The King has returned! It’s been announced that Jack Gleeson is returning to television for the first time since Joffrey bit the dust in 2014 and that David Benioff and D.B Weiss will be appearing in Westworld season 3! In interviews Sophie Turner reflects on the legacy of Game of Thrones and Emilia Clarke reveals the Targaryen themed Christmas gift her brother “acquired” for her.
Though he will likely always be best known for playing Joffrey Lannister Baratheon, The Wrap reports that the 27 year old Game of Thrones alum is going decidedly against type in the upcoming British comedy, Out of Her Mind, which the BBC press release says “subverts the traditional sitcom format by combining eccentric characters, animation, and scientific explanation.”
Gleeson has yet to give an interview in which he explains his return to acting. When he left Game of Thrones six years ago (yes, the Purple Wedding was that long ago), Gleeson spoke as if acting was something he intended to leave behind. At the time he told Entertainment Weekly that he simply wasn’t enjoying acting as much as he once had.
“And now there’s the prospect of doing it for a living, whereas up until now it was always something I did for recreation with my friends, or in the summer for some fun. I enjoyed it,” the then-21 year old said. “When you make a living from something, it changes your relationship with it. It’s not like I hate it, it’s just not what I want to do.”
It appears that Gleeson has changed his mind on the matter and I, for one, am very glad that he has.
In other news, Sophie Turner recently spoke with Elle and discussed her upcoming series Survive … and admitted that she still hasn’t watched the ending of Game of Thrones.
“I started watching when the last season started and I was planning to watch the rest,” she said. “But then I fell behind. And then I started reading all these comments online …”
When prompted by her interviewer for an opinion Turner simply said:
“I feel like you are never going to have everybody be satisfied with the ending. Especially a show that’s been going on for almost 10 years at that point. People have so many ideas of how they want it to end. You can’t make every fan happy.”
However, Turner did speak about the experience of being on such a ground breaking show with pride.
“Pretty much since season three, we’ve been hearing, ‘Game of Thrones! It’s a phenomenon!’ I’ve been trying to, like, comprehend that. But when you’re in it, you can’t see it. Now that I’m out of it, I’m only starting to realize how incredible it was, what a revelation it was for television. I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve been, like, blessed.’ When it’s happening, you don’t realize you’re among greatness: The people I was around. The atmosphere. The way they worked. I was spoiled by that show completely. And I’ll never have anything like it again. Nothing will be the same. And only now am I realizing that.”
In an interview with Metro Emilia Clarke revealed the very, very sweet Christmas present her brother … eh, retrieved for her from the set of Game of Thrones.
“My amazing brother, who worked on the camera department and worked on the show as well, this Christmas gave me the best Christmas present ever,” she said. “In one of the battle scenes he got a mate of a mate – he got one of the Targaryen flags … I opened it this Christmas and burst into tears!”
Lastly, The Wrap has reported that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will cameo in Westworld, season 3 episode 2, playing technicians at Delos, the company that created Westworld and other host-populated fantastical theme parks.
It’s … kind of a fitting role for the showrunners of Game of Thrones, if I do say so myself.
Jack is fantastic, and I have a feeling he’ll be ace at comedy. He seems a very funny guy in little things I’ve read here and there. 🙂
A flag! A flag!
I looked at Jack Gleeson’s Twitter account to see if anything relevant was mentioned – no luck. However it linked to Eugene Simon’s (Lancel’s) twitter feed and although the book recommendation he gives refers to the mythological lady of the name (I think) and not the GoT one I was amused to see he was saying he had enjoyed a book called “Circe”. https://twitter.com/Eugene_Simon/status/1234214289357103105
It will indeed be a change to see JG working in comedy. I think he has continued to act since leaving GoT but as an amateur, not professionally.
Congrats Mr. Benioff and Mr. Weiss you deserve it.
Jack was outstanding, one of the best of the younger GOT actors. I did not see his other work but I understand that he also did well in other roles, perhaps in plays etc.
He helped established GOT as a success. If “Joffery” was poorly acted, it would have detracted significantly from the series. Joffrey and Tywin were key elements of GOT’s early success.
I wish him success in his renewed career!
I remember reading the quote where Jack said acting wasn’t what he wanted to do. But that was quite some time ago, and since then I read that he had returned to acting, but on stage rather than screen.
Pigeon,
Jack’s back!
“They know I saved the city. They know I won the war.”
– King Joffrey
“I warged into birdies.”
– King Bran the Broken
Mango,
I could not help but notice that Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams and just about every other cast member have all said what a sweetheart Jack is in real life.
I gotta give him credit for convincingly portraying such a dirtbag.
Jack Bauer 24,
Jack’s back! And Jack Gleeson is too.
Glad to hear Jack Gleeson is returning to the screen! Obviously he has other interests in his life, so he doesn’t *need* to act, but he’s so great at it!
Nice interview with Sophie. She’s become such a great ambassador for the show. And I didn’t know that Emilia’s brother had worked on Game of Thrones as well! That was an incredibly sweet gift that he gave her. 🙂
Regarding David and Dan’s Westworld cameo … I sincerely hope this is good-spirited. David & Dan have a famously wry, self-deprecating sense of humor (which people have used against them in bad faith). If everyone’s having fun, great! I’m sure there will be a meta quality to the scene. But if Westworld is just going to cater to the Internet bloodlust that a certain section of people have for D&D by offing their characters in gruesome fashion … I think that would be in VERY poor taste. But no prejudgment. It’s always best to wait and see.
(I don’t think Jonah Nolan and Lisa Joy would do that, but we’ll see. Obviously given GOT’s long history of violent deaths, such an approach would be meta-funny in its own right, but given the level of toxicity certain people have expressed towards D&D, such an action would feel different to me now, and more than a little gross. But again, wait and see. Those who want to be mad will be mad regardless.)
Ten Bears,
Absolutely! Jack did a fantastic job making Joffrey a hateful, disturbed human being.
I read that he would apologize to his scene partners when he had to be completely despicable and that he is a very polite gentleman.
It will be a treat to see him again, especially in a comedic role.
I hated Joffrey like pretty much everyone else, but damn did I miss his presence after the Purple Wedding. He was so much fun to hate. It wasn’t nearly as much fun hating the likes of Ramsey, Euron, etc…
Jared,
A bunch of angry GOT fans flooded Westworld reddit the other day complaining about their cameo. Statements like “They failed so bad all they have now is cameos”. Name calling the usual dumb stuff.
Fireandblood87,
This is a big reason why I stopped using Reddit. Filled to the brim with keyboard warriors probably no older than 17.
Fireandblood87,
You always post about how you hate it when people on the internet disrespect D&D, and understandably so, yet it kind of sounds like you seek it out. If it bothers you that much, perhaps it would be best to avoid it and save yourself some stress.
Mr Derp,
You’ve got the right idea. It falls firmly into the “life’s too short” category.
Mr Derp,
I didn’t seek anything out. I was on Westworls sub and the angry GOT fans invaded it. It’s the complete opposite the angry fans searched out a place for them to bitch.
Fireandblood87,
K, it just seems like you have a very specific agenda when you comment here. You’re always complaining that D&D are being disrespected online and you take it personally. It kind of seems like you seek it out just so you can complain about it.
For someone who hates hearing negative things about D&D, you sure seem to expose yourself to a lot of it. If it bothers you that much then it’s just common sense to no longer go to the places where you’ll expose yourself to it. Either that, or just ignore it. I’m sure D&D can handle themselves just fine.
Fireandblood87,
Maybe just stop using Reddit, like I did roughly around the time GoT ended. I was a frequent user for five years, but I gradually started to realize that there’s something mentally corrosive about it. Like, it trains you to think a certain way about the world, and encourages you to take part in herd mentalities. And I could feel my attention span lowering as I browsed through its trending page.
Trust me, just stop using it. At least, not so frequently, or only subreddits that are actually useful in some way. Your mental health will thank you. 🙏
Mr Derp,
Farimer123,
There you go! Reddit is a cyberclubhouse for circle-jerking “haters” of all stripes. As soon as I read that Benioff and Weiss were going to do a cameo on Westworld, I figured all of the “Dumb & Dumber”-bashers would migrate to the Westworld Reddit for an insult-fest.
(Disclosure: In all fairness, I have to admit that I’ve been biased against folks who populate the GoT subreddit, ever since they disseminated the stolen S7 scripts. It wasn’t enough that they treated the thief as a hero and posted detailed episode synopses on their reddit site: They had to come here and spread the “leaks” and spoilers.)
1. For me, Euron wasn’t fun to hate at all. He was such a waste of screentime. For me, he was out of place on GoT – as if he were a refugee from a different set of a different show in a different time period. No slight against Pilou as a person or as an actor. I just found every one of Euron’s scenes to be fastforwardable – and his last one was the worst of all.
