I'm not a Stark. | You are to me.

Sansa: I don’t want Jon to go down there.

the first character i ever fell in love with:

a character that i used to love/like, but now do not:

a ship that i used to love/like, but now do not:

my ultimate favorite character™:

prettiest character:

my most hated character:

my OTP:

my NOTP:

favorite episode:

saddest death:

favorite season:

least favorite season:

character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but i hate:

my ‘you’re piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave:

my ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave:

my ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship:

The first character I ever fell in love with was probably Tyrion. I know, I know... but it was many years ago, I was young(er), and his first chapters were fun!

A character that I used to love/like but now do not: see above. Also virtually all of the show characters after season 6.

A ship that I used to love/like but now do not: I used to look forward to show!Jonerys before it became apparent that the actors had negative chemistry. Many years ago I briefly entertained the idea of Sandor or Tyrion being a sensible book endgame for Sansa, too. And Dany/Jorah, ugh. Why did I use to ship young girls with old creeps?! Geez. 

My ultimate favourite character, if I absolutely had to pick one, would be... Sansa, I guess. Among all of my favourite characters she gets the most shit from fandom, so here I am, sticking up for her.

Prettiest character? Oof, tough one! Let’s start with the novels. The characters that my brain paints as the absolutely most gorgeous beings in the world (in no particular order): Cersei, Dany, Val, Arianne, Ashara, Loras, Robb. The prettiest ones on the show: Jon Snow (c’mon), Cersei, Ygritte, Missandei, Sansa, Cat, Oberyn, Dany (especially dark!Dany; the Targ imagery + her stern expression = hot). Obviously I’m not picking just ONE, don’t be ridiculous.

My most hated character: I don’t really hate anyone, but... oh, who am I kidding? It’s Tyrion. (Principally because he’s like the go-to favourite character to all the fanboys who mostly ignore all the red flags. And you know what? show!Tyrion I get, but book!Tyrion is The Worst.)

My OTP: haha, I hope it’s abundantly clear to anyone at this point that I’m terrible at picking ONE of anything really. book!OTPs: Ned/Cat, Jon/Val... aaand that’s basically it. I’m not that much of a shipper in ASoIaF books. show!OTPs: Jonsa (those damn actors and their stupid chemistry!), Jon/Ygritte, Ned/Cat, Jaime/Brienne, Jon/Tormund (wow, Jon is probably the most shippable character on the show), Sansa/Theon, Cersei/wine. My wild fandom favs/crackships/AUs etc.: Ned/Cersei, Sansa/Margaery, Sansa/Dany, Jon/Satin, Jaime/Cat, JonCon/Rhaegar, Arthur/Elia.

My NOTPs are the variations of the pattern being Young Girl/(Much) Older (And Often Abusive) Creep: Sansa/Tyrion, or Sandor, or Petyr, Dany/Jorah (especially book!Dany, because book!Jorah is The Worst Too, no wonder he and Tyrion find their way into each other’s lives), show!Jonerys, book!Jongritte, Rhaegar/Lyanna.

Favourite episode: majority of seasons 1&2. (Favourite book: the infamous Feast for Crows, because Cersei’s chapters are pure gold.)

Saddest death: I got pretty much immunised with Ned’s unexpected decapitation, and after that nothing shocked me anymore, even The Red Wedding. But before that... probably Lady. (On the show: Theon.)

Favourite season: see above.

Least favourite season: probably the one starting in 2015 and ending in 2019. Horrible. Embarrassing. A waste of time. (Books: ADwD.)

Character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but I hate: will it be boring if I say Tyrion? In the show that may also be true for Dany, especially since Emilia’s acting range could never fully encompass her character’s complexity, thus I always felt sort of... unattached to show!Dany, bordering on disliking her until Emilia’s acting skills met D&D’s writing skills, which is when I fully embraced this feeling. (Doesn’t apply to book!Dany, though.)

