Ruffnut Thorston is an actual GODDESS

follow me for a random nonsensical rant every few weeks or so. or if you'd prefer an amalgamation of reblogs and old posts, this is the place for you.

[uncahier]

[howl224tgeundying]

[virtual-dragon-almond-bakery]

It's always "take vengeance on your slavers" but when I, MIRRI MAZ DUUR, do it with a fan favorite character---

[wrath-of-achilleus]

I think a lot of people forget that dany was also a glorified slave right until the last chapter of AGOT. so the dynamic between dany and mirri isn’t as neat as slaver and enslaved, but rather two slaves with different levels of power

[atopvisenyashill]

being a “glorified” slave is not the same as a slave. dany owned mirri - she is a slaver. she burned her slave alive. pls do not obfuscate this fact to make what dany did seem less severe. they are not two slaves with different “levels of power” they are a, yes, a child slaver but nonetheless a slaver & and the slave she owns.

[wrath-of-achilleus]

“Better to come a beggar than a slaver,” Arstan said. “There speaks one who has been neither.” Dany’s nostrils flared. “Do you know what it is like to be sold, squire? I do. My brother sold me to Khal Drogo for the promise of a golden crown. Well, Drogo crowned him in gold, though not as he had wished, and I … my sun-and-stars made a queen of me, but if he had been a different man, it might have been much otherwise. Do you think I have forgotten how it felt to be afraid?” (Daenerys III, ASOS)

I shouldn't have said glorified slave. Dany is explicitly a slave in AGOT. She is sold to Drogo, and she is only freed when he dies. It is something that is central to her character arc going forward. Mirri was never her slave, they were both Drogo's slaves. Dany, as Drogo's khaleesi, had more power in the situation than Mirri did, but Dany was also Drogo's slave, full stop.

I'm not trying to make Dany's actions less severe, she did fully burn a person alive. I'm simply pointing out that the situation isn't 'slaver burns slave as punishment', it is 'two characters within slavery commit trauma-fueled violence against one another'.

[abla-soso]

Except you really are - maybe unintentionally - trying to make Dany's horrific actions seem less severe by falsely equating her situation to Mirri's. It doesn't really matter that Dany was a bride slave to Drogo, not in her situation with Mirri. Drogo was a fucking vegetable at that point and Dany had all the power over Mirri in that situation. And Dany's entitled ambition was the reason Drogo even raided Mirri's village and took her as a slave. Mirri was Dany's slave. Dany was her slave master. Please stop trying to 'both side' the situation between a slave and their fucking slave master! ✋️

[virtual-dragon-almond-bakery]

It's always "take vengeance on your slavers" but when I, MIRRI MAZ DUUR, do it with a fan favorite character---

[infinitestalia]

I don't even hate Dany. But the outrage from people over the mad queen turn wrt sexism is something. I know most of them barely mustered the same energy about the sexism that existed in all 8 seasons. Or the racism concerns now when they ignored seven seasons of Dany and POC. I wonder if there was similar anger for the many women in color abused and marginalized in stories they watch. Who am I kidding? I know the answer

It honestly drives me mad. I’m not overly critical about fantasy and how they all treat their non white characters (if they even have them), simply because I cannot be fucked and sometimes just want to watch in peace. But even then, Daenerys’ storyline and that vile imagery that plagues every scene has always been revolting to me, like truly degrading and humiliating, one of the early things that turned me against her. It’s little different in the books too, despite what people say. These same eternally heartbroken white women that are so horrified now- with the audacity to suddenly start talking about racism and misogyny- spent years creaming themselves at the scenes of her being pawed at by adoring slaves, worshiped by every third brown person that passes by and ruling over a band of uncivilized barbarians, all brought to heel by this awesome conquerer, who invades countries for banter.

It’s why none of this outrage means jack to me. Oh, so now you realized this show is terrible? Now you’re gonna dig up shit on D&D that was public knowledge for years that you happily ignored? Now you want to cry for the characters and actors who were pandered to for eight years straight? Now that the Khaleesi wankfest finally hit pause, everything is awful and nothing makes sense? Lol those people are an absolute joke and it astonishes me that they have the nerve to lecture anyone else on racism or misogyny. This big ass tantrum, trying to make everyone agree it was dismal for their reasons, and yet casuals still lapped it up, including Daenerys’ turn as the big bad. You hate to see it.

