#as SEVERE and actually makes ppl deal with the worst consequences

[my-rights-are-grian-rights]

OC ask game

🎭: 1,8,13

⤴️: 1,8,13

(Pic of dom with chicken nuggets because I like him)

HIIIIII :DD

picking the combinations I actually have to Think About hmm

also I’m putting this whole thing under a readmore because it got So long and rambly

1. Excluding murder, what is the worst thing your OC has ever done?

🎭: this guy has several variants but I’d say the worst non-murder thing it’s done that’s consistent among most of them (or at least what it believes is the worst thing it has done, which is similar but perhaps not the same) is (accidentally) possess the dead body of a close friend. the worst thing it’s done could also be aiding and abetting the leader of a mind control cult. but that doesn’t always happen.

⤴️: well like his job does include assigning and overseeing the punishment (torture) of anyone who does something considered “bad,” no matter the context. also he has people he made deals with so that they kill people for him in exchange for the continuation of their own (or someone else’s, in one special case) life. listen his source material is silly and i think his canon character might be the villain in a season I haven’t read yet

8. Would your OC consider themself evil?

🎭: no, not really! it considers itself selfish, yes, and perhaps too careless about the the lives of others, but it’s not evil.

(it’s got a bleeding heart inside all that porcelain.)

⤴️: if you called him evil he’d be like yeah I’m the devil. lol

13. Who does your OC hate the most?

TUMBLR DELETED MY STUFF. RAH. EVERYTHING AFTER THIS IS REWRITTEN.

anyways

⤴️: questions that made me read 30 more episodes of the source material! I need to diverge him from canon but then ive got a guy who fills a similar niche in a different way already. i do have two hands though I guess. (not like that) anyways idk enough of the lore (source material or. his own lore) to answer that question I think oops

🎭: a big part of what makes this guy so silly and self indulgent for me is the fact that it like. always acts kinda flippant about things no matter the setting. which tbh most of my faves are like that but you know. but anyways!! in general (bc it gets put in different medias in my brain) i think the kinda person it would hate the most is the kind that genuinely doesn’t value like. human life. or like the lives of the ppl around them? idk maybe that’s a bit silly to say but like. in the first thing I ever put it in it got really super attached to a group of ppl (at least partially bc of someone else but shhh) and so like. it had a wholeeee thing about that in my head and so. I think if it met someone who a. had ppl who were close to them and cared about them and b. utterly disregarded or even actively harmed those people then it would. not be happy

it’s silly because it’s the guy who i get to destroy with no consequences! because of the mechanics of how it works! except no it’s gotta have actual stuff to it too. and it’s gotta use the things I’ve decided are true for it and take them to logical conclusions. because that’s how it works

too much commentary in those by the end. oh well!! you wouldn’t talk to me still if you minded me rambling. and rambling

[mejomonster]

That Ton is watching sotus GOD my bi baby fool himbo u really are. Going through it

Ton: has a breakup

Goes and finds his old childhood best friend he probably always crushed on but didn’t know it was a crush we all been there bro

Finds said old best friend, immediately wants to be that close again and also act like it’s a rebound close relationship to get over Amp

Dude is a uhaul guy apparently

Dude is like jee it’s totally normal to not want my best friend flirted with, to cuddle up at gym, to try and help him and make him happy n flirt with no brakes

Also yes if he says he’s gay and loves me I can get over it (well good u are actually a good friend so there’s that) and then u. Want him in ur room again. I’m sorry my poor oblivious himbo but ur friends are right, space is needed. Like u can’t go back to a romantic friendship knowing Chon has a crush bro. That’s both leading him on (which he seems ok with but!! Long term he wouldn’t it’s not good for y’all) and leaving u in that grey area where Ton u are in love but not confronting how Personally which is some personal growth u gotta go thru bro

Oh and ur watching sotus how can I forget. My dude wants to watch sotus with his best friend who loves Him, who hes probably in love with back, and probably ask if Chon relates as much as Ton which. To be fair. If they did that I think Ton would become self aware anyway so it’s not necessarily a bad idea... like just watch it together and NOT share a bedroom so y’all got boundaries until u realize U like him back so y’all both upfront and self aware that’s all uvu

Anyway Ton is like. Described as DENSE and he truly is thick as a brick. He lives with two other best friends who are gay and in love and very actively flirting, and they keep it secret in the most pathetic dumb ways imaginable, and Ton just goes with it cause he’s actually dumber Than them somehow... and they’re all complete himbos so. It’s quite the feat to be even more oblivious and dense than Ai and Ni. Tons like the one oblivious bi himbo in a house of gay himbos and a best friend mutually in love but he’s got some dad issues and understandably has never examined his love for Chon too deeply probably to avoid said dad issues. Since a majority of his acceptance issues just seem to be his dads words parroted, and he’s cool abandoning them to keep loving his friends completely as ppl, so mostly now it’s probs just an internal thing making him feel bad. Which incidentally... mm his dad needs to let it goooo. Those same words make Ton think he should put up with cruel women like Amp in his life, when it’s clear he is enjoying not being in a toxic relationship for once. Like I’m sure pressure from his dad made him think he should accept being in more toxic relationships in the past. Ton Im Sorry bro..

And amp really. Really is toxic. I’d say only 2 things really pissed me off so far? And like I can handle it cause I’ve seen worse in some Thai shows but just. It’s annoying it’s scenarios common at all I suppose. One is Gunsmile, I’m sorry you gotta play a villain in this even tho they literally reference sotus clips and in sotus you were one of my FAVORITE characters for how you actually Weren’t cruel but very caring. Whereas in this Neung and Amp are truly dangerous, maliciously intended people. Both of them think assault is ok, it’s implied BY them that assault is an issue on campus from seniors Period too (which I hate that it’s implied so casually, even tho I know in a tonnnn of American collehe movies it’s also implied and I know my own fucking university had an awful assault prevalence and just like god please practice safety precautions when you go out to bars or god fucking frats period). Like I’m not surprised it’s implied their college is just as bad, it just makes me annoyed the consequences aren’t more severe. Neung should be charged, him and Amp should be expelled for being a threat to other students. Amp in particular is malicious constantly and I feel like the show paints her as a mad ex but doesn’t really highlight her as quite as full on dangerous as she actually is. She actually wanted to harm Chon and probably Pang. She would harm Ton, and it’s no wonder after she cheated and they broke up Ton decided to literally go no contact and his friends bar Amp from even getting near him. In general I’d well like all these toxic parties in power as upperclassmen to get recprecussions, even tho I know In real universities it unfortunately Is often this fucked up i would Love harsher consequences since this is fiction. And then second on this is Chon not apologizing for kissing Ton Clearly. He apologized when he did it, but the moment was tense then they both left. Then the next scenes implied both chon being sad AND aware he shouldn’t have kissed his friend like that, and his mom even affirmed he should prioritize apologizing - not for loving his friend, since confessing that is not bad, but for kissing him without asking. And considering how Ton reacted, I agree another clearer apology would be nice. And it just annoys me that when they do finally talk calm, the scene skips any apology chon may have made or words they both said about what happened and skips to the “we’ve reconciled and want to hang out and live together again.” So like. It implied Ton forgives him and is fine now that he’s processed things. Which is good, since I’d be madder if Ton felt uncomfortable. But I’m still annoyed the writing setup that it knew Chon kissing him asleep was wrong, and that he should apologize and HE knew it and expressed he wanted to, and then didn’t give me the actual scene. Even if it wasn’t a big deal to Ton, it was in the initial moment and the shows writing knew it enough to say it so I’d have preferred a real scene about it being resolved.

