#mother reviews

[schumipng]

My mother’s rating of the current F1 grid: Part 1

Side notes before starting: I’ll be paraphrasing a lot on the comments, but it has the general idea. I did take notes when we were talking!

Some of her comments will be translated by me since she speaks Tagalog and my Tagalog is a little.. eh. I’ll try to be as accurate as possible though!

My comments will be Pink and hers will be Bold White

─────────────────

Charles Leclerc:

Mother’s official rating: 7/10

Comments:

“Looks like he hasn’t ate yet.”

“Are you calling him skinny??”

“Yes. And he looks like he’s sad on the inside.”

Euvi side comments: I personally disagree with an atrocious 7/10 for Charles. If only i showed her a picture of him shirtless.. 🤔

─────────────────

Logan Sargeant:

Mother’s official rating: 9/10

Comments:

“Very handsome. Looks like prince charming from Cinderella.”

“So why a 9/10 for Logan?”

“Cause i saw that he crashes a lot.”

“What?? You said that you don’t even like the sport!”

“I have eyes Euvi.” refuses to elaborate further.

Euvi side comments: No comment from this one for me.

────────────────────────

George Russell:

Mother’s official rating: 7/10

comments:

“He looks like the other guy!” referring to Charles

“What? No! They’re different people.”

“No way! Why do they all look the same?”

“Cause they’re European!”

Euvi side comments: Yeah, i don’t really know what went in my mind when i said that.. 😅

────────────────────────

Lando Norris:

Mother’s official rating: 8/10

comments:

“Look at his eyes!”

“They’re nice aren’t they? So why do you like him?”

“Cause he has a cleft chin!”

Euvi side comments: So i did some research and apparently a clef chin is someone that has a dimple on someone’s chin and i’ve never noticed that on Lando before 😭

────────────────────────

Sergio “Checo” Perez:

Mother’s official rating: 10/10

“Now this one i like!”

“Oh?? Why?”

“He looks like Tom Cruise!”

Euvi side comments: Now that my mother pointed that out, i can’t stop seeing it. Out of all the people i showed her, she (obviously) gave out a 10/10 for someone who resembles her, quite frankly, crush since she was a teenager.

────────────────────────

Some quick notes: I plan to do this for the current gird aaaaand maybe some of the older grid too, so leave some suggestions of other drivers that i should show her! Since her work is demanding, i’ll probably post the next part next week or so when she’s free. :))

📸: All pictures are from Pinterest!

[manny-jacinto]

PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH (2022) + LETTERBOXD REVIEWS

[valar-did-me-wrong]

My mother starting Rings of Power as a new Tolkien viewer-

Galadriel: THE Lady

Elrond: her Prince boyfriend (elrondriels you are winning)

Gil galad: "I've seen someone wear that dress in _____'s wedding"

Harfoots: kids, all of them

Stranger: grilled chicken man

Halbrand: the titanic guy

Arondir: Shahrukh Khan

(I want you all to know that's the BIGGEST PRAISE you can get for romantic acting here)

Bronwyn: "she can become a Bollywood heroine anyday"

Theo: "he's got your hair from 1st standard" (🙈)

Durin: royal dwarf

Disa: "gold suits her, she'll look so pretty in our jewellery!"

(long winding discussion on how Disa needs more hair jewellery, definitely a maangtika)

[thegoatsongs]

"The climactic fight is described by Mina, while the domestic ending about their son is described by Jonathan."

!!!!! Now that is fascinating

Right? There's so much about it! Jonathan heads to work at the start but also has his mind back home, jotting down recipes for his fiancee (while she's talking about honing her skills -even if it is "to be useful" we know how much she likes it- and about travel and her job) and then while safe at home he talks about family, child, marriage (and noting "happily", important to him), and notes down how gallant Mina is.

[askmovieslate]

Yes.

Yes movie, I get it.

I get it, you pompous, insufferable, full-of-yourself, stupid movie.

I got it after the first ten minutes but somehow you kept going for another hour and forty minutes.

This movie made me feel like I was committing crimes against humanity, I swear.

[animereviewsxx]

Happy Mother's day Lady Gyokuyou!!!

She's my favorite apothecary diaries character. Love a sweet mother to all.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Just a few years ago, maternal mortality was the rare reproductive justice issue that seemed to transcend partisan politics. In late 2018, Republicans and Democrats in Congress even came together to approve $60 million for state maternal mortality review committees (MMRCs) to study why so many American women die from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. Donald Trump—not exactly famous for his respect toward pregnant women and new mothers in his personal life—signed the bill.

