#it's probably just me but it's super weird calling them susannah now !!! like ??

[sunnysssol]

messing around w a diff art program >:3

[madcapmoon]

MacKayes are woven together, through punk rock and beyond

Alec, Amanda and Ian MacKaye, exclusive 2019 photo by Allen Beland.

By Andy  

 Sunday, March 10, 2019 With dad taking his spot, front and center at the stove, the MacKaye family dinner is a vital Sunday fixture in their schedules in the Washington, DC, area. Whipping up vegan delights, the elder MacKaye is a culinary threat as he grips onto cooking utensils instead of a microphone or guitar that his children -- Ian, Alec and Amanda -- have wielded during their time on stage with their various bands over the years. This is where the MacKayes thrive, as a family, more than they do anywhere else in their lives. "For us, the MacKayes, we all still hang out with each other," said Amanda, 49. "It wasn't temporary. A lot of people when they get to this stage of life, their siblings are far-flung or they don't really get along with their siblings or whatever. A lot of this is just part of who our family is, we have Sunday dinners, we're together. We have one sister who lives on the other side of the country, but we're all still connected. And we're all still into whatever the other one is doing. We're all still pretty interested in each other." Currently, Ian, Alec, older sister Katie and their dad Bill all live in DC; Amanda (the youngest) resides in nearby Arlington, Va.; and another older sister Susannah calls Oakland, Ca., her home. Ian said it was a treat to have Susannah back on her home turf of DC this weekend to celebrate her birthday. Ian, 56, noted that his parents were only children, so the MacKaye siblings grew up without any uncles, aunts or cousins. They learned from and inspired each other along their life paths, which eventually led them toward punk rock and embracing the idea of residing outside of the mainstream. He laughs about the MacKayes being a weird family that way. They're close-knit to the core. "We are the MacKayes. Especially our mom, she really emphasized, we are a family," said Ian of mother Ginger, who passed away in 2004. "We're fifth-generation Washingtonians. My mom was born here and it was just important to her this idea of being Washingtonian. I think we're just committed to each other. We're a family and there's times where people get steamed with each other about something, but we never have like the awkward Thanksgiving nonsense. But partially because we see each other almost every Sunday for dinner anyway." If the conversation roams toward music at the family meal, Katie can certainly chime in about taking Ian to his first concert, featuring Queen and Thin Lizzy in 1977. Ian noted that Katie always possessed cool records and was ahead of her peers in the music game. She wasn't a punk, but was a proponent of going to see live music of all sorts, including arena-rock bands and tunes with a faster bent like witnessing the Ramones with Ian in 1979. Katie still attends gigs, and aside from venturing into the music scene, she's voyaged across the country twice on her bike. She's a badass, Ian said. Alec, 52, remembers Katie toting a clutch of records back from England around Christmastime in the late '70s. Generation X, Eddie and the Hot Rods, the Damned and a 10-inch sampler featuring X-Ray Spex were soon blasting throughout the household. "The moment I heard it, I was just clocked in. It was the best thing I had ever heard," Alec said. Ian was a self-proclaimed Ted Nugent "Double Live Gonzo" devotee before latching onto punk music a few months before Alec in '79 or so, thanks to his high school friend Bert Queiroz lending him some Sex Pistols, Damned, Clash and Tuff Darts records. "I had to really get in on it and think about it 'cause I was so puzzled by the whole thing. But I gotta say, it clicked and I was like, 'Oh, I'm in, I love this stuff,'" said Ian, who remembers debating with kids in high school about whether punk sucked or not. When Ian cut his hair, he recalls rocker Alec and his friends teasing him about the new look. Soon, Ian and Alec would be a punk duo, delving into the music together, attending gigs in DC and performing in bands like the Slinkees, Teen Idles, Untouchables, Faith, Minor Threat and more. Further down the road, Embrace, Ignition and Fugazi would continue to put the MacKayes and DC on the map.

Little sister Amanda got in on the punk action as well. It wasn't just the music that spoke to the MacKayes, it was the surroundings that punk offered and a way for them to click with family and the other like-minded people they encountered. Amanda's entrance onto the scene occurred at age 9 and was captured in a classic photo of her and Katie watching the Slinkees play a garage gig in August of '79. Amanda laughs when the photo, featured in the book "Dance of Days," is mentioned. "It was like a lightning-bolt moment for me. The funniest part of the memory for me is that Kim Kane of Slickee Boys, he was just so kind, he is so bright in my memory of that show. It's just interesting to think about the fact that of all the things to remember about that moment, it is someone I wasn't even related to," she said.

A young Amanda, center, with Katie behind. From "Dance of Days."

