#it fucks me so bad when i remember that dany named her main dragon - the balerion reborn dragon - after her rapist

[thaliajoy-blog]

Rereading the Dany part of AGOT exclusively has led me to yet unforeseen places of discomfort like the whole Dany & Mirri Maz Duur story even surface level is very tragic & I'm obsessed by what is there what is underneath the surface and what could be in that dynamic (maybe I'll get into it another day) but the tenth Dany pov chapter in the novel is harrowing before the pyre starts because you see the contrast between how Mirri and Drogo are treated and it's distressing. Mirri is tied to a the pyre and whiped so she stops talking. Drogo is washed and clothed lovingly by Daenerys, she even speaks to him, apologizes to him, feels fondly about him, tries to give him a real king's funeral. But it makes sense, tragic sense. Mirri put Dany in an incredibly miserable & and vulnerable place. She murders Drogo & Rhaego. She is more than Dany's ennemy but Dany is not in a position that would make her want to forgive those actions, even based Mirri's trauma that Dany knows all too well about. So it's this fucked up thing where the birth of the dragon is preceded by an hommage by Dany to a man who is very obviously monstrous in GRRM's writing - Mirri murdered a child out of vengeance, but Drogo lead the killing, traumatizing & enslavement of many more children simply because it was in his power. And Dany loves him (and even names a dragon after her - I'm sorry Drogon there's that aside from the fact that your name is pretty stupid my sweet baby), a frightened love born out of the need to not just die from her awful situation as the teenage bride of a warlord. I'm thinking about how like Irri & Jhiqui still see themselves as slaves despite everything Dany does to delegitimize slavery ; in her continued fondness towards Drogo Dany kind of refuses to see her chains and her past victimization.

And it all comes back to Mirri, this monstrous victim, this wise demon, the maegi, the magic teacher, the one who cannot be forgiven. Tied to the pyre. Unwilling witness to Dany's marriage with the fire. This benefits us all to wonder & mourn and ponder about how complex & mindfucked GRRM made this situation (and I kind of love it as it is) rather than to designate one victim & one abuser and rant about how the fandom at large doesn't realize how really innocent one is and how really evil the other is.

Surge of thought on mirri lately brought to you by my obsession with Epic the Musical and how the Horse & the Infant, Just a Man and Ruthlessness kinda fit her I think.

[agentrouka-blog]

What do you think the wall will fall out? Do you think it would be horn of joramun?

I don’t know. I don’t really care..? My main concern with the Ice Threat is that the point of it will be extremely different from the show. The solution will not be battle or killing. It will be negotiation. And it doesn’t really matter where it takes place or if/when/why the Wall falls, exactly. The Wall is only a bandaid.

The original Long Night was unrelated to any direct cause we know of. It happened after the Pact on the Gods Eye and before the Andal Invasion that saw the South ravaged for the weirdwoods and Children of the Forest. What caused it?

But we know that the rise of the dragonlords in Old Valyria was definitely tied to slavery and dark magic. Dany uses the wrongest means possible (war, conquest, queenship) to recover something personal she longs for: a home. And she haggles with bloodmagic over Drogo’s death and loses big time, and then turns it around into trading lives for something monstrous: her dragons. That’s her magic sword. 

Then she haggles again for the Unsullied, a trick trade. One dragon for an army of human quasi-zombies. She “frees” them, but has only one purpose for them: dracarys dracarys, dracarys. 

It’s not an accident that the White Walkers and the wights bear some anviliously parallels to the Unsullied. 

The Other said something in a language that Will did not know; his voice was like the cracking of ice on a winter lake, and the words were mocking.  (AGOT, Prologue)

It mirrors:

"Tell the Westerosi whore to lower her eyes," the slaver Kraznys mo Nakloz complained to the slave girl who spoke for him. "I deal in meat, not metal. The bronze is not for sale. Tell her to look at the soldiers. Even the dim purple eyes of a sunset savage can see how magnificent my creatures are, surely."

Kraznys's High Valyrian was twisted and thickened by the characteristic growl of Ghis, and flavored here and there with words of slaver argot. Dany understood him well enough, but she smiled and looked blankly at the slave girl, as if wondering what he might have said. (ASOS, Daenerys II)

The Others take Craster’s boys, the slavers take young boys. There are significant sons.