But some Republicans’ enthusiasm for these committees began to wane at around the same time abortion rights advocates began warning that draconian restrictions on reproductive care would only push the shamefully high US maternal mortality rate—the worst among affluent countries—even higher. Nor did conservatives, like Idaho lawmakers, appreciate the policy recommendations that came out of many MMRCs.

Texas, whose record on maternal mortality (and maternal health more broadly) has been an embarrassment since long before Dobbs, has a history of controversial attempts to play down potentially unwelcome findings from its MMRC. After the Dobbs decision, when the state committee was working on its report examining maternal deaths in 2019, Texas officials decided to slow-roll its release until mid-2023—too late for lawmakers to act on its recommendations. “When we bury data, we are dishonorably burying each and every woman that we lost,” one furious committee member told the Texas Tribune. Ultimately, officials released the report three months late, in December 2022. Soon afterward, the Legislature reconfigured the MMRC, increasing its size—but also ejected one of its most outspoken members.

Now Texas officials have stirred up the biggest furor yet, appointing a leading anti-abortion activist to the panel. Dr. Ingrid Skop, an OB-GYN who practiced in San Antonio for 25 years, will join the MMRC as a community member representing rural areas (even though she is from the seventh-largest city in the US). But she also represents a largely overlooked segment of the anti-abortion movement: researchers who seek to discredit the idea that abortion restrictions are putting women’s lives in danger. To the contrary, Skop and her allies argue that abortions are the real, hidden cause of many maternal deaths—and that abortion restrictions actually save mothers’ lives.

One of several doctors suing to revoke the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, the medication abortion drug at the center of one of this term’s blockbuster Supreme Court cases, Skop has been a familiar face on the anti-abortion expert-witness circuit for more than a decade. She has frequently testified in favor of strict abortion bans in court cases, state legislatures, and before Congress. In a high-profile case this winter, she submitted an affidavit stating that a Dallas woman named Kate Cox— who was seeking a judge’s permission to terminate a nonviable pregnancy—did not qualify for an abortion under Texas’s medical exception. The Texas Supreme Court rejected Cox’s petition, and to get medical care, the 31-year-old mother of two had to flee the state. Apparently, Skop’s hard-line stance against abortion-ban exemptions extends to children. At a 2021 congressional hearing, she testified that rape or incest victims as young as 9 or 10 could potentially carry pregnancies to term. “If she is developed enough to be menstruating and become pregnant, and reached sexual maturity,” Skop said, “she can safely give birth to a baby.”

Skop’s relatively new role as vice president and director of medical affairs for the Charlotte Lozier Institute, the research arm of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, has solidified her standing in the anti-abortion firmament. Lozier, which has positioned itself as the anti-abortion alternative to the Guttmacher Institute, described Skop’s role as “coordinat[ing] the work of Lozier’s network of physicians and medical researchers who counter the abortion industry’s blizzard of misinformation with science and statistics for life.” Elsewhere on its website, Lozier notes that Skop’s “research on maternal mortality, abortion, and women’s health has been published in multiple peer-reviewed journals.”

What her Lozier bio doesn’t mention is that three of the studies Skop co-authored about the purported risks of abortion were retracted by their publisher this February. Attorneys representing Skop and her fellow anti-abortion doctors had cited the studies in the FDA-mifepristone case. As my colleague Madison Pauly reported, an independent review of the papers found “fundamental problems,” “incorrect factual assumptions,” “material errors,” “misleading presentations,” and undisclosed conflicts of interest between the studies’ authors (including Skop) and anti-abortion advocacy groups (including Lozier). In a rebuttal on its website, Lozier called the publisher’s move “meritless,” adding, “There is no legitimate reason for [the] retractions.”

Skop’s work on maternal mortality hasn’t received the same attention as those papers—yet. But her reflections on maternal deaths in the US have raised plenty of eyebrows.

Skop has argued repeatedly that abortions are directly and indirectly behind the rise in maternal mortality in the US. In a 53-page “Handbook of Maternal Mortality” she wrote for Lozier last year, she says that CDC maternal mortality data can’t be trusted in part because “there is much unreported maternal mortality and morbidity associated with legal, induced abortion, often obscured due to the political nature of the issue.” She claims that a history of abortions puts women at risk in pregnancy, childbirth, or during the postpartum period—whether from maternal complications she contends are linked to prior abortions, or from mental health problems, such as drug addiction and suicide, purportedly caused by abortion regret.

