...

[victoriadallonfan]

Seeing AI art slop defenders in Ward threads… acting all defensive when I call it slop and want it banned.

Apparently you aren’t allowed to draw unless you’re born as part of the Artists, like it’s some kind of Hunger Games ripoff plot

Just pick up a fucking pencil

[megamindwriter]

House of the Oopsies

[megamindwriter]

HOTD is still afraid of letting women own their ambition

I can see HOTD is still bad, and it's not gonna get any better, and it still refuses to let its central women function as villains or for them to own their ambition.

Alicent and Rhaenyra are positioned as the moral and emotional core of the story, which sounds noble in theory but becomes creatively suffocating in practice. If they are the emotional “good,” then they can’t really be allowed to make choices that stain them. And if they can’t be stained, then the story has to offload consequence, agency, and brutality onto everyone else

So instead of two powerful, politically dangerous women actively shaping a civil war like Alicent was in F&B, you get a lot of narrative deflection. The big, irreversible acts get softened into misunderstandings, accidents, or male-driven decisions that happen around them rather than because of them.

Aemond “accidentally” killing Lucerys. Blood and Cheese turned into a muddled chain of miscommunication. Alicent reframing a coup as confusion over a dying man’s last words. Rhaenyra spending long stretches as a reactive figure, orbiting events rather than authoring them. It seems this will continue onwards in S3.

A story that keeps insisting on tragedy while refusing to assign meaningful moral weight to its leading ladies.

I can see why people call it the “House of the Accidents.”

[megamindwriter]

A list of LGBTQ+ characters in Asoiaf

Alf of Runnymudd, a men of the Night's Watch. "Let out a howl loud enough to wake sleepers in the Shadow Tower" when told that Garth Greyfeather is dead. Renly Baratheon, confirmed to have had a relationship with Loras Tyrell.

Loras Tyrell, in a relationship with Renly.

Jon Connington, it is implied that he was in love with Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. He refers to Rhaegar as his "silver prince", and believed Rhaegar's wife, Princess Elia Martell, to have been unworthy of him. Jon also thinks very fondly of the late Ser Myles Toyne, remembering that his ugly features did not matter "when he smiled at you".

Lyn Corbray. It is said that Lyn is "notoriously" uninterested in women by Myranda Royce. According to Petyr Baelish, Lyn likes "boys".

Xaro Xhoan Daxos, it is implied he has a homosexual orientation.

Oberyn Martell also said to "bed with boys".

Nymeria Sand was "abed" with Jeyne and Jennelyn Fowler when learning of her father's death.

Daemon Sand "rumoured to be Oberyn's lover".

Laenor Velaryon, said to have never shown any interest in women, instead surrounding himself with handsome squires his own age, preferring their company.

Joffrey Lonmouth, rumored lover to Ser Laenor Velaryon.

Qarl Correy, another rumored lover to Ser Laenor Velaryon.

Jeyne Arryn, the Lady of the Vale. Her "dear companion", according to Archmaester Gyldayn, was Jessamyn Redfort. Jessamyn Redfort, a "dear companion" to Jeyne Arryn.

Rhaena Targaryen, daughter of Aenys. According to Maester Smike of Fair Isle, Lady Elissa Farman was her "true love".

Elisa Farman, the "true love" of Rhaena Targaryen.

Daemon II Blackfyre, as confirmed by George R. R. Martin. He had a crush on Dunk.

Alyn Cockshaw, "Daemon's mine". He was in love with Daemon II Blackfyre, who did not return his feelings.

Daeron Targaryen (son of Egg). Who broke his betrothal at the age of eighteen, preferring the companionship of Ser Jeremy Norridge instead.

Jeremy Norridge, Prince Daeron's companion.

Sabitha Vypren, married to Lord Forrest Frey, "was fond of killing men and kissing women".

Tyanna of Pentos, was said to be not only the paramour of Maegor Targaryen, but also of his wife, Alys Harroway.

Essie, the mother of Gaemon Palehair. Had a female paramour named Sylvenna Sand.

Satin, worked as a male prostitute in Oldtown

Bokkoko, a sellsword of the Second Sons. Tyrion spies Bokkoko kissing his boy lover shamelessly.

Hother Umber, in Oldtown a whore tried to rob him, so Hother disemboweled the whore, earning him the nickname "Whoresbane." The story is told in whispers because the whore was probably a man.

Canker Jeyne, a dock side whore who Arya suspects to be a man.

Loreon V Lannister, known as Queen Lorea for he was fond of dressing in his wife's clothing and wandering the docks of Lannisport in the guise of a common whore.

Racallio Ryndoon, King of the Stepstones, also cross-dressed frequently, and was sometimes referred to as "Queen Racallio."

Sweets, an intersex slave owned by Yezzan zo Qaggaz.

[megamindwriter]

“ser criston protects the princess from her enemies, but who protects the princess from ser criston?”

[megamindwriter]

Dorne is progressive in comparison to the rest of Westeros

I've seen some posts that state, the only difference between Dorne and the rest of Westeros, is that the eldest child inherits irrespective of gender, and that it's not that progressive.

