#but we also yet to see her evolve the way sansa stark did | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kellyvela · 3 years

Note

GRRM has said in interviews that he’s purposely played with the romantic tension between the hound and Sansa. What do you think the endgame purpose of the unkiss and that playing is meant to be for?

This is all what he said about the matter in question so far:

The Hound and Sansa, romantic or platonic? It could be very different things to each of those involved, mind you!

JUNE 24, 1999 THE HOUND AND SANSA

Moreta12: I understand, I’ve heard your opinion on that. In ACOK, it seems that the relationship between the Hound and Sansa had romantic undertones. Is that true?

GeoRR: Well, read the book and decide for yourself.

Moreta12: I’ve read the book and I’ve debated those particular scenes with a few others. Half say that it’s romantic and half say it’s platonic. I’ve taken the romantic stance.

GeoRR: It could be very different things to each of those involved, mind you

Moreta12:Yes, but it seem like evidence points towards romantic undertones. Will the Hound appear later?

GeoRR: Yes, the Hound will be in STORM OF SWORDS. In fact, I just finished writing a big scene with him.

[Source]

When will Sansa be “legal”? **ºª@”¡¿x<%$!&?

OCTOBER 05, 1999 AGE OF SEXUAL RELATIONS IN WESTEROS

The nature of the relationship between Sandor and Sansa has been a hot topic on Revanshe’s board. Sansa’s youth has been one focus of the discussion. What is the general Westerosi view as to romantic or sexual relationships involving a girl of Sansa’s age and level of physical maturity?

A boy is Westeros is considered to be a “man grown” at sixteen years. The same is true for girls. Sixteen is the age of legal majority, as twenty-one is for us.

However, for girls, the first flowering is also very significant… and in older traditions, a girl who has flowered is a woman, fit for both wedding and bedding.

A girl who has flowered, but not yet attained her sixteenth name day, is in a somewhat ambigious position: part child, part woman. A “maid,” in other words. Fertile but innocent, beloved of the singers.

In the “general Westerosi view,” well, girls may well be wed before their first flowerings, for political reasons, but it would considered perverse to bed them. And such early weddings, even without sex, remain rare. Generally weddings are postponed until the bride has passed from girlhood to maidenhood.

Maidens may be wedded and bedded… however, even there, many husbands will wait until the bride is fifteen or sixteen before sleeping with them. Very young mothers tend to have significantly higher rates of death in childbirth, which the maesters will have noted.

As in the real Middle Ages, highborn girls tend to flower significantly earlier than those of lower birth. Probably a matter of nutrition. As a result, they also tend to marry earlier, and to bear children earlier. There are plenty of exceptions.

[Source]

Unreliable Narrator

JUNE 26, 2001 SF, TARGARYENS, VALYRIA, SANSA, MARTELLS, AND MORE

[GRRM is asked about Sansa misremembering the name of Joffrey’s sword.]

The Lion’s Paw / Lion’s Tooth business (*), on the other hand, is intentional. A small touch of the unreliable narrator. I was trying to establish that the memories of my viewpoint characters are not infallible. Sansa is simply remembering it wrong. A very minor thing (you are the only one to catch it to date), but it was meant to set the stage for a much more important lapse in memory. You will see, in A STORM OF SWORDS and later volumes, that Sansa remembers the Hound kissing her the night he came to her bedroom… but if you look at the scene, he never does. That will eventually mean something, but just now it’s a subtle touch, something most of the readers may not even pick up on.

[Source]

(*) It was Arya who misremembered the name of Joffrey’s sword tho…

Unreliable Narrator 2.0

OCTOBER 05, 2002 SANSA’S MEMORY

[Note: This mail has been edited for brevity.]

… this is an inconsistency with ASoS more than an outright error. In ASoS, Sansa thinks that the Hound kissed her before leaving her room and King’s Landing. In ACoK, no kiss is mentioned in the scene, though Sansa did think that he was about to do so.

Well, not every inconsistency is a mistake, actually. Some are quite intentional. File this one under “unreliable narrator” and feel free to ponder its meaning

[Source]

Unreliable Narrator 3.0

NOVEMBER 27, 2007 GEORGE R.R. MARTIN ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS

Here’s a really particular question (which I realize means it probably won’t get asked in a general interview): In A Storm of Swords, there is a chapter early on where Sansa is thinking back to the scene at the end of A Clash of Kings when The Hound came into her room during the battle. She thinks in the chapter about how he kissed her, but in the scene in A Clash of Kings, this actually didn’t happen. Was that a typo or something? —Valdora

GRRM: It’s not a typo. It is something! [Laughs] ”Unreliable narrator” is the key phrase there. The second scene is from Sansa’s thoughts. And what does that reveal about her psychologically? I try to be subtle about these things.

[Source]

Sansa may be dead but Alayne is alive

APRIL 15, 2008 FUTURE MEETINGS, POVS, ARYA’S ROLE, EASTERN LANDS, AND ASSASSINS

[Will Sandor and Sansa meet?]

Why, the Hound is dead, and Sansa may be dead as well. There’s only Alayne Stone.

[Source]

A lot more dangerous than romantic

AUGUST 2, 2009 AS SER JORAH MORMONT…

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.

kestrana: The Hound Yeah its a “girl always wants the bad boy” kind of thing although Sansa seems to pull something else out of him. It feels so wrong sometimes but I want to see them together again tee hee.

weltraummuell: The Hound Hehe, George, maybe you didn’t intend it, but he turned out to be a very erotic character to female readers. Especially since he’s mutilated and dangerous. Makes him unpredictable and vulnerable which is the most explosive aphrodisiac for a girl’s fantasy. ;)

weltraummuell: The Hound And I know from discussions on other board other women feel just the same about Sandor. He’s an absolute favourite with the ladies!

halfbloodmalfoy: The Hound LOL, you’re such a man. To many of us women, dangerous *is* attractive.

GRRM: The Hound But no one has any love for poor old Sam Tarly, kind and smart and decent and devoted…

[Source]

I played with it but I didn’t get the answer I was waiting for

JUNE 22, 2012 SWORD & LASER VIDEO PODCAST

GRRM: I am sometimes surprised by the reactions, of women in particular, to some of the villains. The number of women over the years who have written to me that their favorite characters are Jaime Lannister or Sandor Clegane [the Hound] or Theon Greyjoy… All of these are deeply troubled individuals with some very dark sides, who have done some very dark things. Nonetheless, they do draw this response, and quite heavily, I think, in the case of some of them, from my female readers in particular.

Veronica Belmont: I’m a big fan of the Hound, myself, actually.

Tom Merritt: Of Sandor? Really?

Veronica Belmont: Yeah, the Hound… Maybe it’s not because I feel any compassion towards them, I’m not really sure what the attraction is. Ah, I’m not going to call it attraction, actually. Let’s just say it’s a fascination, perhaps.

GRRM: [Chuckles] Well, I mean, fascination is one thing, but some of these letters indicate that there really is like a romantic attraction going on there. And I do know there’s all these people out there who are, as they call themselves, the “San/San” fans, who want to see Sandor and Sansa get together at the end. So that’s interesting, too.

Tom Merritt: The TV show has sort of played with that a little, and probably stoked those fires.

GRRM: Oh, sure. And I’ve played with it in the books. There’s something there, but it’s still interesting to see how many people have responded to it.

[Source]

I played with it but I didn’t get the answer I was waiting for 2.0

JUNE 23, 2015 GRRM Q&A AT THE SCIENCE FICTION BOOKSTORE IN STOCKHOLM

Question: “Is there any fan reactions that you have been surprised by, like is there a character that’s more popular than you thought or have people been shocked by something you didn’t think we would be shocked at?”

GRRM: “I’m reasonably certain what people will be shocked by. I knew that the Red Wedding would provoke a big reaction and it did. I was pretty confident that, you know, throwing Bran out the window and then killing Ned in the first book would get reactions, and indeed they did. All of those worked exactly the way it did to the extent that things that have surprised me, they tend to be smaller things. I guess I… Maybe I should not have, I don’t know. How do I phrase this without getting myself in terrible trouble… I guess I don’t understand women, but I was definitely, you know, way back when, surprised by the number of women who reacted positively to characters like Theon and the Hound as dashing, romantic figures. The san/san kind of thing took me by surprise, I must admit, and even more so the women who, and there are some, who really like Theon. So that surprised me.”

[Source]

Unreliable Narrator 4.0

DECEMBER 2016 ASKING GEORGE R.R. MARTIN ABOUT S@N/S@N

My question is regarding Sansa Stark. Her sexuality has evolved through every book and yet the memory that seems to stick the more with her in this regard is the night of the Blackwater. So I was wondering if you can expand on your view on what this is, since as before that night her interactions with Sandor Clegane weren’t really physical.

The night of the Blackwater, yes. Ahhh… Well, I’m not going to give you a straight answer on that hahaha… Uhmmm, but I would say that ahhh… you know a television show and a book each has its own strengths and weaknesses; there a re tools that are available to me as a novelist, that are not available to people doing a television show. And of course there are tools available to them, that are not available to a novelist, I mean they can lay in a soundtrack, they can do special effects, they can do amazing things that I can’t do, I just have words on paper. What can I do, well I can use things like the internal narrative, I can take you inside of territories… thoughts, which you can’t do in a TV show… Ahhh… You just have the words they speak, you see them from outside because the camera is external, while prose is internal, and I have the device known as “unreliable narrator”… Ahhh… Which again, they don’t have. So, think about those two aspects when you consider that night of the Blackwater.

[Source]

Do with it what you will.

#anon asks #sansa stark #the so called unkiss #grrm #asoiaf

28 notes · View notes

dany-is-my-queen · 4 years

Text

Born To Be Yours | Part II

Sansa Stark x Fem! Baratheon! Reader (Daenerys Targaryen x Fem! Baratheon! Reader eventually)

Season 1-8

Word Count: 1,795

Note: I’m back!!!

Part 1 here Pt.3 Pt.4 Pt.5 Pt.6 Pt.7 Pt.8 Pt.9

“You shouldn’t interfere when it’s none of your business.” Joffrey was still angry with you.

“Don’t mess with the ladies and we’ll be in peace.” You calmly said.

“Always so honorable... the hero saving the day.” Your mother mocked.

“Why you say it like that, mother? I would do it over again, you are so heartless and extreme about little matters.” You rolled your eyes.

“You don’t care about your brother's honor. That’s the real reason you defended those pathetic girls.” She spat.

“I do care about him. It’s the other way around. You are a pampered kid. You should start acting more like a man, Joffrey.” And with that you left his room.

“May I come in, princess?” The sweet voice of the oldest Stark daughter rang. You were on just a pair of trousers, definitely not wearing proper clothes to be talking to her.

“Of course, my lady. Just give me a second, please.” You put on a dress. “Let her in.”

“I wanted to apologize for my earlier behavior. You saved my wolf’s life, I’ll be forever thankful, my princess.”

“It was the right thing to do. I would have preferred her to stay by your side, though.”

“She’ll find a new home. I hope she returns to the north, where she belongs.” You gave her a soothing smile. “Does prince Joffrey hates me?” She asked sadly.

“No no, he is just a bit... irritating and gets easily offended. But it’s not personal, my lady. You are promised to him so with time your relationship will evolve.”

“I hope so. I’ll leave you to enjoy your evening, my princess.”

“Lady Sansa, if you need someone to talk to you can always come to me. You and your sister. I pray for your little brother to wake up. She nodded.

“You are very kind.”

~~~~~~

“Did you found a suitable candidate up in the North, niece?” Uncle Renly asked with a droll voice.

“I met a boy... very good looking and a gentleman but he wasn’t my type. He’s the eldest son of Lord Eddard.”

“Sounds quite the man.”

“We didn’t have the chance to get closer so I’ll forget about him.” You might never see him again after all.

“Princess Y/N, what can I do for you?” The tall man greeted.

“I haven’t had the chance to thank you, my lord, for accepting to be the new hand. I know it was a difficult choice to make, leaving your home. My father really needs you. He lacks of loyal friends and I believe you’ll be very helpful around here.”

“Oh, I will do my best not to let Robert down.” He smiled.

“A raven came this morning. I- I forgot to deliver it earlier, my lord hand.” Maester Pycelle said with his usual stutter and left.

“Good news?”

“My Princess! I didn’t expect to see you.” A voice that didn’t please you stated.

“Lord Baelish.” You faked a perfect smile.

“Lord Stark, perhaps you’ll like to share the news with your wife.”

“She’s on Winterfell.”

“Is she?”

“I won’t tell my mother. Lord Baelish knows I can keep a secret. Can I join you?” The relation you had with Petyr was not the best. He informed you of things your parents won’t share with you. Despite that you never liked him nor his personality.

“Better not keep her waiting.” You reached his brothel unnoticed.

“I’ll talk to her when you’re done. I’m not a spy. I can be trusted but I prefer to stay out of your business, Lord Eddard.” And it was true. You had no interest in gossiping.

“Thank you.” They entered. Not before he took Baelish and throttle him suspecting this was a trick.

“Lady Catelyn.” You bowed your head.

“Princess Y/N, what a surprise...” She looked at you with dismay.

“It’s fine. I won’t tell a soul. I am glad to hear that little Bran is finally awake. And also, I wanted to let you know that I’ll keep your daughters safe. Now that you both are here I give you my word. My family is complicated and tends to have a reputation. I will look after Lady Sansa and Lady Arya, as long as I can, I promise.” Since the incident with the direwolves you had this enormous feeling of responsibility, deep down you knew their stay in King’s Landing won’t be as enjoyable as they thought. You hoped you were wrong. Prevention was a good idea.

“I will be in your debt, my princess. Knowing this gives me relief. It’s hard to find good people here in the capital.”

“It certainly is. Say hello to Lord Robb from me.” You wished her good travel home but sensed trouble in her.

~~~~~~

“Y/N! Want to spar? I’m so bored and Myrcella is doing lady stuff.” Tommen asked you, holding his little sword.

“That’s not proper for a princess to do and mother doesn’t approve.” Joffrey hissed.

“But father does. We are not useless like yourself, big brother.” You rumpled your brother’s hair. “Let’s go Tommen.” You found Arya in the courtyard with his dancing teacher. “Mind if we join the class?”

“This is Syrio Forel, he is from Braavos.”

“My Princess, my Prince.” He did a small reverence.

“I want to learn how to be a knight!” Tommen said excitedly. After a long time practicing you got tired. Syrio was surprised when he saw the way you wield the wooden blade.

“Natural talent, Princess Y/N.”

“Thank you. My father was the first person that taught me how to properly do it so I can defend myself when there are no guards around. Ser Jaime also instructed me of some techniques.”

“That’s my intent too. Not wearing dresses and attending to councils. I was born for this.” Arya said sure.

“No one will be able to stop you when you are old enough, perhaps not even now.” She grinned.

You could see yourself in this girl, you have a lot in common. She was fearless and didn’t seem to want to marry a lord and live in a castle. You could also see the similarities between Lady Sansa and you. You love to fight and go hunting, use a bow, but you knew how to weave as well, how to properly greet the lords and ladies, and you wished to get married someday. You were a proper daughter, with dignity and manners, your father was always more fond of you, your mother on the other hand... she loved you in her own way, you were the perfect child in everyone’s eyes.

“Lady Sansa, I am happy to know your brother is fine.” You put a hand on her shoulder.

“He won’t be able to walk ever again. But it was a miracle. Thanks for your prayers.” She answered.

“Would you like to visit the Throne Room? Your septa can join us.” She nodded.

