#grrm especially loves this trope

[dragonseeds]

do you have any thoughts on daenys the dreamer?

extremely fun and obvious play on the cassandra figure. a version where her family not only believes her but venerates her visions and prophecies—like, she saves them and a handful of dragons and, in doing so, the world, but it also curses her bloodline. the thing that once saved them becomes an obsession that consumes them literally in wildfire. the idea that you can be doomed by believing in and actively trying to fulfill a prophecy (aegon v at summerhall, melisandre and stannis) just as easily as others are doomed by their disbelief or their attempts to circumvent fate (cersei echoing my buddy king laius)—like that’s so, so cool to me. i love the ambiguity between fate and choice, the way grrm takes the whole trope apart and plays with all the individual components.

also very interested in the line running from daenys to daenerys, and i always wonder if daenys saw her too and if so, how much of her life daenys saw and was able to contextualize? did she see clear images like melisandre and bran or more metaphorical ones, like jojen or dany in the house of the undying? something like… a dragon with three heads fighting in a frozen wasteland lol?

considering the the loss of female power in house targaryen is so deeply entwined with the dying of the dragons, underneath all of that for me is aemon’s line in affc and the context that follows it:

what were they translating?? were some of the documents in other languages? it couldn’t have all been daenys’ works because aemon says they’ve been wrong for a thousand years. this prophecy has been a motivating factor for the targaryens (and valyrians?) for a thousand years, but i wonder at what point the translation error actually crept in? daenys was valyrian and that would’ve been her primary language—i like to think she would’ve understood the nature of the dragon in a way her male descendents couldn’t. no one ever looked for a girl, but it was always a girl. not men in a patriarchal feudalist society reducing women to their reproductive capabilities (rhaella’s miserable life being one of the most egregious examples of this) and then being surprised when a woman is needed to rebirth the dragons lol.

this got away from me because i think the (deconstruction of the) use of prophecy in asoiaf is fascinating and everything we know about daenys is tied up in that. cutting myself off before i start talking about gender as it relates to this prophecy. beyond that, i’m really not interested in interpretations of daenys where she’s catatonic or broken by what she’s seen any more than i am in interpretations of dany where she goes mad, just because i’m sick of the seeing the general victimization of women in asoiaf taken to such an extreme that they’re defined by it—with whoever suffers most ecstatically being the least problematic to stan, especially when the women in question are from/associated with house targaryen.

[pessimisticpigeonsworld]

what do you think about the theory that dany will revive the great empire of the dawn and become the new amethyst empress, finally marry for love and have the children she always wanted, and bring forth a new age of magic and dragon repopulation? especially if grrm envisioned bran doing his own thing in westeros it would be full circle with house targaryen making their way back to their ancestral land of essos but this time with the wheel being broken. if this is the ending we get i will never complain about anything asoiaf related ever again, i just want dany to have her happy ending.

I will say this is the first time I'm hearing about Dany and the Empire of the Dawn, but I love it!

I've always been a little unhappy with how a lot of the Dany taking the IT theories require her to abandon her antislavery campaign in Essos. Like she may finish in Salver's Bay and Volantis, but Essos is still full of slaves. Sure, the ripple effect of Dany could lead to uprisings all over Essos, but I've always liked the idea of her being involved in the entire process to some extent. Dany reestablishing the Empire of the Dawn would put her right in the center of Essos.

Plus I hate how often the trope of magic disappearing is used. So Dany reestablishing magic and bringing back dragons has always been an idea I love dearly. Magic is a very important part of ASOIAF, it's part of the balance of that universe. So it coming back definitely is important, and the fact that it's Dany doing it is awesome.

So yeah, anon, I really like this theory!

[agentrouka-blog]

The lack of a goodbye between Jon and Sansa in the first book feels... very strange, in a way I can't quite put my finger on. Especially since we can confidently presume their pre-canon relationship was not antagonistic, and that they harbored fond feelings for one another. We even see that Sansa was actually excited for Jon later on when she laments the reality of the NW. Their goodbye, or lack of one, not even being a passing thought in Jon's mind feels more like an omission to me than an occurrence that simply didn't happen.

There's this wide open space of possibility, really. GRRM gave us nothing, and there's enough ambiguity in their memories to range from an avoided/forgotten goodbye (with its own implications) to a full interaction with innocent-significant wording that complements revelations of things past and to come.

I think the main reason GRRM didn't give them a goodbye or interaction of any sort is indeed the desire to make their reunion the "first meeting" between them and more firmly establish them as a future couple through using exclusively classic romantic tropes. Showing them in romance-coded situations even as nominal "siblings" lures the reader into following along on their path of falling in love, understanding that torment from inside the situation in a way that is sympathetic rather than depraved. Not establishing the specific shape of that sibling relationship beforehand helps the reader abandon that idea in favor of walking into this trap.

GRRM: Isn't this romantic??

Reader: Kinda yeah actually-- WAIT THEY ARE SIBLINGS!

GRRM: Are they though...?

Reader: Please tell me they aren't!! The pining!!!

GRRM: Fine, as a special treat. 🪄

[asoiaf-source]

GRRM wanted to subvert the usual tropes

Remember GRRM started out his series with the intention of writing something that didn't follow the typical tropes and conventions of previous works. GRRM wanted to subvert the usual tropes like the secret hidden 'prince who was promised' perhaps by having that person be illegitimate - Jon fulfills some prophecy by blood, but not through a legal marriage, he is the 'hero' but not the true 'king' at least by rights of succession.

GRRM will not pull a book out of a dark ancient library that gives us all the answers to the past that make everything easy for our characters, or have a weird political marriage between 'siblings / cousins' be what is needed to unite a kingdom (how? everything is fractured, the land decimated, why would the people care about a political marriages in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse?)

Remember GRRM promised or forewarned a bittersweet ending, not all the mains or favorites will survive or have a typical happy ending, and I'm assuming that is especially true for the tortured and much suffering 'hero' - at least that is my gut feeling. To me the two most prominent characters Tyrion and Jon are also the two most likely to die by the end - at least one if not both, driven there by circumstances: blinded by love, rage, or perhaps a noble sacrifice.

Tyrion is already blinded by his hatred and rage, will his better nature win out or will he continue to feed his hatred until his end? GRRM had Jon suffer 'death' and gave us clues that resurrections can happen, but they also alter a person, no matter how Jon manages to remain intact after resurrection, he will not come back the same, there will be notable changes, otherwise why do it in the first place? (the show did this very poorly!)

If they survive they will be much altered, as in not the most well adjusted people, lots of trauma to deal with, to take on the role of the clear-sighted leader needed to rebuild a nation and inspire/lead its people. They maybe able to help and/or advise, but I don't see them as the main leader on top. Both have really been through the most changes physically and mentally and you know it will only get harder and worse by the end, GRRM isn't don't with them yet.

As much as the Stark kids have suffered, I still get a feeling of hope and sense of future with them, they are working hard for some kind of future in mind, they are young and being tested and learning how to be resilient people. They don't know of the larger dealing happening in the world yet, only bits and pieces, but it does feel like GRRM is preparing them to deal with it when their time comes and they finally have full agency to do something. Not sure all will work out, but I just can't see any of them dying or coming to harm by the end of the series. I don't feel any of them have had 'big' player moments yet, so I find it harder to sense a future for them beyond what others speculate on and most of it feels wishful.