Dorne is progressive, and by progressive I don't mean they have universal healthcare and allow same-sex marriage, no. When compared to the rest of Westeros, it looks better in comparison, and here is why I say so:

There are other customs besides that mark the Dornish as different. They are not greatly concerned if a child is born in wedlock or out of it, especially if the child is born to a paramour. Many lords— and even some ladies—have paramours, chosen for love and lust rather than for breeding or alliance. And when it comes to matters of love, that a man might lie with another man, or a woman with another woman, is likewise not cause for concern; while the septons have often wished to shepherd the Dornishmen to the righteous path, they have had little effect. - TWOIAF

AND

An example of the differing Dornish laws and attitudes due to the influence of the Rhoynar may be found, curiously, in the last days of the Dance of the Dragons. From Archmaester Gyldayn’s history concerning Gaemon Palehair’s brief reign: One decree after another came down from the House of Kisses, where the child king had his seat, each more outrageous than the last. Gaemon decreed that girls should henceforth be equal with boys in matter of inheritance, that the poor be given bread and beer in times of famine, and that men who had lost limbs in war must afterward be fed and housed by whichever lord they had been fighting for when the loss took place. Gaemon decreed that husbands who beat their wives should themselves be beaten, irrespective of what the wives had done to warrant such chastisement. These edicts were almost certainly the work of a Dornish whore named Sylvenna Sand, reputedly the paramour of the king’s mother Essie, if Mushroom is to be believed. - TWOIAF

GRRM:

Q: Or does their "equality" to men only refer to the eldest child being heir instead of the eldest son? GRRM: That's the big one, but their customs differ gives women more rights in other ways as well. Not to say that Dorne is an egalitarian society. Far from it.

According to Martin it's not just inheritance law and their customs differ, they give women more rights in other ways as well but they’re still not 21st century Sweden.

[megamindwriter]

The Tullys are the only liege lords weaker than their vassals

When discussing the Great Houses of Westeros, there is often a misconception that the liege lords of the Seven Kingdoms have vassals who are stronger than they are, if we disregard the fact that as liege lords they can call upon great forces. The suspects are usually the Tyrells, Starks, or even Arryns.

Firstly, the Starks did manage to conquer most of the North, which would require, in most cases, large lands to draw upon the necessary forces to do so. Then there are the Arryns, who also managed to conquer the Vale from the Royces. Who, we can reasonably conclude, gave themselves large lands to directly control. After all, in any realistic setting, no lord would respect a liege or king who has smaller lands and is weaker militarily than the vassal himself. In such cases, the Starks and Arryns, would've given themselves large lands to directly rule over. When it comes to the Tyrells, there is a difference between them and the Tullys, which is implicitly and explicitly mentioned during the Conquest and Dance.

The next day, outside the smoking ruins of Harrenhal, King Aegon accepted an oath of fealty from Edmyn Tully, Lord of Riverrun, and named him Lord Paramount of the Trident. The other riverlords did homage as well, to Aegon as king and to Edmyn Tully as their liege lord.

The Tullys were just made liege lords of the Riverlands.

In reward Aegon granted him Highgarden and all its domains, naming him Warden of the South and Lord Paramount of the Mander, and giving him dominion over all House Gardener’s former vassals.

Unlike the Tyrells, who were given Highgarden and the lands the Gardeners used to control, along with being made liege lords of the Reach. And we know the Gardeners were the most powerful lords of the Reach, since they, like the Starks and Arryns, gained their kingdoms through conquest.

House Tully was unique amongst the great houses of Westeros. Aegon the Conqueror had made them the Lords Paramount of the Trident, yet in many ways they continued to be overshadowed by many of their own bannermen. The Brackens, the Blackwoods, and the Vances all ruled wider domains and could field much larger armies, as could the upstart Freys of the Twins.

This quote especially emphasizes the point that the Tullys are the ONLY liege lords who have vassals stronger than them.

When it comes to the Tyrells and the Reach, we are often reminded that the Hightowers are one of the wealthiest houses in Westeros, surpassed only by the Lannisters. This suggests that their wealth eclipsed that of both the Gardeners and the Tyrells. This is explained by the fact that land ownership doesn’t always directly translate to wealth. Take, for example, House Velaryon, which, due to Corlys Velaryon’s voyages, became the richest house in Westeros through trade. Wealth is closely tied to trade, which explains the Hightowers' prosperity; they control Oldtown, a hub of massive commercial activity.

Some people like to point out that the Hightowers are said to be able to muster three times as many men as the next most powerful house in the Reach. However, there’s an important consideration here: we aren’t told if those numbers include their vassals. The Hightowers command several vassals, such as the Beesburys, Cuys, and Mullendores. As we see during the Dance of the Dragons, even these vassals can turn against them. During the Battle of the Honeywine, for instance, without their vassals, the Hightowers’ own forces numbered around 5,000 men.

So, the Tyrells most likely control larger direct land holdings than the Hightowers, which would give them greater strength if we set aside the fact that the Tyrells serve as the liege lords of the entire Reach. Thus, the Tullys are the only liege lord that has that predicament.

tl;dr The Tullys are the only liege lords who are weaker than their vassals.

[megamindwriter]

The book Rhaegar read that changed him

In ASOS we are told:

Until one day Prince Rhaegar found something in his scrolls that changed him. No one knows what it might have been, only that the boy suddenly appeared early one morning in the yard as the knights were donning their steel. He walked up to Ser Willem Darry, the master-at-arms, and said, 'I will require sword and armor. It seems I must be a warrior.'"

We are told he is a bookish boy who loves reading, but he found a scroll, and the contents of which pushed him to become a warrior.

I think the book or at least the contents of that scroll come from Signs and Portents, the book written by Daenys the Dreamer.

Lord Rodrik tapped the book with a long nail. "See here? Marwyn claims to have found three pages of Signs and Portents, visions written down by the maiden daughter of Aenar Targaryen before the Doom came to Valyria. Does Lanny know that you are here?"

The fact that Signs and Portents is written by Daenys the Dreamer, would make any Targaryen perk up immediately. She's the one who had the prophecy that saved their house and led to them eventually conquering Westeros.

Cause if it was just a random scroll, why would anyone or even Rhaegar take it's contents seriously? If it's from a book written by th Daenys the Dreamer, then it makes its contents very much credible and worth a whole change of lifestyle.