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we could sit together and do nothing all day— i'd still be the happiest

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Gentleman thief 🤍

cat day and other doodles

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One endlessly good man who is still just a man being made into a legend he didn’t want as a side product of attempting to do the right thing (and pulling it off by sheer luck and an overabundance of balls) in order to be used for propaganda by people who always have something to gain from him and then being attacked for that same legend by those same people because it was meant to be an easily manipulated myth. It wasn’t meant to be a prophecy, it wasn’t meant to be true. All the butterfly story really is is just that, a story. That’s not how the world actually works and nobody can be that good anyway, right - but if somehow this one nobody man really is just naturally that good despite the way of the world around him, what does that mean for them? What does looking in that mirror make them? What light does his presence cast them in but an ugly shadow? So they try to tear him down to prove that he’s just a man and he is - he meddles and oversteps and fumbles his way through the shadowy workings of politics like a blind man, letting his faith in the good of people get in the way of good judgement - but he’s the kind of man that keeps choosing to be good and true over and over despite his doubts, despite what the world throws at him, that in doing so he inevitably inspires the people around him to do the same.

listen just. hold on. hold on I need a minute I am. thinking

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commission for @gasolinecandy ❣️

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When the season opens, [Rhaenys] is the queen's most trusted advisor, though not officially her Hand - two women in power would simply be too much for the men on the Council, Hess notes. "Obviously, Rhaenyra can't have a lady Hand, because that would be crazy," she says with a sarcastic laugh.

Okay, okay, good stuff. The idea of a lady Hand not being tolerated is a logical conclusion except... except... the show does absolutely bugger all with it. Whilst we have Rhaenys functioning as Hand pretty plainly, and, indeed, it's only after her loss that Rhaenyra actually officially appoints a Hand, the actual politics of the position and, specifically, this idea that it is not done because Rhaenyra recognises the gender issues associated isn't there.

The subject of making Rhaenys Hand, even to dismiss or explain, is never brought up within the show. The idea of the men being unable to stomach Rhaenys as a Hand isn't ever illustrated beyond generalised feelings of sexism within those council scenes. Rhaenys never has to explain, defend or prove her position on the council. She is very rarely interacted with, during those scenes because she is not particularly vocal. There is displeasure shown at her, but nothing loud or targeted - not like we see with Rhaenyra.

The one concrete moment we have, actually, of Rhaenys having to defend her power comes in Episode 04 and, ironically, it is because she has NOT been named Hand that Alfred Broome can call her out and attempt to dismiss her in front of everyone:

"Why should your voice be any louder than ours, Princess? The queen did not name you Hand."

Rhaenys is trying to lead, but it's not her sex that he finds fault with (though no doubt that comes into it - given she is able to maintain control due to Corlys's intervention) but her lack of official authority. Something that being Hand would have given her. So, he can challenge her. She is no higher than he is. And she has no rebuttal because Rhaenyra has not empowered her.

If they had wanted to pull this off, they needed to consolidate Rhaenys's role on the council and the limitations of it and why there were limitations on it. Have patronising language levelled at her, not just Rhaenyra or Baela. Have her offer advice only to be spoken over. Have Rhaenyra even speak to her on the matter. Let them talk about the position of Hand. Or have Rhaenys raise the matter with Corlys. Something. As it is, the role is never floated or mentioned until after Rhaenys's death. A lady Hand is not an idea presented in that narrative.

That's largely why I always attributed the lack of Hand not to a recognition of politics, but as a symptom of an ad-hoc war council and the infancy of Rhaenyra's rule - an unorganised collection due to the war, without the formal roles of a Small Council. And then the appointment of a Hand indicates Rhaenyra's commitment to the war as it is now and her engagement going forward (even if, again, the role in all it's uses isn't fully illustrated as we pretty much lose the council scenes following the initial Dragonseed idea and Corlys has little to do in any of them).

(quote from the new HOTD BTS book, with many thanks to @noheteroexplanation)

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The thing that’s so wonderful about Elementary is that it *does* the whole “Sherlock Holmes, rude misanthropic genius” schtick, but it DOESN’T STOP THERE. Sherlock IS a rude misanthropic genius, but he IS also capable of deep love, and he WORKS HARD to express it for the people he loves! It is incredibly endearing to watch Sherlock cook lasagna for Watson, advise her of the optimal temperature to eat it, and then sit stiffly next to her prepared to lockjaw his way silently through an entire Knicks game bc he WANTS TO BE GOOD TO HER. He takes pains to precisely and clearly communicate his support for her choices, even if she chooses to be away from him!

