#Dark Sansa

[jeyneofpoole]

reunion

[atopvisenyashill]

i was thinking more about characters Performing Gender, but not necessarily Transgressing Gender. I wound up focusing on Ned and Sansa bc I feel like I understand them the most but-

Sansa as a hostage is imo the most obvious (bc it’s so well done) moment of someone clearly Performing Gender but not being transgressive in that performance. Which isn’t to say it’s not a complicated performance; it’s a fine line Sansa walks between weaponizing her gender to protect herself without seeming too fake. She’s trying to placate the Lannisters by playing the perfect, dedicated, air headed betrothed because it’s the only defense she has - if she outwardly rebels, she will be punished in a likely violent and/or sexual way (which isn’t even conjecture - when she says “or maybe he’ll give me yours” Joffrey has her struck with an armored hand). She’s not quite successful in being convincing but that’s because it’s a rather extreme situation; despite no one believing her, she does make herself seem meek and stupid enough that no one suspects she’s plotting to escape with Dontos until she’s well away from KL. The fact that she even has Dontos to confide in is because of Sansa’s relationship with gender! When she saves him, she covers her rebellious slip by playing up Joffrey’s intelligence & his role as King; she reaches for “tools” of her gender AND of ~proper manhood~ to save a life and herself from another beating. Her retreats into the godswood and silence are very much Sansa attempting to recharge from these draining interactions, the same way a knight would need to stop and eat and rest after a fight. She is fighting, constantly, by forcing herself to stay within the narrow confines of a specific type of gender performance as a way of shielding herself from harm.

Ned yelling at Cat is another big one, and I’ve seen the scene referred to as Ned using his patriarchal power to scare Cat, which is a great description. It feels like a Performance because Ned is putting on this terrifying Lord Stark mask in an attempt to get Catelyn to stop asking about Jon (and Lyanna). This is not how he usually acts with those he loves! When Ned is with His People, he is welcoming of questions, curiosity, emotion, even transgressive thought (to a point! the idea that Ned is a feminist because he lets Arya learn to fight is Not accurate but you can’t deny he allows significantly more flexibility wrt gender expression than most of the fathers we meet in this series. the bar is in hell tho). Yet when Cat asks him about Jon’s mother, Ned scares her so well she stops asking & still remembers the moment bitterly over a decade later. And if that snippet we see through Bran’s eyes of Ned praying that Cat will forgive him does come after she asks (like it’s suspected), it’s clear not only that this is a performance he’s putting on & weaponizing against Cat, it’s one he does not like using as a weapon against someone he is close to. After using the power his gender gives him to cause harm, he retreats to the godswood and silence to pray and rest, much like Sansa. A spiritual cleanse, the way a soldier may pray after battle, to reset and reconnect Being A Proper Man to Being A Kind Man.

I think there’s something interesting in that two of the characters most widely defined by how well they adhere to Westerosi gender norms both dislike feeling like they had to weaponize their gender. They are exhausted by the performance, because it’s a performance. This isn’t Sansa getting excited over tourneys, or Ned teaching his sons to fight; it’s toxic masculinity, it’s structural misogyny. It’s something they’re good at, excel at, and connected to something they enjoy but when it’s paired with violence, whether done by Ned or done to Sansa, it crosses over in their minds from an innate part of themselves (The Gender) to a performance necessary due to survival (The Gender Role). And that after these performances, both retreat to nature & god as a way of resting and cleansing from the experience.

[harritudur]

*feel free to ignore me* yeah....i'm very deep in my theonsa feels again and obsessed with this AU (in the GoT series Verse) where them both survived and how these two touch-starved broken babies find solace into each other's presence ❤️‍🩹

[korkiekenobiconfirmed]

meanwhile in Stark heaven

“Joffrey is a Baratheon, your Grace” // “Oh is he?”

[catofoldstones]

Sansa didn’t feel horrified at Joffrey’s death and Arya didn’t in her grief still say that a dead Joffrey won’t bring her brother Robb back for y’all to revel in violence and miss the point of the books that badly.

[dr3adlady]

I'm almost done with my fic, Born to Burn. Only one chapter, epilogue, remains. If you want an angsty dark romance about outlaws and school teachers and lawmen, you might want to give this a try :)

[cosmic-walkers]

Queen of the North -

[ikvgai]

[hewantshisbrideback]

"M'lady? You look sad. Are you thinking of your sister?" The dwarf patted her on the hand. "The Crone will light your way to her, never fear. The Maiden will keep her safe."

"I pray that you are right."

Brienne II, A Feast for Crows

[grimgrazia]

Do I think X-Men: Dark Phoenix is kind of mid? Yeah. Will I keep rewatching it because I will take any crumbs of Jean/Phoenix that I can get? Of course.

Also something I can appreciate about Dark Phoenix are those special effects, they are so good. Like the way the Phoenix force was portrayed is beautiful imo. Other than that it’s hard to sit through, which sucks bc I love Sophie so much.

Sophie and Famke are both so good as Jean Grey and FOX couldn’t handle all that I guess. Seriously I get sad thinking about how they handled her character.

People hate to see a woman serving cunt.

Anyways… GO READ THE FIRST ISSUE OF PHOENIX (2024)!!!

[snake-berry]

a young-ish aegor rivers

his expression isnt quite as "bitter" as it maybe should be and his hair isnt as dark as i imagine but i was focusing more on experimenting w my painting style than anything else. i am (controversially apparently) very interested in this character lol

[alicent-targaryen]

SANSA STARK ▸ Game of Thrones, 5.6

[fancyschmancyopinions]

SOPHIE TURNER at the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party on March 12th 2023 wearing LOUIS VUITTON

Sophie is one of the few celebrities who Louis Vuitton does Justice for. She manages to look really great in a lot of looks from the brand. I absolutely loved this sheer look. I love the super long sleeves, and the sheer material looks so luxe and glamorous.

[faychived]

Sophie Turner

like/reblog if you use

no creds needed

[firesteel-eden]

Then she turned to him and offered him a determined glance, “I will be the Stark whose ice didn’t melt when she went South,” she told him.

New Reverse Firesteel chapter is up!

I suggest you read it here, before you watch the edit under the line.

And Sansa Stark would help him reach that goal, she would enrich that goal.

[atopvisenyashill]

arya: if there’s so much i must be can i still just be me the way i am?

sansa: can i trust in my own heart or am i just one part of some big plan?