In another paper co-written with some of the same co-authors as in her retracted studies, Skop and her colleagues call for an overhaul of how states and the CDC collect maternal mortality data, urging the inclusion of “mandatory certification of all fetal losses,” including abortions.

And whereas the vast majority of public health experts predict that maternal deaths and near-deaths will increase in states with abortion bans, Skop takes the opposite view. In yet another Lozier paper, she lists 12 reasons why states with abortion bans will have fewer maternal deaths. For instance, she argues, because of abortion restrictions, women will have fewer later-term abortions, which tend to be more dangerous to women than first-trimester procedures. (In fact, researchers report, that state bans have led to an increase in second-trimester abortions.) She claims that since women who don’t have abortions won’t have mental health problems supposedly associated with pregnancy loss, their alleged risk of postpartum suicide would be reduced. (In fact, the idea that abortion regret is widespread and dangerous has been thoroughly debunked.) Skop makes a similar argument about abortion’s purported (and disproven) link to breast cancer, arguing that fewer abortions will mean fewer women dying of malignant tumors.

Much of Skop’s advocacy work has been done in collaboration with colleagues who share her strong ideological views. MMRCs, by contrast, have a public health role that is supposed to transcend politics—their focus is on analyzing the deaths of expectant and new mothers that occur within a year of the end of the pregnancy. Typically, committee members come from a wide range of professional backgrounds: In Texas, these include OB-GYNs, high-risk pregnancy specialists, nurses, mental health providers, public health researchers, and community advocates. Panels also aim to be racially and geographically diverse, the better to understand the communities—Black, Indigenous, rural, poor—where mothers are at disproportionate risk of dying. In a country that hasn’t prioritized maternal health, MMRCs are uniquely positioned to identify system failures and guide policy changes that can save lives.

Texas’s most recent maternal mortality report found that 90% of maternal deaths were preventable, racial disparities in maternal outcomes weren’t improving, and severe childbirth complications were up 23%—all before the state’s abortion bans took effect.

It remains to be seen how someone with Skop’s background and agenda will fit in with her new colleagues, especially at this dire moment for women in the state. Maternal health advocates aren’t optimistic: “This appointment speaks volumes about how seriously certain state leaders are taking the issue of maternal mortality,” Kamyon Conner, executive director of the Texas Equal Access Fund, told The Guardian. “It is another sign that the state is more interested in furthering their anti-abortion agenda than protecting the lives of pregnant Texans.”

Skop, contacted through Lozier, didn’t respond to a request for comment. In a statement to the Texas Tribune, Skop said she was joining the Texas MMRC because questions about maternal mortality data deserve “rigorous discourse.” “There are complex reasons for these statistics, including chronic illnesses, poverty, and difficulty obtaining prenatal care, and I have long been motivated to identify ways women’s care can be improved,” she said. “For over 30 years, I have advocated for both of my patients, a pregnant woman and her unborn child, and excellent medicine shouldn’t require I pit one against the other.”

Meanwhile, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists criticized Skop’s appointment, asserting that members of any maternal mortality review committee should be “unbiased, free of conflicts of interest and focused on the appropriate standards of care.”

“The importance of the work done by MMRCs to inform how we respond to the maternal mortality crisis cannot be overstated,” the group said in a statement. “It is crucial that MMRC members be clinical experts whose work is informed by data, not ideology and bias.”

[tea-tuesday]

london stationery haul for my stationery freaks !!! i went a little crazy with stationery on this trip but to my defense, it was all funded by my state tax return hehe... these are the various things i got, which i linked:

yellow hard shell charger case from London Graphic Centre

special edition totebag from London Review of Books

gallimard journal from Choosing Keeping

brass hand clip from Choosing Keeping (honestly my fave purchase on this trip !!)

vintage bus blind journal from Choosing Keeping

kaweco perkeo fountain pen and inks from Present & Correct

grid flatlay book from Present & Correct

the epicurean notebook from Magma London

i also visited Smythson of Bond Street and Mount Street Printers but they were out of my budget. beautiful places to get luxury stationery goods!

[beanmochiii]

halOPE

[lesbianchemicalplant]

I love how many communists (and I mean organized communists not just people online) are socially conservative on the family, gay people, trans people, sex and sexuality, abortion, etc. I hope you die I hope we both die

[getted]

[space-blue]

Some final thoughts on the Acolyte.

I still think the show is flawed in its craft, but not in its core story!

I found it enjoyable, but some weeks had episodes that were weak and felt paded towards a fabricated cliff-hanger instead of a proper advancement of the story.

