Team Sansa: My "The Winds of Winter" and Beyond Speculations

So, as the title states, this is going to be about my favourite She-Wolf of Winterfell, Sansa Stark. Now, to preface this, I am going to be mentioning things that will most likely fall into the category of "spoilers". I have no idea what the HBO show is doing with her character, and I've ceased watching the show in general because the quality has really gone down hill (and also for the extreme disrespect they showed Selmy). So this is going to be talking about the books, and I mean all of the books, including Alayne Stone's sample chapter of The Winds of Winter. If you don't want to know about any of that, then I suggest going elsewhere. Don't blame me.

Anyways, Sansa Stark for some reason is/was disliked at first by a majority of the fandom. I am aware of their reasonings, I'm just not sure that I understand why they feel that way. Sansa starts as, and feminism forgive me, the typical little girl trope. She lives for the stories of knights and heroes and princes and kings. She likes nice dresses and wearing hairstyles and being a lady. There is nothing wrong with this. There are many individuals who adore the same types of things growing up in our own world, and we do not condemn them. Sansa really just starts from a point of disillusioned innocence. Her father's friend, King of the Realm, visits and suddenly, one of her dreams comes true. She is betrothed to the heir to the kingdom and one day might be a Queen. She has no idea of Joffery's insanity, and having grown up dreaming of perfection and fantasies, I think it's completely acceptable when everything starts to go horrible wrong and she latches onto those fantasies for dear life. She never expected Joffery to be an insane murderer. Her entire outlook towards her situation changes the moment Lady is killed, and you can't convince me otherwise. It's subtle, in fact her entire evolution is incredibly subtle, but from that moment on she is acting. Be it acting through her imagined fantasy, or acting to save her own life, she starts playing the Game far earlier than anyone else in the series.

My faith in Sansa stems from the simple fact that she has survived. Most people casually refer to her as a pawn in other player's hands without fully looking back and considering that the pawn might be playing as well. If one pawn can be a player, can other players not be pawns? We see other people manipulating each other around and around in circles. Sansa keeps herself alive in an almost literal lion's den. Theon and the Boltons prove that you don't actually need the person in question to claim that they are alive. Jeyne Poole, who barely resembles Arya, is married off to Ramsey and no one disputes it. Joffery has no issue with flat out murdering others. He started the damn war by killing Ned Stark. He could have killed Sansa with no problem, and all Cersei would need was a baseborn red head to throw at the North along with Jeyne. But Sansa somehow worms her way through everything and manages to be kept around. This girl should have been killed ten times over, but not only has she lost her father, her betrothal to the King, her brothers and mother, her homeland, and is forced into marriage with Tyrion, but she manages to win the hearts of Sandor Clegane, the Tyrell's, unfortunately Littlefinger, and aids to the direct murder of Joffery in front of hundreds of witnesses and escapes. No one in this series could be this lucky, unless you count the "masterminds" of the series, Varys and Littlefinger, who consistently fuck everyone around them over still get the people they wrong to be the ones who apologize. Now I'll have another thing later probably about Littlefinger and his fuckery, but for now this is all about Sansa.

And yes, Sansa is still a scared little girl, but she's been through a ridiculous amount of trauma. I don't think the average person would be able to hold themselves together for so long. But Sansa remains often times composed, and again ALIVE. And I think Sansa's "scared little girl" aspect is what really prevents people from looking so closely at her, which is what I think GRRM expects. Sansa is even arguably going through a type of rebirth. She has escaped the place of her traumas and been given a new identity, which once cast aside, reveals Sansa anew.

Here's where things start to change and Sansa's evolution really starts to become noticeable. She is now living with Littlefinger as "Alayne Stone" (which I think is a funny parallel to her mom who is currently Lady Stoneheart), his bastard daughter, and Littlefinger intends on killing off Sweet Robin and marrying Alayne to Harry the Heir and then revealing her as Sansa and through possession of The Eyrie and the North, further cut off power to Kings Landing. But what are Sansa's plans. Well, in her last published chapters, we see her figuring out her situation. She is playing adoptive mother to little Robert and what I think is most important, working to plot with Littlefinger. She is going along with his plans, but she doesn't have to. Petyr has already made his attraction to her known. In the past, Petyr's love of Cat was his downfall and Sansa undoubtedly knows this story because it seems like everyone knows the story of little Petyr Balish the loser. And what has Sansa done in the past with someone's weakness? She almost succeeded in getting Joffery to kill himself at the battle of Blackwater. If others had not intervened to STOP Joffery from being a fucking moron, then Sansa's coercion would most likely have been successful. Additionally, she engaged in self deprecation to appease Joffery and get him to desire having her around, alive, to torment. She knew what would work on him, and I think now she knows what will work with Littlefinger.




