#(I do not think jon is legitimate i think d&d pulled that out of their asses. i mean like. do i care about bigamy? no. do i care about

[atopvisenyashill]

#rightful#asoiaf#excellent analysis i am applauding your efforts#no but really i think the point is that no one is the  heir#it's all down to who enough people accept as the person in charge#and i can see them just saying screw the iron throne that was just some targaryen nonsense at the end of Everything 

lmao that is exactly my point in much less words. after the deaths of daenerys and aegon vi (which, no matter how you fall regarding their morality/heroism and legitimacy, it doesn’t seem likely either of them are living to the epilogue endgame. even putting the show aside, fans of both of them have been predicting their deaths since like, the 90s) and the deaths of all the legimtiate Baratheons, there is no clear heir to the Iron Throne left alive. You either have to acclaim a bastard line or a female line and even those are super far off houses and relations. 

edric storm seems like the natural heir for the stormlands but there’s a difference between making a castle raised bastard a Lord Paramount because there’s literally no heirs left and making that bastard the KING. and while some of the decisions regarding how the targs marry into other houses make no sense bc grrm doesn’t understand women’s roles in medieval era as well as he thinks he does (lol) i do think there’s a doylist reason for the targ women to constantly marry into nothingburger houses like the penroses or the plumms, as well as Distinguished But Not Super Powerful houses like Tarth or Velaryon and its to make it so there’s no obvious heir and the lords are all forced to reckon with the last 300 years of extreme bloodshed and their culpability in maintaining the systems that have frequently destroyed their houses, marched their sons off to useless wars, and eaten their daughters alive. its not about whose grandpa sat on that spikey chair, it’s about who is willing to step up and lead.

i have decided to break down all the wild potential female line claimants to the iron throne thru the targaryen line because why not let’s go:

obviously there's our "modern" targaryen daughters: daenerys, rhaella, shaera, and rhaelle. that one is easy to explain in part because it's mostly incest, lol. it goes like so (mind you, i'm cutting out male siblings that don't inherit for now) -

Aegon V + Betha Blackwood -> Jaehaerys II, Shaera, Rhaelle (also Duncan & Daeron)

Jaehaerys II + Shaera -> Aerys + Rhaella -> Daenerys

Rhaelle + Ormund Baratheon -> Steffon Baratheon. Steffon + Cassandra Eastermont = Robert, Stannis, and Renly.

so rhaella & shaera's lines are the same as their brothers, and rhaelle is the grandmother of the baratheon kings, which means like the targaryen main line, all of their lines will be dead or illegitimate as well (rip myrcella, tommen, shireen, aegon vi, and daenerys tho).

that leads you up from aegon v to maekar’s daughters, and since we are at a time period where no main character was alive, i made a little graphic to explain easier. let's start with daeron ii (since he's maekar's father anyway) and work backwards:

there’s several ladies in this grouping: rhae, daella, aelora, daenora, and vaella. we know ‘recently’ a targaryen married the evenstar, and timeline wise, it can only be Rhae or Daella, likely to selwyn’s grandfather. which means claimant number one is selwyn & brienne as king & princess of dragonstone claimant. hell yeah.

there’s two “dead end” branches next. maekar has a granddaughter, vaella, but given she’s described as “simple” it’s likely she never married. daeron & myriah, meanwhile, had no daughters but their son rhaegel had two, aelora and daenora. aelora married her brother aelor but aelora killed herself several years after aelor died (it’s a wild story but not relevant). no children. daenora married into maekar’s line tho, to aerion brightflame and had a son, maegor targaryen, who was passed over for aegon v. we do not know if he married or had kids bc it’s not listed and it’s not like there’s a cadet targaryen house anywhere so if he did marry, probably all daughters.

even further back is aegon the unworthy who had one daughter: daenerys. yes that’s right, our second claimant for king and princess of dragonstone is doran and arianne martell (and then, haha, elia and aegon vi AGAIN, love nobility family trees). and then technically, because the martells are normal and don’t die off every two generations, probably a few offshoot martell cousins. and a reminder that minus mysterious maegor, we have no living male line descendants potentially hanging around either. but back to the targ line.

viserys ii had naerys who married aegon iv so their line is the same. aegon iii, his brother, had three daughters.

daena has daemon blackfyre and given that he was legitimized, you could make the argument that the blackfyres have a claim lmao, so any female line daemon kids could be fair game. then you have elaena targaryen who had several legitimate children: viserys plumm, & robin, laena, jocelyn, and joy penrose. that’s right my esteemed readers our third claimant for king and prince of dragonstone is phillip & dennis plumm!

*loud boos bc they’re not even a great house or a house that used to be kings, they’re just some random nobles in the westerlands* shut up i’m not finished!!

through elaena, the only targ pulling her weight out here to populate the family tree, we have our fourth claimant as well: Old Penrose of the Parchments for King on the Iron Throne!

there’s no reason laena, jocelyn, and joy did not marry but we have no info on them so just know if they married some random landed knight, we also have some random dude walking around the stormlands who could be the next king of westeros.

then we get JAEHAERYS but to keep with ignoring men in this post, i entitled it “alyssa’s line.”

baby visenya, who was a stillbirth & jaehaera, who died before having children, are the two “dead end” lines from the dance. before them is viserys, who had helaena but helaena’s heirs are aegon ii’s heirs.

now, jaehaerys had daenerys, alyssa, saera, viserra, daella, and gael. daenerys died before having children as did viserra. gael & saera had no legitimate children. that leaves alyssa and daella. daella had aemma arryn, who married back into the targ family tree to have rhaenyra. alyssa also married back into the family tree and had three sons, viserys, daemon, and aegon. aegon died as a baby, we know viserys, but daemon had two daughters with laena velaryon: baela and rhaena. laena herself is also a distant claimant through the female line - aemon, jaehaerys’ first born son, and jocelyn baratheon had rhaenys, the queen that never was, who had laena. through baela we get our fifth claimant for king of westeros, the literal toddler montereys velaryon! rhaena is kinda tricky - she had no children in her first marriage, and six daughters in her second to garmund hightower but he was the third son and his oldest brother had six kids so it’s not likely the hightower line descends from rhaena however it would be really funny if it did so for the sake of making myself laugh i give you our sixth claimant to the seat of house targaryen, king leyton hightower and prince of dragonstone baelor breakwind. this puts a lot of people in the running tbh, bc leyton has a million kids. his daughters marry and have kids with an ambrose, a tyrell, a cupps, and a redwyne (and a mormont but jorah and lynesse have no children).

(it would require all the hightower male heirs to die [not likely, there’s three of them] AND mad maid malora as well to get to alerie but king and queen mace and alerie tyrell with willas as prince of dragonstone is so fucking funny to me. hey daeron how olenna’s ass taste now.)

before jaehaerys, we have aenys, who had rhaena the boss bitch & alysanne. alysanne’s line is jaehaerys’ obviously, and rhaena married her brother aegon the uncrowned. they had two girls, aerea and rhaella, but neither lived to see adulthood. maegor never had living kids, which brings us back to aegon, who had only sons, and visenya and rhaenys, who married their brother.

i actually had a point to this which is that there is just no one sitting on that fucking chair at the ending because there is no one left alive to sit on it that the lords would choose. they’re not crowning a penrose or a plumm and they’re certainly not crowning my girls arianne and brienne however hilarious i think that would be. i think “westeros breaks up along weird new borders” makes sense just due to that alone - the north will push for independence (maybe parts of the riverlands will want to stick with the north), dorne isn’t likely to be thrilled about some random ass king, the iron islands is…the iron islands, so the only kingdoms that might actually want to stick together are the stormlands, the reach, the crownlands, the vale, and the westerlands, but also, all of these bitches hate each other right now & a lot of them are gonna bite it so who knows.

anyways tldr female line targaryen claimants include these wild choices for King & Heir:

Selwyn and Brienne of Tarth

Doran and Arianne Nymeros Martell of Dorne

Any female line Blackfyres

Phillip and Dennis Plumm of the Westerlands (so minor we don’t even know where their seat is lmao)

Old Penrose of the Parchments

Montereys Velaryon of Driftmark

Leyton and Baelor Hightower of Oldtown

Through Leyton, who has a whopping 10 children, we have House Ambrose, Cupps, Redwyne, and of course, the fat flower himself, House Tyrell as claimants eight thru like, fifty.

[kiefbowl]

Okay, but do you have thoughts on Danny/her arc? (I still do not know how to spell her name lol)

(Asking bc I read an interesting take on her arc/the last seasons devolution into a mad queen that was from a feminist perspective and I liked it BUT it was solely about GOT not the books so I’m curious)

If D&D didn't just pull that out of their asses, and were making something out of info GRRM handed to them, then what the Mad Queen Arc is going to be is propaganda, because Dany will fly over to Westeros too late and fAegon (a character not in the show) will already have either established his kingship (after Cersei blows up the sept/King's Landing with wildfire, which is very in line with her character and very set up in the books, and is removed from power) OR at least has a sizable following backing him. That's at least something I can see fit.

Dany will not just go crazy, or if she does it will be from a lot of understandable circumstances. The idea that "madness" is "in her blood" that will just turn on is absolutely 1000% not going to happen in the books, and her burning King's Landing on a dime is like...it's weird. Maybe she gets bad advisement from her council, maybe she can't control Drogon and only means to burn the castle, idk but just indiscriminately killing smallfolk and then having a Fascist Coded speech about freeing people from slavery and then getting killed is so not in line with Dany.

Now...Dany at the end of ADWD does appear to be choosing "Fire and Blood" over Peace, which could manifest in all sorts of ways. But ultimately, GRRM didn't write the Meereen arc so we can think "oh, she's secretly evil all along for freeing slaves," it's to demonstrate in the game of politics and the pursuit of peace, you are constantly compromising on your morals, and your decisions come with consequences even if they were ultimately good decisions. GRRM says constantly that the "only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself." So Dany frees slaves, but doesn't know how to feed them, and Dany takes over a city to ensure her slaves remain free, but then needs to learn how to compromise with the people she's conquered for the sake of peace, and Dany punishes a handful of people harshly and even by death, but she is in constant turmoil of whether it was a good or just decision. Dany wants peace, justice, and freedom over all else. She wants to go "home" but she doesn't have a home, and she has a lot of people descending on her wanting her to go to Westeros, which she believes right now is supposed to be her home, but she's an exiled princess...it isn't her home. She will help fight the White Walkers in some form, she will fight for her claim, it's probably not going to work out for her especially with fAegon, and with Jon eventually learning his dad was Rhaegar (people are convinced he'll be a legitimate child in the books for some reason, because that's the way the show went. Not necessarily, but Rhaegar being his father will still be politically important either way).

Dany might be "Nissa Nissa" and have to die to let Jon save the day. Honestly, I hate that and hope that's something GRRM subverts. I'd rather Dany realize home is with the Dothraki, and she creates a new female led culture with them...but idk, the evidence is thin on the ground for that. Unfortunately for my girl, I think she's headed for tragedy, but we'll see.

[esther-dot]

I have been reflecting on Jon's past book storyline and trying to reconcile the GoT series with asoiaf. Trying to pull out what is D&D's sad attempt at fanfiction from cannon. One of my conclusions is that Daenerys cannot be Jon's sacrifice for love. All of Jon's most secret hopes and desires are the exact things Daenerys cannot give him. A throne? he doesn't want it. Lust? already had that lesson with Ygritte. Power? It's a burden of responsibility for him not an end. Children? She is barren.

I agree that Jon isn’t power hungry, but to me, the point of him being legitimate or the temptation that Dany might offer isn’t power or a throne, rather, acceptance by society, having the shame he’s burdened all his life eased. For a guy who has been perceived a certain way all of his life, distrusted through no fault of his own, all of his childhood made to feel inferior, viewed as a threat, to then be presented with some form of legitimacy, possibly the why of his birth....well, it can’t erase the pain, but it would lock into all of it and say, “They were wrong about you. You were loved, you were wanted, you were the hope for your house, not a threat to it...” I mean, that is some sweet, sweet poison. Dany had that vision of Rhaegar, imagine her, the last Targaryen, offering that to Jon.

I don’t disagree with you, Jon isn’t gonna flip out and want the throne the way so many others do, but I do think there’s a very real, personal temptation in the idea of being a legitimate Targaryen (we debate this, most don't buy it, I am inclined to think it's a definite possibility for torturing Jon purposes), or simply being accepted by or married to the last of his father’s house. This could be a very short lived temptation, an offer, an inner monologue, rejection, but I think there would be something.

Although, now that I say that, Jon being a Targaryen bastard offers another interesting angle because he’s been tempted to take Winterfell while trueborn Starks live (which would seem related to the negative bastard stereotypes), and he refused. But what if the Targaryen heir is unworthy, what if fighting the trueborn Targ is morally justifiable, necessary, even? That too presents an interesting development of Jon's struggles, and a fun way to write Jon's feelings regarding his Targ family.

I guess I don't think Martin is interested in anything being easy or pat, seems like there has to be something there to torture Jon with? There needs to be an interesting angle to write from, and I don’t particularly care which one, but I do think there will be some element to create inner turmoil for our boy. Not that it changes anything, Jon will assuredly choose the Starks, but imagine reading a Jon chapter post Dany’s arrival or a POV of their meeting. There’s gotta be something interesting for Martin to explore.

As for your point (yes, I got to it, I’m surprised as well! 😂) I never gathered those together that way before, but when you lay it out so clearly, it’s pretty wild. Obviously, I’m not thrilled with Martin’s focus on whether or not a woman can have children, but it’s plot relevant so we end up having discussions about young teens and their fertility which is…unfortunate. But, I buy the idea that we’re meant to see mother of dragons as fundamentally incompatible with mother of children. This is less about kiddos, more about the bigger ideas of war vs peace, how you create or can’t create a future.

It was strange how much emphasis D&D put on Dany having a kid in s7, and I think D&D were beyond foolish to tease Targ restoration so much for the sole purpose of hiding Dark Dany/the ending, but personally, when we think of what Jon wants, the fact that it’s a quiet, domestic life which may be what Dany thinks she wants, but in actuality she has chosen war, will bring war to Westeros...just add it to the list of ways they’re incompatible, anon!

[thecatsaesthetics]

Jon being given the name Aegon on the show was so stupid I oscillate between 'this had to be a show invention' and 'this had to be some nonsensical plot point from GRRM that D and D felt the need to put it.'

