Revenge and political change – I think he wants to get rid of the sacrificial prince tradition. 

What do you think of Joe Abercrombie’s world building?

This’ll be something I get into more detail about in the bonus essay, but I can do a short-and-dirty fashion. 

I’m a little iffy on it in the First Law books; there are some interesting elements here and there (Best Served Cold did a great job in making a fantasy Renaissance Italy work, and that’s something I’m favor of), but I’m not a fan of having everything in the world revolve around Bayaz, and a lot of it is kind of meh. Leaving aside Bayaz’ machinations, the Union is rather generic, I’m very tired of the Evil Eastern Empire Gurkhul, and I’m only so-so on the Northmen. And the Red Country’s pseudo-Western got my goat a lot, but that’s largely because I want the Ex-Confederate Protagonist trope to die in a fire. 

I enjoyed his Shattered Sea series a lot better, and it actually made me reconsider Abercrombie as a writer. Whereas I got tired of the miserablism of the First Law books in a hurry, the Shattered Sea series has a good balance between the lows and the highs – Yarvi, Thorn, et al. are recognizably Abercrombian flawed characters, but they’re not complete bastards, indeed the series has quite a few actually lovable characters, and they’re allowed to actually accomplish things. 

I don’t think it’s part of their plan necessarily, but I’m not sure if it’s a red herring. 

Probably a tie between the Fisher King and the Green Knight. 

Oops, forgot The Red Widow and Tywin Lannister are not mother and son, but grandmother and grandson.

This is probably a better question for @joannalannister, but on the surface, I’d say that Tywin and Rohanne seem to share a similar philosophy about the use of force. 

I wouldn’t call them pretty loyal. They were one of the major contenders in the Dance, and they at least partially supported the Blackfyres during the Blackfyre Rebellion(s?).  

graphicpolicy:

A People’s History of the Marvel Universe, Week 10: The Mutant Metaphor (Part II) #comics #xmen

Last time, I talked about the “protean” nature of the “mutant metaphor,” its roots in science-fiction of the time, and how at least initially there was relatively little mention of mutant identity and anti-mutant prejudice. Speaking of which, one of the curious things about the original run of X-Men, especially from the “mutant metaphor” angle, is that their mission to “protect a world that hates…

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It’s a good possibility. It had to be somewhere in the Reach. 

elanabrooklyn:

There are two overly long sequences of Dothraki threatening to sexually assault Daenerys in the season six premiere of Game of Thrones. We could’ve gotten to the narrative point of her being told she must join the Dosh Khaleen without brown men threatening to rape a white woman over and over. 

But there’s something far more upsetting happening, something that impacts an actual real-life human, actress Emelia Clarke. 

 
Serious fans of the show know that a few seasons ago Clarke made it known that she would not do any more nude scenes. There’s nothing inherently wrong with doing nude scenes, but obviously the actress doesn’t feel comfortable doing them and her wishes should be respected. 

So the lengthy sequence where Khaal Moro threatens to rip her clothes off is metatextual. It’s toying with the viewers’ knowledge that Clarke doesn’t want to be seen naked. It taunts us, and her saying, “we know she doesn’t consent but let’s see if we can force her anyway, because the collective male gaze has the power.“ 

We are asked to root against the actresses’ wishes. Even though she is not striped in this scene her autonomy is insulted. 

That’s sexist as hell. Emilia Clarke deserves better. 

 
Contrast this with the artistically and plot significant nudity of Melissandre in this episode.  Actress Carice Von Houten has said in interviews she has no problem being nude on screen. The reveal of Melissandra’s body in this episode is significant and clearly not a source of discomfort for the actress. 

That makes all the difference.

There is nothing inherently wrong in wanting to see somebody naked. It’s one of the most common human desires. But there is something wrong in wanting to see somebody naked who does not want to be seen naked.

When Clarke played Holly Golightly in a Broadway production of Breakfast In Tiffany’s she had to deal with theater goers trying to take her picture during a bath scene. It was a significant enough problem that the theater had to increase security. The bathtub scene on Broadway was even set up to avoid showing her fully nude. After being perved on by theater goers no wonder Clarke doesn’t want to deal with this shit. 

 
Let’s hope the rest of Season 6 respects it’s actors.  

Planning to record the first one tomorrow.