THE SAILOR’S WIFE

Anonymous asked: Seeing as you like forgotten women, how do you feel about the whores of Westeros? Esp. the fan theory that the Sailor’s Wife might be Tysha

Hey anon! As for Tysha as the Sailor’s Wife, I’m not sure I’m wholly convinced, if not for “where will this go”?  It may be a nice nod, but I find myself in the camp of no payoff = not a thing these days; especially since our connection to Lanna, the SW’s Daughter, seems to be wholly through Arya’s arc, and now Dareon is dead (Dareon had been a deserter from the Night’s Watch; he had deserved to die).  Tyrion not only doesn’t deserve that emotional payoff… but doesn’t logistically have time to stop and get it. 

Sometimes – and I’m totally have been found guilty of this one– people just want everyone to…. be someone, with all of the crazy identity changes all over Westeros.  I think this one could be a case of maybe they are who they say they are.  More of the viable identity cover-ups in Westeros seem to be associated with the Rebellion.

The more interesting thing I find in Lanna’s plot – and regarding the courtesans in Braavos – is how tied to Arya’s plot we find them.  The Kindly Man even offers Arya an option to pursue the career of a courtesan: 

Would you sooner be a courtesan, and have songs sung of your beauty? Speak the word, and we will send you to the Black Pearl or the Daughter of the Dusk. You will sleep on rose petals and wear silken skirts that rustle when you walk, and great lords will beggar themselves for your maiden’s blood.

So, we have Arya Stark, Lyanna come–again, tom-boy extraordinaire; rejecting girlish tendencies and looking scornfully at her sister for succeeding in them (if not with a hint of jealousy, in there, too) surrounded by gorgeous courtesans: and the opportunity to even be one.  And courtesans are nothing to make light of – some of the most famous courtesans developed from Bellegere Otherys’ line, and the Black Pearl and kin are some rock hard women. 

With her flowering surely to come in the future (”My friend asked him …. and when will Arya get her moonblood to which GRRM answered “soon”…), I think that Arya is going to endure a little internal conflict with her femininity – the TWOW sample chapters also offer a racy bit to this, what with Arya flaunting herself to seduce and murder.  

I find that so interesting, where fans always speculated a ‘dark’ Sansa would occur, learning to manipulate men and have them at her bidding – a Cersei 2.0 but better – that Arya seems to be the one showcasing prowess in this skill.  

Just my two cents 🙂 I also find myself very interested in all of the differences in culture between a house in Braavos and a Brothel in King’s Landing, especially the treatment of the sex workers, pay, and how it truly mirrors today’s society and culture.  Where somewhere like the US shames sex work and sex, many places outside of the US celebrate passion, pleasure and the human body.