#in another episode of crow likes religious symbolism too much

[blues-valentine]

Agree with all ur shadow and bone thoughts, im honestly so disappointed.. they just forgot to add the sankta alina followers in the show which was always so interesting and important to me, like wth was the mal reveal it was terrible, like wheres the angst? Wheres alinas hunger for power that starts to scare her? Like it all felt so hollow.

Yeah, honestly the Sankta Alina plot was always interesting to me and I think it not only added so many layers to Alina’s character but it also provided a change of dynamic instead of the same Alina’s powers vs Darkling situation that was frankly a bit repetitive. The Apparant if done right could’ve been an great antagonist and they literally introduced him on Season 1 and planted the seeds for this plot only to just blatantly ignore it because they desperately wanted the spin off which I get but I still believe is a disregard to Alina Starkov and a disrespect to Jessie and everyone from the S&B cast.

This religious symbol that Alina represents beyond the Sun Summoner plus her big following was another aspect to Alina’s conflict that gave her layers they just didn’t want to explore. It was truly disappointing and as you just mentioned, hollow. Tolya and Tamar had a really particular devotion and loyalty to Alina, similar to Inej’s because of what she represents in their belief and this was not added on. The twins were basically more involved for Nikolai and the crows’s plot than what they were supposed to mean for Alina’s story line, which was allowing her to understand that side of her and give us a different perspective of her role not just as a savior or queen, but as a whole. Also, the whole Apparat plot gave us really cool moments with all the characters that we’ll probably never going to get such as them in the church ruins. Mal training the Grisha for the upcoming war and all of those cool scenes. It would’ve made sense why they would want Mal as leader of the guards too because he basically takes that role throughout the books. Like, all of these issues is what convinced Alina that she needed to become a queen. Something she did not want. Mal being a great military strategist was never mentioned or brought into the show. Alina didn’t want to be a queen, she wasn’t compelled by the “glamorous” vibe of it all and that’s precisely what they made her up to be.

The thing about Alina’s power is that she’s slowly losing it to the point it scares her and everyone around her. Mal was starting to be afraid too of her hurting herself. It’s what pull him on high alert throughout the whole thing. It’s why Darkling’s visitations become more present, because she’s battling into letting herself be consumed by power. The mental tool it took taking the second amplifier was not explored as it should have been because that changed Alina in a lot of ways. The moment I got into episode 4 and saw that they were already doing the R&R plot I was like, uhm, anyways. It was just so anticlimactic and it sadly was because there was not build up to it.

Like, I am glad I have the books but yeah, it would’ve been great to watch it display on the show correctly because I believe Jessie really stepped up this season in terms of delivery. But I believe maybe this is why they changed that Season 2 ending, like they are clearly going for Alina being corrupted by power — which might simulate Siege and Storm but there was not need to change it this much and it was clear that their priority wasn’t on Alina which is why many other characters ended up having more screen time than the female heroine of color they’ve spent season 1 patting themselves on the back for and the one female they’ve build the whole grishaverse upon – and it’s truly sad.

#shadow and bone season 2 #shadow and bone #shadow and bone netflix #grishaverse #the grisha trilogy #tolya yul bataar #tamar kir bataar #alina starkov #mal oretsev #asks #malina

[ayyymeric]

Can you feel my heart?

Ko-fi | Commissions are Open

#ffxiv #ff14 #ff14 art #my sketch #viera #c: Agniprava Singh #vent art #featuring his tattoos for once #and they look sloppy #one of these days i'll get them right #i hate myself for them #i wanted to visually represent what i'm doing with the fact his hair is going between white and black #so plot things that i shall keep to myself #but i wanted it to look like the black 'exploded' i guess #idk i liked how it looked #i've been wanting to do art for this song with him for like a month #if u zoom in he also has red/gold partial heterochromia #in another episode of crow likes religious symbolism too much #thavnairian

[weirwoodking]

who do you think will be on the throne at the end? is there a chance it will be a woman? do you agree with the theory that bran will be king in the north bc he symbolizes winterfell? idk if i see dany on the throne bc i don't feel like she belongs in westeros, i think she would be better off with a throne on the other side of the narrow sea but i really don't know what i'm saying

It’s very hard to make predictions for ADOS, because we don’t have TWOW yet. So much can change about the story and the characters in one book, thematically and narratively. Think of how much the plot was influenced by just that final Bran chapter in ADWD. 

