MANic Monday

Oh, I've been chomping at the bit for this week's MANic Monday. If you've talked to me AT ALL, you'll know about my love of Jon Snow from HBO's Game of Thrones. I'm so glad he's older than in the books, because otherwise I'd feel like a perv.

So, onward to the eye candy.

Those doey brown eyes are going to be the death of me...

BWAHAHAHA, hipster Jon!

 Jon is the bastard son of *presumably* Eddard "Ned" Stark (played by the ever-wonderful and kill-offable Sean Bean), patriarch of the Starks in Winterfell. Ned takes Jon to raise as a son alongside his other children, thus giving Jon the foundation of a loosely-connected family. Jon gets along best with his half-brother Robb and his half-sister Arya (one of my all-time favorite characters), for whom he bought a small sword she calls "Needle." Sansa, Ned's eldest daughter, barely tolerates him, but she takes seriously her role as one of the Ladies of the Stark house. He and Bran get along. Bran always misses Jon when Jon's away.

Ned's wife Catelyn despises him, feeling that he shames both the household and her. He's the symbol of a love Catelyn can't hope to share with her husband Ned. She bears no love for Jon whatsoever, and is part of the catalyst that leads Jon down the pathway he's chosen.

Jon joins the Night's Watch, a group of men--thieves, murderers, pickpockets, bastards, high-born, low-born, etc--who have sworn to protect the continent from things called White Walkers, which are basically zombies, and other assorted things that live beyond the Wall. Ned's brother Benjen is a member as well. He's the one who convinces Jon to make the long journey north to the Wall.

There are a million and one reasons to love Jon. Aside from the obvious physical reasons (Those eyes! That hair! Those lips!), Jon is probably the most honorable of the Stark house, even though he's not truly a Stark. He actually behaves above his station as an outcast among a family. Jon is always there for a kind word or reassurance, and the Stark family misses that when he leaves for the Night's Watch.

Jon with direwolf cub Ghost

One of the main reasons I fell in love with Jon was because beneath the calm, almost docile exterior lies a man  who wants nothing more than to belong. Ever since Ned brought him to Winterfell, he's felt like an outcast. The direwolf he finds in the woods is the same. Ghost is an albino direwolf with snow-white fur and red eyes, whom Jon found a few yards away from the rest of the cubs and their dead mother. Like Jon, he's fiercely devoted to those he loves.

I'm anxious to watch Jon's progression through both the TV and book series. He's definitely one to keep an eye on...

You look good on that throne, oh yes you do!