“Someday your husband will sit there and you by his side, then you’re going to present your son to the court. All the important people of the Seven Kingdoms will gather here to see the prince.” Septa Mordane stated.

“What if I have a girl?” The Stark inquired.

“If the gods are good you’ll have girls and boys, plenty of them.”

“They all going to be beautiful children. Just like her mother.” You complemented.

“But if I only had girls...”

“The throne will pass to Tommen, my little brother.”

“And everyone will hate me.” She harried said.

“No one could ever hate you, Sansa.” Her septa affirmed.

“Your Septa is right, my lady. I already told you. As your friend, I won’t let anybody speak ill of you. Besides, you are lovely.” You squeezed her hand.

“Thank you, my princess.”

“Sansa, do you remember your lessons? Who built the Iron Throne?”

“Aegon the conqueror.”

“And who built the Red Keep?”

“Maegor the cruel. My grandfather and uncle were murdered here, by orders of the Mad King. Why?”

“You should speak to your father about these matters.”

“You are dismissed.” The old woman left. You walked towards the throne indicating her to follow you.

“Would you like to seat on the throne, my lady? It’s not a comfortable chair but it was forged from the one thousand swords that had been surrendered to Aegon in the War of Conquest by the lords who had offered their fealty, though the actual number of the swords is less than two hundred. These were melted down by the fiery breath of Balerion the Black Dread.” You conclude telling her.

“You seem to like these type of stories, Princess. Your knowledge for the topic is quite vast.” She was surprised yet amused.

“Yes, I enjoy to read and uncle Tyrion told me a lot about this when I was just a little girl. What kind of stories enthralled you, sweet lady?”

“The ones with honorable knights, chivalry and love.” A dreamt sigh left her mouth.

“I like those too. Especially this tale about Ser Florian called Florian the Fool, he was a legendary hero of the Riverlands from the Age of Heroes. He felt in love with a maiden named Jonquil. Singers compared the sudden marriage of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen and Queen Alysanne Targaryen to their great romance.

“I know that one! Is my favorite tale of all time. But I didn’t know they compared them with the Targaryens of that period. It’s very romantic.” She blushed a little.

“And one of the songs... I think this is how it goes, Six maids there were in a spring-fed pool... oh my gods! I sound terrible.”

“No! You have an adorable voice, princess Y/N.” You grinned.

“You are lying! I found that song a bit creepy. He was watching Jonquil and her sisters bathed. The face of the girl turned just like her hair. I didn’t mean to ruin it.” Both of you laughed.

“It’s alright. I still love it.” The throne room was never your favorite place to be, it was hollow and boring. You imagine all the horrible things that happened here. But now with the presence of such a pretty lass it felt different, not gloomy at all.

The next day it was the tournament in the name of Eddard Stark. Though the man didn’t attend. You sat next to the oldest Baratheon boy. Tommen was inpatient so as your father. Lady Sansa smiled at your brother but he looked away, avoiding her completely.

“Is it so hard to be nice at your lady?”

“Shut up.” You return the smile to her. She was half disappointed it wasn’t Joffrey and half happy you did notice her.

“Start the damn joust before I pissed myself!” And the opponents made their appearance. Ready to begin.

#sansa stark x reader #sansa x reader #game of thrones shot #game of thrones fic #got #baratheon reader #sansa x fem baratheon reader

135 notes · View notes

esther-dot · 3 years

Note

I think S& & S8 Jon will be miles away from book Jon. 1. Tyrion is a villain and won't be Jon's conscience. 2. Dark Dany won't be hidden. She is right out there in the open at the end of ADWD. 3. (echoing you) Jon's WHOLE journey so far is preparing him to meet Dany and we see how he responds. 4. Death & the following fallout at the wall from his mistakes won't make Jon nicer or MORE honest, but darker, more violent I think & even more pragmatic. There are no heroes if you want to save the world

It’s such a shame they only gave glimpses of a darker Jon in the show (nearly beating Ramsay to death with his hands) rather than really leaning into it. I mean, they kept Cersei in power. They could have totally had him want to wage war in the South, make him want to take her down, and that would have been additional motivation for him to ignore the warnings about Dany. Then they wouldn’t have had to strip him of a coherent story s7-8. He not only needed Dany’s army for defeating the Others, he also wanted to protect the Starks from the threat in the South and knew he’d need Dany for that too. Sansa would never be safe until Cersei was taken care of. I kinda wonder if that may have been included if they hadn’t just dropped all logic and ended in an abbreviated season.

As it is, it’s hard to take anything they did with him in the show post s6 too seriously because their version just makes no sense. And, even when they were working with book material, they characterized him as so much less intelligent than book Jon, and softer, that it it’s pretty clear they didn’t like the cunning side of him. I really like that moment in the books when he talks to Mance and he says, “Did you see where they put the bastard?” I mean, I’m not saying that he’ll pull something similar to assure Dany of his loyalty, “I was born the son of a Targaryen and raised the usurper’s dog’s bastard” but…. There are a lot of great Jon moments, but that one hits me so hard because it did hurt him to be excluded, and yet the boy was on a mission and knew just how to play it. And of course, we have him frightening Gilly, and while it was for the greater good, it is a dark moment for him. I don’t think he’s coming back more reluctant to achieve his ends than before simply because...why would betrayal and death make you nicer?

Still, I do try to think of what could make things go the other way…I have wondered if the double whammy of being murdered and then finding out Ned lied to him his entire life would send him into such a spiral that he would do something totally unpredictable, but finding out about his parentage also means realizing that Ned risked it all to protect him. There’s no way Jon doesn’t feel the weight of that. I mean, he used Ned sleeping with someone other than his wife as a way to make himself feel better about Ygritte, but now he finds out Ned was actually a better man than he knew. So, yes, his world is upside down, but I don’t see what could possibly make him less loyal to the Starks.

Your last sentence is a great one, and even if betrayal/death/his life being a lie disillusions Jon and makes him want to give up fighting for humanity, I think Jon’s reunion with the living Starks would be all he needed to keep fighting. The show really undercut just what the Starks mean to each other, how much joy and courage their memories give them. I am of the opinion that Jon is/will be Sansa’s hero, and I think the idea isn’t “there are no heroes,” but rather, to say, there are heroes. But being a hero is a kind of hell. Being a hero requires sacrifice. Being a hero involves getting one’s hands dirty. Being a hero is ugly. Being a hero hurts.

I’m so curious to see how Martin writes Jon going forward. I wonder if he’s struggled to evolve Jon or if he’s enjoyed it.

#ask dot

34 notes · View notes

scarmander · 5 years

Text

Women, power and anger

An analysis of Game of Throne’s misogyny regarding Daenerys Targaryen in the last two seasons.

This is a very long rant. It’s over 4000 words. I needed to get this off my chest because it helps with my grieving process.

A quick summary: I try to figure out when the show decided they wanted to go with the ‘Mad Queen’ bullshit theory. I try to undertand why they’ve done her so dirty lately. Spoiler alert. It’s not pretty.

So, if you want to know

Game of Thrones has been known for its brutality, its shocking twists and deaths and ruthless scriptwriting. It is also known for having ‘strong’ female characters amidst broken journeys and fallen heroes. In a sea of raped, enslaved, prostituted and belittled women our female protagonists were born. From those patriarchaly imposed positions of subordination Daenerys Stormborn, Yara Greyjoy, Missandei of Naath, Brienne of Tarth, Sansa Stark and Arya Stark were hatched from the fossilized shells of the broken bodies and souls the male characters had made of them. They rose from their own ashes, time and time again, made themselves stronger with every blow men would throw their way. We watched them grow, evolve, fear, feel, fail and win for years, watched them become more than what their society wanted them to be, more than what they were allowed to be. They became rule-breakers, game changers, rulers and warriors. But that was until the show had decided that the end was coming and everything ought to be put back into order. The patriarchal one, that is.

It is my belief that everything changed the moment when Daenerys Targaryen, undoubtedly the most empowered and powerful woman on this show, decided to sail for Westeros with her fleet, three female allies (Yara Greyjoy, Ellaria Sand, Olenna Tyrell), the three dragons she had given birth to and the ‘largest army the world had ever seen’. Imagine the audacity of a woman accomplishing all of that. So, it is on this character that I will put my focus on, I’m also super fucking biased, but whatever, I would gladly do an entire essay on how they’re ruining every female character in this show. Anyway, back to Dany T. main female protagonist, the woman with the most amount of screen time (behind the two male protagonists Jon and Tyrion).

Let’s talk about the audience’s opinion of Daenerys. Truth be told, Daenerys’ influence and might as a character has already greatly surpassed the show’s realm, and that for a very long time. Even in the first seasons where she didn’t actually get that much screen time, she made a mark. And she has grown increasingly more so over the years. She has become an icon of pop culture to the point where people who are unfamiliar with the show recognize her. Now, this might have in part been facilitated by her peculiar looks and strange-sounding name, but Daenerys Targaryen is known worldwide for having power. She is primarily known for one thing: she has dragons. She’s the Dragon Queen, the Mother of Dragons. And those dragons are the physical representation of her inner strength. The only reason she has those dragons is because she walked into her husband’s funeral pyre and hatched them from stone like she hatched herself out of the stony shell of a weary, fearful teenage girl the world had forced her into being. And out of that pyre came out dragons and a woman with so much might the world watched in awe. Some people may call her Khaleesi, an unusual title which has stuck into people’s minds to the point where non-watchers recognize the title as her name. She is the most recognizable character in the show to the point where her hair colour has been a trend that has become every hair stylist’s worst nightmare, where people have named their children and pets after her and her title. She is also noticeably the show’s best marketing strategy, she is the one with the most personally dedicated amount of merchandising, and is relentlessly used by HBO’s marketing team to promote the show. But I digress. Sort of. The amount of power her character has both on and off-screen is indisputable and is probably what led us to the gigantic mess that has been season 8. She has too much power. Even away from the show’s narrative. She has had an impact on women. She has marked us, branded us with her might. And the show does not know how to handle this.

So, Daenerys, one of the most iconic female characters of this generation goes to Westeros. Unluckily for her, her arrival into Westeros also coincided into her arriving into the male protagonist’s territory. And that was the show’s last straw in deciding to let women have that much power. This is her fatal flaw, existing in the same realm as the male protagonist. The writers realized right then and there that they had greatly miscalculated. Because of how much power they had let Daenerys accumulate over the years she had spent far far away from the male protagonist’s character arc, she had become a threat to the sacred male character’s hero journey. See, that’s the issue with having a strong female character that you let grow into her own power for 7 seasons, where she is free to go into conflict with men after men after men who all share the same unlucky traits: they are all both non-white and not the main male protagonist. So, Daenerys brings them all to their doom, they try to tackle her, try to diminish her, take her power away. They try, all of them, so many times. And they all inevitably fail. Because she is powerful. And men and women alike bow to her when they realize her might and her power. She is a goddess incarnate, dragons or not. She is so powerful fire dares not harm her. She is unique, mystical, mythical and strong. And not only is she powerful and strong, she is beloved by her people, her own soldiers follow her not out of fear but out of complete devotion, because she frees them, gives them the freedom she had wished someone would give her and finally realized she had to give to herself. She is a woman. She is their mother. She has power. She frees people, loves them, inspires them and has so much power the world shakes beneath her feet and fire fears her wrath.

And then comes season 7, along with Jon Snow, D&D, and Tyrion’s shitty battle plans. Whatever, it’s all one and the same. It’s all there to take her out piece by piece. That’s it, that’s been the show for two seasons now and I wish I had realized it earlier. I mean, I had my moments of realization here and there, but damn was I severely unprepared.

In Season 7 episode 2, Daenerys has a council made up of 4 women (Olenna, Ellaria, Yara, Missandei) and 3 men (Varys, Tyrion, Theon – and I’m only including Theon out of pity). By episode 3, Daenerys has 1 woman – Missandei, who unlike the other women does not advise her on military tactics – left in her council, and just as many men. Hell, by episode 5, she has gained three more men who ‘advise’, or more accurately question her every move. Jorah (I mean not you bby, come back to us), Jon and Davos, who is more of a comic relief personal pep-talker than anything else. But Varys and Tyrion’s advice grows like ivy and tries to strangle Daenerys from every angle. They try to control her more and more with every episode.

How the hell did I not notice right there and then where this was going? I don’t know, call me blinded by love.

How the hell did Daenerys end up with so few women left in her council? Men happened. The writers, the characters, all of them. That is literally the first thing they did to her storyline in season 7. It went something like this:

1) Get Daenerys to Dragonstone.

2) Get Ellaria and Yara out and destroy some of those ships, she has too many ships, that’s bad, can’t have her be too powerful.

3) Get Olenna out, but like, not at the exact same time because that would be too conspicuous, let’s wait another episode or two. Oh, and take out some of those Unsullied soldiers and even more of her fleet.

4) After one fucking badass battle let’s kill two random traitor assholes who have sided with the queen who murdered their former queen and daughter of their liege lord, their liege lord, their liege lord’s son and a good chunk of King’s Landing’s population on the field of battle who have refused her generous offer to get their titles and lands back if they just join her against the murderous queen. And also that one offer of going to the wall to protect the realm. They refuse. She kills them. Tough luck, bitch. Bad choice, should have probably offered them a cup of tea and a warm blanket instead as they went back to King’s Landing to fight you and kill your army at their nearest convenience. You fucked up because idk, Dickon was kinda hot I guess. Yeah and also they have names and one relative people know on the show, so that’s bad for you. Randyll and Dickon Tarly. You don’t know it yet, but this one is gonna be bad for you because you are now evil and your hand and his shitty bff are now saying you are mad. Maybe you should have been, maybe you should have killed them both too. If only. Sigh.

5) Have her lose a dragon. Give it to the Night King instead, she is too powerful.

6) Have her fall in love with the man who would bring her doom. Have her save his life. Have her think that maybe she deserves something good as she grieves her child’s death. They decide he’s the one who is going to kill her. Because having her become mad isn’t bad enough. She has to be killed by the one man she has let herself love not out of obligation but out of mutual admiration.

7) Make her promise to help defeat the Night King and go North to fight him.

Now, they take all that away from her. But they give her a love story with Jon Snow in return. And you think, alright, at least she’s not alone in this world.

And then we move on to season 8. The ultimate acceleration of events because they realized that they needed to wrap this shit up and that people didn’t hate her enough. So, Season 8 is where you learn that the plot twist to end them all was that Jon Snow was going to be the one who destroyed everything Daenerys has and is and will be the death of her. Groundbreaking work there. I wonder if GRRM has the same ending planned. So here’s the plan in Season 8:

1) Get Daenerys to WinterHell. Everyone is behaving like assholes. Bran is a cold little bitch who’s like “remember your dragon? Your dead dragon? He’s back and now he wants us all dead yayyy” and she has like zero seconds to process it because ‘we don’t have time for all this’. But you know what we have time for? Sansa hating her. The xenophobic MAGAs hating her. That’s valuable screentime. Sansa hates her for daring to bring her SoLdIeRs to her HoUsE and her DrAgOnS who she can’t believe are there to fight. Sansa brings up food issues when she knows the wall has been breached and the Night King is bound to arrive very shortly. She knows Daenerys isn’t going to stay here very long. Doesn’t matter. She (the writers) wants to be angry and petty and so she is. Because we couldn’t possibly have women collaborating on this show. Not after last season! Notice how they left out every single woman in Dany’s circle? Cause who would want THAT. Am I right MEN? I hope the meninists are having a good time.