2. What did Olenna say about Joffrey in her final scene? “He really was a c*nt,” I think it was. Jack Gleeson really sold it! I’ll give him credit: He convincingly portrayed Joffrey the pompous as*hole – as well as Joffrey the whiny little coward that he really was. (I loved it when he ran to his mommy during the Battle of the Blackwater – and then took credit for the victory afterwards; and when he was Mr. Sadistic Bigshot when torturing poor Mycah – and then turned into a whimpering crybaby when Arya took his sword away and pointed it at him. (No! Please don’t!😢😢😢)
3. Life in the capitol city was more interesting with King Joffrey in charge. (“Everyone is mine to torment!)
Under King Bran the Broken? Looks like it’s shaping up to be a total snoozefest.
Ten Bears,
A snooze-fest in King’s Landing? Sounds heavenly.
“May you live in interesting times.” -Chinese curse
I’m afraid Corona is going to postpone everything.
In Belgium everything is being cancelled. No official lockdown yet, but that’s only a matter of hours.
Chilli,
Yea, it’s pretty much like that everywhere right now. Here in the States, all sporting events have been postponed and pretty much all businesses have suspended international travel. My work has it’s annual meeting once a year in May and that might be getting cancelled too, but still waiting for official word.
It’s a big deal and people should be smart about it, but people need to not panic over it as well. It’s getting to the point where fights are breaking out if someone coughs in public. The mortality rate is low, and the only ones in danger are the very old and the very young, similar to the flu, only there is no vaccine yet. People with poor immune systems are also susceptible too.
Wash your hands and cover your coughs, folks.
Hopefully, the warmer weather will help kill off the virus.
🗡👸🏻
In Maisie Williams news…
Yes! It’s happening!
New Mutants love story: Confirmed.
“Wolfsbane: This is no common assassin.”
– Tywin Lannister
”No shit.”
– Night King
”A Girl has many gifts.”
– Jaqen 2.0
————————-
https://www.indiewire.com/2020/03/new-mutants-gay-love-story-maisie-williams-1202216660/amp/
(from IndieWire March 10, 2020)
New Mutants’ Director, Maisie Williams Tout Gay Love Story Between Main Characters
“Much buzz has been made over “The Eternals” featuring the first openly gay superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but “The New Mutants” director and co-writer Josh Boone says his upcoming tentpole will be the first to feature groundbreaking queer representation in a comic book movie. Boone tells Entertainment Weekly that “The New Mutants” includes a gay love story between the characters Rahne Sinclair (Maisie Williams) and Danielle Moonstar (Blu Hunt). These characters are two of the five mutants that make up the film’s title, which means “New Mutants” is set to be the rare comic book that prioritizes an LGBTQ+ narrative. Boone says the gay love story is “sort of the spine and focus of some of the character-driven stuff in the film. “
Maisie Williams tells Entertainment Weekly the gay love story is an extension of the comic book, where Rahne and Danielle are linked by a telepathic connection. The “Game of Thrones” veteran explains, “We just wanted to extend that in the film and put that within reality. If they really could understand each other on that level, then you’d probably end up falling in love with that person.” Williams adds references to the love story are “not something that is spoken about too much in the film,” which the actress views as a positive since the storyline is not a “gimmick.”
The World Health Organization has announced that dogs cannot contract the coronavirus. Dogs previously held in quarantine may be released. To be clear, WHO let the dogs out. 
———
(I stole that. Original source unknown.)
Ten Bears,
Wolf Girl & Dani
https://images.app.goo.gl/Cu7wU7DVbbEfxXZA8
Ten Bears,
New Mutants was delayed again.
Jack Gleeson made a satisfying meal out of the very thin gruel the writers gave him for Joffrey. Essentially a one-note character, he brought a considerable range of performance to expressing that one note. My favorite moment of his performance came when Robert lay mortally wounded. Joffrey had no lines, so Gleeson expressed Joffrey’s crushing loss entirely with body language and facial expressions. It may have been the last moment anyone could feel sympathy for the character, and Gleeson made the most of it.
Ten Bears,
For me, Euron wasn’t fun to hate at all. He was such a waste of screen time.
He brought some much-needed comic relief to the impending tragedy created by the incipient Clash of Implacable Blonde Queens. He also got major points, from this viewer at least, for a truly grand entrance: throwing Baelon Greyjoy to his very, very, very long-overdue demise. (The deaths of first Craster, then Tywin Lannister, had left Baelon in the top spot on The Great Big Long List of Westerosi Patriarchs Who Desperately Need Killing.)
Also, he was the perfect person to kill Rhaegal, back at just about the last moment we still thought of dragons as magnificent beasts. No contrast could have been greater, no fight more ludicrously one-sided — but the wrong side won! That was truly a Game of Thrones moment.
I completely agree with this! 👍
😊😊😊
Mr Derp,
Lol, you’re at the stage we were last week.
Here schools, universities, children’s day care stations and gyms are locked for two weeks, pending renewal of the order I believe. Congresses, lectures, and any even that’s bringing people together have been already cancelled for a month. We’ve just had the first death yesterday, and the government hopes to prevent the spread of the virus when it’s at its peak, this being defined by the number of new patients they are expecting each day. There’s detailed instructions about what to do for protecting our own people and what to do if we get sick.
Death rate with this is estimated at 20% higher than the common flu. High risk groups, such as old people or people with bad health or with a permanent condition need extra care. This means that if they get sick they’ll most probably need ICU, and no state has enough ICU units to take care of all of them. They say that doctors in Italy are already deciding who lives and who dies. Children are not in great danger (unless they’re infants), but they still can carry the virus and transmit it to the old, i.e. grandparents without getting sick themselves. This is why there is a direction to not bring them to see the grandparents and the same is true for the rest of us, stay away from our old and our most sensitive parents and friends for protecting them.
Last week I had the exact same reaction as yours; it’s not a big deal, why the fuss? But in Italy they’ve had dozens of deaths in a single day, so it’s not that easy.
Considering that in my own country we’re facing a huge problem with the refugees at our borders and we’re almost in a state of war with our gentle neighbor over them, all this looks pretty surreal to me.
It looks like the plagues of Egypt; I wonder what’s next. The locusts, perhaps.
Efi,
I have coeliac disease and suffer from hay fever in spring/summer (both down to immune system deficiency) plus I’m getting on in years, Efi. In the UK if one is over 65 one can have an annual flu jab for free (that’s common or garden flu not coronavirus) which I take advantage of. One of the doctors at the GP surgery I attend told me a sensible diet with fresh fruit and veg is a way of trying to boost the immune system. I’m glad I’m not living in London and commuting via packed trains (both overground and underground) to work anymore.
Ten Bears,
I sometimes read the subreddit ‘CirclejerkofASOIAF’ for a giggle. They make fun of Freefolk – though any circlejerk can overdo things at times.
Thinking about toxic reddit subforums, I don’t belong to Reddit I just lurk occasionally. In one of the asoiaf subreddits somebody had posted something particularly rancid about Max von Sydow’s passing because he didn’t look like his book counterpart of 3ER (in fairness to the subreddit the poster was downvoted) https://www.reddit.com/r/asoiafcirclejerk/comments/fguq2l/max_von_sydow_refused_to_look_like_his_book/ I have to be careful because I can find the internet addictive and oldster that I am I still have things to do in real life both practical and using the old brainbox but some YouTube videos about posts on subreddits such as “I don’t work here lady” and “Entitled Parents” and “Choosing Beggars” can be quite an amusing way to while away some minutes before concentrating on the next serious task.
Not the email I use here but I do have a couple of gmail email addresses and I started to get suggestions about Quora threads even though I hadn’t even sought Quora out. Quora is supposed to be sensible but some threads have become like gossipy. Some people have realised that posts (or asking questions about) detracting a former actress to married into the British royal family will be popular. I was daft enough to comment on one of these threads saying something like if one had not met the lady in question in person one couldn’t really say whether she was a good or a bad person and maybe she was somewhere in the middle and got comments suggesting that I was in the pay of said lady or her representatives – as if I mix in those sort of circles!
That said, as folk have quite rightly mentioned upthread there are enough REAL worrying matters in the world at present such as coronavirus (and here in the UK the effects of ‘Brexit’ – I saw the word ‘Brexodus’ a few days ago) without inventing things on the loonier side of the internet.
My comment above was supposed to be in relation to the fact that there is a loony side to social media/the internet in general and not solely the ASOIAF fandom.
I’ve read a few articles about “The Witcher” (I didn’t mind that series actually though I have listened to only a little of the first audio book so changes from book to show won’t be that notable to me). I’ve also done a little reading though not touched the books on the subject of “The Wheel of Time” but I don’t think I’ll take part in any of the fandoms.
