#cheapening that kinda sucks for those who buy in

[misscammiedawn]

As an avid "break my spine at 90mph" roller coaster enjoyer I was kinda put out by Jenny taking a pot shot at Six Flags in the opening moments of her new Star Wars Hotel video but the distinction between Amusement Park and Theme Park felt fair and I kinda just let it go.

4 hours later I realize that the entire thesis of the video rests upon that sentiment. If Disney are price locking the theme part of the theme parks then they're basically transforming into themed malls with a couple of tame fairground rides. That's pretty dang inexcusable. Disney Parks are going to cut costs until the point of which Jenny's opening barb at Six Flags will be a *compliment* in comparison... and that's inexcusable.

[teefa85]

So to celebrate the last day of school (I work in a school, for those who don’t know), I’m posting this piece.  A trip to the Night Market gets Riesz all jealous when Hawkeye is getting excited over the Aurora Sisters’ show.  Ends with fluff because of course it does!

---

           Having defeated five of the Benevodons, Riesz and her allies were exhausted.  They hadn’t had a real break since liberating Laurent, when Alma had insisted they spend a day recuperating!  Ever since, it had been one place to another, only stopping to sleep or eat.  And while the situation was dire, they were all at their breaking point!  Faerie had insisted they do something to restore their mental state before it had negative effects on their combat abilities.

           As they were heading over to the mysterious Gem Valley that sat adjacent to Stonesplit Gap, it was decided to spend a day or so in Beiser.  Mostly because it was closer to the area than Valsena or Maia.  Although, considering it wouldn’t be that hard for Flammie to get to the valley from any of those places, Riesz had to wonder why Hawkeye was so insistent on this…

           “Simple!” he exclaimed when asked.  “The Night Market!  We didn’t really get to look around much last time since we were in a hurry to find Domperi. That and you kinda made a scene when you heard that guy had sold your brother off…”

           The reminder made Riesz blush.  “I…what else was I supposed to do?  Even if the child sold hadn’t been Elliot, I would never be able to condone human trafficking!”

           “Oh, not blaming you for acting on your emotions.  Just stating we had to get out of there after everyone started staring,” replied Hawkeye.

           For him, though, there had to be some amazing treasures on display!  The Night Market was known about even as far away as Nevarl.  Even if it was only a bunch of merchants trying to sound cool, they still had very rare and very valuable items.  Most children in the guild dreamed of having enough money to shop there one day…or at least to be able to go for a visit!

           “Eagle and I used to talk about going together,” he stated.  “And I doubt he’d want me to leave that dream behind! So I’m not gonna miss out a second time!”

           Riesz sighed.  “Just don’t spend all our money on trinkets we cannot use…”

           With a smirk on his face, Hawkeye moved his head, so it was right next to her left ear.  He then whispered, “You could always come with me to make sure I don’t…”

           Almost immediately, warmth covered Riesz’s entire body!  The feeling of his breath upon her skin send the most pleasant tingles down her spine and turned her stomach in knots.  Her hands flew up to her cheeks as if to shield her from his notice.

           ‘Stop it…Riesz!  He’s just teasing you!  He does not like you like that and you have no reason to like him in that way either!’

           “So…is it a date, then?” Hawkeye inquired, giving her a wink.

           Poor Riesz almost felt like her entire body was on fire from just that one sentence!

* * *

           In the end, Riesz did decide to go with him to the Night Market.  Perhaps a little shopping would be relaxing.  And maybe she could find a present for Elliot when she rescued him.  Or Alma, or Liza, or even something that she could buy for all her soldiers.  Anything that could bring some joy to the people she cared about…

           They browsed the merchant stalls, noting that the items were mostly for use in combat.  Riesz sighed…she’d planted enough Item Seeds to have a stock of everything already! And enough that, even after dividing them in threes to share with her friends, she could supply Laurent’s garrison for a good long time!  Maybe the people with the real rare stuff just came when they actually had something, and of course she and Hawkeye visited when they weren’t around!

           “Maybe I should just look at a regular shop and get everyone some better spears,” she muttered, sitting down on one of the benches in the middle of the market.