[cages-boxes-hunters-foxes]

every conversation on here increasingly feeling like this tweet

[earthbender]

howling over this reddit comment from the HoTD thread

[royal-chief-architect]

“What did we learn today?” 😝

[unrealunearths]

If it please, your grace.

[thatfictionalgal]

“He can make me look but he can’t make me see” - Sansa Stark

[bartonclinton]

[thatfictionalgal]

“I hope you die” a novel by Sansa Stark

Addendums “Touch her and die” by Jon Snow and “That’s a nice face you’re wearing” by Arya Stark.

[mirandahamilton]

I will do what queens do. 

[intersectionalpraxis]

"... a stark reminder that genocide is about more than just the premeditated mass extinguishing o human life; it's also about the calculated, and often vindictive, destruction of a people's culture, language, history, and shared sites of community." [source: Gabrielle Bates on X, formerly known as Twitter. 11/27/23.] Original post they are responding to on Literary Hub: "Gaza's main public library has been destroyed."

[andrew-garfielld]

Will you have our army or not?

Archie Barnes as Oscar Tully in HOUSE OF THE DRAGON S02E07 | "The Red Sowing"

[prettydeeryess]

RIP Robb Stark, you would've loved to see a stark army crossing the twins 😔😔😔

[oberynmartell]

funny how jon’s a targaryen too but he doesn’t have anyone questioning his sanity every single second of every single day

[jonsaagenda]

It couldn’t possibly be because Jon is not the Targaryen who was given too much power at a young age? I mean I guess anything goes for Dany stans at this point, let’s pretend that Jon and Dany were given the exact same circumstances, except they weren’t. One got too much power at a young age, then that power was never kept in check, she was allowed to climb up and up, then she was never really taught the truth of how horrible her ancestors really were since viserys fed her biased lies… in season 7 she straight up compared herself to Gods… Dany gets followers in her journey while Jon has to earn friendships. Dany gets put on a pedestal while Jon is told to sit down and be humble….

So yeah MAYBE if you actually spent a brain cell thinking about it you’ll realise that the Targaryen who doesn’t go “Fire and blood” is the Targaryen who is a Stark… who never grew up thinking he has to fulfil some extraordinary Destiny… Jon Snow is the anti- Dany…. just like how Harry Potter is the Anti-Tom Riddle. They were foils Vanessa! One thinks he doesn’t even deserve winterfell while other is so far gone they associate the throne and power with victory. That’s why people don’t question Jon’s sanity. It’s literally that simple.

[lilbreck]

People seriously out here pretending it’s because he’s a man when it’s because he doesn’t burn people alive and scream about taking shit with fire and blood. I mean, the show has sexism issues, but this ain’t one of them.

[winkydinkle]

I actually LOVE that Jon is a Targaryen because he is PROOF that you aren’t destined to follow in your family’s footsteps (as many have been saying was the message with dany going dark) it’s about who you choose to be and what you choose to do. Jon’s father was a dumb asshole, Jon didn’t turn out to be anything like him. So he’s a great example that you are not meant to be just like your papa, unless you choose to be. Like dany did, that’s why we question her sanity, she made the choice to kill millions of innocents, fulfilling her father’s dreams. You could blame the writing and cry about how unfair life is, but it’s heavily hinted in the books written by GRRM so 🤷🏽‍♀️

[thenutofroyalty]

Very well said. No one was questioning Dany’s sanity purely because of her bloodline, it was because of her actions and choices.

[thatfictionalgal]

Once saw someone call it a “generational curse”. Nope. Dany willingly embraced fear, fire, and blood even after she learned the truth about her father and lineage. She grew up with Viserys teaching her Targaryan exceptionalism and refused to listen to advisors when they gave sound ruling advice. Barriston point blank told her Aerys would set people on fire and call it justice, which she then starts to do after he dies.

Danaerys made choices. It was a series that led her away from her desire to be a beloved queen into one that ruled through fear. She wasn’t a woe begotten story of not escaping her genes and family legacy despite her “kind nature”. Dany grew into cruelty and violence by choice.

[theusurpersdog]

Dark!D*ny Foreshadowing Pt. 4 - Dragons

Within ASoIaF, D*ny is the only character with dragons. While most people think D*ny having dragons means she’s a badass and awesome, I think its worth the time to actually sit down and understand what dragons represent in GRRM’s world. 

