#the unsung heroes of hotd

[viserya-firstofhername]

The unsung heroes of HOTD • prologue

So here is the thing.

I was planning to make this a singular post, but at this point I am at I don't even know how many names but surely above at least five dozen, so I shall instead jump into my nerd shoes, and shall make of it a series.

The premise is as follows: The writing room of HOTD this season to a large extent failed a rich and marvelous piece of modern media and especially so, the incredibly gifted teams who worked on its production. It saddens me deeply how we only focus on the bad, while we fail to reflect on the enormous amount of talent and hard work so many people put into it. It happened in 2019. It will be happening again.

So what are we to do about it? Whine, dine, overanalyze, scream, cry, laugh, eat cake, repeat the same three curses until D&D reincarnated show up in our mirror?

Yap Condal this, yap Hess that? Condemn Martin for the next damned ungodly reason? Some folk may chose to slander and throw vitriol at the writing team and while I might indeed in the future yap along mine own hopefully constructive criticism (because some is positively and absofuckinglutely in place), I respectfully disagree with this approach of consuming media; yap about the bad, overlook the intensely good.

I should also state that I am sometimes that person to critique the let-people-enjoy-things movement for their certain lack of media literacy, but tis a lack that is often visible in the hotd critical tag as well.

To that statement, I should add, I refuse to become an apologist for Hess or Condal (the latter - let us all for a moment remember and admit - was one of the last saving graces of the rubbish inferno that was GOT's last couple of seasons and if you disagree - here be your invitation to enter a discourse with me). I might in due time issue a detailed post in a mock Shakespearian lingo mixed with High Valyrian & rap rhymes, but the point of this post is:

I should much more delight in praising the talented people who 1000% broke their backs and their hard labor is very clearly visible, because such is the topic I prefer mine own time be invested in.

We all agree across the board (right?) the actors are phenomenal. More than, even. I would love to touch on that as well but it shall be later on. I am much more interested in discussing the production value, because I'm here for this medium with all senses. Thus, I plan to focus on the production teams in this small nerdy series, sharing thoughts hopes griefs and all, as a way to fill the void in my heart until we get episodes 2x09 and 2x10 (my humorous brief on that: here).

For chapter i, we shall be focusing on the casting department, led by one Kate Rhodes James, for she is pure professional peak, more so than Nina Gold, dare I say, and everything she and her team have done for HOTD is purely and utterly ethereal, otherworldly, three-eyed-ravenesque, phenomenal.

When shall this post be posted will be decided by mine own nerdy brain and whether or not it decides to pen a 6000 words essay on a topic I know next to nothing of (surely, I could delve into research and this might be a source of delay, I suppose you see the potential for issues there).

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TLDR version: I just want to spell the names of the folks that showed up to work and did fucking brilliant, and marvel at a their masterful craftsmanship.

Disclaimer 1: I cannot stress the following enough: I do not lend my support to anyone who would cast shade and hate or outright criticize the opinions of others simply because they diverge from their own. If thou dost desire to experience the show by critiquing the writers, then by all means - you do you, i do me, and we shall be in courteous and merry accord to agree to disagree.

Disclaimer 2: I know just about nothing of producing cinema and tv. I have one (1) friend who works in the industry. Come at me with professional opinions - very very welcome.

If thou would like to follow this endeavor, thou can keep an eye on the #the unsung heroes of hotd tag, no need to follow my daily fulminations.

I've done and made my peace.

[ragnarssons]

orwyle carrying the whole of team greens on his shoulders tbh 🤷‍♀️

[horizon-verizon]

Imagine if this self inserting fandom cared as much about the actual and fully fleshed out POV characters OF THE MAIN SERIES as it does about long dead pre ASOIAF characters, be they F&B Targs or randoms from the martyred Dead Ladies Club.

🙃Guilty? I talk a lot about Rhaenyra and F&B character than I do ASoIaF main series characters.

I suppose it's partly due to HotD reviving reviews of F&B, but this fandom also already has been making dead women and non-reactive or narratively passive women the unsung heroes of this story. To some extent, you can include Lyanna, but Lyanna has a lot more symbolism backing up her relationship to Rhaegar and actions pre-Rebellion. The other part is that people feel either more "decided" abt what ASoIaF is about bc of GoT OR they are still too angry to really get into ASoIaF and either fight for/against Daenerys bc it inevitably gets to that (as it should). Or some people have yet to really reread/read for the first time the main ASoIaF books to not feel equipped to talk about them.

Or they are dumb.

[viserya-firstofhername]

Aye, fantastic comportment on mine own part, when I started an innocent, brief, and half-serious post (indeed, as a series of frantically chaotic targtagtangents under a beautiful gifset that I did uncover in mine drafts) regarding the whole "welcome back Jon Snow" affair with Jacaerys this season, and the enduringly charming Harry Collett, yet mine mind could not refrain from overcomplicating matters tenfold, and expanding this innocent single brief post into a monstrosity of a commentary on why Jon was amongst my favourite characters in ASOIAF, and why I was never able to reconcile myself to Kit Harrington's portrayal in GOT, I then went ahead and interwove that with my incessant agenda concerning what ailments did plague HOTD s2 and what ailments did not, which led into a tangent on Collett's acting approach to Jace, then veered south into an ongoing research rabbit hole of that one interview where he doth mention the name of the hair designer who was responsible for Jacaerys's hair in HOTD s2, and how she was the one maintaining Harrington's Jon hair, and also was most adamant on maintaining Collett's hair into a manner most akin to it—thus sending me into yet another tangent of delving into the now hilarious (it hath outgrown a single tab in a spreadsheet and over a hundred links) amount of notes I have on mine own "Unsung Heroes" series (aye, what thou just read was but a single sentence, and its length just about encompasses mine own vexation with meself).

Thank the gods for Sunday eves, I guess? Also, please tell me, do other brains work thus, it cannot just be me?

You do not understand why this matter is so important to me, and aye, Nina Gold (who did fantastic job on Andor and Chernobyl, and in numerous splendid feature-length films from the past two decades, despite certain franchises; see—behold—this is how the birth of yet another tangent unfolds) is a wondrous casting director, yet she made a few lamentable choices for GOT, which haunt me almost as much as the cuntery that were seasons 6 through 8.

O! and by the by, where the actual fuck is that interview wherein Harry Collett spoke of improvising that iconic "Bent knees" scene (not the line itself, but the delivery) - 'tis not like I do not delight in watching endless hours of cast interviews, yet, by the gods, do I must needs to retire abed at some point.

—Hold! was it the Variety one after 2x07?! (Aye, aye, aye, indeed it was! Thank the gods, this is why it aids to pen thy thoughts down upon digital paper equivalents; by the by, I spied a post on my dash the other day that read something in the likes of "I'd dearly like to know which post was it that made you unfollow me", well I wager it was something akin to this post of mine for some of thee.)

What a fuckery of a post this hath been (forgive me, mine dearest mutuals, 'tis insomnia-induced adrenaline).