Jeyne Poole | Safe and Sound

Sansa’s stans try to compare Sansa to Elizabeth I because Elizabeth taught herself by observing the world around her. Her motto was Video et Taceo (“I see and say nothing”). 

Some of her decisions made early in her reign seem to be reactions to her siblings’ or father’s rule: Mary and Edward’s religious fanaticism had caused discord so Elizabeth favoured the middle road, Henry’s marriages had caused strife abroad and Mary’s had caused strife internally so Elizabeth decided against marrying to limit foreign influence, the obsession with naming an heir early in Edward and Mary’s reign had resulted in uprisings surrounding those heirs so Elizabeth steadfastly refused to publicly name an heir all the way to her deathbed, the clipping of coins in Henry and Edward’s reign had ruined the English economy and so Elizabeth implemented economic reform and essentially created the pound sterling (the basis of which were begun in Mary’s reign). It seems she carefully observed what was going on in the political world, makings mental notes on what decisions were successful and which ones brought disaster and then used that to learn how to rule effectively.

But the thing is, Sansa isn’t learning. She keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again. She trusts Joffrey and Cersei and then Dontos Hollard and then the Tyrells and now Myranda and Petyr. Sansa is getting played by Myranda’s words into confirming she’s a Stark, (“Oh, and the Night’s Watch has a boy commander, some bastard son of Eddard Stark’s”, “Jon Snow?” she blurted out, surprised.) How would Petyr’s bastard knows who Jon Snow is ???And what’s funny is she comes to trust Myranda and sees her as a friend on par with Jeyne Poole so it’s something serious and she even recognizes that Myranda likes Harry but she genuinely doesn’t think her impending marriage to him is something that’ll make Myranda turn into the Joker. And Myranda has asked her about Petyr’s dick, like Myranda would not ask her that if she genuinely thought Petyr was her father. Sansa blushes but never stops to ask herself why Myranda would say that to her, anyone would’ve been like why are you asking such questions ?? I don’t know why her stans say Sansa is learning how to rule and knows political intrigue because if she did she’d have immediately understood that Myranda is suspicious. Sansa is NOT meant to rule and that’s OK!

Hello @daenerysne !

So I think this is in response to my response to @ozymalek 's ask a couple of weeks ago, which can be found here.

Exactly. Sansa might be there in the midst of all this political intrigue but she's not absorbing much of it yet. She is more aware about being more wary of people, but her judgement is way off on who exactly she can trust. She thinks she can trust Baelish (I say this because she differentiates between Littlefinger and Petyr on who she can trust or not) but she's wrong, and almost everyone she has ever thought she could trust outside of her family has not been trustworthy to some extent. And the ones she could trust aren't around anymore like Sandor. And her blindness to Myranda just kind of blows my mind, because LF warned her about Myranda. And it's really clear in Sansa's TWOW sample chapter that Myranda was trying to sabotage Sansa with that race they had. Myranda was hoping Sansa would look a mess when she met Harry the Heir. But the thing with Sansa is that she can be flat out told something, told a lot of things, but she never examines anything critically. I mean just look at the things Sansa knows. She knows LF got the Tyrells to poison Joffrey, she knows that LF convinced Lysa to poison Jon Arryn, LF told her point blank that he doesn't get his hands dirty himself, that he has other people doing his dirty work, she knows LF is forcing Sweetrobin to take Sweetsleep, something the Maester is warning her against, but she's pushing for it on behalf of LF, and then she learns that LF plans for Sansa to marry Harry the Heir and be Lady of the Eyrie, and he tells her Sweetrobin will die, yet she doesn't put any of this together? That LF is using her to do his dirty business and that if shit hits the fan he might blame her? Like she doesn't even contemplate any of this. Sansa is wilfully ignorant, forcibly blind to everything that disrupts her daydream worldview of fairy tales and romantic songs and valiant knights at the moment it seems, and I feel like this has just gotten worse since she left KL.

So yes, this is a far cry to Elizabeth I's observational skills and political accumum. And perhaps I would give Sansa the benefit of the doubt if this series was going to be longer than 7 books and if we didn't just see Sansa's willful ignorance get even worse in her sample chapter in book 6/7. Not to mention, Sansa has no leadership qualities or skills at this point in the books either. She's not a leader but a follower. So how does this translate to her becoming an endgame Queen REGNANT and someone equal to Queen Elizabeth I? It doesn't. Sansa is a lady, not a ruling queen. Perhaps one day she could be a ruling lady of a castle, but unless Sansa has major character and political growth in TWOW, that also culminates in her gaining her own autonomy and becoming more proactive and more of a critical thinker, I doubt she would be ruling lady of a castle at the end of the series unless there is a epilogue that spans years. Don't get me wrong, I really, really hope Sansa gets some amazing growth in the next two books, but considering there are only 2 books left and a ton of other characters and plots, I'm not sure that type of growth will happen. Also there is nothing wrong with Sansa's story if she doesn't become some ruling lady or a queen regnant. Sansa has never expressed wanting to be either of those things. Sansa wanting to becoming queen consort in AGOT is not the same as wanting to be queen regnant, and truthfully I think Sansa would be the type of character who wouldn't want to do something "a man is supposed to do" considering she's good with the status quo. I think the most important ending for Sansa is one where she is finally safe and relatively content and/or happy, and what makes Sansa happy is planning and attending splendid events like tourney's and feasts, and what she wants the most is to marry for love and have her own family. I don't understand why so many of her fans don't want this too, but then again these people think Sansa is in some kind of competition with Arya and Dany. *rolls eyes* They seem to think that Sansa has to win it all and become the main female character, but just because she's not going to become a ruler in the end doesn't mean her entire story and character is pointless and it won't be.

But it's like I said in the link, Sansa and Elizabeth I do share some parallels, but none of those parallels have anything to do with queendom or being a good ruler or even politics. When it comes to personality, they are absolutely nothing alike, in fact I think Sansa would disdain Elizabeth for not being passive and for ruling "like a man" and for refusing to marry and have an heir. And when it comes to education and intelligence and political accumum Elizabeth outstrips Sansa by miles and miles. Elizabeth I was pretty much a damn genius and knew how to employ the common touch. She was beloved by her people for listening and mingling with her subjects, lowborn and highborn alike. I can't think of anything Sansa would hate more than doing this. As I mentioned in the link, if anything Elizabeth's personality and political skills and intelligence is more on par with Dany and Arya if we are strictly speaking of main female POV characters, and not Sansa, at least not book canon Sansa. But then again, these people believe that their made up fanon versions of Sansa are the real deal. And since I know what they believe fanon Sansa is, my only guess is that if they think fanon Sansa is anything like Elizabeth I, then they really don't know anything about Queen Elizabeth I.

Hi! I was watching a video about Lady Stoneheart the other day, and it basically theorised about the Frey massacre done by Arya in the show possibly being LS’s plot in TWOW, which would make more sense since she’s in the Riverlands right now with the Brotherhood and Arya is in Essos. They also made the connection with Arya executing Littlefinger and reasoned that it would be LS the one who would kill him in the books. Do you think it will go this way or that it will be Sansa the one to kill him? I like the concept of Catelyn avenging both Robb (by killing the Freys) and Ned (by killing Littlefinger), but I also have the fantasy of Jeyne Poole reuniting with Sansa and killing him together. What are your thoughts on this?

i agree that the frey massacre is lady stoneheart’s work but i don’t think she will go to winterfell where littlefinger will be killed. i think she will be laid to rest in the riverlands as catelyn. littlefinger’s death will be at the hands of sansa, arya and jeyne poole. 2 of them already have a connection to littlefinger and arya is actually the one who is most like catelyn (and she looks just like the men littlefinger has hated his entire life) so it makes sense for catelyn’s heir to execute him for his many crimes against humanity. though i wouldn’t be surprised if the execution is carried out by jon. the whole family coming together to deal with an enemy.

hi i was wondering if you would be interested in making a meta on the differences between show!sansa and book!sansa bc i know they changed a lot of her storyline but i don't understand why everyone hates on sophie turner? it can be short or inexistent meta if you're not up to it but i would be very interested to know what you have to say

I mean, the differences between the two are pretty simple. After season 4, D&D decided to cut Sansa’s book storyline, and replaced it with their own rewrite. This affected the plots of multiple characters, particularly Show!Theon’s and Show!Jon’s, but most of all, Show!Sansa’s, obviously. George himself has spoken on how much he hated what the show did with Sansa. He said in 2014 that he had “no idea what they were doing with Sansa or where they’re taking her storyline.”