Waking the Dragon

His anger was a terrible thing when roused. Viserys called it “waking the dragon.”

- AGoT D*enerys I

Our first introduction to dragons in the series is what Viserys refers to as “waking the dragon”. Whenever Viserys loses his temper and does something cruel, “waking the dragon” is his reasoning; how can you blame him for something that comes so naturally to the blood of the dragon? Its his excuse for mistreating D*ny, that a dragon would do it too. 

After Viserys dies, D*ny slowly begins to pick up this use of phrasing. She first adopts this mindset when she crucifies the Slavers in Meereen:

She had them nailed to wooden posts around the plaza, each man pointing at the next. The anger was fierce and hot inside her when she gave the command; it made her feel like an avenging dragon

- ASoS D*enerys VI

Again, dragons are associated with rash decisions made out of fierce anger. D*ny even regrets this decision, desperately trying to rationalize it:

But later, when she passed the men dying on the posts, when she heard their moans and smelled their bowels and blood … Dany put the glass aside, frowning. It was just. It was. I did it for the children.

But we know she didn’t do it for the children, she did it because they “woke the dragon”.

She uses this framing again when she is Queen of Meereen:

D*enerys pushed her hair back. “Find these cowards for me. Find them, so that I might teach the Harpy’s Sons what it means to wake the dragon.”

- ADWD D*enerys I

Both Viserys’ and D*ny’s inner “dragon” represents repressed anger and rash decisions made without proper judgement. To “wake the dragon” is to bring cruel violence.

Tyrion’s Travels

Throughout ADWD, Tyrion is slowly making his way through Essos, stopping at or observing several different locations. And throughout this, a pattern begins to emerge: Tyrion sees a once beautiful city, now destroyed and cursed by the might of dragons:

Beyond, half-seen, were other shapes: shattered spires, headless statues, trees with roots bigger than their boat.

“This was the most beautiful city on the river, and the richest” said Yandry. “Chroyane, the festival city”

Too rich, thought Tyrion, too beautiful. It is never wise to tempt the dragons. 

- ADWD Tyrion V 

Ghoyan Drohe had been a Rhoynar city, until the dragons of Valyria had reduced it to a smoldering desolation.

- ADWD Tyrion II

The destruction Tyrion sees even leads him to this conclusion:

Valyria. It was written that on the day of Doom every hill for five hundred miles had split asunder to fill the air with ash and smoke and fire, blazes so hot and hungry that even the dragons in the sky were engulfed and consumed. Great rents had opened in the earth, swallowing palaces, temples, entire towns. Lakes boiled or turned to acid, mountains burst, fiery fountains spewed molten rock a thousand feet into the air, red clouds rained down dragonglass and the black blood of demons, and to the north the ground splintered and collapsed and fell in on itself and an angry sea came rushing in. The proudest city in all the world was gone in an instant, its fabled empire vanished in a day, the Lands of the Long Summer scorched and drowned and blighted. 

An empire built on blood and fire. The Valyrians reaped the seed they had sown.

- ADWD Tyrion VIII

Valyria was an oppressive empire that spent centuries tormenting Essos and enslaving people (this even lead to the founding of the Faceless Men and Braavos). There is a reason Yunkai’s peace deals with D*ny always demand she kill the dragons: they have seen the damage they cause, and are terrified of a repeat.

There is also the implication that wherever dragons attack, that land becomes cursed. The sacked cities Tyrion comes across are long abandoned, and never rebuilt (and are home to the Stone Men). This is also shown by the curse of Harrenhall. And most importantly, D*ny has brought this down on Astapor:

He said ‘Astapor is burning.‘ 

- ADWD D*enerys V

D*ny’s pillage of Astapor left the city in complete ruins. It is also where the Pale Mare originated. (Slightly off topic, but in the tale of the Four Horsemen, Death rides a pale mare. Considering GRRM’s use of bible imagery, this can’t be coincidental. D*ny literally brought fire, death, and apocalyptic suffering to Astapor).