This is where the spoilers and speculation territory are really going to begin. I think one of the best places to start with my speculations is to point out something about Littlefinger. In case you haven't been paying attention, Littlefinger sees Sansa as Cat Take 2. She's the reincarnation of Cat's youth and beauty when he loved her and now his creepy ass is 24/7 Sansa. A lot of it's in the background but it's pretty easy to deduce what's going on. Knowing this, do you really think that he's going to be content with having Sansa marry someone who isn't himself and just stay that way? He's already murdered Lysa and is plotting to kill little Robert, so that when Sansa marries Harry the Heir, there will be no questions about who is in charge of The Eyrie. If something was to happen to Harry, then it would belong to Sansa and any child had by her and Harry which I'm pretty sure Littlefinger would have no issue in snuffing out. He could probably then marry Sansa for himself. Lets not forget that Littlefinger has Harrenhal as well. While there's not really anyone there at the moment, it is in a pretty prime spot between The Eyrie and The Riverlands. The Riverlands are in a bit of turmoil at the moment, but there are Tully's there who may see an opportunity for revenge if they see Lady Catelynn's daughter just across the way. The Riverlands, Harrenhal's region, and The Eyrie would create a blockade between the North and the South of Westeros. There is also the savage wolf pack near the Riverlands as well as Jaime and Brienne who may be out for vengeance towards the Frey's, so the Twins could potentially be added to that lot, almost completely taking The Neck. And then there's the question of The North. While I personally think that Stannis will return to The Wall and not remain at Winterfell, there's the question of who is going to be loyal to Stannis if he wins the Battle of Ice (which I speculate that he shall win). The Manderly's have already made moves to obtain Rickon Stark from Skagos via Davos, but will those Stark loyalists support Sansa? I think they might, especially if she arrives on the scene with all of this power backing her.

An issue with this is the fact that Sansa is a woman and women are not generally seen as the "rulers" of an area, but rather a place holder until they do marry. This doesn't mean that she wouldn't be able to lead any banners in the Stark name, because I'm sure many of her father's bannermen would see their sons as prospective husbands to Sansa and making themselves the ruling family of the North and maybe whatever other areas Sansa has claim too (which maybe she could get Harrenhal if she married Petyr). But useless men aside, there's another battle getting ready to brew in The Winds of Winter. Dorne is on its way to King's Landing, and for the Dornish, the oldest child is the one who gets the throne, which leaves the North to Sansa depending on what happens. Additionally, I doubt Dany and her dragon squad are going to require a king once she finally lands in Westeros, so that line of thinking may be completely thrown out of the window very soon. But I'm talking like Sansa won't have a husband, even though I already said that Littlefinger is clearly not going to let her go. And that's where we revisit the point I made earlier about Sansa using the way Joffery thought to manipulate him to his death (even though she was thwarted). Depending on how utterly stupidly in love she can make Petyr (which we see her practicing on Harry in terms of sexuality) she can probably get him to do something incredibly reckless that will lead to his ultimate demise at the hand of his perfect auburn haired dream girl.

From there on, I do think Sansa will make it through to A Dream of Spring. I think, as she's been shown to mirroring the Mother of the Seven, that she'll be the opposite of Cersei's attempted Queen regent as she takes care of Sweet Robin (if he survives) and Rickon (if he is able to get off Skagos). Whether she meets someone and marries them or if she remains alone and caring for what's left of her family in what's left of her home, I think at least she's going to survive and at least have plans to make for the North where her home is. Maybe they'll end on a cliffhanger of her heading up despite it being winter, or if she opts to hold somewhere else, dreaming of spring, so that she can return and rebuild, that's ultimately where I see her. Of course, the books are not done and all of this could be entirely wrong, but I am a Sansa fan. In fact there are few characters that I hate. I'm sorry if you're blind and just hate Sansa but that's your own deal, and I doubt I'm offending you by speculating that she'll really just unify and further devastate the South before retiring to a quiet life.

Book Talk: Naomi

I have recently found myself on a binge of old Japanese novels and came across one of the stories that inspired my work a great a deal. The novel is called "Naomi" by Tanizaki. To briefly summarize it before going into more detail, Naomi is story about a man named Joji who sees the titular Naomi working as a hostess. He is overwhelmed by her "Eurasian" features and befriends her before moving her in with him and eventually marrying her. Along the way he is forced to come to terms with the fact that Naomi is more than a face, and his inability to raise a child has created a destructive human being who uses him to live an extravagant lifestyle.

One of the key points of the novel centers around the Pre WWII obsession Japanese society had with Western customs. While the book mocks the Japanese' obsession, it oddly parallels the modern fetishism of Asian ethnicity. Joji finds general uninterest with Japanese society, idolizing the Western movie stars and their extravagance in contrast to his very traditional surroundings. His obsessions cause him to target in on a young girl working as a hostest in a cafe simply due to her looks. Specifically, he believes her to look like Mary Pickford (Madame Butterfly, Ben Hur) and finds extreme fascination with how her name is spelled the same as the Western name Naomi (Note: The Japanese name is said "Nah-oh-mii" as opposed to the English "Nay-oh-mii", with most Japanese spellings utilizing the character for "beauty"  while in English and Hebrew it means "pleasantness". Both of which have meaning in terms of Naomi herself).

