#these two are shakespearean and deserved everything and more (better writers)

[sydeysage]

Why do you find it so hard to believe that someone could be interested in you? I mean, regardless of where you live, Rikki. I like you. I mean... I really like you. Zane Bennett & Rikki Chadwick in H2O: Just Add Water (2006-2010)

[exmcrtis]

(madison iseman) [THE RACONTEUR]. Please welcome [EZRA BLUM (SHE/HER)] to Huntsville, WV. They are an [TWENTY-SEVEN]-year-old [VISITOR] who lives in [TOWN]. You may see them around working as a [PRINTER ASSISTANT AT HUNTSVILLE DAILY/HORROR NOVELIST]. Poor unfortunate soul. We’ll see if they survive.

TW: car accident, death mention, trauma

full name: ezra jean blum

birthdate: february 14th, 1997

age: 27

height: 5’2”

sexuality: demisexual

bio:

if you were to classify ezra blum’s life as a shakespearean play, it would undoubtedly be a tragedy

she was an only child to two young and in love parents, and the moment their daughter came into the world, they felt like their life was complete

both of her parents were writers; her father a suspense novelist and her mother a romance novelist, and it wasn’t lost upon them how different their styles were

they wanted their daughter to feel as loved as possible, so they gave her everything she could ever want or need without her having to ask, and needless to say she was spoiled without being coddled

her days were filled with literature of every type, creativity and a wide imagination encouraged around every corner

ezra liked to spend most of her free time outside, creating fantasy worlds for herself and making new (imaginary) friends every single day

she soon became the queen of mudpies and hiking trails, and her parents couldn’t have been more proud watching their daughter’s mind grow 

she had a deep love for all things creepy and unknown, quickly proclaiming that edgar allan poe and stephen king were her favorite writers, and that she wanted to be just like them

the other kids often found her odd, claiming that she read too much and that the things she talked about were weird

strongly encouraged to take up an extracurricular activity, ezra chose the school newspaper, finding that most of the other members didn’t bother her unless it was to read over her articles

she figured it was the best of both worlds, and it kept the guidance counselor — and her concerned parents — off her tail

but while life seemed blissful for ezra, things changed just days after her fifteenth birthday

her parents were in the front seat laughing and talking until they weren’t

the last thing ezra heard before blacking out was her mother shrieking, and then it was an explosion of glass and the sound of metal grinding

ezra woke up two days later in a hospital bed, her throat sore and her memory blurry, surrounded by nurses with concerned looks on their faces

she’d walked away with only a gash on her belly that had been patched up in surgery and a bruised ribcage from her seatbelt

her parents hadn’t survived the crash, but she had, and she was left alone, her pain not from her physical injuries, but from the loss of her parents

she lost interest in talking to anyone, shoving herself in the back of classrooms when she started at her new school and never bothering to get to know anyone

her sleep schedule had also gotten worse; she was usually lucky to get a couple hours of sleep in every couple of days, her nightmares waking her up just as soon as she’d lulled off

she was in her new school for a few months before she met icarus desjardins

he was tucked away in the library and she stumbled across him, and for some reason, a little voice in the back of her mind told her that he was different

he liked to read and he was gentle, and to top it off, he never made her talk about anything that she didn’t want to

ezra had no idea what she’d done in life to deserve meeting him, but it wasn’t long before she developed feelings for him

it happened gradually; she spent as much of her time with him as she could, and he never seemed to protest, his friends even accepting her into their little circle

after about a year or so, ezra slowly began to come out of her grief, even responding to therapy better than she had at the start

in that time she started working on her first novel, drafting up countless versions before finally settling on one

she was still in school when it was published, but she kept humble by not mentioning it to anyone, never wanting any extra attention

life went on for them happily; they graduated high school and went on to college and got an apartment together

in that time she published two more novels with icarus’s encouragement, and she felt like things couldn’t get any better for them

a last minute road trip for the couple had felt like a good idea at the time, but just like most other things in ezra’s life, it didn’t end in bliss

the road was slippery and the winding, and what happened next felt like deja vu

the car horn is what woke her up this time, the car flipped over and her vision blurred

she could only make out icarus’s limp frame beside her, and after clawing her way over to him, she desperately checked for his pulse and came up short

ezra panicked, wanting to be hopeful that his heartbeat was faint and that there was still time to get help

and so she freed herself from the confines of the car, the old scar from her teen years opened up and bleeding, and she began walking

the town that she stumbled into was huntsville, and she was immediately met with concerned faces

not many people would find a girl covered head to toe in blood and remain calm, and despite the frantic questions that they asked her, ezra didn’t have any answers

she tried to croak out icarus’s location, but nobody wanted to listen to her, and the only words she heard were ‘stuck’ and ‘can’t get out’

all the years she’d spent healing were taken away from her, and ezra felt like she was back to square one

she acquired a room at martha mae’s bed and breakfast, holing up with her door closed and a disinterest in meeting anyone

all she could think about was icarus, and how she’d left him behind to try and get help

she wondered what would’ve happened if she’d gone in the opposite direction, and whether or not her boyfriend was still alive

ezra hid herself away for months before she finally bothered getting a job at huntsville daily

she was never forthcoming about her life; when people asked about where she came from and about what she did before huntsville, ezra would shut down completely and stop talking

needless to say, she wasn’t able to make any friends, and she couldn’t be bothered to care about it

the only healing she managed to do was physical; the scar on her belly was even darker and rougher, and the word ‘sleep’ was no longer in her vocabulary

it was no way to live life, and each day that passed, ezra questioned more and more why she was even still alive

she’d been in huntsville for five years when icarus showed up out of the blue one day

ezra thought she’d seen a ghost, but it was really him, and that was the first time she’d felt relieved in a long time

her guilt and sadness all came flooding back to her, the night of their accident still in the forefront of her mind

and yet part of her was happy to see him again, and it was like no time had passed between them at all

she’s still very much addicted to books, and finding her without one is rare

despite huntsville being tragic in and of itself, she’s making due with everything that she was given, and counting each day as some sort of silent blessing

but deep down, ezra will always worry about what else might go wrong

[morganlefaye79]

fic author self rec

Thank you, @melisusthewee, for tagging me for this!

When you get this, reply with your favourite five fics that you’ve written, then pass them on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread some self-love.

At first, I thought it would be tough to choose my favourites, but actually, no, it was pretty easy. So here they are, my personal favourites:

MY CALLING: A choose-your-own-adventure-like fic about Queen Morgan Cousland who starts to hear her calling and has to make decisions, sometimes easy ones, sometimes heartbreakingly painful.

My calling has been my all-time favourite until now. I poured everything I had into it. My fingers are already itching to rewrite it because I would do some things differently without changing the story, but I could restrain myself until now 😅

HE LAUGHS BEST THAT LAUGHS LAST A story about snow and snowball fights. Jonathan Trevelyan only wants to rest, but when he hears a commotion in the courtyard, he must investigate what ends in him being thrown in a snow heap.

I wrote this piece for an exceptional and friendly person for Satinalia. What better than making gifts for others? It was much fun to write it. I still smile every time I reread it.

ONE LAST KISS A bitter short fic about a mage that loves a King and sacrifices herself.

It should have been only the art, but then I had a brain fart 😅, which is very accurate. shrugs

COUNTING STARS is the origin story for Morgan Cousland, who is my main OC. This includes her first love, first heartbreak, and two assassination attempts, all in a bit more than 15k words. 😁

Morgan is special to me, hence the name. She is my better me of sorts.

AS THE YEARS GO BY tells the story of retired m!Hawke and Anders, who should take a step back at times but can't. If you like to know how they grow old together, this is for you.

I wrote this for a Satinalia exchange too, M!Hawke/Anders is one of my favourite ships, and they both need and deserve all the love. I am not known for my fluff writing skills, but this one has so much of it. Well, actually, it made me nearly barf rainbows.

Tags:

@noire-pandora | @inquisitoracorn | @kittynomsdeplume | @drag-on-age | @sinsbymanka | @wardenrainwall | @rakshadow | @retrowondergirl | @hollyand-writes | @arliahhh | @kemvee | @a11sha11fade | @kittimau | @thedastrash | @charlatron | @a-shakespearean-in-paris | @isk4649 | @charmcity-jess | @bluewren

If you don’t want to be tagged any longer or want to be added, please let me know!

[namorthesubmariner]

How do you feel about the way Namor was written by Jonathan Hickman?

There’s a lot to unpack with Hickman’s Namor. Please excuse my ramblings as I’ve talked about this on and off over the years so I’m just gathering up all my thoughts in one post. Short version answer is: Hickman’s Namor is a mixed bag. Some good about him but the effects of his writing have lasted a long time and effect the character’s perception in some negative ways.

To start I have to say that Namor has undergone many changes to his character over the years, from the wild chaotic sea elf in the golden age, to the somber sea king in the silver age, to the sarcastic edgy modern Namor of today. So a writer taking Namor in a different direction isn’t bad per say because he is a fluid character who has adapted to the times better than other characters imo. However after 80 years Namor has a very defined character, you can tell when it’s being written out of character, the beats of his actions/words being off are noticeable to fans. I just want to point out how different Namor has been in the past before I get into Hickman.

Namor in the golden age is a much less regal character, I would classify him more as a slang talking fae like creature who has come to the surface world to cause problems and seek vengeance for the hurt the humans have caused his people. lol. He has his righteous anger at the surface world is interjected with golden age wackiness. He doesn’t shift into the Shakespearean regal prince until the silver age with Kirby & Lee’s revamp of the character. He still has his righteous anger but stripped away are the causal manner in which Namor acted. He is more stiff and rigid/much more a monarch. This is carried all throughout the rest of Namor’s characterization since then. However Namor has some very key points to his character which are:

- Honesty: he very rarely lies, believing lies to be beneath him - Protector: Namor is always on the front line, always the first one to step up to the situation if he believes its his place, and he will lay down his life for the people of Atlantis. - Avenging Son: He would hate if someone else took what he believed was his right at achieving vengeance. If someone has hurt him or his people personally then he would want to take care of matters himself. - Peacemaker/showing compassion: Shocking I know as most fans know Namor for his angry screaming as he punches people in the face. lol. However Namor has shown even his worst enemies leniency from time to time. He does seek to find a peace with the humans but it’s often messed up due to other things happening in the plot.

These are key elements to his character as well as his dry humor, his feelings of being an outsider, etc.

Now does Hickman hit this points? Yes. He writes a very good Namor in the context of that arc, which I may remind you is an arc about the end of life as we know it. At this point in the story Namor is slowly falling into desperation, his back is up against the wall and he is seeking any means he can to keep his people alive. This is Namor pushed to the edge of his mental/emotional being. 

Namor first attempts to solve the issue by siding with the heroes but when that backfires and he sees the heroes are not willing to do everything they can to save the world he leaves and sides with the villains. Now contrary to what most people think; Namor doesn’t like killing. He does it because it’s necessary and he has never shied away from killing those who he believes deserve their end. Namor is not a cruel character. In fact I would say Namor believes the only way he believes he can be useful is to be the weapon his family raised him to be. He does have a heart but as you have seen in Hickman Avengers storyline; Namor first tried to gain peace between Atlantis and Wakanda. Namor getting constantly blamed for his actions when he was possessed by the Phoenix while other characters are given a pass is very irritating but according to Marvel Writers: it’s good! (It’s not).

So we have Shuri & Tchalla betraying Namor’s talks of peace to attack Atlantis while it was undefended, then Namor is grieving his people when Proxima Midnight shows up and Namor directs her to attack Wakanda by lying. This is where I feel Namor is out of character. Namor is a very arrogant, very honor bound character. He would never admit to someone else being better than he is, he would never bow to anyone he doesn’t view as his equal, he would never hand over his own vengeance to allow someone else to take care if it for him. However as I said before while Hickman gets the core of the character down, he does have Namor doing things like this which make me go: hmmm don’t like that.

Hickman’s Namor is a mixed bag. Some good about him but the effects of his writing have lasted a long time and effect the character’s perception in some negative ways.

So when I said this, I meant: Hickman writes the kind of Namor that would be excellent for an undersea Game of Thrones levels of royal court intrigue, he is much less forgiving and much less honorable than Namor’s of the past. He is a tired king weighed down by failure and death. He is willing to do anything even destroying another world if that means his will be safe.

Now this is all very interesting and makes for great drama especially with his foemance with Tchalla, the two kings play off each other very well. 

