#Game of Thrones Season 8 Meta

[racefortheironthrone]

Would it make sense for the North to be an independent kingdom, at the end of the books?

Considering the losses that the North have sustained so far, in terms of men and material (due to the Ironborn raids) and the losses that the North will sustain, if/when the battle/war against the Others will commence, the North will be one of the most hard hit regions in Westeros, if not the hardest.

Given all that, would it make sense for the North to be independent? I imagine that as a part of the Seven Kingdoms, they had some advantages when it came to buy grain, animals and food stuffs from the other kingdoms; i'm guessing that they were able to buy them cheaper, then when they were independent.

Plus, following the wars, if they are part of the Seven Kingdoms, they could ask for help from the other kingdoms and the crown and they could get it at better rates, then if they were independent.

So here's the thing about my objection to the political settlement at the end of Season 8: I don't have a problem with the idea that the North would end up as an independent kingdom. After all, that's been a huge part of House Stark's series ever since the end of A Game of Thrones, and they certainly have all the motivation in the world to not want to be ruled by the Iron Throne ever again.

What I have a problem with is the idea that a polity made up of the Seven Kingdoms minus the North would ever elect Bran Stark as King, or that that would result in a progressive or even stable regime. To start with, the moment the North secedes, Bran Stark is a foreigner rather than a member of the Six Kingdoms. Moreover, he's a foreigner with no political base or constituency, because Sansa has declared herself Queen in the North - when the laws and customs of the North dictate that Bran is the rightful King in the North. Realistically, I don't think Bran Stark could ever be elected by a real Great Council. Moreover, as I said back at the time, the result of the "election" of 305 would be a fatally weak royal government that would be unable to enforce its will on the Six Kingdoms or keep the King's Peace during a harsh winter in the post-apocalypse.

It's a terrible ending.

[lightdancer1]

To me the biggest single plot hole in the entire Buffyverse:

Is that in Season III the First Evil's the monster of the week that had the power to teleport Angel out of Hell for the express purpose of driving him to dust himself by sunrise.

And yet in Season 7 it's supposedly awakened ONLY because of the Slayer resurrection spell Willow did. So what the Hell happened in that Season 3 episode, then? How was the First Evil running around then? Why did it never occur to it if Willow was supposedly the great big threat it feared or if Buffy was to just shunt one of them into another dimension and leave the Scoobies scrambling to find them while leisurely raising an army of fully powered Turok-Han to curbstomp them flat?

[glorious-sunset]

LBFAD is the most inspiring series I have ever watched and here is why…

Although Love Between Fairy and Devil (LBFAD) only caught my eye on Netflix in December 2023, I’m so glad it did and that I didn’t miss out on this stunning and thought-provoking masterpiece. It is the most inspiring series I have ever watched for many reasons. Aesthetically, I found the beautiful 4K production quality as enjoyable as high-budget productions such as Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. I frequently felt the need to pause and admire the well-designed sets, and exquisitely detailed costumes of even minor characters. The acting is superb across the board, and the leads act and respond very naturally to each other. The long hair of male characters is especially well-done, falling naturally with subtle highlights and looks real. All these details breathe life into this fantasy world and make it very realistic.

Every line of each song from the phenomenal OST is brimming with hidden meanings related to the series, adding lots of additional context! The artwork created for the opening and ending sequences is also full of meaning (minor spoilers ahead). Take, for example, the last picture where the OTP are sitting on a boat in the Oblivion River, the junction between their two tribes, the male lead has removed his crown and hence his responsibilities at least for the moment, and they are watching the sunrise together for the rest of eternity after the close of the series (sigh!)

Every single character of note in the series goes through profound character growth, the only exception being the abstract ultimate villain Taisui. Even the secondary villains and dictator of Shuiyuntian have grown and changed their perceptions by the end. It made me believe that anyone is capable of opening their minds and bettering themselves. Both lead and side characters are repeatedly faced with overwhelmingly bleak choices and heartbreaking challenges, especially in the last ten episodes. Yet every time, they show courage, sacrifice and selfless love that is amazing and very inspiring.

It is rare to find this kind of poignance in any production. I used to find Game of Thrones inspiring due to Daenerys freeing the world of slavery…until Season 8 happened. LBFAD tops Game of Thrones in this regard by freeing two distinct realms from conflict. The actions of the OTP break through a hundred millenia of mutual hatred and relentless conflict between their people with no end in sight, to create a new dawn of lasting peace. LBFAD reminds me of Lord of the Rings in terms of its cinematographic beauty and themes of never losing hope and prevailing over overwhelming odds. However, the stronger focus of LBFAD on the lead couple’s development and on creating multidimensional villains and side characters made it, for me, more engaging to watch.

The world-building and depth of characters has many layers in LBFAD, to the extent that much of the context was clear to me only in retrospect on rewatching the series and on deep reflection. The fast pace of the series also means that a lot of action occurs off-screen in between scenes. There are no filler scenes, there is no room for them. Every scene adds new plot twists and depth to characters, making the series highly addictive.

I am not a native mandarin speaker, and came to realise how beautiful the language is only on encountering LBFAD and its OST. It inspired me to learn mandarin, which makes rewatching the series highly enjoyable as I am able to pick up new nuances. I’m embarrassed to be late to watch LBFAD after its release in August 2022, but have thoroughly enjoyed the posts on Tumblr from fellow fans, including enthralling artwork, meta and links to fanfiction. It has encouraged me to post on Tumblr myself. I have started to post my interpretations of artwork, mandarin names, xianxia concepts, and story-format reflections on each episode. I am thrilled to be a part of this wonderful community!