Tho as things go. I think 2gether wasn’t much better. Fairly sure Sarawat kissed Tine without permission drunk, no one apologized. But since this particular show actually addressed that it was aware the action was rude, I was hoping it would complete that consideration and show an apology on screen too. Also idk but similar threats of violence not played as super big? Like Amp and Neung, I think also happened in 2gether. So I suppose this is not particularly surprising. I guess just, because sometimes the writing does address some things (like it’s done very well depicting intolerance due to upbringing/family pressure versus actually addressing it in urself and improving - Ton feels much more relatable to teen me when I was biphobic to myself from authority figures pressures and assumptions I had, yet when I met other queer people I got much better perspective fast even if I didn’t realize I was also queer right away - which I have liked muchhhh better than a lot of “I’m straight except for u” hand waves in some bl, Tons story is written with some intolerance that actually feels characyer driven and is improved with growth, whereas in a decent number of others it’s just there to act Manly and then never grown or improved... another arc similar to this I DID like was Mork in Dark Blue Kiss because he had some society learned desire to not relate to liking men personally but once he understood himself it wasn’t an internal issue for him and he moved onto only dealing with it his relationship was being healthy and fair to him, much more relatable again to a pretty regular experience compared to some I’ve seen). Anyway my point is just. There’s some actual well written things in this show and I think that’s part of why the weaker parts piss me off more - cause I’d expect more weight in my ideal story to calling them out.

Like... to me theory of love did the Best at putting real weight into how fucked up toxic friendships are, and the scene where one kisses the other knowing it’s unwanted is so fucked up but like. It is written and shot to make ur gut twist and angry, to make you realize it’s fucked up and wrong and NOT romantic. It’s not even “no big deal” or “what always happens” (which I’d say is how Amp and Neung feel portrayed, or usually when it happens in American college story settings in shows/movies even). But in theory of love, it’s made abundantly clear why it’s fucked up. And it is one of many intensely harsh scenes emotionally to get to you HATE the people doing it, for doing it, for thinking it’s ok, and for the characters themselves to hate that they did. Theory of love is angst and pain and not even healthy or optimistic till the last 3rd and that is the Point. So it can afford to show these scenes where a character knows they’ve fucked up and is torn to shit over it, where the other is so sad their friend would do it and so in love they just go with it instead of ending the kiss. And it ends up vaguely mutual but still clearly not what should’ve been done, both of them well aware how toxic how they are with each other is and motivated to get thefuck away from their own destructive behavior to themselves and their friend. Like... theory of love isn’t a light fluff comedy like why r u or 2gether or tonhon chonlatee. It was willing to paint bad shit and it’s consequences in full, which hey different approaches for different things. But it also means when stuff like a kiss happens in a show like THIS, it might be momentary drama but the story implies overall both characters were happy and wanted it and just it was an awkward time (similar to 2gethers handling). Which is fine I just.. with the self awareness this show had for a moment, I was hoping it could be both this outcome AND address an apology still just to add to their good friendship. (Tho I guess to be fair to Ton and Chon... their flirty friendship is EONS from Third/Khai. Chon didn’t expect a relationship, confessed he liked Ton and just wanted to stay friends, Ton was shocked his friend was gay but ultimately wants his friend back, chon is ok being treated romancitwlly still - tho his roommates are right he should keep boundaries for a while for now - and Ton is ok giving Chon either a friendship like before or with more boundaries. Their only iffy part is the grey area of tjem not sure if Ton likes him back, and Chon not sure how long he’d be ok with the flirting before either needing a relationship or a harsher boundary of “let’s just be friends so I can get over you.” Ton this whole time HAS been a supportive friend, attentive, kind, and the actual friendship has been pretty mutual in terms of how much they care about and respect each other. Whereas third and khai... Khai was using the fuck out of third, giving him very little care, and before ANY of thirds crush factors in, that base friendship was toxic as all fucking hell. Also even not knowing his feelings fully, Ton is much more respectful to Chon than Khai was when he found out about thirds crush. And chon having a crush, was more accepting that he needed to move on if Ton didn’t like him or tell him, and since Ton never treated him badly chon didn’t have to expect any behavior changes - his feelings only affected him. Whereas third had a Bunch of expectations Khai might be nicer/more respectful and equal to him if Khai knew he liked him. And third wasn’t very prepared to move on if Khai didn’t like him/didn’t treat him better. So ton and chon just in general started with a much healthier base friendship, so their crushes and figuring things out is in a much lower pressure environment since the only obstacle is them really understanding themselves and what they want. Whereas third and Khai EVENTUALYL had those obstacles, but the big ones were about their toxic friendship and it needing to BREAK and be rebuilt healthier before a crush even factors into their situations..)

[rianafying]

okay so i was quite arrogant for most of my life bc i worked rlly hard and was also naturally moderately talented at most things. even though i was bullied for being fat i knew it was something i could alter with time and i felt like the tables would turn one day and i’ll have a generally better life than the cool kids or the cringe nerd kids. but thank god i developed multiple mental illnesses and my family screwed me over and i failed everything (academics and a booming social life) and now i go to the worst university in my friend group/social circle/ppl i know/grew up w and have 5 friends (instead of 17893 acquaintances who i thought were my friends) because otherwise i would’ve held on to some fucked up ideas about the value of grades, popularity, looks, how to deal with people and friends and trust, and how i deserved more than other people, that i was inherently better than some people or that such deeply unfortunate things couldn’t happen to me because i didn’t do bad things or because i had already suffered enough in life. i don’t know where i got all the narcissistic ideas from. maybe being the first born and golden child of the entire extended family had something to do with it. or maybe i was just kind of an asshole on my own. i still wouldn’t call myself delusional though. i think that these are mistakes anyone can make, and i was young and didn’t know any better. and i obviously exaggerated the severity of my narcissism, i’m actually a nice person and put effort into being warm and doing good, and that’s always been important to me. but anyway, most of my friends n high school classmates go to famous unis abroad and they not only study but also party. a lot. now i don’t know how well they’re doing academically but it doesn’t matter because they come from wealthier backgrounds and they’re already in a good uni and they’ll probably end up somewhere good in life, which is good, i’m actually glad about that. (wait no, i’m sure they’re also hard working and i’m sure merit played a role in it too, but lemme just rant) but it’s not even that, i know it’s totally possible to party and study, i don’t know the details of their life, i hope they’re all happy. they look happy. but it just makes me pity myself. because i swear i worked so hard and tried so hard to make the best of what i had. still am. but i’m not sure if my future is as secure as theirs is (also the fact that i’m not partying half as much as they are(i don’t even like partying all that much but it stings because i don’t have it)) and i just don’t know where i’m headed. i’m not even sure if i’ll be able to fulfil my goals of improving other people’s lives (i can’t seem to fix mine) and that’s important to me bc it’s basically my only will to live aside fromthe fact that me being dead would make my lil brother sad. anyway, so, a career in fashion design is going to be (already is proving to be) very stressful, at least in the beginning. and with the competition today? insane. all that and the weird education system, and the even weirder education system and life in bangladesh? as a woman? not ideal. and work from uni is very very lengthy and time consuming. i don’t have time for personal projects. it’s just “not fair”? i know thousands of reasons as to why everything i said is stupid and i know things are random and i know i’m still one of the luckier people on this planet. but man, some people really get to party and study abroad and when they’re back in the country, they go partying on yachts? w lots of friends? in the middle of a pandemic? like screw actual consequences, what about moral consequences?? like does it feel good? to be doing that? right now? maybe i’d do it too if i had the money, but i really don’t think i would. i’d try to ensure that i’ll have food, and shelter and general financial stability for the rest of my life, try to get a good education without debt, give the rest away to those who actually really need it and keep giving more as i live my life and do my job or whatever i do with the “good degree” i’d have.

so, have the tables turned? there was no table, i learned stuff, grew up, still have a lot to learn, other people are living their own lives, everyone’s just trying to be happy and things happen randomly and i’ll just have to wait it out to see if i’ll end up on the streets (it’s not even the worst outcome) or be fortunate enough to actually make the world a better place. i could try being prepared for every possible outcome tho. death and disease and all that jazz. life just ain’t it chief. there is no easy solution to this suffering but i’m gonna try to yeehaw my way through it.

