an owl on the sill in the evening

ASOIAF: Ned/Cat mixtape

2012-04-22T05:56:09Z

This took for.ev.er. But.

I did it.

download all | listen @ box | listen @ YT

1. Ghosts (Laura Marling)
_{THE SHADOW OF HIS DEAD BROTHER STILL LAY BETWEEN THEM, AS DID THE OTHER
Stood at the table where she sat And removed his hat In respect of her presence. Presents her with the pictures and says ‘These are just ghosts that broke my heart before I met you’ | He’d gone crazy at nineteen, Said he’d lost all his self esteem And couldn’t understand why he was | crying.}

2. Wake Up Your Saints (The National)
_{SOME OLD WOUNDS NEVER TRULY HEAL, AND BLEED AGAIN AT THE SLIGHTEST WORD
I had a hole in the middle where the lightning went through, I told my friends not to worry, my wife would know how to fix it | It's easy to lose your grip, It's easy. I never tell my decisions to the ones I adore | Wake up your saints, Jenny, I need them, Jenny I need them Today.}

3. It Was You (The Pierces)
_{THAT CUT DEEP. NED WOULD NOT SPEAK OF THE MOTHER, NOT SO MUCH AS A WORD
If only you could feel my heart race, And see the light on my face, Then you would know the truth, And I would know the truth. Well maybe you don't like what I brought, Maybe I am not what you thought. But don't worry you are not What I thought you were either | What would you do If it wasn't me, It was you?}

4. Hints (José González)
_{HIS EYES WERE HAUNTED, HIS VOICE THICK WITH DOUBT
While the crowd is waiting for the final kiss, The one which allows them to sleep well, We walk along a wrong path, The one which will lead us to a wrong place. We need hints before we get tired | Now we need hints before we lose pace. We need a hint to know we're on the right track.}

5. Lakes of Canada (The Innocence Mission)
_{SHE WOULD SHOW THESE NORTHERNERS
Look for me another day, I feel that I could change, I feel that I could change. There's a sudden joy that's like a fish, a moving light, I thought I saw it Rowing on the lakes of Canada. Oh laughing man, what have you won? Don't tell me what cannot be done.}

6. Take This Longing (Leonard Cohen)
_{IT WAS ALL MEANT FOR BRANDON. YOU, WINTERFELL, EVERYTHING
So let me judge your love affair In this very room where I have sentenced mine to death. I'll even wear these old laurel leaves That he's shaken from his head. Just take this longing from my tongue | Let me see your beauty broken down Like you would do for one you love.}

7. The Fog (Kate Bush)
_{HER LORD'S DARK GREY EYES, EYES THAT COULD BE SOFT AS A FOG OR HARD AS STONE
If I let you go You slip into the fog. | This love of yours was big enough to be frightened of. It's deep and dark, like the water was The day I learned to swim. | He said Just put your feet down child, The water is only waist high. I'll let go of you gently, Then you can swim to me.}

8. Wolves (Broken Records)
_{A MAN COULD NOT ALWAYS BE WHERE HE BELONGED
But did anyone ever ask If it's what we want? | Then the wolves will come out And when our hearts all stop All these lies will stop | Your lips, my lips, Your bones, my bones, My heart, your heart, Are all I know. And now one of these arms will hold you tight. And now one of these arms will keep you right.}

9. Jesus, Etc. (Norah Jones)
_{CATELYN SOFTENED THEN, TO SEE HIS PAIN
Jesus, don't cry. You can rely on me honey. | You can come by any time you want. I'll be around. You were right about the stars; Each one is a setting sun. | Our love, Our love, Our love is all we have. Our love, Our love is all of God's money. Everyone is a burning sun.}

10. You And Me (Neil Young)
_{PERHAPS HE AND CATELYN WOULD MAKE A NEW SON TOGETHER, THEY WERE NOT SO OLD
I was thinkin’ 'bout you and me Makin’ love beneath the tree, And now I wonder could it be? Thinkin’ 'bout the times we had, Some were good and some were bad | Old man sittin’ there, Touch of grey but he don't care When he hears his children call | Open up and let the light back in.}

11. I Found a Reason (Cat Power)
_{HE LOVES YOU AND HE NEEDS YOU, AND HE WILL COME BACK TO YOU SOON ENOUGH
Oh I do believe In all the things you say: What comes is better Than what came before. And you’d better come come, come come to me, Better come, come come, come come to me, Better run, run run, run run to me, Better come.}

12. I Go To Sleep (The Kinks)
_{TO DRIFT OFF TO A DREAMLESS SLEEP WITH HIS ARMS WRAPPED TIGHT AROUND HIS LADY
When I look up from my pillow I dream you are there with me. Though you are far away I know you'll always be near to me. I go to sleep, sleep, And imagine that you're there with me | I was wrong, I will cry, I will love you to the day I die. You alone, you alone and no one else.}

13. I'm Going to Stop Pretending That I Didn't Break Your Heart (Eels)
_{HE WONDERED WHERE SHE WAS, WHAT SHE WAS DOING, IF HE WOULD EVER SEE HER AGAIN
It's Christmas Eve years down the line, Sittin here wishin’ I'd treated you better When you were mine. And I have no way of knowing where you are, But I'm going to stop pretending That I didn't break your heart. I didn't mean to hurt you, I didn't know what I was doing. But I know what I have done.}

14. What Could I Say (Trespassers William)
_{SOME SAY THEY CAN TALK TO THE DEAD. AND HOW SHE ENVIED THAT
Why am I so tired? Exhausted in my love? Water in my eyes, why am I not enough? I told you everything I knew, I tore my pockets out and gave them all to you. You hold my throat like a violin, I never want to kiss again. 'Cause there's nobody like you.}

15. Blackberry Stone (Laura Marling)
_{I WAS NOT EVEN WITH NED WHEN HE DIED
I'd be sad that I never held your hand as you were lowered, but I'd understand that the world does what it does | And you never did learn to let little people grow, And you never did learn how to see. But I whisper that I love this man now and for forever | To the world that never really let you be}

Comments are swell ♥ If you need a re-upload or a rar instead of a zip, or if anything else needs fixing, I can do that.

ASOIAF Icons: Game of Thrones S2 Publicity shots, 9 Feb 2012

2012-02-12T03:36:38Z

Preview:

~~Credit original artist/s if applicable (listed below). Must.~~
Credit me please? (e.g. by < lj-user = "misstopia" > without spaces)
Comments are awful swell, whether for a request or just to know what you're taking.
~~If I've used your art/whatnot and you'd like me to not, just say so and I'll take care of it ASAP.~~

1	2	3	4	5

6	7	8	9	10

11	12	13	14	15

16	17	18	19	20

		21

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Images courtesy HBO/W-i-C.net.

