10 minutes into the newest Grey’s Anatomy and I want to scream. They are really going with the “the tumor is the reason” story with Amelia. What a cheap cop out tbh. Because we TOTALLY needed a medical condition to explain THE CONSISTENT TRAUMA RESPONSE that Amelia has been displaying since she appeared on our screens. Nooo, it’s the tumor affecting her decision-making and her judgment, not all the traumas linked to her previous pregnancy and losing Derek in a story about a false pregnancy and a presumed dead sibling coming back from the dead.
Oh and it apparently has been affecting her for years. All of Amelia’s decisions and judgements are not the result of the tumor. Everything falls under that umbrella. So even her trauma responses were not hers, but the tumor since we don’t know how far back this goes.
It just got worse!
10 minutes into the newest Grey’s Anatomy and I want to scream. They are really going with the “the tumor is the reason” story with Amelia. What a cheap cop out tbh. Because we TOTALLY needed a medical condition to explain THE CONSISTENT TRAUMA RESPONSE that Amelia has been displaying since she appeared on our screens. Nooo, it’s the tumor affecting her decision-making and her judgment, not all the traumas linked to her previous pregnancy and losing Derek in a story about a false pregnancy and a presumed dead sibling coming back from the dead.
You’re too kind, anon. Thank you! I quite like the Reeds. I find their place in the narrative really fascinating in a way that transcend their character arcs. I mean, individually they rock, but the way the text handles their introduction and the place they occupy in the Starks’ overall story is extremely compelling to me.
Look at how GRRM handled their introduction. We’ve been hearing about Howland Reed since AGoT as the only other survivor of the Tower of Joy and someone whose relationship with Ned sounded was deep and strong. It was not just that Howland was present for one of the most traumatic events in Ned’s life, one that haunts Ned throughout the book till his very end, but there is also a pointed intimacy in the description of the event that frames the relationship Howland enjoyed with the Stark siblings and the care he displayed for both Lyanna and Ned. Howland was there to take care of Ned as Ned shut down in his grief over Lyanna’s death, he was the one who eased Lyanna’s hand from Ned’s grasp, and I have no doubt that he took on the bulk of the effort of preparing Lyanna’s body for transport and any other needed task, something that must have been excruciating for him in light of his own personal friendship with Lyanna. That profound care Howland showed to the Starks as friends and not merely liege lords is compounded by being a holder of the secret of Jon’s real parentage, something that forms a certain bond between him and Ned as the two people who loved Lyanna fiercely enough to essentially commit treason to save her child’s life. I think Howland’s obscurity and the hardship of trying to find Greywater Watch makes people forget that had the truth about Jon’s parentage come to light, Howland’s life would have been in danger alongside Ned’s. The man was not just holding a secret for a friend, he was endangering himself by doing it.
But Howland is not the Reed GRRM chooses to shape our view of the house though, instead it’s Meera and Jojen that we meet first. The first interesting about this is how Meera and Jojen’s relationship with Bran doesn’t only reflect Howland’s relationship with Ned and Lyanna, but House Reed’s historical relationship with House Stark in general as well. The loyalty of House Reed to the Starks has been made a point even in TWOIAF, and as we see, Meera and Jojen really embody that loyalty. I’d be remiss if I did not speak about the historical weight that Meera and Jojen’s oath of fealty has which truly communicates the enormity of House Reed’s loyalty to the Starks in an oath that is hands-down the best oath of fealty I’ve ever heard.
This is our first introduction to any member of House Reed in current
time, and their oath is not only one that sets them apart from other
loyal Stark vassals, but it also holds the weight of history and
thousands of years of loyalty and trust between House Stark and House
Reed, while also acknowledging the true spirit of feudal vassalage oaths and their reciprocal nature and how the Starks historically upheld it. Look at how meaningful it is.
