#*joff ops

[allyriadayne]

yeah i'm gonna need a full breakdown of the deleted rhaenyra and jace scene

LET'S GO THEN

there are SO many things i want to say about it. it's literally been my white whale since it was announced as a cut scene. i was hopping one of the scenes op talked about with jace was that i'm sooo happy it was. my main reasons were that 1) it's a jace/rhaenyra scene and those are always juicy and 2) jacegon reasons. i'll be using text from the original post here btw.

under the cut for more jace, rhaenyra, jace AND rhaenyra and some jace and aegon <3

"Daemon fights like an unrelenting tempest with little regard for his well-being [...] Daemon hungers for war, and he'll have it one way or another"

I love that the scene begins with daemon fighting other knights and in a sort of frenzy. he's obviously expressing his grief over viserys and visenya both, and how angry he is about the situation. i think it's such a great contrast with how rhaenyra and jace are presented in comparison. jace finds rhaenyra in "deep contemplation" as she watches over daemon. it's such a great element in their dynamic because as much as rhaenyra doesn't want war, she's as angry and as grief-stricken as daemon, but cannot express herself in the same way for fear of losing her image in front of the other lords. daemon has always been her outspoken twin, he's her sword and shield and like a dragon he's expressing what she cannot. it really is so good how they represent one half of a whole. delicious.

then jace comes to her and says

"Daemon wants to fight for us."

SO interesting that earlier in the episode we have jace and daemon in explicit opposition. daemon wants to act, jace is heeding rhaenyra's orders of not doing anything except by her command. daemon obviously doesn't respect him because he's a man who respects actions and jace is still a boy without experience neither political or in a war. i'm in the camp that while jace also doesn't respect daemon nor wants or likes him as a stepfather/father figure, he accepts him as part of the family and implicitly feels safe in his presence. he is his siblings' father, the man who raised (loosely! daemon is still daemon <3) joffrey when harwin and laenor died. he's known him for six years and seen him every day.

this scene is also after daemon threatens the KG in front of jace with caraxes so i think a minimum of respect for daemon's war knowledge made jace trust the he would do anything for rhaenyra and her children. /he wants to fight for us/.

"I wonder. Will you?"

"will you?" SO delicious because while jace will heed her commands to stop daemon from plotting, he does NOT agree with her approach! very very interesting. makes sense when he says "send us" when all rhaenyra wants is to keep her children safe. obviously direct parallel to ep 2:

"I will always fight for my family... but this is not as simple as one of the other"

rhaenyra is understandably reticent to enter war full on. her first experience with it has her losing a baby. and added to this is that just /the day before/ she's spent and more or less amenable afternoon with both family. it's not easy when it's not what viserys would want and what could possibly be his last wish.

it's also about alicent of course. it's not easy to give the order to kill or imprison the woman you considered your best friend and who probably is one of the few people with whom rhaenyra had a deep relationship in her life.

"It could not be simpler. If you accept Aegon's terms, you will forfeit my life. And Luke's and Joff's."

another crash between them! as much as they are a lot alike, they butts head more often than not, esp when jace doesn't agree how rhaenyra is handling an issue like harwin's funeral and now the war. but in all this, he still supports and respects her because he very pointedly questions her in private, both in driftmark and in here. when he was younger, he could've confronted her in public out in the yard, but to me jace learned very early or assumed to himself that he could be (and is!) her mother's most steadfast ally as her heir and young prince and that meant playing the politics game, and in this case to question her in private rather than in public where he could undermine her.

it also comes from the very public humiliation the kids, and jace as the eldest and most cognizant of the situation, have faced by their peers. he knows the power of rumors and whispering, what it does first hand and would not and does not want rhaenyra to face them too, or at least not from something he could've avoided. in this scene he is acting like one of her loyal lords, advising her to take one way or the other. acting like the prince he is.

it is also very interesting that he mention's "aegon's terms" when it's very obvious the terms came from alicent, maybe he doesn't know the full extend of the conversation on the bridge. in any case, it's clear aegon's on his mind. in early 2023 all we knew of the scene was that jace said "we shouldn't trust the usurper". jace wants to know what is to be done about him because he knows how aegon is, how long aegon holds grudges and his negative attitude (indifferent more like) to renew their old bonds (ouch!). esp after last night's dinner where aegon couldn't wait to bother him and join aemond in the antagonism to jace's immense dislike.

he thinks that if aegon had the chance he would kill them because they represent a risk to him claim. i personally don't think aegon would, but it's a real risk that jace is aware and that rhaenyra doesn't seen to grasp.

"Rhaenyra looks at him quizzically." "If you do not claim the throne, we will be taken hostage, or sent to the wall, or put to the sword. I do not know which fate will await us, but I do know they will call us "bastards" first."

the first line kills me because out of context it makes rhaenyra look naive but i think it does make sense for the rhaenyra we see in the bridge. what i said earlier, she's still reeling from the alicent from the diner /the night before/. the alicent that proclaimed her a good queen and begged her to stay with her. it's difficult! but i think it shows very well how complicated her feelings are in this.

this is also the point were jace and rhaenyra start having two different conversations: rhaenyra is still absent, "deep in contemplation", while jace is pushing and pushing. he wants answers, he wants to act! he doesn't care about alicent the queen who always sneered at him and called for luke's eye, he wants to ask about the boy from his childhood (girl, the parallels) who betrayed him so many times. and he's right! i think he's trying to soften the blow, this is the second time he's said he and his velaryon brothers will forfeit their life if they lose, if rhaenyra fails to act. this talk is also driven by self preservation and it's why he's siding with daemon this time. it kills me that rhaenyra has comforted luke all ep 10 but because jace is presenting himself as an equal in this conversation, not as her son, he doesn't get any kind of comfort. he's clearly thinking of death. and he's sixteen. and his mother doesn't know how to comfort him.

in this case, it's jace wanting rhaenyra to see him beyond of what he presents. beyond the perfect prince who's pushed through earth-shattering revelations about his identity. he wants her to see him and answer for once.

"but I do know they will call us "bastards" first". this jace knows with certainty. they might kill him or they might sent him to the wall, but they will call him a bastard as they do it. this is one of jace's touchiest points and weaknesses. every time he's called that he's flipped, due to under processed anger issues (hii harwin) and the repression he's going through to Just Not Think About It. i think it took a lot from jace to say this to rhaenyra's face. the first time it's when he confronts rhaenyra after harwin leaves and you see it's something he has thought about for some time

and later when they are in driftmark where the passions are high

note that he doesn't yell the word. he whispers it to her. he knows the power of it and how angry rhaenyra would become, it's a key word there. and one here too. in the cut scene he's trying to get... let's say a rise out of rhaenyra. to make her understand what will mean for them to get captured. to me it's so visceral because i don't think jace had ever consciously said or thought himself in such after driftmark and after aegon's betrayal. and i don't think that is how he framed it for luke when he told him about their parentage either. even in the audition for child luke, jace's lines frame the issue differently: "I think he thinks we don't belong here [...] we don't look like Targaryens. You must have noticed".

"Alicent gave her word that you would be treated kindly."

they are NOT having the same conversation!

"The word of an usurper means little and less."

either aegon or alicent, jace doesn't trust their word. the king and queen are one power in paper, but i bet jace is thinking about this too

his words means little and less to jace, he who was a victim and at the same time someone who enabled most of aegon's bullying behaviors. he knows him best. but jace also knows that aegon wouldn't bother with lies either. he was trying to unite the family during dinner, but time has shown him he shouldn't have bothered to carve himself to be someone aegon liked anymore. from the same audition video jace says: "so let us be good sons and please those who love us so they may forget what we lack". aegon will never forget! and even if jace or aegon want to break from this, they must play their part because they are too far along.

"In the yard below, Daemon can be heard SHOUTING for a fallen knight to get up and to come at him again. He prowls the fighting ground like a tiger protecting his den. He calls them out, taunting them -- a cruel avenger."

once again daemon as the externalization of their anger! "like a tiger protecting his den"!

"Jace and Rhaenyra reach stalemate; the conversation ends in silence."

my favorite part! this conversation could've never reached anywhere with these too. the issue is too thorny and they are too alike to want to see the other completely. jace is too angry and rhaenyra is too detached.

all in all, i wish they had kept the scene. it furthers rhaenyra and jace's relationship and gives a little bit more of characterization to jace and his relationship with aegon. loved seeing jace oppose rhaenyra and at the same time support her and take the lead when it's needed.

thanks for asking!

gifs mine, screencaps mine. script from the link above.

#ask #Anonymous #daemon targaryen #rhaenyra targaryen #daemon x rhaenyra #jacaerys velaryon #jacaerys x rhaenyra #aegon x jacaerys #WOOFFFF this took hours #i love you jace :) i love you rhaenyra :) i love you jacegon :) #aegon ii targaryen

[horizon-verizon]

what do you think of this post. i think people should ship what they want but this fandom cannot stand opinions that differ from theirs.

https://www.tumblr.com/livinginafantasysposts/726238416723935233

Going to the link you provided, the original author (lagosbratzdoll) is criticizing the JacexSara Snow ship for the shipper's racism:

They say it'll [including Sara Snow in the show] deepen Jace’s character and make him “interesting”, whatever that means. The problem with this assertion is that Jace is already plenty interesting, he led the war councils while his mother grieved, and he recruited the blacks' most important allies. Allies who remained steadfast even after his mother's and his own demise. Furthermore, Jace has existing relationships in his life that the show could explore to delve into his connection with bastardy. Three of whom are canonically Black, by the way. So, the question arises: what unique perspective or insight can Sara Snow provide to Jace's struggle with his bastard status that Nettles, Addam, and Alyn cannot?