While she doesn't remember any of the music, "I remember, and this is probably sort of like the core of my feeling about punk, is I just  remember the freedom and the intimacy. I think I was wearing a Johnny Rotten button, but it was a homemade one that Ian or Alec had made. You're in a garage, there's not like a real stage, just running around with people I didn't know who were happy to see me. We're all just there and there's like this joy, which is what I think of, that sensation is what sort of propels me in every aspect of my personal definition of punk. It's wrapped with this joy." For Alec, dipping his boots into shows in the punk realm marked both an advancement into his formative teen years and a punch of chaos into his musical tastes. "I think I liked the intimacy of it all. Before that, I had just been to see arena rock, some of the huge bands like Queen and Santana and large-scale things. Then going to smaller shows was really the ticket for me -- it still is," said Alec, who mentioned attending small shows by Bad Brains, Slickee Boys, Tru Fax and the Insaniacs at first, and bigger ones with the Cramps, Damned, Clash and B-52s. The energy of those shows was infectious. "I really was digging on that abandon, you could really lose yourself in the music. Everybody else was on the same page and it didn't seem like it was very well-controlled and that part was super exciting for me. That was what I was responding to right away," Alec said. Alec began his punk transformation on the clothes and hair front in middle school and said that people thought he was a nerd or a freak. At age 14 and now in high school, he joined his first band, the Untouchables. He's still singing today with Hammered Hulls and Ian plans on taking them into the studio soon. On initially getting up on stage, shouting out lyrics and bouncing his body all over the place, Alec said, "I was pretty introverted before that, and I still am in a certain sense, but I also became an extrovert by being in a band and not being afraid to be standing on stage and doing things that a lot of people would not be up for. I was up for it, 'cause it gave me license to act out in ways that were just fun. So that was a big change for me. With punk rock, it felt like I had a new persona and had a little bit more vigor." Ian's mind was blown when he saw the Cramps play in DC in '79. It was his first punk show and was a seminal event for the area's punks. "I thought it was incredible. The first show was the Cramps and that was complete chaos and really, really exciting and so dangerous feeling and terrifying," he said. "At that point, I had seen Queen twice and Nugent three times, and they were all arena shows, so my relationship with music was really, when you saw bands, you saw them in that kind of setting, and bands were, as you know, unapproachable in that setting." The Cramps show in a hall at Georgetown University was wall-to-wall packed with punks. And it was nuts. "(The Cramps) were so in your face and everybody was really losing their shit. People were jumping up and down," said Ian, noting that as the sold-out show progressed, the long tables that people were standing on soon began to break and he could see "human formations descending into the crowd." People also were seen squeezing through transom-style windows to get into the fray. "Punk was wide open, and I just wanted to get in," Ian said. "It was instantly just on, so I felt it was great. Super engaging. It was like you're walking down the street and you find a box, and you go, 'That's an interesting box,' and you bring it home and when you open it, it's a box of infinite learning -- and I'm still learning." "Some people in the world think of life in terms of phases and then there's other people who think of it in terms of flights of stairs, and that's I think where we're at," he added about the MacKayes. Ian's still got the Evens, a two-piece with him on guitar/vocals and his spouse Amy Farina on drums, in the back pocket but they haven't been active lately. Another band with Joe Lally on bass, Farina on drums and Ian on guitar/vocals is nameless at this point and they have a record in the bag and awaiting a future release. They played two gigs last November, but the band is on hold until Lally returns from tour with the Messthetics, which also features former Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty.

Ignition

For Ian, after the seeing the Cramps, he felt that what they were doing was pretty straight forward and so he got the Slinkees happening. "I wanna be in a band, I just wanted to play music. I wasn't then and I still don't think of it as a career. To me, I just wanna play music. I just do the do, I just work with what's in front of me," he said. That Slinkees garage show, with his family members in the crowd, kicked things off and the MacKayes have never stopped. The punk ethos still rings true. The idle teens are adults with children and they continue to make an impact in the music world and on the people they encounter in their day-to-day lives. Their family is your family. We're all in it together. "I honestly wasn't thinking about sort of the juxtaposition of me as an audience member or me as a performer because that's kind of the point, they're not that different. We're making a show together, that's what we're doing, the audience and the bands," Ian said. Alec knew he would be a punk-rock lifer from the get-go. "I gotta say that there never was even a doubt in my mind. I have known people in my life that, 'that's a closed chapter,' they move on, they grow up, they put away childish things or whatever. I think when I got into punk rock, in my head it was a forever thing that I would be 120, if I ever live that long, and still be doing it, on some level, I just didn't know how," he said. "So that's been a thing that as you go through life, navigating how you can still relate to it and how it can work in your life. It just stayed with me, I never stopped listening to music and I like the energy." "It's a feeling and it's real as they say, as I said in a previous band," laughed Alec, who works full time in an art museum and thrives on learning about history, philosophy and cultural things. He also gets to travel the world, and recently attended a hardcore show in Tokyo while his art colleagues took in different sights. Some things never change, right? Keep your key in the ignition of life and go wherever the fuck you want. "It's astonishing to me that when I was in Tokyo, there was a flier for a Faith/Void re-release. To me, it's been almost 40 years of doing stuff and it just keeps going," Alec continued. On a recent day, I walked into a Barnes & Noble and saw a Minor Threat record with the first two EPs at the front of the M rack. Alec sits on the cover with his head buried in his arms. It's an iconic image that I first witnessed when I purchased the original red 7-inch at Zed Records in Long Beach, Ca., in 1981.