My ‘you’re piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave: Cersei! And maybe Littlefinger? I hate his creepy arse, but I love untangling his schemes.

My ‘my beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave: MEERA FREAKING REED. I’M STILL SO EFFING ANGRY ABOUT THAT. Also Missandei. (In the books: Elia Martell!!!)

My ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but I still love it’ ship: I don’t know if I have one, to be honest. I know that some would consider Jonsa that ship, but in my book if you’re not abusive to one another, you’re not a nasty ship, even if you’re half-siblings turned cousins. Slightly icky, maybe, but not nasty.

My ‘they’re kind of cute, and I lowkey ship them, but i’m not too invested’ ship’: Most of the book ships. Sam/Gilly. Arya/Gendry. Robb/Margaery.

What a lot of people overlook is the fact that Tywin often reacts based on his fear of appearing weak. He fears to be an object of ridicule (which is why he hates Tyrion). That is what he often reacts with excessive violence in a way that actually works against him in the long term. He chooses to make people fear him because he’s afraid of people laughing at him. But ruling by fear is a brittle strength that will eventually fail.

I wanted to write an in-depth analysis of Dany in the books vs Dany in the show. People usually talk about how the show removed much of Dany’s softness and humor, but I think it goes beyond that. The show has blackwashed Dany and made her more violent and impulsive. The show has also taken away Dany’s agency and cunning, and given it to the male characters around her. In my opinion, the writing of the show has been very bad and sexist, and I believe that these problems started very early in the show, not just in the later seasons.

In this essay, I won’t talk about every change in Dany’s storyline, like the problems with the depiction of the Dothraki culture, the racism in the show or certain changes like how Ser Barristan was supposed to be alive and rule Meereen when Dany is gone. I think all of these changes are worth discussing, but here, I want to focus on the problems with Dany’s characterization.

SEASON 1

This season is the best season in terms of the adaptation of Dany’s character. They show Dany overcoming her brother’s abuse, make it very clear that Drogo raped her and show Dany overcoming that as well, show her getting stronger, adapting to Dothraki culture and becoming a leader in her own right. But there are already some problems.

1) In the books, we have a moment in which Dany orders the khalasar to stay behind, and Viserys becomes outraged that she dared to give orders to him. This also happens in the show, but the outcome is different. In the books, Dany pushes Viserys and orders his horse to be taken away. This is an important moment for a couple of reasons. One, because this is the first time Dany defies Viserys. Two, because it shows Dany growing as a leader. She knows that a man that doesn’t ride is looked down on by the Dothraki, so she takes his horse to humiliate him, and at the same time, the Dothraki grow to respect her more. So this is an important moment that shows Dany using her understanding of Dothraki culture and her wits for political purposes. But in the show, it’s Rakharo that takes Viserys horse.

2) Another change in the first season are Dany’s final scenes. In the books, Dany gives Aggo, Jhogo and Rakharo a bow, a whip and an arakh, and asks them to be her bloodriders. This is important because it shows Dany’s defiance of the patriarchy, because only a khal can lead the Dothraki and name bloodriders, but the show cuts this scene. They also changed Dany’s last speech to the Dothraki. In the show, this is what she says:

You will be my khalasar. I see the faces of slaves. I free you. Take off your collars. Go if you wish, no one will stop you. But if you stay it will be as brothers and sisters, as husbands and wives. […] I am Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen of the Blood of Old Valyria. I am the Dragon’s daughter. And I swear to you that those who would harm you will die screaming. – Daenerys, 1x10

Meanwhile, in the books, Dany never says that their enemies would die screaming in her speech. She says this is an earlier scene, in which, she swears revenge for a girl that Mago had raped and murdered:

She lifted her head. “And I am Daenerys Stormborn, Daenerys of House Targaryen, of the blood of Aegon the Conqueror and Maegor the Cruel and old Valyria before them. I am the dragon’s daughter, and I swear to you, these men will die screaming. Now bring me to Khal Drogo.” – Daenerys IX AGOT