As for Dany, she started out subjugated, but quickly found her power and has exerted that power within the story. She is by far the most powerful POV in terms of making changes in the world with large consequences. She means well, but things do not always go well or as she expected. She is learning, but also doing at the same time which makes the outcomes all the more complicated as it affects so many people, and not all of it is welcome change. Dany brings hope, but she also bring chaos, Dany makes friends, but she also makes lots of enemies...

I go back and forth on Dany's ending, mainly because of GRRM trope subversions and with Dany it could go either way. GRRM is building her up for something good and great, but whether she survives or is acknowledged for it? That would be bitter sweet indeed, but also in character for her - well meaning and doing something for the greater good, but often misunderstood or politically attacked by her enemies so that only a few close to her know of her true noble intentions and sacrifices. I want her to live, but I could also see her dying or being killed. She is a symbol and and icon and that is an attractive target for people like Varys or even Cottington, could go either way... I just acknowledge the possibilities.

[melrosing]

I just find so much of the whole Lyanna Rhaegar thing so interesting. And its something I've explored more in my fanfics (that I've not really posted). But it's really weird to me that so many people's take away was that they were starcrossed lovers when... Rhaegar was like 23 (idk, an adult), married with a kid and Lyanna was a 15 yo. regardless of many factors, Rhaegar was still in the wrong in kidnapping her (no matter how willing of a victim she was). I totally buy that they thought their love story was that of starcrossed lovers.

also I love Ned having a complicated relationship with Brandon. I'm a sucker for Ned/Cat, and it's always strange to think that had things gone right she would've married Brandon. Like, it must be weird to look at the family you love and know you wouldn't have any of it if your brother (and to some extent sister) hadn't died.

Anyways, love the ending of season 1! I've found the whole thing super fun!

Yeah, I talked a bit about how I see Rhaegar and Lyanna here - like I'm sure they felt like star-crossed lovers, and GRRM the Shakespeare fanatic has certainly incorporated a handful of Romeo & Juliet tropes into their story. But they're also a lot more complicated than that. I can't disregard Lyanna's age, I can't disregard Rhaegar's obsession with prophecy and how that may have played a part in his pursuit of Lyanna (and his pursuit of a child from her body), and I can't disregard how he treats Elia and their children.

And people do minimise the affront to Elia which is really irritating to me, like as you can see per my sparknotes thing I don't believe that Elia ever came to love Rhaegar - I think at best she may have thought in the early days she was lucky to have such a worthy match, but that there's otherwise no suggestion they were close or even had any especial rapport. So, fine - it was a political match and not a love match - so if either of them privately committed adultery, that would be one thing.

But humiliating Elia in front of virtually all of Westeros by making a show of disregarding her, when she is either pregnant with his child or has just given birth to his child... and then later leaving her and their two young children in the charge of a teenager and a pyromaniac??? like sorry no i'm just not having it babes. it's not on

And yeah I definitely like the idea of Brandon and Ned having a kind of spiky relationship! I think Ned loved his brother but I can imagine there were things he disliked about him. And that Brandon could be quite callous towards Ned, treating him a bit like a doormat, condescending to him etc, and not even realising he's doing it because Ned's feelings hardly register with him.

It would kind of make Ned's close friendship with Robert more interesting, because I think Brandon was probably a lot like Robert - but here's a version of his brother who has time for him and jokes with him and confides in him etc etc. So it was easier to look past Robert's foibles and failings.

But then obviously Ned would feel a lot of guilt for having resented his brother once Brandon is gone (and Brandon dies proving how much he truly values his family), and for having inherited everything he was meant to have. It makes me think again of Jon as like a twisted outlet of penance for Ned. like he would always have cared for and protected Jon for Lyanna, yet part of him thinks he deserves Catelyn's resentment and the judgement of society that comes with Jon, but for own private guilt.

anyway thanks so much for reading they're really fun to write! working on plotting out the next bunch tonight....

[flowersintheimpala69]

Do you ship any other incest tropes? Like blackcest(Sirius/Regulus), Jaydick(Jason Todd/Dick Grayson), etc' ?? Genuinely curious about your thoughts on other incest tropes ^-^

i assume by incest tropes u mean other incest ships if u meant like actual tropes I'm so sorry and I'll do this ask again lol but for now I'm operating under the assumption this is about ships.

as a self proclaimed incest connoisseur here are some of my other fav incest ships. WARNING: uncontrolled yapping under the cut:

Jaime x Tyrion (GOT): there is NO fan content for them but tbh they're like one of my #1 got ships.. it's just like. Tyrion feels undesirable. he's been treated like shit his entire life for his deformity. he feels no warmth for Tywin or Cersei, but he has a love for Jaime who has always treated him with respect and care. like. ugh. that's his big brother!! I think Jaime, under his exterior and at his core, is a good guy who wants to protect people. and i think his protectiveness especially flares up with Tyrion cuz of the way he's treated by the majority. i think they should kiss too.

Cersei x Jaime (GOT): These bitches are messyyyyy and i love it. i think cersei is in a weird way jealous of jaime cuz he's able to do the things she can't as she's restricted by Westeros's misogynistic culture, which is a sickening layer to their relationship. I'm holding out for a cersei x jaime endgame in asoiaf.. grrm martin if u can hear us release winds of winter and make sure it includes more lannister incest. jaime and cersei just share this insane codependency that i LOVE. like in the show when jaime goes back to king's landing for cersei? like as a brienne x jaime lover that hurt but then as a cersei x jaime truther i was lowkey cheering. like even after all that development and time away from her, cersei was still the number one woman in Jaime's life. sickening.

Jon x Sansa (GOT): not sure if this counts cuz yea they're technically cousins (in the show. ig L + R = J isn't confirmed yet in the books so halfsiblings in the books for now) the final seasons of GOT sucked but they gave us Jonsa reunion so I'll take the win. idk. its like. sansa has lost faith in true heroes/honorable men. but jon is an honorable man. also like sansa being influenced to hate jon by catelyn but her love for him growing overtime so eventually she sees him as a true stark (in the show). there's more in canon content for them show wise of course but I'm holding out for a jonsa reunion/moment in the books (if grrm ever writes any more)

(NOTE: all hotd ships is show ver i haven't read Fire & Blood I'm sorry. also there's a lot of HOTD ships cuz that show is an incest cesspool)

Daemon x Viserys I (HOTD): daemon's freaky incest sex dream in s2 should've been about viserys and I STAND BY THAT!! daemon wanted to be viserys as much as he wanted to be visery's sister wife. we don't get a bunch of insight into their relationship in the show but idc they're def brotherkissers...

Aemond x Aegon II (HOTD): doomed brotherkissers.. they should've just reconciled and fucked. they hate each other. they have love for each other. they're sick.

