#I just want a story with Dani and Dan being the worst they can be on purpose | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

dannyphantom-justiceleauge · 3 years ago

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This may be a minor gripe but something that has kind of bothered me about discussions and depictions of Dan is how often people seem to forget that Dan isn't just an older evil Danny, he's a combination of Danny and Vlad's ghost sides. Like people always talk about him like Danny threw away his humanity and turned evil but that's not even true. Sure, we can say that Dan is the result of Danny's action but that's a little unfair. (1/2)

(2/2) Him cheating on a test, coincidentally putting his loved one's in a position where they could be killed, is absolutely not his fault. Letting Vlad take away his ghost powers with a strange contraption might not have been the smartest move, but we are talking about a grieving CHILD here, of course he isn't going to make the best decisions. If anything Vlad's the one to blame here, and even then, it's not like he could predict what happened

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you aren't wrong, my friend. it really isn't entirely danny's fault and the whole 'if you cheat on a test, you'll loose everything you love' moral is confused at best. i think as fandom we find it more interesting to look at danny's potential evil and moral struggle with himself. so simplifying it to be dan is a worse case scenario of danny makes the conflict less abstract.

particularly because when it comes to self blame danny isn't going to go easy on himself just because it was excusable mistakes.

i think another talking point should be how danny is the target of the time assassination more than vlad is, even though vlad is part of the evil whole. you could argue that danny is the catalyst of his friends death and vlad inventing the claw things. but vlad invented the claw things. maybe because his human side survived and acted relatively harmless from then on? or maybe it's because the observants based on the available evidence recognized danny as more of a threat. i think that fits actually, for all vlad tried to be an evil mastermind, his achievements outside of terrorizing a teenager and theft isn't particularly impressive. danny was the one who got shit done. all his fights he finished one way or another and i could see how that would bleed into dan defeating everyone.

the real question is how to we fix this. ideally we could shape this idea so it's less confused, though i do honestly find the dynamic of half danny, half vlad interesting. if for not other reason. than two half ghosts make a whole. actually that's something else to be said about dan. his self-loathing is what led him to killing his human half, another negative aspect coming from danny.

i wonder if we could frame it like fusion, from su. obviously dan isn't stable or healthy, or based on love. he's most comparable to malichite. but with less internal debate. dan took the best and worst of both of them. danny's determination, danny's fighting ability, danny's anger, danny's sarcasm, vlad's anger, vlads lack of morals, vlads schemes, vlad's control. heck, vlads desire to rule the world. i don't think we ever got that from danny.

maybe if vlad was more involved in the fight with dan it could have been used as an opportunity to compare and contrast their characters. to go we're not so different you and i. danny gets to recognize that he has that dark potential. vlad gets to be humbled by the fact that what he wants isn't good for anyone, especially himself. and to be fair, we do see some of that humbling with future vlad, but none of that character growth is given to present vlad, so, really it's just another vehicle for danny angst. it also depends on what you want to do with vlad though. he's a fascinating character and could be given redemption under the right circumstances or be a character who has the opportunity for redemption but chooses not to be redeemed every time.

that fits him and makes him both a more pathetic and despicable villain. it's hard to pity someone who ignores the opportunities to heal and grow.

as for danny, he becomes far more aware of the consequences his actions, especially his selfish and cruel ones can have. because that potential was always there. he has a history of abusing his powers. perhaps for this specific incident him abusing his powers can be something less understandable than almost cheating on a test that he couldn't study for through no fault of his own. (maybe i just have flexible morals?). maybe it could be something more character relevant, like he did something particularly vlad like, maybe he set up a prank at the nasty burger to get dash but it set off the explosion that killed his family. or maybe he did something particularly cruel and manipulative. there are better catalysts than a test. either way he recognized that he should never go that far again and strive to avoid being actively cruel.

he also has the opportunity to recognize that vlad does have a human half, even the one he's fighting everyday. he can face some conflict in it's not entirely clear what trait belongs to vlad and what trait belongs to him. he can empathize with vlad and he can recognize that situations aren't always in black in white. those who fly the highest, fall the hardest, after all.

it can be a growing experience. and while making it solely a danny goes bad and learns not to do evil kind of story. maybe we could cut vlad from the equation and just have danny face himself, full evil refection. i think exploring both vlad and danny through this fusion is far more interesting. especially because we can build on what's revealed about vlad in these episodes, in later ones. danny sees a future where vlad chills and that maybe his vlad could get their. later he see vlads past and what he lost to become who he is.

and then there's vlads turning point episodes. i don't know when motherly instinct took place but maddie fully recognizing he's a bastard and rejection him, was a turning point for his sanity, and danny helped it along. then we have danny rejecting him repeatedly, then we the clone episode, which we can all agree was a desperate move on his part, that danny once again thwarted. and we can all agree that this was the cannon turning point for his character where he stopped fighting for a family and started trying to be danny's villain. in that episode, i think danny could potentially pity vlad enough to try and reach out. he's not going to justify what vlad did and he's not going to apologize for stopping him. he went too far. he hurt danny and dani, he crossed a moral line that can't be justified even with his desperation. but if he changes...

he lost this time but if he changes, maybe they'll reach the point where they're ready to accept him.

i think the same thing could be said about his relationship with jack and maddie. if he changes, if he reaches out. if acts like less of a crazy fruitloop, his friends would be there for him. jack is still trying to be there for him, even if he's being oblivious about vlad's faults. vlads the one driving wedges into his relationships and pushing everyone away.

and that's so freaking human and understandable.it would be such a cool thing to explore with his character.

i could also see a potential arc where after valerie finds out vlad and masters are the same person she tries to get close to him, both to sus out how evil he is and to understand him as a halfa. afterall danny got her to acknowledge dani as human enough, the same would apply to vlad/plasmius, right? only he's a bad person and the more she uncovers about vlad masters the man, the more she realizes it's not the ghost half that's evil. but this is a double edged sword because, vlad is getting attached to her and encouraging her to be more evil. he's encouraging her to go darker and darker in her fight against ghosts and her fight specifically against phantom. to the point where she finally draws the line and says, i'm not doing that! boom exploring the moral ambiguity of her character and getting her to take a hard stance on her morals, because there's a line too far for her.

and boom a further breakdown of vlads character because he finally had someone outside the fentons to redeem him. she could have helped pull him out of the hole he'd been digging himself into. she wanted to help him. he got attached to her, but he and his bad decisions decided to dig himself deeper instead. so once again he's 'abandoned and betrayed'.

from that point, i think it'd be time for him to finally face jack head on. not through manipulative schemes. not through veiled threats and insults. but the full confrontation of 'i always hated you. you ruined my life. you're the reason i lost everything'. which is really just his own self loathing speaking. and jack... empathetic jack can see that vlad desperately wants help. and jack would offer it to him. jack would try to hug it out and apologize and give vlad the love and friendship vlad's been fighting to steal this whole time.

and vlad would reject it.

he'd probably lash out a jack and go into a full breakdown/world destroying attack. could finally put the stolen crown to use and try declaring himself king and embracing his megalomaniac thing and actually be a threat this time. and THAT would be our series finally. everyone teaming up to fight 'king vlad'. danny probably finding out that he's technically king because he beat pariah dark but the matter being a bit confused because he had help. val and danny trying to find the ring of rage or at least find someone who can make one. secrets are out. i imagine vlad, upon revealing himself to jack would out danny to make danny as sad and alone as him. except nope, his family still loves him and val has had the character development to come around to him. (she's still gonna punch danny for lying for so long.) the ghosts will come and help because no one wants another tyrannical kind and vlads obviously off his rocker.

ah, the could have beens

anyway, i didn't mean for this to become a full vlad character analysis and rewrite when we were supposed to be talking about dan, but hey, i'm a simple creature. i like good writing, and i have to rewrite things myself, so be it. - Hestia

#dpjl #hestiawrites #danny phantom #vlad masters

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nomnomzombies · 6 years ago

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8x04, Identity and Accountability

> Part 2 <

This started off as me writing a general analysis of last night’s episode but it got really long, really quickly and I haven’t even talked about what I really wanted to talk about. So.... Yeah, here’s my ted talk, and if you guys think I should type up and post the rest of it (themes being Narrative Symmetry/Full Circle and the Sansa/Dan dynamic) let me know! Otherwise, here’s two of four.... Identity and Accountability in relation to Jon, Dan, Cersei, and Missandei.

Wolf and Dragon symbolism and the theme of Identity

GHOST IS ALIVE!! We kinda knew that from the previews. And his role is just as minuscule as the rest of the season. After everything, Ghost looks like he’s in rough shape.... cut and bruised, missing an ear. And Jon releases Ghost without so much as a fucking good boy goodbye (still not fucking over it. WORST DOG DAD EVER), saying that “he belongs in the North.” We know that the direwolves are direct symbol of their respective owners’ Stark identities, and the direwolves have had deep symbolism in respect to their fates and the fates of their owners. Ghost’s sorry state after the battle shows the state of Jon’s security in his identity. Ghost is alive, Jon is still a Stark, but he’s grappling with the RLJ reveal and his relationship to his Stark identity. Rhaegal is the embodiment of his Targaryen ancestry, and is in sorry shape after the battle as well. Considering both of these animals are directly tied to Jon, Rhaegal not being given time to heal after the battle (because of Dan) may also be an allusion to Dan being relentless about Jon’s heritage and unwilling to compromise. Jon releasing Ghost to go north with Tormund while following Dan south, along with Rhaegal, may seem like he’s choosing his Targaryen heritage over his Stark upbringing, but it’s important to note, however, that Jon is not riding Rhaegal. He mentions that Rhaegal is injured and isn’t riding him to give him a break. There’s distance between him and his Targaryen heritage, and there’s distance between him and Dan following RLJ and “begging for secrecy.” Instead, he’s firmly planted on the ground with the tired and wounded Northern troops who are following him south.

Dan, on the other hand, is still riding Drogon even though he was assaulted by wights.

Ever since it was established that she could ride a dragon rather than a horse, she’s opted to (with the exception of when she came to Winterfell with Jon). Her relationship to the dragons has always been a symbol of her power. Not only does she draw her power and confidence from them, but the simple fact of her riding a fucking dragon elevates her to a higher status in the eyes of her subjects. Eerily similar to James Cameron’s Avatar (right down to mighty whitey and the white saviour trope), Jake Sully becomes the leader of the Na’vi against the militarized industrial complex by harnessing toruk and becoming the legendary Toruk Makto (toruk rider). Dan becomes the leader of the Dothraki horselords by overthrowing the current seats of power and riding her mount into battle (dragon rider), leading the charge against her enemies. She garnered the Unsullied by leveraging her dragons value before sacking Astapor. Much like Cersei has connected the throne and her ego as symbols of self-worth, as has Dan connected the symbol of “the dragon” as representations of hers. This could be the reason that the s8 marketing has melded Drogon and the throne together as one image. Both are the battling queens’ symbols of power and identity. This could also be alluding to the fact that Dan has completely lost sight of her initial goals in life and has melded the two (dragon, throne) in her mind in terms of her identity. Many people believe that the season 8 poster is a breadcrumb to something as straightforward as “Dany will win the throne” or “Drogon will melt the throne,” but considering the last season’s poster was an image of the Night King, and the entire season was in preparation for the threat of the AotD, I think it’s far more likely that the poster symbolized that this season’s biggest threat is going to be Dany’s ambition for the throne. She is, after all, “the last dragon,” in that Jon and Gendry are two others with Targaryen ancestry but Dan is the last full-blooded Targaryen (Interestingly, Dan is the great-great-granddaughter of Aegon V Targaryen, which puts her at the same distance from Aegon V as Gendry. This would mean that she’s behind both Jon and Gendry for the throne, considering the Targaryens were usurped and legitimizing Gendry would make him Heir to Robert’s throne, and then Jon, and then Daenerys).

