if i look back i am lost

thewaroffivequeens:

is more than a survival mantra

it is a scared, isolated little girl trying to cope with a burden too big to bear

it is dany’s way of fleeing from the repercussions of her choices

she’s shouldered the messiah-queen role because she has a deep need to give her sacrifices meaning

(to justify drogo’s death it was for my son

to justify rhaego’s death it was for my husband

to justify mirri’s death it was for my family

to justify her family’s death it was for my dragons

to justify her slaughter it is for my people

to justify her vengeance it is for the unfeeling dead

if i look back i am lost

if i look back i am lost

if i look back i am lost)

Sansa and Arya: A Song of Ice and Fire

faoiseamh:

Hold the phone, because I’m about to nerd the fuck out right now. Just let me propose something that may sound a little silly:

Could Arya and Sansa be a possible interpretation of ‘the song of ice and fire’? No, I’m not saying it is the interpretation, just that it is an interpretation. And to me, it is clear who is ice and who is fire. Arya is all flame—passionate, clever, bright, quick, and active. She reminds me of her mother, chafing at the ropes that bind her, always moving, always seeking her family—a fiery pragmatist, if you will. Sansa is like ice—cool and outwardly stoic, cold where Arya runs hot. Sansa has enough winter within her to survive a dozen of them. Like I said in another post—she’s essentially a mini-Ned.

In AGOT, we see that Arya and Sansa have a troubled relationship. This is clear even from the first of Arya’s POV chapters. Between the two of them there is resentment, jealousy, and misunderstanding. Arya and Sansa are very different, and both are wrapped up in their own lives. It’s important to note that they are both children, and I don’t see their actions towards one another as any sort of familial crime. I do wonder how they would have fared had they not been separated.

Despite their differences, both girls have unbreakable ties to one another. They are both from the North, they both are Starks, and they both love one another. Arya, while independent, does not forget where she comes from. Sansa, though she at first longs for the South, does not abandon her roots either—this is clear by the building of the snow castle. When afraid, they both draw upon the strength of their family. Arya tells herself: “I am a wolf, and will not be afraid.” Sansa thinks: “I am a Stark, yes, I can be brave.”

How did Sansa survive King’s Landing? With cold, cool courtesy. How did Arya survive the riverlands? With quickness, with cleverness, with ferocity. With her inner fire.

Arya is passionate, easily angered, and can be impulsive; Sansa is slower, like a cold freeze (well, except for that one time she almost snapped and pushed Joffrey to his death, you know). But usually, Sansa’s anger goes so deep that it is almost nonexistent. She is, to me, the very opposite of ‘fiery’. It is an odd thing to say, as people often mean ‘fiery’ as a compliment. But I don’t mean this as an insult, not at all. I think Sansa is a fascinating character, and certainly is one of my very favorites. I think she fits perfectly well as the cold one next to her sister’s flame. Like two sides of the same coin, they balance one another.

Remember Tyrion’s wedding, when Sansa refused to kneel? That was so cold and proud and Northern that I was surprised people in the room weren’t shivering. Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but you get my point. That stark (haha) act of defiance was so icy, so Sansa. So wintry.

Meanwhile, Arya, who is exceedingly clever, is also driven by her inner flame. She sparks. She flashes, goes one way and then another, but never loses sight of her destination. She revels in action and movement, in exploration. She burns hot.

It is important to note that both sisters, I am predicting, will have the ability to be quite deadly in their own ways. Both fire and ice can kill. One is generally more quick, and the other slow. Sansa, slower to act than Arya, against fits ‘ice’ here pretty well.

This is just my interpretation and people are free to disagree - there’s not really a right or wrong way to look at this, unfortunately. I thought I should write something on it anyway. Sansa and Arya are two of my favorite characters, and I find their relationship endlessly fascinating. They are more alike than they know, too. For instance—sometimes the only redemption for the past is to remember it. And, despite all they’ve gone through, neither of them have chosen to forget. Even now, in different guises, under different names, home still calls to them.