Joji slowly befriends the girl and upon learning of her life of poverty, he asks her family if he may foster Naomi and send her to English and music lessons and rear her to be a socialite. The parents, happy to have one less mouth around, agree to the fostering. Joji tries to create a dream world where he can lavish Naomi with gifts while monitoring her growth and behaviour in a manner that is outstandingly creepy. After taking Naomi to the beach, he becomes more and more obsessed with the 15 year old girl's body and takes to washing it every night in the tub and recording diaries about her physical developments. He encourages her do whatever she wishes and to create her own fashions to set her apart from the"drab Japanese" and catch the eyes of the Westernized socialites, and repeatedly has his delusions crumble before him when he does get to compare Naomi in person with these individuals and finds that she does not measure up to them at all. His biggest disappointment comes when he tries to teach her English. It is unknown whether Naomi has a learning problem or simply knows that she'll get anything she wants regardless so she doesn't even bother, but she does not seem to grasp anything Joji teaches her (despite the fact that her English tutor insists that she performs well in lessons). Joji decides that Naomi is stupid and will never mix with the Western intellectuals. He then turns his focus on cultivating her body rather than her mind, which he has given up as a lost cause. Though Joji's narrations present Naomi as being dismissive of his attitude towards her intellect, her actions make it clear that she is not only highly intelligent, but that she intends to use this against Joji as time passes. Eventually, once Naomi turns 16, the two profess their love for each other and secretly go through the customs to become married. Not wanting their marriage public, they carry on "living like friends". Naomi begins to trash the house and refuses to do any chores, forcing Joji to hire several maids. She also refuses to cook and orders out all of her meals. Joji tolerates all of this, until he catches her talking with a boy her own age in their garden. Enter Hamada and Ma-chan. Hamada is a pimply boy with a crush on Naomi who attends the same music school she does. The meeting with Hamada leads to the meeting with the second boy, Ma-chan, when Naomi claims Hamada was only visiting to invite them to join the dance club at her school. Joji complies and becomes instantly enamored by the Russian dancing instructor so much so that he breaks his budget to continue on with lessons for months. In the meantime, Naomi gets close to a instrument player named Ma-chan. Naomi insists to Joji that they're all just good friends, which Joji goes along with, even allowing the boys to stay over one night. It all goes to hell, however, when Joji finds out that Naomi has been sleeping with both Hamada and Ma-chan behind Joji's back. Joji initially throws Naomi out for this, but as she slowly returns every day for her possessions, his obsession with her consumes him and he eventually caves in and agrees to spend all of his money on her and never to meddle with who she spends time with ever again in exchange for her staying with him.




As I said before, there is an interesting dichotomy between the two versions of Naomi's name. The Japanese "Beauty" is obvious, as the girl is pretty and attracts loads of admirers both in front of Joji and behind his back. The other one, however, pleasantness, is ironically the Western term and is the complete antithesis of Naomi. She is a complete pig, saturating the apartment with filth and wearing her filthy kimonos until they tear or become far too soiled. Her unrestrained rearing leads to her expelling extremely brash and tactless dialogue in inappropriate situations, which embarrasses Joji and prompts men to think of her as a lower class harlot. And her manipulation of Joji is downright horrible. Now, calling out her flaws does not mean I am an advocate for Joji's behaviour. He is downright disgusting. But his bad behavious does not condone hers. She can leave and go and be with anyone else, but she repeatedly returns to this pathetic creature to manipulate him further so that she can have whatever she wants without consequence. We see very little affection from her towards Joji, while she never hesitates to stand up for Hamada or Ma-chan. There's no sign she actually loves him at all. And again, it's a sign of her intelligence that Joji dismisses that she's able to pull of elaborate ruses to hide multiple affairs right under Joji's nose, and have him physically take her to where she needs to be to cheat on him. She is a mastermind, and she knows that Joji thinks she is too stupid to ever orchestrate the betrayals she racks up.

Joji is Tanizaki's way of showing the disillusionment of Western culture, and portraying his own people as stupid Joji being taken over the vicious harpy of Western civilization. It is as though he sees the men around him as comically stupid in their choices, and predicted a state of decline and depression for those willing to follow it.

While the core of the novel is a very sensitive topic (pedophelia, though not considered quite as such in it's day), it is still a wonderfully engrossing tale of two utterly horrible human beings using and abusing each other to obtain some sort of deep desire; Joji to "own" a beautiful Western trophy wife, and Naomi to experience riches and have relations with whomever she pleases. It is to be looked at through similar lenses as Lolita and not to be considered a proclamation of truth and acceptable actions. It also gives the reader a look at Japan in a pivotal period between maintaining tradition and idolizing the cultures they will be at war with in a decade's time, after which Western culture will almost entirely dictate the evolution of it's society from there on out.

The Obligatory Intro

Well, I am no stranger to blogging. I feel as though I have accounts scattered all across the web but none of them are cohesive or connected or, ehem, well maintained. And I say that BEGRUDGINGLY. However, I seek to remedy that. Right now. So welcome to Nerd-trovert. Whether I'm feeling rather introvert or extrovert is irrelevant, I'm still someone who spends way too much time debating A Song of Ice and Fire theories on the forums or screaming at horrible book adaptations, aaaand all the way down to nitpicking movies in a hellish, rage fill manner. This is a place for me to discuss things such as anime, comics, books, films, and video games. I hope it proves interesting to you.