When the OP asked what made Sara so enticing or "interesting", more than Nettles and the other dragonseeed as well as Baela, there was no salient answer in the comments. Or there were just denials. And OP has made points. Including this:

but now you cannot go five minutes in Jace or Baela’s tag without seeing someone wish they'd include Sara Snow in the show.

You: "i think people should ship what they want but this fandom cannot stand opinions that differ from theirs."

My questions to you, anon are:

What is with people trying to overwhelm and disrupt the hype shippers have for Baela and Jace in particular?

With these two supposed to be betrothed to each other in canon and continue to be so in the show, why is it that there is a change in how people see Sara Snow and Jace and Baela after we see the Velaryons and dragon twins' actors are Black?

Why is it that there is such an overwhelming intercession on the online JacexBaela shipping from JacexSara shippers as opposed to ships with white/white-adjacent couples?

Why is it that with such stronger evidence for Jace and Baela being romantic over Sara's very existence much less the ship, that the Sara Snow x Jace ship is as popular as it is?

Sara Snow is a character, in F&B, who Mushroom brings in to add intrigue, and he was never there to witness such a thing happening, so how could he know about this girl and witnessed Jace fall for her?! And the other thing is the implications of Sara Snow being Jace's "Jeyne Westerling". Unlike Robb Stark & Jeyne, Jace & Sara are presented by Mushroom and real shippers as true and closely-bonded lovers. Robb married Jeyne because he wanted to honor her and not have bastards. It was not lovey-dovey. Narratively, Baela was so dedicated to Jace (and just fierce all on her own) that she wanted to stay and fight with him at Dragonstone or follow him. For all the desire for a couple who desires and is devoted to each other, it's funny how Sara x Jace shippers aren't impressed enough with Baela. So shippers of Sara and Jace are going off of pure conjecture and desire more than other ships/shippers. This would be fine, if not for the change in actors coming with a higher support for a character that doesn't seem to exist.

Before HotD aired with its black Velaryons and dragon twins (and I've looked around at dates) there was very little hype for Sara Snow even as a person, bc there was literally no evidence--not even suggestive--for her existence besides Mushroom's unsupported say-so AND it was understood that Jace wouldn't even endanger his family and himself or hurt Baela by endangering their Velaryon alliance. Especially when his brother dies and there is no heir to Driftmark aside from Joff (a whittling-down of heirs). The blacks needed the Velaryons even after Rhaneyra dies (Alyn and Daenaera)!

It is totally antithetical to Jace's needs short-term and long-term needs to set aside his betrothal to Baela.

We have to remember that he and his two brothers have been suspected as bastards and likely treated accordingly if people could get away with it. For more than 10 years! Rhaenyra had to essentially flee to Dragonstone to get away and provide a quieter, freer life for herself and her family as well as actively "practice" and get in the groove for ruling. He would be anxious to prove how he is fit to follow his mother after she dies and rule Westeros. And like Jon/unlike Robb Stark, bc of that niggling bastardry claim, he would be more motivated to not have bastards of his own or do possibly introduce an innocent, less-able-to-take-care-of herself-girl into an incoming war. (Jenny of Oldstones doesn't count bc she was proven real through her interactions with courtiers, Prince Duncan's parent was not female and set against, his parent was not usurped, there was no war, nor was Duncannever suspected a bastard. He could afford it).

I mean, it's supported by what Jace says here ("The Blacks and the Greens"):

He has lived physically and emotionally close to Baela all his life, and considering this need to consolidate power as well as his contracting his trust towards mostly family, it's not likely that he just trusts any person he isn't likely to get aid from. Cregan Stark was the lord and liable to help Rhaneyra bc he just imprisoned and ousted his uncle to get his Winterfell seat. Supporting Rhaenyra helps him, and this lubed them both up for a closer bond.

It is way more likely that Jace, rather than show!Aemond, was the devoted son trying to actually help and protect his family by reading "philosophies" and presenting himself as a capable ruler. I think that it is dumb of the writers to then flip this show of loyalty to one's family into Aemond using it to show disloyalty to his own and not emphasize Jacaerys' own development. Aemond even left his mother, sister, and brother all to basically fend for themselves in two opportunities to join Daeron or fly to KL and fight Rhaenyra, Daemon, or any black who he would happen to see. Even though he was the one to order Criston Cole to march their army to KL so he could also confront the blacks. He specifically states that going south to Daeron and grouping up was "craven" and cowardly! In this one way, Aemond is Jace's foil and it emphasizes Jace's loyalty and devotion and Aemond's self-serving ambition, even though both have that desire to show their military worth. One works for unity, the other for individual glory and disunity. Jace ios the one to actively came up with effective plans and arrangements for the blacks, as OP stated. It shows his intelligence, care, and concern for protecting his family as well as his mindfulness towards bastardy. We're supposed to see the irony of this suspected bastard using the bastard phobia made against him for their own benefit. (Even though there were two traitors, Rhaenyra still depended on these dragon riders to intimidate/fight against any would-be greens and their armies. One of which is responsible [Addam Velaryon/of Hull] for at least pushing back Daeron and Lord Hightower's forces even with his own death. This event more showed how deep in paranoia & blood purist Rhaenyra was, not how dumb or incompetent Jace was.)

And Baela is not a bad person, merely self-confident and a Targ. Show!Baela is Black, and there has been no standoffishness towards her book character before the show besides the usual misogyny towards self-confident girls and Targ women. She has done nothing wrong to anyone, and has only displayed bravery until presumedly the day she died and set aside by history.

So from my standpoint, it looks like the motivation behind thinking Baela x Jace as less appealing or "interesting" than Jace x Sara is that Jace x Sara can undermine his relationship with Baela, his ties to the Velaryons and their alliance, and separate Jace's devotion to his family and reduce any tie to his Targ identity. This is definitely not what this character would likely be drawn in by if he ever did meet a Sara Snow who he might be at least sexually attracted to.

Just as making Rhaenyra not want to imprison Otto bc of a damned page from a woman who tried to get said sons killed, Jacaerys allowing himself to not only marry someone other than his betrothed siphons out his intelligence, unique sense of self-assertiveness and responsibility.

Other Ships I Wish Were Not as Shipped Exist, Why, and are Really the TV Shows' Faults

See, I talk about people saying one shouldn't ship ANYTHING in ASoIaF/GoT/HotD/Fire & Blood HERE, where I argue that shipping is people presenting political and social taboo/dynamics, i,e, a particular narrative they are fascinated with.

It's not just about what one thinks should be reality. However, for some people, it is and some ships gather more…bigoted people than other ships. Rhaenicent is one of those ships. There are some genuinely good or at least self-aware Rhaenicent shippers, but the most vocal ones tend to be misogynist and think themselves feminists when they are actually saying that Rhaenyra should grant Alicent all sorts of graces and expect nothing in return bc Alicent is a feminine goddess who looks out for "the realm". Some call her "mannish" or the "man" of the relationship. Most are tradcaths and transphobic (Emma D'Arcy). Most hate Targs and Valyrian customs, esp citing their hatred against incest…meanwhile, their own ship is incestuous, and even the Faith they admire and see their Catholism in at one time had a High Septon vocally denounce a Hightower lord marrying and having a relationship with his dead father's wife, his own stepmother--Samnatha Tarly. On the specific claim of incest. Later, when this Septon died, they were finally allowed to marry by the next one--their influence had grown enough or stayed its Hightower self, assumedly, as well over the years.

Jonsa is another ship that mostly has misogynists and praisers of "soft femininity". Sansa becomes a totally different creature in their eyes, and Arya also gets interpreted as "mannish", even having "internalized misogyny" for not being as "girly" as Sansa. Jon, like Rhaenyra, is also totally reduced and recharacterization to make Sansa this higher kind of feminine goddess through the chivalric narrative canon!Sansa is actually growing out of bc it has led to her many losses, including her own innocence! Jon doesn't even like (as in attracted to) "girly" girls who cannot even attempt to physically defend themselves! His favorite sister is Arya and Sansa has dismissed him for his bastardry several times! Because they think he will become some sort of great leader, even King Beyond the Wall, and Sansa will be Queen in the North or some jazz, they believe that this version of "Jon" as a "knight" is perfect for their "delicate princess" Sansa.

Daemon x Nettles

I'm a Daemyra shipper and I do not think Daemon x Nettles is either a canon or good ship in of itself, and the material in F&B that wants us to think they were sexual or romantic uses misogynist and classism to present Nettles as Daemon's lover AS WELL AS not his lover. But always it's logic that is against Nettles' true, brave heart, and Daemon's fidelity to Rhaenyra, despite him choosing to die for her instead of just leaving Rhaenyra behind and vocalizing hatred toward Mysaria's for deceiving her. And though it is not my passionate ship like the Daemyra one, I definitely think Jace x Baela makes way more sense than Jace x Sara Snow. And Nettles doesn't need to "steal" Rhaneyra's man to actually dominate Rhaneyra for her blood purity or to be an impressive girl, and this would not be a healthy relationship (she was 17, Daemon 49-50). If they seriously consider grooming wrong and believe Daemon groomed Nettles, then they shouldn't enthusiastically ship Nettles with Daemon.