They’re Starks, whether they’re fiery or icy cold. And they always will be.

okayophelia:

witnesses of the end of the world

#it’s the difference in their Doctors; it’s the difference in their arcs #everyone says that Clara looks like a mirror image of Rose #and perhaps in a lot of ways she is - but it’s a horror story #the Doctor leaves her alone in these nightmares time and time again #she sees the end of the world and she is horrified at his - lack #his cheery apathy #towards the deaths of the ghosts that live around him #For Rose and Nine though #the end of the world is melancholic - yes #but it’s also full of life and joy #the knowledge that mankind will go on; has stretched across the stars #and ultimately they watch the world end together #they make it a beginning #a personal intimate moment #strangely beautiful #about the endlessness of the universe and how very very small yet so so important humans are to its stars #it’s the start of healing and love #Clara and the Doctor have nothing like that #because while Nine was damaged - Nine was present #fully #and Eleven is just slipping away behind his impossible girls and his love stories hidden in a ghost mansion #he’s about the puzzles and the hidden things#never the emotions #never the people #Clara is already beginning to suffer for it #she realizes that though she said it - ‘I don’t want to be compared to a ghost’ - there’s not much else people can be to this Doctor #just fun spicy diversions he pops off to see in his little blue box (neverfeedthesarcophagi)

(Source: claravoyant)

whoistorule:

I don’t care what you think about Cersei Lannister there is no universe in which she deserves to be sold into marriage against her will. There is no universe in which she “deserved” the marital rape or abuse enacted on her by Robert Baratheon.

And there is a huge fucking difference between Tyrion being forced to marry a child who’s terrified of him, a marriage where he will have all the power, a marriage where his biggest complaint is that she won’t love him because he’s the ugly brother of the family that abuses her and Cersei being forced into another loveless abusive marriage where she has none of the power (legally) and her husband-to-be could rape and abuse her and have nothing done to him.  (Note: I’m not saying Loras will rape Cersei, I’m saying whoever Cersei’s married off to could rape her, and there are no laws or justice that would protect her.)  She’s being sold to her enemies, to the people who are actively working to bring her down, and it doesn’t matter that she rules the realm in her own right, being somebody’s daughter erases any and all power that she has.

The two are not equitable, and what’s more is I find it weird and gross that the person I’m supposed to be pitying is Tyrion and not Sansa who is a victim of abuse and of attempted rape and is being sold as much as Cersei is, who has even less power than Cersei, who thinks she’s going to marry a young handsome man who will love her, and instead is going to be sold to a monster.

Cersei pleads with her father, but Sansa won’t even have the chance to.

about bran’s dream

crushsnow:

i think what they’re going for is, like when it was time for ned to decide whether or not to go to king’s landing, cat as stand-in for bran’s fear of ‘flying’ with the three-eyed crow. she represents home and safety. trying to fly means leaving your ~comfort zone~ and it might also mean falling, in bran’s eyes.

catelyn didn’t want bran to climb because she was afraid that he would fall. he didn’t listen to her and he did fall. (not because of that but y’know.) now that the crow / jojen are telling him to fly, he’s afraid that taking the risk / not listening to his mother’s advice to stay safe is going to make him fall again.

this is the correct reading indeed. i’m thrilled they’re doing more visual callbacks to various important moments in characters’ lives within the context of their dreams (i.e. having special guest stars like robb/jon/catelyn in bran’s dream and drogo in dany’s ~vision last year) bc hopefully it means we’ll be SEEING more of the dreams and not just hearing about them (a.k.a. bran/rickon telling the audience they dreamt of ned’s beheading, bran telling us he dreamt of the sea coming to winterfell when he really just saw the camera pan across the courtyard…yes i know there is a $$ budget $$). MEANING JAIME BETTER HAVE A VERY VISUAL DREAM SOON, AHEM. 

but back to catelyn. yes, her manifestation in bran’s subconscious is perfectly natural and means many sympathetic things about himself, his abilities and his fall. what it absolutely does NOT mean is that she’s responsible for it so pls don’t even go there fandom.

whoistorule:

one of my favorite things about asha greyjoy is that despite the fact that she operates in a masculine world, wears masculine clothing, and conducts herself in a greyjoy-centric masculine manner (taking what’s hers, paying the iron price) she never gives up the trappings of femininity?

