#talk about George's writing being racist all you want but if you're only trying to frame it as /Dany bad/ then you just look stupid

[navree]

The truth of the matter is that both Targaryen and Velaryon are of the Valyrian race. That’s all Showrunners Ryan and Sara are considering. They are not viewing it as a racial issue of the white family targeting the black one and trying to steal their land.

Yeah that's, like, kinda the problem. In the book the Targaryens and the Velaryons are both Valyrian, so issues between them cannot be viewed through a racialized lens beyond Valyrian supremacy vs the whole of Westeros (which doesn't show up on the Velaryons' end in the book anyway), so that critique cannot exist. But the showrunners changed that, they deliberately changed that by making the Velaryons Black and the Targaryens decidedly not. Which fine, go nuts, but when you're doing that kind of "race bending", especially when adapting a property that already exists, you need to be conscious of that.

I've talked about it before in my discussions on why a lot of "color blind casting" for historical dramas tends not to work out (the 2021 Anne Boleyn show cast Black Boleyns without thinking about the implications of sexually aggressive, dirty nailed, Black Anne Boleyn not only being rivaled by but also literally forcing a kiss on sweet, demure, lily white Jane Seymour, or of giving Black George Boleyn a story about abandoning a child he has with a woman and then of being murdered by his white king due to his white wife fabricating false accusations of sexual impropriety against him, so instead of whatever the Hell they wanted to do, we just had a boring TV show with some really racist implications). And that exists when it comes to adapting race from one story to the next. If you're going to turn white characters into characters of color, that's all well and good, but you need to acknowledge that the way they live their lives and look at the world and are viewed BY the world is going to subsequently change. And more importantly, you need to be aware that how those characters and their storylines are perceived by the audience is going to change as a result of that switch as well.

Because suddenly, it's not two different families of white people fighting over some rock in the ocean. Suddenly, it's a white family, with significantly more social capital and influence in their world, attempting to dispossess a Black family of their longterm, ancestral homeland, that is the only piece of land that they have, for that white family's gain. And that is something that comes with a lot of historical context and historical implication (we're STILL dealing with the ramifications of white-run cities and wealthy white people straight up stealing land and property from Black people during Jim Crow), and that's going to be on people's minds, especially in a show made by an American company and aired on an American network. You have to be aware that you're now not just writing characters, you're writing Black characters, and even in a fantasy world that might not have our history of anti-Black racism, that doesn't exist in a vacuum, especially to the consumer, and that there are going to be implications that might not have existed before that you need to be aware of and take into account.

And this doesn't even touch on my issues with the fact that, out of all the characters, the Velaryons absolutely got the fucking shaft writing wise. And I'm not sure how much you can divorce building up Rhaenyra and Criston or Harwin but not Daemon and Laena, or spending time developing fully fledged personalities for Aegon and Aemond but not Baela and Rhaena, or attempting somewhat consistent motivations for Viserys but not for Corlys and Rhaenys, from the fact that one half of those pairings is Black, and one is white.

They might not view it as a "racial issue", but when they made the change to the Velaryons' race, they made it one, at least in the eyes of the viewers and the context we grew up with and the knowledge that we have. Because creation doesn't exist in the aether, it is influenced by humanity here and it influences how we take it in once we put it out in the world.

[spicy30]

Omg we are twining girlypop (I'm also catholic) and that with the tiktok streak it's wayyy too real (I lost mine with my friends because on my fyp are always nazis and they just make me so angry with how stupid they are👺)

But please pookie don't end up like those other people on tiktok where they literally have no hair anymore (wtf are they doing with them there😟) also girl 25k?? Are you okay?(I love you for the 25k but please don't stress yourself 😭🫶) And I already know that you will eat that chemistry exame up(I belive on you pookie 🙏) and you are not alone on hating chemistry(sometimes it just gets way to confusing) but I hope you have a wonderful weekend(tomorrow is finally friday🙏)

We love to see it. (I love catholic art. I went to the Vatican museum and I just love our art.) Yeah honestly what is with these Yatizs not being shamed anymore. Shame them back into hiding. They're all inbred anyways with their 'no mixing' (Tell me you're uneducated without telling me you're uneducated)

Honestly this is to like all the racist. We need to shame them back into hiding. Like I mean that they're forced to pretend as if they're not.

