#like I actually also think grrm kind of writes about the knights and the battles from a sports fan perspective lol

[melrosing]

Modern Jaime employment is so hard because the natural answer feels like his job is being wealthy since that’s how he makes his money in canon. But he’s also one of the few employed people in the books so he can’t have is modern job be nothing

‘he’s one of the few employed people in the books’ dhsjafhk asoiaf literally like asoiaftwt. bunch of jobless ppl causing havoc in their copious spare time

[ultrahpfan5blog]

My very belated thoughts on Game of Thrones and season 8 in particular

I feel like I have a somewhat unique perspective on GoT. The show has been such a pop culture phenomenon that I feel that fans have been invested in it for years, either having been book fans who watched the show, or those having watched the show for the better part of a decade. For me, I was never a part of the fandom because I never watched the show until it was in season 7. The books sound great but because I can’t stand reading incomplete series, I have never read them, and at this point, it just feels unlikely that GRRM will end up finishing the series. That sucks because its just the sort of fiction that I would love. I started watching GoT in season 7, and then in season 8. Obviously, I had very little clue what was going on other than the broad strokes and I was watching purely because the spectacle and scale was something I had never seen before on tv. On that front alone it was entertaining. Given the incredibly divisive reaction, I didn’t feel like spending the amount of hours required to watch the show from scratch, but because covid ended up impacting so many ongoing tv shows and movies, I ended up deciding to give it a go. I started a couple of months ago and just finished season 8 a couple of days ago. Its been quite an experience, belated as it may be.

I still feel that I view the show differently than a lot of people. Obviously, its a very different emotional commitment for me, having watched the show in 2 months whereas other have watched the show for about 10 years. Having not read the books, I don’t have the issue of comparing the quality of the books to the show. And given I saw season 8, I watched the show with the ending in mind, so I could understand if the ending made sense to me or not.

On the whole, the show is worth a lot of applause. The production, acting, music, writing, visuals etc... is something I have never seen on tv. Juggling such a huge cast of characters with so many ongoing storylines is an incredible achievement. Say what you will about season 8′s writing, but from a production, scale, and performance standpoint, the show remained stellar all the way through. And for that, I do think D&D deserve credit. I know that is an unpopular thing to say but they still have created something that is truly one of a kind. The show is definitely not perfect, even before season 8. There are storylines that drag, storylines that aren’t given the time they deserve, character developments that don’t completely work etc... but I feel that is part and parcel of every long running show. There are very few that are perfect, and for the sheer complexity of the narrative, its amazing that the show isn’t more convoluted. I do agree that the final 2 seasons are the weakest seasons of the lot. I still think season 7 is very good, and the first half of season 8 I also like a lot, but seasons 1-6 are superb. Its difficult for me the select my favorite season. I suppose season 4 is probably at the top. Its kind of the end of the era season, with the death of Joffrey, Tyrion’s trial, then him leaving Westoros. Arya and Sandor’s time together coming to an end with her traveling to Braavos, death of Tywin, and Jon rising in the ranks of the Nights Watch and becoming a more prominent character in the show. I love seasons 5-6 because of the rise of Jon. Season 2 arc of Tyrion as hand of the King was also excellent. My favorite episodes all come from these seasons. I love the battle episodes, with Blackwater, Hardhome, and Battle of the Bastards being 3 of my favorite eps. The Laws of Gods and Men is another episode I love just for the climax where Peter Dinklage just tears into the scene with his full might. I also loved Pedro Pascal as Oberyn in season 4. He added a unique quality and I was sad to see him not last past season 4. There were a few storylines that I wasn’t completely fond of. The early years of Daenerys weren’t the most compelling, Arya in Braavos was just too slow for my taste, the Littlefinger and Sansa storyline in season 4 also felt like they were treading water and then they backtrack on Sansa’s development in season 5. Also, Staanis was someone who went a little too batshit crazy in his lust for power. Felt a little out of character.

Now, when it comes to season 8, There are a lot of complaints about a lot of things. I will say that the main issue with season 8 is that it crams what should be 2 seasons of storylines and crams it into a single 6 episode season. I think virtually every complaint can be traced back to that. I actually really like episodes 1 and 2. Especially episode 2. Brienne’s knighting is actually very touching. Its great to see characters reuniting and characters meeting for the first time. I know lots of people complained about episode 3 and while its not as good as the other 3 battle episodes that I mentioned before, I still think its excellent. I did not have the lighting problem that others had. I watched it on my laptop and I could see everything. The episode is titled ‘The Long Night’ so I expected things to be dark, but it isn’t as if I had trouble seeing what happened. The episode is incredibly intense and while its a bit difficult o figure out how so many survived and there are some questionable tactics for sure, its still quite a spectacular spectacle. My only issue with the episode is really all Jon related, which I will get back to in a bit. 

I know that Daenerys turning into the mad queen is a huge point of contention for the season. While I absolutely agree that that character arc went from 0 to a 100 way too fast, I don’t think it was completely out of the blue. Knowing the ending, I kept an eye on Daenerys, and I think there are a lot of instances where her first instinct to fixing problems has been to unleash her dragons. She has had characters around her like Selmy, Jorah, later Tyrion, even Daario, who have tempered that instinct somewhat. But that is still a natural instinct for her. Not to mention, in Essos, she was dealing with a fairly black and white issue when it comes to slavery. And she mistakenly thought, her experiences in Essos would translate to Westoros. She came with the idea that the common people would support her without fully processing the idea that she was bringing foreign armies into their land and three dragons, which had not been seen by people for generations. So they had legitimate reasons for fear. So it wasn’t completely out of the blue that she unraveled when confronted with the revelations that she was feared more than she was loved and that she did not have the sort of universal support she thought she would have. Obviously, that was compounded by the losses that she tacked up one after another. Definitely, one more season was required to make that a satisfactory arc, but I don’t think it was completely random. And honestly, once she did what she did in episode 5, she was never going to survive the show. I will say this, Emilia Clarke was outstanding in season 8. She was never the cast member who stood out in seasons past, but season 8 was really her season. While the character development was rushed, she sold every scene and earned her lead actress emmy nomination.

There are some endings which people hated which I understood. Like Jaime’s ending, which people were pretty pissed about, is an ending I quite get. As much as we love the story of redemption, the Cersei and Jaime bond was just too deep and toxic for him to so easily extricate himself. I get why he would be drawn back to her when he knew she was in danger. I think Lena and Nikolaj really sold their final scenes together. I felt for Lena as an actress. As a result of the short season, she really didn’t get much to do all season. Her death scene is really the only time she gets material to chew on. So that was a pity. I think Brienne and Sandor Clegane were two characters for whom their endings were perfect. Brienne becoming a knight of the six kingdoms and Clegane finally getting revenge on his brother was extremely satisfying. Theon’s ending was pretty much perfect. Sansa becoming queen in the North makes sense. The show seemed to be building towards it. Sophie Tuner gets some good material in the final season where you can see that there is a lot happening in her head and not all of it is altruistic. She does have a power hungry side to her, even if she’s not self destructively so. Maisie Williams was strong again. I wasn’t a huge fan of her getting to kill the Night King over Jon but there lots of good moments she has with Jon, Sandor, Gendry, Sansa etc... Bran becoming King of the six Kingdoms is definitely not the greatest ending. I don’t know whose decision it was to turn Bran into a robot and have him do nothing other than sit and stare, but it definitely wasn’t the greatest. I can’t imagine it was a particularly satisfying experience as an actor for Isaac. I did enjoy a couple of moments with him and Jaime, harking back to season 1.

The two other major characters are Tyrion and Jon. Certainly the finale is very heavily centered on those two. I do agree with the notion that they really dumbed down on Tyrion’s intelligence as he makes a lot of wrong moves in the last couple of seasons. But Peter Dinklage the actor has never disappointed. His performance in the finale ranks as one of his finest on the show. There has never been a time when he has not given his all. Him ending up as the hand is pretty effective ending. He is a humbled man, admitting that he’s not as smart as he thought he was. So maybe he would be a better hand as a result of that experience. Jon’s ending is another controversial one. I am in the audience who really wasn’t a fan of how Jon was treated in season 8. Kit Harington was quite poorly served in season 8, which was a bit of a whiplash since Jon was arguably at his most badass in season 5-7 and became a huge a fan favorite. Certainly he took over from Dinklage as the de facto male lead of the show. The character only comes back to life at the very end of episode 5. Part of that is probably the point. That Jon became too bent to Daenerys’ will, as Varys said.to Tyrion. It took Daenerys burning down King’s Landing to wake him up. I get that from a narrative standpoint, buts its dissatisfying from a character perspective when its the final season. Certainly I found it very strange how little role he played in The Long Night, given the White Walker storyline was Jon’s primary storyline on the show. Put aside killing the Night King, a showdown which was promised on the show, he didn’t even do much else in the episode. At the very least he should have gotten to destroy the undead Viserion. The memes about his dialogue in the season aren’t unfounded. But, I will say that Kit Harington is fantastic in the series finale. He arguable has the centerpoint scenes of the finale, the two scenes with Tyrion, and then the scene with Danaerys where he is literally begging her to give him a reason not to kill her and she keeps saying the wrong thing. Certainly Peter and Kit end the season on a high note. Him ending up with the Wildlings seems appropriate because Jon never seemed cut out to be King, nor did he ever want that responsibility. He probably would have been better than Bran, but its a decent enough ending for him. In the end, the way the show ends I was mostly ok with, but the path to getting there should have come with one extra season at least.

