#cersei lannister
Reflecting lately on the degree to which Cersei’s brothers treated her as complicit in her abusive marriage, the specific ways in which she was expected to manage their emotions. Robert was obviously not her choice of husband (that brute you made me marry), she was the foremost recipient of Robert’s violence & callousness. Yet we see early in their marriage, when Cersei sends Jaime to confirm Robert’s infidelity, that Jaime returns and asks if Cersei wants him dead. As if Cersei… has a choice. To condemn Robert to death at the cost of Jaime’s life no doubt.
That’s not isolated: Cersei later hides bruises from Jaime because his first instinct would have been violence towards Robert, putting her in further danger from her abusive husband should Jaime do anything short of murdering him and whisking her/the children far away.
Jaime goes on to be upset during the royal trip to Winterfell, upset because Robert might force himself on Cersei any given night, and it’s left to Cersei to manage that hurt by urging him to go hunting. Jaime throws Bran out a window for witnessing their ill-advised liaison and the next morning Tyrion finds him “with a lazy smile” while Cersei freaks. Jaime’s coping mechanisms of repression are well-documented at this point yet from Cersei’s POV her husband is in the room with the kid who could bust the whole case wide open should he wake, and she’s alone in displaying concern.
Even later, when Jaime expresses that it should have been him who killed Robert instead of Cersei, that implies that either he considers his hate of Robert more righteous than hers or that he values his protective instinct towards the woman he loves over hers towards herself. Regardless of which, it diminishes who Robert’s victim was - Cersei. When Jaime expresses blame towards Cersei for their children not knowing him as their father (“Tommen is no son of mine, no more than Joffrey was." His voice was hard. "You made them Robert's too.”), when he compares her to Robert while she acts out her trauma despite having gone through a similar experience himself (someplace along the way he had become the Smiling Knight) therefore being in a position to offer empathy.
And these were all highly gendered expectations! Jaime rarely seems to consider Cersei’s lack of mobility or ability to defend herself, centering himself in this dynamic as the savior, her as the perfect victim (a role she fails). Cersei for her part views Jaime in a similar manner, rarely considering his desires or internal struggles above her own conception of him, yet she is aware of the gendered ways in which they’re separated.
Cersei’s treatment of Tyrion was mocking & abusive so the schadenfreude he feels towards her isn’t shocking (Tyrion had rather liked Robert Baratheon, great blustering oaf that he was… doubtless in part because his sister loathed him so). That said for Cersei, who perceived Tyrion as the actor who would one day feed on her joy, Tyrion’s muted approval of her misery likely fed into her fear & hatred of him. For him to take little issue with the relationship despite being at some level aware of the violence within it was all that she would have registered. That Tyrion was otherwise affectionate towards her children in ways Jaime wasn’t, that he largely left her alone, was likely lost on her in exchange for becoming even more hostile towards him.
■Cersei Lannister moodboard
She never forgets a slight, real or imagined. She takes caution for cowardice and dissent for defiance. And she is greedy. Greedy for power, for honour, for love.
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A truth should exist, it should not be used like this. If I love you is that a fact or a weapon? [full n/s//fw version]
commissioned twow-ados au where j and cers meet up at casterly rock prior to valonqar and Fuck It Out
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Queen Cersei
Alternatively War Ready Cersei? No longer pretending to be a Regent in any way. Instead the Lannister Queen is loud and proud about it. Her hair is growing longer as the years go by, but these days she prefers a more severe updo to her previous mane.
The reds get darker and richer, the golds get heavier and even more lion themed if you can believe it.
I am the artist!!! Don’t repost without permission & credit! Thank you! Come visit me over on: Instagram,Patreon
Queen Cersei
A lot have things have changed for Cersei in not much time. She’s had to shave her head for starters, and in return is now either Queen Regent… or just Queen. (this is where the book vs show starts getting a little wonky and we’re speed run some of the ideas that could be the end of Game of Thrones but pretend the path to them made sense/was well crafted.
I am the artist!!! Don’t repost without permission & credit! Thank you! Come visit me over on: Instagram,Patreon