2) Jon doesn’t comfort her much, doesn’t defend her much. He’s there. Like, he’s a physical man who barely says anything and is there. His purpose is to be… There, I guess. Good for him. He has everyone’s support anyway. He’s a man and he’s there. That’s all they ask of him. He’s not formally the King but he is the King anyway. He has the power. He makes the decisions. He’s a man.

3) Daenerys gives Jon access to her dragon. The one she gave metaphorical birth to. The one she walked into a pyre for. He has it. He has access to her power.

4) Jon now knows who he is. The man who tells him is that one relative of the family that Daenerys killed last season. He hates her. He tells Jon to take her throne, that it’s his anyway because he’s a man. He says that Daenerys is evil and should bend the knee to him. Jon then ignores Daenerys for at least an entire day while she has to face the man who killed her father, made her a homeless orphan on the run who lived on the streets, in fear, running away from assassins. She is angry but listens to a woman’s tale about him, asks for Jon’s opinion on the matter. She lets him have the decision.

5) The Night King comes. Daenerys’ armies are first in line and defend WinterHell with everything they have. Daenerys herself is first in line. Jon Snow wants to wait around. Daenerys has a sudden jolt of independence run through her spine, claims back her own authority and climbs on her dragon, burns as many wights as she can. Jon Snow follows her mechanically, like a lost puppy, gets attacked by the Night King and Viserion. This injures Rhaegal. Daenerys knocks evil Mr. Freeze down from HER precious bby boy and tries to burn him. It doesn’t work. She saves Jon’s life a second time in the process. And then a third, risking her and her dragon’s life for him. She ends up on the ground, with her oldest friend with a sword made of dragonglass and fights for her life. Her oldest friend dies in her arms.

6) And so it goes down from here.

This is the moment you’d think SOMEONE somewhere would show the tiniest fucking bit of sympathy, of gratitude. And they don’t.

What we got instead in Episode 4 was Daenerys being alone as Jon was being praised for her accomplishments. Jon falls upward as Daenerys faces consequences for her actions, good or bad, it doesn’t matter. Daenerys faces consequences because the show wants her to. She is alone. She begs Jon not to tell anyone about his ‘rightful claim’. He betrays her and tells his family. She has warned him Sansa can’t be trusted. Turns out Sansa can’t be trusted. And on it goes as Sansa, Tyrion and Varys plot behind her back to make sure that Jon falls upward for the uptenth time, Varys even going as far as to suggest killing her. His reason is that she is a woman and he can’t control her. That is Daenerys’ biggest crime on this show. And it won’t let her live it down. Hell, they’ll kill her for it. There is talk of a wedding between Jon and Daenerys. Somehow this is a bad idea because she is too strong and cannot be controlled.

She is too strong. Too much. Too powerful. That is Daenerys’ problem. She is too much and too much of a she. She is a dragon they cannot tame.

7) And just because she hasn’t had enough already they kill another one of her dragons for shock value, out of nowhere, with no purpose whatsoever but to show that they could. That she would be ‘mad’. That this somehow was the point of her character. It feels gross and unjustified.

8) And then, because why the fuck not at this point, fam, they go and execute Missandei. It has no purpose other than to show us that they put a former slave back into chains to kill her, to make Daenerys and Greyworm angry. That is what her life is worth. Her value will be the sum of two other character’s madness level.

And the countdown accelerates.

Let’s go back to when everything changed for Daenerys Targaryen. Let’s go back to Season 7, Episode 3. The moment where Daenerys Targaryen met with Jon Snow, hero extraordinaire, broody, rugged, manly and characteristically lacking of ambition. Jon Snow is a Bildungsroman’s wetdream of a protagonist. A poor little bastard boy hated and mistreated by his (semi-evil) stepmother who somehow rises to great heights despite everything adversity has thrown his way and who somehow ends up being the Chosen One to lead them all out of the darkness and to fight evil. Like Harry Potter, Frodo Baggins, King Arthur and countless other Christ-like figures before him, Jon Snow is good. That’s it, that’s all there is. That’s all you need to know about him, that’s all the story wants you to know about him. He is good. Sure he makes mistakes, but he’s good. He’s killed a child but he had his reasons, he killed a man begging for his life, but he had disobeyed him. He is good. And to top it all off, the lucky bastard just might happen to be a man. He is therefore the Chosen One. He is thus because he is He.

In Season 7, Episode 2 when Melisandre introduced to the audience the show’s own version of an Arthurian prophecy – Azor Ahai or: ‘the prince that was promised will bring the dawn’ – the show had its last inkling of an ability to pretend that they could somehow have a woman be a hero. Daenerys’ only female adviser and personal translator Missandei of Naath (a former slave they had captured and chained last episode just to kill her, in case you’d ever think the only woman of color in this show could die as a free woman) pointed out that that the High Valyrian word for ‘prince’ is genderless and that it could mean that Daenerys might also fit that prophecy. They also introduced the idea that BOTH Daenerys and Jon would play a role in this. I was fine with this. I thought all of their parallels from previous seasons meant that their fates were linked and that they would be two sides of the same coin.

If only the show had stopped right there. If only they hadn’t even tried to bring that up when they didn’t need to, when they didn’t even need to pretend to care. I’m wondering what the purpose of this line was. What was the meaning? A red herring? A last sliver of hope? Their last attempt at trying to pretend women mattered as more than canon fodder to further narratives, as more than bodies to be used and killed for entertainment’s purposes? It doesn’t matter. The very next episode sent off the ticking time bomb on Daenerys’ life.

In Season 7 Episode 3, Daenerys Targaryen met Jon Snow. The writers called it “A meeting of Ice and Fire” continuing on their claim that this is what the entire show had been leading up to, that even in Season 1, GRRM had told them that this was important, that the story was about these two characters coming together. I was pumped. I was rejoicing. The whole meaning of the show was right in front of me. And here’s how it happened: they made Daenerys look smug and entitled, having Jon Snow look humble and measured in comparison and when I watched it, I was taken aback, I didn’t understand what they were doing. I remember thinking that the way they were framing it looked weird because she was just as much of a protagonist as he was. I had been stupid enough to think the show could have a female protagonist when they already had a male protagonist.

The show wanted you to side with Jon Snow. The show wanted to make it clear that if you had to choose between Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow, you would choose Jon Snow. Humble, measured, naïve, male Jon Snow.

The ‘General Audience’ caught onto that. The moment Daenerys’ set her eyes on Jon Snow, she had lost. You should go and have a look on the comments of the Youtube videos of their first meeting. On that day, Daenerys was the villain. She lost that day, because she was in the man’s way. Because she spoke to him and didn’t bow. Because she stood there, fire and might, and didn’t let him take everything from her right on the spot. He was asking her to lay her entire life’s goals aside to help him with nothing in return. She was painted as arrogant for not bending to him and his will on the spot.

If only things had stayed that way. If only she’d stayed ‘arrogant’ and hadn’t let him close. Would she still become ‘mad’? Would she still lose it all anyway to make sure he would get it all in the end? Probably. Because why not? Why would the show give the most powerful woman any other outcome?

I guess the moral of this story is that women are only allowed to have power as long as it doesn’t interfere with a man’s ability to have more power than they do. And isn’t that what Varys has been telling us in the latest episode? That Daenerys and Jon would never be able to rule together because she was too strong for him and would bend him to her will? Because what could be worse than a strong woman having power? A strong woman potentially having power over a man. And so the ticking clock went off on Daenerys’ life. Her time has run out, because the show needs to have the male hero to win over everything, and if he can’t because a woman is in the way of the inherent inevitable male-centric greatness he will stumble and fall into reaching... Well then, it’s the woman’s fault and she angry and mad. So Daenerys will be mad and angry and hysterical and evil and he will kill her. Take that, woman she show tells you. Take that and die. We don’t need you when we have a male protagonist.

In a way, this show will end quite like the fairy tales warned us it would. The white knight, the Chosen One, the Prince that was promised, in his shining armour of goodness will swoop in and kill the evil dragon(Queen) to save the realm. And if this is a fairy tale then the dragon had it coming for daring to stand in the hero’s way. Perhaps the dragon ought to have apologized and stepped aside, perhaps the dragon ought to have known its place. Perhaps the fairy tale’s magic kingdom should have stopped the dragon’s rise before. And they did try. All of those men are knights, even the worst slavers of them all. Knights because they fought the dragon. They died trying to take her down. Perhaps they were right, then to try and defeat her. Perhaps it is sad, after all that the dragon took those poor men down. But it’s alright, the male protagonist will win. Because that’s what he does.

But if this is winning then why does it feel like rage and fire?

Because somehow the dragon is every woman. “You are a dragon” is what this show is telling me, as if that was a bad thing. “You are a dragon. You are too much. You ask too much. We will not bow to you, begone, be slain, you are in the man’s way. You are a hiccup in his rise to greatness. You will be killed prophetically and be swept aside and the hero, the man – the words somehow become synonymous – will inevitably win. And down you will go, defeated and broken. You and your might. You and your will. You and your power. Bow to us, woman, to our will, wishes, words and actions. Bow to us.”

The show wants me and you to know that. The show wants you to see what happens to women who stand in the way of men’s ascension to power, who are too powerful, who are too much for the story to handle. You are a dragon and you will die.

But dragons are fire made flesh risen from the ashes and dragons do not go down without a fight.

In a show that wants women to gaze adoringly at the male protagonists, women like Daenerys Targaryen have no place. They have no place because the show cannot fathom how someone could take her seriously, could value her efforts and her strengths when men are… There. That’s all they need to be.

And from that same patriarchal cesspool of a show/fictional society was also born Cersei Lannister, evil queen incarnate. She was the protagonists’ – male and female – foil, their enemy, and she still is somehow, but she is also apparently doomed to be the female protagonist’s future. Cersei is evil because she has power. Cersei is bad because she is a madwoman. Cersei is all of your fairy tale’s evil spinsters. Cersei is in the way of a man’s greatness. And Cersei is Daenerys’ future as much as she is Sansa’s, or mine or yours. Bow down, women. Or be villains.

And so, in Season 8 Episode 4, as they tried to tear down at the last piece’s of the main female protagonist’s might they ignited the enraged fire that women try to swallow back down with every breath, for fear of being slain for having shown too much power and might. And the audience has never loved Daenerys more than it does now. The audience has done the unexpected. People who hated her now want her to burn the world down. People who already loved her have never wanted her to use her might as much as they do now.

“Dracarys” was Missandei’s last word. The show didn’t seem to realize it was a call to arms. “Women everywhere, join her and burn it down” seems to be the meaning the audience got from Missandei. I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment.

The show wants me to think that ‘Dracarys’ was meant to take down the Cerseis of the world. It didn’t realize it made me want to take it down.

Maybe the show is right, maybe I, too, am a dragon ready to be slain. But if that’s the case I’m not going down without burning everything to the ground. Try and take me down, assholes.

#daenerys targaryen #a long ass meta #game of thrones #got #anti got #i can't believe i wrote all of that #god where was that person when i was in school and needed to write papers #feminism #pro daenerys

703 notes · View notes

julibf · 5 years

Text

WHY THE END OF GAME OF THRONES IS NOT WORKING FOR ME....

I told in some of my past metas, that I wrote after the show was done, why the ending was so unsatisfying and I am going to try to explain why here in some point. Its not because it was sad and heartbreaking, or some of our theories never really turned out to be true.

I am afraid to say, Its George RRM who is letting me down, not Benioff and Weiss. So lets start with the points that are making my head spin.

BRAN THE BROKEN KING

If accept Bran Stark as the final King of this story, I have to pretend I didnt read the past books A CLASH IF KINGS and a FEAST FOR CROWS, where we had very good contenders fighting for the Throne (Rob Stark, Renly Baratheon, Stannis Baratheon, Joffrey Baratheon, etc) Yes, some of those men were not so good from a moral point of view, but they brought strength, militar support, militar and political alliances, legitimate claims to the Throne...

I could go on and on and on. There is absolutely no reason for why would Yara Greyjoy would bend the knee to Brandon Stark and accept him as her leader and ruler; or the Prince of Dorne, or the Lords from the Westerlands. This choice is absolutely absurd and if you read the books you would know that picking a boy king, with no claim to the Throne or no powerful armies makes any sense at all. Whe we add the fact Bran had hardly any experience ruling or leading people during the 7 years of this story, this pic gets even more and more bizarre.Not to mention, I really dislike the idea that humans are incapable to control their own emotions, and because of that we must pick a God like creature with no emotions.

I understand George wanted a surprising ending and he wanted to go against the expectations, but this choice is an utopia. I cant get behind this choice. I am sorry.

TYRION HAND OF THE KING

Again, do I have to pretend I didnt read the books and actually know that being a Kingslayer is a very terrible sin to carry on Westeros??? Tyrion is not a beloved figure in this story, even before he killed his own father, Tywin Lannister.

Tyrion decision to kill his father, not only started the downfall of House Lannister, it also made the entire region of the Westerlands political weaker and more vulnerable to future attacks.He must be a very despised figure in the entire realm. Yet, he will be the second person in charge of Westeros??

At this point I am at loss of words. I have no idea what George is planning with this.

JON KILLING DAENERYS AS A LOVER IS A TERRIBLE IDEA.

Awful, terrible, horrible idea. Any way you slice, this was a terrible idea to end such amazing novel. Its corny, outdated and down right dangerous, considering we live in a world where females are at risk of being murdered by their male partners all the time.

This is such underwhelming decision, in a sea of underwhelming decisions that I am starting to think George was simply trying to make us all hate this ending.

We could have the realm raising in Rebelion against the Queen of Ashes; we could have second Dance of Dragons; We could have Arya using her underused superpowers as a Faceless men to kill Daenerys. No, we will have Jon Snow, still making excuses for Daenerys terrible behavior, begging her to start acting better???? telling her she will always be his queen while putting a dagger into her heart!!!

Again, this ending is coming from George himself. I cant really blame the D’s for this mess.

JON SNOW AND DAENERYS TARGARYEN ROMANCE WAS ANOTHER TERRIBLE IDEA.

Awful, terrible, horrible idea. Any way you slice, this was a terrible idea to end such amazing novel. If you dont believe Political Jon theory, then Jon Snow is just a completely fool, who fell in love with a tyrant, closed his eyes to all her terrible behavior and in the end was forced to kill the love of his life to save humanity. He is a idiot. and it breaks my heart that this is how Jon Snow will be remembered by audiences. Some people keep on telling me. “Oh, by, I dont think this is how George will write him, I think its going to be much better” But I have to say, I dont think it will.

I do believe Jon was playing Dany in the beginning of their romance and was manipulating her in order to use her dragons and armies to save the North, but I also believe that once he finds out she is his family too, he became a little torned between his Targ and Stark family. He is a family man in the end of the day and he must feel some sort of guilty for his actions towards D@ny.

I think that George will keep Political Jon hidden between the lines, just like the show did. He may write much better and be more obvious, but I dont think it will ever be revealed explicit to the audience. And this is what kills his character. If he doesnt reveal to the audience that Jon was playing Daenerys, than it seems Jon Snow never really learned anything from his past 10 years and it sucks!!

No matter how you slice it, if George will keep Jon’s actions hidden and make the audience believe he is madly in love with this entitled monster and will keep on defending her until the very end and this is the character assassination of Jon Snow.

