I've been thinking a lot about how the Kingsguard is portrayed in fics and ig what it reveals about how the fandom views them. I think it's sort of fascinating, that people would like them to be just the coolest knights of the realm but as an institution they were designed to suck and it creates an interesting meta-textual tension.
There's always a desire to fix things to contend with but so much about Aerys's kingsguard especially is taken at face value. How many positive depictions of Oswell Whent are there, when his only appearance in the book is telling Jaime in a flashback that they aren't supposed to protect Rhaella? AUs love constructing perfect Kingsguards, often treating the entire thing very lightly, and not like a lifetime commitment that alienates them from their family and other people. For me the funniest pick, and the most telling, is always Blackfish, both bcs of an assumption that a gay man would really love a chastity vow, even tho he dodged marriage the regular way his entire life but also bcs in the books, he abandons his duty to fight for his family! The type of characters people want in the Kingsguard are, just like Jaime, unsuitable to be actual canon Kingsguards.