Heleana x Aemond (HOTD): it's subtle but i stg there's so many small implications in the show that they had something. they seem to hold this affection for each other that is lacking in the marriage between heleana and aegon. like s1e8 aemond looks a little peeved about heleana dancing with jace. when they're kids and aegon calls heleana an idiot aemond defends her and says aegon should "honour" her. during aegon's coronation heleana can be seen hiding a bit behind aemond, and when meleys comes in aemond steps in front of heleana as if to protect her. heleana made aemond cry!! stoic aemond cried cuz of her!! in my head they had this unspoken affection for each other. i know there's a theory that heleana's kids are actually aemonds' and are bastards. i don't rlly believe it to be true, but I still think there was something between them.

Heleana x Alicent (HOTD): HEAR ME OUT. its like. they're so disconnected from each other. heleana needs a mother but alicent doesn't really have the emotional capacity for that. alicent doesn't know how to connect to her reserved daughter. maybe heleana reminds alicent of rhaenyra a bit.. idk I just think their bonding activity of choice should be heleana sucking alicent's tits. as one does.

Jacaerys x Heleana (HOTD): we were robbed.. they could've been great. heleana could've used a gentle guy like jace. what could've been.

Aegon II x Rhaenyra (HOTD): in a perfect world they were married to each other in an attempt to secure Rhaenyra's place as heir and stop Aegon from usurping

Rhaenyra x Daemon (HOTD): they're THE power couple. they're also messy as hell. i think in a weird way they sorta fear each other AND are jealous of each other. daemon wanted to be named viserys heir, yet rhaenyra was named heir instead. rhaenyra wants to be respected like a daemon but never will be because she's a woman. their physical intimacy/tension/chemistry is also AMAZING. they have this weird power dynamic where daemon exploited and took advantage of rhaenyra when she was young yet nyra holds power over him as his queen, a position daemon always wanted and a position he helped give to nyra!! their wedding was also BEAUTIFUL and one of my fav scenes btw

Heleana x Aegon II (HOTD): failmarriage. i think aegon does care for heleana but he can't understand her.

Rick x Morty (Rick & Morty): need that pervy old man to groom and molest his grandson!! I can't think of any particular ricks or mortys i especially enjoy together, i think they're all great.

Stanley x Stanford (Gravity Falls): it's been a WHILE since I've actually engaged with any gf or stancest content but for a while stancest was my shit, and it still holds a special place in my heart. i love toxic old man yaoi. to me its like they have this unsaid thing their whole lives where they sorta know that there this something more between them but they never act on it. and then they have their break up when stanley is kicked out and they don't talk for years. but even those years apart they thought of each other often. then they reunite but then things go wrong and they fight and ford goes into the portal and then stanley proceeds to spend the next decades obsessing over getting his brother back. they had rough hate sex when ford eventually came back but was still pissed at stanley. idk its like. they RETIRED together. them together. on stan o war II for the rest of their lives. brotherfuckers if u ask me.

Roman x Shiv (Succession): They fooled around when they were kids. trust me. roman fingered shiv when they were 14 and horny. shiv gave her first blowjob to roman. and like. in their heads its whatever. its not like they actually ever had sex. like they're not abt to go shouting it from the rooftops or talk to each other abt cuz it was. unconventional. but they also think they were just kids anyways. sometimes when it's just them in a room together they give each other these looks. side way glances.

Vi x Jinx (Arcane): i like caitvi as much as the next person but ViJinx is so good. like. god. they're so damaged but they have sm love for each other too. Jinx telling Vi "I'm glad it's you" in s2 act 1 while Vi is on top of her!! jinx blowing on vi's ear in s2 act 2!! jinx sacrificing herself for vi in s2 act 3!! and i mean. vi fucking cait in JINX'S CELL AFTER JINX ABANDONS HER!! THEY'RE SISTERFUCKERS. they're gross and codependent and obsessed and vi wanted to eat her little sister out NASTY.

You mentioned JayDick, which I've read a few fics for and I enjoy them. But tbh my fav batfamily ship is BruDick... like. they're partners/fatherson/lovers/rivals all wrapped in one. they can't stand each other. they care deeply for each other. they're weirdly codependent and are super emotionally incestuous. I'm not against bruce molesting a young dick, but my fav dynamic tbh is bruce seeing dick 100% as a son/sidekick/partner until one day a flip switches in bruce's brain and his 28 y/o pseudo-son is suddenly the hottest man alive. and dick has been down bad for that brussy since he first hit puberty. then they fuck. real to ME. i haven't rlly consumed any batfamily/dc fic in a while but thinking abt brudick is putting me in the mood.. lowkey might read some later.

Liam x Cordell (Walker): I don’t think jarpad is capable of playing a man who isn’t in love with his blood brother

Thor x Loki (MCU): i used to consume sm thorki fic it was an actual illness.

im sure there are others I forgot to mention but these are the main ones i like. I'm big on codependency and unhealthy dynamics, that while toxic, do contain genuine care/love.

thanks for the ask anon! sorry this was so long lol

[gojuo]

so since hotd re-introduced the prophecy about the white walkers, danycels and joncels have been having weekly mid-offs over who azor ahai is once again and i really have to laugh. first of all, these people still don't get that being AA is not a good thing, it's a force for destruction so yes it's dany lol. and also seeing weekly comments like 'so jon's parentage didn't mean anything??' his parentage was never going to change anything politically in westeros. he has no way of proving he's the son of rhaegar and lyanna, much less proving he's legitimate. these people really want jon to be aragorn when the whole fucking point of asoiaf was a cynical, subversive response to common fantasy tropes lol.

second, and this is really hard for the fandom to grapple with, especially targ/dany stans, but then only, and, i truly mean only, reason grrm made jon a targ is for the dramatic and poetic irony for when he kills dany in the climax of the story.

the targ with a bastard name, no targ features, no symbols of the targaryen dynasty aka dragons taking out dany, the last 'true' targ that has the official name, the targ features, being born from incest, and being a dragonrider is deeply ironic. the type of irony grrm loves. it's a greek/shakespearean tragedy but this fandom never had the range to appreciate it lol.

this is even more ironic because some of the biggest rhaegar and lyanna stans are daenerys stans who still don't understand that that relationship was nothing but a plot device to produce dany's future killer even though they watched an entire 10 year show that set up that very plot point. the delusion borders on the absurd.

the way we're never getting ADOS so we'll never have GRRM writing all this down in blood confirming it once and for all that their delusions are nothing but moronic fanfics conjured up during their weekly edibles-filled tea parties meaning #those stans will be able to freely continue living in delulu land oh brother it's all just so painful.....

[the-king-andthe-lionheart]

Book Gendrya Month 2023 - Day Eight - Romantic Tropes

Love Theme

Arya and Gendry share several romantic tropes in their story with each other, especially in A Storm of Swords, but I think one of their most significant romantic tropes that they have is their love theme.  And it’s so significant because GRRM went out of his way to specifically write this song for them and no one else as it doesn’t show up anywhere else in the books, just in Arya IV ASOS.

“My featherbed is deep and soft, and there I'll lay you down, I'll dress you all in yellow silk, and on your head a crown. For you shall be my lady love, and I shall be your lord. I'll always keep you warm and safe, and guard you with my sword." “And how she smiled and how she laughed, the maiden of the tree. She spun away and said to him, no featherbed for me. I'll wear a gown of golden leaves, and bind my hair with grass, But you can be my forest love, and me your forest lass.”

