the mistress witch from mcclure

there will lie my eldest daughter, sybell spicer, pg.

They had never understood each other, really, but she loved her best and that was one of the things that could not be untied.

Since I’ve already seen quite a few of the prominent ASOIAF ladies who show up in the first book/have made their TV appearance, I thought I’d do one for some of the S2 ladies. From left—Margaery Tyrell, Melisandre, Jeyne Westerling and Ygritte.

The first thing he asks when the fever breaks is where he is.

“The Crag,” she says, “if you remember—”

“Yes.” He is still sick, his face sweaty. She keeps an even distance, her motions precise, cutting between the spaces of the room. It is light in here. He thinks he can hear the sea.

“The Westerlands,” she says, “if you’ve forgotten.”

“Yes. Them.”

“You’re a long way from home,” she says, one eyebrow up. It is not quite as much of a challenge as before.

“I was lucky you were here.”

She leans down, brushes her hand against his forehead.

“Yes.”

fearisforthewinter:

He watches her pack up her things (she’s quick, he notes), and soon enough, she’s sitting on the back of a wagon and the horse is trotting away.

She’s looking at him with blatant scorn (he’s actually getting comfortably used to it), and it is then that Robb realizes something.  “You never told me where you’re from!” he shouts as he runs to keep pace with the wagon.

Jeyne blinks for a moment as he catches up, and she almost looks uneasy. Finally, “Volantis.”

His brows rise as he slows his run to a hasty stride. “You’re far from home. The soldier was lucky you were here.”

She smirks at that, and he finds that he rather likes it. “He was unlucky that you were.”

He stops mid-stride and stares at her, this strange young woman that he’s just met. It is her turn to raise her eyes (it seems to him like a challenge, almost), as if to say, it is your turn next in our game, sir.

Robb lets out a laugh. She shoots him a quizzical look and her eyebrows rise even higher than they had moments before. “Farewell, Jeyne.”

“Farewell, my king.”

He lets out another laugh and walks back to the camps. There is a smile on his face that he can’t seem to wipe off.

(via kirkwoodisinoregon)

Source: fearisforthewinter

I was wondering if you could explain why you love Jeyne Westerling so much. I thought she was alright when reading the books but she didn't really leave an impression on me beyond the fact that she married Robb. I would really like to love her character more, especially since I adore Oona! Thanks!

Anonymous

Well, this is kind of a mixed question for me. I don’t want to actively pretend that she’s anything she’s not in the books. I will admit I have different impressions than a lot of people who have read it because I watched the series/followed casting concurrently with reading the books, so my opinions aren’t *pure*, as it were. I have a lot of character impressions that don’t really match up with what I think they might be otherwise.

Do I love her in the books? No. Not exactly. Like I wanted to know her, definitely but I am not going to pretend she is a great character or anything because obviously, no. I’m not giving GRRM points for work he didn’t do. I do find it weird when people say oh, she is dull in the books or something like that because not knowing someone doesn’t make them dull and if we saw, say, Sansa for the same amount of time and through the same warped perspective I think she might come off similarly. So I don’t know whether I would have bothered to put in the level of time and investment I have now without knowing before I read that there would be payoff (Oona’s casting, the role being bigger in the series, etc.). Then again, I also love Elia Martell, so.

But I’ve written about how I think her space in the text is very promising before? Like, for example, that Maggy the Frog is her grandmother, I find that really fascinating (House Spicer curiosity to the max). And I felt really sorry for her because it just seemed like she had one of the worst lots in the books and everyone blamed her for the Red Wedding and I’ve got kind of an embarrassing habit of filling in other people’s gaps (I am NOT one of those people who thinks you need to do this to enjoy fiction, but it’s kind of a compulsion for me, whatever). I’m annoyed that she doesn’t get a space in the text because she strikes me as that she is someone who is thisclose to going off, though I’m not sure how that will be yet. Maybe I’m wrong. I hope I’m not, but you know.

Here are some previous thoughts:

http://siddals.tumblr.com/post/11638496545/bring-me-more-jeyne-thoughts-lets-bring-this-outside

So that’s what I kind of connected with, but it was more the spaces around her and the situation than her because we weren’t given that.

So no, I don’t think she’s all that great of a character but I think she could be. I feel sometimes like my stanning is somewhat deceptive, because it’s part “I want to know you” and in part anticipatory. Idk if you’ve read the recent set spoilers about her being a nurse in the camps but—

Hope this helped. Anyone else who is into this character want to give thoughts?

you’ve never been south of what blows off your mouth,
you will never understand, ever

on the television jeyne westerling

Okay, fandom, can we talk?

I’m aware the majority of the noise about the portrayal of Jeyne Westerling is taking place on other websites (I know it’s on w-i-c, I frankly haven’t had the nerve to go over to That Other Website) but I just feel like this is something we need to address anyway. I have a lot of thoughts about this and don’t know if this is anywhere near complete, but whatever.

So far, what we know about show!Jeyne (who I am going to take as a fleshed-out version of Jeyne Westerling, because I am pretty certain that is who she is) involves a lot of crossed wires and conflicting information. Based on the sources we have (none of which are confirmed), we know she may be calling herself “Lissa” or “Nissa”, though other sources cite her name as Jeyne, she may be a nurse, she is probably saying she is from Volantis (though it is uncertain whether she’s referring to her ethnicity or where she grew up), she probably has connections to the Crag and Rickard Karstark saw fit to toss racial and gendered epithets at her.