[arodrwho]

mmmmmm my personal individual feelings on certain aspects of nott’s backstory aside, gotta say the reveal that she died after sacrificing herself for her family is. both very very painful & completely unsurprising, & all the more painful for how unsurprising it is

by which i don’t mean like, oh i totally called that, bc i obviously Did Not, but like the second i heard it was like aw fuck. that totally tracks. that tracks to a degree that is absolutely awful & heartbreaking & i am going to Die

bc like. of course nott did that. of course she did. of course

& like people’ve brought up that time with the yuan-ti as like an “oh fuck, she totally did the exact same thing here,” which is a very very good point--& i had completely forgotten abt it myself & now that i’ve been reminded have several thoughts abt that whole deal, which prolly deserve their own separate post--but like the worst bit is that it’s not the only example of nott making a drastic sacrifice for ppl she cares about? not by a long shot

like we’ve got, off the top of my head, as a no-doubt incomplete list--

the time with the dragon, when she took the hit for jester & then hesitated at 1hp before escaping

all the times in battles sam’s gone “seeing my friend in danger, i will [risky action]”

the time she went down to the bottom of the ocean for fjord

the other time she went down the bottom of the ocean for fjord

the absolute ages she spent at sea for fjord

that time caleb used mind-altering magic on her to get her to go in the water & when he asked if that was like. okay. she was like “i mean it wasn’t fun but i needed to be there to save you so it’s good you did it”

the time she went in the water during the fight with the merrow or w/e

all the times she’s given caleb potions that she could’ve kept for herself given she’s rly not that much hardier than he is

delayed going to felderwin for fjord, and then delayed it again for jester

p sure she admitted there last episode that she kept shut abt her own goals bc she felt caleb’s deserved the focus

etc. etc.

and like. i’ve been concerned abt this tendency of hers for ages, bc it’s, u know, not, like. healthy? or fair to her at all? & speaks to just how little she values herself, just how terrible & rly nonexistent her sense of self-worth is, & is just, in general, Very Concerning & Also Painful

& so finding out she died in a hugely self-sacrificial move for her family is like. of course. of course. it’s nott. she’d never do anything less

which is painful enough on its own, but even moreso when considering that that move came first, before all of the others, bc it’s like. she literally actually-factually died sacrificing herself for ppl she cares about. she died. and she’s still going round sacrificing her physical safety & her mental health & general wellbeing & happiness at the drop of a hat, just like, all the time

she still has that tendency & she knows the consequences it can have bc they literally got her killed once & so she knows, she has to know--she just doesn’t care, which was already pretty obvious but now is super super blatant & undeniable & i didn’t think her self-sacrificial tendencies could get any more painful but somehow they have & INCONCLUSION: someone rly rly rly rly rLY needs to give nott a hug & tell her that she matters

like, right now immediately

thanks

[asknightqueendany]

Whenever I’ve seen u hate on Sansa you always point out her trusting baelish in s7 and her behavior with the Karstarks. Both were bad decisions but the reasons make sense. Karstarks- Sansa went through hell with Ramsay and she I think she wants to be strict making sure that the north knows there are consequences for their actions should they turn on her. Deep down she probably knows two children can’t hurt her much but since she’s been betrayed a lot and in the worst ways- she’s very paranoid.

Part 2- she is just falling into the bad habit of being overly paranoid. Next her trusting baelish- Sansa always ever since s2 knows that baelish is not trustworthy but she never had anyone else that seemed willing to actually take her home. Yes he betrayed her but at that point it had become a habit to trust him and to be manipulated by him. Dany took 7 seasons to acknowledge that drogo raped her. Sansa took 7 seasons to finally realize that baelish will NEVER be on her side.   

Part 3- a lot of ppl also bring up the way she acted with the lords when they spoke abt Jon. Sansa has never been seen as anything but a pawn and now she’s actually valued by the lords so it went straight to her head. Also she did explain that the northern lords are always shifty and that she needs there support in the wars to come so she can’t anger them! I love all the asoiaf ladies and I think the reason some may not like Sansa is bc it’s harder to get inside her head and understand.     

Separate ask but also about Sansa so I’m combining them (Anon 2):

You don’t have to like Sansa but if you ever become part of the Sansa fandom.. not all of us hate dany or hate every character besides Sansa. Everyone I follow loves Sansa and Dany and especially loves Sansa and Arya. Yes ppl ship jonsa (I personally don’t) and most ppl who ship jonsa dislike Dany but a lot of ppl that like Sansa don’t even ship jonsa. There are lot of vocal jonsa fans but that fandom is VERY small.            

Okay. I am so tired of talking about Sansa on this blog. Why do her supporters continue asking me about her? My opinions of her have not changed. The first 3pt ask did not made me change my opinions about her. And I severely disagree with everything the first asker wrote. Surely Anon 1, you had to have know I’d deconstruct your argument in my answer, right? So are we to have a back and forth of you sending me anons in regards to Sansa, and me continuing to dig my heels in about her because I firmly believe where I stand on here and have canon to back it up? It’s kind of exhausting.

I will answer these questions today. But I ask that people stop sending me questions about Sansa. I don’t like her. I have never liked her. I have never wanted to be in the “Sansa” fandom. I don’t enjoy watching scenes with her character in them. I didn’t enjoy reading her chapters in ASOIAF. And I don’t want to discuss her character anymore. I don’t even enjoy comparing her to Daenerys and don’t see why so many people do because they are very different characters with very different stories and journeys but since her rabid stans (not the non-rabid ones) hate Daenerys and always make Sansa-Dany comparisons, I’m forced to do so also to refute the wrong and hateful assumptions made about Dany.

But from now on, I’m going to try to refrain from talking about Sansa as much as possible because...I really don’t want to and don’t like to. So again, please no more asks about her.

Anon 1: You admit Sansa is overly paranoid and that Sansa likely knew the Karstark and Umber kids wouldn’t hurt her and blame her paranoia on Ramsay and say her “bad decisions” as you call them - trusting Baelish and not trusting the Umber and Karstark kids - make sense.

Whoa, there’s a lot to unpack there.

Let’s start with Ramsay - Sansa is paranoid because of Ramsay (and likely all her other tormentors - Joffrey, Cersei, and Lysa). But who put Sansa in that position with Ramsay? And the position with Lysa? BAELISH. If Baelish hadn’t kissed Sansa out in the open where Lysa could see, then Sansa’s life wouldn’t have been threatened by Lysa in the first place.