I've seen some people try to say that 'well, actually, in the middle ages people would name kids after dead babies all the time so maybe Lyanna knew about Aegon (side note how would she even know this?) being murdered so she *checks notes* decided to name her son after the son of the woman who had just been brutally slaughtered after she ran away with her husband....for reasons.' The thing is, this is some foolishness and tone deafness I could see GRRM pulling, but maybe I'm too pessimistic.

So part of me can believe GRRM would throw in Rhaegar somehow annulled his marriage to Elia and Jon’s birth happened before The Trident. Part me thinks Rhaegar forced Aerys to make Jon legitimate before going into battle.

I am a big believer that Jon was born at Starfall before the Trident.

Remember women can die from childbirth weeks after it happens. My personal theory is Lyanna was taken to Starfall (which makes sense bc we have this thrown in plot line that Ashara was pregnant) but ran off to the Tower of Joy with Jon after discovering what happened on the Trident. The Kingsguard followed her (she had taken there king) and Ned found her, Lyanna could still die from infection weeks after birth. In fact that’s what is more likely to happen with women, they develop infection days to weeks after birth.

From Ned’s fever dream it seems the Kingsguard do believe Jon is the new King. We must always keep in mind (and Martin has stressed this) that it is a fever dream still,

“Ser Willem Darry is fled to Dragonstone, with your queen and Prince Viserys. I thought you would have sailed with them”

“Ser Willem is a good man and true” said Ser Oswell

“But he is not of the Kingsguard,” Ser Gerold pointed out “The Kingsguard does not flee”

“Then or now” said Ser Arthur. He donned his helm.

“We swore a vow,” explained old Ser Gerold.

So again this IS a fever dream, but even if we just go with these are Ned’s manipulation of the facts, Ned believes Jon was the true king. Which is super interesting.

Martin set up this whole storyline of Jon being the true king, and it’s likely going to UPSET a lot people. But I can see Martin having Rhaegar annul the marriage to Elia and the dream Dany has of Rhaegar with Aegon is that of him with Jon and Lyanna.

Why was Jon considered the king by Ned is my biggest question. Ned wouldn’t likely accept a multiple Targ marriage. So the likelihood is the marriage was annulled OR when Rhaegar met with Aerys before the battle of Trident he ensured Jon legitimized.

[gerrydelano]

breakfast club au aka archives crew plus gerry. this was going to just be a small list but it turned into an actual post. i’m going to scream.

anyway. this isn’t actually a proposal for an AU it’s just drawing some parallels,  don’t take me too seriously i’m just vibing with the server and we keep FINDING THINGS that BACK UP THE COMPARISONS TOO WELL!

ahem.

gerry is andrew (but has alison’s aesthetic). you’d think he’d JUST be alison but nope! he’s andrew because he has the backstory similarity where they both do terrible things to please an abusive parent who doesn’t actually care about what they want, and who is trying to force them into the future they’ve imagined for them against their will and consent.

andrew doesn’t even like wrestling but has been forced to dedicate his entire life to it. gerry Obviously doesn’t like any part of what mary put him through, but he was trapped in it anyway and admittedly tried his best to blend in.

man, andrew’s dad isn’t even mad he did what he did to that kid in the locker room, he just said “the only thing you did wrong was get caught” which. hello. what. marycore. obviously gerry would never tape someone’s buns together but he sure does find himself in wacky situations thanks to his mother’s trade, so.

also:

andrew: you know, sometimes, i wish my knee would give...and i wouldn't be able to wrestle anymore. and he could forget all about me.

gerry: and honestly, there was a part of me which thought a life in prison was an alright price for freedom.

those sound pretty much the g-ddamn same, huh! wow!

there are so many andrew quotes that fit.

“you ask me one more question and i'm beating the shit out of you.” (idealized world where he could say that to julia and trevor. the vibe.)

“we're all bizarre. some of us are just better at hiding it; that's all.” (that sure is a thing gerry could have said himself)

“my g-d, are we gonna be like our parents?” (to which claire shakes her head and nauseously says ‘not me.’)

tim is alison (but has andrew’s aesthetic. it’s fine.) fun foil to gerry here in a hilariously convenient way because you’d Think he’d be easily pinned as the jock! but nope! he has way more of alison’s storyline progression and hangups!

long story short, Borderline King. i’m going on the gtcu hc for tim’s backstory which involves neglectful, judgmental parents who ended up kicking him out of the house a lot of the time. alison’s parents ignore her to the point where she legitimately just went to this detention for lack of anything else to do (or anywhere to go, really) and she’s in a Constant state of crying for help. tim is pretty much also constantly doing that when shit really hits the fan.

and they both push people away once they get too close. they have their ways of baiting people into asking what’s wrong only to shut down because they’re actually pretty scared to say it! and don’t think anyone can help them after all.

alison dumps her purse out and invites people into her discordant shit only to pull back and snap at people for getting too close/is clearly insincere and experimental in her “Go Away” when andrew tries to confront her like. she wants someone to fucking fight back and insist that she open up, she wants someone to Listen and Hear Her. looks at tim. gets real fucked up and sad.

and of course there’s also the fact that they’re both hilarious and really stand out; alison feels like an outcast, tim tries damn hard Not to be one and in doing so they both Stick Out and DO have an image assigned to them like everyone else. they’re memorable, distinctive people; and a lot of the time it’s for the things they do that make people uncomfortable (s3 tim, etc.)

jon is claire because he has mean girl potential. the drama. but also, y’know. has plenty of feelings but puts them in a Tiny Little Box for the sake of maintaining an aloof, socially distanced image and a reputation for being a lot more put together than they are.

“i have just as many feelings as you do and it hurts just as much when someone steps all over them!”

which she only shouted after being haggled and pushed to the edge of her composure, because it’s very easy to push her buttons and she’s holding a Lot in there that she just Does Not Want To Let Out Under Any Circumstance

another point: they’re mean to people they see as “lesser” for the sake of that image and distance. aka, season 1 jon before he wised up all the way. obviously it isn’t the same just bear with me for the sake of the very limited parallels.

also: stilted home life. claire uses her parents impending divorce to get things out of them which denotes a level of distance/sort of a political dynamic that hinges more on material items than constant emotional acknowledgment because they’re using her as a tool to get back at each other. jon sees himself as insignificant/burdensome to his nana, etc. they both have a cost and benefit mindset that’s instilled in them because of the way their guardians treat them. they probably felt more like furniture than people a lot of the time.

martin is bender. this guy had a punk phase. he is a lot more in your face than you’d think right off the bat and has Really Shitty Awful Parents. major difference is that martin is obviously not a pig and a bully and wouldn’t be that fucking gross to people if his life depended on it but you get the symbolic gist for the sake of just Basic Roles Played.

he’s extremely underestimated, not quite believed about things as serious as his home life because of some preconceived notion that people have decided must be true about him. everyone (especially authority figures) thinks they know what he’s like and then they dismiss him and don’t listen to him but he’s capable of a lot! both of creating things, and wrecking shit to piss off said authority figures.

he has a thing about fire & he destroys literature on screen and gets really mocking about it when called out. he’s the one who sneaks around pulling bolts out of doors and rigging things so they malfunction just to piss off the teacher and it just screams “martin burning statements” overall.

also, where brian dismisses shop as being “easy” or something because it’s more physical than it is academic, he speaks up to basically say “fuck off, no labor is unskilled labor, there’s only ever underappreciated labor and undermined talent and effort.” that’s a super martin perspective imo, he’s very practical and pragmatic and hands-on.

also:

bender: “i could disappear forever and it wouldn’t make any difference.”

that’s some lonely-touched bullshit right there!

sasha is brian. good old trustworthy reliable nerdy brian who has a hell of a lot more going on there. who sees everything and writes it down (archivist sasha!) who is the one to properly articulate the difference between being Who You Are and being Who People See You As Anyway. 

“we think you’re crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. you see us as you want to see us, in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions.”

just all that identity crisis bullshit in there. putting it in words that no one is just one thing, no one can be defined that way. also brian speaks up against the idea that they would all just forget about each other and stop acknowledging each other after this specifically because their social groups don’t mesh. he actively denounces the idea of just IGNORING someone’s existence for whatever reason, and is very solid on the idea of holding onto connections regardless of the consequence. i’m just thinking about sasha being replaced and forgotten, man. i’m ouch.

so anyway didn’t expect to actually write this post the way i did but i guess that’s what happens when the server goes buck wild at 10pm right. anyway i’m shouting.

[tslasvegas]

Episode 3: “UGH just rename Luxor to Loser” - Xavier

Well... that takes care of the Timmy problem... Love Timmy... Just didn’t know how our dynamic would be cus he was runner-up to the last survivor game I played which I won. Hm... Well...

That went well. There's nothing like a live video tribal to get people together. and stephen didn't react too badly. but i know now he won't work with me moving forward

I’m sorry I’m terrible at confessionals... So things are going well, I think we have a decent tribe but it is too soon to tell. I’m not a huge fan of creative challenges, at least from my previous game, I guess we will see how that goes. Most of the guys seem nice, still trying to feel everyone out.`

A 4-2 vote off is interesting. Someone is on the bottom for sure. Also, this next challenge is a creative challenge and when I do these solo I usually do really well. Hopefully I can channel that energy into a win for us here because two tribes are going to tribal. We’ll be down to 17 after this, so I’m not sure if we’d go into a tribe swap yet? Maybe 2 tribes of 8 with one person sitting out? 

Oh hot dang, two tribes are going to tribal next time. Probably going to be us :( now it is time to make alliance chats!

....five seconds later

I suspect that after this double vote out that there will be a tribe swap. I hope I end up with Mo and Jaiden at least.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17NPxKO_TKgqjNqsaWlbmlL0jgU36Aygi/view?usp=drivesdk

I really like this challenge. I feel confident about it but at the same time nervous that 2 tribes will be going to tribal. I really hope my tribe wins this one since I still don't know how the tribe feels about me. Wish me luck guys!

My tribe is not going to win this immunity challenge. Our nightclub is due just hours away and we have little nothing done. I am going to have to scramble soon.....I did nothing to help my tribe with the challenge, so if it is me that goes, I would understand 

....five seconds later

Honestly, I want to keep Jaiden and Mo around because I feel closer with them than anyone else. I want to keep Kailyn around because she seems to make time for challenges. Everyone else I am okay with going home, Ben hasn't really done anything soooooo maybe him? Oof

If we lose, then it's 2/3rds my fault and 1/3 Stephen. We better not be on the chopping block if we do lose. This is a two person Tribe as of now. Bobby Jon and Stephenie.

...five seconds later

UGH just rename Luxor to Loser

Second we lose Ben finally responded to my pm’s..... hm..... alright....

Y’all rlly won with a PowerPoint SKDJDJSKLALALL

Some of these guys have an excuse for not giving input into the challenge. Some do not. If I go home because some americans could be bothered doing some base level discussion, ill be annoyed. If I go home because a tribe threw a challenge because they thought id be an easy vote, ill be pissed.

All that hard work that went into this challenge really paid off! We scored the best and don’t have to attend tribal!! Which is absolutely exciting! Andrew told me he wanted to work together which is rad. Livingston and I want to work together which is radder. And Joey and i want to work together which is raddest. I haven’t spoken too much with Jeff lately even though we talked quite a bit early on. Pat and I speak occasionally. Stephanie and I didn’t really speak at all until recently but we’ve gotten into a good groove the last few days. I’m feeling pretty good about this game so far. I hope there’s no tribal swap or anything right away.

So when I get my chip total I'm gonna update Keegan. He is currently at a soap making class but I want him to know I am serious about working with him in this game and I think this is a good gesture. - keegan has let me know he has 4 chips and is willing to pool them over to me when we have enough so that we can unlock the store. I let him know I am okay with doing the same thing to him, whichever. But yes this is looking HOT for me. - "what's in the store?" | all i can really assume is advantages. we need 10 chips to unlock it. This is very similar to the Unnamed Season but the betting cap gives us more control. At this point, I don't think anyone can mathematically unlock without pooling chips. Keegan and I just need 1 more chip between us. Let's just hope we aren't separated by a swap or some shit. I am hoping for a bit more time on this amazing tribe to get that set up so I have a good idea of what the store holds.

Some of these guys have an excuse for not giving input into the challenge. Some do not. If I go home because some americans could be bothered doing some base level discussion, ill be annoyed. If I go home because a tribe threw a challenge because they thought id be an easy vote, ill be pissed.

We lost again!?!?!?!?!??! I am so surprised? Nah I'm kidding, but I don't care. I don't blame our team for losing because 3/5 of us were panicking because our president could be a cheetoh. I'm voting Stephen tonight, I hope the others follow suit. It SHOULD be simple, but 9 hours is a long time for Survivor; and if he knows it's him then might run around and create some chaos - which would be funny.

Rachael (love her she’s probably who I’m closest with along with DeNara and Kailyn) is not being subtle about the fact that she either has a pre-existing friendship with Ben or is currently aligned with Ben. Because Ben, from my knowledge has not been social with anyone, nor has he been super active and in our alliance chat with Kailyn, Rachael seems uncomfortable with the fact that Ben is said to be the vote and is saying she would prefer someone else to go. But like c’mon you can’t deny he hasn’t been social, and even if I had a friendship with somebody before a game, if they aren’t active I’m voting them out. Also I lied to my tribe a couple times this round because I’m lazy.

UGH. We LOST the challenge!!! And it wasn't even close *grumbles angrily* But it's okay. I'm gonna have to work my pussy out to this entire tribe to make them keep me around! I feel pretty good about this, I believe the target is leaning towards Ben but we'll have to wait and see. I don't think it's possible rn but I'm hoping for a swap soon so I can feel a little more re-energized in this game because my tribe has been super quiet lately... I think people will try to move the vote around so I'm going to use my current lack of employment as an opportunity to make myself stay alive on this tribe lmao

These guys are being super boring and either Jake is dumber than i thought, or shadier than i gave him credit for. Xavier might be trying to play me but regardless its doubtful ill stay. John seems to have the most chance of winning out of these four as hes not overplaying. Kevin hasnt spoken to me since the colin vote and it pisses me off that I might be going home after being one of two people that worked on the challenge when kevin was taken off the chopping block immediately for playing jeopardy. i hate this tribe.

....five seconds later

Johns out, Jake too by the sound of it. Time for plan B, which never works but might as well try. Fake idol time.