The only source I’ve seen referring to her actual personality (which you can read here), though unconfirmed, seems to paint her as strong and sympathetic. I’m sure fandom would hate her for that anyway, since the previous female characters who fit that mold (Catelyn and Ygritte come to mind) are often hated, but the image we’re getting is hardly traitorous-spy-slut-bitch. If that source is fake, and it’s entirely possible that it is, it leaves us at square one.

Square one being that we don’t know her.

Where are we getting ‘traitorous-spy-slut-bitch’ anyway? Concern about trusting the show to do right by a major WOC character is valid. The last prominent interracial relationship on this show was Daenerys and Drogo and they managed to turn a sometimes problematic relationship from the books into a ten-car pile up.

But a large portion of white dudebro fandom seems to think it’s impossible she could ever be anything else and frankly hate the idea that she might be. And they are not using any actual evidence to back this up. Her connection to the Red Wedding in the books is entirely unintentional and there’s not a shred of evidence to suggest that’s changed. And the speculation that Karstark might have some valid reason to say what he did is very iffy to me.

Sorry, did I say iffy? I meant bullshit.

Onionjulius did a great post yesterday breaking down Rickard Karstark and the various reasons why he is not particularly credible, which I suggest you read. Karstark is never meant to be a particularly sympathetic character and the notion that he suddenly is because he yells at Catelyn, That Evil Awful Bitch and uses racial slurs towards Jeyne, That Evil Slut Spy, is so transparent it’s laughable. Even if there were something off about Jeyne, it implies her crime is a. being a woman, b. being of non-Westerosi (code for ‘European’) descent and c. not knowing her proper place for either of these things. If that’s what you want to argue, be my guest but for the love of god, be honest about it, don’t try to pretend it means she’s done anything beyond that and prepare for the sensible portion of this fandom to slap you into oblivion. Because you’re fucking wrong.

I also find the people who say that book!Jeyne was white (even if they’re not condemning the fact that show!Jeyne is not) to be troubling. Her grandmother was a “maegi from the East” who is in all probability Maggy the Frog, the woman Cersei recalls meeting in AFFC. Even if Jeyne’s grandmother is not Maggy, though I know there are some white people (Valyria, etc.) in the East, Kevan Lannister’s tone about her and her “blood” did not suggest blonde-Targ-Valyrian to me. You’re welcome to argue that point, but it seems pretty evident the showrunners are on my side. What makes book!Jeyne ‘white’? The fact that Catelyn didn’t mention her race? That doesn’t mean anything. There may not have been stress put on her ethnicity in actual scenes with her (and how many of those were there?) but that doesn’t make her white. Clearly her ‘doubtful blood’ was enough for the Lannisters to decide she was subpar.

People seem to be assuming that book!Jeyne was pure, innocent, sweet and stupid, which is problematic anyway and then they take one look at Oona Chaplin’s headshot and decide she’s an evil spy. And they honestly don’t see what is wrong with this. Or they say Oona can’t possibly play a sympathetic character when she has, in fact, done so several times.

HERE’S A SUGGESTION.

I’ve seen people saying the ‘nationality’ change is to account for her accent, too.

This accent?

Nobody has to watch the Hour or go through her entire filmography to watch the show but for the love of god, the least they could do is not make stupid, unfounded, racist assumptions without actually doing their research.

There is nothing to suggest so far that the woman we’ve seen on this show might not be nervous and hesitant in front of her mother-in-law, that she might not cry when dragged in front of Jaime Lannister and forced to answer for traumatic events in her life, that she’s had sexual partners before Robb (and if she had, let’s go back to the fandom slut-shaming books, please). There were enough spaces in between book!Jeyne that making her present and giving her agency is just that. Provided the show doesn’t do something awful, the change in her personality will be that we know her, not that she is a different woman.

As for the person who compared her to Shae (and I love Shae), I’d love to see your list of reasons as to what these two women have in common. More than one. I’m waiting.

But Jeyne Westerling has always been hated. I understand your point and I do think it's ridiculous that people are now stupidly hating on Oona, but eh, I think you're taking this "race" thing too far. Jeyne has ALWAYS been generally hated by the fandom. :/

Anonymous

Hi, anon.

I know she has always been hated but it was in a very general kind of “oh, that stupid bitch caused the Red Wedding” way which is also gross but it is different. If you have been on w-i-c etc. there is very specific stuff where all of a sudden she is this evil temptress and they are specifically saying that Oona doesn’t “look” like she could play innocent or that they cast her to be sinister or now that she is evil because she is Oona even though they don’t know the character yet. People didn’t like the character (who was not white but perceived as white by much of fandom), because she was “stupid” and now they think she can’t even be that.

Or there are comments about how they must be *explaining* her accent when they haven’t even bothered to look up that in her major work so far, she was doing a fucking British accent. Or that she doesn’t look like someone Robb would break his vows for. Or that they had to have cast Oona because she looks evil or looks slutty or whatever.