           Hawkeye joined her only a moment later.  But before he could say a word, the clamor of feet was heard from atop the stage before them. Both looked up, noting three women in scantily clad outfits and veils.  One wearing green, one wearing teal, and the one directly in front of them wearing purple.  They stared at the duo, the leader giving them a wink.

           “We’re the Aurora Sisters, famed entertainers of the Night Market!  Shall we dance for you?” she asked in a sultry voice.

           Without missing a beat, Hawkeye replied, “Sure, go ahead ladies!”

           They wasted no time beginning their dance.  Twirling around, shaking their hips, accentuating their bodies with hands on their waists.  Most of the guys who were shopping had stopped what they were doing to stare at the gorgeous dancers.

           “Whoa!  Looking good, ladies!” Hawkeye cried out in his most flirty voice.  “You can keep going all night if you want to!”

           On any other day, Riesz would have had to admire their skills on the dance floor or how bold they were…certainly she wouldn’t have the courage to even wear something like that.  But just seeing how excited it made Hawkeye annoyed her to no end!  Sure, she knew his talk of a date was just him making an irreverent joke about it, but that didn’t mean her feelings weren’t hurt.

           ‘And why?  I know how he is…why does it bother me?!  Why can’t I stop this feeling…?’

           Still, she didn’t want to watch him ogling the dancers anymore and left!  It wasn’t like there was anything she could find as usable gifts for her loved ones.  She could do herself much better by going to the Inn and resting.  Take the time to strengthen her body and be ready to finish smiting the remaining Benevodons, then Belladonna, Malocchio, and their master. Once it was all over, she could go home and never think of him again!

           “You know, you don’t really want to forget him,” Faerie stated, appearing besides her.

           Riesz shook her head.  “It’s for the best.  I don’t know why I let myself get sucked in like this.  He’s a flirt, he’s got someone back home.  Yet…”

           “The heart isn’t always so straightforward for humans, I take it,” her companion stated.  “You can’t help wanting what you want…”

           She whispered, “Even if what I want hurts me so much…”

           Faerie had no answer to that.  She had little knowledge of human emotions, after all.  All she could do was return to her partner’s head as Riesz walked back to the Inn.

* * *

           The door opened about ten minutes after Riesz got back.  She figured it was just Hawkeye returning once the dancers’ show had ended.  Not wanting to look at him, the young princess turned her back to the door and pulled the covers up.  His feet echoed on the wooden floor of Beiser’s Inn, before they stopped at the bed next to hers.

           “Riesz…are you okay?” he asked.

           She tried to ignore him, only for Hawkeye to move until he was directly in front of her!  Sure, Riesz knew she could turn around.  But the look he was giving said that he’d just move to the other side again.  And she didn’t have the energy to play that sort of a game.  With a sigh, Riesz sat up in bed and looked directly into Hawkeye’s concerned eyes.

           “You left the market so quickly, I thought you might have not felt well,” he stated.  “I mean, you might have had something that didn’t agree with you at dinner and it was starting to catch up with you.  I can’t think of any other reason you’d leave…”

           ‘He really doesn’t get it!’ her mind angrily snapped.

           But Hawkeye was continuing.  “And, well, right after you left another stall opened up.  So I figured I’d check it out, and get you a present since you missed out on it…”

           Riesz felt her eyes look up in confusion.  This was not Hawkeye’s usual flirtatious tone, but one of seriousness and concern.  One he only had shown when talking about his worries for Jessica or his regrets on what Belladonna had turned Nevarl into.  While Hawkeye had definitely missed the mark on why Riesz had walked out, it wasn’t as if he didn’t care…

           ‘No, Riesz!  It’s not like that…he’s not thinking of you in that way…’

           Before she could even say a word, he opened the small box.  There, she spied a small golden chain, long enough to go around her neck and hang down about three inches.  It was capped off by a gold charm with three blue stones inlayed within, dangling from the front.

           “Don’t worry…I didn’t steal it!  You’re my precious companion, after all…it wouldn’t be right to cheapen your present by not paying…”

           He opened the clasp and placed it around her neck, commenting on how it matched her eyes.  Riesz felt herself go hot again, inwardly yelling that it was just a present from a friend.  Even if that gentle look in his eyes was a far cry from the tease he normally was when he flirted with her!

           “Th-Thank you,” she finally managed to get out.

