

“ . . . but not for the girls?” Her voice was icy quiet. “Girls are not important enough, are they?”

Robb made no answer, but there was hurt in his eyes. Blue eyes, Tully eyes, eyes she had given him. She had wounded him, but he was too much his father's son to admit it.

That was unworthy of me, she told herself. Gods be good, what is to become of me? He is doing his best, trying so hard, I know it, I see it, and yet . . .

(ACOK, Catelyn I)

another example where robb’s love for sansa as an older brother comes through is when he tells catelyn about sansa being married to tyrion. they begin by specifically talking about the political alliances, so at first they talk about sansa more as a political tool:

“I should have traded the Kingslayer for Sansa when you first urged it,” Robb said as they walked the gallery. ‘If I’d offered to wed her to the Knight of Flowers, the Tyrells might be ours instead of Joffrey’s. I should have thought of that.”

“Your mind was on your battles, and rightly so. Even a king cannot think of everything.”

“Battles,” muttered Robb as he led her out beneath the trees. “I have won every battle, yet somehow I’m losing the war.”

(ASOS Catelyn IV)

BUT he then goes right into older brother mode:

“He's the Kingslayer's brother. Oathbreaking runs in their blood." Robb's fingers brushed the pommel of his sword. "If I could I'd take his ugly head off. Sansa would be a widow then, and free. There's no other way that I can see. They made her speak the vows before a septon and don a crimson cloak." (ASOS, Catelyn IV)

another important passage that gives us some insight into robb’s thinking is during the scene where he makes jon his heir:

"So you pray. Have you considered your sisters? What of their rights? I agree that the north must not be permitted to pass to the Imp, but what of Arya? By law, she comes after Sansa . . . your own sister, trueborn . . ."

". . . and dead. No one has seen or heard of Arya since they cut Father's head off. Why do you lie to yourself? Arya's gone, the same as Bran and Rickon, and they'll kill Sansa too once the dwarf gets a child from her. Jon is the only brother that remains to me. Should I die without issue, I want him to succeed me as King in the North. I had hoped you would support my choice."

(ASOS, Catelyn V)

we know that robb’s grief for bran and rickon ran so deep that it led him to break his marriage vows. and now he believes that arya is dead too. with the loss of three of his siblings and his belief that sansa will be next, he’s not exactly in a great place emotionally. he obviously regrets not trading jaime for sansa when he could, but his best hope to get her back now (and stop winterfell from falling into lannister hands) is to win the war. and the chances of that happening before sansa has tyrion’s child are…doubtful (from robb’s perspective). oh and the entirety of the north and the riverlands are in his hands, he’s being betrayed left and right, and he doesn’t know who to trust anymore. it’s a horrific situation for a 16 year old kid to be in.

however, from sansa’s point of view, robb is giving up on her before she’s even dead. he still won’t make peace to end the war and possibly save her life (even after losing three siblings already). it’s one thing to not trade her for jaime (which sansa was aware of since she knew that jaime was a hostage, and arya also understood that robb may not be able to ransom her as a king), but it’s another to believe that she can never be saved and proceed to disinherit her.

so yeah you absolutely have a point about robb choosing the war over his sisters vs jon choosing arya over the watch. especially when sansa thought of her big brother as this hero who was going to save her. it’s pretty devastating :(

Rickon:

erm he’s like a whole baby but I have no doubt that he loves sansa as much as she loves him 🙏

anyway I probably missed a bunch of quotes, but sansa is very much loved by her siblings as she should be <3

[witchlingcirce]

Heyy hope this isn’t too cheeky 🫣 but would you mind sharing what the plot of the herondaisy story is? I was unable to get BiB but am seeing loads of ppl say they’re disappointed so am very curious 😭 no worries if not!!

So basically what happens is that Lucie gets offered this ‘book deal’ to get her book published but it’s actually not a real deal and than Cordelia and James get trapped in the book through demon magic!!!!

[witchlingcirce]

Sorry if I’m being a buzzkill or negative in that ask btw, I’m just such a fan of Herondaisy and it genuinely makes me sad. Just like barely getting anything for Maia and TMI had me disappointed in Cassie. The only black girl getting shoved aside when she at a point felt like a main character

Diana? Crumbs

Tina at this point seems like her exception. There just feels like a racial bias but maybe i’m wrong, ignore me if this is too negative bc I love your page and don’t wanna be super heavy or negative

Ahahah it’s okay!!!!! I actually think being disappointed by a story is a perfectly valid critique!! I always really liked Maia and I kinda wish Cassie had done more with her.

Cordelia and James isn’t the only POC story in BIB, you also have Anna and Ari, and also Alastair and Thomas! (And also Cristina +MarkKieran but you already mentioned that). But either way it’s still okay to be unhappy with Cassie because there’s been a lot of times where she could have done better.

I hope you end up enjoying some of the other bib stories though anon 💕🙂‍↕️

[witchlingcirce]

“-I don’t think the actual problem was even them the whole story to me felt really Lucie focused… like why are we Lucie focused in a herondaisy story 😔😔😔😔😔.”

Omg? Some of us waited so long for these two and their story this makes me so sad and just disappointed. So many people were asking her for some Herondaisy if this was the last we’d hear from them yet everyone got POV’s except for the ONLY WOC lead. Even Sebastian and The Seelie Queen got a better story? I kinda want my money back if this is true..

I haven’t read the rest yet but that just makes me so upset. Cordelia and James are so sweet together too it couldn’t have been an impossible task to write something cute, she just didn’t care to? Most of what I saw in her Ig comments were “Can we get Herondaisy bonus story?” It makes me feel bad for those fans too..