And in my opinion, it's most likely Disney's fault for not trusting them with more time and more budget. This show should have been longer and have more consistant, character driven story. Maybe an extra episode, definitely closer to 45-1h episodes instead of the 30min rush that some where.

In particular, the Witches and the nature of their relationships with the Jedi was left so undercooked, it was hard for me to get invested in the development of their story. It's hard to sit through scenes where kids "say stuff" that's basically lore dumps unsupported by the world. Then I have to write my own fanfiction in my head to explain away what the witches were doing and why the Jedi disapprove.

It's especially criminal because they have the PERFECT set up for this, in the form of this little buddy :

He's a *padawan* who finds his mission BORING. The discovery of a local coven should be an exciting development. And it's the perfect opportunity for his master to educate him, and through him us, about witches and why they are just a concern.

If the show had time, we would get to build up on Torbin, instead of him needing to speak out his own exposition minutes before having them exploited. This should have been a show's *ARC* not a single episode with hectic jumpcuts.

We could spend time learning WHY the Jedi dislike the witches. Spend time talking about Force Philosophy! Exploring alien lifestyles that the Jedi disprove of! Instead of the vague tone of "god forbid women do anything". Do the Witches have precendent? Bad history with the Jedi? Were they persecuted? Why don't we see, maybe a scene of an elder witch teaching them, and Osha loses attention in class while Mae listens, and we still hear the witch's voice, fainter and fainter, in the background, telling of those acts commited against them.

It would also serve to show Osha's disinterest for their heritage and why she's rather uncritical of the Jedi, so it's a scene of lore info AND character development!

Likewise, there's a critical lore discrepency that makes Osha ring so false in her backstory for me :

When on Brendook has Osha heard about the Jedi?? Where has she heard GOOD stuff about them? They seemingly live in a village radically opposed to them. She's 8 years old and born into a cult. What do you MEAN she wants to be a Jedi or even knows what they are???

I think she should either be completely clueless and be (again, over the course of an entire episode or more) exposed to them for the first time and come to get very hype, or there should be more people around the coven.

Case 1 : She's a kid getting a burst of sudden passion. Here's a new thing that she can throw all of herself into, and seems to offer her with more opportunities to be free than she has at home. The sacrifice of her family could be chalked up to her not really believing in it (she knows her planet's name and she could always come back) or she's just that sort of kid-like clueless and in a young rebellious phase.

Case 2 : The twins are isolated and treated as royalty-like. They are separate from the *other kids* in the Coven (or in the small town around the Coven). These kids are part of Osha's runaway regimen. She's a kid. If she can love going to sit under a tree just to escape her family, she'd go to other kids for sure. This could instill some jealousy or confusion in Mae. More importantly, those kids have heard there are Jedi on the planet, and they know about the Jedi. Their parents don't gatekeep info that much, and so Osha has learned about them and finds them cool, partially because they're forbidden.

This could still work with her and Mae being treated as appart/different and superior, and Osha could crave being equal with other kids and playing and not having to always share with Mae. It also makes the wipeout a bigger tragedy assuming we're not killing just witches but also 5 to 10 kids of all ages.

And that's another thing!! Having more time would mean making the whole last moments of the Coven less... nonsensical. Perhaps we'd have more time to spend into Indara's mind. Maybe we get some freedom to be fucky with it (think of the effects in Dune!)

Maybe we have time to give a shit about Kelnacca and everyone. Also maybe we have time to see Jecki and Sol interacting a little more on Coruscant, a bit of their routine? Maybe Sol's padawan gets more than a single throwaway scene?? Maybe her grief would be a great highlight of how the Jedi are expected to process the death of a master, and contrast with how Osha isn't even trying to process Jecki's death?

I don't think it's a good sign when you establish a coven of all women and a single line by the Sith guy makes everyone think he was present in the all-women coven because why else?? It's not a great misdirection, it's simply the audience having no understanding of the Coven and what it stood for.

Basically I don't think that exploring the lore of the world more in depth would have been detrimental to this show, despite its core of mystery. There are plenty of shows that hinge on twists and mystery that take their time diving down into their characters in greater depth.

The Acolyte is cool and the fights are amazing. The lore is great too, but it's too shallow to drown a squirrel in. It's "please write fanfic about it if you care" levels of shallow, even in the characters. It would have benefited from time to breath. 9 episodes of 40min to 1h is what Severance got, and that's a hell of a mystery based show!