Daenerys’ decision to not only march south on the metaphorical backs of a compromised host, but on the literal back of her wounded dragon is very telling of her current mental and emotional state following the RLJ parentage reveal. Which leads me to my next overarching theme of the episode:

Actions Finally have Consequences Again

People have said for a long time that the allure of Game of Thrones is that “it’s so realistic.” And, on a surface level, it’s easy to agree with it for a variety of reasons, but once you start to really pick it apart, the arguments don’t really hold up in court. While ASoIaF is incredibly rooted in real-world history, Game of Thrones has become untethered from this sense of reality. I think that a huge part of the story that the writers have lost sight of is accountability—and in this episode, we’re finally starting to see, once again, that even in this high fantasy actions still have consequences. Ned made the decision to confront Cersei about her childrens’ legitimacy out of honor and respect, while incredibly well-intended, he failed to follow through and ended up beheaded. Robb made the decision to break an oath and married for love, and he lead thousands of men into their graves for it. Theon chooses to betray the Starks and was tortured in mind, body, and soul. Jon brings the free folk south of the wall and is faced with a mutiny. Stannis burns his daughter at the stake and half of his host deserts. Cersei elevates the High Sparrow and suddenly reaps half of her life’s worth of sowing.

While Dan managed to make it through her entire Mereen arc escaping accountability for her actions, those sown seeds are making for an awful harvest. She was able to leverage power and ruthlessness to bulldoze those cities into the ground, and maneuvered her way into her crown by inserting herself into the master/slave dynamic, but she’s stagnating because the game in Westeros is not one where she can just flip the table; in order to change the system you must first infiltrate it. Daenerys believes that she can come over, touting “birthright” from a monarch that was overthrown, and show people that she’s “The Liberator” the “Breaker of Chains.” But with neither chains to break nor people to liberate... how do you get these people to love you..?

Doesn’t matter to Dan! Much like Cersei, she’s happy as long as they fear her;

as seen with the burning of the Tarleys (Randyll definitely had it coming, but Dickon?) and the less than warm welcome in the North (and the return of the “saviour” complex).

Speaking of the Tarleys.... I bet Dan’s wishing she’d had a hostage to trade for Missandei. While it’s hard to say if the execution of Mis was unavoidable, it cannot be ignored that Dan declared no quarter after the Loot Train Attack and chose to burn Cersei’s new Warden of the South and his heir. So even if Missandei’s beheading was more psychological warfare than political, the importance of taking at least one Tarley hostage is paramount. This brings us back to The War of the Five Kings, and the consequences of Joffrey’s decision to behead Ned. There’s parallels on both sides, now, because executing Missandei was likely just as foolhardy as executing Ned since we know how important she is to Dan. Cersei, however, probably saw Missandei as little more than a scribe... just one of Dan’s puzzle pieces and as expendable as the Tarley’s were to her.

As a result, the first person to be liberated by the Breaker of Chains has just died in chains.

Missandei’s last words are a call back to Olenna Tyrell’s “You are a dragon, so be a dragon,” because Mis essentially prods Dan to “burn it all down” in one word. Which brings up an interesting point, in that Missandei gives awful advice. Let’s not forget that Mis was the one who suggested that Daenerys start ignoring her counsellors all the way back in season 4—and it parallels Olenna nicely because neither Mis nor Olenna were concerned with the outcomes of “burning it all down.” Both allied themselves with Dan because they saw that brutality as a very satisfying route to retribution for their pain. Dany indiscriminately burns and crucifies everyone but the slaves. It’s not hard to see why Mis and Olenna are attracted to her brand of power, especially when neither of them are going to have to face the consequences of Daenerys’ actions. Olenna’s already lost everything, and Missandei already knew she was getting her head cut off. So why not tell the dragon lady to burn it all down?

#got spoilers #got s8 #got 8x04 #8x04 #analysis #meta #my meta #dark dany #mad queen dany #anti dany #anti daenerys #jon snow #cersei lannister #rhaegal #ghost #missandei

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amphtaminedreams · 5 years ago

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To All the Characters I’ve Overly Identified with Before: Borderline Personality Disorder and Attachment to Fictional Characters

It’s been a month, and I’m still not over how Game of Thrones ended. I’m still not over the way that a character who, throughout the previous seventy something episodes of the show, was only ever ruthless towards people who were deserving of her wrath (within the context of westerosi justice because let’s not forget everyone’s favourite man of honour Ned Stark decapitated a young man for running for his life in the first episode), suddenly massacred a whole city in the penultimate episode. I’m not over the way that writers who spent the previous seasons showing that they were capable of translating the moral ambiguity of George R.R Martin’s characters from page to screen, got lazy and left us with a character whose actions became impossible to defend right as the show was ending. I’m not over the way that such a beautifully complex character who endured so much hurt and trauma was reduced to nothing more than a “crazy woman” by a couple of male writers in her final moments. I’m not over the fact that Emilia Clarke put her heart and soul into the character and did everything she could to bring Daenerys Targaryen to life for David Benioff and Dan Weiss to both literally and figuratively assassinate her.

I think those feels have been felt by a lot of Game of Thrones fans since the show ended. God knows I’ve watched enough youtube video essays and read enough articles and liked enough tweets reiterating the sentiment. Daenerys Targaryen was, in my opinion, the best character on Game of Thrones. I wasn’t angry because she didn’t end up sitting on the throne (though my boy Drogon made sure nobody else ever would either and I guess I can get behind that), I was angry because all the balance that made her character so great was thrown out the window in order to progress the story of her male counterpart and bring a show that probably could’ve done with another 2 seasons to an end. Dany has always had a dark side, she is the “fire” that the title of the book series refers to, but throughout the show, we’ve never seen her indulge that side to the point of no return. We’ve seen her wrestle with it and use it to exact punishment on those who deserve it when needs be, and that was part of what I liked about her. Not to go all feminist essay on anyone’s ass but we don’t usually get to see women in TV who are celebrated for their powers of intimidation, and I liked how prior to season 8, the narrative never made female characters like Dany or Arya or Brienne out to be monsters for killing people the same way that basically every single man on the show did at one point or another. I liked that sometimes she was a little excessive because it made sense, she did have “dragon” in her, and she still had lines she wouldn’t cross, clear values and principles; she fought for the innocent, for women and for children, and for freedom. On a personal level, I loved her because we watched her go from a lonely, scared and vulnerable girl to a strong, ambitious and self-assured woman and that was a trajectory I wanted to relate to.

And then all of a sudden, without any justification or build up at all, she’s a mass murderer of the same “downtrodden” people she always claimed to fight for. Fuck, I’m thinking. I literally watched that episode through my hands because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. When I say I cried on and off for about 3 days after I watched the final episode, I’m not exaggerating; I only need to see a screen cap now a month later or an interview with Emilia Clarke and I’m off again. It literally felt as if I was mourning the loss of a real person. But this isn’t the first time I’ve had this kind of attachment to a character. Daenerys Targaryen was probably just the last in a long list of women I overly identified with.

I’m not much like her at all really, I’ve burnt myself from taking the film off my microwaved lasagne and not moving my thumb away from the hot air in time (lmao), however, I think I saw parts of myself in her journey and traits that I wanted to have, thus, I latched on. Before Daenerys Targaryen there was Spencer Hastings and before her there was Cassie Ainsworth and then if we’re gonna throw it all the way back, there was Hermione Granger (and some other characters I was more mildly obsessed with along the way, Katniss Everdeen, Bree Van de Kamp and Cosima Niehaus, I’m looking at you). I still love all those characters now but when their respective shows or films were actually current, I was completely obsessed. I spent my 16th birthday at the Harry Potter studios on the outskirts of London with my family, forget birthday parties or meals out with my friends. I wished more than anything that I had 2 best friends that loved me unconditionally and I did my best to emulate that drive and intelligence and work ethic everyone associates with Hermione. I told myself I was just like her even though I lacked the confidence to put my hand up in all but one of my classes and last time I checked, was just trying to conquer GCSEs not fight an evil wizard snaked hybrid man or whatever Voldemort is. I identified with the loneliness and the need for control that I saw in Cassie, and was like “oH eM GeE, tHat’s sO mE!” at Spencer’s perfectionism. When I was speeding for my exams (and then, unfortunately, for long after), I felt spiritually connected to that whole Pretty Little Liars arc where Spencer started popping adderall on the daily even though I could really only wish for someone to care about me enough to stalk me like A did and the worst possible outcome of my all nighter was not taking in enough content to bullshit my way through a 30 marker.

They would understand me, they would be my friend. They represent me. That was the baseline sentiment of my obsession. And I think that’s the borderline part of me jumping out. See, such a huge part of BPD is feeling unwanted and misunderstood and forgettable and really, deeply lonely. Like it’s a kind of loneliness I think you feel like an actual person can never really fulfil because the (faulty and not necessarily reflective of reality) thought pattern is that they’ll lose interest and leave you sooner or later. Fictional characters are always there, until the show gets cancelled or the character gets killed off, at least, and then comes the completely disproportionate tidal wave of grief. They exist in a different world too, a one that feels a lot less dangerous (even if it’s actually way more dangerous, I mean I really wouldn’t last five fucking minutes in Westeros) and detached from the often chronically muted reality of BPD.

Then there’s the trouble with the sense of self, part and package of BPD for most, which facilitates, you know, thinking that a genius witch or, like, any character in skins (because in hindsight as great as that show was, WHY DO NONE OF THEM HAVE JOBS YET SEEMINGLY AN ENDLESS SUPPLY OF DRUGS AND PARENTS THAT NEVER SEEM TO CARE WHERE THE HELL THEY ARE!?) resembles you as a person in any way. Though I suppose I’m learning recently as I begin to reflect more on what I enjoy and value, I’ve never had much more than a vague idea of what my positive qualities are, so when I saw them fully realised in a character it was a treasure trove of mannerisms and traits and ways of carrying oneself to adopt. It becomes a mould into which you can squeeze the ball of meh-ness and uncertainty you feel you resemble. Now I’m realising that although it might take me a little more time and a lot more effort, it’s much more rewarding to become the very best version of myself, but back then, I suppose I didn’t recognise why I was doing what I was doing.

