kass-of-the-midlands

[kass-of-the-midlands]

This when the OG Little Mermaid Tale had Ariel’s every step feel like knives in her feet……………… redheaded half fish dreamy romantic curious girl longing to escape her home………….

#jonsa #sansa stark #pro sansa stark #asoiaf #got #game of thrones #house stark

[kass-of-the-midlands]

Freedom

#they long to take refuge in hidden places off-limits to men #asoiaf #hotd #alicent hightower #got #sansa stark

[kass-of-the-midlands]

Ladies and gentlemen let us give it up for this progressive, pro-women show. Say fucking sike now.

#hotd butchered everyone #anti hotd #pro team green #pro alicent hightower #hotd #alicent hightower #team green #aegon ii targaryen #aegon the elder #fire and blood

[kass-of-the-midlands]

I just realized helaena was the only child that stayed behind when alicent stayed behind to speak to rhaneyra, I know its just little, But with the whole helaena hated her mother rants from Tumblr and X, it just seemed sweet to me that we can see the bts relationship that the show couldnt show us. Helaena was waiting for her mother and I feel like if I was the director of this scene I would cut to helaenas face for a sec, just to see what she thinks of their communication. Is she surprised? Is she curious? Confused weary...the show unfortunately has a habit for bluring out characters(it's probably the camera focusing)but the fact that helaena didn't know alicent was gonna speak to rhaenyra and probably just wanted to walk back with alicent yo perhaps talk with her or just simply stayed to be her support, I think it makes sense as to say why alicent has a soft spot for her.

#the way the show hardly fleshes out helaena is criminal to me #what was helaena thinking about this? what does she think about rhaenyra-her half sister?? #alicent hightower #helaena targaryen #the most doomed mother and daughter from asoiaf world #hotd

[kass-of-the-midlands]

Killing Jaehaera off was completely unnecessary and it would've been better if she was the mother of Aegon III's kids.

I personally would have loved it he had married Jaehaera and Daenaera because I think there's room in the narrative for both girls.

I think the reason George changed it (besides getting invested in the Velaryons as he wrote out the backstory) was because he wanted some sort of commentary on the lasting legacy of the Dance - Aegon usurps his sister and kicks off a whole violent war for the throne, only for his line to end with a mad little girl, and then die off completely. Rhaenyra lets revenge color her actions during the war and adds to the death, misery, and escalation of violence all so her line can descend from her only for the history books to record that they descend from Daemon, and there’s nothing Aegon III can do to change it. In a way, despite everything, the lines of both Rhaenyra and Aegon end with them. This war that claimed the lives of their children, their lovers, their families, was completely fruitless and useless; all that's left at the end is orphans, and history books that will call Aegon and Rhaenyra both usurpers. It's very sad commentary, for sure, but I get why it was so important to George to kill Jaehaera off (to a certain extent). It's just he did it in the most George way possible lmao and it doesn't hit the way I think he intended it to.

But it could have! Which is so frustrating! He could have 100% had them both in the narrative easily - just have Daenaera be a lady of the court and a friend of Jaehaera's! Jaehaera can take in Daenaera as a lady to help smooth things over with that branch of the Velaryons (who are probably still pissed off because Alyn is a bastard and everyone in Westeros hates Baela for doing #HotGirlShit). Jaehaera is mother to Daeron, Baelor, and Daena, and kills herself/is murdered right after Daena is born. I think having a daughter of her own is an interesting trigger for her trauma - like, your husband having the same cursed name as your father who died miserable and alone, with only you for family, and then watching your husband hold your first daughter? More than enough to trigger an episode, and leave it vague as whether she threw herself onto the spikes or someone simply took advantage of her being scared and alone & pushed her.

Maiden’s Day happens and there's a lot of nerves because the last time the King got remarried, the Dance happened. Different circumstances because Aegon has two sons, to be sure, but I'm positive half the realm is thinking "what if he chooses wrong and we get another Otto Hightower." Baela and Rhaena present Aegon’s new bride, then point to the beautiful but quiet, also grieving Daenaera Velaryon, and Aegon just accepts it because he knows Daenaera won’t oppose Jaehaera’s children (they were friends, also Daenaera is now scarred by the violence of Jaehaera’s death). Daenaera is as uninterested in him as he is in her; the twins present a way for him to remarry without forcing him out of his comfort zone (which neither Aegon nor Jaehaera ever liked to be) while backing Daenaera into an offer she can’t refuse. Continuing on the use of traumatized women as pawns, the twins clawing for their own power and relevancy as the Regents, Small Council, and now even Aegon’s sons steal it away from them, a move that is as “girlboss” esque for them as it horrifying for Daenaera. This way, you still get the Blackfyres descending from Jaehaera (and the Greens), you get the Velaryons in there more, you get Maiden's Day and Daenaera.

