The Random Mumblings of This Queer Ladybug

                                         HOUSE STARK META POST

PART 1 // PART 2 // PART 3

                                                                HOUSE STARK

The Stark Myths Project

Bran Stark and Bran the Builder

Arya as a Pack Leader

Bran Stark: Wed to Winterfell, Wolf, and Weirwood

Sansa as a Narrative Mirror

Bran and his Destiny

An Analysis of Winterfell: As Camelot, Avalon, and Sacred Tree

A Time for Beasts: Bran, Arya, and the Long Night

The Stark in Winterfell: Bran Stark and the Fisher King

Sansa and the Royces

Bran and the Caves of Gendel and Gorne

The Relationship Between:

Arya and Bran: 1 | 2

Sansa and Bran

Catelyn and Arya

Ned and Arya: 1 | 2

Arya and Robb

Jon and Sansa: 1 | 2

Arya and Sansa

On the Starks and Skinchanging: 1 | 2

The Abilities of Bran and Arya 1 | 2

House Stark Family Tree Analysis

Starks, Vengeance, and Needle

A Pack of Wolves: Analysing the Stark Family Tree

On the True Characteristics of House Stark

The Stark Line Acts as a Sort of Fisher King

Wolf at the Door: A Character Analysis of Rickard Stark

Actually Starks are Hard to Kill

In Search of Homes, Jon and Arya

Arya and Sansa: The Foil Situation

The Stark Sisters and Mirroring Game Players

The Connection Between the Stark Sisters Journeys and their Wolves

Arya and Sansa and Ned’s Execution Scene

Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing: Eddard & Sansa Stark

Character Analysis: Brynden Tully - The Blackfish 

All the Times Jon and Arya think of One Another

Parallels Between Ned and Bran

Arya and Bran Stark: The Bond Between a Stark and their Wolf

The Parallel Journeys of Bran and Arya

Parallels between Jon joining the Night’s Watch and Arya joining the Faceless Men

Arya won’t be Jon’s Nissa Nissa

Why Ned and Cat were Doomed to Die from the Start

Black and White in Jon and Arya’s Storylines

The Stark Kids and the Crypts at Winterfell

The Line of Succession as dictated by Robb’s Will

The Grand Northern Conspiracy

Why People Believe Brandon Stark and Ashara Dayne had a Relationship

Ned and Catelyn’s Deaths Parallels

The Stark Family Tree: Speculation about Serena and Sansa Stark

Bran’s Visions: The Woman who Emerged from the Dark Pool

House Stark Traits

The Pact of Ice and Fire

The Gorgons of Winterfell

The Last ~130 years of Stark Lords Explained

What’s in the Crypts of Winterfell

Jon and Bran’s future, and who sent the Direwolves

The Seven Aspects of the Starks

The Pool in Front of Winterfell’s Heart Tree

Deconstructing the Deconstruction: The True Scope of Northern Honor and Culture

A school librarian introduces me before I give an assembly. “Girls, you’re in for a real treat. You will love Shannon Hale’s books. Boys, I expect you to behave anyway.”

I’m being interviewed for a newspaper article/blog post/pod cast, etc. They ask, “I’m sure you’ve heard about the crisis in boys’ reading. Boys just aren’t reading as much as girls are. So why don’t you write books for boys?”

Or, “Why do you write strong female characters?” (and never asked “Why do you write strong male characters?”)

At book signings, a mother or grandmother says, “I would buy your books for my kids but I only have boys.”

Or, “My son reads your books too—and he actually likes them!”

Or, a dad says, “No, James, let’s get something else for you. Those are girl books.”

A book festival committee member tells me, “I pitched your name for the keynote but the rest of the committee said ‘what about the boys?’ so we chose a male author instead.”

A mom has me sign some of my books for each of her daughters. Her 10-year-old son lurks in the back. She has extra books that are unsigned so I ask the boy, “Would you like me to sign one to you?” The mom says, “Yeah, Isaac, do you want her to put your name in a girl book?” and the sisters all giggle. Unsurprisingly, Isaac says no.

These sorts of scenarios haven’t happened just once. They have been my norm for the past twelve years. I’ve heard these and many more like them countless times in every state I’ve visited.