Oof well the uhh, “obvious friend group” has picked their target and it just so happens to be the only person I’ve made an actual alliance with :/ Poor DeNara. I really didn’t want to have to vote her off this early if I didn’t have to and then the worst part is she didn’t even hear it from me. Nobody is even mentioning game right now and Rachael is acting legitimately surprised to me when I came to her saying “okay this is an easier vote than I thought”.. even tho Ben claimed he had already talked to her..?? Idk man I must’ve done something wrong along the way but these people LEGITIMATELY don’t talk to me. My instant reaction is leaning towards being bitter but bitterness doesn’t really get me anywhere :/ I feel kinda.. out of it rn emotionally just because of everything else I have going on so if I seem more reserved tonight at tribal than usual, that’s why. I just hope that I’m not still stuck on that damn mountain rolling my dumbass rock back up only to get knocked back down again. I’m remaining optimistic for the future.. let’s keep winning some challenges mmkay

Okay good news, I shouldn't be leaving. But that being said DeNara, you have goT TO PULL. YOURSELF. TOGETHER. She's packing her bags and from my knowledge she's going to be fine tonight. Hopefully it'll be Ben who's going but DeNara giving up like this isn't helPING. 

....five seconds later

Also I am in two alliances which is cool I guess.

Oops....... and now I'm controlling this vote I think :) It feels good. I don't know what my plan is !! I'm lying to everyone. I basically put myself in a position to be the 4th person in both votes and I love it so much. I keep telling ppl I'm an emotional mess and I think I'll milk that because SOMEONE is going to get betrayed tonight... love that for me. Rachael, Nik, and Ben want to vote out DeNara Mo, Kailyn, and DeNara want to vote out Ben And tbh I would prefer Rachael or Nik!! Since neither of those things are happening I guess it's up to me to decide which way I wanna swing... I hate/love myself for this. I think there are good cases for both people to leave, because I think that getting rid of DeNara strengthens bonds I never had with Rachael and co. while getting rid of Ben just makes me their enemy. Honestly I am starting to lean towards getting rid of DeNara for that sole purpose alone. It'll be messy for sure. Ben provides NOTHING to the game right now and I hate the fact that he announced in his intro that he's just here to backstab people... but villains don't win unless they're sitting next to another villain. He's the goat to me and Rachael right now, but pretty homos like me always win xx I might regret this decision down the road but HOPEFULLY whichever side I take will pay me back in protection down the line. I think I have the charm to smooth shit over w Kailyn and Mo but its up for determination. I think that I have the finesse to beat Rachael in a vote, too, but I don't want to put her back up against the wall just yet..... ;) Anyways... I hope this isn't my last confessional. I wasn't having fun until I found my place. Let's get it on.

It is me or Ben tonight. Guess we will find out who...

[schraubd]

Handicapping the Senate

It's less than six months from election day, so why not handicap the current state of the 2020 Senate races? I'm going to list the (competitive) races in order of likelihood to flip to the opposing party. 1. Alabama (Doug Jones - D):  You know that West Wing plot where the Democratic nominee in a super-Republican district dies before election day, and Sam Seaborn offers to run in the special election if the dead guy somehow ends up winning? And then every confluence of luck and God and good fortune smiled and the dead guy did win, forcing Sam into a congressional run doomed as soon as it began? That's kind of Doug Jones re-election campaign. Everything -- everything -- had to break in increasingly ludicrous fashion for a Democrat to win a Senate seat in Alabama, right down to his opponent being an actual pedophile. And it still was a 2 point race. This was a great victory, and Jones deserves to be showered with plaudits and praise for it. But it'd take another miracle for him to win in 2020, and I don't see it. The only bright spot is that former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville looks likely to best ex-Senator and former Trump AG Jeff Sessions to become the GOP nominee -- not because Tuberville is better, but because one of the few joys of the Trump era has been watching him repeatedly wreck the careers of his erstwhile friends. 2. Colorado (Cory Gardner - R): Colorado, like Nevada, is a state that seemed to go from red to light blue skipping entirely over purple in the process. Cory Gardner never got the memo, and has legislated like a GOP diehard for his entire first term -- never even gesturing at a pivot toward the Senator. The reward for his Trumpist loyalty is to be polling down double digits against Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper (doing the right thing running for Senate instead of a quixotic Presidential campaign). It's hard to see how he survives -- he ranks below Jones only because Colorado isn't so solidly blue that a Republican victory would require divine intervention. 3. Arizona (Martha McSally - R [special]): Every once in awhile, one comes across a politician who seems perfectly fine on paper, who doesn't seem to have any particular attributes that make her especially lovable or loathable, yet who voters for whatever reason just don't cotton to. Martha McSally seems to be one of those pols. She just lost a Senate race in 2018 to Kyrsten Sinema in a mild upset that presaged Arizona suddenly becoming a real Democratic target, then immediately got appointed to fill the shoes of departing Republican Senator Jon Kyl. Now she's polling down again to Mark Kelly (astronaut husband of shooting survivor and ex-Rep. Gabby Giffords), in a state where Biden is posting some very impressive numbers. Other politicians might be able to reverse the tide. But McSally just doesn't seem to vibe with the folks she needs to, and the trend lines aren't pulling her way. The most recent poll to drop in Arizona has her losing by a crushing 13 point margin. 4. Maine (Susan Collins - R): This would be among the sweetest fruits for me, and Sara Gideon has a very strong shot to take out Moderate Republican(tm) Susan Collins. Maine remains blue at the presidential level, and Collins once sky-high approvals have been in free fall as she's played loyal foot soldier to McConnell and Trump. Yet it's hard not to imagine she's stockpiled some good will from her (however tattered) reputation as a moderate, and Maine more so than anywhere in New England has some areas that are surprisingly Trump-friendly. This will be a real slugfest. 5. North Carolina (Thom Tillis - R): The "new south" -- educated, suburban, professional, racially diverse, and increasingly blue-friendly -- is creeping up and down the Atlantic coast. Virginia's already been taken over. Georgia an increasingly plum target. But the next domino most likely to fall is North Carolina -- still the palest shade of red leaning, but a place where Democratic fortunes appear to be waxing. Tillis has two other things cutting against him: he'll be sharing a ballot with wildly popular Democratic Governor Roy Cooper (who appears to be thrashing any GOP challengers), and a flood of bad press hitting his Senate colleague Richard Burr for allegedly dumping stock before the coronavirus news really broke. Democratic nominee Cal Cunningham is polling well here -- either moderately ahead or at worst tied. 6. Montana (Steve Daines - R): Governor Steve Bullock is another entry in the "thank you for abandoning a ridiculous POTUS bid and running for Senate instead" list, and he instantly turns this race into a real Democratic opportunity. Montana has been quietly getting more competitive over the past few years as the western half of the state and what passes for "cities" turn bluer, and Democratic Senator Jon Tester won a hotly contested 2018 Senate race by a close but not squeaky-thin 3.5% margin. Daines has the advantage of incumbency plus Trump's coattails, but Bullock is popular statewide. This has flown under the radar a bit, and I think Bullock's got a real shot. 7. Georgia (Kelly Loeffler - R [special]): This would place a lot higher if I was ordering based on "likelihood the incumbent loses". Loeffler, only recently appointed by Governor Brian Kemp, is abysmally unpopular in the Peach State, and right now she's polling fourth in a free-for-all election (behind fellow Republican Mac Collins and then two Democrats). The reasons are myriad -- Trump made it clear she was not his choice for the appointment, and she too has gotten into hot water over coronavirus-related trading -- but the end result is she's unlikely to even advance to the run-off. Unfortunately for Democrats, run-offs in Georgia have tended to sharply favor the GOP, so the most likely person to emerge from the scrum is Collins -- an even further-right Trump loyalist. There's also the alarming possibility that, in a highly fractured field, Loeffler manages to squeak into second and lock Democrats out entirely. Of course if that happens, Loeffler's only hope to prevail is to attract cross-over votes .... 8. Michigan (Gary Peters - D): Outside Alabama, this is by far the GOP's best chance for a 2020 Senate pickup. John James is a very strong candidate who ran a surprisingly close race against Debbie Stabenow in 2018, and he's back for a second crack at the Senate. Peters is not as well established as Stabenow was, and 2020 will likely not be as big a blue wave year as 2018 was. On the other hand, Democratic fortunes in Michigan seem to be on the rise, and Biden should perform better there than Clinton did in 2016. That's enough to make Peters the favorite, but not an overwhelming one. 9. Iowa (Joni Ernst - R): Once the ultimate bellwether, Iowa has seemingly been largely written off as a legitimate Democratic target, and for a long time Joni Ernst seemed to be coasting to re-election. But her numbers are surprisingly soft -- two polls this month have her deadlocked with her two most likely Democratic challengers -- and Democrats did win three of four Iowa House seats in 2018. She's definitely still the favorite, but an upset can't be written off. 10. Georgia (David Perdue - R): The other Georgia race, minus the particular "complexities" raised by Loeffler's unique unpopularity. That means most of the above analysis applies, but only more so for the Republicans. Georgia continues to creep towards purple status, but odds are it won't quite get there in 2020. 11. Kansas (Open [Pat Roberts] - R): Kris Kobach blew the Governor's race for the GOP in 2018, but that hasn't deterred him from seeking the Senate nod in 2020. It's possible he'll get it, and so it's possible he'll lose again. Democrats have rarely been competitive in the Sunflower State, but 2018 showed they had a heartbeat. Meanwhile, the state Republican Party has been in a state of near-civil war for years between (relative) moderates and true firebreathers. The latter camp had their man in the Governor's mansion in the form of Sam Brownback, and his experiment in scorched-earth conservative governance led the GOP to unprecedented unpopularity in a state they normally dominate in. 12. Kentucky (Mitch McConnell - R): I know I said Susan Collins would be the sweetest fruit, but if Mitch McConnell goes down I'll revise that assessment. It's unlikely -- Kentucky is blood red at the Presidential level, and McConnell has effectively infinite resources at his disposal. But Andy Beshear's win of the Governor's mansion showed that Democrats still can win statewide if the stars align, and McConnell, for all his power and sway, is actually very unpopular in his home state. A definite long shot, but not wholly out of range. via The Debate Link https://ift.tt/2AP3523

[theusurpersdog]

The Battle of Winterfell

Okay, I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t particularly care for this episode. I came into it so hyped, because Miguel Sapochnik was in charge of the most important episode of the series to date and he has yet to disappoint, but in hindsight I realized this episode was never going to work. Not that I disliked the whole thing, because there were some moments which I absolutely love, but overall this episode was poorly conceptualized and executed even worse. Below the cut I’ll explain why I disliked it, and how I think the show could have done better. . . 

First, I think this episode was poorly executed in the writing room, not by the actors, directors, and behind-the-scenes crew. Watching the Game Revealed for this episode shows just how incredible the crew behind this show is, and its a shame that all that excellent work was largely wasted by D&D. 

Visually speaking though, this episode was stunning. The shots of Drogon and Rhaegal against the sky, lighting wights on fire, is legitimately breathtaking. Arya’s parkour is also stunning. Miguel Sapochnik and everyone else involved really did not disappoint, as far as they could carry the episode.

To me, this episode failed on two fronts: its approach to characters, and its approach to the battle. 

Characters

The biggest problem this episode had, is that it approached its characters through the lens of the action, and not the action through the lens of its characters. While D&D promised many character moments, there was only one - the Hound deciding to toughen up because Arya was in danger. Otherwise, all of the “character beats” were slow motion shots of people reacting to the battle. Those moments, its important to note, do not come from scripting - those scenes were Miguel Sapochnik desperately trying to ground his action within the emotions of his characters. But these scenes fail to carry the emotional burden the episode needed, because they are entirely generic; that’s what I mean when I say D&D did not consider the action through their characters. None of the scenes in these episodes were written from the perspective of “How would Jon, Daenerys, Tyrion, Sansa, et al, react and how does that change our episode?”, they were all written from the perspective of “These are the exact events we are going to have, what room does that leave for character expression?” - and of course, the answer was very little. Arya’s plotline this episode comes the closest to personalized, and even that falls very short. Listening to the Inside the Episode, the idea behind Arya’s story was “what if we took away her characteristics, what is she left with?” which leads to more near death fake outs, but prevents any real character moments. They intentionally took her back to season one Arya, instead of incorporating 7 years of growth into her scenes. 

Compare that approach to a previous episode, Blackwater, written by George Martin. Every single scene in that episode (except the dude bro scene with Bronn that GRRM was forced to write) is designed to show you something about Stannis, Davos, Cersei, Tyrion, or Sansa. It was a battle written specifically to highlight its characters. The perfect scene to highlight this difference is Sansa in the Sept during Blackwater, vs Sansa in the crypts during The Long Night. Sansa was not written to be useless this episode; her line “I will not abandon my people” combined with the unaired scenes of her killing wights, is quite enough evidence that the intent of D&D was to feature her. Yet, in the finished product, its very clear that D&D really didn’t understand how to feature her; the scenes in the crypts are entirely superfluous, because they exist solely to include Tyrion and Sansa. Whereas in Blackwater, GRRM wrote the scenes to highlight Sansa’s leadership, kindness, bravery, loyalty, and compassion. She is not even included in the “battle” portion of the episode, but many of her very best lines are from that episode and its corresponding book chapters - because GRRM worked the battle around his characters, instead of D&D who worked their characters around the battle. D&D genuinely didn’t know how to include scenes in this episode that weren’t action, and The Long Night suffered greatly for it. The best way to fix this problem would have been to re-examine each scene from a character’s perspective based on their specific story arc over 7 1/2 seasons. D&D were too focused on the base concept of fear, on how everyone is just terrified of death personified, that they forgot each character has their own story. Like I previously said, only the Hound has a scene like this, where we understand his specific reaction based on his specific story arc. 