Now we know this song is about them because when Tom O’Sevens is singing it, he winks at Arya, and later Lady Smallwood specifically says to Arya “I have no gowns of leaves”.  The song specifically mentions yellow – a Baratheon color – and crowns - Gendry’s biological father was the former King - and depicts the free spirited “Maiden of the Tree” who wants love on her own terms, which sounds like what an older, flowered version of Arya would want if she fell in love even if that doesn’t necessarily mean literally forsaking noble life to live in a forest.  We also know this is about them because in the previous scene we get this:

Gendry put the hammer down and looked at her.  “You look different now.  Like a proper little girl.” “I look like an oak tree, with all these stupid acorns.” “Nice, though.  A nice oak tree.”  He stepped closer, and sniffed at her.  “You even smell nice for a change.”

During these scenes, Arya is wearing a pale green dress that is embroidered with acorns.  She also has a lot of “maiden of the tree” symbolism.  She is referred to several times as a squirrel while with the Brotherhood Without Banners and is often associated with the Children of the Forest and is a powerful skinchanger.  Arya worships the Old Gods and the Old Gods actually speak back to her from the trees.  She has learned “needlework” in the branches of weirwoods and other trees, and is often climbing trees.  And she has also ingested acorn paste numerous times to stay alive.

Gendry also has symbolic ties to trees. Gendry as a Baratheon (even a Baratheon bastard) is tied to the storm, the fury - thunder and lightning - and he carries a hammer just like the Norse god, Thor - god of lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of mankind and also hallowing and fertility. Thor's tree of life was an oak tree. So while Arya and Gendry are in the smithy at Acorn Hall, Arya represents the oak tree and Gendry represents a god of power that is linked to the oak tree. So Arya has symbolically become Gendry's Tree of Life, the oak tree he is forever linked to.

[justasussybitch]

Picturing LFL au where Luke did manage to escape with Shiera that day. Imagining Luke offering to inter Aemond on driftmark rather then have him killed.

Everyone thinking it’s some weird guilt thing or a devotion to the seven he must’ve found in captivity (obviously no one knows the extent and assumes most rumours spread by mushroom are obviously false (side note George making the drunken lecher having more truths versus the oh so pious Septon Eustace is something I can 100% see)).

Luke just enjoys having the say of whatever Aemond eats or wears. The fact that he’s the only person who can decide if the terror of the riverlands lives or dies is something he probably thinks of whenever he’s having some trouble with sexual intimacy ( though no one would know about the extent to his occasional internal struggles with his past not even Rhaena). anytime he remembers his abuse that’s only been shared with (maybe Rhaena??) ,Jace or Daemon (who would have a bit more of an idea of war time practices in Westeros) he remembers that he has Aemond in his hands not the other way around.

Balancing never seeming weak again and being this loving brother/son/heir that once came so easy to him. Then him and Rhaena having her six daughters like canon (for Rhaena) and him making the eldest heir like he fought for but always in the back of his mind that men are not safe from other men in war time but especially not women. Just whole other bucket of trauma for him to deal with. Especially after he started praying to primarily female deity figures during his own s/a and captivity.

Probably spoilers if anyone has ever read my own fic but I quite enjoy Luke claiming Cannibal trope (now a trope, at the time I started publishing my fic in October 2022 there was crumbs to eat but thankfully we’re feasting now as lucemonders!!). Arrax being this pearlescent dragon who was swift and growing every year symbolising Luke himself growing from this unsure boy into someday maybe someone more sure of himself then claiming cannibal a dragon rumoured to be strange enough to devour its own kind, pitch black and monsterously older than the Iron throne itself. Just a very silly and lazy way for me to bring this visual of loss of innocence tho I defend myself in my mind that GRRM probs wanted Arrax to evoke that when he made him Pearl white with golden chest to die when he was 13 along with Luke.

Not even getting into the fun interactions with Aemond. Maybe Luke is still keeping this love act up for some fucked reason in his head and has Aemond convinced he’s alive out of love. Or if history changes yet again and Aemond has the injuries of Rooks Rest instead of Aegon (like the rumours his dick broke) after the war kicks off later, how Luke would manipulate his way into topping him (the thing he’ll think will “cure him” of his nightmares and traumas. Not how that works bookie but I understand even being raised by a polycule in this time would not save him from the patriarchys nonsense lol)

Even better him visiting winterfell with Jace and stumbling upon his brother and Cregan and watching their interactions (Cregans fucking Jace’s “cunt” and still sees him as a man??? Talks about loving Jace’s cock despite being the “man” in their relationship) just completely breaking apart his ideas of what he’s internalised m/m relationships being.

I wouldn’t change a thing of LFLEFE of course, it’s perfection. it’s always fun to read someone’s work and wonder of the “what ifs” (which is what I do between chapters of fanfiction too as you’ve seen from my delirious asks before lol) and how the characters would shift and change when the butterflies wings change to a different direction.

At that point in the story Aemond has already planted this cruelty in Luke (not in general, we see him freely empathise with people even when not knowing them like the servants entering the chambers after shieras death) that Luke has to foster against Aemond in his mind to survive the ordeal. It’s a coping mechanism for him that allows him to continue the charade. The satisfaction of tricking Aemond is probably what kept him alive through much of the uncertainty.

A scene of the new show Mary & George where the main character who usually tops bottoming with his enemy after (falsely) professing love just to fuck with his mind and get one final “I’m the one who won here. Go fuck yourself” literally gave me this vibe and I don’t know where it could possible fit in this “au” lol. Luke taking back his own asshole in a way idk that’s so silly hahah

Luke taking his own feelings of self loathing and low self esteem and sharpening them into a weapon to use against Aemond? Art, chefs kiss!

Sorry this got so long I was inbetween tasks and kept forgetting how long it was 🤣

some very mild spoilers for the themes/arcs i have planned for the series

a friend had already recommended Mary & George to me, but this definitely confirms i need to watch it also, 100% get it. i constantly have to restrain myself from writing canon divergence fic of my canon divergence fic. to the point that, if i do manage to finish the series in a reasonable time frame, i may very well cave and do just that. (personally, i like to think that if Shiera lived, she would have become a sailor). tbh if anyone, for whatever reason, wrote a 'what if' fic based on any fic of mine... well, i think that's kind of the highest honour a fic writer could receive, isn't it? so it's a practice i fully endorse.

westerosi gender is 100% something i want to explore/am exploring in this series. especially in relation to sexual violence being so gendered in the setting, to the point that being raped is almost feminising in the eyes of many of the characters. lfleye!Luke 100% identifies as and will continue to identify as a man in the series. but his experiences now means he identifies *with* women far more. as you've noted, Luke is a very empathetic character. while not many characters will acknowledge it in-universe, Luke is extremely strong as a character, and thats proven with how his experiences have increased his empathy rather than diminished it. it's so tempting to be 'strong' after being 'weak' by inflicting abuse on others and exploiting whatever societal power you have, especially in a setting like Westeros. but a really big part of Luke's arc is going to be to a refusal to do that, and to continue to identify with the abused (women, lowborn, etc). (some of my interest in Theon as a character actually comes from a similar place)

this is a roundabout way to say that, yes, if he had six daughters he would be Stressed. but those six daughters would be very, very lucky.