Links to some of my other LBFAD articles:

Character Names in LBFAD - Meaning and Significance

Location Names in LBFAD - Meaning and Significance

LBFAD Opening Artwork - Hidden Meanings

Here is a link to my episode 1 review (contains spoilers). All of my LBFAD articles and episode reviews can be viewed with the tag #lbfad reflections (hyperlinked) and the table of contents to these is here.

[castielstwigandberries]

if the supernatural movie doesnt include a reference to

nevada and georgia turning blue, stop the count, destiel making putin resign, sherlock season 5 rumors, destiel news meme, which political person had to be briefed on what destiel is now?, jensen looks like he was holding back homophobic slurs, weird cuts in the confession scene, which way was dean thrown now?, bury your gays speedrun, gay angels get send to superhell/eeby-deeby/cas plinko, recognizing the confession scene only by the first letters of each word, 'homosexual declaration of love', The Tapes™ (Release them now jensen!!!), meta analysis after 15x18, 'i gripped you tight and raised you from perdition' callback as dean saves cas from the empty, why lamp?, onion field, pizza man montage, parallels be paralleling, dean screaming cas name so loud in one take that people heard it blocks away, dean offering to kill sam if it means chuck brings cas back, the 4 year old son of lucifer becoming god, chuck won theory, 'we explore the nature of destiel in act two', excitement for a long finale which could only be about dean saving cas, right?, the insanity inducing quotes of the day for episodes, 'the night we met' and 'angel with a shotgun' songs of the day on set, filming in a barn, worst finale ever (even worse than game of thrones), weirly short with 11 scenes cut, two thirds montages, carry on wayward son playinf twice, back to back, one a weird cover version, vampmimes, no cas in the finale but instead some random vampire from season one no one remembers, dean finally gets nailed from behind, dean dies from tetanus, party city wig, good cars go to heaven, Car/Cas and Biden/Bi!Dean/Bye!Dean, 'cas helped', blurry wife, misha and jensen are not in the thank you video, everyone was supposed to be at the roadhouse originally but no one was informed of those plans, walker backdoor pilot, covid/capitalism destroyed everything, misha was in vancouver for filming the last episodes and was in less episodes than he was contracted for, misha denies ever having been in vancouver, misha says originally he was supposed to be in the finale as jimmy, misha says cas was supposed to be in the finale and 'sidle up to dean in the roadhouse', heterosexual destiel whose kisses would have created entire universes, destiel reciprocated in spanish, rogue translator, #TheySilencedYou, Jensen Ackles sexy silence, jensen ackles longcon, deanbenny breakup in season 8 script leak, Heller Obama, fake italian dub, misha collins x bill clinton sex scandal, misha addressing the "scandal" and tagging bill clinton and monica lewinski, 'still beautiful, still dean winchester', mishapocalypse 2.0 and 3.0, 'eyes like the sky' beer from jensens brewery rumored to be misha description, cockles anniversay photo, chaos machine jensen ackles' production company, 'rainbow road' beer close to deans birthday, blue green ('destiel') shotglasses from jensen brewery, ash and ellen's actors roleplaying roadhouse reopening in twitter, people think they are planning destiel wedding, disappointment when thats not the case, fans celebrate Destiel Wedding anyway on Valentine's Day 2021, fallout with both actors after one said a 'queer interpretation would damage the integrity of the show',

*takes a deep breath*

jared calling cas junkless and comparing his love for dean to the love he has for his children, misha collins cameo including 'still beautiful, still dean winchester', saileen and midam wedding, spn prequel announcement and subsequent j2 fallout, '@/robbiethompson et tu brute wow. what a trully awful thing you've done #bravo you coward', the prequel being about the least favourite characters of supernatural and a love story disproved by canon, 100000 destiel fics on ao3, misha tweets about that, rumors if mishas secret ao3 account, real italian dub going 'you're kinda okay' instead of i love you, misha tweeting a video of him saying 'te amo' in response to that', jensen saying if there'd been more time he (he meant dean but he used first person pronouns) would have hugged cas and said 'i love you too', first anniversary, misha collins coming out as bisexual on accident and then saying he 'happens to be straight' three days later in a five post apology thread, hot sauce from adam/micheal actor advertised by him playing midam, casbaiting in the winchesters trailer, jarlos shipping by winchester main actors, dean with beard and turtleneck, jensen saying he wanted misha in the winchesters but it didnt work out because of scheduling conflicts but hed be there in a season two shortly before the show was cancelled, death of the rogue translator and destiel getting dragged to the trending page every time there is news

*panting* then i dont want it.

yes this is all i could remember without looking it up

[idliketobeatree]

HIII 8 and 18 for the ask game <3

hi hello Leanne <3 sorry this is so late, and thank u for asking dearie!!