This episode also failed to incorporate its characters even when the action called for it. While my above complaint is that D&D couldn’t look outside the action to make room for characters, this one is similar but slightly different - even when the action would have been greatly improved by individualized character beats, D&D chose to ignore that in favor of straight battle sequences. The obvious example of this is Daenerys, and her complete ambivalence in the face of Viserion. The only time her character was allowed to influence her scenes this episode, is when she as a Khaleesi decided she could not watch her Khalasar slaughtered; and the only reason that was included, was an excuse to get the battle rolling as D&D envisioned it. But wouldn’t dragon vs dragon content in this episode have greatly benefited from an emotionally bereft Daenerys? I am far from her biggest stan, but it is truly a slap in the face to pretend as if one of her dragons dying, and then being brought back to try and kill her, would not almost kill Daenerys. The dragons are her children; she looks at them and sees herself reflected back, both the good and the bad. Her self worth and importance is tied to them. To not only lose one, but to see it turned against her, is a scene literally begging to be about Daenerys’ loss. And yet, her emotional connection to Viserion is completely irrelevant to her battle with the Night King.

The previous complaints I’ve had with this episode were all things I think would have been relatively easy to fix within the episode itself, but the next problem I have has been building since season one, and was probably unfixable by season 6. And that problem is of Bran, Jon, and the Night King. Obviously I don’t know what GRRM’s plans for the Others are, but I am very sure Bran is at the heart of it. Don’t get me wrong, it was amazing to see a Stark defeat the Night King; but, if we are being honest with ourselves, it was the wrong Stark. Since the start of the series, when we see the Night’s Watch deserter executed through Bran’s eyes, he has been the narrator of the Others. Yet for some reason, D&D made the decision in s1 that they weren’t going to include Northern Mysticism, or Bran’s more supernatural elements. They pretty much eliminated Warging from the show completely (which is entirely unthinkable in the books). By cutting Bran off from his plot with the Others, they filled his role with Jon. Now, Jon is very connected to the North and weirwoods and that sort of high fantasy element, but he is not connected to the White Walkers directly. Jon Snow has never even faced a White Walker in the books, compared to his show counterpart who has had run-ins with the Night King since s5. By making Jon a much more stereotypical Action Hero, they’ve already gutted what the White Walkers are in the books. Once they left Bran out of s5, there really was no going back. To me, its obvious that at some point midway through the show, D&D realized from GRRM just how important Bran was to the fight against the AotD, but it was too late to do anything about it. So Bran being in the Godswood, after an extremely vague explanation of why the Night King wants to kill him, was their desperate attempt to pick up the pieces. That left D&D with only one other option for taking out the Night King - shock value. They literally say as much in the Inside the Episode. All of the above doesn’t even mention how big a problem the Night King existing at all is, but it is a huge problem. The Night’s King, from the books, is not some all powerful figure; he is a man, who made a very stupid choice out of love. The Night’s King story is a deeply personal tale, which most likely revolves around a Stark, which ties the story back to our main characters (specifically Bran). By changing the Night’s King story into one centralized White Walker villain, they took away all the personality of the White Walkers while simultaneously pinning the entire narrative onto one character (which can only lead to an unsatisfactory ending). 

The Battle

Now that I’ve explained why I dislike the character element of The Long Night, lets break down why the battle itself falls short. . . 

They played this way too straightforward. If they weren’t going to ground this episode within emotional stakes and payoffs, they had to be way more creative within the battle itself. I know Dan Weiss gave his “reasons” for not including Ice Spiders, but they were stupid (for anyone who hasn’t seen the article, he said they didn’t think they could animate giant spiders well); Lord of the Rings came out more than 15 years ago and Shelob was very well done, and you’re telling me that Game of Thrones couldn’t pull them off?

Ice Spiders isn’t the only thing they could have done though. GRRM’s story is some Cthulu level horror and heavy metal stuff, and D&D should have embraced those elements. The shots of the dragons fighting worked so well because it was a visually new experience, but D&D scripted way too much melee fighting to be the backbone of the episode. Sapochnik did the best he could to make it stimulating throughout, but as an audience this can only be entertaining for so long. And D&D were obviously very attached to making this episode feature length, regardless - what I’m saying is, an editor needed to be more involved in the final cut. 

[jonlovessansa]

OF SANSA, BRUSHING OUT LADY’S COAT -  part 2

I’m picking up where I left in part 1, which is Jon staring at Sansa:

As I was saying, it's not random that in their first moment together D&D wanted to highlight, with words and images, his old habit of staring at her. I told you how I think this can be inferred in the books, but while we still haven't got any explicit reference to that, there is at least one “subdly explicit” case that points straight to it. It doesn't make sense? Now I’ll explain:

"Then Ghost emerged from between two trees, with Val beside him. They look as though they belong together. Val was clad in all white; white woolen breeches tucked into high boots of bleached white leather, white bearskin cloak pinned at the shoulder with a carved weirwood face, white tunic with bone fastenings. Her breath was white as well …but her eyes were blue, her long braid the color of dark honey, her cheeks flushed red from the cold. It had been A LONG WHILE SINCE JON SNOW HAD SEEN A SIGHT SO LOVELY. "Have you been trying to steal my wolf?” he asked her.“ (ADWD, JON XI)

A woman with DARK HONEY HAIR (which is a shade of auburn) and BLUE EYES, CLAD IN ALL WHITE, a WHITE BEARSKIN CLOAK on her shoulders, HER CHEEKS FLUSHED FROM THE COLD, walks with a WHITE GHOST at her side, a sight SO LOVELY that Jon remembers seeing before.

This undoubtedly symbolizes a marriage: Val and Ghost appear to BELONG TOGETHER and she seems to want to STEAL HIM, which is another way to say CLOAK HIM, id est MARRY HIM, and she is in turn CLOACKED WITH A WHITE BEARSKIN.

Now, Jon refused Stannis offer to marry Val and become the Lord of Winterfell - because “Winterfell belongs to my sister Sansa” - so it kind of makes sense that GRRM wants to play a little with that. Only, isn’t it a bit strange that we’ve been told that Val has GREY EYES and BLONDE/LIGHT HONEY HAIR? 

Why does Val appear like someone else here? Why does a scene that resembles a MARRIAGE look SO LOVELY to Jon? And what is that other sight he’s comparing this one to?

Robb and his snow wet hair helps us again to find it out. In fact, when Sansa is in the Vale, this happens:

Snow was falling on the Eyrie. Outside the flakes drifted down as soft and silent as memory. Was this what woke me? Already the snowfall lay thick upon the garden below, blanketing the grass, dusting the shrubs and statues with white and weighing down the branches of the trees. The sight took Sansa back to cold nights long ago, in the long summer of her childhood. She had last seen snow the day she’d left Winterfell. That was a lighter fall than this, she remembered. Robb had melting flakes in his hair when he hugged me, and the snowball Arya tried to make kept coming apart in her hands. It hurt to remember how happy she had been that morning… and she’d ridden out with the snowflakes swirling around her... I thought my song was beginning that day, but it was almost done… She donned silken smallclothes and a linen shift, and over that a warm dress of blue lambswool. Two pairs of hose for her legs, boots that laced up to her knees, heavy leather gloves, and finally a hooded cloak of soft white fox fur… 

When she opened the door to the garden, IT WAS SO LOVELY THAT SHE HELD HER BREATH, UNWILLING TO DISTURB SUCH PERFECT BEAUTY. The snow drifted down and down, all in ghostly silence, and lay thick and unbroken on the ground. All color had fled the world outside. It was a place of whites and blacks and greys… A pure world, Sansa thought. I do not belong here… Sansa wondered if she were still dreaming. Drifting snowflakes brushed her face as light as lover’s kisses, and melted on her cheeks… She could feel the snow on her lashes, taste it on her lips. It was the taste of Winterfell. The taste of innocence. The taste of dreams… It seemed to her that the sky was a lighter shade of grey. Dawn, she thought. Another day. Another new day. It was the old days she hungered for. Prayed for… The snow fell and the castle rose... It was only a castle when she began, but before very long Sansa knew it was Winterfell… (Petyr) stepped closer… Sansa tried to step back, but he pulled her into his arms and suddenly he was kissing her… "Kissing a snow maid.”… He smiled. “I wish you could see yourself, my lady. You are so beautiful. You’re crusted over with snow like some little bear cub, but your face is flushed and you can scarcely breathe.." (ASOS SANSA VII)  

I had to cut it because it’s very long, but what I kept should be enough to prove my point: Sansa is a SNOW MAID CLAD ALL IN WHITE and CRUSTED IN SNOW LIKE A BEAR CUB, HER FACE FLASHED FROM THE COLD. She steps into a SNOW WHITE place enveloped in GHOSTLY SILENCE, thus becoming a full fledged part of this SIGHT SO LOVELY that not so casually coincedes with her LAST MEMORY OF WINTERFELL, which is also her LAST MEMORY OF SNOW, when Robb was in the yard with snow melting in his hair… She wonders if she is dreaming because the SNOW all around her and its taste on her lips, it’s what her dreams are made of, it’s what she prays for. She hungers for the days of her innocent childhood in Winterfell, and so she finds herself BUILDING THE CASTLE OF HER DREAMS, aka WINTERFELL, WITH SNOW.

Well, I think we can all agree that there’s a lot going on here, especially if you think that in the same ASOS of this excerpt Jon is called "THE SNOW OF WINTERFELL"... But for the matter of this post, what’s most striking to me is that this sight SO LOVELY that she describes as similar to Winterfell on the day she left, matches perfectly with Jon’s sight SO LOVELY that reminds him of another sight he saw a long while ago... Could it be that we're talking about the same LOVELY SIGHT? Could it be that Sansa is Jon's LOVELY memory? I very much think so!

And I also think the show confirmed it. In fact, speaking of Sansa's marriage, look what D&D sneakily threw at us:

SHE’D MAKE A LOVELY MATCH FOR THE RIGHT SUITOR...

Sansa married to the right suitor would be a LOVELY MATCH! Keep in mind that both Sansa and Jon, the only characters called THE BLOOD OF WINTERFELL, many times in the books are linked to marriage and children, and even more, they even have an HUNGER for it:

I would need to steal her if I wanted her love, but she might give me children. I might someday hold a son of my own blood in my arms. A son was something Jon Snow had never dared dream of, since he decided to live his life on the Wall. I could name him Robb. Val would want to keep her sister's son, but we could foster him at Winterfell, and Gilly's boy as well. Sam would never need to tell his lie. We'd find a place for Gilly too, and Sam could come visit her once a year or so. Mance's son and Craster's would grow up brothers, as I once did with Robb. He wanted it, Jon knew then. He wanted it as much as he had ever wanted anything. I have always wanted it, he thought, guiltily. May the gods forgive me. IT WAS A HUNGER INSIDE HIM, SHARP AS A DRAGONGLASS BLADE. A HUNGER . . . HE COULD FEEL IT.  (ASOS, JON XII - CH. 79).

(X)

It was the taste of Winterfell. The taste of innocence. The taste of dreams.  When Sansa opened her eyes again, she was on her knees. She did not remember falling. It seemed to her that the sky was a lighter shade of grey. Dawn, she thought. Another day. Another new day. IT WAS THE OLD DAYS SHE HUNGERED FOR. PRAYED FOR. But who could she pray to? The garden had been meant for a godswood once, she knew, but the soil was too thin and stony for a weirwood to take root. A godswood without gods, as empty as me. (ASOS, SANSA VII - CH. 80).

These are two consecutive chapters: Jon admits that he has always wanted to be the Lord of Winterfell, get married and have children of his own blood, and Sansa, in the same passage I quoted earlier where she's a SNOW MAID CLAD IN WHITE, in the same book where Jon is THE SNOW OF WINTERFELL, while praying for those childwood days when she was still innocent - because "CHILDREN KNOW NOTHING" - and she was still able to dream of LOVELY things, is saying exactly the same. 

This link is present in the show too (@theirwinterfell made a post about Sansa’s future children mentioned 16 times), even with scenes bound together with obvious intent: for instance, Ygritte teases Jon about being "plucked" by him and then Sansa has her first flowering; or Margery sharing with Sansa her insight about men's "skills" right after Tormund tutorial to Jon on how to pleasure a woman…

But then came season 6, they reunited and we got this (as we will probably have in the text to come):

As many of you already discussed, this is Sansa CLOAKING Jon, so again, another very clear marriage reference, except this time they’re both in the same scene. But this is much more: Sansa doesn't simply CLOAK Jon, she made this cloak herself, she, with her hands, spent time to make a coat for him so he could look and feel like a legitimate Stark by marriage. 

SHE WANTS HER WOLF TO LOOK LIKE A LORD AND SO SHE SPENDS TIME TO MAKE HIS COAT BEAUTIFUL AND MAJESTIC.

Sansa, brushing out Lady’s coat…

The parallel is blatant: Sansa loved Lady and took care of her, and now she takes care of Jon and makes him a real Lord. He is a bastard no more, and the fact that this meaningful act is so consistent with his last memory of her, it seems crucial to me: she truly cares for him, and he can see that clearly.

Look at him. First he has a moment of incredulity, of WHAT THE F**K JUST HAPPENED…

...and then there is the realization of WHAT THE F**K JUST HAPPENED...

This is, for me, the moment of his complete healing, when he can definitively “KILL THE BOY AND LET THE MAN BE BORN”, because Sansa, when he's at his lowest - “THEY KILLED ME... MY OWN BROTHERS” - gives him more than a purpose, she gives him what he has always been searching for: belonging, acceptance and love. And she does that in the most honest and “Sansa way” to him, ‘cause it’s glued in his heart in that LOVELY image that he kept of her, which is at the same time a symbol of LOVELY SANSA as much as it represents what she and her mother (and I could hence add, the world…), denied to him when he was a child, so it’s not a case that here we have a forshadowing of a MARRIAGE as much as we have an echo of a maternal act of caring.

“He thought of Robb, with snowflakes melting in his hair. Kill the boy and let the man be born.”

This is the moment he becomes a MARRIED MAN, and look how happy he is. 

A LOVELY MATCH indeed.

Though the poor guy still doesn't know how hard he's been hit and how dependent of her validation he really is.

There are still some very important things to add, but they deserve specific posts. Hopefully, I’ll find the time to write them.

Thanks for listening!

[ashleyfanfic]

Redemption arcs and Jonerys

So, I’ve had a few comments on my recent Tormund story that got me to thinking and I wanted to share this with you guys. I’ve had a few people ask me “how can you possibly put Jon and Dany together after he tries to kill her?” And I guess my answer for this comes from my shipping past.

Some of you may know by now that I was/am a Dramione shipper (Draco Malfoy/Hermione Granger - Harry Potter) from starting in like 2002/2003 and I wrote the most recent fic for them in 2017. I don’t actively write for that ship anymore but I do still read stuff from my favorite authors. But I’ve digressed.