"The boy's brothers," said the old woman on the left. "Craster's sons. The white cold's rising out there, crow. I can feel it in my bones. These poor old bones don't lie. They'll be here soon, the sons." (ASOS, Samwell II)

It mirrors:

Dany knew she would take more than a hundred, if she took any at all. "Remind your Good Master of who I am. Remind him that I am Daenerys Stormborn, Mother of Dragons, the Unburnt, trueborn queen of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. My blood is the blood of Aegon the Conqueror, and of old Valyria before him."

Yet her words did not move the plump perfumed slaver, even when rendered in his own ugly tongue. "Old Ghis ruled an empire when the Valyrians were still fucking sheep," he growled at the poor little scribe, "and we are the sons of the harpy." (ASOS, Daenerys II)

The Starks only came into prominence after the Long Night, involved in building the Wall and Winterfell, the latter of which is now in ruins like Old Valyria. Clearly, they mirror the dragonlords in some way, just like Jon mirrors Dany in many ways. Maybe they were the good guys, or maybe they did what Dany did: create an imperfect solution, play a trick, some kind of stalemate that made them expect a return of the Others, made the Wall necessary in the first place.

I think the source of the Others might be someone’s personal wrath, like Dany’s. Because there’s Cersei “re-creating” the Faith Militant, there is Stannis aiming the red god at his enemies, and there is Lady Stoneheart aiming the remnants of the Brotherhood without Banners at those who wronged her.

"The harpy is a craven thing," Daario Naharis said when he saw it. "She has a woman's heart and a chicken's legs. Small wonder her sons hide behind their walls." (ASOS, Daenerys V)

A woman’s heart, her sons behind Walls, and they kill you in the dark if you venture past.

The Sons of the Harpy did their butchery by night, and over each kill they left their mark. (ADWD, Daenerys I)

Butchering by night. Like the wights. Like the nightfires. Like Lady Stoneheart’s “trials”. The importance of memory connects them.

To the boy she said, "Treasure that tokar, for it saved your life. You are only a boy, so we will forget what happened here. You should do the same." But as he left the boy looked back over his shoulder, and when she saw his eyes Dany thought, The Harpy has another Son. (ADWD, Daenerys I)

And..

"She don't speak," said the big man in the yellow cloak. "You bloody bastards cut her throat too deep for that. But she remembers." 

(ASOS, Epilogue)

And...

The Nightfort had figured in some of Old Nan's scariest stories. It was here that Night's King had reigned, before his name was wiped from the memory of man. (ASOS, Bran IV)

But not the memory of women, judging by Old Nan.

He never was. He was a Stark, the brother of the man who brought him down." She always pinched Bran on the nose then, he would never forget it. "He was a Stark of Winterfell, and who can say? Mayhaps his name was Brandon. Mayhaps he slept in this very bed in this very room."

(ASOS, Bran IV)

Brandon Stark, name of names. Beloved son.

Reluctantly, she let go of them in her heart. But not Bran. Never Bran. "Yes," she said, "but please, Ned, for the love you bear me, let Bran remain here at Winterfell. He is only seven." (AGOT, Catelyn II)

Never letting go of Bran. Now waging vengeful war for Robb. 

But the solution is not killing.

She was the blood of the dragon. She could kill the Sons of the Harpy, and the sons of the sons, and the sons of the sons of the sons. But a dragon could not feed a hungry child nor help a dying woman's pain. And who would ever dare to love a dragon? (ADWD, Daenerys II)

Killing the sons of the sons of the sons is not going to do anything. They rise and rise again.

Dany haggled for the Unsullied. She traded for them. A dragon. For all of them. But she never fixed what was wrong, she just turned them around to kill for her and the slaves became the slavers. They are making new Unsullied of the sons of the slavers. Just like the Others have been making new wights, and are marching south again.

Maybe an undead dragon will destroy the Wall like on the show. (metaphor for Jon?) Or maybe they will end up choosing to blow the Horn of Joramun to make the actual solution possible. “If I look back, I am lost” is the wrong path, so they will need to recover the lost Memory of the Long Night, and fix things.

Whatever Brandon Stark will do, it will involve negotiation, haggling and - if the problem is to be truly fixed, an honorable trade. If he trades a dragon, then Jon is that dragon. But if he trades “the only cow he owns”, it might be something else. Maybe his magical ability, his warging, his “wings”. The way Drogon is Dany’s wings. Because Bran is mourning, too. Bran traded his dreams for great powers, too.