The mortality rate seems to depend on a number of wild card factors that officials are still trying to determine.
For example, in the study published Feb. 18 in the China CDC Weekly, researchers found a death rate from COVID-19 to be around 2.3% in mainland China. Another study of about 1,100 hospitalized patients in China, published Feb. 28 in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that the overall death rate was slightly lower, around 1.4%.
Still, the death rate for COVID-19 appears to vary by location and an individual’s age, among other factors. For instance, in Hubei Province, the epicenter of the outbreak, the death rate reached 2.9%; in other provinces of China, that rate was just 0.4%, according to the China CDC Weekly study. In addition, older adults have been hit the hardest. The death rate soars to 14.8% in those 80 and older; among those ages 70 to 79, the COVID-19 death rate in China seems to be about 8%; it’s 3.6% for those ages 60 to 69; 1.3% for 50 to 59; 0.4% for the age group 40 to 49; and just 0.2% for people ages 10 to 39. No deaths in children under 9 have been reported.
Though the death rate for COVID-19 is unclear, most research suggests it is higher than that of the seasonal flu.
I’ve also seen articles that say the mortality rate of the common flu is usually around 1 percent, whereas the mortality rate of the Corona Virus is around 3.4 percent.
There’s also a large incubation period, so it’s very likely that a lot more people have the Corona Virus, but don’t even know it yet.
Either way, take care of yourselves and each other. Wash your hands, cover your coughs, etc…, which every really should be doing in the first place.
Seven hells!!!
Maisie’s gonna be a grandmother by the time this movie comes out.
Efi,
I feel like we’re living in an alternate reality patterned after my (unfounded) prediction for GoT’s greyscale storyline: An infectious disease pandemic sweeping across the continent from the south, threatening to decimate the population as the AotD closes in from the north.
No joke. This is some scary sh*t.
Mr Derp,
“The mortality rate seems to depend on a number of wild card factors that officials are still trying to determine.
***
There’s also a large incubation period, so it’s very likely that a lot more people have the Corona Virus, but don’t even know it yet.”
———
Gee, I wonder why that is? 🤬
🍔🍟
Yes, it is, Ten Bears.
Here in Europe we shut schools and kindergartens, we shut universities – and we shut borders. People empty the supermarkets, germicides and breathing masks are stolen in medical practices and hospitals en masse. No visitor is allowed in hospitals anymore…
We all stand at the beginning of this scary sh*t.
Mr Derp,
To tell you the truth I feel that the guy whose study I read, who’s a professor at Imperial University was rather moderate, but his point was, “we don’t know yet, so let’s say it will close at 2% mortality rate when it’s over”, which is still higher than the flu while there are studies that give it a much higher percentage. As I understand the major problem is not mortality, but that it’s highly infectious and the more people get it, the more deaths will occur.
So we have to protect the old and the less healthy, otherwise what’s the point of living in the western world and in the 21st century?
In any case as of today we’re closed like Italy; no restaurants, caffees, bars etc, no shops with tables are aloud, just take aways and deliveries, no archaeological sites are open (theatres and cinemas are already closed for days).
This is interesting; as a historian I’m very interested in situations like this.
[luckily we won’t see pictures that might remind me of descriptions of the plague…]
Ten Bears,
It becomes scarier the more they talk about it but in reality most people have very moderate symptoms. Eat a hot soup, drink lot’s of tea and lemon and you’ll be fine.
Did you know that in ADWD there’s detailed instruction about how to avoid greyscale? Tyrion fell in the river and got disinfected afterwards. I think it was vinegar but my memory might fail me. He also treated himself with an excruciatingly painful manicure-pedicure to clean his nails under the severe glance of septs Lemore.
But Connington didn’t tell, he got a finger infected, didn’t want to cut it off, and it spreads.
cos alpha,
Emptying the supermarkets is the worst. There are no disinfectives anymore. People shouldn’t panic; they should follow the instructions for deterring the spread of the disease. There’s a country that imposed a limit on the number of disinfectives and medical masks that one should buy but I don’t remember which.
That’s really fundamental, and, yet, may not be enough to prevent a overload of ICU as COVID-19 spreads around the world.
As you said, this coronavirus can disseminate among people that don’t have symptoms. Actually, the overwhelming majority of people below 60 years old wil only have light symptoms or none at all. That’s where lies the danger. As some people continued their normal lives, not knowing they had the virus, it became easier to infect older or sick people. If there’s too many people from those groups infected in a short amount of time, deaths will be unaviodable.
It’s necessary that people remain home as much as possible, working as remotely as they can. If there’s some meeting that really can’t be postponed, it’s important that participants keep some distance from each other. We should do that not to save ourselves (I’m 30, for example) but to protect the ones who are most at risk (my grandfather, 93 years old, lives just next to me. I can imagine what would happen if Covid-19 was home. When I write about my granddad, I’m also referring to other elderly people counting on everyone’s responsability). There are many uncertainties about this virus.
Efi,
”It becomes scarier the more they talk about it but in reality most people have very moderate symptoms. Eat a hot soup, drink lot’s of tea and lemon and you’ll be fine.”
True for “most people.” However, an epidemiologist estimates that here in the U.S. a million people are going to be joining the Army of the Dead.
I’m especially concerned that hospital ICUs will soon be overflowing with patients. There are lots of elderly people who can’t survive without intensive care; lots of otherwise healthy folks who are on immunosuppressive drugs to manage other conditions who are at high risk if they contract the virus; and lots of asymptomatic, infected carriers who are exposing others.
Efi,
”As I understand the major problem is not mortality, but that it’s highly infectious and the more people get it, the more deaths will occur.
So we have to protect the old and the less healthy, otherwise what’s the point of living in the western world and in the 21st century?”
Right!
…. And then the other problem here in the U.S. is
this kind of attitude:
Q: “Do you take any responsibility for the lag in testing?”
A: “No, I don’t take responsibility at all.”
– Orange Walder, 3/13/20
Ten Bears,
Lol, who is this Walder?
For what’s worth though, I have to say that waiving liability is not just the trait of politicians in your country alone. They all like to do/not do things and then whistle indifferently. “Who, me? Neigh!” [mostly followed by “he did it!”, pointing the finger at somebody, usually from the previous government; it’s so predictable it’s frankly disappointing and makes politics very boring; no surprises there]
You’re American, right? Yesterday your president (who is most likely infected because he was with Brasilians who tested positive to the virus) declared the country in emergency situation to facilitate funding from the federal government. Which is good no matter how you look at it. (at least that’s what we hear in my parts of the world).
However, the US are notorius for the health care system that’s not made for the poor and the sick, and this needs amendment.
If the poor and the sick die, what’s the difference with the middle ages? Who do we work for, the rich and the powerful? How screwed up is that?
In my country the government started taking measures already two weeks ago, while even before that there were rumors and discussions. To be frank, I thought it wasn’t necessary; there were even no patients back then. But then they cancelled first all events and conferences (which suited me very nicely because I had tons of work, 😁), shut down theatres etc and then followed the rest after people tasted positive. And, upon reflection, I’m thinking they did surprisingly well (I didn’t have it in them, lol), perhaps because the minister is a young doctor and Ph.D holder himself. They’re also doing well with the crisis at our borders, which is good because they are conservatives and, since they took up the government they did tend to disappoint me (they barely hold power for seven-eight months).
Efi,
“Lol, who is this Walder?“
Orange Walder appears at 0:36 of this video
(His “I don’t take responsibility at all” quote is referenced at 1:29 – 1:31.)
“Honest Government” Ad – Coronavirus: Flatten the Curve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hks6Nq7g6P4
———-
”You’re American, right?”
Yes. Yes I am. The myth of American “exceptionalism” and the notion of “America First” promoted by Orange Walder in the face of this crisis are being exposed as “munted dumbf*ckery” or “munted sh*tshow.”
(I had to look up the meaning of “munted,” used in the video. It’s apparently a slang word used in Australia and New Zealand that means damaged, unusable, or completely f*cked up.)
Ten Bears,
Do not worry, the rest of the world’s expectations that the US will do right and thereby prove the doctrine of exceptionalism usually depend on who sits the iron… oops, I meant presidential throne.
But all peoples have an exceptionalism doctrine, if it makes you feel any better. The French because of the French Revolution, us because of our ancient past, our neighbors because they’re simply quite crazy, only the Germans are rather quiet about it because WW I and WW II are still fresh.
So, our neighbors were discussing a few days how they are exceptional because they allegedly have the genetics that make them immune to the virus, of course only to be proven wrong only a few hours later.