_{ICON TABLE BY 77words}

ASOIAF: Sansa Stark fanmix

2011-08-13T03:27:33Z

download all | listen online

		sansa gave herself to the darkness	Why am I so terrified of waking? He's gone and I feel I've been forsaken In sleep is the only place I get to see him Get to love him The scene, a city after dawn Becomes a field of corn And I've had this one before Fast asleep where I keep My memories
			01. IN SLEEP {Lissie}
		Paper wings, all torn and bent You made me feel that they Were heaven sent Paper wings, not real at all They took me high enough To really fall Your paper kisses Faded too soon Just like a paper rose Beneath a paper moon	sansa would never make that mistake again
		02. PAPER WINGS {Gillian Welch}
	It hits me that love is a game Like in war, no one can be blamed Yes it struck me that love is a sport So I pushed you a little bit more Oh, blue, blue, black and blue Red blood sticks like glue True love is cruel love Red blood's a power fuel Sweet love, tasty blood My heart overfloods Oh, you hit me	in life, the monsters win	Felt it in my fist, in my feet In the hollows of my eyelids Shaking through my skull, through my spine And down through my ribs No more dreaming of the dead As if death itself was undone No more calling like a crow For a boy, for a body in the garden No more dreaming like a girl So in love, so in love
	03. AND THEN YOU KISSED ME {The Cardigans}		04. BLINDING {Florence + The Machine}
You look like A perfect fit For a girl in need Of a tourniquet But can you save me? Come on and save me If you could save me From the ranks Of the freaks Who suspect They could never love anyone	but you are no true knight	Shout into the silence And etch out your bark How angry you are You won't take it anymore And watch as the people Run to your door They hurt your heart They hurt it well And came to your assistance In a humanitarian swell	it was not supposed to be this way
05. SAVE ME {Aimee Mann}		06. A HOWL! {Bat For Lashes}
the armor of her courtesy	Daddy's ghost behind you Sleeping dog beside you You're a poem of mystery You're the prayer inside me Spoken words like moonlight You're the voice that I like Needlework and seedlings In the way you're walking To me from the timbers Faded from the winter	is it all lies, forever and ever?	If you don't mind Why don't you mind? Where is your sense of indignation? You are too kind Much too kind /// But you're not here To make my sad songs more sincere No one will ever love you honestly No one will ever love you for your honesty
	07. FADED FROM THE WINTER {Iron & Wine}		08. NO ONE WILL EVER LOVE YOU {The Magnetic Zeroes}
Terrible calm, terrible cold This dream I have, it's gold Easier now, a place to go Vertigo The faces drop like flies Their memory fades Into the rushing road below /// I am full of love and consequence Merciful the sky of coal	you’re a woman grown, and you need to make your own home	instrumental	who else would i be?
09. VERTIGO {Sarah Slean}		10. NEW THRIFT STORE DRESS {Linford Detweiler}
a godswood without gods, as empty as me	He's a dying breed He's a dying breed His daughter is twenty years of snow falling She's twenty years of strangers looking into each other's eyes She's twenty years of clean She never truly hated anyone or anything She's a dying breed She's a dying breed	do you want more blood on your pretty little hands, my darling?	Looking for signs I can't see here in the dark My opening won't be a great success Till you come get me out of This little black mess I'll play my part And say never ever again Then cross my heart Cry until you say when
	11. 20 YEARS OF SNOW {Regina Spektor}		12. LITTLE BLACK MESS {Shivaree}
Since last that we parted Last that I saw him Down by a river Silent and hardened Morning was mocking us Blood hit the sky I was just happy, my manic and I He couldn’t see me The sun was in his eyes And birds were singing To calm us down	father and i have larger concerns	And who's gonna raise a hand When all we're taught to do is dance Who'll be able to stand After this avalanche Well they sold you back your outrage In a neat little shrink wrap And a beautiful face and you think You've found your purpose Well they've been trailing breadcrumbs Of a water-tight case
13. MY MANIC AND I {Laura Marling}		14. AVALANCHE {Thea Gilmore}
i am not your daughter	Make you tired, tell you lies Make you fall Hang on traveling woman Don't sacrifice your plan 'Cause it will come back to you Before you lose it on the man Got to listen to the vision Got to listen to the vision Play in the ashes Of what you once were
	15. TRAVELING WOMAN {Bat For Lashes}
I don't understand How you could lie to me I am strong, I am not weak I am not in a place where I can talk to you I am not hot, I am not cold I am not for sale, I am sold I am not a prisoner, yet I'm not free I lost my mind, but I can see I feel a witch upon my back She stole my soul, I want it back	the blood of winterfell
16. I AM STRONG {Polly Scattergood}

_{Cross-posted to westerosorting. Comments are neato toledo ♥ If you need a re-upload or a rar instead of a zip, or if anything else needs fixing, I can do that.}

50 most mentioned characters of A Game of Thrones

2011-08-11T16:05:10Z

Just found it very interesting that neither Lyanna nor Shae were on this. Rhaegar and Aerys were, but not Lyanna, and Mirri over Shae also surprising (just a bit). And MAN Ned was all over this book. And SIGH for when Catelyn was still relevant, it was nice while it lasted.

The Sporcle quiz: 50 Most Mentioned Characters in A Game of Thrones

It's all those mad multitasking skillz

2011-08-05T12:32:56Z

When computers were first invented they were conceived of as something for women (the secretaries and phone operators of the office) to work with ...

... because it's just like planning a dinner:
I mean XD Progress in reality is just hilarious, if you think about it. MTE from a comment on the post on Socio Images:

Funny how as soon as a job gains in status or power, it becomes a job for men and as soon as a job drops in status or power, it becomes a job for women.

Hilarious. Life is hilarious.

ASOIAF: Ned & Robert Fanmix

2011-08-03T02:42:44Z

Download all | Preview all
This was done in a total rush because I'm terrible with deadlines (cover art = 12 minutes tops) and honestly it's kind of the leavings of about three other ~~fanmixes~~ mixtapes (it sounds so much more - wait for it! - authentic). It's not particularly shippy but you can see it that way if you so choose!