In the end, the production and the acting will always be something I will remember. I didn’t even mention great performances from Sean Bean, Charles Dance, Alfie Allen, Stephen Dillane, Conleth Hill, Aiden Gillen, Diana Rigg, Jerome Flynn, Liam Cunningham among many others over the years. So even though I do have issues with the final season, I feel that the good far outweighs the bad when it comes to the show. Its not a show I foresee rewatching any time soon since its one of those shows that requires some digestion and a lot of hours, but I certainly don’t regret the time I gave to it.

[janiedean]

Now I want to hear the Stannis rant (when you have time)!!

hahahah have fun XD okay so for context, the tags I mentioned the aforementioned rant in:

#one day i’ll rant at lenght about how dnd never got stannis#bc they cannot conceive that a dude with THAT kinda moral compass is a complete disaster when it comes to interpersonal relationships#nor that half of the issues stannis has are bc he’s literally starving for people to see he has worth#while slaving for them anyway and being more competent than anyone else that passes before him#but this is not the day i guess

now: this is... a thing that I honestly struggle with when it comes to this fandom because the side that hates stannis thinks he’s a selfish arrogant asshole without feelings and the side that loves him is like ‘omg such a great battle commander GO RIGHTFUL KING HE’S SO BADASS’ and I feel like neither is an accurate reading because the first sees the character at mere face value (and most likely skipped the davos chapters) and the second only cares about his so-called badassness, but... thing is: stannis is an extremely competent person who’s also a disaster at relationships because he feels like no one cares for him (which isn’t exactly untrue as I’ll rant about later) who in turn everyone judges as uncaring and unfeeling when he actually isn’t and who in turn compulsively pursues what he can pursue because he has to compensate and who on the other side is absolutely starved for recognition except that he doesn’t get it.

and like... at this point I have to lay down the premises in the sense that while I really wish I didn’t, I... kind of really do relate a lot to that aspect - people assuming you’re cold/aloof because you aren’t immediately excited about things or don’t wear feelings on your sleeve - and tbh I really really love that grrm made a character who has the Good At Battles And So On reputation... a complete interpersonal rships disaster, because it actually gives him a whole new layer that I don’t see really discussed often and since that’s what I relate to... it’s sad. for me personally at least.

anyway, thing is:

the fact that stannis was the unloved baratheon brother is the exact first thing you learn from the acok prologue - I mean, ‘Stannis, my lord, my sad sullen boy, son I never had, you must not do this, don't you know how I have cared for you, lived for you, loved you despite all? Yes, loved you, better than Robert even, or Renly, for you were the one unloved, the one who needed me most.’ like, it’s the first thing the narrative throws at you in the face the moment that he does something that already puts him on the reader’s bad side ie dismissing poor cressen, but it’s basically the key to the entire damned point;

because first of all it implies stannis (who’s the middle child out of those three) felt like both his brothers didn’t love him and with their parents dying the way they did that goes too, and if we take into account the proudwing episode - he saves the damned hawk, he’s all happy he got it back to fly, robert mocks him for it and his uncle convinces him to let it die - it’s basically the metaphor for his life because whatever he does, the people who should notice don’t care;

this actually should be discussed along with the whole siege of storm’s end because like... stannis held out by almost starving himself and his men (but renly never mentions it whenever he speaks so I should suppose he doesn’t remember it as an extremely traumatic event when he was in the castle, so stannis made sure he actually had enough food to not starve most likely when no one else did) for robert and if he hadn’t done that when he was barely twenty if not nineteen they’d have lost the rebellion, which you’d think would give him nice things, right? no, because robert gives him dragonstone which stannis sees as a slight, he feels like robert loves ned more than him and he’s p. resentful about it, renly basically bypasses him when it’s time to claim the throne with the amazing explanation that ‘he’s not amusing and people wouldn’t like him’ when that’s not how succession works and he doesn’t seem to get one inch of appreciation by his relatives that he almost died for;

now he has that compulsive thing when it comes to laws and sticking to justice.... considering that he feels like all of his entire family wronged him since he was a teenager (and like, i’m obv. not blaming robert for not having been the best bc he also had trauma bc their parents died I mean we have issues but I get it) and like both his brothers feel like others (ned, loras/the tyrells) are more their family than him and/or that they don’t care for him because he’s sour/not immediately expansive/etc... are we surprised that he has that much of a problem with the concept of compulsively following justice/the rules? considering that when it comes to that it’s written black on white and fairness is objective, obviously he’s a sucker for the rules and he feels that strongly about his birthright - that’s because he feels like he can only trust in objective ruling that everyone should follow rather than people;

this is where I go personal, but... a thing that’s extremely common if you tend to be shy/not immediately an extrovert/if it takes you time to get to know people/if you aren’t a funny person automatically is that people start to assume you don’t have feelings or you don’t care about others, which in turn means that you tend to become even worse because the moment you open up you’re terrified that the other person will hate you, and that’s... peak stannis because the way he’s when the books start is out of all of that plus having married someone out of obligation for robert and getting humiliated on the same wedding night plus having just one daughter everyone sees as defective and that renly openly mocked at some point too but never mind that, and like... another thing with stannis that people don’t really notice is that while he’s crap at expressing his love for his daughter because he’s shit at feelings and relationships, he also loves her really fucking much and as someone else pointed out he didn’t educate her to marry into some other family, he educated her to be his heir and with davos’s male sons and so on, like he didn’t give her just a lady’s education, he gave her a full-on heir education, which outside dorne is unheard of, and in his last adwd chapter as much as dnd didn’t read it... he told people to put her on the throne if he died and to fight for her same as they would have for him. like, it’s obvious that he does love her, he’s just complete crap at showing it... same as he is in general because he doesn’t feel like he can be open about his feelings with people and because he pretty much has no fucking clue of how it works, which is... well... what happens when you grow up with that kind of emotional stuntedness;

that is, unless he’s talking to davos, which is what I’d really fucking like for people to realize. like, never mind the show, but when book!stannis talks to davos he immediately goes from 100% completely closed off to being all soft and as affectionate as it goes and I mean guys... just a couple quotes but:“He seemed ten years older than the man that Davos had left at Storm's End when he set sail for the Blackwater and the battle that would be their undoing. The king's close-cropped beard was spiderwebbed with grey hairs, and he had dropped two stone or more of weight. He had never been a fleshy man, but now the bones moved beneath his skin like spears, fighting to cut free. Even his crown seemed too large for his head. His eyes were blue pits lost in deep hollows, and the shape of a skull could be seen beneath his face. Yet when he saw Davos, a faint smile brushed his lips. "So the sea has returned me my knight of the fish and onions.""It did, Your Grace." Does he know that he had me in his dungeon? Davos went to one knee.”-"I am lowborn," Davos reminded him. "An upjumped smuggler. Your lords will never obey me.""Then we will make new lords.""But . . . I cannot read . . . nor write . . .""Maester Pylos can read for you. As to writing, my last Hand wrote the head off his shoulders. All I ask of you are the things you've always given me. Honesty. Loyalty. Service.""Surely there is someone better . . . some great lord . . ."Stannis snorted. [...] but I trust none of them as I trust you, my lord of Rainwood. You will be my Hand. It is you I want beside me for the battle."that’s TWO, and when davos says that his lords wouldn’t want him for a hand stannis goes like you’re more important than them to me pretty much, and in general the moment they’re alone together he’s way more open and vulnerable and sincere than he is when literally anyone else... that is because davos is the literal one person that not only is his actual friend (bc he doesn’t really have any other friends not even between his relatives), but also someone who:a) actually thinks the world of him;b) hasn’t batted an eyelid at his sense of justice I mean guys let’s be real he cut off davos’s fingertips bc he was a criminal at the same time as giving him a lordship after davos saved his life and everyone else’s and davos has the bones with him always because he thinks they’re his luck I mean k that’s extra but he actually does see stannis’s point when it comes to fairness;c) hasn’t disappointed him once;d) has only ever acted in his best interest;e) is the kind of person who’ll call him out on his bs rather than kiss his ass for honors and to someone who has stannis’s issues knowing that that kinda person exists means a whole damned lot;f) doesn’t think he’s there just to run the show without getting thankfed for it nor takes him for granted nor doesn’t recognize his efforts, which is 99,9% of his remaining issues with everyone else - ie that he does his job and does it well but no one recognizes it and everyone else passes in front of himg) sees his worth, which is a thing stannis is literally starved for but doesn’t get from many others period;which means he has one healthy relationship with someone bar maybe his daughter. one. that’s... not really that great or good whatsoever;