Conclusion

Some ships just do not make sense or are totally antithetical to the arcs and personalities of the original characters. They are more making wish-fulfillment fanons struggling to be canon so they can generate antipathy against those shippers/characters/storylines that should really be appreciated for the nuance they provide. Instead of vacuuming out nuance to replace them with fairytale, bigoted, and flat narratives. And so they should be put into skeptical investigation instead of just flat-out "accepted", like how some artists have purposefully drawn the dragon twins out of their family portraiture of the blacks.

EDIT (8/22/23)

It's also funny how--with the examples of other ships--when it's something race-related or when some people in the fandom want to protest against such intrusions and the subsequent denials of intrusions it tends to be about certain PoC or interracial ships. AND that it defaults as "everyone has the right to ship/draw/etc however they want!" when someone brings up race more than ships with gender or sexuality or class switching. Hm...

#hotd ships #asoiaf asks to me #canon shipping #asoiaf shipping #jonsa #rhaenicent #fandom critical #asoiaf fandom #fandom racism #jacaerys x sara snow #sara snow #hotd critical

[waitingforwinterwinds]

A Clash of Kings - 54 TYRION XII (pages 698-707)

Cersei tries to pull a power-play on Tyrion with the wrong hostage.

-

As the swan was being served, the queen questioned him about the conspiracy of the Antler Men. She seemed more annoyed than afraid. "Why are we plagued with so many treasons? What injury has House Lannister ever done to these wretches.

*looks directly at the camera like we're on The Office*

"Joff's only a boy." "A boy who wants to be part of this battle, -"

Oh, pfft, no. Joffrey doesn't want to be part of the battle, he wants to OP Protag the crap out of people, like full Murder Hobo swaths of people with zero consequences and be lauded for his violence, he doesn't actually want to fight people who can fight back.

"And the whore?" He would not call her by name. If I can convince her Shae means nothing to me, perhaps...

Trying to do one thing, accidentally does another. iirc from the show, and knowing that Tyrion has been going to the brothel instead of his and Shae's place directly, Cersei doesn't have Shae, she has someone else who she thinks is Tyrion's lover. So luckily he didn't say Shae's name or Cersei would have realised her mistake. Deeply unfortunate for whomever it is she has. (I think it was Ros... Roz? in the show... it has been so long since I've watched the show. I feel like I've only seen one? mention of Ros way, way back in GoT, maybe. OC, ascended background extra, or her time just hasn't come yet? hmmmm...)

She hung between them, eyes wide and white in her dark face.

Oh shit, that's... wait, mother or daughter?

... "Whatever happens to her, happens to Tommen." Shit, Tyrion, that's dark. Like I understand you're trying to get her the best protection from something that should never have involved her in the first place, but damn.

"I will," he promised, and Alayaya bent over and kissed him on the brow. Her broken lips left a smear of blood on his forehead.

Alayaya, so the daughter... that actually makes sense as a guess between mother and daughter, given Tyrion's preference for... younger women.

Also, I don't know if it's just me, but that kind of felt like some kind of benediction, anointed with blood. Omen...

... Oh Lollys has some serious mental health issues and trauma, she is completely clocked out. Lights on, no one home but for the screaming of memories best left forgotten.

"All they did was fuck her."

"Fuck" = 🥛

... not loving the unsympathetic feels from Shae, but I suppose for her sex is a job, not a traumatic violation.

... I know I shouldn't laugh but, lol, the magic is gone, Tyrion's more interested in finding the secret tunnel than the one Shae has waiting for him.

#a clash of kings #a song of ice and fire #tyrion lannister #a chapter a day reading #acok #asoiaf

[heplev]

Von Anfang an korrumpiert: Die vergessene UNRWA-Geschichte

Die internationale Gemeinschaft finanzierte über die UNRWA einen gewaltigen Teil der Hamas-Operationen, indem sie ihr ermöglichte sich auf Terrorismus zu konzentrieren, statt auf Gesundheit und Bildung. (Op-ed) Asaf Romirowsky und Alexander Joffe, Israel National News, 26.Februar 2024 UNRWA-Schule in Jerusalem (Foto: Jamal Awad/Flash90) Die Entdeckung einer Hamas-Serverfarm unter dem Hauptsitz…

View On WordPress

#Gazastreifen #Hamas #UNRWA

[francy-sketches]

I keep forgetting to post this lol anyways I redrew the first art I made of this little trash goblin bc I gotta do him justice <3  now he doesn’t look like a corpse and also hopefully he actually looks his age lol 

#2020 joff had a hugeass chin wow #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #valyrianscrolls #Joffrey Baratheon #my art #shit i just noticed his neck looks really long ops #meh i dont feel like fixing it now he's part giraffe #like the crown bothers me let's just not look at it #theres a bunch of other mistakes ok i wasn't trying that much with this one lol

[nerdalmighty]

I wanted to update on his behalf, and make a record of everything that has happened since K.O. lost control of... this channel.

#OPE #i adore dendy #more dendy please #nick army #nick army gif #nick army ok ko #joff #joff ok ko #joff gif #dendy #dendy gif #dendy ok ko #shadowy venomous #shadowy venomous gif #shadowy venomous ok ko #tko #tko ok ko #tko gif #ok ko #ok ko gif #ok ko let's be heroes #ok ko let's be heroes gif #dendy's video channel #dendy's video channel gif #mine #my gifs #love them #great show #cartoon network #cartoons

[alicenttully]

Lmao I saw that post of Sansa being too classist for Westerosi standards. Infact in that thread, Idk whether it was the same user or not they also said that AGOT Sansa even makes Theon look like a saint 😂.

I agree with you all characters in ASOIAF are classist to varying degrees even smallfolk POV like Davos have internalised it to some extent.

LOL, that’s so funny. Honestly, the OP was clearly letting off some steam and wasn’t thinking about everything they were writing.  Like, there’s a reason why you keep your diaries private - because sometimes you’ll write in them when you’re mad, and you’ll say really stupid things.  So I’m going to give OP the benefit of the doubt and assume that if they could reevaluate -  they honestly won’t think that AGOT Sansa is worse than ACOK Theon who,

- Raped Kyra

- Was complicit in the murder of two smallfolk children

- Treated the Capitan’s Daughter dismally; not bothering to learn her name, using his position to take advantage of her sexually, and making light of the fact that her father is going to punish her for sleeping with him.

-  His limp body was being dragged from the surf when Theon returned to his Sea Bitch. The masts of his longships stood outlined against the sky along the pebbled beach. Of the fishing village, nothing remained but cold ashes that stank when it rained. The men had been put to the sword, all but a handful that Theon had allowed to flee to bring the word to Torrhen's Square. Their wives and daughters had been claimed for salt wives, those who were young enough and fair. The crones and the ugly ones had simply been raped and killed, or taken for thralls if they had useful skills and did not seem likely to cause trouble.

Like, Theon is a great character and Alfie Allen’s portrayal of him is tremendous - but he did some pretty messed up shit! Now, whenever or not he is capable of redemption is another question. I mean, rape and murder are pretty unforgivable and the only people who could forgive Theon for that, are dead.  This is what makes Theon’s Dance arc so compelling amongst all the horror and despair. Theon can never erase the worst things he ever did, but his rescue of Jeyne Poole shows that he can do some good by putting someone else first. 

And getting back to Sansa.... honestly, how is Sansa too classist “even for Westeros” when she’s been a hostage and then masquerading as a bastard girl, and thus without the power of people like Tywin, Tyrion, and Tyrells? I’m sorry, but Sansa wasn’t the one who demanded that a woman be stripped naked and made to walk the streets because she wore her mother’s jewels.  Would Sansa be angry at her father’s mistress wearing something that belonged to her mother? Yes, of course, she would- all the Starklings would; Arya IMO would take it particularly badly.  But both Sansa and her siblings lack the sadism that drove Tywin to this; to assert his power over someone with none.

I can do this because I am the Lord of Casterly Rock, and you are nothing but a lowborn woman who was simply lucky enough to catch my foolish father’s eye.

Tyrion resents the smallfolk because they don’t consider him a hero. Some of his resentment is justifiable because a lot of it is the consequences of ableism, but at the same time though - the smallfolk are the ones suffering because of the war. In contrast, Sansa was almost raped by some smallfolk men but we never see her hating them for it. At 12-14, she’s able to understand the desperation caused by the famine. 

In both the book and show Sansa says if she had bread, she would have given it. Essentially, if she could help she would.  This brings me to the Tyrells. So, the Tyrells closed the Rose Road while they were still allied with Renly, thus leading to the famine in KL. To give you a reminder of how bad it got-

What little produce he did see was three times as costly as it had been a year ago. One peddler was hawking rats roasted on a skewer. "Fresh rats," he cried loudly, "fresh rats." Doubtless fresh rats were to be preferred to old stale rotten rats. The frightening thing was, the rats looked more appetizing than most of what the butchers were selling. On the Street of Flour, Tyrion saw guards at every other shop door. When times grew lean, even bakers found sellswords cheaper than bread, he reflected.

Afterwards, when the Tyrells and Lannisters decide to hook up, the Rose Road is opened up and wagons of food is sent up in Margaery’s name. If there’s one thing the Tyrells are good at, it’s PR.  It undoubtedly makes them look like heroes, as Sansa and Tyrion both observe-

Sansa had watched from the castle walls as Margaery Tyrell and her escort made their way up Aegon's High Hill. Joffrey had met his new bride-to-be at the King's Gate to welcome her to the city, and they rode side by side through cheering crowds, Joff glittering in gilded armor and the Tyrell girl splendid in green with a cloak of autumn flowers blowing from her shoulders. She was sixteen, brown-haired and brown-eyed, slender and beautiful. The people called out her name as she passed, held up their children for her blessing, and scattered flowers under the hooves of her horse. Her mother and grandmother followed close behind, riding in a tall wheelhouse whose sides were carved into the shape of a hundred twining roses, every one gilded and shining. The smallfolk cheered them as well.The same smallfolk who pulled me from my horse and would have killed me, if not for the Hound.

