This Site Is An AMAZING Resource For Writing Canon ASOIAF. It Lets You Look Up Any Word To See If It

"Do you support Israel?"

I don't know - what do you mean by "support Israel"?

Do I support Israel's current war in Gaza? No.

Do I support Israel's right to get its citizens back? Yes.

Do I support Israel's settlements in the West Bank? No.

Do I support Israel's right to exist? Yes.

Do I support Israel's current government and leaders? No.

Do I support Israel's right to defend itself? Yes.

So I dunno, do I "support" Israel or not? What about Palestine?

Do I support reparations for Palestinians in the West Bank? Yes.

Do I support Hamas? No.

Do I support Palestinians in Gaza being free from war? Yes.

Do I support Hamas' violence against Israeli citizens? No.

Do I support Palestine's right to exist? Yes.

And then there's this...

Do I support the destruction of Israel? No.

Do I support the destruction of Palestine? No.

Do I support a world where Israelis don't fear death? Yes.

Do I support a world where Palestinians don't fear death? Yes.

The only way to achieve actual peace in the region is to support peace between Israel and Palestine. You cannot get this if you destroy Israel OR Palestine.

all RIGHT:

Why You're Writing Medieval (and Medieval-Coded) Women Wrong: A RANT

(Or, For the Love of God, People, Stop Pretending Victorian Style Gender Roles Applied to All of History)

This is a problem I see alllll over the place - I'll be reading a medieval-coded book and the women will be told they aren't allowed to fight or learn or work, that they are only supposed to get married, keep house and have babies, &c &c.

If I point this out ppl will be like "yes but there was misogyny back then! women were treated terribly!" and OK. Stop right there.

By & large, what we as a culture think of as misogyny & patriarchy is the expression prevalent in Victorian times - not medieval. (And NO, this is not me blaming Victorians for their theme park version of "medieval history". This is me blaming 21st century people for being ignorant & refusing to do their homework).

Yes, there was misogyny in medieval times, but 1) in many ways it was actually markedly less severe than Victorian misogyny, tyvm - and 2) it was of a quite different type. (Disclaimer: I am speaking specifically of Frankish, Western European medieval women rather than those in other parts of the world. This applies to a lesser extent in Byzantium and I am still learning about women in the medieval Islamic world.)

So, here are the 2 vital things to remember about women when writing medieval or medieval-coded societies

FIRST. Where in Victorian times the primary axes of prejudice were gender and race - so that a male labourer had more rights than a female of the higher classes, and a middle class white man would be treated with more respect than an African or Indian dignitary - In medieval times, the primary axis of prejudice was, overwhelmingly, class. Thus, Frankish crusader knights arguably felt more solidarity with their Muslim opponents of knightly status, than they did their own peasants. Faith and age were also medieval axes of prejudice - children and young people were exploited ruthlessly, sent into war or marriage at 15 (boys) or 12 (girls). Gender was less important.

What this meant was that a medieval woman could expect - indeed demand - to be treated more or less the same way the men of her class were. Where no ancient legal obstacle existed, such as Salic law, a king's daughter could and did expect to rule, even after marriage.

Women of the knightly class could & did arm & fight - something that required a MASSIVE outlay of money, which was obviously at their discretion & disposal. See: Sichelgaita, Isabel de Conches, the unnamed women fighting in armour as knights during the Third Crusade, as recorded by Muslim chroniclers.

Tolkien's Eowyn is a great example of this medieval attitude to class trumping race: complaining that she's being told not to fight, she stresses her class: "I am of the house of Eorl & not a serving woman". She claims her rights, not as a woman, but as a member of the warrior class and the ruling family. Similarly in Renaissance Venice a doge protested the practice which saw 80% of noble women locked into convents for life: if these had been men they would have been "born to command & govern the world". Their class ought to have exempted them from discrimination on the basis of sex.

So, tip #1 for writing medieval women: remember that their class always outweighed their gender. They might be subordinate to the men within their own class, but not to those below.