01. Ragged Wood - Fleet Foxes
Harrenhal; eighteen and carefree /// Come down from the mountain, you have been gone too long * The spring is upon us, follow my only song * Settle down with me by the fire of my yearning

02. Black Water - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
The war drums beat after Lyanna's disappearance /// Black water drippin' down your face * Mountains in reconstitution's embrace * Guns and steel, and the germs of love * Blow for blow, in the world of mud * Guns and steel, and the germs of love * Toe to toe for my aching heart

03. Royal Things - Begushkin
War is hell /// Take my hand * That filthy black mass * Fetch me a pail and pour me a glass * These are the things * Murder by kings * Yo brother, I'll tell you a tale * A tale of waste and thunder * A crown of fortune we hail * And a lifted arm for plunder [ I don't know if these lyrics are correct, they're the best I can make out! ]

04. Mykonos - Fleet Foxes
Parting ways after the murder of Rhaegar's children /// The door slammed loud and rose up a cloud of dust on us * Footsteps follow down through the hollow sound, torn up * And you will go to Mykonos * With a vision of a gentle coast * And a sun to maybe dissipate * Shadows of the mess you made *** When I'm walking brother don't you forget * It ain't often you'll ever find a friend

05. Rosebud - Ryan Adams & The Cardinals
It was Lyanna's death that brought them together again /// When I pick up my guitar * This is the song that always comes * Don't know what I'm singing 'bout * Don't know what for * I think about you * And I think about Rosebud * Wish there was a song to sing to bring you back * But you can't get here from nowhere I guess

06. What Became Of The Likely Lads? - The Libertines
Fifteen years later /// The blood runs thicker, oh * We're as thick as thieves, you know * If that's important to you * It's important to me *** Oh, what became of the likely lads? * What became of the dreams we had? * Oh what became of forever? * Oh what became of forever, though * We'll never know

07. Some Riot - Elbow
Ned to Robert /// A friend of mine grows his very own brambles * They twist all around him 'til he can't move *** I think when he's drinking he's drowning some riot * What is my friend trying to hide? * Cause it's breaking my heart, it's breaking my heart

08. Nobody's Fault But My Own - Beck
Robert to Ned /// Treated you like a rusty blade * A throwaway from an open grave * Cut you loose from a chain gang * And let you go * And on the day you said it's true * Some love holds and some gets used *** Who could ever be so cruel? * Blame the devil for the things you do

09. This Old Dark Machine - James Vincent McMorrow
Where they came, from where they started /// What a statue to our greatness * What a story all will tell * They'll remember us forever * They'll remember where we fell * This old dark machine, it shakes and it shudders * Pulls to the left, then dies near the gutter

10. Brothers In Arms - Dire Straits
At the end you keep the things that meant the most (it's metaphorical mkay?) /// Now the sun's gone to hell * And the moon's riding high * Let me bid you farewell * Every man has to die * But it's written in the starlight * And every line on your palm * We're fools to make war * On our brothers in arms

Cross-posted to westerosorting. Comments are neato toledo ♥ If you need a re-upload or a rar instead of a zip, or if anything else needs fixing, I can do that.

God, this is so badass

2011-08-02T12:27:25Z

Hege Dalen and her spouse, Toril Hansen were near Utöyan having dinner on the opposite shore across from the ill-fated campsite, when they began to hear gunfire and screaming on the island.

“We were eating. Then shooting and then the awful screaming. We saw how the young people ran in panic into the lake,” says Dale to HS in an interview.

The couple immediately took action and pushed the boat into Lake Tyrifjorden.

Dalen and Hansen drove the boat to the island, picked up from the water victims in shock in, the young and wounded, and transported them to the opposite shore to the mainland. Between runs they saw that the bullets had hit the right side of the boat.

Since there were so many and not all fit at once aboard, they returned to the island four times.

They were able to rescue 40 young people from the clutches of the killer.

-- LGBTQNation.com: Married lesbian couple rescues 40 kids during Norway shooting rampage

I would have peed myself.

I probably asked these before but who cares, you have something better to do on a Sunday?

2011-07-17T23:45:18Z

View Poll: #1762509

Anyone still need an ADWD?

2011-07-17T13:44:21Z

Owing to a minor snafu I have an extra copy of ADWD. I'm willing to sell it for $20 plus half of the shipping and handling (you choose first class/express delivery/whatever), anyone interested? I'm in NY, USA if it matters.

misstopia @ 2011-07-16T03:38:00

2011-07-16T07:38:55Z

I wish I could explain to you all how freaking awesome the line-up is for asoiaf_artx this round. There are a lot of new artists and they are AMAZING and I am in awe and I feel like some loser kid in high school who threw a party and astonishingly enough all the cool kids showed up.

This is my life, guys, simple pleasures. Anyway, last day to sign up, you knooooow you want to! :D :D :D

The Not So Secret Confessions of a Jon Snow Hater*

2011-07-15T13:17:53Z

_{* More like a Jon Snow Confused-Frustration-And-Ambivalence-er, but that's not as catchy}
I've always had a rough relationship with Jon Snow. From the moment I picked up the series he seemed to have "Endgame Male Id Gratification On Legs Favorite" written all over him in flashing neon, and I just couldn't deal. Ever the one for self reflection and analysis of instantaneous emotional responses, I have given my irritation a lot of thought over the years, tried to reason them down and dissect the whys and see if I couldn't come up with a new relationship with the character. I mean, let's face it, in real life terms Jon is probably one of the more benign characters in the series, so what's the deal?

I don't know, but it turns out, I still totally have a deal. I thought that with the loooong hiatus of Jon chapters (since ASOS, seriously, 10 years!) I would have gotten more used to the realities of Jon Snow's character and arc, and now that I'm no longer a 17 year old teenager maybe things wouldn't bother me as much, in my wise maturity~. But they do, oh they do.

It's like, every time I read about how badass Jon Snow is becoming and how he has no choice and is just doing what he has to and is being The Man and how his development is dark but in only the most, IDK, likable way? Every time I read it all I can think of is "Why Jon Snow, why is it ALWAYS the Jon Snows?" Maybe it's something like gogoratchet's dislike of Locke in LOST, IDK. But I resent Jon Snow on a meta level, I resent that he has all this wah-wah-I-live-in-a-cupboard-under-the-stairs emo and I resent that so much of his storyline is Martin bashing us over the head with an anvil about how competent he is and I resent this whole "One day Jon Snow will be awesome and amazing and then all his haters will JUST SEE WHAT THEY DID NOT APPERSHEEATE" arc that spontaneously flows from him and I resent that he has all these themes of Doing The Right Thing and being the guy that the rest of the kingdom will need and all this kind of emotional angst that gets this vaunted, almost glorified depiction because there's very little about it that's ever qualified in the way that female characters' angst would be and if a female character was to have a romance like Jon Snow's it would have been written DIFFERENTLY and in a way that made her a Female Character instead of a female person and IDK IDK I have a lot of feelings.

All I know is I resent Jon Snow on a meta level and I'm pretty sure gender has a lot to do with it. He's this young male who has all this angst and is loved for it, and if he was a female character then he'd be whiny and unattractive for his emo and people would rip him apart for being gifted the Lord Commandership (just LOOK at how Dany gets bashed for not earning her dragons - and what the hell did Jon ever do to win himself the LC position, besides have a smart friend like Sam? And then all of a sudden it's like, Oh my brothers chose me, oh la la great glorious fraternity oh I am so full of impressive and prodigious merit oh but I still get to angst at Sam for putting me in a position I never asked to be in and OH MY GOD IT NEVER ENDS WITH HIM) and what a stupid sheltered idiot he was for not heeding Ygritte's superior knowledge about her own people and blah blah blah.