"No. She's coming, though, and the city's mad with love for her. The Tyrells have been carting food up from Highgarden and giving it away in her name. Hundreds of wayns each day. There's thousands of Tyrell men swaggering about with little golden roses sewn on their doublets, and not a one is buying his own wine. Wife, widow, or whore, the women are all giving up their virtue to every peach-fuzz boy with a gold rose on his teat."They spit on me, and buy drinks for the Tyrells.

The thing is I personally can’t imagine having the audacity to present myself as some kind of hero to someone because I gave them food, knowing full well I was the reason were starving in the first place.

#sansa stark #theon greyjoy #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #anti tyrion lannister #anti tywin lannister #anti house tyrell #not bothering to tag anti theon because like i dont think its necessary lol #asks

[hellsbellschime]

I remember reading once that Margaery was a better political player than Sansa and one of the reasons the OP used was comparing the crossbow scenes (Margaery "seducing" Joff with it & Sansa being assualted) which is WTF. They completely gloss over Sansa being a hostage.

LOL I mean she was a better political player at the time but we're talking about the girl whose family saved Joffrey's ass versus the girl whose family is literally trying to murder him, the discrepancy isn't that surprising.

#got for ts

[greg-ellis-receipts]

Greg Defending the Ableist Sia Movie

Why Sia’s ‘Music’ is ableist:

Teen Vogue op-ed

Articles talking about Autistic & Disabled Community Backlash:

IndieWire

EW | Entertainment Weekly

DazedDigital

Refinery29

src | src

Image Description

Sia: “Grrrrrrr. Fuckity fuck why don’t you watch my film before you judge it? FURY.”

Greg Ellis: “To complete ANY movie is a gargantuan feat. Bravo (at) Sia & team.

The virtue signaling casting directors are unaware of the multiple challenges involved with movie making & how their activism  ultimately means less important movies get made.

Let’s celebrate the movie in its entirety.”

Margaux Joffe: “sigh. Yet another example of Hollywood casting a non-disabled actor to play a disabled character. When doing a film about Autism, hire Actually Autistic folks to work on it.”

/quote tweet about Sia’s movie announcement/

Greg Ellis: “Sigh. Yet another example of someone outside the film industry behaving as a self anointed casting director. Next you’ll be calling for Freddie Highmore to be canceled. It’s this sort of activism that results in less movies being made about important subjects.”

#Greg x Ableism #Greg x Movies #Greg Ellis #Johnny Rees #ableism tw #ableism cw #Sia's Music #Music Movie

[onthesandsofdreams]

The North Remembers

Character: Sansa Stark, Margaery Tyrell & Olenna Tyrell [mentioned] Rating: T Summary: A part of her wanted to write back, to move on and forgive. To be the lady her mother and septa Mordane raised to be, but something inside her – she was pretty sure it was the direwolf of her sigil – raged against the letter. It was a letter from Lady Olenna, trying to appeal to her for mercy for Margaery. More accurately, asking her to intercede with Daenerys for Margaery. Words: 731 Notes: Prompt Fill for ValarMoreKinks. The OP can be found in the Round #12, Page: 63

Read @ AO3

Sansa stares at the letter that lays upon her desk.

It’s just an innocent piece of parchment, it’s the words that trouble her. She does her best to stare at it with a cold detachment, but the truth was that she felt so many emotions.

A part of her wanted to write back, to move on and forgive. To be the lady her mother and septa Mordane raised to be, but something inside her – she was pretty sure it was the direwolf of her sigil – raged against the letter.

It was a letter from Lady Olenna, trying to appeal to her for mercy for Margaery. More accurately, asking her to intercede with Daenerys for Margaery.

It didn’t escape her, that there wasn’t any sort of apology on that letter. There was no sort of words that would hint at remorse. Nothing that said they were sorry for using her, for condemning her to die because she was no longer useful.

Oh no, it was just a blatant request for her to use her friendship with Daenerys to help one of their own. And something twisted in her heart, mind and stomach against it. She was sure, that for all her armor of courtesy, for all the lessons she learned, for all the praised her lady mother and her septa rained on her, she would forget it all and slap Olenna if she were in front of her.

Because for all her nature, there was something that screamed in anger against the Tyrells. She was a child, an orphaned one that was away from any sort of protection. She was friendless and at the mercy of Joffrey and Cersei, when they decided that she would only be useful as the wife of their precious Willas.

Well, it seemed the jape was upon them. Now, here she was, Lady of Winterfell and Wardeness of the North, niece to another and cousin – mother almost – to another. With plenty of marriage prospects, with an easy and honest friendship with Daenerys. With the love and loyalty of her people. And now, the Tyrells might have kept their titles, but it was clear that they had lost their standing. Margaery had been kept as a ward in Daenerys court, Olenna barred entry to King’s Landing, Loras and Mance dead, Garland displaced from the Keep he had been given.

She took a deep breath, she could speak to Daenerys, but, just the thought of it made her stomach revolt. The Tyrells had been fair weather friends, one that had no trouble using a twelve year old child into an accomplice in regicide – even if she herself wanted Joff dead – and worst, she was the one with the poison in her head. Cersei had not been shy about wanting her head for this.

And yet, here they were, asking a favor as if they had any right to do so. She entertained the thought of showing the letter to Arya and Bran, but she was sure that Arya would take a horse to the Reach and stab Olenna, be as it may, she didn’t want the woman dead. Bran would simply remind her that it was her decision.

In the end, she hardened her heart. They had had no mercy for her, neither would she. She did feel sorry for Margaery, the stipulations Daenerys had placed on her were harsh, no doubt making clear that she might hold the title of ward, but she was nothing more than a hostage, an assurance for her family’s good behavior. No marriages would come now, three dead kings and Daenerys’ proclamation of her station as warden, made her an unweddable woman.

She wondered if Margaery ever thought that the roles were now reversed.

But she didn’t wondered for too long, instead, she took a clean piece of parchment, she dipped her quill in ink and wrote: The North Remembers, as do I.

She sanded the parchment and once it was dried, she rolled it, closed and sealed it. Gave it to Sam to send it to Olenna, she was Sansa Stark, and she was a She-Wolf of Winterfell. The Tyrells threw her to the wolves and forgot she was one.

She stood, she had work to do elsewhere. And she was not sad to say, that she would not loose any sort of sleep over Margaery’s fate. After all, the North Remembers.

#Sansa Stark #olenna tyrell #asoiaf fic #ASoIaF #margaery tyrell #prompt fill #post canon fic #not a fix it

[butterflies-dragons]

About Sansa’s first crush and her taste in men

After finding this post, I felt the need to say a few things about it.

I know the OP has established that this post is based on the show. So based on the show the OP is implying that Arya has a better taste in men than Sansa, because you know, Joe Dempsie is a hunk and Jack Gleeson is an excellent actor.

But we have to remember that the show is an adaptation of the Books, and maybe the cast team did not find a hunky actor for portraying Joffrey and chose Jack Gleeson for his quality at acting, but that doesn’t erase the fact that Book Joffrey was very good looking. Let’s see:

Book Joffrey was so handsome that made Jon Snow feel extremely jealous:

His half sisters escorted the royal princes. Arya was paired with plump young Tommen, whose white-blond hair was longer than hers. Sansa, two years older, drew the crown prince, Joffrey Baratheon. He was twelve, younger than Jon or Robb, but taller than either, to Jon’s vast dismay. Prince Joffrey had his sister’s hair and his mother’s deep green eyes. A thick tangle of blond curls dripped down past his golden choker and high velvet collar. Sansa looked radiant as she walked beside him, but Jon did not like Joffrey’s pouty lips or the bored, disdainful way he looked at Winterfell’s Great Hall.  

—A Game of Thrones - Jon I

Book Joffrey was so handsome that even Arya sounds jealous:

“We were talking about the prince,” Sansa said, her voice soft as a kiss.

Arya knew which prince she meant: Joffrey, of course. The tall, handsome one. Sansa got to sit with him at the feast. Arya had to sit with the little fat one. Naturally.

—A Game of Thrones - Arya I

See? Arya thought that Joffrey was handsome and it would not have bothered her to be the one sitting next to him at the feast…

And of course, Book Joffrey was so handsome that Sansa thought she was in love with him:

Prince Joffrey might be there. Her betrothed. Just thinking it made her feel a strange fluttering inside, even though they were not to marry for years and years. Sansa did not really know Joffrey yet, but she was already in love with him. He was all she ever dreamt her prince should be, tall and handsome and strong, with hair like gold.

—A Game of Thrones - Sansa I

Actually, Joffrey’s physical beauty was the only good thing he possessed:

Joffrey. He had been a handsome lad, tall and strong for his age, but that was all the good that could be said of him. It still shamed Ser Arys to remember all the times he’d struck that poor Stark girl at the boy’s command. When Tyrion had chosen him to go with Myrcella to Dorne, he lit a candle to the Warrior in thanks. “Joffrey is dead, poisoned by the Imp.” He would never have thought the dwarf capable of such enormity. “Tommen is king now, and he is not his brother.”