If, he is madly in love with Dany and has to be told several times that he must kill her to save the world from her tyranny, he is an IDIOT who never learned a damn thing in his life. If he DOESNT love Dany, but out of duty still is loyal to her, and has to be told several times to kill her in order to save the world, he is an IDIOT who never fucking learns anything. I dont get what George is doing here. He is destroying the character he spend so much time bulding as a hero, but that's exactly what he wants to do it. Maybe there are NO HEROS. (what a shit message).

I wished Jon and Dany had been just allies and later became enemies. This would be a much better ending for both characters.

CHARACTERS ARCS THAT SEEMS POINTLESS BY THE END OF THE STORY....

Jaime can not put Cersei behind him and comes back to die with her in the end;

Jon Snow can never, ever, ever learn with his mistakes and is still struggling after so much pain and misery in his life, over duty and honour.

Jon Snow years and years learning to be a leader and ruler is absolutely pointless and he is sent back to the Wall, where he started???

Sansa, who dreamed about love and family all 5 novels, ends this story completely alone;

Arya, who desperate wanted to go back home since season 1, leaves once again, this time for good??? leaving her younger brother alone in the South (where Stark men dont do well), her sister alone in Winterfell and Jon all alone at the Wall. WHAT THE FUCK?????

Daenerys can never overcome her family tragedy of Fire and Blood, and becomes the monster her father was;

In fact, it seems that its impossible for humans to evolve and become better people than their parents, a God like creature must rule us all, otherwise we are lost. (I can not repeated enough times, what terrible message this ending is, and its no even true!!!!, we live in a world of no magic, and we were able to produce rules who brought us peace, progress and humanity.)

THE COMPLETE LACK OF JOY, LOVE AND HOPE....

What really got me by surprise in the end, it was how sterile and hopeless this entire story felt. George once said that he writes so much violence, deaths and rapes in his novels because it is part of real medieval life and would be a lie to avoid those themes in his books, but you know whats also real part of medieval life?? Marriages? Marriage alliances, happy normal ones, who produce children, heirs, LIFE, FUTURE!!!

Oh we had weddings on ASOIAF, but most of them ended in slaughter, death, rape, misery. I dont think we had one happy birth inthis entire story? Gilly had a child from her father rapist and Edmure was able to produce a child too, but his bride Roselin was actualy in tears when they had sex (because she was aware of the Red Wedding plans)

What a miserable tale this was. Our heros never really get to experience real joy. They never get to fullfill their childhood dreams. But they do get to be raped and abused, so, maybe thats ALL IT REALLY happened in the medieal times. Oh wait, its not tue, The War of the Roses ended with the marriage of Henry Tutor and Elizabeth of York. They had a very happy marriage and produced several children.

In our story, we dont get to have laughter, joy, happiness or hope for a future. We do get several pages of Theon being tortured and dismembered in the books; or Sansa being physically and mentally abused; or Jon being consumed by loneliness and grief. But I guess, thats all it happened in the medieval times, so..........

Funny thing is, you see, before the story started, marriages and children were a common occurence in Westeros. Ned and Cat had several children; Cersei and Robbert had 3; Lysa was able to produce a child too; The Tyrells keep on making babies, even God damn Lyanna Stark, who only spent a few months married to Rheagar, was able to had a child. What miracle, its almost like those events were normal facts in those days.

In our story, no House can produce children, even bastards!!! Jon, Theon and Tyrion had quite lots of sex during this story, yet no children was ever produced. Maybe all men in Westeros became sterile, once ASOIAF started it.

AS YOU SEE....

By the end of the day, I am disappointed in George, not really the TV show, which is even more sadder. I think he wrote a very beautiful story, but his ending is taking away all my joy for those characters and this novel. I know he wanted avoid the expected and subvert the expectations, but he is shooting his own story in their foot. And its braking my heart.

What terrible way to end such fascinating tale...

“[Bran] will be a good ruler bc he’s inhuman - which is a very depressing message. GoT was always about the struggle between human good & human evil w/in each person. Bran being king suggests that the solution to human evil isn’t human good, it’s being not human.”

ALT SHIFT X described in great words, how I felt about this ending, and you could sense his disappointment in the final message of this story too. It's was an extremely nihlistic ending. Westeros hasn't changed in facts it's worse politically.

A SONG OF ICE ANF FIRE VS LORD OF THE RINGS....

Now, lets compare this to LORD OF THE RINGS ending, who also got a bittersweet ending. Remember, George RRM is always comparing those stories and believes he is having a conversation to Tolkien.

Honest to God, in comparison LOTR looks like a Disney movie. It has a beautiful coronation ceremony, humanity came together to save the world from evil, and THEY TRIUMPHED!!!! There is JOY, LOVE, HOPE. Aragorn is King of the Reunited Kingdom, the people love and admire him (can we say the same about King Bran?) .

He marries his childhood love, Arwen and produce an heir. This brings hope and a sense of future for the reader. This story is uplifting, its inspiring, its quite frankly, a good story.

Its impossible not feel good about this story and the ending is one of the reasons this story has touched so many people, from all over the world and has remained a classic. Because, the tale of humanity coming together to defeat the evil is a theme that its always occurring in our life times. This is something that Tolkien experienced personally, having to fight in the WWII.

The nazis were defeated because several countries, put aside their differences and fought for the good of humanity and yes, it is possible. And after WWII we actually managed to achieve a lot of humans rights for several people who were considered less in the early century.

In GOT there was no joy or celebration, no weddings to form new alliances; to make peace; no births to bring new heirs, to bring a hope for the future. In fact, most wedding in the show were always associated with death and pain. Death and pain, yes, there was a lot of death and pain in ASOAIF. Thats all it has to offer the reader and viewer? Death, pain and misery??

I understand that George wanted to do the different and not give what the reader really wanted. But I have to be honest to you, in my opinion, this was a unfulfilling, uninspiring, unpleasant story. I said a few times, i have no desire to re read those long books. This story brought me no joy. And I understand that, stories are not obliged to bring us joy, but, they are supposed to make sense. And, I just dont think the ending made a lot of sense for those who read the books. Hey, maybe that was our mistake. Hee

What sad story :/

#jonsa #sansa stark #jon and sansa #season 8 #game of thrones

188 notes · View notes

pax-2735 · 4 years

Text

GoT Fanfic: Come Into My Parlor (3/3)

Words of caution: This part has supernatural elements (sort of), implied murder, smut and dark! Jon - consider yourselves warned.

If you wanna play catch up, here’s part 1 and part 2.

Summary: When Sansa goes to the Targaryen’s annual Halloween bash, the last thing she expected was to come face to face with her demons.

Come into my parlor

It was only after his footsteps faded, the sound of a door closing in the distance, that Sansa forced her own feet to start moving. Not towards the now dim sounds of the party, no. The last thing she wanted at the moment was to go back in there and risk another chance encounter. It was hard to imagine this night getting any shittier but the way the universe was treating her lately… she wasn’t about to take any chances.

Turning around, she went in the opposite direction.

Which is how she finds herself in her current predicament.

This must be the Halloween party from hell, she thinks grimly, as she rounds yet another corner and comes face to face with four different corridors, all leading in opposite directions.

How the fuck did I get fucking lost INSIDE this motherfucking house? How is that even fucking possible?

She knows her English Lit teacher would probably be appalled at the lack of creativity behind that sentence but right now she doesn’t give a flying fuck. Isn’t this the shittiest ending possible to the shittiest night ever?

Her initial escape from the damn party had quickly evolved into the excitement of exploring the old house. Sansa has never been the bravest of all the Stark siblings – she has, on occasion, even heard unflattering comparisons to a kitchen mouse (not even a garden mouse, for fuck’s sake) – but she has always loved exploring abandoned places. There’s something that speaks to her on a deep level, to come face to face with trinkets and artifacts that have been used and cherished long ago by people she will never know.

Harrenhal isn’t abandoned, but it had quickly become a study in contrasts, as she wondered across rooms that had been completely refurnished to its previous beauty and straight into rooms where no one had apparently set foot in more than a few decades. She’s not exactly an expert on recuperating old houses but she’s pretty sure this isn’t how they do things on The Property Brothers. The excitement had eventually soured though, once her feet had started to hurt and she had decided it was time to get back, only to discover she had no idea where ‘back’ was.

Way to go Alice. Straight into the rabbit hole.

In her defense, she has realized – belatedly, she’ll gladly admit – that this house is an absolute maze. Harrenhal was the pinnacle of Lord Whent’s dreams of grandeur and it definitely shows. Everything is huge and completely disproportional, as though it was built for giants and not men, and the inside is just as senseless. There are stairs that lead to nowhere, rooms where one would expect passageways and everything seems to be tied together in a loop from where there is no escape. She may have to resign herself to the fact that this is where she’ll spend the rest of her life, endlessly going up stairs and turning corners and never finding her way out.

You can check out anytime you’d like, but you can never leave. No wonder they say the place is haunted. At least, if everything turns out for the worse, she’ll have plenty of company.

She chooses the smallest of all four, climbs over the three crooked stone steps at the end of it and turns the corner, and comes face to face with two narrow hallways. None of this looks even slightly familiar which is good – in the sense that she hasn’t been walking in circles as she’d feared – but also bad, as it means she’s not retracing her steps back into the party.

Seven fucking hells. She really needs a drink right now. Or a cigarette. Or her cellphone so she can call the police, the fire department or even her mum. Anyone will do at this point really.

Alright, yoga remember? She takes a couple of deep breaths, starting from her belly and all the way up to her chest, to try and calm the fuck down. This isn’t impossible. All it takes is a little common sense.

There is what looks to be an open door near the middle of the corridor to her right, a soft silvery hue wrestling its way against the shadows lingering in the corners, and she makes her way there. If she can look outside maybe she’ll be able to pinpoint where exactly she is now.

Reference points and all that shit. Dad would be so proud.

The room isn’t very big and it’s crowded with old furniture underneath layers of dust, but the window is huge. The full moon stands directly in front of it, tiny wisps of clouds being pushed by the wind occasionally obscuring its glow. It’s like something right out of a witches story. That, or a slasher movie, she thinks gloomily.

Sansa remembers when she was little, how Old Nan used to tell her that she was lucky for having been born on this night, that there was something special about this time of year. She had never felt particularly lucky though. Right now, she just feels stupid. Still, she supposes, as she makes her way to the massive window, there is something beautiful about this night. Something special, that seems to call out to her.

The gardens that surround the estate are still mostly in disrepair. The grass has grown as tall as a toddler and covers the stone pathways in shades of dark greens and greys. Wild weeds have long since strangled the flower beds, leeching their way into the barks of trees that look older than time. Scattered around the edges of the greenery, antique lamp posts that have long ago grown dark stand as tall as giants, their shadows like black ghosts staring back at her.

She’s startled when she hears it at first, a low rumbling sound that seems to be coming from one of the smaller buildings to her left. Probably the kennels Ramsay was talking about earlier from the looks of it.

She frowns as she peers down at it. The thing looks mostly abandoned, with its barred windows and huge cracks lining the roof and she has a hard time imagining Jon, who is a notorious dog lover, allowing for some poor animals to be stuck in there. But there’s no mistaking the sounds coming from it.

Something heavy clenches at her chest and she suddenly feels the hairs at the back of her neck prickling, the way Lady bristles whenever she senses something foul. The gnarls coming from down below are steadily increasing in volume, something wild and untamed tearing and snarling and scratching at something, until they stop suddenly and everything is silent again. A startled bird takes flight from a nearby tree and the quiet is shattered with a long, powerful howl. Other voices soon join the first one and the black night is suddenly alight with the gut wrenching sound.

The chorus dies down gradually after some time and the night is silent once again. After the sudden howling everything seems deadly quiet, not even a speck of wind disturbing the few leaves still stubbornly clinging to the wiry branches. The only thing Sansa hears is her blood rushing in her ears.

“Sansa?”

The air hisses as she draws it in through suddenly clenched teeth as she swirls violently around. The shadow looming in the doorway jumps back and lets out a startled – and very unmanly – yelp. Her heart is still hammering away as her brain slowly begins to fire back on, her eyes widening at first and then narrowing in recognition. “Jon?”

He has a hand against his chest, the other one running through his hair in a nervous gesture she has seen on him thousands of times, and she can hear him clearing his throat before fixing her with a glare. “Seven hells, you just scared the shit out of me.”

“I scared the shit out of you? What the hell are you doing here?” she huffs.

“I was looking for you. Margaery said she left you in the bathroom but no one’s seen you since. I was worried.”

Ok, so maybe that melts her heart a little bit. “So you came looking for me?”

He shrugs in a casual manner but it does nothing to hide the pink that’s faintly coloring his cheeks underneath his beard. “Just wanted to make sure you weren’t lost or anything.”

And now it’s her turn to blush as he gives her a knowing grin. “Don’t you laugh at me,” she says, as sternly as she can.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” He holds up his hands to emphasize his point but she can see the gleam of amusement twinkling in his eyes. “Shall we head back then?”

She huffs as she passes him and he chuckles as she stops dead in the doorway, looking left and right. “Do you want me to lead the way?” he whispers close to her ear, so close she can feel his breath on her neck and the faint smell of the beer he was drinking earlier. Gods, he could lead her straight to hell with that voice and she’d gladly follow.

She elbows him in the ribs instead. “If you’d be so kind.”

They walk mostly in silence as they make their way through winding corridors and steep stairways. Jon seems to know where he’s going, barely hesitating whenever they reach a new crossway before he leads them left or right accordingly, and Sansa begins to believe there might actually be a light at the end of this particular tunnel, and one that doesn’t include a train at that.

It’s only when they turn yet another corner and start making their way down the hall that Sansa suddenly stops, breaking the silence that has settled like a blanket over them to call out his name.

“Jon?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you know where you’re going?”

“Course I do. You think I’m just walking around aimlessly?”

“You sure?”

He frowns at her, looking genuinely hurt. “You don’t trust me?”

“Normally, with my life. In this particular instance, however…” she trails off, nodding her head to her right before fixing him with a stare. His frown deepens and he retraces his steps back to where she stands leaning against a doorway and peers inside the room she just pointed at.

“Shit,” he murmurs.

She narrows her eyes. “I take it that means what I think it means.”

He gives her a sideways glance before turning back to the room, his hand running through his raven curls before he lets out a frustrated sigh. “This is the room I found you in.”

“Which means we’ve been walking around in circles this whole time.”

He turns back to her with a scowl on his face, apparently not finding any of this amusing. Well, tough luck baby. Before he can answer her though, the room erupts in a sudden flash of white light, the walls around them trembling with the force of the thunder that follows right after, making the glass rattle on the weathered windows. Sansa jumps, her jaw clenching as she bites down on the startled scream that threatens to follow suit.

“It’s just a storm Sans.”

She fumes at him. “Just a storm? Just a storm? Are you shitting me right now? This isn’t just a storm! This is Halloween, and there’s a full moon, and we’re lost inside a haunted house –“

“The house isn’t haunted,” he says, quirking his brow. “I can’t believe you believe in such –“

“And NOW there’s also a storm! I’m all for the horror mood of the season but this is getting ridiculous!”

“Hey, hey,” he says, “it’s alright Sansa.” His hands are incredibly gentle as he steps forward to rub them up and down her arms, trying to soothe her. “Look at me. We’re alright.” He’s really close now, their noses almost touching, and the breath she takes in to calm her nerves smells only of him, something earthy and warm and familiar. “Better?” he asks after a few seconds, and she nods.

“Sorry. This has been a weird night.”

He smiles, trying to lighten the mood. “Well, look at it this way. At least we don’t have an axe wielding psycho on our tail.”