8. do you prefer season 1 or 2, and why?

oof that's a tough one, and i'm probably going to be in a minority here, but i prefer season 2, actually?

and not juuust because of the ineffable duo content. really! season 1 made sense, it was executed really well, following the book and introducing the characters that i've learned to know and like, and it was great, but also kinda uneven? like the pacing was very diluted. they dropped S1e03 Hard Times and then expected me to sit through Shadwell discussing witchfinder scamming with Newt. even good acting didn't stop me from hyperfixating on Them

now, season 2 is a whole other trip. you just get thrown into the middle of a 4-years-and-counting story that wraps around itself, changes POVs like gloves, leaves breadcrumbs of context and clears up absolutely nothing. it's like a fairytale to me. and the colors are so bright and you blink and Crowley's sitting on a throne in Hell basked in green and you blink again and they're having a casual bdsm apology dance on a Thursday morning. the whole Whickber Street has never looked more like a dollhouse. literally what' s going on

me on the left watching S2 for the first time. neil gaiman on the right

where's the logic where's the integrity where is Gabriel where is GOD. where is She???? oh look Aziraphale's on Blue's Clues. Crowley sleeps in his car? this would kill the 2019 fans from angst potential but luckily we have the most devastating damn kiss in the history of television to distract us from everything else!

i could go on and on and i understand why people don't like this season. i really do. but S2 was my brand of weird and unexplainable, and cheesy, and fanfic thropes, and chaos incarnate. all those metas could only grow in the aftermath of that particular tempest. if this is the bridge between S1 and S3? it's uh, flaming like anything

18. what is your favorite moment through history, and why?

besides going feral for 1941 i have an extremely weak spot for their first meeting in Eden. bible canon divergence for the win! other people have written it better, but i can't get enough of how much symbolism their choices held. they've barely set a foot (or belly) on Earth and immediately chose to love it. come on. you can't do it to ex-catholic girlies. not to mention David and Michael's unparalled chemistry.

((i'm also forever haunted by Crowley speaking of this moment in riddles like "they looked into each other's eyes and realized they were made for each other" what tf is wrong with him : ))

—

[good omens ask game]

[heliza24]

For the secondary ask game: 4, 6, 8, 21

4. Of course my answer is Felice/Wilhelm/Simon! While in canon Wilhelm decides that he is only interested in Simon/monogamy, I actually think the space that Wilhelm is in when he leans into his connection with Felice is really interesting and would make for a fascinating AU. Like @bluedalahorse said in her answer to this, I feel like Felice and Wilhelm’s relationship is really restricted by gender norms and amanormativity in canon. What would have happened if they were able to explore their connection outside of the pressures of a royal heterosexual relationship? What if they were both allowed to experiment more with their gender or gender presentation? What would happen if someone explained polyamory to them and they realized that you can have more than one person you love, even if you don’t love each of them in the exact same way? Also, what would have happened if Simon and Felice had connected more, even as friends/metas on either side of Wilhelm’s vee? To be fair this is all kind of emotionally advanced for teenagers (although I do love the headcanon blue and I share of Maddie getting Wilhelm high and explaining polyamory to him) so I can especially see this working for a post-canon fic that takes the characters into adulthood. I honestly feel like Wilhelm would have a very turbulent young adult period, because we really didn’t see him process what leaving behind his identity and family means in season 3; he has to do all of that in the imagined future. And I think there were a lot of cracks in Wilhelm and Simon’s relationship that were papered over by Wilhelm’s decision to give up the throne but not fully resolved. I can see Wilhelm and Felice reconnecting/hooking up when Simon and Wilhelm have broken up for a while in their mid 20s, and then Simon and Wilhelm reconciling and Wilhelm dating both of them. And by then I would assume that Wilhelm would be pretty deep in the queer/poly scene, and have friends who are in a similar relationship configuration to him. Of course I understand that getting rid of the sacred monogamy of Wilmon is not for everyone or even most people in the fandom, but as a poly person myself who supports the decentering of romance… long live the ot3 say I.

6. I guess I have a lot of aro/ace Headcanons! Our version of Ayub in Heart and Homeland (our regency AU) is aroace, and he’s one of the characters I write and I really enjoy writing him! He’s the chronicler of everyone’s adventures and he likes taking care of his friends/found family but also he’s happy to stay out of the romance drama. I think that could work for a canon compliant fic or interpretation of canon as well. Of course I also love our Sara/Wilhelm queer platonic partnership in Heart and Homeland, and it is frankly a crime that they never became friends on the show because I really think they would have could have come to understand each other in a valuable way (for instance I would love to see them talk about their shared experiences of anxiety, which Wilhelm probably has to a clinical degree and I’m sure Sara experiences as an element of her autism, like when she’s in a social situation she does not understand well). I also think Maddie could definitely be aro, based on the flippant way she talks about her hookup with Nils and her distaste for her friends’ romantic drama. But my biggest answer is Felice! I made a case in a meta which I wrote inbetween seasons 2 and 3 that Felice should have been queer as well, and I would have picked some flavor of aroace as her identity. I think it would have made a ton of sense with how she struggled with the romantic expectations being placed on her, and would have given her a way to relate to Wilhelm and Simon (without totally duplicating Wilhelm’s coming out arc).

8. I think both my answers to this are due to @bluedalahorse’s writing! When she initially pitched Rosh/Felice to me for Heart and Homeland I was kind of skeptical, but now I find it weird that they are ever shipped with anyone else. Blue is also currently working on a Stederika fic, and I’ve never been super into them before but I am very into this idea, so she may be converting me!