Alec said that someone recently showed him a photo of that image emblazoned on someone's back as a tattoo. "That particular image is not me, it's anybody. That's the one that the  everyman punker can relate to. Yes, it's a trip to see that everywhere still. It's really got legs," he said. Like a lot of us who got into the punk scene back in the early '80s, those early MacKaye bands had a major impact on Amanda. As a youngster, she had those tunes at her fingertips, literally right when the tapes came hot from the studio into their home music deck. Lives were changed when the play button was pressed. "They were my older brothers and I already looked up to them and tried to do whatever they were doing. I found the whole thing instantly exciting. The energy of it was just hypnotic for me and I immediately sort of gravitated to it," Amanda said. "My parents played a lot of records and my mom played piano. There was other music, we didn't really listen to mainstream radio that much. I definitely was aware of 'mainstream rock,' but really at a very early age, like 10-11-12, I was in a conflict with my peer group because I was listening to Minor Threat and they were listening to (mainstream music)." "Some of the general-population music stuck with me, but mostly I was sort of in an instant weirdo zone because when I was trying to get people to listen to my Walkman, it was Minor Threat and they were like, 'Eww. Why?'" she added with a laugh. "Some of the 'why?' for me was that I was totally awestruck by my brothers and I was super proud of them and wanted to tell everyone like, 'No. No. No. I'm related to these people.'" Like family members do, the self-proclaimed tomboy gravitated toward whatever Ian and Alec got their hands on: football and baseball cards and muscle-car Hot Wheels because Alec made models of those vehicles. Amanda, who these days works at a public high school with her husband, said that as a child, "I think that I always sort of felt like outside the circle. I felt like our family just didn't look like everybody else's family, we did things that were a little bit different." She tried to fit in with the other kids by playing soccer in elementary school, but she was admittedly a terrible player and hated the experience. Kids were mean to boot. "I couldn't wrap myself into it and maybe that added into why when I saw this group of people in this garage, who were like, 'Oh, hey, you're outside just like us,' maybe that's why it felt so good," she said of the Slinkees gig. "I'm still attracted to that warm embrace that punk rock gave to me as a young child. I love it when I find bands that are just warm from the get-go. You meet them and you feel like you've known them for a long time, or they play music and you just feel like, 'Oh, yeah, this feels right.'" Following in her brothers' footsteps, she formed her first band, The Headaches, as a pre-teen and they performed in living rooms. A quick insight into the experience was their theme song was ripped off from The Monkees and they had personas (she was the tough, cool person who looked like one of the Blues Brothers). Her punk path became more serious when she formed Sammich Records in high school and released an EP by her friends Lunchmeat and Mission Impossible and then many more records to follow. Ian helped her configure the label since he had experience on his side with Dischord rolling strong (Amanda and Alec also worked at Dischord for a awhile). At age 20, she began singing in Desiderata and later performed with the Routineers.

For the last 14 years, Amanda has booked shows at Fort Reno Park in DC, the spot where the MacKayes saw some of their first concerts. She likens the free outdoor shows to an incubator for bands to give it a shot and play out. She's received feedback that people are thankful their kids can see them play and see music and be able to expose their kids to something that drives them forward, she said. "I jokingly refer to it all the time as a labor of love. But it's actually much more serious for me than that, because at this point in the music industry or however you want to discuss it, the opportunity for people under the age of 21 or even 18 to see live music un-influenced by anything else is very rare in this area. It's like a dinosaur. I feel extremely emotionally  bound to do this because that's what helps me sort of dial in on what was important to me," said Amanda, adding that most venues -- aside from art spaces -- serve alcohol and have video or pinball games that infringe on the true musicality of the shows. "It's really really hard to find a pure experience where you're seeing music and that's all you're seeing. You're with your friends or your family or just with like-minded people. So, I'm pretty impassioned about keeping it going," she said of the Fort Reno gigs,

Heaps of music and crucial life lessons that they gained through the punk scene remains with the MacKayes. As they gather for the Sunday meals and for Susannah's birthday, the conversations are sure to be lively and insightful. The MacKaye children of today will have enough of their parents' stories and anecdotes to last them a lifetime, and they'll feed off those discussions and create vital paths of their own and experiences to pass on as well. "I suppose it's what I didn't learn that's kept me free," Alec said. "I'm pretty resistant to being led away from the things that I cherish. I didn't learn to grow up and be completely conventional, even though there's been plenty of peer pressure from adults. It's a cliche, but it's true, that you really need to stay true to the things that serve you best, and I've continued to do that." "I have two daughters and that's another moment where I just didn't know what that was gonna be like, being a father," Alec added. "I wasn't really afraid of being a father, I was afraid of being a member of the village. You know, they always say it takes a village to raise a child... to me, the village just fucking bothers me and they should just go raise their own children and stay outta my face. That was something I was worried about, but I found out there's other villagers that feel the same way, so that was a relief. I can be a father that isn't like the ones that you think are perfect, and that's OK, and my kids love that about me." For Amanda, she forever enjoys watching Ian and Alec perform and says it's a cool feeling to be still walking her own path. "At this point in my life, it doesn't hurt to be different. When I was 12, it was really complicated and painful for me that all the kids in the neighborhood thought I was weird and I didn't really have any friends, except for Josh who introduced me to Joan Jett, which was incredible 'cause it's still very prominent for me," said Amanda, who's still in touch with Josh. She's thankful for remaining true to herself since the day she stepped into the garage with Katie to watch Ian and the Slinkees. The high school she works at has a staff spirit week on tap and they're asking people to dress like they did in high school. Amanda and I laugh: "Same." (Except that she doesn't wear leather anymore, so that jacket of yore won't make an appearance.) Alec jokes that Ian's the ultimate storyteller of the family. He remembers occurrences with exact dates and years and relays the information in great detail, with verve and a dose of humor. Through the punk scene, the trio of MacKayes -- Ian, Alec and Amanda -- have woven themselves together. "In the '70s and the early '80s, there was a lot of chaos in our family, with our parents, and I think that punk probably was something that was very anchoring for us," Ian said. "And I think the three of us especially, really that was an important connection. It was something that we could feel committed to and it was a safe thing."