The shaky smile she’s sporting dies on her lips. “I don’t know about any axe wielding but we have the psycho part down.” He stares at her, clearly not getting it, and she sighs. “Ramsay’s here.”

“What?” His voice resounds through the walls as another roll of thunder comes crashing in. “What the fuck’s he doing here?”

“He says he was invited,” she explains, as she stares at him, gauging his reaction.

“No,” he says, and there’s an absolute finality in his tone that makes her relax a bit. “There’s no way. Rhaenys and Aegon would never do that, not without talking to me first and I’d never agree to it. At least, not with these many witnesses around.” He smiles as though he’s cracking a joke but it never reaches his eyes. Instead, she sees something hard flashing in its greys depths.

Sansa shivers as another thought suddenly pops into her mind. “Do you have any dogs in here?” Jon keeps silent, his face an unreadable mask as he stares at her, no doubt trying to make sense of the sudden change in conversation. “In the kennels. I thought I heard them howling a while back,” she clarifies.

He shakes his head, giving her a puzzled look. “No one lives here. Besides, I’m the only one who has a dog and if I had brought Ghost, I wouldn’t have put him in the kennels.”

Of course. That makes sense.

Jon gives the room one last dismal look before turning back to her with a sheepish smile. “Maybe you should lead this time.”

“Yeah, because I was doing such a bang up job of it before you showed up.” Still, she starts moving, leading them back the way they came, up until the corner where she turns the opposite way. She can hear Jon’s footsteps following close behind. It’s reassuring somehow, even if he’s just as lost. She’s not alone anymore.

At the very least, he’ll make for good company even if they never find their way out.

“So let me get this straight,” he says after a while, “you ran into Joffrey, Harry and Ramsay? All three of them?”

She shrugs. “My kind of party.”

“I’ll bet,” he murmurs. “I mean, what are the odds?”

“Maybe I should try the lottery next.”

He smirks. “I have to admit though, it was very satisfying seeing you telling Joffrey off.”

She looks at him over her shoulder. “You were about to see me do the same to Harry if you hadn’t been so quick to step in.”

“He was hurting you,” he says, and that hard edge is back in his eyes.

“And my boot was about to hurt him right back. Hard.” She smiles wickedly. “I was channeling Arya. He should be thanking you.”

He lets out a startled laugh as his eyes fall to the mentioned boots. They’re black leather, soft and pliant all the way up to her knees, with some killer heels. Rickon had joked about how she could easily stab a man with those. Or maybe fuck one. Jon’s eyes are now raking up her body, over her legs and lingering slightly at the apex of her thighs, sweeping over her bodice and trailing her neck before settling on her mouth. It’s a thorough eye-fuck if she’s ever seen one. And when he licks his lips before finally locking eyes with her, she feels it like a caress over her skin.

“I wouldn’t want you to ruin them. They look…” he hesitates before giving her a devastating smile, “nice.”

She grins at his cheekiness. They have been doing this for what seems like forever now, the friendly back and forth of friendship always skirting around the edges of flirting, the eternal will-they-won’t-they that has most of their friends rolling their eyes and, in Theon’s case, probably making bets. But there’s something definitely different about tonight. Something far more deliberate, that seems to be taking them much more towards the when-will-they.

The corridor comes to a sudden end, opening up into a large room with massive floor to ceiling windows, wood paneling all around and a gigantic chandelier hanging over their heads. There’s a huge dining table at the center, complete with velvet backed chairs, the brightly polished wood seeming strangely out of place when everything else is covered in what looks to be years’ worth of dust.

“Wow.”

She cocks a brow at him. “You’ve never been here before?” she says, remembering his earlier misguided bout of confidence about knowing his way around.

He seems to be remembering the same thing as he looks sheepishly at her. “In the house? A couple of times. In this room?” His eyes take a long sweep around. “I think I’d remember something like this.”

“Well, I don’t know about you but I need a break.” She struts inside, the carpeted floors muffling the click clack of her heels. The storm is still raging outside but the lighting seems to be holding up so far, several lamps bathing the room in soft yellow hues, a stark contrast against the dark woods and blood reds of the décor. Jon follows her in, pulling up a chair for her to sit before sprawling himself in the one next to it.

“This house was always more of my father’s project. He said there was something about it that reminded him of his Valiryan roots.”

She doesn’t really know what to say to that. The stories about Old Valirya – the ones she’d heard about as a child – were always filled with gore and bloodshed, gruesome tales of incest and madness, sprinkled with just a tad of magic and witchcraft. There’s something strange about this house, that’s for sure. She can feel it in her very bones, to borrow one of Old Nan’s sayings. But she always thought there was something strange about Rhaegar Targaryen as well.

There is something she wants to tell Jon though. Something she feels is way past its due. “I’m sorry I didn’t come to see you at the hospital.”

The twitching of his fingers as they drum against his jean clad thigh is the only indication that he’s heard her as he keeps his eyes glued to the carpet. “It’s alright.”

She sighs as she contemplates his answer. His quiet dismissal is nothing short of expected but it isn’t what she wants. “No, it isn’t. We’ve known each other ever since we were kids. We’re friends. I should have been there.”

“You were dealing with Ramsay at the time.” His eyes have seemingly lost their interest in the swirling patterns adorning the floor and he looks straight into her own blue gaze. Somehow, it gives her the courage to forge ahead.

“Robb said you died.” She sees him flinch at her words. “He said that when he got to the hospital the doctors told him they were trying to revive you. That you had died and they didn’t know if they could bring you back.” Her voice breaks but there’s nothing she can do about it, the helplessness she always feels whenever she thinks of that terrible night threatening to pull her under until there’s nothing she can do with it but drown.

He must hear it too and suddenly he’s leaning forward, holding her hands and invading her space, breathing her in. “But they did. They brought me back.”

Her smile is probably more like a grimace, her voice barely above a whisper. “What was it like?”

He lets her go and leans back in his chair, his hands running over his face. “I don’t remember much of it. I remember the stabbing.” He shrugs as though he’s talking about something meaningless but his eyes betray the pain the memory still causes him. “I remember thinking how cold everything was, how it felt like I was drowning…” he trails off as he sees her shuddering. “And then I just remember waking up with my father beside me.”

This times it’s her that leans forward, placing her hands over his thighs in what she intends to be a comforting gesture until his eyes darken and he raises his hand to trace a finger gently over her cheek. “I could have lost you that night,” he says, and something both warm and dangerous sparks in his eyes.

She swallows before giving him a shaky smile. “I think that’s my line.”

“No, it isn’t.” He leans forward again and his face is now just inches apart from hers. “I could have lost you without never truly having you.”

He moves, just the slightest bit forward and Sansa knows he’s going to kiss her. Her hand moves up, her palm pressing flatly against his chest and he immediately stops, making her feel a surge of power. It’s intoxicating, the knowledge she can stop him with just the barest of touches, that he will submit to her so willingly. She can see the hurt and regret swimming in his eyes but for once she doesn’t regret putting them there. If they’re going to do this – finally, at long last, actually do this – she wants to be the one to take that final step. She wants to make sure neither one has cause to doubt ever again.

His fingertips are still grazing softly against her neck, as though he fears this is both the first and the last time he has the chance of doing so. Her left hand finds purchase on his arm, holding him against her, as the other one cups his face gently. His beard is scratchy against her palm as her midnight blue nails graze his skin and he closes his eyes when she finally bridges the gap between them.

Behind her closed eyelids she can see flashes of lightning and hear the rolling of thunder from the storm outside. Or maybe it’s fireworks and the mad beating of her own heart and the storm actually exists inside of her. All she knows is that his lips are soft and yielding as they move against her own, giving her complete control over the kiss, and her brain is scrambling to catch up, trying to memorize his reactions. A soft nip at his bottom lip has him groaning, the tug of her fingers in his hair makes him tilt his head as his arm snakes around her waist to pull her into his lap.

She can feel him poking against her ass, the hard plains of his chest rubbing against her nipples as she presses herself against him, and she moans. That seems to be all the encouragement he needs as his control snaps and he grabs her thighs to lift them both up, never breaking the kiss, before settling her down on the table.

Her legs are splayed open and he settles himself in between, her knees cradling his hips and reeling him in. She can feel him rubbing against her most sensitive spot, white hot sparks of pleasure searing through her body and she tears her mouth away in a gasp. His lips never leave her skin, trailing fire across her jaw line and nipping at her ear lobe before venturing down to suck at her neck. His right hand is splayed against her back, keeping her up, but his left is slowly trailing under the hem of her dress and over her thigh, his fingertips toying with the edge of her panties.

She feels the rip against her skin more than she hears it, and she means to give him a dirty look and a slight scolding – those were some of her more expensive panties, after all – but all she manages is a keening, needful sound as he takes half a step back before placing his hand fully against her core. His fingers dip beneath her folds, easily parting them, and the lady in her should feel embarrassed about how wet she already is but she can’t, not when his thumb is brushing her clit in the most delicious manner, not when he slips one and then two fingers inside of her and she can feel her toes already curling in pleasure.

Gods, but the man knows what he’s doing. Her hips buck against his hand and he snaps his eyes back to hers, a smug grin on his face, but right now he has every right to be smug, she thinks, as she grabs his face and pulls him back up to her mouth. It’s only a fleeting kiss before she’s throwing her head back, his arm around her waist the only thing keeping her up, and she lets out a wordless scream.

When she opens her eyes again her whole body is still shuddering. Jon is looking at her as he brushes a lock of hair behind her ear, the gesture incredibly sweet after what he just did to her with that hand, his eyes filled with lust and something else she doesn’t dare to name just yet.

Her fingers play with the soft hair at the back of his head, her nails raking lightly against his neck and she’s delighted when he closes his eyes, letting out a low rumbling sound. They’re still so close that she bumps her nose against his as she tilts her head to the side to whisper in his ear, “I want more.” Her hands smooth down slowly over his chest until they reach his belt, her fingers making quick work on the buckle.

“Sansa” he rasps out through gritted teeth, “we don’t have to…” Whatever else was going to come out of that gorgeous mouth is lost as she pops the button on his jeans and lets her hand play along the fine hair over his abdomen.

“I know,” she says, her hands pushing his jeans and boxers down over his hips, fingertips touching the velvety hardness before she looks back into his eyes, a coy look on her face as he bucks against her. “I want you Jon.”

His uncertainty turns into a wolfish smile, his hands gripping onto her hips to pull her towards the edge of the table, the tip of him brushing against her wet folds. “As the lady commands.”

When he slides inside of her, the only thing she can think of is that it won’t take long for her to peak again. He sets a brutal pace, his hips snapping against hers in all the right ways, his cock hitting that delicious spot inside of her with every stroke. His right arm encircles her waist, keeping her close even as his left hand moves between them to circle her clit. Her legs have wrapped themselves around his hips and her arms move around his shoulders, their tongues mimicking the movements of their lower bodies as they swallow each other’s moans.

Lightning flashes just as Sansa wrenches her mouth free to scream his name as her orgasm washes over her. She thinks she sees something violet sparking in his grey eyes as he leans forward to whisper you’re mine now against the skin of her collarbone but a second later thunder crashes, and Jon roars her name as he spills inside of her.

She’s still limp and completely boneless when he collapses against her, his weight pushing her backwards against the table, his hands moving rapidly to cushion her fall. She lets out a contempt sigh as she combs her fingers through his sweat dampened hair, willing her racing heart to finally settle back down.

He’s grinning when he finally raises his head from her chest to look down at her. “This isn’t how I thought this night would go.”

“Second thoughts already? Man, you’re fast.” Her attempt to look miffed is shattered by a squeal of laughter when his hands tickle her sides.

“Never,” he says, moving his hands up so he can settle on his forearms and give her a heart melting kiss. “My only regret is how much time I’ve wasted.” The tips of his fingers toy with the loose strands of her hair before he brings a lock up to his lips. “But I’ll never regret how tonight turned out.” His cock twitches against her inner thigh and he gives her a playful smirk.

She cocks her brow before giving him a slight shove. “Down boy.” He laughs, leaning down to give her a quick peck on the lips before straightening, his hands gripping her elbows to help her along, even as she uses her stomach muscles to lift herself up to try and chase his lips back to hers.

Jon is tucking himself back into his jeans as Sansa stares at the mess between her legs, looking around for something to clean herself up with. “Where are my panties?”

“Those are mine now,” he smirks, and she huffs at him.

“I bet you’re gonna look great in them.”

He moves back against her, his arms boxing her in as he grips the edges of the table on each side of her. His breath is warm against her neck and she feels his teeth bluntly nipping at her ear. “Want me to clean you up?”

Oh Gods, does she ever. Even though she seriously doubts her body is capable of another orgasm right now – another knee-weakening, mind-blowing, earth-shattering orgasm – she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t very, very tempted. She feels him smiling before he moves back, allowing her brain to start working again. “Raincheck?”

“Whenever you want love.” He nods his head to a small greenish door, partially hidden by the wooden paneling. “There’s a bathroom over there where you can clean up.”

She’s throwing the paper towels down the toilet, checking herself in the mirror to try and make herself look presentable – never mind the marks Jon has left on her neck and collarbone as there’s nothing she can do about that – when it suddenly hits her. How did he know about the bathroom? Hadn’t he said he had never been here before?

She’s still frowning, trying to collect her thoughts, when a strange noise, followed closely by a moan, startles her. There’s a door on the other side of the bathroom, probably a connection to the adjoining room, and as she strains to hear it, it’s obvious there’s something happening on the other side. The door isn’t locked, or even closed properly, the hinges creaking as Sansa pushes it open and her eyes widen.

Harry is half sitting, half lying on a couch, someone Sansa instantly recognizes as the blonde zombie from the party sprawled on top of him, her hand palming him over his trousers. She can’t see the blonde’s face as it’s hidden on the crook of Harry’s neck, but Harry sees Sansa. He lets out a strangled noise, his eyes widening at her before he lifts up his hand, beckoning her to come closer and she frowns. Is that dick really inviting her to join them?

A shadow moves in her peripheral vision and the door bangs shut abruptly. Jon is looking at her in concern as he grabs her elbows and gently steers her back. “Fucking hell,” he mutters, as he gives the now closed door a dark look. “This night can’t end soon enough.”

“I’ll say,” she mutters. He pulls her against him, his arms wrapping around her as his lips graze her temple and she nudges her nose against the crook of his neck.

“What do you say we head back to the party?” He pulls back slightly to give her a boyish grin. “I promise it isn’t half as bad as it seems.”

She’s about to make a joke over the fact that they’re still as lost now as they were an hour ago, but now that the storm is finally over, she can hear the faint strains of music coming in from somewhere down the hall. She nods, tucking herself against his side as they make their way outside. And just as they’re stepping out, she catches their reflection in the mirror, hair still pretty much disheveled, the remains of her red lipstick marring the black of his shirt, his beard burn making her neck look as pink as a new born.

He looks at her through the mirror, angling his head so he can kiss her cheek while still keeping his eyes locked on hers. “Happy birthday baby,” he whispers. And this time, she can swear she sees something violet flashing in its grey depths.

***

Epilogue

This time, as they start back towards the party, Jon knows exactly where he’s going. It takes them only a short while before the music is blasting its way into the corridor, pulling them back into the mass of bodies drunkenly swaying across the room.

Jon brings her hand to his lips, gently kissing her knuckles before smiling. “Do you wanna dance?”