My people on the other hand, who are notorious for their rebelliousness and doing things their own way, thought the ban was simply another term for “vacation” and took it to the beaches yesterday. As a response, the government issued a lock out on the organized beaches and skiing centers all over the country. 🤣
Next, they are destined to impose a lock out on all beach bars and street canteens because the people swarm up to these places that are still open and serve drinks and food without serving tables.
Ten Bears,
The way she pronounces “munted sh*tshow” is utterly lovable! I fell in love with her and I’m totally heterosexual.
On a less depressing note….
🗡👸🏻
Maisie Williams –
Vogue 3/15/20 article and video: Givenchy
Behind the Scenes at Fashion Week
https://www.vogue.com/article/maisie-williams-givenchy-getting-ready-fall-2020
Ok, I saw this today.
The Night king did nothing wrong, because:
– Did not lie to anyone about his plans (killing everyone)
– Did not break any of his promises (killing everyone)
– Did not f*ck anyone he wasn’t supposed to
– Did not kill any of his allies (quite the opposite, in fact)
– Adopted unwanted babies out of an abusive household and gave them sweet blue eyes
– Fished a dragon out of a lake and befriended it (also gave it pretty blue eyes)
– Supported equality – anyone could join his army of undead.
– Had a loyal council that wasn’t plotting behind his back (as far as we know)
– Had a built-in crown on his head, which made him a pretty strong contender for the Iron Throne
– Actively fought against the global warming.
– Was made to destroy humanity. Look at the clusterf*ck that’s happening in Westeros rn and tell me he wasn’t right.
– Couldn’t be burned by dragonfire – only Targaryens cannot be burned, and they’re the rightful heirs to the throne. Therefore, he’s a legit contender. He even has a crown! (See: the built-in crown bullet point.)
😂
Efi,
Of course. The Night King was the good guy. Arya helped NK and his WW buddies live safe from persecution by playing along with NK’s “disintegration” ruse.
It’s becoming clearer with time that Emilia Clarke really did not like Dany’s final season.
As long as we’re veering off into this subject…
If so, it’s hard to blame her. After 70 episodes playing an iconic heroine in a career-defining role, only to have that heroine turn into the Big Bad in the last three episodes had to be a bummer. That the central storyline of those final episodes was “let’s drive Dany crazy” must have been a disappointment for her too.
Yes. Whether the ending technically makes sense or not is another matter. The way it played out was just cynical and depressing.
I don’t know what I’m supposed to take away from the ending other than “power corrupts”, which everyone already knows. I mean, someone has to be in charge, right?. Someone has to have the power. Someone has to make the decisions or you’ve got chaos and anarchy.
It kind of felt like the show was saying “don’t even bother trying” or something like that. Or, maybe the lesson was “don’t give power to humans. You have to have an omnipotent being in charge who somehow isn’t interested or tempted by the power they have at their disposal”, which is like the most useless and unrealistic piece of advice that’s humanly possible.
Perhaps that’s what disappointed me most about the ending. I really don’t know what lesson the show was trying to convey by making Dany into a villain. All for the sake of one final “gotcha” moment when Dany torched KL.
Ten Bears,
I will say though that Emilia’s criticism that Jon Snow “got away with murder” was a bit strange. Did she really not understand that killing the Westeros equivalent to Hitler was a good thing? She really wanted him to be punished for that?
…”I don’t know what I’m supposed to take away from the ending other than “power corrupts”, which everyone already knows. I mean, someone has to be in charge, right?. Someone has to have the power.”
***
“Perhaps that’s what disappointed me most about the ending. I really don’t know what lesson the show was trying to convey by making Dany into a villain. All for the sake of one final “gotcha” moment when Dany torched KL.”
———
I’m not sure if there was supposed to be a “lesson” or “message.” Dany had absolute power for quite a while and didn’t go bonkers – and in fact had achieved her objective before she went and nuked KL because… reasons. (Targ coin flip? Triggered by sight of Red Keep? Unloved? I still don’t know…)
I prefer to think of Dany’s sudden descent into lunacy as a non-humorous take on the Duke Brothers in “Trading Places,” who bet whether Winthorpe (Dan Aykroyd) would turn into a psycho if deprived of his stature, fiancée, friends, loved ones, and resources.
It’s too bad we didn’t get a scene of a drunken Dany in a Santa Claus suit, gnawing on a whole salmon.
They didn’t try to make her a villain; they tried to make her a hero. And for the “twist” they simply wrote a story where she goes mad, so the bottom line is “hero goes mad”, not “villain goes down”.
For answering the gap this story created they had to put a robot on the throne, because the murderer of the “hero” couldn’t ever be king.
Truly it’s a very simple story. Even simplistic but it does betray that they fell into their own trap (judging from the disappointment of half the fandom; for the other half it was a superb season). [see TB, I avoided the b-word]
As for Emilia, it’s not her fault that she didn’t understand in advance where the story was going.
But since she’s a grown up she shouldn’t go on with this type of statements.
Mr Derp,
Has it occurred to you that maybe, just maybe… D&D have known that Dany was going to torch KL since at least the time they were writing S3, and laid clues along the way, and that’s where her character trajectory was headed all along?
Has it occurred to you that I didn’t mention or criticize anything about her trajectory in these posts, nor did I mention anything about D&D? I specifically said whether the ending makes sense or not is another matter.
Just because you thought that the opportunity to act like a jackass presented itself doesn’t necessarily mean you have to take it.
Mr Derp,
Really because I just listened to the commentary for the final episode and she has nothing but great things to say.
Fireandblood87,
That’s not the only time she has addressed the final season. She’s obviously not going to say something negative about the final season on the episode commentary. Even if she did, it would be edited out. I don’t think HBO would’ve been ok with negative comments being allowed on the commentary
She was quoted in a recent interview saying that she was annoyed that Jon Snow “didn’t have to deal with something” and that he “got away with murder”.
When asked if she felt the final season was rushed, she said” We could have spun it out for a little longer” and “it was all about the set pieces”.
I’m not interpreting her words as anything close to hating the final season or anything, but her comments definitely reflect someone who was frustrated with the way things ended up.
To be candid, the only bona fide “clue” I thought was laid along the way was the odd “kneel or fry” ultimatum to POWs after the S7 Field of Fire (“Loot Train”) battle + unnecessarily burning both Tarly father and son contrary to Tyrion’s advice to lock up Dickon to give him a chance to reconsider. I figured those decisions would come back to bite Dany in the a*s somehow.
Chaining people to enslave them is different from shackling captured enemy soldiers. Telling surrendered soldiers to choose between betraying their side and joining your army, or getting executed, isn’t quite the same as freeing slaves. And while serial traitor and all-around f*ckwit Randyll Tarly probably deserved his fate, Dickon didn’t. (And Tyrion had counseled Dany she’d need the support of noble houses; extinguishing House Tarly was a boneheaded move.)
However, I did not consider any of Dany’s other actions as clues to her ultimate “trajectory.” Her other acts of violence (that Tyrion condemned in S8e6) were done in wartime or to fight against oppressors (eg Khal BBQ). But consistently throughout, Dany never targeted children and other innocent civilians. She steadfastly avoided civilian casualties and would not simply dismiss the deaths of innocents as collateral damage. She kept explaining that she was not there to be “Queen of the Ashes.”
That’s why Dany suddenly – and unnecessarily -roasting women and children, and incinerating an entire city to ashes, was so jarring.
It wasn’t so much the endpoint that was the problem for many. Rather, it was that the show spent seventy episodes building up Dany as a heroine – a savior with “a good heart” – and only three episodes turning her into Aerial Hitler.
Ten Bears,
I should add that Dany’s motives for suddenly going on her rampage weren’t made clear. Varys insinuated it was the Targ madness gene. Dany seemed to be upset because she felt unloved by the people and estranged from her boyfriend.
D.B. Weiss said Dany was triggered by the sight of the Red Keep, a “symbol” of all that had been taken from her, that made it “personal” for her. Frankly, I still don’t know what that means. (How would seeing a structure she’d never seen in her life trigger a desire to burn the people she had vowed to liberate, and cause her to become completely delusional afterwards?)
Efi,
”They didn’t try to make her a villain; they tried to make her a hero. And for the “twist” they simply wrote a story where she goes mad, so the bottom line is “hero goes mad”, not “villain goes down”.
Yes. That’s what they did. It’s just that “hero goes mad” attributes her actions to mental illness, rather than a tragic character flaw, or to the combined effects of enormous emotional stresses that suddenly made her snap.
I think fans were expecting a little more complexity? I’m not sure. For me, torching the city wasn’t surprising. However, I thought it would be the result of a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” internal dilemma – e.g., a quandary arising from “the human heart in conflict with itself,” as the Big Kahuna likes to say.
Well, that’s what I’d like. Maybe in the books.
One day…
One day…
In 2039.
Wait, what’s that quote from Old Rose in Titanic? 84 years?