I could go episode by episode and point out everything that’s wrong or is out of character, but it’s kind of useless. The show did not adapt books 4 & 5, it’s as simple as that, everything is different and feels like it’s out of character. For the first 4 seasons, I thought that Sansa’s story was handled fine (I haven’t watched GOT seasons 1-4 in over 4 years, so my memory is a bit foggy on the specifics tho). Sophie Turner isn’t exactly how I picture Sansa to look, but her acting was fantastic, especially for someone so young and for her first television role.

I personally haven’t seen people “hating on Sophie Turner”, but I’m not involved in the GOT side of tumblr, only the ASOIAF side, so I don’t see people talk about the actors that much. I do know that there are people in fandom (not just in the GOT fandom but in fandom in general) who will conflate actors with their characters. I have seen some toxic Show!Sansa stans do this with Show!Dany and Emilia Clarke (mostly last year). It seems to be more of a problem with female characters and actresses (‘cause sexism), and I think it’s really creepy and disturbing. Sophie Turner is not Sansa, so if anyone is “hating on her” because they didn’t like how the show changed Sansa’s story, that’s really fucked up. I don’t know much about the GOT cast, actually, I rarely watched interviews or behind-the-scenes videos. I don’t know if Sophie Turner has said that she likes the show’s ending or something like that, so if that was the case I could see people being critical of her opinion. But even if she did like the ending of the show and the way the writers changed her character after season 4, I still don’t think you should hate on an actor for that. Because the actors didn’t make the show, the showrunners did. It’s not on the actors to get everything right about their characters, it’s on the writers and directors to tell them the story and guide them through their acting. I don’t blame the actors for anything about GOT (no one should), I blame the writers.

What I find is the biggest problem about post-season 4 Sansa is how little regard they had for her character, while simultaneously claiming she was their favorite. I believe their exact quote was “Sansa was the character we cared about more than anyone”. Okay… then why did you cut her storyline? I feel like their whole “she’s our favorite character” act was more to try to defend against the criticism of the cutting of her storyline. What bothers me most is how they just casually threw her into the Ramsay plotline without thinking at all about what that meant. If you’re going to have one of the main characters of the show get serially raped, you need to think about what you’re doing and how to handle that horrific situation. In the books, the Jeyne Poole storyline is handled very carefully. The acts committed by Ramsay against Jeyne and Theon are never really shown, only implied, alluded to, or very briefly described. The show, on the other hand, explicitly showed Theon’s torture scenes, and made Ramsay a much bigger character in seasons 5 & 6 than he is in the books. I feel like they just used him for shock value, because so much of Game of Thrones revolved around shock value and in-the-moment reactions. I think they just saw Ramsay as a character they could turn into Joffrey 2.0, which is why they put Sansa with him. They didn’t care to follow Sansa’s book arc, they just wanted to continue the whole “caged-bird” thing with her, for shock value.

And to deflect against criticism, that’s why they made her so smart and powerful in the final few seasons. There’s next-to-no build up, no character development, no focus on her growth, the show just tells us that Sansa is the smartest character, and the audience is expected to agree. Because D&D did not care about showing her development. There’s a line in season 7, when Sansa and Arya kill Littlefinger, where Sansa says “thank you for all of your lessons, Lord Baelish.” And that immediately stuck out to me, because that sounds like something Book!Sansa would say. The show cut out Sansa’s Vale storyline, where she spends much more time with Littlefinger, and so… what “lessons” is Show!Sansa referring to here? They didn’t spend a lot of time together in the show. I do think that Sansa will defeat Littlefinger in the books, so that line makes sense for Book!Sansa.

What they did was cut Sansa’s storyline, throw her into a horrific situation that they used for shock value, and then expected to be praised when they made her a “girlboss” later on. They basically said “hey, we know we essentially erased this character’s arc and development, but at least we did a feminism, right?” And that’s what really pisses me off. The blatant disregard for female characters, then saying “no, we do care about them! Believe us!”

Lindsay Ellis has a really good video called “Woke Disney” that touches on this. Basically, she talks about how Disney’s recent live action remakes tend to make each of the princesses a “#girlboss” in a very corporate, fake-feminist manner that is very easy to see right through. (I recommend just watching the video, she goes more in-depth into the subject.)

A similar thing occurred with GOT (the show only had one female writer after season 4, by the way, who was a staff writer for season 8. And before that, only 4 episodes were written by a woman). D&D wrote a lot of problematic, misogynistic, homophobic, and racist things. Then they tried to cover that up with (to use a line from Ms. Ellis) a coat of #girlboss paint. For example, I remember after s8e3 (when Arya killed the Night King) came out, that was when the big criticism for season 8 really started. People saw how bad the writing of that episode was, and how ridiculous and anti-climactic it all felt. However, when people criticized the manner in which the Night King was killed (i.e. saying that it would have made more narrative sense for Jon to do it instead of Arya), there was another group of people who called that criticism sexist. “That’s sexist! You’re just upset that a girl did it instead of a guy!” Which… ugh... do I need to explain how idiotic that line of reasoning is?

And that’s kind of how the HBO show tried to get away with its misogyny, not just the misogyny of Dany’s ending, but of the whole show in general. “Look, we can’t be misogynistic, we had Arya kill the Night King! Look, we can’t be misogynistic, we had Sansa become a #girlboss!” Bullshit, you’re just trying to hide your sexism and bad writing behind a facade of fake feminism.

… *sigh* ...

Anyway, nothing but love for Book!Sansa, and nothing but hate for the writers of Game of Thrones. I hate how the show turned Sansa into a very polarizing character, when she shouldn’t be. None of the child characters of ASOIAF should be polarizing, they’re children for fucks sake.

I’m very excited to see where GRRM takes Sansa’s character in TWOW, I feel like she’s got an awesome journey coming up (hopefully involving her discovering her skinchanging powers, taking down Littlefinger, and heading north for home). 

Uh, wow, this got really long… and I’m exhausted after thinking about the sh*w that much. Here, as a treat for reading all the way down to the bottom, have a Sansa WIP drawing that I haven’t finished yet:

Smarter Than You

Pairing: Ramsay Bolton x Reader // Words: 1587 // Ao3 Link

You heard him come in last night. He thudded around and hit the wall once. You also heard him moan in pain. You knew it was pain too. He hadn’t had a girlfriend in years. No woman could stand him for longer than five minutes.

Except you.

You lived among other college students in a mishmash house where the rent was spilt evenly among everyone. Your best friend, Jeyne Poole, called it the ‘Snow Lodge’ because everyone who lived there was from the North. You had seven other roommates including Jeyne, but the one you were interested in the most was the one who seemed to be there the least.

Ramsay Bolton was a bastard in every sense of the term. He was rude to most people except whenever it benefitted him to be nice. His father and his mother never married. Mostly, he was one to show up to a party already drunk with a zippo lighter in hand.

While your roommates brushed him off, you couldn’t help but notice things about him. How he always paid rent on time and always had money despite him only having one part-time job. No one knew what his major was because no one shared classes with him. He always came in in the wee hours of the morning, moaning in pain.

He was hiding something.

This was the 3rd time this week he stumbled in at 4am. You kept count. Your shared bedroom was closest to the front door. You heard everyone stumble in.

