#I mean maybe I underestimate the degree to which it would be romanticized

[tuehquestionmark]

In a world with hanahaki. It would be???? Treated like it's a problem that you need to come to a therapist with. Like? It's possible?? To get over someone??? If you're in love with them??? In any case you can distance yourself. Like if the symptoms start showing?? Like if you have hanahaki and do nothing about it you are just not. Coping? It would be wildly romanticized for sure like WILDLY but it would generally be acknowledged by adults at least that dying from unrequited love is not.... Uhhh... Not. Go see a therapist don't mope and romanticize a literal disease that is killing you.

[maevelin]

I think they are trying to paint Dany with dark colors though. The 'Jon's war' and who manipulated who definitely shows how Dany doesn't care for humanity I think. She only cares for what she wants which is the throne. And Jon maybe. At least she did before she knew who he was and we all saw how she reacted and which are her true priorities.

I don’t doubt that the writers love controversy and some of the questionable parts of Daenerys’ character are intentionally given in an attempt to make her a more layered character. If that is something successful or not is another discussion all together. But at the same time I feel that with certain characters fans are ready to tear them down at once without giving to them the same leniency -or at least the same benefit of the doubt- they give to others for the exact same mentality and actions. It can be jarring really.

It is a fact that Daenerys is very focused on the Iron Throne to a degree that many times everything but that is just noise for her. There are times that others would say good morning to her and she would reply with something of the sort: bend the knee the Iron Throne is mine lol.

But it is far fetched I think to condemn her as if she is at a point where she doesn’t care for humanity. 

The truth is somewhere in the middle I feel. She wants the Throne and she wants to help people. If she can combine those things even better. She still has set certain priorities for herself that have always been the core of who she is ever since she was born. You take that away from her and you leave her with a life without purpose or a life wasted so far. It is integrated into her conscious and subconscious parts now.

When Jon originally went to her he indeed went with ‘his war’. This has left a lasting impression and is intertwined in her mind with Jon’s identity too. But from the moment Viserion died you can tell that this became also personal for Daenerys and her intentions include wanting to help people. She even passed the point of asking Jon anything in return when she decided to face the Night King head on too. In return Jon bent the knee on his own accord for whatever his reasons may have been. And I think the fact that she still prioritizes the Throne between everything else is a testament of how this has been what her whole life has always been about. Not just for her but for everyone around her, for her allies, her family, her enemies. This is influencing every decision she is making but also her thought process too. 

And if we are being honest here many people still do it too. Sansa for example not even for a second has she let go the political game. She is as concerned with the North as Daenerys is with the restoration of the Targaryen rule. Sansa knows too that humanity is at stake, she knows too the dead are coming and yet in her immediate priorities is the independence of the North and the political game and how all this is connected with the Iron Throne. Sometimes she too seems more absorbed by this rather than the immediate apocalypse they are facing. However her drive on this is commendable and a sign of high intelligence while in Daenerys’ case is something else entirely.

And this kind of mentality exists in many characters in different ways really as they are now shaped in the players they are that continuously play the game of thrones. It is in their nature now and there are always hidden agendas and motives behind every honest interaction too. At least if not for all then surely for most characters that are in the position to actually play the game effectively. Sansa and Daenerys are such people.

In that moment with Sansa I think that Daenerys was trying to reach out and make herself seem more approachable and she believed that for a girl like Sansa it would be enough if she would give her a more sweetly span picture (and intentionally a bit naive too) and even a more honest up to a degree. Let us not forget that Daenerys is also a young woman that has a crush too. So she tries to romanticize the hell out of this too. And up to a degree I felt that Daenerys also believed the things she was saying to be true(-ish) but she gave a slight altered presentation of the truth so to bring Sansa to her side. They are still trying to play the game. That never ends. So this has also been a bit manipulative from Daenerys’ side. She actually thought that this would work and it would be enough to both break the ice and steer Sansa to the direction she wanted. The fact that we know how intelligent Sansa truly does not mean that this is a knowledge well earned by all the characters. Daenerys is just getting a taste. 