           Hawkeye put his hands on her shoulders, smiling.  “Anything for you, Riesz.  You do so much for Kevin and me so if there’s anything I can do to make you happy I’m all for it!”

           Sure, Riesz knew it was probably just the concern of a friend.  But at the same time, she couldn’t deny just how happy this one gesture made her feel.  And she was unable to help it as her mouth turned upwards in a smile, forgetting that she ever was mad at the charming thief before her.  Maybe it was time to just let go…to do what made her happy.

           He again moved his mouth close to her ear, this time whispering, “You know, you should smile more often…you look really cute when you do!”

           At this point, Riesz stopped caring how hot she was getting!  Instead choosing to lean in closer, the right side of her face resting against his chest.  Hawkeye’s face showed signs of shock at first, before he put his arms around the girl and held her close.  No words were spoken between them, nor were they needed.  Even if their minds had not figured everything out, their bodies knew what they wanted.

           It would still be some time before either was able to admit their true feelings for one another with words.  But even then, they still considered that one night in Beiser to be the day their feelings first began to come forward…

[myassbrokethefall]

OK, my GoT thoughts under the cut. Summary: Motivations technically understandable/justifiable; execution bad/dramatically unsatisfying/anticlimactic/baffling.

Essentially: I can buy what happened to Dany and I can accept the ending for Jaime, but the way the show got to both of those points makes no sense to me, and undercut the effectiveness and the meaning severely for both.

Dany: Was I expecting this character to just fly into King's Landing with her giant terrifying dragon(s), roar at Cersei, peacefully take the kingdom, and have a parade thrown for her as she happily fulfills her destiny? No.

Am I mad that we got a "mad queen" arc? I am not. One might almost say it was inevitable and has been foreshadowed with every word of the show and the books since the beginning.

But I was expecting SOMETHING redemptive, not just "Dany goes crazy and kills everyone for no reason." I also was looking forward to clash of the two queens, both crazy for power and increasingly unstable in their attempts to hold onto it, and for it to become clear that Cersei was irretrievably gone to the dark side, and Dany was not. I was expecting Dany's reckoning with her "mad" side to involve her somehow overcoming it, or trying to overcome it, even if in some small symbolic way that ultimately ended in tragedy for her. Not just her...becoming evil, full stop.

This entire season has felt super rushed, and I also am annoyed that we have had TWO hour-and-a-half episodes almost entirely dedicated to battles. When there is so much shit to get done!!! Character arcs are getting short shrift but we gotta have all the gore and destruction, not just in one episode, but in two episodes, directed by the same dude who is their “battles” guy I guess. Having this battle almost cheapens the other battle. I was like, remember when we all united against the ice zombies and humans finally prevailed, and it showed all these other conflicts to be ultimately petty and meaningless in comparison to the fight against death and existential (and literal, lol) darkness? That de-escalated quickly.

So it's not that I didn't want Dany to go mad or I think that was impossible. But it felt very pointless the way it was executed, and felt like it happened because it's the end of the series, not because anything particularly organic made it happen in this moment. (Yes, she lost two dragons and Missandei and Jorah, and Jon froze her out. Her changing her whole personality into a crazed murderer of civilians -- in the face of a victory, no less -- still made no sense to me.) Like I could see her going crazy on the city if they threw rocks at her or something after she was like "I just killed Cersei, you simple dumbasses! I LIBERATED YOU! LOVE ME!!!! I'M THE GOOD RULER!! OK FUCK YOU THEN!!" But to be flying around, basically accomplish her goal of taking the city, and then suddenly be like "Rarrr, Dany go crazy! Because Targaryen blood! Kill all humans!" It's not like Cersei even likes the humans; we spent a long time establishing that she doesn't give a fuck about the people. There was no reason, to my mind, that Dany snapping would involve her burning the whole city that she's fought to get for so long. It felt like it was for shock value, both at the loss of life and at us going "omg Dany was the villain all along!" But it did not, to me, feel earned. Just baffling and disappointing.