She nods and he pulls her along, twirling her around as they reach the center of the room before pulling her firmly against his chest, eliciting an excited giggle from her lips. His arms reach around her, a palm planted against her lower back, the other finding its way up her spine to tangle gently in her red locks. Her own arms have wound themselves around his neck and she tucks her head against the crook of his neck. Right where she belongs.

He knows better than to blame this pull she has on him on anything other than his own heart. He has loved her for far longer than anyone would ever suspect.

It had been his reaction to her infatuation with that asshole Joffrey that had first opened his eyes to his real feelings for his best friend’s little sister. He had watched as she lost herself in her feelings for the blond jerk, how he gave her nothing but contempt and threats in return. The desire to see him choke over his own words was so dire Jon was sure his own hands would end up doing the job.

In time, she will learn how Joffrey died on the way to the hospital, choking on his own spit as bloody foam spurted from his mouth. Allergic reaction, the people will call it. But Sansa will know the truth.

When her path to college had taken her miles away from him, he had briefly thought about following her. But his father had cautioned him against it. She needed time, he had said, time to grow into herself and learn what she wanted. Jon hadn’t liked it, but he had agreed.

He had learned about Harry from Robb and once again jealousy had reared its ugly head. But it was Robb’s own rageful comment about how that prick had cheated on Sansa that had truly sealed his fate.

In time, she will discover how the pretty zombie from the party was really someone Harry knew – or thought he knew, in any case. Rhaenys is good at getting these things arranged, even if she doesn’t have the stomach to stick around for the fallout. Sansa will be shocked, no doubt, when Harry’s body is discovered, livid and cold and mangled in one of the mansion’s secluded rooms. Too much alcohol, the people will whisper, his heart gave out. But she will know.

His own death had changed something deep inside him. He didn’t exactly lie when he told her he couldn’t remember much. He doesn’t. But what he does know is that there was someone else in the room with his father when he had woken up, and one look into the woman’s face had made it clear he wasn’t supposed to have come back. But whatever else death might have done to him, the one thing that never changed was his love for her. If anything, it just made everything clearer. He needed her. He wanted her. And he was going to have her.

He knows why she hadn’t visited him in the hospital. While he was lying in that hospital bed, she had been in a different one, recovering from wounds inflicted upon her by the prick who was supposed to love her. Ramsay is the one he’s sorry he couldn’t kill with his bare hands. She doesn’t know it – at least Jon doesn’t think she does – but soon after his release from the hospital he had paid Ramsay a visit. His knuckles had been scraped raw as he had beat the sorry motherfucker into a pulp, his face a distorted, bloodied mass by the time Jon had stopped. Sometimes he wishes he hadn’t. Stopped, that is.

In time, she will hear about the disfigured body found in what used to be the mansion’s old kennels, too eaten and torn to pieces to allow for a positive ID. There will be speculation about how it was probably some homeless guy attacked by wild animals – and won’t Aegon be pissed when he hears his hounds being referred to as such. But Sansa will know the truth.

He nudges his thigh between her legs as he presses closer to her and she lifts her head to shoot him a dirty look. Her dress is short enough as it is and he still has her panties safely tucked away in his pocket. He kisses the tip of her nose in apology as he sways her gently across the floor. He’ll behave for now. His plan is finished and Sansa is safe in his arms.

In time, she will come to learn what he is. She will know the truth about the Targaryen bloodline and heritage, how the stories of madness were mere tales to mask a much uglier truth. In time, she will accept that everything he’s done has been for her.

He twirls his fingers through her hair, gently tugging her head until he can capture her lips with his own in a whisper of a kiss. Her eyes are sparkling as she pulls back to look at him.

“I love you Jon.”

“I love you too sweetie.”

It’s time to reap his reward.

#jonsa fanfiction #jonsa #jon snow x sansa stark #game of thrones #fanfiction #spooktober #halloween #works-by-pax

31 notes · View notes

thebluelemontree · 5 years

Note

Hello, I have a question. Do you think GRRM will finally give us the song about Florian and Jonquil through Sansa?

Oh, I think that stands a pretty good chance of happening. The songs about Florian and Jonquil:

are Sansa’s personal favorites / her OTP couple

are part of how she romanticizes her deliverance from captivity and why she comes to trust Ser Dontos.

are associated with who will take her home and keep her safe. It will come up again the night of the Blackwater in Sandor’s botched rescue attempt.

are a meta layer in understanding her relationship to Sandor Clegane, unconventional knighthood, and true knighthood.

come to be associated with the marriage bed.

are characterized as sweet and sad. They are a reflection of the romantic/fantasy medievalism that is being critiqued, deconstructed and reconstructed in Sansa’s arc.

possibly point to events in ADOS with the floral imagery.

possibly point to mythological themes of a reverse Persephone who was born in the Underworld, lured and captured by a false father/Hades, and is trying to return home.

On those last two points, see this meta here.

I don’t see why we wouldn’t see it performed on the page at the point when we’d get the maximum payoff. Perhaps more detailed lyrics haven’t been revealed yet because they are a little too on the nose for the direction George is planning on going with Sansa and her foreshadowed “giant.”

“It was a good show, sad and sweet both, with a sprightly swordfight at the end, and a nicely painted giant.” – The Hedge Knight [Dunk’s description of a Florian and Jonquil puppetshow].

Florian and Jonquil are often featured in Sansa’s chapters from AGOT - ASOS, but only mentioned one time in Sansa I of Feast then never again. It’s not hard to see why as Sansa has become weary and disillusioned by reality not living up to the songs over and over again.

When I heard how you saved his life at Joff’s tourney, I knew [Dontos Hollard] would be the perfect catspaw.“

Sansa felt sick. "He said he was my Florian.”

“Do you perchance recall what I said to you that day your father sat the Iron Throne?"

The moment came back to her vividly. "You told me that life was not a song. That I would learn that one day, to my sorrow.” She felt tears in her eyes, but whether she wept for Ser Dontos Hollard, for Joff, for Tyrion, or for herself, Sansa could not say. “Is it all lies, forever and ever, everyone and everything?” – Sansa V, ASOS.

Littlefinger never lifted so much as his little finger for her. Except to get me out. He did that for me. I thought it was Ser Dontos, my poor old drunken Florian, but it was Petyr all the while. Littlefinger was only a mask he had to wear. Only sometimes Sansa found it hard to tell where the man ended and the mask began. Littlefinger and Lord Petyr looked so very much alike. She would have fled them both, perhaps, but there was nowhere for her to go. – Sansa I, AFFC.

But Sansa’s love of songs and stories don’t go entirely out the window. They become a common interest that starts to bond her to Robert Arryn in spite of herself.

The Winged Knight was Ser Artys Arryn. Legend said that he had driven the First Men from the Vale and flown to the top of the Giant's Lance on a huge falcon to slay the Griffin King. There were a hundred tales of his adventures. Little Robert knew them all so well he could have recited them from memory, but he liked to have them read to him all the same. "Sweetling, we have to go," she told the boy, "but I promise, I'll read you two tales of the Winged Knight when we reach the Gates of the Moon."

"Three," he said at once. No matter what you offered him, Robert always wanted more.

She can’t help but see herself in him. He’s too much like her as a child when the singer came to Winterfell. She uses the stories of the Winged Knight, Artys Arryn, to encourage Robert to be brave like when they descended from the Eyrie together. Then later she comes up with the idea for Robert’s own Winged Knights to surround him with role models of courage. While the idealism of the songs is starting to work their way back into Sansa’s life, she’s now approaching them with more of a parent’s enjoyment in seeing their child relate to them like they did as children. She has evolved from a character who passively accepted everything the songs told her to one who is more of a mature fantasy genre fan. She can appreciate a great escapist fantasy and find value in the examples set by the characters, but she’s also more clear-eyed about how the world really works. It’s a nice balance for becoming better equipped to deal with reality without becoming too cynical.

That being said, she still hasn’t turned her thoughts to Florian and Jonquil for a while. Part of that is her effort to set aside Sansa Stark’s identity to be fully in the role of Alayne Stone. I also think that particular song has become too sentimentally intertwined with her relationship to Sandor, the unfortunate way they parted, and her bitterness over the rescuer she got instead. Like the song, this journey has also been sweet and sad; however, I strongly doubt we’ve seen the last of Florian and Jonquil. It’s just been sitting on the shelf and waiting for future Sansa to dust it off when the timing is right in the story -- IMO when George is ready to fully ring in the reconstruction of the songs for Sansa.

#Anonymous #valyrianscrolls #sansa stark meta #florian and jonquil #sandor clegane #dontos hollard #robert arryn #songs in asoiaf #asoiaf meta #twow speculation #ados speculation #the winds of winter #a dream of spring #artys arryn #the winged knights

203 notes · View notes

oddcoupler222 · 5 years

Note

can you write the dissertation on sansa? i watch game of thrones and i used to find her annoying. she's stopped being so annoying to me but i don't see what you see in her but i'm interested in knowing why you love her so much

my time has come

Sansa starts out as a young, pampered 13 year old girl, who was born to a wealthy, powerful, respected family. She was raised to believe in very specific (feminine) parameters of who she should be, what she should want, and what she should do. And she was good (if not great) at everything she was taught to be and do.

So, like a high-class girl raised the way she was raised, she got the attention of a prince and wanted to be a princess; she was a romantic who believed in knights and songs and - of course, that’s what she wanted. And no, she didn’t think critically about political or social matters at that time - not because she couldn’t but because she was never taught that she should.

And yes, in season one when she was a child, she made mistakes because she was spoiled and could be bratty. And yes, her mistakes did contribute to some of the events that followed, like her father’s fate (but honestly, his death was essentially sealed no matter what because of what a psychopath Joffrey was). And my god, did she pay for it.

She was forced - literally held up - to watch her father get beheaded in front of her while she screams and cries and eventually passes out from the trauma of it.

Then she’s held hostage in King’s Landing, a place so very, very far from home, with the family who is literally killing her own. Physically abused by adult men, emotionally and mentally abused (including forced to look at her father and septa’s beheaded heads). Is forced to constantly put-down and renounce her family as traitors when all she wants is to see them again.

She finds out that her ancestral family home is taken from her family, that her little brothers are dead (yes we know they aren’t but she doesn’t). She’s forced to marry a man over twice her age. She hears about how her brother and mother - the last hope she had to come and rescue her - are brutally murdered.

And not only has to hear about it, but is literally forced to live with the people responsible for killing her entire family. The people who rub her face in the fact that not only is her family dead but that they killed them, who make her watch plays and sing songs glorifying the death of everyone she loved.

All of this while she is only a teenager.

You know what she does? She survives.

She wields her courtesy like armor; she holds her tongue when she wants to lash out and puts up a facade that she isn’t breaking inside.

She starts learning to use her words as her weapons. When Joffrey taunts her, she gives subtle reserved rejoinders that insult him just enough to toe the line (Joffrey: I’ll tell you what. I’m going to give you a present. After I raise my armies and kill your traitor brother, I’ll give you his head as well. Sansa: Or maybe he’ll give me yours.)

She adapts and evolves in a world where she feels incredibly alone. Not only alone but feels guilty and stupid.

Then she leaves King’s Landing - after being framed for murder - and is taken into the custody of a creepy man who was in love with her mother and is now in love with her (ugh) and yet, he is all she has at the time to rely on. And from there?

She learns even more; she starts to understand truly how to move the pieces of the game that she’s been thrown into.

But before she even has a say in her own life, she gets brought to Winterfell and is forced to be there with the family who betrayed hers and helped lead them to their deaths before stealing their home. She’s forced to marry the craziest, most monstrous character on the entire show (a man who rapes her, who locks her in a room, who plays mind games with her).

And, she never backs down from him – making comments to plant seeds of doubt about his status as a bastard, “I am Sansa Stark of Winterfell. This is my home. And you can’t frighten me.”

Still, she survives. She jumps off of a literal fucking castle to escape him, goes through feet of snow, through frozen waters and escapes him.

And when she’s finally reunited with her remaining family and Jon presents her with the opportunity to run away from this mess - because he is sick of fighting - it’s Sansa who now has grown this spine of steel. It’s Sansa who stands up for herself, to all of the men in the room who are older who are more familiar with wars and fighting, and asserts that she needs to take the Stark home back from the monster who lives there.

Who wins that war against Ramsay Bolton? Yes Jon - at Sansa’s insistence and while also not consulting her - fought in the war, but he would have been dead if Sansa hadn’t gotten the soldiers from the Vale to help them.

Let’s take the moment to reflect on that, too – Sansa wanted nothing more in the beginning of the show to leave the North. That the North was boring, wanted a new life, wanted to go south, and now? Now all she wants is her home. The home she left behind became all she longed for (it’s also why I’m so absolutely bullshit about Jon bending the knee and giving the North to Dany without even consulting Sansa).

In the end, it’s Sansa - the Northern girl who wanted nothing more than to leave the North when she was a child - who wins back the Stark home. It’s Sansa who underwent that development, that growth, to appreciate where she was from and the life she used to have.

And it’s also Sansa who has the knowledge and the understanding of politics, now, to actually rule the North when the Starks take back Winterfell, let’s be real. Sansa knows how to play the game, now. She knows how to manipulate and how to be diplomatic and how to reign in her emotions.

She plays Littlefinger - one of the smartest players in the game - like a fiddle, using the knowledge she took partly from him, while also cutting him off at the knees with the wit and cutting remarks that she’s learned over the years (“No need to seize the last word, Lord Baelish. I’ll assume it was something clever.”)

When he tries to manipulate her in the last season? She saw through it and orchestrated a plan to double-cross him. Her last words to him - “I’m a slow learner, it’s true. But I learn. Thank you for all your many lessons, Lord Baelish. I will never forget them.” before she gives the nod for Arya to fucking kill him in a court Sansa called?!

A Fucking Queen.

(though I will always contest that she is a slow learner; she was learning and surviving on the tips of her toes at every turn since the end of the first season)

Sansa went through hell and clawed her way back. She did start off as a spoiled child, and she more than paid any kind of “price.”

Sansa lost everything, was held captive, and survived by learning. Using her mind, her words, her politics. She isn’t like Arya and Jon and Bran who had the ability to physically leave the bad situation she was stuck in and find her own path. She isn’t like them in that she doesn’t have the ability to physically fight back.

She is flawed, she’s made mistakes, she’s human. But she has grown. She’s learned from her - and other people’s - mistakes, to become a smart, willful, strategic, diplomatic leader. She takes the best parts of her parents (their courage, their intelligence, their loyalty) and can look back and understand the mistakes they made to try to make sure she and her siblings don’t repeat them.

Sansa Stark is a beautiful, strong, well-developed character, and she deserves the world.

#a queen i stan #queen in the north #sansa stark #game of thrones

641 notes · View notes

trinuviel · 5 years

Note

Why is it so significant the parallel between Queen Alysanne and Sansa?

The parallels between Queen Alysanne and Sansa Stark are significant because they may foreshadow Sansa eventually becoming Queen - and if that is so, it also hints what kind of Queen Sansa would be since Alysanne was called Good Queen Alysanne. The possibility of Sansa becoming a good queen is also highlighted in her narrative journey as she learns from her experiences at court.

Queen ship has been a continual theme in Sansa’s narrative arc, evolving in step with how her character develops - and this theme is there for a reason, especially AFTER her betrothal to Joffrey was broken.

In the first book, Sansa’s notion of queenship was a very naive one - the Disney princess dream, so to speak, of pretty dresses, having babies and living happily ever after in a world where everyone is courteous and nice.