But, here I go anyway.

My short answer is: no one. (And no, I don’t mean Arya)

Let’s get into it.

Part 1: How the Show Tainted Everyone’s Brains

Obviously, a lot of people care about the Iron Throne plot. Sometimes too much. I do believe that this is mostly because of how much the HBO show changed everything about the story to make the Iron Throne seem like it was more important than anything else. Like promotional posters of all the actors each sitting on the throne, the name of the series itself being changed to “Game of Thrones”, actors getting asked in every interview “who do you think should get the Iron Throne?” as if it’s the last cupcake at a birthday party that everyone’s fighting over, the final episode was titled “The Iron Throne”. The marketing for everything was “it’s the fight for the Throne!” up through the eighth season. It made the object itself become a huge pop culture symbol.

It almost felt like the show was trying to make it seem like the goal of the Night King (a character not in the books) was to sit on the Iron Throne! The show portrayed it as if the Others were just a little distraction that needed to be dealt with so the characters could get back to arguing over the Porcupine Chair. However, in ASOIAF, it’s the exact opposite. The Porcupine Chair is what’s distracting the characters from the real conflict, the Others.

It’s almost comical how that has somewhat transferred over into the fandom, the “game of thrones” is what’s keeping everyone from focusing on what really matters, the “song of ice and fire”.

Part 2: GRRM’s Quote

It wasn't easy for me. I didn't want to give away my books. Every character has a different end. I told them who would be on the Iron Throne, and I told them some big twists like Hodor and "hold the door", and Stannis' decision to burn his daughter. We didn't get to everybody by any means.

-George R.R. Martin

So, he “told them who would be on the Iron Throne”. Something important about this quote is that he doesn’t say who. And, of course, the Iron Throne gets destroyed at the end of the show anyway. Show!Bran doesn’t really “end up on the Iron Throne”. Show!Dany does. George never said that who “ends up” on it in the books is who ends up on it in the show. He’s said that the Shireen thing and the Hodor thing will “happen very differently” in the books anyway. And, of course, another major part of that quote is “every character has a different end”.

I don’t think that who sits the Iron Throne last is necessarily going to be the ruler of Westeros at the end. For example, Cersei (or Aegon) may be the last person to sit the Iron Throne. Or even Euron (however, even though his goal is to rule post-apocalyptic Westeros as a god from the Iron Throne, I don’t think he’ll actually get there). If wildfire is hot enough to melt iron, I could see the throne being destroyed during whatever fiery shenanigans go down with Cersei and JonCon in TWOW. I think it would be fitting for the fight over the throne to end in the next book. ‘Cause the winds of winter are coming, baby, and it’s gonna be time to start dreaming of spring.

Part 3: The Weirwood King

The idea/theory of Bran becoming King has been around for a long time, long before the HBO show even started airing. This is because of the Celtic myth of King Brân the Blessed, whose name means “Blessed Crow” or “Blessed Raven” in Welsh. Other than the obvious connection with the name, Brân the Blessed’s story involves a magic cauldron that can bring the dead back to life. 

In the myth, Brân’s head is cut off and continues talking (think of how Bran’s most powerful aspect is the magical powers of his mind), because in Celtic mythology the head is believed to be where the soul is.

Celts had a reputation as head hunters. According to Paul Jacobsthal, "Amongst the Celts the human head was venerated above all else, since the head was to the Celt the soul, centre of the emotions as well as of life itself, a symbol of divinity and of the powers of the otherworld." (source)

Catch that? “Otherworld”. There is another myth (Irish, specifically) called the Voyage of Bran, in which the title character goes on a quest to the Otherworld. The Otherworld is a supernatural realm in Celtic mythology. It is also where the sidhe (a.k.a. aos sí) live. Remember, the sidhe are what George has said the Others are inspired by. In Irish mythology, the Otherworld is called Tír na nÓg, Mag Mell and Emain Ablach, in Welsh mythology it’s called Annwn, and in Arthurian legend it’s called Avalon. Fun fact, “Avalon” was the title of the novel George was writing when he had suddenly had the idea of a scene in which a young boy and his brothers see a beheading and then find a litter of direwolf pups in the snow. And so ASOIAF happened.

