olga foroga (fjords) wrote in songofice, @ 2011-02-09 20:53:00 |
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o1. NED. ;________________; Sorry, I'm still not over it. Man. My 12 stages of grief took FOREVER to sort out -- at least until Sansa's chapter, at which point I was like okay, okay, his decapitated head, I get it he's dead STOP RUBBING IT IN AAAAHHHHH. God, I'm still crushed. Way to freaking gamechange, GRRM. You took away my fake fictional father figure!
o2. DRAGONS. ASOIAF's lack of dragons and other conventional high fantasy tropes -- the elves and dwarves and orcs etc etc etc -- is actually one of the factors I used to pimp it to friends, emphasising its gritty socio-political biz instead. But then I found myself fiendishly, ridiculously, stupidly excited and satisfied when dragons showed up anyway. And it made their appearance all the better, knowing that a) they've been extinct for, what, centuries, and b) you've been denied them for the entirety of the first book. (This is a weird comparison to make, but it's sort of like Mass Effect 3: the first two games forbid you from landing on Earth, which makes the prospect of visiting your home planet in the third game all the more exciting. SELF-DENIAL FOR GREATER GRATIFICATION LATER.) You could see the twist coming a mile off (the dragons' eggs as Chekhovs' guns?), but I still found myself somehow surprised when it happened. Plus, it was such a perfect climax. DRAGONS.
o3. THE KING OF WINTER. Fuck yeah I got chills down my spine when the lords all started chanting that.
o4. Dany = ♥. I'm so goddamn glad her brother is dead. (And what a death! KHAL DROGO I LOVE YOU. AND MISS YOU. AND AM SAD YOU ARE DEAD.) And, you know. All of the other characters in the book prime you for "Targaryens = the enemy", but to be honest, I would be so okay with Dany as queen. It's not like they've been doing any better with the realm in her absence. And from her rescuing various women along the way, she seems like she'd be a kind and benevolent ruler. Maybe. I don't know.
ALSO, out of everyone in GoT, I think she had the absolute best character development, the clearest progression. I was so so so proud of her by the end -- standing up for herself, claiming authority, trying to keep the situation under control only to have it all explode in her face. My heart broke when everything trainwrecked during the ritual, argh argh argh so tantalisingly close. And her stillborn dragon-baby AUGH SO TRAUMATISING, WHAT A TERRIFYING IMAGE -- "He had been dead for years."
o5. TYRION. IS PROBABLY MY FAVOURITE. Wise and wisecracking at once, god ilhim. His POV offered a good insight to the 'other side', so to speak, and it's nice to have that perspective into the Lannister family. One of my favourite moments is learning about his backstory with the wife/prostitute Jaime hired, and which Tywin had... banished? Killed? I can't quite recall. I know Emily got exasperated with the Lannisters as "evil family evil family EVIL EVIL WE GET IT", but there are undercurrents of something fascinating there -- I just want to hear more from all of them! (But still, I think that bit of backstory shows Jaime might genuinely care for his brother and vice versa, which intrigues me.)
o6. So speaking of, CERSEI. Ugh I am so mad with HBO for doing such lovely casting for Jaime and Cersei, because I think it made me fascinated by this hot, hot couple more than I would've been otherwise. As it stands, I am so fascinated.
Her meeting with Ned was really incredible, and absolutely made the character in this whole book. There's this good article which describes the "cup of coffee test" for what makes a good screen villain:I found myself thinking again of that great scene in which the cop (Al Pacino) and the villain (Robert De Niro) sat down to share a cup of coffee. It was a simple gesture, with no chasing or guns or shooting. Just talking. But it demonstrated on a thematic and visual level that this hero and this villain were actually very close to one another. They were very similar people, with similar natures. I started applying this test to almost every movie. Not surprisingly, most of them fall apart. Most movie villains simply sneer and cackle and try to take over the world. But think of Batman and the Joker in The Dark Knight. They don't literally have coffee together, but they do sit down together for a talk; the movie presents them as equals, and separate from the rest of the world. They understand one another better than anyone else. [...]
-- Which is exactly what that meeting in the godswood was. They're alone, standing apart from the rest, with no backup or minions or what-have-you, declaring a pseudo-stalemate just to talk and lay all their cards on the table. I loved the bare honesty in that scene. I loved that Ned was stupid enough to be chivalric and offer to save her children, since that's part of what led to his downfall. I loved that moment of acknowledgment and understanding:"My son Bran..."
To her credit, Cersei did not look away. "He saw us. You love your children, do you not?"
Robert had asked him the very same question, the morning of the melee. He gave her the same answer. "With all my heart."
"No less do I love mine."