I mean there’s a reason why stannis wants that throne so bad. not that he cares about it, but that’s his right, so anyone else getting it would be the umpteenth time in his eyes that someone cheats him off something that’s rightfully is (storm’s end, his brothers’s love/affection/support etc); 

like, it’s not about how stannis is such a great badass fighter strategist, it’s that he wants the throne that badly because not getting it would be just the last straw in the list of slights he feels that he’s been at the end of for his entire life and one more humiliating than any of those others, because otherwise he wouldn’t give a damn;

and like... what I think dnd missed and a lot of people also do is that the ‘great commander who wins fights’ doesn’t mean he also can’t be a guy with extremely bad issues when it comes to interpersonal rships thanks to trauma and to the almost entirety of people around him writing him off as the not fun boring guy who only cares about laws when the only reason stannis cares that much about what’s fair and what’s not is that he feels like everyone else has been unfair to him.

and like....... recognizing that would require admitting that stannis is the farthest thing in these books from a badass conqueror guy who wins battles and wants to be king and will be an equally badass king - he’s an extremely competent guy who became competent at his job out of sheer stubborness and perfection complex who is everything but an emotionless machine (regardless of what people who should know better ie his brothers might think) and who has been disappointed so much in this sense that he can only have a healthy relationship with one single person who is not so coincidentally someone who saved his life, didn’t see anything wrong in his strike for justice, recognizes his worth and would die for him, which... is really not anyone else’s case in his immediate vicinities (not counting his soldiers and so on but that’s another problem entirely). that requires admitting that westeros crap toxic societal standards have hurt him too and that he has a second side that’s not really so cool (guys being emotionally stunted is not fun, I’ll 100% guarantee it to you, and people assuming you’re cold or emotionless because you can’t immediately open up to them is even worse) and that if you want to project greatness on him you should also embrace the fact that he’s a complete human disaster who is as starved for recognition/appreciation as jon is and there’s probably a reason why they were getting along so well in adwd.

and like, I think the fanbase who hails him as the new coming of jesus doesn’t recognize that because it interferes with the fearless conqueror dude fantasy - which is his superficial reading, not his actual reading, same as people deciding he’s emotionless just out of superficial reading, while dnd obviously didn’t know how to write him since S3 because they couldn’t decide what to do with him... but obviously, because dnd have no idea of how to write a male character who is both a strong military commander and an emotional disaster who wants recognition for his own worth and isn’t a power hungry asshole. nvm that dnd have no idea of how to write emotionally vulnerable male characters (see what they did with jaime tyrion theon and sandor and that’s not even counting jon or robb) but stannis was obv. too complicated for them to even consider actually trying for real.

/two cents

[ginmo]

I’ve seen people say that while they admit that there are romantic feelings on both sides for JB, they don’t think they’ll ever be together romantically or sexually. Someone said that their relationship is about honour and duty and that Jaime will probably knight Brienne and then return to Cersei (they specified, ‘but as an enemy’). Another said that they prefer for Jaime to be alone if he survives this ordeal bc he needs to heal from his toxic relationship. Can you counter this? :(

Of course I can because that argument completely ignores the point/message of Brienne’s character lol. You cannot read her chapters and come away with that take, unless you truly are dense af. 

I’m going to be linking to some of Chicky’s “organized rants.”

Jaime and Brienne is a love story. (

Their individual character arcs involve honor and duty but there’s also a huge emphasis on love. I don’t know why anti arguments act as if the author is writing just one theme. I would say, “this isn’t a YA series” but even YA novels have more complexity than what people reduce Martin’s writing to.

I mean… love is a central theme to both of their characters. They are both ultimately driven by love, and they both have parallel arcs that juggle the relationship between love and honor, exploring how they relate and interfere. I’m not going to go into much detail though, because it has been done a million times, but I’ll speak a bit about the love aspect. 

Brienne felt unworthy of being a lady because of the mockery she endured as a woman. So, after falling in love with Renly and “the bitter tears she shed the night her king wed Margaery Tyrell,” she left Tarth to be a knight in his KG, because that was the only way she could marry him. Brienne doesn’t reject being a lady because she hates the idea of it, she ran away because she felt she couldn’t be one. She wasn’t willing to settle for some dumbass who treats her like dirt, so she clung to her more masculine traits and used them to get ahead and be beside a man who treated her with respect and kindness. She was… literally introduced to the readers (and viewers of the show) on a romantic rejection plot line…………… 

And yet, when Renly cut away her torn cloak and fastened a rainbow in its place, Brienne of Tarth did not look unfortunate. Her smile lit up her face, and her voice was strong and proud as she said, “My life for yours, Your Grace. From this day on, I am your shield, I swear it by the old gods and the new.” The way she looked at the king—looked down at him, she was a good hand higher, though Renly was near as tall as his brother had been—was painful to see.- ACOK

Brienne was on her feet as well. “Your Grace, give me but a moment to don my mail. You should not be without protection.” King Renly smiled. “If I am not safe in the heart of Lord Caswell’s castle, with my own host around me, one sword will make no matter … not even your sword, Brienne. Sit and eat. If I have need of you, I’ll send for you.” His words seemed to strike the girl harder than any blow she had taken that afternoon. “As you will, Your Grace.” Brienne sat, eyes downcast.- ACOK

Brienne dropped to her knees. “If I must part from Your Grace, grant me the honor of arming you for battle.” Catelyn heard someone snigger behind her. She loves him, poor thing, she thought sadly. She’d play his squire just to touch him, and never care how great a fool they think her. - ACOK

Like Brienne, Jaime left his role as heir out of love, to have a chance to be by Cersei’s side as a member of Robert’s KG. Do I even need to go into Jaime being a serious romantic and love being at his core?

I will quote this tweet from @usefulspinster every time this is brought up because it honestly can’t be put any better. 

“GRRM has a character for who love has been a cruel joke and one that takes love very seriously and pointed them at eachother. If you don’t understand how that’ll play out, I can’t help you.”

And I’m going to say this for the millionth time: 

GRRM literally said his intent with their relationship was to take the traditional format of Beauty and the Beast (A ROMANCE) and switch the roles and genders. 

“But he is subverting it by making it platonic” 

Except… no… because MAKING BATB PLATONIC DEFEATS THE ENTIRE FUCKING POINT. He is subverting it by switching the roles and genders, something that is never explored with this tale. THAT’S subversion. He isn’t changing the theme and message of the tale. FFS, subverting doesn’t mean changing the entire core. 

BatB as platonic DOESN’T WORK. The core of the tale is about being ROMANTICALLY DESIRED AND TRULY LOVED despite your appearance. Not, “you can make a good friend even if your’e ugly! :D” because uh…  when they do form a relationship with someone, they often remain as just friends anyway because of their appearance???? lmfao fuck. 

Brienne’s problem isn’t focused on making friends. She had her father, Catelyn, Pod, even to an extent Hyle. They didn’t look at her and scream and run away, never being friendly. In her POV she isn’t sitting there reflecting on how she is so friendless and all she wants is a bff. You know what’s constantly repeated over and over again in her chapters? Her romantic undesirability because of how ugly she is. Oh wow that sounds kinda like… I DUNNO?! THE CORE OF BATB? 

(Not only that but one of GRRM’s is actually a romantic and one of his favorite fantasies is BatB. He even had a television called BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and he was angry that he had to kill off the woman because it ruined his romance story.)   

Anyone who has read her chapters, and isn’t lying about reading them, can see that she’s head over heels in love with Jaime. 

Now, read the bet and tell me romance isn’t a part of her arc. 

“yet now…” 

We’re hit over the head with it so often that it’s impossible to miss.

People who don’t see the romance arc are either a) choosing not see it because it ruins their headcanons or ships or b) Brienne isn’t the typical character to have a romance arc that’s serious and isn’t there for comedic relief. She’s ugly and a female warrior and people are conditioned to see those types of characters as either love-less out of choice, or having romance not even come up for them. It also plays into the whole “love weakens a strong female character” bullshit, and they don’t even realize that’s what’s happening because for most people it’s unconscious. 

The seeds for the Jaime and Brienne relationship trajectory are found in both of their POV chapters, but at least half of the JB relationship is explored through Brienne’s chapters. The laughable out-of-context meta you see is from antis who have other motives, have lied about reading her POVs carefully because boring, and some even admitted to not reading Brienne’s POVs at all.

[tomakeitbeautifultolive]

Hate Rhaegar Targaryen? Here's why you're wrong.

Re: “Fuck Rhaegar Targaryen”: A lesson on how to read between the lines in fiction to learn the truth.

On George R. R. Martin:

“I think there are two types of writers, the architects and the gardeners. The architects plan everything ahead of time, like an architect building a house. They know how many rooms are going to be in the house, what kind of roof they're going to have, where the wires are going to run, what kind of plumbing there's going to be. They have the whole thing designed and blueprinted out before they even nail the first board up. The gardeners dig a hole, drop in a seed and water it. They kind of know what seed it is, they know if planted a fantasy seed or mystery seed or whatever. But as the plant comes up and they water it, they don't know how many branches it's going to have, they find out as it grows. And I'm much more a gardener than an architect.”

On Elia Martell: Considering GRRM's self-described gardening style, Dorne and its culture were almost certainly built around Elia Martell. Rhaegar's wife was polyamorous, and the author needed a way to tell us that, thus the culture of Dorne was given this attribute.