“What are you doing?” you said to yourself. You had hints here and there. Christmas came and went, and Ramsay stayed here. Either he wasn’t welcome home for the holidays or he chose not to go. He had a terrible relationship with his family. Mother? No. Father who was a corporate man with high expectations? Yes.

He owned an absurd amount of violent video games. You weren’t sure if he was good at any of them, but it didn’t feed the anger inside of him. Your favorite tic about him was how he spoke to you.

“Excuse me.”

“Did you need this?”

“No. I don’t remember.”

Mundane sentences, but all of said in a soft voice. He never yelled at you. Never cursed at you or shown you aggression in any way. Why? Why of all people in the Snow Lodge? Why be soft to you?

It kept your mind racing during class all day. Your eyes looked at your phone. 3:30pm. Ramsay usually leaves for his job an hour from now. If you rushed home, you could get a small window of him. When you rushed home, you found him leaving early. He closed the backyard gate and walked down the alley.

Shit.

Wait.

You had an idea. It was a stupid idea. You started to follow him to work. You were a quiet thing. You rarely or made much fuss, you could wing this one thing. Ramsay walked into downtown where noise took over. Your cover was as good as yours. If you kept a certain distance behind him, he won’t notice you.

At least that’s what you thought.

You followed Ramsay onto Lucky 6 Street. Six bars were all next to each other on one convenient side. As far as you knew, Ramsay worked as a bartender in one of them. He swerved into an alleyway and you quickly sped up your pace. When you turned into the same alleyway, a pair of hands caught you and placed you against the wall.

“The fuck do you think you’re doing?” Ramsay asked you. You let out short breaths in his face. Ramsay snapped his fingers in your face. “Hello? Y/N. What are you doing?”

“I followed you.”

“I know. I can see that.”

“You knew?”

“Next time you’re following someone, maybe don’t wear you yellow sweater with our school logo on it,” Ramsay pointed to your sweater. “Wear darker colors so I won’t see you next time. I’ve been more than fair. What the fuck are you doing?”

You bit your lip. Your itching, psych major, troll brain open your mouth for you.

“You’re weird. More weird than usual. No one sees you in classes anymore. You don’t leave the house on vacations which makes me think your dad has stopped paying for you to go to school and you’re left on your own. Is that why you’re so angry? No. That’s not it. You haven’t been fired from your job. It takes a pretty level-headed person to be a bartender. You’re taking your anger out in other ways. But how? You come home every other night in pain. You owe someone. No, this is deeper. Something you’re invested in. You’re part of a gang. In exchange for your position, they’re helping you stay afloat.”

Ramsay started laughing. His chuckle echoed between the brick walls of the old, prohibition-aged buildings. It sounded genuine as if he hadn’t had a good laughter in months. His chest rose and fell quickly. Your heart skipped.

Ramsay’s laughter faded as his arm rested above you, making you feel smaller and smaller as his physical being took up your personal space.

“You’re smart. I’ll give you that,” Ramsay started. “You’re from a quiet, northern town where everyone’s business is your business. I know that because your nose is everywhere in our house. You listen to who’s hooking up with who, who came home last night, who didn’t. You’re a gossip because your own life is boring, right? Two married parents in the suburbs wasn’t exciting enough. So, you followed me, the grumpiest, meanest person you could find, and for what? So you can prove to yourself that you’re capable of danger?”

Ramsay tucked a wisp of hair behind your ear.

“You have no clue. Go home, sweetheart,” Ramsay backed away, but you grabbed his arm first. He winced and glared.

“No,” you told him. “I don’t need your permission to be here. I can handle myself.”

“I told you. You don’t know what you’re getting into.”

“And I’m telling you I’m smarter than you think.”

Ramsay laughed again. “You think you’re smarter than me?”

“I know I’m smarter than you,” you smiled. You had better grades than he did. You studied harder. You were on a faster track to graduate earlier than most. Ramsay put one hand on each side of your head. You couldn’t escape him easily this time around. His attention zeroed in on you.

“If you really think you’re smarter than me, prove it.”

You heard the wind whip through downtown and it lifted your hair. The silence became louder than the noise of the city. It was almost too much to bear. Ramsay’s face closed in on yours. His neutral face and continued silence made your skin itch with something malicious. You heard his sneakers move closer to your being.

His index finger traced your jaw and stopped at your chin. He tilted it towards him. The whites of his eyes became too much. You found yourself losing all sense of self in his blue pupils. Swimming in a sea where monsters hid just below the surface. Still, you would tell people that it was you. You kissed him first. You grabbed him down there first. Ramsay didn’t hypnotize or persuade you. You chose him.

His hands slipped under your shirt and pulled at your wait, bringing you just behind a dumpster in the alley. Your mouth got your fill of his own. He filled your mouth with his tongue over and over again, hoping to dig deeper into you. His hand fondled your chest. He knead it in circular motions.

Your hand went in his pants.

“Oh, eager girl,” Ramsay said. “How long have you wanted me, huh? Months?”

With his member in your hand, you pleasured him. You could see his exposed skin and the veins popping out on his member. He was getting hard fast.

“How long have you wanted me?” you asked.

“Mmm, cheeky. Careful now, I wouldn’t be so cocky.” Ramsay stopped you and turned you around. He dragged down your pants and lined himself up with you. “I knew you hid your pretty little ass with all of those baggy clothes of yours. C’mere.”

Ramsay penetrated you and it felt rough. You weren’t wet all the way, but it didn’t matter. He was already inside of you. His hands kept a good grip as he fucked you from behind. He grabbed onto your sweater after a few moments, and you understood why. The collar pulled at your neck when he pulled, choking you.

Your breath grew shorter and shorter as his dick grew harder and harder inside. He filled you with it. Ramsay pulled your hair up. Leaving you in an awkward position in front of the dumpster. You heard the people crossing the alleyway, but no one came closer.

“Do you want them to see you like this? Is that the kind of danger you want, huh?” Ramsay smiled in your ear. He kept fucking you until you felt him pull out suddenly. His seed split on the wet, dirty ground. You started to fix yourself up until Ramsay brought you close to him.

“Fight club,” he said. “I’m not part of a gang or a mob. I fight in an illegal fight club. They pay me a lot to beat the shit out of anyone they put in front of me.”

“Oh,” you reacted. “So—

“Careful,” Ramsay interrupted. “I like you. Don’t push me further.”

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So did grrm tell d&d the ending of the series at the start of s5? If that’s the case does the fact that d&d exclude characters, prophecy, and other development show in that season show all these things won’t matter in the end? Or is it possible that d&d changed ending of characters to fit with the show or “subvert expectation”? Like there was a article that said Jorah was going to live and deal with the whole dany thing? So I guess I’m asking if we can believe this is the true ending or not

I wouldn’t take this ending to mean anything, to be honest. D&D’s conception of “right from the books” is Olly stabbing Jon, you know? Or Ramsay raping Sansa. And Martin has also spoken a number of times about how he strongly disagreed with their decisions to cut some characters, such as Jeyne Poole and Lady Stoneheart.

From what I know, at the end of S4 D&D sat down with Martin and got a very, very detailed outline about character fates. I don’t think what they cherry picked from there was done with the intent of throwing fans off, but more so it’s just what they found interesting, and you know...creatively it made the most sense because they wanted it to happen. Along the way, they pulled idiotic things in the name of shocking the audience, since that’s what (sort of) popularized them (and the reason they’re always pointing to Red Wedding reaction videos as being so amazing).

Then it was...end of Season 5 that they gave the timeline, with the details of S7&8 being shorter and split coming a bit later. I’m going to assume that also affected their “plan”.

Anyway, what does it mean for something to matter? We can all agree fAegon is likely not going to be the endgame king (and frankly an endgame survivor is dubious), but does blithely cutting him influence the story? Of course it does: https://www.thefandomentals.com/game-of-thrones-aegon/ .

