The Survival Of Westeros Is More Important Than The Perceived Race Of The Characters.

I need closure, so I’m going to write about this one last time.

It boils down to admitting that I was completely wrong in interpreting what the story is about. I have to admit that I have been duped into thinking that Jonsa was the main story. I mean, of course the first reaction that I have when I saw the leaks and witness that the leak was real was denial. This can’t be the ending.

But now I think acceptance is coming.

I thought I had GoT (and by extension ASOIAF) figured out. GRRM hides his true protagonist underneath other characters and their stories. First we thought Ned Stark was the detective that was going to solve Jon Arryn’s murder. He died, we were shock. Jon Arryn’s murder was also not that important. Then Robb Stark rises, we root for him and it seems that he is winning. Then the Red Wedding happened. We were shocked. The War of Five Kings falter.

Then season 6 happened and Jon becomes the King in the North, his true identity is a Targaryen prince and an heir to the throne, he’s got hot sexual tension with his redhead Stark sister Sansa who after the parentage reveal will become his cousin. A Targaryen hidden prince and a Stark girl who is a queen material. Poetry. Fairytale. Perfection.

At that time, it suddenly clicks to me, well of course Ned must die and of course Robb must die, otherwise how will Jon the true hidden protagonist can rise and become king? So we expect the story will come to the conclusion for Jon to become the king and marries his love interest and solve all the political issues in the Seven Kingdoms. Because he is the true hidden protagonist, right?

Gosh, I really should have known better.

(I know that I am oversimplifying things with the whole “one true protagonist” thing but I’m just trying to make this make sense somehow. Also this is not to say that Jonsa is not important to the story. It is important, but in the same way Ned and Robb’s story is important but it is just not endgame)

When I took that conclusion I forgot about Brandon Stark. The character that Jojen Reed claims as the only thing that matters. The first character that GRRM made when he started ASOIAF. The fairytale that is Jonsa turns out to be just another layer of a very intricate and elaborate red herring to cover up GRRM’s true protagonist Brandon Stark (and to some extent Arya Stark, because she killed the Night King). So of course Jonsa must fall and that fall was brought upon by one Daenerys Targaryen.

I have to laugh to my own argument about Jonsa being the main endgame couple because the very first shot of the Starks was Jon Snow with his brother Bran followed by Sansa Stark with his sister Arya. 

It’s the other way around. It’s a shot of Bran Stark with his secret prince adoptive brother Jon followed by Arya Stark with her sister Sansa.

I had a tiny bit suspicion when I was working on my jonsa parallel series. They have always been clever with the episode titles. One title that stood out to me was 4x05 - First of His Name. At that episode, King Tommen was crowned and that was the first reference to this episode title. But the jonsa parallel in that episode relates heavily to Bran, and specifically Lysa Arryn brought up Sansa’s uncle Brandon Stark. And of course Bran the Builder is the founder of House Stark. This should have been a clue to how big Bran’s role is, but who would’ve guess if they only give us cryptic clues like this?

Then there was 2x08 - The Prince of Winterfell. Bran along with Rickon was the the Stark princes that still stayed at Winterfell. Bran as the oldest is the one who has authority towards Winterfell. Theon took Winterfell from Bran.

The other brilliant one is 3x08 - Second Sons which refers to Daario Naharis’ company, but it also revolves around Sansa’s marriage to Tyrion Lannister, who is the second son of the Lannister family. Who else is a second son? Yes, Jon (Aegon) who is Rhaegar’s second son and also… Bran. Bran is Ned Stark’s second son.

So I believe that the Starks at the end are where GRRM wanted them to be. I remember a leak that takes the form of five questions and that leak state that Jon’s last scene is the Wall. It also ties in very nicely with the first scene in GoT with Waymar Royce. Yes, this was always to be his ending. Jonsa must dissolves by making Jon a traitor, queenslayer and kinslayer and to be exiled to the Wall.

But does this story with Jonsa as the final and biggest red herring works? As it is now with the show, the answer is a definitive no for me for several reasons.

First the build up time. Ned’s story was given ample time to build up with enough focus, 9 episodes until his death. And Robb’s story was given even more, a whole of season 2 and large part of season 3 until the red wedding. Jonsa was built up in season 6 with their fall starting on episode 3 of season 7. But when did Bran ever became focus of the story. We always thought, he MUST be important, but how, when, why? Bran Stark never rises, he’s always in the background until suddenly in the very last episode, he’s king…. It also doesn’t help at all that he’s becoming this emotionally detached being that we find hard to empathize with. It is just a sad sad irony that jonsa as the red herring is a much more emotionally compelling story, with characters played by actors that happens to spark chemistry to the roof, rather than the true hidden Prince Bran. (And I’m not even going to try to address the cult personality of Daenerys Targaryen that add a complex layer of red herring)

Second, Jonsa never truly happened in the show. We were given subtext after subtext and the culmination never happened. I am inclined to think that in the books Jonsa will happen and pol!Jon is real. The betrayal towards Daenerys Targaryen will be full blown Jon having an incest affair with his sister and he will father a bastard with her (Yes, I am still holding on to that theory because it only make sense given all the clues. And think about it, Bran’s fall was brought by an incest couple Jaime/Cersei and later his rise will be brought by Jonsa).  I think the show just didn’t have the balls to fully materialize that betrayal and either way, the ending would still be the same, Jon exiled at the Wall for killing Dany and Sansa stayed in Winterfell ruling (in my version, with a bastard son named Snow).