The Dragon Pit

I usually keep my metas strictly to the books, because the show is an entirely different canon and not super consistent within itself, but there’s some dialogue from The Dragon and The Wolf that perfectly sums up T*rgaryens and Dragons. When everyone arrives at the Dragon Pit, we hear Jorah Mormont explain to Missandei why it was built:

“Dragons don’t understand the difference between what is theirs and what isn’t. Land, livestock, children; letting them roam free around the city was a problem”

But later in the episode, we have an alternative take on the Dragon Pit from D*ny’s point of view:

“This place was the beginning of the end for my family. ‘Zaldrizes buzdari iksos daor’ - A dragon is not a slave. They were terrifying. Extraordinary. They filled people with wonder and awe, and we locked them in her. They wasted away. They grew small. And we grew small as well. We weren’t extraordinary without them. We were just like everyone else.”

I intend on writing a whole meta on how problematic D*ny’s dialogue is in this scene, but for now I’d just like to focus on the two different aspects of dragons - Jorah’s image of them as savage beasts, and D*ny’s image of them as extraordinary. This sentiment is also expressed in the books by Maester Aemon:

“Dragons,” Aemon whispered. “The grief and glory of my House, they were.”

- AFfC Samwell III

Valyria was the most beautiful and advanced city known to man. Its splendor was unmatched, and Valyrians lived better than even the Kings and Queens of Modern Westeros. Their relationship with dragons is what enabled them to conquer and achieve so much. Yet their dragons inflicted unimaginable damage on various cities of Essos, and there is strong hints that some sort of overreaching by the Valyrians directly caused the Doom. And after Aegon conquered the Seven Kingdoms, his dragons terrorized the people and stole from them, leading to the Dragon Pit. Currently in D*ny’s arc, Viserion and Rhaegal are stealing from the people of Meereen and Barristan is desperately trying to get them under control. While they are the glory of D*enerys, they are the torment of everyone else. 

The Dragon Pit also represents the rise and fall of House T*rgaryen. They were cruel to the other cities in Essos, and Aegon and his sisters used the dragons to terrify the Kings of Westeros into bending the knee. Yet once he was crowned King, Aegon made a few strides in trying to cater to his new people. Building the Dragon Pit was his way of compromising; yet as D*ny says, living in captivity caused the dragons to shrink and grow malformed. To live in peace with the people, T*rgaryens had to give up their dragons. But once the dragons died out, T*rgaryens could no longer control the Seven Kingdoms. Its a bit of a catch 22; to be good rulers the T*rgaryens can’t have dragons, but to be rulers at all they have to have dragons. GRRM uses dragons to demonstrate D*ny’s rule of Meereen; she can’t rule Meereen well by being a conqueror, but she can’t stand being a Queen. To embrace her inner T*rgaryen/Dragon, she has to give up being a Queen. To be great, T*argaryens must oppress others.

Dragons aren’t cool or badass. They represent the impossible decisions D*ny has to make, and the oppresiveness that lies at the heart of House T*rgaryen.

[secretlyatargaryen]

All the examples you chose of Dany using the phrase “woke the dragon” were her getting angry at those who abuse others. Viserys used it to justify his abuse. That is not the same thing and it is offensive to treat it like it is the same thing.

Also, dragons mean a lot of different things in the books, they mean destruction and dangerous power, yes, but they also mean freedom and wonder and life. Fire and dragons are one symbol GRRM uses to show one of his major themes, the duality of mankind or “the human heart in conflict with itself”. That doesn’t mean Dany is turning evil.

[theusurpersdog]

There is a difference between “getting angry at those who abuse others” and “I just crucified dozens of people”. GRRM consistently explores the themes of wish fulfillment (for the readers) and cycles of violence. Yes, we all wanted the slavers of Astapor and Meereen to be punished, but could you stomach it when Dany describes his eyes melting down his face or the slavers of Meereen rotting in the hot sun? (Probably a good time to point out that crucifixion is the most painful way a person can die). Dany isn’t getting justice, she is perpetuating the cycle of abusing others. Dany’s pained description of how they looked really hammers this home, as well as when GRRM shows other characters in similar situations. An obvious example of this is Sansa after the Purple Wedding; Joffrey has emotionally, physically, and sexually abused her for an extended period of time, yet she still cries for him. Because he was a person, and Sansa isn’t okay with cruelty. She has every reason to feel pure elation, yet she can’t - because she has empathy.