—A Feast for Crows - The Soiled Knight

Handsome, tall and strong for his age, sounds pretty similar to Gendry’s description:

The master called over a tall lad about Robb’s age, his arms and chest corded with muscle. “This is Lord Stark, the new Hand of the King,” he told him as the boy looked at Ned through sullen blue eyes and pushed back sweat-soaked hair with his fingers. Thick hair, shaggy and unkempt and black as ink. The shadow of a new beard darkened his jaw. “This is Gendry. Strong for his age, and he works hard. Show the Hand that helmet you made, lad.” Almost shyly, the boy led them to his bench, and a steel helm shaped like a bull’s head, with two great curving horns.

—A Game of Thrones - Eddard VI

See? Both Joffrey and Gendry are described as tall and strong for their age, and since Brienne thought Gendry was a younger version of Renly the first time she saw him, we can surely say that Gendry was handsome as well:

Gendry was at his forge, bare-chested beneath his leather apron. He was beating on a sword as if he wished it were a foe, his sweat-soaked hair falling across his brow. She watched him for a moment. He has Renly’s eyes and Renly’s hair, but not his build. Lord Renly was more lithe than brawny … not like his brother Robert, whose strength was fabled.

—A Feast for Crows - Brienne VII

“… till you stand before m'lady.” Renly stood behind the girl, pushing his black hair out of his eyes. Not Renly. Gendry. “M'lady means for you to answer for your crimes.”

—A Feast for Crows - Brienne VIII

Even Sansa would agree that Gendry was handsome, since she thought this the first time she saw Renly:

His companion was a man near twenty whose armor was steel plate of a deep forest-green. He was the handsomest man Sansa had ever set eyes upon; tall and powerfully made, with jet-black hair that fell to his shoulders and framed a clean-shaven face, and laughing green eyes to match his armor. Cradled under one arm was an antlered helm, its magnificent rack shimmering in gold.

—A Game of Thrones - Sansa I

So, from the information above we can conclude that:

Jack Gleeson doesn’t fit Book Joffrey’s physical appearance.

Joe Dempsie characterization sounds very similar to Book Gendry’s.

Book Joffrey was as hunky as Book Gendry.

Book Arya thought that Joffrey was handsome.

Book Sansa would think Book Gendry is handsome.

Now about Sansa’s taste in men, I also have a few things to say:

THE BLONDES

Joffrey Baratheon (12 when Sansa met him).- Blonde, handsome, tall and strong for his age, a skilled dancer and the mother fucker even sang sweetly for Sansa once and told her she was very beautiful, so of course she fell for him or at least she thought she loved him.

“Sansa did not really know Joffrey yet, but she was already in love with him. He was all she ever dreamt her prince should be, tall and handsome and strong, with hair like gold.”

Beyond his extraordinary physical appearance, Sansa didn’t know Joffrey and you simply can’t love what you don’t know, not really.

I think Sansa imposed the idea of Joffrey in her mind and she decided she loved him. This has to do with her strong sense of duty and her preconceptions of beauty and goodness that she learnt from the songs. It wasn’t a spontaneous attraction, she didn’t love him because her heart chose him; she loved him because he was her betrothed, who also happened to be the Crown Prince, the Heir to the Iron Throne, a golden boy, handsome, tall, strong. And before the Trident incident, he treated her like a gallant knight and made her feel like a lady in a song. And in the songs all the true knights are beautiful, but in real life physical beauty doesn’t mean goodness.

And if you are wondering, the answer is no, Joffrey wasn’t Sansa’s first crush.  

Harrold Hardyng (18/19 when Sansa met him).- Another tall strong blonde, and you could think Sansa’s type are tall strong blondes, but that’s simply a wrong assumption.

My Harry. My lord, my lover, my betrothed.

Ser Harrold Hardyng looked every inch a lord-in-waiting; clean-limbed and handsome, straight as a lance, hard with muscle. Men old enough to have known Jon Arryn in his youth said Ser Harrold had his look, she knew. He had a mop of sandy blond hair, pale blue eyes, an aquiline nose. Joffrey was comely too, though, she reminded herself. A comely monster, that’s what he was. Little Lord Tyrion was kinder, twisted though he was.

(…)

And there he stood, Harry the Heir himself; tall, handsome, scowling. “Lady Alayne. May I partner you in this dance?”

—The Winds of Winter - Alayne I

As you can see, Sansa is trying, again, to impose the idea of Harry in in her mind:

“My Harry. My lord, my lover, my betrothed”.

In both cases, the fact that Harry like Joffrey fitted very well in the concept of gallant golden knights, pretty things from pretty songs, helped her to accommodate them as her love interests. But at this point, although Sansa is aware of Harry’s physical beauty, she is more careful, so she does not associate beauty with goodness automatically.

And no, Harry wasn’t Sansa’s first crush.  

Sansa wanted true love, but since she cannot choose who she will get married to, she accommodates, she adapts, she adjusts the reality.    

An the reality was that Joffrey and Harry were imposed/forced on Sansa: Joff by her family and Harry by Petyr Baelish. And the reasons behind these arranged betrothals were obviously political reasons:  

Q: I have no royal linage, having cleared that up, what advice would you give me to ask Sansa out on a date?

A: Laughs. Well ahh you know, if you have no nobility I don’t think the Stark family would be too interested in you dating Sansa. All the marriages was kind of arranged back them, they were political alliances between great houses, and they had to bring some advantage and you know Sansa didn’t fool around with peasant boys….so that wasn’t gonna happen.

—GRRM - FIL de Guadalajara 2016

And then there are some things that are just don’t square with history. In some sense I’m trying to respond to that. [For example] the arranged marriage, which you see constantly in the historical fiction and television show, almost always when there’s an arranged marriage, the girl doesn’t want it and rejects it and she runs off with the stable boy instead. This never fucking happened. It just didn’t. There were thousands, tens of thousand, perhaps hundreds of thousands of arranged marriages in the nobility through the thousand years of Middle Ages and people went through with them. That’s how you did it. It wasn’t questioned. Yeah, occasionally you would want someone else, but you wouldn’t run off with the stable boy.

And that’s another of my pet peeves about fantasies. The bad authors adopt the class structures of the Middle Ages; where you had the royalty and then you had the nobility and you had the merchant class and then you have the peasants and so forth. But they don’t’ seem to realize what it actually meant. They have scenes where the spunky peasant girl tells off the pretty prince. The pretty prince would have raped the spunky peasant girl. He would have put her in the stocks and then had garbage thrown at her. You know.

I mean, the class structures in places like this had teeth. They had consequences. And people were brought up from their childhood to know their place and to know that duties of their class and the privileges of their class. It was always a source of friction when someone got outside of that thing. And I tried to reflect that.

—GRRM - TIMES 2011

See? Sansa knows her duties.

Joffrey was the Crown Prince, the Heir to the Iron Throne, and Harry was even called the Heir because he aspired to be Lord of the Eyrie, Defender of the Vale, and Warden of the East.

When King Robert proposed Joffrey and Sansa’s betrothal, he was trying to reenact his own betrothal to Lyanna Stark, that was part of the so called Southron Ambitions Theory.  And when Petyr Baelish proposed Harry and Alayne/Sansa betrothal, he was trying to gain more political power to further his own agenda. But here is the thing with these shiny golden betrothals: they both are doomed because both male fiancés are fake. Joffrey is no prince but a bastard and Harry is no heir but a pretender, the second in line after Robert Arryn (Sweetrobin), a sick little boy that everyone assumes is soon to die.    

The funny thing is that both real heirs that Joffrey and Harry tried to replace, are dark haired: Any true-born/bastard son of Robert Baratheon would have black hair, and Jon Arryn’s only living child, Sweetrobin, has brown hair.

So now the question is: Does Sansa like men with dark hair? Let’s see:

THE DARK HAIRED

Renly Baratheon (20/21 when Sansa met him).- Renly is black haired and according to Sansa: “He was the handsomest man Sansa had ever set eyes upon”.

Renly was also tall, powerfully made, and according to Brienne: “Lord Renly was more lithe than brawny … not like his brother Robert, whose strength was fabled.”

Sansa freely and spontaneously expressed her opinion about Renly, less romanticized than her description of Joffrey:

The handsomest man Sansa had ever set eyes upon > He was all she ever dreamt her prince should be/every inch a lord-in-waiting  

Black hair > Blonde hair

lithe > strong for his age

But no, Renly wasn’t Sansa’s first crush.  

Loras Tyrell (16 when Sansa met him).- Loras has brown hair and according to Sansa: “[She] had never seen anyone so beautiful”.  

Ser Loras was the youngest son of Mace Tyrell, the Lord of Highgarden and Warden of the South. At sixteen, he was the youngest rider on the field, yet he had unhorsed three knights of the Kingsguard that morning in his first three jousts. Sansa had never seen anyone so beautiful.

(...)

Her eyes were only for Ser Loras. When the white horse stopped in front of her, she thought her heart would burst.

—A Game of Thrones - Sansa II

When the Knight of Flowers made his entrance, a murmur ran through the crowd, and he heard Sansa's fervent whisper, "Oh, he's so beautiful." Ser Loras Tyrell was slender as a reed, dressed in a suit of fabulous silver armor polished to a blinding sheen and filigreed with twining black vines and tiny blue forget-me-nots.

(...)

His courser was as slim as her rider, a beautiful grey mare, built for speed. Ser Gregor's huge stallion trumpeted as he caught her scent. The boy from Highgarden did something with his legs, and his horse pranced sideways, nimble as a dancer. Sansa clutched at his arm. "Father, don't let Ser Gregor hurt him," she said. Ned saw she was wearing the rose that Ser Loras had given her yesterday. Jory had told him about that as well.