They are both navigating the waters and try to establish their authority around each other. Daenerys wanted to win Sansa over as a simple girl giving her the same in return so for them to communicate us women underneath their titles and reputations and then she hoped to make the transition to the rest areas without Sansa realizing it. The thing is that it was also awkward because aside from this being a miscalculation from Daenerys’ part (not as an intention but in the way she choose to do it) and Sansa putting up negative walls from the start Daenerys never in her life socially interacted with this kind of nobility (or with anyone really except from her brother and those that only saw them as pawns they could use or should destroy). Daenerys doesn’t actually know how to make it natural. Maybe kid Sansa would be delighted to be treated like this but adult Sansa is in another league all together. Daenerys so far only knew how to approach her opponents with strength and the kind of a regal attitude a conqueror has and not as a High born lady of this kind of society. Daenerys does not know how to play this kind of game where now Sansa excels in it. Daenerys so far has only been ‘fire and blood’ and what she could not bend or break she made it bow one way or another which she does not want to do here with Sansa. So where does that leave her? 

In a way Daenerys was also trying to undermine Sansa too by acting like this. To make a friend out of Sansa by dealing with her with all matters that are not political but fawning girls at court would love. Weirdly enough a long time ago that would have been Sansa’s dream. Now she knows better. But Daenerys couldn’t have possibly know this. Putting aside the praise she gave to Sansa and her power she has not experienced first hand. She has seen the proper and proud even Lady of Winterfell that deals with all the practicalities of running a castle and she has known up to an extent the concept of Sansa that Jon has in his mind (and we have seen that he too underestimates and is not overly comfortable with Sansa’s intellect) and what Jon has shared with her but in reality the cunning nature Sansa possesses is not something Daenerys could see coming in the way  Tyrion has seen for example. People always underestimate Sansa Stark. Even the smartest of players like Olenna and Varys and even Littlefinger in the end. It is their most fatal mistake. And I don’t think Daenerys will be repeating that one any time soon.

And I think that in that moment in general Daenerys was trying to turn the tide and win Sansa over presenting a certain ‘saccharine’ personality for her and acting as the ‘victim’ too of sorts to gather sympathy and despite the fact that she was overselling it if I am being honest when I was watching back then and I was thinking…’girl no…just no…you are smart but you are not THAT smart…not when it comes to Sansa.’ A no bullshit approach would have worked much better. After all Daenerys hasn’t got herself in the place she is now by playing soft ball. 

My point in all this is that the game never stops. Not even for a second. Everyone is trying to manipulate and even lie with the truth. Daenerys is not an exception and maybe she is occasionally wearing blinders to make herself feel better but she is not oblivious and she is certain not at the point of being inhuman.

And in the end of the day I think that if Daenerys was not there to help people then after Jon’s revelation, after the treatment of the Northerners, after Sansa’s presence and most importantly after learning Cersei’s actions that could very well cost her the Iron Throne she would have bailed. If that was her character and if she was as dark as people try to make her seem then she would act accordingly...only…she doesn’t. 

[sebastiandiazggc-blog]

Blog Post 3

While an age old argument, and honestly a tiresome one, the argument for the legalization of some recreational marijuana is quite the controversy. We will not be talking about that today though, instead, we will be talking about the more recent equivalent, vaping. Funny enough, while it originally was sold as a replacement to cigarettes, supposedly a far more healthy substitute, turns out its harmful for budding adults, can cause serious long term health risks, and can just explode, causing far more immediate health risks.