Most of all, I just don’t see D&D holding anything particularly sacred. They do whatever the hell they like best, and their interpretation and portrayal of what actually has happened in the books has been consistently inverted in a lot of places too. So frankly, there’s no “true” ending to be gleaned at all. The show is the show and the books are the books.

Fifty Shades of Snow

Jon x Sansa | AO3 Link | Sansa doesn’t know how to deal with how much she likes rough sex. And especially not how much she likes it with Jon

The first time is in an abandoned hall of Sansa’s parents house during a cocktail party, the sound of music and tinkling laughter in the other room faint, light flickering under the door on the far side of the hall as Jon pins her hands over her head, his dark eyes watching as she pants and groans and squirms against his fingers inside her, wanting more, needing more, whimpering for more, and when she peaks it’s arching on those fingers.

Only then does Jon kiss her, hard and bruising, tongue shoved in her mouth, drinks the groan his fingers rip from her as she comes again and again and again.

---

The first time Sansa’s mind is warm and fuzzy and she giggles as she nearly trips on her four inch heels and Jon has to reach out to grab her elbow as they walk down the dark of the hallway. “You’re drunk,” he says with a faint grin, lips twitching, “Sansa you’re so drunk right now.”

Sansa rolls her eyes and pulls away, nearly tripping again. She rights herself and sips at her gin and coke, gives Jon a withering look over the rim of the glass. Growing up she’d never given him a second look mostly because she’d never given him a first. It’s hard not to now though, not to notice how effortlessly handsome he is in his black slacks and jacket, the top few buttons of his clean white shirt dress shirt undone. Stubble shadows his jaw, so unlike Joffrey’s clean cheeks, and maybe that and the fact she actually is a little tipsy is why she says, “I watched the video on your laptop.”

“What video?” Jon quirks an eyebrow. “And when were you on my laptop?”

“I needed Arya’s flight information and you don’t have a password on it.” She drains the gin and coke and gives Jon another withering look. “Which is incredibly dumb. It’s the twenty first century. And you know which video. The one you forgot to put in your porn folder.”

Jon’s eyes dip in a slow blink, and Sansa finds herself strangely disappointed by his lack of reaction. “You are drunk,” he says.

“So?” Sansa leans back against the wall, tilts her chin up in a silent challenge. “Is that what you’re into? Tying girls up? Is that what gets you off?”

Jon blinks again, still maddeningly unreactive. “What do you care?”

Sansa shrugs carelessly, like she doesn’t. “I don’t. I just thought you were better than that. I thought you were a good guy.”

Somehow without moving Jon’s eyes are suddenly different, unreadable, pools of black even in the flickering light leaking out from the door at the end of the hall. “No you didn’t,” he says softly.

Sansa bites the inside of her cheek and looks down the hall, the words ringing truer than she likes. From the first moment Robb first dragged Jon back home with him like some stray off the street Sansa had always been the least enthusiastic of her siblings in welcoming him. It wasn’t that she disliked Jon exactly, but they’d never been close: her life cotillions with Margaery and summer houses with Jeyne and family vacations in the south of France that didn’t have a place for her brother’s brooding charity case friend.

Sansa shifts against the wall, well aware of what it does to the dress she’s wearing, how the slinky material will drape over her legs. She has good legs she knows, long and tapered and smooth, the only perk of being taller in heels than most men. Joffrey had hated that, had always made her wear flats so she didn’t embarrass him, made her feel tall and ungainly. Not that it was the only thing he’d made her feel freakish for, not the only thing that had made his lip curl in that sneering way of his when he called her slut or whore or bitch.

Isn’t that why you stayed with him so long, though? Because he knew just how little you were worth? A voice deep in Sansa whispers. Or was it because you wanted to be treated like that, needed to be treated like that, craved being treated like that.

Shame wells sharp and sick in Sansa’s stomach, and she lifts her chin higher. “You still haven’t answered. Is that what you’re into, Jon? Tying girls up and making them beg for your dick? Calling them names and making their mascara runs?” She giggles, not sure why’s she taunting him or what she hopes to accomplish, whether she wants Jon to step closer or walk away. “God, how tiny must your dick be if that’s what it takes to get it hard, Jon. I watched the whole thing, you know, the part where he slapped her at the end and told her to thank him. It was gross.”

Jon tilts his head to the side, and Sansa bites her tongue. It had just slipped out, tongue loose with gin, and there’s no taking it back now. I watched the whole thing. She jerks her head away. “It’s gross,” she mutters to the empty hall, “disgusting.”

Silence stretches between them, the only sound the tinkle of conversation and music at the far end of the hall. Sansa keeps her gaze firmly on the flicker of light under the door, refusing to look at Jon. Since she’s been old enough to know what it it Sansa’s known all porn is disgusting and degrading to women, the kind of thing a girl who had been raised right would never glance at much less watch. It’s gross that Jon watches it at all, much less the specific video he had, but Sansa’s heart is beating faster than it should, thumping painfully in her chest, her cheeks flushed and burning, and she doesn’t know why: doesn’t know what she’s waiting for.

She isn’t drunk, not really, but she wishes she was. It would make it easier: easier not to hate herself for how her skin prickles at the thought of Jon grabbing her like the man in the video and pushing her against the wall, shove her legs apart, snarl in her ear to be a good little slut for him. If she was drunk in the morning she could blame it on the alcohol, pretend she’d given into what he wanted and not what made her toss and turn in the dark the night before until she’d eventually given in and slipped a hand between her legs to find herself already wet.

And just as Sansa’s made up her mind she’s going to walk away, to chalk it all up to too much gin and pretend this never happened, Jon steps forward. His cologne is faint as he takes the empty glass from her and carefully places it on a side table before reaching up and fisting his fingers in the back of her hair. She shudders, a bone deep shiver that makes her knees weak as he pulls her head back, careless of how she’s taller than him, of how she’s wearing a dress that costs more than his rent, of how she’s senator Ned Stark’s little girl who men have always lusted after but been too scared to touch like this. His breath whispers against her exposed throat, a wolf before its kill, as he says soft and dangerous, “tell me to stop.”

She doesn’t.

---

The second time’s a month later in the apartment she shares with Margaery. Margaery’s out on a date with the latest hedge fund manager she has wrapped around her little finger, their place empty for the night, and Sansa’s a quarter of the way through a bottle of wine before she breaks down and texts Jon: come over.

She pours and downs another glass, and just as she’s sure Jon’s not going to text back, that he must’ve gone to sleep early, her phone chirps. Why?

Sansa chews her bottom lip. They don’t text. Not really. Not unless it’s a groupchat with the rest of her siblings or an emergency. I’m bored, she eventually taps out like this isn’t strange, like they’re friends, like she has any right to his attention. Come save me.

A long moment, then three jumping dots before he texts back. I’m on a date.

Trust Jon-eternally-fucking-single-Snow to be on a date tonight of all nights. What’s her name? Sansa texts back, and tells herself she doesn’t care even a little.

Val.

Going to get lucky?

Maybe. I like her.

Who says she likes you?

Me.

Simple. Short. Confident. Sansa chews her lip, hating everything about herself in that moment, wishing she could just put her phone down and walk away like she should. But her skin is flushed and cheeks hot, and a restless energy tingling through her arms and legs.

Just come over, she eventually taps out. Margaery’s out and I’m all on my own.

It’s the most she can say. The most she can ask. The most the darling daughter of senator Ned Stark can text without shattering the image she’s so carefully crafted for herself of the perfect young woman who's the apple of society’s eye. That girl had been raised right. Had been raised by her mother to be strong and confident. That girl might dress up in lingerie on a special occasion for a long time boyfriend, might try a pair of fuzzy pink handcuffs to appease him, might even giggle while getting spanked a few times.

