Anonymous asked: I feel like GoT is darker than ASOIAF. Like, D&D saw how grim the world was in ASOIAF and just put that into a tv show. And as a result only bad things happen, and it just doesn't feel like Westeros and Essos as a result. A lot of bad shit happens in ASOIAF but I never get this utterly hopeless feeling from it. Probably cause characters like Sansa don't really let the grimness overtake them. I don't think I'm making sense. Sorry.

gotgifsandmusings:

kateofthecanals: No, you make total sense, and you’re right. ASOIAF IS dark, but there are moments of levity. There NEEDS to be, otherwise you just get sucked into this abyss of nihilism. With GoT, there’s almost no levity. It’s just relentless awfulness. And what’s worse, it’s predictable. Like, I knew the moment that Jaime and Myrcella hugged in the S5 finale that something awful was gonna happen, because happy moments are not allowed. Because D&D have to undercut every moment of levity and empowerment (see: “I’m Sansa Stark of Winterfell and you can’t frighten me”) with horribleness. And what’s so laughable is that they think this is “edgy”. But like I said, it’s just become predictable, and, quite frankly, boring. Can we also talk about everyone in Braavos being randomly shitty to Arya? I mean everyone. She gets shut out of the House of Black and White for…reasons. Dramatic reveal of Tom Wlaschiha’s face? On the streets she’s like, almost robbed or attacked or something before Disguised!Jaqen scares them off. Then in the House of Black and White, the Waif is just this horribly asshole to her, who never bothers to explain anything and just seems to be jealous of her because she’s in Jaqen’s favor (all women are catty, right?). And back out on the streets again, her only interactions are people catcalling her and asking for a piece of her clam, and then infiltrating a brothel that is apparently fine pulling young, innocent girls off the streets to be violated so that she can have an over-the-top kill with a guy that has an “I’m bad” sign hanging around his neck for all the nuance they told that with. What happened to being Cat of the Canals? Taking her mother’s name, working for Brusco, sharing a bed with his daughters, learning the language of the locals, knowing which courtesans will buy her oysters, calling out to Tagganaro and his trained seal… WHERE WAS ANY OF THAT? Braavos was just this grim terrible fucking place where everyone was miserable and shitty to Arya specifically. How does anyone care about this world at this point?? And, by the way, this was probably the most uplifting plotline.

And it’s not just levity, it’s kindness and nobility of spirit and shit like that that’s mysteriously gone missing from GoT. Moments of true heroism and tiny moments of basic human decency are all over ASoIaF. I mean, nobody’s marching through a blizzard with the express aim of rescuing Ned’s girl when Ned’s years dead now, it’s “honour gets you killed” and “poor Ned Stark, brave man, terrible judgment.” Show!Brienne’s picking on Pod for no damn reason, and definitely not defending war orphans in the Riverlands.

But there’s also how Sansa goes from comforting Tommen with the story of how princes Erryk and Arryk totally cried when tragedy struck to whispering to Joffrey “I saw you cry” (which, incidentally, reinforces the “boys don’t cry” mentality, so yay, bonus points for nasty patriarchal messages there), and from trying to deal with Sweetrobin kindly to just slapping the kid. Once Jon Snow warms up to someone, he’s willing to joke around a bit and smile - has anyone seen show!Jon laugh? Garlan Tyrell’s been left out completely, so he’s not there to cheer up either Tyrion or Sansa. Margaery’s tactic of winning over Tommen with kittens and genuine moral support became rape and abuse. Sandor Clegane robs a peasant rather than working for his keep. Jaime doesn’t make a point of behaving like the knights he idealised his his youth, distributing justice fairly, protecting a victim of crime, and keeping his word not to take up arms against Stark or Tully. Myrcella and Trystane are star-crossed lovers instead of a pair of kids having fun learning cyvasse together. There’s no Dany sparing her child hostages, no Barristan training up a group of former slaves as knights. There’s no Asha begging Theon to visit their mother while he’s in the area.

I’ve no doubt missed a whole bunch more. And, yeah, in GoT we get some noble gestures, but they usually come packaged with the string music of tragedy and buckets of red corn syrup or whatever the fuck they use for blood. It just feels like that whenever something nice happens in GoT, for whatever reason, it’s either stupid or doomed or both. And that is not how real life works.

ETA: No Maester Luwin saying that Hodor is not a toy. No Rickon trying to make friends after his family departs. No Manderly granddaughters making inspiring speeches about their loyalty to the Starks (and I bet there won’t be, either). No Mormont ladies supporting Catelyn after she frees Jaime. No Alys Karstark determined to make the best of her marriage to a man she doesn’t know and flirting with someone else entirely at her wedding. No Quentyn Martell who cares about his friends. No Edmure Tully making sure the smallfolk have shelter in Riverrun. No Brynden Tully going to the Arryn household out of compassion for his niece Lysa. Another five minutes thought, there. Yeah, I know, we could never have had all of this on TV, but people being decent to each other is the first to be culled. No matter how much drama it brings to the screen. (Looking at you, Manderlys!)