In our culture, there are widespread assumptions:

1. Boys aren’t going to like a book that stars a girl. (And so definitely won’t like a book that stars a girl + is written by a woman + is about a PRINCESS, the most girlie of girls).

2. Men’s stories are universal; women’s stories are only for girls.

But the truth is that none of that is truth. In my position, not only have I witnessed hundreds examples of adults teaching boys to be ashamed of and avoid girls’ stories, I’ve also witnessed that boys can and do love stories about girls just as much as about boys, if we let them. For example, I’ve heard this same thing over and over again from teachers who taught Princess Academy: “When I told the class we were going to read PRINCESS ACADEMY the girls went ‘Yay!’ and the boys went 'Boo!’ But after we’d read it the boys liked it as much or even more than the girls.”

Most four-year-old boys will read THE PRINCESS IN BLACK without a worry in the world. Most fourth grade boys won’t touch PRINCESS ACADEMY—at least if others are watching. There are exceptions, of course. I’ve noticed that boys who are homeschooled are generally immune. My public-school-attending 11-year-old son’s favorite author is Lisa McMann. He’s currently enjoying Kekla Magoon’s female-led SHADOWS OF SHERWOOD as much as he enjoyed the last book he read: Louis Sachar’s boy-heavy HOLES. But generally in the early elementary years, boys learn to be ashamed to show interest in anything to do with girls. We’ve made them ashamed.

I want to be clear; if there’s a boy who only ever wants to read about other boys, I think that’s fine. But I’ve learned that most kids are less interested in the gender of the main character and more interested in the kind of book—action, humor, fantasy, mystery, etc. In adults’ well-meant and honest desire to help boys find books they’ll love, we often only offer them books about boys. We don’t give them a chance.

Whenever I speak up about this, I am accused of trolling for boy readers when they aren’t my “due.” So let me also be clear: I have a wonderful career. I have amazing readers. I am speaking up not because I’m disgruntled or demand that more boys read my books but because my particular career has put me in a position to observe the gender bias that so many of us have inherited from the previous generations and often unknowingly lug around. I’ve been witnessing and cataloging widespread gender bias and sexism for over a decade. How could I face my kids if I didn’t speak up?

And here’s what I’ve witnessed: “great books for boys” lists, books chosen for read alouds, and assigned reading in high schools and colleges, etc. are overwhelmingly about boys and written by men. Peers (and often adults) mock and shame boys who do read books about girls. Even informed adults tend to qualify recommendations that boys hear very clearly. “Even though this stars a girl, boys will like it too!”

This leads to generations of boys denied the opportunity of learning a profound empathy for girls that can come from reading novels. Leads to a culture where boys feel perfectly fine mocking and booing things many girls like and adults don’t even correct them because “boys will be boys.” Leads to boys and girls believing “girlie” is the gravest insult, that girls are less significant, not worth your time. Leads to girls believing they must work/learn/live “like a man” in order to be successful. Leads to boys growing into men who believe women are there to support their story, expect them to satisfy men’s desires and have none of their own.

The more I talk about this topic, the more I’m amazed at how many people haven’t really thought about it or considered the widespread effect gendered reading causes. I was overwhelmed by the response to a blog post I wrote earlier this year. To carry on this conversation, I’m working with Bloomsbury Children’s Books to create #StoriesForAll. Each day this week we’ll feature new essays on this topic from authors, parents, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and readers. On twitter, instagram, and tumblr, join us with the #StoriesForAll hashtag to share experiences, photos, book recommendations. Discuss: How deep is the assumption that there are boy books and girl books? Does it matter? What have you witnessed with regards to gendered reading? What damage does gendered reading cause to both girls and boys? What can each of us do to undo the damage and start making a change?

I yearn for that change. For our girls and for our boys.

——————

An algorithm can predict human behavior better than humans - Quartz

Race for the Iron Throne Kickstarter Update

Jizo statues, symbolizing passage of death to life, showed a sign of change in the Japanese approach to afterlife compared to traditional Buddhist approaches: from a religion about control to a religion about compassion.

