The Past Presents the Future: A Catelyn Tully-Stark/Lady Stoneheart fanmix
The Past Presents the Future - Her Space Holiday Don’t Panic - Coldplay Walnut Tree - Keane Major Minus - Coldplay Flicks - Frou Frou The Con - Tegan & Sara Everything In Its Right Place - Radiohead Meds - Placebo Blood & Fire - Indigo Girls Never Going Back Again - Fleetwood Mac
Feist \ I Feel It All The Field Mice \ Sensitive Namie Amuro \ Come Lykke Li \ Dance, Dance, Dance Fiona Apple \ Not About Love
Alayne
Fiona Apple \ Parting Gift Laura Marling \ Tap At My Window Mew \ Comforting Sounds Janis Ian \ The Last Comeback La Roux \ Bulletproof La Roux \ In For the Kill
I feel it all. The wings are wide. Wild card inside. I’ll be the one who’ll break my heart, I’ll be the one to hold the gun. I know more than I knew before. I didn’t rest, I didn’t stop. Stranded in a fog of words Loved him like a winter bird. On my head the water pours. Gulf stream through the open door.
The Field Mice \ Sensitive
We all need to feel safe.
Namie Amuro \ Come
I get, I get, I get, Get a feeling. I get, I get, I get, Get dreaming.
Lykke Li \ Dance, Dance, Dance
Words can never make up for what you do. Easy conversations, There’s no such thing. Oh, I’m shy, shy, shy. When I trip on my feet look at the ground The words are written in the dust.
Fiona Apple \ Not About Love
Take all the things that I said that he stole, Put ‘em in a sack. Swing ‘em over my shoulder. Turn on my heels, step out of this sight, Try to live in a lovlier light. This is not about love ‘Cause I am not in love. In fact I can’t stop falling out.
Alayne
Fiona Apple \ Parting Gift
I opened my eyes while you were kissing me once, more than once. And you looked as sincere as a dog. Just as sincere as a dog does when it’s the food on your lips With which it’s in love. I’ll bet you could never tell that I knew you didn’t know me that well. It is my fault, you see, you never learned that much from me.
Laura Marling \ Tap At My Window
And Mother, I blame you, With every inch of the being you gave. For I have become you, And I know every part of the game. And Father, I love you, But how can you watch as I push her away? I cannot forgive you for bringing me up this way.
Mew \ Comforting Sounds
I don’t feel alright In spite of these comforting sounds you make. I don’t feel alright Because you make promises that you break. Into your house, why don’t we share our solitude? Nothing is pure anymore But solitude.
Janis Ian \ The Last Comeback
In the end only hope survives. Only hope survives. These are the songs nobody wanted. This is the voice that no one heard. I fear the anger and the greed Shallow as the heart I let you see. I’m ready now for the last comeback.
La Roux \ Bulletproof
I won’t let you in again, The messages I’ve tried to send, My information’s just not going in. Burning bridges, shore to shore, I break away from something more. Your time is running out. I won’t let you turn around, I’ll tell you now, I’m much too proud, All you do is fill me up with doubt. This time I’ll be bulletproof.
A three part series that looks at the (most hated) women in A Song of Ice and Fire: Catelyn, Cersei, and Sansa. Each video will discuss the featured character in depth and analyze the social location of that character and the way her status as a woman has effected her social mobility, health, and overall well-being. These videos are meant to address the issue within fandom of pitting one female character against another and deeming one better due to more masculine behavior. Trigger warning for discussion of rape and abuse. Spoilers through A Feast for Crows.
You know what, I’m just going to come right out and say it.
YES, A LOT OF CHARACTERS IN ASOIAF/GAME OF THRONES BEHAVE BADLY FROM A MODERN POINT OF VIEW. YES, THAT IS A THING I WILL CONTINUE TO CALL OUT AS A MODERN READER. YES, OF COURSE I’M GOING TO USE IT AS A BASIS TO JUDGE WHAT CHARACTERS I AM OKAY WITH AND WHICH ONES I AM NOT.
And it’s completely ridiculous to argue that I CAN’T, for a number of reasons up to and including the fact that the books highlight deliberate values dissonance for the audience compared to the society that the characters live in. That sort of dissonance is a thing that’s been used as a literary device for ages and ages and ages, and it will continue to be used for years to come. And with good reason! It’s a very stark, blatant way to point out that certain behaviors are far from okay and that we should call them out because how can society change otherwise?
Argue on and on and on about duty all you want. I’ll just keep on calling it what it is to me, as a woman reading in the 21st century. Because not calling it rape is taking something very valuable away from the message of the story to me, and pretending it’s fine just because that’s how society works in Westeros is upsetting and I’m a bad fan for saying that I can sympathize with Cersei because she has really good reasons for being an awful person sometimes.
So, yes. Cersei was raped. This isn’t an opinion, it’s a stated fact in the books. She thinks of her marriage and how Robert treated her in terms of assault in her own head because that’s what it was. He forced himself on her when she made it clear he hurt her and was not okay with it, and I don’t see why we need to go on and on and on about this being justifiable behavior. Even in context, both her and Robert acknowledge to a degree that this is NOT OKAY, and it is even less okay reading it from a MODERN VIEWPOINT.
And Tyrion? He’s not a good guy either from a modern point of view. I enjoy his chapters. I like the character, but that doesn’t excuse his treatment of women or his wanting to have sex with a thirteen year old girl just because his family married her off to him. He’s another character who even ADMITS he’s not completely on-board with the idea—he thinks of Sansa as a child and is really bothered by his attraction to her, but also feels like it’s okay (spoiler: it’s not) to want to sleep with her.
I could go on and on and on. I could post quotes and deconstruct arguments until I’m blue in the face. There are endless characters behaving badly in the series, and there’s no shortage of rape and sexual assault going on in the books. Does that mean I need to suck it up and not call it what it is because WAH WAH I’M TAKING IT OUT OF THE CONTEXT OF WHAT WOULD BE CONSIDERED ACCEPTABLE IN A MEDIEVAL WORLD?
