Jon Snow....King Beyond The Wall.

I’m so proud of everyone involved in this show for having the guts to do EVERYTHING we just saw. Most other shows wouldn’t dare. 

Give everyone all the Emmys! Especially Maisie, Emilia, and Lena! 

GOT S08E05 Thoughts

I continue to love this season. I continue to believe that everything has been beautifully, wonderfully in character. No we may not like some of the things that are happening, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t in character.

In this episode:

Jaime – I always expected it to end here because honestly, from a narrative point of view, it’s the only thing that would have made sense. Jaime has been helplessly, hopelessly, insanely, madly, senselessly in love with Cersei his literal entire life. Literally. He only turned his back on her (in show time) a week, maybe two past. And that was only because by turning on her word, she was putting their unborn child at risk.

Yes, he loved Brienne, but that love couldn’t compare to what he felt for Cersei and when he found out that her life was in danger, of course, he had to go back to her. It was narratively, and in character, the only thing that made sense. To do otherwise, would have been out of character. Jaime said it himself to Brienne, he has done terrible, hateful awful things. He doesn’t really deserve a happy ending. It’s because of Brienne that he found any honor at all. So good on her.

Daenerys – I love Dany, and I think that everything that happened in this episode, again, narratively made perfect sense.

Everything made sense. I was so happy when those bells rang, and I do think that Dany tried to do the right thing, I believe that she really, really tried, but she was so fucking enraged and, more than that, hurt.

She lost Viserion, twice over.

Then she found out that Jon was her nephew (OK, admittedly not that big a deal to her), but she also found out that she wasn’t first in line to the throne.

Then she realized that no one loved her here like they did across the Narrow Sea even after her help was a huge reason they beat the Undead, Sansa was a still not very nice to her.

Then Jon refused to NOT tell his sisters, thus proving that he didn’t put HER needs, HER desires, HER first.

Then she lost Rhaegal.

Then she lost Missandei

Then she found out that Varys was plotting against her.

Then sometime in the midst of that she found out that Tyrion fucked up again TWICE. He trusted Sansa, who used his trust of her to turn her people against her. He also was wrong about trusting his brother.

And THEN Jon made it clear he loves her as his queen but just is not down to fuck his aunt so basically she lost Jon as her love too.

And this basically ALL happened in like less than a week.

Oh yeah, and Missandei, her best friend, her last words before she was decapitated before her eyes were: BURN THIS MOTHERFUCKING PLACE TO THE GROUND!

So that’s what Dany wanted to do. That’s what everything in her SCREAMED TO DO. When she told Tyrion that she wouldn’t Dracarys the hell out of King’s Landing, she did not believe for one second that the bells would ring. But then the soldiers surrendered… and the bells rang. And, well, see all those “Then…” above,“ and Dany was like, "Nope, I need my motherfucking revenge.”

It all made perfect sense. It wasn’t character assassination. It was character narrative that had been lain all along. These relationship built so that when they were taking from her, she was devastated and would react as such. Character beats that had been established throughout the seasons. This had all been lain throughout the series’ run.

Arya Stark – Every moment with Arya was just awesome. From her “I’m Arya Stark. I’m going to kill Queen Cersei.” And the guard just kinda paused and was like, uhm, yeah, I’m gonna go check with my superior but basically let you through cuz yeah, you’re you. To the scene with the Hound where he told her LIVE YOUR YOUR LIFE FOR LIVING! DON’T BE LIKE ME! And she called him “Sandor,” and she thanked him! Aaaah! And she was all caught up in the horror, and trying to help people and she kept escaping death so closely as if the God of Death himself were telling her: Live, girl, damnit, LIVE!

Oh, and that final scene was so beautiful. It was not only my favorite scene of the episode, but one of my favorites of the series. No dialogue, just Maisie Williams’ brilliant acting. It was beautifully shot and directed, but damn, her expressiveness slayed me dead. I thought it was exquisite.

You could read EVERYTHING that she was feeling, everything that was going through her mind. Taking in all of the horror, all of the death, realizing that THIS has been her life for so long and then seeing the white horse (coincidentally, Gendry rode in on a white horse, I’m just saying) and the sun shining on it and them like a ray of light amidst that horror. She saw it, and it was like a way out of that death and despair. And she was gentle and she took her time, and the horse, the light accepted her. And off into the sun they rode together. While the music played softly and you could hear the strains of the Game of Thrones theme in their.

Yummy BREAKFAST 🤤🥰❤️

Sansa : What about the North? Dany : Let it go…let it go…!  I can imagine Emilia Clarke singing. 

SUPER HEALTHY TOAST

(For vegan,vegetarian, plant base and non plant base or vegetarian)

You do not know how to make yummy and healthy toast? Here are some examples☝🏻

After watching House of the Dragon, I’m not sure I’d want ANY of these characters on the throne. 

Rhaenerya - I know we’re supposed to sympathize with her, but she keeps making terrible choices. 

Aegon II - Nope. Just nope.

Daemon - He’s all about getting power, not about using it. Clearly not trustworthy. (Is he going to steal someone’s dragon? Is that why he sang to one of the dragons in the finale?) 

Alicent & Otto - If these two worked as a team to support a better claimant than Aegon (ugh) I’d like them more, but they chose Aegon...clearly not a smart move. 

Emma (2020), dir. Autumn de Wilde

Character Deep Dive: Augusta Markham

Portrayed by: Eloise Webb Show: Sanditon Season 2

Although Sanditon already has more than its share of strong female characters wrestling with the various manifestations of Regency misogyny, the introduction of Augusta Markham in Season 2 provides a fresh look at the pressures on young ladies of the period.