"A knight is what you want. A warg is what you are. You can't change that, Bran, you can't deny it or push it away. You are the winged wolf, but you will never fly." Jojen got up and walked to the window. "Unless you open your eye." He put two fingers together and poked Bran in the forehead, hard. (ACOK, Bran V)

He wanted to be a knight. He loved to climb.

"You will never walk again, Bran," the pale lips promised, "but you will fly." ADWD, Bran II)

But he will fly. The bird mentor says so. But bird mentors are bad news. Littlefinger. Ygritte (egret). Griff. They all want to force their dreams on you, they all will ask you to sacrifice the innocent.

"You will never walk again," the three-eyed crow had promised, "but you will fly." (ADWD, Bran III)

But may he shouldn’t fly. Maybe he should not warg. The animals fight it. The people fight it more. It’s an invasion, an assault. It is only ever a shared experience with their bonded wolves. Perhaps wargs are rightfully viewed with suspicion?

Maybe when he accepts his loss, like Cat will have to, like Dany should have done… something will be worked out. The magic will whither away, the seasons will return to normal. The Stark will be “like other men”. They will need no Wall. Maybe they will need no “Stark in Winterfell”. A castle rebuilt from Snow. And a king in the South.

[whyredisred]

The Real Ending of GOT

So Daenerys comes back after riding her majestic dragon and destroying and killing and putting King’s Landing out of the map. 

*Arya to Jon* - Yo bro, your wifey done get crazy

*Jon* - Nah b. I’m loyal. She cool. 

The Unsullied are lining up to receive Dany in her new crib, the Dothraki (or what’s left of them, I thought they were all slaughtered ?), are hyping up the new Queen, and Tyrion decides to leave the crew and drops his Hand of the Queen pin. 

*Tyrion to Dany* - Hey so... I’m not really on this type of shit, you know? I don’t fuck with your crazy decisions, take a pill or something, I’m out.

*Daenerys holding a Hennessy bottle to Tyrion* - You foreal dawg? Maaan, you do you, haters gon’ hate.

Then Greyworm grabs the little man and puts him in a cage for being A REASONABLE HUMAN BEING and for being real, and gives him the bad looks. 

Later on... 

Daenerys is chilling in her new place, while a feng shui artist is moving furniture around, Lil Pump’s Eskeetit is playing in the background.

Enter Jon Snow.

- My Queen. I didn’t like what you just did, but hey I told you I ain’t gon leave you no cap. 

- My King, you’re gonna be by main man, just say yes to everything I say. 

- Ok.

Exit Jon Snow. 

Enter Grey Worm.

- Yo Blondie! Lemme smell you real quick. 

- Blondie? Since when you call me that? - she said approaching Greyworm.

*blade sound*

- I got your ass! You ain’t gon be a problem now! - said Greyworm stabbing Dany in the chest.

As we thought Greyworm was killing the Queen, he reaches to his face and takes off and reveals someone else’s face... It was Arya all along! 

*Daenerys to Arya* - Daaamn G, I didn’t see it coming. Y tho?

*Arya* - Because you cray Dany, you were ok in the past seasons, but you kinda forgot we were supposed to be the good ones. Youse in the dark side now bish.

*Daenerys slowly dying* - Avenge me Drogon, dracarys all them mfers right now! Use Flamethrower! 

Jon Snow comes back real fast and jumps in front of his sister, as Arya runs to the side. 

*Drogon* - Blaaaaaaaaaaooooooooowwwwww 

The fire is engulfing Jon’s body, and we can’t see it how he’s burning because the CGI budget wasn’t enough. But Damn! Drogon stops spitting fire and we still see a body standing after the fire. And Damn! It’s Jon! And he’s still alive! And he ain’t got no clothes! 

*Drogon* - NANIII???!?!??!

´Insert superhero stare at the enemy´

- I can’t burn G, I’m a Targaryen, this body already be fueeeegooooooo. 

*Drogon* - Damn! I’m gon leave ryt now I ain’t no regular dragon, you killed my mom, but I ain’t gonna kill you. I’m gonna spit some fire to this chair right here so you can’t be king. - as he started to blow more fire - blaaaaaaaoooowowwwwwowow

Jon and Arya are super ready to leave that place but it’s so cool to see the Iron Throne being burned, they be taking pictures and shit. 

Anyway, later on. 

All them rich lords gather around and they see that Jon is about the be executed by the Unsullied, but Sansa yells: 

- JON SNOW IS THE RIGHTFUL HEIR TO THE THRONE, HIS NAME IS AEGON TARGARYEN AND HE BE THE REAL KING UP IN HERE!