I’ll leave that there, and try not to go down the great big rabbit-hole of Celtic (and other cultures) mythology connections in ASOIAF. The takeaway is: ASOIAF has been influenced by these myths.

I do believe that Bran is going to be King. Not just because of his ties to this mythology, but also because of symbolism in his own story. The most notable one being…

Under the hill, the broken boy sat upon a weirwood throne, listening to whispers in the dark as ravens walked up and down his arms.

[...]

The singers made Bran a throne of his own, like the one Lord Brynden sat, white weirwood flecked with red, dead branches woven through living roots. 

[...]

His father and the black pool and the godswood faded and were gone and he was back in the cavern, the pale thick roots of his weirwood throne cradling his limbs as a mother does a child. 

- Bran III, A Dance with Dragons

Bran is also the only one of the Stark kids who still thinks of himself as royalty:

What was he now? Only Bran the broken boy, Brandon of House Stark, prince of a lost kingdom, lord of a burned castle, heir to ruins.

- Bran III, A Dance with Dragons

Bran is the heir to Winterfell. It doesn’t matter if Robb named Jon his heir in his will, the will was written under the pretense that Bran and Rickon were dead.

However, Bran doesn’t have any connection to the Iron Throne. It’s far more likely that he would sit on a weirwood throne, because of, y’know, everything about his story. So, if Bran was King of the Seven Kingdoms, I don’t think it would be on the Pincushion Stool.

If Bran is king of the realm, I do think there would still be a separate Lord/Lady of Winterfell, but I do think that there’s a possibility of a Pevensie siblings ending, where all the Stark kids would rule together as the Lords and Ladies and Winterfell.

Something that I’ve never really seen talked about regarding the idea of Bran becoming King of the Seven Kingdoms is the religious differences between the North and the southern regions of Westeros. Of course, the show didn’t deal with this at all. For fuck’s sake, they had Cersei blow up the Westerosi verison of the Vatican and face no backlash. It was so laughably absurd how Show!Cersei’s destructive reign was shown to have like… zero impact on the Seven Kingdoms. 

In short, I’m not too sure that the Kingdom who is majority Faith of the Seven worshippers would react too well to a weirwood-tree-Old-Gods-warg-wizard-king. I mean, when Janos Slynt finds out Jon is a warg he calls him a “thing”, a “creature”, and a “beastling that is not fit to live”, and wanted to execute him not just for being a turncloak but for being a warg as well. And Jojen warns Bran of these things, saying that his own folk may want to kill him if they know what he is.

But… all of that anti-magic attitude might not matter after night falls. 

Part 4: Winter is Coming

I believe that the Long Night is going to be very devastating for the Seven Kingdoms.

Martin is a big believer in making things have meaningful, permanent consequences in his stories. I don’t think that an apocalyptic event like the Long Night is something that’s just gonna get dealt with in a quick snap and have no lasting effect.

A lot of people are going to die. I don’t mean main characters, I mean people that would not survive a normal winter and sure as hell won’t be prepared for this one. Westeros’s food stores have been severely depleted by the War of the Five Kings, and we’ve been told multiple times in the text (particularly AFFC and ADWD) that feeding people during this winter is going to be extremely hard.

Besides that… the whole, uh, invasion of the eldritch ice beings thing might have a bit of an impact on the realm. 

I won’t go into depth about how the Seven Kingdoms will be affected by the Long Night, ‘cause we really have no idea. But, however it all goes down, I do think it will have lasting changes for the people of Westeros. The impact that it leaves may make the concept of Bran being a wizard-king more acceptable. “Oh, well we’ve just seen zombies and winter elves, so what’s too surprising about a magical greenseer warg king?” I think that Westerosi culture becoming more aware and accepting of the existence of magic is the only way that Bran could become the king of the whole realm. The Westeros at the end of the series is not going to be the place that it was at the beginning.