The premise of your post is also flawed. When Dany said  “Find these cowards for me. Find them, so that I might teach the Harpy’s Sons what it means to wake the dragon”, she allows her servants to torture the children of ex slavers in front of their parents for information. That is completely unjustified. Even if you believe it is morally okay to torture slavers, you can’t believe it is okay to torture innocent children. That was not her getting angry at abusive people; that was her abusing children.

And I didn’t even acknowledge the hypocrisy of Dany’s actions. She justifies her choices because the people she harms are slavers, but who is Dany’s right hand man? Jorah freaking Mormont - slaver extraordinaire. She never holds this against him, even though he is completely unrepentant. When she does force him away from her, it is because she views his actions as harmful to her, whilst never thinking about the men he sold as slaves.

I agree that dragons represent a duality, but not at all in the way you’ve framed. To Dany, they are beautiful and wonderful; her children who help her conquer cities and regain power after her Khalasar abandons her. But to everyone else, they are monsters. They absolutely don’t represent freedom, wonder, and life to the poor man who had to carry the bones of his dead child to Dany, or the poor mother Drogon burned as she desperately tried to shield her infant son from his flames. They are beautiful, but they are also terrible and cruel; and most importantly uncontrollable. One of GRRM’s favorite themes is that the beauty can hide cruelty (especially present in Joffrey’s portrayal). Dany’s infatuation with Drogon (especially during the events of Daznak’s Pit) causes her to ignore that he is literally burning the flesh off of people’s bones.

[secretlyatargaryen]

No, sorry. In your original post you conflated executing slavers with Viserys abusing his innocent sister. Please stop with the “you are perpetuating the cycle of violence uwu” nonsense when you DON’T hold to task actual abusers like Randyll fucking Tarly. Dany could kill a hundred slavers and scoop out their eyes with spoons and eat them and that still would not mean that she is becoming like Viserys. Sorry. No. This is a really offensive argument that is used everywhere in the world to attack people who fight back against injustice as a way to protect oppressive people and institutions.

Of course Dany does not revel in torture and violence, but you seem to be arguing that she does at the same time you quote her being disgusted by it. You said in your last sentence here that she is ignoring the horror of what she is doing yet you brought up how much she agonizes over it. What is even the argument being made here? That she doesn’t care enough about people who murdered children? Because to me, from what you just said, it sounds like she cares too much.

She isn’t ignoring it. Far from it. She constantly questions herself and her decisions and even calls herself a monster, in part because she has such strong empathy for others. No, she does not revel in violence. Yes, it’s still completely wrong to compare Dany with her abusers here.

Jorah, like Drogo and Viserys, is someone Dany was forced to rely on when she was powerless and thus her relationship with them is complicated, but that does not make her a hypocrite and it is not an indication that she is going dark or whatever ridiculous argument you are trying to make. It is an indication that Dany, like multiple characters in these books, is a complex person who is dealing with a lot of trauma.

And as for the situation with the children of the slavers, it wasn’t her idea to torture the children and she definitely wasn’t okay with it, but her advisors convinced her it was the best course of action, because she’s fifteen years old. You are acting like Dany did this because she wanted to or she was totally okay with it. Her feeling uneasy about an action she feels that she is forced into is hardly evidence that she is going dark. This argument is laughable.

Actually, dragons absolutely represent freedom in several storylines in the novels, and specifically freedom from abuse. They appear in this role several times in Dany’s chapters and Tyrion’s, off the top of my head. Dany’s reclamation of “wake the dragon” is a big powerful motif in the series that represents her regaining her own agency and freedom from her abusers, foreshadowing her literal waking of dragons. The dragons also become a symbol of freedom when she uses them to defeat the slave cities. “A dragon is no slave.” Dany is called mother to dragons and mother to the slaves, her birth of the dragons is linked to the conception of her as a savior to the slaves. Dragons also appear as symbols of freedom in Tyrion’s storyline when he talks about how when he was little he fantasized about dragons as a way to cope with the abuse he experienced, a reccuring motif that becomes especially strong the closer Tyrion gets to meeting Dany and during his encounters with slavery. It’s pretty obvious as far as symbols of freedom go - dragons have wings, they can fly, they’re fantasy creatures out of legend that are difficult to tame or control, they’re magical and thus linked with escapism. I did not say that every single person in the text sees the dragons as a symbol of freedom, you are being reductive by being like “oh yeah what about that guy whose kid was killed?” Like this negates any argument of Dany as a heroic character in a series where almost every single character has done awful shit? But then, I expect reductive thinking from “dark Dany” theorists.