I'm very happy though, in that I have hope that Headland may be given more freedom to do the second season as she pleases, if she gets it greenlit. If only she could be trusted more, and had the freedom to.. take her time... (and perhaps a better editor?) then we could have simply some of the best SW TV on our hands.

That's, of course, my humble opinion. This remains some of the best SW TV I've seen, but IMO besides Andor the bar is in fucking hell so it's not saying as much as I wish it did.

This is of course not a critique of the plot. I think it's sound and the mystery well thought out and the ending satisfying. This, however, makes my other criticism that much more heartfelt. If this same story had been done the way I describe above, (imo) it would be straight up great TV.

[fogerist]

My Top 10 Albums of 2024 (so far…)

Finally hit more than 10 albums this year, so we’re publishing the list for now 😌

10. Tangk by IDLES

Rating: 8.73/10

Genre(s): Post-Punk, Ambient, Punk Rock, Alternative Rock

9. COWBOY CARTER by Beyoncé

Rating: 9.37/10

Genre(s): Country, Western Music, Country Pop

8. Real Power by Gossip

Rating: 9.46/10

Genre(s): Indie Rock, Post-disco, Synthpop, Dance-rock

7. The Mess We Seem to Make by Crawlers

Rating: 9.5/10

Genre(s): Alternative Rock, Indie Rock, Noise Rock, Soft Grunge

6. Gothic Summer by The Veronicas

Rating: 9.74/10

Genre(s): Pop Punk, Pop Rock

5. The Death Of Summer & Other Promises by Etta Marcus

Rating: 9.75/10

Genre(s): Indie Rock, Alternative Rock

4. I Got Heaven by Mannequin Pussy

Rating: 9.8/10

Genre(s): Hardcore Punk, Indie Rock, Alternative Rock, Noise Rock, Metalcore

3. Grief Chapter by Mother Mother

Rating: 9.83/10

Genre(s): Alternative Rock, Noise Rock, Indie Rock

2. THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT by Taylor Swift

Rating: 9.84/10

Genre(s): Synthpop, Alternative Rock, Indie Folk, Synthwave, Dream Pop

1. Faith Crisis Pt 1 by Middle Kids

Rating: 9.85/10

Genre(s): Indie Rock, Alternative Rock

[nyxdrabbles]

the boys is such a good fucking series to watch, and i enjoy it so much. i do have some complaints or dislikes to it though.

like, the constant racism towards black people specifically is so annoying, but i get that it’s realistic and that actual celebrities just dont give a fuck about black people who are still famous. its more of that its just annoying mostly. im pretty sure thats the whole point of it though and i dont really mind it too much to stop watching it.

second, why the fuck is the deep still existing and why do it feel as if they’re trying to make us feel bad for him? he’s a literal rapist and also racist too. he also fucks sea animals. there’s nothing but that shit to understand about him. no one cares about him and his existence anymore, so why is he still on the show? unless they’re planning to destroy that man in the most brutal way possible, then who gives a fuck about him?

next is firecracker, when is she dying? im already tired of her weird pedophillic homophobic transphobic racist ass. 6 episodes of her is too much already. i need her gone.

then there’s mother’s milk. WHERE THE FUCK IS HIS GODDAMN BEARD?? GIVE HIM BACK HIS OLD MAN BEARD. HE LOOKS NAKED PLEASE.

also with butcher, is he actually supposed to be written as a complete dumbass on purpose or are they running out of ideas for him? they make him constantly do the same things over and over again, face the consequences, learn his lesson when his friends wag their lil fingers at him in shame. then repeat the whole thing again. im kinda getting tired of it, and im just wondering when im watching if he’s ever gonna get a proper character development, cause im not seeing it at all.

+ adding on about butcher, did he really threaten a male victim about being touched as a child by soldier boy? cause thats honestly what i got from that, and that made me really scratch my head. but also make him really disgusted with him. i get he’s supposed to be a pretty bad person as well, but goddamn? i thought he would understand and taunt the guy for being touched as a child — which he didnt consent to and was also ignored by everyone else — since his wife is also a victim herself.

really, i enjoy the show a lot and will keep watching, there’s just somethings that just make me off putted by. its just a simple opinion and thats it.

so far my favorite characters are hughie, mm, a-train, stan, and victoria/nadia. the white people besides the boys scare me ngl. they’re always just fucked up people

[darkpoisonouslove]

HotD S02E03

I watched this on Monday; I just wasn't in the mood to review it until now. I was pretty hyped for this episode because the last one was entertaining and I saw spoilers for several things before I got to it that made me freak out (affectionate). I was hopeful that we'd get something good but wary at the same time since this show doesn't have the best track record... Oh, boy, was I right to be wary. In short, I didn't enjoy this episode a lot. In fact, it's my least favorite from the season so far. And I will tell you in detail my always correct opinions:

I see they've added new imagery to the opening which makes it even better! I love the whole idea that all this history is woven from blood and the fact that parts of the canvas are just bloodied without any embroidery on them only makes it more brutal. It's as if they're saying that there wasn't even any history written there; it was just bloodshed for the sake of bloodshed.