Further, while Rhaegar crowning Lyanna queen of love and beauty is known as the moment all the smiles died - it's emphasized that “Elia’s reaction to the event remains unknown” ...Well isn’t that convenient?

On House Martell: Do even the Martells blame the Targaryens for what happened to Elia and her children? Here’s what it says in the wiki:

“During the Sack of King's Landing, Ser Gregor Clegane raped and murdered Elia and also killed her son, Prince Aegon Targaryen. Another Lannister knight, Ser Amory Lorch killed her daughter, Princess Rhaenys Targaryen. After hearing of these deaths, Oberyn attempted to raise Dorne for the exiled Prince Viserys Targaryen.

Oberyn and his brother Doran worked in secret for years planning on bringing an end to the reign of King Robert I Baratheon and destroying House Lannister. Oberyn traveled to Braavos, where Viserys and Daenerys Targaryen were living with Ser Willem Darry. Oberyn and Willem signed a secret marriage pact, with the Sealord of Braavos as witness, promising Viserys the hand of Princess Arianne Martell in marriage, in return for Dorne's help in reclaiming the Iron Throne from House Baratheon.”

If Rhaegar was solely responsible for Elia’s death, why would Oberyn work to align Dorne with the Targaryens once again, to put them back in power? Because he only wants revenge on the guilty parties: Lannister and Clegane.

On Aegon and his sister wives: Aegon had two wives. A first wife married out of duty, and a second wife married out of desire. Sound familiar? Good. It's supposed to. GRRM uses historical parallels like this as hints all the time, and Rhaegar’s obsession with the three heads of the dragon and naming his children after these historical relatives is a way to link them in our minds.

The fact that Rhaegar likely believed he needed three children to fulfill a prophecy - Aegon, Rhaenys and presumably Visenya... is also a hint that Elia, who could not bear him a third child, might've even encouraged Rhaegar to take another wife.

Sound absurd? Rhaegar tells his wife, as she holds his newborn son, that there must be one more, as is seen in Daenerys' vision in the House of the Undying:

“There must be one more. The dragon has three heads.”

                    "History is written by the victors."

On Robert Baratheon: Virtually everyone had a good opinion of Rhaegar expect for Robert Baratheon. The victor. This man harbored a negative opinion of the prince based on jealousy and a personal vendetta.

Ned says to Robert:

“You never knew Lyanna as I did, Robert. You saw her beauty, but not the iron underneath.”

Think Lyanna is just some silly trollop? Try again. The woman who would run away with an already-married man had this to say about Robert:

“Robert will never keep to one bed. I hear he has gotten a child on some girl in the Vale. Love is sweet, dearest Ned, but it cannot change a man's nature.”

Again, Rhaegar and Robert seem to be complete opposites in every way. So if Robert is the type to whore around on his wife, perhaps that's yet another hint that Rhaegar didn't, wouldn't, and wasn't. Rhaegar's reputation as a villain stems from this man alone, Robert Baratheon, who was not a good person.

Even on the show, Bran confirms that the Rebellion was built on a lie - so, why do so many opt to believe Robert Baratheon, a terrible king, husband, father and person - over three of the noblest men in the series - Barristan Selmy, Ned Stark, and Arthur Dayne?

On Rhaegar Targaryen: Arthur Dayne, one of the most chivalrous and noble knights, was Rhaegar's oldest friend.

Ned Stark never once has a negative thought about Rhaegar, even letting us know that he didn’t think Rhaegar the type of man to cheat on his wife:

“For the first time in years, he found himself remembering Rhaegar Targaryen. He wondered if Rhaegar had frequented brothels; somehow he thought not.”

Even Jorah understands who Rhaegar was, time and again telling Daenerys how different her brother Viserys is to Rhaegar, that Rhaegar was the last dragon and Viserys is “less than the shadow of a snake”. (...and I really should not have to recount why Viserys is a terrible person. That shit ain’t subtle at all.)

When Daenerys saves the life of a lamb girl, she says:

“I will not have her harmed. I claim her. Do as I command you, or Khal Drogo will know the reason why.”

She and Jorah then have this exchange:

“You are your brother's sister, in truth.” “Viserys?” “No. Rhaegar.”

Lastly, Barristan Selmy, who watched Rhaegar grow up, has this to say:

“Even as a child, your brother Viserys oft seemed to be his father's son, in ways that Rhaegar never did.”

So we've got two people now, telling us Rhaegar and Viserys were different. Viserys is directly compared to Aerys, whereas Daenerys is compared to Rhaegar after she saves someone's life and helps them.

When Daenerys asks Barristan whether there was any good to be said of her father, he replies:

“There is, your Grace. Of him, and those who came before him. Your grandfather Jaehaerys and his brother, their father Aegon, your mother... and Rhaegar. Him most of all.”

Barristan also confirms Rhaegar’s feelings toward Elia:

“Princess Elia was a good woman, Your Grace. She was kind and clever, with a gentle heart and a sweet wit. I know the prince was very fond of her.”

On the show, Barristan tells Daenerys of Rhaegar's character. Confirming that Rhaegar found joy in singing, not killing. Recounting tales about how Rhaegar would sing to the common folk, giving his money away to them, to orphanages, or taking his lifelong friend and guard out for drinks.

On who is actually to blame for Elia's death:

Aerys Targaryen, Tywin Lannister & Gregor Clegane (Duh)

It's not Rhaegar’s fault for neglecting to assume a lifelong House Targaryen ally would betray him and his family. If you think this, you are victim blaming.

(Victim blaming occurs when the victim of a crime or any wrongful act is held entirely or partially responsible for the harm that befell them.)

Tywin waited until he knew which side would win the Rebellion before picking either. Fuck, Tywin wasn't even certain he'd betray the Targaryens!

Was Rhaegar aware of all the ways his father offended Tywin Lannister? Oh, absolutely. Which is part of the reason he was almost certainly conspiring to de-throne his father, for offending the entire damned realm left and right!

“When this battle’s done I mean to call a council. Changes will be made. I meant to do it long ago, but... well, it does no good to speak of roads not taken.”

Jaime tells us that it was not Rhaegar who forbade Elia’s escape, but Aerys:

“Rhaegar met Robert on the Trident, and you know what happened there. When the word reached court, Aerys packed the queen off to Dragonstone with Prince Viserys. Princess Elia would have gone as well, but he forbade it. Somehow he had gotten it in his head that Prince Lewyn must have betrayed Rhaegar on the Trident, but he thought he could keep Dorne loyal so long as he kept Elia and Aegon by his side.”

Jaime feels immense guilt that lingers for not protecting Rhaegar's family. He blames himself, not the prince, even defending himself to the ghost of Rhaegar, who tells him:

“I left my wife and children in your hands.” “I never thought he'd hurt them. I was with the king...”

Even Jaime Lannister never thought the children would be hurt. Tywin’s fucking son. You'd have to be pretty daft, at this point, if you think Rhaegar is the one responsible for the murder of his children. Further, note that Jaime’s internal characterization of Rhaegar cares about his wife, Elia, and their children.

On Jon Snow: Love Jon Snow but hate Rhaegar Targaryen? Too bad. Boy was written to be just like his daddy, and no, I don’t mean Ned.

Like his father, he was “born in grief” and is described as sullen, and his father, melancholy. They've got similar lean builds, dark-hued eyes, both observant and good fighters, described as noble, honorable and good (and ‘comely’). Even the way Jon died echoes Rhaegar’s death:

“Jon fell to his knees. In the cold night air the wound was smoking. 'Ghost,' he whispered.”

“Rubies flew like drops of blood from the chest of a dying prince, and he sank to his knees in the water and with his last breath murmured a woman's name...”

Lastly, in the show, when Jon meets Daenerys, she says, “We all enjoy what we’re good at” and Jon replies, “I don’t.”

Just like Rhaegar. Because, after all, Barristan told Daenerys that Rhaegar “never liked killing”. Jon Snow is his father’s son.

To any Rhaegar Targaryen haters out there who managed to pick up on literally zero of the above clues - You badly need to work on your deductive reasoning skills.

Also, please never write a book.

[sanrionharbor-blog]

Sansa and Tyrion’s Character Arcs (Part I: Tyrion)

Being a writer, I’ve been pouring through Shawn Coyne’s The Story Grid over the past two weeks. One of the points he makes is that every part of a story–from beat to arc–has the same 5 elements: inciting incident, complication, crisis, climax, resolution.

And being as obsessed as I am with Sansa and Tyrion of GOT in particular, I thought I’d use the hey-day of the series season finale episodes to indulge in some character metas. 

We’re going to (mainly) focus on the inciting incident.

So, not only does GOT have an overarching inciting incident/complication/crisis/climax/resolution that it’s moving towards, but each season has them, each episode/chapter has them, each  subplot has them, and each character has them.

According to Shawn Coyne, an inciting incident promises one thing: “…the ending.”

So let’s dive a little deeper and see what Sansa’s inciting incident and Tyrion’s inciting incident tells us about them. I’m writing separate posts since they’re both long–first up is Tyrion!

