#once a fandom sets an agenda on how each character should be perceived and interpreted

[queen-morgana91]

Damn so many Dornish fans hate the Targaryens so much when actually Dorne is the most pro-Targaryen region in the current timeline. They WANT Targaryen restoration. They WANT RHAEGAR'S son/sister/brother on the throne because they see it as the best way to avenge Elia and her children. They are not blaming Rhaegar, and that’s funny.

"We looked for Rhaegar’s sister, not his son.”— Arianne

“Daenerys Targaryen is of our blood as well. Daughter of King Aerys, Rhaegar’s sister. And she has dragons, or so the tales would have us believe.” Fire and blood. “Where is she?" - Arianne

Dornishmen are Targaryen loyalists and the revenge they want is not on Daenerys, Rhaegar or whoever else, but on the Lannisters.

“What is our heart’s desire?”

“Vengeance.” His voice was soft, as if he were afraid that someone might be listening. “Justice.” Prince Doran pressed the onyx dragon into her palm with his swollen, gouty fingers, and whispered, “Fire and blood.”

If people let go their so called moral policing for one second and stop painting Rhaegar/Lyanna/Targaryens this cartoonish villains who gets blamed for everything bad that happened in westeros even years after their death then they'd understand how much importance they hold in asoiaf plot and the characters.

[blu-b]

Oh, wow, I was shocked to find there were other people who weren't taken by S2 Demelza - she's seems to be the fandom darling right now, but I disliked her immensely; it felt like Demelza was written as being shrill and vindictive. Already, I see fanfics that are justifying *spoilers, just in case* her behavior with Hugh in S3, when I don't see one solitary difference her relationship with him and Ross' with Elizabeth. It isn't karmatic justice - it is Demelza being a hypocrite.

Very well said, dear Nonnie. ‘Shrill’ and ‘vindictive’ are two very good descriptions of S2 Demelza, next to ‘overbearing’ and ‘dramamtic’. I really don’t know what happened to this character and I can only guess that due to the positive response the screenwriters wanted to increase her popularity. The mistake they made with that was that almost the entire season 2 is more or less being told from Demelza’s point of view, which gets both boring and a little bit strained after the middle of the season. All the other characters suffer immensely from this preferation of Demelza and the very modern approach she gets, most of all Ross.

S1 Ross and Demelza were a couple with great dynamics, different and yet alike. Demelza was shy in the beginning and remains so until the very end, and yet she also was the voice of reason that Ross would listen to. She had the ability to set Ross’ head straight when he was in one of his moods. Naturally, the longer they’re married and the better she gets to know her husband, she develops, loses her shyness, dares to contradict him or even scolds him. It would have been normal to see that in season 2 as their marriage progresses. However, instead Demelza becomes this constantly sulking house dragon while Ross degenerates into a mere cardboard cutout of his former self. Aidan had some very powerful, intense scenes - good and bad ones in terms of character - in season 1; there’s almost nothing left for him in S2 as Demelza takes the stage.

What really gets on my nerves is her constant assuming that Ross is cheating on her, even way before anything happens with Elizabeth. They way it was planned, I suppose, was for the viewer to see how many small incidents add up to create her doubts. Eleanor does a good job portraying Demelza’s growing insecurity about herself and her looks (because she perceives Elizabeth as prettier and everyone around her seems to do so, too) and how she interprets small, insignificant things the wrong way, but on the large scale all her acting can’t help the show’s botched pacing and inability to portray timelines correctly.

Like, for example we never really see how much time Ross actually spends in Trenwith. There’s a few scenes with Elizabeth and it’s said one or two times that he goes there often, but that’s never really elaborated upon. What should have happened to explain why Demelza is so irritated with him is that we should have seen him go to meet with Elizabeth at least once in each episode, or have someone say that he’s there again, have him come home late etc. There’s attempts to show that, but it just doesn’t add up into one complete picture. Which is why it’s so strange to the viewer when Demelza comes up to Elizabeth in the carriage and talks crap about ‘you’re welcome to him as long as you remember where he belongs’ - it just seems to come out of the blue and looks like Demelza is just in a sour mood all the time.

What Romelza fans often seem to forget is that Demelza, too, has her very own agenda. It was her who seduced Ross in order to achieve her own ends. Both book and film Demelza has ulterior motives for her actions. In the series it is hinted that she does at least fancy Ross (re the nude bathing scene and others where she creeps up on him), but in the end it comes down to her sleeping with him in order to save her ass from her father. She literally decides that seducing her employer (who she knows is heartbroken and miserably in love with another girl!) is the only way to secure a life and a future for herself. In the book, she makes it very clear that she intends to act on it that night because she considers Ross ‘ripe’ to be plucked. She's just lucky that Ross is too drunk and/or can't be arsed to bother when she pulls that stunt with the dress, or who knows.....she's been studying his drinking habits very closely, so maybe she knew exactly when the time was right to set her elaborate plan into motion...

Elizabeth on the other hand flirts with Ross, but she has an entirely different motivation for it. Elizabeth needs to know where he stands; where she stands in relation to him. She needs to know if they're still friends and if she can rely on him if she needs him. And she knows very well that she might need Ross sooner or later. I'm not saying that she anticipates Francis' death in any way or that she has an inkling of the tragedy that's going to happen, BUT: By the end of S1 she knows that her entirely life(style) and social position are at stake. Things are not well with Francis; he's drinking, gambling away his inheritance and openly courting other women. He's also angry with Elizabeth and she knows that he could very well discard her / leave her / kick her out any day. Moreover, he's on the verge of becoming a mindless drunk who could any day get involved in a deadly brawl, have an accident, or simply drink his entire family to ruin. There's a very real chance of Francis going to debtor's prison for a long while if he doesn't find a way to pay his debts. 

In all of these cases Elizabeth would have to look to the nearest source for help and support, and that's not her parents. As the mother of the Poldark heir she would have to apply to Ross as the then family patriarch for help, so she needs to be on good terms with him. Can't hurt that he still has a thing for her (and she for him, obviously), so she's kind of testing the waters, seeing how far she can go in order to secure his goodwill. I don't say that by the end of S1 she had in mind to marry him if anything should happen to Francis, but maybe she had some "what if..." thoughts and she's not to blame for it. 

And isn't it kind of endearing (and real) how they both have come to love their respective partners, but they still have this little bit of feelings for each other? That Christmas scene at Trenwith was soooo well done. How they both play out what could have been, and they smile wistfully at each other, and you almost expect them to kiss and start an affair, but they don't. The only really stupid scene Elizabeth had was the one at the banquet where she talks about a woman loving two men. What she says isn't wrong, but the entire set up - where she says it and after they’ve established a shaky friendship trying to forget the past - it couldn't be timed worse. Even Ross looks at her like "Are you drunk???" If they had let her say those words during the Christmas scene, the impact would have been so much better and it would have helped explain anything that happens later between them.

As for Demelza and Hugh, I don’t care for them in the least, but I think there IS a difference to Ross and Elizabeth. As Ross points out to Demelza himself when she tries to make him jealous with the McNeill episode: Elizabeth was his first love and he was hers; he has loved her for close to 10 years and has never stopped loving her (which Demelza was aware of from the start!). There’s a deep affection between the two of them and Elizabeth is right in saying that they will always hold a piece of each other's heart. Demelza on the other hand doesn’t even like McNeill very much, and what she has for Hugh is no more than a fancy, a crush at best (and maybe another revenge on her part depending on how they portray it in the series) and can in no way compare to Ross’ and Elizabeth’s tragic love story. 

Sorry this got so long...I just had to let the rant happen ^^