#Arya being able to fight back (which she often isn't even able to do but 🤷🏾‍♀️) doesn't stop her from being victimized or feeling helpless

[fromtheseventhhell]

why does this fandom act like dany never suffered again after she gains her dragons? i saw an improperly tagged post on my for you page here and in the tags people are genuinely saying that after dany births her dragons, she never experiences sexual violence or oppression again unlike sansa who has to use her "ladies charms" to survive. i couldn't believe my eyes as i read tag after tag explaining why dany is a girlboss who never experiences anything bad after agot. what is wrong with tha fandom?

It's cause! A subsection of Stansas have adopted the show's (misogynistic) logic that suffering = deserves a good ending, so they want to play the suffering Olympics so Sansa ends up looking the most deserving of a happy ending. They're constantly downplaying other female characters and their trauma to fit their logic. Dany has dragons -> which offers her protection -> which means she hasn't suffered as much as Sansa. Arya has a sword -> which means she can fight back -> which means she hasn't suffered the same way Sansa has. Cersei has power -> which means she has control over her circumstances -> which means she hasn't been victimized the same way Sansa has. And so on and so forth. It's nothing but thinly veiled misogyny based on fundamentally misinterpreting the books cause the story being told doesn't make their favorite look special enough for them. Even a cursory glance at the books would prove these takes incorrect but something tells me they haven't taken the time to actually read them.

[aboveallarescuer]

What I said about the Meereenese Blot (which is actually the name of the blog; the series of essays is called Untangling the Meereenese Knot):

What some people think I said:

This is especially stupid when these "people you disagree with" were the ones who stirred shit by coming into a post that wasn't about her, by insulting the OP and by equating Dany stans to toxic Sansa stans (y'know, the ones who call Dany a rapist, a slaver, a pyromaniac, a white supremacist, a tyrant, a mad queen, etc... and that's about book!Dany, not show!Dany) and calling us a "cult" (nevermind that we bring up textual evidence to back up every statement we make) without caring to know how much Dany is hated and what we actually say about Dany (or about Sansa, for that matter; by mentioning her, that person was the one who turned that situation into a Sansa vs Dany problem when we barely talk about her). Also, that person mentioned the Meereenese Blot specifically to argue that Dany isn't a hero, and the MB itself views Dany negatively based on double standards (I'll mention a few below).

Look, I agree that everyone should read this series of metas (the main reason why I'm still in this fandom are the metas, after all). They have changed how the fandom interprets Dany's ADWD storyline for the better and they make some good observations about the political situation in Meereen. However, the conclusion about how the peace was real is obviously flawed. The essayist goes out of his way to justify why it's okay that the former slaves in Yunkai are being re-enslaved or why the fighting pits being re-opened is okay (it's not). He was also the one that dichotomized Dany into mhysa (her so-called 'peaceful' side) and mother of dragons (her so-called 'violent' side) even though these aspects of her identity coexist and strengthen each other, exaggerated her torture of the wineseller and his daughters without acknowledging that she learned that it was wrong and that it was acceptable by the standards of her time, said that the Dany of ASOS who chose to stay and bring peace is "dead" (nevermind that Dany turning her eyes back west is no different than any feudal lord fighting for his birthright), etc.

So, while they helped to explain why Dany's ADWD storyline is not as simple as 'she sucks at ruling', they also popularized lots of interpretations that judge Dany harshly. I know many Brazilian casual fans that reference it from time to time to talk about Dany and take everything it says for granted. Despite their good points, people are allowed to resent this series of essays even if it's not as bad as antis say it is. It pisses me off that so many people take them as the go-to metas to understand Dany's ADWD storyline.

Seriously, think about it.

Saying that Dany has "two" sides and is only going to listen to her "darker" impulses moving forward is as bad a take as saying that Arya has become "violent" and "broken" and won't ever be able to live a normal life. Why is the latter rightfully viewed as hate and the former isn't?

Why do people rightfully criticize the argument that "show!Dany saying that she'll burn cities to the ground is foreshadowing that she'll burn KL" but don't do the same about how the essayist argues that, by choosing fire and blood, Dany's "peaceful" side is now "dead"?

I'm tired of that. As I said in this post's tags, a lot of bad takes about Dany were not challenged and viewed as hate like they were for Arya or Catelyn or Sansa when they should have been throughout the years. The hate she receives now from jonsas didn't come out of nowhere, it's a culmination of everything that's been thrown at her.