I only got diagnosed with BPD and started learning about it when it was 19, so all the years before that were pretty much spent unaware of the reasons why I had these quirks. As I “recover” (I suppose that’s the right word) and I get back into hobbies and spend more time with friends, I feel like I’m beginning to discover more and more of who I am. I’m starting to accept that there are positive things about me and plenty of things for people to like, right here in this world, not some fictional one.

I still love characters way too much and get overly attached and invested in TV shows but even that doesn’t necessarily have to be something to be ashamed of. When I’ve got into *ahem* discussions with people online about characters before, I’ve occasionally gotten the “why do you care so much, it’s not real life!” in response, and I mean, there’s definitely a point to be made if your passion for something is causing you to lash out at real life people with real life feelings. But when you’re not, when it can give you hours of discussion and entertainment and can drive you to make real positive changes in the world too, what’s wrong with passion? There’s nothing I love more than having a conversation with someone who I can tell really loves what they’re talking about, so why should I be ashamed of having the capacity to become deeply invested in things too? I think as long as it’s not taking over my life as I have allowed it to do so in the past, there’s nothing wrong with having passion for fictional things or for anything, for that matter. As long as it’s not something fucked up, like idk, white supremacy or Rick and Morty (JOKING).

I don’t regret loving all the things I loved because being a huge Harry Potter fan for so many years did give me an escape when I absolutely hated myself and couldn’t find much enjoyment in real life. I hope that if I do have children one day, they’ll love it too, maybe not quite as much as I did but enough for it to give them all the joy it gave me, all the same. So in summary, yeah, fuck David Benioff and Dan Weiss (lmao, I’m joking, they’re just shitty original screenplay writers who could probably do with a class or two on how to write female characters), but also, understand before you make fun of someone for being overly invested in something that there’s probably a good reason for it and that, at the end of the day, they’re usually not hurting anyone. I’ll probably still be stanning Daenerys Targaryen and pretending season 8 episode 5 didn’t happen until the day I die. Let me live, okay?

Lauren x

#bpd #harry potter #Hermione granger #Emma watson #cassie ainsworth #skins #gameofthrones #got #antigot #DaenerysTargaryen #daenerys targaryen #emilia clarke

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the-jedi-of-suburbia · 6 years ago

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I usually don’t do this kind of thing, but here we go.

I was talking to my mom about plans to visit home over the summer. She knows how much I LOVE Game of Thrones, and mentioned that even she, who has never seen the show and knows nothing about it, has been seeing online how much people are unhappy with this last season. It says a lot that word of the shitty goings-on so far this season are even reaching her ears.

So I explained a little bit about why there is so much upset, and even went on to talk about the potential leaked ending (JKD). This is when I started to really get into it. I explained just how much it would hurt me if this leak turned out to be true. It wouldn’t be just another David & Dan screw up, because there have been a lot of those this season and in previous seasons, and those have hurt too in their own ways, but this would shake me to my very core. I care about a lot of characters in this story, but none as much as Daenerys Targaryen. For the show to ruin, nay destroy, this one character who means so much to me and to so many other people out there for so many reasons...I mean, why? Why do we need a fictional example of a woman being so broken down and losing so much when it already happens so much in the real world? Isn’t it about time that we be done with that kind of thing? We need more stories of female empowerment, more female heroes...and I thought this was one of the great ones. Sometimes flawed, yes...sexual violence and white savior-ism aside... I know Daenerys isn’t a real person, but she means as much to me as a real person, and I feel for her as I would a real person. That’s why this JKD leak would hurt me so much... To have had such hope for her and her story, such love for this character, to see her be betrayed by people who were supposed to be custodians of her story (D&D)...there would be several reasons for it to not make sense, but ultimately it would feel like just another slam against women in a world that already predominantly says that we are not cared about or valued as people with stories or something to say, and that men are, and all that patriarchy jazz. I don’t know. I could be more eloquent about this, but there have been a lot of other GOT/pro-Daenerys people on here that have posted about this, so go read them to get what I’m trying to say here.

Eventually I went on to say that as much as I would be upset, livid, furious, enraged, devastated, aghast, heartbroken, etc. about JKD, I couldn’t possibly be as (etc.) as Emilia Clarke. She is closer to Dany than any other human being other than George R.R. Martin, she has been in Daenerys’ heart and mind for so long, and she has had to put on a brave face during this long slong of pre and mid season press, knowing how badly D&D have done Daenerys wrong. I sent my mom the New Yorker and CBS pieces about how even Emilia—the actress who plays Daenerys—found strength in Dany during the worst times in her life, to illustrate how strong and meaningful Daenerys is, even though she is a fictional character. And my mom was incredibly wowed by this. Not being a show watcher of course she didn’t know anything about Emilia Clarke.

What I was NOT expecting was the texts she sent me back after reading/watching Emilia’s aneurism story. And now I’m crying, because I’m so happy that she can see in Emilia the very same qualities that make Daenerys such a wonderful character, and of course Emilia is a wonderful person, and that’s why what D&D are doing/have done is so harmful... they’ve taken such a powerful figure who is so uplifting to so many people INCLUDING THE ACTRESS WHO PLAYED HER AND SUFFERED TWO LIFE-THREATENING ANEURYSMS and have rendered her story almost completely meaningless. If JKD is true, they will create such trauma, and for no logical or justifiable story reason. I want to remain hopeful that the JKD leak isn’t true, but based on where we’re at in the season, it’s hard to see D&D salvaging this mess, because they’ve made it such a mess already. If they cared about Daenerys, if they were going to do the Daenerys story line properly they would have already done so...not laid the path for this ultimate destruction of her character/story arc.

I don’t know how much more I want to say on this, since I’ve already said a lot, but I just wanted to put this out there into the GOT/Dany tumblr community, since I love it and we all need to be strong together as we face and are going through this difficult and testing time. I know it sounds melodramatic to be so upset about a fictional character, but this affects real feelings and represents a serious investment of my time and emotion. There are few things I am this connected to or invested in in real life. I feel almost on the edge of grief or something, and although that is being caused by the potential outcome for a fictional character, the feeling is very real and serious.

I would love to be proven wrong in the remaining episodes. I would love for things with Dany (and Jon) to turn around, and for JKD to be a fleak. I would be happy to amend this post in the future if JKD doesn’t happen. I just want to get this out there knowing that there are very real stakes and consequences associated with JKD.

Thank you if you’ve taken the time to read all of this. You are as amazing and strong as our Khaleesi 😊💗

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scratchybeardsweetmouth · 6 years ago

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Iain Glen Knows Why You're So Thirsty For Jorah Mormont on Game of Thrones

By Madison Vain April 29, 2019 Photography [and Videography] by Tyler Joe

Excerpt:

Ser Jorah Mormont crossing the wide terrains of Westeros on horseback is a familiar sight for fans of HBO's Game of Thrones. But for actor Iain Glen, who’s played the role now for seven-plus seasons, it’s hardly his favorite mode of transportation. “I always find a bicycle,” he says, sitting in a Midtown Manhattan green room, speaking about how he prefers to get around since the show catapulted its cast into the stardom stratosphere. It’s simply the most practical—not to mention safest—way to travel, these days. In some locations, especially Spain, he notes, fans don’t hold back when they spot the lovelorn lord. “They’ll attack you,” he says. “They’ll just grab you and start snogging you without invitation.” It's not exactly a violent response, but it does make getting around difficult. “They just want to hold you,” he continues. Cue: a set of wheels. “I don’t know what it is,” he admits, “They stop looking. They don’t associate actors with bicycles. So [I] just always sneak out the back, get a bicycle, and find a hickey restaurant on the outskirts of town. That’s my modus operandi.” New York is a bit easier, and he insisted on arriving at our April interview on foot even though a few blocks away fans have been camping outside of the hotel where the Thrones cast is staying for the premiere of Season Eight. Fans in the city recognize him, but let him get on his way. “It's lovely, actually,” he admits, laughing. “It reminds me of London.” Historically, the attention has been confusing for Glen's younger children. (He has one son and two daughters.) His youngest is six and, as the actor says, frequently taken back by the approach of strangers. He chuckles, recalling her questions: Do you know that person? Why do people keep speaking to you? Why are they calling you Jorah? But for Glen, it's welcome. He says his wife actually put it best: “Who would not want someone to pat you on the back and tell you you're fantastic a few times every day?” For many of Glen’s young costars, Game of Thrones marked the very beginning of their careers. (Bella Ramsey, who plays Jorah’s cousin, the spunky Lyanna Mormont, hasn’t even seen most of the series on the account of only being 15 years old.) But the 57-year-old Scot has been working consistently across film, television, and theater for decades. One of his fondest memories of New York, he says, almost wistful, was when he and Nicole Kidman starred in Blue Room on Broadway in 1998. He lived near Central Park and spent his down time perusing the Met, freely. “It’s a great deal to take on when you’re that young,” he says of co-stars like Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner who began filming as young teens. “But they all seem to be managing incredibly well.” And, as only an actor seasoned by years of rejection can, he quips, with a laugh: “And, if I’d been Kit’s age or Maisie’s age when I started, I certainly wouldn’t be complaining!” A wizened perspective actually made him more measured in his acceptance of the role, initially, he recalls. “When you accepted the job, you had to commit for, I think it was four years,” he says. “And they wouldn’t tell you if you were gonna die.” Glen said his team pressed HBO for details: “I asked for a breakdown, going forward, season by season.” His quest turned up few details, but something about the little he learned inspired him. “Listen, you go out for stuff, and there’s some things you really want and some things you don’t,” he says. “I really wanted this. I remember saying to my wife that I had a funny feeling about it. I felt like it was going somewhere.” As we all know now, he was right. The show is watched obsessively, by millions. (The Season Eight premiere drew a record 17.4 million viewers, making it HBO’s biggest night ever for streaming.) And in the age of Netflix binges where watching on your own time is the norm, it remains a can’t-miss, Sunday night event. That reality is a treat for the cast, as much as the viewers, assures Glen. A long career means the actor is exponentially more aware of how special it is to have been involved. “It’s very unusual to come back to something again and again and again,” he muses. “The life of an actor is very ephemeral. That’s what we’re used to; getting thrown with a bunch of strangers and getting to know each other really quickly and then saying, ‘Right, I’m gonna completely forget about that and now I’m going to jump into something else.’ Certainly, in my experience as an actor, I’ve never done anything like this. And to come back to something that everyone is saying is just going fantastic, that’s a very binding thing in itself. That was very winning.” much has been made over the years about some of the brutal shoots the cast has had to endure each season. (See: the Battle of Winterfell, which required 11 weeks of freezing, night shoots.) But for the most part, Glen was lucky. “In the early seasons, I was part of the Dothraki/Daenerys storyline,” he explains. “We were always on the move, always traveling. But we were always coming into rather fantastic, gorgeous, sunny warm spaces. We were filming the bit that the crew always looked forward to each season, before they went back to shitty, wet, cold weather.” And then came the greyscale. When the disease had gotten to its worst, Glen spent eight hours with the costume department, getting a full prosthetic outfitted on him before each shoot. “It was like coming in at midnight and being ready to shoot at eight, to then do the ten-hour day,” he recalls. “It reminded me of some of the drugs I’ve taken. At university, I was pretty spaced out—but in a nice, helpful, acting way.” It was also during this time that Glen thought his run on the notoriously deadly show was coming to an end. “I thought my number was up,” he admits. “[Creators] Dan [Weiss] and Dave [Benioff] really enjoy fucking with the actors—not giving them any sort of clues. So I asked them both individually, because I couldn’t get the answer.” He still came up short. “One of them said ‘I’m not saying.’ The other, when I said, ‘Do I survive the greyscale?’ said, ‘You do this season.’” (Turns out, the actors know just how you feel, wondering about their characters’ fates.) Ser Jorah is not Jon Snow. He doesn’t have a hero storyline and he's not a contender for the Throne, so it wasn’t a give-in that he’d earn such a passionate fanbase. And yet the Jorah fan accounts on social and thirsty fan fiction on the internet has run wild over the years. Glen attributes it to his devotion to Dany, the Mother of Dragons. (Even, yes, when he betrays her.) “In a chaotic, mad, dangerous, and violent world in which people are generally out for themselves,” he begins, “the purity of his desire to support her—to be there for her—is a nice contrast to the rest of the show. For the first two, three seasons, it was about this desire to express that from his point of view, but never doing it.” He follows up, “Do you know what I mean?” Um yeah. Jorah as the head of House Friendzone is the material that’s spawned, to be exact, a gajillion memes since the show’s 2011 debut. The way he looks at her, even now, oozes with a desperation that viewers can’t help but melt over. “I think they modulated their journey really beautifully throughout the seasons,” he says of the writer’s attention to Dany and Jorah. “I think they found a really compelling root through it, where for you, as an audience, it's hard to stand from the outside. And I'm not the best person to ask, but people tell me, that you have such a mixture of emotions watching. At first you think, ‘Oh please, go on and say it!’ But then very quickly it's, ‘Oh god! You shouldn’t have!’” On a show that has to divide time between so many characters each week, there’s an inevitable risk that some storylines will feel one-note or under-developed. Glen’s refuses this in his portrayal of the former slave owner mightily, instead bringing a weightiness as well as a readiness to recognize internal conflicts to his turns on screen. “It’s like real life,” he says of his careful approach. “Isn’t it? With people that we fall madly in love with, there’s always a moment of, ‘Fuck, I never realized you were such a shit when I fell in love with you.’” It’s been a delight, truly, for audiences. But Sunday night, the pensive stead’s run finally came to an end. After leading legions of troops into the Battle of Winterfell, near the end of the one-hour, twenty-two minute episode, he fulfilled his final mission: protect Dany with his life. He lasted as long as the battle and Dany held him as he drew his final breath. For the fans who've loved him, they know it's exactly how he'd have hoped to go. [...] “I feel very happy with his story arc,” Glen tells me. “When we read all six episodes before we started at the beginning, in a big room in Northern Ireland—Belfast—I thought the writers had managed it incredibly well and thoroughly, in terms of looking after everyone. It’s one of the hard things when you write big, sweeping, epic dramas like this. How do you look after everyone’s storyline, individually?” We’ll continue to see as Season Eight continues its March towards a May 19 series finale. Glen is adamant that the sheer scale of the production will stick in his memory bank forever. “I felt like a kid, coming into set and seeing some huge, monumental fucking castle—and arriving at bases with so many vehicles, so many extras, so many horses. There’s a side to that which is just really thrilling.” But the moment he’s actually most fond of a shoot from Season Five when Ser Jorah, following a brutal journey with Tyrion Lannister, offers his life to Dany in the Fighting Pits in Mereen. It took several days—and five or six other fighters—to film, something Glen loves, but it was what was going on behind the camera that he enjoyed most. “My family was there,” he recalls. The crew dressed his then seven-year-old up as a mini Ser Jorah and let her call the shots alongside director David Nutter. “They put her in the gear and put scars on her face. It was so, just great.” Looking ahead, Glen joins the DC Universe. Earlier this month, it was announced that the actor would take on the role of Gotham City’s most notorious billionaire, Bruce Wayne, on Titans. It’s unlikely that that show—or any role—could eclipse Jorah’s rabid fandom but that hardly bothers Glen. “I’m proud of the product and I’m proud of any association with that,” he explains. “You can walk around thinking, ‘Didn’t you see my Hamlet?’ or ‘Where were you when I did Henry VI at the Royal Theater Company?’ but you’re wasting your time. [Thrones] is kind of the Holy Grail, to be critically approved but have a massive following? That’s the ticket.”

#iain glen #esquire #iain glen interview #interview

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sanrionharbor-blog · 6 years ago

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For Everybody Still Worried About the Leaks

Clues from the Cast Interviews, GRRM Hints, and My Own Gut Feelings

Disclaimer: Hey, nobody knows nothing, but life’s too short to stress about things we can’t control, and stories are supposed to be maps to help us learn more about ourselves and about life in general–not hair-pulling inducements. So I’m going to enjoy all the speculating that I can regarding the GOT season finale, and want to share some thoughts on why I think certain “leaks” are most likely bunk.

I’m mostly focusing on the pervasive “Does Tyrion die by trial?” leak, and everything that links to that, including any betrayals or major deaths.

Tyrion’s Ending and The Ending, In General

First, let’s quote Peter Dinklage himself:

I had all these ideas in my head and a version of one of them is how it ends up [for Tyrion]. David and Dan have a brilliant version of what I had. If I use any adjectives it will give it away. But I love how it ended up. And how it ends up for everybody. They had a beautiful gentle touch with some, and a hard touch with others.

But that’s just on Tyrion’s ending. Before I get into what that quote tells us, let me quote what other people have said about the Overall Ending of Game of Thrones:

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau:

I’ve never read anyone who got the whole thing. And when I read it the first time, I was blown away.

George R.R. Martin:

So many readers were reading the books with so much attention that they were throwing up some theories, and while some of those theories were amusing bulls*** and creative, some of the theories are right…At least one or two readers had put together the extremely subtle and obscure clues that I’d planted in the books and came to the right solution.

What the above quotes tell me is:

No one has guessed the ending completely–but parts of the ending? Yeah, they’ve been guessed. Which just goes to show how much this show and its themes have resonated not only with GRRM, but with his audience. Because,as a writer, I can tell you that no storyteller tells a story alone. There’s something guiding us and we can’t put a finger on it but it’s often the source of our best ideas. And it’s the same ineffable something that stirs all of us when we’re creating, sharing, and participating in stories. It’s the reason you see the same patterns in stories over and over. In short, the fact that part of the ending CAN be guessed is NOT a bad thing. It’s natural. Some postmodern storytelling theories have taught us that tricks and surprises are where it’s at–but a story isn’t true unless it can surprise us and, in retrospect, give us the only answer that makes any sense. You can see a pithier version of this kind of storytelling in Ye Olde Riddle–for example, the Sphinx in Oedipus Rex could tell us the answer to her riddle is orange, and that would throw us for a loop, but it would tell us nothing and mean nothing and add nothing to the story and thus would be forgotten. Surprise doesn’t count unless it has a ripple effect. So, about-face turns and OOC arcs may shock and subvert, but they’ll ultimately end up as dross and not as gold. (But hey, more on my thoughts on what can and can be accepted as canon in the last blurb below!).

Now, has anybody assumed that Tyrion would betray Daenerys and end up dead simply for 1) loyalty to the Lannisters, 2) suddenly losing faith in humanity?, or 3) suddenly wanting to usurp power himself? No. This is not a popular theory by a longshot. Tyrion dying? Sure. Somebody betraying Daenerys? Sure. Tyrion as a ruler? Sure. But this very specific, shoehorned version of the story is simply too contrived to have been picked up by fans organically.

The leaks so far have painted nothing but harsh endings for ALL the characters. Don’t tell me those leaks are pro-Stark. Those leaks point out backstabbing, loneliness, and emotional stagnation–forget what characters live, think about what these leaks have said about these characters. Not only does this not jive with the “bittersweet” aspect of the ending, it doesn’t jive with Dinklage’s assertion that, while some characters will go down harshly (R.I.P. Missandei especially–at least Edd and Jorah and Beric got heroic deaths and funerals), others will be treated gently. A heartbroken Brienne? A cold, lonely, manipulative Sansa? A suddenly hopeless, headless Tyrion? I don’t think so. (I also don’t think that means that Brienne and Jaime will necessarily ride into the sunset–but I do think we’ll have Jaime’s feelings for her confirmed, along with the completion of his redemption arc. I also don’t think that means Tyrion definitely won’t die–but I don’t think he’ll be character assassination, either. And I also don’t think that Sansa WILL end up in a canon relationship–but, logically, they can’t leave all the Stark’s COMPLETELY UNABLE TO LOVE, and um, somebody has to be willing to have legitimate heirs to the Stark House. Ok, just to continue this aside, but it seems theoretically impossible to me that the Stark House, which is all about the continuation of the Starks and the independence of the North, would not be given any canon marriages/alliances at the end of their arc. Arya’s already rejected marriage, Bran drove Meera away, and Sansa’s always wanted a happy marriage, even if she’s got very understandable trust issues right now. Anyhow–).

Peter Dinklage was able to guess how his character arc ended. What are the odds that Betraying Somebody He Cares About Without Good Reason (Daenerys–I could see him betraying her reluctantly, but not easily)/Being Betrayed By Somebody He Cares About (Sansa)/Dying Guilty After All The False Trials His Character Has Been THrough were in the mix? I don’t think so. Dinklage has gone on record multiple times to say how much he admires Tyrion and thinks he’s a good person. He’s also gone on record stating that Sansa and Tyrion’s relationship is full of true affection. Even if Tyrion dies and/or he and Sansa don’t end up as a couple, betrayal just seems so far out of the scope of what these characters’ storylines have been building to. And again, I can’t see that being even one version of one of Dinklage’s headcanons. What I think is most likely? A) Hand to the Ruler, B) Part of a new council that replaces or supplements the King/Queen, C) the King himself, or D) a heroic death.

How Long They’ve Planned the Ending:

They had talks with GRRM in 2014

They’ve been planning the ending for five years

They’ve known it was Arya who would take out the NK for three years

So some decisions weren’t set in stone, even by GRRM (such as who would take out the NK…an interesting thing not to know, actually, but that just points out how inflated the importance of the Others/White Walkers was–do I still think it will be handled better by GRRM, yes, but that’s another story), and even if D&D’s execution feels more like “here’s an outline of what’s happening” rather than “here’s the organic progression of that storyline,” I can only imagine that if core pieces were given by GRRM AND they’re not completely winging it, then there will be a certain amount of narrative cohesion once this comes full-circle.