It's like, when I'm away from the books I'm neutral on Jon. I get why others like him and in theory he's, you know, fine. But then I pick up the books again and I'm that much closer to authorial intent and I just get SO IRRITATED. And I thought that it would be better in the later books, but it's not, it's just different, and it's worse. Because early on his Awesome was only anviliciously foretold, and now it is here, it is here, and I cannot deal. Jon Snow is this guy whom we are obviously supposed to like and the level of "supposed to" is so much higher than with any other character. I don't buy that we are this manipulated/controlled with even Dany (or Tyrion or Arya, but then they at least have less b'n'w personalities to begin with), at least Dany has misdeeds and mistakes in her list of deeds that we can call her out on. Jon Snow just evades all realistic criticism by being just perfect enough in all situations without technically negating the theoretical possibilities of token flaws still existing. UGH WHY IS JON SNOW THE BADASS OF THE SERIES, I RESENT SO FUCKING MUCH AND I'M SORRY BUT I CANNOT LIE.

I think the big thing is that something about Jon Snow's characterization and build-up as this great awesome guy is very male to me; female characters wouldn't get it without being "like a guy" and I resent that with a holy incandescent resentment, fair or otherwise. I would prefer to be fair, but yeah, I just have this emotional reaction to Jon Snow, IDEK.

ETA: Here it is in a nutshell: Jon Snow is the kind of character we are all supposed to want to be, because putting yourself in the place of identification with Jon Snow offers all this validation. AND I DO NOT WANT TO WANT TO BE JON SNOW. That is what I resent. I'm sick and tired of fiction telling me I want to be a male character. ~~I'm not a boy I'm Arya dammit.~~

ETA2: In the role of Jon Snow, Harington gives a nuanced performance. Brooding, dignified and motivated by paternal respect, Snow is self-sacrificing and stoic. He even joins the brotherhood of the Night's Watch, soldiers who dedicate their lives to protecting Winterfell on a massive wall surrounded by a bleak, cold wasteland that's home to the White Walkers, a group of malevolent undead. - GAGGAGGAGGAGGAGGAGGAG

_{#i know many of you guys like this character # keep on keeping on #i'm just being honest # like andre 3000 if you think about it # i'm not trying to preach just essplain myself because this phenomenon of my own resentment fascinates me myself # why can i not deal wherefore my brilliant stores of rational perspective # tubmlr tags FTW # i need to go have breakfast}

Dan Savage: How Feminism Ruined Marriage

2011-07-10T03:57:09Z

“The mistake that straight people made,” Savage told me, “was imposing the monogamous expectation on men. Men were never expected to be monogamous. Men had concubines, mistresses and access to prostitutes, until everybody decided marriage had to be egalitarian and fairsey.” In the feminist revolution, rather than extending to women “the same latitude and license and pressure-release valve that men had always enjoyed,” we extended to men the confines women had always endured. “And it’s been a disaster for marriage.”

-- NY Times: Infidelity will keep us together

To be fair, Savage isn’t saying that marriages shouldn’t be fair or equal. He is, rather, saying that to create equality we should have extended non-monogamous expectations to women, rather than enforcing monogamy on men. Still, there’s a lot not to like about Savage’s comments.

For starters, you might think that if men freely, voluntarily, and without coercion make promises of monogamy and then fail to live up to those promises (causing pain as a result) the thing to do is not to say to women “Hey, it’s all your fault, you never should’ve believed him when he made that promise! Boys will be boys, etc.” Secondly, Savage seems to subscribe to an increasingly common Mad Men-esque myth that all men used to be Don Draper, living large and unconstrained until feminism came along and ruined the party. That’s pretty simplistic, to put it mildly. And finally, one might have thought that higher divorce rates (when compared to, say, the 1950s) have rather less to do with women’s sudden expectation that men be monogamous, and rather more to do with women having more options – socially, economically, personally – should they want to leave a marriage. Just maybe.

-- Feminist Philosophers

Forbes' highest paid actresses of 2011

2011-07-06T19:47:43Z

Angelina Jolie - $30 million
Sarah Jessica Parker - $30 million
Jennifer Aniston - $28 million
Reese Witherspoon- $28 million
Julia Roberts - $20 million
Kristen Stewart - $20 million
Katherine Heigl - $19 million
Cameron Diaz - $18 million
Sandra Bullock - $15 million
Meryl Streep - $10 million

To compile our earnings numbers we talked to agents, lawyers, producers and other industry insiders to come up with an estimate for what each actress earned between May 1, 2010 and May 1, 2011. Earnings consist of pretax gross income. Management, agent and attorney fees are not deducted.

-- Source

And, aside from Cameron Diaz, the list is very white.

-- Women & Hollywood

"At least Princess Leia has an enduring legacy."

2011-07-06T00:50:16Z

From Star Wars Taught My Daughter the Meaning of Sexism by April Peveteaux:

How was your weekend? Did you have an intense conversation with your child about sexual politics based on one of the greatest movies of all time? No? Must have just been me, then. I have to admit, I was not expecting that to happen between pre-school graduation parties and grocery shopping. But as it turns out, everyone's favorite film that takes place a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far, away was the catalyst for mom and daughter to sit down and have "the big talk" about sexism in our world.

You see, Star Wars, is huge at my daughter's pre-school. She's seen it, everyone in her class has seen it, and many of them have even been privy to Empire. Although we think she needs to be older to handle the loss, albeit it temporary, of Han Solo. The kids talk about Star Wars, they play Star Wars, and finally my daughter noticed something during playtime. So she asked me, "Mommy, why aren't there more girl characters in Star Wars?"

What followed was a very in-depth discussion about women throughout history. What started as an explanation that more men are filmmakers, television writers, and all-around in charge, turned into a much broader discussion about equality among all people. My daughter actually got weepy when I told her there was a time, not that long ago, when women were expected to stay home, have babies, and keep house. That women were not allowed to vote, or hold a job. "That's not fair," she sniffed. And I sniffed right along with her. Because it's still not fair.

(cont. at source)

Sexual Assault Prevention Tips

2011-06-10T14:56:28Z

Miss' first ever Random GIF Party

2011-06-08T05:45:08Z

Post GIFs

With a brief blurb

Or not. GO!

ETA: I'M GOING TO BED. KEEP PARTYING. BUT NOT TOO MUCH FOR NOW KTHX BB'S.

ASOIAF flowchart of the leadup to the War of the Five Kings. Because I am a huge nerd.

2011-06-08T00:59:31Z

I posted this over at westerosorting's greathouses, so apologies if you're a member there and already have seen it (if not, go check it out! Tell them I sent you!). I just wanted to put this in a public post somewhere so people can come across it and have a chat if they want. Warning: this covers events through the end of the first book of the series, A Game of Thrones, plus some information that is revealed later on in retrospect. If you don't want to be spoiled for that part of the story, turn back!