It’s almost as if Baelish did it on purpose so he had an excuse to kill Lysa and further endear himself to Sansa. Lysa comes across as crazy. She nearly kills Sansa. Baelish steps in and “saves” Sansa. But Baelish only saved Sansa from the threat that HE opened her up to.

AND Baelish didn’t need to kill Lysa. She calms down once he tells her he’s only ever loved one woman. He could have continued lying to her but he wanted to get her out of the way so he killed her.

Sansa learns about Lysa being the one to kill Jon Arryn on Baelish’s orders. She learns that it was Baelish’s idea for Lysa to send the letter to Catelyn that it was the Lannisters who killed Jon when really it was Lysa, thereby starting the conflict between Stark and Lannister. Baelish doesn’t kill Lysa because he just doesn’t want her around anymore and doesn’t want to deal with her. He kills her because she knows too much. AND NOW SANSA KNOWS TOO.

Doesn’t this sound familiar? It’s just like with Ser Dontos. Dontos knew too much and was a drunk - Lysa knew too much and was not of sound mind. Sansa has witnessed Baelish killing both these people who know too much of his shady dealings and yet...she still keeps him around. WHY???

He’s also the one who sold her to Ramsay Bolton. Saved her from monsters who murdered her family and gave her to other monsters who murdered her family. Even if Ramsay was a stand up guy...Roose still plunged a knife into Robb Stark’s heart. Her father-in-law would be the man who killed her brother. That’s all kinds of fucked up.

And it’s all because of Baelish.

Knowing all this about Baelish, Sansa keeps him as her ONLY confidante. She doesn’t even seek Maester Wolkan’s council! The man who is MEANT to council and serve the Lord/Lady of Winterfell!!! We’ve only got one scene of the two of them together and Sansa is telling Wolkan what to do, she’s not asking for his advice. Wolkan would have been a much more neutral and wiser advisor and yet, Sansa never seeks his advice. Not on what to do about the Northern Lords, not on what to do about Arya - WHICH IF SANSA HAD CONFIDED IN WOLKAN ABOUT THE ARYA SITUATION AND THE LETTER SHE WOULD HAVE SNIFFED OUT BAELISH’S PLOT THAT MUCH QUICKER!!!!!!!! FFS I’m getting so mad about this. Wolkan was a man of the Citadel, sworn to the castle he served, sworn to HER. And she never sought his advice. Damnit this makes me so mad. How can anyone justify this? How can anyone say Sansa’s mistrust of people in general would mean she turns to the man she’s seen kill two people because of wanting to keep his secrets safe and not trust the man who’s sworn to serve her.

If Sansa is so goddamn mistrustful, she should have kicked Baelish to the curb. Not kept him in her presence whispering in her ear 24/7. How could she not suspect him of trying to play her? HOW???

Moving on....

On to Alys Karstark and Ned Umber. You say this was a bad decision but one that made sense for what Sansa’s gone through. I call bullshit. Alys and Ned are meant to be portrayed as children, Alys possibly of an age with Sansa, but Ned clearly much younger.

However, Alys’s age doesn’t really matter because Sansa treats her and Ned the same. She wants to kick them out. Anon 1, you say this is because Sansa wants the North to know what happens to people who betray her - which, hello, I’m surprised you even worded it like that because that’s usually the kind of accusation that gets hurled at Daenerys. So you’re saying Sansa is vengeful? She wants her people to fear her? Because that is ruling with fear. Making her people afraid of the consequences if they cross her and making an example of two innocent children - that’s ruling by fear. I don’t know how people can see it any other way.

And Sansa, who was a child with the label of “traitor’s daughter” after Ned’s whole ordeal, should know how children can often get caught up in their parent’s political mishaps. While she wasn’t forced from her home, she also couldn’t go back to her home because it was taken from her family. And yet, knowing what she went through, she wants to do the same thing to Ned Umber and Alys Karstark. I’m saying it was a bad decision...and it didn’t make any sense.

The people Sansa really should have been critical of and kept a watchful eye over - were the Lords who were directly involved with not coming to House Stark’s aid. Manderly, Glover, Cerwin. They were the ones who truly turned their backs on House Stark. Ned and Alys however are innocent, weren’t the ones who betrayed the Starks (it was their fathers who are now dead) and they both showed up to court at Winterfell when they were called to do so! Ned and Alys left their homes and went to Winterfell - likely at Jon’s command - knowing there was a possibility they may be going to answer for their father’s crimes. But they dutifully went anyway. Ned and Alys just by being at Winterfell in 7x01 rather than holding up in their castles fearing the Starks - shows way more loyalty and faith than what Manderly, Glover, and Cerwin did before the Battle of the Bastards. This has nothing to do with Sansa’s previous experiences with betrayal and Ramsay’s savagery and whatnot. It’s just plain ignorance and stubbornness. And it may have earned her enemies in Ned and Alys should the North get divided between her and Jon (not that it ever would, but just saying).

Now, Anon 2

As stated, I don’t want to be in the Sansa fandom and don’t care. However, I think you’re severely mistaken when saying the Jonsa fandom is SMALL. They’re not. They’re all over the place on Tumblr and have pretty much taken over the Sansa Stark tag here. I honestly don’t know how her fans who are not Jonsas or don’t hate everyone else, Dany included, can even operate on this site because of all the bile they spew. I truly feel bad for the Sansa fans who are kind and enjoy other characters and don’t post hate. I really do. I don’t know how you guys stay sane. It seems like an even more difficult part of the fandom to reside in than being a Daenerys stan to be honest. But I want no part of it. I am a Daenerys blog, a Daenerys stan. I love other characters, but Sansa isn’t one of them - though I will acknowledge her wins and achievements when it is appropriate because I am not so lowly that I think everything Sansa does is a mistake and try to hate on her all the time. I can see when she’s done good and has a win and I will celebrate her wins with the rest of the fandom because I love Game of Thrones and ASOIAF and if Sansa has a win, then that’s great.

[theanatomyletter]

here is a perfectly sane response to the climate emergency

Right so like 3 days ago once everyone found out a couple weeks too late that the literal amazon rainforest is on fire I went into a sort of anxiety/depressive spiral and it was terrifying!!! I was scared and shocked out of doing anything and kept thinking of all the bad things that are happening and how we are all going 2 die and kept thinking of how to make more ppl understand that climate destruction is part of the same racist project as white imperialism and I’m !!! Stressed !! And I was scared and freaked out!!! I remember as a kid one of my favourite things ever was the book Journey To The River Sea by Eva Ibbotson and I s2g that book made me a person it taught me so many things about what it means to love a place and to be alive in the world and how to sustain a sense of self and community in meaningful connection with that it means to be alive and here and breathing and it’s a book about the rainforest and the river and so I’ve just been,, thinking of it a lot, little blue butterfly from the cover floating thru my brain and all that. It’s hard!!! I thought I was afraid of not saving/earning enough money to do a masters next year but I was actually afraid of the consequences of the climate emergency. Pay more attention to your emotions and honour them for what they are and figure out what is at stake for you, what does it make you feel that the world is in crisis. I think that’s important