So, all those years spent in the Dramione fandom I had to find ways to work around the fact that Draco Malfoy is essentially a bad guy and Hermione Granger is the golden girl. So, let’s look at their pasts. Draco was raised in a wealthy Pureblood family who believe that only Purebloods should be allowed to do magic. He’s a bigot. He’s a bully. He’s basically a shitty human being. Then you have Hermione who champions House Elf rights, helps Hagrid with his case for Buckbeak, is the smartest witch in an age and is the exact thing Draco grew up hating: a Muggleborn. But I shipped them because I saw little sparks of there being something more to Draco than meets the eye. We know Draco became a Death Eater, those who sought out Muggleborns and killed them, but there were so many interactions with Hermione that left you going ‘huh, maybe there’s something there’. 

To be a Draco/Hermione fan, I had to find LEGITIMATE ways to work with the source material, which I usually did. I was one of those people who thumped my dog earred, comments in the margins books screaming that it was canon and the movies were someone’s interpretation. It was always about a redemption arc for Draco. Hermione would never be with him how he was, so there were things in the stories where he had to grow. That was always the fun part, exploring the growth. 

All that being said, I think it’s why I can find a way for Jon and Dany to still be together. A this point, I’m going to put up the hide content thing cause I’m going to get into the spoilers for the last episode. 

So, according to the spoilers, Dany is killed by Jon. She just committed mass genocide, and Jon kills her. While I think what Dany did was reprehensible, having Jon kill Dany is an enormous hurdle to climb in terms of suspension of disbelief. Could she ever forgive him for that? Could he ever get over what she did? 

I’m approaching it thinking that there is a redemption arc on both sides. When Dany and co attack King’s Landing, she’s had a rough fucking time lately. The man she loves tells her that not only does he have a better claim to the things she’s worked and suffered for her entire life, but he’s pulling away from her because of the relationship (which makes no sense in a feudal system as aunts and nephews being icky is very much a Western thing). She’s losing her lifeline that she developed to cope with the new world she was living in. She lost a dragon to save his life, she opened herself up to him, fell in love with him, and he pushed her away. She might have been able to tolerate all the other heartbreak if she felt like she truly have one person on her side who still loved and believed in her. The man she wanted to cling to when it seemed like the world was crumbling down upon her. She lost her oldest friend in Jorah, who died in her arms after giving his life to protect her, she lost the intimacy she had with Jon, she lost another dragon (her child) and was helpless to stop it, and she lost her closest friend in the world, Missandei. All of those deaths were traumatic for her to witness. She’s seen trauma, but she had never experienced it to such a degree as she had these last few episodes. She lost her husband and child but walked out of the fire with three dragons. I’m not saying they are a substitute for a live, flesh and blood child, but they did bring her comfort and a purpose, as did the people that stuck with her. 

I’ll also say that when she had it confirmed that Sansa told Tyrion about Jon, it confirmed that Jon had done the one thing she had begged him not to do. BEGGED. We’ve seen Dany pretty low in this series. She didn’t beg Khal Drogo not to rape her. She didn’t beg Viserys not to sell her. She didn’t beg in the House of the Undying or to the Dothraki. She was not a person who begged anyone for anything. But she begged the man she loved not to tell this secret that would not only ruin her claim but put her life in danger. He told someone she already recognized as her enemy, that he was naive enough to trust. Sansa didn’t tell Tyrion because she thought Daenerys was unjust. She told Tyrion for the very reasons that Daenerys said, she knew he would spread it without her having to tell anyone else. She knows Varys is plotting against her. She knows Tyrion has at least thought about it. The only other person she has to lean on is Grey Worm and he’s seething in rage and hurt just as she is. So, when Dany starts burning innocent people, it’s not Dany anymore. It’s a shell of Dany. The real Dany made points along the way about preserving the innocent and especially children. It’s easy to say, “Oh she snapped” but maybe she really did snap.

Then we have Jon. She still loves him. Know that he sold her out to Sansa, she still loved him and wanted to be with him. He was still her lifeline. So, now, that the rumor is that Jon kills her, is seized by Grey Worm and forced to take the Black, you also set up a redemption arc for Jon. Because while Daenerys did do something horrible, her death didn’t prevent her from doing it. It’s not like Jaime killing the mad king. This is if Jaime had killed him after the fact. We have Jon betraying Daenerys and killing her. Jon not only becomes a Queenslayer/Kinslayer, but he also becomes an Oathbreaker. That’s the biggest disservice done to Jon Snow besides making him virtually ineffective throughout this season. Jon Snow has proven to be an honorable man. He values that more than just about anything and to have him kill a woman he loves, his family, too, just feels like it goes beyond whatever feels right.

I think that’s the part people are taking issue with. How could Dany ever forgive him for trying to kill her? The truth is she probably shouldn’t. How could she trust that he would never do it again? The truth is she probably shouldn’t. But I think if these two found one another in a different time, in different circumstances, where they had both made mistakes, done things they regretted and hated, then it would change things drastically. 

But I got back to a redemption arc. So, let’s assume Dany doesn’t die but lives through it, which if we believe what happens, Drogon takes her body and leaves. She could still be alive. She wouldn’t embrace him with open arms. That’s illogical. And no matter how she might have felt about him, there’s no erasing what he did for the “greater good”. And as for Jon, she’s not the woman he fell in love with. It would take them being isolated again. Jon and Dany always connected better diplomatically and otherwise when they were alone, without the counsel of others. I think that’s where you start. You have to make it realistic. You have to acknowledge what they’ve both done to bring them to that point. 

Glossing over Dany's madness doesn't make what she did less terrible or make it not happen. Glossing over Jon killing Daenerys doesn’t make it less terrible or make it not happen. The point, for me at least and how I’m coping with this is how do they get beyond that? Can they? Is there a middle ground to be found? Is there a catalyst that brings them together? Is there something more than what meets the eye? It doesn’t have to end just because D&D lost their fucking minds and forgot who these characters are and their journeys. Instead, embrace what happened and write something compelling. Hell, they might not end up together, but there could be something more. Explore it. Roll around in it. Invest in it. 

Now, I realize I’ve rambled but my ultimate point is I am a firm believer in redemption arcs. It’s why I grew to love Theon and Jaime(less Jaime now). People are capable of growing and learning from their mistakes, but these are more than just mistakes for Jon and Dany. They are huge milestones in their lives. Conscious choices each of them made that they will have to live with for the rest of their lives. And personally, I’m exploring that in my Tormund fic from his POV. 

Anyway, that’s just my two cents. 

[makerkenzie]

Re-sewing the scraps: you know they would’ve loved that?

More on my earlier theory about the ending of GOT feeling like D&D tore big chunks out of GRRM’s tapestry and didn’t know how to sew the remaining scraps together:

For example, another of those “remaining scraps” could be Gendry as a Baratheon. Maybe he does get legitimized! But not by Dany.

Another remaining scrap is Jon going back up to the far North. I just think GRRM’s version will create a very different context around Jon’s exile. 

So if we go with these super-generous assumptions that D&D had a certain amount of info from GRRM and they were sort-of-mostly-trying to adhere to GRRM’s endgame, except for the parts they disregarded and discarded because SPECTACLE, then I gotta wonder, on the topic of Jaime’s and Cersei’s book-version deaths:

Why would you see the twins dying together on the show, and think that must be D&D’s adaptation of GRRM’s plan of a murder-suicide?

D&D would’ve been chomping at the bit to have Jaime do a murder-suicide. They would’ve fucking loved the spectacle of making Jaime kill his sister and then himself. If GRRM’s outline told them THAT, it would’ve given them a much more coherent explanation for bringing Jaime back to KL at all. If D&D know Cersei needs to die, AND they know Jaime needs to die, and they’ve determined the twins must die together, and GRRM’s outline says it’s a murder-suicide, then...why the fuck would D&D pull away from the murder-suicide? 

I tell you, they wouldn’t pull away. I tell you, Jaime’s return to KL is not a remaining scrap; it is a complete 180 from Jaime’s arc in the show up to the middle of Ep4, and I’m betting it’s the polar opposite of what Jaime does at the end of the books. The reason why Jaime’s actions in Ep5, and everyone’s actions around him, are such utter nonsense is he’s not supposed to be there. Jaime going back to Cersei, for any reason, did not come from GRRM’s outline. It didn’t even come into D&D’s outline until the 11th hour when they buried their faces in a mound of cocaine and said “FUCKING FIRE US, ASSHOLES!”

When not even Dingus & Dickhead will go that far in getting rid of Jaime Lannister, you can bet he doesn’t kill himself. And I’m betting he doesn’t kill Cersei either.

[itsediadmlove]

Reconciliating Westerosi fandom

Alright folk, first of all I am writing this post for 2 reasons: first of all because I’ve come to like this kind of shit (I thought it to be a nuisance 1 year ago), secondly because I’ve had enough of Reading 3 kind of posts this week; post saying the episode was shitty, posts saying Daenerys is a bitch, posts saying Sansa is a slut. I’ve had enough of people being biased or judging the episode from a ship perspective. Dame of Thrones and D&D don’t give a fucking damn about wich ship we stand or our expectations, we are going to watch the whole season anyway. And them giving us the chance to come here every day every week since the beginnig of the season, being unsure about the outcome, speaking to each other, arguing with each other because we expect different things how everything should end is amazing enough. And being wrong about where the story is leading doesn’t make the deliverance any less majestic.

 Episode 4 was amazing, shit is hitting the fan and the fans and we are back to what game of thrones should be: ‘bout the game of thrones. This season is being far superior to season 7, which in comparison felt plain and predictable (even Starkbowl being a fake was predictable). I have previously wrote a post about this episode in particular and I am going to take my time explaining why both Sansa and Daenerys were awsome this episode. Maybe I’ll repeat myself at some points, but I want the people to stop shitting about what other people believe to be right and take some serious insight on what those characters are doing.

 The last thing I want you to keep in mind before I get started is that I’m pretty aware that I am not a native speaker, and my english can be messy. So if anyone feels like wanting some kind of deeper explanation about what I mean at some point, I invite them to talk with me whenever they want, no matter the ship they stand or whatever; this is not about ships this is about characters understanding so we can enjoy the show without biased or shitty mindsets. I am also aware that I am not a great writter and I believe there is people around far better at exposing themselves.

 -        Daenerys: Amazing episode, the Dragon Queen is finally playing the game herself. Personally I reconciled with her this very episode. I doubted she was able to play the game, this very episode prove me wrong. First we got the Gendry legitimation; clever, as Tyrion pointed out it provided her a loyal (at least theorically) lord of Storm’s End, but it also allowed her to send a message to Sansa Stark about her claim to Winterfell which she could at least jeopardize just by doing something as simple as that. The chamber’s stuff was another amazing display. It allows us to see her concern about Jon’s claim to the Iron Throne. Being fair to her she was right about almost everything. Jon not wanting the throne doesn’t matter at all; even if he never pushed his claim, it will always be an excuse for every single lord around to contest her right to rule over them forcing her to take action making her a tyrant. She was right on the crypts as well (ep2); Jon’s right to the IT will always be shitty, his only prooves are his brother visions and a book anyone could have written, but it doesn’t even matter if it is true. Remember Stannis people, he was right all along about being Robert’s heir, and yet no one gave a damn just because they never wanted him as King. Now we got to the controversial part, her badmouthing Sansa. Yes It is true, but well, there is a throne at stake. For me at this point Daenerys has been thinking about the parentage reveal consequences and being true, the only way to prevent all the shit to come through is having Jon murdered, because even as looking for a way out, once she doesn’t need him anymore and Cersei is done for, she would have to spend all her life out of fear that someone learned the truth. I really believe she loves Jon. During the war council she was in a rush to leave, and I believe that she is actually trying to prevent Jon to tell his family and not because she gives a fuck about her people, after all, she is the very same person that in the books had a huge amount of ill people under her protection in Meereen just because they needed it. In all she is trying to manipulate him while lying herself. Before people start splitting on her (or me)   because of it, if at some point you have been invested in Pol!Jon  theory it seems unfair towards Daenerys to blame her to do exactly the same thing to him. Because what she is really trying here is to keep him safe. As I said before, at this point she should have already contemplated the possibility of murdering him, but she doesn’t want this to happen. Yet, we have to admit that she has already invested to much in Westeros, she has already sacrified to many things and people in her quest, to just back off. She has a responsability to all that people who have died in order for her to get there, and if she risked just because of a hot guy, it would feel to me as a betrayal to all those people, Friends and lovers she has sacrified, she wouldn’t deserve to be a queen while killing Jon would turn her into an usurper. Maybe I don’t like her as a Queen, yet I admire the character, it would be shitty for her to turn mad just because she wants power. If I should describe Daenerys in just one Word it would be passionate; in her way to fight, to rule, to believe on herself and, finally, to love. I don’t know how it is all gonna end, but, if she had to turn Mad, I would feel very displeased if she turns so just because she is ‘’POWER HUNGRY’’, it should be because of love. At some point Daenerys has to stop lying to herself and accept she can’t protect Jon, each death she suffers should push her to the edge, not because she is too sensitive, that woman has crossed the world fighting her way out doing great and terrible things, she isn’t weak, but because she has a duty to all those who believed in her, and for a queen, let a man just take it all away, even the very risk of it happening, should be out of question. And the more she lose, the more she feels endebted to her people and the more she understands, that at the end, she will be forced to kill the man she loves, admires, trusts and considers worthy of being a King. It should be heartbreaking, unfair, saddening and Shakespearian.