The way that that skirmish in the beginning escalated into an outright battle that claimed so many lives is chilling. I found it odd that the episode was named "The Burning Mill" when that's referring to the battle that happened in the first scene and we didn't even get to see but then the theme emerged as the episode progressed. This senseless bloodshed is an omen of what's to come, of how everyone is going to lose themselves in the war and just continue the massacre without even remembering what started all of this, bringing all of their grievances - petty and justified alike - into the fray and using them as an excuse to unleash their full rage.

In that regard, Rhaenys is absolutely correct. She ate in that scene and I liked that this also contextualized her behavior in 1x09 more (I'm vindicated that she also mentioned Lucerys mutilating Aemond as a factor that led them all here). However, it is also frustrating to hear all this, especially after the scene of reckless bloodshed we already witnessed. It is too late for this conversation. It should have happened in 1x10 when no murders had occurred yet and the bad blood could have been contained. Now it no longer matters.

I have heard enough about Criston getting a promotion he doesn't deserve. It's true but a) it's almost like that was the entire point of him becoming Hand - to show the recklessness and bloodthirst he and Aegon share and b) that's a strange attitude coming from Rhaenyra stans when she hasn't done anything to reinforce her claim to the throne since oh, her half-assed attempt to marry Jacaerys to Helaena in 1x06. Her actions afterwards have harmed her cause and yet, people still insist she should get to be queen.

I dislike how quickly Criston left King's Landing. As Hand his main duty would be to advise Aegon (not that he's doing such a great job of that but regardless) and he's already setting out to go into battle. This could be another argument in favor of why Criston shouldn't be Hand and I could agree with that but I wish they would have spent more time on him trying to adjust to his new position instead of shipping him away to do what he's already experienced and good at doing. I would have wanted to see them explore his character a little by showing him struggle in the role of an advisor and the constant tension between him and Alicent, then used that as his personal motivation to head the charge to the Riverlands to escape the feeling of being a fish out of water, potentially earn Alicent's graces again alongside a victory for their side.

Mysaria singing Rhaenyra's praises was a bit much to me, especially since Aegon has absolutely nothing to do with the arson to her establishment. He wasn't even king yet at that point so that couldn't be counted towards his (lack of) political prowess.

The great paradoxes of the writing for this show continue to amaze me. Such as the way in which the writers try so hard to make Rhaenyra the most graceful, considerate protagonist and somehow they still went all in on her viewing Baela and Rhaena as tools. You're never going to believe that you heard this from me but there was a great opportunity for a perfect scene between Rhaena and Luke and they missed it. Considering that having no dragon seems to be Rhaena's one defining plot line and Aemond "stole" Vhagar from her because Aegon, Jace and Luke were being mean to him, they could have had a scene where Luke realizes how isolating and even hurtful not having a dragon is. It would have made me take a moment to think about him as a character and given more substance to Rhaena's struggles now, especially since outside of her engagement to Luke Rhaenyra appears to deem her entirely superficial. You could say that she trusts Rhaena so much as to entrust her the care for her children but that's not the impression I really got from those scenes. They were certainly trying for it but isn't it funny how Rhaenyra is begging Rhaena to make the sacrifice to "be a mother" to her children after she spent years refusing to make the sacrifice of... backing up her claim to the throne with a suitable marriage? The HotD writers are unparalleled in having their actions blow up in their faces.

The scene of Daemon infiltrating Harrenhal was drawn out to me. We didn't need quite as much ambience from Harrenhal to get the impression of it being a haunting, cursed place when the hallucination from later in the episode conveys that perfectly well on its own. And the lack of resistance Daemon faced was evident in the guard that didn't attempt to fight him already. They could have cut some of that.