21. I think I’m gonna use this opportunity to shout out Frida’s acting! I really love when actors are able to convey a lot without words; there’s so much in the way talented actors listen, process, and react that can tell you so much about the character. I feel like Frida is really good at this especially. Sara is kind of an internal character— maybe that’s in the writing, or maybe it’s just in the performance. I can almost physically see the wheels turning in her head when she’s feeling shame or deciding to kiss August or pouring out her heart to Felice. I was happy Frida got recognized with some award noms after season 3, she really deserved them!

[selkiewife]

8, 17, 25 please and thank you

Thanks @owlsinathens my love!

8. You hope more people will come to appreciate ___ (a ship, a trope, an episode, etc.)

Oh my god I have so MANY! lol. This won't be all of them but I'm trying not to overthink these: A Song of Ice and Fire: More appreciation for the potential of Theon surviving and for Theon eventually gaining some FREEDOM in LIFE. More appreciation for the Theon Sea Reek symbolism (How the Sea Reek was a giant sea monster) More appreciation for Theon's prophetic dream (And how it parallels Jon's Dream.) More appreciation for Theon's connection to Euron and Bran. More appreciation for the symbolism of characters receiving a kind of weirwood stigmata (like when Dany eats the heart- bloody hands and mouth and then losing her hair to the flames, Catelyn Stark after saving bran, Theon- bloody mouth and hands, red leaf falling on his head, etc etc.) More appreciation for Tysha & Tyrion. More people tagging her as Tysha Lannister because FUCK YOU TYWIN. More appreciation for the Tysha is the Sailor's Wife theory. Tysha & Tyrion forever. More appreciation for the parallels between Theon & Jeyne and Tyrion & Tysha. More appreciation for Tyrion ships in general. More appreciation for Tyrion's dragon dreams that he STOPPED HAVING after his trauma and then the contrast with Daenerys beginning her dragon dreams as a response to her trauma. Daenerys x Tyrion as a ship. More appreciation for Mance's band (like literal band lol) of spearwives. Game of Thrones: The acting. I'm serious. I want there to be more analysis about it- I want to go into the tag and see paragraphs dissecting the minutia of Michelle Fairley's Red Wedding Performance, Alfie Allen as Theon performing Reek performing Theon, etc. Tyrion's trial. But also the actors that don't get as much appreciation for the early seasons- like Issac as Bran when Ser Rodrik was executed etc. Also more (or any lol) appreciation for the Reek foreshadowing in Theon's scenes in season 1 and 2. I'll do a gifset eventually about this. Appreciation and analysis of the 4 episodes GRRM wrote (I am actually going to do this myself soon and also make some gifsets of the scenes from these episodes.) More appreciation for the music and Ramin Djawadi. Not just the beauty of it, but the use of certain instruments for certain characters, the META of certain characters sharing a theme- like with Jon and Theon. Also, I would love it if there was a mass movement in the fandom- a petition or something for Ramin to write music to The Seasons of My Love. More appreciation for THE FIX IT FICS! More appreciation for the idea of Daenerys x Missandei x Greyworm as the show's three heads of the dragon. Got/Asoiaf: More appreciation for combining canons in fics, art, and other fan creations. More appreciation and understanding of gifmakers who take scenes from the show out of the show context to depict scenes from the books. Fire and Blood: The Sylvessie ship (Essie x Sylvenna Sand) Gaemoms forever. The conquerers as a TRUE threesome, with Visenya and Rhaenys in love with each other as well. (I would give anything if they portrayed it this way in the show adaptation.) HOTD: More appreciation for AEGON'S DREAM! I really love the exploration of the Targaryen Dreamers. Also more appreciation for Aemma Targaryen's birth scene. I can write more about this later but I loved the way they showed the horror that birth can be- especially when choice is taken away. Harlots: I hope people come to appreciate all of Harlots IN GENERAL. The whole thing. Watch Harlots, Love Harlots, Obsess about Harlots. Also, I would like more people to appreciation the ship Birchlace (Nancy Birch x Emily Lacey.) Seriously if you look at their interactions over the entirety of Harlots it makes SO. MUCH. SENSE. as subtext for a ship. I know it wasn't meant that way but. It is delicious. I really do still need to write this fic. Black Sails: More appreciation for Jack/Anne/Mark Read- and more appreciation of the transition of Charles Vane/Jack/Anne to Jack/Anne/Max to Jack/Mark/Anne.

17. The thing in canon that everyone loves and that you also love.

asoiaf: Theon's Godswood scene. The old gods, they know me. They know my name. Shoot that scene directly into my veins. Carve that monologue onto my gravestone. Harlots: "I loved your ma, you silly cunt." the line heard around the Harlots fandom said by the iconic Nancy fucking Birch! Black Sails: A STORY IS TRUE A STORY IS UNTRUE. And all the other amazing writing that makes my brain unravel. Madi's multitudes, Silver's speech about having no story. Flint's there is freedom in the dark once someone has illuminated it. I have CHILLS.

25. a piece of advice for taking care of yourself in fandom spaces

Concentrate on what YOU love and don't feel bad about it. I'm serious. I have problems with this as well and it's hard NOT to care about what people think because part of seeking out a fandom for something you love is finding community in your enjoyment of something. But believe me, you will find your niche of fellow fans if you just fearlessly enjoy what you enjoy. And personally, I wouldn't even give what you don't enjoy any time at all. And really try to cultivate not getting upset if other fans are enjoying a headcanon or ship you hate or a character in a way you disagree with. And cultivate putting more of what YOU enjoy out there instead. (This is all advice I give myself too everyday and I don't do this well so I'm not trying to be all wise about it. It is just what I am trying to do and when I succeed it really makes everything more enjoyable.)