However I ultimately feel that taking a step back from the story and seeing how it effects Namor’s character years after it concluded, we can see that while Tchalla is able to move on from this arc and not have his character affected by this Namor is still mainly remembered for being an enemy to Tchalla and Hickman’s writing cemented that in the collective minds of fans. 

This is the downside of Hickman’s writing, people still think that Namor is a villain/supporting character to Black Panther even though the events of the story (of Tchalla and Namor putting aside their differences to stop God Emperor Doom) are often forgotten and so then we get Marvel trying to keep pushing the Atlantis vs Wakanda rivalry. I dislike how Namor’s character keeps getting reduced to such a state when in his own right Namor is a character who has never had Tchalla as a major character in any of the Sub-Mariner comics. I dislike how he is constantly villainized for this plot arc. Otherwise Hickman Namor isn’t terrible, he just is another facet of Namor’s character, a colder version that has been around since the death of Namorita.

[tbhwhocaresanymore]

Nancy Drew 1x16

Oh my God you guys it has been so long since I have been able to watch a show that is so well written that has clearly been planned out from the beginning where the viewers have been able to theorize and have it pay off and Jesus Christ it is GLORIOUS. If I ever write for a show I would want to work with these writers on a show like this.

Before anything else let me start off gloating that I started calling Nancy as Lucy and Ryan’s daughter back around episode 9 or 10 and I am so fucking vindicated right now, I have been riding an otherwise unattainable high nonstop for the past three days. @kat--writes is this how you feel when you accurately predict things??? Because it feels AMAZING.

For the rest of the episode first can I just say how horribly tragic Lucy Sable is? Kudos to the writers because it was a stunning plot twist that I never saw coming but for some reason it’s almost worse than a murder to me? If for no other reason than how it has affected and will continue to affect everyone around her. Ryan who is now going to be even more guilt ridden about not getting to the ice cream parlor on time, Karen and Josh trying to avenge a murder that never even happened, Tiffany Hudson who died for nothing, Nancy who will be forever wondering if her mother slipped and fell or if she really did kill herself right after Nancy was born because if anything will give you an abandonment complex it’s that.

And hearing Carson say what happened that night with Lucy (PHENOMENAL acting by the way, maybe best scene of the season so far) makes rewatching the earlier episodes, especially 7/8 where Nancy was accusing Carson of murdering Lucy so much more tragic. This girl who he and his wife clearly cared for and felt sympathy for, begging him with her last words to take care of her daughter, knowing he looked away for less than two seconds and probably spending weeks if not months if not years questioning if he’d just looked up a half a second sooner if maybe Lucy would still be alive. Seeing Lucy’s daughter, his daughter, accuse him of murdering Lucy had to be a gut punch and it gives his character so much more depth. I just hope this doesn't put too much of a strain on his relationship with Nancy because they have finally gotten to such a good place and as far as Carson is concerned Nancy is his daughter, and he wasn’t trying to lie to her about Lucy. All he was trying to do was respect Lucy’s dying wish and protect her from the Hudsons. I mean he was willing to go to prison for murder before admitting what happened on the bluffs that night, that should count for something.

Moving away from the Shakespearean levels of tragedy for a moment.

God I fucking KNEW Owen was shady I have known it since the beginning. Granted I do not have absolute confirmation yet BUT: him being in his car outside the Claw when he said he would be out of town, holding a piece of Lucy Sable’s skull? (As far as the skull goes though, loved that bit of Bess/George/Nick teamwork to casually hide it from the cops.) Creepy bastard, thy name is Owen. I have no idea how it will play out yet but I hope to God that it will. But also that is going to be a bit of a blow to Bess, finding out her cousin is whatever he is, and also Nancy who literally just had sex with him.

Speaking of.

Much as it pains me to admit, the writers are clearly taking several steps away from Nancy x Nick for the moment, probably to give Nick x George a fighting chance. Side question. Why is Nick sleeping on a couch when he has over four and a half million dollars? Like he could afford to build a house with that much money. But I digress. I think it will be good for George to have a love interest who is A her own age and B not married, especially someone who she already had a good friendship with. Maybe since Owen is a Confirmed Shady Motherfucker the writers will either keep Nancy single for awhile or pair her up with Ace because their chemistry is off the charts. And as long as we’re on the romance topic, Bess. BESS. My sweet queer daughter. Where are Lisbeth and Amaya? Last time we saw Lisbeth they admitted they were kind of falling in love and slept with each other, last (and first) time we saw Amaya I fell in love and she and Bess had more chemistry than a high school sophomore. GIVE ME MY ON SCREEN BESS ROMANCE DRAMA WRITERS. And am I the only one who finds it a little bit weird that Bess is apparently so good at other people’s relationships when she has never really had one before?

I’m going to take a quick minute to be sad about Nancy x Nick so if you don’t like that you can skip this paragraph. NED NICKERSON. How the FUCK can you be so totally fine with Nancy sleeping with Owen when you two are clearly soulmates and you never liked him anyway? After the inevitable Owen betrayal possibly one of two things will happen with Nancy. She will regress and start to push people (read: love interests) even further away than before, OR she will finally really start to open up to Nick and they will find their way back to each other. Admittedly the second one is unlikely since Nick and George literally just got together but you never know. Just as long as Nick doesn’t cheat on George with Nancy because those two are finally friends and are really good friends to boot, and also George deserves way better especially post Ryan Hudson affair debacle. Maybe she and Nancy can bond over having shady not good for them older boyfriends.

On the topic of Ryan being Nancy’s biological dad every time George complains about Nancy asking favors I want her response to be “you had sex with my dad” every time.

Now we will talk about the promo for the as of now untitled next episode and also what the rest of the season and possibly season 2 have planned.

In episode 17 Ryan will clearly be Going Through Some Stuff, and will also find out that Lucy was pregnant. Whether he realizes she had the baby or thinks it died with her remains to be determined, but that shot of Nancy with a busted lip and her hair cut off in a car being driven by Ryan makes me think maybe he snaps and kidnaps her? It’s a bit of a stretch but it would certainly be interesting. I think we’re also going to see more of the Aglaeca coming after Nancy for not paying the toll, because for a minute we can see Nancy sort of choking and putting her hand to her throat like she’s about to throw up again. Maybe it’s going to keep coming after Nancy until they finally let the Aglaeca have Owen, or maybe its going to try to kill Nancy as punishment for saving Owen. I don’t know but I can’t wait to find out.

For the rest of the season/next season there are a couple threads not related to Ryan finding out Nancy is his daughter. There’s the new detective but I’m not talking about him. Joshua Dude, Lucy’s brother. He is still out and about wherever he is, and does not know his sister killed herself. This will probably not exonerate Ryan in his mind as Ryan’s family is part of what drove Lucy to suicide. Maybe he will come back and decide to sort of take revenge on A the Hudsons or B the town of Horseshoe Bay as revenge for what they did to Lucy. (Sort of like the Black Hood from Riverdale but you know, well done.) There is also Everett Hudson. Last time I checked he had just been arrested for sinking the Bonny Scot and racketeering and insurance fraud and stuff, what the hell is he doing at a yacht club? I can only assume he got out on bail so maybe we will see Nancy (possibly together with Ryan) work to put him behind bars for good. Maybe Carson Drew will finally leverage some of that dirty laundry he has on the Hudsons, or better yet that Grecian urn thing Ryan has will finally be put to good use. And then in the future although there is zero proof of this I still want A for George to become clairvoyant/psychic like her mother and B for George and Bess to be cousins. I don’t think I’m asking for too much here.

Finally, because of how much of a staple character he is in the books I refuse to accept that Chief McGinnis is gone for good. My very being rebels against it. But before you scream at me about how different the show is from the books (those two or three of you who have read the books anyway) even if he were an original character I would want him to stay. He is a fantastic character, he was just starting to get depth, I adore his relationship with Ace and on top of everything else he’s good Native American representation.

I ALSO WANT VICTORIA TO COME BACK. I HAVE NOT SEEN HER SINCE 2019. WTF WRITERS. YOU CAN’T JUST MAKE ME FALL IN LOVE WITH A DYSFUNCTIONAL PSYCHIC ALCOHOLIC MOTHER LIKE THAT AND THEN ONLY PUT HER IN TWO EPISODES.

Dead Lucy should also continue to stick around, maybe she can teach Nancy how to hang from ceilings or they can bond over how much Everett Hudson Sucks. It’s just that Lucy spent all this time trying to show Nancy that she is her biological mother, and for her to move on after sticking around for 20 years right after Nancy learns the truth? It would be too - and I fully recognize I have used this word too many times but I am going to use it again - tragic.

The wait for April 8 is going to be an agony unlike any other but at least after it comes back there will only be six episodes left, and so it is very unlikely the show will go on another hiatus before the season is up. Let me know what you guys think will happen in season 2/the rest of season 1.

[oneweekoneband]

Lorde, “Liability”

Not just the Lorde, but the Mother O’Connor of Hopeless Romantics

“Go for it.”

“1, 2,....”

Then, the restless silence awaiting heartbreak.

Simplicity can be dangerous territory for any and all musicians. If you’ve ever been in a choir and opened a piece that solely consists of quarter notes, you would probably say, “FUCK.” For those who don’t have that much experience in reading music/performing in the arts or don’t understand why “FUCK” is the appropriate response, the logic (at least for me) follows these liner notes.

You’re given a choice between two pieces to impress your friends at a dinner party with your piano prowess: “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” or “Fur Elise”? The answer to the fictional scenario is a no-brainer. “Fur Elise,” despite its prevalence, is indicative of more talent than some twelve-measure melody a six-year-old could peck out with one hand. Not just anyone can play Beethoven (sidenote: I know the song is the baseline of talent for Asian families with Tiger Moms who force their children to pick their poison between strings or keys, but I digress), and the former is more difficult to sell, dismissed as rudimentary tedium when LITERALLY any other piece has more differentiation.

So it goes with the classic ballad. Instrumentation is kept sparse to prevent itself from becoming a distraction and to provide only the most necessary harmonic context. Interest is difficult to keep. The message remains the same throughout the song, more often than not basic and one-dimensional, no volta from the tried and true topic of love lost. 

Not currently trying to navigate the debris of romance? Chances are, “Liability” will be the first song you skip on Melodrama, a spectacle of melancholia turned into a snoozefest by cyclical piano chords and verse-chorus-verse-chorus song structure. Lorde’s vocal range doesn’t help much. When you don’t have the belts and whistles of Adele and Mariah Carey from “Hello” or “Visions of Love,” melodies can become bland, anticlimactic.

That’s also the entire point.

“Liability” (as well as “Writer in the Dark,” but that’s for another day and isn’t to-the-t analogous considering its variance) is for the one-track mind who will find beauty hidden in the sublimity of words, especially when everything else is stripped to its bare necessities. Akin to the mundanity of Our Town, that means it won’t be for everyone, but if you haven’t felt like “crying in the taxi” (or whatever your town’s equivalent is), then why are you even listening to an album called MELODRAMA?

Uncoincidentally, Lorde is at her most Shakespearean on “Liability.” The verses are her soliloquies, a lamentation of post-break-up life directed towards the audience, and the choruses a one-person table read of the script:

THEY: You’re a little much for me. You’re a liability. You’re a little much for me.

They pull back, make other plans.

LORDE: I understand. I’m a liability, get you wild, make you leave. I’m a little much for it, everyone.

This play probably wouldn’t sell too many tickets on Broadway (see intro: we already know it didn’t), but Lorde doesn’t care. She just wants to tend her broken heart.

The first stage of grief is denial, and Lorde expresses hers in one word: “Baby.” Innocuous on the surface, yes, but the nickname is also endearing, a trace of her relationship she hasn’t let go of yet even after the dejection of rejection, a stereoscope of what was and what is. The piano compounds the numbing isolation, descending slowly as if the chords were tears before sniffling back up for the cycle to start all over again. The knife comes out, a farewell that stabs (“He don’t wanna know me, said he made the big mistake of dancing in my storm”) — a rest to let the words sink in — before being twisted in and pulled out (“Says it was poiiiii-son”), the incision deep, the blood pooling out. From the outside looking in/looking back, you would scoff, incredulous with the overblown poetics (Who calls their soon-to-be-ex “a storm” or “poison”?), but when you’re in the same spot as Lorde is, when you can commiserate with every syllable, the pain becomes exacting. The person you gave your heart to now seems remorseless, criminal, and you can’t help but blame yourself, feel burdensome, too worthless to have people around you. You’re torn between self-comfort (“So I guess I’ll go home, into the arms of the girl that I love/ The only love I haven’t screwed up”) and self-destruction (“She’s so hard to please, but she’s a forest fire”), between forgiving yourself (“Swaying alone, stroking her cheek”), realizing that it wasn’t all your fault, and deprecating yourself, scrutinizing every flaw and chalking it up to a for-the-better fate. And when you’re left alone, the easiest thought is the one that you were told last: That you didn’t deserve the promise of love.