Love how they made such a big deal about Daemon insisting on being called "Your Grace" when Alicent was called that during her whole marriage to Viserys and continues to be called that despite the fact that she's Queen Dowager now. Logically, her receiving the title (without ever demanding it) could have never threatened Viserys' or Aegon's rule because she has no claim on the throne while Daemon's behavior comes off as if he's trying to muscle in on Rhaenyra's turf. But I much more enjoy the idea that no one in their right mind wants to give the impression that Daemon would ever even get to sniff the throne while people continue to defer to Alicent with that title because they respect her in her quality of being queen.

I'm at least relieved that they explained why there's a race to claim castle at all considering that Larys is supposed to be the Lord of Harrenhal and he's on the Greens' side. He didn't really care for it, huh? He just wanted to have Alicent stuck in his web and didn't give a shit that the residents of Harrenhal didn't buy his "tragic fire accident" PR campaign.

Speaking of Larys, I was expecting something huge from him after all this material that he got to work with in the last couple episodes and I would still like to see more from him (aka not just a single scene per episode) but at least for now he came out swinging. The fact that he ensnared Aegon to do what he wants of him in the exact same way that he ensnared Alicent has the best, funniest, most tragic implications. With the small difference that he's completely bullshiting Aegon, of course. He just saw a weakness and sank his claws right in it. I was wondering last episode why he only chimed in, interrupting Aegon's outburst when Aegon switched to throwing blame on Alicent, especially since the long pause before that would have been the perfect opportunity to speak up. It was like he was waiting for Aegon to make his way to accusing Alicent, just to make sure that there's tension there. This episode confirmed that he's trying to sever Alicent's control over Aegon and insert himself in that niche of pulling the king's reins. It does make sense considering that he appears to have lost his grasp on Alicent herself and it also doubles as revenge on her.

What even is the dynamic between Alicent and Criston at this point? I knew not to hold my breath but that doesn't change the fact that I need (a) scene(s) between them explaining what the hell is going on, especially in Criston's head. We literally wouldn't have had this problem if they'd taken the time to establish the relationship before jumping right into having them fuck. That said, I did enjoy the callback to 1x01 where Criston asked for Rhaenyra's favor but now he's setting out against Rhaenyra and when he asks for Alicent's favor, she grants it despite her anger at him. The way his mood instantly improves at that is touching.

Good for Rhaenys on still pushing to have Rhaena named heir of Driftmark. Corlys needs to be hit over the head so he can see the vision.

Helaena is also on the "no grieving, we repress our emotions like Greens" train. They are all so emotionally damaged and Alicent can't help them because she's the most damaged of all. (Love how Otto just abandoned her to take care of all the kids and steer them on the right path on her own so that he wouldn't have to face the results of his failure to do the same.) Despite the truth of that, I think there was more to her not comforting Aegon while she's constantly talking about Helaena's pain. She doesn't even seem to mourn Jaehaerys as much as she mourns what came upon Helaena. I'd say that's definitely guilt because she steered this course of events (as much as Otto and the rest of the Small Council). She put Aegon on the throne to protect his life (and Aemond and Daeron's) and in doing so, she set up Helaena to take the damage from the war and the attacks on their family. While with Aegon there's all this baggage of Viserys destroying her life for him (even if she can't admit it) and his entire existence necessitating this course of events and she just cannot make herself even more vulnerable in order to comfort him. Especially since in that moment, she was angry at him and only had helplessness left in her that was crying to turn into violence as we see it happen when Alicent takes out her frustration on Criston.

This also makes me think back to Helaena saying in 2x01 that Jaehaerys may not want to be king. On some level I think that was her trying to rationalize why she couldn't see any future for him in her visions. But it was also an externalization of her own feelings about being forced to be crowned alongside Aegon despite all the danger that brings. They were all trapped from the beginning. Being crowned instantly locks them all - both sides - into war but there was no guarantee that if Alicent hadn't put them on the throne, they would have been spared. In fact, what happened to Jaehaerys only points to the opposite. I believe that's what Helaena is forgiving Alicent for. Because Alicent was so afraid of losing her children that inadvertently she set up for her daughter to lose hers. And Helaena understands the pain that Alicent was trying to avoid so she forgives her.

I wasn't feeling the Small Folk scenes in the previous episode but this one was a fucking disaster. And why? Just so that they could foreshadow the Dragonseeds. Everyone involved in scripting this show needs professional help.

Aegon and Aemond got about a minute of shared screen time and it still brings forth the full force of their internal conflicts and mommy issues. Aegon sure went "Does mommy prefer Aemond? Even though I'm king? Does she wish he were king?" only to go get wasted and revert back to bullying his brother.

