#asoiaf thoughts

[ferretteeth]

One of my fave minor character in A Dance With Dragons is the guy who’s misogynist to Asha while trying to kill her and then apologizes to her for being sexist. He doesn't apologize for trying to kill her.

Which first of all. Finally someone telling Asha "my condolences about misogyny" I feel like she needed to hear that

Second of all. "I'm sorry for calling you a cunt" is basically Judith Butler levels of feminism for Westerosi men. Stannis was running that crew like the navy

[i-am-traveling-the-multifandom]

do you ever think about jaime and brienne and their swords and their symbolism.

like, everyone knows the heartfelt meaning of oathkeeper. but we don't talk much about the fact that it is made from ice, ned's sword. the sword of the first person who judged jaime, melted down, transformed and changed (much like jaime himself) and giving it to the first person who truly accepted him.

also the fact that even in death, ned's memory remains divided, oathkeeper being used by brienne to protect ned's family; catelyn and her children, particularly his daughters (who he loved with his entire heart and soul) and the other being used (not really) by joffrey, a horrible king..... it really reflects the extreme love ned had for his family and the north, and his trouble with balancing it with his love for robert and loyalty to the 7 kingdoms...

even in death, ned continues to remain divided between love and duty, and i think that is a beautiful detail

[myownsummerhall]

very lukewarm opinion but the riverlands probably has the most interesting & cool characters of any region in westeros. just such a wide scope of everything there. literally any distinct faction of audiences could find a batch of appealing riverlands characters. the more medievalist catholic or historical battle tactics people have the tullys & freys (also mallister/vance/piper), the strongs for the f&b crowd, a massively long list of significant ladies and knights, the whole blackwood-bracken feud, and just house blackwood in general, house darry and their targaryen loyalism, and then don’t forget the magic & mysticism! brynden rivers, the ghost of high heart, harrenhal, isle of faces/green men, mad danelle lothston as well as beric & lady stoneheart in the current story. not forgetting about jenny of oldstones either! there’s just so much developed story there that the other regions (even the north) don’t have as much of, to where the riverlands’ prominence is apparent to *any* kind of reader.

[thaliajoy-blog]

To add to my Mirri and my Drogo posts, I think the epitome of Dany's naive goodwill and coping about her first marriage comes when she proposes that Drogo's dothraki warriors take some of the enslaved lazhareen women as their brides. To "give them places in the khalasar". ("and let them bear you sons"...like she's currently doing for her Khal)

Like on the face of it's a completely inadequate & inapropriate reparation and a flimsy protection for these girls. No matter how gentle these guys act to those women they will still be their possessions, they will still have been taken from their lives by force. Forcibly assimilated. And maybe deep down Dany knows that but she holds on into that sort of safety she thinks marriage provides. Cause better the devil you know.

[vesper-the-solitaire]

A random thought while rereading about Jaehaerys I and Alysanne as parents: I wonder if the reason why, starting with Vaegon, they handled their children progressively worse, is due on the one hand to the fact that the years were advancing, the children too... but on the other hand to the fact that with the first group they were so lucky to have no idea how to handle a "normally problematic" child.

Daenerys lived only six years and was a pure ray of sunshine. Aemon and Baelon were the definition of perfect princes. Alyssa was a tomboy, but she never seemed to cross that fine line from "cute little brat" to "red alert: problem," and it certainly helped that she got married appropriately and had a kids without obietions, so her "duty as a woman" did it. Maegelle was that kid you never had to remind her of the rules, she never cries at night, and she ate all her vegetables (I mean, Daella adored her).

I'm sure at that point Jaehaerys and Alysanne were like, why do so many people say parenting is hard? We raised five kids with no problems. And then the second batch comes along and suddenly...problems. And Jaehaerys and Alysanne are like, "Oh, that's why they say that!".

[lizzie-queenofmeigas]

Fave asoiaf theories (crackpots included). Go! 🖤🐉

Varys is a mermaid

R + L = J (this one is canon but until reveal)

Rhaegar wrote Jenny of Oldstones

The Amethyst Empress had children who escaped and they ended in Valyria.

The Amethyst Empress was married to her uncle.

FM are also descendants of the Amethyst Empress

The Seven are evil (crack? No crack? I won't tell)

Rhaenys had the Dream, not Aegon

Dragons have been around since the beginning of Planetos.

Jon and Dany will have a child

And that's about it, folks!

[br1xida]

I feel like Rebecca from Ivanhoe is a pretty good fit for Ashara Dayne.

She is a beauty of dark hair, Jewish descent (star symbolism + personal headcannon for House Dayne), tied to York (the equivalent of the Starks, imo). Two men are in love with her (Ivanhoe and Brian/ Ned and Barristan), but after the first leaves her and marries another woman (Rowena/Catelyn), she relegated herself to a minor role in that medieval society (Rebbeca becomes a doctor/healer and never marries, whilst Ashara throws herself off a cliff)

Also, look at the two most famous interpretations of her:

Olivia Hussey in the 1982 adaptation, wearing a purple veil that mainly shows off her eyes. House of Dayne's main color is purple, which would contrast well with Ashara's haunting purple eyes.

Elizabeth Taylor in the 1952 adaptation. She wears a white veil and dress, the other color in House Dayne's coat of arms. Liz Taylor was said to have purple eyes (which is false, but still a popular legend) and GRRM is said to be inspired by old hollywood flicks.

[caffeinosis]

Obviously, everything I like about the play is canon and straight from GRRM's mouth and everything I don't like was made up by the playwright