at the same time. lucemond in this series is Toxic. with a capital T. and i'm not going to let Aemond have all the fun with that. if Luke ended up in the role of captor, it would be delicious. because he would 100% find comfort and satisfaction in asserting control over Aemond, even as he felt shame for it. or, alternatively, felt shame for *not* feeling shame for it.

and oh. oh boy. Luke being confronted with an actual heathy (for hotd) m/m relationship, not just in the abstract of Laenor but in the this-is-happening-right-now-in-front-of-me of his brother, would also be an experience for him. probably one he needs. in general, Luke is definitely going to try and get a better understanding of sexuality, and his sexuality specifically, in the next fic. whether he succeeds...

and Cannibal!!!! gods, i adore Cannibal. i do remember him being kind of unpopular, at least among some of the more active fan creators, but i saw this analysis about how he represents the dance--black scales, green eyes, eats his own kind, disappears at the end--and i've been obsessed ever since. he's definitely going to make an appearance so he can bring that symbolism (amongst others) to the table, whether Luke claims him or not. (i decided in 2022 whether Luke was going to claim a second dragon or not, and if yes then who, and while it is foreshadowed in the fic, and in some of the comments, i'll at least pretend i'm maintaining the mystery). what's the name of your fic? bc i would love to read some Luke & Cannibal.

[sunny12th]

2, 6, 8, 15 for dany!!!

Under the cut <3 ty for asking

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

Dany is never what anyone expects her to be, narratively and from a meta standpoint. We don't expect a female character, far removed from the main point of magic in the story, to find her own magic and be a destined hero. We don't expect a child rape victim to have a lusty, consensual, and fun romance with a side character. She was not expected to survive khal drogo or the red waste. She was not expected to pivot at every turn and find a third way. And we didn't expect the very real consequences to come from her actions in slavers bay. No one expected the wide spread consequences across Essos from her actions - a slave revolution brewing. No one thought we'd get to see what might happen when a revolutionary character actually commits to the revolution and then has to handle the fallout. That feels so rare to me. She exists so far removed from what the average fantasy reader, or reader in general, would expect to find in a book and I think the fandom takes this for granted sometimes.

6. What's something you have in common with this character?

Not going into detail but- isolated childhoods with not very good siblings, messy family history, and a whole heaping of desperation. Looking back, it's pretty blatant why I latched onto Dany when I first read agot back when I was like 14/15. Projection and cathartic healing babeyyyy 🔛🔝

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

In another ask, I said that I hate when the fandom uses Dany's family/ancestry as evidence for her impending madness. Along with that, I also really dislike the notion that Dany should have not acted at all to free the Unsullied and other slaves because she didn't have a clear enough plan to handle the fallout. This idea that, because she couldn't do this Perfectly she should not have done it at all. For obvious reasons lmao. One reason I like Dany is that doing nothing goes against her character and usually leads to negative consequences for her, as in Meereen.

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

I'm not overly invested in any of Dany's ships tbh. That being said, my fave is Dany/Jhogo. I am probably one of 3 people that like them. grrm is an excellent writer when he cares to be one but he didn't care for the Dothraki. Why are none of the bloodriders allowed any interiority or ... personalities. Or anything that might let them feel like distinct characters that warrant the level of proximity and relevance they have to Dany. 'blood of my blood' - was this supposed to mean something? Because it couldve meant a lot! especially to a character like Dany, with no blood relations and desperate for family. Besides Jorah, the bloodriders and her dothraki handmaids are the characters she spends the most time with since book one.

Anyways, Jhogo has a bit more personality than the other bloodriders, he's 'of an age' with Dany (all the bloodriders are around the same age), and it just has so much potential. The royal guard/royalty trope but outside the culture we usually see this is. And!!! They've seen each other literally at their lowest. They survived the red waste together, sacked cities together. Jhogo is held hostage for her right now, along with Daario. I can't pull up the quote right now but Barristan remarks that Jhogo is indispensable to Dany, or smth like that, in his POV chapter. They grew up together, learned how to be strong together. If grrm had cared, they couldve been a top tier romance. It wouldn't have felt rushed or like they were pulled together through fate. Could've just been two lost kids growing into love. But this wouldve required grrm putting effort into the Dothraki characters and he's made it abundantly clear that he doesn't feel the need to do this.

[adolin]

I think Dany being a young teen is purposeful purely for how she comes across with Jorah and Daario. Like with Daario he and hos description and Danys reaction to him is the most "Oh Martin knows the terrible taste in bad boys us women have at that age" ive ever seen

Martin likes to fuck around with knight in shining armor tropes and subvert them. Jorah's "Im a knight in exhile who loves a noblewoman that reminds me of my dead love" is very fairy tale but then Martin just makes him a slaver child predator

It could be that I'm not giving GRRM enough credit here! I just wouldn't peg him as interested in that kind of subversion, just considering how female sexuality (especially of young women) is handled in the series as a whole. Like, I think Jorah IS meant to be a subversion of the exiled knight trope pining for a dead love trope, as you said, but I'm not sure the author / the narrative regard Dany as a fourteen year old by that point. Age really be just a number in ASOIAF

That said, I think he absolutely regrets making Dany that young, especially since the story got out of hand and the whole 5-years-gap idea had to be thrown out. Dany's age is such a wacky factor in her arc — like the Wall being 300 metres high or the Stark dynasty being unbroken for 8000 years, many ages in the series really don't hold up once you think too much about them, lol. (I like to believe years are longer on Planetos than on earth lmao. It keeps me sane)

[esther-dot]

So to jump in regard to the 'hot chick with a dragon' ask. GRRM's depiction of Drogo and Dani is one of those things that fandom can't wrap their head around because, yet again, they fail to see that Martin is not the woke writer they think he is and fail to remember that he conceived of this plot in the 90s. I feel like a lot of the fandom isn't well versed in scifi/fantasy books written by white men in the 80s/90s - those books are very, ummmmm....how do I put this....let's just say a lot of those writers used their fantasy books to explore certain taboos and fetishes for titilation, not necessarily as a woke moral lesson in their fictional world. I am in no way saying this makes them bad people, or that they would act inappropriately with women/minor girls in real life, because fiction is fiction, but yeah...

The Dani/Drogo relationship is literally that swords and sorcery trope from the 80s/90s where Hot Nubile Princess gets 'sold' to Hunky Barbarian, they proceed to have a ton of hot sex, and then fall in love. The fact that Martin couldn't even bare to make Dani at LEAST 16 (which still would have been disgusting) makes me side eye him a lot. But people thinking he meant for this relationship to be some dark psychological exploration of stockholm syndrome is hilarious. Do I think there might be some amorphous critique of girls being sold into unwanted marriages? Yeah, sure. But a lot of that relationship is just straight up the Hunky Barbarian trope that's why the wedding night is a 'seduction.'