SECOND. Whereas Victorians saw women's highest calling as marriage & children - the "angel in the house" ennobling & improving their men on a spiritual but rarely practical level - Medievals by contrast prized virginity/celibacy above marriage, seeing it as a way for women to transcend their sex. Often as nuns, saints, mystics; sometimes as warriors, queens, & ladies; always as businesswomen & merchants, women could & did forge their own paths in life

When Elizabeth I claimed to have "the heart & stomach of a king" & adopted the persona of the virgin queen, this was the norm she appealed to. Women could do things; they just had to prove they were Not Like Other Girls. By Elizabeth's time things were already changing: it was the Reformation that switched the ideal to marriage, & the Enlightenment that divorced femininity from reason, aggression & public life.

For more on this topic, read Katherine Hager's article "Endowed With Manly Courage: Medieval Perceptions of Women in Combat" on women who transcended gender to occupy a liminal space as warrior/virgin/saint.

So, tip #2: remember that for medieval women, wife and mother wasn't the ideal, virgin saint was the ideal. By proving yourself "not like other girls" you could gain significant autonomy & freedom.

Finally a bonus tip: if writing about medieval women, be sure to read writing on women's issues from the time so as to understand the terms in which these women spoke about & defended their ambitions. Start with Christine de Pisan.

I learned all this doing the reading for WATCHERS OF OUTREMER, my series of historical fantasy novels set in the medieval crusader states, which were dominated by strong medieval women! Book 5, THE HOUSE OF MOURNING (forthcoming 2023) will focus, to a greater extent than any other novel I've ever yet read or written, on the experience of women during the crusades - as warriors, captives, and political leaders. I can't wait to share it with you all!

I'm gonna need these people to stop mixing the book with the show because frankly not everybody has read the book but we have watched the show which clearly shows Alicent as a victim who's just trying to keep her children and herself safe and also shows rhaenyra being the stupidest targaryen woman to ever live, but because y'all wanna keep trying to make rhaenyra the saint in the whole situation and act like she can't do any wrong, y'all bring up the book because y'all know that if y'all didn't you would have to be forced to face the fact that you're all wrong about rhaenyra and that she is literally the person that y'all want Alicent to be

Here is your mission.

Don’t try defending this

This image shocks me immensely because of:

a) the horror and determination engraved on Alicent’s face

b) Heleana watching her mother defending (and holding onto) Aemond in the background.

I think that the incident at Driftmark had a different potency on each of Alicent’s kids, but especially upon Heleana it must have impressed the idea that “a mother fights for her child no matter what” and that she doesn’t stay silent.

I can only imagine how Heleana feels after B&C, but the sense of being unable to protect and stand up for her son must be devastating.

And further than that, Heleana must be repelled by the idea of being coerced and finally having chosen to sacrifice one of her own kids. She probably feels that she has failed as a mother. That unlike Alicent, she has no right to demand justice for Jaehaerys’ murder because she herself chose him over Maelor. Maybe she blames herself for not doing enough to save him (even if she offered up her own life instead of her children’s), and possibly compares her efforts to defend her children with Alicent’s defense of Aemond. In essence, she probably tragically feels that she offered up one of her children herself instead.

In any case, this is such a heartbreaking and unsettling position to be in and it makes the emotional and psychological toll she consequently suffered all the more unbearable, because even if she drew courage and strength from and tried to imitate her mother’s actions, nothing could have ever prepared her for this.

HEY GUYS!!

GUYS!!!

FRANCE HAS REACHED THE REQUIRED NUMBER OF SIGNATURES ON THE CITIZEN'S INITIATIVE AGAINST CONVERSION THERAPY IN THE EU!!

ONE COUNTRY DOWN, SIX TO GO!!

We also need still quite a few signatures in order to reach the one million required.

As to date, the six other countries with the most signatures are:

Spain - 38.72%

Finland - 30.31%

Ireland - 24.86%

Netherlands - 24.15%

Germany - 23.54%

Belgium - 23.09%

So yeah, still a long way to go, but we ARE slowly getting closer. Don't stop now! Don't let this stay within the community, either, if you have any friends or family who are open to queer rights, get them to sign, too!

Someone had to say it and I‘m so glad it didn‘t have to be me.