Vaping has some upsides though, according to data researched by ProCon.Org, E-cigs are healthier in comparison to cigarettes. They even help lower risks for addicted smokers, helping them ease away from the bomb that is cigarette usage, but vaping is not without its own damage. It was marketed to young people as a harmless way to smoke, to look cool while “being safe”. This of course, is not true. Vapes still have nicotine in them, according to Surgeon General, which can lead to major addiction. This is not good for the developing mind at all, especially for the mind of a school child. US Surgeon General Jerome Adams called youth e-cigarette use an "epidemic," “noting a 900% increase in vaping by middle and high school students between 2011 and 2015. As of 2018, one in five high school students used e-cigarettes, a 78% increase over 2017. Teens who use e-cigarettes are four times more likely to try regular cigarettes than their peers who never used tobacco, and 21.8% of youth cigarette use may be attributable to initiation through vaping.” Even to this day kid’s stay ignorant to its dangerous use for younger people, romanticizing and showing off their colorful E-cig, only convincing more and more kids to purchase one themselfs. They are constantly boasted around social media and even the school halls. A chorus of “look how cool mine is” and “want to skip class and smoke in the bathroom” fills the walkways before, during, and even after school hours.

Now you could very well make the argument that even in adults, its healthier, and in a way, they are, when compared to traditional combustible cigarettes. The UK government reports that vapes are 95% less harmful, at least according to the more optimistic estimates, and are apparently safer for indoor use, and actually contributed to a record low level of youth smoking, but as stated before, this does not mean they are good for youth. In fact, according to the same ProCon article, vaping still has a 71 percent increase of stroke and 40 percent higher risk of heart disease. It is what researchers found that should worry people, and that is the fact that "these devices do emit considerable levels of toxicants, some of which are shared/overlap with tobacco smoking; and thus their harm should not be underestimated." Scientists at John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that chemicals found in the E-cigs can also be a cause of many other bodily diseases such as kidney disease, respiratory irritation and others. The problem, is that they are marketed as “healthy” substitutes, and while technically true, it is terribly misleading. They are not healthy, there are simply healthier than cigarettes. That is like saying that being shot with a gun makes a smaller hole than being stabbed with a sword. While true, you are still getting a puncture wound bigger than you would like.

“Oh! But E-cigarettes are good for the economy!” Ok, sure, let's talk about that. Yes, according to Grover Norquist and Paul Blair who belong to the Americans for Tax Reform group wrote that "e-cigarettes and vapor products are the Uber of the product industry. They're a disruptive and innovative technology... Thousands of good-paying jobs are being created by an industry that is probably going to save hundreds of thousands of lives." All nice and good, but despite all of this, there is a very very dangerous problem. Explosions are a very real, (no matter how fantastical it sounds), danger to vaping. They have been the cause of, but not limited to, third degree burns, holes in the roof of the mouth, loss of body parts, (typically the eyes, tongue, or tooth, you know, things around the face.) According to researchers at the George Mason University, 2,035 people called the ER for emergency treatment from burn or even explosion injuries stemming from the e-cigarettes from 2015-2017 alone, with them believing that more went unattended. This was multiplied by 40 when looking at the time frame of 2009 to 2015. Some other major incidences were the incident in January of this year, where a plane passenger’s vape caught fire in a cabin, and in 2018, a Florida man was killed by the shrapnel from an E-cigarette exploding. The US Fire Administration stated, after finding 195 reports of explosions with 133 acute injuries, that the problem itself is the battery. There is this little foresight or even safety put into these devices, and it causes danger to adults, much more so children.

The problem arises in the lies. That this is somehow safer than smoking, or marijuana, or anything like that. People are told that it is safer, and they are not told the fine print. Yes, it is safer than cigarette smoking, but still holds its own dangers. Yes it has helped smokers lose their addiction to the more harmful substance, but the addictive nicotine is still there, and still causes damage to a developing brain. Yes it has helped create jobs and stimulate the economy, but the lack of safety put into the product, which is putting many lives in danger every year, is far more of a problem than simply economic growth. Vaping is not cool. Period, and the fact that it's being sold and targeted towards kids who want nothing more than to fit in, find a way out, maybe even just some terribly hobby to do, or habit to have, is dangerous. This is not being used smart, and is used to escape in a dangerous, risky way. The reward does not fit the risk, and I urge you to talk to someone you know who may be abusing nicotine and help them get out of it.