 -        Sansa: As always since the sixth season, her character was brilliant this episode. It is true that this episode was far more focused on Daenerys and yet Sansa always get the chance to be outstanding. I loved the political dance between her and Dany this episode. I will go straight to the point; the battlement scene with Tyrion. Sansa isn’t happy there, so much is evident. For some episode now she had been shown around people that were essential in her past (Theon, Tyrion, Sandor). All of them are people that tried to protect her one way or another, the problema is that all of them are related to some piece of her past she doesn’t want to remember. The only reason why Dany made reference to her in her convo with Jon is because she has realised how important he is for her. Everyone can believe if there is any romantic feeling or not, I’m not here to talk about what you all should believe, bute ven if it is just platonical sibling love, Jon is the only male character related to all of her good memories; from her childhood in Winterfell to the present, while being innocent or unrelated  about all the bad ones. This means he is very important to her, important in an extent that is even hard to understand. It is true that he asked something from her and she betrayed such trust; and so? You all antis go around speaking about how she betrayed him without giving a thought about why she did so. Right now, denying Sansa being one of the smartest characters around is just plain and simple denial and her scene with Tyrion was key this episode. There are two emotions in her in such scene: anger (for Jon to leave south) and fear. Anger was pretty easy to get, Tyrion realised, she was unhappy, now, fear shows u when Tyrion ponted out Jon not being a Stark, because this is the very reason that makes him going south dangerous. Sansa is brilliant and she has been thinking ‘bout the parentage reveal as well. And her conclusion is just the same as Daenerys: Jon is going to die because Dany needs him to die. Why she broke the promess: as I see it she has gotten the picture, Dany can’t kill Jon yet, as long as Cersei remains in the throne she needs him to keep the North and the Vale, so if she is going to do something about it, it needs to be now, so she plaid her move, not because she is power hungry, but because she wants to protect him just as much as Daenerys.

 It would be nice for us to be able to stan a character without disrespecting others, or at leasst other fans. The last thing that I want to tell all of you is that I had enough of people throwing the mysoginist bullshit over other people. I really believe GOT is full  of amazing females characters to putt he blame on that. Sure, the world of ASOIAF is unfair with women, welcome to middle age fuckers. If it wasn’t like this we couldn’t relate to such a period. Yet a pretty lot of people needs to defend their faves by pushing the mysoginist bullshit over others, it is pittysome and annowing, the very fact that such a large extent of our faves are females you speak against D&D being such a thing; females characters are amazingly complex here. The very same persons needing to pull such a vague and wrong reasoning over others are the very same people that go saying this or another female character is ‘’POWER HUNGRY’’. I will tell you a secret both Daenerys and Sansa are ambitious (fuck what a revelation) and I find it disgusting that is have to be a guy like me who has to tell you that women being ambitious (doesn’t matter it being Sansa or Dany) is perfectly right thing and they don’t have to love each other just for both of them being women.

[princessjasminetargaryen]

My Thoughts On Episode 4

I’m a Jonsa/Jonerys shipper with Jonsa as my OTP for the ending, so this episode fed me so much.  We got a steamy Jonerys kiss and confirmation of the political/love triangle.  Tyrion was really pressing Sansa on her hatred of Dany, because even though Dany is a tyrant in the making, Sansa is taking it a little too personally.  We’re continuing to take the Season 8 Sansa Ship Tour with a Sansan moment.  I wonder which Sansa ship we’ll get to for episode 5?  Are there any ships left to revisit before the finale?

Things I liked:

“Drunk” Brienne - I loved fake-Drunk Brienne so much.  Fake-drunk Brienne is me.  She was genuinely having fun.

Sad Tormund - WHO GOES TO THE HOUND FOR THERAPY?!  Tormund.  His eyes were so sad.  I love him so much.  Can I keep him?

Arya MF Stark - “I’m no lady” When you ship Gendrya but you love to watch a man’s feelings get hurt... Honestly I have slightly more hope for Gendry surviving, and a Gendrya endgame now that they’re not happening this episode.  

Drunk Jon - “I’m not drunk” *stumbles*  

Jonerys kiss  - Yasss let the passion come out!!!  That kiss was hot af.  (But bro....but bro....)

Dany “You better call the Sansa with the red hair”  - Daenerys is jealous of Sansa’s political and emotional pull on Jon.  Sansa triggered Dany for making a simple, legit suggestion.  She didn’t even have as much of an attitude about it at first. Sansa needed to know when to hit the brakes though....

Arya’s look at Sansa during the planning meeting: Arya looked like she was about to say to Sansa, “Say the word, and I’ll leap across this table.”

Arya/Sansa contrast - It made Sansa’s jealousy and emotional attachment to Jon more clear.  When Arya was trying acknowledge Jon’s bending the knee as a good thing, and Sansa cut in, Arya gave her a “bruh, what is you doing” look. Arya: “You are my brother.”  Sansa: “You are Ned Stark’s son.”  ....okay Sansa.

Sansa’s Tongue = Jon’s Sword - Just like how Jon Snow can be a dumb hero by running into dangerous situations, Sansa can talk her way into dangerous situations herself.   Even if she’s right, Jon had to shut her down in that planning meeting before escalating the argument any further.  

“Dracarys” - Missandei went out like a G.

Dark Dany Is Not Black and White - I’ve called this over and over again.  Daenerys has legitimate reasons to feel the way she feels, and her path to “madness” is more to do with the fact that she only has dragons, death, and destruction left.  Anyone would be angry and want to attack in that situation, but only Daenerys has dragons and not enough wisdom or knowledge to avoid using them.

Cersei “Baddest Bitch” Lannister - Cersei has no fucks to give.  When they said that the mines at Casterly Rock ran dry, they should’ve added that that’s where they were mining Cersei’s fucks as well.  

Dislikes:

Ghost - We didn’t even get a pet for the good doggo?

Talk of Sansa’s trauma - I didn’t hate it, and I see what they’re aiming for by saying that her experiences led her to becoming to Lady of Winterfell.  But it was still kinda iffy.  I don’t think they were blatantly saying, “Sansa’s rape made her better.”  But it’s still kind of implied so...iffy.

Since this was such a character driven episode, I’m curious how Bryan Cogman would’ve handled it.  D&D’s strengths tend to be: editing, simplifying story, emotional payoff, and getting the interesting character clashes.  This episode had the interesting character clashes, but it also had some heavy emotion and ships (literally), which is more in Bryan Cogman’s arsenal.  

Honestly I think the reason why I can enjoy this show is that the writers and producers are all bringing different skills to the table.  Is it perfect?  Absolutely not.  But is it overall enjoyable?  Yes.

[solis3clipse]

Gendrya and its chances of becoming canon - part 1

this post contains spoilers from most of the seasons of Game Of Thrones

Gendrya, also known as the shipname of Arya stark and Gendry Baratheon, has become a quite popular pair in our fandom. In this masterpost i will try my best to list and discuss most of the reasons why it has a huge potential of becoming canon.

DISCLAIMER:

in no way shape or form am i going to force someone into believing that they're going to be a romantic pair in the following season. There's obviously a possibility of their relationship staying exactly the same; this is purely based on theories and real facts from the show.

The masterpost will provide you with information from the show, not the books. In all honesty, George Martin treated the ship more fairly than the show and respectfully gave them way more scenes, so to avoid messing up the whole post, i'm going to be speaking about the show!gendrya.

i'm going to be using some very interesting information from the blog of my good pal @jj-justwriteit. They make some very thoughtful points so definitely check out their blog if you're up for some great Gendrya discussions. Please keep in mind that there are some things you might have already heard of; and definitely correct me if i get something wrong.

Before meeting each other.

I think it is best to start from the very beginning, and by that i mean even before Arya and Gendry first met.

A very interesting theory i've been thinking about is Robert Baratheon who is obviously the father of Gendry, telling Ned that they would join their houses with marrying their children.

''I have a son, you have a daughter, we'll join our houses''

. The first thing you probably think of when reading this is Sansa and Joffrey who were supposed to marry each other and as Robert hoped, join the houses to bring peace. Though we all know how that ended,-Joffrey (who wasn't even Robert's son in the first place) ended up dying and Sansa's future took a whole different path to the point where you'd think her desire for marriage had completely disappeared. This might be them foreshadowing the potential future of Arya and Gendry. I'm not saying they'll get married, but i am saying that this could simply represent the development of their relationship in a romantic way. It would be sort of ironic to see them getting married since Arya had been strongly against it since the very beginning of the show. that leads us to the noticeable twists game of thrones has,- Ned died in the first season when no one expected him to, Robb didn't even get the chance to rule Winterfell when half of the fandom was convinced he was going to be the next king, Jon fell in love with daenerys which was not only never mentioned in the books, but was also rushed and happened very quickly (unlike Gendrya who had plenty of time to develop feelings for each other, they practically closed an important chapter of their lives while they were together); that being said, you can never really predict where Arya's path takes us next. The show always hits us with changes and whether they're good or bad, they're often very unexpected. If you ask me, Arya's story is one of those that has not yet ended and there is exactly that one twist missing that is going to wrap it all up. I believe that ''twist'' has something to do with Gendry. All the other questions in her storyline are answered,- she chose to remain her identity and not become no one, she got back to her family and proved she would never betray any of them, she chose to follow her childhood dream and became her own hero. The last part is love, i believe. And Arya will need to figure it out and battle with making important decisions one more time. Their ''slow burn'' romance as i like to call it has been leading up to that all this time and i'm hoping they will be able to fit it in and drop the bomb in the last season.

Bringing the attention to Gendry, his purpose and identity is really interesting if you think about it. Let's go way back and start from the main point of his role in the show. Gendry Waters is the Bastard son of Robert Baratheon, right? That's very clear when you observe how he acts, how he looks and even talks,-if he had been around earlier the king would instantly recognize him as his bastard kid because Gendry is a perfect definition of the name Baratheon. His appearance - dark, rough looking hair and beautiful blue eyes flawlessly portrays the house. Anyone from Cersei's children could not even compare to how much Gendry looked like his father. There are countless similarities which you can read more about on @jj-justwriteit 's blogif you're interested, but i'm going to swiftly turn back to out main topic to avoid confusion. If you take a minute to observe the plot, the show could've been perfectly fine without him. That came out harsh but don't get me wrong, - i love him to death and he's one of my favorites, he has in fact done very heroic, important stuff but realistically speaking since he isn't technically one of the protagonists, Gendry could've been easily replaced with any random  character be it male or female, with someone like Podrick, without messing up the whole story. Instead the author strictly made him to be a bastard son of king Robert who would later meet the princess of Winterfell. See? the puzzle instantly fits. Not to mention that there were quite a few characters similar to Gendry in the show who died or were very close to dying while despite disappearing for a entire season, the boy still remained alive and received a big development from just a bastard boy who wasn't even aware of his identity and spent his life serving others, to Gendry, the son of King Robert Baratheon who befriended Arya's brother a.k.a our future king and placed a huge role in helping the queen make progress in the battle. There are characters that you'd never expect to lose, there are characters that you know will die. but there are also a few people in GOT that have big chances of making it till the end for various different reasons, i think Gendry is one of them. May i mention how they brought him back in the last season and made him play a huge role? The writers would not make Gendry stand out if he didn't have a future in game of thrones, period. He is important and his story isn't over so killing him would be BLOODY DUMB. You started his journey and made it more significant than it could've been, now it's your job to respect your own decisions and not act like Gendry was nothing to the show. Like mentioned above, he could've been replaced with literally anyone who would be less relevant but noo. It’s Gendry Baratheon. As you keep watching the show and analyse his role in Arya's life, there are so many things about his persona that just make sense. His name makes is easier for me to connect the dots and get to the point which just screams gendrya. and That's one of the things that convinces me that Gendry is going to pull through this and stay in the show till the end.

A very significant scene to me is also his first meeting with Jon. Many people were upset because he didn't mention Arya and i'm not gonna lie at first that left me feeling kind of bitter as well, but after investing into it more i managed to find possible explanations. I like to look at it from the bright side considering that the scene is so much more than just some boys interacting. Gendry's meeting with Jon was done in a way that strangely seemed too much like Ned and Robert's and i can bet my whole life that it was done this way on purpose. It didn't feel too ''formal'', serious or tense, which is what you would normally expect since Jon is literally the legal king of the seven kingdoms. remember Ned and Robert meeting in the very first season? It went exactly like Jon and Gendry’s; They started off with a slightly tense atmosphere until shortly after it transformed into them laughing and hugging. the chemistry between the characters was undoubtedly there,- they jokingly made fun of each other and instantly got along which speaks a lot about his future relationship with the Starks; name any other character Jon talked to in such a friendly, ''domestic'' way as if they had known each other since forever. If Gendry left such a great first impression on Jon, that means there's a clear possibility of him being in contact with not only him but the others as well. and by others yes, i mainly mean Arya. Why would he want to become good pals with Jon? Because he's Arya's brother. He wants to make up for the fact that he was part of the reason they got separated in the first place and get as close to her as possible. As for him mentioning the girl, none of us know what was going on in Gendry's head and that's why there are so many thoughts and theories about this. Probably an opinion closest to reality is that as the fandom agrees,- Gendry might've thought Arya was dead. Obviously after being seperated for quite a long time plus Arya completely disappearing from Gendry's life, he would think she wasn't alive anymore. It seems logical. Even if you don't agree with that particular version, Gendry never really got a chance to ask about her either. Once he joined the others to help out on their mission, clearly all they were focused on was the duty, therefore i hightly doubt D&D would give us the fanservise and focus on anything else than the white walkers. If you think about it, all they discuss throughout the seventh season is the plan and how to accomplish it. Rescued from serving people he didn't want to serve at all, Gendry gave it his all to concentrate on correcting his mistakes, which is the best excuse for this situation. He put off any of his personal issues and wishes to devote himself to saving the world legitimately, meaning he never let himself catch a break and did whatever he could to stay right beside Jon. The boy prevented himself from expressing his emotions which is comprehensible,- even if he didn't think Arya was dead, i reckon Gendry wouldn't dare to ask about her when it was his first proper interaction with Jon, she was said to be his sister after all and the last thing he would want is to make things uncomfortable and awkward between them. Both reasons are quite coherent, believe whichever you want. His commitment towards Snow perfectly showed how much he cares. Not only about the people, Jon or the world. But how much he cares about helping out someone whose sister meant so much to him.

Gendry (still) is in the process of realizing that hey, he could be suitable for his highborn lady after all and if they get the confirmation from Jon(or Daenerys) who will probably become the king, there's no problem in them being together. It's apparent that Daenerys strongly dislikes Robert, but she was the one trying to prove that the child should not be punished for their parents' mistakes, which speaks a lot about how she might've reacted. By now it's obvious that she isn't cruel nor is she stupid. If Gendry and Arya did get together, i personally see no possibilities of Daenerys denying their relationship. Even if by some chance she did, Jon would proceed to convince her to make it happen because he would be perfectly aware of the fact that it could make Arya happy. Besides may i bring this back,- Gendry left a very good impression on him which assures Jon that his sister would not be in any sorts of danger. I firmly believe he trusts him by now. What i'm trying to get across is that in my opinion this just proves that Gendry shares his part of the story with Arya, that's why they are destinied to end up together. it just makes sense.