I think this scenario - where Jaehaera is mother to Daena and the Blackfyres, and Daenaera to the two youngest girls - doesn't make a huge difference in the grand plan, BUT it does make some things more interesting. It adds a really interesting echo from Viserys I and Rhaenyra’s children to Aegon’s - how easily these bonds between half siblings can be turned sour if only their lives are just a bit different. Daena, daughter of Jaehaera, falling to the generational Targaryen curses of dying young, of accidentally kicking off a succession crisis simply because she desired sexual agency. Elaena, daughter of Daenaera, escaping these curses through her politicking, her skill, siding against the nephew she adores and helped raise to try to escape Daena and Jaehaera’s fates. Not to mention having Aegon II’s line end with his daughter, then morph into the usurping Blackfyres is a great narrative choice!

It’s all right there!! The themes!!! It all goes back and back, this family enacting continent destroying violence against each other all for the privilege of sitting on that ugly, spiky chair. But no we get Daenaera the hot six year old instead. SmFh.

[kass-of-the-midlands]

Sansa Stark + Troubled Birds

#she's the original troubled bird #sansa stark

[kass-of-the-midlands]

Sansa Stark┃the living painting

John Millais. The Martyr of the Solway. 1871. │ Gabriel von Max. Young woman with flowers in her hair. │ Sophie Gengembre Anderson. Portrait of a Young Girl. │ James Carroll Beckwith. The Embroiderer. │ Arthur Hughes. Juliet and her Nurse. 1867–1872. │ Thomas Benjamin Kennington. Contemplation. │ Alexandre Cabanel. Fallen Angel. 1847. │ Frederick Sandys. Helen of Troy. 1867. │ Ruth Sanderson. Arthur and Guinevere. │ Paul Delaroche. The Execution of Lady Jane Grey. 1833. │ Johannes Vermeer. Girl with a Pearl Earring. 1665. │ Stephen Phillips. Nancy Price as Calypso in Ulysses. 1902. │ P. J. Lynch. Eithlinn, Daughter of Balor. 2000. │ Charles Allen Winter. Portrait of a Woman. 1919. │ William Oxer. Amor Aeternus. 2022. │ George Romney. Emma Hart as Miranda. 1786. │ Bertalan Székely. Red Haired Girl. 1875. │ John Roddam Spencer Stanhope. Thoughts of the Past. 1859. │ Jean-Jacques Henner. Head Of A Young Girl In A Blue Dress. │ John William Waterhouse. Ophelia. 1910. │ Rudolf Kosow, Geheimnisvoll. │

#the old gods’ most especial princess #sansa stark #this is so beautiful and clever

[kass-of-the-midlands]

And the mummer’s farce is almost done. 

THE GRAND NORTHERN CONSPIRACY

[kass-of-the-midlands]

Ok so I’m not trying to call anyone out or insinuate things but I really don’t like it when people have “oh my god poor helaena she doesn’t want to be at the funeral she doesn’t want to hurt team black her trauma is being exploited by her evil bitch mother and brother uwu” takes.

Because yes, Helaena is a much kinder and gentler person than most of the Greens. Yes, she was barely involved in the war. But, believe it or not, she is actually capable of independent thought and comprehension beyond being “the nice one.”

She watched her son be killed in front of her. Her daughter threatened with rape. Her other son told that she wants him dead. All because of her sister and uncle, people that have no war with her or her children, people that only two weeks ago were enjoying her company at dinner. You’re telling me that she feels no anger or resentment towards these people? At all? That nowhere, nowhere in the corner of her mind, nowhere does she want the people of King’s Landing to understand their brutality?

Look I know that people already think that autistic people are sweet little innocent uwu small beans who could never feel a negative emotion towards anyone in their life and who are incapable of comprehending anything as complex as politics and war, but this is getting ridiculous. And you know what? Maybe when the season comes out she will have been forced to go to the funeral, and I’ll eat my words. But for now, can we please not do this?