Everybody is confused and can’t process this info, but then Tyrion appears and be like: 

- That be true folks. 

Now everybody is like, whoa let’s not kill the dude that killed the Queen, let’s make him King of the Seven Kingdoms. And he’s like:

- Ok imma be King. But imma do something, I’ve been cooking this since my ex went crazy. Y’all not gonna have a King from the Seven Kingdoms, I’m separating all kingdoms and each kingdom will have their own King or Queen, y’all have your own currency, and we will release visas for people to work in different kingdoms so that we can have different social classes. 7 Kings and Queens that will make sure that this continent is well and protected, instead of having one fool doing all the work. 

Then everybody is like, daaaang what a fucking genius, and Jon be like full Oprah mode:

- Hey Uncle, you get a Kingdom, and Sansa you get a Kingdom, and you weird dude who drinks titty milk, you also get a Kingdom. 

Everybody is happy as hell man. 

But damn, then the Unsullied say: What about us bro? We fought for you. 

And Jon be like: Nah sorry my dude, y’all illegal now. 

Later on. 

Ser Bronn is visiting Tyrion who is now free and works at a Gamestop and he be like: 

- Damn Tyrion, how you end up here man. Hey listen, remember how you told me I could keep Highgarden if I didn’t kill you and Cersei lost the battle? Yeah well, listen mate, that’s bad reputation for me you feel me? I want people to think I’m straight up and to put some respekt on my name. So I can’t have you going around knowing I have Highgarden because I saved your ass. 

Then booooom!, with the Lannister bow Tyrion gets bolted to the wall and slowly dies while looking at his old friend. 

- Fuck you Bronn, you face fuck, I should’ve never trusted you. You better run because I’m going full Ghost Patrick Swayze on yo ass.

Meanwhile in the North... 

*Queen Sansa to Jon*

- Oh hohho I see what you did there brodie, you split the Kingdom so that you didn’t have to be King anywhere and you could go on a camping trip with your homies north the Wall

- Yeah it be like that. 

THE END

Post credit scene:

Sansa is walking around her brand new nail salon in Winterfell and remembers something. 

´looks at the camera with desperation´

- BRAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!!!

Bran is seen exiting King’s Landing pushing the wheels of his wheelchair direction Winterfell.

[booksnwaffles]

Fever Series

    So here’s the thing about my relationship with The Fever Series and what I have to say after reading High Voltage. Warning: It’s very personal and tackle the subject of Gifted Adults. 

    First thing to know is that this series of books is very close to my heart. Whether I hate one of the books or absolutely love another, they are the kind of books that never leave me indifferent.

    I first tumbled on them as I picked them up, waiting impatiently for another book that I couldn’t wait to put my hands on. I just wanted something to make me wait. Long story short, I never read that other book I was waiting for and I don’t even recall what that book was supposed to be about it or even if I ever read it later on. Instead I felt hard for Karen Marie Moning’s world. I was fourteen, and I opened the pages of a book where I could strongly identified with the characters.

   A thing to know about me is that my brain is wired differently than most people. I’m what people call a High Intellectual Potential adult, or Gifted Adult, or what experts may call us sometimes: A Zebra. The reason being that to avoid being picked on, and hurt by other people (« normal » people) we put a mask on, stop trusting our abilities and trying hard to fit in a world that doesn’t really want us in it, or simply wasn’t made for us. As you may guess this type of behaviour often leads to total disaster…

But I’ll explain why I talk about this later.

     I think the strongest asset of these books is the author. It’s her. I don’t know the details of this woman’s life, but man, when she writes words whether it’s about joy or sorrow, she’s not pretending. She knows her stuff, and if she doesn’t, she have a gigantic empathy. And she MAKE. YOU. FEEL. H A R D. She is also a reeeal badass. She’s the kind of author that won’t give you reader what you want but what the story needs and what she needs to write. Which is why for a story that talks about faë, dragon like creature, legendary weapons and all in a modern world… The story feels incredibly real.

     There was a character that I, for a very long time, hated in her story. His name: Ryodan. He was calculating, manipulative, ruthless, controling, always focused in the future, cold, angry… You know, that nice guy. I would call him the “fuckboy”. I hated him. But then I read more chapters about him, and Karen, that magnificent glittering phoenix of a writer, unravelled his facade. The character more complex that we thought, more real that we would ever dream.