Oh, also, it’s fairly obvious that the dragons are being set up as the ultimate symbol of the freedom of humankind against the others, who are entirely made of ice, while the dragons are the “fire” part in the Song of Ice and Fire. The others are also the penultimate symbol of slavery in the books, since their goal is literally to enslave all life.

Keep worrying about the suffering of slavers, though, lol.

[theusurpersdog]

I’m sorry if you misunderstood what I was saying, but you are totally misrepresenting my original post. I didn’t conflate Dany’s crucifixions with Viserys abuse; I said their excuse was the same. She is rationalizing her behavior in the same way he did, by blaming other people for provoking her.

I absolutely hold Randyll Tarly to task. He is a rape apologist, along with plenty other absolutely despicable attributes. He’s one of the absolute worst people we’ve meant in ASoIaF. I assume you’re referring to my posts re: Dany burning him alive; if so, I didn’t argue that he is a good person. I argued that Dany knew nothing about him; she burned him alive because he would not swear fealty, not because he was horribly abusive. 

Saying an argument is offensive doesn’t make it offensive. You seem to believe that suggesting victims can become abusers isn’t okay, but it is true. This has been psychologically proven; many people who suffer trauma end up inflicting that same trauma onto other people (hence the term cycles of violence). Saying Dany is developing traits of Viserys isn’t offensive, it is a critique of her more violent actions. Instead of rejecting Viserys behaviors, she slowly begins to reflect them herself. Her sexual exploitation of Irri is evidence of this. 

While Dany does have a complicated relationship with Jorah, she has no problem questioning his decisions. She struggles with him often, and consistently calls him wrong. And as soon as she feels he wronged her, she disassociates from him. She doesn’t think about the people he previously sold as slaves. 

Being upset by violence you’ve caused, does not absolve you from responsibility. Just because Dany feels sick to her stomach over the crucifixions (while still rationalizing internally) doesn’t mean the action was okay. A very similar scenario occurs in Cersei’s POV when she is torturing the Blue Bard; it makes her sick to her stomach and she can’t bear to witness it. Yet she rationalizes it in her head by saying its Margaery’s fault; if she didn’t take action, her child would be at risk. I never argued that Dany revels in violence, I argued that she perpetuates it; and, as the series goes on, grows accustomed to it. At the start of ADWD, she is horrified by Drogon burning a child; at the end of Dance, she casually remembers burning an infant and mother alive and focuses on the feeling of release as she flew away. 

And I think you are seriously missing the point of ASoIaF if you believe that we were supposed to feel no sympathy for the slavers. She doesn’t even ask who was involved with the death of the children, she just demands 163 lives. She doesn’t know the stories of the men she crucified, she just wanted vengeance. GRRM has explicitly shown that everyone deserves sympathy; why do you think we were in Cersei’s head for her Walk of Shame? Cersei was probably a worse person than anyone Dany harmed, yet we felt the injustice of her punishment.

Just because Dany is “reclaiming” something doesn’t mean its inherently good. GRRM has explored this concept through multiple POVs. Cersei reclaims her sexual agency, after suffering through Robert repeatedly raping her, by raping Taena Merryweather. Dany adopting Viserys refrain to justify her abusing children is not a positive moment.

Dany was okay with the torture of the children. You are completely misrepresenting her if you believe she felt forced to do it or was somehow misled by advisers. Dany is the Queen, she has all the authority; no one can force her to do anything. When Skahaz suggests the idea to her, this is her reaction:

“Do as you think best, but bring me names.” Her fury was a fire in her belly

- ADWD Daenerys II

No hesitation, no thought to the children. Her fury is what makes the decision. And she never thinks about it again. To suggest this is normal 15yo behavior is grossly inaccurate; using someone’s age to excuse torture is not a good argument. Joffrey was only 13 when he became King, yet he should be held accountable for all of his actions. 

Dragons do not represent freedom from abuse. They represent the power to overcome others. In morally grey fashion, GRRM shows the might of dragons in both positive and negative lights. They save Dany after she is abandoned in the Dothraki sea; but we also see through Tyrion’s eyes that they have ravaged the continent of Essos and forced the Essosi to live in fear and slavery. They themselves are used as instruments of abuse. It is not “reductive” to call attention to Drogon burning a young girl alive. To people in power, the dragons represent beauty. But to the 200+ people Drogon torched in Daznak’s Pit, dragons are terrifying. You are being reductive by suggesting that dragons represent freedom. The Valyrians literally used them to enslave a continent.