What hurts most is that this wasn’t the first time, and it probably won’t be the last. You remember the bruises on your heart from the last goodbye and the time before that and the time before that. The insecurities and desperation come back in waves, grow into floods; “he” turns into “they.” You weren’t enough for them, not just him (“The truth is, I am a toy that people enjoy/ ‘Til all of the tricks don’t work anymore/ And then they are boooored of me”). The cycle continues through each person, and the only common denominator is you. You can’t help but feel that you’re the problem that no one knows how to handle, that you’re the “liability” as much as anyone speaks to the contrary or as much as you try to run from it (“I know that it’s exciting running through the night”). The past becomes a taunt of irreproducible “perfect summers”; you’re left bereft without any kitschy silver lining to follow, waiting “until [they’re] gone,” words echoing into twilit emptiness and lonerism. 

The loss seems insurmountable. It’s like you’ve made zero progress since the last time, still just as devastated, still just as fragile.

And thus enter “Hard Feelings/Loveless.”

[esonetwork]

A blog of ice and fire: Thoughts on Game of Thrones season 8 (spoilers!)

New Post has been published on https://esonetwork.com/a-blog-of-ice-and-fire-thoughts-on-game-of-thrones-season-8-spoilers/

A blog of ice and fire: Thoughts on Game of Thrones season 8 (spoilers!)

After four months of gasping, cheering, and yelling at the TV, my journey through Game of Thrones came to an end this past week. In some ways I’m glad I waited till the show was completely done to start watching it (I’ll delve into that thought more later), but I’m also a little sad I missed out on some of the episode-by-episode discussions that happened while the show was airing.

I was really curious to see what my thoughts on the final season would be, after I heard that it was controversial amongst fans. As I’ve mentioned before, I heard spoilers about how most of the major character arcs ended before I started watching this show, so I didn’t get caught up in guessing who would ultimately take the Iron Throne.

In the end, I’m pretty happy with where most of the character arcs ended up, though I will say that the conclusion felt a little rushed and needed more fleshing out.

The North remembers

As a fan of House Stark, I was going to be happy with any member of the Stark family ending up on the Iron Throne, and I think Bran is an interesting choice. It has some nice narrative symmetry, bringing the show full circle (since Jaime Lannister basically started this whole mess by pushing Bran out a window). I also like that the new leader of Westeros didn’t win the throne through violence and hadn’t been seeking power for its own sake.

I will say that if “King Bran” was always going to be endgame, the showrunners needed to do a little better job of foreshadowing that and giving Bran a more active role throughout the series. Maybe part of that disjointed feeling has to do with the fact that the show outpaced George R.R. Martin’s books, and so the showrunners had to come up with their own conclusion to the story. But still, they could have started making Bran more of a major player back in season 5, when the show really started diverging from the books.

I also love, love, love that Sansa is crowned Queen in the North. She’s had to suffer through so much, and I’m so happy that she survived all the dangerous political games going on around her and outlasted everyone who tried to use her as a pawn. Again, similar to Bran, I wish the show had done more to set up the North declaring its independence, but it makes sense that they’d want to do that after all the bad stuff that’s happened to them. It’s also great to see Arya heading off on her own adventures (spin-off series, anyone?).

The Dragon Queen

Now, one of the most controversial aspects of the series finale is Dany’s abrupt turn to the dark side. While I was okay with this plot twist, I totally understand those who were disappointed and wanted something different for her character.

The show should have started showing us Dany’s fall from the light much sooner, and with more nuance this could have been a truly fascinating and heartbreaking character arc. Instead, Dany simply snaps two episodes from the end of the series and starts burning literally everything in King’s Landing, even innocent children. It just didn’t make sense for her character at that time. The series needed to do more to show how (and why) she arrived at that point.

I do believe that it’s more difficult to show a hero’s fall from grace than a villain’s redemption, and off the top of my head, I can’t think of an example where the former has been done really well (although I’m sure there’s one that I’m simply forgetting). We did see hints of Dany’s darkness before the final season, as she sometimes responded too harshly to those who opposed her.

The show could have spent more time reflecting on Dany’s sense of justice and demonstrating how her desire for vengeance gradually drowns out her compassion. Dany believes it is her right to rule the Iron Throne; is that fair, just, and noble, or is there a darker sense of entitlement running underneath the surface? There are so many fascinating psychological and philosophical issues that the show just didn’t explore.

The fall of the Lannisters

Another character arc that seemed a little too abrupt was Jaime Lannister’s. He actually leaves Cersei to go fight in the battle against the Night King, and it seems like maybe he’s finally on a better path. Although Jaime has never really been one of my favorite characters, even I was kinda rooting for him to have a redemption arc.

Then, after he demonstrates his love for Brienne, he just decides, “Never mind — I’m going back to King’s Landing to be with Cersei!” He and Cersei die in each others’ arms while rubble collapses on top of them.

Cersei is probably my favorite villain on this show, and I believe she deserved a more epic death scene than that. I would have preferred to have Jaime actually reject Cersei in the end. Maybe he lies to Brienne so that she won’t follow him to King’s Landing and place herself in harm’s way, and then he kills Cersei himself. Maybe he still dies in the destruction of King’s Landing, but Brienne finds out the truth and knows that Jaime died a hero.

As it stands, I’m really mad that Jaime broke my girl Brienne’s heart, and she deserved better. I know that in the final episode you see that scene where Brienne is writing about all of Jaime’s deeds in that fancy book, but in my personal head-canon she scratches all that out and writes lots of dirt about him in there instead. 

The King in the North

I’m still trying to decide how I feel about Jon Snow’s character arc. He goes from being King in the North, to one of Dany’s greatest allies, and then he ends up killing her once he sees what she’s become. He still loves her, even though they’re related and she’s turned to the dark side. (It’s really, really complicated.)

If I hadn’t known the ending already, I probably would have been rooting for Jon to take the Iron Throne, and after all his moments of triumph, it is a little disappointing that he’s basically exiled and sentenced to return to the Night’s Watch.

Yet it does have a sense of Shakespearean tragedy to it; Jon gives up his destiny and a woman he deeply cares about in order to do what he believes is right for the future of Westeros. I think that if the series had gotten one more season, to really flesh out Dany’s fall and the final battle for the throne, the writers also would have had enough time to give us a really deep arc for Jon. Maybe it still ends in his exile, but they could have made that whole arc more meaningful.

Final thoughts

While I’ve spent a lot of time in this blog talking about some of the drawbacks of the final season, I don’t want to end on a negative note because I really, really loved this show.

From season 1 up until the battle against the Night King and his army of the dead (season 8, episode 3), Game of Thrones is some of the best television I have ever watched, or probably ever will watch. While the final few episodes of the series were a little disappointing/rushed, that doesn’t take away from how amazing and narratively rich this series is as a whole.

Peter Dinklage leads a master class in acting every single episode. I never expected it, but Theon Greyjoy had an amazingly beautiful redemption arc, and I felt genuine sadness when he died. I loved Jorah Mormont’s unrequited love story, and it was fitting that he died protecting Dany. Overall the battle scenes and special effects in this series were amazing, and I got excited every single time the dragons showed up.

I’m so glad I finally decided to watch Game of Thrones, and I can definitely see myself returning to certain arcs and rewatching my favorite scenes (although I never, ever want to watch the Red Wedding again). In the end, I am glad that I heard some spoilers about the final season, because it helped me adjust my expectations regarding the final episodes. Even though I personally would have changed some things, I’m happy I went on this journey.

Game of Thrones is one of my all-time favorite TV shows now, and I’m looking forward to talking more about it with other fans now that I know the complete story.

[whatflowersmaybloom]

Unpopular opinion:

Alright I’ve been reluctant to post this because a didn’t want stans attacking me but let me be devil’s advocate and say that episode 4 wasn’t that bad. Lets unpack everything:

Dany:

It’s barely been two days and I’m already tired of reading posts acting like dark!dany makes no sense. And don’t get me wrong, I love dany but let’s not pretend this is coming out of left field. She’s been on a slippery slope since she stepped foot back in Westeros because she expected to get there and be handed the IT but it didn’t work out that way and it was a rude awakening for her. Yeah, she was born in Westeros but she left when she was an infant. She never lived there so to the people of Westeros she’s a foreign queen. Yes, her army and her dragons were instrumental against the AotD, but Westeros does not owe her the IT. The north is not xenophobic they just don’t know her. As for everything in episode 4, Kit described it as “Shakespearean”. I definitely think he was referring to Macbeth, and ambition as a folly. She’s been working toward this goal, and the closer she gets to it, she is becoming more and more impatient. She didn’t listen to Sana’a telling her that her troops needed rest because she thinks Sansa is working against her (and tbh I really don’t know what Sansa’s goal is) but in this instance Sansa was right. They were in not condition to start another fight. Danny’s ambition will be her undoing. Also, no, I don’t think she is becoming a mad queen. That is unabashedly and unquestionably Cersei. The way I interpreted everything was that, her ambition toward taking the IT caused her to make poor decisions that cost her greatly and that, in her grief she will end up doing something she deeply regrets. I don’t think they are framing her as a mad queen and the only people I’ve seen with that impression are dany fans who are worried their fav is going out as a villain. I understand that every character has lost things, but for Dany, she lost her unchallenged claim, half her army, Jorah, Rhaegal, and Missandei pretty much all at once. She is blinded by grief but she is not “mad”. Everything is probably gonna end up happening so fast that she won’t realize the gravity of what she’ll have done until it’s too late, but she won’t be a villain. Also I’m not addressing the leaks because unless and until they actually end up happening there’s no reason to be upset about it because it might not end up happening. That said, Missandei deserved better.

Missandei

While I agree that it’s fucked up to use a black woman’s death to drive a white woman’s plot, I’m almost certain that was the 3rd wtf moment grrm told the writers about. The other two (shireen’s death & “hold the door”) involve children and Missandei is a child in the books. I’m not saying it was an okay thing to do but it will likely happen in the books as well one way or another.

Jaime/Braime

It looked like character regression, yes, but d&d love to make it look like a character regression and then turn it around in the end. I’m not saying it’s good writing I’m just saying it’s an obvious red herring. Honestly, I was half expecting Jaime to finish that monologue with “and now I’m gonna have to go kill that horrid bitch” when he was telling Brienne about all the shitty things he’s done for Cersei. We shall see.

Arya/Gendrya

Same thing as Jaime. Arya clearly loves, or at least has feelings for Gendry. She just doesn’t want to be a traditional “lady”. To me it looked like she was on board until he said “be the lady of storms end”. She thinks it would pigeonhole her into a certain role. She also wants to finish her list and thinks she will die in the process so she rejected gendry to make it easier on him. It actually makes me less worried about their future that she rejected him because we all know that once anyone on this show makes plans for the future they’re pretty much doomed. I’d be worried about her fate if she hadn’t rejected him. The same goes for Braime. If Jaime left Brienne on good terms I’d be worried about their fates, but as of now I think they’ll be fine.

Everything else:

It just seems like unnecessary nitpicking at this point. It’s become cool to hate on the show now and honestly it’s tiresome. Like complaining that Jon didn’t say goodbye to ghost. It has no bearing on the plot y’all are just finding things to pick apart. Also, Sansa never said she was grateful she was raped?? She literally just stated the obvious that the things she’s been through have changed her. That she’s not a little girl anymore. The same way Bran didn’t necessarily forgive Jaime for crippling him, he just stated that he would be a different person if not for that. It’s not abuse apologism it’s just stating a fact. Also, Jon doesn’t have stronger claim than Dany because he’s a man he has a stronger claim because he’s Rhaegar’s child. He’s still have a stronger claim if he was a woman, or if Dany was a man. Because that’s how lines of succession work. That’s why Prince George is higher in line than Prince Harry irl.