—A Game of Thrones - Eddard VII

Ser Gregor was the monster and Ser Loras the true hero who would slay him. He even looked a true hero, so slim and beautiful, with golden roses around his slender waist and his rich brown hair tumbling down into his eyes.

—A Game of Thrones - Sansa III

The sight of Ser Loras Tyrell standing on her threshold made Sansa's heart beat a little faster. This was the first time she had been so close to him since he had returned to King's Landing, leading the vanguard of his father's host. For a moment she did not know what to say. "Ser Loras," she finally managed, "you . . . you look so lovely."

—A Storm of Swords - Sansa I

She could never hold a picture of Willas long in her head, though; her imaginings kept turning him back into Ser Loras, young and graceful and beautiful.

—A Storm of Swords - Sansa II

Again, Sansa freely and spontaneously expressed her opinion about how beautiful Loras was, even though she was betrothed to marry Joffrey by then.

We are getting closer to Sansa’s real type, not the imposed blondes:

Beautiful > Handsome > What a prince/lord should be  

Brown hair > Black hair > Blonde hair

Slim/Slender > powerful made > Strong for his age

And while Loras Tyrell wasn’t Sansa’s first crush, after her first period, the beautiful Knight of Flowers was Sansa’s first sexual fantasy:    

Wed to Ser Loras, oh … Sansa’s breath caught in her throat. She remembered Ser Loras in his sparkling sapphire armor, tossing her a rose. Ser Loras in white silk, so pure, innocent, beautiful. The dimples at the corner of his mouth when he smiled. The sweetness of his laugh, the warmth of his hand. She could only imagine what it would be like to pull up his tunic and caress the smooth skin underneath, to stand on her toes and kiss him, to run her fingers through those thick brown curls and drown in his deep brown eyes. A flush crept up her neck.

—A Storm of Swords - Sansa I

Also take note that Renly and Loras, in contrast with Joff and Harry, were both the third son of a High Lord, not the Heir of their houses. So please discard the idea that Sansa Stark was power hungry, she wanted love and to be loved; to be a loyal wife and a devoted mother. Those were her goals, not sitting on an ugly iron chair and ruling the world.  

Renly and Loras were also both gay and a couple, but we are not talking about Sansa’s broken gay radar here.

Moreover, if you have any doubt that Sansa likes brown hair, read at this:

Lysa seated herself near the fire and said, “Come to Mother, my sweet one.” She straightened his bedclothes and fussed with his fine brown hair. “Isn’t he beautiful? And strong too, don’t you believe the things you hear. Jon knew.

—A Game of Thrones - Catelyn VI

She sat on the bed and smoothed his long, fine hair. He does have pretty hair. Lady Lysa had brushed it herself every night, and cut it when it wanted cutting.

—A Feast for Crows - Alayne II

He does have pretty hair. If the gods are good and he lives long enough to wed, his wife will admire his hair, surely. That much she will love about him.

—The Winds of Winter - Alayne I

See? Our author GRRM made sure to tell us in two different books that Sansa finds her cousin Robert Arryn’s brown hair pretty, that his future wife would admire his pretty hair, because that much Sansa herself would love about him. Do these words sound familiar to you? Because I find them very similar to her fantasy of running her fingers through Loras’ thick brown curls. Sansa clearly has a thing for brown hair! Now, how many other cousins with brown hair does Sansa have?

So now we could surely say that Sansa’s preferences in men include brown hair and slim slender bodies. And guess what? Sansa’s first crush had these exactly same features.

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to Sansa’s first crush, Ser Waymar Royce:    

Waymar Royce (17/18 when Sansa met him).- Sansa’s first crush, handsome, graceful and slender:  

Ser Waymar Royce was the youngest son of an ancient house with too many heirs. He was a handsome youth of eighteen, grey-eyed and graceful and slender as a knife.

—A Game of Thrones – Prologue

And Waymar Royce, like Renly and Loras, was the third and youngest son of his house and with no heirdom to aspire to, he chose to serve in The Wall.  

But despite the fact that Waymar was no Heir and chose to serve in The Wall, Sansa fell ‘wildly in love’ with him:  

“Bronze Yohn knows me,” she reminded him. “He was a guest at Winterfell when his son rode north to take the black.” She had fallen wildly in love with Ser Waymar, she remembered dimly, but that was a lifetime ago, when she was a stupid little girl. “And that was not the only time. Lord Royce saw … he saw Sansa Stark again at King’s Landing, during the Hand’s tourney.”

—A Feast for Crows - Alayne I

Sansa Stark fell ‘wildly in love’ with a third son of an old noble house who decided to serve in The Wall, that required him to swear a lifelong vow to take no wife, hold no lands, father no children.

So what did this particular boy have that made Sansa expressed her feelings for him in such unladylike way: ‘wildly in love’?

Compare the words ‘wildly in love’ with the words she used to describes Loras during her sexual fantasy: “Ser Loras in white silk, so pure, innocent, beautiful”.

The contrast is very telling. Even though Sansa was fantasizing about her wedding night with Loras, the way she described him was profoundly romanticized: ‘so pure, innocent, beautiful’. But when Sansa thinks about Waymar, she uses two strong words: love and wild. She claims that she loved Waymar wildly and that is a very bold and visceral statement.        

I will tell you what Waymar had that surpassed any other boy/man mentioned here so far: Waymar Royce looked like a Stark.      

At this point you could argue that Loras Tyrell doesn’t look like a Stark and despite that, Sansa developed a very strong physical attraction to him. But let me tell you this:  

"Yet it seems that he was not invited on these rides." Ned was not sure what to make of Renly, with all his friendly ways and easy smiles. A few days past, he had taken Ned aside to show him an exquisite rose gold locklet. Inside was a miniature painted in the vivid Myrish style, of a lovely young girl with doe's eyes and a cascade of soft brown hair. Renly had seemed anxious to know if the girl reminded him of anyone, and when Ned had no answer but a shrug, he had seemed disappointed. The maid was Loras Tyrell's sister Margaery, he'd confessed, but there were those who said she looked like Lyanna. "No," Ned had told him, bemused. Could it be that Lord Renly, who looked so like a young Robert, had conceived a passion for a girl he fancied to be a young Lyanna? That struck him as more than passing queer.

—A Game of Thrones - Eddard VI

At some point in the story, Renly had the intention of present Margaery to Robert as a renewed version of Lyanna Stark, so they could get rid of Cersei and make Robert marry Margaery appealing to her resemblance of Lyanna Stark:

Sighing, Renly half turned in the saddle. "What am I to do with this brother of mine, Brienne? He refuses my peach, he refuses my castle, he even shunned my wedding . . ."

"We both know your wedding was a mummer's farce. A year ago you were scheming to make the girl one of Robert's whores."

"A year ago I was scheming to make the girl Robert's queen," Renly said, "but what does it matter? The boar got Robert and I got Margaery. You'll be pleased to know she came to me a maid."

—A Clash of Kings - Catelyn III

And if Margaery had at least a slightly resemblance of Lyanna Stark, even if it’s only the brown hair, that means that Loras had it as well:  

"Sansa, would you like to visit Highgarden?" When Margaery Tyrell smiled, she looked very like her brother Loras.

—A Storm of Swords - Sansa I

Queen Margaery, she reminded herself; Joff's widow and Tommen's wife-to-be. Margaery looked very like her brother, the Knight of Flowers. The queen wondered if they had other things in common.

—A Feast for Crows - Cersei II

Whilst Alla, Elinor, and Megga took their turns with Tommen, Margaery took a turn around the floor with her father, then another with her brother Loras. The Knight of Flowers was in white silk, with a belt of golden roses about his waist and a jade rose fastening his cloak. They could be twins, Cersei thought as she watched them. Ser Loras was a year older than his sister, but they had the same big brown eyes, the same thick brown hair falling in lazy ringlets to their shoulders, the same smooth unblemished skin. A ripe crop of pimples would teach them some humility. Loras was taller and had a few wisps of soft brown fuzz on his face, and Margaery had a woman's shape, but elsewise they were more alike than she and Jaime. That annoyed her too.

—A Feast for Crows - Cersei III

See? Loras is just a male version of Margaery, they could be twins, both are slender and have brown hair and George made sure of telling us, although very subtly, that he looks a bit like Lyanna Stark, even at a symbolical level, as my friend @lostlittlesatellites​ explained here.  

So both Waymar and Loras, the two boys that Sansa Stark fancied the most, in greater or lesser amount, look like a Stark.      

I know, I know, the Books don’t explicitly say that Waymar had brown hair, but I reached that conclusion because Waymar Royce’s description matches word by word Jon Snow’s description, and Jon Snow is the embodiment of the Stark Look, which is, with certainty, Sansa’s preference in men.

But before talk about the Stark Look, let’s talk about the age of all the boys/men mentioned here: Joffrey (12), Loras (16), Waymar (17/18), Harry (18/19), and Renly (20/21).  

Renly is the older one at 20/21 years old and he is also the only one that Sansa described specifically as ‘a man’, and that makes sense because he was almost twice her age, and for Sansa a man twice her age, no matter how handsome he could be, is ‘awfully old’:

"Lord Beric is as much a hero as Ser Loras. He’s ever so brave and gallant.”

