#team grrm

[rhaenin-time]

Commodified fantasy takes no risks: it invents nothing, but imitates and trivializes. It proceeds by depriving the old stories of their intellectual and ethical complexity, turning their action to violence, their actors to dolls, and their truth-telling to sentimental platitude.

All times are changing times, but ours is one of massive, rapid moral and mental transformation. Archetypes turn into millstones, large simplicities get complicated, chaos becomes elegant, and what everybody knows is true turns out to be what some people used to think.

It’s unsettling. For all our delight in the impermanent, the entrancing flicker of electronics, we also long for the unalterable.

We cherish the old stories for their changelessness. Arthur dreams eternally in Avalon. Bilbo can go “there and back again,” and there is always the beloved familiar Shire. Don Quixote sets out forever to kill a windmill… So people turn to the realms of fantasy for stability, ancient truths, immutable simplicities.

And the mills of capitalism provide them. Supply meets demand. Fantasy becomes a commodity, an industry.

Commodified fantasy takes no risks: it invents nothing, but imitates and trivializes. It proceeds by depriving the old stories of their intellectual and ethical complexity, turning their action to violence, their actors to dolls, and their truth-telling to sentimental platitude. Heroes brandish their swords, lasers, wands, as mechanically as combine harvesters, reaping profits. Profoundly disturbing moral choices are sanitized, made cute, made safe. The passionately conceived ideas of the great story-tellers are copied, stereotyped, reduced to toys, molded in bright-colored plastic, advertised, sold, broken, junked, replaceable, interchangeable.

What the commodifiers of fantasy count on and exploit is the insuperable imagination of the reader, child or adult, which gives even these dead things life—of a sort, for a while.

Imagination like all living things lives now, and it lives with, from, on true change. Like all we do and have, it can be co-opted and degraded; but it survives commercial and didactic exploitation. The land outlasts the empires. The conquerors may leave desert where there was forest and meadow, but the rain will fall, the rivers will run to the sea. The unstable, mutable, untruthful realms of Once-upon-a-time are as much a part of human history and thought as the nations in our kaleidoscopic atlases, and some are more enduring.

We have inhabited both the actual and the imaginary realms for a long time. But we don’t live in either place the way our parents or ancestors did. Enchantment alters with age, and with the age.

We know a dozen different Arthurs now, all of them true. The Shire changed irrevocably even in Bilbos lifetime. Don Quixote went riding out to Argentina and met Jorge Luis Borges there. Plus c’est la meme chose, plus fa change.

From Ursula K. LeGuin’s foreword to her 2001 collection Tales from Earthsea.

[millennial-crone-ao3]

So well said.

Gratitude is the only thing I have for him. I genuinely don't care if he finishes the series, especially if working on it means to strech himself thin and stress himself out. He has the right to retire, too. With all that has happened, I'd understand if that's what he'll do.

He gave us a whole universe to dwell in. I'm just grateful he gave my mind a place to roam.

My hottest hot take is that George R R Martin has no obligation to finish the Song of Ice and Fire series.

Bro let his whole adult life be consumed by SEVEN thousand-page semi-historical-fiction books with a cast of near thirty well-developed, well set-up, well-characterized characters, and a complex and realistic geopolitical enviroment just because he thought a specific historical event should be better known. He deserves to enjoy the money he made in peace, and a lot of people (hell, a lot of WRITERS) whose only knowledge of writing is barely thought-out fanfiction populated by characters whose whole personality is to be horny for the character the author thirsts over, will jump at his throat and scream about how selfish he is just because he is taking time to develop HIS OWN GODDAMN NOVEL????????????

I know its frustrating. Believe me, I have no life, my only reason to wake up in the morning is that George MIGHT finish the series. But it's HIS intellectual property. HIS book. HIS characters. It came from HIS mind. If he wants to chill and just maladaptive daydream about it for the next decade than that is his right and he doesn't deserve the hate he gets just because ya'll can't accept the fact your favorite fictional war criminal who already has seven novels worth of content isn't getting an end? Well, welcome the plights of fiction fandoms. Sometimes, it's good enough just to not fix what isn't broken.

I'm sure plenty of writers here in tumblr can sympathise with the hope to not be harassed over when the next chapter for your story is coming. Sometimes we don't know. People have lives. Struggles. Health issues. Other interests. THEY ARE NOT YOUR FAITHFUL AI SERVANT. THEY DON’T PULL STORIES OUT OF THEIR ARSES. THEY HAVE TO THINK IT, THEN MAKE IT, THE EDIT IT, THEN SEE IF THEY LIKE IT. ITS A WHOLE PROCESS.

We are so used to immediate consuption that we cannot concieve of people taking time to perfect a craft that's meant to be enjoyable to them. And if we're honest, Martin has weathered a lot of fucking bullshit in silence. From fans, to editors, to bosses, to showmakers, he has had his fair share. Much more than its ok to take in silence. Please realize that just because something is out for the public to consume it doesn’t mean that it belongs to you.