“It’s been 84 years…”
ADWD came out in 2011. 2011 + 84 = (with help from Alexa) 2095.
2095! You heard it here first 😉
(But I think I’ll be afk in 2095…)
Mr Derp,
It seems she said that in the interview published by The Times, two days ago. Some online publications made other articles out of it, pointing out that criticism about Jon Snow’s fate. I couldn’t read the original article and the context and tone in which she said it, because the site requires a paid subscription. I wouldn’t be surprised if she talked about “the murder” as a kind of a joke, for what I’ve seen from her in many interviews. However, it doesn’t mean she wasn’t frustrated with the ending.
I think everyone’s opinion about season 8 is pretty much settled by now. I don’t criticize season 8 for the charcters fates in themselves. Before season 8, I was expecting Daenerys to die. But I wasn’t expecting that the events which led to her death were presented as they were. I could see Tyrion surviving and thriving, but not expecting that his “triumph” would feel so empty. I felt that in this last season a good portion of what made the characters we love was emptied for the sake of the plot (amidst the main characters, I think Arya, and Sansa after her, were written better than the rest).
However, I’m at peace with the season and the series, even if I was a bit frustrated at the time. Watching Game of Thrones was a great experience. In fact, this series was one of the few common experiences worldwide in a decade of fragmentation in various levels. I don’t think it will ever be an episode so much antecipation as “The long night”. Liking or not afterwards, we, fans, were expecting the great battle as if it was a football World Cup final. And sooner or later, I will rewatch Game of Thrones, even if I think the last two seasons could be better.
Ten Bears,
So… Harvey Dent. And Injustice Superman. Only with a lot more steps and foreshadowing along the way.
perhaps with the Corona Virus, GRRM will be staying at home and really won’t have anything else to do for awhile. It’s like his sulfuric acid lake he talked about but in real life. Maybe something good will come out of our lockdown we are all experiencing.
I know only a couple of folks here are into HDM, but I’ve been really loving book 2 “The subtle knife”. I can’t wait to see how they come up with some of these scenes onscreen next season! I still have the last third to finish, but I think I’ll have plenty of time now. I’ll probably finish this week no problem. I pledge to jump into Fire and Blood after I finish the HDM books.
I haven’t made much progress on my 73chickens site. I’ve been debating ways to rate the episodes with a checkoff sheet of some kind as you watch, so I haven’t settled on how to rate yet.. still a work in progress. I hope GRRM beats me with TWOW!
Tiago,
I read the whole interview she never once says she was frustrated with the ending. She even begins by kind of blaming the press a little bit.
Tron79,
I did see a comment like that on Reddit too! A teeny tiny modicum of maybe hope? But my instinct is to quell it immediately 😉
I’m very interested to hear your thoughts when you’ve finished them all. Some interesting twists with a few of the characters 🙂
Hope… ;;;
Adrianacandle,
”ADWD came out in 2011.”
2011 + 9 = 2020 and counting…
Fans to TWOW: “Nine years! Why haven’t I seen you? Where the hell have you been?”
at 4:13
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVVgASDz8pM
——-
Ok. I’m getting back to continuing book 2 now. My guess is I will be getting lots of reading done these next few weeks.
I do not know what this means. Can I ask you to clarify?
Tron79,
”I haven’t made much progress on my 73chickens site. I’ve been debating ways to rate the episodes with a checkoff sheet of some kind as you watch, so I haven’t settled on how to rate yet.. still a work in progress. I hope GRRM beats me with TWOW!”
I thought you had come up with a tentative scoresheet that looked promising…
Ten Bears,
I think a little more complexity and creativity from the producers wouldn’t hurt or disappoint anyone. It would live up to the rest of it; because no matter how one sees it, it was a simple ending to a rather complex story.
I’d like to see Daenerys suffer because she’d know that by burning KL she’d have to make a greater point than “I hurt, this is what I do when I hurt” (bc of boyfriend, friend executed, “children” dying etc). KL was a symbol of political corruption but by stripping that and emphasizing on her personal pain makes the inferno meaningless in-universe.
[exemplified by the villain of seasons 6-8 drinking wine on a balcony; you don’t burn that]
Ten Bears,
“Queen of the Ashes.”
That’s actually a nice expression from the books, only it’s “king of the ashes”. I don’t remember it ever referring to Dany or being told to Dany like that, but perhaps I am mistaken.
Yeah I did and I still do. It’s still good for when the episode is over but want a tally sheet to use as you watch the episode! Like check off one of those high thread count scenes as they happen. Then after the episode is over use the tally card to help you come up with your final episode scoring. I started trying it out with real episodes and I found I really wanted something to tally as I watched the episode. Otherwise there may be lots of fun tie breakers needed!
Efi,
“Queen of the Ashes” was from the show.
… Wasn’t it?
Efi,
They didn’t try to make her a villain; they tried to make her a hero.
GRRM had Dany’s fall and end planned from very early in his composition. It was the third and final plot twist he told D&D they must show, after the burning death of Shireen Baratheon, and the meaning (and origin, and fate) of Hodor. D&D followed his instruction, by having her as the final villain, but dressed as a hero all along.
… the bottom line is “hero goes mad”, not “villain goes down”.
Must we choose? Having a protagonist with such an arc goes all the way back to the ancient Greek tragedies.
Ten Bears:
For me, torching the city wasn’t surprising. However, I thought it would be the result of a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” internal dilemma – e.g., a quandary arising from “the human heart in conflict with itself,” as the Big Kahuna likes to say.
Having Dany face such a quandary would have been completely redundant, as we saw it already with Stannis and Shireen. It would have been worthy of inclusion only if Dany had made the decision not to burn. But, again, having her as the actual villain of the piece had long been Martin’s plan.
Mr. Derp:
I don’t know what I’m supposed to take away from the ending other than “power corrupts”, which everyone already knows. I mean, someone has to be in charge, right?. Someone has to have the power. Someone has to make the decisions or you’ve got chaos and anarchy.
Yes, and in a story composed and presented by modern Americans, the idea of feudalism as a sh*t form of government, one which provides few and ugly choices for leaders, would seem to be pretty much in keeping with what Americans have long been taught to believe, no?
England’s long journey, from true to constitutional monarchy, never saw the end of hereditary titles. GRRM put that little innovative twist on his story, just to tease another path. I thought that was a nice touch.
Kristofer Hivju has now tested positive for the coronavirus. Hoping a giant’s milk diet will soon set him right! ❤ Norway hasn’t fared too well with this darn thing.
I feel like “Where the hell have you been?” for TWOW might make a good “fill in the blank” game 😉
I hope you manage to finish quickly 🙂 Very very interested in discussing some things with you!
I’m reading the Witcher series! I’m on book 2 right now and because I played the first game (haven’t seen the TV series yet, saving that for later), it was like I could start the books already semi-invested since the game made me familiar with some of the characters/places/events/factions/monsters 🙂 It’s an interesting way to build a connection to a story.
I’ve just read that. Viruses are no respecters of persons. I do hope he makes a good recovery. Pigeon, I know KH has been filming “The Witcher” (which has been filming in the county of Surrey in England recently) so do we know whether he caught the disease in Norway or in England?
At the risk of flaring up this debate, similar quandaries are explored again and again by the characters throughout the series — but perhaps at escalated levels, especially in the books. Impossible choices, impossible decisions, even greater stakes, and having to choose. Even if Stannis also faced such choice in the show (the life of his daughter vs. a last ditch attempt of victory), I don’t think it means Dany can’t face a choice in which, no matter what she picks, there will be significant consequences. Perhaps that final choice does reveal something significant from Dany, something that hasn’t been quite so overt before? And other characters have faced such impossible, conflicting choices throughout the series themselves, more than once, and especially in the books. From my observations, it seems that the escalation of stakes is risen each time.
Like you and Dame of Merica, I also hope he makes a good recovery. I think Tom Hanks has it too 🙁 Nobody I know personally has it as of yet. I hope you all get through this safe <3
I read that they had already shut down down the set for a period of time as a precaution, and he didn’t show symptoms until afterwards, so I imagine it would be pretty difficult to know for sure. It sounds like they’re cleaning the heck outta everything on the set and monitoring everyone involved. Hopefully everyone else is ok and his wife and kids don’t come down with it…on his Instagram post he says he’s been lucky to have mild symptoms. 🤞
We have 7 cases here in my medium-sized city, and my workplace has been shut down until April 6th for sure. It’s bizarre, I was just there on Friday and then get a text Sunday night saying no one is allowed in. 😕
You too! Both our provinces are in a similar boat, it seems, they just shut down the schools, etc. I feel like I’m going to meander around like 28 Days Later. Lol.