Let’s not forget, we still have a third WTFudge moment that was came straight from GRRM himself, with the other two shockers being Hodor’s origin and Shireen Baratheon’s death. Could this third twist be Dany going completely mad? Maybe, though it doesn’t fall into the same category of completely-unexpected-but-honestly-possible, like Shireen and Hodor. Only because the foreshadowing for Dany’s madness was heavy-handed in the last few seasons (taking away the ‘unexpected’ bit), and is now quite uneven here in Season 8.

I think the third twist will likely be a specific action (a la Shireen’s death) or another origin story-type twist (a la Hodor). Some people have speculated that “Tyrion’s Trial” would make for that final twist, but here’s why I don’t think so:

The Nature of the Leaks

It’s very interesting to me that this leak, supposedly this Huge Most Important Leak, was one of the very first ones released. Like, months ago. While the rest of the leaks, the ones that have actually been accurate, are usually only released at the max a few days before each episode airs.

It’s also interesting to me that HBO has not done more to shut down this particular leak.

And, I would not put it past HBO to have actually filmed one entire fake-out scene. Most of the Dragon Pit/South scenes were filmed after the first three episodes, so they probably knew that they had the time and money to just throw fans for another loop. Sound tinfoily? Perhaps, but the idea that this big twist–and a twist that so far doesn’t make much sense given what we’ve seen in what is now ⅔’s of the season–was such an easy leak just makes me suspect.

Another possibility? Tyrion IS on trial, but is pardoned. Or Tyrion thinks he’s on trial, but it turns out to be somebody else’s funeral (a la that Littlefinger Fake Out 2.0.). I’m not saying any of this makes for the best handling of his character or for a particularly compelling scenario, but considering we haven’t seen it, I can’t say for certain.

GOT’s Recent “Plot Twist” Pattern

D&D have switched to information-withholding tactics in the last few seasons. Just look at Sansa and Arya’s arc and the Littlefinger Fake Out. Were these well-written? Not entirely–but they don’t make for the worst entertainment either. Yeah, we had better quality storytelling in the first four seasons, but soap opera can still be fun.

And how long have they been teasing Dark!Sansa without actually delivering? And let’s not forget–show-Sansa’s arc is still, broadly, based on book-Sansa’s arc. Book-Sansa remains far more in tune to the archetype of the Lady/Maiden, while show-Sansa is slightly blended with Jeyne Poole’s arc (and, unfortunately, a dash of Pop Feminism). But the fact remains that whatever meeting D&D had with GRRM back in 2014 contained information based on the broad trajectory of Sansa’s arc as GRRM has been writing it. (I’m writing a character arc meta on Sansa that’ll be out…soonish).

And let’s just say I don’t see Dark!Sansa hinted very well in the books at all. Sansa learning to pull strings like Littlefinger and Cersei and Margaery? Heck yes. But Sansa will do it Sansa’s way.

So, given that D&D usually try to shock us by hinting at a character’s worst possible tendency AND by withholding information AND by trying to get us to see one scenario while giving us another (another example being Jon Snow vs. Night King actually being Arya vs Night King), I can very well see them turning Sansa into a reluctant last-minute ally of Daenerys, Tyrion being pulled out of hot water at the last minute, Jaime’s running to Cersei being about taking out Cersei not making out with Cersei (yeah sorry/not sorry about that one), and heck, maybe Dany won’t go mad–she’ll just realize she doesn’t want the Iron Throne anymore, or the Iron Throne shouldn’t exist, or she dies tragically but not as a monster. Time will tell.

Who We Haven’t Seen So Far That Can Introduce New Complications

1. Edmure Tully

Tobis Mennzies (Edmure Tully) has been confirmed to return this season. Could it just be a cameo? Maybe. But I wouldn’t put it past Sansa, Arya, and Bran to be planning a back-up plan to help out Jon (and thus Dany). Arya is probably planning on killing Cersei, Sansa can rally what’s left of the Tully’s, and Bran will hopefully do something Three-Eyed Ravenish (or regain some of Bran’s humanity–which would be a twist worth waiting for).

2. Khal Drogo

Motherhood is an important theme in Dany’s life. I think ultimately, book and show wise, it’s what’s truly important to her. She just doesn’t realize it. In this way, Dany is a very interesting parallel with Cersei. Both of these women are tempted to replace their intimate losses with power. They believe power will protect them and their own. And that mentality can slowly shift into the classic Mother Bear conundrum: Us vs. Them.

Now, Khal Drogo not only represents a happy time in Dany’s life where she was both powerful and protected, but where she was a mother. After her losses, she gained her dragons. She truly loves her dragons as children, but they are also a liability to everyone but Dany. Interestingly, Dany’s human child with Khal Drogo was a liability to everyone but the Khalasar. The priestess from season 1 knew this, and so she prevented it. It doesn’t make the loss any less of a tragedy, however.

Will we see the same thing play out here in the final act of Game of Thrones? I’m not sure, but Khal Drogo’s presence will be heavily symbolic. Either Dany will meet him in the afterlife or reject death another time–but perhaps she’ll realize that her true desires were always for belonging and motherhood (just not at the expense of her own free will).

And, as an aside–I’ve really come to see Dany in a different light this season. I’ve always been anti-Daenerys as Ruler, but Daenerys as a character is truly fascinating. So what I see implied in her final arc is truly heartbreaking (and I hope it’s handled better overall than it was, in snapshot, here in 8x04). [Dany’s also my dad’s favorite character, haha, and I respect my dad’s opinion almost more than anyone else’s, so she gets props for that too lol].

3. Robin Arryn

I have a feeling this will be a cameo, but honestly the worst-case scenario for me would be Sansa being engaged to him lol. It would certainly be a Margaery Tyrell move on her part (knowing she won’t have to marry him for some time and he’ll be easy to influence), but the Knights of the Vale are already dedicated to her and I’m a Sanrion shipper so you know where I stand on any other Sansa ship. ;-)

Regardless, the Vale could become an important wrinkle in the plot, and I’m all for us not having a complete Doomsday scenario.

And In The Worst Case Scenario

The worst case scenario is that the leaks are legit. Bran as an emotionless king? The Starks are forever alone? Tyrion’s character assassination? Bleh.

But I’ve already hinted at my philosophy on canon storytelling.

Look, most fanon is crap–but so is most fiction. There are millions of stories out there, but it’s hard to find (and tell) one that resonates across all borders of sex, ethnicity, age, and epoch. You know what CAN exist in both fanon and canon–and what actually matters as canon in the end? The stories that are true.

If characters don’t act true to themselves, if deep-in-the-bones themes suddenly drop off, if crucial scenes that are present in every single successful outline are missing (don’t go postmodern on me–just read The Story Grid), then that story is incomplete. And it’s a lie.

Madeleine L’Engle once said “All truth is God’s truth.” She was trying to make the point that fantasy, and fiction in general, is important because it tells the truth. It’s not about the facts (dragons aren’t real! This is just a TV show! Etc.). It’s about the truth (dragons can be beaten! There is wonder in the world! We are united by our mythologies!).

So no, fanon can be a lot more than making heterosexual characters gay or inserting fluff without dealing with the consequences of character actions or erasing parts of canon. Fanon can be more true than canon when the author is on the tail of the actual Story.

Steven Pressfield does a much better job of explaining this in The War of Art. Madeleine L’Engle does a much better of explaining this in Walking on Water. Shawn Coyne does a much better job of explaining this in The Story Grid.

So don’t just take my word for it.

For me, then, I’m excited to see how the show plays out. And I’m fine if certain things that I only WANT don’t happen–but if the story doesn’t have what NEEDS to happen, then I’ll sadly and reluctantly reject it, and wait for GRRM’s books to come out, or simply contribute to the ASOIAF lore as best as I can. Hopefully not as wish fulfillment, but simply to respect the core of the story itself.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

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thecomposerthatwaspromised · 6 years ago

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Before we reach the series finale, there are two musical moments from earlier in the season I wanted to touch on with you: "Jenny of Oldstones," first, which stems from one single lyric in George R.R. Martin's books. How was the rest born?

Yeah, I believe that very first lyric comes from George, and then the rest? David and Dan wrote it. It's interesting. Sometimes, with the way collaborations work, the four of us have written the song together without sitting in the same room together. The three of them wrote the lyrics, and I put the music to the lyrics. Like many times in past seasons, this time, they sent me the lyrics and had me write the melody to it. I didn't have any picture to it. I did the same with "Rains of Castamere," as well. This was done before they were shooting, because in the show, they have Podrick (Daniel Portman) singing it, so they obviously wanted to have it in time for shooting the scene.

When you read the lyrics, what did you feel the song needed to sound like?

I felt it needed to be like… I don't know if "lullaby" is the right word, but it needed a somber feeling. The scene takes place in the night before "The Long Night," the big battle. A lot of our characters are together in a room, then there's the montage where you're seeing everybody else, and the emotional anticipation for them. This is the last night before some of them die or every one of them may die. To me, it needed to have a somber quality to it. That's what I was going for.

I also wanted to ask you about "The Night King," which plays in the closing moments of "The Long Night," as the tide of the battle goes through its final shift. It's only the second time piano has been used in the Game of Thrones score, that I can think of…

To go back to the other piano piece, "The Light of the Seven," that one had quite an impact because — and I've talked about this before — but the fact that we're using piano there for the first time was quite a shocker in itself. It wasn't part of the language of the score. When that piano came in, the listener immediately goes, "Whoa, what is this music? What's happening?" It slowly unfolds into the big explosion of Cersei's plan. Jump to "The Night King." At this point in time in the episodes, we have had 70 minutes of tension and action music in this big battle. Here's a scene where there's an opportunity to use the piano again, and yet again influence the listener in certain ways. This time, we're telling them, "There's piano coming in. The battle is over. We've had multiple attempts to stop the Night King and nothing has worked against his army." The piano starts, and the intention is to give you some closure. It almost has the reverse effect as "The Light of the Seven." We knew how that song would slowly build and at the end, there's the explosion. In this particular case, you're seeing closure all the way. Everyone is at the end of their abilities and they have either given up or will give up and it will soon be over. The Night King, just like Cersei, will follow through. This is going to be it. But then it has the reverse effect when Arya comes out of nowhere to save the day. It was interesting to be able to do this just because of the one other time we had piano. The buildup here is even more than it would have been because we had "The Light of the Seven."

Tying it back to another piece, piano on Game of Thrones almost has the same impact as "The Rains of Castamere" within the show's universe. Catelyn Stark hears that melody at the Red Wedding, and she knows something is terribly amiss. We hear piano on Game of Thrones, and we are trained to expect the worst, after "Light of the Seven." It helps with the surprise when Arya bursts in and saves the day.

Yeah, and not to get too technical about it, but it starts at a different key and a different tempo, and I even went as far as ending up in the same tempo and key as "The Light of the Seven," to even give you the subconscious sense that this is over, and this is the end of everybody. I really hope everyone was holding their breath. That was certainly the intention.