because no one is more aware of their own femininity as asha is.  she knows what a disadvantage it could be, and she never pretends she’s anything other than exactly what she is: a woman occupying a traditional man’s role.

think about the way she codes her weaponry: her axe is her lord husband, and her dirk her suckling babe.  she takes what are supposed to be feminine shackles (the husband to rule her and the babe to keep her at home) and makes them into tools by which she cuts men in half.

she’s sharp and she’s witty and she cuts with words as well as weapons because every moment of her life is a battle, and any opportunity she has to get the upper hand, she takes.  and yet never for a second does she forget that she’s a woman.  how can she, when it’s all anyone reminds her of?

i find it incredibly interesting when placed in a dynamic with brienne (who’s stuck halfway between a knight and a damsel, ser my lady as pod calls her, who gives up being feminine in order to pick up a sword and be masculine, and thus is incredibly uncomfortable around other women) and cersei (who wishes with all her might to be a man, to be jaime, specifically, but if she’s going to be a woman she’s going to be the best at being a woman, wear the finest clothes, be the prettiest, use her cunt to control the men around her, and as such hates other women for being lesser than her). asha dresses like a man, but is incredibly womanly, and she’s comfortable around other women because she’s comfortable with herself.

to anyone who thinks the “stallion who mounts the world” prophecy died with rhaego

patrickstormborn:

let me break it down for you.

“As swift as the wind he rides, and behind him his khalasar covers the earth, men without number, with arakhs shining in their hands like blades of razor glass. Fierce as a storm this prince shall be. His enemies will tremble before him, and their wives will weep tears of blood and rend their flesh in grief. The bells in his hair will sing his coming, and the milk men in the stone tents will fear his name…the prince is riding, and he shall be the stallion who mounts the world.” 

• “As swift as the wind he rides” - “Tell Khal Drogo he has given me the wind”
• “Fierce as a storm” - Daenerys Stormborn
• “Their wives will weep tears of blood and rend their flesh in grief” - The wives of the 163 Great Masters she crucified
• “Milk men in the stone tents will fear his name” - Milk Men are the Qartheen, who fear her after she burned the Undying

oh and coincidentally daenerys is currently reunited with one half of drogo’s khalasar… and the official lands of ice and fire maps by grrm show that she is faced directly towards vaes dothrak, where the undying prophesised this would occur:

Beneath the Mother of Mountains, a line of naked crones crept from a great lake and knelt shivering before her, their grey heads bowed.

so yeah

your faves need to watch themselves

apriki:

SPOILERS THROUGH THE ENTIRE ASOIAF SERIES

Perhaps “evil” is too strong a word - what I meant is that Bran’s storyline is sinking further and further into this scary ass nightmare winter horror show and Bran, rather than being the hero, seems to be turning into the monster - which is a frightening concept when we consider the reader’s affection for him, his young age, and what is yet to come for him.

A Dance With Dragons’ prologue is from the perspective of Varamyr Sixskins, a wildling warg (the book actually starts with a scene in which he is possessing a wolf - this sets an important precedent for the overtone of magic, and especially warging, that frequents the whole novel), who handily tells us of his upbringing and instruction under another warg, Haggon.

The wildlings are a superstitious lot and we’re led to assume that they know about These Sorts of Things, so when Haggon gives Varamyr a lesson in WHAT YOU MUST NEVER EVER DO AS A WARG EVER ON PAIN OF LOSING YOUR SOUL, it’s clearly important. It turns out that you should never: eat the flesh of man while warged inside an animal, mate with a beast while warged inside one, or warg into a human. Later on in the chapter, Varamyr, being the rule-breaking sort, attempts to warg into Thistle, his human companion, and she literally goes insane at the intrusion, fighting Varamyr until they both die.

Well, then. This is pretty distrubing news for us, who know that Bran has both eaten while warged into Summer, and has been warging into Hodor since ASOS; Varamyr describes this intrusion as “forcing yourself” into another person’s mind, which is…. disturbing, to say the least. Bran wargs into Hodor many times in ADWD and justifies it to himself by saying that Hodor is ‘used to him’ and that he ‘always gives Hodor back’.