“I suppose,” Sansa said doubtfully. Beric Dondarrion was handsome enough, but he was awfully old, almost twenty-two; the Knight of Flowers would have been much better. Of course, Jeyne had been in love with Lord Beric ever since she had first glimpsed him in the lists. Sansa thought she was being silly; Jeyne was only a steward’s daughter, after all, and no matter how much she mooned after him, Lord Beric would never look at someone so far beneath him, even if she hadn’t been half his age.

—A Game of Thrones - Sansa III

And if you don’t believe me about this subject, then believe the words of GRRM himself talking about a certain ship that paired Sansa with a man more than twice her age:

weltraummuell: The Hound Oh please don't cast an old guy for the Hound, his scenes with Sansa are so romantic and erotic, I couldn't bear if it'd feel creepy all of a sudden. Well, that's me making demands. LOL

GRRM: Re: The Hound Old guy? No, but... the Hound is still a whole lot older than Sansa, and was never written as attractive... you know, those hideous burns and all that... he's a lot more dangerous than he is romantic.  

—Not A Blog - Aug. 21st, 2009

So please discard the idea that Sansa Stark likes older men. For Sansa, and for GRRM, any men that is twice her age is AWFULLY OLD!  

Now let’s move to the final and more relevant part of this post:

THE STARK LOOK

Jon Snow (14-16 throughout the Books).- GRRM has used Jon Snow to let us know the definition of the Stark Look:

Jon’s eyes were a grey so dark they seemed almost black, but there was little they did not see. He was of an age with Robb, but they did not look alike. Jon was slender where Robb was muscular, dark where Robb was fair, graceful and quick where his half brother was strong and fast.

—A Game of Thrones - Bran I

The boy absorbed that all in silence. He had the Stark face if not the name: long, solemn, guarded, a face that gave nothing away. Whoever his mother had been, she had left little of herself in her son.

—A Game of Thrones - Tyrion II

She might have overlooked a dozen bastards for Ned’s sake, so long as they were out of sight. Jon was never out of sight, and as he grew, he looked more like Ned than any of the trueborn sons she bore him.

—A Game of Thrones - Catelyn II

“A shade more exhausting than needlework,” Jon observed. “A shade more fun than needlework,” Arya gave back at him. Jon grinned, reached over, and messed up her hair. Arya flushed. They had always been close. Jon had their father’s face, as she did.

—A Game of Thrones - Arya I

Sansa could never understand how two sisters, born only two years apart, could be so different. It would have been easier if Arya had been a bastard, like their half brother Jon. She even looked like Jon, with the long face and brown hair of the Starks, and nothing of their lady mother in her face or her coloring.

—A Game of Thrones - Sansa I

“Who’s this one now?“ Craster said before Jon could go. “He has the look of a Stark.” “My steward and squire, Jon Snow.”

—A Clash of Kings - Jon III

See? Jon Snow is acknowledged as a Stark just by looking at his face. He looks like a younger version of Ned: long solemn face, grey eyes and brown hair.

And as I said before Jon Snow shares many features with Sansa’s first crush, Waymar Royce:

Jon and Waymar have grey eyes.

Jon and Waymar have slender bodies.

Jon and Waymar are described as graceful.

Just like Jon looks as a younger version of Ned, is very probable that Waymar looked like a younger version of his father, Bronze Yohn Royce, who also shares features with Jon and Ned: a solemn face and grey eyes:

Last of all came the Royces, Lord Nestor and Bronze Yohn. The Lord of Runestone stood as tall as the Hound. Though his hair was grey and his face lined, Lord Yohn still looked as though he could break younger men like twigs in those huge gnarled hands. His seamed and solemn face brought back all of Sansa’s memories of his time at Winterfell. She remembered him at table, speaking quietly with her mother. She heard his voice booming off the walls when he rode back from a hunt with a buck behind his saddle. She could see him in the yard, a practice sword in hand, hammering her father to the ground and turning to defeat Ser Rodrik as well. He will know me. How could he not? She considered throwing herself at his feet to beg for his protection. He never fought for Robb, why should he fight for me? The war is finished and Winterfell is fallen. “Lord Royce,” she asked timidly, “will you have a cup of wine, to take the chill off?”

Bronze Yohn had slate-grey eyes, half-hidden beneath the bushiest eyebrows she had ever seen. They crinkled when he looked down at her. “Do I know you, girl?”

—A Feast for Crows - Alayne I

So I think we could also add solemn face to the list:

Jon and Waymar have grey eyes.

Jon and Waymar have solemn faces.

Jon and Waymar have slender bodies.

Jon and Waymar are described as graceful.

The resemblance between the Starks and the Royces maybe has to be with both houses being descendants of the First Men.

And if you don’t have enough similarities between Jon and Waymar, let me tell you this:

Both with no place in their own houses, chose to serve at The Wall.

Both wanted to be Rangers, Waymar actually became a Ranger but Jon, despite being a Steward, went on a mission beyond The Wall as a Ranger, just like Waymar.

Waymar’s death is eerily similar to Jon’s death, as my friend @lady-in-a-song explained here.

They both are connected to Sansa Stark. I wrote about it here and here and @lady-in-a-song wrote about it here.

And you can also find more similarities between Jon and Waymar in this recent post.

With all this similarities, I think we could also add brown hair to the list:

Jon and Waymar have grey eyes.

Jon and Waymar have brow hair.

Jon and Waymar have solemn faces.

Jon and Waymar have slender bodies.

Jon and Waymar are described as graceful.

And about the Stark Look there is also a theory that says The Others are in a hunt of men with the Stark Look, and that was the reason to kill Waymar. Benjen Stark, another man with the Stark Look, also disappeared beyond The Wall, precisely while looking for Waymar Royce.

And on the subject of Benjen Stark, another man of a noble house with no heirdom to aspire to, that chose to serve in The Wall, take note that Sansa, before she met Yoren, had always imagined the Night’s Watch to be men like her Uncle Benjen. She recalled that in the songs, they were called the black knights of the Wall. That is to say, Sansa held the men who take the black on high regard and associated them with her beloved knights from the songs.  

Sansa really has a thing for the Stark Look.

And is very clear that the origin of this thing with the Stark Look is Sansa’s father, Lord Eddard Stark.

Sansa always sought Ned’s approval and validation, but she never reached that goal. She and Ned had a distant relationship that got worse after Lady’s death. Ned neglected Sansa in various levels [1] [2] [3], and focused in Arya, who resembled Lyanna so much, and the guilt for not saving his sister impeded him to see that Sansa was the one about to make the same mistakes of Lyanna, that Sansa was the one daughter that needed him the most.    

So throughout the Books, we have Sansa constantly trying to find something of what Ned never gave to her in others, either crushing on boys that look like Ned or trusting in men that offered her assurance and/or validation, although with ulterior motives.  But there is still hope that Sansa will find a man that resembles Ned not only physically but share the same values, ethics and background, since he was raised by Ned himself.    

Finally, I have to say that the fact that Sansa’s first crush looks just like her bastard half brother cousin Jon Snow, who in turn looks just like her father Ned Stark, strongly suggests that our author GRRM has a morbid fascination with incest. But in Sansa’s case the incest vibes are subtle, not extreme like in Cersei and Jaime’s case, which has strong narcissistic elements to it as well.    

In conclusion, according to the book evidence provided above, we can say the following regarding Sansa’s taste in men:

The Stark Look > everything

So, if you are a noble son of a powerful house of Westeros (secret princes included), between the ages of 13 and 19, with the Stark Look, a slender and graceful physique, and the willingness to defend the realm Night’s Watch style, you have a shot with Sansa Stark. She would probably get wild about you. Your move Jon Snow.

#Sansa Stark #Jon Snow #Sansa x Jon #Jon x Sansa #jonsa #Eddard Stark #Ned Stark #Benjen Stark #Waymar Royce #Joffrey Baratheon #Joffrey is truly a little shit #Harrold Hardyng #Harry The Heir #Renly Baratheon #Gendry #Loras Tyrell #The Stark Look

[she-wolf-of-highgarden]

Can we talk about Eddard III for a minute because i think Ned’s foreshadowing strikes again.  

“Thank the gods," Ned said. His men had been searching for Arya for four days now, but the queen's men had been out hunting as well. "Where is she? Tell Jory to bring her here at once." - Eddard III

Now work with me here for a minute. 

We can estimate that Arya turns 10 at some point in ACoK. The idea that she turns 10 either during or in the beginning of ACoK is supported by Jon VI 

"Without us to keep him safe, Sam will have no chance," Jon finished. "He's hopeless with a sword. My sister Arya could tear him apart, and she's not yet ten. If Ser Alliser makes him fight, it's only a matter of time before he's hurt or killed."

It is also supported by Arya I in ASoS. 

“She was only ten, a skinny girl on a stolen horse with a dark forest ahead of her and men behind who would gladly cut off her feet.”

Arya is almost eleven in AFfC according to Arya I

"It takes no matter." Even if the Titan did eat juicy pink girl flesh, Arya would not fear him. She was a scrawny thing, no proper meal for a giant, and almost eleven, practically a woman grown. And Salty isn't highborn, either.”

This has not been written yet, but Arya is likely to turn 12 in TWoW. This would fit with the fact that she is supposed to get her “moon blood” and “blossom” in the TWoW. This would also be around the age Sansa’s moon blood showed up 

“She was thirteen, a woman flowered and wed, the heir to Winterfell.” - Sansa VI, ASoS

So what does this have to do with anything op? I’ll tell you, i promise i have a point. Arya left the North when she was 9. As of the TWoW it will have been 4 years since she has been in Winterfell, and 3-4 since she was missing. I think it will be in this 4th year that Arya will end up heading back across the Narrow Sea. After the death of Jon Snow and with the possibility of she and Justin Massey running into each other there is a chance that she will be heading home. 