As for ppl losing their hair. I have no clue. Those differential equations and physics must be getting to them (me next year🥀) but I have genes for thick hair so hopefully the only hair that starts to fall off me is body hair 😛 or that shit turns white, idk from all the stress. (I hate having body hair.)

Yes! 25k! I need to build up to a plot point that I want to be in chapter 14 or 15. Plus all these side quests (who tf told her to do all that) so I need to wrap shit up and try to cover some plot holes (I need to start writing ahead but I get motivated via praise, likes, comments and whatnot.)

As for that Chem exam. I get it back this Tuesday. BUT! It's looking like it ate me up. I did end up memorizing those polyatomic ions so I know I did well on that part but then I just kind of forgot to do all the calculations for the second part of the test so it's not looking too good.💔

Chemistry, I'm actually starting to get the hang of it, so I just gotta do well on the third exam and the final to pass this bum ass class. (I'm taking summer classes too, so Chem 2 is up)

FREE ME!

Also I hate Fridays. I got a three hour long class that day. All the other days are fine bc I only have one class a day and two on one day. My earliest class starts at 11:30 (Actual hell bc half the time I don't even go) Thats my chem lecture and straight after is the lab. Then my math class (Luv it actually, math is my jam) starts at 4:00pm. So....we're cool there. But my engineering class actually grates me. FUCK 11:30 TO 3:15! I sit in a bumass classroom listen to him yap about shit i already read and thats it.

Anyways, you're probably wonder why I'm here. I'm here to say that the devil did actually reach me and I will not be making it to April 17.

I broke it yesterday bc I was actually feining. I just finished book one of ASOIAF (I'm becoming one of those book readers that says 'erm actually in the books...🤓👆') All I gotta say is George is one freaky man. Why is he writing about my girl Dany like that? Gave a handjob and so many other things to Khal Drogo while he was in his comatose state. Talking how she wanted to take him inside her one last time but couldn't bc she was still healing from her birth. Then when he was burning on the pyre she again wanted to ride that man until their flesh melted off and became one.

Freaky deaky! (Also the thought process of Dany is interesting. I can definitely see that 'mad' trait becoming more prevalent later on in later books. Her seeing what she saw in the flames is interesting, she liked watching it. I wonder if her father was like too and maybe thats why he liked seeing things burn so much.)

Anyways I'm back on that grind to keep writing.

Also shoutout to 🌾💚🌾 (I don't know the @) but yeah we got a new POV unlocked (it's a pain to write.) I didn't want to put an OC bc when writers do that it's like "who tf is this?" but thats just me, so shoutout to them for giving me a real character to put their instead of an OC or some really odd background character from fire and blood that no ones ever heard about.

also Ik you didn't ask, but I started watching this Turkish show called Magnificent Century (Muhteşem Yüzyıl) and it's fire. In later seasons Hurrem and Mahidevran are really what Rhaenrya and Alicent should've been like, so I will be using that as inspo too.

[deliriumsdelight7]

Baby, you need some reading comprehension skills, because for a fully grown adult, you’re severely lacking.

No one was victim blaming. Phoenixwrites was literally shipping Eddie and Erica and wanting smut of Chrissy at 16!!! With Eddie who was 30+… which is also statutory rape as well as pedophilia/hebephilia. And you’re just as disgusting as her for supporting that. She also said someone getting death threats sent to them was “karma” for saying that you shouldn’t ship Eddie and Erica OR 16 year old Chrissy and 30+ year old Eddie and wanting them to fuck, which they were absolutely correct about. Tell me what part of this is victim blaming. It’s not.

Sugar pie honey bunch, I already outlined this for you in my last response to you. Telling someone that they deserved a terrible thing that happened to them as a child, decades before they engaged in shipping discourse over characters who are fictional and do not exist, is victim blaming. The lived experiences of real people is, has been, and always will be more important than the imaginary lives of fictional characters. If that’s not clear enough for you, I’m not sure how I can spell it out for you. But apparently I’m a masochist, so I’m going to try.

