and while i'm on some sort of long-winded tangent, WHAT IS THE POINT OF CLAIMING TO BE AN ADAPTATION IF YOU DON'T ADAPT FAITHFULLY?!
i don't mean scene-for-scene remakes--that's ultimately pointless--but the true value of certain scenes that are intended to transform the content.
let me preface by saying i have not watched a single hotd episode in full, and don't intend on it. i've viewed clips and read little articles about different episodes, but i think i always knew that the show wouldn't meet my expectations and my vision of how everything looked and played out, ykwim?
SPOILERS AHEAD
but three very important scenes that i found particularly impactful from fire & blood have been so poorly portrayed that it completely transforms the weight of those moments.
firstly, the death of prince jaehaerys at the hands of blood and cheese. where is maelor? why not get the emotional weight of helaena having to choose between her sons? why not get that shock of anxiety when they threaten jaehaera if she doesn't pick? why not get that shocking moment of horror when they betray helaena's choice and kill jaehaerys instead with a single swing of a sword? why not get the bloodcurdling screams of a mother who just saw her child murdered and is already left with the guilt that she'd chosen the other son? why not set up the horrific and tension-building death of maelor at the bitterbridge, which is what is meant to finally push helaena over the edge and increase the stakes in terms of the lives lost and the degree of emotion that grows in motivating each side after it's all said and done? in the book, that sequence of events genuinely unsettled me, and with what can be done on screen now, i feel like those scenes could be just as moving in the adaptation, even done so tastefully so to not bathe in the blood of the children. it's just disappointing.
second, the role and actions of rhaena targaryen in the battle of the gullet instead of nettles. there's a reason for nettles beyond just some scruff who's able to somewhat tame sheepstealer. nettles, who rhaena replaces in the show, was not responsible for jace's death in the way rhaena is portrayed to have been. vermax simply flew too low, whether it be due to injury or being trapped, and as the dragon drowned, jace chose to jump into the water in an effort to save himself, where he was ultimately killed. nettles fought valiantly alongside him, not causing uncontrolled chaos. outside of the gullet, nettles' role, specifically in terms of her involvement with daemon, is intentionally vague, not a clearer-cut parent-child relationship like we get with rhaena and daemon. their relationship is never outright confirmed to be romantic or platonic, and is thus subjected to many rumors and speculations, all of which serve to fuel rhaenyra's growing paranoia and distrust. rhaenyra would be understanding of rhaena's involvement, not nettles', and that's why she's the character in that role. she's a lowborn bastard girl who, for one reason or another, captured daemon's attention, and something about her and her relationship with daemon is what endears her to those ordered to deliver her head to rhaenyra. and ultimately, rhaena's weird role change alters so many storylines, whether or not they'll be shown in the show. she has her own dragon, one of the most beautiful, in fact, morning, and she ultimately returns to king's landing to be alongside baela and to support aegon iii after rhaenyra and aegon ii's deaths. it all gets muddied. plus, you lose an opportunity to add some sympathy to daemon's character, which has thus far been presented to be a pompous, slick-mouthed badass with little regard for anyone.
finally, and most recently, the death of criston cole at the butcher's ball. leading up to his death, there's growing unease and a thorough strategy being employed against the greens in the book. as they march from harrenhall along the gods eye, they're met with grim scenes of dead soldiers, one of which is a number of dead men arranged at a banquet table (which is a scene wasted in the show that takes away from the desensitization and psychological warfare that is meant to weigh on criston and his host of greens), and a number of corpses that pollute their water access. ok cool, whatever, don't use that build up, that can be fine. BUT DON'T TRY TO GIVE HONOR TO A MAN WHO IS WRITTEN TO HAVE VERY LITTLE AND WHO'S DEATH IS MEANT TO CONVEY THAT!!! by the time the butcher's ball happens in the book, criston and his forces are worn down mentally and physically to the point where the usually perceptive knight doesn't stop to appraise the scene before him and is thus caught wholly off-guard by the seemingly reanimated corpses that rise to ambush them. in the book, all the greens are overwhelmed, with many of them attempting to flee and running right into the blacks who are waiting. criston doesn't get the chance to be a "badass" and take out a bunch of these soldiers, he immediately seeks to force honor from grey, longleaf, and dustin by challenging them to a three-on-one battle. now, in the show, his request is immediately met by the arrows that kill him from a single perpetrator, specifically black aly. yeah, sure, that's cool for her, but it completely shits on cole's arc of false honor. when he makes that challenge on the pages and is shot, he's confronted with the reality of his actions when one of his foes remarks that there'll be no songs sung of his brave and honorable death because of how many have died due to his actions. that single line is so fucking important for criston's character arc. in it, there's an irony that speaks to how criston views honor so superficially and how glorious he thinks he is in comparison to the grim reality of the dance and all of its deaths. there's no last hurrah, there's no smug slaying of at least one of the black commanders before his death, there's no special acknowledgment aside from the fact that he won't get the acknowledgment he wants. and by omitting that line and not having him slain by some unknown archers, and furthermore having him slay a number of soldiers before the final confrontation, the show is forcing honor on a man who has since been proven to not truly have any. it diminishes so much of his depth, imo.