Depressing chat aside after I panicked and felt radicalised (what does that even mean?) I found this twitter thread which was basically like these are all the terrible things that can happen and here is how we stop them and at first I felt SO SCARED because there’s NO WAY we can actually organise mass strikes at this scale!!!! We have never had to organise at this scale before, I panicked and got really scared and went on a rant about how we have to use existing structures to fix things because we don’t have the time or resources to organise at this scale but like. I now think we actually do, I found this resource for organising strikes globally from 20TH TO 27TH SEPTEMBER and like, we have the Internet and we have a month to plan and prepare and if you are able to strike you absolutely should !!!!!! There are people smarter than me speaking to the urgency of this, I’m just having some feelings and writing this on my phone notes, but like. Read about strikes in your area. If there aren’t any, find resources to help organise one. Text your friends your colleagues your family whatsapp group the people you went to school with, spread the word and organise how you will sustain your community in that time

As a side note after I went on panic rants all over my social media I think I realised that terrifying people into frenzied action won’t work because it’ll often just scare them into inaction (that’s what it did to me) and I felt better only once I found that resource for actual organisation, the mass general strike felt like an impossible project until I found out it’s already being planned. So like, don’t be helplessly scared, we have multiple years to fix things, and I think this is important: REMEMBER TO BE ALIVE AND HERE AND BREATHING, it’s important to actually feel the absolute miracle that is consciousness otherwise all of the saving the world will have been for nothing. Take photos of your friends and give hugs to your pets and get drunk and go dancing and remember that what matters is that feeling of being so achingly alive and aware of your existence in the world when you look at the sky and feel dizzy with how small you are and how yet the whole universe is inside of your brain, remember to breathe and feel glorious and loud and bright and reckless.

On that note, I was having a hard time giving a shit about much but I copped on a bit after I talked to my friend Naoise Dolan (buy her book it is out soon !!!) I felt like calmer and more like I was allowed to enjoy things and write things (that’s why I finally pulled it together enough to do this) and so I LISTENED TO THE NEW TAYLOR SWIFT ALBUM ON REPEAT and I’ve decided I love it, here is my ranking of all its songs from worst to best, I have so many thoughts, the lyrics are golden, I’m so happy to be alive in the world at a time we can make things better and listen to music like this that’s tailor made (sorry) for us to forget about any guilt we may feel from bopping to boardroom produced songs about corporate feminism

18. Miss Americana and whoever the fuck

Idk what this obsession is with high school motifs (shout out Mike Dolan for pointing this out) like it’s just weird for a 29 yr old to use school as a metaphor for her love life. The “you win stupid prizes” bit sounds nice though. It’s like a low-key creepy obsessive song like why is she doing that funny voice? Is it meant to sound vaguely haunted? What’s going on

I’m also just tired of “America” (the white kind) as a cultural construct and it being used as an expression of identity in popular culture like we get it you built a nationalism out of “gas stations” and “hallways” and “whatever” but you’re still racist, Stop. Like it’s just an inherently violent construct and nobody white is reckoning with it responsibly so at least maybe stop romanticising it or just shut up. Heck yea I’m reading too much into this. I do what I want

17. You Need to Calm Down

This song is bad. It’s so bad. The lyrics are pointless, the ohoHHHH is annoying, her voice is irritating, it’s also just gross and patronising and tries to do twelve things at once (are we leading a parade to pat ourselves on the back for telling homophobes to “take several seats” or are we saying we “all have crowns” wtv that means?)

This song is actually just gross and it doesnt even SOUND GOOD

16. ME

It’s less problematic than you need to calm down and that’s the only reason it’s slightly less bad. It’s a garbage song idk why it exists i’m so mad at it

15. Paper rings

IM SORRY tHe mOoN is HIGH like your friends were the night that we first met I’m sorry WHAT miss swift we get it you have been near drugs, Jesus CHRIST this song is a juvenile childish self important mess. The lyrics r awful and her voice is sneaky and weird and she does weird noises and the chorus is dumb like the “uhuh that’s right” makes me want to give CHITTAR. Also she says darling WAY too much in this album like we get it you’re dating a Brit. It’s not The Worst song because if you pay zero attention to the lyrics or her voice it’s kind of fine sounding? It’s so bad tho lol, I remember when she wrote Mine and the video came out I was like wow wild this is weird and adult and why are you pregnant but this one is even MORE weird. I also HATE every time she says dreary mondays and “baby boy” (GROSS) and I hate that she keeps repeating it lol. The I hate accidents line is kind of fine

14. I forgot that you existed

I hate the lyrics and I hate the premise (we get it you’re indifferent that’s why you wrote a whole song about it) BUT it’s such a bop, it’s very /this feels like a perfect night to make fun of our exes/ vibes and I would be LYING if I said I didn’t enjoy that. Yes we exists

We are pretending her fake laughter and starting to talk in the middle of songs things isn’t real though. It wasn’t cute in we are never ever etc and isn’t cute now

13. I think he knows

I love the 16th avenue bit, it fills me with giddy happiness, the rest of the song is shit, and also lazy. Also stop being obsessed with being 17, it was weird in starlight and is weird now

The bridge is also sort of nice but not nice enough to redeem the rest of it

12. London Boy

Im sorry I promise I know this song is bad. It is bad. I hope it’s ironic? But it’s bad. It’s a weird colonialism complex fetishisation of posh brit whiteness and its even more gross when it’s like “btw IM american, DOUBLE whiteness”, it’s icky and bad. It is a bad song. I apologise for enjoying it and I promise I am ashamed but also u know what, if you ignore the lyrics entirely and pretend you’re 15 and un-enlightened about the violence inherent to the fetishisation of an english identity……….maybe a fun tune. I know. I know. I am sorry. I promise I enjoy it only ironically

11. The man

Corporate white lady feminism? With the word HUSTLE in it? In this economy? Yes obviously

The lyrics are a bit ehhhh but some of them are quite clever and I think she’s quite honest in this song in a rare sort of way without trying to exaggerate it for shock value and it’s a very like, this is my life, here you go, sort of tune, it doesn’t do anything for women’s rights but I think it sounds nice and is probably fun to dance to, and “I’m so sick of running as fast as I can, wondering if I’d get there quicker if I was a man” and “if I were a man, I’d be the man” are fUN lines !!! Idk how wild this comparison is but like, I feel this song is trying to deal with similar things as I know places (a very privileged rant, if you will, without much self awareness) but I think The Man does it better because it’s less self important and has less ambition about it solving or expressing the world’s worst problems.

10. False God

Ok, so, what is it with the religious motifs in this album, i don’t get it, though it kinda works a lot in this song? I wanted to rank this higher but after a few listens it got slightly grating, the beginning is a bit unecessary too? Like it’s trying to create this weirdly artificial aura of glamour and sophistication, it’s quite an unnerving and haunting song and I quite like that about it and it makes me a bit surprised and startled. This thing she’s doing with like slow, building, repeating tunes i think has worked the best in this song (we might just, get away with this, religion’s in your lips e-,ven if its a False gOd) also, THE ALTAR’S IN MY HIPS, OOF, the chorus does the trick honestly and i love when she’s like slightly laughing but in a wry sort of way. Love it tbh, something about it just makes me a bit stressed though and not in an intentional way (i think)

9. It’s Nice To Have a Friend

Miss taylor who gave you the RIGHT, to shove your hand into my chest and grab my heart and step all over it. I love it and it makes me cry and it’s so soft and sweet. Zero complaints abt it it’s a beautiful song. There r just MULTIPLE EXTREMELY GOOD SONGS that’s why it’s not like my absolute fav and im confused too as to why it’s so low but like. Idk. it is a very soft and sweet song. I love it. If anything maybe it’s a bit uncreative n lazy but i think that’s slightly on purpose so doesn’t rlly constitute a criticism