My lovely, would you accuse everyone who listens to True Crime podcasts of being a serial killer? How about George R. R. Martin, who wrote a sex scene between a thirteen year old and a thirty year old in the first book of ASOIAF? Is he a pedophile? Or how about the Duffers, who wrote not one, not two, not three, but four gratuitous murders of teenagers in season 4 alone of Stranger Things? Are they teen murderers? They wrote a racist character. Are they racists? (And if so, shouldn’t you be boycotting it?)

The answer to all of the above is no. People can consume and/or create stories that do not embody their real life values. If we couldn’t, then your local library would be full of nothing but coffee shop meet-cutes.

I’m done talking about this. You have come to my inbox based on something you saw on my friend’s blog, which you only would have seen by hate-scrolling when you could be doing something productive with your time. Write a fanfic. Do some volunteer work. Learn a new hobby. Take a class. Hang out with friends. Life is too short to be spent hate-scrolling someone’s blog and picking fights over a matter that doesn’t have any impact on you.

So I’ll say again, hoping that the third time’s the charm: please, for the sake of your mental health and the environment of fandom, do better.

All future hate asks will be met with recipes, because I want this blog to be a positive space, and interacting with this negativity is, quite frankly, not how I would like to spend my time. So, as a soothing cleanser, please enjoy this recipe for a lovely lavender cold process soap.

Ingredients:

Distilled water: 6.8 oz. / 193 g

Lye (Sodium Hydroxide): 4.2 oz. / 118 g

Lavender infused Olive Oil: 8.7 oz. / 247 g (29%)

Coconut Oil: 8.1 oz. / 230 g (27%)

Tallow: 5.4 oz. / 153 g (18%)

Shea butter: 4.5 oz./ 128 g (15%)

Castor Oil: 1.8 oz. / 51 g (6%)

Hemp Oil: 1.5 oz. / 43 g (5%)

Lavender essential oil: 25 g

Patchouli essential oil: 6 g

Kaolin clay: 3 Tbsp

dried lavender flowers: 1 cup (~¾ cup for the oil infusion, 1 tablespoon for the "tea")

Optional: about 8 little lavender twigs or buds for the top

INSTRUCTIONS

Safety First: Put on googles and gloves, wear long sleeves and make sure you're not soaping around children and/or pets. Keep your space ventilated or soap outdoors

Measure out 8 oz. of distilled water (a little more than the recipe calls for) and boil it in a small saucepan. Add 1 tablespoon of lavender buds to the hot water, stir and let it cool to room temperature

Using a coffee filter, cheesecloth or fine sifter filter out the lavender

Weigh your water again and depending on how much has evaporated either add or take away as much as needed

Slowly and carefully add the lye, gently stirring until fully dissolved.

Place lye solution in an ice bath (if the lye water turns too brown it will color your soap brown as well)

Melt coconut oil, tallow and shea butter over low heat

Add hemp, castor and infused olive oil to melted oils

Add essential oil blend (lavender and patchouli essential oil)

Add kaolin clay and mix until there are no more clumps

When lye solution and oils are about room temperature combine the two and stick blend until medium trace (thin pudding consistency) is achieved

Pour soap batter into soap mold and tap it down a couple of times to release any air bubbles

If you wish to decorate the top with lavender twigs or buds, make sure that the soap is at VERY thick consistency at that point. For me that was 10 minutes after I poured the soap. This will prevent them from leaving brown marks on the top of your soap.

Insulate mold with a heavy towel to encourage gel phase, cut into bars after 24-36 hours and cure for 3-4 weeks

[bobbystompy]

68 Quotes I Enjoyed From 2019

Below are my favorite quotes from 2019. Though most occurred throughout the year, some took place before but were encountered during.

1) “I don’t bitch about Millenials.

John Entwistle once complained that he didn’t understand rap. Pete Townsend said, ‘It’s not our job to understand it. It’s our job to get the fuck out of the way.’

New generations come of age. The older generation’s job is to shut up and adapt.” - @danagould

2) “I can’t do drugs with you until we kiss.”