“I want Aemond Targaryen”

…bitch me too but that’s a really weird thing to say in front of your war council, there’s a time and a place for thirsting over your brother

Actually, you know what? This just pisses me off a bit too much to let slide. I know intelligence, integrity and antisemitism don‘t usually go together but you might remember how after a „valiant group of arabic freedom fighters“ by the name Al-Qaeda „targeted infrastructure and military targets“ on US soil, America alongside NATO allies invaded two seperate countries, one of which demonstrably had nothing to do with any of the previously mentioned „liberation effort“ and murdered approximately six times the number of civilians Israel has killed combatants and civilianscombined.

Also Gaza prior to October 7th had a very rapidly growing population, which usually is not an indication of a genocide going on. I can assure you Jewish population did not increase during the Holocaust.

It’s so funny seeing pro-israelis try to defend Israel with the excuse of ‘Israel protecting themselves’. or that it’s ‘Not Israel’s fault because Hamas is hiding with civilians’ etc etc.

Like please. The USA has managed to kill !THREE! leaders of terrorist groups without killing tens of thousands of innocent people. Turkey has killed ISIS militants and hit targets without killing tens of thousands of people.

They also prove how they’re completely ignorant how violent Israel has been towards Palestine before. This has been going on for way longer than October 7th 2023. There is absolutely NO justification for what Israel is doing. If you support genocide simply say so.

Random question do you know of any team green fics? I’m tired of running into fics that are villainizing everyone on the green team while saying oh Daemon is a good father, Rhaenarya is so right and justified for putting her illegitimate children on the throne. Aemond is jumping ships to team black for some random niece character who also can do no wrong and has a great dragon. Alicent is a bad mother and Criston is an incel also apparently Daeron doesn’t exist. I don’t know man I’m at my wits end I have been looking through AO3 for some decent fics and so far I have only really found like three. Sansa is reincarnated as Heleana fic, a child between Rhea Royce and Daemon Targaryen is out for revenge for Rhea’s murder at the hands of Daemon, and Alicent’s kids have had enough of Viserys and Rhaenarya’s bullshit and are now focusing on gaining great PR from the common people and the lords by actually running the kingdom. These are the ones that I found and everything else has been disappointing I know it’s Fanfic and it’s a hobby so I should be grateful that there is something but I’m kinda desperate to find something that has more substance. Do you have any recommendations?

I completely understand your frustration and I can relate! Finding good fics for any team green member is so hard.

Here's some of the good ones I've found:

criston x alicent, smutty, one shot archiveofourown.org/works/42319941

criston x alicent, two chapters long, a bit angsty, a lot of yearning archiveofourown.org/works/42055596

aemond and alicent, one shot, very sweet archiveofourown.org/works/42198003

alicent x criston, one shot, a bit angsty, the ending is so so sweet between alicent's kids archiveofourown.org/works/42339219

aegon one shot, really angsty archiveofourown.org/works/42491748

aemond x baratheon oc, multi-chapter https://archiveofourown.org/works/42378888/chapters/106422750

sansa is reincarnated into helaena, multi chapter archiveofourown.org/works/42130989

starts off really sweet but gets dark once the dance begins. aemond x oc wherein oc is helaena's friend. archiveofourown.org/works/41724126

alicole, multi-chapter, criston being the father that stepped up https://archiveofourown.org/works/42570909

criston and aemond its so so 🥹🥹🥹🥹 https://archiveofourown.org/works/42715350

alicole, one shot, post aemond being maimed by like a day archiveofourown.org/works/42340896

the aemond x alys one shot that was promised archiveofourown.org/works/42662460

aemond x oc, multi chapter, oc is dornish she is disabled and fat. tw for fatphobia and ableism archiveofourown.org/works/42781746

pro team green, multi chapter. not sure where its going but im liking it so far archiveofourown.org/works/42777264

alicole modern au, tooth rotting fluff 🫶🏼 archiveofourown.org/works/42769806

I'll post more that I find and tag them as 'team green fics'

Now, can you send me the links to the other fics you mentioned please 👀👀