Part 5: Dany: A Home, Not a Throne

To sum up my thoughts on our dragon girl, I don’t think Dany will end up on the Spiky Toilet. I don’t want Dany to be on the Spiky Toilet.

Now, my personal speculation (which a lot of people disagree with, which is fine) is that Dany will never see King’s Landing before the Long Night. I personally don’t think that Dany will ever meet Aegon or Cersei. I don’t see there being enough time in the story for that. Yes, GRRM said that there will be a second Dance of the Dragons, but he also said that the second Dance does not have to involve Dany. He may have originally planned for it to be Aegon and Dany, but probably not once the Meereenese Knot happened.

The Meereenese Knot is what Dany’s ADWD plot is referred to as. GRRM did not intend for Dany to stay in Meereen as long as she has, but because of his “gardener” style of writing, that’s where the story led him. GRRM has said that one of the hardest parts of writing the Meereen plotline (which involves Dany, Barristan, Quentyn, Tyrion, and Victarion) is trying to find a way to cut the plot knot he accidentally got himself stuck in. He has said that Tyrion and Dany will meet towards the end of TWOW, which means that Dany will most likely be spending a large portion of her story with the Dothraki. That part is a completely blank page, but I believe that Dany will meet Tyrion possibly ¾ of the way into the book, and sail for Westeros at the end.

I won’t write a full meta about this here (because that’s not what this post is about), but to summarize my prediction: Aegon VS Cersei is going to be the battle in King’s Landing, a battle which will destroy the city. Dany (who has already rejected sailing for the Throne multiple times) will still be stuck in Essos, dealing with everything she’s still got going on, and will sail for Westeros at the end. Not for the Throne, but to go North for the real fight (remember that Marwyn is also on his way to Meereen to tell Dany that they need her).

Because Dany's purpose is not to fight for the Iron Throne, it’s to fight the Others. Dany (fire, light, and life) VS the Others (ice, darkness, and death) is the main thing the title refers to:

“Well of course the two outlying ones, the things that are going on north of the Wall and Daenerys Targaryen on the other continent with her dragons are of course the Ice and Fire of the title, the Song of Ice and Fire.” 

- George R.R. Martin, 2016

One of the most important excerpts that shows us where Dany’s story is headed is this:

That night she dreamt that she was Rhaegar, riding to the Trident. But she was mounted on a dragon, not a horse. When she saw the Usurper's rebel host across the river they were armored all in ice, but she bathed them in dragonfire and they melted away like dew and turned the Trident into a torrent. Some small part of her knew that she was dreaming, but another part exulted. This is how it was meant to be. The other was a nightmare, and I have only now awakened.

- Daenerys III, A Storm a Swords

Dany has a short prophetic “this is what I was meant to do” dream. Dany could possibly have more dreams about the Others in TWOW, visions that will make what Marwyn has to tell her more believable. It’s not like that dream was the only one Dany has had that alludes to the winter threat, Dany has had visions about this since book one:

The red door was so far ahead of her, and she could feel the icy breath behind, sweeping up on her. If it caught her she would die a death that was more than death, howling forever alone in the darkness. She began to run.

- Dany IX, A Game of Thrones

Anyway, there’s just a lot more foreshadowing in the plot that this is what Dany is meant to do. I think adding in another conflict into her story once she leaves Meereen would make the story feel bloated and would severely fuck up the pacing.

I don’t think Dany will ever see the Iron Throne. The themes of her story have never been about her wanting the Iron Throne for what it is, but for what it represents to her. It represents the possibility of a home and of feeling safe for the first time in her life, what Dany truly wants. I think that it’s absolutely fine if Dany never sees the Throne or sits on it, and that it makes more sense for her narrative arc if she discovers that she can find a home somewhere else, not necessarily where she thought it would be. 

