[noar94]

[racefortheironthrone]

How does narcissism play into Jaime never speaking of the wildfire? (Related: I understand why he did that for the sake of the story, but I don't from a Watsonian perspective. Dude, that will clear your name! You think Tywin can't manipulate singers and rumor?)

Because Jaime, quite a bit like Tyrion, has this anti-hero identity going on. The ignorant masses despise me because of the best thing I ever did, I’m so misunderstood, I’m also a bad boy because I sleep with my sister, but also I’m better than all of you and I don’t owe anyone an explanation, who are you to judge me, etc. etc. 

As we see here:

“Do you think the noble Lord of Winterfell wanted to hear my feeble explanations? Such an honorable man. He only had to look at me to judge me guilty.” Jaime lurched to his feet, the water running cold down his chest. “By what right does the wolf judge the lion? By what right?”

[abla-soso]

[abla-soso]

#yes i should read morrison

yes! and i highly recommend listening to her interviews, too! she's an amazingly insightful and eloquent speaker.

Here's another one of my favorite quotes from her on the concepts of good and evil.

[abla-soso]

This still makes me so fucking sad:

«Only Renly could vex me so with a piece of fruit. He brought his doom on himself with his treason, but I did love him, Davos. I know that now. I swear, I will go to my grave thinking of my brother's peach».

[storm-of-feathers]

tumblr is great bc its like a diary where I can take other peoples diary entries and glue them into my own diary

[evelynvincible]

[snip]

I don’t dispute at all that Aerys should have died, but I do dispute wholeheartedly that he should have died when and how he did. Aerys was a sadistic ruler who made many significant enemies through his cruelty and injustice, and that he’d have been killed after the Rebellion (or even during the Sack of King’s Landing) is practically a given. But I think the above analysis is too lenient to Jaime. From Jaime’s own account, his actions speak more of impulsivity than objective necessity. However, objective necessity is only important insofar as Jaime couches it that way. The story as Jaime relates it to Brienne (and as it was adapted for the show) is presented as an exoneration; Jaime is a hero because killing Aerys prevented blowing up King’s Landing.

That explicit narrative is the one I’m taking issue with, because killing Aerys did not prevent the burning of King’s Landing, and therefore Jaime’s justification for killing him is based on a false pretense.

Keep reading

[joannalannister]

Hello! Thank you for the thoughtful reply!

But I don’t understand how Jaime can merely stand guard over Aerys in the throne room, as you propose. Aerys was calling for Tywin’s head; when Jaime isn’t doing that, Aerys would know that something is wrong.

Say that Jaime is standing guard over Aerys though, and Jaime doesn’t know how long it will take for the Red Keep to fall, maybe hours, whatever. How can Jaime be sure a group of Loyalists won’t come in and say they found the Hand dead? I think Jaime letting Aerys live still gives Aerys a chance (even if, before Jaime makes his decision, it is a small chance) to carry out the wildfire plot, while killing Aerys means there is zero chance of that happening. In hindsight, yes, there was no chance of the wildfire plot because the attackers reached the throne room “in time to see the last of it” but when Jaime has to make his decision, I think there is still too much room for error by letting Aerys live. Even the tiniest chance of Aerys carrying out the wildfire plot seems too much to me.

I’m not sure I understand the comment about “by killing Aerys, Jaime could go protect Elia, Rhaenys, and Aegon,” because there’s nothing I know of in the text to suggest he considered doing that. It’s unclear whether he’d thought past killing Aerys, and after Aerys’ murder is discovered, Jaime makes only the most cursory effort (an order to two of his father’s men) to protect the inhabitants of the castle before installing himself (however temporarily) on the Iron Throne.

No, he did not consider doing that in the text because the attackers arrived right away, but I’m saying when time is still a variable, Jaime could have been more productive elsewhere instead of standing guard over Aerys.

Regarding negotiating a surrender, Aerys need not have sent Jaime, and tbh, in an AU scenario, I imagined Aerys would send the Hand Rossart, or perhaps Varys, while Aerys keeps Jaime close to him in the Red Keep, as a metaphorical knife at Tywin’s throat. 

[evelynvincible]

Hello! I believe Jaime could “merely stand guard over Aerys in the throne room” because Aerys doesn’t have a choice. Jaime is armed, he’s a notable swordsman, and honestly, if the fall of the Red Keep is imminent, Aerys should technically be in the care of a Kingsguard knight anyways. Regardless of what potential good he could have been doing elsewhere, Jaime’s first responsibility is the defense of the king. 

It seems to me that the odds of anyone but Jaime revealing Rossart’s death to Aerys are almost unfathomably slim. Rossart was in disguise when he was killed, the castle was in chaos, and he’d only been the Hand for a very short time. That anyone would recognize his body, make it to the throne room with the news, escape with orders to track down one of the only other two men who knew about the wildfire plot, and succeed in doing so, seems like an improbably unlikely chain of events.  

Even the tiniest chance of Aerys carrying out the wildfire plot seems too much to me.