Rough timeline of some key events leading up to the War of the Five Kings:

_{Click me for full size}


_CERSEI	_JAIME	_TYRION	_TYWIN	_JOFF	_STANNIS
_{Motivations: mother's love inspires Robert's murder, while pride answers why she only had Jaime's children and why she refused to flee into exile.}	_{Motivations: love for his siblings covers his two most violent displays of impulsiveness, duty for his service in Tywin's war against the Tullys.}	_{Motivations: his survival depended on his deal with the clans, though daddy's love was a convenient second bird.}	_{Motivations: pride for the obvious win, although even that may boil down in the end to power.}	_{Motivation: call it idiocy, call it whim, but if Myrcella has all her mother's beauty then Joff has all his father's impulse control.}	_{Motivation: cold hard justice, of course. What else could Stannis possibly want?}

_NED	_ROBB	_CAT	_LYSA	_PETYR	_RENLY
_{Motivations: justice and mercy and the call of duty. Like Jesus with a big-ass sword.}	_{Motivations: duty (well with parents like his). Later, either justice or revenge for his beloved father; it's debatable.}	_{Motivations: a dutiful mother's quest for justice, and later, an effectively invisible desire for peace.}	_{Motivation: mother's love. That was easy.}	_{Motivations: chaos brings opportunity for power, but whether it's an end to itself or an outlet for love or revenge is complicated.}	_{Motivations: a grab for power that actually bespeaks a concern for the greater good? Is it too good to be true?}

Most of the lines in the diagram represent some degree of causation, from the top event toward the bottom event, but in a few cases the relationship is just chronological. I obviously left off a lot of events of A Game of Thrones, which is because I just wanted to focus on what strikes me as interesting cause and effect stuff.

Anyway, then I had some thinky questions:

Did Cersei deserve to be brought to justice for her affair with Jaime? Is death for herself and for her children just punishment?

Do we know when Stannis hooked up (in the non-Biblical sense) with Melisandre? Did she have to push him into pursuing the crown, or is that covered by Stannis' own personality?

When Petyr had Lysa murder Lord Arryn and send Cat the letter framing the Lannisters, did he know of Cersei and Jaime's incest? And that Arryn was investigating it?

Cersei disapproved of Jaime tossing Bran from the window. Was there any other way to ensure that their secret would not be learned by Robert et al? Does it qualify as an act of war?

When Petyr frames Tyrion for the assassination attempt on Bran, he already knows that the Starks already suspect the Lannisters for Arryn's death, since he planted the idea. But what would he have done if Catelyn never coincidentally ran into Tyrion, and Ned eventually brought Littlefinger's testimony to Robert? It's so easily falsifiable.

Catelyn Tully apprehends Tyrion on authority through her father's jurisdiction, so why does Jaime attack Lord Stark? Did he know at the time that Ned had quit as Hand, and did it matter?

Jaime attacks Ned because Catelyn has Tyrion in her custody, but he also leaves Ned alive for the same reason. How well did taking Tyrion hostage work as insurance for Cat's family's safety, and why didn't the Lannisters fear retaliation when Jaime injured Ned?

Catelyn avoids Winterfell as part of her feint to throw off Tywin, and at the Eyrie she objects to Lysa's trial. What did she expect to happen there instead? Why did she go there?

Ned sends Beric to bring Gregor to the king's justice for pillaging the riverlands. Since Gregor rode under no banners, Tywin could divert blame away from himself and onto Edmure Tully. What does this say about the legality of his orders? Would the river lords have been within their rights to retaliate without the king's leave? Was Tywin? Why didn't the Hand act against Tywin?

Did Tywin assume that Tyrion was innocent of the alleged charges, or did he not care? Did he retaliate specifically because Tyrion wasn't arrested by the king, but rather a fellow great house?

Did Tywin retaliate out of Lannister pride or Lannister ambition? Was he explicitly making a power grab by goading House Tully into open war?

What might've happened if Ned had let Loras Tyrell pursue Gregor?

Would Renly have supported Ned as Lord Protector and Joff's regent? Or would he have wanted to eventually supplant Joff with himself, as Petyr suggested?

Was Renly right to pursue the crown for himself?

Robb and his bannermen feel it is unjust to have to kneel to Ned's killers. How do they even know Ned was innocent? Was Ned innocent?

If Ned had gone to the Wall, would Robb and the bannermen have sued for peace? Supported Stannis? Seceded anyway?

Was there any way Robb would be able to refuse the bannermen and sue for peace at the end of AGOT even if he had wanted to?

Crackpot theory: both Cersei and Lysa poisoned Lord Arryn. Takers, takers? (I mean, was Ser Hugh really just a pure red herring?)

"Blood for blood" is the Westerosi way. But is it justice, pragmatism, or vengeance?

Who started the War of the Five Kings?

Forbes' 10 most powerful women authors

2011-06-07T19:37:43Z

JK Rowling: Claim to fame- having sold $50 million books and given all of us who have read them and seen the movies immense pleasure
Danielle Steel: She has sold over 800 million books and the 8th best selling author of all time.
Toni Morrison: Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes
Stephenie Myer: 100 million books sold; and the movies are the most successful girl-led franchise grossing about $2 billion with two films still to go.
Mary Higgins Clark: 100 million books sold and every one of her 42 books has been a best-seller.
Maya Angelou: Nominee for the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award
Alice Walker: First African American Woman to win the Pulitzer Prize
Jhumpa Lahiri: Pulitzer winner for fiction
Joyce Carol Oates: Pulitzer Prize nominee and National Book Award Winner
Isabel Allende - the world’s most widely read Spanish language author

-- from Forbes.com via Women & Hollywood

misstopia @ 2011-06-05T16:20:00

2011-06-05T23:20:06Z

View Poll: Only take this poll if you've seen them both!

Rep. Senfronia Thompson speaks out against disrespect to women in the TX legislature

2011-06-04T15:34:36Z

I want you to remember one thing that I say today: I don't appreciate this attack on women. I don't appreciate this flyer. And I'm going to tell you something, I don't perpetrate violence against somebody, but if they were here I'd probably bloody their nose. Right here on this floor, I guarantee you that. And Dr. Z? I'd have to call you to their aid, and I'm not joking. I would bloody their nose because they have no right to do women this way. And we have not earned this disrespect in this house. We fight here, we get elected just like you do. And we have not earned this kind of disrespect. And I don’t want to tolerate it by anybody. And men, if you don’t stand up for us today, don’t you walk in this chamber tomorrow.

_{An actually helpful youtube comment: The bill relates to "operation and regulation of certain consolidated insurance programs". Rep. Thompson was not speaking out for or against the bill itself in this speech. Her point was that the bill has nothing to do with women's reproductive organs, that the use of the image of a woman breastfeeding is being used to show contempt against the "nanny state" in a manner that is very degrading and contemptuous towards women.}

Explaining Gender Income Gaps by Education and Age

2011-05-31T17:13:14Z

Explaining Gender Income Gaps by Education and Age:

So, perhaps ironically, women who are “richer” educationally may marry economically richer men who then allow them to deprioritize their careers.