8. Death by a thousand cuts

I like this song a lot a lot. The lyrics are SO GOOD IM SO HAPPY SHES DOING GOOD LYRICS AGAIN. I love the “one for the agEs” line and i’m generally a slut for any mention of chandeliers in music or poetry (dont ask), her voice is delicate but proud and wild and i’m a fan, honestly, cannot wait to bop to this. The My my my bit is annoying tho

7. The archer

I HATE the bit where she says CoMbAt but otherwise this song is soft and lovely and gentle and I love it !!!!! I love the lyrics and I love her gentle restraint of how she slowly unfurls them and then let’s go in “help me hold onto you”, there is such a commanding frankness to it, it’s an ask for collaboration, an ask for honesty, an ask for I want to do this with you

I think it’s one of the strongest tracks lyrically and she also shows like great skill vocally which has been annoyingly missing from so much of what she’s recently produced. I feel like there’s a bunch of annoying stylistic choices (the they see right thru me bit is grating) but like the song overall is lovely, I think you can feel in her voice she knows she’s created something good and it’s not the usually insufferable IM A GENIUS vibe. WHO COULD EVER LEAVE ME DARLING, BUT WHO COULD STAY !!!

6. Soon you’ll get better

Made me cry. We’re not talking about this one

5. Lover

This song is soft loving, slow whispers, careful realisations that you can build a life with whatever you like and love will save everything, I love it, I love it I love it I love it, “can I go where you go?” moves me to tEARS it is such a soft and gentle expression of care, it is such a kindness, it’s such surrendering, such reckless care, I love it so much, it’s so hopeful and also sure, it’s so frightful but also unafraid. I think this is one of Taylor’s most earnest songs ever and it does the thing of combining that earnestness with brazen daring that doesn’t turn into embarrassment only because she commands her lyrics with such certainty, and that’s rare and often I think that daring has ended badly for her (LOL most of reputation) but here it’s done so beautifully and w so much happiness and LOVE, this song is truly just a beautiful lil piece of art with so much happiness dripping thru it

4. Cornelia Street

This song. This SONG. It builds up so beautifully with this ever so slightly hesitant fascination with its own emotions, i’m so obsessed with it, the lyrics are lovely and perfect, i was expecting it to feel slightly forced and oddly specific because wtf is a cornelia street anyway, but it WORKS. I think it wants me to think of like a glowy streetlighty street and it DOES THAT, “filling in the blanks as we gooooo” sounds so gorgeous and does that thing with her voice which literally is just showing off that Yes She Does Know How To Sing and it’s so certain and sure and restrained and open and bare (again in “i thought you were leading me onnnnn”). Also, “the city screams your name” should be a tired cliche but its just an excited expression of abandon im,, in love. The song is so shaky and uncertain but completely confident and relaxed at the same time and it FEELS EXACTLY LIKE COMING TO TERMS WITH BEING IN LOVE AND WANTING IT TO LAST FOREVER, also like, when did she learn how to write good bridges again because yEs

3. Daylight

Solely for the lines “i’ll tell you the truth, but never goodbye // i don’t want to look at anything else now that i saw you” she deserves a grammy it actually pierces my emotions and makes me want 2 explode, this song is sooooo lovely and it has the vibe that makes me feel like i’ve already heard it years ago (but maybe thats because ive had the album on repeat 2 days straight) but it’s just,,, very good and it feels like sunset and glitter and i think is a perfect ending to a great album i love how it builds intensity and then strips it down and just,,, love it.

2. Afterglow

This is i think, one of the most beautiful things this woman has ever produced, one of the loveliest and most powerful songs ever made, i love it so very much. She finally learnt how to do autotune properly lol, this song is like, a crescendo of emotion, everything is falling down around it and it’s like a little haven of bare, frank honesty and complete surrender, of complete vulnerability, the whole song sounds like an act of care and an act of expressing pure emotion, it’s so gorgeous. It moves so softly and doubles in on itself and she’s sorry and sad but so proud of this love and so certain of its importance, “i’m the one who burnt us down”, it’s such a zooming in on a very specific emotion and it’s done so well, i love it

1. Cruel summer

I LOVE THIS SONG. I LOVE THIS SONG. The lyrics are flighty and exciting and shivery, WHAT DOESNT KILL ME MAKES ME WANT YOU MORE- plug that shit into my VEINS. This song makes me feel like it’s 2015 and nothing is real yet and I’m living inside a YA novel and my biggest problem is my crush being mean to me and I’m RELISHING in that freedom and indulging every last drop of emotion because being alive and paying attention to it is incredible and Extremely Cool Actually (I DONT WANT TO KEEP SECRETS JUST TO KEEP YOU, dead right gal)

That said. Organise for the climate strike. Read up on what’s going on so you can answer questions in your family whatsapp group. Field those conversation, DO THAT EMOTIONAL LABOUR (again, what even), spread the word. But take care of yourself !!!! Listen to Taylor swift and remember that we are an absolute joke of a species, we went to the MOON, we can do this, I love you

[yes-dal456]

A Modest Proposal: Mr. President, Get Some Sleep

Donald Trump’s first week as president of the United States is in the bag, and what a week it’s been. He came in promising to be an unconventional president, and on that score he’s delivered. But in another sense, he’s off to an all too conventional start. Whether he recreates America’s greatness remains to be seen, but in the meantime, what he seems to be recreating is the chaotic Bill Clinton White House. Of course they’re miles apart politically. But what Trump is recreating is the Clinton working process — complete with all of its feverish, frantic, late-night, sleep-deprived chaos.

Let’s go back and look at the Clinton White House. Clinton came in bragging about his style of burning the candle at both ends and that’s exactly the M.O. he imported into the White House with—as we know—disastrous impulse control and decision-making consequences. “Perhaps because his father died before he was born, President Clinton was keenly aware of the fleeting nature of his time in office,” Paul Begala, one of Clinton’s advisors, said. “He seemed to believe that sleep was overrated.”

Whatever the origins, right from the beginning Clinton seemed to treat sleep as a political opponent to be resisted and defeated. In his book Eyewitness to Power, David Gergen, long-time advisor to several presidents, including Clinton, described those early days. “Clinton was still celebrating the victory and loved staying up half the night to laugh and talk with old friends,” Gergen wrote. “The next morning, he would be up at the crack of dawn to hit the beach for an early run or perhaps a game of touch football.”

This style of working was not without consequences. “He seemed worn out, puffy, and hyper,” Gergen wrote. “His attention span was so brief that it was difficult to have a serious conversation of more than a few minutes.” At one point, Gergen tried to give the president some gentle advice — which was, after all, what he was hired to do. “In a short encounter with Clinton, I tried to say gently that the presidency is a marathon, not a hundred-yard dash, and I hoped he would have a chance for some downtime in the three weeks still remaining,” Gergen wrote. “I don’t think I registered. . . . Those who saw him in his first weeks at the White House often found him out of sorts, easily distracted, and impatient.” Sound eerily recently familiar?

Of course it went way beyond the first few weeks. And it also had a spillover effect, because when the president doesn’t sleep, neither does anybody else around the president. “My wife and I, we had the official phone right next to our bed,” Bill Richardson, Clinton’s energy secretary and former governor of New Mexico, said. “And whenever it was after 1 a.m., it was President Clinton. And he did it quite frequently.” Not surprisingly, it even became an issue with Richardson’s wife. “I remember some of those late phone calls my wife would turn over in bed and say ‘Oh my God,’” said Richardson. “We put the phone in another room and I’d lock the door so she wouldn’t hear.”

