Game of Thrones!

[Raffaella]

So... do you recognize all the cast shown here from back in 2009?

I was going to ask who the dude is on the far right then I realised it was Kit! He looks better with long hair but Ohmygoshhh, they're all so freaking cute. Awwww

 

[Ivy]

Oh, Alfie.

 

[Totenkindly]

I was going to ask who the dude is on the far right then I realised it was Kit! He looks better with long hair but Ohmygoshhh, they're all so freaking cute. Awwww

Yeah, that was the one I was curious to see if people recognized -- it took me a minute, and mostly by process of elimination.

 

[1487610420]

Oh gawd -- GoT theme in retro 80's electropop.

[SOUNDCLOUD]https://soundcloud.com/steveduzz/game-of-thrones-main-theme-80s-version[/SOUNDCLOUD]

Low brass cover:

 

[Totenkindly]

Here's the theory of Jon's parentage that I described two months ago or so... Business Weekly published something on their site about it that breaks it down.

Obviously huge POTENTIAL spoiler if it's true. So don't go there if you prefer to avoid it.

'Game Of Thrones': Jon Snow's Parents Theory - Business Insider

 

[kyuuei]

^ There are a couple theories that go crazy branching off because of that one too. Crazy stuff.

 

[Totenkindly]

^ There are a couple theories that go crazy branching off because of that one too. Crazy stuff.

Lol. I wonder if we'll ever know. Like if GRRM dies before finishing his books. Or if he decides to write 16 books at this rate.

 

[kyuuei]

Lol. I wonder if we'll ever know. Like if GRRM dies before finishing his books. Or if he decides to write 16 books at this rate.

Apparently he's all super offended that people are speculating he'll die before he finishes. Like.. Yeah, dude, we're not just selfish assholes that like your stuff and can't wait to inherit your shit when you die or something. We want to see you finish your work that you started--because a lot of authors just don't get that opportunity. Life gets in the way.. at some point you need some closure to it all so you have time to breathe and enjoy your last days without fans constantly bugging you to get your old ass to work.

 

[Totenkindly]

Apparently he's all super offended that people are speculating he'll die before he finishes. Like.. Yeah, dude, we're not just selfish assholes that like your stuff and can't wait to inherit your shit when you die or something. We want to see you finish your work that you started--because a lot of authors just don't get that opportunity. Life gets in the way.. at some point you need some closure to it all so you have time to breathe and enjoy your last days without fans constantly bugging you to get your old ass to work.

As a writer, I tend to look at it as his personal vision and work that he has been kind enough to allow others a glimpse into, and we're lucky to have received THAT much... so unfortunately it DOES seem like stupid assholery for the public to demand that an author focus his life energy as if he's merely some kind of slave to their clamouring. It's the worst kind of consumerism, to me -- people who devour rather than participate in the creative process.

I mean, sure, you can say YOU think it might be in his best interest to finish it to get closure, and you could even be correct; but no one can make that demand of another human being; we only have the right to make that decision for ourselves.

I guess one could say that they have bought his books, so there's been a transaction of sorts... but still... he wrote a work to a certain point in the narrative, and they purchased it to that point.

 

[Qre:us]

Random thought: [MENTION=7]Jennifer[/MENTION], so are you Jon Snow's momma?

 

[kyuuei]

As a writer, I tend to look at it as his personal vision and work that he has been kind enough to allow others a glimpse into, and we're lucky to have received THAT much... so unfortunately it DOES seem like stupid assholery for the public to demand that an author focus his life energy as if he's merely some kind of slave to their clamouring. It's the worst kind of consumerism, to me -- people who devour rather than participate in the creative process.

I mean, sure, you can say YOU think it might be in his best interest to finish it to get closure, and you could even be correct; but no one can make that demand of another human being; we only have the right to make that decision for ourselves.

I guess one could say that they have bought his books, so there's been a transaction of sorts... but still... he wrote a work to a certain point in the narrative, and they purchased it to that point.

The lovey-dovey sentimental part of me says sure... But authors write, for the most part, to hopefully be known for their work, not just for the sake of writing. That's why they seek to be published, instead of what my grandma did where she illustrated and wrote elaborate personalized stories for the sake of reading them to kids and that's it. Just like any other art--people have to SEE it to appreciate it. And I am positive anyone that publishes wants their work to be seen and loved. They want that world to invade other people's imaginations. I'm sure trees make sounds when they fall--it's just that no one cares because no one heard it. It isn't like he's giving his creativity and passion and time out for free--he makes bank off that, and you have to know that people don't want to be strung and looped around either endlessly.

Yeah, he doesn't want to be pushed into working when it's HIS dream to write and no one else's and damned to everyone if the world never has closure. He has every right to say that yeah sure. Just like a basketball player with a bunch of kids for fans can say "Fuck you kids, I play for me, I ain't signin' your shit." But it's still a little selfish to not take into ANY consideration the fact that when you put yourself out there to be in the spotlight, you run a healthy risk of developing a lot of fans that will be emotionally and financially invested into something they have zero control over. And ignoring that fandom, which is the very reason things go from a quiet little 3 book novel series to a 7-8 book HBO special, is pretty shitty too. I'm not saying he IS ignoring them.. but.. he's gotta know people are concerned for his health, and they're not going to try to bullshit sugar coat it and say it's because he's an old guy with amazing things in his life. Most people do not know him. But everyone hates losing great artists, because of their art. Not because of their lives. I don't think it's so rude to just be honest about why you like a person and compartmentalize it like that.