Tyrion

To start on a side note that will eventually get to the point:

I really wonder if show-Tyrion and book-Tyrion can come to the same conclusion. 

Book-Tyrion is much more morally grey than show-Tyrion, for one. They make different decisions after the Purple Wedding (in the show Tyrion is notably celibate whereas book-Tyrion hits an all-time low and is not above sleeping with drugged-up, unresponsive prostitutes–though he manages to empathize with them, he still uses them to run from his own darkness). 

Now, I’m equally invested in both versions of the character and believe they have the same arc/themes overall. So on one hand I can see them playing out beat-by-beat, just with different palettes, if you would, but only because of the power of the inciting incident:

So, an inciting incident does more than promise an ending–it sets the character on a path of no return. So, more than a character’s introduction, it’s when their story first goes down an irreversible path.

Furthermore, an inciting incident is called an incident for a reason: it’s not necessarily a decision made by a character, but something that happens to him (but more on that in a minute).

Tyrion’s Introduction

First we’ll note Tyrion’s introduction in the book:

“Jon found it hard to look away from [Jaime]. This is what a king should look like, he thought to himself as the man passed.

Then he saw the other one, waddling along half-hidden by his brother’s side. Tyrion Lannister, the youngest of Lord Twyin’s brood and by far the ugliest. All that the gods had given to Cersei and Jaime, they had denied Tyrion. He was a dwarf, half his brother’s height, struggling to keep pace on stunted legs….one green eye and one black one peered out from under a lanky fall of hair so blond it seemed white. Jon watched him with fascination.”

Later, still in the same chapter:

“The dwarf grinned down at [Jon]. ‘Is that animal a wolf?’

‘A direwolf,’ Jon said. ‘His name is Ghost….what are you doing up there? Why aren’t you at the feast ?’

‘Too hot, too noisy, and I’d drunk too much wine,’ the dwarf told him. ‘…might I have a closer look at your wolf?’

…he pushed himself off the ledge into empty air. Jon gasped, then watched with awe as Tyrion Lannister spun around in a tight ball, landed lightly on his hands, then vaulted backward.

Ghost backed away from him uncertainly.

The dwarf dusted himself off and laughed. ‘I believe I’ve frightened your wolf. My apologies.’”

They talk a little more, and it’s interesting to note that Tyrion isn’t threatened by Ghost, merely fascinated, and he correctly deduces that Ghost is more shy than harmful, despite Ghost baring his teeth. This could be foreshadowing that the Lannisters will have dominion over the Starks soon, but Tyrion was never a player in that. Despite his loyalties to his family, he was the one that reached out to Jon when he saw Jon was crying, he was the one who bonded with Jon at the wall and honored Jon’s request to take care of Bran, he was the one who took the time to design a saddle for Bran, and who later treated Sansa with dignity despite every cultural and social protocol having taught him to do the opposite.

No, I think this has more to do with Tyrion’s fascination with direwolves, and perhaps the Wolf, in general. I also believe it’s foreshadowing (not the deliberate kind, but the instinctual kind that most writers aren’t even aware of), to Tyrion’s possible later loyalty/ally status with the Stark’s. More on that when we get to his first POV.

Tyrion’s First POV Chapter

The very first POV that features Tyrion ends on this line (I know most of you have read it before):

“When he opened the door, the light from within threw his shadow clear across the yard, and for just a moment, Tyrion Lannister stood tall as a king.”

And then there is Tyrion’s first chapter written in his POV–where certain details stand out to me [all emphases mine]:

“Somewhere in the great stone maze of Winterfell, a wolf howled. The sound hung over the castle like a flag of mourning…something about the howling of a wolf took a man right out of his here and now and left him in a dark forest of the mind, running naked before the pack.”

That’s the opening of Tyrion’s first POV. No lion metaphors here. Instead, Tyrion briefly imagines being part of a wolf pack–is he running in front as a leader, naked and free and accepted, or because he’s being chased down, naked and hunted and vulnerable? 

Regardless, the chapter ends here:

“‘My sweet brother,” [Jaime] said darkly, “there are times you give me cause to wonder whose side you are on,”

Tyrion’s mouth was full of bread and fish. He took a swallow of strong black beer to wash it all down, and grinned up wolfishly at Jaime. ‘Why, Jaime, my sweet brother,’ he said, ‘you wound me. You know how much I love my family.’”

For some reason, Tyrion is metaphorically identifying with wolves. These exchanges also tune us into the hint of whimsy and empathy in his character, which co-exists with his book-smart/world-weary outlook. 

Still, neither of these moments include Tyrion’s inciting incident. No, Tyrion’s inciting incident is a direct result of ASOIAF’s inciting incident: the moment Catelyn Stark receives a letter from her sister Lysa Arryn about the death of Jon Arryn, Lord Paramount of the Vale and Hand to the King.

This is powerful stuff in itself, even if the death had been natural. But we’re about to be lead through a political spiderweb that’s being spun over a dark, fuzzy expanse; and we can only make out what that darkness is when the spiderweb isn’t so clearly in focus: Winter, and not just any Winter, but the Long Night. 

This is all happening at once, and Tyrion is actually an early witness to the complementary foci of ASOIAF:

Myth: He visits the Wall with Jon Snow and, while he doesn’t encounter any wights, he does encounter several people who’re convinced about such things. He’s skeptical, but we learn over time that Tyrion is a closeted romantic. Sure, he’s reading up on the lives of Maesters and pouring through ledgers and history books half the time–but he’s also obsessed with true love and handsome knights and dragons.

Humanity: He’s a casualty of Jon Arryn’s murder and Catelyn Stark’s having been deceived (though Catelyn acts heroically based on what she believes to be the truth). He’s kidnapped by Lady Stark and forced to stand trial for two murders he did not commit. This is his inciting incident. It’s what gets Tywin to declare war on the Starks and what inadvertently puts Tyrion in the pathway of both Bronn and Shae. It leads him to his newfound confidence as a military strategist, even as a pseudo-knight, in subsequent battles–including the one that costs him his nose, and any illusion that his looks could be improved or his stature increased by acting like a knight. Acting like a knight (like Jaime, like the son his father wanted, like the heroes Tyrion grew up reading about) did not win him the approval of Tywin, the adoration of the people, the reality of knighthood, or the true affection of any lady. And we know how his story goes from here.

But none of it would have happened without Tyrion’s Inciting Incident. And he had no choice in the matter either. This was his point of no return.

So, what are the themes established here?

Themes from his introduction:

-Even though he’s compared unfavorably to his brother Jaime, who is described as “what kings should look like,” the POV ends with Tyrion standing “tall as a king.” So, in a word, kingliness. 

-His intro through Jon’s eyes establishes him as larger than life, despite his size. He’s breezy, irreverent, whip-smart, aware of his status (as a Lannister and as a pariah), and even surprisingly acrobatic (or at the very least self-sufficient, and possessing the element of surprise). He’s also empathetic–he gives Jon advice on how to navigate the world and finds common place between them. Remember, he’s a noble and Jon is a bastard. He’s under no obligation to treat him kindly. It’s simply his character; one of Tyrion’s better qualities. 

-In short, Tyrion fulfills a role as: outcast (dwarf) and elite (Lannister noble), adviser (or Hand), jester (“Generations of capering fools in motley…’), and, at least inwardly, a king. And all of these are mythical archetypes and play well into the fantasy tropes that GRRM is exploring, deconstructing, and reconstructing.

-I also highlighted the part about Tyrion’s one black eye and one green, and his hair so pale it was almost white. This has less bearing in the TV show, obviously, but many of these clues not only point out his physical otherness, but can symbolically point to:

Looking at the world from two perspectives

Divided loyalties (the green eyes of the Lannister’s, and that one dark eye–dark like the Stark’s?)

Or does it represent a divided lineage?

B/C, though I’m not sold on the theory, one wonders if the “Tyrion as the third head of the dragon” isn’t hinted through his white-blond hair? Yet another secret Targaryen?

Themes from his first POV chapter:

-Tyrion finds it easy to identify with the Wolf (and yes, with a capital ‘W,’ encompassing the Starks, the direwolves, the archetype). And throughout the story he easily empathizes with the Starks, despite the Shakespearean-level rift between his family and theirs.

-He loves his family. But he is also separate from his family. 

-Tyrion’s strength (and weakness) will be his mind

Themes from his inciting incident:

-I see themes of justice/injustice, truth/deception, and acceptance/prejudice.

-In fact, Catelyn Stark seizes him with these words: “…I call upon you to seize him and help me return him to Winterfell to await the king’s justice.”

-To return to Winterfell. 

-To await the king’s justice.

Tyrion: The Ending Is In The Beginning

So this essay has been largely book-focused. The biggest differences between book-Tyrion and show-Tyrion, in the first arc anyway, are simply Tyrion’s sex appeal. Let’s be honest. In the show, his introduction comes by way of brothel (and it’s also a way to introduce the show-only character, Roz), whereas in the books it comes by way of unfavorable comparison with his brother. Peter Dinklage is also very handsome, and I’m not complaining AT ALL about his casting (because I love him), and D&D had a limited range to pick from anyway, but Tyrion in the show is more attractive and that colors several scenes–especially the ones with Shae and Sansa.