If anything I thought CERSEI would do some huge evil gesture to pointlessly fuck the city just to go out in a blaze of glory, and Dany would fight AGAINST her own nascent rageahol Targaryen feelings and experience character growth and transcend her fate in order to try to prevent that from happening. Or NOT ultimately be able to do that, but at least make a gesture towards such a thing. It was just weird the way it happened. And I don't see how Dany can come back from this, as a character, and that is disappointing because we've invested so much in her. It's really deflating. It's just like, oh, I guess Dany is bad now. She was a crazy Targaryen after all! Everybody thought she might go mad, and now she did. D'oh. But it's a weird and oddly anticlimactic ending for such a character. (I realize it hasn't ended yet, but I don't think redemption is in the cards for her after this episode.)

(Also, what was Varys, etc.'s basis for suddenly deciding that she bout to go crazy and we can't trust her? Her being impatient to get to King's Landing and get going on the sacking last week? Arguably she should have let the armies rest, and I took Sansa's side in that argument, but you could make a case for Dany’s side as well, which was essentially "sure, we're tired, but if we wait longer they'll also regroup and it will be even more difficult, let's just get this the fuck done already." That to me doesn't say "I'm dangerously unstable and everyone knows it!" so much as "Our military strategies differ!")

OK. So what I was expecting was Dany versus Cersei, both power-mad, both not wanting to back down, but one of them at her essence having a heart that truly does care about justice (the beat of these warring impulses within her has been struck MANY times with Dany's character) and managing to see through the power-lust fog to remember that. Whether too late or not, for that to happen in some capacity. And this also ties into Jaime's arc.

I wasn't upset when Jaime heard about shit going down in King's Landing last week and decided that his happy chill Winterfell life with Brienne wasn't going to be that easy and he had to go back to fix the mess he helped make and sever his connection with his twin once and for all. (I mean, I kinda was, but I was like, yeah, I can see that this has to happen.) And he was fucking pissed about it and he was all, this is my shit too, I'm an asshole who has done bad stuff that I have never really atoned for, as this jaghole in the rolly chair keeps reminding me, I can't be with you until I get back in the mud with her and end it once and for all. That is where I ASSUMED they were going. And I think they sort of were, but it didn't end up that way at all.

So what I thought was going to happen was Jaime would get to the city, insinuate himself in somehow, get to Cersei, and talk her down. Or make an attempt. That this was how Jaime would finally cement his redemption, as the only person who could reach Cersei. I thought all the "I'm bad, I've done bad things, I'm as bad as she was" was him essentially being pissed that this was his task. When Tyrion was going on about you can escape and get in a dinghy and start a new life together with your incest baby, I thought, oh dear sentimental (perhaps not in an entirely in-character way) Tyrion, Jaime is going to go and KILL her ass and not a moment too soon. He knows that the blood on her hands is on his hands as well. He doesn't want to start a B&B with her in Europe; he needs to cut the cord, to use an apt metaphor. He doesn't want to, and he's dreading it, but he's the only one who can make it happen because he's the closest to her and she trusts him and he's the only hope of saving the city. He may hold her and TELL her that they can escape, and might even say "oh yeah babe there's totally a dinghy waiting for us if we can just get through the tunnels," and then he's going to stab her in the gut and avert that battle that I dumbly thought they would not stage an entire second one of after they just had one two episodes ago. Jaime the kingslayer, who slayed the queen as well, his own sister, but he had to do it and now he's finally fully redeemed. Even Dany who didn’t trust him will see that he was ultimately the only one who could do what had to be done.

If Jaime died in THAT process I wouldn't be surprised. Like if Cersei fought him and he had to somehow sacrifice them both (a la the Cleganes) in order to get her to die, he would do it, and that would be tragic but meaningful. Or if he dispatched Cersei and THEN got buried by the collapsing castle or whatever, he had accomplished his mission but it was too late for him. Hell, maybe they even make it to the fabled dinghy of redemption and he's talked himself into the idea that he can control her, and then he has second thoughts and drowns her or something because he knows he will never be free if she's alive, and neither will the world because she will always lust for power. OR EVEN if, at the last minute, he gets sucked back into her orbit and he's like "bitch we ARE gonna escape!!! WE CAN START ANEW, IT'S ALL LIKE WE DREAMED" and then she kills him or something but at the last second some shit that he puts in motion causes her to die and the city is saved that way.