I’m not going into freakout mode, but I do worry about my parents and grandpa. I have a suppressed immune system as well because of autoimmune craptasticness, so bleh to that! 🙄 My cats remain unconcerned. 😺😺
SK and AB really are in a similar boat — I feel this whole thing is such an odd situation, super 28-Days like, just as you said! When I first saw the news item on my phone, I didn’t think it was a big deal and was touching door knobs and other high-touch surfaces with abandon. Now I worry that it’ll kill my 90-year old grandparents and my 90-year old grandpa is the best 🙁 90-year old nana’s fine but she keeps pointing out my flaws and telling me how tired I look 😉 🙁 😉 🙁
(On being told that I look tired, I always remember this quote from ‘Stepmom’: “You look tired.”/“Is that a polite way of saying I look like sh!t?” THANKS NANA 👍)
I am worried about my older family members too. I think my parents will be fine, but even though my grandpa is very active and independent, he’s still 90 🙁
And I’m so sorry for your immune system disorder. But kudos for the name, ‘Autoimmune Craptasticness’ — that’s some beautiful language work there 🙂
My cat doesn’t care either. As long as she has heads to rub up against (….), she’s indifferent to whether I’m dead or alive ;;
Pigeon,
I maybe mentioned that the coeliac disease I have and the hay fever are deficiencies of the autoimmune system though they can be managed. I have to venture forth to some extent because the delivery slots from local supermarkets have all been taken for the foreseeable future. It’s a question of being sensible really. I’m sorry you have this added difficulty, Pigeon.
One of my activities in retirement is to attend a French conversation group* on a Tuesday afternoon but it has been cancelled today so the French language will just have to manage without me committing sins of pronunciation against it today.
I was (and probably still will) going to mention on the GoT actors in other things thread in the forum that Emilia Clarke and Indira Varma (Ellaria) are both appearing in “The Seagull” in London at the moment. I haven’t been able to find a review as to whether the production is good, bad or indifferent. Of course, if people are shunning theatres at the moment it may not have opened at a good time.
Tensor the Mage, Who Knows A Tavern-Told Tale or Two,
“Must we choose? Having a protagonist with such an arc goes all the way back to the ancient Greek tragedies.”
No, of course not. We don’t get to choose because we’re the audience.
But since the finished product is addressed to us, we do have a right to have an opinion on which is better. No one is supposed to follow blindly and applaude what we are given.
And, to be fair, no “villain” ever goes mad in ancient Greek tragedies. They all have reasons to do what they do. They’re not villains either, and Martin didn’t intend to write about typical “villains”. I don’t think he intended writing about “mad men/women” either.
Ten Bears,
“King of the ashes” refers to Robert.
Jamie thinks that a prince of Dorne who was Rhaegar’s kings guard betrayed him, because he heard him say “let him [Robert] be king of the ashes”.
Of course Robert didn’t technically become king of the ashes; KL was plundered but it wasn’t destroyed. But Jamie thinks about it very intently before he leaves the city in ADWD.
What made GoT so good was that it had phrases and even dialogs from the books. They forgot about it in season 8 -imo in favor of their “call backs” (which they abused; far too many unnecessary call-backs).
Efi,
I had a look on wikiquotes – the relevant part of the page is towards the end of the page where it says “Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad” is sometimes wrongly attributed to Euripides and also mention that there may have been something of the original meaning lost in translation as it were. Efi, I’m sure your knowledge of Greek is better than mine (which is virtually non-existent).
Efi,
Efi, regarding “What made GoT so good was that it had phrases and even dialogs from the books. They forgot about it in season 8 -imo in favor of their “call backs” (which they abused; far too many unnecessary call-backs).” – I think that’s a somewhat harsh judgement as Messrs B&W had run out of book material from which to quote by that time and were working from the outlines GRRM had given them. I like reading your takes on things even if I don’t always agree (which doesn’t mean that I always disagree incidentally).
Dame of Mercia,
I am amazed that theatres and classes are not officially banned yet. What is your PM waiting for? I saw some very negative critique about him by football players of English teams.
Anyway, you should take extra care. The virus hits either abdomen (intestines) or lungs [even though your situation doesn’t put you in high risk groups, so there’s no need to worry]
It sounds like this is a good time for reading a book, see a film, clean the house, etc. Something to pass the time inside four walls.
Efi,
The present UK Prime Minister of course is riding high on a very high majority win in the most recent general election in this country so possibly feels he has a lot of leeway in what he says. Just heard on the news that theatres and pubs have a problem with ‘advice’ rather than a ban in that advice to close rather than an order to close limits their ability to claim insurance for any monies lost if the public stay away. In the 1980s when Margaret Thatcher lost her popularity with some members of the population (not all because she won three general elections) started wearing badges saying “I didn’t vote Tories”. I wonder if such badges will experience a renaissance? I’m in GRRM’s age bracket (a bit younger but not much – in fact I don’t want to dox myself but today is my birthday/name day) which is supposed to be at risk. Still, I have to apply common sense. The common cold strikes quite commonly at this time of year so one can have “the sniffles” without knowing whether it is Covid-19 or just the common cold.
Actually I’d been thinking of trying luceting which as I’m sure you know is a medieval way of making braid. I don’t have a lucet but a plastic clothes peg might work (if not perfectly) and I have to finish hemming a skirt. By the way in case one of my earlier posts was ambiguous I was saying that I have virtually no knowledge of the Greek language – not yourself. I know the phrase “Those whom the gods wish to (or ‘would’ in some versions) destroy they first make mad” has not been directly quoted but the idea implicit in the quote has been alluded to.
I’m sure that most people who visit this site are sensible but (and I’m sorry to take the thread away from Jack Gleeson returning to professional acting) there are some coronavirus scams about it seems, so it’s as well to be watchful. Some low lives can be worse or at least equal low lives to the fictional Littlefinger. https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/10861743/coronavirus-warning-email-scam-wuhan-hack
Happy birthday!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 It’s a crappy time out there now with all this coronavirus stuff but I hope you are able to do something special for yourself today.
Thanks for the scam warning too. I’ll let my grandpa and auntie know about it. They’re both pretty active online and they’ve both fallen for some of this stuff in the past :/
Dame of Mercia,
That’s exactly the phrase -I could never be sure of the exact translation.
I wish it weren’t so, but such sayings that are so ancient prove to be surprisingly modern. One would think that we’ve moved ahead from such situations after thousands of years, but it doesn’t seem to be the case. In fact, my ancient sources always surprise me because they are more modern than I expected. Humans are always humans it seems and neither the brain nor the logical way of thinking or the process of emotions has changed ever since Homo Sapiens walked the earth.
Happy name day! Flowers for you! 🌺
Over here it’s St. Alexios name day; I don’t know if we have the same religious calendar; it’s probably some other saint being celebrated there.
Sewing is creative; I never could do it (I’m a bookworm). Mom always spends lots of time sewing the hems of her skirts, but I think I am inapt.
I didn’t know what a lucet was, but I googled it. Thanks for the tip.
We try not to panic, but then you go out and see that others are panicked. And then you think, “what if…?”
So you start taking more precautions yourself. I wanted to buy a tablet. I’m not going. After all, they’ll be selling them online, so why take the risk? So I returned home, took off my clothes, and off they went into the washing machine to be disinfected with washing soda. Needless to say, I can’t do that with my coat.
I have my allergies. I had a stupid, persistent caugh all through winter. It went away only in the beginning of February; but then spring set in, and my allergy reappeared. If you go out and caugh or sneeze you get angry, fearful, suspicious looks. What if…?
Dame of Mercia,
The phrase sounds christian to me because it’s “the lord” (ho kyrios) in Greek, and there’s only one Lord. We also find it in Latin:
“Quem Iuppiter vult perdere, dementat prius”
It’s a re-take of sth Sophocles wrote in Antigone, which was a bit more complicated thought and even more complicated to phrase.
To be frank I don’t know which of the two came first, the Latin or the Greek. Romans were fluent in Greek and vice-versa. 🙂
Efi,
Dame of Mercia,
At Museum School when I was a kid, they had us braid friendship bracelets with a lucet! I had completely forgotten about those…
Also, if either of you is interested in making cords or braids, the kumihimo disc is a great option as well! It’s a Japanese method of braiding cord. You can get some very crazy patterns — even spiral braids 😀 This is often how horsehair is woven into jewelry!
Hemming skirts (or hemming at all) is a pain in the butt T__T Efi, if you are ever interested in sewing, it’s not so hard! Really! I could point you to some projects 🙂 I had a friend who was not so keen on sewing, afraid she’d suck, but now she’s making quilted bags with the best of them!
