George R. R. Martin extends his support to the 'Black Lives Matter' protests

Raging protests took place in the United States along with the rest of the world after George Floyd, an African-American, was pinned to death by four policemen. The incident took place on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota; and ever since then, the Black Lives Matter movement has caught fire across the globe; including all the fifty states of the USA. Although violent riots broke out in some places, most people raised their voices peacefully against racial injustice and police brutality. George R. R. Martin, the man whose words brought Game of Thrones to life, also voiced his opinion on his Not a Blog.

In a post titled “Words for our Times”, Martin posted a picture with two quotes by Frederick Douglass; a famous African-American social reformer who spoke and wrote against slavery. “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will,” read the first one. The American author wrote no words of his own yet clearly expressed his unease and anger towards the way people have segregated various sections of the society based on class, race, and gender. The ignorance of the society and of those in power regarding such issues has cost the safety of our freedom, life, and diversity. It has only spread hatred and brought ruin to the marginalized groups.

Many from the Game of Thrones cast had come out in the open to support the Black Lives Matter movement. Actors like Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), Kerry Ingram (Shireen Baratheon), and Richard Madden (Robb Stark) took to streets and walked and chanted with the protesters. Other celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Brad Pitt, and Michael B. Jordan also spoke for equality and the stake of black voices in different aspects of the society. Slogans like “No justice No peace”, “White silence is violence”, “I can’t breathe” echoed through the streets.

The US President, Donald Trump’s recent statement calling “Black Lives Matter” a symbol of hate has raised questions about the role of the people in power. However, the office of the President has made it clear that it was meant for the organization of the same name that they claim is leading people to violence and extremism. Whatever the reasons, it’s not possible to rule out any government from the equations of injustice. It’s a burden shared by every citizen which is mirrored in the face of our leaders.

You can tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.

Game of Thrones prequel House of The Dragon is fast on track for release in 2022. It is a well-known fact it wasn’t the only series HBO was planning to develop back in 2019. There were a number of prequel series, of which House of The Dragon got the chance to move forward to production. Another prequel, rumoured to have been named Blood Moon, was scrapped. The fans were disheartened, and so was the cast. The show’s lead, Naomi Watts, was in tears. One of the crew members, Tom Canton recently posted an image of cast member Naomi Watts in full costume working on the show from back in 2019.

An Actor, namely, @naomiwatts , Prepares…

Throwback to a special moment in my career filming with the inimitable Naomi Watts here in the stunning cave of natural beauty, known as “Grotta del Turco”, or “The Cave of The Turk”, in Gaeta, Italy, two years ago.

Located over… pic.twitter.com/C8e8Sl3LKV

— Tom Canton (@Tom_Canton) April 6, 2021

Blood Moon, which was to be set well over one thousand years before the mother series. There is no Iron Throne. There are no dragons. Westeros is a very different place.

Unfortunately, HBO cancelled Blood Moon after showrunner Jane Goldman and her team made a pilot, but we’re still getting little bits and pieces of what we missed here and there.

We never learned the name Watts’ character, but we knew she was “a charismatic socialite with a dark secret.” The show had a full ensemble cast that included Josh Whitehouse, Naomi Ackie, Jamie Campbell Bower, Denise Gough and many more. We also know that the Children of the Forest would have played a big part on the show.

What do you think of Naomi’s scrapped prequel? Tell us in the comments below!

Game of Thrones creator George R. R. Martin seems to be quite busy these days. He’s working on House of The Dragon, on various unknown prequels at HBO, and his superhero series Wild Cards. He recently teased the return of one of the heroes in his upcoming Wild Cards novel, Ripple Effects, on his blog Not A Blog.

He wrote, “Remember the Candle?

No? Tsk. Obviously, you are behind on your Wild Card reading. The Candle was one of the contestants on the first season of American Hero back in 2007, as chronicled in INSIDE STRAIGHT. You missed INSIDE STRAIGHT? That’s not a problem either. You can snag a nice hardcover edition from Beastly Books, my newly-reopened (yay!) bookshop in Santa Fe. At Beastly Books, ALL the books are signed, and INSIDE STRAIGHT has more signatures than most, with autographs from many of the contributors as well as yours truly.

But I digress. I was talking about the Candle. For all of you who might be wondering what the Candle has been up to since American Hero… and who he was, and where he came from, and how those amazing powers of his worked… our Hugo-Award-winning author Laura J. Mixon has some answers for you. So be sure to check out her brand-new, original Candle novella, “Ripple Effects,” upcoming on Tor.com.

It’s a terrific story, and if there is a whit of justice, it should contend for awards. But you can be your own judge. “Ripple Effects” goes live on Tor.com on MAY 19, and like all the Wild Cards stories on Tor.com, it’s FREE FREE FREE.

Give it a read, but be warned… Wild Cards has been known to be addictive.”

Are you excited about his new novel? Tell us in the comments below!

Video games and TV shows/movies have often worked hand-in-hand to help promote each other. They also provide the ultimate user experience, where players can live through their favourite films or series. Last month, Fantasy Flight’s A Game of Thrones: The Board Game was successfully incorporated into the Android and IOS version. Looks like there are more opportunities out there for Game of Thrones fans to play as their favourite characters. Carolina Warlord has released the first early version of the Game of Thrones mod for Mount & Blade 2 Bannerlord. This total conversion mod changes Calradia into Westeros and Essos from the HBO series.

According to the modder, this mod aims to feature hundreds of characters. It also aims to have over twenty kingdoms from the Free Folk, north of the wall, to the Dothraki of the Great Grass Sea.

As said, this first release is a very early access version and is nowhere close to complete. Thus, you should temper your expectations. For instance, the Custom Main Map is an early temporary version with many abnormalities due to leaving native vista texture in place. However, the modder plans to create a new map when the modding tools are fixed and completely implemented. You can download the mod from here.

Do you know about more such mods being used in the gaming world? Tell us in the comments below!