Second, notice that the most equal incomes (where women make 85% of men’s salaries) occurs among the youngest and least educated group: 25-34 year old high school drop outs. Why would younger women do better relative to men than older women? Some of this may be due to a decrease in gender-based discrimination. But it also likely has something to do with the devaluation and disappearance of traditionally working-class men’s work. Most of the narrowing of the gender wage gap, in fact, has to do with the lowering of men’s earning power to meet women’s, not vice versa. As the industrial base in the U.S. has been collapsing, the number of historically-male blue collar jobs have been shrinking. Meanwhile, our industrial economy has been replaced by one split between (well compensated) information/technology and (poorly compensated) service jobs. Those service jobs are going disproportionately to women. So, while men still dominate (especially the most well-regarded and well-compensated) upper class professions, their dominance in the lower rungs of the economic ladder is waning.

misstopia @ 2011-05-26T11:36:00

2011-05-26T16:36:50Z

May 26 Day of Action: End Sexual Violence in Conflict - The Nobel Women's Initiative is having an online day of action to end sexual violence in armed conflict. On their website and at Stoprapenow.org they list some different things you can do to express solidarity and raise awareness, including something as simple as uploading the graphic to your Facebook profile. You can also follow tweets at #endrapeinwar, whether you want to ask your own questions or just learn some things. You can also tweet to your friends throughout the day or blog about the topic, or you can take bigger steps and write your local media or government officials and learn what's being done about it, if anything. Never hurts to know, or to let people know this is a topic that concerns you. They even have the letter already written for you.

Earlier today Nobel Laureates Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi and Mairead Maguire addressed the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa, urging them to take a stand on the issue, and the panel was live-tweeted. I'm sorry I missed it.

Change Matters: Adapting Catelyn Stark (pt 1)

2011-05-25T10:58:02Z

I have this thing, I call it my Obsessed-Book-Fanatic-o-meter. You can imagine that it gets quite the workout every time I sit down with an episode of HBO’s Game of Thrones. Watching the show is sometimes like looking at Westeros without my corrective lenses on: everything’s vaguely the right shape and size and color, but it’s hazier and less defined and a little harder to care about. I kinda wonder if the changes could add up, and how, and sure, thinking too much (which is always how I think) is maybe a premature exercise in OMG Let It Go, but OTOH it’s a fan’s prerogative to be fanatical. Plus I’m a lifelong perfectionist, I can’t not. Blah blah if nitpickers annoy you scroll on scroll on (and boy are you on the wrong person’s f-list).

Catelyn won the poll so she’s first. The first two episodes are clearly the worst of Catelyn’s misadaptation issues, and I was going to post about it at that time but I’m glad I procrastinated, because getting a taste of the extent of improvement in the next ~~three~~ four episodes is useful. But the beginning is a very good place to start, anyway.

1.01 – Winter Is Coming
Because I am magnanimous I will start off with good moves. In this episode Catelyn has not just one but two scenes with progeny not named Robb, making this a 200% gain on what was in the book. For some reason I will never understand Martin decided to give Ned scenes with all his kids but Rickon, while Cat got Robb and Robb alone, despite the fact that her storyline concerns parental motivations way more than his does. HBO’s Cat also has a scene with Luwin preparing for the royals’ arrival that, though pretty superfluous, establishes something of her lady-of-the-manor gravitas, along with shots of her marching around the Winterfell courtyard like a total boss. There is a serene and gracious nod at Ser Rodrik, a handy line establishing her outsider-ness and different religion, and appropriate mix of encouragement and exasperation with Sansa, and even a scene with Cersei at the Winterfell feast that was … well, good in theory.

And if only one of those moments were our first impression, I might feel more kindly. But the very first thing out of Cat’s mouth in the episode was actually “Do you have to?” As in, Ned, do you have to go execute this man who deserted the Nights Watch, even though I’ve been married to you for seventeen years and know very well what your answer will be? She’s just too accustomed to the north and Ned at this point to react with this tenor, this amount of vehemence, either to the execution practice or to Bran’s presence. HBO’s scene seems to intend to: establish a fact of northern legal procedure, establish Bran’s age, highlight Ned’s badass northernness and sneak in that all important “Winter is coming”, and highlight Catelyn’s soft non-northernness. The irritating thing is that the worthwhile among these goals could’ve been accomplished without altering Catelyn. See, in the book, Catelyn confesses a lack of love for swords, and she does say that Rickon (not Bran) is only three and not yet a man (not ten and too young to see an execution), but we can tell that she’s used to Ned, to the north, and to the general culture’s violent masculinity. She is not of a part with it, but neither is she a n00b. It would have been just as easy to play her off as wryly resigned to the whole thing, and still get across the practice, the age, and the Stark motto, and it would’ve been truer to character instead of closer to a mom stereotype.

Phew, that’s an intense analysis for two measly little sentences. It’s important though! Because I want to make a point. When it comes to the depiction of female characters, we who care about the depiction of female characters have a lot of righteous grievances. We also have a lot of tip-toing to do, lest we imply that there’s a lesser form of female character to be. And for good reason: there’s nothing wrong with a female character who happens to exhibit traits that conform to a certain stereotype. What bugs me is the fact that subtleties were lost to the nearest available stereotype when they weren’t necessary and don’t require that much intellect to grasp the way they were (does it?). What bugs me is the idea that these people can’t grasp a female character that deviates from a familiar stereotype, or if they can, that they’re persuaded for whatever reason to change it anyway. Clear? Is that valid, y’all?

Apart from that principle-based objection, this loses the side of Catelyn that really reflects the way she makes her way through life: she accepts, she adapts and conforms as much as she can without compromising her core. She carries her life-affirming, violence-eschewing side inside of her, while she lives amongst these men who kill as a matter of routine. That’s water bending around the rocks, that’s just her. To finish off criticizing this scene I’ll add that the look Cat gave Jon is, IMHO, way too openly contemptuous. It should be clear that she doesn’t like him being around, but I think I would’ve preferred more eyebrow-knit “Who are you? Why are you here??” and less dagger-glaring “Haaaaaaaaaate. HISSSSSSSSS.” But then, after 6 weeks I have learned that HBO’s Game of Thrones has all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

Moving on (finally): Cat walks to the godswood and gives Ned news of Jon Arryn’s death and the king’s impending arrival. Quite seriously and quite anxiously, she reminds Ned that he can always turn down Robert’s offer. Of course, in the book, Catelyn wants Ned to take the offer for the political advantage and advancement of her family, and while those dynastic concerns make a lot of people dislike Catelyn, since her ambition gives Ned woobie manpain, they also gave her dimension beyond the domestic. More on this as news develops.