[sunfeyre]

calling an author "unprofessional" bc he hates how his precious work that he spent years on being butchered is beyond madness. the thoughts, the ideas, the hard work, the inspiration, the sleepless nights, the creativity, the emotions and feelings he has put into his work being thrown out the window not once but TWICE must be heart breaking to him. he knows he doesn't have much time left on this earth and he has the RIGHT to be upset and devastated at how his legacy is being dragged through the mud and "fixed" by a bunch of pretentious narcissists that think they could do a better job than him, bc if they're doing this while he is alive imagine what they would do when he isn't.

[amaltheas-garden]

drag them bb girl

[hed184]

Never let team Black stans and Targ fanboys gaslight you to believe that house Hightower is an enemy of house Targaryen:

1) Before the conquest, Aegon and Visenya visited the Oldtown and spent time at the Citadel.

2) The Hightowers did not march to the Field of Fire, and surrendered without a fight.

3) Aegon's reign officially began in Oldtown after he was anointed and crowned by the High Septon (who was a Hightower) in the Starry Sept, and was celebrated by the people of the city as he rode over the city on Balerion.

4) House Hightower was one of the few houses that helped the Targaryens in the First Dornish War.

5) Aegon agreed to betroth his son Maegor to Ceryse Hightower when Ceryse's uncle suggested that Maegor should be wed to his niece, and look what F&B has to say about Maegor and Ceryse: "Maegor boasted to having consummated the marriage a dozen times the night of the wedding, and those who had seen the bedding agreed that Maegor was a lusty husband."

6) Maegor recognized Ceryse as the official Queen of Westeros, even though he had two more wives, and gave all of her lands and titles back to her.

7) When Rhaena Targaryen fled from Maegor, he sent a rider to Oldtown commanding Lord Hightower to behead Rhaella (who was training to become a Septa) as punishment for her mother's betrayal. Lord Hightower refused, and imprisoned the messenger instead.

8) Alicent fetched old Jaehaerys' meals, helped him wash and dress, and read to him. On her deathbed, she said: "I want to see my sons again, and Helaena, my sweet girl. Oh... and King Jaehaerys. I will read to him, as i did when i was little. He used to say i had a lovely voice." She didn't mention her father or her brothers, but she mentioned Jaehaerys. That shows how much she loved him.

9) Rhaena Targaryen (Daemon's daughter) married Garmund Hightower, and had six daughters by him. As one of the few remaining heirs to the iron throne and the sister of the King, she had no reason to marry a third son and have not one, not two, but six daughters by him if she didn't love him.

10) They remained loyal to the Targaryens during the Robert's Rebellion.

11) Unlike Jaime Lannister and Barristan Selmy, Gerold Hightower remained loyal to Rhaegar till his last breath. He refused several opportunities to leave unharmed, and eventually died while he was defending Rhaegar's son.

12) Daenaerys thinks house Hightower is among the houses that will help her take back the iron throne. She assumes correctly because the Hightowers believe in a prophecy that says Oldtown would burn and its monuments would be cast down if they opposed the "Blood of the Dragon." That's why they gave full support to neither side during the First Blackfyre Rebellion, keeping a foot in both Targaryen and Blackfyre camps.

[scxrlettlove]

GRRM calling both Alicent and Helaena “queen” in his blog but only calling Rhaenyra by her name…oh I’m gagged.

[meanqueens]

ty grrm for my canon alicent crumb (alicent loved her family so much that it was her who organized jaehaera and maelor’s escape from king’s landing and refused to snitch on what happened to them)

[witheredoffherwitch]

"In Ryan's outline for season 3, Helaena still kills herself... for no particular reason" FUCKING HELL, George is really letting it rip lmaooooooo 💀

I'm so glad that he's addressing the "helaena conundrum" here because it perfectly aligns with my previous hotd-critical post. The fandom has rightfully torn into Alicent for days now, but conveniently overlooks the fact that Helaena's story is beyond redemption atp - she's nothing more than a meaningless pawn in the story. These writers have completely butchered one of the most tragic figures from the Dance era and reduced her to a pathetic meme in the TV show.

Helaena's death was the tipping point for Rhaenyra's downfall (and ultimately, the conclusion of this civil war). But that infuriating scene in episode 8 completely undermines its importance - her death is now rendered utterly meaningless in the show!

[millennial-crone-ao3]

Go get them, granpa. May yours be the fury.

I find the incredibly unempathetic stance towards him I read on here sometimes unbelievable. I wanna see your reaction when someone takes what you handed over to them in good faith, that something being a whole universe you have created over decades with attention to detail and love, and squashing it, essentially, by trying to making it something else and entirely their own. Butchering it through their sheer incompetence in storytelling and inability to not self insert themselves and their modern beliefs into any story, trying to connect plot points like a headless chicken, because their changes produce one logical error after another.