And IT JUST MAKES ME SO WARM about Sherlock, because despite how Sherlock claims that he is ONLY soft for Watson, Sherlock is genuinely *becoming a better person* as the show progresses by forming relationships with Captain Gregson, with Marcus, with Alfredo, with Kitty! “Misanthropy was so easy,” Sherlock mourns once, and I LOVE THAT LINE bc yes! It IS easier to just make Sherlock a rude ass misanthropist and nothing more! It’s HARD for him to open up! But he makes the fucking effort, because it is worth it and the show continually reinforces that.

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Rhaena of Pentos🩷

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I love how Daemon arrived late to Rhaenyra and Laenor’s wedding cause he wanted to be the center of attention so bad and then Alicent was like “sorry there’s only room for ONE diva here”

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HE LIVES BECAUSE I SAID SO (as a fisherman with no memories!!!)

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One thing it took me a while to appreciate in the LOTR films were the parallels between Frodo and Boromir—

At the end of Fellowship of the Ring, the two of them are both planning to “break the fellowship” for their own reasons.

Frodo wants to protect the others from the corruption of the Ring. Boromir wants “the strength to protect his people.” Both would have to sacrifice the fellowship for this— “to bear a ring of power is to be alone.”

They convince themselves it is their duty to save the world on their own: that this is their quest and their burden, and that they must take it even if it they do it alone, against the will of the rest of the Fellowship.

Boromir tells Frodo “I know why you seek solitude. You suffer— I see it day by day.” Earlier in Lothlorien, Boromir had walked away from the group to grieve alone.

When Boromir is first introduced, he has a large flashing arrow over his head saying “this man is going to be corrupted by the power of the Ring.” The other characters are often mistrustful of him, deeply wary, or treat his corruption as an inevitability. Gandalf warns Frodo about how “evil will be drawn to you from outside the Fellowship and, I fear, from within” while casting a side-glance in Boromir’s direction.

When the Fellowship is refused entry to Lothlorien because of the One Ring, there’s a scene where the other members of the Fellowship can’t meet Frodo’s eyes, looking away whenever he looks at them— it’s as if they’re starting to perceive him as the burden, and not the Ring.

Boromir notices this, and tells Frodo “you carry a heavy burden; don’t carry the weight of the dead.” He does not take his own advice: he carries the weight of Gondor’s dead. Fighting on the front lines of the battle between Gondor and Mordor has left him with far less hope than the other characters; he acts resentful of the other characters, because he believes they don’t truly understand the threat Mordor represents, because they haven’t spent the past few years on the front lines like he has. He tearfully confesses his kingdom “looks to him to make things right and [he] would do it”— it his duty to singlehandedly save Minas Tirith. The weight of this burden is what makes him so susceptible to the power of the Ring— which, in turn, is what makes everyone else so wary of him.

By carrying these burdens, Frodo is also becoming isolated from the other members of the Fellowship, the way that Boromir is.

At night on the banks of the Anduin, Frodo/Sam and Aragorn/Boromir have arguments that parallel each other— Sam tries to help Frodo and Frodo pushes him away; Boromir urges Aragorn to go to Minas Tirith and Aragorn pushes him away.

After the climactic battle at Amon Hen, they’re both in despair— Boromir believes his death means the end of the kingdom that has been relying so heavily on him, Frodo believes he is doomed to travel to Mordor on his own. But both are are ultimately “saved.” Aragorn swears to defend the people of Gondor, who he accepts as his people, and Sam refuses to let Frodo leave alone.

The parallels continue in the next films as well though: Frodo is ultimately corrupted by the Ring, just as Boromir was; he’s crushed under the weight of the burden he took on. But it’s just fascinating to see how much they have in common, despite being so different on the surface.

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even if larys is also secretly a greenseer he couldn't go back to harrenhal bc then he would have to face alys. and what could he say

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one of my worst writing sins is abusing my power to create compound words. i cannot write the sentence "The sun shone as bright as honey that afternoon." no. that's boring. "The sun was honey-bright that afternoon" however? yes. that sentence is dope as fuck. i do not care if "honey-bright" is a word in the english dictionary. i do not care if the sentence is grammatically correct. i will not change. i will not correct my erred ways. the laws of the english language are mine.

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Someone PLEASE tell the Witch-King of Angmar that this little hobbit genuinely thinks it’s anyone’s guess whether or not he’s literate. PLEASE.

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Based on the fact that Criston cannot get along with any man on the screen who is not his ward, but easily establishes friendly contacts with women and even says, "every woman is an image of the mother, to be spoken of with reverence,“ I have a strong feeling that he was raised only by women and did not have any significant father figure during his growing up period. there was probably one single mother, but I like to think that there were several significant women in his childhood.

I think if delve deeper into his character and behavior, i can find more evidence, but not today.

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Queen Helaena and her daughter Princess Jaehaera

Commission for @DaTeamGreen on twitter

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they are toxic old man yaoi to me

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Young Caraxes's greatest enemy (actually Aemon's new boots) is defeated

Sadly he's just a silly little noodle