Let's get into the series finale, but before we even get into the music of the episode, let's talk about the fact that it takes quite a while before we even hear any score. The first few minutes are completely without music, as Tyrion and the others survey the wreckage of King's Landing. What were your conversations with David and Dan like about that choice?

Every choice of music is determined with David and Dan. It's not just this example, it's also including every single choice we've already talked about, like the use of piano in "The Night King" piece. Every choice was discussed with David and Dan. For us, it was definitely an active choice for everyone: "No need for music here. Let's just have the aftermath, look at everything that's happened and take it all in. There's no music necessary to enhance the emotion of what everyone is feeling." It's funny when you say that as a composer, because maybe it makes you sound lazy: "Oh, we don't want to write any music here!" (Laughs.) But it can be so much more powerful to not have any music than to try to put in some music when the visuals and acting and everything on screen is so much more powerful. You don't need to underscore that at all. We decided there's no music necessary until Tyrion sees Jaime and Cersei.

Silence can be an instrument, right? Knowing when to withhold music is absolutely part of your arsenal.

Exactly. There's no need to underscore any of the horror and emotion at all. In those cases, it was just better left alone. You want to hear the crackling of the sound effects, which tell a big part of the story as well. You're hearing crackling and bricks falling, all these things that become so much more real when there's no more music with it. It becomes so much more intense.

In the spirit of intense, the first glimpse of Daenerys in the episode comes in the form of her speech before her army. Tell us about crafting this piece, "Master of War."

It certainly underplays the scene. As we talked about earlier where there's no music necessary, here, we felt the visuals and her speech are so powerful that we didn't need to have a massive score enhancing it. The dragon's screams, the army, all of it speaks for itself. The music comes in, and it's almost you're subconsciously picking up on a mood. Her theme is definitely in the piece, but it's much more subtle. You have your full attention to her speech, and the power she conveys to her army, and how convinced she is that she's doing all the right things and she wants to keep fighting, and all the things she says. Musically, subconsciously, it portrays a darkness there. But it doesn't need to overstate that this is the Mad Queen.

You have scored moments of triumph for Daenerys before, and certainly, in her mind, this is a moment of triumph. But it's not for us. We can't share in the victory the way we did in "Mhysa," for example. Was that important to convey with a lower-key score?

Exactly. In a moment like the one you mention, Daenerys is celebrating, everyone is celebrating her. In the scene in the finale, she's being celebrated by her people and she feels like she's done the right thing, but Jon Snow and Tyrion and Arya are all looking on and they're all thinking very differently already. They are all questioning what she's done. "Is this right?" The music is more portraying how they feel and how conflicted the emotions are in the scene. Not everybody is on the same page here. It's why she's not being celebrated. We're playing it more from their perspective than Dany's perspective.

Turning toward Daenerys coming into the throne room and touching the Iron Throne for the first and last time… it's incredibly haunting.

On the soundtrack, that's the second part of "Master of War." That music plays dreamily, because even in her dialogue, she talks about how "When I was young, I couldn't even count to 20." She's very much in her head. As she walks toward the throne, there's a beautiful solo voice that rings out. It's haunting and mysterious, but there's also a sense of beauty for her. Unlike the [House of the Undying vision] in season two, here, she actually touches the throne. The score builds up, because she feels that sense of completion and power, just by even putting her hand on it. She feels she has arrived and she feels that central power.

It leads us into "Be With Me," the piece that plays as Jon Snow kills Daenerys — a critical scene for the series, let alone the finale.

The intention with the piece is that it's more from her perspective. Jon comes in, and Daenerys tries to convince him. The music playing is pretty much their love theme, or at least starts that way. It's trying to go full steam with the love theme: "Be with me, we can do this together." Jon starts questioning it. But the music plays as though she's convincing Jon. We don't know his decision at the moment. The music plays as though they are a couple and they are in love, and their love overrules everything. As we hear the piece, it gets interrupted halfway into the phrase. It never finishes out the theme, because he stabs her. It just stops.

Is that an editing choice in the episode, or is that how the piece ends as you wrote it?

That's how I actively wrote it. We definitely spent some time getting it just right. It's interesting how the phrasing works. If you land on a different chord during the stab, you can almost anticipate it. We really made sure it's written in a way that ends just during the phrase. It comes out of nowhere. You don't expect it at all. When they kiss, you want to feel their love is stronger than anything else. You don't want to anticipate that he's going to kill her. That's why I actively wrote it the way it is now. It stops mid-phrase.

Enter: "The Iron Throne," title of the episode, title of the piece you wrote, which scores one of the biggest moments in the series: the Iron Throne's death by dragon fire.

It comes out of "Be With Me." It starts with a solo violin, and leans on Jon and Daenerys' love theme, "Truth." It starts to play again, but it plays very fractured, and it has that same feeling from Jon where he can't quite grasp what he has done. He's holding his love in his arms. That's why the theme plays from the solo violin, very sparse. Then the dragon comes in and the piece starts to pick up. It becomes more powerful and powerful. It builds to what you think is going to happen next: the dragon killing Jon. But he melts the throne. Then the music shifts into a very powerful piece with the main title's melody in it. Clearly, the real intention is the dragon understands the reason why Daenerys is dead is the urge for power and the throne. I don't want to say the throne was "useless," but there are bad things that come out of the urge to get to power. At the same time, Drogon is crying because his mom is dead in front of him. The piece ends with a segment from "Breaker of Chains," when Daenerys chained her dragons and locked them up [in season four]. There's a callback to that when he comes in and picks her up and flies away. It's a very emotional moment. It goes from this powerful, overall message of what is the purpose of the throne and all the death that the throne has brought us, and then it goes small, to the mother and son relationship. I loved writing that scene. I was crying when I wrote it. It was so emotional.

You end the finale and therefore the series on "A Song of Ice and Fire," which is also the name of George R.R. Martin's series on which Game of Thrones is based.

I always wanted to hold that name for the very end. It had to be the main title theme. It felt like the right bookend. We've heard the main title in the opening of each episode. I just felt like it was going to be the right way to end the show and leave us all with that melody. In this case, it's a celebration. It's a full choir. Everyone's singing the melody. I thought there was nothing more powerful than to turn the theme into a song — the song of ice and fire.

This is the end of Game of Thrones as we know it. You will continue to live in Westeros with your concert series picking back up soon, but it's still an ending. What has it meant to you to be embedded in Westeros for roughly a decade?

It still hasn't quite set in. I'm still in denial. (Laughs.) It's been such a big part of my life. Every season when we end, we'd hug and talk about the season, and I'd go, "Okay! I'll see you next year." To now not have that? It's going to take me a little bit to realize that it's not coming back. But I'm very excited for the concert series. I'm going to rework the concert now with season eight, so now we will have a complete show from beginning to end. It'll keep things alive for me, and hopefully for the fans as well. If anyone wants to get their Game of Thrones fix, they can come see the concert. We have all the highlights from the series. It will certainly send me back to the world of Westeros, which I don't think I'm ever going to be able to let go. Definitely not.

#ramin djawadi #interview #game of thrones #Daenerys Targaryen #s8 #the hollywood reporter #they made him cry!!!

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asknightqueendany · 6 years ago

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I want to tell you this from a Sansa stan perspective. I’ve seen u mention the Vale issue where she hid it from Jon. The way I see it as that Sansa hasn’t seen Jon in years, she had to convince him to fight/come home and she had no idea how good/bad he is at fighting, she also was never close with him before, was suffering from trauma ptsd and was extremely terrified at going back to ramsay (she legit said she’d kill herself if she had to), so she basically did what she had to. Cont’d...

Part 2- I honestly would’ve done the same thing. She knows there is no way in hell ramsay can find out abt this and she can’t tell jon bc he is too straightforward (shown when he pledged to Dany in front of cersei) and he may not have seemed as desperate to ramsay therefore giving ramsay over confidence. Now I know jon is a fan fav and ur thinking wtf she could’ve killed him. But she barely knows him? I mean she even thought arya would kill her in s7. Besides Sansa has been on her own for long..

Part 3- so she doesn’t have any time to leave her fate in anyone else’s hands. I think it was a last minute decision! I don’t think she wanted to go to baelish bc she knew that would be letting him back in her life. She was probably wrestling w/ the idea of doing this and ultimately decided to. I think it was smart what she did. TBH back then jon wasn’t this crazy impt part of her life, she had just reunited with him and the fear of going back to ramsay was GREATER than the fear of losing Jon!

The Sansa/Knights of the Vale/Battle of the Bastards issue is always a hotly debated one amongst her stans and those of us who are Sansa-ambivalent.

There were a few parts of your asks anon that I didn’t entirely understand [in bold above] but I’ll try to address anyway.

Your reasoning for Sansa not telling Jon about seeking help from Baelish and the Knights of the Vale are:

Sansa doesn’t know Jon that well - “she was never close with him growing up, he isn’t crazy important to her, she doesn’t know how good/bad he is at fighting…”

She’s afraid of going back to Ramsay, said she’d kill herself before she’d let this happen.

And she was wrestling with the decision to even ask for Baelish’s help because she didn’t want to let him back into her life.

With the exception of your point about Sansa not knowing whether Jon is a good fighter or not - that’s not really relevant - anon, I think all of the above is pretty valid and generally agreed upon by most Sansa supporters and why she doesn’t tell Jon about the KOTV.

So obviously, the ordering of the episodes is incredibly important here.

We’ve got the Jon/Sansa reunion at Castle Black in 6x04, an entire episode before the Sansa/Baelish reunion in Mole’s Town in 6x05 - when Baelish tells Sansa about the KOTV being at Moat Cailin.

Jon and Sansa reunite in 6x04, it’s the first time they’ve seen family in years, they hug it out, Sansa gets cleaned up off-screen, they reconvene likely in Jon’s old office and they reminisce for a bit over soup and bad ale…but then almost immediately after reuniting, Sansa asks for Jon’s help to take back Winterfell. This is before they know about Rickon, this is before Ramsay has threatened the Free Folk Jon let south of the Wall, this is before Sansa knows Baelish has brought the Knights of the Vale North. This is before everything. Jon and Sansa haven’t been openly threatened by Ramsay yet and they have nothing but each other - no armies, no allies, nothing.

And Sansa still asks Jon to help her in that scene in 6x04.

For someone who allegedly doesn’t trust Jon, she’s already asking SO much of him. She hears in a scene off-screen that Jon assisted the Free Folk and let them south of the Wall and she immediately asks how many of them there are…hinting to Jon that she wants him to ask them to fight for her.

[Side Note] This is one of the things that pisses me off about Sansa and her stans. Daenerys gets hurled the “she’s entitled” accusation a LOT but Sansa here, in this scene with Jon, is acting SO entitled. Entitled not only to her brother’s allegiance to her and his sword - asking him to fight for her - but also entitled to the people who are possibly loyal to Jon. Sansa has never spared a second thought for the Free Folk, has never done anything to help them in any way, her story has never crossed with them at all…and yet now that she knows her brother helped them, she’s already thinking of them as potential soldiers in an army for her to take back Winterfell.