Anyway, the episode wasn’t that bad y’all are just impatient and want everything to pay off now when there’s still two 80-minute episodes left. Everything will pay off in the end.

Also, intentionally tanking the IMDb and rotten tomatoes ratings is just childish.

[douxreviews]

The Hollow Crown - Series Review

“Let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings.”

Occasionally, television reminds us that it can be a brilliant medium. It is easy to become cynical, believing that only a show that pretends to be reality or a comedy in which good actors spout terrible dialogue can be aired. Then, just as we despair, along comes something truly genius. The Hollow Crown is truly genius.

It is a series of four of Shakespeare’s history plays. Often performed together, these stories take us from the late years of Richard II’s reign through the reign of Henry V. Although we will never know if Shakespeare intended for these plays to be performed as a series, they work as one. The stories lead on to the next; characters appear in more than one; and, references are often made to earlier plays.

The BBC, once again, didn’t hold back when producing these four shows. Each has a dream cast and a dream director and they were all filmed on location in England. The music is gorgeous; the sets and the costumes are lush; the cinematography is stunning.

Shakespeare is not an author you can watch with one eye while doing the crossword. His language is dense and, because he wrote in the days prior to special effects, much of what is happening is spelled out in some detail. Your reward, however, for paying attention and concentrating on the play at hand is some of the most beautiful language ever written, at least in English. When that language is spoken by some of the greatest living English actors, it becomes magic.

Richard II

The story takes place over the last two years of Richard’s reign and shows us the rise of Harry Bolingbroke who will become Henry IV. The cast is magnificent, especially Patrick Stewart who, I would argue, is among the best of the RSC old guard. And, on a personal note, can I just say that James Purefoy in period costume works so much better than whatever it is that he is currently playing in The Following.

Like so much of Shakespeare, this play is much more complex than one would initially suspect. On the surface, it is about one king losing his throne to another. It is, however, so much more. It is the story of two men who face off against each other. One is a born leader; the other not so much.

Ben Winshaw, who deservedly won a BAFTA for this role, plays King Richard as weak and entitled, convinced by the divine right of kings that he is untouchable. As he makes the decisions he does, even without the benefit of history, we know that they are wrong and that he is making his downfall inevitable.

Rory Kinnear plays Bolingbroke, Henry IV by the end of the play. He plays the role with subtlety and grace, yet underneath it all is a man conflicted and tormented. He never wanted to be king; he just wanted back what was his.

The best example of this disparity is in the language used. Richard never strays from the royal plural; Bolingbroke never uses it once. Now Henry IV, Bolingbroke understands that the divine right of kings has been turned on its ear and his guilt at what he has done, both to his cousin and to the monarchy, is stunningly conveyed in the final scene.

This play is not performed often, but it should be. It is as strong as the three that follow it.

Henry IV, Part One

Many years have passed, and Henry IV is ensconced on the throne. He has aged and now is played by Jeremy Irons who is simply wonderful. “Uneasy lies the head” being a true statement, Henry has spent his reign wrestling with his guilt and with the constant threat of civil war as not everyone is thrilled about who is wearing the crown.

To make matters even more troubling for our king, his son and heir Hal is a right pain in the ass. Instead of hanging out with his father at court and becoming a mighty warrior, Hal chooses to spend his days hanging out in an Eastcheap tavern with Falstaff and other lowlifes. Tom Hiddleston plays Hal and does so with gusto.

Herein lies the tension of this play. Hal has two fathers; the king whom he disrespects and Falstaff whom he disrespects even more. Henry has two sons; Hal who makes him furious and Hotspur (one of the great Shakespearean names) who is not his son, but is the warrior supporting the crown. The problem is that Hotspur is hotheaded and feels that not only does he have a right to the throne as Richard’s true (and declared) heir, he has earned it.

The inevitable battle is truly epic and tough to watch. The producers did not hold back and the flying arrows and sword fights look amazingly real. Extras roll around in the mud and, at the end, all of our heroes look truly filthy and exhausted.

Hotspur and Henry face off and we see Hal become the true heir to the throne in front of our eyes. The language helps, but Hiddleston plays the scene to perfection as everything from the tone of his voice to the way he holds his head changes and becomes more regal.

Simon Russell Beale is the finest Falstaff, ever (he, too, won a well-deserved BAFTA). So many actors play the role going for the obvious laughs. Beale, on the other hand, manages to inject the character with pathos and humanity, and his paternal love for Hal is obvious to all. Admittedly, some of the humor is lost as a result of these choices, but I didn’t miss it. For maybe the first time ever, I understood what Hal saw in such a horror of a man.

This version is filled with wonderful character actors, too numerous to mention. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t send a shout out to Julie Waters who plays Mistress Quickly to perfection. These plays are slight on roles for women, but Waters manages to jump off the screen, going toe-to-toe with both Hiddleston and Beale and, more often than not, winning.

Henry IV, Part Two

This is my least favorite of the four plays, but I did like the choices that Richard Eyre (the director) made in his cuts. He turned what can be a turgid and, let’s face it, dull play into something interesting to watch. He turned it into a play about becoming old and facing death.

King Henry is approaching his death and he frets about the unsuitability of his son to wear the crown when he is gone. Although it takes a while to get there, the final scenes between Henry and Hal are mesmerizing. Irons and Hiddleston are wonderful as the mantle of power is passed, literally as Henry crowns his son. The very brief moment before all this happens, as Hal sits on the throne with his crown, tears running down his face, actually made me well up.

Hal’s other father is aging as well. Falstaff is completely deluded about what Hal’s becoming king will mean for his old friend. Convinced that a life of leisure and sack is just around the corner, Falstaff is biding his time. The scene in the tavern with Doll was tender and lovely. Here is an old man, aware of his mortality, trying to drum up sympathy for his plight. It is all too late, as his past actions are catching up with him.

Never do they catch up more than at the end of the play and Beale plays Falstaff’s final humiliation to perfection. Genuinely shocked by Hal’s change of heart, the emotion races across his face while the newly crowned king dismisses him out of hand. Hiddleston plays this scene extraordinarily well. It is clear that he is doing what he must and what he believes is right, but there are hints that he wishes he could have avoided this scene all together.

Henry V

The producers were up against it filming this play. Undoubtedly the best known of the history plays, it is filled with speeches that are so well known, they are quoted and paraphrased in nearly everything one watches. Additionally, every English actor worth his salt has performed the role at one point or another and Kenneth Branagh filmed a version that would be tough to beat.

It is also, arguably, the most English of all Shakespeare’s plays. By that, I mean it is patriotism in its purest form. The English king, a reformed bad boy, travels to France and, against all odds, triumphs over his adversaries. Throw in the St. Crispin’s Day speech, and I want to stand tall and salute the St. George’s Cross.

The Hollow Crown version, although not the best, worked in terms of the series. It brought to a satisfying close the arc of a weak king, succeeded by a stronger king, succeeded by the most famous king of them all. Hiddleston was better as the younger playboy than he was as a fierce warrior, but when Henry disguises himself to walk amongst his troops before the battle, he was believable -- we had already seen it.

The problem I had with this version is that Hiddleston is on his own, and he doesn’t quite carry it off. He does not have a Jeremy Irons or a Simon Russell Beale with whom to interact and his final scene with Princess Katherine should have at least some degree of sexual tension. This did not.

Having said that, I pity anyone who has to take on the St. Crispin’s Day speech and make it his own. This one was fantastic. Rather than shout it from the ramparts, the director chose to have Hal speak it to “a happy few” and to speak it from the heart. I found myself grinning at the end of it.

The end was also an interesting choice. The director chose to have Falstaff’s boy, who appears sporadically throughout the play, age and turn into John Hurt who had been voicing the role of the Chorus. He breaks the fourth wall in the final moments and it worked. It reminded us that we are watching is, indeed, history and that time passes for us all.

I’m convinced that if Shakespeare is looking down at some of the schlock being performed in his name, he is sighing with relief at these. I’d like to think that, like me, he wishes they hadn’t stopped, but had continued on with Richard III.

ChrisB is a freelance writer who spends more time than she ought in front of a television screen or with a book in her hand.

[thespacebetweenworlds]

ya know... i GoT thoughts

This post is my summarized thoughts and feelings on episodes 4, 5 and 6 in season 8. I’m putting it in a read more because... long

In short: -Missandei in e4, why it’s stupid and what should have been done differently -Varys discourse -Cersei -Daenerys -morals? in MY game of thrones? -”magic who” said everyone at HBO -opinions on the end

Me @ game of thrones: Don't ever talk to me or my son ever again

At the end of episode 4 I was having serious flashbacks to Katniss' expression at the end of Catching Fire, and I was violently reminded that even though I did not like some of the things she did I am with Daenerys. And if she burns the entire world, I am with her.

So... episode 4. What a disaster.

I've been thinking of Missandei's death and that it could easily have been something better, something that impacts the last two episodes more than just another emotional blow at Daenerys. (Like Rhaegal was bad enough? Her son died? Why double the pain and take her best friend?) (Rhaegal owns my life and That Scene killed me and I’m not okay)

The plot could have easily been changed so that either Jaime or Brienne or both of them were on that ship with Tyrion, Grey Worm and Missandei. Really, they ended up going to King’s Landing anyway. And then, instead of Missandei, either Tyrion, or Jaime, or Brienne could have been captured and then killed at the end of the episode. Don’t look at me, it’s not like any of them did anything for the plot or the story later. And Tyrion telling Jon to kill Daenerys doesn’t count because it was stupid.

If it were Tyrion, standing chained on the city wall, we'd have Jaime standing next to Daenerys and in front of his sister. We’d have an emotional show down between them, the physical distance and the different sides they’re on can be a metaphor for their love life. OR if it were Jaime who was captured, we'd have a Jaime and Euron confrontation an episode earlier, and a Jaime and Cersei confrrontation, before Jaime dies in front of Tyrion by their sister's hand. Cruel, but hey, so was Missandei’s death. OR if it were Brienne, captured and chained, then Jaime and Cersei would stare into each others eyes all emotionally, and Brienne would die for love, and when Jaime and Cersei would meet in private an episode later, maybe it would be different.

Game of Thrones would have: a very emotional audience, very emotional characters AND an actual reason for Sansa and Arya to leave Winterfell (vengeance).

Game of Thrones would not have: killed off the only major black character, and given the white men another reason to think Daenerys is being "emotional" and therefore somehow unfit for the throne.

Now... Varys. What an idiot.

To understand my point, watch this video where Varys and Littlefinger discuss chaos. Littlefinger claims chaos to be a ladder, and the higher you climb the greater your power, while Varys calls chaos a gaping pit. Varys claims to acting “for the realm,” which is what he says in season 8 when justifying his betrayal. I think he’s afraid. I think that Varys only just noticed that he can’t influence Daenerys like he could all the kings he served before, and he sees chaos in Daenerys’s power, a gaping pit that he thinks will swallow his precious realm. Varys hasn’t realised that his idea of a realm is the wheel Dany wishes to break.

Like, Varys wasn't there when she went through flames, he wasn't there when she freed the slaves or united the khals. He wasn’t there when she locked her dragons underground when they killed a child, he wasn’t with her during her desperate attempts to bring peace.

And when did we forget that not only Unsollied and Dothraki followed Daenerys? She promised a home to those who followed her, warrior or not. She had many families following her ever since her dragons were born, and from all the cities she went through there were people who followed her. For a better world. Where are they when Daenerys goes to Westeros?

Moving on to the major bullshit in episode 5.

Or wait, first some sibling bonding. Jaime and Cersei. I suppose lots of people liked Jaime breaking up with Cersei, but I quite liked the fact that in the end he was at her side (I kinda expected him to stab Cersei the same way Jon stabs Daenerys later, but now I think they probably attempted to not be repetitive). I like that Tyrion helped him be there. Families are important to Westerosi culture. It’s sad that the Lannisers got more heartfelt sibling bonding than the Starks though (Alexa, play the Rains of Castamere).

Things get soupier. Both Cersei and Daenerys have three children that lived, and they’d do anything for them. Then throughout the season, we see Cersei standing around, looking badass, plotting the death of her enemies, all that. But that’s all she does, She’s painted as a villain, when she is only a woman who wants to rule.

Now the bullshit: Cersei is the villain in episodes 4 and 5, and then there’s a seamless change to Daenerys as the villain in episodes 5 and 6. And that’s fucked up. Other posts talk about the sexism (and racism, with Missandei killed for... shock value? tears? fuck knows) in this season better than I could.