“To Winterfell we pledge the faith of Greywater,” they said
together. “Hearth and heart and harvest we yield up to you, my lord. Our
swords and spears and arrows are yours to command. Grant mercy to our
weak, help to our helpless, and justice to all, and we shall never fail
you.” “I swear it by earth and water,” said the boy in green. “I swear it by bronze and iron,” his sister said. “We swear it by ice and fire,” they finished together.
Allow me to go on a little tangent here because I just love that oath. This is an oath that is steeped in history, both personal and political.
Note that Meera and Jojen’s first appearance is during the harvest feast, which is pretty symbolic
considering that they were pledging everything to Winterfell, hearth and heart and harvest, trusting that Winterfell will reciprocate with protection and generosity and justice and friendship because that’s what Winterfell has done for thousands of years. It takes profound trust to say “here, we’re prepared to yield everything up to you. We only ask for mercy, help and justice” and knowing that trust will be rewarded. There is an acknowledgement here to thousands of years of good faith and the personal responsibility Winterfell took to look after their vassals through the worst winters. This is House Reed displaying the fierce loyalty that marks its members’ actions, while reflecting the reason the Starks garner such deep loyalty from their vassals. It is, first and foremost, a show of conviction and gratitude, because the Starks are not only known for upholding their solemn duties of protection as feudal lords, but also sharing Winterfell’s beneficial higher technology to ease the suffering of their people in winter in what can only be described as sheer generosity and kindness. They gave residence in the winter town as a right to their people so they could personally care and provide for them. They gave them justice and safety so trusted that the Liddle keeps talking about how different things were when there was a Stark in Winterfell, and the return of the Starks is treated as a symbolic restoration of order in the North. It will be alright when the wolves comes again.
I can spend a lot talking about that oath tbh but I don’t want to derail the conversation too much. I’ll just say that, unnoticed by many, we got our first inkling of ADWD’s Northern storyline and the first reminder that the North Remembers even before we actually heard that specific phrase. Link Meera and Jojen’s oath with Wylla Manderly’s passionate speech about how the wolves “nourished us and protected us” to the Liddle’s conviction that “when there was a Stark in Winterfell, a maiden girl could walk the
kingsroad in her name-day gown and still go unmolested, and travelers
could find fire, bread, and salt at many an inn and holdfast.” The groundwork for the story about Northern loyalty and Ned’s legacy, the explanation of the reason behind it is all laid in Bran’s chapters in book two and three. The Starks earned that indispensable place they hold in Northern history; they cared for their people, so their people cared for them back. The oaths of loyalty are personal to the Northmen because the Starks’ oaths of protection are also personal.
Those riveting declarations of devotion and faithfulness to the Starks that mark ADWD go back to ACok, it starts with Meera and Jojen Reed. We shall never fail you, they declare and then go on to be a steady source of guidance, support and protection for Bran. It’s Jojen Reed that assures us in no uncertain terms that “the wolves will come again” and that’s huge in what it tells the audience. Hang on. Don’t lose faith. That decency and morality and honor the Starks displayed will be rewarded. No, this is not a story about how honor gets you killed. The Starks honored their oaths, and their bannemen will honor them back.
That same sentiment is reflected in Howland’s actions with Lyanna and Ned which was built on a relationship formed when the Starks stood up for him at Harrenhal, Lyanna by charging into the foray to defend him and later riding in the tourney in his name, Ben by offering to help him find armor, and Ned for offering him a place with them, pretty much inviting him to their pack. I tend to see the Reeds as almost kin to the Starks if I’m being frank, which relates to how I also see them as the guardians of the Starks’ magical side, whether directly or symbolically. Their safeguarding of the Starks’ magic ranges from Jojen’s tutelage of Bran and his encouragement for him to seek the three-eyed crow, to Meera taking on the task of his protector through the journey so she could ensure that he does make it to where he is supposed to go, to both Reed siblings coming to Winterfell with the specific mission of saving Bran and setting him free of the chains from Jojen’s dream, to Howland
assisting in protecting Jon who has his own magical destiny. The Reeds are protectors – protectors of secrets, protectors of magic (House Reed has its strong mystical connections, including Jojen’s green dreams and whatever magical knowledge Howland gleamed during his stay on the Isle of Faces so it’s a fitting role), protectors of magically-inclined individuals, protectors of Starks. Howland saved Ned’s life during the rebellion and helped conceal Jon Snow, while his daughter provided for Bran and Jojen and offered physical protection and emotional support during the journey to beyond the Wall, and his son displayed staggering strength and courage in his persistence to get Bran to the three-eyes crown, even knowing that his end would be in that cave
and subsequently struggling with consuming depression. It is more than appropriate, then, that the Reeds’ geographical location and dominion over the Neck makes them the protectors of the entire North from enemies from the south.