But that girl doesn’t crave more, doesn’t crave being hurt or helpless or shown her place in the most degrading ways possible, doesn’t crave the sharp edge of panic as a belt is cinched tight around her windpipe. Doesn’t have an endless well of shame and self loathing when she thinks of what she wants, of what she’d let men do to her. That girl doesn’t play with herself every night for the last month at the idea of Jon pushing her to her knees and fisting his fingers in her hair, doesn’t arch and pant and groan against her mattress at the thought of him looping his belt around her throat, doesn’t bite her tongue to keep from moaning loud enough to wake Margaery at the thought of him snarling in her ear what a dumb little slut she is as he shoves into her from behind.

Sansa stares at her phone, heart thumping against her ribcage as seconds slip by without an answer. Then, finally, three jumping dots.

Give me a half hour.

---

The second time Jon slides his belt off and loops it around her wrists, cinches them tight behind her back and throws her onto her bed. She whimpers and pushes back, hating the layers of clothes between her and the hardness in his jeans, but his calloused hand closes around the back of her neck in a grip that makes her shudder, helpless as a kitten grabbed by the scruff of its neck. He shoves her cheek into the mattress and with his other hand pushes her legs apart.

And then he takes his time. His grip on the back of her neck keeps her pinned and helpless as his fingers rub agonizingly slow circles around her clit. He slides one finger and then another into her until she’s rocking her hips back with each thrust of his fingers, moaning into the mattress words she’d never admit to in the light of day, that she’ll do whatever he wants, that she’ll be his good little slut, his good little whore, that he can do whatever he wants to her, just let her have it, please, use her, own her, hurt her, please Jon, please-

Only when her words have turned to wordless groans does she hear his zipper rasp down. His hand fists in the back of her hair and he yanks her up, arches her against him. His other hand follows the curve of her hips and waist and ribs, fingertips whispering maddeningly light as he traces and invisible line. “You’re being such a good girl for me, Sansa,” he murmurs, words soft and dangerous, voice shivering against her skin, “aren’t you?”

Sansa nods frantically. She rocks back on the hard shape of him against her ass, the heat of him, unable to do more than let out a wordless, mewling whine. She needs him in her, filling her, needs it more than she’s ever needed anything in her life, needs him to reduce her to a single keening need.

His hand unclenches from her hair and he wraps it around her throat, sound dimming and pulse pounding in her ears as he tightens his fingers, pulls her tight against the hard lines of his body behind her, presses his lips to the curve of her ear, voice just as soft and dangerous and skin tingling as before. “Don’t come until I tell you.”

---

Afterwards Jon slips his belt from her wrists and draws her to him, strangely gentle, as though she were a half drowned kitten. It doesn’t make any sense after what he’s just done to her, the way he was just shoving into her, but instinctively Sansa curls into him, into the warmth of his chest and safety of his arms. Joffrey had never held her after they had sex, always sneered at how clingy she was, lip curling back if she tried to lay her head on his chest or curl up beside him. The memory should make her shrink away from Jon now, fill her with a bone deep shame, but the instinct is faraway and fuzzy and it’s hard for Sansa to think about anything but the feel of his chest, his arms tight around her, the musk of him in her nose, the gentle sift of his fingers through her hair, hard for her to want anything but for this warm safe moment to never end.

But it does, snapping in two like brittle ice as Margaery’s keys jangle at the door. Sansa’s heart leaps into her throat and she pushes away from Jon, scrambles out of bed and frantically gathers their clothes from the floor and shoves his towards him, hisses at him to get dressed.

Something passes over Jon’s face as he takes his clothes from her, some emotion Sansa can’t place, something almost bitter. But just as soon as it’s there it’s gone and Sansa leans out from her door frame, smiles at Margaery, and asks her how her date went just like she has a hundred times, light and breezy and with a faint air of disinterest because senator Stark’s daughter didn’t date around like Margaery Tyrell, didn’t fill trashy tabloids with her sexual exploits.

The look that flashed over Jon’s face stays with Sansa as Margaery rolls her eyes and chats for a minute before saying she’s heading to bed. She doesn’t understand the look, doesn’t understand Jon. But she understands Sansa Stark. The senator’s daughter, the socialite, the confident young woman who she’s so carefully and painstakingly crafted. And that girl didn’t ache to be used. Hurt. Abused. Not by Jon Snow.

And if her heart throbs in her throat when she glances at Jon still out of sight on her bed, an ache like a day old bruise she doesn’t understand, she’ll simply bury that in the dark empty place inside her she shoves down everything that girl isn’t.

George's thoughts on the end of GoT

The last night, the last show.   After eight epic seasons, HBO’s GAME OF THRONES series has come to an end.

It is hard to believe it is over, if truth be told.   The years have gone past in the blink of an eye.  Can it really have been more than a decade since my manager Vince Gerardis set up a meeting at the Palm in LA, and I sat down for the first time with David Benioff and D.B. Weiss for a lunch that lasted well past dinner?  I asked them if they knew who Jon Snow’s mother was.   Fortunately, they did.

That was how it started.  It ended last night.

I had no clue, that afternoon at the Palm, that I was about to embark on a journey that would change my life.   I had optioned books and stories for television and film before.  Some had even been made   There was no way to know that this one was going to be different, that this pilot would not only be shot,  but would go on to become the most successful show in the history of HBO, win a record number of Emmy Awards, become the most popular (and most pirated) show in the world, and transform a group of talented but largely unknown actors into major celebrities and stars.   Even less did I imagine that Iwould somehow become a celebrity as well… and if truth be told, I’m still not sure how that happened.

It has been a wild ride, to say the least.

I want to thank people, but there are so many.   There were forty-two cast members at the season eight premiere in New York City, and that wasn’t even all of them.   And the crew, though less visible than the cast, were no less important.  We had some amazing people working on this show, as all those Emmys bear witness.   David & Dan assembled a championship team.   The directors were incredible as well.   I should start naming names, but then I’d miss someone, there were so many.   But I do need to mention David Benioff, Dan Weiss, Bryan Cogman (the third head of the dragon, as I said in the recent VANITY FAIR piece about him), and of course the great team at HBO, headed by Richard Plepler.   Any other network, and GAME OF THRONES would not have been what it became.  Most other networks, this series never gets made at all.

I could go on and on… and have, as I’ve been writing this post in my head… but there’s really too much to say.   Parting is such sweet sorrow, the Bard wrote.  In the weeks and months to come, I may post about some of my favorite moments from the making of this show… now and again, when I am feeling nostalgic… but just now, there are so many memories, and no time to do them all justice.

Let me say this much — last night was an ending, but it was also a beginning.   Nobody is retiring any time soon.   David and Dan are going on to STAR WARS and other projects beyond that.   Amazon scooped up Bryan Cogman, and put him to work on developing shows of his own, as well as helping out on their big Tolkien project.   Our brilliant cast has scattered to the four winds, but you’ll be seeing a lot of them in the years to come, in all manner of television shows and movies.   Our directors are keeping busy as well.   I suspect that you have not seen the last of Westeros on your television sets either, but I guess that all depends on how some of these successor shows turn out.

And me?  I’m still here, and I’m still busy.    As a producer, I’ve got five shows in development at HBO (some having nothing whatsoever to do with the world of Westeros), two at Hulu, one on the History Channel.   I’m involved with a number of feature projects, some based upon my own stories and books, some on material created by others.   There are these short films I am hoping to make, adaptations of classic stories by one of the most brilliant, quirky, and original writers our genre has ever produced.   I’ve consulted on a video game out of Japan.   And then there’s Meow Wolf…

And I’m writing.   Winter is coming, I told you, long ago… and so it is.   THE WINDS OF WINTER is very late, I know, I know, but it will be done.  I won’t say when, I’ve tried that before, only to burn you all and jinx myself… but I will finish it, and then will come A DREAM OF SPRING.

How will it all end? I hear people asking.   The same ending as the show?  Different?