That night Sansa dreamt of Joffrey on the throne, with herself seated beside him in a gown of woven gold. She had a crown on her head, and everyone she had ever known came before her, to bend the knee and say their courtesies. (AGoT, Sansa IV)

Later she sees it as a way to save those she loves and to protect herself:

Joffrey was the king now, she thought. Her gallant prince would never hurt her father, no matter what he might have done. If she went to him and pleaded for mercy, she was certain he’d listen. He had to listen, he loved her, even the queen said so. Joff would need to punish Father, the lords would expect it, but perhaps he could send him back to Winterfell, or exile him to one of the Free Cities across the narrow sea. It would only have to be for a few years. By then she and Joffrey would be married. Once she was queen, she could persuade Joff to bring Father back and grant him a pardon. (AGoT, Sansa IV)

He did not hate her, Sansa realized; neither did he love her. He felt nothing for her at all. She was only a … a thing to him. “No,” she said, rising. She wanted to rage, to hurt him as he’d hurt her, to warn him that when she was queen she would have him exiled if he ever dared strike her again …(AGoT, Sansa IV)

In the second book, she is subjected to Cersei’s toxic “wisdom” about how a Queen should act:

“The night’s first traitors,” the queen said, “but not the last, I fear. Have Ser Ilyn see to them, and put their heads on pikes outside the stables as a warning.” As they left, she turned to Sansa. “Another lesson you should learn, if you hope to sit beside my son. Be gentle on a night like this and you’ll have treasons popping up all about you like mushrooms after a hard rain. The only way to keep your people loyal is to make certain they fear you more than they do the enemy.”

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

Here we see Sansa learn how NOT to be a Queen as she inwardly rejects Cersei’s toxic worldview. Not only does Sansa reject Cersei’s attitude, she also steps up and does Cersei’s job of calming the women when Cersei herself abdicates her queenly responsibilities as she leaves Maegor’s Holdfast during the Battle of the Blackwater.

Sansa is set aside as Joffrey’s betrothed at the end of book 2 and one would think that the theme of queenship would come to an end in her arc. However, it still pops up in the story, fx when Tyrion observes that Sansa has the abilities to have been a good Queen:

She is good at this, he thought, as he watched her tell Lord Gyles that his cough was sounding better, compliment Elinor Tyrell on her gown, and question Jalabhar Xho about wedding customs in the Summer Isles. His cousin Ser Lancel had been brought down by Ser Kevan, the first time he’d left his sickbed since the battle. He looks ghastly. Lancel’s hair had turned white and brittle, and he was thin as a stick. Without his father beside him holding him up, he would surely have collapsed. Yet when Sansa praised his valor and said how good it was to see him getting strong again, both Lancel and Ser Kevan beamed. She would have made Joffrey a good queen and a better wife if he’d had the sense to love her. (ASoS, Tyrion VIII)

The theme of queenship in relation to Sansa is even raised indirectly in the fourth book when she has been taken to the Vale by Petyr Baelish:

"You would not believe half of what is happening in King’s Landing, sweetling. Cersei stumbles from one idiocy to the next, helped along by her council of the deaf, the dim, and the blind. I always anticipated that she would beggar the realm and destroy herself, but I never expected she would do it quite so fast. It is quite vexing. I had hoped to have four or five quiet years to plant some seeds and allow some fruits to ripen, but now … it is a good thing that I thrive on chaos. What little peace and order the five kings left us will not long survive the three queens, I fear.”

“Three queens?” She did not understand.

Nor did Petyr choose to explain.(AFfC, Alayne II)

Baelish never explains his cryptic remark and fans have theorized a lot about who the three queens that Baelish refers to are. Cersei is certainly one of them but few people consider Sansa as a candidate as one of those queens. However, it is important to consider the context for this remark of his. We learn that Baelish’s plans for Sansa include a marriage between her and Harry the Heir as a means to use the Knights of the Vale to retake the North. That would put both Sansa and him in open rebellion to the Iron Throne - and it very likely that he plans to set up Sansa as Queen in the North as a step for him to realize his ambitions of power, which very likely would be him taking the Iron Throne for himself - as in the show.

The show also subtly hints at Sansa as Queen in various ways. Fx in season 3, a very subtle hint that may be foreshadowing is introduced in the very first episode - after Sansa has been set aside - when Ros tells Shae this:

This is a particularly interesting detail because it invokes an age-old tradition of announcing royal births with both a series of gun salutes as well as specially composed bell peals. It is a tradition that is still in use in the United Kingdom where the birth of Prince George in 2013 was celebrated with a special bell peal that lasted 3 hours! (x).

Thus, Sansa’s birth was celebrated as if she were a royal princess, which is a curious detail since the Starks have not been Kings in the North for several centuries.

This is a detail that was invented for the show - and I cannot help but wonder if this apparently innocuous detail might be a piece of cleverly hidden foreshadowing of Sansa’s eventual fate. She may end up becoming Queen, which isn’t a far-fetched idea since queenship is a theme the runs through her narrative arc in the books - even after she’s no longer betrothed to Joffrey. Sansa is, in many respects, a foil to Cersei and it is through Cersei that she learns how NOT to be a Queen! Neither should we forget that in the moment of crisis during the Battle of Blackwater, it was Sansa who stepped up and performed Cersei’s role when the latter abandoned her duties. (x)

Furthermore, in season 7, the show subtly compares and contrasts Cersei, Daenerys and Sansa as rulers - even though Sansa is not a queen. This is done both through the similarities in their costuming but also through a direct comparison of their actions. Cersei’s forces seizes the food of the Reach in order to feed her allies and Daenerys burns all of these very important resources even though she cannot feed her armies. In contrast, we see Sansa collecting the foodstuffs of the North at Winterfell in order to feed both her people but also any refuges that might seek shelter there. However, she also expressly states that if there’s any surplus food (or if they don’t need it), then it is to be returned to the people who delivered it. Thus, we see Cersei stealing food to prop up her own rule, we see Daenerys destroy food even though she needs it - and in contrast we see Sansa securing food through voluntary donations and planning for it to be returned if it turns out that they won’t need it.

So even though Sansa is not technically a Queen (and we actually see her refuse the Crown of the North when it is indirectly offered), she acts like one - and she’s the one who is shown as a better leader that the two rival Queens in the South.

Thank you for the ask and sorry about the late answer.

#sansa stark #queen alysanne #parallels #queenship

399 notes · View notes

liesandarbor · 6 years

Text

it’s been a month, and I still haven’t done my Ice and Fire Con 2018 wrapup post. soooo... here goes!

This year’s Ice and Fire Con was the best year yet. It was also my busiest year, since I went from a Volunteer in 2017 to a member of the Small Council (the Master of Whispers, to be exact) for 2018.

Seriously, I was everywhere. Consistently. I don’t think I got to sit through a whole panel even!

Despite running around like a chicken with my head cut off, I made some fantastic memories that I’ll throw out under the cut:

Thursday Thursday was Day Zero of the Con this year. I started my day by having lunch with @charliechasessnitches, @poorquentyn, @kavalden and two more friends at my favorite place in Columbus before we headed to the lodge - TENSUKE!

we grabbed some groceries from the marketplace and then we all separated to make our trek down to Deer Creek Lodge, which, by the way, is stunning? Seriously. Just stunning.

While Thursday was technically day zero, we decided to throw in some programming anyway - just because. and, not to get too excited, but Drunk ASOIAF and Drinking GoT BK were the first ASOIAF/GOT programming of IAF!

It was sooo cool! AAAH. Haley Bowery (of Manimals and DGBK fame) and I did a panel called “GoTs7: The Good, the Bad, and Rhaegar’s Wig”. We basically went over our top 5 and bottom five moments of Game of Thrones season seven, while staying true to the nature of our podcasts and drinkin’. We also dressed up like skeletons, because the big Thurs party joke is always the “thirst of the first men” and everyone...... wears Skelly costumes, like the skelly tequila.

the panel was a blast, and super well received. it was just really silly fun, including a montage of Rhaegar’s wig at the end that ... had people laughing pretty hard.

Post that, there was a ~~~super secret Ice and Fire Con Musical Rehearsal~~~, albeit brief, and then lots of partying with good friends.

Friday

Friday was busy from start to end.

I woke up, I ran registration for a bit, and then got to run my favorite event of all (after watching my boyfriend get his face licked by a wolf, actually, may I add): THE SNARKS AND GRUMPKIN HUNT.

This was my second year of running Snarks, which is a photo scavenger hunt built with sabotages, bribes, and mostly just silly stuff. I heard from a weeee little bird that it’s going to evolve next year (I’m the bird) into a bigger event, and I can’t wait.

after Snarks, I had to change and get into my musical getup - but first I snagged a few minutes of the Salty Dornish panel with @ageeksaga, @poorquentyn and Moe. It was fabulous, and I was so bummed to have to sneak out to go get ready, but the musical called!

THE MUSICAL. For those that haven’t been following, @iceandfirecon did a PARODY MUSICAL of Hamilton this year, and I got to be Sansa Stark. I had two big songs, and a minor role in one - I got to sing Wait for it and That Would Be Enough.

All of those songs can be found at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN9QlVpUoJYeWHy-mhngc7g

Right after the musical, I ran karaoke for an hour with @charliechasessnitches and that was a god damn silly blast. I sang a rendition of hit me with your best shot that shooketh the room, and me, @charliechasessnitches and our friend Lydia did a reallllllly buzzed version of Schuyler sisters that had us in stitches

Post that, we all retired to the cabin parties and spent time with friends and caught up how we could, until giving in for the night.

Saturday

Saturday was, once more, a rise up, registration for a bit, and then get to work day. It was the big cosplay day for me, as I kinda kept it calm the other days - my best buddy Queued Up Cosplay and me and her partner worked on our costumes the month before super hard, and they did it as a *friendship gift* to me. they let me finally have a full house Reed cosplay.

Literally. Even my boyfriend did it.

We got a bunch of wonderful photos at the lake side, and then we went on to watch the tourney until it was so cold I had to retire indoors (the downside of Lake effect in the spring of course). Our friend Zack had me cracking up the entire time though - he entered the tourney saying he was Lommy of Ib, and would battle cry FOR IIIIIBBBBBBBB when he was in the joust. It was too good.

I got to watch Emmett do his thing with Lovecraft for a bit before running back to my room to prepare for the Performance Contest, and theeeeeeeeen came the performance contest.

I wrote a filk song, a parody of Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’ about Lyanna Stark and the Rebellion. You can find it here:

youtube

My voice was shot, I forgot half the words, but god damn, everyone gave me such a nice reaction that I almost cried! it was very good and very sweet of them.

After that, I had to go... prepare for the mock trial and get into my evening getup for the dance.

There are barely any photos of me in that outfit, but I wore a blinged out QUEEN necklace and had a corset and leggings and boots and an axe and went as ASHA QUEEN for the night, which was a blast. I even got this meme of me “droppin’ the axe” in the panel (which, may I add, I got to portray a criminal defense lawyer, and had to defend HBO/D&D/GOT........... oh god, that sucked)

After that, I kind of realized all of the exhaustion and stress of the weekend was getting to me, and I ended up being the worst and staying in for most of the night. I just couldn’t do more, I had pushed myself to the limit unfortunately, but it was still the best weekend, even with missing out on that Saturday.

Shouts to @buskerlenny - getting to spend quality time with her was amazing. And shouts to @sanrixian, who wouldn’t let me spend the money I wanted to spend at her vendor booth, but got the coolest con swag out of in general! To @wendynerdwrites, of course, getting to see her was lovely, and of course a shout to the majestic, lovely @nobodysuspectsthebutterfly, because we actually got to chat a bit here and there this year, and her WEIRWOOD COSTUME WAS SO AMAZING!!!!

AND A SPECIAL SPECIAL SHOUT to my girls in advertising that helped me all year - Bekah, Meghan, Kat, the best <3

another amazing year, and I can’t possibly wait until next year.

#asoiaf #ice and fire con #asoiaf cosplay #ice and fire con 2018 #game of thrones #i'm sure i missed people i'm sorry i didn't mean to it was such a crazy weekend i love you all

8 notes · View notes

castaliareed · 6 years

Text

All Roads Lead to the same Castle: Pt: 3, Betrayals and Treasons

My meandering reactions to s.7 and predictions for s.8/endgame continue. Originally I was only going to write 3 parts to this series. There are going to be at least 2 more. :-) You can read the first parts here --> Pt. 1, Pt. 2

In these different parts, some of my theories and predictions may be in conflict with one and other. Eventually, I will try to clean it all up. These thoughts are evolving over time. Here I get into more detail about Dany’s 3 treasons.

Before we start, I’ve been seeing a lot of ink spilled or should I say words typed about the Undercover Lover (UCL) Jon theory. I pretty much put forward a version of the theory even before season 7 started. Read my thoughts here on the Trust Issues that Sansa-Jon-Dany may/will have.

To me, UCL!Jon is the same as political!Jon or sacrificial!Jon. The only difference is the coordination. And we do know from the actor himself that Jon is manipulating (in a kind way) someone in s.7.

In my earlier posts in this series, I talked about how the show was unclear about when Arya and Sansa began to move against Littlefinger. In the script, it was very late in the game. In the show, it could’ve happened minutes after Arya returned to Winterfell or hours before they killed Littlefinger. Most likely we’ll never have a clear answer on this.

The same could very well happen between Jon and Daenerys. Assuming Jon moves against her at some point in s.8. Which he may not do at all...who knows everyone could get together and fight the undead happily united for 5 episodes...and then go kill Cersei in the finale…Or it could be Dany that strikes first and moves against Jon perceiving a betrayal is on its way. But this post isn’t about those theories.

book!Dany, as we know, is paranoid about betrayals and treasons. She is haunted by the prophecy told to her in the House of the Undying that she will know three treasons, “once for blood, once for gold and once for love". show!Dany was also a bit hung up on betrayals in s.7. She threatened Varys and questioned Tyrion’s loyalty.

Dany believes the first and second treasons have happened. The first being Mirri Maz Duur. Who betrayed her by using blood magic to return Khal Drogo but only to a catatonic state.

The second treason being either Jorah Mormont or Brown Ben Plumm. The knight sold her secrets to the crown in exchange for exoneration for his past crimes. And Brown Ben Plumm switched sides in Mereen to fight with the Yunkai against Dany.

Aside from Brown Ben’s treason, Mirri and Jorah’s happened before the prophecy in the House of the Undying.

What if Dany’s betrayals have not happened, yet? (Or are in the process of happening in the show…) It is very possible Dany’s treasons are tied to her endgame.

For blood: In the last post, I put forward the idea that Tyrion could already be betraying her by plotting with Cersei. (I mean really he believes Cersei will stop fighting...come on…). Or he may eventually get fed up with Dany and her burning ways. This could happen if Jaime shows up at Winterfell pledging for the North. Tyrion does love his brother and I don’t believe he will hurt him. book!Jaime has made a pledge never to fight against House Stark or Tully. If the North regrets Dany’s rule then Tyrion could be again torn between his brother and Dany. This time he may choose differently. Tyrion loves being a Lannister. And remember ‘A Lannister always pays his debts.’

If ‘for blood’ is not about family but blood magic. Then Varys could be the betrayer. Blood magic was used on him as a child and there are theories that he is a Blackfyre, a line of Targaryen bastards. He may decide to leave Dany to her own demise. (This is more likely in the books with the fAegon story happening.)