    And then it hit me. The reason why I couldn’t stand Ryodan, is that for the first time in my life, a book send me back my own image. Ryodan was my fucking uncensored mirror. After that realisation I remember actually have to put the book down and take a breather. I always wanted to be a hero like Hermione Granger, Lucy Pevensie, Aragorn, MacKayla Lane, Leslie Knope… But no I was the Ryodan of my life. Your problematic fav. The cinnamon roll that could actually kill you.

    You know, people never said « Ooh, poor thing… She’s intelligent. » But the thing is: they should. It’s a fucking burden. When you are a kid people put you high up on that golden pedestal. “Isn’t that kid adorable talking like a grow up about grown up stuff… Look at what she can do ! » And then you grow up and everybody stop caring about you.

   When asking questions about it, experts or just people in general will tell you « Don’t do that, people will get angry at you », « You’re too arrogant », « Stop thinking you know better », « Aren’t you stupid », « Why are you always so cold », « Why are so angry at the world all the times » … I’m not angry, I hurt all the time. My scars run fucking deep. My brain is bigger than the world, but the world ask me to shrink my mind and spirit and to apologise for it.

I know better than you because you’ve been repeating the pattern for years. I know about it because my brain is able to pick up on human emotions faster than anyone and have an insatiable appetite for knowledge. My intelligence is instinctive and is light speed fast…

    The theme of the beast within is such an accurate metaphor that it is both profoundly disturbing and thrilling at the same time. Imagine having to hide your true self all the time, while trying to help at least your entourage to get where they need to be to get better, and being discarded all the time. Having to manipulate them so they think it is their own idea to go from point A to B, because you know point Z is not working and will never work. Being told that the way you’re reasoning is ridiculous, only to be told months or years later that you were right. People believing you’re too slow when the truth is your brain has already come up with 20 scenarios of how this situation could unfold and you’re just trying to pick the best one. Realising that when you’re five years old, that adults (like your own parents) are not perfect and don’t always know better…       That people will use you for your brain or will try to bring you down on your knees and down the sewer out of jealousy. Having ambition but being scared of voicing them because It will seem over the top, or because people will start mistrusting you for it.     You get frustrated.     But come another gift with your brain. My brain is wired that way: I have a veeeery strong personal sense of moral and justice, coupled with deeper empathy than normal people have and I’m very emotional. Like very emotional.  Meaning I feel the pain of the world all the time and I can’t look away. Ever. Which makes me vulnerable and the perfect prey for abusive and toxic people. You know how the world is… You can guess how I feel… Frustrated & Hurt.

   I won’t go on much longer about how my brains works, or even what happened to me that I turned out the way I am today. You know the saying « Sometimes bad things happened to good people ». Let’s just say that if I was a character in a story, the book would come with some serious triggers warning. Instead I will focus on High Voltage, the last instalment of this series.

  It’s not the book I wanted. Romance & cheesy stuff ? Please don’t. Characters introspective ? Nope.That kindof charcacter development ? Oh no no. People finding happiness ? I’m not ready yet.    I was not ready to read this book because I wasn’t expecting it. Because until now I didn’t knew it would describe something I always secretly wanted, never thought I would have. I didn’t want to read this book, because of how bad I actually needed it. When you have lived the things I have with a brain like mine, and you are getting pretty good at getting hurt and bottling all up and instead taking care of others, someone writing a book like High Voltage about characters that are very similar to you, it’s hard, because you’re simply not ready. Not ready to see them that vulnerable, that brave, that “light&breezy”.    You weren’t expecting it anymore, and it hurts to know that it shouldn’t be that way. But I’m smart, that’s my thing right ? So I’ll reread that book. But first, Karen,if you don’t mind, I am going to acknowledge the turd in my backyard. I have to, because here’s the thing, my “condition” is genetic, transmitted by the mother, and it turns out my little brother, is wired the same way that I am. He’s a seventeen years old supernova already suffering for shining too bright in this world. And already angry about how unfair it is to be born like us.

   Then I will go back to the book. Because I need to show him how this can be wonderful. In the real world, outside of our books, our movies, tv show, games and all, we actually get to have superpowers. Like Dani we have the ability to fly high in the sky. Like Ryodan we get to have access to the finest things in life. To be able to take care of our family like no one else. To foresee things before they might happen through our intellect and strong instinct.

   Just like Ryodan I will reign over my kingdom, while letting myself feel as deeply as I can. Be worthy of my name which one of its two meaning is “Light that shines bright in the darkness”.  