A lot of discussions about these books would be easier if people just admitted Martin is a little bit of Freak when it comes to his depictions of relationships and sex and uses the fact that 'WelL ThIs Is tHE mEdIeVAl WoRLD' to depict minors in situations like this not because he's critiquing the patriarchy or whatever, but because it's taboo and therefore titilating. A lot of fans really like this series and don't want to admit a series they are really into has super problematic elements especially a series that is 30 years old which I think is silly. People can enjoy it while critiquing the author.

(about this ask)

The fact that from the inception of the story Martin was gonna have a hero/heroine engage in some fauxcest says at a minimum the man is a lil…quirky. Actually, no, I think most Jonsas would say he’s a little freak which is why we still think he’ll go for it. 😂

You’re right about the tropes of the era and having to accept problematic elements in the older generation of writers. Stephen King infamously wrote a sex scene with eleven year olds. Writers sometimes write weird shit. For something that’s finished, people can memory-hole the weirdness, for us, we have to wrestle with it a little more. I don’t like to be publicly critical of fellow Jonsas because we have nowhere else to go. The rest of the fandom has radically different ideas and have pointedly excluded us, but I don’t see a problem with voicing criticism of Martin here. It has no impact on him, his feelings or career, whatsoever. It’s tumblr, we’re not even in danger of something trending and a journalist asking him a question that breaks the wall between fandom/creator. I like reading all of the metas and different ways of analyzing ASOIAF our fandom comes up with because I don’t feel like I alone have cracked the code, but there is a danger of kinda, white-washing Martin’s problematic choices. I didn’t fully appreciate that before.

Actually, back to the tropes, I was reading some Angel Carter recently, she was an important feminist writer, but she too wrote one of those young girl & “barbarian” stories which has beats that are similar to Dany/Drogo. I’m not gonna read that one because it sounds even more racist, and grotesque in how it handles rape than ASOIAF. Long review that explains some cultural and literary context for it. People can write fucked-up, deeply offensive things and also write things we like. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[selkiesstories]

Nice post on the Anti-Semitism in HOTD and while I don't think it was their intention to do that, I can't deny that their progressive politics (both GRRM and Condal/Hess) makes them susceptible to adding those anti-sematic tropes because most sects of socialism (both Communisms and Fascism) are imbedded deeply with anti-Semitic and Anti-Christian doctrine. The Soviets, the Chi-Coms, and the Nazi - even the British as well - have both anti-Jewish and anti-Catholic ideologies baked into their cultural make up, some till this very day.

I could say that the portrayal of the Greens are just as filled with Anti-Catholic tropes as Anti-Sematic, but anyone who studies history knows that both go hand in hand in a lot places in Protestant dominated areas of both the past and present West.

To add to your post, I would say that Daemon exemplifies the Nazi trop of the Uber-Mensch - Super-man - who believes in the supremacy of himself due to his race and holds no religion but the idea that he is his own god and cannot be judged by the moral constraints of the "Normal People". GRRM and his rewriting deification of Daemon in later editions of Westrosi history has veered dangerously close to these Nazi tropes.

And while his aim was to write a character "in equal parts heroic and villainous" - his nihilistic writing and philosophies along with his progressive politics have set him on the path to the Fascistic fetishizations that we're starting to see from the left-wing in the West in the revival of Nazi authoritarianism and attitudes under a different more 'compassionate' guise. As wells as the moral good being relative and self-principled rather than the divine ideals of Jerusalem wed to the philosophy of Athens, and the civilized social orders of Rome.

With all the current day bullshit of "Anti-Zionism" - which we all know what they really mean, even if they can't admit it to themselves - it's hard not to see the anti-Semitism in a lot of things. But I do think that GRRM, Condal, and Hess's bullshit politics make them incredibly vulnerable to falling into Anti-Jewish storytelling based on progressivism being built entirely on anti-Semitism and Ant-Christian values.

They wouldn't even question it.

Oh I definitely don’t think it was intentional if only because I think the show runners have only the most shallow knowledge of history if that. Doubtless what little they know is of the-why should we learn about Henry VIII just because he’s a white man?- variety. I agree that they lean towards the ideological purity of the Communist rather than the racial purity of Nazis, and because most of academia never fell out of love with Stalin the way they did with Hitler this is seen as a good thing. (Obviously ideological vs racial purity is an oversimplification since the two got hopelessly muddled but it’s a good starting point) The rest of s2 certainly made it plain that Condal & Hess have never heard about Ravensbrück or really anything about women and Nazism besides the tired “the Nazis were misogynistic”.

I didn’t really get into Daemon but you’re right, maybe at some point I’ll do a post on the Aryan tropes I’ve noticed with them.

Personally I find it fascinating that Nazism is so often conflated with Christian nationalism since historically it was very much not the case. There were places that is was such as the Ustaše in Croatia, but Nazism very much downplayed Christianity to the point where Wilm Hosenfeld wrote in his diary in 1944 that the youngest German soldiers had no real concept of Christmas. There’s probably a great paper on Nazi anti Christianity as an expression of Nazi antisemitism especially if you can work in the overlap with antisemitism and anti Catholicism vis-à-vis Protestantism as Christianity to Catholicism’s Judaism.

Thanks for the ask!

[selkiewife]

8, 17, 25 please and thank you

Thanks @owlsinathens my love!