“The way music comes out of … every molecule of the place [is] something we share,” playwright says of track featuring Jennifer Lopez and Luis Fonsi
It’s been two weeks since Hurricane Maria first raged across the island of Puerto Rico, and the crisis has only grown more complex. What first seemed like a natural disaster has also proven to be a long-standing infrastructural one; most of the island remains without electricity and water, putting its residents at a heightened risk of disease and famine. Yet with Puerto Ricans’ pleas meeting inadequate responses from the White House, Tony-winning Hamilton playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda has taken matters into his own hands – and with the help of many friends. Recorded alongside an all-star cast of Latin artists, including Jennifer Lopez, Gina Rodriguez, Fat Joe, Gloria Esterfan, Camila Cabello and Marc Anthony, Miranda’s new song “Almost Like Praying” is a love song to Puerto Rico as much as it is a fight song. The song’s proceeds will benefit the Hispanic Federation’s UNIDOS Disaster Relief Fund.
“You know how we always tell artists ‘stay in your lane’ anytime they say something remotely political? I’m trying to use what I do in service of this challenge,” Miranda tells Rolling Stone. “We’re facing a humanitarian crisis right now. And the response from our federal government is not commensurate with the previous two hurricanes, much less up to the unprecedented danger of this disaster itself.”
Miranda began work on the song, an adaptation of “Maria” from 1961 musical West Side Story, two days after the hurricane first made landfall. “I knew the name Maria was forever going to have a destructive connotation to this island,” says Miranda. “It’s also the name of my favorite song from West Side Story. So my brain was already looking for a sample to flip … And that’s what we do in hip-hop, right? We take a sample, we flip it and change the meaning. And so the hook of the song is, ‘Say it soft, and it’s almost like praying.’”
But first, he sought clearance from Stephen Sondheim and the estate of Leonard Bernstein. “They gave their blessing within a day,” says Miranda. “When there’s a crisis, you call in all the favors – call the gods of musical theater! I have the great fortune to count Sondheim as a mentor and a friend. I worked with him and Bernstein on the 2009 revival of West Side Story and its Spanish translations. Sondheim wrote back immediately and said ‘Yes – and what else can I do?’”
Miranda infused the number with a warm blend of dancehall, reggaeton and steel drum sounds; the result is an incendiary and highly danceable clarion call. (“If you’re gonna write a song for Puerto Rico and you can’t dance to it,” says Miranda, “you fucked up.”) Most moving is how many of Miranda’s childhood heroes, including original West Side Story cast member Rita Moreno, take turns shouting out each of the island’s 78 towns – a move Miranda says was inspired by Puerto Ricans’ heartbreaking calls across social media to find their relatives in the wake of the storm.
“There was a terrible silence,” says Miranda. “For some people days, for some people weeks. My Twitter and my Facebook were filled with friends and family listing the names of their towns. ‘My grandmother is in Vega Alta, my father lives in San Juan, has anyone heard from Isabela?’ I began thinking about the towns as lyrics. What unites us in this tiny island that is 100 miles across and 35 miles north to south … Is that we’re from these towns. We ask, ‘Where are you from?’ It is our link to our roots and our families.”