I feel kinda catfished thinking we were getting their pov after how much I paid for it…😪 Whatever..Glad everyone else got Pov’s tho..Even though Herondaisy have the least amount of content as a couple..The only Woc in a relationship with a main character at that..

Where’s Maia? Where’s Diana? She only has enough care for Tina it seems. It’s limited for the Woc ships and it just is what it is..We barely ever get anything in this fanbase.

Yeah the story is unfortunately really Lucie focused, which I was personally really confused about? I don’t know why she didn’t make a Jesse x Lucie story if this was the case. If I’m remembering correctly the whole thing is narrated from her POV / at least most of it is, and the story also starts and ends with her. So I don’t really know why she made it a herondaisy story.

I’ve yet to read the other TLH ones so maybe those ones are better this one, but I’m also really confused about the writing direction for it. CHOG literally sets them up to have any kind of possible cute short story and she instead made it about Lucie wanting to get her book published. Anyways, hoping Anna and Ari have a better story whenever I get around to reading it.

With the point of view part, it’s not the only story not told from the actual story persons POV. Sebastian and the seelie queen one is from Nene’s perspective. However Cordelia nor James having a pov is soooo???????????? Like there really wasn’t any valid storytelling reasons for it. I would recommend reading the short story itself to better formulate any opinion but yeah, it was kinda disappointing if your a diehard hero daisy fan (at least in my opinion)

[witchlingcirce]

House Baratheon familial portrait 277AC

[witchlingcirce]

Thoughts on the BIB stories?

The TL is shockingly DEAD. Can’t help but wonder what this silence in the fandom could mean..disappointment from everyone? Busy with Summer? I don’t know but it feels weird after everyone being hyped about the stories.

I haven’t read them all!!! And I feel like it’s kinda silent because a lot of people are in the same boat as me, I think by the time BIB ships to more people, there will be more talk.

Anyways, the rest of this is gonna be spoilery territory!!!

I personally think that the Seelie Queen and Sebastian story is probably the best written one. You can lowkey always tell that Sebastian is one of her favourite characters. I feel like this story also gave a good insight into Ash and probably his story in TWP as well!!! I was really surprised by Nene.

I also think the Clace story is in the same boat as the seelie queen one where it was also really well done and really well written. It honestly felt like I was reading tmi again!!! No notes, very happy with it, will reread.

I’m on the fence about the Sizzy story because while I still really enjoyed it, I just felt like it could have been more. From the ones that I read this one definitely felt like the shortest!!! And I think that’s unfortunate because there should’ve been more to this. It’s also kind of just a repeated storyline for them. IGNORING the critiques however it was still overall a really fun and enjoyable read. It definitely did kinda feel like TFTSA sizzy, and the dialogue in this book was so soooo funnnnyyyy.

The Wessa one was really sweet IMO and it was really nice to see there younger counterparts again. This one I really have no notes on, really cute and nice. I don’t really like one aspect of how Will was written (the wanting to forget stuff, seems silly to me after his tid stuff) but other than reallyyyy good story LOVE THEM!!!

The Herondaisy one didn’t really do it for me I’m sorry everyone 😔 but no means was it even a bad story it really jsut wasn’t for me. I don’t think the actual problem was even them the whole story to me felt really Lucie focused… like why are we Lucie focused in a herondaisy story 😔😔😔😔😔. But the plot of this was really fun!!!! Cassie definitely has her creative juices for flowing

Anyways that’s my small review of the ones that I have read!!!! Overall I think better in black is really enjoyable, while some aspects I’m kind of like ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh it’s still a really fun short story collection :D

[witchlingcirce]

“to lay the queen of beauty's laurel in Lyan-na's lap... a crown of winter roses, blue as frost.”

“If I could show her Winterfell… give her a flower from the glass gardens, feast her in the Great Hall, and show her the stone kings on their thrones. “

“A blue flower grew from a chink in a wall of ice, and filled the air with sweetness. ... mother of dragons, bride of fire...”

Lyanna, Dany and Jon

Commission down by 神���月

[witchlingcirce]

love how the way jon was convinced to go back to the watch in agot was by having his friend group chase after him in the middle of the night and start chanting up the vows in a circle around jon as if they were trying to summon his honor™ back into his skull. now THAT was some real cult magic. poor jon was looking like this:

[witchlingcirce]

One of the most surreal rereads for me in cok has to be Sansa at the age of 11 realising that it's not that these people hate her, it's that they don't see her as a person. The Kingsgaurd are following orders, the court is ignoring a hostage. It's not that she's done anything wrong, it's that they don't care. She's completely dehumanised by the same people for the exact things they praised her for.

[witchlingcirce]

No one ever looked for a girl... It was a prince that was promised, not a princess... What fools we were, who thought ourselves so wise! The error crept in from the translation. Dragons are neither male nor female, Barth saw the truth of that, but now one and now the other, as changeable as flame. The language misled us all for a thousand years. Daenerys is the one.

for dany week, day 3: magic, dragons, and prophecy. art by maratycznie

[witchlingcirce]

CLARISSA ADELE FAIRCHILD MORGENSTERN

[witchlingcirce]

baby come home(x)

"A corpse standing at the prow of a ship with bright eyes and grey smiling lips."

I like the theory of aeron mistakes the kraken summoned by euron for the drowned god. To him that means a definite chance of reuniting with urri ^^

[witchlingcirce]

rereading agot is crazy when I remember that this is what dany looks like as she’s suffering unspeakable horrors every single chapter.

[witchlingcirce]

I so badly want these new asoiaf covers but there not available in my country and it ssoooo upsetting 😭

[witchlingcirce]

*Better in black spoilers*

Everyday, we lose to Sigmund Freud.

[witchlingcirce]

The Knight of the Laughing Tree by Joshua Cairós

created for the 10th anniversary of The World of Ice & Fire