LORD VARYS. I would say that Lord Varys is my favourite character in The @gameofthrones because his intelligence is admirable as he successfully proves to the world that working silently alone will make him survive for long. “I am the master of whisperers. My role is to be sly, obsequious, and without scruples” – Lord Varys. Varys’ role in court; he is to be a servant willing to do anything and everything for the crown without people knowing what he’s up to. “I choose my allies carefully, and my enemies more carefully still” – Lord Varys. He tells Lady Olenna that though he chooses his allies with care, even more planning goes into choosing his enemies. Another quote to show everything Varys does in Game of Thrones is calculated.

Yabzhi Taktser is the former residence of the family of His Holiness the Dalai Lama XIV in Lhasa. Tibetan poet Tsering Woeser visited the place a few years and wrote a poem about it, translated by Ian Boyden. The photo of the Yabzhi Taktser during sunset was taken by me in 2016. The Spider of Yabzhi Taktser Poem by Tsering Woeser Translated by Ian Boyden That afternoon the savage light fell on ordinary, worldly faces, the faces golden as if stone were turned to gold, transformed into unusual treasure. We walked Jiangsu Road. Yes, the Jiangsu Road in the southern part of Lhasa. The road’s name is a violation that does not belong here— you understand? Although I am older than my two friends I’m a full head shorter acha. We spoke Tibetan, Chinese, and English, although I only speak Chinese and Tibetan. We were followed, I don’t know by who or how many. They were like tails we couldn’t shake loose. They stood there on the corners, their eyes like cunning rats, with their tiny swallowed hearts, such trembling, wretched obsequious worms. And there in the shadows of the roadside trees people milled about outside of shops their faces void of light discussing business riddled with anxiety. We walked through Central Beijing Road, this holy city so long ago embedded with foreign names. Each name is like its own occupation—one after another, everyone’s grown so accustomed to them, no one knows to think the names are strange. Sunshine, ah, golden sunshine, our warm shadows fell long across the colorful floor tiles. Surveillance cameras everywhere hung in the high places their eyes fell upon our bodies on everyone’s bodies— it seemed our backs grew cold. Even so, I didn’t want to turn my head to look. I didn’t want to stop, I just wanted to keep going forward and so we walked with long strides. We grinned and laughed— we were so handsome cherishing this moment of apparent freedom and together we sighed the slogan of the oppressor “So Happy and Blessed!”

Unlike eager-to-please (obsequious for those who like a $10 word) dogs, you have to earn a cat's love. Love too strong a word. Tolerance. My cat tolerates me cause I provide her shelter, food and warmth in my layers of fat. When she sits between the folds of my tummy, I swoon. #MaKitteh #BillyJean