Part 6: Final Thoughts

So, in conclusion, I don’t really give a shit who ends up placing their ass on the Forbidden Laz-E-Boy, I care about the War for the Dawn. I care about seeing the characters I’ve followed for the past five books coming together to fight the real conflict of A Song of Ice and Fire. Also, even if we do get a Scouring of the Shire-type post-climax for ASOIAF, it doesn’t matter. People don’t see the Scouring of the Shire as the climax of Lord of the Rings, they see the climax as Aragorn leading the forces of good against the forces of evil and Frodo and Sam throwing the One Ring into Mount Doom. Whatever ending resolution comes after the climax of ASOIAF, it doesn’t change what the climax is.

"Do you think your brother's war is more important than ours?" the old man barked.

Jon chewed his lip. The raven flapped its wings at him. "War, war, war, war," it sang.

"It's not," Mormont told him. "Gods save us, boy, you're not blind and you're not stupid. When dead men come hunting in the night, do you think it matters who sits the Iron Throne?"

"No." Jon had not thought of it that way.

- Jon IX, A Game of Thrones

TL;DR:

My prediction: Cersei will be the last person to sit the Iron Throne, which will be destroyed in the Wildfire of King’s Landing. After the Long Night devastates the Seven Kingdoms, Bran will become the King of this new Westeros that has been majorly affected by the return of magic. Also, it would be real nice if Dany found her red door.

God I hope my rambling made sense

#sorry that this took me over a week to answer #ask #anon #asoiaf #asoiaf meta #long post

[crowtoed]

WELCOME TO ANOTHER EPISODE OF:

Crow has watched the Deutschland video waaaaay too much but keeps finding things. Let’s preface this with I am not German, have never lived in Germany, but I have a degree in history with a minor in anthropology, so maybe that helps a bit.

0:06- This scene is set after the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, but I still find it funny that Till’s the scout/individual slaughtered. The disgraced Roman commander who famously lost Augustus’ legions was Publius QuincTILius Varus and I laughed a history nerd’s laugh. It is a lonely laugh. 0:39- There are 3 bodies hanging from the tree. Perhaps a reference to the three slaughtered legions of Varus?