Preparations are being made and Catelyn is directing Maester Luwin (BTW, I must say often and loudly, I totally heart Donald Sumpter as Luwin and want him for my granddaddy ♥ I’ve only ever had one!) to have stuff done. I always liked the moments between Cat and Luwin, it gives me a little bit of a thrill imagining her getting on and being HBIC of the castle with all these once-strange northern people. So that was nice. And it exposited some character info about Tyrion, which was useful for the show. There’s a joke in here about his stature, though, that I felt is really not Catelyn. YES I AM NITPICKING THAT MUCH. But that’s all, moving on.

Cat scolds Bran for climbing and then gets ready to greet the royals, and then after brief anxiety over Arya’s whereabouts, said greeting commences. I have only superficial things to say in this scene, which is fine because everything else is fine and Cat’s not a big deal in the scene anyway. So: is that the best the hair and costuming department could do? Honestly? I know fandom loves tv!Cat’s hair but honestly it kinda looks like she just rolled out of bed here to me. The free flowing style is just so … so rustic, so simple, so inelegant. I’m sure they want to show off the auburn and all, but it pulls me out of the character. Why is their Catelyn so rustic! So northern! Is she suddenly going to pull out the southern-bred style and polish in season two, because she’s back in Riverrun and in touch with her roots? One can only hope. That neckline is just terrible, and I get that they’re showing that the north is not the focus of fashion in Westeros, but it’s just too much ugh. Isn’t Sansa supposed to get her image of a perfect lady from Cat?

Alrighty, knives away. In the scene with Sansa, which as I said I think is generally a great addition, there’s one thing that irked me, and that’s when Cat looks up and laments that going south would mean that Ned would have to leave her. Don’t get me wrong, Cat definitely feels sad at the thought of being separated from Ned. But she doesn’t say it, and that’s critical. It’s basically a lady’s job in this society to accept things, accept that they must marry, that their husbands might die, that they might have to remarry and relocate at an instant’s notice, etc, and do it all with a gracious smile. Catelyn, of all the women in Westeros, would not display this kind of emotion, and it’s actually part of her tragedy: the fact that she fulfills so much of the lady’s role with no complaint. That lends itself to her specifically feminine emotional stoicism. Look, Mellario of Norvos left Dorne when her husband sent her kid away, and Lysa killed her husband over it, and Cersei threw a (justified) hissy fit when Tyrion had Myrcella shipped off. Book!Cat? had a sniffle and sigh before she accepted that she would be separated from three of her beloved children indefinitely. Extrapolate properly, HBO!

Lest you think that I think it’s bad for a female character to show emotion, or that it ruins her: what I am saying is that it is not Catelyn, and the way Catelyn was in the book offered really interesting commentary on the role of a lady. Catelyn is known in fandom as a very emotional character, but people don’t understand that the reason her emotions have an edge is because she usually has to swallow so much of her own inner desires to be a functional lady. This is not just trivial, this is a very interesting commentary on the life of women! It gives the traditionally feminine the scope for conventionally “male” attributes like stoicism and it offers an explanation for the perceived emotionalism of femininity over masculinity (because really, who is more stoic, the guy who gets to go and take out all his aggressions by hacking and chopping people down, or the lady who has to watch XYZ die and never feel bad or give in to her grief because people are depending on her to be a statuesque beacon of hope and sanctity, etc?). It just tied in much better to the archetypes of the pseudo-medieval setting, of which Catelyn was our example of the upper limit of feminine steel.

This scene. This scene. Cersei and Cat talking at the feast. I wanted to love this scene so much, but I can’t. I can’t like how much tamer and softer Catelyn comes off. She should never be as fake as Cersei, no, but while she’s a sincere person she certainly is guarded. I would’ve loved to see Catelyn match Cersei’s passive aggressive snootiness with more knowing, as if she isn’t taken in by Cersei’s pretenses and only goes along with things because of decorum. And of course, we see yet again how HBO’s Cat is anxious about her daughter marrying into the royal family. There are definitely those in fandom who hold it against Cat that she was all for Sansa marrying the despicable Joffrey, but it would have been pretty believable with the way HBO played their scenes to assume that Cat simply didn’t know the boy well. And I hate the line about her being afraid of the north. I bet she did feel all alone and out of place and all this, but my reading of Cat is that she deals with phobia through counter-phobic thoughts and behaviors, and in any case why on earth would she mention this to Cersei? It’s not really very Tully to show your soft underbelly, even though you may have one.

Alright, the bedroom scene, the coup de grâce of the episode. It was the worst, because of how good it could’ve been. Ned and Cat being intimate, being the people they could be behind closed doors instead of the people they have to be for the world at large, reacting to some weighty consequential matters in character-defining ways. And okay, they infused the relationship with warmth, and while I think her joke about Robert the fat man is entirely out of character, I could make myself okay with that part if everything else was good. I think they sacrificed some interesting nuances for instant cute, but I get why, given the length they cut this scene down to. But all this about Cat not letting Robert take Ned, the very desperate way she wants Ned to refuse Robert’s offer and just stay at home, stay with her … it is all about Ned, it’s all about defining Ned’s dilemma, and I resent it for that. It’s not about Catelyn’s character, it’s about Cat representing the domestic aspect of Ned’s life, at the expense of a dimension of Cat’s character, and it’s not even necessary. Ned himself ought to be able to represent his own desire to stay, as that worked perfectly fine in the books. Luwin can represent the push to accept, and if they are worried about Catelyn being hated for pushing Ned, they can simply have her stay neutral on the matter.

Here, I can easily envision a scene that would please both of us (meaning me and my hypothetical personification of all the people at HBO as one creatively mega-empowered person): There’s Ned and Cat, canoodling in bed (clothed if you must, but I have to say, HBO, it would say a lot more for your OMG!SEX!OMG!NUDITY thing if you recognized that not all sex is had by attractive able-bodied skinny young people … kind of like the series sometimes did …) and discussing the offer. “On the one hand,” Catelyn points out, capable of seeing the political advantage of the matter, “our daughter would be queen of all the realm, and we would give Robert no cause to suspect our loyalty. The man offers you great honors, Ned. What might he think if you said no?” Ned sighs, lamenting “Honors are not honor,” and Cat allows it with a nod. Just Ned being Ned. “True, but is it honorable to refuse when your king calls upon you?” Ned grins grimly; why is he arguing with a Tully again? He grows pensive, as is his broody wont. “My father went south once, to answer the call of another king. It’s nothing more than a nest of vipers.” Cat can see his woobie manpain, and leans in and gives him a doozy of a liplock. “There is the other hand,” she reminds him, trying to raise his spirits. “Robert ain’t got nuthin’ on my milkshake.” Hey, you get the gist. And that’s right when Maester Luwin knocks, and Ned can be all “Curses, cockblocked again!” and you know that it’s canonical for Ned to get cranky when people intrude on his privacy, and from that point the letter gets read and blah blah blah and Catelyn’s all “Lannisters!” and Luwin’s all “You know the Hand has a lot of power” and Ned’s all *furtive look at Cat* and Cat … doesn’t have to do anything at that point but look confused. Her silence on the matter can say how conflicted she is and leave the rest up to Ned. THAT’S ALL IT WOULD TAKE. Boom, next scene, Robert is thanking Ned for accepting and we are all merrily on our way. They establish that Cat has enough of a political mentality to see opportunities where Ned does not without tainting her with the blame for Ned’s woobie manpain. Was it so hard?