I didn’t mention before that I’d read that the poet Longfellow used the phrase (a version of it anyway) in one of his poems (I don’t think it was in either “Hiawatha” or “Evangeline” two of his very-well known long poems). I learned a little Latin at school (I went to catholic schools from the age of 6 – a priest came round from the church and said “Why aren’t you sending her to catholic school?” – they (priests) could be nosy like that then) so I know more of that disused language than I do of ancient Greek. I need to pop out shortly for a bit of shopping (the rescue cat I took on in February likes her food. Here it is St Patrick’s Day – it’s probably also the day of St Alexios but St Paddy is more well known in the UK and Eire. I’m sure saints have to double up on their name days. There were a couple of sisters at my senior school who had Polish parents who belonged to the Eastern Orthodox church. But there weren’t – and still aren’t – any orthodox churches in my hometown (there are some in London I think) so they came to a catholic school because it was deemed the next best thing. In the tridentine version of the mass “Kyrie eleison” was used but nowadays most masses (in England anyway) are said in English with the words “Lord have mercy” – often to half empty churches.
Dame of Mercia,
Also, I don’t think I am too harsh on them. Didn’t “queen of the ashes” appear when they had ran out of material? If I’m not mistaken it was from season 7. Also, season 7 had a stunning piece of political dialog, 7.3 (Jon-Dany), which I consider one of the best in the series. So even if they ran out of material, they could deliver good stuff.
I think I do recognize to them their right to make the creative choices they made (frankly this is a thought that really eased my mind after what I saw on screen). I don’t think they are dumb, I think they’re actually quite smart and that they have lots of potential, so long as they don’t repeat the compromises they made in season 8 especially –but their handling and setting up of seasons 6-8 proves that they are also creative and have enough imagination and can set up something interesting and challenging for the audience. As regards season 8 I don’t agree with lots of it and I was quite disappointed, but that’s entirely my problem. Others liked it a lot. But if this entire online- and media discussion after the end of GoT is of any worth, it might have taught them to not compromise the story for, or sacrificing their characters to, the “gotcha” moment, ever again.
Season 8 had two pieces of good, political dialog between Tyrion and Varys; I even liked the Dany-Tyrion-Greyworm exchange in the throne room. I will never understand though why would Varys think that Jon Snow was too weak for Daenerys (since he did bring her North, he did bring the Free Folk South, he did beat Ramsay, he was LC of NW, he did ride the dragon). I don’t consider the Jon-Tyrion discussion in 8.6 to be a political discussion; it sounded as if it was picked up from the internet, it was very “basic” and not at all intelligent. [I think it was beneath them and I am surprised they might have thought that that dialog would ever be considered “smart” but perhaps it goes together with the story they chose to tell, meaning Jon being in love with Daenerys and having to be “convinced” to kill her].
Adrianacandle,
Bracelets!
Omg, I was t r y i n g to make bracelets when I was a child, around 11. Even then I was wondering “what’s the point”?
I can sew a button, or mend a hole in my socks every now and then, but that’s just about it [very professionally; I’m a professional when it comes to holes]. When I was a child, mothers tried to teach their daughters embroideries. I made a half; mom finished it, and now it hangs on my wall, because even with different colors she was so proud that her daughter made it. I wasn’t, because I knew I didn’t make it. My mom has also made huge embroideries that hang like paintings on our walls. We don’t have paintings, we have embroideries. She also tried to teach me how to make bread, but I swear to God, it’s very difficult. You need to have a man’s strength to do it.
Pigeon,
Can I just say… I love your new Arya & Sandor avatar?
Efi,
The point is BLING!!! 😀 I don’t love making the base bracelet, but I do love putting in the sparkle ;D
Oh wow, much respect to your mum. I find embroidery hard as hell *___* It’s so involved, intricate, so precise. And it takes forever — but the result is beautiful!
That is so true. Yes. I don’t have the strength to knead dough for long either, which says a lot about my muscle fitness (ie. non-existent).
Efi,
I think D&D had their moments but I think that’s different from putting together the final pieces to a story that the author, himself, as yet to complete. In the latter seasons, things seemed to be shakier and getting progressively so in just about every storyline — and I think some of that is from not having a rich source of material to draw from like they did earlier in the series, especially a series that was getting more and more complicated.
It seemed they had the concept of what to do and I can get behind that concept, even if I’m not a fan of it all… but it felt like D&D couldn’t bring it fully home since they did lack that framework. And decided 73 episodes needed to be it.
I think that’s because it’s not meant to be a political conversation, but an emotional one to help set up this conflict for Jon that he was heavily resistant to. I think it’s reasonable Jon doesn’t want to do this because those personal feelings are seriously hampering him here and they don’t die in an instant. It’s sort of like with Jon in ADWD, his love for Arya compromised his neutrality in a big way and Jon knew it. With Tyrion, this scene was helping to set up that final situation where Jon was forced to choose, something that’s been foisted on Jon for his entire arc (like with Arya and the Watch’s neutrality) — but this time, the stakes are higher than ever.
And that feels like a GRRM thing to do. I don’t think this was a D&D invention.
I think some plot points were contrived (Varys’s belief, as you noted) but I agree, D&D were capable of good moments I think they needed the source material to really bring the final product to fruition. Season 8 felt like it had the concept down but not so much the development and as a result, it felt (to me) like a season of short cuts, of Cliff’s Notes :/ I feel the same about seasons 6 and 7 to an extent too but not as much.
Sophie Turner Quibi ad
🗡👸🏻
In Maisie Williams-related news, here’s a Cinemablend.com article today, March 17, 2020
—————-
“Maisie Williams Helped Keep Her New Mutants Co-Star From Freaking Out When Finally Watching The Movie”
https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2492766/maisie-williams-helped-keep-her-new-mutants-co-star-from-freaking-out-when-finally-watching-the-movie
While the public at large has still not seen director Josh Boone’s The New Mutants just yet, the cast of the film has already had their taste of the action. It was truly an event for some, especially actor Blu Hunt, who started to freak out once she saw her character Danielle Moonstar on screen for the first time. Thankfully, she had co-star and Game of Thrones vet Maisie Williams to calm her down.
Blu Hunt’s story about that particular happening was detailed as follows:
“It was overwhelming. I never thought I’d see myself in a movie, and the first shot is of my face! I was shaking in the theatre, but Maisie [Williams] grabbed me, like, ‘You’re good! It’s good!’
As Blu Hunt is starring in her first major motion picture with The New Mutants, that would be enough of a reason to freak out. Even more to the point is the fact that Danielle Moonstar, also known as “Mirage” to Marvel Comics fans, is a well-established character in the comic canon that gave The New Mutants its cinematic inspiration.
But as she further described in an interview with Empire, her excitement was coming from a very personal place:
“I’m an indigenous superhero. I’m not just in the background, to please people. I’m carrying the movie.”
Breaking that sort of ground, both on an individual and a pop culture level, is something that feels absolutely spectacular. Also, as a member of the Lakota nation of Native Americans, Blu Hunt’s big reaction during her New Mutants screening is understandable. Rather than just be relegated to the sidelines in the name of token diversity, Mirage is a vital character in this film’s lineup, with her importance reaching as far as being the first character we’re introduced to in this new world.
Fittingly enough, Maisie Williams’ character, Rahne Sinclair/Wolfsbane, is also breaking ground, thanks to the fact that she and Danielle Moonstar are in one of Marvel’s first same-sex couples in cinematic history. This already puts the actors on a level of comfort with one another that if one of them was having a moment in public, a reaction like Williams’ would sort of be second nature.
While The New Mutants will eventually be released into the wild, it certainly won’t be an R-rated movie, nor will it be full of new material from those reshoots that never actually happened. What it will have, however, is the hopes and dreams of a set of young actors who just might carry the mutant brand on their shoulders in the years to come.
The New Mutants is currently waiting for a new release date, as the April 3rd slot it was once set to occupy has been pulled. As soon as we have any new details pertaining to the film’s distribution plans, we’ll break those updates as they come into play.
at 2:30
Oh Mercy! What wonderful eyebrows.
https://www.vogue.com/article/maisie-williams-givenchy-getting-ready-fall-2020
“Things are pretty grim in the Seven Kingdoms… but maybe not as grim as they may become here.”
https://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/
Thank you George for the update; I’m sure we wouldn’t have that had it not been for the virus of kings.
Efi,
Thanks for that link, Efi.
Idle fans are bound to seize on some of the passages, e.g., is he really “spending more time in Westeros than in the real world, writing every day”? Did he not realize that a statement like “reading is the best way to pass the empty hours” might provoke impatient book readers?
———————
Excerpted from
georgerrmartin.com
March 17, 2020 at 3:09 PM
“Strange Days”
***
“Strange days are upon us. As ancient as I am, I cannot recall ever having lived through anything like the past few weeks.”