1:13- The boys (sans Till’s body) are wheeling Germania, who’s still dressed in her GDR outfit through a burning charnel house/crypt. VlogDave on youtube has posited her being in the wheelchair representing a feeling of weakness in identity or purpose. Maybe post unification she’s still reeling trying to figure out who she is? The contemplative look says a lot and the boys trying to usher her calmly past this inferno o’ skeletons, nobody bothered. 1:35- Germania’s planting her standard in the battlefield, summoning the boys. Perhaps symbolizing how nationalism has the intense power to rouse people. Some are winners (Reesh, Schneider), but most are losers (Till and Flake shish-kebab’d). And as shown later, everybody ends up dead in gruesome ways. 2:01- Till’s expression is like somebody told him he has a press interview in an hour. 2:08- Paul’s tiny glasses are a fucking delight. 2:47- Four bodies hanging from the archway. NO IDEA WHAT THEY REPRESENT, other than the lighting is making them look different colors (green?). 2:48- So another theory from VlogDave is that the monks gorging symbolizes the corruption of the church during the Middle Ages. You have the church feasting on the country’s bounty while a group of trapped people (maybe representing the majority peasantry) are supporting their gluttony (and a few other sins) just barely out of sight. WHILE PLAGUE RATS ARE RUNNING AROUND (soooo 14th/15th century). ALSO notice how Olli doesn’t participate was as much gusto as.. say… Schneider (gdi, Doom). He almost tries to console Germania. This may sound bunk, but I think Olli is supposed to symbolize Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. 2:52- In an alternative universe where Rammstein was a more mainstream rock band, this is what Till’s hair would really look like. Don’t think about it too much. Also this is not what I had in mind when I envisioned Till’s head emerging from between a woman’s legs. 3:04- SCHNEIDER WHAT IS YOUR FUCKING FACE, SIR. WOW. 3:21- When U see an old pic of urself from high school. No but seriously, clever set of shots to represent looking back on your own harsh history. 3:51- Flake’s face has so much expression and character. Love it. 3:58- Huuuh looks like they shaved or applied a prosthetic to Flake’s head for the WWII scene. 4:03- Paul has an extra apple box to make him at the same height as Till. 4:06- Again, VlogDave’s got some great commentary on Germania and Richard’s eye trauma in the WWII scenes. The English translation would be “to turn a blind eye”. In addition, Reesh may also be sporting a Mensur scar or ‘Schmisse’, acquired from academic fencing. They were all the rage for fashionable and socially elite Germans from the mid-19th to the end of WWII, with a lot of Nazi officers having them. His scar being on the left might symbolize an injury from an opponent from “the left side”. 4:19- As a former vintage clothing store clerk, the boys’ outfits in the RAF/70s era slay me. Especially Olli’s corduroy jacket and Reesh’s razor-sharp lapels. 4:34- Germania is always in the colors of her nation’s flag. While she doesn’t have any red on her in the prison/WWI scenes, she’s in the colors of the Empire of Prussia and one of the iconic hussar uniforms. During the period Princess Victoria Louise did photoshoots wearing a similar uniform to inspire morale- which goes with Germania’s role as icon. 4:41- I like the comparison and combination of the Nazi bookburning and the Early Modern witch burning being of the same spirit- the willful and ignorant destruction of humanity. And oh look, the church is complicit in both. (Not surprising with Rammstein’s attitude towards -particularly the Catholic- church). 4:49- Some folks have posited that Germania in modern attire making out with Till’s severed head symbolizes looking back and trying to romanticize the past. Which is futile, because the past is dead and also pretty gross. Seriously, babe, you’ve been holding on to that thing for- what? 2000 years? Also he doesn’t seem that into it... 4:51- BOOM, Saint Hubert’s stag. Religious and also alcoholic symbolism! 4:51- Also I think this is meant to be the future. We have a repentant, pregnant Germania in white. Also she’s tending the busts of the band, which are a reference to the Walhalla Memorial. Her role is venerating the good aspects of culture/history. The boys also have some brass balls inferring that they’ll be memorialized with the other movers and shakers of German culture in the future. Germania seems uncertain, scared. She isn’t confident in the role and needs the assistance of the future!boys to give birth (TO A NEW NATIONAL IDENTITY?) 5:00 ish- I think the following are Germania remembering her past and how things fell apart or ended in each of these epochs, which might explain the rapid fire editing and melding together. 5:13- Till in a kettle helm and Paul holding a flaming goddamned sword (he thinks he has divine might on his side?) is my favorite. 5:16- So apparently these sweet babies are Leonbergers, which are a German breed that almost went extinct in the wake of WWII. They’ve since made a comeback. I think it’s meant to symbolize a more peaceful Germany. You have the German Shepards (with a reputation as a more martial breed) in the past- as well as wolves- then for the future you have these notoriously gentle boofs. They’re sweeter, hard workers, but still very German. Also Till has a history of putting his family in music videos. 5:53- I’M PROUD OF YOU OLLI. 6:00- FUCK NAZIS. 6:14- Till, your jacket is too small on you. Which if it’s vintage, makes sense, because you are a meat mountain and vintage runs small. Also Reesh has seen this all before. 6:18- Till is fucking a bearskin rug while cosplaying as Erich Honeker. This is therapeutic considering his history with the Stasi, I suspect. 6:20- Her pose reminds me of a tomb effigy you see in early modern churches. 6:30/31- I don’t know what this means, but Olli is holding a puppy so everything’s all right. 6:32- She doesn’t seem to know what to do with herself. Whether this is uncertainty as the symbol of a peaceful nation after centuries of war and atrocities or an allegorical postpartum depression... but... puppies? 6:35- FUCK THIS I WANT TO SEE THE BTS WITH EVERYONE HOLDING PUPPIES. 6:38- Germania has doves attached to her shoes. Another symbol of her in a peaceful role for the modern age. Now the symbolism of the doves being dead, WELL… 6:43- See you later, Space Personification. Additional thought: Germania needed a better hoop skirt, her silhouette in the big red gown was starting bothering me once I’d noticed it.

#deutschland #Rammstein #No links because I dunno how to tumblr any more #meta #history #SOMEBODY GET ME A BTS #Inform my Professors that I made more annotations for a 9 minute Rammstein video than I did on John Adams' diary #DON'T JUDGE ME