There’s Something Hard In There Blog

[maddie-grove]

The Stark Romance Saga--Book #3: A Fire in Winter

Previous Installments: Loved I Not Honor More (Book #1, Robb Stark/Jeyne Westerling), The Iron Scoundrel (Book #2, Theon Greyjoy/Asha “Not His Sister in This Universe” Harlaw), and Kissing the Kingslayer (Book #2.5, Catelyn Stark/Jaime Lannister).

The Style

Sweeping old-school Susannah Leigh or Jennifer Wilde, but less offensive.

The Leads

Jon Snow, 20 years old, rising star in the Night’s Watch and (HE THOUGHT!) Lord Ned Stark’s illegitimate son. Tries very hard to be good and never admit to himself that he wants anything that the Night’s Watch can’t give him. Secretly full of hurt feelings and pent-up sexual energy, but he’s hoping to wear himself out with fighting, ranging, and Wall-maintenance for the rest of his life so he’ll never have to deal with it. Has a bad-ass albino wolf-dog, Ghost.

Ygritte, 23 years old, a wildling spearwife who longs for unity among the Free Folk and an end to the Others. Fiercely proud and righteously angry with the “kneelers” who have trapped her and her people beyond the Wall. Otherwise has a friendly and mischievous nature. Fond of archery, music, and pretty lads. Quietly grieving for family and clan members lost to the Others. Will never admit that her loss and displacement has made her feel lonely.

The Prologue

The confrontation between Jon and Catelyn at Bran’s bedside, largely unchanged. Jon, half-determined to prove himself in the Night’s Watch and half-resentful that all the adults responsible for him agreed so swiftly that he should join, visits his comatose half-brother despite his reluctance to anger Catelyn. He says goodbye to Bran and tries to offer sympathy to Catelyn, only to be harshly rebuffed. (Catelyn probably just snaps at him to get out, as in the show, rather than offer up the book’s crueler, more deliberate “it should have been you.”) He also reflects on how much he’s going to miss his dad and siblings.

The Set-Up

Not that different from canon, except for the part where she dies. Jon, marginally wiser and older, is on a dangerous mission in the Skirling Pass with Qhorin Halfhand, grizzled old Night’s Watch veteran. Jon reflects a bit about how he came to this literal and metaphorical pass (basically, he learned not to be a thoughtless dick to his smallfolk peers, plus it turns out White Walkers are real). Then Ygritte and her raiding party descend upon Jon and Qhorin. Jon manages to capture her, but they have a Moment and he lets her go instead of killing her. Later, he and Qhorin are surrounded by the Free Folk (including Ygritte, who personally captures him right back).  As per the mission, Jon kills Qhorin and pretends to join the Free Folk. Despite their differences and the complicated situation, Jon and Ygritte find themselves liking each other. They’re sleeping under the same furs at night, and one thing leads to another. (The consent issues in the book might still fly in a romance novel today, but I found it unnecessarily unpleasant and complicated even in ASOIAF; didn’t Jon have enough painful issues around sex with the bastard stigma?) They keep on doing it, and the cave scene happens verbatim. 

Then comes the raid on the Gift, where the wildlings attack an old man and Jon, horrified, comes to his defense. Having blown his cover, he rides back to the wall, full of arrows and regret. Ygritte consequently realizes that Jon turned his cloak on her and vows to hate him forever.

And that’s when things get weird. 

The Middle 

After making it back to the Wall and recovering from his injuries, Jon finds himself in another pickle: some of the senior members of the Night’s Watch  want him executed for killing Qhorin and doin’ it with a wildling. Despite Maester Aemon’s arguments on his behalf, things aren’t looking too good for Jon...until he’s kidnapped and thrown on a ship in the dead of night by some mysterious Essosi dudes who turn out to be Unsullied. One of the Unsullied (a Common-Tongue-speaking fellow who named himself Drogon the Human after one of the instruments of his freedom) eventually explains that Jon is secretly the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. It turns out that Daenerys Targaryen left Slaver’s Bay in the hands of the former slaves (who are doing quite nicely, as they had a plan in place that only needed some judicious use of dragons to work) and sailed to her birthplace of Dragonstone, where her people discovered Rhaegar’s secret diary (sample passage: “I’m going to use dishonest means to get fifteen-year-old Lyanna Stark to run away and have PROPHECY BABIES with me!”). Now Daenerys wants an alliance between her forces and the North...and how better to do that than to marry the half-Northern, half-Targaryen Jon Snow?