Lets move on to Arya before and after meeting Gendry. Unlike the boy, Arya did get screentime before meeting him since she's one of the main characters so it's easier to discuss what changes i spotted in her persona. In the first season, up to until the third one we see a tough little girl dreaming about becoming a warrior and being just like her father. It's obvious that she did not even want to imagine her and marriage and continouesly denied the idea, even making fun of Sansa for liking Joffrey. I think that's quite normal and does not mean that she is incapable of falling in love with someone. Arya was very young in the first season, still practically a tiny child so i think it's not surprising that she thought marriage was stupid. In no way am i saying that she suddenly changed her point of view when she grew up, but Arya had a very strict opinion about even considering liking someone romantically let alone spending her entire life with them and that's usually how most children think. Arya, around like 11 years old, would never admit anything like that. That's why i'm now emphasizing on the fact that her behavior and actions drastically changed later on, a very  good example is her checking out Gendry's naked torso in the third season which i'm going to discuss more later. This sums up her growth quite well, she went from the kid who was convinced she was never going to dedicate any time to love, to a girl with her first crush. As i mentioned above, her and Sansa could be on the path of switching their roles. Sansa is either going to lose interest in getting married or finally find a good partner for her(which i doubt will happen to be completely honest) and Arya falls in love with Gendry despite starting off with different expectations. 

during the time period when her and Gendry got separated, there isn't many scenes with Arya mentioning him either. Believe me i was hoping for gendrya the whole time as well but just like with his situation, i was able to quickly understand the case. Arya's storyline throughout season 6 was very important for her to get where she is now. I believe it was essential to make her go through all that stuff to prove a point: It was not for Arya. Besides the way i personally see it is that In the gap between their reunion, there really was no time for them to be mourning over each other's loss. Arya tried to become someone else and forget everything from her past. It didn't work out. She failed to become no one for a reason, she decided to keep calling herself Arya Stark for a reason. If her story contained no love,- be it platonic or romantic whatsoever, i don't think she'd bother to give up so easily OR come back to Winterfell. This may seem like a reach to some people, but for me it makes complete sense,- Arya came back because Joaquin's path didn't cross hers. The life she thought was perfect for her didn't turn out to be suitable at all and i'm glad she was able to realize that early enough. No matter how much she changed, she belonged (still does) to Winterfell from the very beginning, there were certain people in her life that she could not let go. The writers made her change her mind and come back because there was so much more waiting for her there, because that leads us to what comes next.

other ships

some people seem to ship Gendry and Arya with other characters and I'm certainly not here to fight them because of that, but for my fellow gendrya stans, i'm going to try and explain why there's no chances of either of them ending up with someone else. I guess what you could call ''the most popular ships besides gendrya'' are sansa and Gendry and Arya and Joaquin. Let's start with strongly denying the first one.

I don't know where to even begin because i find it challenging to comprehend what gave people reasons to ship Sansa with Gendry. On a very simple note,-they haven't even met. They have NOT interacted while Gendrya has had a major build up since the third season. When it is seemingly clear that both of them started gradually developing feelings for each other, i can't imagine Sansa proceeding to literally betray her sister and try to steal her man, lol. She grew up, became more mature and as i mentioned earlier, probably lost a big part of her interest in romance. I personally can only imagine Sansa hyping up their relationship and teasing Arya about how in love she is. Hear me out,- the writers have made tons of questionable decisions throughout the years of shooting the series, but i believe this is where they cross the border. They are perfectly aware of the fact that making Sansa and Gendry canon would stir up drama, not only because people ship gendrya, but also because it does not make sense. It would be wrong, rushed and very, very weird turn. Gendry has never expressed any interest in Sansa nor has he even metioned her.

As for Joaquin and Arya, i think i am able to get why people like the pair, though in no way do i encourage anyone to do so because it will never happen, obviously. Do i believe that Arya loved Joaquin? No. I personally see them as two individuals who had a very weird friendship connecting them. Arya never really had friends and Joaquin was one of the first people she dared to refer to as such, so of course she would be shown expressing some type of platonic feelings towards him, for instance her choosing him as her teacher or that one time she genuinely got scared, thinking he had died. Joaquin and Arya's friendship was one big rollercoaster which i'm struggling to fully figure out to this day. Probably the only aspect i'm completely sure about is that they weren't in love. Both of them knew they had found someone with similar goals and personality so obviously they were left on good terms and managed to even work together for some time. Joaquin taught Arya stuff that gave her a different view on certain stuff and more experience which came out quite useful in the following episodes. The two of them were never destined to be together and Joaquin's death was one of the things that proved that. Almost every pair in Game of thrones has a mutual connection, great chemistry and are visibly suitable for each other, however Arya and Joaquin never had that. There was not a bit romance in their scenes and they had no development in that terms whatsoever.

We already know Gendry has eyes on Arya and only.

That being said, anyone can ship what they want, but once again,-this is for gendrya shippers who think that either of the ships mentioned above have any potential of becoming canon. No they don't. I'm pretty positive that the author and the creators of the show would never do that to us.

Their scenes

As mentioned in the top of this post, George Martin spoiled us and included quite a few moments of Gendrya in the books. If you've read the series there's NO way you didn't interpret their relationship as a romantic one just because it's clearly coded that way. Like i promised i'm not going to be going in details about why George is amazing, but it will surely take more effort to analyse the moments from the show untill i manage to get every detail of like the three scenes we got written down and examined.

Starting from the very first scene we saw them together in. I have so many thoughts about it. We all know Arya and Gendry are incredibly badass together or separated and that scene was a very good example of how well they work together. The bull and the wolf,-they're a perfect team and it seems as if the writers wanted to get that across immediately once they had met.

I adore the first scene. Arya gains the courage to stand up for herself despite two strangers probably scaring the shit out of her trapped at a place she knows nothing about. As she finds the energy within herself to stand up and point Needle towards hotpie's chin, forcing him to steadily step back, Gendry joins from behind and threatens the boy to leave Arya alone. What i love the most about the scene is Gendry's bitter words mixed with humor (*insert his sentence here*) and the way he defended the innocent kid. It already gives you a general idea of how lovely and courageous his personality is, leaving the best first impression for a character if you ask me. The scene is done so well in the show, he doesn't even think twice before scolding hotpie and shrugging it off shortly, treating Arya quite decently.  As if he already knew he was dealing with a princess.

look at them.

Now this is a tricky thing to discuss, though one of my personal headcannons that can potentially be very true, is that show!Gendry knew Arya was a girl from that exact scene. What i mean is that he didn't even need to try and figure it out since he knew in the first place, while others were confused even after finding out she wasn't a boy.  ''do you think i'm as stupid as the rest of them?'' he says once he sees her surprised face after admitting that Arya had done a poor job lying to him; and it's true, he isn't. Gendry is incredibly smart despite not being perfect at reading and writing which by the way, was not his fault at all. Every scene with Gendry in it in the show truly does make him seem more intelligent and clever than the people he mentioned. It speaks a lot about his difference from the other boys and really makes him stand out; also adds another reason to the list of why they'd be a perfect pair. Despite being raised as a bastard and having to go through so much rough stuff at such a young age, Gendry inherited some of the best traits of a Baratheon and grew up to be a bright man. He is quite strong and fit physically, but he is also competent and wise which if you ask me, makes him perfect for Arya. It's her. There's no way she would fall in love with someone less cool than her, so i think it's safe to say that Gendry is the only one right for her.

Moving onto the scene where he finds out about Arya's true identity, that one is definitely one of my favorites. There's so much that needs to be said about it because it describes so many parts of their relationship. It's a good portrayal of their bond, trust, chemistry.

I love how Arya didn't expect him to find out about her at all and tried her best to hide her shocked reaction the first time he confronted her about it. Gendry was very casual and subtle about it, just sliding the topic into their small banter as if it hadn't even been a huge deal and i find that endearing in a way. It expresses how mature he was at the age of 15, any other boy would most likely freak out and act as if they'd seen a miracle. 

Arya could've easily rejected him and found more ways to lie in order to convince him otherwise, yet not only did she come clean, but also trusted him enough to admit who she really was. That was an another clear sign of ''they met and instantly found the courage within themselves to trust each other even with their deepest secrets''. Of course the boy was very honest with her as well;  Tell me Gendry apologizing for peeing in front of her and claiming he should've been calling her ''M'lady'' wasn't the cutest thing you saw throughout that season. What left me thinking is how he believed her immediately. Sure, Arya's explanation seemed pretty legit, but i doubt anyone else would let themselves to trust her that easily. He gained much more respect for Arya after finding out that the person he had been talking to wasn't just any other girl but the highorn lady of Winterfell. I love how Arya is already comfortable with playfully punching the guy because he had called her a lady; and the dialogue in that scene is hilarious and well done. They're already acting like best friends despite not even knowing each other that much and the apparent flirty tension often gets mixed within their conversations which i find very lovely. It's so sweet how the angry bean Arya makes Gendry full on giggle and look up at her with the most ''in love'' look in his eyes. That right there, is good acting.

I bet Gendry had a hard time hiding  his shock when finding out that the highborn lady of Winterfell was that badass and fearless instead of a bit more girly and petite as he would've expected. And i'm strongly convinced that was the thing about Arya catching his attention and making him realize how different, stronger and better she was than any of the women he had met before.  

One of my absolute favorite scenes is Arya sneakily checking out her man. The scene is so incredibly iconic and remarkable that it most likely popped up in your head instantly. That's when any viewer immediately realizes that the writers' intention was to show Arya's developing first crush.

As Gendry trains, fully focused on his weapon, Arya literally glances up and down his body with that hungry ass look in her eyes. sorry. had to be said. It's the truth. 

We had definitely never seen the girl impressed on that level by a man in any previous (or following) seasons. Arya was just a tiny girl and as she grew up she started feeling different emotions, therefore i think it's quite obvious that we got to experience that with her in the said scene. Maisie's acting was so damn good. She managed to portray the exact same feelings Arya had perfectly which just added more reasons for people to ship the pair.

The most important scene in my opinion is of course, ''i can be your family''. I'm going to begin with firmly emphasizing on Maisie's comment about the scene.

Rolling stone: she obiously has family on her mind in this episode. But when she tells Gendry ''i can be your family'', it sounds like she might mean something very different - even if she herself barely realizes it yet.

I really love the way this was put because they tried to avoid any major spoilers, but gave us higher chances of finding out more about how Arya feels towards Gendry. Bless them for bringing this up. It's clear that everyone, be it people from the fandom or outside interprets their relatioship as a romantic one.

Here's what Maisie answers:

''At first i read it as ''You can come to winterfell, i'll show you how everything goes, and you can come and sit at the table with us'', i thought it would be a bit like Theon. But when i was doing the scene, director Alex Graves said ''when you say that last line, 'i can be your family', say it like 'i love you'''. And that's the take that they used.

To this day i'm still struggling to believe that's real, but it is. Maisie practically said that Arya never saw Gendry as a brother (like Theon) but as something else. Something more. With that exact words she realized she had certain feelings towards Gendry that made it so difficult to let him go and leave. I can't help but mention their acting one more time because it was absolutely phenomenal. Game Of Thrones has something for every type of viewers, Fantasy, adventure and romance,-that's one of the reasons it's so popular. That being said, we've had tons of different pairs with their love stories; The ones who ended up dead, the ones who survived. One aspect connecting all of them is the story of how they met and fell in love. Now this is a very bold thing to say so not many people might agree with me, but i personally think that Gendrya, the ship that hasn't even become canon yet, is the most romantic and epic yet, it leaves us with so much feels and want. I never felt so much love and passion towards any other ship from the show and it's very apparent to me why. I don't remember any couple from GOT that had such a slow burn, amorous and well developed plot. Gendrya does. They have so much potential. Both Maisie and Joe understand that and they give it their all to make Gendrya so obvious. In the said scene, Gendry looks like he is legitimately holding back tears as he rejects Arya's offer and decides to stay. He seems like as if he's having second thoughts and doubting his choices, there's so much pain depicted on his face and yet he doesn't have enough time to reconsider. Maisie does say the last like just like ''i love you''. There's indeed much more said than just ''come to Winterfell and stay with us'', it's her trying to express unconditional love and fondness. Arya is aware of her feelings towards Gendry and by the time she fully realized that, she had to leave. Just like Gendry, Arya looks just as upset and hurt. Looks like in that moment,  it took all her willpower to turn around and go. 

A classic Gendrya moment is her being immensely worried when the red woman took Gendry, disappearing without any explanations. I can't get over how mad she got and never stopped worrying about him. ''I don't talk to traitors'' CAN YOU BELIEVE HER. Arya was beyond aggrieved to the point where she even refused to talk. Her expression when Gendry gave in and they basically tied him up so he wouldn't be able to escape was priceless. I've seen the scene about a hundred times and it gets me every. damn. time. A simple question could sum up how much she cares for him,-have you ever seen Arya so worried and hurt about something (besides Ned's death because DUH) throughout the season? no. She learned how to control her emotions and literally never show them, but the agony was so visible on her face in that moment. That's not surprising since her friend got taken away to a place she knew nothing about, but again, i've never seen Arya so furious. She was worried sick and probably was ready to do anything to bring him back.  

Gendry's Jealousy

Hoo boy. Don’t even get me started. It’s a popular headcanon in the fandom that Gendry is a jealous man when it comes to Arya, but i’d say we could freely call it canon since it’s painfully obvious that he’d kill any other man if he saw them kissing his girl. lol Emphasizing on the scene where Arya was talking about Joaquin; Gendry, visibly startled, literally asks: ‘you need him?’

Now obviously he didn’t know why Arya might’ve needed the stranger and that’s one of the reasons he got so uncomfortably surprised. The way Joe acts out the scene, it does seem like Gendry looks very uneasy and actually kind of pissed? rewatch the scene and tell me i’m wrong. Even before getting together the boy wants to make sure he has no competitors and that’s purely because he loves her so much.  He would obviously never be controlling around Arya, but he would make sure to subtly but not really remind everyone that she was very much taken. It’s just how he is. I imagine Arya finding his behavior very cute and just laughing about it every time she’d notice him getting mad because of something so irrelevant. You know Gendry doesn’t actually have any reasons to be jealous, right?

