I Have Tomato

“I don’t like them.”

Active dislike of a character you’ve written—specifically because of their qualities and not because they seem 2d or whatnot—means you’ve made a believable person, and the thing about real people is that nobody, no matter how popular, is for everyone.

Real people have undesirable qualities. They’re inconsistent, smelly, messy, irrational, cowardly and heroic at turns that you wish were reversed. They love the wrong people, the wrong things, they vest their best efforts in the places that seem least worthy.

Real people are sweaty, unpredictable, argumentative, rude, beautiful, ugly, and whole.

A mentor and friend once told me that if nobody dislikes you it probably means you’ve never stood for anything. I feel the same way about characters. If nobody who’s reading the book dislikes them? They’re not saying enough.

Say it. Say it all. Make them people. Embrace some readers not liking them.

“Ghosts aren’t real” it’s very fair and rational that you believe that

“Ghosts aren’t real anymore” I’m about to hear a poem or very sad story

hear dory

Feral gods

In ooh

And day and night

And think he is his Jew

Lock

Dyin' inside

His with blue window

And whore

And every his goy

And his

And every a rizz

He

In

Sin

Im dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud da di

Im dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud da di

Abba with a blow

Is the cut of a wear

Bodish java two

Avvag in show blue

Father fear the clown

Like Mike... It's all time

Father weighing wing

Father Putain guide me

Im dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud da di

Im dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud da di

Abba with a blow

Is the cut of a wear

Bodish java two

Avvag in show blue

Father fear the clown

Like Mike... It's all time

Father weighing wing

Father Putain guide me

Im dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud da di

Im dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud da di

Inmate and Ide

Bliss house

With a widdle

Anna Pervette

Everythin's blue

For him his self

Ever around

He ain't got no butt

To listen

Im dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud da di

Im dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

hear dory

Feral gods

In ooh

And day and night

And think he is his Jew

Lock

Dyin' inside

His with blue window

And whore

And every his goy

And his

And every a rizz

He

In

Sin

Im dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud da di

Im dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud da di

Abba with a blow

Is the cut of a wear

Bodish java two

Avvag in show blue

Father fear the clown

Like Mike... It's all time

Father weighing wing

Father Putain guide me

Im dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud da di

Im dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud da di

Abba with a blow

Is the cut of a wear

Bodish java two

Avvag in show blue

Father fear the clown

Like Mike... It's all time

Father weighing wing

Father Putain guide me

Im dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud da di

Im dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud da di

Inmate and Ide

Bliss house

With a widdle

Anna Pervette

Everythin's blue

For him his self

Ever around

He ain't got no butt

To listen

Im dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud da di

Im dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

Dabud ba di daba daba

costume + color + scene

This moment—intentionally or not—captures something profound about the history of Westeros. Something that has huge ripple effects down the line from Ashford Meadow.

The briefest explanation for context for anyone reading this who doesn’t know the history (spoilers ahead I guess): Aegon, Egg, the future Aegon V, has one of the most peaceful and prosperous reigns of the Targaryen Dynasty. He makes his share of mistakes, but he is widely agreed to be a good king who rules fairly and justly. This is a boy who has Aerion and Daeron as his older brothers. A psychopath and a drunk. His father is cold and distant. He has every reason not to become a decent man when he gets older… but he does.

Much of that is because of Duncan’s mentorship, yes, and because from the moment we see Aegon he clearly wants to be a knight and a good man, but I think this moment, when he sees his uncle, the crown prince, put his life on the line for the cause of a Hedge Knight who protected a commoner from Aerion’s horrific abuse, is one of the key moments that propels him forward towards becoming the king he one day grows into.

Because we can all of us want to be better, we can all long to be something greater, but a big help along the way is having a moment, an experience, a relationship, that demonstrates to us that it is actually possible. I think that moment when Aegon sees his uncle Baelor ride onto the tournament field at Ashford Meadow to fight for the lowest of the low, might be the first time he realized it was possible for him to succeed at it.

And man, every time I see that shot of Dexter Sol Ansell’s face, it hits me again. What a wonderful, quiet moment amidst a bigger one. Where a kid who has every reason to grow cynical is given a reason not to be.

This is also part of why I think the occasional complaint that Baelor Targaryen’s death at Ashford was pointless misses the entire point. A lot of people in the story believed it was. Even Duncan, which is part of the reason for his grief over it… but I see that kid’s face, knowing the man and the king he is going to one day grow into, and no. Baelor’s decision to fight matters so much, because it sets his nephew on a path that one day secures the kingdom decades of peace and prosperity.

It’s been a year and a half since Prince of Clay came out and it’s been really interesting watching peoples reactions to it, who understood what I was putting down, and who didn’t.

Because if Skyfarer was an adventure story, and Dragon Road was a thriller, Prince of Clay needed to be, and is, a war-story. And that means by definition for me to be honest when handling that sort of story, it couldn’t be upbeat or cheerful. It needed to be messy, and complicated, and painful and abrupt, and leave a partial taste of ash in the mouth at the end.

If I hadn’t done that, it wouldn’t have been a war story. It would’ve been another adventure story that used war as its backdrop. Those are fine, but they’re not war-stories.

There were moments of glory and triumph in Prince of Clay, but it was not intended to be a story of Glory or Triumph. It was intended to be something else altogether. It’s been really interesting seeing who that resonated with, who it didn’t, and why.

On what the male loneliness epidemic is really about. Given actual alternatives, women are opting tf OUT of "traditional roles".