#asoiaf fandom

[theoriginalcrazies]

Jaime: I’ve tried everything! I’ve insulted her dead friend, her looks, her fighting skills, and her personality. How else can I get her to like me?

Tyrion: what is wrong with you?

[oh-look-a-writer]

I'm in the process of creating my OCs family but realized I first need to create their House, their history and which region they live in - all the nitty details that make a noble family in Westeros.

I'm dead serious when it comes to fleshing out my OCs and more so now as this is my first fanfic for the world of ASOIAF.

[moonsandsmiles]

I know this question might be putting you in a difficult position, but in your honest opinion, do you think Rhaegar and Lyanna truly loved each other? Or do you think their relationship in the play was created mainly to explain Jon's origin?Of course, the prophecy was deeply involved in their relationship, but according to some people, there wasn't any genuine affection or romance between them in the books. What do you think?

Short answer; yes, I think this is what George always intended.

Long answer: it won't matter to fandom because of what this relationship entails. Okay, so when we're looking at this in a vacuum, George calling Rhaegar a 'love-struck prince' and having everyone bar Robert have positive opinions of him was his way of hinting that he and Lyanna were meant to be ASOIAF's Romeo and Juliet (whose relationship was also colored by prophecy, but two things can be true at once). But the problem is, irrespective of authorial intent, the fandom will interpret this relationship negatively—with good reason.

For starters, George is not great at writing romance. He has a fondness for shocking age gaps (which were not as historically accurate as people love saying) and lacks understanding of power dynamics. Like couples he describes as good and romantic still have a plethora of issues.

If I remember right book Ygriette is 19 to Jon's 15 and she uses some coercive tactics to get him to sleep with her. Jaehaerys and Alysanne are described by George as a loving couple, and yet we see in F&B that she was routinely subjected to reproductive abuse by him. Also, this man was out here saying that 13yo book Dany's wedding night was a 'seduction' all the way in 2016. So, point is, his barometer for what's appropriate isn't great.

All this to say, irrespective of what George intended, I think a good portion of the fandom will continue to view this relationship unfavorably, primarily because of the age gap, power dynamic, cheating and overall ramifications that happened as a result of these two eloping together. And I honestly understand why cause this is a problem George made himself.

[novaursa]

I'm a tywin lannister fan the same way I'm a dany fan! which is such an interesting thing because both are polar opposites lmaooo but they both fascinate me (also charles dance played the HECK out of tywin! even better) but anyways my point is: I can love these characters and see that there's flaws to them. tywin is obvious because he's definitely no perfect man 😭 but he's still complex and fascinating to me. as for dany, she also has flaws. she's not perfect and that's okay to me. I will never take a dany stan seriously if they say she's flawless, like no! she's important to the narrative but not perfect which is what makes her compelling. and honestly? I'll say that about any asoiaf fan, nobody in this asoiaf world is perfect. they're not flawless nor are they good or bad (well okay there's some exceptions to this lol), they all have their flaws. their strengths and weaknesses! hell even in f&b, that can also be said.

and to top it all off: GOT & HOTD don't seem to get that unfortunately nor do some of its show stans get it.

Every compelling ASOIAF character is flawed, and that is precisely what makes them worth reading.

The shows stripped that complexity away and reduced far too many of them to flat plot devices with one or two convenient traits.

Anyone insisting their favorite is a spotless saint is too emotionally invested to judge the character honestly. At that point, they are defending a fantasy version they invented, not making a serious argument about the text.

[moonsandsmiles]

haven't watched the new season of hotd for as many reasons as you can imagine, only having seen clips here and there, and listened to everyone's takes and commentary on how this show has gotten so fucked. today i decided to tune in for once and Ryan Condal genuinely needs to be locked up 💀💀💀 I hate this show so bad. WHY...like WHY?!

Cause something something bad writing. The man's previous writing credits include that goddawful 2015 Hercules movie and Rampage (both b movies starring the Rock)

Couple that with studio pressure, budgetary constraints and you get this mess; cheap, fanservice, designed to pander to audiences, shock them and produce gifs and tiktok soundbites.