[magnorious]

Can somebody explain Jon Snow to me?

Not that this fandom is dead or anything. I went down a rabbit hole of the last ten years or so of filmmaking where the general motive for story decisions seems to be “if the fan theories correctly anticipate the direction of the plot, change it at all costs to keep the suspense”. It was about Star Wars, but reminded me of Game of Thrones.

I didn’t watch seasons 7 and 8, only saw clips here and there and watched the whole thing for the first time earlier this year. I’m well aware of the fans’ loudest complaints but one just doesn’t make sense to me: Being pissed that Jon Snow didn’t end up on the iron throne.

From a storytelling perspective, I can understand the frustrations. He fits the archetype of the long lost heir, thus is story should end with him assuming his birthright as the ruler of the land. That checks out.

Problem is, Jon Snow as a person independent of this archetype never once gave any indication that he has aspirations of royalty. So everyone mocking his “she’s muh queen/I don’t want the throne” is, again, understandably frustrating for the meta reasonings, but… Jon isn’t exactly being out of character here, from what I saw when I watched the show over the course of two weeks or so.

This dude is humble to a fault and just keeps bad-lucking into critical plot beats that demand he flex his nobility and loyalty to his friends and his own beliefs, to a point where they get him killed. I don’t recall a single conversation Jon has where he longs for a station of power and endless riches and the respect of kingship, and the mortality rate of the leaders of Westeros don’t make it that appealing to someone like him anyway.

He never talks about how he would change Westeros or what about him he thinks would make a better leader than the inbreds. No other characters talk about how he’s really going places beyond the Night’s Watch and that he’d make a great king. Why?

Because for 90% of the story, Jon has no idea he’s the long lost heir. Since this IP is constantly compared to Lord of the Rings, let’s compare him to Aragon on only a “long lost heir” basis, and I’ll use Movie Aragorn, who’s much less gung-ho about his birthright, for familiarity’s sake.

When we meet him, which isn’t until almost an hour into the first movie, we have no idea who he is other than a competent Ranger who knows stuff the heroes need to survive, and that his name is Strider. Then without much fanfare, the revelations of who he actually is comes in waves. Arwen has an unremarkably dramatic conversation about how Aragorn hates being in Isildur’s shadow and how it gives him imposter syndrome—as in, there’s no dramatic pause for the audience’s sake for gasps of shock and awe. It’s just played straight. Then you get the big dramatic reveal for the rest of the cast during the Council of Elrond for a more concrete establishing of this long lost heir and what role we can expect to see from him.

Because we know from very early on in the story, and Aragorn and everybody he meets knows, too, his arc is constantly framed around how competent he is on a leadership level, and as a friend. He’s given spotlight after spotlight to show his prowess in battle and leading large numbers of troops in infantry and cavalry, is a solid tactician and strategist, and is the first boots on and last boots off the ground whenever he can be.

Skill wise, he’s shown to be an excellent swordsman and archer, or whatever weapon he can get his hands on in an emergency—but not OP. In the fight in the Mines of Moria with the troll, he gets knocked out by the troll.

He’s humble and friendly and always looking out for the little guy, always makes sure to act with the utmost respect to everyone he meets, even when they don’t deserve it, and is a leader who leads by example, on the battlefield in the mud on the front lines.

His entire arc is growing into these massive shoes he has to fill and accepting that he is the one true king. He goes from his scruffy Ranger outfit to the livery of Gondor for the final battle in all his shiny armor and velvet and gives his first real big speech to his troops—a true king to rally behind.

—

I did enjoy following Jon Snow as a character. He had a ton of depth and nuance and was constantly put in harrowing situations that kept testing his morals and beliefs and he has a lot of the same traits as Aragorn: Humble, respectful, charismatic, a bit of imposter syndrome, etc.

But since we spend more than six out of eight total seasons with the entire cast of characters, including Jon, completely unaware that he’s the long lost heir, there is zero development on that front. Personality wise, Jon is amazing, they pulled out all the stops, but his arc is just one long chain of act-and-react to the next obstacle in his way without much agency from him on what those actions are.

He doesn’t start his story on page one with a clear goal or aspiration in mind beyond to survive another day. A problem I found with a lot of GoT characters—they’re all just waiting around going on their side quests in the interim until the writers want to pull the trigger on huge plot set pieces, like the White Walkers.

By not having the understanding on page one that there is in fact a long lost heir (that wouldn’t just get murdered by these bloodthirsty savages), Jon is aimless, going wherever the plot demands because we don’t know where he wants to end up. Or at least, I don’t know.

He’s voluntold to campaign as the lord commander of the Knights Watch, he doesn’t actually want to do the job until he has no choice. He doesn’t want to be crowned King in the North after liberating Winterfell, it just happens to him and he has no choice.

And you’re telling me that somewhere in these unfilmed script pages is eight seasons’ worth of desire to be King Of The Whole World left on the cutting room floor?

So is everybody just mad that Jon didn’t fulfill his destiny as is written by the archetype taped to his forehead? Because wanting the iron throne was never anywhere as part of his aspirations. I’m mad he didn’t get it because it seemed they were doing so just to “subvert expectations” and not to provide a satisfying, unique end for his arc, not because I thought Jon got snubbed at the Westeros Oscars.