If Jaime had followed through on defusing the wildfire plot, I might agree with you. But the fact that Jaime keeps the wildfire plot entirely to himself for nearly two decades after Aerys’ fall suggests preventing the wildfire plot wasn’t his real motive.   I don’t doubt that the wildfire plot scared Jaime, or that it played a part in his decision to kill Aerys, but Jaime turning on Aerys when and how he did strikes me as more personal. At that point, the risk of Aerys successfully enacting the wildfire plot wasn’t great enough to justify his immediate death at the hands of his only attending Kingsguard.  

If Jaime was just Jaime Lannister, Aerys Targaryen’s prized hostage, his murder of Aerys would be much less contentious. But because Jaime was Ser Jaime of the Kingsguard, the burden of proof to justify Aerys’ murder is significantly higher. If it was at all possible to prevent the fiery destruction of the city without killing the king, a Kingsguard knight had a responsibility to attempt that path. 

That, for me, is the crux of the issue. We know Jaime has a complex relationship with knightly responsibility, but as a member of the Kingsguard, killing Aerys should really have been an objectively necessary last-resort, and so far I’m not convinced it was. 

[abla-soso]

I 1000% agree with you and I believe you're spot on.

The scene that struck me the most was Jaime's unspoken and deliberate announcing of Rossart’s murder. He didn't have to return to Aerys with his sword dripping with blood. He didn't have to tell Aerys that the blood was Rossart’s. But he chose to do all that. And I'd say he did because he enjoyed traumatizing Aerys back (his description of Aerys' fear speaks voulmes). He was being vindictive.

This fact - along with him spitefully staying silent about the constant threat of the wild fire + being completely fine with his father's horrific mass slaughter of the same innocents he claimed to protect - proves to me that Jaime's primary motivation was a self-serving revenge (impulsive, trauma-driven response) + family loyalty (protecting himself and his father).

I’m not a Jaime hater, but the fandom’s tendency to be so extra charitable toward him - even when he hasn’t actually earned it - is really fucking annoying.

[entrailer]

characters have to be a little bit awful in ways that you cant defend. its good for the ecosystem. your honor he did do that. He did in fact do that

[abla-soso]

y'all are so disingenuous and goofy, lmao.

'unchecked power corrupts' and 'feudalism sucks' are major themes in the novels, but you guys love to ignore that in order to keep cheering for your favs to sit on that fuckass chair. embarrassing.

[abla-soso]

[abla-soso]

Over a year in, and Mounjaro has effectively killed my food noise, fixed my insulin resistance, and allowed me to lose 33 kg. As a PMOS girlie, this is a literal miracle, so yay. But now I have to force myself to eat enough calories and i'm still kinda struggling. Still, I’d take this struggle over constant food noise, constant hunger, rapid fat gain, and having to fight tooth and nail to lose fat. And since it's affordable for me, and my symptoms got worse after I stopped taking it for one month, I do plan to stay on Mounjaro for life.

[pmos-get-off-my-ass]

That's so great to hear! Personally my doctor prescribed me Zepbound for my insulin resistance. I plan on staying on it for as long as my insurance will cover it. Because, while the weightloss is nice thisnis the first time in my adult life I am not constantly exhausted and craving sugar.

GLP-1s are so highly demonized because of how theyre used for weightloss but they are genuinely a miracle for PMOS patients. I hope someday soon they'll be considered treatment options with every insurance company. (I'm an American, so I really am at the mercy of our god awful health-care system.)

[abla-soso]

Oh the American health system is a freaking nightmare, so wishing you all the best! 🙏

It really is such shame that GLP-1s are so stigmatised in certain spaces and that had leaked over into the public sphere. I hate how women are being shamed for using GLP-1s for weight loss and not for 'serious' health conditions (diabetes or PMOS), as if severe obesity isn't a serious health risk. It's hard not to view this so called concern as the same old 'women shouldn't be so vain' misogyny.

[abla-soso]

I've been giggling about this for 3 minutes straight 😭

[softwaring]

saw a TRIPLE rainbow!! my first one ever omg

[abla-soso]

I can't read about Cersei's 'walk of shame' without tearing up. Fuck, I think I'll just skip this part in my next re-read.

[neenarchive]

tragedy fans when their fave characters do not make it

[st-just]

A character trait/dynamic that I'm endlessly compelled by is someone dealing with (or, like, failing to) being the child of people who were too busy being good people to have the time and attention to be good parents. This can be anywhere from 'was a public defender who gave a shit working 60 hour weeks with basically no vacations' to 'left their family behind to join the revolution/war effort and is now a universally beloved martyr-hero who saved/remade the world with their final breath' on the groundedness spectrum. The important thing is a viscerally felt but confused and ugly mess of longing, resentment, and guilt about feeling the resentment.

[marwyn]

Tbh I think it’s kind of funny that Jon’s grandpa killed his other grandpa. When people seriously argue that he’ll be horrified by his parentage reveal on account of this I’m like kids could you lighten up a little

[marwyn]

[abla-soso]

Having a Tumblr account became peaceful for me after I abandoned it for a year, lost most of my followers (because I stopped interacting or they left Tumblr), turned off messages, and started treating the account like a small public journal with a tiny audience that’s here for me but doesn’t police me.

I finally feel comfortable sharing my random thoughts and feelings here, and I honestly wish I’d done this many years ago.