3) “If you pay me $50 I'll show up to your funeral but stand really far away, holding a black umbrella regardless of the weather, so that people think you died with a dark and interesting secret.” - @DanaSchwartzzz

4) “A human being is a dangerous thing to let loose in a room with itself, when it cannot think.” - Roger Ebert

5) “There are no bad bourbons, only better bourbons.” - Dave Hernandez

6) “You can’t put a dollar in a kimono.”

7) “This is how it was.” - rampant takeaway from watching ‘Superbad’ several years after its release

8) “What if I had been born fifty years before you in a house on the street where you lived / Maybe I’d be outside as you passed on your bike / Would I know? / And in a wide sea of eyes, I see one pair that I recognize” - Ben Folds, ‘The Luckiest’

9) “Learn the rules so you can break them.”

10) “Nobody makes chili for two.” - Stacy Massey

11) “‘Best city in the world,’ I mutter to myself, as i adjust my ‘driving blanket’.” - Chicago resident Deanna Belos, during the 2019 Polar Vortex

12) “Dude, no one’s ever got arrested for listening to Counting Crows.” - Ricky O’Donnell, justifying late night music volume at his party

13) Bill Belichick: We’re going to have fun tonight. Rob Gronkowski: Yes we are. We deserve it. Belichick: You’re damn right. Gronk: I haven’t stepped out in like eight months. I gotta step out tonight. Belichick: I’m with you, man. I’m even going to step out. Gronk: Oh, I like it!

A Super Bowl winning exchange.

14) Center David Andrews thanked Bill Belichick for giving him "a shot".

Belichick disagreed with it.

Andrews: Thank you for giving me a shot. Belichick: A shot? I didn't give you shit. You earned it! I don't give anything.

Another Super Bowl winning exchange.

15) “We elected one of the very worst living human beings to be President, and it's exhausting. Each and every day, it's an exhausting slog, just to exist in a world where that's true.” - Michael Schur

16) “Some of y’all always picked Odd Job when you played Goldeneye and it shows” - @thedad

17) “Any app is a dating app if you try hard enough.” - Z.W. Martin (though he says it’s lifted)

18) "Once you're as woke as I am, you learn to feel bad all the time.”

19) “Everything’s a balance beam when you’re 90.” - John Dingell

20) [I wake up in a world where The Beatles never existed]

Me: Check out this song I just wrote

[I begin playing “Ob La Di Ob La Da” without having first built up years of goodwill]

Crowd of people: Wow, this sucks ass

-- @seanoneal

21) “People change people.” - Corey Matthews, Girl Meets World

22) “The easiest thing to do on earth is not write.” - William Goldman

23) “Dan could be like a difficult uncle. I didn’t love his fire-breathing conservative politics. I didn’t love the transformation that came over his novels. In Semi-Tough, he created two benighted Texas jocks and laid their prejudices bare. He was declaring himself a member of the Mark Twain coaching tree. In later books, Dan seemed to be trying to prove he could still tell a racist joke. He insisted that his memoir—the last truly immaculate piece of writing he delivered—include a tirade against political correctness. When his editor said people might be offended, Dan said, ‘Fuck people.’

There are certain writers whose style you pilfer. Certain writers whose moral fiber you try to inherit. For me, Dan represented a third category: a writer whose aura you replicate—or, failing that, try to stand in for a while.” - Bryan Curtis, on Dan Jenkins

24) “Never marry anything. Never choose. Even in love, it's better to be chosen.” - La Dolce Vita

25) “An uncluttered, uncomplicated happy ending might sound wonderful, but it’s hardly ever satisfying. Because the value of great stories lies in the tension between desire and need, between the yearning for the ideal, and the unshakable conviction that ideals don’t really exist, at least not the way we want them to. A great story should hurt a little when it leaves us. There should be some hope, but that hope should remain somewhere just an inch beyond our fingers, because that’s the truth. Even if you had all the perfect moments in the world, you’d still be reaching.” - Zach Handlen, on the Futurama series finale

26) “You can’t see him because he has sunglasses on.” - Alissa Levy

27) “The cinema is the greatest art form ever conceived for generating emotions in its audience. That's what it does best. (If you argue instead for dance or music, drama or painting, I will reply that the cinema incorporates all of these arts).” - Roger Ebert

28) “‘Are you gonna let politics ruin a friendship?’ 

Yes tf I am

People talk about politics as if it’s this isolated, abstract concept that only matters at election time. Somebody’s politics is their world view. It’s whether they think certain human beings deserve rights. It’s how they think the world should be. And if somebody thinks that the world should be colder, meaner, less accepting and downright hostile to people that are different to them, then sure as fuck is the friendship over.”

29) “Can the Supreme Court get me mushrooms?” - J-Papp

30) “Any song under two minutes already has a head start on its way into my heart. Just scream at me and then leave me.” - Drew Magary

31) “Long neck cold beers never broke my heart.” - Clemson Tom

32) “I’d just like to point out that the last spoken words of Game of Thrones were: 

‘I once brought a jackass and a honeycomb into a brothel.’”

- @Authoroux

33) “Just once before I die, I want to toss my keys to someone and tell them ‘Bring the car around’.” - Mike Skully

34) “For all the weight they're given, last words are usually as significant as first words.” - Grand Maester Pycelle, Game of Thrones

35) “The best remedy for unrequited love is a trip around the world.” - Cheers

36) [on switching from a hotel to a motel]

Manny: I don't like the sound of that. A lot of amenities disappear when an H turns into an M. Jay: Hey when I met you, you were eating cereal out of a bucket.

-- Modern Family

37) “You and Lindsey don’t want to be ‘estranged’. Estranged is the relationship we want to have with our mothers.” - MegFil

38) “Cigarettes are undefeated.”

39) “My toes are like my fingers on my feet. I can pick stuff up with them.” - Tracy Cunningham

40) “Republicans govern without shame, Democrats shame without governing.” - Bill Maher

41) Sam: I don’t understand the vagaries of the Internet Josiah: Post often, without thought, and you’ll either get cancelled or cancel someone else.

-- Blink-155

42) “Hang a lantern on your problems.”

43) “What a weird web we weave.” - The Situation, The Jersey Shore: Family Vacation

44) “Let the ocean worry about being blue.” - Alabama Shakes, ‘Hang Loose’

45) “Honesty without tact is cruelty.” - Shelley Rokos

46) “My whole life is the wrong porn link.”

47) “One parent can take care of 10 kids, but 10 kids cannot take care of one parent.” - Joe Gestetner, via “an old Yiddish saying”

48) “There are no heroes in the room.” - Classics of Love, ‘Gun Show’

49) “If I am a little dismissive, it's only because of my harrowing backstory.” - Mitchell, Modern Family (on why he doesn't like sports)

50) “Every time I’m wearing black, I meet a dog.” - Tracy Cunningham

51) “Shower sex? Why would I fuck in my crying chamber” - @chridollarsign

52) “My theory about quarterbacks, having written about some of them, is you either have to believe in god or think you are a god.” - Mina Kimes

53) “The contradictions of capitalism always manifest in our lyrics if you look deeply.” - Blake Schwarzenbach of Jawbreaker, Riot Fest 2019

54) “Got a ‘hang loose’ from the weakside bartender.”

55) “It’s Jennifer’s birthday always.” - Eric Hutchinson 

56) “I can’t think of a less relevant artist in 2019 than Kanye West. A Jesus freak in a MAGA hat. Yeah, congrats dude -- you’re every grandma who watches ‘Young Sheldon’ and mails checks to Joel Osteen now.” - Dan Ozzi

57) “The past and future are in the mind. I’m in the now.” - Tom Brady, via someone else

58) “Sometimes you walk around boring places and you feel like the most exciting thing in it.” - Drew Magary

59) “Sitting is the new smoking.” - Modern Family

60) “I'll straight up fight folks at a book club and discuss books at a fight club I really don't give a shit anymore.” - George Wallace

61) “Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.” - Rose Garvey via wine country

62) “It’s all ‘ok boomer’ until you need someone who can drive stick shift.” - @OrdinaryAlso

63) “He likes the result of the math.” - Dad, talking about my worst subject frustrating during the process but satisfying in the end

64) Stepmom: Do you want a Bears urn or Alabama urn? Dad: Ask me after they play Auburn.