But in her speech, Dany never says that:

“You will be my khalasar,” she told them. “I see the faces of slaves. I free you. Take off your collars. Go if you wish, no one shall harm you. If you stay, it will be as brothers and sisters, husbands and wives.” The black eyes watched her, wary, expressionless. “I see the children, women, the wrinkled faces of the aged. I was a child yesterday. Today I am a woman. Tomorrow I will be old. To each of you I say, give me your hands and your hearts, and there will always be a place for you.” – Daenerys X AGOT

If I’m going to be honest, I don’t truly mind these changes in season 1. I still think they made a very good job with Dany’s adaptation this season. But I think these changes already give us hints of what will happen to Dany’s character in the following seasons. Not showing Dany taking Viserys horse and not showing her asking Aggo, Jhogo and Rakharo to be her bloodriders are changes that I wouldn’t mind in isolation. In the case of Rakharo taking Viserys’ horse, it’s actually a good change to give Dothraki characters more characterization than they have in the book (but it’s all for nothing, because the show kills them off for no reason in season 2). But they are the beginning of the tendency that the show has of stripping Dany of her agency and giving her actions to the male characters around her. And I understand the motivation of merging Dany’s two speeches into one, to cut screentime. This is another change that I wouldn’t mind, but this change already hinted that they would transform Dany’s character into a more violent character than she is in the books.

SEASON 2

This season, the problems really begin, and the blackwashing and sexism begin in full force.

1) The first scene is one when they are crossing the desert. In the books, Dany thinks:

They are not strong, she told herself, so I must be their strength. I must show no fear, no weakness, no doubt. However frightened my heart, when they look upon my face they must see only Drogo’s queen. She felt older than her fourteen years. If ever she had truly been a girl, that time was done. – Daenerys I ACOK

But in the show, what do we get? Dany is slouching and looking frightened, and Jorah is the one that needs to remind her that she needs to be her people’s strength To make it even worse, Dany tells Jorah that he is her strength:

Jorah: They are too weak to fight, as are your people. You must be their strength. Dany: As you are mine. (2x01)

They completely erase Dany’s strength and leadership in this moment, and give it to a male character.

2) When she gets to Qarth, once again, we see them starting to handle Dany’s character as someone whose only ability is to scream at people. In the books, Dany is received in Qarth because people are curious about her dragons. But in the show, in order to create unnecessary drama, they have the Qartheen refuse Dany’s entrance, and she shouts:

Thirteen! When my dragons are grown, we will take back what was stolen from me and destroy those who have wronged me. We will lay waste to armies and burn cities to the ground. Turn us away and we will burn you first. - Daenerys, 2x04

This is a far cry from what book Daenerys is actually thinking when she’s in Qarth:

Dany had no wish to reduce King’s Landing to a blackened ruin full of unquiet ghosts. She had supped enough on tears. I want to make my kingdom beautiful, to fill it with fat men and pretty maids and laughing children. I want my people to smile when they see me ride by, the way Viserys said they smiled for my father.

But before she could do that she must conquer. – Daenerys II ACOK

She’s definitely not thinking about burning cities to the ground. I understand that show Dany needs to enter the city or else she and her people will die. So I don’t think there’s anything wrong with show Dany resorting to threats in this scene. But this scene is just another step in distancing show Dany and book Dany, and making show Dany more violent.

And while I still don’t agree with a few points in this post, all of them concern Dany’s actions in the show since s6, and not book!Dany herself. I am invariably appalled by her burning of the Tarlys (that’s a war crime if I ever saw one), and the loot train business is questionable at best (I agree that D&D purposefully played with the viewers' emotions, what with sad music and withdrawing almost entirely from Dany’s POV in favour of humanising Lannister soldiers, but her not focusing on the troops and burning FOOD instead is something so inherently stupid that I am like 99% sure book!Dany would disapprove, too).