1.02 – The Kingsroad

Given how much I just wrote about episode one, I’m thankful there’s only one scene that truly irks me in episode two: when Jon and then Ned make their farewells to Bran and Cat. The scene where Cersei comes to visit and talk about lost babies and all is much more relevant to a discussion of Cersei, and well, that’s for another post.

Right, so, first is Jon, and the omission of “It should have been you.” I totally think the TV audience would’ve wigged out over it and what’s more, I think it was improperly set up. Without Catelyn’s internal monologue from her second chapter the fact that Jon’s threat to her children’s inheritance would’ve been lost, and all that rage would come off as a byproduct solely of romantic jealousy. Plus they didn’t play Catelyn as utterly frazzled as she seemed to be in the actual ISHBY scene. So though I do think that Martin’s inclusion of it in the books had a point, and signaled that this was a series for adults, where good people sometimes make mistakes and say things they regret and that includes mommies, I was … okay with the change. I can’t say I really liked it because then I’d feel like I appreciated them whitewashing Cat or something, but basically: it’s just as well.

On to the plentiful rest of it. There is rage here, Catelyn does say “I want. you. to leave” in a way that makes her opinion of Jon crystal clear, but again, it comes off solely as a byproduct of romantic jealousy. The way the scene is constructed, with Cat mentioning Ned returning home seventeen years ago with another woman’s son, you couldn’t tell at all that Cat is concerned also with her children’s rights, or that she doesn’t mind that Ned screwed someone else, just that he brought Jon home to live with her children. Stuff is lost here that yet again simplifies Cat into more of a modern mother stereotype, her sole concern being that her man gone done her wrong. That’s a very sympathetic concern, don’t get me wrong, but she loses some resonance with the particular setting, the aristocracy into which she’s born.

And I hate that she explicitly wants Ned to stay with her, instead of Bran. Cat would’ve been all about Bran at this point, fixated solely on his needs, at the total expense of hers. Of course she has needs, emotional, physical, of course, and of course that’s okay. But it’s not really in character for her to be talking about them at a time like this. Book!Catelyn always thinks about her wants and needs inside her own head in a way that bespeaks a lot of self-sublimation. Don’t even get me started on the fail that is having Cat complain about honor and duty. Okay fine, I’m started. Of course she thinks family is more important than duty or honor, but the way it comes off, sounds like she’s resented honor and manly duty and all that stuff all her life, like it’s always been disrupting her happy home. Do not like. By the time we get to “I can’t do it, Ned” I have washed my hands of this WHOLE. SCENE.

And then Cat goes into super mama bear mode with the knife and the depiction gets a bit better, because quite honestly it would’ve taken an idiot to mess up as anviliciously obvious a moment of awesome as this. Her goodbye kiss to Bran is a nice touch, visually memorable as it is (I mean compared to the nothing that is the book analog), but again, easy to do. Oh, and yes, the CSI: Winterfell thing was silly and unnecessary. What was wrong with the “Hey! Jaime wasn’t at the hunt!” moment in the books?

1.03 – Jon Snow

It irks me quite a bit that this was such a shittily written episode because I was looking forward to a number of things. Anyway.

Cat arrives at King’s Landing and gets apprehended by Littlefinger and is quite Feisty, and you’d think I’d be happy about it, buuuut … I think it was too much. Okay first though, why did Catelyn not respond at all to being called “Lady Stark”? She and Rodrik were just talking about how not being recognized was a good thing. Anyway yeah, the Feisty thing. I think Michelle forces it with Catelyn’s indignation, both ahorse and in the brothel when she throws the parchment at Petyr, making her come off too frazzled and volatile. Catelyn’s anger is often a steely, controlled thing, icy to an untrained eye. Throwing shit is just too demonstrative, and not the only way to get across her displeasure. Even when she recoils from Varys, she just looks too flustered. The eye bug-out thing Michelle does just does not help, and capping it all off later with Ned chuckling about Cat’s temper just makes her anger so cute-ified. And I hate that.

Also, I really really don’t think Catelyn was angry at being brought to a brothel. She’s not a sexually prudish or squeamish person and in the book she was mad at Petyr summoning her like a serving wench, not that she was in a place of *pearl clutch* ill repute. “Back alley Sally”, just way too colloquial for Cat.

And on a side note, Petyr’s reaction to seeing Cat could have – should have – been a lot more weighty. The emotional beat was so off, both in that scene and when he talks about Cat to Ned in the atrocious council meeting dialog.

I just … didn’t like Michelle’s delivery of the little brother line either, but you know, everybody kinda sucked in this episode, ngl. Fine Sean Bean didn’t. And isn’t the music overly ominous if the show wants us to believe Littlefinger?

“In my bones” sounds very rustic, rootsy salt of the earthy, colloquial, etc.

Some early review of the first six episodes said that the depiction of Cat gets better after the second episode, and it did, but it’s still off, and lacking nuance. And I have high standards.

1.04 – Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things

_{alittlelight-}
Not much more to point out here other than the irony that the episode with the least amount of Cat so far is the one where she comes off most accurately. Again, like the assassination attempt scene, it’d take a mind-numbed moron to mess this part up, so I’m not really impressed, the drama is too obvious to bespeak a nuanced understanding of the character (which is really what I am after here), but for one episode I had no gripes with this character’s depiction. There you go.

I will do the rest later because it’s 4 AM and I’m le tired. Kinda wondering how much of this is me in my alone corner, I dunno, maybe I am too nitpicky. But that is how I roll.

Dear fandom stop sucking kthx

2011-05-24T01:25:22Z

Dear fandom,

I know our relationship has been complicated lately. I haven't been returning your phone calls and I said that mean thing about your mother that one time. You are probably not inclined to listen ATM, but if there was one thing I could ask of you, could you kindly cop to the fact that "emotional" is a word you almost exclusively reserve for female characters? That when you do come around to criticizing male characters you settle for milquetoast qualifiers like "stupid", "dumb", and "idiot"? That the frequency of occasions where you actually, honestly, directly acknowledge that your beloved male characters do make emotion-based decisions is horrifically low?

Can you be honest and cop to it? Yours, etc.

Favorite song of the moment

2011-05-19T03:24:40Z

Because you know I am a sucker for jangly sonic confections with catchy lyrics. Oh pop music, when you are good, you are so very, very good ♥

PS: Just ignore how much these guys remind you of the douches on campus.