We first discover Augusta bounding through a field behind a child. As she screams, “this had better be worth it,” we understand she is not chasing the child but instead following along to catch a glimpse of something. That something turns out to be the arrival of the army in Sanditon. Despite Augusta’s seeming exasperation with the eager child, her own interest in the arrival of the army is barely concealed. This tendency to mask her real feelings characterizes Augusta throughout much of the season.

In looking behind this mask, we come to understand Augusta as a young lady faced with the uncertainty and fear of coming of age with neither a nurturing home environment to sustain her nor a social outlet to supply marriage prospects as a means of escape.

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Hi! I'm really enjoying your blog, your predictions for S2 and how you analyse the characters! I apologize if you already did this but I'm curious about your thoughts regarding Edward (especially if you think he cares about Esther) and Clara as characters and about the nature of their relationship with each other. Thank you and happy holidays!

Hey, nonnie!

So sorry to take this long to answer your ask. I was so consummed with my fanfic in December and then so tired I didn’t manage to get to these meatier asks sooner. Hopefully, you’re still interested in my answer.

I haven’t actually talked about Edward Denham on my blog before, aside from a little comment in one of my first metas about him and Esther being Davies’ take on Mary and Henry Crawford from Mansfield Park. In fact at the start of the series the Mansfield Park connection is completed with Clara in the place of the innocent ingenue Fanny Price that is to be seduced by the rake with his sister’s support.

One of the coolest things Davies does with Sanditon is that he takes full advantage of our Jane Austen proficency by littering this world with all the familiar Austen archetypes. But just as soon as you begin to lament that this world offers too much of the familiar and not enough of the strange, he pulls the rug from under you and reveals these characters to be something else entirely.

And no one exemplifies this better than Esther. The cold, mercenary harpy bent on swindeling her aunt and ruining a poor girl’s reputation in the process is revealed to be the true victim of this little traingle. A girl who fell in love with a bad man without any chance of escaping him. And the innocent ingenue? Well … Clara is about as far removed from Fanny Price as one can get.

However, the one character that remains unaltered, in fact the character that holds the fewest surprises in the whole of Sanditon is Edward. He is exactly as advertised: the Henry Crawford bent on seducing virginal Fanny, Wickham planning to “whisk” Georgiana away, Willoughby playing with Marianne and then discarding her.

I actually think Willoughby might actually be the closest analog to Edward. Willoughby is, by far, in my mind the worst of Austen’s villians. A true, clinical case of narcisism if there’s every been one.

Willoughby and Edward aren’t dangerous simply because they will use you to get money the way Wickham does or because they want to saw wild oats. They are dangerous because they are perfectly willing to gaslight and use their victims for as long as they possibly can.

They aren’t content to simply go on their merry way once it becomes clear you’ve figured out their true character. They will come back and prod as many times as possible, searching for any weakness which might allow them entry back into your life. Their objective isn’t just material (although both Edward and Willighouby love luxuary when they get it without having to work for it) but emotional as well.

Everytime Esther relents to Edward, everytime she follows his lead, his influence over her grows.  Their relationship is all the more damaging and dangerous because she’s stuck in a house with him 24/7.

The worst part of it is, Edward doesn’t trick Esther by making her believe he is better than he is. She sees all his ugliness, his faults, his selfishness and ego. What he does is far worse: he makes her believe she is as bad as him.

He takes this naturally honest, compassionate and intelligent woman and twists her up into a shell of herself. He breakes down her selfesteem to such a degree that while she’s with him, she convinces herself of her own immorality and after she finally manages to leave him, she thinks of herself as worthless for having allowed herself to be manipulated by him. She is in a lose-lose situation either way.

Esther’s relationship with Edward is scary, sad and very, very real in a way that becomes all the more uncomfortable, the more you think about it so it’s hard to talk about love in this context.

The real question is: can someone who is inherently unhealthy love in a positive way? I do think Edward probably loves her but his way of loving is tained by his own twisted personality so it’s not something worth having in any case.

As for his relationship with Clara, on the surface it’s a classic cat and mouse game. But I do think beneath all that is some sort of twisted attraction probably born from selfloathing. They can recognize something of themselves in each other and they end up forming a bond, if their last conversation is any indication:

Edward: The vanquished enemy retreats.

Clara: I was never your enemy.

[…]

Clara: Look at you … Alone and unloved. Trust me. That’s not an easy placeto find yourself in. I will spare you a thought now and then. I know you will think of me.

I do think in a theoretical season 2, Edward and Clara would be back, possibly scheeming together.

Thanks for the ask!

I think the book series might work better as a HBO or Showtime or Starz or Netflix mini-series able to go all out in terms of the grittiness, sex, and violence of the book. 

‘Red Sparrow’ Post-Mortem And Why The Sequels Deserve To Be Made

WARNING: This post contains major spoilers for Red Sparrow (original Jason Matthews book, 2015 Eric Warren Singer screenplay draft and Francis Lawrence’s film) as well as minor story details from sequel novels Palace of Treason and The Kremlin’s Candidate. For my thoughts on the film, head to Letterboxd.

I can’t seem to muster up some sort of pretentious intro, so getting right to it:

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On this day in history, 9th of September 1513, The Battle of Flodden / James IV is killed

Honoring his agreement with King Louis XII of France to divert English troops who were required in France to fight for Henry VIII, King James IV of Scotland crossed into England, with the battle of Flodden (Hill) taking place at Branxton, Northumberland on September 9th 1513. The Scots numbered about 30,000 men supported by artillery, including approximately 5000 French troops, sent to Scotland to assist. Though they were outnumbered, the English were better equipped and by nightfall had won a major victory. Anywhere from 10,000 - 12,000 Scots, including King James IV, were killed. Shortly after the battle Queen Margaret Tudor was made regent to her and James’ infant son who was crowned James V on 21 September 1513. [x]