#helaena targaryen #house of the dragon #she’s not even the gentlest of alicent’s kids guys

[kass-of-the-midlands]

It's funny how TB gets all "Stop trying to apply modern morals" when we talks about Alicent being the victim of Viserys. But when someone points out the issue of Rhaenyra parading her bastards as trueborns and committing treasons because let's be real, Westeros was never OK with bastards inheriting not just in Rhaenyra's timeline but also like hundreds years later in the main timeline as well. But no, we can't say that cuz, Bastardphobia!! Bffr...TB can't choose lol.

People like to pick and choose when to apply modern morals when it is convenient to their argument.

Personally, I support Aegon because he is the one with a legitimate claim. Rhaenyra committed treason, it’s not a secret. That means her claim of “daddy said so” no longer matters. The next eldest is Aegon, so he is the rightful heir.

Not being bastardphobic, just pointing out the laws of the fictional universe. I’m not supporting one character because of gender, I’m literally supporting the first one with a legitimate claim, but then they throw modern morals at me like it matters in the legal system of a fictional, medieval universe.

Then they like to turn around and demonize a child and say she seduces a full grown man with her sexy shoulders and history books. I just don’t understand.

#anti team black #hotd

[kass-of-the-midlands]

#alicent hightower #hotd #house of the dragon

[kass-of-the-midlands]

This is one of the most ominous passages in the F&b book for me. How did Jae reply? Why was his reply never recorded if Alysanne’s line was?

#yeeeeesh #jae had NO REASON for pushing viserra+daella into marriage as he did. and the whole implication with saera’s hypersexuality+cocaa……..yeah no #AND alysanne having children ‘to her suprise and dismay’ when she clearly DOESNT WANT TO #anti jaehaerys i targaryen #house targaryen #fire and blood #daella targaryen #asoiaf #alysanne targaryen

[kass-of-the-midlands]

what about - make your case

#i love all of them really i do #but there’s so much Spice in cersei’s recounting of everything happening in asoiaf as like the Crone’s incantation specifically #to fuck with Cersei And Only Cersei #she’s fun she’s really really fun

[kass-of-the-midlands]

Made a Team Green playlist, will upload sporadically

#team green #pro team green #alicent hightower #aegon ii targaryen #hotd #aegon the second #helaena targaryen #aemond targaryen #Spotify

[kass-of-the-midlands]

Why the fuck does Laena Velaryon, who is canonically younger than Rhaenyra Targaryen in the show, look like a fucking 20-year-old in episode 5 while Rhaenyra, her elder, still looks fucking 13? Why the actual fuck did they change the YOUNGER girl’s actress and made her look older, but it’s okay for Rhaenyra to continue looking like a preteen? I’ll tell you why.

They’re trying to distract us from the fact that creepy ass Daemon is courting a 14-year-old. A FOURTEEN YEAR OLD. Rhaenyra is 15 in episode 1 and Laena is 12, meaning they have a 3 year age gap. Then, Viserys tells Rhaenyra that she must marry since she’s 17 now, making Laena 14, maybe 15 at best. So they obviously can’t afford having Daemon thirst over a child again, therefore this is a shitty attempt to cover up the fact that Laena still is a very fucking young child.

HBO what is this? Why do your casting choices indicate that you’re trying to use some kind of ageist technique to manipulate your viewers? Why are the supposedly good guys, Rhaenyra and her children, portrayed by very young actors? Is this to show how innocent and pure they are? Why are the characters who are supposedly evil, Aegon and Aemond, or the character for whom we shouldn’t worry too much about since she’s just a tool for Daemon’s story line to develop, Laena, portrayed by obviously older actors even though they’re all supposed to be kids? Because the youth = good people and old = bad people analogy is fucking gross and lowkey paedophilic. Not to mention how weird it is to make all the black girls in the show look like fucking grown ups. What kind of racist bullshit is this?

I can’t understand HBO’s decisionmaking for the love of me. Like, on the one hand, it’s so obvious that they’re forcing Daemon and Rhaenyra down our throats, to the point that I actually laughed out loud when the show runner said “he doesn’t get why people like Daemon”. Like, my guy, you MADE the show. You made him look like an appealing, dangerous, sexy, strong, victorious and mysterious man, so what do you mean you don’t get the appeal? On the other hand though, most of the actions that they allow Daemon to perform are so horrifying that it makes it impossible for a sane person to stand beside him and defend him. Like, they try to sugarcoat that he’s an abusive piece of shit yeah, but they somehow don’t shy away from the fact that he’s terrible? Are they doing both of these things on purpose? Are they trying to challenge the viewer, to show us how abusers, despite being openly deranged, still have their way of dazzling their victims, the average person, and hypnotising them with their charm? Is Daemon doing to us (and by us I mean you Daemon stans, not me, stay safe though) what he’s doing to Rhaenyra and Laena? Are the show producers testing the average viewer’s intelligence and ability to recognise an abuser? Will there be a lesson to be learned?