8. You hope more people will come to appreciate ___ (a ship, a trope, an episode, etc.)

Oh my god I have so MANY! lol. This won't be all of them but I'm trying not to overthink these: A Song of Ice and Fire: More appreciation for the potential of Theon surviving and for Theon eventually gaining some FREEDOM in LIFE. More appreciation for the Theon Sea Reek symbolism (How the Sea Reek was a giant sea monster) More appreciation for Theon's prophetic dream (And how it parallels Jon's Dream.) More appreciation for Theon's connection to Euron and Bran. More appreciation for the symbolism of characters receiving a kind of weirwood stigmata (like when Dany eats the heart- bloody hands and mouth and then losing her hair to the flames, Catelyn Stark after saving bran, Theon- bloody mouth and hands, red leaf falling on his head, etc etc.) More appreciation for Tysha & Tyrion. More people tagging her as Tysha Lannister because FUCK YOU TYWIN. More appreciation for the Tysha is the Sailor's Wife theory. Tysha & Tyrion forever. More appreciation for the parallels between Theon & Jeyne and Tyrion & Tysha. More appreciation for Tyrion ships in general. More appreciation for Tyrion's dragon dreams that he STOPPED HAVING after his trauma and then the contrast with Daenerys beginning her dragon dreams as a response to her trauma. Daenerys x Tyrion as a ship. More appreciation for Mance's band (like literal band lol) of spearwives. Game of Thrones: The acting. I'm serious. I want there to be more analysis about it- I want to go into the tag and see paragraphs dissecting the minutia of Michelle Fairley's Red Wedding Performance, Alfie Allen as Theon performing Reek performing Theon, etc. Tyrion's trial. But also the actors that don't get as much appreciation for the early seasons- like Issac as Bran when Ser Rodrik was executed etc. Also more (or any lol) appreciation for the Reek foreshadowing in Theon's scenes in season 1 and 2. I'll do a gifset eventually about this. Appreciation and analysis of the 4 episodes GRRM wrote (I am actually going to do this myself soon and also make some gifsets of the scenes from these episodes.) More appreciation for the music and Ramin Djawadi. Not just the beauty of it, but the use of certain instruments for certain characters, the META of certain characters sharing a theme- like with Jon and Theon. Also, I would love it if there was a mass movement in the fandom- a petition or something for Ramin to write music to The Seasons of My Love. More appreciation for THE FIX IT FICS! More appreciation for the idea of Daenerys x Missandei x Greyworm as the show's three heads of the dragon. Got/Asoiaf: More appreciation for combining canons in fics, art, and other fan creations. More appreciation and understanding of gifmakers who take scenes from the show out of the show context to depict scenes from the books. Fire and Blood: The Sylvessie ship (Essie x Sylvenna Sand) Gaemoms forever. The conquerers as a TRUE threesome, with Visenya and Rhaenys in love with each other as well. (I would give anything if they portrayed it this way in the show adaptation.) HOTD: More appreciation for AEGON'S DREAM! I really love the exploration of the Targaryen Dreamers. Also more appreciation for Aemma Targaryen's birth scene. I can write more about this later but I loved the way they showed the horror that birth can be- especially when choice is taken away. Harlots: I hope people come to appreciate all of Harlots IN GENERAL. The whole thing. Watch Harlots, Love Harlots, Obsess about Harlots. Also, I would like more people to appreciation the ship Birchlace (Nancy Birch x Emily Lacey.) Seriously if you look at their interactions over the entirety of Harlots it makes SO. MUCH. SENSE. as subtext for a ship. I know it wasn't meant that way but. It is delicious. I really do still need to write this fic. Black Sails: More appreciation for Jack/Anne/Mark Read- and more appreciation of the transition of Charles Vane/Jack/Anne to Jack/Anne/Max to Jack/Mark/Anne.

17. The thing in canon that everyone loves and that you also love.

asoiaf: Theon's Godswood scene. The old gods, they know me. They know my name. Shoot that scene directly into my veins. Carve that monologue onto my gravestone. Harlots: "I loved your ma, you silly cunt." the line heard around the Harlots fandom said by the iconic Nancy fucking Birch! Black Sails: A STORY IS TRUE A STORY IS UNTRUE. And all the other amazing writing that makes my brain unravel. Madi's multitudes, Silver's speech about having no story. Flint's there is freedom in the dark once someone has illuminated it. I have CHILLS.

25. a piece of advice for taking care of yourself in fandom spaces

Concentrate on what YOU love and don't feel bad about it. I'm serious. I have problems with this as well and it's hard NOT to care about what people think because part of seeking out a fandom for something you love is finding community in your enjoyment of something. But believe me, you will find your niche of fellow fans if you just fearlessly enjoy what you enjoy. And personally, I wouldn't even give what you don't enjoy any time at all. And really try to cultivate not getting upset if other fans are enjoying a headcanon or ship you hate or a character in a way you disagree with. And cultivate putting more of what YOU enjoy out there instead. (This is all advice I give myself too everyday and I don't do this well so I'm not trying to be all wise about it. It is just what I am trying to do and when I succeed it really makes everything more enjoyable.)

[jonsnowunemploymentera]

Welp ok so I generally don’t care about differing fandom opinions (unless they’re egregious misreadings specifically related to Jon Snow’s arc/character), but this article right here is absolutely BONKERS. Like in ways that I can’t even begin to explain. So the title right away is just so…

Why GRRM’s A Song of Ice and Fire is Bad Literature

Ok whatever, fantasy has traditionally had a hard time being regarded as literature. So this is nothing new. And I don’t particularly care about this argument so moving on…

I love that the first sentence is also just so factually incorrect

Nearly half a century has pasted since Billy Shakespeare has picked up his pen, and bibliophiles are still reading his plays.

Sis probably meant to say millennium but ok 😭 lowkey makes me think this is a joke but parts of this doesn’t read like that ansbjanan

And then the author proceeds to make a pretty bold claim

Traditionally, page-turners are not masterpieces. And that rule still stands when it runs by GRRM’s works. Yet legions of his fans sprout ridiculous praise, such as GRRM revolutionizing the fantasy genre and the diversity of his characters.

But…he kinda did. ASOIAF has had a great impact on the genre (good and bad). Plus, it is really important to acknowledge the sheer diversity of characters presented to us in the series. Characters who would traditionally not get the big focus that they do. Two of our main characters are disabled, and a big part of their arcs is how they navigate a world that is so horribly ableist. He upends the return of the king trope by shifting it to his sister who starts out a child bride/sex slave forced to take on the mantle of a dead dynasty. We have two female characters whose arcs revolve around how gender nonconforming they are but how they are so rooted in ideas of justice and compassion, especially towards the disenfranchised. He upends the revenge of the glorious and noble king by putting the focus on his mother. Et cetera, et cetera. Now GRRM is not without his faults (and he has many), but one cannot in good faith act like he hasn’t given us a different spin on a lot of what fantasy offers. There’s no need to be contrarian for the sake of it.

GRRM, being the revolutionary monster he is, rejects the romanticism of fantasy in favor for realism. He eschews the wonder, the ideals, the heroism, the chivalry, and the subtle social commentary. Congrats, you’re very innovative, GRRM. What did you replace them with?

I just vastly disagree with this and idk where to start.

Case in point. Throughout the series I masturbated to rape scenes, lovemaking scenes, and even a lesbian scene in which a vagina is described as a “Myrish swamp.” Yet in the aftermath of my orgasms, I was left to wonder: where’s all the pederasts? GRRM addressed this curious phenomenon by explaining none of the viewpoint characters were homosexual; “Sorry, none of the characters chose to be gay. Nothing I can do about it.”

Ok the beginning of this section is INSANE. Might just be me but idk why you would even add this to an essay that’s apparently about literary criticism. But I anyway…it is a fair critique that none of our POVs are explicitly non-heterosexual (and we can also criticize some fetishization with female-female relationships), but like the “myriad swamp” thing…isn’t it about power? Like there’s something in that scene that gives us glimpse to who Cersei is and what she craves…idk

Which goes to show, GRRM doesn’t use sex for verisimilitude; he exploits it so degenerates such as I can buy his books. Sure, heterosexual rape happens in war. So does homosexual rape, but its complete absence in the books ought to raise some eyebrows.

The second sentence makes a good point but it’s preceded by what is honestly just a mind blowing statement I- 😭

Additionally, not every graphic sex scene in the books contributes to the narrative. Sometimes it is absolutely redundant. In Dance of Dragons, Asha Greyjoy fucks Qarl the maid, which serves to… Show Asha’s feminine side? Reveal her disdain for her arranged marriage? It obviously didn’t supplement the plot; ten minutes post-coitus, a fucking battle occurs. I don’t understand why it needed to be so explicit as well. Its short appearance in the chapter was awkward, almost entirely random. Yes, sex happens in real life. That doesn’t mean portrayals of real life have to be so ridiculously pornographic.

Wait, this is satire right? Did I fall for it?