Yes, I’m aware of book!Dany’s faults, but we need to remember one thing: she’s in a position of power in the world of ice and fire (essentially Middle Ages but with dragons and zombies). She’s bound to make many questionable choices; a lot of her decisions were and will be unpopular. Her arc isn’t about being a benevolent queen and winning her subjects’ hearts by doing good deeds (contrary to popular belief). Why? Because she’s doomed to be a conqueror. We know this, she knows this, her supporters know this. And as a conqueror, book!Dany is, I’d say, as good as one could be. No, she’s not Sansa, or Gilly, or even Margaery (though we don’t really know enough about the latter to draw satisfying conclusions): she struggles, she compromises, she makes mistakes - but comparing her with characters without agency, or with subdued/limited agency, seems misleading. Yes, we could compare show!Dany with show!Sansa for example, after Sansa finally gains more agency, but they are both products of D&D’s misogyny, therefore it makes little sense. 

Do I believe she will “lose it” and end up being killed by Jon? I don’t know, maybe. It’s too soon to tell; TWoW isn’t even published yet. I have no idea what future holds for her, but I’m like 99% sure that GRRM won’t have her burning food, murdering war prisoners in cold blood, and laying waste to King’s Landing (and thousands upon thousands of innocent people in it) AFTER it had surrendered. 

I like book!Dany. I’ve always liked her, and I will continue to like her unless GRRM does her dirty like the show did. I don’t expect her to be right all the time: when I say I like her, I also include all the examples of her vanity, childishness, naivete and lack of reason. But she’s also quite brilliant, cool-headed when necessary, compassionate and complex. And while show!Dany’s hypocrisy is hard to stomach, her book counterpart is yet to vex me with her inconsistency. 

When show!Dany fell, I was absolutely convinced that she deserved it.

When/if book!Dany falls, I want to cry for three days. I want it to be tragic. I want to be torn. I want to still be able to see good in her, I want her to care.

Hi, love :)

 I have been saying that Cersei is a multifaceted, contradictory, complex, interesting character who happens to be very difficult to understand since the first day I got into this blighted website so I am not gonna repeat it again. Everybody here knows she’s my favourite character in existence and I’ve always defended her I love her more than I love most real people. So now that I’ve stated the obvious let’s begin:

1) Cersei is not a good mother. As far as I know, being a bad mother and loving your children desperately are not mutually exclusive. In fact, it’s more common than it should be.To be honest, I’d not like Cersei to be my mum, if Cersei was a real person I’d want her as far away from me as possible. I’ve already talked about Joffrey and his behaviour and personality and even though I will always say that Cersei is not entirely to blame, she has played her part. She spoiled him, she never tried to stop him, she never wanted to acknowledge the fact that something was wrong with her first born and she tried to compensate Robert’s apathy and downright scorn by loving him too much. That’s a really fucked up combination, if you ask me. 

Tommen is a little boy who is sweet and innocent and totally not ready to rule. She is not particularly understanding, she is harsh and she neglects to give him the support and love he needs. 

2) She loves her children. Cersei wants power and her ambition is huge. She is not the best mother but she loves them and narcissism is not the only reason as some may suggest. She genuinely loves Joffrey despite everything he did and she never was the same person after his death. She is terrified about Tommen’s future, she sees enemies everywhere and she loses it when he starts coughing because she thinks he’s choking. She needed to be with Tommen so much, she was so worried that she performes the walk of atonement. She doesn’t want Myrcella to undergo the same experiences she had to live, she wants her daughter to be with her and not be a part of the game far away from her, she doesn’t want Myrcella to be a brood mare. She doesn’t know how to express it, she is not a perfect mother and she definitely does really fucked up things but she loves her children in her own broken way. Is that enough? Of course not. Love is not enough. 

3) WHY DOES SHE DO THAT? WHY IS SHE THE WAY SHE IS?

Her father was, indeed, a shitty parent. Cersei doesn’t know how to express her love properly and she strongly believes that respect and fear come in an indivisible pack and we all know Tywin was Not Great™ at giving emotional support. She’s just putting into practice what she learned and please, don’t forget that she considers herself to be Tywin’s true heir so… let’s just put two and two together, shall we?daddy issues are definitely a Lannister trait.