Fire does not represent freedom from the Others. You’ll notice that the book isn’t A Song of Ice vs Fire; it is A Song of Ice and Fire. Both ice and fire are enemies. Jon establishes this when speaking to Gilly. The books are named after a poem in which Robert Frost says the desire associated with fire (like Dany’s desire for the throne) will end the world, but also that the hate of ice (the Others) will end it too. This is why the faith of R’hllor is presented negatively; just because you are killing people with fire instead of ice doesn’t make it okay. While the dragons can be used to defeat the Others, they also represent power imbalance in Westeros. As long as Dany has them, she can force her will unchecked on others. That is why to rule Meereen she must put them in chains.

[dragonsplantnotrees]

“(…) dragons also mean freedom and wonder and life.”

Shit. I guess I got it wrong all along. Is there still time to rename my blog?

🔥dragonz-r-lyfe🔥👌

[winkydinkle]

Dragons can’t tell the difference from what’s theirs and what’s not, how can they represent freedom and wonder when they bring uncontrollable death and destruction?

Also they are ashy

[trinuviel]

Why not take GRRM’s words about the Dany’s dragons to heart? After all, he is the creator of the story. He literally says that the dragons are like nuclear weapons:

Dragons are the nuclear deterrent, and only Dany has them, which in some ways makes her the most powerful person in the world. But is that sufficient? These are the kind of issues I’m trying to explore. The United States right now has the ability to destroy the world with our nuclear arsenal, but that doesn’t mean we can achieve specific geopolitical goals. Power is more subtle than that. You can have the power to destroy, but it doesn’t give you the power to reform, or improve, or build. (Vulture, 2011)

The man who created Daenerys and her dragons is spelling things out here! Dragons are weapons of mass destruction - and while they give Daenerys the power to destroy, they don’t give her the power to reform, improve or build something!

He’s literally saying that her dragons can only bring devastation, that she can’t make a better world with weapons of mass destruction! 

His statement is not ambiguous at all - so all this waffle about the dragons representing freedom is utter bullshit! There’s no freedom in destruction! 

[sxpiosexualx]

Holy shit some of these dany stans really make me wonder… it’s funny how they call dak!dany theorists reductive when we’re the only lot to ever acknowledge the things in her arc that are emerging out of the depths of her character.

[thatfictionalgal]

“Keep worrying about the suffering of slavers though, lol”

I’m getting really tired of this argument because of the following:

A. You can’t prove that all the men she cruxified were actual slavers. Its been noted that some of the men she had brought “justice” to were men who argued against crucifing slaves. Sure, they lived in an economy built by slavery but that’s not automatically damning.

B. Valerians perpetrated slavery and actually set it up in Essos. Targaryans participated and benefited from slavery. Sure, they stopped in Westeros but lets not pretend that Dany didn’t come for a line of slavers.

C. Dany doesn’t actually have a problem with slavery when it benefits her. She doesn’t condemn the Dothraki for slavery, she doesn’t feel disgust over Jorah’s role in slave trade, and she doesn’t insist on not using brainwashed slaves for her army. Hell, she “freed” the Unsullied because she couldn’t actually pay for them. She allows slaves to sell themselves back into slavery because it was more convinenate than establishing a real economy. The slaves even started calling her a Master and that shouldn’t be ignored.

You can’t ignore the fact that the Dothraki used slavery in their culture or that the Unsullied are still brainwashed/traumatized slaves. That Dany uses them as her armies is incredibly telling about her hypocrisy on the subject of slavery. She flatters herself as a hero, “Breaker of Chains”, but doesn’t actually stop slavery or refuses to benefit from slavery. Hell, she aligned herself with Yara who also comes from a culture of slavers. Dany doesn’t have a problem with slavers unless they threaten her.

[incorrect-got]

Credit to the original creator because I got sent this by a friend

[goldensunset]

>‘this thing is too generic and tropey’

>look inside

>forefather of that genre

[firestorm09890]

[frankbelloriley]

[daysleftofsecondterm]

Forcing myself to believe this is a bit on 916 days left

[poetrylesbian]

[poetrylesbian]