***
“With quarantines, lockdowns, and social isolation on the menu everywhere, and all the usual entertainment venues closing their doors, reading is the best way to pass the empty hours. “
***
“I am off by myself in a remote isolated location, attended by one of my staff, and I’m not going in to town or seeing anyone. Truth be told, I am spending more time in Westeros than in the real world, writing every day. Things are pretty grim in the Seven Kingdoms… but maybe not as grim as they may become here.”
Efi,
I thought for sure that when posting a blog entry titled “Strange Days” and opening with the sentence “Strange days are upon us,” GRRM would cite to “Strange Days” (1967) by The Doors. I’d bet he was subconsciously influenced by the title and lyrics of that song, since it’s in his chronological wheelhouse.
—————
“Strange Days” – The Doors (1967)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2frAPi1Pv8
“Strange days have found us.
Strange days have tracked us down.
They’re going to destroy
Our casual joys.”
As one of those idle fans, that’s exactly what I’ve done 🙁 🙁 🙁
Efi,
Thanks for sharing!
I think this image sums up my thoughts on GRRM’s latest… update:
here!
Adrianacandle,
Dear Adrianacandle, et al.
I’m hoping we all continue to post comments here during the coming weeks or months of “physical distancing,” notwithstanding the efforts of our common nemesis, Auto-Correct.
https://images.app.goo.gl/5SH7QtjUR2zWsNLFA
My namesake!!
The battle against Auto-Correct. A ducking noble war.
I’ve already destroyed two computers over the last 48 hours as a result of issues unrelated to Auto-Correct (and more related to gravity) but I’ve still got one left! The Microsoft Surface! Which has a crack in it… due to another issue with gravity 🙁 I will try not to destroy this last one portal to the world.
In addition to Dad naming me after his favourite cartoon character, he also calls me The Destroyer.
Ten Bears,
I’m amazed by the ease with which you refer to music!
I hear music on the radio all day long; I’ve been doing it ever since I was very young, no matter what I do (reading, working, writing, etc), but still names and titles escape me and whenever I try to remember it’s a struggle. It’s like “that song… you know the one which… goes like this… and says… ” 🙄
It’s admirable really. It’s nice to connect reality to a song.
Adrianacandle,
”In addition to Dad naming me after his favourite cartoon character, he also calls me The Destroyer.”
Ha! I like that nickname. “The Destroyer.”
It reminds me of one of my college roommates who we called “El Destructo” because he was always breaking sh*t: furniture, doors, windows, coffee makers, telephones, lamps, you name it. Any object within five feet of him was in “The Zone of Danger.” He’d get so animated while carrying on a conversation that he’d unintentionally knock things over or smash them with his flailing hands. It was kind of funny… I guess you had to be there…
Then there was his habit of throwing garbage into the roaring fireplace instead of walking down a flight of stairs to toss it down the trash chute, which made for pyrotechnic spectacles when spray cans would suddenly explode, plastic would melt and give off a bluish glow, or sparkling embers from burning compressed cardboard would float through the living room. Oh wait…that was me. 😬
Efi,
My older brother was and is a music buff. We shared a room growing up. His radio, record player or tape deck was always on, virtually 24 hours a day. Our room was crammed with stereo speakers, wires, and all kinds of gadgets to play, record and amplify music. He’d play songs over and over.
Whether I liked it or not, some lyrics were burned into my brain before I was old enough to understand them. Fragments still come back to me even now, decades later.
Ten Bears,
Ha, your brother sounds like my brother… only mine has no taste for music.
He always liked electropop since it first appeared and then all the rest with any electronic beat in it. And of course amplifiers and speakers and the gadgets were part of the ensemble that goes with a brother; he practiced to become a dj –practicing the scratches with multiple record players etc. He even worked as a dj when in school, then he got distracted and ended up with a BA degree…
Waking up at 7 a.m. by the steady boop doop boop doop boop doop of electro pop when I was 16 is one of the nightmares of my life. Lyrics in electronic music are rather rare.
Efi,
”And of course amplifiers and speakers and the gadgets were part of the ensemble that goes with a brother…”
——-
To this day I still wonder if he unwittingly burned down our house. With all of the wires, extension cords, cables, splitters etc. going into a limited number of outlets…maybe something got overloaded or overheated…?
Who knows. The main casualty (for me) was the huge Lego tower I’d built to house my secret stash of M&Ms. That was my younger self’s proudest accomplishment. (Probably still remains my life’s most noteworthy achievement. 🤓)
I still remember going through the charred rubble and coming upon a mound of melted plastic and chocolate goo. 😢
Efi,
I should add that my brother had eclectic tastes in music. He wasn’t a genre snob, so I was exposed to all kinds of music from all periods, including, e.g., old Frank Sinatra songs and Broadway show tunes, 50’s doo-wop, 60’s oldies (baroque, psychedelic and “bubble gum”), 70’s punk and classic rock, and all sorts of music I wouldn’t have otherwise been exposed to.
For better or worse, I think I’d gotten my own room right before the advent of “electropop.”
NICE!!!
I’ve performed a few of my own idle experiments with fire and various materials I’ve had lying around… ended up with some super gross candles.
But nothing, nothing as spectacular as what you’re describing 🤩
Oh, don’t get me started! My “idle experiments” in my boyhood* included nighttime kite flying with delayed fuses made out of cigarettes (~ 5 minutes) or cotton clothesline rope (longer delay) attached to incendiary cargo e.g., small kerosene bags + magnesium and gunpowder extracted from fireworks. 💥 🪁🔥
Think Tyrion’s Battle of the Blackwater wildfire surprise, though in mid-air and on a somewhat smaller scale.
* (Even at a young age, I factored considerations like the possibility of igniting neighbors’ roofs into the equation. Never had a problem. With the delayed fuse, the kites always blew up and burned up at a safe altitude. Quite an auditory and visual treat for spectators though.)
Sucks to grow up. 🤢
Oh, but I’ve had that one for an age! I know people’s avatars don’t always show up for me though, as I’m almost always on my phone instead of my computer, and things tend to be on a different plane of existence between the two. 🤪 But thank you!
Oh, please take care of yourself as well, argumentative immune systems are really peevish at the best of times. I am trying to be as careful as possible.
The way you phrased that actually made me laugh out loud. My french is shameful for a person who lives in a bilingual country – I can read it at a mediocre level, but conversational….well, I am better off pretending to be a mime. 😳
While sitting around a bonfire at my ex’s house many many morons ago, I witnessed his rather three-sheets-to-the-wind roommate come toodling out of the house, carrying his deceased desktop that had been waiting to be taken in for recycling. Before we had time to think too much about it, it was flung into the flames.
I have yet to ever see some of those colours again, either in nature or out of it, but I don’t recommend this for either the environment nor the electronic souls that escaped in plumes of smoke and sparks and terrorized us.
Yes, that was autocorrect, and no, I’m not going to fix it, because it is hilarious. 🤪
Ten Bears,
Wow…. You must have given your parents much peace and calm! XD
Still, nice thinking! Also love ‘wildfire surprise’.
Gives a bit of a different outlook to Mary Poppins’ ‘Let’s Go Fly A Kite’ — now that’s been influenced by exploding kites in my mind XD
(Yes, it does suck to grow up. We were lied to about the amazingness of adulthood.)
Pigeon,
😂
Fantastic book!!! along with her Song of Achilles, stories that take on greek myths. Neat to hear he shares my love of books : )
Ten Bears,
its just amazing how cute she is, and how confident in herself. Great clip!
Pigeon,
I am glad you didn’t, it adds so much to the story!
So my DH and I are at home the last week slowly going crazy. The state has closed down the schools and the city has closed down the museums. Fortunately the weather has been delightul, I have a beautiful back yard, and lots of books to read. still I will be glad when this is done already! Be safe everyone
Adrianacandle,
I know! 😆
ash,
Ooh, it sounds like you have a lovely place to be isolated! I know it isn’t the best situation, but things like that make it easier. ❤
Pigeon,
Thanks for the commiserations, Pigeon, and glad I gave you a bit of a chuckle.
ash,
Maybe I’ll have to try that book myself in the future.
Mango,
Saner Half enjoyed GoT but has never been the über-fan I am. On the single re-watch he’s ever done, though, when Jack Gleeson made his first appearance he exclaimed, “Oh, I’d forgotten how much I love to hate him!!!”
It feels so long ago that we all hated Joffrey, he was one of the brightest lights on GOT because he was so brilliantly portrayed by Jack Gleeson (who by all accounts is extremely nice, polite and quite shy).
I’ve not seen S3 of West World yet but the feedback seems to be that it’s not very good and the show has lost it’s way.
Fully agree, although I thought Ramsay was an excellent sadist, I never really hated Euron or him like I did Joff. Always had the urge to want to slap Joff before he opened his mouth, truly awesome acting.