For gold: This treason is going to be different in the books and the show. Aegon aka Young Griff aka fAegon could be her treason for gold. He is being sent to meet her and instead hires the Golden Company to start invading Westeros. Essentially betraying Dany without her even knowing it. In the show, this parallels Cersei’s lie to Dany and Jon that she would agree to a cease-fire and help them in the Great War. Instead, unknown to Dany, she has hired the Golden Company to come to Westeros and fight. Remember Dany also burned lots of food and tried to burn the gold being sent from Highgarden to King’s Landing.

The above being said, it is still also likely that someone is going to get paid in gold to commit an act of treason against Dany. Bronn perhaps? TINFOIL ALERT: Tyrion pays Bronn to try and off Dany or one of her dragons. <--that’s a good one. ;-)

For love: The third treason, a treason for love, has definitely not happened anywhere in show or book yet. It will be Jon. Should I repeat this for the folks in the back? It will be Jon.

A treason for love is just that. The person you are with or think you are with falls in love, sleeps with, etc. etc. someone else. Treasons for love are common themes in folklore and stories. It would be just like GRRM to play with this theme.

One quote I unearthed on the subject as a trope stated, “A woman’s sacrifice of family, country, position, and reputation for the sake of love, and the abandonment by the man for which she has given up everything she holds dear”. Except in our story, Dany is not the one giving up family, country, position, and reputation. That is Jon. Dany for her part has had to put her ambition on hold. She retains her position, her reputation. Jon is in the vulnerable position at least we as the audience perceive him to be.

There is a meta by @sneakystarks that recently put forward the idea that the Sansa-Jon-Dany triangle will reenact Sansa-Littlefinger-Lysa triangle. Read it here.

This is a great theory. Jon is acting much as Littlefinger did. Appearing to be in the weaker position but ultimately manipulating the person (Lysa/Dany) in power. When that person threatens the true object of their desire (Sansa). Well, that’s it, the person is toast. This theory could explain why we have been show!Jon’s violent reactions to men/people who he sees as dangerous to Sansa. Perhaps the most violent reaction is yet to come? It could come when Jon no longer has anything to lose.

Jon has given up his kingdom and Dany will still abandon the Great War when the other treasons (Cersei’s and Tyrion’s or Varys’) come to light. Jon after learning his parentage will have lost everything (family, country, position, reputation). What will Sansa do? She will be there at Winterfell. She will be there when Jon needs her. And at this point, their love romantic or familial will be realized in some form. Whether it comes about because she comforts him when he is low, because there will be a political need to prevent the North from outright crowning her Queen and bringing dragon fire down upon themselves, or because Dany directly threatens Sansa, we can’t say. I believe at some point, Dany will threaten Sansa, the Starks, and/or the North. Jon will have to choose and he will always choose his Stark family.

A treason for love means someone Dany is in love with has to be in love and/or act on their love for someone else. There are no two ways around this. In our story, as it is now the only person Dany loves is Jon. The only other woman that Jon has a close relationship with is Sansa.

In the end, show watchers will be shocked by this. Book readers will look back and talk about how they saw it coming all along.

#all roads lead to the same castle #jonsa #jonsa meta #jonsa is endgame #asoiaf meta #GoT meta #jon snow x sansa stark #j&s #jon snow #sansa stark

123 notes · View notes

princessbcrn-blog · 6 years

Text

“I don’t like the queen,” Arya said casually. Sansa sucked in her breath, shocked that even Arya would say such a thing, but her sister prattled on, heedless. “She won’t even let me bring Nymeria.” She thrust the brush under her belt and stalked her wolf. Nymeria watched her approach warily.

“A royal wheelhouse is no place for a wolf,” Sansa said. “And Princess Myrcella is afraid of them, you know that."

"Myrcella is a little baby.” Arya grabbed Nymeria around her neck, but the moment she pulled out the brush again the direwolf wriggled free and bounded off. Frustrated, Arya threw down the brush. “Bad wolf!” she shouted.

“I’ve never seen an aurochs,” Sansa said, feeding a piece of bacon to Lady under the table. The direwolf took it from her hand, as delicate as a queen. Septa Mordane sniffed in disapproval. “A noble lady does not feed dogs at her table,”

Both those passages are from Sansa’s first chapter in A Game Of Thrones. They appear in reverse order, in fact, but what matters here the most is the first one. Sansa and Arya are talking about traveling in the royal wheelhouse with the queen (and her younger children). When Arya protests about not even being able to bring Nymeria, Sansa’s argues a royal wheelhouse is no place for a wolf (which it isn’t, both because of the people there that would not welcome it and because the wolves themselves likely wouldn’t be comfortable confined there).

Her following words, however, are about Myrcella, claiming the princess is afraid of them. In the first book, we see very little of Myrcella. She isn’t an important character in any of the storylines, and barely appears — we see her in Winterfell, most notably when she is sewing with the Stark girls, but also in the feast and when the Lannisters are having breakfast and talking about Bran’s fall. It is valid to consider, because of this, that GRRM perhaps payed little to no mind to how he wrote her here when writing her in Dorne, much later in the series (both when she is leaving home and when she is in fact there).

On those later appearances, Myrcella’s bravery is quite remarked on quite often.

To be sure, her smile was a shade tremulous when her brothers took their leave of her on the deck of the Seaswift, but the girl knew the proper words to say, and she said them with courage and dignity.

The truth was, the princess was braver than her brother, and brighter and more confident as well. Her wits were quicker, her courtesies more polished. Nothing ever daunted her, not even Joffrey.

She has heard them in the streets as well, shouting out for vengeance. She knew this was no game. The girl is brave, and wise beyond her years. She did all I asked of her, and never asked a question.

… until he speaks with Myrcella. Or must that brave child suffer a tragic accident as well?

And this is without speaking of Myrcella’s actions and manners in all of the difficult situations she goes through. Now, a girl who is associated with courage and bravery by Tyrion, ser Arys and prince Doran doesn’t quite fit with Arya’s words of her being “a baby”. Those are three very different characters, that would hardly have influenced each other’s opinions about the princess, and yet all of them remark on her courage.

The second quote from Sansa’s chapter is here because I don’t know for sure how large the direwolves were at this point — but my guess is around a common dog’s size, considering Sansa is feeding Lady under the table, and Septa Mordane does refer to the wolf as a dog. This is relevant in this discussion because if the direwolves were, at this point, already as huge as they later grow to be, I might see why Myrcella would be afraid (yet arguing that, even then, if she was, she wouldn’t have shown it unless she had the same reasoning I am going to discuss here). It’s also worthy noting this takes place before Nymeria attacks Joffrey. At this point, the direwolves hadn’t shown themselves threatening in front of people, and they were the size of an average dog — a brave girl would have little reason to fear them, specially when she had little to no actual interaction with the wolves. That isn’t to say Myrcella wouldn’t be careful --- she very much would, but this wouldn’t be prompted by fear, only by caution.

As said before, this might simply be GRRM not paying attention or changing characterization as story evolved, but I have a headcanon for it that makes Sansa’s and Arya’s impressions valid, while not meaning a change of personality. Myrcella wasn’t the only one in the wheelhouse, her little brother was there as well. In fact, most of the scenes she appears in before going to Dorne, Myrcella is with Tommen. They are quite close, and he is devastated when she leaves. Tommen is her younger brother, without doubt one of her closest friends. Her brother is someone she would do pretty much anything for.

He is a crown prince, though, and Westeros is prejudiced society. As a boy, Tommen is expected to be brave — if Myrcella, a girl, is called “a baby” for being supposedly afraid of the wolves, the reaction to Tommen being afraid of them would be much worse. From what we know of him, though, he is much more likely to fear them than Myrcella is. They are very close, as I’ve said before, and Myrcella is very protective of him (”We’re supposed to be childish”, her most famous quote, is a quote she says intervening on Tommen’s behalf; when he’s “jousting” and falls, she is the first to run to him; when she’s leaving, she comforts him instead of the other way around).

Tommen would likely be aware of the reactions he would receive to showing fear, but if there is one person he would trust to show he was afraid without fear of judgement, that would be Myrcella. I also believe that she would very much understand, and she’d also be aware that her place as a girl would allow her more room to manifest fearing the wolves without harsh answers. So, to protect her brother of the outcome of him having to say he was afraid, or from having to be confined in the wheelhouse with an animal he’s afraid of, I have no doubt she would pretend to be afraid. Which is exactly what I believed she did — acted as if she was the fearful one, to shelter Tommen from having to do it.

#slightly modified meta I posted on the other blog #but yis #&&. this ain't a fairytale [ OOC ]#&&. as much Jaime's blood as Cersei's [ HEADCANON ]#long post cw

1 note · View note

thelegendofclarke · 7 years

Note

Whats Sansas soft power I have never heard anyone talk about it before? Is it a real term or just one you use?

Hey Anon! Sorry it has taken me a few days to get to this… But yes, soft power is a real term.

The term “soft power” was developed in the context of international affairs and foreign policy, but it basically refers to the power of persuasion, attraction and diplomacy. Soft power is the ability to shape the preferences of others through appeal and attraction, rather than with “hard power” techniques such as coercion, threats, the use of force, or the use of money as a means of persuasion. The person who came up with the concept, Joseph Nye, actually wrote a really excellent book on it, Soft Power: The Means To Success In World Politics. I had to read it for one of my global politics classes in undergrad and I highly recommend it.

The principle of the hard and soft power distinction and its analysis can also be applied to other subjects besides politics though. Basically anytime there is some kind of power situation, you are going to see it displayed utilizing both hard and soft power techniques. It’s especially unsurprising to see female characters unitizing soft power methods in stories set in such a patriarchal context like the ASoIaF series. Women have to rely heavily (and in most cases, almost exclusively) on soft power as per the gender constructs of Westerosi society. In such a clearly patriarchal system, for the most part, men hold all the tangible power; they control the money, they control the armies, they control the land.

Persuasive and soft power techniques are one of the only ways for women to exercise any agency. Diplomacy is essentially part of the job description for noble women in Westeros. Not only is there is a tremendous amount of political savvy and skill required, but they also need to know how to conduct themselves in a manner that doesn’t threaten their society’s indoctrinated social constructs when utilizing it. It falls to wives to manage the entire household when the lord is absent, as well as manage the education of their children, arrange marriages, play host for other noble families, and act as diplomat and or ambassador during conflicts (as we saw Cat do for Robb).

I think the ASoIaF series is especially interesting though, because it has females who utilize both types of power in very distinct ways. It presents the contrast between characters like Sansa Stark and Margaery and Olenna Tyrell who rely heavily on their intelligence and persuasiveness, and characters like Cersei Lannister and Daenerys Targaryen who are far more prone to hard power displays such as threats or the outright use of force.

Sansa’s entire arc has been about her evolving “from pawn to player,” but even early on in the series she shows that she is not only well versed in observation, but that she knows how to effectively use this to her advantage. I think the most ~famous~ example is probably when she convinces Joffrey not to kill Ser Dontos in ACoK:

“Please,“ Sansa said, “I only meant… it would be ill luck, Your Grace… to, to kill a man on your name day.”“You’re lying,” Joffrey said. “I ought to drown you with him, if you care for him so much.”“I don’t care for him, Your Grace.” The words tumbled out desperately. “Drown him or have his head off, only… kill him on the morrow, if you like, but please… not today, not on your name day. I couldn’t bear for you to have ill luck… terrible luck, even for kings, the singers all say so… ”…Unhappy, Joffrey shifted in his seat and flicked his fingers at Ser Dontos. “Take him away. I’ll have him killed on the morrow, the fool.”“He is,” Sansa said. “A fool. You’re so clever, to see it. He’s better fitted to be a fool than a knight, isn’t he? You ought to dress him in motley and make him clown for you. He doesn’t deserve the mercy of a quick death.”The king studied her a moment. “Perhaps you’re not so stupid as Mother says.”

Sansa knows what to say to Joffrey; she knows to appeal to both his extreme narcissism as well as his cruelty. While at the point she may not be conscious enough of it to use her skills to her own gain, she is still capable of using them to influence others.

As another example, Olenna and Margaery Tyrell are imo probably two of the most masterful employers of soft power of all the female characters in the series. An example that I think stands out is in ASoS when they deliberately play Good Cop, Bad Cop while interrogating Sansa about Joffrey:

“Go on.” It was Margaery who urged. Joffrey’s own queen-to-be. Sansa did not know how much she had heard.“I can’t.” What if she tells him, what if she tells? He’ll kill me for certain then, or give me to Ser Ilyn. “I never meant … my father was a traitor, my brother as well, I have the traitor’s blood, please, don’t make me say more.”“Calm yourself, child,” the Queen of Thorns commanded.“She’s terrified, Grandmother, just look at her.”The old woman called to Butterbumps. “Fool! Give us a song. A long one, I should think. ‘The Bear and the Maiden Fair’ will do nicely.”….Lady Olenna squirmed forward. “Even when I was a girl younger than you, it was well known that in the Red Keep the very walls have ears. Well, they will be the better for a song, and meanwhile we girls shall speak freely.”“But,” Sansa said, “Varys… he knows, he always…”“Sing louder!” the Queen of Thorns shouted at Butterbumps. “These old ears are almost deaf, you know. Are you whispering at me, you fat fool? I don’t pay you for whispers. Sing!”….“The wrinkled old lady smiled. “At Highgarden we have many spiders amongst the flowers. So long as they keep to themselves we let them spin their little webs, but if they get underfoot we step on them.” She patted Sansa on the back of the hand. “Now, child, the truth. What sort of man is this Joffrey, who calls himself Baratheon but looks so very Lannister?”

At this point in the series, Sansa has learned the value of survival over candor at a high cost. It is a lesson she has, quite literally, had beaten into her over and over again. Yet, despite her clear apprehension and reluctance and obvious fear, Olenna and Margaery are able to persuade her to open up to them; they are able to influence her into doing what they want her to do. This subtle manipulation serves as a stark (and fascinating imo) contrast to other female characters like Dany and Cersei who exert their influence in a very different and, often times, very threatening way. Cersei and Daenerys don’t make suggestions or use subterfuge, they give orders and make threats.

You might not have seen soft power used for this purpose before, and I think it’s because people are sometimes reluctant to do so. I do definitely understand some of the criticisms people have for the hard and soft power dichotomy being discussed in a literary context… One of the issues that arises when “soft power” is used as a narrative device is that the distinction between hard and soft power has the tendency to be verrryyy heavily gendered. When female characters employing soft power techniques is that it is often automatically categorized, and then dismissed, as manipulation. And it is to a certain extent. However, persuasion and manipulation are essentially synonyms, its just that “manipulation” carries a much more negative connotation. Additionally, when characters like Sansa use persuasion to please or placate their abusers, it’s inherently contradictory, and also potentially very uncomfortable, to think of them as having any type of “power” or agency in the situation where they are being victimized. These are both completely valid criticisms of the generalization. But when you’re discussing such a patriarchal and political setting like Westeros, having a distinct way to discuss the power dichotomy and compare and contrast how different characters use the power and skills they have is very useful imo.

So yeah, when I say “It would also be really satisfying to see a character like Sansa who has had to rely so much on her more feminine, intellectual “soft power” to be in a position where she is clearly powerful in a more traditional, tangible sense” that’s what I am referring to: the general way Sansa exercises her agency now in contrast to how she could potentially in a position such as QitN or LoW where there was less of a need for her to temper herself, and why it would be such an interesting development to see.

#woof sorry this got SO LONG!#but here ya go! more than you probably ever wanted to know!#asoiaf for ts #got for ts #sansa stark #margaery tyrell #olenna tyrell #soft power #alys answers #long post #anonymous #alys meta

182 notes · View notes