But it doesn’t matter that much in the end. Because the point is that Tyrion’s arc isn’t about his overall attractiveness (but physicality, yes). Tyrion is still playing roles that are traditionally given to conventionally handsome characters, not just to outsiders or “monstrous” archetypes. 

So the interesting part is that his looks play a tangential role, but not a main one. His physicality is always at play, but not so much his attractiveness. For example, both show and book Tywin hate that their son is a dwarf; the ugliness of book-Tyrion is just the T.P. at the bottom of Tywin’s ill-fitting shoe. Again, tangential. It changes the palettes of book and show Tyrion’s overall story visual, but not the actual shape of their story.

So regardless of the differences between the show and the book, Tyrion’s ending can still be found in the book A Game of Thrones’. And not only because that’s a universal law of storytelling (the inciting incident promises the ending) but it’s exactly what George R.R. Martin has confirmed. 

So what can we infer about Tyrion’s ending from his beginning?

Here is where we find Tyrion at the end of season 1 of GOT and in his last POV in the first book of ASOIAF [all emphases mine]:

In the wake of Jaime’s kidnapping, Tywin has just told Tyrion he’s sending him to King’s Landing. 

“It was the last thing Tyrion Lannister would ever have anticipated. He reached for his wine, and considered for a moment as he sipped. ‘And what am I to do there?’

‘Rule,’ his father said curtly.

Tyrion hooted with laughter. ‘My sweet sister might have a word or two to say about that!’

That part about Cersei seems more pertinent now that we’re heading into Season 8 of Game of Thrones and she’s a prominent villain. She’s at least a major obstacle in Tyrion’s current story line (and, in fact, always has been). 

But more importantly is his father’s command to rule. Tyrion Lannister is groomed for rulership throughout his story, and this will probably be his destiny: whether that come in the capacity of being king or some other kind of leader. Perhaps there won’t even be an Iron Throne at the end of all of this, but Tyrion, worldly and well-traveled and ruthless and empathetic as he is, could be a spearhead for a new political system. Perhaps the Magna Carta of Westeros is coming? 

Let’s hark back to Tyrion’s inciting incident. He was going to await the king’s justice. What if the king’s justice turns out to be Tyrion’s justice? And Tyrion, after being held accountable all his life for things he had not done wrong (though not being punished for the things he has done wrong–after all, he’s no saint), will find his justice by a king, someway-somehow. Either with Tyrion as said King, or by being Hand to just such a King, or even, tragically, by finally facing a justice he cannot escape–at the hands of a king. (Or Queen). 

Tyrion’s arc will end when he is finally taken off trial. He thought he’d finally made it when he was free of his father’s (physical) shadow and when he found full acceptance (he thought) with Daenerys. But here’s where Tyrion’s theme of divided loyalties comes into play. He’s been struggling with finding where he stands throughout his storyline. Even when he was advising for Dany, he was still hoping that Cersei had the capacity for change. I think what he loved most about Cersei was her motherly instincts, her children (sans Joffrey). And he probably does feel guilt over Myrcella’s death. So Tyrion is seeking justice; he wants Cersei’s baby to live because he loves him/her instinctually, because it “atones” for the other children, because blood runs thicker than water, because he won’t be the reason the Lannister name is snuffed out. 

“…To return to Winterfell and await the king’s justice.”

In Season 8, Tyrion does return to Winterfell. If there were a third trial (orchestrated perhaps by Daenerys or by Cersei), it would probably take place at King’s Landing or the Dragon Pit, but there’s still the fact that Tyrion’s story is inextricably linked with Winterfell. 

He is particularly bound up in the stories of Bran, Sansa, and Jon. And in a series inspired by the War of the Roses, he could be the link that brings the Lannisters (Lancasters) and Starks (Yorks) to true peace. To finally establish justice and resolve the conflict that started this whole saga. 

Tyrion has been denounced in two trials and made to suffer consequences to his agency and reputation, despite the deception at play. His agency and reputation still need restoring. He still has neither of these things with Daenerys. 

He needs to emerge victorious from a third trial. Whether that third trial is literal or metaphorical.  It’s very possible that Tyrion will finally stand trial for a murder he is guilty of: Cersei could put him on trial for the murder of Tywin Lannister, and Tyrion will have to face the spiritual shadow of his father and the reality of his guilt once and for all. 

This third trial will establish Tyrion’s character; it will close his arc. Whether he dies physically or not, he will be spiritually enlightened/restored. 

And I’d have to agree with Peter Dinklage–that would be a really beautiful end for Tyrion Lannister, however it plays out. 

(Please share your thoughts as I am OBSESSED with Tyrion theories). 

(Next Up: Sansa Stark). 

[kellyvela]

THE STARKS ARE THE HEART

Everything started with THE STARKS:

RS: You've talked before about the original glimpse of the story you had for what became A Song of Ice and Fire: a spontaneous vision in your mind of a boy witnessing a beheading, then finding direwolves in the snow. That's an interesting genesis.

GRRM: It was the summer of 1991. I was still involved in Hollywood. My agent was trying to get me meetings to pitch my ideas, but I didn't have anything to do in May and June. It had been years since I wrote a novel. I had an idea for a science-fiction novel called Avalon. I started work on it and it was going pretty good, when suddenly it just came to me, this scene, from what would ultimately be the first chapter of A Game of Thrones. It's from Bran's viewpoint; they see a man beheaded and they find some direwolf pups in the snow. It just came to me so strongly and vividly that I knew I had to write it. I sat down to write, and in, like, three days it just came right out of me, almost in the form you've read.

—Rolling Stone 2014

But what about the dragons?

Meduza: The world of “Game of Thrones” is very convincing and very realistic, so why did you decide to bring magic into this world? Did it need walking corpses and dragons? What prompted you, as the writer, to introduce magical elements?

GRRM: I did consider in the very early stages not having the dragons in there. I wanted the Targaryen’s symbol to be the dragons, but I did play with the notion that maybe it was like a psionic power, that it was pyrokinesis — that they could conjure up flames with their minds. I went back and forth. My friend and fellow fantasy writer Phyllis Eisenstein actually was the one who convinced me to put the dragons in, and I dedicated the third book to her. And I think it was the right call. Phyllis, by the way, is distantly related to your Eisenstein, the maker of the great Russian films, “Battleship Potemkin” and “Alexander Nevsky.”

—Meduza 2017

THE STARKS are the center of the story:

Collider: In creating this world, did you start out with one family and then branch off into the rest of the world?

GRRM: Well, the Starks are certainly the center of the story, when it begins. It all begins at Winterfell, with occasional cuts to Daenerys across the ocean, because there was no way I could get her into Winterfell. But, we bring all the characters together at Winterfell, and they’re all there for a while before they start to go their separate ways. By the time you’re done with the first book, pretty much all of them have gone their separate ways. There are no two characters together anymore. From that point forward, the story spreads and grows progressively larger. I also introduce more characters, players and factions, in later books, to thicken the plot a little more. But, the Starks are the center of the book and, to a lesser extent, the Lannisters. They are still the major players. I write from this tight third-person viewpoint, where each chapter is seen through the eyes of one individual character. When I’m writing that character, I become that character and identify with that character. So, when I’m writing a Tyrion chapter, I’m in love with Tyrion. And then, when I switch to Jon Snow, I’m in love with him. Same with Daenerys. Even the characters who are perhaps not the nicest people in the world, and who are deeply flawed and might even be considered villains, if I am writing from their viewpoint, I have to identify with them. Nobody is a villain in their own story. We’re all the heroes of our own stories. So, when I am inside the head of a character who would otherwise be considered a villain, I have a great deal of affection for that character and I’m trying to see the world and the events through their eyes.

—Collider 2011

THE STARKS were always at the heart of this, always very central:

Collider: When you went into this, did you intentionally take the children, put them in an adult setting and force them to be in very adult and complex situations?

GRRM: Yeah, the children were always at the heart of this. The Stark children, in particular, were always very central. Bran is the first viewpoint character that we meet, and then we meet Jon and Sansa and Arya and the rest of them. It was always my intention to do that. As for the harshness, the whole series is harsh. My inspiration have grown, not only from Tolkien, but also from history and historical fiction. I tried to blend some of the tropes and traditions of fantasy with those of historical fiction, while doing this. If you read about the real Middle Ages, as I do all the time, it was a brutal time for everybody – for men, women and children. Children weren’t sentimentalized, the way they are today. They were frequently made to work, from a very early age. They were taken into battle. Boys become pages and then squires. You’re riding into battle with your knight, as a 12-year-old squire, but you’re there, and people are hacking at you with swords and shooting at you with arrows. You’re not at home, being protected. It was a different age with a different mind-set. I did want to reflect that.

—Collider 2011

But what about Jon and Dany?

RS: Given the complexity of A Song of Ice and Fire, did you have concerns over how faithfully it could work onscreen? 

GRRM: (...) Some people I met thought we have to find the story’s through line. Who’s the important character? Somebody thought that Dany’s the important character – cut away everybody else, tell the story of Dany. Or Jon Snow. Those were the two most popular characters to build everything around, except you’re losing 90 percent of the story.