The to Cersei’s disappointment nonexistent elephants in the room when discussing my favourite dragon lady is the moral question. The entirety of tumblr fandom likes to have their characters and storytelling labeled neatly as “good” or “irredeemably bad.” It’s one of those things and never both. But Game of Thrones doesn’t work like that, and if you think it does, please, please read the books, or rewatch everything.

Despite that, if you had one (1) functional brain cell, you’d know that Daenerys wouldn’t burn the entire city. She’s never kiiled innocent people on purpose. Why would she start now? But okay, she did that. About half of the other major players would have done the same. Maybe Robert Baratheon wouldn’t, but only because he was the rebel and he needed public opinion of him to be somehwat positive. Renly idk, but Stannis would have. To Margaery it probably wouldn’t occur, but both Littlefinger and Cersei wouldn’t hesitate, just as Cersei didn’t hesitate when blowing up the sept.

Game of Thrones has never been so much about good and evil, it has been about a bunch of people who want things. All of them did morally black things, but suddenly we have Jon, a character who wants to do the “right” thing? Ned Stark died for this kinda mindset. (Not to mention it’s out of character. Jon has always been Ned Stark’s son, but even Jon broke his oaths.)

And hell, that’s why the story works so well. There’s no moral initiative, no “good” or “bad,” and while yeah, the Night King and the Lord of Light drama is pretty dark/light storytelling (not to mention all the comparisons to the real world and climate change), that’s in the background. A subplot.

Because what we care about are the characters, the very real motivations they have, how they deal with life, how they get what they want, the fucking game of thrones. And there’s no good and evil people, there’s people, and you disagree with some of them. Just like Captain America and Ironman disagreed in Civil War, maybe a bit like T’Challa and Killmonger disagreed in Black Panther, and definitely like some people like cats and others like dogs.

(Vanilla vs. Chocolate discourse, anyone?)

Moving on to episode 6.

I cried a lot, and to be honest, I wanted both Jon and Tyrion to be dragon food. But okay, they’re both nice guys, I can deal with them being alive, and after all Jon’s ending with the wildlings is good for him. But.

Jon killing Daenerys is the stupidest thing ever. I get that it’s somehow like some Shakespearean Drama, and Daenerys is the tragic hero, but like??

Sometimes show writers have no idea who they’re writing and it shows. Because Jon loved Ygritte, and he wasn’t able to kill her when they were on opposite sides of a battlefield. And Jon loved Daenerys. ???????

Additionally, I’m not saying I hate all of what they did with the magic and the Lord of Light and the Night King, the Children of the Forest and Azor Ahai lore. But they didn’t do enough of it. There are so many lose threads on the magic in this series, I can’t. And it hurts, because it could have been so beautiful. Those scenes where Daenerys walks through fire and doesn’t die, those scenes beyond the wall with the three eyed raven, and the beautiful, majestetic, perfect dragons? They are what I love about A Song of Ice and Fire.

Last but not least, the end. Like, I have many opinions, and I’m not going to attempt to list all of them. Game of Thrones has many strong women characters, and I’d like to give another thought to Yara of House Greyjoy. Both she and Sansa deserved more. I love that Sansa became Queen in the North, but I hate that apparently she planned Daenerys’s downfall by telling Tyrion about Jon’s parents. Why can’t strong ladies be friends?

The end to such a successful story can’t please everyone, so if you feel like it you can join me and my son, Drogon, in a pile of blankets where we pretend GoT ended with episode 3 and it was simply too dark to see what exactly happened. Did Melisandre bring Viserion back from the dead? Did Bran do some cool magic? Did Missandei marry Grey Worm and sail home to Naath? Guess we’ll never know...

But seriously, the thing with the book was so cheesy and stupid what the fuck?? Can we rename the series to “The Rise and Fall of Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen”?

You know what I missed in season 8? The Stark siblings. They interacted like,, 2 times in 6 episodes. They were all finally united again, well, those who didn’t die, and then they part ways? Um? No?

@ game of thrones: don’t talk to me or my son, Drogon, ever again. You know what you did.

And I'm salty that Daenerys and Sansa aren't best friends. Like, enemies to lovers is fine but what about enemies to friends to lovers -

[ourlittlesecretokay]

3, 7, 8 (I love these btw)

Thank you!! I combined the last two, because I have executive control and a power complex

The way you said “I love you” with a scream

The way you said “I love you” as a thank you

The way you said “I love you” as an apology

“I don’t see why you care so much!”

“I don’t care!” She punctuated the statement by a shove, knocking him back a step.

“Fine, if you want to be a child about it, that’s fine.” He waved the papers in the air, equal parts exasperated and exhausted. “Pardon me for, oh, I don’t know, caring about your opinion!”

“I don’t see why you would bother! I don’t care!”

“Evidently!” But then she was slamming the kitchen door in his face, and even if he wanted to, he couldn’t let it drop.

“No!” storming in, he let the door bang open, “You do NOT slam doors in my face!”

“Since when?” Turning to face him, she stood stiff, her arms crossed. Didn’t he have sense enough to leave her alone?

“I told you I’d take it out if it bothers you so much!”

“I’m not bothered!”

“You are LITERALLY only hurting yourself here!”

“What, are you offended I’m not more jealous?”

“Jealous? We’ve moved past jealous into enraged. Jealous would be much more reasonable! I could work with jealous!”

“Well I’m not! You do whatever the hell you want!”

“Oh my g- It’s just a script!”

“A script which YOU wrote.”

“No, not me, i-”

“Sorry, not you, whatever fucking alias you’re using for this one!”

“Language.” The corners of his mouth turned down, still finding the time to reprimand her. “I asked if it was going to be an issue, and if it’s not-”

“It isn’t! I genuinely do not see why you would possibly think I’d have an issue with it.”

“Well now you’re just overdoing it. Seriously? It’s just a play. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Of course it doesn’t! God, you’re so stupid!”

“Fine, you know what? I’m keeping it in. If you’re so OBVIOUSLY unperturbed by it, then it won’t be a problem!”

“Fine!”

“Fine!”

They stood in silence, neither one looking at the other.

“It’s shitty writing anyway,” she muttered, just loud enough for him to hear.

“EXCUSE me?”

“I said, it’s shitty writing! You’re a bad writer!” Her finger jabbed at his chest. He scowled, irritated beyond belief.

“Oh, because you could do so much better?”

“I could! Who even talks like that? God, if the audience isn’t already nauseous from watching you makeout with someone on stage, this dialogue will put them under for sure!”

“That-” he gestured with his finger, trying to keep his anger coherent, “is uncalled for!”

“Oh, and I’m the oversensitive one? You’re the one throwing a hissy fit over an honest critique!”

“You’re not being honest nor fair!”

“What can I say, maybe you’re a bad influence after all.”

“Look,” he held his hands out in surrender, “I’ll take it out. All you have to do is say you want me to.”

“I! Don’t! Care! I’m just trying to keep you from embarrassing yourself. It sounds like you’ve never met a woman in your life! I mean, honestly,” snatching the papers from his hand, she began to read aloud, “‘Now that I know you exist, how could I ever survive without you?’ What the hell is that? No self-respecting woman would ever say that!”

“Maybe they would, if they weren’t so impossibly callous.”

“Callous!”

He shrugged, “I’m only speaking hypothetically. If you choose to take offense to that-”

“Okay, then what about this,” she jabbed at the paper irately, “explain just what the hell this is supposed to be.”

“It’s a love scene.”

“It’s something, alright. ‘You tremble beneath my hand like a shivering mollusk?’ Honestly, who talks like that?”

“Don’t be mad simply because you don’t have the soul of a poet!”

“Oh my god,” she shook her head. “If you’re gonna exploit loopholes in our marriage, at least have the dignity to do it right!”

“It’s a play, it doesn’t mean anything!”

“But you wrote it!” She slammed the script down on the counter, “You sat up all night and imagined how it would feel to sleep with another woman, wrote it down, terribly, I might add, and plan on sharing it with everyone while I sit there trying very hard not to look like an idiot while you make out with some lady on stage!”

“So it DOES bother you?”

“Yes it bothers me!” She lifted her hands up, exasperated, “It bothers me so damn much! It bothers me that you are so much more concerned with how things look for you that I can go to hell so long as I make you look good while doing it!”

“It’s not that deep-”

“No, it’s not! That’s the problem. You’re so fucking vain, anything beyond an inch of depth puts you out of your league. You want to kiss women on stage? Fucking whatever. Just write something better than a Shakespearean porno opening.”

“You think it sounds like Shakespeare?”

“I think that you’re an incomprehensible idiot!”

“Watch it!”

“No, it’s okay, I’m a fucking idiot too! I should have known better than to love a man who’s more in love with his ego than me.” She slammed the papers against his chest. Catching them in his hands, he looked at her quietly. She took a shattering breath in, gritting her teeth. Feeling rather awkward, he cleared his throat.

“Do you really think I wrote a play just to cheat on you?”

“I don’t know. Maybe,” she shrugged, not meeting his eyes, “I’ve never pretended to understand you.”

“No offense, but if I wanted to cheat on you, I would just do it. Do you think writing plays is easier than just kissing someone?”

“With dialogue like that? Yes.”

“That’s cruel.”

“It’s true.”

Stepping forward, he caught her face between his hands, brushing her hair back, “You’re impossible, you know.”

“Hey, I-”

“No, it’s okay. I like my women difficult.”

“Not the line to use right now.”

He laughed, amused at her irritation. “Do you really think I would be so unkind?”

“Yes.”

“Poor Violet, so mistreated by her unkind husband.” Still smiling, he kissed her forehead. “It would be poetic though, wouldn’t it? Using theater both to catch and leave you?”

She scoffed, “Maybe you should write a play about that instead.”

“Maybe.” He paused, quiet. “I can’t believe you think my play is bad.”

“Well, it’s not IRREDEEMABLE, persay. It’s just… not good.”

“You wound me, Countess.”

“You deserved it.”

“Perhaps I did.” Amused, he kissed her lips. “Although, in the future, may I recommend just admitting your infatuations? It would save us both a lot of time.”

“Infatuation might be too strong a word.”

“Obsession? Adoration? Passion?”

“You’re pushing your luck.”

“Let’s see how far it takes me then.” Smiling, he kissed her again, leaving the script forgotten behind in the light of her favor.

The way you said “I love you” as a thank you

The way you said “I love you” as an apology

“I’m FINE.”

“Nope,” she pushed at his back, trying to steer him back upstairs, “you most certainly are not.”

“I don’t see what you’re so upset about. It’s not-” his protest was interrupted with a hacking cough.

“It absolutely is, and I will not have you germing up my nice clean house.”

“I’m not even sick.”

“Then you won’t mind taking a day off anyway.”

“I’m not-” but then she was shoving him into the bedroom, a woman determined, and he knew there was no point in arguing. “Fine. If you want to do all the work yourself, be my guest.”

“Sounds good. Now please, try to get some sleep.”

“If anything at all happens, you come and get me.”

“What’s going to happen? I swear, you’re so paranoid.” Tugging off his jacket, she pushed him towards the bed.

“Will you at least bring me food? I might as well get something out of this.”

“Sure. Just, please. Stay put.”

“If you insist,” he clicked his tongue, more amused than annoyed.

She didn’t become worried until it became two hours since she’d last heard from him. Usually his silence indicated some sort of nefarious plot, and now she was worried he had actually managed to sneak out. However, when she came up, food in hand, she found him pale and sweating in a shallow sleep. He awoke when she carefully set the mug on the table beside him.

“Violet,” he whispered.

“Yes?”

“I’m dying.”

“You’re not dying.” Lightly, she pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. “You have a fever, but you’re not dying.”

“I’ve been poisoned.”

“You’ve not been poisoned.”

“After everything, this is how it ends.”

“Okay, actor man.” She handed him a glass of water, “Here, drink this.”

“And so I go,” he closed his eyes, his voice low and hoarse. “Not with a bang but a whimper.”

“Alright. I’ll go pick up some cough medicine. Try to drink that entire glass by the time I’m back. Do you want anything else?”

“Whiskey.”

“Not whiskey.”

“You can’t refuse a dying man his last wish.”

Not bothering to respond, she opened the window, letting in some fresh air, “If you’re up to it, take a cold shower. It’ll make you feel better.”