Unfortunately i dont think she is heading straight home. If we continue with this tinfoil theory, we need to look at the other part of Ned’s passage before he meets up with Arya being questioned by Robert. 

"I am sorry, my lord," Poole told him. "The guards on the gate were Lannister men, and they informed the queen when Jory brought her in. She's being taken directly before the king …" 

I dont think she will be captured by Lannister men, though. I think that Arya and Jamie are on a collision course with Lady Stoneheart. I think the two likeliest people to meet up with what is left of the BwB and LS is Jaime and Arya and in turn i think they are going to meet up. It will also be an interesting  kind of full circle if Jamie finds Arya. 

Remember when Arya was missing for those four days Jaime was looking for her for at least three of them, maybe four. 

“That was Raymun Darry's bedchamber. Where King Robert slept, on our return from Winterfell. Ned Stark's daughter had run off after her wolf savaged Joff, you'll recall. My sister wanted the girl to lose a hand. The old penalty, for striking one of the blood royal. Robert told her she was cruel and mad. They fought for half the night . . . well, Cersei fought, and Robert drank. Past midnight, the queen summoned me inside. The king was passed out snoring on the Myrish carpet. I asked my sister if she wanted me to carry him to bed. She told me I should carry her to bed, and shrugged out of her robe. I took her on Raymun Darry's bed after stepping over Robert. If His Grace had woken I would have killed him there and then. He would not have been the first king to die upon my sword . . . but you know that story, don't you?" He slashed at a tree branch, shearing it in half. "As I was fucking her, Cersei cried, 'I want.' I thought that she meant me, but it was the Stark girl that she wanted, maimed or dead." The things I do for love. "It was only by chance that Stark's own men found the girl before me. If I had come on her first . . .”

It is somewhat of a round about way of a full circle, but it would fit. Especially if it Jaime and Arya who take down LS, or at least meet up. It might be the quest to find her mother that stops Arya from going straight home and hears the news from the King Slayer. I’m not sure how it would work, but Brienne chose sword so either way Jaime is going to be involved with LS somehow. Arya has way too much to do with mercy (LS = Mother Merciless) and thinks too much about her mother for them not to cross paths. 

#Arya Stark #Jaime Lannister #lady stoneheart #Ned Stark #A Song of Ice and Fire #ASoIaF #asoiaf meta #this got out of hand #speculation #meta #arya meta

[thesleepysubwaytrain]

Jonsa Spring Challenge - Day 6 || [AO3]

@jonsa-creatives

song prompt: Chopin - Nocturne Op. 9, No. 2

Sansa tries to sleep, she really does, but it’s three hours of tossing and turning before she gives it up as a lost cause. It’s the silence of her borrowed room, she thinks, thick and heavy and almost oppressive. Before, she would have had Lady beside her, would have been able to rest her hand on her warm back and feel the rise and fall of her breathing—but that was before.

She slips out of her room and downstairs, out to the back porch where she finds Jon, as she has almost every night for the past few weeks she’s been hiding out at Robb’s.

He hasn’t slept properly since the fire, he told her the first night she wandered outside. I see flames dancing behind my eyelids when I try.

It was an oddly poetic thing to say for a boy Sansa had to coach on how to talk to girls back in high school, but she was just grateful he said anything at all, and moved over on the swing set to make room for her.

He does the same thing now, and she hops onto the seat, tucking her legs under her. Jon doesn’t say anything, doesn’t even look at her, just waits as she stares up at the sky and inhales and exhales, until the ringing silence in her head and her hammering heartbeat fades into the gentle sway of the swing and the rustling of the trees and the faint sound of Jon’s breathing.

Only a few months ago, at 2AM on a Saturday night Sansa would have been out with Marg or Joff at a club downtown, would have balked at the idea of sitting still with her brother’s broody best friend at a little house on the outskirts of the city.

But it’s a different kind of stillness, out here with Jon. She never feels restless, or anxious; instead, as she turns to look at his profile under the dim gleam of the porch light, it feels like she’s breathing properly for the first time all day.

She says, as she has every night, as she used to when she was a kid who loved nothing more than fairy tales: “Tell me a story.”

And Jon does. Sometimes it’s about her brother and some of their high school antics that Robb kept hidden from their parents. Sometimes it’s about one of the weekend hikes he goes out on with his friends at the station. Once, it was about Ygritte.

Tonight, it’s about his first time babysitting his best friend Sam’s son. He moves his hands a little as he talks, but it’s almost graceful, calm like the burr of his voice even as he rants about the complicated production of changing a diaper.

As she listens Sansa feels something in her chest unfurling, nestled against Jon’s side, close enough to feel his warmth, to feel the gentle rise and fall of his breathing. It feels entirely natural to rest her head on his shoulder, to feel him shift to let her relax against him, to close her eyes and let the quiet hush of his voice wash over her.

***

Robb finds them a few hours later, curled up asleep together on the swing set, and only goes back inside to grab a blanket to throw over them before heading out on his morning run.

#jonsa spring challenge #jonsa fic #jonsa #jon x sansa #short and rushed sorry but i wanted to post something since i missed the last 3 days work has been hellish #chopin is my fav so i really couldn't resist #my fic

[justjoelkinnaman]

http://www.bloom-media.com/three-seconds/

Directed by: Andrea Di Stefano Written by: Matt Cook with revisions by Rowan Joffe. Based on Anders Roslund & Borge Hellström best-selling novel THREE SECONDS Produced by: Basil Iwanyk, Wayne Godfrey, Erica Lee Genre: Action Thriller Cast: Joel Kinnaman, Rosamund Pike, Common, Clive Owen, Ana de Armas

POST PRODUCTION

With a sniper’s bullet bearing down on him, three seconds is all it takes to change the course of Pete Hoffman’s life…

Based on the best-selling Swedish thriller by Roslund and Hellström, and from producer Basil Iwanyk (GODS OF EGYPT, JOHN WICK, THE TOWN) THREE SECONDS is the much anticipated feature film by Andrea Di Stefano.

In order to free himself from jail and return to his family, reformed-criminal and former special ops soldier Pete Hoffman has been working undercover for crooked FBI handlers Agents Erica Wilcox and Cliff Montgomery, infiltrating the Polish mob's drug trade in New York. But once Pete has gained the trust of mob leader The General, he is forced to return to the one place he's fought so hard to leave: Bale Hill Prison. The General wants Pete to build a drug network from inside, while Montgomery and Wilson hope this is their chance to finally bring down The General and his network. To Pete, this promises to be the final step in winning his freedom and creating a new life with his wife and daughter.

Pete's mission becomes a race against time when a drug deal goes wrong and implicates him in the murder of an undercover NYPD officer, which could in turn touch Montgomery and the Bureau. When Detective Edward Grens starts digging into Pete's criminal past, threatening to expose the operation and with it the Bureau's secrets, Pete is utterly abandoned by them; his identity as a mole is revealed. In a cell block full of the prisoners he's betrayed, he is a dead man walking, Pete must rely on all his training and mental resolve to escape the maximum-security prison alive, stopping at nothing to ensure the safety of his wife and daughter on the outside.

#Joel Kinnaman #Rosamund Pike #Common #Clive Owen #Ana de Armas #Three Seconds

[buttercuparry]

Okay I saw a post just now...the OP basically said how good old Sandra can never hurt Arya even if she gets attacked by the said sister....WOW! JUST WOW!!! Yeah go ahead and ignore her " I have 100 men who are ready to kill for me" or something like that....ignore her convo with LF about how Brienne will protect Arya and then her sending Brienne away to KL. Oh and there was a line in the post that implied that Sandra lied about the Mycah incident to protect both Arya and Joff...REALLY?! AFTER ALL THESE YEARS WE STILL HAVE TO HEAR THAT SANDRA LIED TO PROTECT HER SISTER??? Oh and the horrible traumas Sandra went thru!! YEAH SURE IGNORE THAT A 9 YEAR OLD GIRL HAD TO BE ON THE RUN EVER SINCE HER FATHER WAS CAPTURED, THAT SHE HAD TO TRAVEL WITH MURDERERS, RAPISTS AND THIEVES, THAT SHE HAD BEEN THREATHENED WITH RAPE SEVERAL TIMES, HAD TO STARVE, EAT WORMS, WATCH MEN GETTING TORN BY RATS, SERVE AS THE ENEMY'S CUPBEARER, WATCH HER BROTHER'S MUTILATED CORPSE BEING PARADED AROUND, HAD TO LIE ABOUT HER IDENTITY SO MANY TIMES TO START DOUBTING HERSELF, HAD TO BE CONSTANTLY ON GUARD COZ 1 WRONG MOVE COULD HAVE MEANT HER DEATH!!! Do people even hear themselves when they talk anymore? GOD!

#arya stark #done with sandra stan shit #get out of arya's tag page #if you want to write shit with selective vision #go tag it under your sandra stark post #god the stans are so much like sandra #wanting to see the things that agree #with them only

[francy-sketches]

✨Joffy B’s hair has anime tiddy physics✨

I spent like 3 hours on this by accident it’s 4 am helpp

#my art #animation #asoiaf #im aware its super inconsistent and jiggly but also i dont really care to fix it rn #i thot animating his hair would be fun uh its not #anyway show jeff is better bc he has nice short hair that isnt a nightmare to animate <3 #*joff ops #im leaving it as jeff