Jon’s not so sure. He’s going through a crisis, feeling undermined in his Northern identity and family relationships but definitely not feeling like a Targaryen either. He’s doubts that his illegitimate Targaryen half brings anything to the table politically, partly because he doesn’t share Daenerys’s view that Westeros wants a Targaryen restoration. Finally, although Daenerys is lovely and charming and kind and brave, he can’t feel anything romantic for her...and it’s not just because she’s his aunt, which is kind of weird. No, he also misses Ygritte, and it kills him that he’ll never see her again. After Daenerys guarantees that she’ll help all his family members and the smallfolk and the wildlings, though, he knows marriage is the best choice. Because nothing will get them good PR like marrying in the Sept of Baelor, they agree to postpone the wedding until after they take King’s Landing.

Meanwhile, Ygritte has been having a rough time. After surviving the Battle of the Ice, she and a small band of Free Folk try to eke out a living north of the Wall while planning their next move. (Without Jon’s leadership, the Free Folk never have the option to go south.) Her group is attacked by White Walkers and becomes even smaller. Heartbroken and lonelier than ever, Ygritte is at a loss...until she realizes that she’s pregnant. At first she feels happy, then pissed off about being happy, then worried how she’s going to raise a child in this frozen horror show. At last, she swallows her pride and resolves to go see Jon at the Wall. Obviously he doesn’t love her, but she figures he’ll feel obligated to help her, the baby, and maybe even the Free Folk as a whole. Unfortunately, when she sneaks into Castle Black, she finds out that Jon mysteriously disappeared right before he was supposed to be executed. “Oh, fuck, no,” she says, but she’s not sure what to do other than go to Winterfell and inform his family that some bullshit is happening. 

During Ygritte’s journey to Winterfell, Daenerys and her army successfully take King’s Landing. I won’t go into details, but the victory is just difficult enough to keep the battle from being anticlimactic. It happens just after Tyrion’s escape from King’s Landing, so the only remaining Lannisters are Cersei, Tommen, and Kevan. (Jaime is, at Catelyn’s secret request, in the Riverlands searchng for Arya.) Kevan dies in battle; Cersei and Tommen disappear mysteriously. The Tyrells and most of the other families shrug and side with Daenerys fairly quickly, because she has dragons. The smallfolk are like, “Huh, well, maybe she won’t be a volatile sadist like Joffrey; after all, most of the Targaryens weren’t like Aerys.” Their doubts are further assuaged when Daenerys’s policies turn out to be relatively egalitarian. Jon is happily reunited with Sansa (more about her later), even though they weren’t super-close as children, but is heartbroken to find no sign of Arya. He and Daenerys begin to make wedding plans.

Ygritte gets to Winterfell and is greeted by sympathetic new mom Jeyne Westerling and a moody, troubled Bran. (Robb and Catelyn are fighting in the Riverlands again; Rickon’s actually doing swell for once.) They’re both happy to offer a home to their unborn niece/nephew and its mother; Bran even takes her reports of the White Walkers seriously and starts to confer with the other bannermen as the Stark in Winterfell. Yet Ygritte isn’t anywhere near happy. Seeing Jon’s home has made her see how different their worlds are, plus she’s angry and hurt that he was off marrying his aunt while she thought he was dead. She’s about to head back north when Bran and Jeyne persuade her that Jon would never truly want to marry his aunt and sometimes you just to risk everything for love, respectively. Ygritte realizes they’re right and rides hell-for-leather to King’s Landing.

The Conclusion

The wedding’s about to happen. Sansa, initially enchanted by her secretly royal half-brother’s imminent marriage to a beautiful young queen, senses that all is not well and asks Jon if he really wants to go through with it. He says no, but he has to go through with it because it’s his duty and he’ll lose what little honor he has if he backs out. Sansa realizes that his motives are all wrapped up in bastard stigma and talks about how she used to think that everyone, including herself, would be okay if they just did what society told them to do, but then she discovered that the world was wrong. Her speech affects Jon, but not enough for him to call off the wedding so late...until Ygritte appears on the steps of the Sept of Baelor, out of breath and vocally angry with him for leaving her behind. 

“I’m sorry,” he tells Daenerys, who nods in a gracious and dignified manner. She’s secretly relieved that she doesn’t have to make a third political marriage and can just concentrate on ruling for a while (plus banging Daario Naharis on the sly). 

Then Jon tells Ygritte everything he’s learned: he thought he was wrong to love her and break his vows, but instead he was wrong to leave her. He never dared to hope she would want him back, but if she’s come all this way, maybe she would be willing to marry him? 

“You’re only saying that because I’m pregnant!” Ygritte shouts. Then she goes on for a little while about his precious duty and precious honor.