I don’t know if we get more scenes of Gendry being jealous, but there sure are slight chances of that happening since he’s most likely going to reunite Arya and have tons of screentime with her. At this point i’ve stumbled across more than approximately 5 posts of people mentioning how Maisie and Joe were spotted filming together so i’m pretty sure we’re getting something.  There are lots of expectations but who knows what might happen?

forgesex2019.

there has been a theory going around about Gendry and Arya's reunion which i personally really like. It's what they deserve and it's what we've been craving ever since we got to know them. I think it's a very logical explanation of the end for their relationship. @jj-justwriteit is literally the best at discussing how it could go so it would be great if you'd read here headcanons, but i'll talk about it here as well. Lots of other pairs got their moments. They even managed to fit Jonerys and their sex scenes in the last scene, so i have high hopes for this. As my friend exclaimed in one of her posts, forgesex is most likely going to happen which i believe on a high level. So far it's a headcanon, but it will hopefully become canon in the final season. If anyone is still worried about the age difference (which is literally just five years), both of them are grown up, nearly adults. There's literally nothing to worry or argue about since Gendrya isn't the only pair with age difference. Drogo and Daenerys? She was about 14 years old when she lost her virginity but people shipped her with Khal regardless. Gendrya is just pure and completely normal, non toxic. They're very allowed to do whatever they want without it seeming weird. period. Arya isn't a child anymore.The way i personally imagine forgesex is WILD. I mean imagine a Baratheon and a Stark in love, who by the way, haven't seen each other for ages so the passion, love, want all of that building up in them is going to burst into flames and boom. Clothes literally ripped, on the floor, hands on each other and kisses everywhere. It would be the most epic scene any other pair has had. I imagine their reunion would be calm and just full of love at first. It's a clichee thing to describe but Gendry would see her first and softly mutter her name, thought loudly enough for her to hear, Arya would flinch at the familiar voice and swiftly turn around, seeing him. I already know Maisie is going to kill this. She has been great at characterizing Arya's intentions and actions, so when they reunite, it's going to be good. No matter what, it's going to be outstanding. I feel it.I can't WAIT to see Arya, Sansa and Jon meeting Gendry altogether. Imagine the flustered girl trying to hide her blush while Jon, confused attempts to find out how her sister knows Gendry. Sansa would know instantly and jokingly tease Arya later.Back to forgesex, can you imagine them getting some time fo themselves and just going at it. It would be a one big sloppy mess but at the same time for them it'd be very special and beautiful. By now Gendry already knows that he's a Baratheon so he allows himself to not hold back, which will be the result of him pining her against a wall and. well, you know the rest. One thing i'm absolutely sure about is that Arya would still have to initiate the process and strike first. Gendry notices that yes, she is in fact sure about this and wants the exact same thing, so he would start playing along. Gendry knows he has a gorgeous body, okay. Besides Joe dempsie hasn't been working out for NOTHING. We will get more naked Gendry and it will be for Forgesex.

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i probably missed a lot of details and forgot stuff, so if anyone reads any of this at all, a part two will be added to the whole masterpost! this was just a very quick recap slash analyzing the ship so if anyone wants me to get even more in depth and write all my feelings and predictions, simply let me know.

a huge thank you to @jj-justwriteit  ! you inspired me to even start this masterpost. I could never discuss this stuff as well as you do, please check them out and send love and gendrya in the ask box <3

[tiny-little-bird]

Y'all know what I get from the response I got to the post I published the other day, about Jon liking redheads?

Some people *cough* J0nerys shippers *cough* are pressed and really bothered by the fact that Jon clearly has a type; a type that IS 100% NOT silver haired “bend the knee” entitled dragon lady, BUT 100% IS red haired “You should take it.”, “You are to me.”, “You’re good at this you know. […] At ruling.” intelligent, kind and strong Sansa Stark, whom raised Jon up; unlike dragon lady, whom literally stepped on him and took away from him, pretty much everything he had accomplished, ever since reuniting with Sansa.

D@ny pretty much stripped him of all the things that were good in his life, that made him feel happy and accomplished.

“Epic romance” is ANYTHING BUT epic lol

- Jon had acquired the love and respect of the North and the Northern Lords. Thanks to dragon lady, that’s gone out the window now.

- The Lords named him King in the North and he left Winterfell and the North as a King. Dragon lady took his crown and title and “downgraded” him to a Warden.

- He gained Sansa’s affections, acceptance, trust, validation and love (all things he always dreamed of having) and, poor Jon, realized Sansa will be deeply hurt and disappointed by the news, he probably feels like he failed her, and for all he knows, she is also mad at him (she’s not mad at him, as seen in 7.07 when she gets his letter, but he has no way to know that until he reaches Winterfell). For all he knows, him bending the knee, giving her home, their home, the North to a squabbling (southern) “Queen”/”Ruler”, the home and country for which she bled, was raped beaten and tortured, might just be enough to destroy the beautiful relationship based on on love and trust that they had built. So for all he knows, due to dragon lady, he’s lost Sansa, just as he has lost the Northern lords and the North.

Have any J0nerys shippers stopped at any point to think about the fact that Jon reuniting and teaming up with Sansa was a blessing and only brought him (and House Stark too) good things, while “teaming up” with pyromaniac dragon lady brought and was a f*ing disaster? Probably not, since the majority of J0nerys shippers are Dany stans who don’t give af about Jon’s happiness and well being.

And don’t come at me with this, “But Lyanna and Rhaegar met and fell in love! They loved each other! So that means Jon and D@ny are just like them and are in love with each other too!!” BS, because Jon is Rhaegar in this situation, he was raised by the wolves, but he is the legitimate son of Rhaegar Targaryen, and that makes him a Targaryen, since children take their fathers’ names, and honestly, comparing them to R&L really doesn’t play in your favour… 

D@ny: “Everyone enjoys what they’re good at.” (D@ny enjoys conquering, bullying and burns people alive like it’s nothing), Jon: “I don’t.” (he doesn’t enjoy war and he doesn’t enjoy killing people).

D@ny: “He (Viserys) told me Rhaegar was good at killing people.“, Barristan: "Rhaegar never liked killing.”.

So as I’ve said, Jon is literally Rhaegar. Now, y'all mean to tell me D@ny is Lyanna?! lol NO. She is not a Stark, she is not a wolf, she is not ice and she is NOTHING like Lyanna. D@ny is Aerys II Targaryen, commonly known as, the Mad King. 

So let’s recap for a second: 

Rhaegar was the rightful heir to the Irone Throne. Jon is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne. 

Rhaegar planned to swiftly dethrone his mad father, Aerys II Targaryen, who burned people alive and was not fit to rule the Seven Kingdoms anymore, to rule in his stead. D@ny burns people alive, and her incompetence in ruling (which she has proved time and time again) makes her unfit to rule.

You see where I’m going with this… so yeah… not sure why y'all want to go around comparing Jon & D@ny to Rhaegar and Lyanna, since their union caused chaos and war, it caused a bloody rebellion, that killed Elia, Rhaenys, Aegon, and almost got Viserys and D@ny killed as well…

And for the nonny screaming in my ask, “Jon and D@ny are equals you ignorant, uncultured b*ch!!!“ haha that’s a good one, maybe in an alternate universe lol

D@ny kept Jon on Dragonstone against his will, she took his ship and his weapons, and literally gave him no other choice but to give up his crown so she would be fully committed to the Great War. The North doesn’t need her, Jon is not a tyrant, Sansa is not a tyrant, the North is in very good hands, it doesn’t need to be saved politically, but what can you do, when someone is entitled and power hungry, is entitled and power hungry. So, not sure where y'all see they’re equals, cause dragon lady behaving the way she behaved, made sure they were not. Jon, instead of growing "bigger”, advancing, taking steps forward with her, he grew “smaller”, he went/took many steps backwards. Dany was for Jon what the Dragonpit was for the Dragons, he got stuck, “locked” on that damned island, and as a consequence he came out of it weakened and “smaller” than before he arrived. Dragonstone, was the beginning of the end for his happiness. It was made very obvious that he was absolutely miserable there, the whole time.

Don’t even want to get into the fact that the Night King has an ice dragon because of her, and that Jon’s family and those he TRULY loves and mean the world to him, are now in actual danger because of her stupidity and obsession for the Iron Throne and power.

But suuure, I’m supposed to believe Jon “fell in love” with a woman, whom not only isn’t his TYPE, but whom piece by piece took from him the things he held dearest. Good luck convincing me Jon is “in love” with pyromaniac dragon lady, and that theirs is some “epic romance” because omg, chickensex!! lol

You wanna keep shipping J0nerys, y'all do you, I’m not here to stop you, but what I personally want to see in a ship, is two people who bring each other up, who boost each other’s confidence, who help and support each other, who want the best for one another, who help each other succeed and accomplish what they want in life, who want to protect each other, keep each other safe, who grow stronger together, who make each other happy/smile, two people who are EQUAL in a relationship. 

I DON’T WANT TO SEE a relationship in which one of the two people thrives by bringing the other down (D@ny), because that’s messed up and toxic, WHAT I WANT TO SEE, is a relationship in which either of the two people in love thrives when the other thrives and helps the other thrive, two people who thrive together and share that thriving. 

And yeah… sorry… that ain’t J0nerys, that’s Jonsa. 

J0nerys can’t relate.

D&D made sure to show us how Jonsa’s relationship is an equal one, full of respect, trust and love, they made sure to parallel Jonsa to Ned/Cat (and to other couples too) time and time again, over and over, so the audience could see which relationship is a genuine loving and healthy one, and which one is not, to show us who makes him SMILE, and who doesn’t, who makes him LAUGH and genuinely HAPPY, and who doesn’t, who UNDERSTANDS him, and who doesn’t. They showed us that unlike J0nerys, Jonsa isn’t toxic and unhealthy.

Jon and Sansa are literally two halves of a whole, they are the best thing that happened to each other, reuniting was the best thing that happened to each other after Ned was executed and their lives went to hell. Jon and D@ny meeting brought & will bring as much, or better said, even more disaster, death and destruction to Westeros than Rhaegar and Lyanna meeting did.

Jonsa is what a real relationship looks like, what a healthy and loving relationship is supposed to be like, and this is why I ship it, this is why I know our ship is happening and it is endgame, because the directors and screenwriters bothered to show us the two of them getting closer, understanding each other, this is why they bothered to show us Jon sweetly kissing Sansa and Sansa accepting his kiss, not pulling away nor pushing him away, Sansa reaching for him, initiating contact, why we got them taking back their home together, why we saw them laughing and smiling when around each other (listen, Jon hasn’t smiled in 5 whole seasons as much as he has smiled in season 6 and season 7 with Sansa and same thing can be said for Sansa), why we saw them arguing, why we saw them work on their relatinship, why we saw them build it, why we saw them bringing each other up, why we saw Jon being extremely possessive and aggressive towards any male who mentions Sansa, why we were shown Littlefinger teasing Sansa about a J0nerys marriage to get a reaction out of her, which he 100% got, why we were shown them thriving together. 

D&D wanted to show us that they are meant for each other, that they are just perfect for each other, that somewhere between them reuniting, taking back their home and ruling the north together, they developed feelings for one another, they wanted to show us that they complete each other that they are exactly what the other needs to be happy, that they give each other exactly what the other needs. They are two pieces of a puzzle that perfectly fit together.

“When you’re a little older, I’ll make you a match with someone who’s worthy of you. Someone who’s brave, gentle and strong.”

“I’ll never let him touch you again. I’ll protect you, I promise.”

“The North is my home, it’s part of me. […] The North is yours.”

“You’re good at this you know?” || "At what?“

"At ruling.” || "No.“

"You are. You are.”

“And how should I be smarter, by listening to you?”

“Would that be so terrible?”

“You know him better than any of us, what do you think?”

“All my life I wanted to be Jon Stark.”

“I’m not a Stark.” || “You are to me.”

We got all the romantic tropes and all the interactions I mentioned above and in the paragraph above the quotes and more, because that’s how you build a romance, because that’s exactly what D&D have been doing, building them up for romance.

In conclusion, YES Jon has a type, he likes redheads, BUT first and foremost he is attracted to fierce, strong, kind and intelligent women, who don’t go around burning people alive and waging wars, death and destruction, so they can sit on a throne, wear a crown and rule over Kingdoms.

Y'all can come at us all you want, can keep insulting us all you want, can call us delusional all you want, and y’all can also keep your bland and rushed chickensex, we’ve got the real deal here. ✌️

#JonsaIsComing 💙

[tatticstudio55]

“Dany’s doing weird shit this season”

Hum... I noticed antis like to take that statement from Emilia and translate it into “she’ll turn dark/mad”. 

See, thing is, Emilia then add something along the lines of “you’ll know what I mean when you see it”, which suggest - at least to meself - that that’s no ordinary weird shit she’ll be doing. It’ll be... weird. 

Of course, I don’t really buy the whole Dark!Dany/Mad Queen theory, which I wouldn’t qualify as “weird” to begin with. So... what’s the weird shit D could be doing????

1) Tricking the crown?

Officially, the crown still belongs to the Baratheon. Gendry’s around. D’s royalty. D, I bet, would much rather see Gendry than Cersei on the throne, at least during the hiatus when they’re fighting North and need someone trustworthy to hold the fort down south. if a legitimized Baratheon shows up to take Cersei’s place, technically, it’s not treason for the king/queensguards to chose him over Cersei, right?

(Ok, it might not be as simple as that...  but D trying to pull off  such a weird coup would be real weird shit)

2) Messing with magic again

End of season one, we saw D ordering the sacrifice of a horse to save the life of her dying husband. That was real weird shit. 

Some weird magic might be necessary to eliminate the Night King. Blood magic might be involved (or so D might think). Blood magic is weird shit. And creepy. 

3) Using Jon’s secret parentage to trick someone, probably Cersei 

A variation of scenario 1), though I’m not sure how that would work. Alternatively, see scenario 5)

4) Plotting some weird shit with Arya (to take down Cersei, perhaps?)

5) Seducing Euron to secure the GC’s for the North, marry him, then do some weird shit to him (or just having him killed by his own fault, perhaps by... say... for instance, if Euron “accidentally” saw Jon having a close interaction with a dragon... he might concludes that you don’t need to have Targaryen blood to deal successfully with dragons (lol), and hence, that he doesn’t need D after all and could just get rid of her, then get her dragons for himself... he approaches one, gets a bit too close, gets fried or roasted, and that’s Euron’s out)

Any other ideas on D’ “weird shit” in season 8?