And again, at this point, they haven’t received Ramsay’s letter. They haven’t been threatened yet. And even when they do receive Ramsay’s letter, there’s still the possibility of Sansa and Jon going into exile in Essos. She’s a talented seamstress. She could be employed by some noble lady in Essos and have a comfortable living. For all she knows - before Ramsay’s letter - Rickon and Bran and Arya are dead. So why take back Winterfell? She tells Jon “We’ll never be safe” but that’s not really true. She’s got a very narrow view of the possibilities here.

Arya actually did go into self-imposed exile in Essos to become a Faceless Man - knowing there was a possibility she could be turned away - which she was at first, but she went anyway. So it was completely a possibility for Sansa as well. She just didn’t want to do that. She wanted to go home. She felt she had a right to do so. And of course, she wanted her revenge against Ramsay. Totally valid, I don’t blame her for that.

But let’s call a spade a spade.

This wasn’t for Sansa’s “safety”. Safe would be avoiding the fight altogether. Safe would be Sansa not gathering up an army of a few rag-tag Northern Houses and the Free Folk thereby painting a proverbial bullseye on her back with a sign that essentially says “Hey Ramsay, I’m right here in this military encampment, come get me.” [End of Side Note, but actually addresses anon’s second point about Sansa being afraid to go back to Ramsay…clearly, this is not the way to stay off his radar]

Getting back to the main point again, Sansa not telling Jon about the KOTV…

The whole excuse of Sansa “not trusting Jon” because she doesn’t know him that well, they were never close, etc. I think is pretty bullshit. D&D have this to say of the Jon/Sansa reunion in 6x04 in the Inside the Episode:

“The idea that after all Jon and Sansa had been through as characters that they’re finally able to put a foot back on solid ground in terms of family and somebody with whom they have a bond that runs deeper than any other bond. It was a big moment for the two of them and for us to see it played out.”

“And to learn where we’re going to go with a relationship that never really meant that much to either one of them before now means so much because at this point, they’re all that they have.”

“It’s really only the additional pull of family and finding out that Rickon Stark is still alive that forces his hand and pulls him back into this fight he was trying to step away from.

Also of note: at this point, Sansa knows Jon died. “I can’t stay here, not after what happened,” Jon tells her, “what happened” being that his men mutinied and killed him. If anyone is in further doubt that Sansa knows about Jon’s death, Tormund openly says “He died for us” when they’re negotiating with the Free Folk and Sansa doesn’t bat an eyelash. So she knows Jon died and was resurrected.

So we’ve got these two people back together, the only living family either of them have that they know of, Sansa knows Jon died, Jon knows Sansa escaped Winterfell to get away from her rapist husband. Those are MAJOR things! We’ve also got to remember, Sansa hasn’t been involved in the fantastical elements of the story thus far. She hasn’t seen magic or dragons or anything really. So to find out her brother was brought back from the dead is CRAZY. ~Honestly, I really hate that the show just glosses over that like it was as simple for Sansa to accept as, “Oh yeah, Jon had open heart surgery but he’s fully recovered now.” Like, no. This is seriously unbelievable stuff~ But regardless, Sansa knows this happened to Jon. She accepts it. We never see her question his resurrection so she must have seen his scars, spoke to Melisandre off-screen or something.

And yet, even though she knows he died, even though he’s her last living family member, even though she’s already asked him to help her take back Winterfell, Sansa doesn’t trust Jon enough to tell him about the KOTV….?

Of Sansa and Baelish’s meeting in Mole’s Town where Baelish tells Sansa about the KOTV and that they’re basically at her disposal should she ask him for his help, D&D have this to say in the 6x05 Inside the Episode:

“Sansa’s gotten pretty good at playing the game. When she sees Littlefinger though, it’s not about politics, it’s not about trying to manipulate him or anything. He betrayed her in the worst possible way and so in her mind everything that happened after that he’s to blame for it. I think it goes through her mind how satisfying it would be to see Brienne just cut him in two right here. But she doesn’t and that she doesn’t is an interesting quality of Sansa’s. That she’s started to look a couple moves ahead and she’s starting to think ‘is it possible this person will be more useful to me alive than dead?’”

“It’s funny because even as she’s trying to make a clean break with Littlefinger, Sansa is showing us the ways in which Littlefinger has shaped her way of looking at the world. With the decision not to tell Jon about the meeting with Littlefinger, with the decision not to tell Jon how she knows about the Blackfish, if she really trusted Jon, and she really was coming at this as a clean, pure Stark, she would tell the truth to her brother and the person to whom she has real allegiance at this point. For whatever reason, she holds back on that and I think that shows that Littlefinger still has some kind of a hold on Sansa.”

Granted, Dan Weiss’ line “For whatever reason” is a bit of a cop-out because it still leaves the audience wondering…okay, what is the reason? He says Baelish has a “hold” on Sansa and certainly, with what David Benioff says before about Sansa “thinking a couple moves ahead” and Baelish possibly being “useful” to her makes sense. But still, even if Baelish would be “useful” to Sansa, it doesn’t explain why she doesn’t tell Jon.

Weiss says, Jon is the only person whom Sansa has real allegiance to at this point. Yet she lies to him and manipulates him.

Going back to anon’s point about “Sansa not sure she wants Baelish back in her life” - or from what I’ve seen of some stans: Sansa doesn’t want to tell Jon about Baelish because Jon wouldn’t allow it after Baelish sold her to the Boltons, Jon wouldn’t approve, I’ve seen some people even go so far as to suggest Sansa’s afraid of Baelish…

But none of what D&D say above suggests any of that. In fact, Benioff’s quote about Sansa looking a few moves ahead indicates Sansa was already considering the offer Baelish brought to her but refused to his face because of his betrayal of her - selling her to Ramsay. She’s hurt, she feels betrayed, she knows Baelish loves her, yet she knows she needs him. Accepting his offer of help right away would make Sansa seem more forgiving than she wants to appear in Baelish’s eyes.

Or, alternatively, as suggested by Sansa’s letter, decoded above, she knew Baelish would require some sort of “reward” for his help and didn’t want to owe him, likely knowing it may even be her own hand in marriage after Ramsay’s death.

But EVEN STILL, even with everything Baelish has done, judging by Jon’s reaction after the battle “You told me Lord Baelish sold you to the Boltons…you trust him?” he wouldn’t have been opposed help from the Vale, had he known it was an offer on the table.

And this was not a last minute decision of Sansa’s. This was something she was stewing about for weeks. She had this information for a while and let’s face it, she sent this letter out to Baelish well before the battle. Again, the KOTV were garrisoned at Moat Cailin. That’s not a short distance to Winterfell. The distance as calculated HERE between Moat Cailin and Winterfell is about 350 miles. Even if it were a hundred miles, it would still take a week, longer maybe, for the KOTV to reach their destination. Not counting the travel time for the raven.

And we can’t say Sansa didn’t “know” whether or not Baelish would come through. Of course he would come through. That’s why she hesitated. Because she knew he would do whatever she asked of him. Again, she knows he’s in love with her.

So far as Jon was concerned, if Sansa already had told Jon that Baelish was the one who brokered her marriage with Ramsay and she was afraid Jon wouldn’t want further help from Baelish because of that, Sansa could have lied and said it was her cousin Robin who was offering her his help, not Baelish. She could have made something up, anything. Baelish had gone back to King’s Landing, went to go serve the Lannisters again, whatever.

Jon knows they need all the help they can get. He’s not going to ask too many questions and he really can’t argue when there’s the promise of a mounted army of 2000 men at their disposal, especially if Sansa already has a good cover story for it - Robin Arryn, Lord Protector of the Vale, is her cousin.

There’s just really no good reason Sansa could have for not telling Jon about it. No. Reason. She lied to him about the Knights of the Vale - lie by omission - and she manipulated him using Rickon as an excuse for Jon to go to war when Sansa knew there was a very slim chance Rickon wouldn’t live.

Again, Sansa has some wins throughout GOT but she really does not impress me in the later seasons with either her attitude or her actions. She doesn’t start to put

family

first until the very last episode of Season 7 when she off-screen goes to Bran and asks for his advice on the whole Arya situation and Bran tells her Arya isn’t the one she needs to look out for, it’s Baelish. Everything before that, everything before the Baelish execution scene, Sansa is looking out for Number 1 and spends most of her screen time either undermining Jon or being sore about the fact that she’s not Queen. Sorry.