“You’re pregnant?!” Jon finally interrupts.

“Wait, what?” says Ygritte. But she’s convinced, finally, that he meant what he said. Otherwise, why would he give up marrying Daenerys in such a publicly embarassing way? 

Daenerys gives a hastily improvised speech about how Jon and Ygritte’s marriage symbolizes unity between all different types of people in Westeros. The crowd is like, “huh,” but the wine is flowing pretty freely and it’s something to talk about. 

Jon and Ygritte head north the next day, Sansa in tow, and are joyously reunited with Bran, Rickon, Jeyne, Robb, and the rest of the Winterfell household. (Theon and Asha send them a pineapple from the Summer Islands for the wedding, but it’s probably called something stupid like a spineapple.) In private, Catelyn stiffly thanks Jon for bringing back Sansa and apologizes for being unkind to him as a child; it doesn’t really change the past, but he can appreciate it for what it is. Jon and Ygritte are married in the Godswood. Afterwards, there’s a feast. It’s not entirely a happy occasion, though, because they all feel the absence of Arya deeply. A place is set for her at the table, though, in hopes that one day she’ll come home.

The Epilogue

Jon and Ygritte are living together at the Wall. Reforms have been made to the Night’s Watch, partly thanks to Daenerys’s unconventional views and partly thanks to the North’s commitment to fighting the White Walkers. Members can now enlist for ten-year shifts, not just for life; women can join; and, perhaps most pertinently, members can marry!!! So Jon goes down on Ygritte and it’s 100% legit.

Subplots

Sansa goes through most of her A Storm of Swords plot. Now released from her betrothal with Joffrey, she thinks she’s found allies in the Tyrells; however, her planned escape via marriage to Willas Tyrell is scotched when she and Tyrion Lannister are forced to marry by Tywin. Under the circumstances, she cannot love him, yet she appreciates his decency towards her and feels sorry for him because his family is cruel to him. When Joffrey dies, she and Tyrion are both arrested, leaving her to wonder whether he left her to share the blame for the crime; she feels betrayed, somehow, by the possibility. (Littlefinger tried to get her out, but there was a hitch in the plan, so he shrugged and sailed to the Vale without her.) She’s overjoyed to be returned to her family, yet she feels like she doesn’t quite fit with them after her experiences.

“Arry,” still suffering from amnesia and now calling herself “Nan” (short for Nymeria), has escaped from Harrenhal with her friends Gendry and Hot Pie. They join up with the Brotherhood without Banners, where she finds some small measure of peace. However, she’s still massively traumatized and troubled by her lack of identity. It becomes less painful, eventually, to stop wondering who she was and move on with her life. (Let’s assume that Beric Dondarrion et al never got a good enough look at her in King’s Landing to identify her.) At one point, Sandor Clegane tries to kidnap her, insisting that she’s Arya Stark, but she thinks he has worse intentions than ransoming her and manages to run back to the Brotherhood. 

Bran, also traumatized by the events of The Iron Scoundrel, continues to have troubling psychic visions. Taking action against the White Walkers as the Stark in Winterfell helps, but he still struggles with feelings of helplessness and isolation. Also, he knows his mom is secretly in love with Jaime Lannister and understandably thinks that’s really fucked up.

Sam and Gilly fall in love as they journey from Craster’s Keep to the Nightfort and then try to deal with all the crazy shit happening at Castle Black. They get married once the Night’s Watch reforms take place (perhaps in the epilogue?) in a subsequent novella.

[bachelorbro-blog1]

Season 21 -- Week 1

So, I’m just going to dive right in and start on this journey. Strap in?

I know Nick is an incredibly controversial choice because he’s already been on the show 3 times before this and he hasn't found love, so why should we even give him a chance? Well, everyone deserves love, I guess...but beyond that, Nick is a genuinely interesting person. Even the Chad Bear thinks so! I’m glad that he didn't end up with anyone on Bachelor in Paradise because I think we all knew he wasn't going to be happy with anyone he found there.

So, we see Nick having a really scripted conversation with some of the past Bachelors and they give him advice about what the process is going to be like, which is kind of weird seeing as he’s been on the other side of it twice and has kind of been on their side of it already since everyone is in charge on Bachelor in Paradise (sort of?).

We see all of Nick’s past failed relationships and we learn more about him and his life. We’re reintroduced to his little sister Bella who gives him some really solid advice. Like, make eye contact and stop mumbling. You aren't a 14 year old boy on his first date, dude.

Anyway, onto the girls and my first impressions of them (because who cares what Nick thinks about them, right?)

The first girl out of the limo is Danielle L. She doesn't have a gimmick, which is interesting because I feel like it’s almost a requirement for people to have some sort of shtick now? Anyway, she’s cool. We’ll see what happens.

Next is Elizabeth. She sounds like a former cheerleader and basically says the exact same thing that Danielle L said to him so...whatever. Again, we’ll see.

Out comes Rachel. I immediately love her because she has a super bright smile and she walks really confidently. She makes a corny joke, but she doesn't make any mention of being nervous like the two girls before her did so at least we know that she's on her own team.