And if the answer is “it was in the books,” not good enough. HBO spent millions producing this show and for the first four seasons, it had incredible writing. They could have fit an explanation somewhere in there.

With the way they show ended, and I’ve only seen bits of 7 and 8, they could have still done so much with this character even with the late reveal of his true parentage. They could have had Jon reframe his entire worldview on whether or not he wants to risk his neck by going public with his claim to the throne, but he never did, all we have is what was written. There was still time to save this long lost heir arc.

So, yeah, somebody explain Jon Snow to me. I love him but he’d get eaten alive by Westeros politics and nothing can convince me any of these honorless backstabbers wouldn’t just poison him and call it an accident. There is no competent justice system of checks and balances in place. He’d just die in this cynical parade of grimdark misery.

[duskforged]

State of the Author: January 2024

Normally, I wouldn't do a thing like this. However, because I have not actually updated y'all on my WIPs in a while, I thought I might as well!

We'll start with the thing most of you followed me for: long-form fiction. And I call it that since all of these will be over 15k words (hopefully). There are three novels I'm currently focusing on.

LONG-FORM FICTION

Lodestar is currently stuck in a worldbuilding spiral, since it's a near-future humanity in space. While I do love sci-fi, science and math are not especially my forte. I hope to start drafting by the end of the summer, around September.

Vespertine has started on the first draft, though I'm also outlining still - something of a combined process. I am excited to share more of it with you, though it may be tough since most of it still lives in my head. Such is the woe of the artist.

Unto Summer Kings is in the first draft and currently hovering around 15k words! So far it's the longest I've gotten on a novel, and if I stay on track I could start my second draft by May, and begin beta reading by August.

LONG-FORM FANFICTION

I hesitate a little to touch on this one, just because. However, for the pure self indulgence I will. I have three major fanfics currently posted on my AO3, all of them multichaptered.

The Hanged Man is a Naruto SI!OC as Hatake Sakumo, immediately before his death. I currently have 8 chapters out and the main beats of the fic are fully outlined as of this month, which marks a major turning point in the fic's planning.

The Ever-Growing Gloaming is another self insert, this time into the events of Baldur's Gate 3. Vespere, the main character, whose name is subject to change, has been plucked from August 2023 and has not played the game since early access March 2023. Therefore they know less than you might expect.

Finally I have my Supernatural series, For Want of a Broken Nail (Broken Nail Verse). And I know what you're going to say, it's super meta to have a self insert in that fandom, you're writing SPN fanfic in 2024 what is wrong with you, etc etc. But the concept seized me full on by the balls and I already have the first 5 seasons outlined. Sorry, not sorry? No one is obligated to read it anyhow.

I also have a billion ideas on the backburner, ranging from fandoms like Game of Thrones and the MCU (for some reason) to Avatar: the Last Airbender and Star Wars. I'll post 'em when I post 'em!

ART PROJECTS

Wolf in Shepherd's Clothing is a comic of humanity's first lycanthrope, taking place in ancient Mesopotamia, in what is modern day Iran. The main character, Lahar, is gender neutral/ambiguous. So far, I'm stuck in outlining and drafting but hopefully soonTM.

Witchboy (title wip) is a story I'm working on with my partner @fallenorpheus based on various YA novels we read growing up. So far we aren't super set on the story, but it's definitely about a boy who is (accidentally) a witch, his best friend, his adoring father, and his estranged mother.

Dame-Errant (title wip) is a story that, instead of in comic form, is a story that is illustration snapshots, accompanied by short story prose. It is about a butch knight, Dame Johana Talon, who is tasked by Queen Atossa to find her missing son, Prince Khosrow. Typical 'prince(ss) in the tower shenanigans' but then, politics. And boy does Jo hate politics.

I have other webcomic ideas (mtf vs bbeg accidentally breaking a prophecy, team of bipoc/minority characters getting thrown into a fantasy world for an adventure, etc) so feel free to ask.

PERSONAL

I hesitate to touch on this, really, since it's not something that just anyone needs to know, but I've been struggling to find a good name for myself. Hesperos is a good name, but doesn't necessarily feel like 'me' these days. I do enjoy the h/e sounds... I've considered Ezra, but that's just the name of an OC and I'd rather not get quite that meta.

Ah well, sure it'll sort itself out eventually.

THE END

Anyway, thanks for reading! I know that's quite a lot for this one post to cover, but you stuck til the very end. Not sure when I'll start posting again in earnest but I hope sooner rather than later!

[asherlockstudy]

Heh... really @notagarroter... We have in the past reblogged from each other a few times... I have often spoken well about some of your metas. We did not agree on everything but we agreed on some and I believe we've always been okay. Perhaps your memory falls short when it doesn't come to being eternally stuck on Sherlock ships or your own theories exclusively but I have contributed a fair share in this fandom with numerous metas that are worth of novel length. You can find them all in the archive but thanks for coming to this 8 year old comedic gifset to add these nice tags.

In any case, yeah I don't think Mary and Sherlock genuinely loved each other. I also think 4th season was one of the crappiest endings in such an acclaimed TV show ever, rivalling Game of Thrones for biggest failure. If you can't deal with such an opinion 7 years later, you probably never will, so I don't care. I just commented because I found the whole thing funny in a bitter way.

Mary and Sherlock being good friends, never fighting over John. 