Eh, I can tolerate violence. At the age of five, I remember watching from the passenger’s seat as my dad pulverized his colleague by repeatedly smashing his head into the car’s hood and fender, spraying blood all over the windshield. But there’s a distinctive difference between sensational violence and artistic violence. Sensational violence is violence for the sake of violence, for the sole purpose of evoking shock and disgust. It’s tasteless. As bipolar as he is, even my ex-convict padre didn’t attack strangers without reason.

I’m so confused this has to be a bit, right?

No literary devices such as symbolism, metaphors, even the fucking pacing. While there is a climax, the scene does not build itself up to it: there is no intensity in the air, and time is not manipulated. Catharsis is missing, and the only feelings a reader has for Oberyn’s death is shock due to the element of hero invincibility. Don’t people get it? GRRM’s writing is boring.

One of the most confusing aspects of this scene was the death of the stableboy. It’s a great example of sensational violence, because his death seems entirely random and unnecessary. His life was so dispensable, the reader could barely register what they’re supposed to feel: sorrow, terror, or shock? What if the killed bystander was someone important? Violence for the sake of violence, and it comes off as tacky.

No way did I fall for a satirical piece on literary analysis?

This is essentially what GRRM does with Brienne of Tarth. She’s incredibly ugly and described as androgynous; her life was filled with scorn and pity for the lack of her feminine social graces, and contempt and resentment due to her violation of gender norms. But if I was a biologically female transsexual in a patriarchal medieval world, I’d have no fucking reason to dress up and act like a knight, especially if I was an aristocrat (which Brienne is). I don’t understand why Brienne couldn’t stay at Evenfall Hall and be her father’s Castellan or Captain of the Guard. She’s the only surviving child (and heir) of Lord Tarth, so I’m confused why her father would let her roam Westeros as a hedge knight. It’s also never explained why Brienne wanted to be a knight in the first place. She idealizes the concept of true knighthood but you can be just as courageous and conscientious as a lord. Brienne acts like a knight just for the purpose of being a female knight.

I feel like this is a joke 😭

If it isn’t a joke, why does it feel like the author is hating on Brienne for being a good person?

Yet readers claim Jaime Lannister underwent a character arc (approximately 3M words into ASOIAF), since he became easily likable. I personally do not believe Jaime has a redemption arc because his mindset, behavior, and opinions do not change. Jaime is still an arrogant prick, and just because he was written agreeably does not indicate his growth as a character.

I’m dying rn

What passes off as “character development” is actually “perception development.” Instead of putting effort into developing his characters, GRRM decides to warp the reader’s perceptions instead. To make Jaime a sympathetic character, GRRM develops Jaime’s backstory (completely justifying Jaime killing the Mad King) and makes Jaime’s actions more approvable (executing a rapist). The former completely nullifies Jaime’s prospective redemption arc, since it reveals that Jaime was just as “well-intentioned” in the past, and the later does not have noble intentions — as a military man, Jaime expects more discipline from his men than Ser Gregor Clegane did.

?

The way Jaime is written, however, suggests that GRRM intended to build Jaime as a flawed character who matured over the course of the story. Instead we get an impulsive character whose personal inspirations are derived on those who he associate with — Cersei in the past and now Brienne. The same Jaime who would throw Ed Stark’s son out a window for Cersei would encourage Brienne to search for Ed Stark’s daughters. Not because he feels he owes more than an apology to House Stark, but because Jaime befriends Brienne after his relationship with Cersei becomes strained. What’s worse than a misunderstood character is a a character misunderstood by its own creator.

Nah this author’s having a laugh, aren’t they? Like no way they said this with a straight face.

1. Ending a plotline at the climax only leaves the reader unsatisfied and bitter for wasting their time.

A brilliant example is Quentyn Martell, who traveled all the way to Essos to get burned by a dragon. Unlike Ned Stark’s execution and the Red Wedding, Martell’s death did not open any new plotlines. He was a POV character who is completely irrelevant to the narrative. Seriously, George… you chronicled Quentyn’s entire journey to Essos just to bring Quentyn’s two companions to Essos? What’s the fucking point? There were no new characters or locations unveiled to us throughout that entire episode, and Quentyn and his friends could have been introduced later, when they arrived in Astapor

This is a criticism I’ve seen since I joined this fandom over a decade ago. Now it’s definitely understandable to be annoyed with a cliffhanger, especially one that involves a character introduced so late isn’t he series, but there are Doylist and Watsonian reasons to Quentyn’s inclusion. His death has an impact on Dorne and Dany, plus he’s a meta deconstruction of the hero’s journey which we also see with Aegon/Young Griff (who is also, by very much on purpose introduced in the same book) and also Jon, Dany, Bran, etc. We don’t know the conclusion yet, but it’s easy to see why GRRM added Quentyn into the mix.

Writers have all the power when they weave a story, and if they thread the eye of the needle they’re expected to sew up the buttons. GRRM clearly doesn’t know how to sew, because he doesn’t know how to resolve conflicts that he has created. His solution? Kill off the characters with narratives too complex to unravel or too boring to write about. This conveniently creates a vacuum of absent characters to sew together, so when the textile inevitably becomes tangled again GRRM commits another literary genocide. Rinse and repeat.

Idk this doesn’t hold up, like at all? Name one major character killed for the sake of it? Ned is the father figure whose death is meant to push the arcs of his children. Robb’s death is meant to push those of his siblings. Now GRRM himself has stated that he regrets killing character he needed, but this seems like a bizarre criticism. It doesn’t help that the author provides no examples to back up their claim.

The repetitiveness of this ploy just demonstrates to me how GRRM cannot tell a story beginning to end, because he doesn’t have the perseverance and the patience.

Now let’s be fair (and truthful). ASOIAF is not GRRM’s first book. It’s certainly his biggest series but he has written award winning stories before, to completion.

Myrcella Baratheon: “Are you the Sword of the Morning now?” Gerold Dayne: “No. Men call me Darkstar, and I am of the night.”

I can see what GRRM is trying to accomplish, but it’s incredibly cringeworthy. Although readers can see the direct contrast between the two characters, the symbolism is not comprehendible. Hence it also sounds very stupid.

Myrcella Baratheon: “Are you a good guy?” Gerold Dayne: “Nah. Men call me epic evil badass, and I am evil.”

HELP

In On Fairy-Stories, J. R. R. Tolkien argues the fantasy genre ultimately fulfills three purposes: to challenge a reader’s perspective of his or her own world, to provide escapism from reality, and to provide moral and emotional “Consolation of the Happy Ending” which he calls eucastastrophe.

Tolkien delves into his third point more into his conclusion, where he focuses how a true representative fantasy tale is manifested by joy. This does not deny the existence of sorrow and failure. But a happy ending emphasizes the final closing in the universal outcome of the story that provides gratification and catharsis to the reader.

ASOIAF and LOTR are two different stories. Tolkien and Martin had different goals. GRRM is not trying to one up Tolkien. Not sure why this take is so pervasive but it is, and it’s annoying.

So after reading all this I have to ask, is this satire? Have I been had? I’m not on twitter so idk if people have talked about this yet but it seems so out of pocket and incorrect, like no one could’ve seriously sat down and written this with a straight face, right?