But what I was NOT expecting is Jaime to be told "go get her, put her in a boat, start a new life together!" and just like, DO that, or try to. To just apparently shrug off the whole Brienne thing and get to Cersei and be like "hi baby! I missed you" and "let's hug" and then they just die in the castle FOR NO PURPOSE. It didn't redeem Jaime, it didn't tragically NOT redeem Jaime, Jaime just sort of went back there just in time to die with nothing resolved. What is the point of watching this character grow over the seasons and then be like "well I guess he realized he had to go back and die with Cersei because THEY ARE TWINS" (pretty much what the showrunners said). Yes, They Are Twins, which is why it's tragic to have one kill the other, or for him to outgrow her, or for him to give up a promise of happiness to go back and put a stop to her evil deeds because he's the only one who can. What I'm saying is, it's not the tragedy per se that I object to! But to just be like, well, he came back to her because remember they were incest twins and they love each other! They died, the end, is just...such a weird anticlimactic way to do it. “He couldn’t escape her orbit after all; that’s the tragedy!” I guess, but to me that was not supported at all in the rest of Jaime’s arc. It felt like we were pointedly amassing evidence that he WOULD be able to escape her orbit in the final inevitable confrontation. And then that just didn’t come up at all. 

And I love Brienne and I loved them together but like, I don't care THAT much, this isn't a shipper thing. I'm not surprised that Jaime ended up dying. It just makes no sense for the character for it to happen the way it did. I kept thinking we were going one way and then something would happen where I'd be like "huh??" As with my old friend Christopher Carter, I can't tell if they just didn't convey what they were supposed to be conveying (maybe Jaime WAS supposed to be intending to kill her, or to do SOMETHING other than just go back to hang out? and it didn't come through?) or if they just legit wrote it like that. Like the Brienne storyline was just a way to pass the time before the timer went off and they had to cut all that short and dump it in a drawer and get Jaime back to King's Landing so he could die with Cersei because once they thought of that ending scene 5 years ago or something.

I mean: Jaime was the Kingslayer. We were reminded of that A LOT, and also of the fact that the king he killed was Dany's father, and that Dany's father was "mad" and evil, and Jaime killed him ultimately to protect the city, and then got shit for this for the rest of his life.

And we are also shown that Dany is becoming a Mad Queen, who may be about to follow in her father's footsteps after all.

And Jaime goes to all this trouble to get back to the city, where almost these same events are playing out all over again. And...

...Jaime just goes to hang out with Cersei? And then dies? How is there not a whole situation where there is SOME parallel to the Kingslayer thing that we keep being reminded of and that is repeating itself? Such as:

Jaime slays a Mad Queen, but it's Cersei, not Dany.

Jaime has a chance to slay a Mad Queen, Dany (we've literally already had a conversation about this a few eps ago, that she was worried this would happen), but instead he is able to reach her and show her that she is different from her father and it DOESN'T have to play out this way.

Jaime has a chance to slay a Mad Queen (either could work) and prevent the destruction of the city, again, but this time he makes the other choice and doesn’t do it, and it results in tragedy.

Jaime, transformatively humanized and experiencing non-incestuous love for the first time and no longer at the top of his fighting game, no longer has the killer instinct to pull the metaphorical trigger on slaying whichever queen, and Tyrion pops in to do the job for him.

Like any of these things would have made more dramatic sense than what happened, which was, NOTHING. Jaime doesn't even get near Dany and once he gets to Cersei he's just like "hi! time to die I guess" and then they die.

(Maybe something along these lines will happen in the finale? Again, I'm not sure how at this point.) (I suppose it's not IMPOSSIBLE that Jaime could be pulled out of the rubble, but if he is Cersei might be too, and I am REALLY done with Cersei and do not want to dedicate the finale to trying to kill her YET AGAIN.)

Anyway. I was being flip about male showrunners yesterday but honestly, it feels like they are like, let's just wrap this all up fast so we can have 1.5 hours of battle scene. THE PEOPLE NEED A(NOTHER) BATTLE EPISODE.

It WAS cool seeing Drogon FINALLY destroy the Iron Fleet, but literally, why didn't Dany do that last episode. I couldn't enjoy it because that continues to be so baffling to me.

This is longer than I intended; oh well.