[shewholovestoread]

Varys and Sansa in Season 8

So, I was doing rewatch for Season 7 and in the episode where Dany and Varys have that very tense exchange, he says something very interesting, he says to Dany, “I choose you because I know the people have no better chance than you” This is a very telling line, he doesn’t support her because he believes that the Iron Throne is hers to inherit, or that he buys her vision for the kingdom (which let’s face it, is vague af), it’s none of those things. He literally says that he supports her because she’s the only viable option they have currently. We’ve already seen that he’s very worried about her temper tantrums, especially when they result in burning men alive. She’s more than capable of falling in the same trap as her father, the Mad King, the seeds are already there, the shades of tyranny, the very thing she claims to be fighting against. He even tells Tyrion that he must find a way to make her listen.

But who’s the one person that he knows close to nothing about, Sansa Stark. As of now, Jon is KitN and Sansa is ruling in his stead. I don’t see him holding on to his powers for too long though. For one, Jon is an elected king and as such cannot take decisions unilaterally, not when the decision affects all the other Northern territories. And I am not even talking about Lord Royce and Lord Glover but Lady Lyanna Mormont, I can’t imagine her being too happy that yet again they must bow to another Southern Ruler and one who has no ties to the North or even the continent.

Add to that, we also know that next season will definitely spill the beans about Jon’s real parentage. He was chosen, in a big part, due to fact that, at the end of the day, he is Ned Stark’s son. But when they find out that he’s not, well, it’s going to fall apart soon.

When LF said that Jon was named the KitN and he can unnamed just as easily. That wasn’t just word-babble on LF’s part, also, we know that Sansa does not covet Jon’s power and position. So what purpose did that line serve? It was to remind the audience that Jon’s position is that of an elected leader and when the leader does not fulfill the duties or the people who elected him are unhappy with his decision, they are well within their rights to elect someone else.

If you think about it, Jon hasn’t actually done anything since he became KitN. He upped and left to go South. It was Sansa who was left saddled with having to make sure that Winterfell and the North were gearing up for Winter, that they have enough food to make sure that the refugees are fed and that the army has armor which would also keep them warm. As KitN, Jon did nothing. His people asked him to stay in the North and he ignored that.

And her strategy to take down LF without losing the Knights of the Vale was a masterstroke. She genuinely cares about her people, they love her and she’s politically savvy, she can play the game, something that both Jon and Dany lack. I think it’s plausible that Varys would switch sides to her. Remember that he doesn’t side with any king or queen but with the ordinary people. Who then is better suited? Someone who burned soldiers alive and their food stores or the queen who’s making sure that her people will be fed during the Winter. Dany has to be constantly held back, first by Tyrion and then by Jon when she’s about to make an impulsive decision and that decision is almost always a very unwise one. That’s not a balanced ruler. Either way, I don’t see Varys sticking with Dany for too long. What are your thoughts, feel free to add or disagree..

[gods-leastfavorite-parent]

I just ... really dislike the idea that Dany would view Jon as a threat and nothing more. Daenerys - especially in the books - longs for nothing more than home and a family, and will cling to anything and anyone who gives her a sense of belonging. Every other family member she had is dead - father, mother, brothers (she even mourns Viserys!), husbands, Rhaego - and her recurring thoughts of them and the house with the red door point to her real priorities. It’s why she forms bonds so quickly and sometimes doesn’t pick up on hints that someone shouldn’t be trusted, like Jorah’s betrayal or (in the books) Brown Ben Plumm’s fake-care and eventual turn. It’s also why she refuses to turn away the refugees from Yunkai that decide to follow her, even though it’s detrimental both to them and her own forces (none of them are soldiers, they only have what they can carry, and Dany doesn’t have enough food to feed them all). She considers them her children, and can’t turn them away. This is most obvious with regards to Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion. She's their mother, and she believes they’re the only real children she'll ever have, so she is completely devoted to them. 

If/when Dany finds out that Jon is a Targaryen in the books, any “threat” he posed would be a secondary concern to her in comparison to her joy at actually having a living family member (... well, if he stops being dead).

[sneakystarks]

Did you hear? We just learned GOT season 8 will have an “odd and surprising romance”!

Who could it be?

“I know! Gendry and Arya!“

No, that’s not surprising.

“I know, Brienne and Jaime!”

Ditto, it said odd and surprising!

“Like what?”

“That sure was odd and surprising back in the day. Who could it be?”

Jon and Sansa.

“Ew, that would be weird!“

You mean odd?

Davos sure seems to find something odd.

“Oh“

So does Littlefinger...

“But, but, it can’t work, they’re siblings, it’d be shunned!“

Wrong. They’re cousins. Of course, Davos and Littlefinger didn’t know that. The two barely interacted as children due to Catlyn’s jealous influence.

Eddard Starks parents, as well as Tyrion and co’s, were cousins. It’s perfectly normal for cousins to marry in Westeros.

"Speaking of Eddard, what would he think of this if he were alive!?”

[madeleineengland]

Gendrya 8x02

When Gendry says to Arya: "I know you are not scared of RAPERS or murderers but-" like putting rapers above murderers is a clear signal that Gendry didn't forget Arya when she was a little tiny girl, through their adventures, and so many dangers, and I'm sure he saw himself like her buddy, because he was older than her and he wanted to protect her, though he's always admired her skills and judged her really smart.

And now it's still quite the same. He knows how she's strong and incredible, he's amazed by her, and he really respects her as a badass and powerful person, I mean she's a warrior and he's WOW. But he still wants to defend her too, he wants her to stay safe.

