Quiet…… I Am Yearning

Could write an essay like this on Bran? I still don’t understand why GRRM chose him of all people to be king at the end. His story has almost nothing to do with being a leader and ruling. Am I missing something? I feel like Daenerys’ storyline was always (in the show and the books) much better written and plotted than Bran’s, but maybe I’ve just been overlooking something all these years.

Floppy Ears

A Dance with Dragons is the most important arc Daenerys has had since she hatched her dragons at the end of A Game of Thrones, and is a huge turning point for the trajectory of her character. And while GRRM’s books have always been incredibly detailed and focused on character, this book and A Feast for Crows is when he really mastered that style. Those two things combined make Daenerys’ ten chapters incredibly dense, and full of very important details. If I were to write it all out in one post, it would be just ridiculously long (and considering the length of my other posts, that’s really saying something…). To try and keep these posts from turning into books, I’m going to split my analysis of Dany in A Dance with Dragons into three separate posts; one dealing with the political aspects of her arc, the next a look at the outside forces that influence Dany’s decision making, and the last will center on the personal struggle that defines her arc. Here is the first, where I breakdown the political merits of Queen Daenerys Targaryen…

Holding Court

Running parallel to all of the symbolic choices and struggles Daenerys makes in A Dance with Dragons is the practical decisions she makes as Queen of Meereen. GRRM is famous for his quote about “Aragorn’s tax policy”, and it is clear that he tries to answer that question in this book. We get chapter after chapter that gives Daenerys a new political trial, and get to see and examine how she decides to move passed it. The first three books gave us small moments to look at and decide how Daenerys would rule Westeros, but A Dance with Dragons gives us definitive examples of how she would. This book asks would Daenerys be a good queen? and also gives us the answer: No.

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Edmund: My only....sister. Yep, that’s right... [Starts to sweat]

I love Mansfield Park—there's a reason it's so important to my dissertation—and it's not only for the things that seem appropriate enough, but also the ones that kind of break my brain a little.

For me, the Peak WTF has to go to Edmund (surprise), after his sisters have separately run off with two fairly shitty men. He greets Fanny in a burst of emotion:

she found herself pressed to his heart with only these words, just articulate, “My Fanny, my only sister; my only comfort now!” She could say nothing; nor for some minutes could he say more.

I always think ... well, having Edmund refer to Fanny as his sister that late in the book, while simultaneously disowning his actual sisters, is certainly a choice. I don't actually mind it because I don't read MP for Fanny/Edmund, lol, but I find it interestingly bizarre.

(It reminds me distantly of Lord Orville presenting himself as a brother figure to Evelina in Evelina, but iirc that pretty obviously falls apart further from the end and it's clear that he doesn't really see her that way.)

Ser Davos last night

I wish they’d kept this scene in.

Or has the audience misinterpreted scenes, viewing them with shipper-goggles, when the writers wanted the audience to see something else?

As fans, we need to draw a line between what is actually depicted on screen and what we WANT to have happen on screen. 

We also need to learn to appreciate books/shows/movies for the stories the writers are actually telling and not the stories we WANT them to tell. 

we could really discuss why showrunners are so obsessed with pissing off fans because it is honestly fascinating

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. 

I don’t really get the Jonsa/Jonerys fights because Sansa and Dany are such interesting characters to me while I find Jon so boring (that’s just my taste, nothing against people who like Jon). Why are people fighting over which of these women gets his boring ass lmao. I personally don’t like Jonerys because it feels like a boring arc for Dany - especially if she’s pregnant. And Sansa has grown so much into herself as a politically savvy ruler that it would make me sad to see her ending up as Jon’s Queen or w/ever. A lot of Jonsa fans keep comparing Jon and Sansa to Ned and Catelyn, which is fine I guess. But I don’t want Sansa to be Catelyn 2.0. I thought the whole point of the story was that they learnt to be better and smarter than their parents. Jon and Ygritte was really the only pairing that I liked for Jon, because she made up for his broodiness and made his character more relaxed and human to me. I’m not sharing my opinion just to hate on these pairings, I guess I wanted to know if there were other Sansa or Dany stans who felt this way.

Everyone watching Sanditon: Nothing can replace Charlotte and Sidney!

Me: Will Tom Parker’s plans for Sanditon succeed? Will Georgiana meet more fortune hunters and turn them down with a wicked burn?! Oh and I’m sure Charlotte will turn out fine. She’s a lovely woman who doesn’t need a man to complete her, especially one that marries women for money and changes his mind at the drop of a hat. But really, WHAT ABOUT THE REGATA! I must learn about the Parkers’ latest plans for our Sanditon! 

Bring the tea and cucumber sandwiches cut ever so thin

Sanditon Season 2

First loves are not necessarily more foolish than others; but chances are certainly against them. Proximity of time or place, a variety of accidental circumstances more than the essential merits of the object, often produce what is called first love. From poetry or romance, young people usually form their early ideas of love before they have actually felt the passion; and the image they have in their own minds of the beau ideal is cast upon the first object they afterward behold. This, if I may be allowed the expression is Cupid’s Fata Morgana. Deluded mortals are in ecstasy whilst the illusion lasts, and in despair when it vanishes.

Maria Edgeworth, Belinda (via oldtreasurechest)

I know some of y’all are literally on D & D’s necks half the time because you are dissatisfied with how they are adapting the story from the books, but for this episode, especially with Arya’s arc, y’all got to give credit where credit is due! Never in my life would I have guessed that Arya would end up killing the Night King, but they have literally been subtlety planting the seeds for this for awhile now and we all completely missed it until it all suddenly came together tonight! That’s pretty incredible in my book!