—Rollingstone 2014

Time: It must have been a leap to allow this adaptation to happen, knowing it could never be as internal as a novel could.

GRRM: (...) I had a number of meetings long before David and Dan, with people who said this is the next Lord of the Rings franchise. But they couldn’t get a handle on the size of the material, the very thing that I set out to do. I had all these meetings saying, “There’s too many characters, it’s too big — Jon Snow is the central character. We’ll eliminate all the other characters and we’ll make it about Jon Snow.” Or “Daenerys is the central character. We’ll eliminate everyone else and make the movie about Daenerys.” And I turned down all those deals.

—Time Magazine 2017

THE STARKS are the heroes:

SI: What about the families: Are the Starks, say, the Green Bay Packers? 

GRRM: Whenever I propose analogies like that, fans jump in with their own ideas, but it depends on what team you root for. To me, the Starks are heroes, so they would be the Giants.

—Sports Illustrated - 2014

But what about the Targaryens? Isn't Dany the hero?

Question: Why do you think the political institutions in the Seven Kingdoms are so weak? 

GRRM: The Kingdom was unified with dragons, so the Targaryen's flaw was to create an absolute monarchy highly dependent on them, with the small council not designed to be a real check and balance. So, without dragons it took a sneeze, a wildly incompetent and megalomaniac king, a love struck prince, a brutal civil war, a dissolute king that didn't really know what to do with the throne and then chaos. 

—Fan Chat in Guadalajara, México 2016

Vulture: When civilizations clash in your books, instead of Guns, Germs, and Steel, maybe it’s more like Dragons, Magic, and Steel (and also Germs).

GRRM: There is magic in my universe, but it’s pretty low magic compared to other fantasies.

Dragons are the nuclear deterrent, and only Dany has them, which in some ways makes her the most powerful person in the world. But is that sufficient? These are the kind of issues I’m trying to explore. The United States right now has the ability to destroy the world with our nuclear arsenal, but that doesn’t mean we can achieve specific geopolitical goals.

Power is more subtle than that. You can have the power to destroy, but it doesn’t give you the power to reform, or improve, or build.

—Vulture 2014

THE STARKS are a huge part of the story, the central part:

The kids [Sansa, Arya, and Bran] are a huge part of the story, in many ways the central part of the story. And I always intended to separate them and set them on their own paths.

—GRRM, Inside HBO’s Game of Thrones: Seasons 1 & 2 - [x] 

(...) And no, before someone asks, I had no idea when this all started where it would lead... or how long the road would be. That picture of me up above was taken in 1995 in Scotland, after I'd signed the contracts for the first three books but before I'd delivered any of them. Back then, I'd thought the whole story could be told in three books, and that it would take me three years to write them, a year per book. That picture was taken just a few weeks after I blew my first (bot not my last, oh no) deadline on the series. Ah, how innocent I was... little did that guy in the picture imagine that he would be spending most of the next two decades in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros with Tyrion, Daenerys, Arya, Sansa, Jon Snow, Bran, and all the rest.

—Not A Blog 2016

But Sansa is not part of the “five central characters” in the original outline

(...) George said he was "pissed" that the outline was posted in the office building and that someone took photos and shared them. He said it was a letter for him and the publisher only. He was very firm when telling this and it showed on his face.

He then said that he is not good with writing outlines, making book deadlines, and that often in outlines he was "making shit up", and "characters changed along the way".

—Balticon Report 2016

—Not A Blog 2011

[foppish-crow]

How to create a fantasy name (I am not sober and sleep/food deprived, it's easier to find stuff on tumblr than in my actual notes):

For monsters just use a gory word, any word used to reffer to an animal, and a location that sounds vaguely European. "bloody hound of Steincrust", "Arsmounth's faceless serpent", "New York's ugliest dude".

Than you need the guy who takes care of him, I am very much agienst subtlety so you need a word that reffers to their profession, the method they get rid of the monster, and something identifiable about our little guy (their name is find but boring). "Astora's most vengeful knight" is good enough but "Locksmithimg Locksmith who Locksmiths" is the stuff GRRM jack's off to.

And you need a Kojima character. A Kojima character is a character with little personality to the point where the fans are more responsible for making him a real character, must have very heavy handed gay subtext which is where the Kojima part comes in. You also need a Kojima name, there are many ways of doing it: take something you like and just remove a word and add one Kojima used to name one of his characters, needs gay subtext eg "king gizzard and the lizard wizard" -> "King big man and the deepthroat wizard". These two will be helpful guides for our Locksmith. You could also just make it sound like an AI anutogenerated FurAfinity account name, "mother bear" "slimy eel" "lustful owl" etc. This is the barbarian friend that will assist out hero on his quest and a childhood friend.

You mustn't forget the character the author put there for wish fulfilment. The difference between this one and the previous one is that not one will care enough about this character go give them a personality, both the fantom and the author. This one is very simple as all you have to do is stop caring in the slightest. Use the real name of your crush from years ago over whom you still haven't gotten over: "Kurtt Kobain", you could also just type random letters that just kind of feel like a fantasy name: "Amethyeth Quesliv". She (this character has a 95% percent of being a women for SOME mysterious reason) will also need to have a title, like previously just make shit up: High Priestesses Kurtt.

Shit I forgot about the plot, but that's usually the easiest part. You need to remember the only 5 scenes that exist in fantasy: "boring men ponder", "battle and magic stuff I always skip", "tavern", "retelling what you remember from the hex-crawl that was the last week's DnD session", "things you made up about the world on the spot and will try to pretend like they were a part of your cohesive world from the moment you sat down to write your novel 12 years ago". There is also the mood your scene will have: "boring", "gay", "whimsical but failing at it", "look how actually heterosexual I am... *does mood 2*", and that's it, there is nothing more.

But you need structure to put it in, I hear of a three act structure so I'll try that (I cannot read so I'll just have to guess how to do it). Act 1: introduce your characters, only one gay scene is allowed here, and you need something to start the story after about 200 pages of the characters fucking about. Act 2: characters try and fail, they should also basically give up but in a way where you can very easily just undo it in 15 minutes of writing, magic stuff goes here. Act 3: this is where the battle scenes are, you should also kill off any characters you based off your friends here, they'll will surly appreciate it after the 12 years of me not talking to them writing this book. Act 4: syke bitch there are still 100 pages left, this is where you put all the world building and happy ending you can think of because the agency needs the book to not end with an orgy >:(

Now you take out some dice and assign 2-5 scenes per act, and roll some more to assign some moods to the scenes.

You have a story and characters, but you forgot about writing stuff. You need to know how to write 3 things: exposition, battle scenes, and character interaction. Exposition is easy: just keep pressing g the middle button on your phone's keyboard and than do the only editing you will ever to of your book

Eg. "Old Town and the lizard of the dark night at the Royal Palace of Manchester Steincrust are now looking for anyone with the thinnest skills of all kinds. They have boobs. They have been very active with their Witchery series of videos but they have not seen any results yet. "

And bam, one word had to be edited but besides that you have a paragraph in 2 minutes people will skip rather than a paragraph in 2 hours people will skip.

Battle scenes work by the "Yes and" rule, keep yes-and-ing the shit out of your prose, yes I do teach at the yale institute of literature, no you can't come to my lectures. This is the part where you let out all your childhood games of pretend be the only thing you can even remember for your inspiration, that's bad because you should also rip off anime.

Character interaction is the only thing that requires effort, assuming you are not going to copy and paste stuff from FanFiction.net agien. You could also look up "fantom jokes" and fill in the blacks, eg:

"Locksmith: I think a ghost of an owl might have possessed one of us!

Deepthroat wizard: Who?

*everyone looks at Deepthroat in shock*"

But you can do that only so many times before you can't justify using the same joke for the 6th time. In these cases just point out a common fantasy trope in a vague attempted at being introspective about your work.

And now you can write 95% of you book, the only thing left is the acceptance speech for your Nobel in literature, I'll leave that one up to you as you should have now have enough experience to do it yourself.

Syke bithc this wasn't written by me at all and was infact copied from the English textbook that Jorkien Rolkien Rolkien Tolkien studied before he wrote the bibble.

[beyondmistland]

My Thoughts on The Sons of the Dragon

I never thought I'd be saying this but overall I was disappointed with TSOTD despite the new material. While some parts of it were quite good by and large the majority of the text felt underwhelming to me, particularly because what we got in Book of Swords is an unedited first draft. As a result, there are typos, plot holes, issues with dates as well as lineage (seriously the Hightower family tree is a mess) and name changes (I much prefer Robar over Rogar personally).

Aegon I  The use of slander is highly uneven. IMHO it would be better to either remove it entirely or use it to the fullest extent and make Maegor's historiography genuinely convoluted. To use one example: Why is the episode with the cat at the age of three most likely slander when the incident with the horse and stable boy at the age of eight is treated as fact?

 There was barely any mention of Aenys's possible bastardy and absolutely no mention of Maegor's possibly magical conception. That sucks.