Well… yes.  And no.  And yes.   And no.   And yes.   And no.   And yes.

I am working in a very different medium than David and Dan, never forget.   They had eight hours for this final season.   I expect these last two books of mine will fill 3000 manuscript pages between them before I’m done… and if more pages and chapters and scenes are needed, I’ll add them.   And of course the butterfly effect will be at work as well; those of you who follow this Not A Blog will know that I’ve been talking about that since season one.   There are characters who never made it onto the screen at all, and others who died in the show but still live in the books… so if nothing else, the readers will learn what happened to Jeyne Poole, Lady Stoneheart, Penny and her pig, Skahaz Shavepate, Arianne Martell, Darkstar, Victarion Greyjoy, Ser Garlan the Gallant, Aegon VI, and a myriad of other characters both great and small that viewers of the show never had the chance to meet.   And yes, there will be unicorns… of a sort…

Book or show, which will be the “real” ending?   It’s a silly question.   How many children did Scarlett O’Hara have?

How about this?  I’ll write it.   You read it.  Then everyone can make up their own mind, and argue about it on the internet.

Source

Another submission today:

No one is saying that you should think that they’re the best writers. I think that their work pretty much speaks for itself. Y'all called 7x06 trash and it won an award for best direction. Same with season 7. Won the biggest Emmy for the year. People who claim Emilia can’t act were bitter because she won some prestigious award for acting. Not saying you do these things, but the same people who shit on D&D also shit on the actors.

You can criticize without being nasty. The “Dumb and Dumber” thing is juvenile or calling them hacks or whatever vitriolic shit that people feel the need to spew. Fyi, Benioff is a great writer. He’s written critically acclaimed shit. Google it.

They are the middle men between the HBO execs and the fans. HBO wanted to extend the show to 10 seasons, but D&D stopped that because they know that quality is better than quantity. So many of the things that they’re criticised for are actually shitty because people like to focus on pendatic shit. For example the so called time travel has been there since day one. Catelyn travelled from KL to the Vale in one episode. A raven was sent to Stannis and it got to him in the next scene. Their biggest crime is overestimating some of their audience and thinking that they’ll appreciate the “show don’t tell” approach. 

So they made some changes. So what? It’s only the book readers who care about that shit and considering that many of those book readers swore with all their heart and Daenerys isn’t Jon’s type, they’re not the type of company that you should be proud of keeping. They’re clueless fucks who circlejerk to uncovering the mysteries of a fictional story and then end up being wrong years later. They’re the same people who claim that Jon is stealing Stannis’ plot.

David and Dan have the same bugdet that friends had almost two decades ago and look what they’re delivering to our screens. 

Fyi, they’ve been criticized since the very beginning of the show for not sticking to George’s vision only for George to come out this year and say that most of what happened in S7 was what he planned. Some so called mistakes and plotholes aren’t that at all. Like the chains for Viserion. If people weren’t blind with nerd rage, they would have seen that the Night King shot him down close to a dock that was buried in snow and that dock had chains. The time it took Dany to arrive was ambiguous. They put in a lot of time and effort to make it as close to perfect as possible. It’s not their fault that GRRM couldn’t keep his word and finish the books on time.

There’s no difference between some of y'all and the star wars fans who shit on Kathleen Kennedy for making some changes on the movies. Entitled, bratty, ungrateful fans. Thank God it’s almost over. Unfortunately, the prequels are here and the pretentious book readers are already complaining because of the casting descriptions.

Also, being a woman doesn’t excuse you from being a decent human being. Most of Daenerys’ thoughts are in her head in the book. Unless you wanted a voice over, there’s no way that they would have been able to convey her thoughts. Even with her thoughts, pov and other POVs of her character where people see how great she is, she was one of the most hated characters amongst book readers so you can’t blame D&D for that. Watching reaction videos should tell you all you need to know about how people see her. Even without reading about her compassion, viewers are drawn to her.

Finally, Daenerys is a fictional character no matter how wonderful and amazing she is, she’s not real. The people who work on the show are. It is messed up to focus on what you perceive to be their fuck ups. If people did that to you, you’d never grow

I’m so confused, Dan Weiss, is that you?? I’m half convinced this is Dan Weiss.

1) I’m not a pedantic book reader. I’ve said many times I started with Season 1 of the show, then read the books, then continued with the show as it aired. I’ve never pretended to be a book-expert. There are many of them here and on Reddit and Westeros.org and in the comments sections of Geroge’s Not a Blog but I’ve always admitted my knowledge of the entire WOIAF is limited to a once through read of the books and the show. I’ve certainly never pretended to know the series any better than anyone else.

2) I’ve stuck up for decisions made by D&D PLENTY of times. I got a lot of shit in inbox from anons when I wrote a post defending (or suspending judgement) on their choice to have Sansa replace Jeyne Poole in the Ramsay-Winterfell-rape plot which is decidedly their most controversial decision that was not a matter that wasn’t out of their hands, like network things.

And I’ve defended other storylines from them as well - the wight hunt mission, I’ve talked extensively about how it would have happened any way you slice the story so it wasn’t a “dumb” D&D idea, I’ve talked about their filming & casting limitations and how it’s a result of location and availability and not anything to do with the actual race of the extras in scenes, I’ve talked about how I definitely think Dany will burn the Khals in the books, just as she did in the show, defending that plot, I’ve talked about things I love in terms of book vs show - Battle of Blackwater, Robb&Talisa, how Season 6 is unarguably the best season of Game of Thrones and it’s the one that had to go completely off books because they had surpassed what George had already written, I’ve talked about how I’m glad they left Lady Stoneheart out of the story because I thought it would have cheapened Catelyn’s death and the impact of Jon’s resurrection, I’ve talked about how I like that they changed scenes like Dany’s wedding night and the Jaime/Cersei sex scene next to Joffrey’s body in the Sept because in the books the nature of the ambiguity of “consent” is ridiculous and D&D choosing to present those scenes as rape made it easier for the audience to see what was actually going on vs the books which leave it open to question whether the victims are actually victims, I’ve talked about how I like they aged Missandei up so that Daenerys could have an actual friend as opposed to young Missandei in the books who’s dependent on her and sees her as a mother figure, I’ve praised the show for making Dany more mature when it comes to her relationship with Daario, I’ve talked about how I love Shae and Sansa’s relationship in the show and how they humanized Shae and made her a more lovable character, I’ve praised the show for setting Tyrion and Dany together sooner than in the books because the Tyrion ruling Meereen in Dany’s absence plot worked really well, I’ve defended their depiction of the Jonerys romance to Jonsa and Jonerys shippers alike who say it was rushed or poorly done and praised the way they so closely stuck to both Jon and Dany’s character....so many others, I forget them all.

3) I’ve never called D&D “Dumb and Dumber” or any other rude names and I usually refrain from using insults like that on my entire blog. I also usually refrain from reblogging posts that contain language like that because it’s childish and really insulting.

4) Just because someone’s writing or something is “critically acclaimed” doesn’t mean really anything. Critics nowadays are widely acknowledged as being “out of touch” with the times and the nature of story-telling as a whole and many industry people also admit this - Why do you think the Oscars wanted to include that “Outstanding Popular Film” category for the coming year? So not sure what David Benioff’s critically acclaimed other work has to do with anything.

5) I’ve never really criticized D&D for their plot lines or storytelling as a whole. I think I’ve only pointed out plot holes only twice - once about Jon receiving Tyrion’s raven before Sam’s even though Sam’s was sent an entire episode before Tyrion’s and once about Jon telling Tormund Dany would only fight beside them if he bent the knee when the entire Wight Hunt mission was so Dany could fight beside them and he hadn’t bent the knee.

Aside from that, I’ve never criticized their story choices as they deviate from GRRM.

I’ve criticized their portrayal of women - especially Dany but really women as a whole - throughout the story and I don’t think I need to defend my criticism for that. It’s a HUGE deal.