« Do no harm, but take no shit » that will be my motto.

  Today I’m grateful that I was able to read your books. That I actually found a world, in which living there would be as easy as breathing for me. I know it’s fictional, but it describes things that I know intimately. Being aknowledged, celebrated, and encouraged to be myself while being called out on my bullshit, it just feel both hard and infinitely good.

So thank you Karen for writing such books. Not just High Voltage. But each one of them. Not books I want to read, but books that needs to be.

                                                                                                                    Elona.                  

PS: If anyone who reads this happen like me to be a “Gifted Adult”, “High Intellectual Potential Adult” or else (for french people: enfants précoces, ou a forte douance…), or just concerned parents after founding that’s the way their kids are “wired” feel free to message me. I will be glad to talk about it :)

PS2: Originally post on my main blog.

[zaldrizer-sovesi]

first response to The Queen’s Justice

The Queen’s Justice really nailed one of the major reasons I am so invested in Jon.

(This is mostly about Jon but a little bit more about me than I’m totally comfortable with? Oh well.)

I talk a lot about the stigma of Jon’s bastard status and about the ways this secret that he has but doesn’t know has shaped his life and character. And I think those things are abstractly interesting, but they also kind of hit me where I live. I am neuroatypical, which is a very different kind of invisible difference from Jon’s. It’s just a thing, you know? It’s not good or bad in and of itself. What was a bad thing was that I went for most of my life without any kind of diagnosis, and only got a useful diagnosis in the last couple of years. So for most of my life I had these daily experiences that I now recognize as systemic ableism – but which at the time I could only understand as my fault.

Being set apart in a way that you don’t get to understand or acknowledge, even to yourself...it messes with your head. It’s infuriating. It makes you feel crazy. It’s like living with a small carbon monoxide leak: not enough gas to kill you, not a big enough hole you would see, just enough to make you dizzy, to make you depressed, to make you forget. You don’t learn the same confidence other people have in their understanding of the world.

It’s hard to articulate because it’s such a schematic, first principle kind of thing. What I mean is the pattern in the character’s opinions and decisions. Jon can get past everything he’s been taught about the wildlings to form an alliance with them because he’s not as attached to everything he’s been taught. He can realize that Sam is brave even though it’s the last thing that Sam would think about himself. He can give Arya Needle because he hasn’t fundamentally internalized the widely-accepted social norm that a girl shouldn’t have a sword, and because he doesn’t get what an unnerving thing it is for a kid Arya’s age to have a real sword. But that default insecurity makes it harder for him to tell when he’s really not safe.

Humans are adaptive creatures. Not always efficiently adaptive, but adaptive. That ability not to take norms and expectations for granted, the willingness to question what he’s been told about people or even what people say about themselves is kind of a spidey sense you develop when everything….just seems off, even when it’s clearly happening. That’s a big part of why he’s able to come to grips with the approaching white walker threat, even as the people around him get stuck in various degrees of denial.

Hence the main thrust of ADWD + S5/6/7:

JON: People. Winter is coming.

PEOPLE: Yeah, great metaphor, we get it.

JON: No, for real, winter is LITERALLY FUCKING COMING.

PEOPLE: Mm-hmm. Hey, are you doing something new with your hair?

JON: Seriously! Focus!

PEOPLE: I like it, it’s cute.

It’s infuriating to argue with someone who won’t get it (whatever “it” is). But it’s also profoundly disorienting to have what seems like an opportunity to convince someone.

That might seem all over the place. The Queen’s Justice struck a nerve because it isn’t.

In this episode, Jon is further away from the the immediate issue he’s so sure about. Dragonstone is farther south than he’s ever been; it’s sunny and comparatively warm and a totally new environment; he’s surrounded by people who actually don’t know the story, rather than people who have heard but aren’t grappling with it. He’s also closer to the central mystery of his identity about which he really does know nothing, that glitch in the Matrix which shaped him into a person who would take on this mission. I mean!

It literally went right over his head!

MISSANDEI: You stand in the presence of Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, Rightful Heir to the Iron Throne, Rightful Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Protector of the Seven Kingdoms, the Mother of Dragons, the Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, the Unburnt, the Breaker of Chains.

DAVOS: This is Jon Snow. [awkward pause] He’s King in the North.