 It's interesting that some people thought Maegor came before his niece in the succession and others after her. A hint at different succession laws prior to the reign of Jaehaerys I?

 So on top of the Faith having an army and an independent court system it had tax exemptions? Cool. That brings it much closer to the RL medieval Catholic Church in terms of wealth and worldly power.

 One god with seven faces! Hah! The High Spider's work endures @racefortheironthrone!

 There's no mention of who Alyssa Velaryon's Targaryen mother was. Darn.

Aenys I  What happened to Ronnel Arryn's wife and did they ever have any children?  I wonder what the lands, offices, and honors Aenys and Maegor bestowed upon their favorites consisted of? After all the Crownlands are pretty paltry size-wise.

 I am still sore about the fact that there wasn't a Dornish War between 37-39 AC. The setup was perfect for one. Maegor as Hand attacking Dorne in revenge for the Vulture King after convincing dreamy Aenys of how glorious it would be for the sons of the Conqueror to complete his life's work by bringing Dorne under the aegis of the Iron Throne only for Aenys to suddenly call it off on a whim or because of a peace offer from Deria reminding him both that his mother died fighting them and that they had feasted together as friends not too long ago. At the very least we should have gotten some details about the relationship between Aenys and Maegor, especially in light of the fact that Maegor served as Hand for two years during which time the realm was at peace somehow.

 Why were Aegon and Rhaena besieged in Crakehall Castle by the Poor Fellows when they had Dreamfyre with them? Honestly, the best solution IMO to the whole Westerlands conundrum would be for the Poor Fellows to launch a night attack while Aegon/Rhaena are on their progress, resulting in the death of Aegon's original dragon and a wounded Dreamfyre fleeing. (Btw, I did NOT come up with this idea just to be clear.)

 There's no mention of Visenya having poisoned Aenys possibly. Did GRRM write material on Aenys and Maegor for TWOIAF that didn't make it into TSOTD?

 I really hope we get Maegor's eulogy for his father and Alyssa's dirge for her husband in Fire & Blood: Volume 1 because that would be so cool.

 Did anyone else get the feeling that if Aenys had been king in a time of peace after Targaryen authority had been cemented he might not have done too bad?

Maegor I  Dick Bean and Bernarr Brune were one of the few heartwarming scenes in the whole story even if it is a case of good men in service to a bad cause.

 Why would Maegor pick a super-fat knight (Ser Guy (the Glutton) Lothston) for one his champions during the Trial by Seven?

 I wonder what the scriptures of the Faith have to say about a holy man bearing arms given Ser Garibald of the Seven Stars as well as what is its stance on suicide because it doesn't appear to be a major sin unlike in RL.

 I wonder where Blackhull is located (probably the Crownlands if I had to guess) and whether it is a town or castle (personally my money is on the former).

 We got a good Bracken and a brave Frey for once! Yay! (Now all we need is a nice Florent and a decent Peake. You can do it GRRM!)

 Why is there no mention of Maegor possibly being changed by his head injury and coma a la Baelor I? Apart from the episode with the cat and horse Maegor seems much more in control of himself and sympathetic compared to after his Trial by Seven. The dude fought pirates and robber knights on top of winning tourneys and melees for crying out loud!

 Where exactly is the Great Fork of the Blackwater located?

 Why don't we hear anything about tension in the Faith while Dorne was independent and why don't we hear anything about Dornish smallfolk joining the Poor Fellows on the march?

 Apart from Stonebridge and the Great Fork we don't get any other pitched battles, which is super disappointing to me, as is the fact that somehow the Stormlands and Vale both sit out the entire conflict. The latter has an entire chapterhouse at Gulltown! Seriously, what the hell were they doing all that time?

 Given that the chapter of the Warrior's Sons stationed at King's Landing numbered 700 and the chapter at Stoney Sept 200 I think it is safe to say that the Faith Militant is a lot smaller than I originally thought.

 Grand Maester Myres was a stupid rehash of Grand Maester Gawen who should seriously have been given a different death or replaced with Hareth.

 Why are female characters like Poxy Jeyne and Patrice Hightower called witches for almost no given reason? Seriously, the misogyny in TSOTD is kind of OTT. On the other hand it was nice to learn that witchcraft and heresy are sins in the eyes of the Faith.

 The buildup to Maegor's attack on Oldtown was awesome.

 Maegor's character as king is really inconsistent. Sometimes he's completely crazy and at other points remarkably reasonable. (Allowing the Warrior's Sons of Oldtown to take the black, latter allowing Poxy Jeyne's Poor Fellows to take the black too, giving the Faith Militant half a year to surrender after taking Oldtown, only moving against his nephew Aegon after the latter directly challenged him, reconciling with Ceryse, initially refusing to believe that Alys had been unfaithful, and not wiping out whole families after the Battle Beneath the God's Eye.)

 Is it just me or does Maegor outlaw the Faith Militant three times?

 I wonder what are a wedded wife and queen's traditional rights, incomes, and privileges. Also, why don't we ever hear of any queens exercising these powers?

 Why didn't Prince Aegon and Prince Viserys have their own dragons when their older and younger siblings all did?

 How the hell did Quicksilver get to the Westerlands all the way from Dragonstone? (One explanation a fan came up with that I really like is that either a Velaryon Kingsguard or a bastard son of Aenys named Aemon bonded with Quicksilver and took her to the Westerlands, where he died defending his trueborn kin, thus allowing Prince Aegon to claim his father's dragon for himself.)

 Regarding the Battle Beneath the Gods Eye: What is up with GRRM's obsession for a hundred casualties? Also, Prince Aegon was an idiot. One does NOT simply fly into the jaws of Balerion.

 Furthermore, why the hell is a bastard from Barrowton fighting for Prince Aegon? Wouldn't a Manderly make more sense? (On that note I must confess that I was really hoping for Maegor to have made a Bolton a member of his Kingsguard. Oh well...)

 It's interesting that Maegor didn't like being called "the Cruel" or "kinslayer". Almost as though he actually had a conscience. Heh.

 The fall of House Harroway is brutal. Seriously, GRRM has one bloody imagination.

 So belief in the curse of Harrenhal started with the Harroways. Neat.

 Maegor decreed that Harrenhal should go to the strongest of his men because he grew fed up with people asking him for it. Hah.

 Apart from the Harroways Maegor doesn't exterminate any other houses the way TWOIAF says he did, which is weird.

 Poxy Jeyne was pretty cool for an 8-bit character. On the other hand that makes the other characters' lack of depth stand out even more. Who are you Ragged Silas? Who are you Dennis the Lame? I don't know.

 More child-brides in the form of Lord Celtigar's thirteen and twelve year-old maiden daughters. Ugh. Why GRRM? Why do you keep doing this when you insist the opposite is true? Especially in this case there is no excuse for making them this young given that we know literally nothing else about them.

 I swear Jeyne Westerlings are cursed. Elinor Costayne on the other hand is one fiery woman.

 Given the way Tyanna's death is presented she might actually have poisoned Maegor's other wives! On the other hand, prior to Tyanna he never even conceived a child to begin with.

 Apparently Houses Darklyn, Massey, Towers, Staunton, Bar Emmon, Buckwell, Rosby, Stokeworth, Hayford, Harte, Byrch, Rollingford, Bywater, and Mallery all together barely command 3600 men and 400 knights, which is weird. If the Masseys are that weak despite ruling a whole damn peninsula how the hell did they give the Storm Kings so much trouble before the conquest?

 Maegor at the end of his reign doesn't appear at all to be broken or depressed the way he is described to be in TWOIAF, which makes the whole possibility of him having committed suicide after descending into madness much weaker, which is very weird because his reaction to Alys's stillbirth sets up what happens with Jeyne Westerling and Elinor Costayne very well without any actual payoff.

 How were Vermithor and Silverwing able to hide in Storm's End when Rhaena couldn't hide Dreamfyre in the Westerlands?

 On that note, how the hell were Jaehaerys and Alysanne able to hide in Maegor's backyard at Storm's End when Tyanna found Rhaena's twin daughters halfway across the continent?

 How is Vermithor the oldest and biggest dragon if Dreamfyre was being ridden by Rhaena since she was twelve?

 How in the hell did Lord Robar think Vermithor and Silverwing would be enough to challenge Balerion the Black Dread?

 Maegor ruled for six years and sixty-six days. That's almost as funny as one of his champions during the Trial by Seven being Lord Lucifer Massey.

 Jaehaerys I ascended on the eve of a possible Dornish invasion, which might help fix the whole Dornish Wars conundrum TWOIAF gave us and provide GRRM an opportunity to heavily feature the Stormlands. Cool!

 Why was the Faith's independent courts enough of a big deal for Jaehaerys I to deal with the issue when it never came up during the reigns of either Aenys or Maegor?

 We have possibly three new houses: Poore, Bush, and Whistler. Great?

 I was really hoping for more members of the Kingsguard to show up and whatever happened to Ser Raymont Baratheon after he saved Aenys's life?

 Even though it's been two whole days since I read the text I still can't get out of my head the image of a depressed Maegor sitting atop the Iron Throne with the head of Grand Maester Desmond in his hands.