My heart goes out to him. How those people handled the adaption of his brainchild is so utterly disrespectful, I cannot even.

I have no idea what Ryan has planned — if indeed he has planned anything(...)

Wow 💀

[alicentsgf]

The thing about the "fire and blood calling rhaenyra fat was green propaganda" Sara Hess quote for me (apart from the obvious fatphobia) is it just totally underpins everything wrong with the series. Like just a total and absolute inability to understand the text and the world that is being adapted in such a way that when they try to critique misogyny and other biases in fire and blood with their adaption choices (as they should imo) it backfires and achieves some version of the complete opposite.

The misogyny in that section of fire and blood does not come from the greens making up that rhaenyra was fat when she was not lmao. It comes in the implication that rhaenyra, being fat (which she was), was jealous of alicent staying slim. Theres an implication that is made in mentioning it at all - a silent claim being made that its relevant. Now thats misogynistic - to assume rhaenyra disliked alicent in any way for that reason, when there was a multitude of far more complex, more obvious reasons for her dislike.

But now, by removing Rhaenyra being fat, you remove that layer from the text. You claim it was propaganda and you make it a factional thing. Team vs team. When really the way these women are remembered by history, though it is propaganda, is much more just propaganda against women ruling, not simply Rhaenyra ruling. I think hotd never fully grasped this. Yes, the greens won the war. and yes, history is written by the winners. but its also written by men.

[spacerockfloater]

Daily reminder that Sunfyre and Aegon won three battles against three dragons and survived them all. They were literally undefeated.

Say whatever you want about Aegon but that man dived head first into battle even if he was at the brink of death and emerged triumphant every single time.

Fire cannot kill a dragon and all that, I guess. Isn’t that right Targ stans?

[jacaeryswife]

Jace got that Jon Snow glow up as soon as he stepped in Winterfell

[thesunfyre4446]

"grrm hates rhaenyra" "grrm is TB\TG" "grrm is --" AHHHHHHH

grrm is NOT part of the fandom! he's the author!!!!!!!!! stoppppp!!!!

he said it himself multiple times, the idea of f&b is that it's up to the reader to decide who's the hero and who's the villain. there's no good or bad. inner conflict & grey characters have always been the essence of his work.

grrm doesn't hate rhaenyra. he does LOVE daemon more then the other characters, he was always very clear about that.

"if grrm was really TG why did he kill of their entire bloodline" if grrm was TB why did he kill rhaenyra and all of her children that were not fathered by daemon? be so fr guys. HE IS NOT TB\TG HE IS THE AUTHOR!!!!

but i will say, rhaenyra is a character that gets very little attention in the story. we have baela & rhaenys who both get an epic dragon fight, we have aemond's riverland arc, we have jace north and vale arc, we have aegon - who's injured, smuggled out of the city and has an entire arc where he's reunited with his dragon and takes dragonstone and his crown back, daeron the daring gets an epic battle scene. alicent in green council was cool af. daemon gets soooo many epic and cool moments. even joff gets a cool heroic moment of trying to save his baby dragon.

rhaenyra is left on dragonstone, takes KL without a fight, her dragon literally kills her kid and dies offscreen. she never gets a cool arc or an epic moment in the book. you could def say it was propaganda but idk... like grrm could've at least give her one cool battle\ moment lmao this woman could not catch a break in the book lmao.

so no, he does not hate her. he just loves daemon more then everyone else lol.

[reyraereads]

There is something a bit disturbing how GRRM makes all the Greens disabled in some way.

Aemond loses his eye, Aegon gets crippled, Helaena loses her mind, and Alicent loses her mind towards her end. Jaehaerys has an additional finger and Jaehaera is ‘simple’ (when the girl is probably just quiet; she’s literally 7!!!!)

Larys has a club foot and Tyland is tortured to the point he’s blinded.

Whilst on the Blacks side there’s none of that even when they are conditions that would allow for it. Like, Baela is only mildly burnt from her dragon fight whilst Aegon breaks his legs. Especially considering that Aegon has been dragon-riding for at least a decade whilst book Baela had been a dragon-rider for a year.

And, Team Black fans eat up the ableism shit that GRRM throws at them. The ‘right side’ is the ‘beautiful’ able-bodied one that never gets crippled in any way whilst the ‘wrong side’ is the ‘ugly’ disabled one.

[legolasofmirkwoodforest]

"Greens did this" and "Blacks did that." Shut up this is feudalism; everyone sucks. You don't side with who's the most moral, you side with who you think is the hottest. GOD, I THOUGHT WE UNDERSTOOD THIS.

[r4tfromm3rcury]

Yeah toxic yuri political intrigues and murder is cool or whatever BUT WHERE IS MY BOY?????? SUNFYRE??????? (design based on his book self)