#thoughtd

off the bat, i want to say i really enjoyed this show. while i love the hot mess that is HotD, AKotSK is a better told story. this is unsurprising given that the former is adapting an in-universe history book that only freaks like me would enjoy while the Dunk and Egg stories are among the best things GRRM has ever written, but it's worth saying. a lot of what i will go on to say are criticisms, so it's worth clarifying these are coming from the perspective of someone who thought the show was overall quite good.

to give this a little bit of structure, i'm going to focus on things that have been changed from the short story to the show, starting with changes i like and going from there.

one of my favorite changes is the palpable disdain this show seems to have for the Targaryens. Fossoway's rant when he's drinking with Dunk and Lionel's disparaging comments in the final episode really highlight this, but actually my favorite example of it is the stinger at the end of the final episode. because of course Maekar did not have enough introspection to see the merit in Dunk's argument. he's a Targaryen. he thinks the Targaryens are superior to ordinary people despite all evidence to the contrary.

i'm also fond of Rowan, the sex worker who marries Raymun Fossoway at the end of the season. she fills a vital role as a voice for the common people, and her comment about how her and Dunk are both there to sell their bodies was quite resonant.

a change i found notable but have no strong feelings about at the moment is the way the flashback in episode 5 changed the timeline a bit. in the short story, Dunk is taken in by Ser Arlan much younger, which is a fairly minor change, but the fact that we see Dunk looting a battlefield (presumably the redgrsss field) pushes the blackfyre rebellion significantly more recent than it was in the short stories. i'm reserving further judgement on this front until the next couple of seasons, which will adapt short stories in which the blackfyre rebellions take a much more central focus.

one change that i found enjoyable but was probably bad for the story as a whole is the prominence of Lionel Barratheon. the original short story was very much about how Dunk does not fit into this world of knights and nobles. he is at a disadvantage every moment because he is not like them, but this is why he is the one to intervene when a common-born dornish woman is assaulted by a prince of the realm, and in the end it is decided that Egg would be better off with Dunk specifically because Dunk is not like the upper class. Dunk being friendly with Lionel almost from the jump undermines this. no one will vouch for Dunk? why not ask Lionel, he'd probably do it. who will fight for Dunk in the trial? probably Lionel will (and does, but Dunk never considers this). Dunk spends much of the story hoping he can convince some lord to take him into service, and Lionel insists upon it but Dunk inexplicably turns him down. so many holes result from this change; however, i cannot be mad about it because Daniel Ings is so fun to watch.

what i can and will be mad about is how the scene where Dunk first meets Baelor was changed. everything about this scene has been made worse in the show. in the book, Dunk walks in on the meeting without any knowledge of who the princes are and Baelor remembers Ser Arlan unprompted, asking questions of Dunk to confirm he is who he says he is before vouching for him after Dunk has figured out who he's talking to. in the show, Dunk is spying on the conversation, knows who Baelor is immediately, and specifically seeks out Baelor's confirmation of his knighthood. these changes affect Baelor's characterization slightly in ways i don't love but would be fine with, but they have a much larger impact on how we see Dunk. the idea that Dunk would be bold enough to approach a prince and ask this favor of him, assuming Baelor would in fact remember Ser Arlan rather than being surprised to find that out, once again undermines the idea that Dunk comes from a fundamentally different world than the knights and lords and princes do. this is my least favorite scene in the whole show (worse even than the shitting scene at the beginning, though it's close) and it baffles me because there are plenty of other things to demonstrate that the writers knew what they were doing and knew what the themes were supposed to be and yet they did this.

1st. you’re very cool from afar, but when you get closer its.. um different

2nd. you always look like you’re ready for a hug, but you’re deadly

Like bro leave me alone, I know im hot but leave me alone 

The only men I will let kill me are ✨zombie pigmen and piglins✨

What was once a different whole is made anew. Each fold each crease each bend has purpose and meaning. 

Find the new message as the parchment takes shape. Try your best to make no mistakes as you continue to fold. 

What will it be once you are finished... No one knows. Once an ancient prophecy turns into the road map used to find hidden treasure of a mind long since passed. 

Perhaps a guide to living, words placed in meaningful context once used as a doctrine to reach enlightenment. More over let's think of a story, telling of good and evil and their prolonged struggle against each other to see which will be victorious over the realm of the world. 

Each fold tells a current story, each bend a path to be followed. Each crease a message to be sent. 

Each creation a story in the making how will it end... How will it end?

image: abstract, Origami, Selective, Coloring Wallpapers HD / Des

It's so pointless to hold on to lost friends and so hard to hold on to old memories. How are you expected to hold onto something that is forever gone. How do I look at old moments fondly when I drive past the houses I grew up at and remember my old friends are gone. How do I hold on when my memories are fading to dust around me and I'm the only one left, standing where it all started. It would be easier to hold onto friends than the memories sometimes. But, to my despair, all those friends are gone too. Maybe it's about time I fade away with them.

You know those really frustrating moments in life when you are motivated but your brain won’t just let you concentrate? Yeah, I have been having those moments a lot over the past few months. Your brain is subconsciously riding on a never ending train ride of thoughts. It’s not as though you aren’t struggling to focus, but your brain will continuously find moments to escape into another world. initially it wasn’t so serious, but as time permitted it just grew and started affecting various aspects of my life including my grades.

  So I tried to things differently, tried to figure a way to gain even a slight control over my thoughts or at least hinder them from flowing.

Music: Somehow playing music overrides my thoughts, as though it silences it. My brain feels at peace, no chaos. It helps to block out the voices in reality, it is just one melody and everything is just flowing smoothly harmonizing with that single melody.

Speaking the words out while reading: I was focused on the words I was pronouncing, understanding each words as it slipped my lips.The words were evident and not in a mixture of my thoughts. I tried to focus on the words, imagining the words in my head as they were being spoken in class. I was in reality, I was no longer in my thoughts.

Snapping myself back to reality: When ever I would feel being swayed by the currents of my thoughts I would just stop.I would pull myself together, breath and tell myself to focus.

Talk it out: If i had something on my mind from school and i feel it would keep bugging me. I would just talk about it, voice note it or just call someone right that moment. Saying it out loud made me feel as though my head is clear. It is as though I forgot about the problem and I am more focused.

Note down your distracting thoughts: As soon as a thought comes to your mind, quickly write it down and forget about it. I would assign a time for example after I completed a certain task to give it a deeper thought or write about on tumblr. This way I would be looking forward to thinking about it later within a certain period of time.

Taking Breaks: I would study for an hour and then take a 5 minutes break.Then I would study for an hour again and then take a 15 minutes break. This way I would tell myself to focus for 1 hour and then use my breaks to let my thoughts flow freely.  

Change Your Study Material Or the Subject Your Learning: For Eg. I find Reading Biology for hours quite tiresome because you are just reading, understanding and learning. Switch it up a bit in between, try solving a Chemistry Past paper or something different to get your mind off for some time and then get back to it.

Find your Biological Prime Time: Everyone has a time during the day when our mind is naturally most focused. Study during your prime time you'll have more focus and will power, and studying and concentrate on it will be much easier.

Try to get plenty of Sleep and Eat Properly: Getting 7 hours of sleep is perfect, 6 hours of sleep will also suffice. Try to make a consistent sleep pattern and stick to it because if your sleep pattern fluctuate you will feel exhausted. I personally feel lethargic after having carbohydrates/Dairy before studying, I feel I am more focused if I eat healthy and light before a study session. You should experiment and try to see what works for you.