Davos graciously tries to make the awkwardness about his own background, but Davos has been at court for years, he knows how Robert and Stannis were addressed. This is a reflection of Jon’s discomfort. It’s not like he’s hard to introduce formally: “Jon, the Second of his Name, Lord of Winterfell and King in the North.” Or if you wanted to get poetic, “Jon Snow, the White Wolf, King of Winter and Defender of the North.” I mean, better than that, just that it’s possible. But it’s hard to present yourself, to let yourself be known, when you are actually, justifiably, uncertain about who you are. Missandei, by sharp contrast, knows exactly who Daenerys is, because Daenerys knows exactly who Daenerys is.

DAENERYS: So many men have tried to kill me. I don’t remember all their names. I have been sold like a brood mare. I have been shamed and betrayed, raped and defiled. Do you know what kept me standing through all those years in exile? Faith. Not in any gods. Not in myths and legends. In myself. In Daenerys Targaryen.

DAVOS: He’s the first to make allies of wildlings and Northmen. He was named Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. He was named King in the North. Not because of his birthright. He has no birthright, he’s a damn bastard. All those hard sons of bitches chose him as their leader because they believe in him. All those things you don’t believe in? He faced those things for the good of his people, he fought those things for the good of his people, he risked his life for his people, he took a knife in the heart for his people! He gave up his own – [Jon shakes his head]

Daenerys speaks to her own experiences. Jon allows Davos to speak for him – and then, only to go so far.

It’s not as if his story is objectively less believable than hers. White walkers aren’t more magical than dragons. It’s just as weird to be the Unburnt as it is to be the De-Stabbed. They should both be dead af. Daenerys has enough faith in Daenerys that she expects other people to believe her too. Jon does not have that much trust in Jon, and he doesn’t even realize that he’s standing inside the reason why.

Part of the difference is Tyrion’s thing about what feel good to believe. Dany should have been killed, but instead she got dragons. Jon should still be dead, and all he got out of the experience is existential despair. Daenerys has a proactive ambition: she’s thinking about winning the Seven Kingdoms. Jon isn’t looking to win something, he just wants people to get to keep being people and not turn into zombies.

DANY: We all enjoy what we’re good at.

JON: I don’t.

When it comes to the politics, which are a means to an end rather than something he cares about, Jon gets how important it is for him to project strength. He doesn’t flinch at giving up his sword, he won’t kneel, he isn’t thrown by her selective presentation of history, she has to get off the throne and come down to speak on his level.

When it comes to the core issue, though, the thing he’s never expressed doubt about before? Which he’s firmly and unequivocally asserted in front of much larger and more hostile audiences?

JON: The army of the dead is on the march.

TYRION: The army of the dead.

JON: You don’t know me well, my lord, but do you think I’m a liar or a madman?

TYRION: No. I don’t think you are either of those things.

JON: It’s hard for me to fathom, it really is. If someone told me about the white walkers and the Night King... [trails off] You probably don’t believe me.

TYRION: I do, actually. I didn’t before.

JON: Grumpkins and snarks, you called it. Do you remember? You said it was all nonsense.

TYRION: It was nonsense. Everybody knew it. But then Mormont saw them, you saw them, and I trust the eyes of an honest man more than I trust what everybody knows.

JON: How do I convince people who don’t know me that an enemy they don’t believe in is coming to kill them all?

TYRION: Good question.

JON: I know it’s a good question. I’m looking for an answer.

DANY: I will allow you to mine the dragonglass and forge weapons from it. Any resources or men you need I will provide for you.

JON: Thank you. So you believe me then, about the Night King and the army of the dead?

DANY: You’d better get to work, Jon Snow.

Asking Tyrion to vouch for him is a reasonable part of the pitch to Dany and her advisers. But he stays on it, asking for private reassurance from Tyrion, trying to pin Dany down even after he gets what he wants from her.

You believe me, right? You don’t think I’m crazy, do you? I’m not crazy, right?

...ooof.

[shepsie]