idk, all of this is to say that hotd, for all of its successes (mainly introducing us to such amazing actors and showing us more dragons), has continually shown to me, even in just small clips, that they don't actually get it. they don't actually get why grrm wrote the scenes the way he did, they don't get the depth of the characters, and while i'm not some next-level genius who sees things nobody else does, i feel like at this point, i'd be more capable in conveying the pivotal scenes that the showrunners have mishandled or ignored altogether.
p.s. rhaenyra and alicent's "relationship" in the show is so fucking stupid and honestly comes across as being gay for the sake of blind representation rather than a meaningful connection that doesn't even exist in the source material, but whatever, that's just my opinion like everything else i said. ultimately, i'm not trying to step on anyone's toes or anger fans, just sharing my word vomit, so i'm sorry if i've upset anyone-- unless you're ryan condal, in which case, idgaf.
why, why, why do filmmakers and adapters refuse to show ugly characters? like yes, i know the answer comes down to aesthetics— “no one wants to watch ugly people for hours on end”— but at what point is it just a disservice to storytelling and faithful adaptations?
why is tyrion lannister attractive? why is jean-paul grenouille attractive? there’s countless other examples, but those are the freshest in my mind. if an author makes a dedicated effort to create and describe an ugly character, especially when they also make equal effort to define average, beautiful, and wholly otherworldly, why are their words not being taken into account?
i can imagine that there aren’t many “horrifically ugly” actors who can fulfill these roles, but i know there are so many talented prosthetic, special effects, and makeup artists who can make some good-looking talents look gross.
idk, it’s just a bummer when you want to see your vision come to life and it just doesn’t. like why does tyrion have a nose in the series and doesn’t look like a wicked pug? why is jean-baptiste grenouille a tall, lean young man with a sharp jawline instead of being a hunched over, fat-nosed weirdo?
Born to King Viserys II Targaryen and Lady Larra Rogare, Princess Naerys Targaryen arrived to the realm in 138 AC. The youngest, and only female child of the king, Naerys was said to carry the customary otherworldly beauty of the Targaryens, as she bore large, deep violet eyes, and pale, nearly translucent skin, as well as the traditional silver-gold hair of the family, though she often kept it tightly bound or concealed altogether.
A small, slim girl, Naerys was quite frail and sickly in her youth, leading her to develop an emaciated appearance as she grew. However, as delicate a girl she was said to be, she was fiercely pious and found great comfort in The Seven-Pointed Star, and it was understood that had it been allowed by her father, she wished to be a septa. This book, and the faith, itself, were said to be the only competition to the love she held for her elder brother, Aemon Targaryen.
As many knew it, Naerys was much closer to and loved her brother Aemon more than her eldest brother who she'd come to be wed, future King Aegon IV (the Unworthy). Similar in character, and one of the few to be able to draw a laugh from the princess, the knight, deemed the most noble by many, was said to love Naerys in equal measure. History would note that after the princess was wed to Aegon, both Naerys and Aemon wept, and Aemon openly quarreled with his brother.
Aemon, a member of the Kingsguard in his own right, never failed to defend his dear sister's honor at every opportunity, doing so even under the guise of a mystery knight known as the "Knight of Tears" to be able to crown her as the tourney's queen of love and beauty. He would also defend her against claims of adultery and treason, slaying the knight who accused her in a trial by combat, which only further bolstered his reputation.
In Aemon and her son Daeron would Naerys find the sole solace that her life was willing to offer. Though the birth of her dear son was extremely taxing on the young queen, and maesters would warn against any more childbirths, Aegon would dismiss her requests for the couple to live as brother and sister, insisting she was to perform her "wifely duties" for life. It would be for this reason, amongst many, many others, that the marriage was one of great unhappiness, as Aegon would cite nine mistresses as the only women he'd ever loved, and none would be Naerys.
While Naerys would suffer many childbirths, many of which would end in stillbirths and long, treacherous recoveries in which she'd nearly die, she would go on to birth one more child, a girl who was supposed to be born alongside a twin brother, though he was stillborn. The princess would be named Daenerys, the second of her name.
Ultimately, Queen Naerys' bleak life would come to an end as many a Westerosi woman's would, as she died giving birth to a child that was never to appear in the annals, leading many to conclude the babe died alongside her. Her death would follow a year after her true love's, as Aemon had died while defending their brother against an assassination attempt, and with them died what many court singers would say was a tragic love story.
