#nosafeanchorage

I am so excited that nosafeachorage created this glorious art based on my prompt of Reek looking into the weirwood pool and seeing Theon as reflection. This is so much more beautiful than I could have imagined! I'm just overcome by it. Thank you so much nosafeanchorage!

Reverse version:

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

Everything relating to the Ironborn. The idea that they are westerosi uber-macho, alt-right, republican, white-trash becomes very annoying and often makes me thing that Luwin's propaganda spread to the fandom. There is also something about the fandom vilifying most Iron Islanders and their culture when they are not that much more different than the rest of the Seven Kingdoms. Rape and slavery/thrall culture is just as present in Northern characters (which we can clearly see on Arya's chapters) as it is on the Islands, with the only real difference being that it's not based on religion. All of the core Greyjoy's except for Asha are often depicted as these uber-conservative, alt-right ignorant, macho, toxically masculine people although there is not a lot of canon foundation on that. Their culture seems to be more liberating to the role of women than most, we even have Qarl's mild gender fuckerism, they are more sexually liberated, the concept of "Iron Price vs Gold Price" is more of an ideological statement (with Victarion wearing a Kraken-helmet that MUST have been tailor-made for him) than a factual way of living, and Balon's cruelty to Theon being less about him wearing a necklace and more about him wearing a chain and coming as an envoy, not a free man. Then again, characters like Quellon Greyjoy and Rodrik Harlaw (and often Alannys, even though based on what little we know of her, I doubt she would fit in this) are seen as pure-hearted, good natured and intelligent people who are enlightened compared to the rest and thus, are glorified by the fandom because they appear to be "less Ironborn" (as in less stupid, reckless and violent) and are falsely considered to have adapted to a more idealised version of mainland values. Tris is also often added to the group above, although he doesn't seem to share their ideologies, he is simply characterised by Asha as "too sweet for the Islands" and most readers seem to take it as such, although this claim is never backed up by evidence. It almost reminds me of colonisers of European descent classifying some of the indigenous groups of the regions they invaded as "civilized" because they had adopted attributes of European culture and the entire dichotomy of the "good Indian vs bad Indian". Really hate that. I don't really like comparing the Islands on itself to indigenous tribes who were colonised (Theon is another matter), but in this aspect...

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

The entire modern AU Theon concept since the characterisation is very often based on this strangely idealised mixture of AGOT-Stark perception of Theon and an exaggerated comical retelling of his tragedies during ACOK without any actual nuisance for the reasons behind those tragedies. It feels very sadistic. Free-loader Theon, Dropout Theon, Unemployed Theon. The repressed homophobic homosexual Theon is the most baffling though and it often seems to be more connected to shipping dynamics rather than canon characterisation (Canon implied he had a threesome (or more) with Patrek!!!!! Why did everyone forget about that?????).

17. there should be more of this type of fic/art

I feel hypocritical because I don't do a lot for her, but I wish we had more fan work on Kyra. Until now she is mostly used as a meta type of tool to explore the rules of consent in Westeros and Theon succumbing to his worst impulses during ACOK, and that's valid, it makes sense since she doesn't have much of a characterisation or background story, but I really wish someone would adopt her as their canon OC. I wish we would get to see her as her own failed final girl who has to beg for help to the man who raped her in order to escape an even bigger monster. I know it's an unpopular opinion and that most shippers prefer to see their dynamic as something salvageable or as a more positive and stable fwb relationship and many interpret Kyra as someone who genuinely loved Theon while he saw her as a more or less low-stakes girlfriend (and no hate to anyone who likes any of the mentioned concepts), but personally I would love to see fanworks from her perspective that show us Theon through a more macabre lens. So many fanfics that take place during their escape decide to put Kyra in a position that is similar to Jeyne; she is thankful, clingy and somewhat loving, and as said, I get why people enjoy those. But I like to believe that at the end of everything, when she asked him for help, she no longer loved him, if she ever did. I like to believe she was afraid of him, not that she hated him, simply that she was afraid, how could she not be? I often think about Theon's "On the far side, he had kissed her." and "You saved us." and how there are no descriptions of her response to those things. With Jeyne he describes how she is the one who initiates the physical contact during their escape and he responds somewhat positively, but in Kyra's case we have none of that and it makes me anxious in a good way. I wonder how it might have felt for her. I don't think she would have liked it, she must have been so frightened. Aaaaand I can feel my stomach starting to twist and turn the more I think about it! Time to move on! So yeah TLDR: I would like to see Theon as a villain from the lens of someone whose reasons for seeing him as such are justified. Also we need more f/f cersei fanfics.

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing