#stormborn-stark

More than three years ago I did a thing that my parents told me I never should; I spoke to a stranger on the internet.

Nearly three months ago I did a thing that would leave my parents absolutely mortified; I visited a stranger that I met on the internet.

To be fair, we were no longer strangers. Stranger danger had gone out the window. She knows some of my darkest secrets, some of my worst fears, some things that others will never know.

What began as me believing that she was the craftiest little crafter in all of Tumblr land, flourished into a relationship solidified in penmanship, and eventually I swallowed all my fear about her being a 45 year old man trying to lure me to my death and I arranged to visit her for three days.

This morning, she tagged me in a post that said

can yOU IMAGINE SEEING YOUR INTERNET FRIEND SMILING FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FRONT OF YOU. I BET THEIR SMILE CAN LIGHT uP THIS ENTIRE WORLD

And I'll be damned if it were not the most truthful thing I have ever read.

I was so mentally exhausted because I had to psych myself up to get on a little plane that looked like it would fall apart on take off. I went from Jacksonville, FL to Charlotte, NC and finally, the teeny tiny regional airport of Lynchburg, VA.

For a while on Tumblr she described herself as "Kristi; the short and sassy" and if she wasn't the shortest human being I have ever seen in my entire existence then I'll eat my snow globe collection.

I don't remember either of us saying anything.

We smiled and hugged.

I, embarrassingly enough, had tears in my eyes, so I squeezed her a little bit tighter, a little bit longer.

She was all high pitched and squeaky when she asked "Is this real life?"

It was real life. And it was real friendship.

She introduced me to Dr Pepper (for which I have not yet managed to go cold turkey on), she taught me how to crochet, she taught me that Justin Timberlake is sex on legs, and most importantly, I finally played the almost eternally elusive Cards Against Humanity.

Kristi (stormborn-stark), I love you.

Catelyn Stark - who would you do anything for (maybe even start a war)?

I guess my family

Tyrion Lannister - what skill or character trait should people never underestimate about you?

Probably my character, people often thinks i am weak or calm but i tend to have a strong and stubborn character. And my hability to get what I want, they often believe im not persistent or strong enough to get shit done, hahahaha, those poor souls.

By the Old Gods and the New - what are your religious views?

ALL RIGHT YOU’VE OPENED THE FLOODGATES LETS HOPE THAT I CAN SAY THIS COHERENTLY this might be a jumble you should ask fran (queencersei) about it if this doesn’t end up making any sense

Jaime is in my top 5 favorite asoiaf characters, and he might have my favorite point of view after Arya. And I think that, in order to really understand his character and love him, you have to acknowledge that he does not, in any way, have a “redemption arc.” There seems to be this giant misconception in the asoiaf fandom, especially amongst people who haven’t had the chance to read the books yet, where they seem to think that Jaime is on the path to eternal enlightenment or Stark-like conceptions of honor. No. He’s still a Lannister. He’s still completely in love with his twin sister. He would still throw Bran out of that window, every goddamn time, no matter what. 

Saying that he has a redemption arc is just, in plain terms, wrong. Jaime has an arc, all right, but it’s not about redeeming himself. He has no interest in proving himself to be kind/honorable/etc. First of all, there is no chance that he will be able to redeem himself in the first place - I am the kingslayer and always will be. Jaime recognizes that he is stuck inside a cycle, that he will never be anything more than the kingslayer to the majority of people in Westeros, and that he has little to no chance of changing their perception of him. Second of all, it's not as if he's particularly invested in gaining their love either. He doesn’t want redemption, he isn’t trying to take more vows and keep them. The things that Jaime Lannister does are because they are for his benefit, or because he wants to do them - not for honor, not for redemption, and certainly not to be kind. Sure, he saves Brienne from a bear, but then he goes home to fuck Cersei in the goddamn sept. I mean - does that look like redemption to you? 

Here’s the arc that Jaime does have - one of loss of power and control. He starts out the series at the top of the pile - he is a Lannister, rich and powerful, recognized as the best fighter in the Seven Kingdoms. All of his life, things have come easily to him and, even if he is not as smart as Tyrion nor as clever as Cersei, he is their rock, he is the thing that keeps the Lannisters together, the one that they all fall back on because he is, above all things, strong. And, as the series goes on, that power and control is gradually taken away from him. Jaime is taken captive by Robb Stark, a “boy” for all intents and purposes, who Jaime could easily overpower on his own but, Robb managed to outsmart his forces. And we have the climax - when his hand is cut off. Jaime has always been his strength, what he could bring to a fight, and now that power is gone. His confidence, value to his family and understanding of himself are lost with it. From there, (and keep in mind that I haven’t finished all of the books yet) he has an arc of loss of power, of wandering, of grasping for a sense of an identity that he no longer has.

is that possible?! i remember trying to put some playlists up on spotify and getting really irritated cos spotify doesn't have like half the songs i do. is there a way to add music so everyone can hear? the furthest i got was i could add music but only i could listen to it... which defeats the purpose lol. may as well just play it in itunes ad-free.

another drawback was that it's linked with my facebook and i don't want everyone having that info. (altho i THINK i may have a ...OH that's right i made a fake facebook just for spotify. ok nvm then. i have 2 spotify accounts. i can't remember what the login is for the fake one. should look into that.)

Wow. I didn’t even read that into the books, either. You’re SO observant. Thanks for explaining. I’m seeing more and more of this kind of behavior from her in book 3. I used to love her and now I’m disappointed in her choices…

To be fair, I didn't realise for a while myself. ;) I knew there was something I wasn't quite understanding, I didn't know what it was until much later when I was like, "Hmm, wait... that sounds familiar." when I watched 1x02. I think it may have been thegirl20 that pointed it out to me even. (Can't recall precisely. I just know it took a while to click...and then when it did, oooh boy. The rage.)

Oh, girl, if you think ASOS is bad... hehe. But yeah I'm the same, Dany started to really grate on me in ASOS as well. But I still don't think even that book!Dany would have done what TV!Dany did to Doreah in 2x05. She's prone to careless and stupid decisions, but she always cared A LOT about her "children" (her people, especially those closest to her --her maids, etc. Can't say more cos I don't know how far you are.) I can't ever seeing even book!Dany at her worst thus far telling any of her maids (or Doreah if she was still alive there) to fuck random men for her, and especially for that trivial purpose. I dunno. To me, it goes against what Dany stands for. (I'm not saying she can't contradict herself (cos she clearly does at times) but I don't think she would on that issue specifically (sex slavery). Maybe I just think too highly of Dany in that regard, which is weird cos I don't think very highly of her most times anymore. *sigh*)

deusexignis replied to your post: I could be missing something, but what is happening in that scene you just blogged?

i honestly NEVER caught this until i just saw the post stormborn-stark referenced in her ask. now i feel sick to my stomach. how could dany?

In 1x02 Doreah tells Dany that men like to talk when they're "~happy". She was implying after(/during/before? All of the above prolly.) she had sex with men, they liked to tell her random stories and legends. 

So in 2x05 Dany wants to gather some gossip about Xaro so right after she gets all huffy about being sold off to some man herself, she insinuates that Doreah (the girl she freed from being a whore) should "make men ~happy" so they'll talk and thus Dany could get some stories about Xaro. At least I assume she thought she'd get info about Xaro. And she asks Doreah to do it cos, well, Doreah's just a whore, right? And Dany's too good for that sorta thing. UGHHHH ARGGGG.

Realistically, I'm sorry Dany, but the last thing men want to talk about right after sex is other men lol. At least in my experience...