In response to the assholerly of aristocracy practices, the newer sects of Buddhism in Japan had the idea that EVERYONE. YES, EVERYONE, WAS ALLOWED TO BECOME ENLIGHTENED. Thus Japanese Buddhism becomes a religion about COMPASSION alongside discipline rather than FEAR and discipline!

Note that this is why BYAKUREN, who was around after the new sects of Buddhism, has compassion for Youkai! MIKO, who existed before these new sects, sees Buddhism as a tool of the aristocracy and a device of fear… because that’s how it used to be used!

The moniker “seagull” is ubiquitous. There are actually several different kinds of gulls, but most of us clump them under the name “seagull”. In truth, it’s a poor name, because seagull’s aren’t found exclusively by the sea. They are often found inland, and can thrive in both fresh and salt water areas. This is a good start to symbolic meaning of seagulls. It speaks about opportunity, resources and adaptability. Seagulls go where they can find the best food. They are notorious for scavenging landfills, picking over refuse in parking lots, and other garbage sites. In a symbolic sense, the seagull reminds us to move where the best resources might be. Many of us deny ourselves opportunities because we feel safe in our comfort zone. Not so for the opportunistic seagull. These birds may be a sign to fly out of our realm of comfort, maybe take a risk, and do so with the goal of finding better conditions for our well-being.

Their tendency to pick over wastelands of trash left behind by humans is also symbolic, in my mind. It speaks to me of recycling. The seagull is the ultimate scavenger. When seagulls show up on my scene, it makes me mindful of making the most out of what I have. I’m reminded of the value of resources, and not to be wasteful. Seagulls also inspire me to re-purpose stuff. I love thrift stores, yard sales and such. I rarely see a reason to buy new things. Rather, I prefer to make new uses for old things. This is a great aspect of symbolic meaning of seagulls.

Symbolic Meanings For Seagulls

Freedom

Adaptation

Communication

Opportunistic

Resourcefulness

The word “gull” is derived from “gullible”. It’s named thusly, presumably because the seagull will swallow anything it can cram down its gullet. Symbolically, this begs the question: “Do we swallow everything we hear or see?” In essence, this aspect of seagull symbolism encourages using our wits to determine the truth. This seagull behavior reminds us to discern, rather than blindly follow without further investigation.

Seagulls are quite chatty. They have no problems squawking and letting their voices be heard. As far as the symbolic meaning of seagulls goes, this is a pretty big sign. Seagulls might be a reminder to find our voices, and be fearless about speaking our minds.

No, he would have absolutely had them all killed. It’s a deep threat to the political order. In a world where bloodlines mean everything, where allegations of illegitimacy gave birth to a civil war that nearly ripped Westeros in half, Cersei and Jaime’s incest run deeply counter to the established political system. It’s an attempted silent coup, one that seeks to topple House Baratheon for House Lannister.

On the personal note, doing this is a deep offense to Robert’s pride and masculinity, and it’s a violation of Jaime’s Kingsguard oaths as well as greater religious prohibitions on incest, and Jaime and Cersei do not have the Targaryen bloodline nor a convenient dragon to act as their shield.

House Baratheon has a lot of strength going for it. Assuming Jon Arryn is still alive, Robert can call on the Stormlands, the Vale, and the North, and the Riverlands through the shared Tully marriages with Jon and Eddard. The Reach would be happy to supplant the Lannisters as a house on the in, and Dorne might relish the chance to avenge Elia with royal sanction (even if Doran is cautious enough to stay out of the war and bide his strength until it comes time for his plans, you can believe Oberyn is going to show up, and bring a retinue of young, hot-headed Dornishmen eager to brawl). Balon would probably relish the chance to sack Lannisport, especially if he can use it as ‘proof of loyalty’ to get Theon returned to him. There’s a reason Littlefinger is undermining the royal coalition and why Varys is thankful for the death of Jon Arryn, a four-region coalition is too powerful to attack head on, even with Dornish support and ‘friends in the Reach.’