And despite its considerable downsides, this way of working never really changed. As Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala said, by the end of the eight years, with the soon-to-depart President Clinton frantically eager to address overlooked policy proposals, she began sleeping with her massive briefing books right next to her bed, ready for the inevitable late night calls. “I was numb the last two weeks,” Shalala said.

How big of an effect did this have on Clinton’s presidency? His first week was dominated by his clumsy handling of the gays-in-the-military issue, which earned him criticism from those on both sides of the aisle. And according to Gergen, this way of working “planted seeds that almost destroyed Clinton’s presidency.” Bill Clinton himself later acknowledged “every important mistake I’ve made in my life, I’ve made because I was too tired.”

And Hillary Clinton might make the same admission one day, given that it was on the same night that she refused to rest after having been diagnosed with walking pneumonia that she made one of her worst mistakes of the campaign — calling Trump supporters a “basket of deplorables.”

And now let’s look at Trump’s first week. Here’s a handy summary of it — in a series of nine tweets — by The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman:

A few final thoughts on the weekend/first few days. Trump had less than 4 hours sleep on Saturday, when he woke up and, at about 7 am., 1/

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 25, 2017

... started calling advisers and aides angry about the @BCAppelbaum RT by parks, accusing media of being out to get him. Trump's worst 2/

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 25, 2017

...impulse control is when he's tired or overstretched, or in an uncertain situation. All three took place Saturday. Trump is unable 3/

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 25, 2017

...to let go of any grievance or perceived slight. And he is genuinely transfixed by people thinking his election isn't legit. He is 4/

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 25, 2017

...as his advisers say often, at his most self-destructive when the stakes are high (see post-primary, post-convention, debates) and 5/

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 25, 2017

...has historically been the one who most undercuts himself. He is also driven by desire to be treated seriously/with respect. For the WH 6/

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 25, 2017

...the idea was that people would be around him who knew him or knew DC or could calm him. The more time ppl spend w Trump, the more they 7/

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 25, 2017

...tend to adopt his mindset about how he is treated. Not all aides thought Spicer jeremiad was a bad idea. But all shared view POTUS 8/

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 25, 2017

...was being treated poorly. by press. None could get him to move past the feeling of injury, to focus on the enormity at hand. 9/9

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 25, 2017

And perhaps the reason the aides “tend to adopt his mindset” is because they’re also forced to adopt his sleeping habits.

And now we’ve learned that on his first morning as president of the United States, Trump personally called acting National Park Service director Michael T. Reynolds and ordered him to come up with photos of the inauguration crowd that would counter the media’s reporting that the size of the crowd had been smaller than that of President Obama’s. Asked about the call, deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it is just the result of President Trump’s style of being “so accessible, and constantly in touch.”

In fact, the decision to make that call, and bizarrely keep the issue going for the entire first week of his presidency, seems to be more the result of President Trump being almost constantly awake with his executive functioning impaired. (Highly recommended that the White House staff, if not the president himself, read the McKinsey study on the impact of sleep deprivation, excerpted in the Harvard Business Review).

And by the end of the week, he was still up at all hours, tweeting and intensifying his feud with Mexico at 5:51 a.m.:

The U.S. has a 60 billion dollar trade deficit with Mexico. It has been a one-sided deal from the beginning of NAFTA with massive numbers...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 26, 2017

of jobs and companies lost. If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 26, 2017

It’s not much of a surprise, given that Trump has long regarded sleep as just another adversary to be dominated into submission. “You know, I’m not a big sleeper,” he said during a campaign rally in Illinois. “I like three hours, four hours. I toss, I turn, I beep-de-beep, I want to find out what’s going on.”

And many of his campaign’s most divisive moments came in the middle of the night or early morning. The attack on Megyn Kelly? 3:53 a.m.

I really enjoyed the debate tonight even though the @FoxNews trio, especially @megynkelly, was not very good or professional!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2015

 The attack on Alicia Machado? 5:30 a.m.

Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016

So in effect he told us he wasn’t going to be sleeping much, and he’s keeping that promise. But this is one of the many promises he should consider breaking. The science and data on sleep are as clear as the photos of inaugural crowds. And ignoring the former might account for his irrational beliefs about the latter. There are, of course, thousands of studies on this, but to cite just one, here are the results from a study on the effects of sleep deprivation from the Walter Reed hospital:

RESULTS: Relative to baseline, sleep deprivation was associated with lower scores on Total EQ (decreased global emotional intelligence), Intrapersonal functioning (reduced self-regard, assertiveness, sense of independence, and self-actualization), Interpersonal functioning (reduced empathy toward others and quality of interpersonal relationships), Stress Management skills (reduced impulse control and difficulty with delay of gratification), and Behavioral Coping (reduced positive thinking and action orientation). Esoteric Thinking (greater reliance on formal superstitions and magical thinking processes) was increased.

It’s like a summary of President Trump’s first week. Just look at what happened on day three. According to The New York Times, Trump opened his meeting with House and Senate leaders on Monday by restating his claim that 3 to 5 million “illegals” had voted in the election, denying him his rightful victory in the popular vote. He backed this up with a strange taleabout former professional golfer Bernhard Langer. In Trump’s telling, Langer, a German native living in Florida, was denied the right to vote at his polling place, even though others in line, who looked to be from Latin America, were allowed to cast provisional ballots. But according to Langer’s daughter, her father couldn’t have voted anyway. “He is a citizen of Germany,” she said. “He is not a friend of President Trump’s, and I don’t know why he would talk about him.”

And now the president says he’ll soon sign an order for a full-fledged investigation of these supposed 3 to 5 million votes.

Esoteric thinking, formal superstitions, magical thinking — not exactly traits you want in a president. And whether you voted for him or not, it’s now in everybody’s interest — it’s in our national security’s interest — that he begins to charge his phone in another room and gets a good night’s sleep. We of course have no control over the president’s sleeping habits, but we do have control over our own. And as we’re headed into a very bumpy week two and beyond, we need all the calm, clear-headedness, and resilience we can muster.

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[imreviewblog]

A Modest Proposal: Mr. President, Get Some Sleep

Donald Trump’s first week as president of the United States is in the bag, and what a week it’s been. He came in promising to be an unconventional president, and on that score he’s delivered. But in another sense, he’s off to an all too conventional start. Whether he recreates America’s greatness remains to be seen, but in the meantime, what he seems to be recreating is the chaotic Bill Clinton White House. Of course they’re miles apart politically. But what Trump is recreating is the Clinton working process — complete with all of its feverish, frantic, late-night, sleep-deprived chaos.

Let’s go back and look at the Clinton White House. Clinton came in bragging about his style of burning the candle at both ends and that’s exactly the M.O. he imported into the White House with—as we know—disastrous impulse control and decision-making consequences. “Perhaps because his father died before he was born, President Clinton was keenly aware of the fleeting nature of his time in office,” Paul Begala, one of Clinton’s advisors, said. “He seemed to believe that sleep was overrated.”

Whatever the origins, right from the beginning Clinton seemed to treat sleep as a political opponent to be resisted and defeated. In his book Eyewitness to Power, David Gergen, long-time advisor to several presidents, including Clinton, described those early days. “Clinton was still celebrating the victory and loved staying up half the night to laugh and talk with old friends,” Gergen wrote. “The next morning, he would be up at the crack of dawn to hit the beach for an early run or perhaps a game of touch football.”