THIS SHIT IS NOT OKAY

In ADWD, Bran meets Bloodraven in person for the first time - they’ve been connected/communicating since the beginning of the series via dreams, ravens and weirwoods. The children of the forest and Bloodraven are all aware of Bran’s skills, and it’s highly likely that at least Bloodraven knows that he’s warging into Hodor (it’s hinted that Jojen and Meera have suspected this as well) - only no one mentions it, or tries to stop Bran. If the Jojen paste theory is true, then not only are the children of the forest not stopping Bran from committing the worst crimes a human can commit - they are encouraging him. They want Bran to turn from his humanity, join the weirwood system, and control it, like Bloodraven has.

It’s highly possible that the children of the forest/Bloodraven are planning to use Bran as a vessel and/or weapon to do their bidding (remember that only one in a thousand men is born a skinchanger and one skinchanger in a thousand is born a greenseer - Bran is a very rare and powerful individual), and with him walking down such a dangerous path at his young age, who knows what he’s going to become? If the weirwood system/the old gods (established in ADWD to be the collective spirits of dead children of the forest) are controlling the others (as Melisandre believes when she sees Bran and Bloodraven in her visions), Bran could become the nerve centre of the weirwood godhead, control the Others, become the Great Other himself, warg into wights, Others, dragons…. the possibilites are endless and REALLY REALLY SCARY BRAN IS THE CREEPIEST LIL DUDE IN THE ENTIRE SERIES OKAY

As for the old gods being evil (which is connected Bran, as you can see), by evil I mean “antagonistic towards men as a race”, which has clear reasons: men essentially exterminated their race, men cut down the weirwood trees, men refute magic, men corrupt the land, etc etc. And considering one of (if not the) overarching concepts of the series is ice vs fire, in which ice = death and fire = life, it’s natural to assume that R’hllor will be good (as in, pro people living) and that whatever R’hllor’s enemy turns out to be will be bad (as in, let’s go kill a guy). But who knows? GRRM could take the story in a hundred different directions, TWOW WE NEED U NOW

whoistorule:

I’m obsessed with the dichotomy that’s being drawn between Cersei and Margaery this season in terms of masculine and feminine power.  Because despite the fact that Cersei’s been forced to act in the feminine sphere her whole life, she’s really much more comfortable being a blunt object than being a subtle manipulator.  If you compare their scenes with Joffrey, it’s so brilliant the two ways they try to manipulate them.

Because in season 1, Cersei could patch up her son’s wounds and tell him “anybody who isn’t us is the enemy” because he was just a boy, her golden boy, her beautiful son, and he needed her.

But he’s the king now, and he doesn’t think he needs her any more, so the more she tells him that Margaery’s a whore out to steal from him, the more he hears “mommy is telling me what to do” and the less he listens to her.  Meanwhile Margaery, in her backless dress (“harlot’s clothing”) simpers and smiles and tells him what a brave king he is.  She builds him up to be her protector, and then she lets him see how dangerous she could be, but only a taste.  She compliments him on being an instrument of death, and tells him she is much the same, but she lets him think she’s his instrument, and he doesn’t even know he’s hers.

Margaery Tyrell has him wrapped around her finger, and the best part is she’s gonna kill him anyway.

knightofphoenix:

Now let me tell you my perspective of that scene where Tywin denies Tyrion inheritance of Casterly Rock. As someone who read the books. 

Many people, including Tyrion, feel that he was not given enough appreciation. 

Well barring the fact that this mentality is a completely wrong one to have, because you don’t fight wars and succeed in surviving to be praised (although it’s an understandable character flaw coming from someone who was under-appreciated his whole life), it is also quite ego-centric. No Tyrion, you didn’t win the battle. You were important to it yes and you will be appreciated for it as Tywin said, but without Tywin and Loras, you would have lost (and it was Cersei who came up with the idea of wildfire which you refined). You were not the sole hero of the battle like you think you are. 

Further, Tyrion keeps forgetting as he is addressing Tywin so arrogantly. He was NOT the Hand of the King. He was ACTING ON BEHALF OF THE HAND, aka Tywin. It’s again understandable why Tyrion would want to cling to the illusion of having such a title, he’s never had something like it in his life and probably never will. But it’s only an illusion, he was never Hand of the King. So Tywin did not take anything from him. 