Next is Christen, who looks exactly like one of my friends from college (I had to rewind to make sure it wasn't her). She’s a wedding videographer and calls him a celebrity, so she’s got a lot going on already. I’m shadily hoping she has a meltdown somewhere in the middle of the show because I feel like if anyone’s going to smash a wine glass on a table and storm out of a room crying, it’s going to be her (and I really want to see that).

Taylor shows up next. She laughs the second she sees him and then tells him that all of her friends hate him! I’m obsessed with her. I hope she gets to the hometown visit stage at least because I want to see him get the cold shoulder from all of her friends at brunch.

Then we meet Kristina, a dental hygienist with an unplaceable accent from Kentucky. I have no strong opinions about her. I just want to know where the accent came from. Please.

Next is Angela, a model who tells him to “scoop” her up later and that’s all of the information we get about her. They keep cutting away to Danielle L. talking about Nick which makes me think that Angela is going home real fast. Sorry, girl!

Out comes Lauren, who immediately decides that their couple name is “Disgusting Slut.” I don't care about her, but I appreciate the joke.

Food truck owner Michelle (we don't get to find out what kind of food truck it is?) comes out of the limo next and says that she’s “heard” that his “past relationships have been lemons.” Girl, we all have. They were broadcast on national television. I would be more surprised if you knew nothing about him. Next!

Dominique, the trillionth girl to show up in a red dress, is upper case E X C I T E D to be there (and to be sent home early on in the competition because she doesn't even get to say her name).

Ida Marie, a girl with two first names, shows up in a dress that has two pieces because clearly she likes everything to be in pairs. I would send her home immediately just because I wouldn't want to have to call her by her full first name every time I was introducing her to someone. That's a mouthful. Plus she asked him to do a trust fall with her. Imagine if he had dropped her. IMAGINE. I do like her dress though. Props to Ida Marie.

Olivia, who wants an eskimo kiss, enters in a huge fur coat (I really hope it’s fake). Then she hands him the coat?

In runs Sarah (literally). She runs. Because he was a runner up. So she wanted to be a runner up too. Not a great start, my friend. She forgets to introduce herself. Things aren't looking good for Sarah.

Jasmine G. (meaning there’s going to be another Jasmine?) brings Nick a tray of rings. Jasmine is IN IT TO WIN IT. Damn. Tell him what you want, girl!

Hailey is wearing a red dress! Surprise! Everyone is wearing a red dress! Who would have thought? She mentions that she’s not wearing underwear. That’s a power move.

Next up is Astrid, who speaks German and likes to show off. Nick doesn't speak German so it’s fun to watch him smile uncomfortably at her while she tells him that her boobs are real. She isn't wearing a red dress, which is a relief.

Here comes Liz, who already had sex with Nick. Something tells me she’s going to tell everyone. Nick gives her a weird look when she leaves. Of course he remembers you, Liz. How could he not? It hasn't even been a year since you first met. Do you really think he's that dumb?

Corinne is next. I’m scared of Corinne. Really scared. She gives him a hug token, but I wouldn't be surprised if she takes a bite out of his cheek during that hug.

Vanessa speaks French. Astrid already spoke a different language so you’re going to have to find something else to do, Vanessa. I did love her back story though. Am I Team Vanessa already?

Wait no, I lied. Danielle M. shows up. I love Danielle M. She’s technically wearing a red dress, but it’s a different shade of red than everyone else which makes her special. Plus she gives him a homemade gift. I can already see them making breakfast together during the hometown visit. Team Danielle M.

Raven yells about pigs. Fine.

Next comes Jaimi. This is the first time I’ve ever seen that name spelled with an I at the end of it, so does that make her interesting? I don't know. She tells him that she has balls, which means she has a septum piercing and wants to make herself sound more interesting. Corinne isn't into it.

Briana asks Nick if she can listen to his heart because she's a nurse, but then she asks him to take his shirt off so we’ve gone from decently cute to decently steamy in the span of three seconds. Good work, Briana.

Susannah, whose name doesn't show up immediately, gives Nick a beard massage, which is something I didn't know could happen. Then she tells him to expect more. What a weird promise.

Josephine is kind of a whack job. I can tell right away. But she's a whack job in a good way. She makes him eat an uncooked hot dog, but because she’s a nurse she can save him if he chokes on it. Well played, Josephine.

The ladies finally realize that everyone is wearing red. Really? Just now?

Ok, onto Brittany, who gives Nick a prostate exam...? Bold move.

Here’s the other Jasmine we’ve all been waiting for: Jasmine B. She's wearing a red dress. Other Jasmine (Jasmine G.) wore green because clearly she's the alpha Jasmine.

Whitney literally doesn't get to say anything. This does not bode well for her.

So...a camel shows up. Lacey is riding the camel if that wasn't clear. The camel is not a contestant (even though I would watch the shit out of that show). She makes some joke about humping and the other women are flabbergasted that she could be so forward. Ok.

SHARK ATTACK! Alexis is my favorite. I cannot believe she showed up in a shark costume and I really can't believe that she thinks it’s a dolphin costume (except I can actually believe both of those things because this is reality television and those kinds of things happen all the time).