Oh yeah and, in the 6x09 Inside the Episode….

~~~Dan Weiss confirms Ramsay is Jon and Sansa’s “prisoner” after BoB~~~

Just saying…

#sorry took me a while to respond to this #sansa stark #battle of the bastards #got season 6 #why sansa still needs to be held accountable for lying to jon

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xavierfiles-blog · 8 years ago

Text

Entry 067 - Hellion

Art by Sana Takeda

Name: Julian Keller

Code Names: Hellion

First Appearance: New Mutants #2 (Aug ‘03)

Powers: Telekinesis

Teams Affiliation: X-Men

About

A healthy awareness of one’s ability is a good thing. When that devolves into arrogance it becomes an issue. That’s why Spider-Man’s mantra “with great power there must also come great responsibility” is so important. Spider-Man would be such an unlikable character if he continued to be the guy he was before he learned that. A character who never learns how to be humble is just gonna end up like Hellion, a real jerk.

Julian Keller was a spoiled brat. His parents were rich and he never worked for much in his life. When his mutant abilities manifested, they were more worried about the optics of the situation and didn’t care that their son was different. Julian’s telekinesis was very powerful from the start, but his insistence on using it in public caused his parents to ship him off to the Xavier Institute. He worked under the advisement of Northstar (who obviously wasn’t the right guy to learn humility from) but the two clashed heads a lot and Julian requested a transfer to one Emma Frost.

Art by Keron Grant, Rob Stull, and Dan Kemp

Emma valued Julian’s power and confidence, she knew she could shape it into something great. Julian already thought of himself as something great and decided to take a code name to prove it. He called himself Hellion as a tribute to Emma’s team of young students from the Massachusetts Academy. He led Emma’s squad, known as the Hellions and became close friends with his teammate Rockslide. Julian often bumped heads with Dani Moonstar’s squad of students, the New Mutants, but harbored a crush on their co-leader Wind Dancer.

Art by Clayton Henry

Hellion was good at leading his squad, helping them bring home first place at the school Field Day competition, but he was still a big ol’ jerk. He was the one to turn away the homeless Surge at the gates of the school and he was a constant antagonist to the New Mutants. He thought his money and his powers allowed him to do whatever he wanted, and he wasn’t shy about saying so. Julian had a soft spot for his teammates and at the end of the semester flew them all out to his house in Malibu for vacation. The Hellions struggled to get through security at the airport, considering a girl made out of liquid metal and a rock monster were on the team, and a skirmish broke out. Julian though he could use his family lawyer to smooth things over without consequence. He was wrong. The Kellers were furious that their son embarrassed the family name and tried to use their money to fix everything. They disowned him and Julian was furious.

Art by Clayton Henry, Mark Morales, and Wil Quintana

Hellion broke into his parents safe to find a piece of paper with instructions to contact the Kingmaker. His parents had used this broker to gain their wealth years ago and Julian desired to use this as an opportunity to make himself the beloved hero he deserved to be. He saved the governor of California, who at the time was Arnold Schwarzenegger, from an assassination attempt and won the admiration of the nation. The Kingmaker didn’t just give these away for free and enlisted the Hellions to steal a bioweapon for Doc Ock. Even though it meant losing his fame, Julian and the rest of the Hellions couldn’t go through with being terrorists and they turned the weapon and the Kingmaker over to SHIELD.

Art by Clayton Henry, Mark Morales, and Wil Quintana

Hellion was one of the few students to retain his mutant powers after M-Day and Emma Frost decided that the reminder would battle for seven spots on the New X-Men training squad. She gave Hellion specific instructions to ensure the X-23 wouldn’t be among those left standing. Julian had Laura on the ropes but something about her gave him pause and he couldn’t go through with it. Emma was not thrilled and snubbed Julian by giving the leadership role to Surge.

Art by Paco Medina, Juan Vlasco, and Brian Reber

Hellion and the New X-Men did what students at the mutant school had always done and snuck out to take care of threats without telling the adults. On one sure occasion, X-23 was gravely injured and Hellion was determined to help her. He convinced Emma Frost to remove the mental blocks she had put on his powers and he flew Laura to safety at hypersonic speeds. This didn’t come without consequence and Hellion lost a large amount of his fine telekinesis control. After that Laura started to develop a crush on Julian but she was crushed when Surge kissed him in front of the whole school to mess with a completely unrelated student.

When the first mutant child since M-Day was born Hellion and the New X-Men decided that they needed to do their part in ensuring the survival of their race. To that end, they launched a preemptive strike on the mutant-hating Purifiers, but got ambushed by a different faction, Lady Deathstrike and her Reavers. Hellion took the worst of the attack and ended skewered on Deathstrike’s blades. The young X-Men retreated and stabilized him, but he was left out of the field for a long time.

Art by Humberto Ramos, Carlos Cuvas, and Edgar Delgado

The mutant nation relocated to San Francisco and Julian followed them. He wasn’t satisfied with the way mutants were being treated and led riots throughout the city. This attracted the attention of Norman Osborn, director of H.A.M.M.E.R., who imposed a curfew on the city. Hellion wasn’t great about rules and started another riot to make a point. The good thing was that this led to the creation of the mutant island Utopia, the bad thing was that now people had more of a reason to dislike mutants.

Art by Marc Silvestri, Joe Weems, and Frank D’Armata

When Utopia was under siege during Hope Summer’s Second Coming, Julian was on the front lines defending his home. Battling the attacking Sentinels Hellion lost both of his hands and had to be rushed to the medical bay. He survived and was given advanced prosthetics, but was very bitter about the situation. As an aside, when you do a story about a disabled character whose mutant abilities render him effectively the same as before his disability it loses a bit of its impact. After this, Julian pushed everyone, including Laura, away deciding he only needed himself.

Art by Mike Choi and Sonia Oback

Rogue, who had taken it upon herself to mentor the young X-Men, enlisted Hellion to help the X-Men rebuild San Francisco. He was bitter about having to work with Hope who he felt let down by. This was the mutant messiah he was dismembered to save? The Omega Sentinel, who was helping with the construction, lost control of her human side and attacked the other workers. Hellion came to their defense and ferociously attacked the android. As her body laid broken around her, Karima begged Hellion to take her out before she could hurt anyone else. He was happy to oblige. The X-Men leaders were furious that Hellion took her life into his own hands, but he had no regrets about what he did.

Art by Paul Davidson and Brian Reber

After the Schism, Julian followed his classmates to the Jean Grey School, eventually getting enrolled in Spider-Man’s Special Class. He did well there and even grew to be a better leader, but the Terrigen Mists messed that up. Julian wasn’t with the X-Men when they moved the school to Limbo and found himself in the path of the Mists. He decided to make his last stand in New Attilan, forcing the Inhumans to see what they did to him. His telekinesis ran rampant, shaking the city to its core, but the Inhuman Synapse disabled him and take him to the med bay for treatment. With the threat of the Mists gone there is no knowing that the future holds for Julian Keller.

Art by Carlos Pacheco, Dave Meikis, and Antonio Fabela

Must Read

Most people would point you in the direction of Kyle & Yoast’s New X-Men, but I am well documented as not totally loving that run. Julian in there never really redeems himself in my eyes and it would take quite a writer to get to the core of him. That writer was Mike Carey who in two issues of X-Men: Legacy immediately got the character. The short arc Fables of the Reconstruction tells the tale of Hellion accepting who he is, even if that means alienating those around him. You can find these issues (#242 & #243) on Marvel Unlimited or in a trade.

Art by Mico Suayan and Marte Gracia

Ranking

When I covered Rockslide I said I liked Glob Herman and Kid Omega way more than I like Hellion and Rockslide. I stand by that because, at the end of the day, Hellion is still a jerk. Maybe some people find him sympathetic, but I don’t. Hellion is easily my least favorite of the New X-Men kids which has to put him below Surge who is currently at number 50. I’ve used Northstar as my line for characters I like vs ones I just don’t and Hellion falls below that line. Looking at this list, I think he has more merit than Mastermind but not as much as Darwin which places him as the new number 54 in the Xavier Files.

Hellion was requested by /u/dew7950 and /u/TheSnooinhiver on Reddit, OGStarkiller, Blind_Guard, and Clay from this site, and Peter Marinari better known as Krisis who won this by geting the most questing right on an X-Men quiz I did (and who happens to be our newest supporter on Patreon). Thanks to all of you and make sure you check out Peter’s site Crushing Krisis and it’s insanely comprehensive X-Men reading guide.If you have a request just submit it at the bottom of this article and I will add it to the list that currently stretches into December 2018! If you want to cut to the front of the line, link Max did, we have a Patreon you can support for just $1 to get a line cutting reward.

Make sure you check out Legion Quest a new podcast where me and Newsarama reviewer Matt Sibley talk about the FX show Legion. You can follow the show at any of these sources (iTunes | Google Play | Sticher | RSS).

Click here if you want to see the full ranked list, with links to every entry in the Xavier Files so far.

If you liked what you read be sure to follow Xavier Files on twitter, Tumblr, Facebook!

Next week I get to talk about the most adorable little moppets in the Marvel Universe, Artie and Leech! See you then!

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Entry Key

Entry 067 – Hellion was originally published on Xavier Files

#Emma Frost #Hellion #New X-Men

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inloveandwords · 5 years ago

Text

This post was inspired by Ally’s series (which was inspired by Lia at Lost in a Story).

It works like this

Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf.

Order on ascending date added.

Take the first 5 (or 10 (or even more!) if you’re feeling adventurous) books

Read the synopsis of the books

Decide: keep it or should it go?

Trial by Fire (Worldwalker #1) by Josephine Angelini

The exhilaratingly seductive new series from the author of the bestselling Starcrossed series

Love burns. Worlds collide. Magic reigns.

This world is trying to kill Lily Proctor. Her life-threatening allergies keep her from enjoying many of the experiences that other teenagers take for granted… which is why she is determined to enjoy her first (and perhaps only) high-school party. But Lily’s life never goes according to plan, and after a humiliating incident in front of half her graduating class Lily wishes she could just disappear.

Suddenly Lily is in a different Salem – one overrun with horrifying creatures and ruled by powerful women called Crucibles. Strongest and cruellest of all the Crucibles is Lillian… Lily’s identical other self in this alternate universe. This new version of her world is terrifyingly sensual, and Lily is soon overwhelmed by new experiences.

Lily realizes that what makes her weak at home is exactly what makes her extraordinary in New Salem. It also puts her life in danger. Thrown into a world she doesn’t understand, Lily is torn between responsibilities she can’t hope to shoulder alone, and a love she never expected.

But how can Lily be the saviour of this world when she is literally her own worst enemy?

Date added to TBR: Dec 06, 2016 Keep or Ditch? Keep Comments: I own this book!

♥

Half-Blood (Covenant #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi pure bloods have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals–well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures.

Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden. Unfortunately, she’s crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn’t her biggest problem��staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is.

If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

Date added to TBR: Dec 12, 2016 Keep or Ditch? Ditch Comments: Eh, this premise no longer interests me.

♥

The Lost Prince (The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten #1) by Julie Kagawa

Don’t look at Them. Never let Them know you can see Them.

That is Ethan Chase’s unbreakable rule. Until the fey he avoids at all costs—including his reputation—begin to disappear, and Ethan is attacked. Now he must change the rules to protect his family. To save a girl he never thought he’d dare to fall for.

Ethan thought he had protected himself from his older sister’s world—the land of Faery. His previous time in the Iron Realm left him with nothing but fear and disgust for the world Meghan Chase has made her home, a land of myth and talking cats, of magic and seductive enemies. But when destiny comes for Ethan, there is no escape from a danger long, long forgotten.

My name is Ethan Chase. And I may not live to see my eighteenth birthday.

Date added to TBR: Dec 6, 2016 Keep or Ditch? Ditch Comments: I honestly don’t remember why I added this to my TBR…

♥

Stay by Deb Caletti

Clara’s relationship with Christian is intense from the start, and like nothing she’s ever experienced before. But what starts as devotion quickly becomes obsession, and it’s almost too late before Clara realizes how far gone Christian is and what he’s willing to do to make her stay.

Now Clara has left the city and Christian behind. No one back home has any idea where she is, but she still struggles to shake off her fear. She knows Christian won’t let her go that easily, and that no matter how far she runs, it may not be far enough….

Date added to TBR: Dec 6, 2016 Keep or Ditch? Keep Comments: My reasoning for keeping all of these Deb Caletti book is the same – I own almost all of her books and am determined to read them all!

♥

Honey, Baby, Sweetheart by Deb Caletti

Right away I got that Something About To Happen feeling. Right away I knew he was bad, and that it didn’t matter.

It is summer in the Northwest town of Nine Mile Falls, and sixteen-year-old Ruby McQueen, ordinarily dubbed The Quiet Girl, finds herself hanging out with gorgeous, rich, thrill-seeking Travis Becker. But Ruby is in over her head, and finds she is risking more and more when she’s with him.

In an effort to keep Ruby occupied, Ruby’s mother Ann drags Ruby to the weekly book club she runs. When it is discovered that one of the group”s own members is the subject of the tragic love story they are reading, Ann and Ruby spearhead a reunion between the long-ago lovers. But for Ruby, this mission turns out to be much more than just a road trip….