“You’re a terrible nurse.”

“Something tells me you’re an even worse patient.”

“I crave the release of death.”

“Okay, I’ll be back.” She patted his head placatingly, shutting the door quiet behind her.

He could not remember the last time he had been so horribly inconvenienced. He was a busy man; he didn’t have time to get sick. Quarantined to his own sweaty solitude, the minutes ticked into hours. Eternities flew by, dizzy and achy timeless expanses. He didn’t know it was possible for your very bones to ache.

It had finally caught up with him; every single terrible thing he had ever done ever, and now he was paying the price. Damn her for leaving him in this state. It was as if she didn’t even care. Maybe he would die, just to show her. Then she’d be sorry. His revenge fantasy easily turned over to a daydream about her as a more sympathetic nurse, crying over his lowly state, stroking his face and remarking upon how very very brave he was. He closed his eyes, the pressure in his head pounding against his skull.

When he opened them again, the light had moved across the walls. It took him a moment to realize he had been sleeping, for all the good it had done him; he was just as tired and groggy as before. Looking over, he saw her placing some more things on his bedside table.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. How are you feeling?”

He shrugged feebly, forcing out a weak cough.

“Well, I’m glad to see you’ve fended off death thus far. Here, sit up,” pulling at his shoulder, she managed to get him somewhat less horizontal. “Take this.”

“What is it?”

“It’ll bring your fever down.” She dropped a white pill into his hand.

“I’d much prefer a cyanide capsule.”

“I’m sure you would.” Handing him the glass of water, she stared at him until he successfully swallowed it. “And let me get this, you’ve sweat clean through it.” She tugged at his shirt, snapping the buttons open and pulling it over his shoulders. Grateful for the cool air, he lay back down, exhausted and dizzy but mostly embarrassed at being so entirely undone.  

“I’m not helpless, you know.”

“I’m aware.”

“I’m still a lethal force.”

“Of course.”

“I can handle myself.”

“I know.”

He almost felt bad for being so irritable, but it was utterly beyond his control. His own body was conspiring against him. He heard her move a few more things around and then she cleared her throat quietly, touching his arm lightly.

“Alright then. If you need anything-”

“Wait,” he caught her wrist, holding her beside him. “Can you stay?”

There was a moment’s pause before she responded. “Sure.” The mattress sank beside him as she perched on the edge, stroking her fingers over his hair, “Should I just be quiet, or?”

“No, keep talking.” His voice was more mutter than speech. “It’s nice.”

“Do you want me to read to you? I mean, I can, if you want.”

“That depends. Do you have anything good?”

“I absolutely do.” He heard her shuffling things around once more and then, settling gently, she began to read aloud, her free hand still stroking his hair, “Miss Adela Strangeworth stepped daintily along Main Street on her way to the grocery. The sun was shining, the air was fresh and clear after the night’s heavy rain-”

“Wait, wait,” he stopped her, “are you sure this is good? Because it sounds like it’s gearing up to be absolutely awful.”

“Trust me,” he could hear the smile in her voice, “it’s good.”

“Alright. But if it’s boring, that’s on you.”

“A risk I’m willing to take.” Clearing her throat, she began again where she had left off. “Let’s see… The air was fresh and clear after the night’s heavy rain, and everything in Miss Strangeworth’s little town looked washed and bright.”

“Violet?”

She sighed, “It won’t get any better if you don’t let me get anywhere.”

“No, it’s not that. I just… love you, is all.”

Smiling, she stroked his forehead, brushing his hair back. “Feeling guilty about yelling at me?”

“Somewhat. But mostly I just thought you should know, since this is the end and all.”

“Oh, of course. Should I continue?”

“Please.” Closing his eyes again, he let her carry on.

It was well into the night by the time he awoke next. She was still beside him, her finger tucked between the pages of the book where she had left off. The silly girl had fallen asleep in her clothes. Quiet as he could manage, he sat up, pulling her shoes off for her. She stirred, groaning awake.

“What time is it?”

“Late.”

Rubbing at her eyes, she sighed, “How are you feeling?”

“Pretty terrible. I’ll survive, though.”

“Glad to hear it. God, why is it so hot in here?”

Smirking, he reclined again, pressing a kiss to her forehead before pausing, pulling back ever so slightly, “Violet?”

“Yes?”

“You might want these,” reaching over her, he guiltily handed her the bottle of pills.

She sighed, “Perfect.”

“I love you.”

“I know, I know.”

He kissed her forehead again, her flushed skin hot beneath his lips, “Anything I can do to make it up to you?”

“Here,” smirking, she handed him the book, settling against his shoulder, “you can take a turn.”

“Fair enough.” Leaning his cheek against the top of her head, he waited for her settle, and then as softly as he could manage, he picked up right where they had left off.

[sometimesrosy]

okay since it's 10 days until season 4 can you tell me your predictions for things like ships and character deaths??

At this point, I have trouble with real predictions, because they are going to adjust the stories they’re telling in season 4. I didn’t actually develop any predictions last season until episode 3.05. But the things I came up with around then are based on story structure. I began predicting the long term story based on the structure I saw developing, and hints about Dante’s Descent Into Hell. 

First prediction. Bellarke is happening. Period. It always was, we just weren’t at the point where it was being realized, but the development. Now we’re at real Bellarke blossoming. Also, Bellamy and Clarke are not going to die. IF they do, it will be in the last episode of the whole show. But even then, I think I am doubtful that the writers would make that choice based on what they learned about grimdark storytelling this past season. (I hope any way.)

I ship niytavia and ice mechanic, but neither of them are predictions. I just like them. Give me some time with the storyline for season 4 and I’ll do better predicting non-Bellarke ships.

This isn’t a prediction, just a warning. I believe that anyone can die on this show (except Bellamy and Clarke) so I NEVER think anyone is safe, not even my favorites who I don’t ever want to die, like Raven. No character is safe. No relationship is safe. I don’t know how they are going to handle Briller with the m/m relationship, because I don’t think that’s going to last. I still think he’s a red shirt. 

Okay, so now that I’ve given that warning and said that I always expect anyone can die and prepare myself for it, I want to actually talk about a theory I have about where this whole show MIGHT be going which might change the entire “anyone can die” trope. Which MIGHT mean that, rather than losing all the rest of our delinquents and earth parents, they actually DO survive, deserve to survive, and get to LIVE.

WHAT? HOW?

Okay well here’s the thing. We’ve been talking around the fandom about The 100 having possibly a five season story arc. It makes a lot of sense and creates this novel like structure that fits exactly what has already been seen on the screen. 

Last season, I started looking at The 100 through the lens of Dante’s Descent into Hell, and while I’m not an expert on that work, with a little googling, I could see how closely Bellamy’s journey, in particular and the whole season 3 paralleled The Descent into Hell. They went in to hell. 3.03 is called “Ye Who Enter Here,” which is what is written on the gate of hell (Abandon hope all ye who enter here!) They travelled through the various temptations and levels of hell  (wrath, false counselors, etc). And they rose OUT of hell. The story structure of season three starts out innocent, enters hell, dives down deep, confronts demons, and then begins the slow struggle up OUT of hell, they come back together and are changed people.  This is what happened in season 3. And yet, if you look at the arc of the whole show from season three… it’s ALSO following a similar structure on a larger level, with the end of s3 being the beginning of the climb out of hell. Which means the story arc of s3 might mirror the story arc of the whole show with s3 being the darkest point.

Then this hiatus I started examining The 100 through a shakespearean lens, mainly because people kept calling L a hero and I couldn’t see it, so I said, “Okay, if she IS a hero how could it fit?” And through my research and analysis I decided she WAS a hero within her own story, and her subplot had a heroic narrative arc, but it WASN’T that of the epic hero (clarke?) or everyman hero (bellamy?) or even antihero (murphy?)  It was the arc of the TRAGIC HERO. Like King Lear or Macbeth or Hamlet. L was a strong, beloved hero who was brought down by her own tragic flaws and everything she worked for was destroyed. Her subplot was a tragedy. 

So then I started wondering about tragedies, which this story sure seems like, right? 

NO. In the classic sense, a tragedy sees the fall of the hero and destruction of everything. Like L’s story in Polis. Or MW. But Clarke and Bellamy and The 100… their story seems to be about falling, fighting, and failing, but in the end, they WIN. It might be a win that cuts both ways, but their aims are achieved, they become stronger, even when they have to fight to get there. 

And then I started looking at the classical sense of A COMEDY.

“Comedy”, in its Elizabethan usage, had a very different meaning from modern comedy. A Shakespearean comedy is one that has a happy ending, usually involving marriages between the unmarried characters, and a tone and style that is more light-hearted than Shakespeare’s other plays.[14] (X)

While this is a drama and not light hearted, I started to wonder if the end point was not the same as Elizabethan comedy, which would explain the focus on Clarke and Bellamy being TOGETHER and ultimately saving the world and creating a new society that deserves to survive. 

It turns out also

The theatrical genre of Greek comedy can be described as a dramatic performance which pits two groups or societies against each other in an amusing agon or conflict. Northrop Frye depicted these two opposing sides as a “Society of Youth” and a “Society of the Old”.[2] A revised view characterizes the essential agon of comedy as a struggle between a relatively powerless youth and the societal conventions that pose obstacles to his hopes. (X)

Which also fits what’s going on with The 100, without the lighthearted part. Old world vs new world. 

And then I realized that Dante’s Descent Into Hell is only one part of a longer work which is entitled… wait for it….

THE DIVINE COMEDY. 

In this epic poem, Dante’s alter ego, the Pilgrim, travels through Hell and Purgatory to reach Heaven. His journey is meant to impress upon readers the consequences of sin and the glories of Heaven. (X)

So what if the big twist in The 100 is that far from being essentially grimdark with everyone dying in pain and failing in their tasks, it’s actually a comedy which sees our heroes making it through hell, fighting off their demons, coming out stronger and with new powers, seeing the world in a new light, learning to be happy together, finding love and purpose and rebuilding society. Not a tragedy but a comedy.

Just like last season, when we were worried everyone in the COL would die, it actually turned out that Clarke and Bellamy succeeded and they saved everyone, all their people (’cept Pike. Whoops. Is Octavia’s story that of a hero or that of a villain? we don’t know yet.)

So this is my hopeful what if proposition. Not a prediction yet. What if everyone lives, they succeed and end up happy? Hopeful, dramatic comedy, not Hopeless dramatic tragedy. This theory is built upon story structure, and assuming that the writers have a long range plan for the story they are telling.

Hey the tag line confirms my theory. From The Ashes We Will Rise.