Because here’s the thing - story changes made by D&D...don’t really matter. They’ve said plenty of times the show will end just as the books will end so I’m happy to tag along with their journey because I know they’ll stay faithful to George’s vision in that respect and I’ve defended them to other fans in this regards.

But when they CONTINUALLY make decisions that cast female characters in a much harsher light than their book counterparts and cast male characters in much better light than their book counterparts, I’m not going to defend that! I’m not going to sit idly by and just pretend I’m okay with that.

If it were one or two isolated incidences, it would be nothing. But that’s not the case. This is a pattern repeated time and time again throughout the entire series. This isn’t a network thing, this isn’t even about “you can’t please everyone.” This is blatant sexism, regardless of whether that was their intention or not.

Just now looking at the IMDB page for GOT, I noticed they’ve only had TWO women work in writing aspects for the show for a total of 4 episodes. The rest were written exclusively by men. Also, only ONE female director has directed a total of 4 episodes throughout the series.

Now I know, as someone who is a film minor and one day wants to work in the industry, that the film and television industry as a whole, is very lacking when it comes to representing women and that’s unfortunate. So it’s not entirely their fault. They just fell into the pattern of the industry.

But again, when it comes to sticking to George’s original dialogue or creating their own, the times they’ve opted to create their own frequently results negatively for female characters...or when a female character’s lines are given to a male character making the man appear the brilliant one in the scene.

I’m really curious to know if this anon is a man or woman...or Dan Weiss. Not that it changes anything but perhaps it’s the reason you’ve yet to either notice the sexism in the writing or just don’t see it as such a big deal.

Yes, these are all fictional characters and the people behind the show are real people.

But the people who watch the show are real people too. And while again, I know there is no possible way for D&D to please every single member of their audience, the least they could do is approach their writing from a more neutral standpoint or, you know, just fucking hire a full-time woman to co-write episodes with.

However, it’s too late for that. The show is finished. There’s no changing what’s already been made.

So I will be here, continuing to defend a female character that wouldn’t need nearly as much defending, had she been translated onto the screen properly and not through a biased lens.

Love your Jeyne Poole video.

"Whatever you do, keep your hands clean" I'm paraphrasing here but this quote made me think of Jeyne. I think that's how Littlefinger is going to try rationalise it when Sansa confronts him/what he's done is brought to light. He wasn't one of the men in the brothel, he was just fulfilling a demand! (ugh) He didn't abuse her, that was Ramsay - he was just giving what the Boltons wanted. And it's going to to condemn him. Good riddance.

Thank you! And totes agree, his pedo creeper obsession with molding Sansa into his fantasy woman is going to completely backfire because if he tries to run his game on her when she finds out what happened to Jeyne, she's going to know he's full of shit. It'll be GREAT

asoiaf for the looooong list of fandom questions?

Top 5 favourite characters: Theon, Cersei, Sansa, Jaime, RobbOther characters you like: Myrcella, Tyrion, Renly, Loras, Tyene Sand (in the books), Jeyne Poole, Asha, Rickon…Least favourite characters: Ned, Daenerys, Jon, Catelyn, Arya, Trystane… Otps: Throbb, Jaime x Cersei, Renlas/Lorenly, Theyne, Sansa x Harrold, Theonsa (only in the show), Jon x Val, Robbcella Notps: Everyone knows that j/b Favourite friendships: Throbb if it counts despite being also otp, Jeyne and Sansa, Loras and Tommen, Tyene and Arianne, Jaime and Tyrion, Cersei and Teana, Renly and MargaeryFavourite family: The Lannisters!Favourite episodes: I don’t know. Most of my favourite ones are in the first/second season but are scenes and not entire episodes usually. Favourite season/book/movie: For the season, the first and the second while for the books A Feast for Crows, I guess (I mean, I finished it in a couple of days when I read it for the first time so I suppose it’s my favourite one).Favourite quotes: Either “When you play the game of thrones you win or you die” or “Power is power”. I also like “There are ghosts in Winterfell and I am one of them” because… my heart 3Best musical moment: *wipes tears* The Rains of Castamere in THAT episodeMoment that made you fangirl/boy the hardest: Theon and Sansa/Jeyne jumping from the walls of WinterfellWhen it really disappointed you: My wonderful kings’ deaths (Robb and Renly’s). In the show, the confirmation of L+R mostly because I’m still in denial and, in my mind, Jon is Ned and Ashara’s son and because of that thing that d&d have done.Saddest moment: Next question, please. There are too many. Most well done character death: Ned’s Favourite guest star: ED SHEERAN!Favourite cast member: Lena Headey, Richard Madden, Alfie Allen.Character you wish was still alive: ROBB AND RENLY IN THE BOOKS! Myrcella and Loras as well in the show.One thing you hope really happens: Cersei’s pregnancy is real and she gives birth to a beautiful blonde child with emerald eyes. In the books, Myrcella Queen on the Iron ThroneMost shocking twist: Ned’s death. When did you start watching/reading?: The summer after season 5 aired. Best animal/creature: The direwolves! I want a direwolf Favourite location: Horn Hill. I have no idea where that castle is but I have to visit it because it’s so beautiful Trope you wish they would stop using: Danny set on fire everyone as her father did. And Arya killing everyone just because she has a listOne thing this show/book/film does better than others: The show ruined this deciding some characters were most important than others (I understand that it’s difficult to follow hundreds of sls and plots but still) but mostly the fact that every story has its space and is well written and everything is well balanced. Funniest moments: idekCouple you would like to see: I’d like to see more of Sansa and Harrold hoping he won’t turn into a psycho or an asshole. Actor/Actress you want to join the cast: I don’t know, but someone who could play Val.Favourite outfit: Cersei’s red one in season 3.Favourite item: Cersei and Myrcella’s necklace Do you own anything related to this show/book/film?: The golden lion pendant, two Greyjoys necklaces, a necklace with the series logo, two Cersei’s funko pops, short-haired Jaime’s funko pop, the battle of the bastards funko pop, grey wind and lady plush. (aaaaand that’s everything, I guess) EDIT: I forgot something of course. I own also a Greyjoy sweater, a Greyjoy and a Lannister t-shirt and the A Game of Toys t-shirtWhat house/team/group/friendship group/family/race etc would you be in?: The Lannister because of the gold and… Well, have you seen Jaime? I’m joking, I’m joking!Most boring plotline: Arya in Braavos.Most laughably bad moment: ser Dantos thing during Joffrey’s nameday Best flashback/flashfoward if any: Cersei’s prophecy. Most layered character: THEON! Jaime and Cersei.Most one dimensional character: Arya in the show, in the books I don’t think there’s one… I may not like some of them but they are all somehow layered.Scariest moment: In the show, both when Jaime was riding toward Drogon and when the Night King destroyed the Wall because I didn’t want Jaime to die and I’m terribly worried that one between Beric and Tormund actually died and no, please, no!Grossest moment: Theon’s tortures and Sam curing Jorah of the GreyscaleBest looking male: I suppose I’ll give you the shorter list possible but I’m cutting people off because they are too many… Jaime, Robb, Theon, Loras, Oberyn, Jorah, Daario (I don’t like him as a character but he’s hot, ok?), Beric, Tormund, show!Ramsay. For the physical descriptions in the books also Harrold and book!Joffrey.Best looking female: CERSEI!Who you’re crushing on (if any): Jaime and Theon, I think. Favourite cast moment: I loved Emilia’s last video and I will always love Lena interview with Kimmel. And also the Rolling Stones photoshoot of Lena, Emilia, Alfie and Kit. Favourite transportation: Horses, I love horse riding. Most beautiful scene (scenery/shot wise): Jaime kisses Cersei after that she tells him she’s pregnant! I like others too but this is my favourite one. In the books, when Theon and Jeyne run from Winterfell. (I should read what it’s writen in the brackets, lol. Viseryon destoying the Wall)Unanswered question/continuity issue/plot error that bugs you: if Jon is a real targaryen, why did he burnt his hand when he killed the wight? (I mean I know how Viserys die but it was the exception very likely so… I’ll always be confused about that)Best promo: the one with the sigils, I loved it.At what point did you fall in love with this show/book: I’ve binge-watched the series and once I have finished it I needed the books so I guess I fall in love with it during the first season.