>.< just wrote the first blurb/au storyline for my got houses...man, ts felt so corny. i think i take myself too seriously to actually believe in wtf i'm writing, but at this point, it's gon be what it's gon be.
Off topic, nobody asked me, but I like the idea of the Celtigars having pink eyes. Purple is already such an uncommon eye color, so maybe unusual eye colors were more common in Old Valyria. Pink could be like a diluted or lighter variation of the classic Valyrian purple eyes.
Corlys and Rhaenys at the Great Council of 101 after they learn that Viserys will be king. Rhaenys had her dress specifically made to complement her black steel and ruby necklace given to her by her husband, The Sea snake, on her last name day. It was said that the necklace was fashioned to bear a likeness to Aegon The Conqueror’s ruby crown.
with the posting of miss celicent tyrell, i have now completed the intial round of great house ocs for my asoiaf au! i really hope that i was able to convey the range of character i tried to create while maintaining the influence from the source material. i had so much fun making the individual edits and writing the little blurbs, and while i don't know exactly what i intended to do with them, i know they're not gonna just be one-offs.
i still have two more posts i want to make to contribute to the au, with one yi ti sim and three free city (the three will be posted as a single trio) sims, before i look at maybe focusing on smaller houses, but as it stands, i'm very happy with how things came out.
i also want to do more with my targaryen-specific au, like with maelyrus, daerys, haelria, and ashana, including introducing the husbands of haelria and ashana-- as well as recreating some canon characters as i conclude my reading of f&b.
all of this is to say thank you for the people, moots and non-followers, who engaged with my bunk ass posts and made me smile when they liked and commented! i've been able to immerse so much into asoiaf simblr, and i'm really happy about it all! i hope its been enjoyable to read the character descriptions and look at the edits, and i'm excited to try and build upon what i've established.
Miss Celicent Tyrell, the Little Fireplum of Highgarden, the daughter of Ser Theodore Tyrell
“Amongst the lush greenery of Highgarden and the Reach, the finest flower blossomed untainted by the bloodshed of war that polluted the Crownlands. Celicent Tyrell, the eldest child and daughter of Theodore Tyrell and Lia Serry, was one of the few young members of her house to remain at Highgarden upon the summoning of her cousin, Margaery Tyrell, to King’s Landing for her wedding to King Joffrey Baratheon. It would seem she excused herself from the duties of service to her cousin for two reasons: her sense of obligation and devotion to her mother, and an unconcealable disdain for the realm’s troublesome rulers. Though trained in cunning connivery like many a Tyrell, the good-natured Celicent found it unneeded as long as she stayed in her homeland, much to the chagrin of her elder cousin, who was said to have desired the calm, warm presence of her ‘dear Celi,’ who reminded her so much of home. But none could deprive the girl of her connection to the gardens and groves of the Reach, and so left her to flourish. And flourish she did. Short in stature, though fuller in figure with thick, silken coils of chestnut brown that fell heavy to the cinch of her waist, Celicent was a maiden round of face, her full cheeks and slightly tanned skin reflecting the image of a youthful and exuberant girl, particularly darling with the faintest hint of mischief in her russet-toned eyes. Many a knight and lad of noble birth vied for the affections of the knight’s daughter, but to the exasperation of her father, his eldest girl was as guileful as any from her house, and thus felt it her unspoken duty to insure herself only the best match. She was said to insist upon challenges for her suitors, whether they be foot races, fruit picking, games of logic or wine drinking, and oft served as their opponent with uninhibited joy. Nimble of foot, seasoned in harvest, witty by nature, and keen for a taste of Arbor red, it was rarely seen that a boy could see himself the victor of many a challenge against her, and would see themselves taking their leave greatly exhausted from a day of exertion. For she had all the makings of the finest of ladies, she was wild of heart, free of spirit, and good of being, and thus found herself unable to simply submit to ladyship without some degree of mischief and merriment. While her parents worked tirelessly to ensure a match for their eldest, she had gained the unspoken respect of the Queen of Thorns, and though she did not boast it, she carried it close to her heart, a prize that many a Tyrell girl would seek as she approached womanhood. The matriarch of House Tyrell would dub her the ‘little fireplum’ for her vibrant personality and rounded cheeks, and while Celicent would make many an effort to gain a more elegant alias, she could not help but bear a wry smile at the name as Olenna spoke it. However, it would come to be that the Little Fireplum’s ‘fire,’ as it were, would be the brightest spot of hope amongst the turbulent state of Highgarden as the favors shifted dramatically across the realm at the hands of those who fought the War of the Five Kings.”
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