65) “A cold body carries a warm heart.” - Stefanos Tsitsipas’ Instagram, after his Iceland sabbatical

66) [preparing a dish called the Sandwich of Justice with his friend’s recipe]

"The fun thing about it is when you give it to someone, you can say 'Justice is served.’ That's, uh, Ryan's line. I built my whole life on the backs of my friends." - You Suck At Cooking

67) “Usually three people can keep a secret only when two of them are dead.” - The Irishman

68) “An artist can't control who consumes their content any more than a chemist can control how their chemicals are used once they're created.” - Brian Crooks

[empiregalaxy]

Hi Madeleine! Hope you're doing well. Do you see any narrative bias in Book1 or subsequent books of Asoiaf?

I’m doing well, thanks!

This is a layered and interesting question. Narrative biasis something I’m always on edge about (is the show / book / film trying to sendus a message? Is this like a sports game where I have to pick a side betweentwo conflicting groups? Am I wrong for supporting this character?) butsomething which I’ve never thought about in the context of ASOIAF. A lot hasbeen written about how the Game Of Thrones (the show) uses bias to spreadharmful, or insulting messages- I highly recommend you read the recaps by @turtle-paced if you haven’t already. But as you asked about the books, I’lldiscuss them.

I think, overall GRRM employs a lot of skill in his writing.There’s no ‘after school special’ feel of the books, but I do think biasexists. Mainly, towards the Stark family. You’re probably thinking ‘Madeleine,but you love the Starks!’ and I do. And I proudly root for them and supportthem. I’ll try to make a point: bias isn’t necessarily a bad thing innarrative. I’ll also try to talk about Sansa specifically and how GRRM framesher, because I do have mixed feelings about how she is written especially in AGame Of Thrones. I’ll also talk about Tyrion (and the Lannister family), POVSand non POVs as well as other characters and events.

Firstly, let’s discuss bias in general. Here are things toavoid

·        Creating an almost one-sided view of events

·        Telling the readers what to think- or what‘side’ they ought to be on

·        Not sharing other perspectives, or schools ofthought

·        Offering zero empathy

·        Making brash statements that ought to bringshame or embarrassment to groups

Let’s break these down and how GRRM avoids them. ASOIAFemploys a multiple POV style structure, meaning that viewpoints all across theseven kingdoms are analysed in depth. We have Catelyn who despises Jaime getnumerous chapters, but then Jaime also becomes a POV. Even villains such asCersei get chapters. In A Clash Of Kings when Theon takes Winterfell- we gethis side of the story as well as Bran’s, who is directly impacted by Theon’sdecision. This is what I’d interpret at an attempt at narrative balance (whichis what, in my opinion writers should be aiming for).

Like I said earlier, GRRM doesn’t outright say what thereaders should be thinking- but he definitely does give his own opinion andperspective on events. For example: Joffrey executing Ned. The next two booksshow the fall out to that decision, Joffrey does not get any POVs, we see theevent through Arya’s eyes (who is Ned’s daughter), and it’s followed by thelong, gruelling trauma Sansa, Bran, Catelyn, Jon and Arya have to deal with.Therefore, we can establish that Joffrey killing Ned was a bad move. Thenarrative says so. The question: is it fair that GRRM makes that assertion?

I know what you’re thinking. ‘Oh, it’s Joffrey he’s evil andthe narrative is justified’ which brings me onto my second point: you can showbias, as long as you do it in a thoughtful, empathetic, considerate anddeveloped way. That means being careful with how you write events, structurecharacterization and frame potentially, groups of people. So I don’t mind thatJoffrey is treated like the Big Bad for killing Ned- because GRRM gives us goodreason to why the books are written that way.

Now onto my second point- picking sides within thenarrative. Let’s look at the Red Wedding. Here, both Tywin’s perspective andthe victim’s side is explored.

It’s quite clear that GRRM does not want us to take Tywin’sside. He’s not a POV, the POV characters, even Tyrion (a Lannister) arehorrified by it. We see Catelyn, Sansa, Arya, Jon, Theon, Brienne and Bran’sgrief over it. They are Point Of View characters. So is it a bad thing GRRMwants us to not take Tywin’s side? Here, I think it’s justified. Asking thereaders to take the side of a war criminal- compared to the much more heroiccharacters is too hard. I also think Tyrion, Jon & Daenerys: the ‘threeheads of the dragon’ get a lot of benefit from being huge POV characters. In90% of the conflicts they face, you can sure bet GRRM will relish in thegreyness and understanding of the situation. 