Tywin doesn’t have many family connections outside the Westerlands. He has House Frey, who almost certainly isn’t going to go to war on Tywin’s behalf if he’s so outnumbered. That secret can’t come out because the Lannisters are completely doomed. That’s why Martin can’t have Eddard or Jon Arryn make a public declaration, and why he has to come from Stannis well after Robb is declared King of the North and Renly makes his claim. It prevents that coalition from solidifying around a single claimant and making the Lannisters a dead family walking.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

I have seen alot of critiques and down right hateful essays and comments recently about Ned. That he sexually abused Sansa (?), killed Lady out of loyalty to Robert, neglected Arya, can not be seen as someone who actually tried to make the kingdom better. Got a problem with a non stark character and mention Ned? No, you’ve automatically lost your argument because how dare you mention the individual who should only ever be remembered for the mistakes he made, not that he managed to inspire a whole kingdom, actually earned the respect he got. Honestly, usually I would reply to the meta, but there are so many, it’s just best if I do one, single meta that clears up my thoughts, and others- on Ned, who to be honest, is someone who I look up to and consider one of the best POV characters.

Holy fuck look at this man child lmfao

Context: this is the guy who became CEO of a pharmaceutical company and promptly raised the price of a life saving AIDS medication from $13.50 to $750 per pill.

He’s basically been a huge piece of shit in the face of justified public backlash over this (basically playing the “lol I’m rich I don’t care about your criticisms” card). Even Donald Trump has panned this guy. He eventually promised to lower the price (he didn’t say how much), but this hasn’t happened yet.

Recently, he donated $2,700 to the Bernie Sanders campaign in order to buy a meeting with him (some sort of play for power). Sanders and his campaign manager were aware of the situation with this dude and “refused” to take his money. But instead of just giving it back, they donated it to an HIV clinic as an extra slap to the face.

Shkreli has been trying to play it off (also saying Sanders should have given it back instead of donating it), but judging by this latest tweet I just got in my email, he’s starting to crack :y

Sources: http://www.advocate.com/politics/2015/10/16/bernie-sanders-gives-martin-shkrelis-donation-hiv-clinic

I was Unsullied for 2 seasons, so the show colored how I pronounce a lot of names (so bree-enn). I definitely don’t go with Dotrice’s pronunciation (and actually cringe at that one in particular). He says “Jaime” a bit weirdly too on occasion. Like sometimes one syllable. Also remember when Dany became a chain-smoker in ADWD?

It’s cute because my one friend only listened to the audiobooks, and he thought the name was spelled “Braiene” (he also thought Missandei was “Mersandi”).

to keep out the creepers trying to sneak a peak into the girl bathroom while your peeing

to have a feeling of security

to have a place to talk where the boys can’t hear

to have someone to help with either your hair, outfit or makeup

to gossip in safety

to cry in safety

to talk about the hottie in your algebra class

to get away from the forever judging society filled with antifeminists for a few moments

to tell each other you look like sluts and need to tone down the cat eye and pull up your shirt without the chance of other people hearing

to tell a secret

Take a facet of crime, and then look at television shows/movies that feature those criminals as protagonists.

White mobs.

White pirates.

White serial killers.

White political corruption

White drug dealers

I mostly want to talk about this as a TV phenomenon, but pick a crime, any crime, and Western media has probably made a movie/TV series/play/etc. with a white person that romanticizes the criminal activity. No matter what, a white person can do whatever terrible crimes and still have a TV/movie fanbase that loves them.

When you see black or brown people committing crimes on screen, you are to see them thugs and criminal masterminds and people to be beat down.

When you see white people committing crimes on screen, you see a three-dimensional portrait of why someone might commit that crime, how criminals are people too, and how you should even love them for the crimes that they commit because they’re just providing for their families or they’ve wronged or they’re just people and not perfect. This is particularly a luxury given to white male characters, since there few white female criminals as protagonists.

If and of the above shows were about black or brown folks, there would be a backlash of (white) people claiming that TV and movies are romanticizing criminals and are treating them too much like heroes and that it will affect viewers and encourage violence and “thuggish” behavior. And yet fictional white criminals get to have a deep fanbase who loves these white criminals, receive accolades and awards, get called amazing television that portray the complexities of human nature. Viewers of these characters see past the atrocious crimes and into their humanity, a luxury that white characters always have while characters of color rarely do. The closest that mainstream TV has come to showing black criminals as main characters is probably The Wire, and even then, the criminals share equal screen time and equal status as main characters as the police trying to stop them.