This style of working was not without consequences. “He seemed worn out, puffy, and hyper,” Gergen wrote. “His attention span was so brief that it was difficult to have a serious conversation of more than a few minutes.” At one point, Gergen tried to give the president some gentle advice — which was, after all, what he was hired to do. “In a short encounter with Clinton, I tried to say gently that the presidency is a marathon, not a hundred-yard dash, and I hoped he would have a chance for some downtime in the three weeks still remaining,” Gergen wrote. “I don’t think I registered. . . . Those who saw him in his first weeks at the White House often found him out of sorts, easily distracted, and impatient.” Sound eerily recently familiar?

Of course it went way beyond the first few weeks. And it also had a spillover effect, because when the president doesn’t sleep, neither does anybody else around the president. “My wife and I, we had the official phone right next to our bed,” Bill Richardson, Clinton’s energy secretary and former governor of New Mexico, said. “And whenever it was after 1 a.m., it was President Clinton. And he did it quite frequently.” Not surprisingly, it even became an issue with Richardson’s wife. “I remember some of those late phone calls my wife would turn over in bed and say ‘Oh my God,’” said Richardson. “We put the phone in another room and I’d lock the door so she wouldn’t hear.”

And despite its considerable downsides, this way of working never really changed. As Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala said, by the end of the eight years, with the soon-to-depart President Clinton frantically eager to address overlooked policy proposals, she began sleeping with her massive briefing books right next to her bed, ready for the inevitable late night calls. “I was numb the last two weeks,” Shalala said.

How big of an effect did this have on Clinton’s presidency? His first week was dominated by his clumsy handling of the gays-in-the-military issue, which earned him criticism from those on both sides of the aisle. And according to Gergen, this way of working “planted seeds that almost destroyed Clinton’s presidency.” Bill Clinton himself later acknowledged “every important mistake I’ve made in my life, I’ve made because I was too tired.”

And Hillary Clinton might make the same admission one day, given that it was on the same night that she refused to rest after having been diagnosed with walking pneumonia that she made one of her worst mistakes of the campaign — calling Trump supporters a “basket of deplorables.”

And now let’s look at Trump’s first week. Here’s a handy summary of it — in a series of nine tweets — by The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman:

A few final thoughts on the weekend/first few days. Trump had less than 4 hours sleep on Saturday, when he woke up and, at about 7 am., 1/

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 25, 2017

... started calling advisers and aides angry about the @BCAppelbaum RT by parks, accusing media of being out to get him. Trump's worst 2/

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 25, 2017

...impulse control is when he's tired or overstretched, or in an uncertain situation. All three took place Saturday. Trump is unable 3/

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 25, 2017

...to let go of any grievance or perceived slight. And he is genuinely transfixed by people thinking his election isn't legit. He is 4/

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 25, 2017

...as his advisers say often, at his most self-destructive when the stakes are high (see post-primary, post-convention, debates) and 5/

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 25, 2017

...has historically been the one who most undercuts himself. He is also driven by desire to be treated seriously/with respect. For the WH 6/

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 25, 2017

...the idea was that people would be around him who knew him or knew DC or could calm him. The more time ppl spend w Trump, the more they 7/

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 25, 2017

...tend to adopt his mindset about how he is treated. Not all aides thought Spicer jeremiad was a bad idea. But all shared view POTUS 8/

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 25, 2017

...was being treated poorly. by press. None could get him to move past the feeling of injury, to focus on the enormity at hand. 9/9

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 25, 2017

And perhaps the reason the aides “tend to adopt his mindset” is because they’re also forced to adopt his sleeping habits.

And now we’ve learned that on his first morning as president of the United States, Trump personally called acting National Park Service director Michael T. Reynolds and ordered him to come up with photos of the inauguration crowd that would counter the media’s reporting that the size of the crowd had been smaller than that of President Obama’s. Asked about the call, deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it is just the result of President Trump’s style of being “so accessible, and constantly in touch.”

In fact, the decision to make that call, and bizarrely keep the issue going for the entire first week of his presidency, seems to be more the result of President Trump being almost constantly awake with his executive functioning impaired. (Highly recommended that the White House staff, if not the president himself, read the McKinsey study on the impact of sleep deprivation, excerpted in the Harvard Business Review).

And by the end of the week, he was still up at all hours, tweeting and intensifying his feud with Mexico at 5:51 a.m.:

The U.S. has a 60 billion dollar trade deficit with Mexico. It has been a one-sided deal from the beginning of NAFTA with massive numbers...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 26, 2017

of jobs and companies lost. If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 26, 2017

It’s not much of a surprise, given that Trump has long regarded sleep as just another adversary to be dominated into submission. “You know, I’m not a big sleeper,” he said during a campaign rally in Illinois. “I like three hours, four hours. I toss, I turn, I beep-de-beep, I want to find out what’s going on.”

And many of his campaign’s most divisive moments came in the middle of the night or early morning. The attack on Megyn Kelly? 3:53 a.m.

I really enjoyed the debate tonight even though the @FoxNews trio, especially @megynkelly, was not very good or professional!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2015

 The attack on Alicia Machado? 5:30 a.m.

Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016

So in effect he told us he wasn’t going to be sleeping much, and he’s keeping that promise. But this is one of the many promises he should consider breaking. The science and data on sleep are as clear as the photos of inaugural crowds. And ignoring the former might account for his irrational beliefs about the latter. There are, of course, thousands of studies on this, but to cite just one, here are the results from a study on the effects of sleep deprivation from the Walter Reed hospital:

RESULTS: Relative to baseline, sleep deprivation was associated with lower scores on Total EQ (decreased global emotional intelligence), Intrapersonal functioning (reduced self-regard, assertiveness, sense of independence, and self-actualization), Interpersonal functioning (reduced empathy toward others and quality of interpersonal relationships), Stress Management skills (reduced impulse control and difficulty with delay of gratification), and Behavioral Coping (reduced positive thinking and action orientation). Esoteric Thinking (greater reliance on formal superstitions and magical thinking processes) was increased.

It’s like a summary of President Trump’s first week. Just look at what happened on day three. According to The New York Times, Trump opened his meeting with House and Senate leaders on Monday by restating his claim that 3 to 5 million “illegals” had voted in the election, denying him his rightful victory in the popular vote. He backed this up with a strange taleabout former professional golfer Bernhard Langer. In Trump’s telling, Langer, a German native living in Florida, was denied the right to vote at his polling place, even though others in line, who looked to be from Latin America, were allowed to cast provisional ballots. But according to Langer’s daughter, her father couldn’t have voted anyway. “He is a citizen of Germany,” she said. “He is not a friend of President Trump’s, and I don’t know why he would talk about him.”

And now the president says he’ll soon sign an order for a full-fledged investigation of these supposed 3 to 5 million votes.

Esoteric thinking, formal superstitions, magical thinking — not exactly traits you want in a president. And whether you voted for him or not, it’s now in everybody’s interest — it’s in our national security’s interest — that he begins to charge his phone in another room and gets a good night’s sleep. We of course have no control over the president’s sleeping habits, but we do have control over our own. And as we’re headed into a very bumpy week two and beyond, we need all the calm, clear-headedness, and resilience we can muster.

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from Healthy Living - The Huffington Post http://huff.to/2jIzWIj