Baela engaging in some Daemon-like behavior. I'm not exactly sure what her game plan was, however? If she wished to attack them, she could have made Moondancer incinerate them all. They would already consider this an attack and an act of war so what was the point? Other than not completely disregarding Rhaenyra's orders, I suppose. At least Baela has more self-control than her father.

Daemon really got hit by that train wreck of emotions he was trying to escape from. Love how he found a soul mate in his 15-year-old niece and he cannot bear the thought that she matured and has outgrown him now. He's so pathetic fr.

I was so excited about seeing Alys but she barely got anything in this episode.

I do not wish to hear anymore shit about Criston's plan for Arryk when Rhaenyra's scheme to meet up with Alicent was even more harebrained. Girl, what was your contingency plan in case Alicent had instantly reported your presence to her knights once she left the Septa? She could have ended this war right then and there. It's even frustrating that she didn't but I suppose I can see why.

Alicent has a lot to deal with in this scene. The fact that Rhaenyra made this trip at all and (falsely) believes they can reach an understanding alone probably made her head spin. I'm surprised she didn't look for a paper bag to help her stop hyperventilating. To be confronted with undeniable proof that she grasped at straws for her own peace of mind so that she could avoid the guilt of betraying her husband and steering the realm towards war surely shook her whole world. To the point that she couldn't even process what was happening anymore.

That's the thing though. Rhaenyra has to face the idea that her father gave up on his staunch support for her rule but she only has to live in that reality for a minute. Instead, her big internal conflict resolution here is that the warpath is set and they cannot escape it. Which in a certain way could still shake her belief in herself that has been perpetuated by Viserys' insistence she'd be the one to unite the realm. Because even if she does, she (and her siblings) would have torn it apart first. It could still be a lot to deal with but her struggles are undermined by how late it is for this. I already talked about this but we are several episodes past the point of no return. This scene, the whole conflict they've built up for Rhaenyra in this episode, has missed its mark because it should have happened a lot earlier.

Alicent may be falling into the sunk cost fallacy but she is also completely correct that by this point war is unavoidable. Aegon will never cooperate with Rhaenyra after what happened to Jaehaerys. And to be honest, for how big a deal they made of Rhaenyra's grief over Luke, she sure didn't seem to be having that hard a time putting it aside for this scene.

It's funny how the show is trying to present Rhaenyra as so thoughtful and considerate when she is stubbornly stuck on getting that crown. There is something to be said about how similar she and Alicent are in believing what they want to believe. Yes, Alicent was only using Viserys' misunderstood last words to justify - to herself first and foremost - putting Aegon on the throne and "betraying" her husband and Rhaenyra. But Rhaenyra is also ignoring common sense to believe that "she was meant to unite the realm" just like daddy said. The men of the realm were never going to accept her as queen without a bloody conflict when there was a male heir and Rhaneys warned her of that all the way back in 1x02. Since then Rhaenyra has stubbornly refused to acknowledge the idea that the only way for her to unite the realm without any bloodshed would be to step down (maybe not even then considering how staggeringly willful Aegon is).

I already put out some thoughts on the promo for next episode^ so I'd just like to add that I am enraged by them having Alicent talking about how Aegon's only been king for weeks and the realm has fallen into war. The only reason why the realm was at peace while Viserys was king was that he was alive at all and served as a figurehead since by that point Alicent and Otto had been ruling for years. Viserys himself set up this war when he appointed Rhaenyra his successor and then proceeded to have legitimate sons. He is the one to blame here and it is especially outrageous for Alicent to diminish not just Aegon but herself as well because, like I said, she was the one ruling for years before Viserys died. I can only take this as a result of her conversation with Rhaenyra, an expression of guilt over disregarding Viserys' wishes and putting uncontrollable Aegon on the throne when Rhaenyra probably wouldn't have harmed him and Aemond and Daeron based on her words to Alicent. However, while Alicent is still in shock and processing, she is conveniently forgetting that Jaehaerys was brutally murdered despite Rhaenyra's best intentions. And that should be the reason why she looks like she's deep in depression and doesn't give a single fuck anymore rather than feeling like she's wronged Rhaenyra. The realm would have never been spared war when there are legitimate sons to inherit the throne unless they had been slain. So Alicent did take the only option that she had and she should work up to accepting that but it would be foolish to hope for it with all that we've seen so far. What can I say? It appears that the HotD writers strike again.

[vvanillavveins]

Lauren is now canonically anywhere from 7 to 10 to possibly dozens of ft tall. Y'know what that means?- She can step on me.