Ned thought, If it came to that, the life of some child I did not know, against Robb and Sansa and Arya and Bran and Rickon, what would I do? Even more so, what would Catelyn do, if it were Jon's life, against the children of her body? He did not know. He prayed he never would.It was that moment which fixed the Lannisters for me, which made them human, relatable. Cersei's overwhelming, all-encompassing love for her brother and her children -- it doesn't redeem her, exactly, but it makes her relatable. The Lannisters remind me a lot of the Malfoys, actually. Laura and I kind of fangirl them a lot:
ammonites: ALSO going back to cersei, i LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVED her reason for being cold to robert
like, it seemed ridiculous and i don't know why i loved it so much, but it was horrible and yet it made sense at the same time and you felt a little bad for her, but at the same time
:|
fjords: dfigoaerpodfl;g omg omg omg yes i ALMOST FORGOT about that :(
like it sorta gives you the impression that if he HADN'T done that, maybe she wouldn't have been such an intolerable bitch
ammonites: YEAH
she was just the wrong person at the wrong time and she detested it
and tried to withstand her situation/robert in her own way
fjords: and like, feeling unwanted on your WEDDING NIGHT
ammonites: :( :( IT WOULD SUCK SO MUCH
fjords: there seems to be SO many themes of people fearing being... not second-best, but like, someone's second choice? not their first choice? catelyn not getting brandon, robert not getting lyanna
and even look at how it tears up catelyn, not knowing anything about ned's mistress and whether or not he truly loved whoever-she-is
SO MANY INSECURITIES
ammonites: YEAHAND NOW I'M GOING TO SHUT UP ABOUT THIS LION-HEARTED HOUSE. RAH RAH HEAR ME ROAR.
o7. Well, except for one of them. FUCK YOU JOFFREY. I think that sums it up, really.
o8. Sandor :'] I am also really intrigued by him. My heart crumpled at the story behind him and his brother -- I can't believe he opened up to Sansa like that. For that matter, ugh I am addicted to his and Sansa's interactions in general, just give me more please. I am the hugest sap to ever sap, but I totally teared up at ------> "I am no ser," the Hound replied, but he took the victory, and the champion's purse, and, for perhaps the first time in his life, the love of the commons.
I LOVE HIM. I HOPE HE DOESN'T TURN INTO A HORRIBLE DOUCHE, I FEEL SO SELF-CONSCIOUS TALKING ABOUT ANY CHARACTER IN THIS SERIES EVER.
o9. AAAHH THE WATCH. WHY SO INCREDIBLE. Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.
1o. Okay so. Here, my notes read: "Robb. Jon. (Theon?)"
...To be honest, I have no idea what I meant to say here. Maybe some sort of comparison between the three, since it's so interesting that they're the same age & grew up together but we don't get the POVs of Robb or Theon in the first book? I don't know. I HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA. All I know is that I really don't trust Theon. He's EVERYWHERE. He was a rebel's son and he is now privy to ALL THE IMPORTANT MEETINGS but all he does is smirk so I have no idea what he's up to. SNEAKY FELLOW.
11. "Wylla? WILL'A WISHED I KNEW YA". LULZ I AM SO PROUD OF THIS LINE. Not knowing the truth about Jon's mother is driving me crazy, especially since the only (?) people who knew (Robert & Ned) are FREAKING DEAD. Who the hell is Wylla? WHO IS WYLLA????? I GUESS I'LL NEVER KNOW!!! (Until a later published book, that is.) ammonites and I have a theory about Jon's origins, but I will not say it here.
12. Arya... I feel like I have to mention her in passing. I like her. Syrio is incredible and, like many others, I refuse to believe he is dead either. (My standards now require a decapitated head for all.) But I feel like we are so utterly meant to like Arya, that there is nothing at all to dislike about her (yet), so there isn't much I can say about her. She's cool. She's badass.
13. Rickon worries me. Poor kid. I am running out of steam now, I should post this entry soon.
14. DRAGONS!!!!!!!!
15. Um --"I think you were meant to be here, and I want you and that wolf of yours with us when we go beyond the Wall."
His words sent a chill of excitement down Jon's back. "Beyond the Wall?"
"You heard me. I mean to find Ben Stark, alive or dead." He chewed and swallowed. "I will not sit here meekly and wait for the snows and the ice winds. We must know what is happening. This time the Night's Watch will ride in force, against the King-beyond-the-Wall, the Others, and anything else that may be out there. I mean to command them myself." He pointed his dagger at Jon's chest. "By custom, the Lord Commander's steward is his squire as well... but I do not care to wake every dawn wondering if you've run off again. So I will have an answer from you, Lord Snow, and I will have it now. Are you a brother of the Night's Watch... or only a bastard boy who wants to play at war?"AAAAAAHHHHHH. AHHHHHHHHHHH!
FISTPUMP. IT'S SO GLORIOUS AND BADASS I CAN'T EVEN. I CAN'T EVEN. I CAN HEAR THE EPIC SOARING SOUNDTRACK OVER THIS SPEECH, CAN'T YOU.
unf guys I am so excited.