The third and most important aspect of why Bran doesn’t work is because his power is supernatural and so his kingship does not feel earned at all. I really don’t know why GRRM is going with this…like….at all, or if he even going with this in the books? But I believe this is the ending that he wanted: Aegon Targaryen kneeling before Brandon Stark.

“You were exactly where you were supposed to be” 

In the end this deceit got me hurt, heartbroken, sad, unfulfilled. But I will never regret to be a part of this lovely fandom that has taught me so much. Seriously, I learn so so much from everyone’s meta and I am forever thankful for that. I wouldn’t have reach this conclusion without reading all of your wonderful meta and I wouldn’t have been able to write shit without you setting the example. So again, thank you and I hope everybody will recover soon!

I’m glad Lyanna wasn’t mean to Jorah. He suffered enough after he had to get peeled like a potato…

My mom (via shit-my-parents-say-during-got)

The Serpent Queen Narration

If done right, the first-person-narration addressing the camera in The Serpent Queen could be really effective. 

Imagine, after several episodes of quipping and dark humor, the night of the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre arrives, and Catherine finally addresses the camera and the audience without her usual smirk. As we watch thousands of people dying on essentially her orders, she quietly says: “I was protecting my family. What would YOU have done differently?” 

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

Man had some problems

Going forward the writers don’t need to stray from history, only consolidate characters and events. The truth is already insane! 

Things get so crazy!

They better include Catherine’s best frenemy Jeanne de Albert (Antoine’s wife) next season. Watching the two queens of sass and sarcasm try to take a bite out of each other will be glorious! 

as much as i enjoyed "the serpent queen" i feel like the second part of the season was a bit... meh? i much preferred it when they kept much closer to the actual history, and while i understand the need for changes for plot clarity (charles V and henri II dying at francis' wedding instead of elizabeth of valois and philippe II of spain's wedding) i wish some parts had kept the actual facts? i think it would have been more interesting to have henri dying while wearing diane's colours, and then catherine doing everything so that diane never saw henri until he died. i also would have preferred it if they kept francois II's cause of death instead of giving him consumption (what is it going to be when charles IX actually dies from it? lol) and also the whole nonsense plot of mary stuart being made regent when she has zero (0) claim to that throne (and antoinette de guise saying 'respect the sanctity of rules' yeah that's what's being done by naming anyone but mary regent actually) like the show can't both be like "if catherine doesn't have children she'll be packed home" and at the same time, when mary is also childless, pretends she has a reasonable claim to the throne? mary was pawn for the de guise as long as she was married to françois, but once dead, she didn't serve them anymore (rightly so) and that's why she was sent back to scotland.

anyway i fucking loved the bourbons though

tormund seeing jon at winterfell

I’m scared...but I’m ready for it to happen.

So they killed the Night King off in one episode with minimal deaths. That’s not what ANYONE expected.

Now we’re gearing up towards the “final battle” against Cersei. But Cersei isn’t nearly as scary as the Night King. And we have three episodes left. It’s improbable that Cersei fucking Lannister is worth more battle time than the Night King.

I just had the worst thought. Cersei isn’t going to get three episodes. She’s not the final battle.

The final battle is going to be Jon vs. Dany. The North is too loyal to Jon to kneel to Dany, and the Dothraki and Unsullied would never serve anyone other than their queen.

The final battle is going to be Jon Snow vs. Daenerys Targaryen and it’s going to have the biggest death toll we’ve ever seen.

I don’t usually talk about my personal life here, but I really need to vent. 

I have misophonia and it’s ruined my life. I have left jobs, schools, limited contacted with family members, considered suicide, self-harm, etc. due to certain triggers, the main one being throat clearing. It might sound ridiculous to someone who doesn’t understand what misophonia is, but I want you to try a little experiment: count how many times your co-workers clear their throats in a single work day. If you work in an office, it’s a lot. In one of my jobs, it’s constant. 

One of the worst parts of it is the feeling of helplessness and complete and utter rage that comes with each trigger. I’m a 10 out of 10. I feel physical and mental pain when I hear my triggers. It’s like having someone stabbing my brain and my ears over and over again, sometimes all day long. 

There is no cure. 

I’ve tried to get certain family members to care and understand, but many still insist on making the triggering sounds whenever I’m around over and over and over agin. If I can’t even get my own family to listen and understand, how can I possibly explain this situation to co-workers? 

At this point, I’m seriously considering giving up one of my dream jobs because of my misophonia. I know quitting is a dumb decision during these uncertain times, but I physically and mentally need to get away from people. 

Are there any jobs out there (besides I.T.) that involve rarely interacting with people? I’ve tried doing online jobs, but people are so demanding and rarely pay you any money, plus there are tons of scams out there. 

I’m at the end of my rope here. All this pressure and pain has been building for years. I think I’d be better off living as a hermit, but even hermits have bills to pay.