While enlisting collaborators for the track, Miranda says he made new friends in the process. “I broke my Rolodex and called every Latino artist I know,” he says. “And when I didn’t know them, I got on Twitter. I caused a minor uproar with Camila Cabello’s fans when I tweeted her, ‘Hey I have an idea!’ I also sent a private message to Luis Fonsi, who I never met before. I cold-called and every single person said yes, without even hearing the song.”
Within a dizzying72 hours, Miranda flew from New York to Miami and Los Angeles to be present while the artistsrecordedtheir respective verses. Yet some were still recovering in the Caribbean, where resources were scarce and internet access was spotty. “The rapper PJ Sin Suela recorded at home,” says Miranda. “But he didn’t have the bandwidth to email his verse. So he gave a memory stick to Estefan, who was there on a relief mission – she then flew it back to us. When I say ‘all hands on deck,’ I’m really not fucking around!”
Riggs Morales, the executive producer behind the Hamilton Mixtape, mixed and mastered the song in the days that followed. Meanwhile, Miranda harvested stories of Puerto Rico from his collaborators, evoking tears and laughter inside the studios.This behind-the-scenes footage will air as part of a televised benefit, airing commercial-free on Telemundo Saturday, October 7th.
“I asked everyone, ‘What are your favorite memories from Puerto Rico?’” says Miranda. “I will never forget seeing Rubén Blades breaking down about meeting Hector LaVoe for the first time. I’ll never forget Marc Anthony talking about wearing suits before getting on a plane [to the United States] so they’d look white when they landed … And Gilberto Santa Rosa, who sang at my wedding. He was a salsero, but grew up in the same part of town as Daddy Yankee. They could not make two more different genres, but music saved their lives.
“The way music comes out of every frog, every tree, every molecule of the place,” reflects Miranda, “That’s something we share.”
PALTROW: The other project of yours that I’m dying over is The Assassination of Gianni Versace. I saw pictures. You look incredible as Donatella.
CRUZ: From the moment I got the call from Ryan Murphy, I thought, “Why did you think of me for that character? That’s very … interesting.” I know her a little bit, and I really like her. I had a few questions about how he was going to handle her portrayal, but he’s so classy, and he’s very respectful to people. This is a delicate story, because I’m playing someone who is alive, someone who lost her brother in a horrible way, and someone who still misses him very much 20 years later. I was not used to the rhythm of doing television.
PALTROW: It’s fast.
CRUZ: Getting four monologues two days before the shoot? And I was doing English with an Italian accent! I was like, “This is impossible.” But then you just do it.
PALTROW: When I did Glee, I was like, “What do you mean we’re shooting a whole musical number in half a day?” I couldn’t believe it. And then after TV, you go back to doing a movie and you’re like, “This is so slow!”
CRUZ: I know! Now I’m shooting a movie with Asghar Farhadi, the director of The Salesman and A Separation, in Spain. I look at my dialogue and I’m like, “Uhh, okay. I got this.” [laughs]
PALTROW: How did you go about preparing to play Donatella Versace? Did you watch interviews?
CRUZ: I worked a lot with a dialogue coach to find the way that Donatella speaks, which is a little different from the way she spoke in the ’90s. The accent that she has, it’s Italian with a very international flavor—very rock ’n’ roll. I didn’t want to do an imitation of Donatella, or a caricature. I wanted to try to capture the essence of who she is.
PALTROW: Did you speak to her about it?
CRUZ: A little bit. I needed that conversation. I really hope that when she sees the show, she’s going to be happy. I’m sure there are going to be scenes that are hard for her to watch, because it’s a lot about the loss of her brother, which, of course, I have so much respect for. I did it with all my love. From that place of devastation, she had to keep this company going in his honor. I don’t know if she ever said this, but it was a way of keeping him alive.
PALTROW: Do you think you’ll do more TV?
CRUZ: Why not? I would love to work with Ryan and his team again.
It’s an awful bind Ned was in, because most of what he could have done differently to mitigate Catelyn’s issues with Jon would have been a) not very good for Jon and most likely b) had some serious repercussions on his mental health.
Sam speaks 