1,2,8,12 for Jaime Lannister and Sansa Stark
1. Why do you like or dislike this character?
In Sansa’s case, it wasn’t love at first sight. She was actually a pretty indifferent character to me at first, until I saw the enormous amount of hate she received simply for being, basically, a normal girl. And I think that’s something that is very often condemned within fictional narratives, because it seems that women only deserve to have agency and be protagonists of their own stories if we are special, useful, or valuable according to male perspectives and canons—if we are productive for the patriarchal gaze. But if we don’t fit into any of the tropes considered valid within those concepts, then it seems like that woman doesn’t deserve to have a voice.
Sansa is not a sexualizable character (even though many characters sexualize her), because she is a child, and for any remotely sane person it’s fucking disgusting to objectify her like that. She also isn’t someone who breaks established norms, nor does she have any special traits. Sansa is everything we are taught to hate from a patriarchal perspective: an innocent, dreamy girl with normal tastes for her age. But women aren’t allowed to be normal, we have to be exceptional, or we have no place in patriarchy.
And I like Sansa precisely because she is a normal girl (at least at the beginning), and because she behaves and has attitudes, tantrums, and silly moments that are completely age-appropriate. She makes mistakes because she’s too trusting, which seems unforgivable if you’re a woman, and she’s criticized for being compassionate, which for some reason people see as a weakness instead of a virtue. But despite all that, Sansa survives. She is a born survivor —pure mental resilience rather than physical— and that is incredibly valuable. Sansa learns how to move forward as best she can and to take advantage of the opportunities she’s given. I think she’s a very realistic character, and if people hate her, beyond misogyny and patriarchy, it’s because most of us would be her in that situation. It’s very cool to think we’d be Arya or Daenerys, but Arya or Daenerys are one in a thousand, and I’m sorry, Rick, but you’re not going to be them lmao.
In Jaime’s case, because he’s a fucking hilarious character. Honestly, I didn’t care much about him at first —kinda creepy with the whole sister thing, kinda an asshole for throwing a kid out of a tower— but I didn’t hate him. I don’t usually hate problematic or asshole characters; he just didn’t interest me. But once we start getting his POVs, it’s an absolute delight.
Jaime is a princess. Not a prince: a princess. And at the same time, he’s a fucking incestuous bastard who throws children out of towers. And he is both at once. Jaime is many contradictory things at the same time. He’s a cynic, but also a dreamer. He’s someone who has broken every oath and moral law, yet he falls from grace because of honor. He doesn’t give a shit about the vast majority of people, but he cares deeply about his little brother when no one else does. He’s the perfect heir, and yet wants nothing to do with inheriting his house or his father’s title. He’s been having sex since he was barely a kid, but he’s only ever slept with one woman and is completely faithful to her. He feels superior to many people, but deeply hates himself. He boasts about being one of the best swordsmen in Westeros, yet used to dress up as his sister when they were children.
I mean, Jaime is many things at once, and most of them contradict each other. And at the end of this whole game, it turns out he’s just a boy whose future was ruined for doing the right thing which, ironically, made him be seen as the most dishonorable traitor in the world. And in the end, he decided that if that was the image everyone had of him, he would use it as a shield (ironically, just like Tyrion does with his dwarfism), even though deep down, beneath all that cynicism, it hurts him a lot and he has an enormous amount of self-hatred and self-contempt.
And then one day, he meets Brienne of Tarth, who basically embodies everything he once wanted to be but couldn’t because cynicism got the better of him. And he realizes that if she—being a woman and facing all those difficulties—has been so stubborn and relentless about holding onto her honor at all costs, maybe not everything is lost. So he decides to try to be a little less of an asshole, even if being a Lannister makes that complicated. And all of this comes with a lot of sarcasm, self-denial, complete delusion, and zero self-awareness. Like, one day Jaime Lannister is delivering an existentialist monologue about morality, ethics, and the complexity of things, and the next day he’s literally living in a teenage romcom. How could you not love him?
2. Favorite canon thing about this character?
For Sansa, that she spends her life dissociating.
For Jaime, I really like that he and Cersei swapped roles when they were children, for everything that implies.
8. What’s something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?
I hate it when they constantly compare Sansa to Arya or to Daenerys. Like, what is the need to compare FEMALE characters whose plots, paths, and narrative arcs have absolutely nothing to do with each other, just like their personal goals have nothing in common? It feels like they’re constantly trying to diminish her by using other female characters, and it pisses me the fuck off.
With Jaime, it really annoys me when people insist that he has to be with Cersei no matter what, because it completely destroys his character development. A huge part of his arc is precisely learning that Cersei has always been playing her own game, and that he can start living his own life too.
12. What’s a headcanon you have for this character?
For some reason, I’ve always thought that Sansa doesn’t like physical affection that much, but really appreciates gestures and thoughtful details, she values actions more than touch.
Jaime is more of a girl!dad than a boy!dad, fight me.