I'm praying AKOTSK doesn't go down the same route but I'm prepared for anything tbh

[novaursa]

i am once again begging lovers of the incest trope who say "well if you don't like incest, you shouldn't read the books" to shut. up. INCEST IS JUST A FRACTION OF WHAT'S INCLUDED IN THE GIANT WORLD THAT IS ASOIAF.

sigh. I don't care if people like or enjoy the incest trope, my problem relies in the fact that if you like the trope but think others who don't like incest shouldn't be reading the series and enjoy it, you're weird. that's just one theme in a world that explores several themes in the series. it just frustrates me.

I understand you, anon.

People should read whatever they enjoy without attacking one another over books. Incest is indeed only one element of an enormous, complicated world, and nobody has to like every theme in ASOIAF to appreciate the series.

[novaursa]

So many of your asks lately have just been anons bodyshaming the actors. This fandom is toxic enough already. If you don't like a character that's fine. You don't need to degrade someone's looks.

Most of those comments came from the same obsessive Alysmond anon who has been harassing me for weeks and attacking Phia for no apparent reason.

Everyone else has generally been lovely, and we have been joking around without insulting the actors’ appearances. So I am not sure what pattern you think you are seeing here, anon.

[bunnyshideawayy]

sometimes i really do hate engaging with asoiaf fandom discourse on tiktok because why did a mutual big creator of mine just block me for saying things I disliked about the Mad King play?

so here we go. yes I do think Rhaegar is stupid! I think the whole “a dragon dream in the middle of battle is the only reason he was beat” thing is stupid. i think the over justification of R+L=J and trying to shoehorn Elia in on everything is stupid, not “female empowerment”. I almost hate the portrayal of Rhaella and the inevitable “Mad Dany” foreshadowing they tired to slip in more. if your only response is to tell people they didn’t read the books and block them, hate to say i’ve played that game before! you need to just say you don’t have the bandwidth to engage in the conversation and take some time offline.

as for arguments “it’s all in the text!” i’ve yet to see ONE person show me ANYWHERE in the books (which i’ve read multiple times myself) where it’s stated or implied Elia is “madly in love” with Ashara Dayne. or where Rhaella, who is remembered and thought of fondly by Jamie and other characters in their pov in the books, is insane, abusive, and arguably worse than Aerys? either you want to admit it or not: the play is semi canon for a reason, because its foundations are in the show with details from the books added in to flesh out the story.

in my opinion the play was fan service. nothing about it surprised me, none of the “theories” or expanded details, and not am i upset about it because every over arching point (R+L=J, Ashara and Brandon, Lyanna being a greenseer and the KOTLT, etc) was already considered to be or will be canon due to how heavily implied in the books (or outright confirmed in show). everything else was a way to overly justify the events that take place and characters or to retcon a more proactive part in the story. (Arthur Dayne randomly being shown to have survived??)

last thing i will say is this

fandoms are toxic. this asoiaf fandom is probably the most toxic fandom i’ve ever been in. as a fellow tiktok creator with a large following, you have to learn when to engage with people, and when to ignore it. you choose to block me for my opinion and that’s fine, i’ve done it before too. but i saw your other comments, you gotta stop acting like you’re better than others in the fandom for the opinion that you hold. calling people morons and saying they are “tourist fans” that “clearly don’t read the books” 🤦🏻‍♀️ look as someone who has been there before you need to take a break. at the end of the day people interpret media differently than you, and yeah there are some fake fans out there, some show only fans that don’t get the full context, but regardless because someone doesn’t glaze the shit out of Rhaegar Targaryen, you can’t flip out and go on online calling people out of their name. for the record I don’t think Rhaegar is evil, i think he’s stupid and I don’t really like his character much and mind you, all of us are going off of leaked details online, only a minority of the fandom actually get to see this play until it is either filmed for release or fully posted by someone. we ALL could be wrong and being mass trolled right now.

anyway! rambling over! what was y’all’s thoughts on the Mad King?