I would like to hope so but I highly doubt it, because while one could support this theory by arguing that changing Laena’s actress is an attempt to mask Daemon’s degenerative nature a bit so that it isn’t completely obvious that he’s a bad man, someone else could counter this argument by saying that we’ve already seen Daemon groom a minor so this wouldn’t be something new. We’ve seen him do much more violent crimes actually, so why shy away from the fact he’s a groomer when we are already aware of this? Idk man, I really want to think that HBO is trying to make us see that Daemon is an evil person, but then indirectly glorifying him constantly makes me believe they just want people to root for him.

P.S. I may anger a lot of people by saying this, so I’ll make myself clear by stating that I love and greatly respect actors who specialise in portraying evil characters, because doing so and not losing yourself is a challenge (*cough* Leto *cough*) but if done correctly, it’s a true showcase of one’s talent and hard work. Lee, De Niro, Hopkins, Bardem and Rickman are just a few to name. However, Matt Smith has never rubbed me the right way. No hate to the guy, I don’t even know him, but I’ve seen him play the villain in three separate occasions (HOTD, Last Night in Soho, Morbius) and I just get these weird vibes, but I usually told myself it’s just my imagination running wild. However, I recently found out that Smith claimed that Daemon is a loyal man who loves deeply and that his “heir for a day” brothel feast was his way of honouring Aema, which really disturbed me for obvious reasons. I don’t know if he said this because he’s trying to defend his character and by extension himself, or if he just wants to promote the show, or if he doesn’t understand Daemon or if he funnily enough has fallen victim to his own character’s charm and I don’t care because it is a dangerous thing to say. Painting this character, the arrogant, obnoxious, self serving, people slaughtering, wife murdering, backstabbing, abusing, grooming, lying, manipulating, war criminal of a man, in such a positive light while being a man yourself, knowing that most of this character’s supporters are young impressionable women who just find him hot, makes me lowkey wanna cover my drink in his presence, I don’t know.

[kass-of-the-midlands]

“Alicent is pure evil in the books, the show whitewashed her so much!! 😩🔥”

The books in question:

#alicent hightower the people’s princess #asoiaf #hotd #alicent hightower #team green #pro team green #pro alicent hightower

[kass-of-the-midlands]

It's really that hard for them to say Rhaenyra was a coward? 😂

The Cope. pleaseeee. are they sure they want to go down that rode?

yeah, he fought with everything he had. rhaenys died during that fight because she was sent there BY rhaenyra who didn't allow her sons to join. aegon could've just sent aemond with vhagar, but he chose to lead his army himself.

he was badly injured, was basically in coma for a year and was smuggled to dragonstone, managed to reunite with his heavily injured dragon because their bond slayed, managed to turn the people of dragonstone against rhaenyra, was ambushed by baela and her dragon and survive that fight as well - killing baela's dragon in the process, took dragonstone ambushed rhaenyra and killed her, got back to KL to fix the mess she made, was poisoned.

now let's talk about rhaenyra. didn't fight at all, managed to take KL because of the efforts of others, was betrayed by the random people she gave dragons to (wow def did not see that one coming) and tried to murder the few innocent dragonseeds who didn't betray her - resulting in her husband and hand abandoning her, ruled for half a year and it was a disaster, "the bastard tax", got a 2yo toddler killed, the entire city rebelled against her, the storming of the dragonpit because people were THAT done with her BS, fled to dragonstone after her dragon got randomly killed, was ambushed and died.

and let's not forget TB characters roasting rhaenyra :

"When word reached Dragonstone that Princess Rhaenys had fallen, angry words were exchanged between the queen and Lord Velaryon, who blamed her for his wife’s death. “It should have been you,” the Sea Snake shouted at Her Grace. “Staunton sent to you, yet you left it to my wife to answer and forbade your sons to join her.” For all the castle knew that the princes Jace and Joff had been eager to fly with Princess Rhaenys to Rook’s Rest with their own dragons."

aegon may have lost, but at least he never expected people to do his fighting for him.