Narcissism is KEY. I’ve been saying this for years so this is going to surprise no one but Cersei and Jaime’s relationship is based, in part, on narcissism. They mirror each other, they believe they’re a different gender version of each other and that’s just their fantasy. Cersei loves herself and she loves Jaime because he looks like her. They’re each other’s equals and that’s why they love each other. That’s toxic and fucked up and I LOVE it and it’s not that different when it comes to her children. She considers them extensions of herself and taking into account the role of women in Westeros, she is very much aware of the fact that they’re the only way she has to obtain power for herself. Cersei is not only a mother. She wants power and she has a great ambition. She is the rightful heir and she was robbed of her rights again and again just because she doesn’t have a penis and she’s angry about that and she uses every tool in order to have power. Joffrey was her key to the iron throne and now it’s Tommen’s turn. She wants to rule through them since she’s unable to do it herself thanks to some stupid rules. She’s angry and rightfuly so but still that’s not the best way to be a parent.

Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen are Jaime’s children too. She also loves them because of that. She was able to decide over her body, she made a choice and decided who was gonna be the father and she’s proud of that. It’s a huge “fuck you Robert” and you cannot blame her for that. It is also another proof of how much she loves Jaime AND how proud she is of her heritage. They’re 100% Lannister material and that makes her love them even more.

SHE IS HURTING. Especially after Joffrey’s death she is not herself anymore. She’s scared and angry and she feels helpless while the prophecy starts to loom over her. She is unhinged and she considers everyone an enemy so that’s why she tries to toughten Tommen up. She remembers Joffrey and she idealizes him and wishes Tommen was a little bit more like him. She really believes that making her son harder and crueller is gonna keep him away from danger, she believes he will be able to defend himself. She truly believes she’s doing the right thing.

She is not perfect. WE KNOW IT. She may not be the best mother out there but she fiercely loves her children. She has many reasons because there are many ways of reading her chapters and all of those reasons can be taken into account simultaneously and everything is a mess because, let’s be real, we’re talking about Cersei Lannister here.I understand why she does what she does but she’s not a good mother and her children are the victims here. Does this mean I don’t like her? Hell, I love her. I see this and I love her. I enjoy this character more than any other but she’s extremely problematic and every single relationship she has is toxic as fuck. I’ve always known that and it doesn’t keep me from loving her so I actually do not see the problem. I do not understand the controversy here. 

And now…

4) Saint Jaime. This won’t take long, I promise.

This is like the story of a divorce. One parent stays with the children and they have to raise them and take care of them and deal with them everyday and fix their messes. They have to make decisions and be worried about the kids every single fucking day of their life because that’s their fucking responsability. They may suck at it but they’re there and they try. They make mistakes but they’re the ones who are there at night when the children catch a cold and they’re running a fever. Meanwhile the other half of the couple is living the dream most of the time and when they sporadically visit the children everything is smiles and sunshine because they only have to put up with the kids for a few hours a month. Eventually, the children decide that the parent who has to yell at them and ground them is not cool at all and they prefer the person who comes once a month and is all patience and joy because pretending for a couple of hours is not that hard.

The cool parent here is Jaime.

The children seem to be a huge part of the fandom.

Ned Stark:

Catelyn Stark

Robb Stark

Jon Snow

Sansa Stark

Arya Stark

Bran Stark

Rickon Stark

Theon Greyjoy:

this was a great way to spend my free time

Thank you, Kit Harington, for dedicating almost your whole adult life to this show

Thank you, Kit Harington, for bringing to life a good man in a world of bad men

Thank you, Kit Harington, for giving every second, every shot, every scene your all for ten years

Thank you, Kit Harington, for giving Jon depth and breath and heart in ways that took our breath away

Thank you, Kit Harington, for keeping that standard, even as your character was pulled out from under you