Because world is really bad. They both know that. But Gendry is older and he feels responsible for her; pretty sure he doesn't underestimate her and will never, but he doesn't want she gets harmed either.

And this is proved by him staring at her scars more than he does at her boobs... He genuinely cares, she's really important to him. (If they survive, I will pray all the gods, I hope they'll have a long conversation about how she got those scars! I feel Arya's line about Melisandre was to distract him in that moment).

Because Gendry cares about her safety. She's too much special and amazing. That's why he's so reticent when she provokes him and then she wants to have sex with him. Maybe he thinks it's not the right moment, maybe he thinks he's not enough for her, I mean he still considers himself a blacksmith and Arya is... Arya Stark!

I think he was still divided by his memories of tiny!Arya and this new, adult, affascinating Arya. "It's the attraction that surprises him, more than anything" (- Joe Dempsie)

Just when he's pretty aware that she wants him with no doubt, that they can relax together and live this new and lively experience together, with full consent, he lets this attraction prevail. And there's nothing wrong with this. They aren't normal friends anymore. They are no kids anymore. He wants her as she wants him. And Gendry Baratheon will never cause scars on Arya Stark.

[hamliet]

what are the issues with how sansa's being written in this season?

I’m going to quote @mercyandmagic and say that Sansa is constantly told to us to be smart, as she has demonstrated in the past seasons. This season? She’s acting not just petty, but actually dumb. Like, Cersei-in-the-books levels of stupid. And Sansa is not stupid.

To be clear, this isn’t unique to Sansa. Tyrion and, as @aegon writes, Varys also have stated intelligence/motives that aren’t actually being shown to us–if anything what’s being shown to us contradicts this. Also, don’t Varys and Tyrion like… explicitly know the tunnels under King’s Landing? Didn’t Dany use tunnels to get into Meereen or one of those cities without bloodshed and arm the slaves? Why has no one suggested this? Can’t they smuggle someone in to idk save Missandei and slit Cersei’s throat? Did the writers just… smoke crack and not at all consider that their audience is at least decently intelligent?

But let’s go back to Sansa, who is again, my very favorite character. But I can’t like her as she’s being written this season. She legitimately hates Dany… why? There’s no reason, especially when Dany saved her life. It’s one thing if you frame it as an understandable, trauma-induced trust issue she needs to overcome (and the fact that Sansa styled her hair just like Dany in episode 3 gave me hope this was where they were going with this, but now I doubt it), but it’s being framed as… she’s just petty.

She and Arya’s xenophobia is doubled down on when you take in the racist way everyone in the North treated Missandei and Grey Worm, to the point where they were miserable over it. Then you have them say things like “she’s not one of us”–”us” as in racists? Why should we root for them when their people have been shown to be xenophobic and racist? Why should we empathize with this statement?

Again, you can do this well. Frame it as trauma and as something they are slowly overcoming. But the show, regardless of where it ends, doesn’t have enough time to do this properly.

And to the last episode. That was agonizing for what they did to both Sansa and Dany, my two favorites.

Sansa literally tried to have Dany murdered.

There’s no mistaking that. Her mistrust of Dany has no foundation in what we’ve seen thus far. She knows how playing the game of thrones works–you win or you die (if the show writers have an ounce of brain cell left, they’ll subvert this since it’d be really odd to let Cersei have the final word and be right, but who knows). She knows that by telling Tyrion, she is trying to get him to support Jon instead. She knows that if that happens, that means Dany dies. She knows Jon is deeply in love with Dany–that’s been explicitly told to us–and she betrayed his trust, the trust of her brother after she swore it in front of the weirwood tree, to have that woman murdered.

Sansa knows that her brother is in love with a woman who just saved all of them, and she tried to have her murdered, just to protect herself.

That’s incredibly selfish, and if it’s a trauma-induced flaw, sure, but you have to frame it properly and they’re not. That’s a Cersei move. That’s what Cersei does to Margaery, just with like, less collateral damage. It’s the same root. It’s horrifying. Sansa is brilliant. Sansa is a good ruler. Sansa is not Cersei and that’s the point, and neither is Dany, and that’s the point, and the show writers D&D have completely cast that aside.

Sansa was never petty. In all the seasons we’ve seen. She’s never been petty. And this–this? What even is this?

Sansa deserves better. Dany deserves better. Arya deserves better. Missandei, especially, deserves better.

She should face consequences for this, and that’s why the endings which seem to follow one leak or the other, the Tyrion one makes more sense to me because it’d give her a consequence and a wakeup call for what she did, but without destroying her, which I cannot bear. But who knows.

[thefandomentals]

Mad Queen Daenerys is a Misogynistic Mess

That’s right. After the unsatisfying conclusion to the White Walker threat, episode 4 of the final season of Game of Thrones hurtled Daenerys Targaryen straight towards Mad Queen territory. Sansa plots against her with it in mind. All the Stark children try to convince Jon away from her. Varys turns on her. Tyrion seems to be doing the same. Dany is being set up for a villain turn fulfilling years of theories that she follows in the footsteps of her father, the Mad King Aerys Targaryen.

And it’s complete nonsense. Disgraceful, unearned, incompetent nonsense presented in the most offensive and misogynistic way. This is setting up to possibly be the peak example of Game of Thrones misogyny, and I am furious.

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