I'm not saying that these metas shouldn't be read because they definitely should (in fact, I and Júlia often read lots of metas that we don't agree with and reply to their points accordingly), but they are overrated and should receive a lot more criticism than they have.

[sanssa-archive]

exactly! with sansa and arya, i've always been so attached to them and the whole "you need her as she needs you" and it rlly hit me that, okay ned said that, but we have still yet to see it. as of now, what exists of their canon relationship isn't rlly inspiring compared to all the edits they have on tumblr, but it just makes me sooo excited for when we'll start to see them follow through on what ned said!

and idk what it is about me, but everytime i watch arya’s more violent/survival scenes, i think “what would jon, ned, catelyn, etc be feeling and thinking seeing their little girl killing, enjoying killing, fighting to survive in the worst of places, learning how to be an assassin”. and not in a judgmental way, i think just in general i think a lot about how the starks would react to each other’s trials and tribulations, and with arya specific she at times seeks out those situations herself

like - with the other kids, they’re reacting to external factors outside of their control, like sansa most everything she does is reactionary to what situations she’s in. but arya, like in choosing to follow and kill merlyn trant, the freys, she went out of her way to do that, she didn’t have to, but she wanted to. jon has killed and fought at the wall out of necessity. i don’t fault her for it, but it’s pretty different to how the other starks choose to inact violence, u know what i meant?

yeah, what exists of them together in canon is two young sisters who couldn’t be less alike on the surface. they fought all the time, as sisters will, and yet we know that they love each other and always will despite the things that make them different because they’re family. i think that is what makes them inspiring in a lot of ways. when they look back on each other after being separated, there is sometimes frustration or resentment, but they also miss each other so much. one of the beautiful things that the starks do as a family is draw on strength from one another even when they’re apart, or after any of them has died. like how the kids remember the lessons ned taught them. and once sansa and arya come together again, they’ll actually be able to build a new bond, building on who they were before, only now they’re older and wiser and their differences won’t matter so much any more. what will matter is that they’re family, and they’re together. they’ll be able to draw strength from each other more than ever, as a pack.

as for arya, i see what you mean and i’ve often thought about this myself. but tbh this is kind of hard to think about. like, her journey is…..so wild? on one hand, who could’ve predicted she’d go where she’s gone, with the companions she’s had, and done the things she’s done? but looking back at that little girl who loved to run with the wolves and sword fight and befriend anyone who wasn’t nobility, we all can see the fighter in her, so it makes sense that after going on the run she’d find ways of getting better at fighting while never losing her will to befriend and help others. she’s violent, yes, but she’s also kind. only she’s not going to be kind to those who don’t deserve it. she doesn’t need to use her courtesy to protect herself because she is willing (and capable) to fight.

a concern for justice has always been one of arya’s core attributes that i think is driven by how she was raised, and furthered by the murder of mycah (when her list begins). and then with the deaths of ned, cat, and robb she is left to wallow in her anger and desire for revenge/justice because now her family has been taken from her. and thanks to the training she receives, arya has a way to get that justice for the people she most loves and cares about. plus, arya isn’t restricted to one place. sansa is a captive of the lannisters, so she has little to no autonomy and even less power to get revenge even though we know of several moments in which she wants to (even tries, with joffrey when he takes her to see ned’s head) but sansa is not a fighter and has no hope of leaving king’s landing without help. whereas arya is on the run, with a bit more autonomy (though not much) and manages to meet people she learns she can trust, more or less. she also has the choice of seeking out those on her list. granted, it may be reckless to go after those people as just one girl, but while she’s on the run, her love for her family drives her, and she wants justice for them, and she’s brave and determined enough to go and make it herself. honestly, i think all of the starks are more or less reckless and violent where family is involved, so to imagine how they’d react toward arya…

yes, ned and catelyn would have wanted arya to be happy and more importantly safe, and i think they’d be heartbroken to see all that she has gone through, as any parent would tbh. but i think they’d also be proud of how strong and resilient she’s been, along with all of the stark kids. the world has not been kind to any of them, and while that hurts, they’d mostly just be proud of each other for making it through (well, for those of them who have) and their love would only grow stronger. this family’s bond is strong as hell.