 

[Totenkindly]

 

[Totenkindly]

GoT Readers Have Already Predicted the Ending -- Vulture

Turns out that amid all the wild, far-fetched fan theories about how Game of Thrones will end, one or two may have hit the nail right on the severed head. ... Even though some readers have stolen his thunder, Martin says he doesn't plan to deviate from his planned ending:

I’ve wrestled with this issue, because I do want to surprise my readers. I hate predictable fiction as a reader, I don’t want to write predictable I wrestled with that issue and I came to the conclusion that changing it would be a disaster, because the clues were there. You can’t do that, so I’m just going to go ahead. Some of my readers who don’t read the boards, which thankfully there are hundreds of thousands of them, will still be surprised and other readers will say: “see, I said that four years ago, I’m smarter than you guys.”

 

[Totenkindly]

Alas, if you are a Bran/Hodor lover (and who doesn't love Hodor??????)

Bran Stark and Hodor won't appear in Game of Thrones season 5

If you're wondering what was going on with Bran Stark and that weird tree-man at the end of Game of Thrones' fourth season, you have a long wait ahead of you. In a recent interview with the Australian Broadcasting Commission, Kristian Nairn — the actor who plays Bran's loyal ally Hodor in the HBO drama — revealed that Bran and Hodor won't appear in the show's fifth season at all.

"We have a season off and we have a year's hiatus, solely because I imagine our storyline is up to the end of the books," said Nairn. He adds that he plans to use the time off to travel around the world as a DJ, hosting a series of Game of Thrones-themed dance parties under the title "Rave of Thrones."

The revelation offers an intriguing glimpse at the challenges the TV show will face as it catches up with George R. R. Martin's literary source material — as Nairn says, Bran's last appearance on Game of Thrones was pretty much in line with where Martin left him in the books.

Bran Stark and Hodor won't appear in Game of Thrones season 5 - The Week

 

[kelric]

I was wondering about that -- some storylines are much more advanced than others in the show, when compared to the books. They're definitely diverging more than they did in the first season. Honestly, I've not been a big fan of the whole Bran storyline -- either in the books or the show (it may be important eventually, but it just sort of plods along compared to the more dynamic stories), so I'm not disappointed to see it get a hiatus.

I'm not sure how tied in to the books you guys are, [MENTION=7]Jennifer[/MENTION] and [MENTION=4939]kyuuei[/MENTION] -- but a lot of the reason the whole "hurry up before you die" thing (which is, admittedly, in terrible taste and I can totally see why this offends GRRM - it'd offend me too) is that a lot of the fans of the books were/are also fans of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series... which stretched out for over 20 years, and sadly, had to be finished by another author after Jordan passed away from a long illness. The author who finished them up, Brandon Sanderson, did a great job (and whose original works I really enjoy too), but it would have been great to see Jordan finish the series off himself, as I know he wanted to do.

 

[Totenkindly]

Yeah, I was reading Robert Jordan before Wheel of Time (I read his Conan stuff), but couldn't get into WoT (I managed about 20 pages) and then saw what happened with that.

I'm not a big fan of the Bran storyline either, nor Jon Snow's to be honest, I find them somewhat boring.

I've never read the books. Someone gave me the first three, but I had trouble actually reading them -- they didn't really hold my interest. I used them mostly to look up things from the show to compare to. It's not that I don't like long stuff (heck, I've read a lot of Donaldson and Stephen King and Guy Gavrial Kay who writes pretty long books), but I didn't get into either of these guys on the page.

 

[kyuuei]

Yeah, I was reading Robert Jordan before Wheel of Time (I read his Conan stuff), but couldn't get into WoT (I managed about 20 pages) and then saw what happened with that.

I had a dear friend give me the first WoT book because he loves it so, but I just couldn't hold onto it either. I keep thinking I'll revisit the issue sometime and give it a chance now that I've seen the series has some sort of ending.

 

[Totenkindly]

I had a dear friend give me the first WoT book because he loves it so, but I just couldn't hold onto it either. I keep thinking I'll revisit the issue sometime and give it a chance now that I've seen the series has some sort of ending.

Well yeah -- 13 books or whatever it was later!

And if each book has 600 pages or more... dear god.

 

[kyuuei]

Well yeah -- 13 books or whatever it was later!

And if each book has 600 pages or more... dear god.

I know, and I even suck at committing to long running shows, moreless long running novels!

I'm currently reading Gotrek and Felix right now, and those Omnibuses (Omnibi?) are nothing to sneeze at.

 

[Nicodemus]

I am very curious as to how they are going to deal with all the places they have to cover in seasons five and six: King's Landing and its dealings, Dorn, Iron Islands, Braavos, the Wall, the Eyrie, Tyrion's and Reek's whereabouts, and various routes of travel. It could be manageable to do the early bits of each in season five, then simply continue the same storylines in six.