Now as for inheriting Casterly Rock. There is definitely anger in Tywin towards Tyrion for a mess of reasons. An unjust but again understandable sentiment. 

But let’s look at it from another perspective. Tywin experienced his family name falling to the dirt during the reign of his kind and gentle father. It was humiliated and almost bankrupted. Now barring the fact that Tyrion has a lot of flaws such as his blatant and unsubtle practices at court, his mouth that he never shuts (he himself acknowledged it’s one of his biggest flaws that gets him into trouble)…etc that would make him not so suitable to the task, he is also a dwarf. No there is nothing wrong with that, but Westeros does not agree.    

A dwarf becoming the Lord of the Rock and the Westerlands, the powerbase of the Lannisters and a pillar to the new regime, would be a target of mockery throughout the continent. Tywin fears that people would not take a dwarf seriously anymore than they would a kind man such as his father. Not in a society that has dwarves reviled, and even killed at birth most of the time. 

That’s part of the reason why Tywin absolutely loathes the idea of Tyrion inhering the Rock. It’s unjust yes, and yes Tyrion is more suitable than either Jaime or Cersei (though not by much, he is truly not as clever as he thinks he is. He has low cunning as Tywin said). 

So let’s ease up with the hate and the Tyrion fanboyism. Tyrion is not the innocent sweet victim here without major faults of his own. And Tywin is not the evil senseless asshole. George R. R. Martin’s story has a lot more nuance than that. 

beccatoria:

chaila:

“You are exactly the man I thought you would be. A man who will do the right thing, the less selfish thing, the thing that might help two universes instead of threatening to destroy them, who will fight a fight worth fighting even if it’s not ‘his’ and does not directly impact him and his personal emotional ties, only if I leave him with literally no other choice. My son, I’m so proud.”

Whoops I forgot that they are quasi father and son which is probably supposed to have some kind of magical magnetic effect on my emotions?

(Sorry this episode just made me oddly angry.)

UGH I KNOW.  

Seriously, when he said, “You’re exactly the man I thought you’d be,” I HONESTLY took it as an insult for a second.  

I mean, two possibilities here, either Peter really believes he can get home to his own universe - i.e. he believes these are universe #3 and #4 that he’s ever been to, and he just doesn’t care about anyone because he’s leaving soon, or far more sinister, he understands that these are altered-timeline versions of universes #1 and #2 and that if he succeeds in getting home, they will cease to exist and thus there’s no point in him forming attachments because he’s basically going to destroy these dudes shortly if he gets his way.  

And frankly, I think that’s COMPLETELY in character for Peter, who is a little selfish, has a hard time forming attachments, and who, yes, is capable of genuine acts of selfless kindness or loyalty once those attachments have been formed, but frankly, in most situations, has to be led by the nose to get there.  ”Well, I’m gonna die anyhow, guess I’d better save both universes rather than dooming them,” you know?  And that’s actually sort of interesting.  This brave-in-his-own-self-interest guy who’s the lynchpin of a totally fractured universe and who really doesn’t have the quality of character to handle that with grace without a lot of…nose-leading.  

But it’s NOT SUPER ADMIRABLE.  And the show keeps acting like it should be.  

We’re back to that weird place where the show portrays Peter’s character completely consistently yet doesn’t seem to understand what it’s saying.  How can every other part of the show make so much more sense than he does?  

(Source: janeyoucrazy)

‘cause hollywoodgrrl encouraged me to write about Theon and Cersei - spoilers through COK and more vaguely after

nicole-anell:

Eeeeee, this post!!  Love it! (not just because she quoted Battlestar Galactica) Okay, now I feel obligated to say something about Theon/Cersei but my thoughts feel really ~inadequate~ because I was only comparing them in a meta storytelling way.

Read More

AHHHHHH SUCH GOOD META THAT MAKES ME SO ANNOYED THAT I’M SUCH A SLOW READER, GODDAM! Just when I reach Book 3 and am rewarded with Jaime chapters I’m all I MUST BE IN BOOK 4 ALREADY SO I CAN GET CERSEI CHAPTERS AND READ MORE META WITHOUT FEARING SPOILARS! Nicole, this is some great stuff.