Ok, so now we’ve met all of the girls. I have my picks and we'll see if they match up with Nick’s.

All of the ladies are waiting for Nick to come in and talk to them. Some are talking about how cute Nick is, others are talking about how ready they are to get married. Most are talking about Alexis’ shark costume.

Nick talks to Rachel first. She's smart and interesting and practices law. I knew I loved her. Go Rachel, go!

Christen dances with Nick, Raven asks for personal information, and then Chris shows up with the first impression rose, which is the most important rose in the whole world. Girls will rip each other’s hair out to receive this rose. Corinne will literally eat Alexis to get this rose. Corinne would probably eat someone for looking at her funny. 

Corinne straight up gives Nick a bag full of tokens. One of those tokens probably says, “Choose me or I’ll snap your neck.” 

Vanessa was submitted by a friend. So was Nick. She wants Nick to kiss her, but we all know Corinne would rather rip his lips right off of his face than see anyone else kiss him. Surprise, Corinne is back! She’s going to kiss him! Are we surprised? We have our female Chad, ladies and gentlemen.

Jasmine G. does not like Corinne. No one likes Corinne. 

Kristina shows up again for some reason, but we still don't get any information on her accent. What’s up with that? We just want to know what’s happening.

Jasmine G. is the first girl to cry. I didn't expect that at all. 

We’re still on the subject of Alexis’ costume. Is she a shark or a dolphin? Doesn't matter. She’s amazing. Some drunk girl calls her her “spirit animal.” Ok. Corinne tries to say Alexis is probably wearing it to hide her bad body. Nice try, girl. We all know she'd win in a fight against you. 

Nick finally talks to Alexis. He is not convinced that she’s a dolphin. Either way, I love her. She went in the pool in a shark costume. He tells her that if she takes the costume off she's going home, which means that she’s staying. That’s good news.

Liz talks about Jade and Tanner’s wedding again. She thinks she’s a woman of mystery. He straight up calls her on her bullshit and she gets really uncomfortable and it’s my favorite thing that’s happened all night. The only thing that could top this moment would be the Jasmines battling to see who would reign supreme and who would be going home without a rose. 

Corinne is convinced she’s going to get the first impression rose. It’s going to Danielle M. or Rachel because they actually had good conversations with him and they didn't shove their tongues down his throat. Nice try, Corinne. Maybe eat a raw sweet potato with your bare hands or something next time. 

Rachel gets the rose. No one is surprised. Good for her. Three cheers for Rachel!

It’s finally time for Nick to send some of these red dresses packing. I’m fairly sure I know who’s going home, but I’ll give them all the benefit of the doubt because maybe they had really good conversations off camera or something.

Kristina is crying (with an accent). Everyone is talking about making decisions in such a short time. It’s all about first impressions, ladies. This show has been on for 21 seasons now. How are you not aware of that?

Time for roses!

The first rose goes to Vanessa. No surprise there. She’s going to make it to the end.

Danielle L. gets the next rose. I still have no strong opinions about her. 

Christen gets the next rose, which is surprising. I knew she’d get one, but not this early on.

The fourth rose goes to Astrid, while Corinne freaks out.

Then Corinne gets a rose because this season needs a villain.

Kristina continues to cry while Elizabeth W., Jasmine G., and Raven get roses.

Then Kristina gets a rose and she stops crying.

Danielle M. finally gets a rose (even though she should have been the first person to get a rose).

Sarah gets a rose. I don't remember who Sarah is.

Josephine gets a rose because we need a fun gal this season, too.

Lacey the camel girl gets a rose while Hailey bad mouths Alexis. 

Taylor gets a rose because we need someone to counsel Corinne when she goes off the deep end and starts throwing furniture at the other contestants. 

Alexis gets a rose! Alexis gets a rose! She is still sure that she’s a dolphin.

Hailey, who isn't wearing panties, gets a rose. She’s relieved that she doesn't have to put her panties back on and hug the shark goodbye.

Whitney gets a rose. We still know nothing about Whitney. 

Dominique gets a rose while Liz worries that sex at Jade and Tanner’s wedding won't be enough to save her.

Jaimi gets a rose. Nick wants to see more of her balls.

Brittany gets a rose. Was she the one who gave him a prostate exam?

The final rose goes to Liz because this is reality television.

This means that the girls who didn't get roses are Briana, Susannah, Olivia, Jasmine B., Ida Marie, Angela, Michelle, and Lauren. They all put on brave faces as they leave the mansion, but some cry once they get outside. Part of me wants to hug them and tell them it’s all going to be ok, while another part of me wants to remind them that they signed up to be on a reality television show and knew that this was a very real possibility.

Liz reminds the audience that she’s already had sex with Nick. Where? At Jade and Tanner’s wedding! If I had a dollar for every time she mentioned that I would be able to buy the mansion and make Luke the Bachelor (because he's the Bachelor we deserved, people.)

That’s it for this week.

My top 5:

1. Danielle M.

2. Vanessa

3. Rachel

4. Taylor

5. Alexis