The show handled the Winterfell rape infinitely better than the books. Which made the brutal torture and rape of Jeyne all about Theon. And forced it on a character few readers actually cared about or identified with. And Sophie Turner did the best she could in interviews. You don't magically become capable of handling the topic because you turn 18. People aren't angry about rape being used as a trivial way to prop up a man they are angry the show refused to take that route.

Going to answer your points out of order.

1)  About ST being an adult and her ability to make public commentary on handling a sensitive, real world subject.  Here’s the thing…  if I admit I’m uninformed about a topic but I make public statements lecturing other people on that topic, I deserve to get called out on it.  That’s what being an adult is.  You have to own your words and actions, 18 or 88.  I would not have blamed her if she had decided to not speak on it, but she was a chief defender of that scene.  D&D, middle-aged men, certainly avoided speaking about it and it was shitty that they let a young adult run interference for their decisions.  It’s not that ST is responsible for not “automatically” obtaining wisdom and insight at 18.  It’s readily volunteering to publically criticize people who reasonably questioned why this “had to” take place when she stated her knowledge was limited.  She was chastising them for somehow taking away from talking about sexual assault in real life, as if how that is presented in media has no bearing on real life or has no place in the “real” conversation.  Look, I’m not saying she deserved to be crucified over it.  I’m saying it was a jackass, uninformed thing to say that no one forced her to make.  She’s a big girl and can take her lumps just like any other adult.     

2)  I have never heard one person say they were upset they didn’t make this more about Theon’s development.  I don’t know how you concluded this was why people were upset.  If you recall, the camera actually fixated quite a long time on Theon’s face, leading many people to think “Oh my God, they are making this about how it affects Theon.”  Actually that unintentional (and unfortunate) decision came when the director just liked how Alfie Allen was reacting in the background.  If they didn’t want to focus on Sophie’s face, they could have chose some object in the room to focus on instead or cut to black much earlier.  So yeah there was a level of thoughtlessness there to how it was shot and the final cut, which does not support the idea of the show handling it well.

3)  Exactly how did the show handle this better when no one can logically explain why Sansa “had to” be in Winterfell to begin with?  Littlefinger gives her a bizarre, vague pep talk about “avenging” her family through marrying Ramsey Bolton.  LF lso gives away his prize pawn for literally nothing in return for his character.  Sansa decides to go along with this without questioning how exactly she is supposed to “avenge” her family.  How does legitimizing through marriage the usurper’s claim to Winterfell supposed to give Sansa the advantage?  None of this made any sense.  It was a completely forced plot to get Sansa in the position to be raped by the big bad.  Did we need the scene for the audience to discover how monstrous Ramsey really is?  No.  We already knew he was a rapist and sadist through Theon well before this happened.  Oh btw, how does the show handle Theon’s trauma from being (implied) raped, tortured, and sexually mutilated?  Take every opportunity to make him a joke.  Yes, they handle it so much better.  I have interview quotes from D&D here in this post stating their thinking behind using “painful experience” to make Sansa badass, which is the core of the rape-revenge trope.  I would highly recommended the breakdown videos of @knightsinquisitor for all of D&D’s decisions compiled from interviews and dvd commentary.  Specifically:

If @knightsinquisitor has anything to add, please feel free.

4)  As for the book handling of Jeyne’s story and rape in general, there’s some criticisms I agree with and some I don’t.  One thing is for certain, I have a clear understanding of the logical chain of events that led to Jeyne being in Winterfell.  Theon may be the witness in his POV to Jeyne’s story, but I don’t find it makes her story all about him.  No more than telling Sandor’s story through Arya and Sansa’s POV makes it all about the girls.  I cannot speak for all readers in how much they care about Jeyne Poole, but I haven’t found anyone who wasn’t sympathetic to her story since the purging of the Stark men in KL.  Littlefinger is 100% responsible for her situation.  He assisted with the Stark downfall which killed her father, he sent her to a brothel, then he sent her to WF to impersonate Arya.  She’s a key component of the plot there.  We have the northern houses rallying for last stand against the Boltons and Freys “for Ned’s little girl.”  We have the rescue mission attempt by Mance Rayder and the spearwives.  Theon is agrees to help, but he’s not the major actor here.  So no, I don’t see how George is making it all about Theon.  Jeyne is still alive and many readers reasonably speculate that she could be the key witness that brings down LF permanently.  Learning Jeyne’s story may be the tipping point that motivates Sansa to execute LF, because as of now she still believes he saved her life.  She doesn’t know that he orchestrated everything.  Whatever happens, Jeyne is still alive and in play for a reason. So she may have started as relatively minor, but it does look like her story has major ripple effects.  People are coming to her aid and are bent on raining down justice on the Boltons.  

The show handling is a cheap imitation of all these plot intricacies.  How did Sansa’s rape affect the Northern plot in the show?  Did the North rally for her and seek justice?  Hell no.  It’s not like what Ramsay was doing was a secret.  Worse, Sansa had to go crawling back to LF to ask him to bring the KotV.  Lyanna Mormont mocks her for a forced marriage to Tyrion and her nightmare marriage to Ramsay.  I cannot see, for the life of me, how I am supposed to consider this better treatment.           

IMHO, Aemon is the best option for Jon's Targaryan name. Its all there. The foreshadowing, the connections and the parallels to the past. And it would just be plain dumb for Rheagar to name his second son Aegon, right? But why would the show change that?? Its such a big reveal! It would be too different than the books! (Once they're finished...) Like leaving out Lady Stoneheart? Like shortening Sansa's Vale storyline and replacing Jeyne Poole? Like leaving out the mysterious Aegon sub plot entirely?? D&DB could very well have made Jon's name Aegon as a call out to the forgotten Aegon subplot from the books. A lot of book readers assume since Aegon's subplot is gone from the show, then he must be a faker. He must not be important and necessary. He's a red herring. I mean, Aegon exists in the show, only to be mentioned that he died during the sack of Kings Landing by Gregor Clegane. Which means HBO canon is that, yes, Rheagar named his two sons Aegon. Which is dumb. But it's been so long since a mention of baby Aegon, did D&DB hope that casual viewers wouldnt notice? Did the idea of "replacing" the idea of book!Aegon with Jon overcome the idea of Aegon still being born? Is this only a shout out to disgruntled book readers? "Yeah, we know that there is this HUGE SUBPLOT missing, but look! Jon's got the name! Look at our little meta secret that we all can enjoy! ;) " Unless this is literally what GRRM has planned. But why? GRRM seems to use his family trees and history to leave hints about the present - has there ever been a father who has given two of his sons the same name? What is the precedent for this? Did instead Lyanna name him Aegon? Is there some sort of importance for the prophecy for him to be called Aegon? "The Dragon must have three heads - but two of them must be named Aegon." I mean, is there any reason Aegon the babe had displeased Rheagar somehow, for him to "try again" with another baby. Was he starting over *completely* with Lyanna?? Was he planning on having 2 more children with her? Completely abandoning his children with Elia and renouncing them absolutely? Was he hoping they would die and he could just start over with Aegon 2.0? Well that worked out so well. If someone can explain to me please, or point me in the direction of some metas or videos, what possible reason Rheagar would have for naming his second son Aegon, too (ha, Aegon2), I would like to see it. Because right now I feel like it is a badly thought out misdirection for the sake of GRRMs impending books or a meta wink to book readers. I've seen more outrage at the name reveal than "aaaahhhh, makes sense." I might just he having a dense moment and missing some information in all of this.