Game of Thrones S7 thoughts

Sam. wtf? desert’s his post to become a maester and doesn’t immediately return to the wall. effectively deserting with his gf and adoptive child to Winterfell. Instead of immediately killing him as a deserter they let him go up and see Bran Stark? And once there he doesn’t have any thing to say to Bran? “oh hi, I just came ALL the way here. I don’t really have anything to say though. Do you remember me? we met that one brief time like 3 years ago.” Bran: Jon is not my brother, he’s Jon Sand Sam: completely unrelated to why I am here but I can confirm Jon isn’t a bastard. by the way can you double check that for me using your super powers? Bran: you’re right! also his name is Aegon. Sam, why are you here?  Bran, what the fuck is wrong with you? Why are you telling this to Sam and not everyone else? Honestly, the dialogue in Game of Thrones doesn’t make sense anymore. conversations aren’t interesting. I miss season 1′s conversations. When Littlefinger and Varys had conversations that gave you goosebumps. Where genuinely the best scenes in the show weren’t sword fighting, but tense conversations across a large table. They ruined Littlefinger’s character right at the end. So far he’s been confident and cunning and clever but he was reduced to hopeless grovelling before a receiving a bad death. This will probably be the fate of Varys too. Varys was one of the coolest characters in season 1. He was a fucking lord in the small council despite the fact that he doesn’t have a house or lands or even the respect of his peers. He was just a very useful and powerful person. He was super smart and had spies everywhere making him strategically useful to the crown but also a really interesting character. But he hasn’t been useful for ages. He freed Tyrion like 3 season ago or something but since then he hasn’t done anything varys-esque. He’s just sort of been....there. Now offering council advice to Dany, but seemingly lacking his spy network. He doesn’t have much to contribute to the plot. He only ever had cunning plans, good foresight, and brilliant dialogue. But now he’s not got any of those and is largely just dead weight in the show’s writing. He’ll probably die a death similar to Littlefinger’s and that sucks. What was with Ser Gregor Clegane at the end of the finale? He’s a mindless zombie. He began to draw his sword to kill Jaime, and when Jaime asked if he was to be killed she slightly nodded and then Jaime said he doesn’t believe her and walked away. and....Clegane didn’t do anything? Cersei indicated to kill Jaime and Clegane, the mindless zombie, navigated the difficult social situation of emotions and decided to not mindlessly kill Jaime as Cersei indicated?  I’m glad Jaime is alive and it looks like he’s abandoning Cersei, presumably to go join Tyrion. But I don’t like the inconsistency of Clegane. I expect Jaime will end up killing Cersei but I expect Jaime will die or kill himself in the process. I expect that Dany will marry Jon, and Dany will eventually die defending Westeros from the white walkers, and Jon will get the throne and then people will find out he was a Targaryan anyway and the rightful heir. Or his identity will be revealed while Dany is still alive and that will be the 3rd betrayal that was prophesized. Also, what was the White Walkers’ plan for once they reached the Wall? They have been marching for like 3 or 4 seasons on the wall. The wall is supposed to have magic that keeps the undead from passing so it makes sense that an Ice Dragon would be needed to destroy it. But was it just super convenient that they found a dragon? They had anti-dragon spears that we haven’t seen them use at any other time before. Lucky that they had those ready. Also all of that chain they used to pull up the dragon from the bottom of that late. that was a huuuuge amount of chain (that they made themselves???). Just in case they find a dragon.....underwater. But fortunately they were right and they got a dragon and they destroyed East Watch and are now in the South. So...did the White Walkers know they’d get a dragon and that was all part of their plan so they knew to bring all of that chain? What was with Benjen Stark not going with Jon?  Jon: Come with me! Benjen: “There’s no time!” time for what? you guys cut 3 episodes from the season, is that why there isn’t time? there wasn’t time for Ben to get on a horse? instead he better fight off those like 3 wights nearby that weren’t in the way. the overall story of season 7 isn’t that bad. plot is happening. Walkers are attacking. Westeros acknowledges the threat. Jon is a targaryan and is now with Dany. Cersei is losing more power. Tyrion is vindicated of Joffrey’s death. The north has re-rallied around the Starks. The big picture is good. But Game of Thrones was always more than just the big picture. Game of Thrones was in the details. The conversations and plots that seem important that lead to no where. sudden deaths that were unpredictable. As cool as the White walkers are, and as cool as the main characters are, Game of Thrones needs complex dialogue to keep it being good. Bran’s stupid dialogue, and Little fingers empty dialogue, and Varys’ useless scenes detract from what the show used to be: A complex inter-twined network of allegiances of multiple families fighting over one throne. It’s no longer complex, and there aren’t enough separate interesting people anymore for complexity to exist. Also fast travel is a thing now and it sucks. They don’t have the patience to show us travel times. the story ignores interesting things that happen during trips. people are just teleporting everywhere doing something small then teleporting back. No semblance of time is shown. no character acknowledging that someone has been gone for a few weeks because they’ve travelled somewhere. ugh. imagine if Bran just turned up at the 3-eyed raven’s house without showing the journey.