GRRM does not write like a badsports journalist who expects you to take a side. I think he’s quite good atgreys, so when Jon gets stabbed ‘for the watch’ it reads as a masterful climaxof events, not just George preaching that Jon is right and everyone else iswrong. He does not glorify Tyrion and Dany’s failings. He may, however lose hismasterfulness and opt for a passing reference, an excuse or a footnote- forexample, I highly doubt Daenerys would ever face any retribution for torturingthe Wineseller’s daughter- she show’s no regret and no character ever brings itup again. GRRM doesn’t comment on this event, but I bet if Daenerys were not aPOV character- she’d definitely face consequences. I sometimes feel non-POVsare held up to a higher moral standard than POVs: what we give passes Tyrionfor (up to murder)- Stannis is heavily scrutinized for.  

Thirdly, schools of thoughts / multiple perspectives. Thisis not something I think GRRM intended to do, but a lot of his ‘perspectives’come from quite rich backgrounds. There are of course, exceptions such as DavosSeaworth but can a book really comment on poverty when its characters are forthe most part, economically privileged? I don’t really have a good answer tothat question, and I don’t think anyone really does. The POV characters, until A Feast For Crows are also overwhelminglymale and white. This makes regions such as Dorne quite painful to read becauseuntil POVs are introduced, we perceive Dorne through rather racist stereotypes.This weakens GRRM’s writing and plays into ‘telling, not showing’. I think he’sa rather sophisticated writer, but he needs to engage with other perspectivesmore and not rely on lazy stereotypes.

Overall, he is a writer who can exhibit great control- hejust needs more thought and insight into particular matters.

I think he offers plenty of empathy towards his characters;even polarizing ones such as Cersei. However, sometimes this seems restrictedto only POVs. Lollys Stokeworth’s writing is absolutely terrible and she lacksthe voice in the narrative. She’s been raped multiple times, abused, mocked andinsulted. Yet GRRM falls to the traps of ableist writing. That’s a meta foranother time, I think. I also think Hodor falls into fantasy clichés of the ‘mysticaldisability’ that serves as a plot device. GRRM has no problem in making Hodor afleshed out character, what GRRM has a problem with is giving Hodor the respecthe deserves. I’m also very, very critical of the writing that Sansa Stark getsin the first book. She’s ‘punished’ by the narrative- forced into ‘lessons’which to be frank, are disgusting and misogynistic. Lady is killed, she’sforced to watch her father die brutally, she’s beaten and gets rape & deaththreats. To say that the story isn’t fair to Sansa feels like anunderstatement.

Over the course of the series, Sansa’s ‘Stark’ identity getsthreatened and beaten down. She’s married to a Lannister who molests her, whichwrites her out of Robb’s Will (so she can’t inherit despite being the oldest ofRobb’s legitimate siblings). This isn’t A+ writing, this is punishing a teenagegirl for things way out of her control. It’s not professional of GRRM to dothis. So is this narrative bias? I think GRRM has improved in writing Sansaduring AFFC & the sample chapter in TWOW. I’d like to think the best.

I also think of Jeyne Poole- yes her treatment of Arya wasdisgusting. That doesn’t make it right to put her in a position where she is ‘Arya’and that means being raped, abused by Ramsay Bolton. There reaches a pointwhere it’s too much. I’d like to think GRRM did not write A Dance With Dragons with the intention of punishing Jeyne, but I’dbe lying if I said it never came across like that.

In all fairness, GRRM gives characters who in fantasy don’tget much of a platform. But it could be so much more, it’s rather frustrating.So pretty much: if you are a white male and a POV- great, the series will treatyou well or with respect. If not, your treatment is determined by numerousfactors.

In conclusion, GRRM’s improving but ASOIAF does fall tonarrative biases from time to time. Some of them are terrible, but some areforgivable or okay. It kind of determines by the circumstance.  This was a messy meta, I just hope I made myopinions clear.

:)