*Crossing my fingers*

[inkhornbuccaneer]

COLONIALIST THEMES AND RACE IN THE ORIGINALS

So, I have the most complicated relationship with the Originals. On many levels, it's a remarkable show. The character are pristine and unique, the dialogue is some of the best I've seen; I adore Klaus and Elijah’s characters, their near-Shakespearean vernacular, which , given their age and tastes, fits seamlessly with their characters. The multi-cultural atmosphere of New Orleans is prominent and pervasive. Well, sorta, and that's where the problems start. Originals started out a balanced, nuanced imagining of a city in conflict, in which not only the different supernatural beings (vampires, werewolves, witches) but the cultural foreground shared considerable spheres of influence. As the show progressed, you start to see the sidelining of the POC and female characters and the ‘Originals’ swallowing up the city at everyone’s expense, while the show positions their motivations and woes (Klaus and Elijah) as paramount. In a lot of ways, The Originals can easily be seen as a supernatural tale of a white aristocratic power recolonizing New Orleans. What do I mean? Well I’m glad you asked, reader! The moment the Original family returned to New Orleans, everything became about Klaus and his unborn baby. To an extent, it makes sense, as Klaus is the main character. However, between his megalomaniacal tendencies and paranoia, his attempts to ‘reclaim’ New Orleans resulted in him making a lot of unnecessary enemies and spilling bucket loads innocent blood. That’s part of the intrigue of the story, of course. Klaus, a monster in his own right, inching his way towards humanity and redemption, nudged (and sometimes shoved) by Elijah and Rebekah. And yet, for all the people he kills, he rarely reflects on the notion, unless his ‘conscience’ Camille forces him to. Still, he sees mortals as beneath him, not particularly worthy of his acknowledgement (Except Camille, she’s one of the ‘good ones’). Now, I love Klaus. He is a fascinating character. His upbringing and life provides some justification for his violent tendency and extreme distrust of…well, everyone. Getting chased for a 1,000 years by your psychotic dad would bring out the worst in everyone. So the issue isn’t necessarily Klaus, but rather the character’s privilege in the context of the story—this is an issue with the writing of the show. Klaus’ redemption story is cool, but his interest consumes and destabilizes the lives of those who lived in the city for generations. Let’s also not forget his constant “I made the city what it is! I deserve this city” rhetoric. Let’s focus on the witches first. But didn’t the witches want to kill his baby in Season 1? Didn’t that make them the bad guys? Yes and yes. And there again lies the issue—how the story positions the characters and factions. The witches are literally one with the land, they draw their magic from their ancestors. Why is it that the faction who has lived in the city for countless generations, who have been subjugated by the vampires, fashioned as the villains in season 1? Given, there’s more complexity there, but the core conflict reads as thus; the wealthy, powerful vampire family returns to New Orleans, the discriminated witches try to fight for their liberation, and get squashed. (Yo, can we bring Papa Tunde back? Please?) True, the witches do regain the ‘right’ to practice magic, but they are still carefully monitored. This isn’t even to say that the witches were not on some crazy shit (human sacrifice and all), but the parallels of the Vampires (specifically the Originals) as colonists still ring strong. The habit of coming in, establishing a rule without the other groups’ consent (because fuck what they think), expressly disregarding their customs and needs—that ought to sound familiar. What bothers me more is the positioning of the PoC Characters, because even if they exist within quasi-colonialist vampires ‘caste’, they find themselves in compromised, unfavorable footing, story-wise. Season 1. Enter Marcel Gerard, the leader of the vampires in New Orleans and, having subjugated the witches, is the ruler of the city. The writers present Marcel as a brilliant strategist, constantly several steps ahead of everyone, even Klaus, who’s also known for his ingenuity and cleverness. Watching them outmaneuver one another throughout Season 1 was intriguing and, though Marcel ultimately loss, it was hard fought and believable. He remained an amazing character, so it was with great distaste that I watched as his role and importance degrade over the next two seasons. Suddenly, most of his actions are made in service to helping Klaus and his family in whatever problem they put themselves into. He went from the king of the city to a pawn. We see flashes of his brilliance on occasion, like when he manages to seize control of the Strix in Season 3. This arc was particularly interesting because it places Marcel in a dangerous game which he masterfully navigates, which helps remind us of how he was able to bring the city under his control before the Mikaelson incursion. However, we find out that even Marcel’s rise to leadership amongst the Strix was but a move to help Elijah. This would have been fine if Marcel was not constantly called to aid the Mikaelsons at the expense of his position. He had been invited to join the Strix because he was recognized as exceptional, and yet, even at the helm of this ancient vampire sect, he still answers to the Mikaelsons. “Where Nothing Stays Buried” was an amazing episode for many reasons, one being Marcel’s parting of ways with the Original Family. Marcel confronting Klaus and Elijah about how ties to the Mikaelsons is literally a death sentence, with Camille and Davina’s death (and countless others) being prime examples. The ending had me feeling all types of ways. Vincent and Marcel collaborating to take down the Originals is both exhilarating and terrifying. Their motivations are completely legitimate. They have more than enough reason to want to uproot the Mikaelsons from New Orleans, but those who have challenged the Mikaelsons have historically been eliminated, hence my fear. Even within the witch faction, you see a problematic positioning of the PoC characters. In season 3, after Davina killed Kara, played by Asian actress Joyce Brew, her son Van, played by Lawrence Kao, gets revenge by having her exiled. Fast forward to now, Van is dead, killed off by a pissed off Kol Mikaelson, who’s angry because Van was unable resurrected his beloved Davina. It’s as though only the white characters in general have the right to be vengeful or protect those they care about. Well, maybe not. Davina does get her soul eviscerated by Kara. So, progress, right? *sigh* In terms of diversity, the casting for this show is impressive. There is a great array of women, PoC, and gay characters. Yet, this doesn’t do much good when these characters get killed off every two seconds. Certainly, the death count in this show is high all across the board (which is a problem in and of itself), but their deaths hurt more when the ‘diverse’ characters are given subordinate roles in the story. They get used by the Originals, get fucked, try to get even, and then die because how dare they stand up to the all-powerful, uncompromising first family of vampires? Going back to the PoC death issue, can we stop with Elijah’s long list of WoC love interests that end up dying? Seriously, Celeste, Gia, Aya. That is a profoundly irritating pattern, especially when these characters have so much to offer. Especially when we know they’re most likely going to die because the show has written Elijah and Hayley’s stories in such a way that they’re definitely going to end up together. Let’s stop putting WoC as placeholders until writers deem it the suitable time for those two to get with one another. Again, I really like this show and all its characters. I’m also of the belief that one should critique what they love, because nothing is perfect. Also, given the roster of writers this show has, I know that they can do better.

[biofunmy]

‘Game of Thrones’ Series Finale Recap: All Hail King Who?

Season 8, Episode 6, ‘The Iron Throne’

In the end, “Game of Thrones” was about blowing up the game of thrones.

At times Sunday’s series finale rendered this literally, as when the Iron Throne itself, the inspiration for most of the terrible things we’ve seen over eight seasons, was grief-torched by Drogon after Jon Snow killed its mom.

More thematically, the show that has been broadly about a society’s transition from murderous, dysfunctional dynastic rule and entitlement politics to a more collectivist model consummated that concept, killing off yet another conquering monarch and replacing her with an elected king.

Of course the thing is, that king is Bran.

It was one of several head-scratchers in a finale that, like much of the season, was a mishmash of poignant moments and puzzling turns.

There were definitely some nice touches, like the dragon-wing shot of Daenerys and the nobles’ guffaws at the mere thought of actual democracy, one of the night’s funnier moments. In some ways, the finale was a compendium of “Thrones” greatest hits: There was yet another regicide, yet another jailing of Tyrion, yet another scattering of Starks.

But the episode, directed by the creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff (who in the last few weeks have become the show’s biggest villains to a vocal fan segment), was also plagued by the same incoherence that has inspired abundant Twitter rage this season and at least one effigial petition.

There was Jon killing Daenerys and then escaping the immediate wrath of both Drogon — maybe his Targaryen blood helped — and the Unsullied, who instead took him prisoner hours after cutting people’s throats just for supporting Cersei, much less murdering their queen. (And how did they know what had happened, without a body? Did he confess?) There was the eternally fungible size of the Unsullied and Dothraki forces.

There was also the weird pacing that has marred much of the past two seasons, since the show cut from 10 episodes a season to seven last season and then six in this one.

On Sunday, minutes of screen time would be devoted to Jon walking and then, with a quick fade out and in, Tyrion had a bushy beard and the heads of Westeros’s big houses had suddenly appeared in the dragonpit. (Who summoned them?)

After eight seasons of anguish and death that amounted to a case for a new political system — “We need to find a better way!” Davos urged — Tyrion laid the whole thing out in a few minutes, Scooby Doo-style, as Grey Worm glowered nearby but reluctantly went along with everything.

It was clumsy and frustrating, especially because if you squinted, you could see how the outcomes could have been powerful if the lead-ups hadn’t been mismanaged.

Jon’s assassination of Daenerys was the stuff of Greek tragedy — a man murdering his lover for the greater good. (And here’s where I brag about bringing up Maester Aemon’s “love is the death of duty” speech back in Week 2.) Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington gave moving performances, but the scene lacked the impact it deserved because the turn that got us there was unconvincing.

Bran is in some ways a fitting choice for a kingdom that is looking to forge a different path. On a show frequently about how societies that forget their history are doomed to repeat it — in sectarian revenge cycles, conquering tyrants, sacks of great cities — Bran can see all of history. In a realm plagued by rulers who slaughtered their way into power, Bran is physically broken. In a tale in which pride and ego can lead to travesty, Bran has neither.

Tyrion leaned hard into the humility argument and also into a cornier one about stories being the most powerful thing on earth. Bran got shoved from a tower and then became the Three Eyed Raven, Tyrion said. Who has a better story than that? (Rebuttal: Arya and Sansa, sitting on either side of him.)

And as a bonus, Bran can’t sire a lunatic like Joffrey because he can’t have kids at all!

But none of it changes the fact that Bran has long been one of the most unsatisfying characters on the show. He’s almost a man, as he told Jon back in the season premiere, but he’s mostly a tool of convenience designed to relay narrative information we couldn’t get otherwise — whether it’s scouting the White Walkers, revealing “Thrones” prehistory or dropping knowledge bombs.

Bran theoretically has access to all information but seems to access it only when and in which way the story needs him to. This was reflected perfectly by his response to Tyrion’s pitch: “Why do you think I came all this way?” O.K., then why were you so hyped about telling Jon he’s supposed to be king a few weeks ago?

One response might be, because that’s what needed to happen — this is Bran’s response to pretty much everything, which makes it essentially meaningless. This all can sound like nit-picking, but internal logic is part of what gives a story power and resonance. In a show that was once defined by a kind of gritty realism within a fantastical setting, Bran is the ultimate cheat.

So his promotion to the Rolling Throne was a sort of final confirmation that over the past couple of seasons, at least, the series became something different from what most of us signed up for.

“Game of Thrones” became a global phenomenon largely by upending expectations, and one way it achieved that was by using the calcified conventions of the fantasy genre against us. The noble patriarch defined by his morals? Gone in the first season. The prince valiant son who followed his heart? Slaughtered along with his pregnant wife. The gentle giant who lived to protect a plucky young lad? Doomed in multiple ways by the actions of said lad.

This was a Shakespearean saga about power, blood and loyalty, we once told our skeptical, fantasy-averse friends. Not some show about dragons and wizards.

And then in its final episode, a dragon committed the story’s most potent symbolic act and a wizard was put in charge.

It all could have worked better if the past two seasons had felt less like headlong rushes toward predetermined outcomes, at the expense of character and story believability. (Whatever that means in a dragon epic.) I might have even accepted King Bran the Broken and his “everything happens for a reason” rhetoric if the show had just … nah, actually, I probably wouldn’t have. But so many of the things that drove fans loudly crazy this season most likely wouldn’t have if they’d been given more room to breathe. (More on this in a minute.)

The council that elected Bran included some of our favorite people, at least. This included the future Small Council members Sam (grand maester), Davos (master of ships), Brienne (lord commander of the kingsguard, maybe?) and Bronn, who in a fun twist was made master of coin. (As political commentary, putting a louche mercenary in charge of the treasury is pretty great.)

Yara Greyjoy and Gendry were there, too. Randomly, so was the former Suckling Robin, Yohn Royce (I think?), and some other people I didn’t recognize. Edmure Tully made it out of Walder Frey’s cell, apparently, but he’s still the same goober he was when he went in.

The mix of highborn and low was meaningful, and combined with the depictions of the Targaryen Regime — the Nurembergish rally, the tyrannical doublespeak about “liberating” people who had just been butchered — it unsubtly hammered home the show’s main themes: Power corrupts. Working together is our only hope.

Of course, the defining pack of the show was scattered yet again to the corners of the earth. The parting of Sansa, Arya and Jon inspired real emotion, intensified by the fact that just as they would never see this family together again, neither would we.

It was sad to see the Starks go their separate ways again, but they each got fitting ends. Sansa got a crown and an independent North, making her one of the few people in the show actually qualified for the job they have.

Arya is off for further adventures in the land beyond the map. Jon is going back North to where he fit in best of all, a poignant end for a man who was always an outsider, even when he was at the center of things. He’s already made up for his diss of Ghost a couple of weeks ago.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me,” Jon told Bran.

“You were exactly where you were supposed to be,” he replied.

Of course he was, Bran. Of course he was.

A Race to the Finish

Endings are hard, and this one was always going to be harder than most.

That’s partly thanks to a story that methodically killed off its most interesting characters (and some of its best actors) as it winnowed into a more traditional good-versus-evil tale centered on its least interesting ones (Jon and Dany).

And it’s partly because the things that established “Game of Thrones” as a phenomenon — the epic scale, the shocking twists — began to work against it. Plot swerves got more abrupt as the writers tried to stay ahead of the obsessive audience — without the benefit of a blueprint, once the show surpassed the books — and story was sacrificed at the altar of spectacle as the series strove to top itself over and over.

And it’s partly because Benioff and Weiss failed to anticipate the ways in which dramatically abbreviating the last two seasons would exacerbate all of the above.

I don’t pretend to understand the pressures of TV production — logic suggests that with the episodes getting ever more technically complicated, they would take longer to shoot, which results in fewer of them per season.

But didn’t the show already take as much time as it needed, with months and months between some seasons? Why not go ahead and take as much as it takes to get to 10 episodes for those last two? For that matter, why not break up some of these supersize installments from this season into two separate ones that let moments land and things develop less frantically?

I liked the Battle of Winterfell more than most people, but would it have felt less abrupt spread over two episodes? Would Jaime or Dany’s turns have felt more natural if they’d been given time to more gradually unfold? Yes, yes and yes.

But now I worry that I’m starting to sound nit-picky again. And listen: For all of my kvetching, am I saying the show has been ruined, as so many former fans claim? Not at all. (I’m certainly not signing any goofy petitions.)

I will always admire “Game of Thrones” and never forget the wonder of its most provocative moments — Hardhome, Hodor, the Red Wedding, Cersei’s coup, Arya’s killing of the Night King — and the beauty of its quieter ones. I was frequently astounded that such stunning and audacious artistry could be delivered into my living room.

I kvetch because I care. I care because at its best, there was nothing else like “Game of Thrones” on TV or any other medium.

A Few Thoughts While We Turn the Page

• The power of stories and the tension between actual and recorded history were big themes in the finale, and in the show over all. In addition to Tyrion’s rhetoric on Sunday, we saw Brienne faithfully filling out Jaime’s story in the Book of the Brothers — a callback to Joffrey making fun of Jaime’s scanty entry in Season 4 — until she got to his final act. “He died serving his Queen,” she wrote, a single-sentence gloss on one of the most complex and defining plots of this story.

• Then Tyrion himself, the linchpin of so much of “Game of Thrones,” was entirely left out of “Song of Ice and Fire.” A popular theory held that Sam was ultimately going to be the one who wrote the story we’ve just watched. Close. Turns out it was Archmaester Ebrose (the head guy played by Jim Broadbent), but Sam helped with the title.

• “There’s still a Night’s Watch?” Jon asked, speaking for all of us, when it was proposed to him. Yep, Tyrion said, but maybe there wasn’t after all? It just looked like Tormund and a bunch of Wildlings, and then they all headed north of the Wall.

• Freed of their pillaging and storm-trooping responsibilities, the Unsullied are on their way to Naath, all 100 or 10,000 or however many of them are going to live the dream that Grey Worm hatched with Missandei back at Winterfell. Also, if you had Grey Worm in your survival pool, congratulations. Drinks are on you.

• What did you make of the big finale? Did it make you mad about the rise of Bran the Broken? Sad about Jon’s expulsion? Glad Dany got her comeuppance?

• And finally, each of us has a role to play, and now mine is done. But before I stagger toward the horizon like Melisandre and collapse into dust, I want to say thank you to everyone for reading and commenting over the past few weeks (or years). Daenerys, Jaime, Cersei, Jorah, Missandei, Ned, Robb, Rickon, Hodor (Hodor) and about a billion others didn’t make it, but we’re still here. We were the watchers on the couches, and now our … wait, how does it go again?

Sahred From Source link Arts

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[flicksnfilms]

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment - the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain.

Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo Writer: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely (screenplay), Stan Lee, Jack Kirby (Marvel comics), Jim Starlin, George Pérez, Ron Lim (comic book story) Cast: fucking everybody IMDB | RottenTomatoes | Official Site

Watched: on 25 April, at the IMAX cinema, and 28 April, and 01 May

Reaction: ± Thanos demands my silence. I will say that i wasn’t half as prepared as i though i was. I'll edit this in like a week with my actual reaction since i assume by then it'll be far enough down any follower's (who hasn't watched - IN A WHOLE WEEK AFTER RELEASE!) dashboard to not be seen unless you're looking specifically at this blog.

Memorable aspect of the movie: + So many things. (Soon.)

Would I recommend it? > Fuck. Yes.

[EDIT:] So, reaction. After more than a month because i haven’t been on in a while, and under the cut because it’s hella long (like, super fucking long) and rambling in my geeky joy. :D It’s in 3 parts, from the three times i watched it.

[Take 1] ± It was an EXCELLENT, WELL BALANCED FILM. They have the Marvel Cinematic Universe formula down pat of comedy and drama, action and reaction. It’s so perfect and fun to watch. They were able to give the gigantic cast fairly equal screen time as well as balancing the personalities on screen. [See bonus content at the very end.]. That they split up the teams and threw them with other franchises was a great choice for both balance and dynamic. The visuals -- cinematography, CGI, costume, make up, set design --, as always, are a feast, with the coloration of the film striking a balance between all the different tones from each individual franchise. 

[Take 2] Memorable [aspect] moments of the movie: + D:  “I am Loki, Prince of Asgard... Odinson.” + XD “I’ll get you a metaphysical ham on rye.” + Doctor Strange and Tony’s interactions. It was interesting repartee and good chemistry. + Stark-raving Hazelnut and Hunka-Hulk-a Burning Love. I need to try these flavours, and also i need to know the flavours for every other Avenger. + <3 Tony brings the stupid flip phone around with him! AND there’s a message!! + XD “Squidward” + XD “Dude, you’re embarrassing me in front of the wizards.” + XD Bruce trying to beat Hulk out.  + “Wong, you’re invited to my wedding.” + XD The singing. Mean faces. “Language. ... Ever since you got a little sap.” OMG. You GOT a little sap. Oh, puberty. “ XD “He is not a dude. You are a dude. He is a man. A handsome, muscular man.” “It’s like a pirate made a baby with an angel.” “God man.” + XD Mantis’s attack form. + XD Quill’s jealousy and mimicking. + “All words are made up words.” Well, that’s actually a good point. + “Is there a 4 digit code? A birthday perhaps” Thor’s really gotten into Midgard culture eh? (Which is a good carry over from Thor: Ragnarok.) + XD Rabbit. Tree. Morons. Ah, Thor’s nicknames. It’s fun, cause he doesn’t mean them maliciously and he says them with such regal diction that they feel kind of acceptable as nicknames. + The intro sequences for the rogue Avengers. STEVE!!! <3 And Sam! And Nat!! The whole fight sequence too! + D:  “Where to, Cap?” “Home.” !!! (ESPECIALLY IF YOU REWATCH AGE OF ULTRON AND SEE HOW STEVE REACTS TO SAM SAYING “Home is home,” AT THE PARTY. TT_TT )  + “The kid watches more movies.” Well, that’s a good enough strategy. + “WHAT ARE THOSE??” The two teenagers use the same (meme) phrasing. + “Doctor. Do you concur?” + <3 “I’m not looking for forgiveness. And I’m way past asking permission. Earth just lost its best defender, so we’re here to fight. If you want to stand in our way, we’ll fight you too.” ICONIC. STEVEN FUCKING ROGERS, EVERYONE. + <3 The reunion greetings with Rhodey.” + XD “This is awkward.” + XD “It was an elective.” I NEED TO KNOW WHAT OTHER ELECTIVES THEY OFFERED ON ASGARD, PLEASE. + “I am Groot?” Evidently translates to: Are we there yet? The question of all kids in travelling vehicles everywhere. + D:  “What more do I have to lose?”  + Giant Peter Dinklage. So weird. + D:  Quill and Gamora. + Quill actually got Thanos’s approval. So like, thanks, dad? Hahaha. + “We don’t trade lives.”  + Nebula. What a badass. + XD “Blanket of death” + XD “Where is Gamora?” “Who is Gamora?” “Why is Gamora?” + “You’re from Earth?” “I’m from Missouri.” “Missouri is on Earth, dumbass.” + XD “Kick names. Take ass.” + Tony’s face. He’s so done with everyone. + Rhodey & Bruce. Ahh, what are friends for. XD + Steve & Bucky. Both of you are “hundred year old, semi-stable soldier”s. + Shuri! Wakanda! Man, i love this place. It’s great. + D:  Gamora!! + “Get out of the way, Sammy.” SAMMY! + Thor jumping onto and then sitting on the pod. What a cutie. + “It’ll kill you.” “Not if I don’t die.” “Yes, that’s what killing you means.” + XD “Magic! More magic! Magic with a kick!” + Bucky & Rocket + “New haircut?” “I see you’ve copied my beard.” This is SO MUCH better knowing they ad-libbed it.  + “This is my friend, Tree.” “I am Groot.” “I am Steve Rogers.” Of fucking course. Such a polite cutie pie, this guy. + XD Okoye’s reactions, and the “Why was she up there all this time?” + “She’s not alone.” FUCK YEAH. LET’S GO LADIES!! + “Oh, screw you, you big green asshole. I’ll do it myself.” Banner is super funny, situationally in this film. + “Tony Stark.” “You know me?” Hell yeah, you deserve to be acknowledged all over the universe, Tony. + The power of Doctor Strange and the mystic arts. SO COOL.  + Tony ran out of nanoparticles! O_o + D:  Wanda & Vision + “Steve?” TT___TT D: Bucky! Sam! My King! “Steady, Quill.” “I don’t wanna go!” TT__TT FEELS.

[Take 3] ± The familial hits get me more than the romantic ones. My reactions per viewing gave me three different experiences; It was personal, then intellectual, them empathic, in that order, for me. There are some moments i paid particular attention to, for a few characters:

Loki gets to come full circle with the “We have a Hulk,” line along with his redemption arc continuing on in from Thor: Ragnarok. Thor is an odd amalgamation of Shakespearean proper and slangy modern. “A little bit.” “So cool.” “I bid thee farewell and good luck, morons.” “Bye.”

The interplay between Tony and Strange. Excellent. It’s a real battle of egos at the beginning which turns to a mutual respect. Tony is a true leader. He intuits other people’s emotional reactions and attempts to keep them in line long enough to complete the goal.

A lot of shots in the Avengers compound are just Steve’s reactions. What bearing will this have? How does he feel about the cost?? Are they showing how tired he is from paying for his decisions?

The kid’s all heart. The first thing Peter does, once their plan goes awry, is try to save everyone even if he can’t remember their names. Okoye is a warrior to the core. She refuses to attach even these fuckers from behind. Bruce is such a goof and it shows now that he can’t disappear mid-scene. “Oh, you guys are so screwed!” And all the talking-to he gives Hulk.

Thanos’s voice really goes soft for Gamora, as a child, and the “I’m sorry, daughter.” “Tony Stark. ... You have my respect. I will wipe out half of humanity. I hope they remember you.” That’s amazing. The cost, the deterioration, is up to his arm and his neck. That’s an interesting detail which kind of implies that the Infinity Gauntlet (in the MCU at least) can only be used for something of this scale a few, if not only one, times.

I love that Marvel is really invested in antagonists that aren’t villains purely for the sake of being evil, but are fleshed out beings with emotions and purpose and passion, even if their goals are morally misguided. They have complex backstories and three dimensional personalities. Their goals are logical and intelligent, if a little beyond what’s reasonable. Their thought processes within the realm of imagination but a step too far for civilians and heroes.

The ending of this film is superb. I’ve seen many a peer say they think it’s too short or unresolved but i think they fail to appreciate the story. That sometimes the “good guys” don’t or can’t win (for now). That there are outcomes we’d rather not fathom and costs we’d rather not pay. But they happen. And the MCU gets this. That things happen and there’s a balance to it. There’s collateral and there’s gains and losses. And not just for the protagonist. (But for every character.)

Thanos achieved his goal, but at great personal cost. He won but lost all at once. Likewise, Killmonger achieved some of his goals but failed at others, died but did it with dignity in his eyes; Hela brought was released from her bonds and gained power but didn’t wind up ruling Asgard as it was swallowed by Ragnarok; Zemo sowed discord and ripped the Avengers apart from the inside, but was prevented from shooting himself and joining his family. 

[BONUS:] In some of my movie reviews i talk about the characters and their stories in relation to Joseph Campbell’s Heroic Monomyth. And, i dunno, i suppose it my complete emotional roller coaster watching this film along with all the geek out moments, i completely missed its inclusion in this, given that the beginning of the monomyth takes place before the beginning of this film. I was delighted to find it pointed out to me in this post by The Screen Junkies - The Dailies Facebook. It’s a really good breakdown of the way the writers (maybe intentionally) incorporated the Heroic Monomyth in Infinity War despite it featuring like 7000 characters and all of Hollywood. :)