#Which now makes me realize the character parallels are good enough that that someone should

[friendofthecrows]

I feel like those hbo velma ppl should have done a chronological rewatch/reread of as many scooby-do series + related materials and taken notes. Yes, it would have taken a while and made it harder to churn out for a profit, given that it would mean genuine love and care would now have to go into it, but the way they mischaracterize EVERYONE, even Velma, their main character, or even Shaggy, the easiest one to characterize in the whole series,,,,,it just speaks volumes about how what they REALLY had, was an idea of what a modern, edgy, young adult audience might want in a series, and a SEPERATE knowledge of scooby-do content selling like hotcakes due to the love so many people have for the franchise. It's almost funny to watch them try to mash together modern ideas of marketability and scooby-do, and lose the entire (enormous) scooby-do fanbase with it.

Imagine if they made a star trek remake with Kirk as an example of toxic masculinity and Spock selling ketamine and none of the bridge crew actually like each other

[enkephallic]

My Thoughts (And Problems) About Canto 6

Now that I've finished my second read of Canto 6 and sorted out my thoughts, I think it's time I organize my thoughts about it.

I finished it with very mixed feelings - as someone who likes Heathcliff, both as a character and shipped with other people, I was left with a sense of frustration. At first I chalked it up to the feelings of "Great, how the hell do I ship Heathcliff with anyone without going through 4-D NTR?" and "My god, what did they do to Cathy?"

But after reading a second time, I realized my issue wasn't "defanged" Cathy or even what they did with their relationship.

It was the complete lack of comradeship and support the other Sinners gave him.

The Sinners are shown getting closer to each other, arguing and making up. Gregor and Rodya comforts a sobbing Sinclair, Donki pummels him to calm him down. Hong Lu casually points out that Yi Sang must have been "pleading for help all along". The whole thing with Ishmael and Heathcliff from Canto 5, as well as the other Sinners unlucky enough to stand in the path of her rage.

Canto 6 started out strong. Hong Lu and Rodya do Heathcliff's hair for him. They all chat in the bus and at the gates. We see the other Sinners reacting to new information about Heathcliff.

That all ends as soon as they enter the manor. The Sinner-Sinner interactions are thrown out, leaving Heathcliff to interact with his abusers and navigate his grief (which Only Meursault commented on) by himself. The argument of "Perhaps the other Sinners wanted to give him space" can be made, but there are other ways to show the Sinners' indignation and care for him. The likes of Rodya, who knows exactly how horrible rich people are, would have been a prime candidate to voice out her annoyances ("Gee, all those words just to say they hate poor people").

And honestly, I think Heathcliff needed the most verbal and emotional support out of everyone. He's been dehumanized and abused his whole childhood, internalizing what he's been told no matter how hard he fought against it. On several occasions he remarks about his own violent tendencies and "maybe I was born wrong after all" - and the Sinners say nothing to deny it.

The amount of times he put himself down, or others did it for him, was starkly visible in Canto 6. To the point where each time no one said anything to stand up for him, it felt like an injustice. By the time Dante denies the hurtful words and ideals thrust upon him, Heathcliff's already felt the Carmen touch.

That was another similar issue I bumped into - I couldn't find any fault in Heathcliff's words and actions, right up until he left Wuthering Heights. And the narrative towards the end didn't really seem to agree with that.

We're shown how horribly Heathcliff was treated for the whole canto. No one stood up for him. His sole reason for staying in a highly abusive environment was Cathy, and his hope for their relationship. Losing that, in a misunderstanding-but-not-really, gives him no reason to stay. (I still feel like "I could marry Linton to make Heathcliff a better person" is extremely misguided and detrimental to him.)

Cathy is shown on multiple occasions to be manipulative and a victim of well meaning naivety/stupidity, which seems to parallel Carmen. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, and I don't think the audience needs to be told in blaring letters that she's not a good person. But the final part of the Canto seemed to implicitly place responsibility on Heathcliff - the narrative focusing on "I should have stayed, I should have talked" while completely glossing over their unequal dynamics and abuse feels like undue blame.

And even if it's not the intention, it unfortunately comes off that way ("I've wrecked everything with my hesitation - It's time for me to fix what I've wrecked", "All I had to do was get over the embarrassment and talk to her"). What exactly did he ruin, which his abusers and external factors hadn't broken at least halfway? How do you show the full extent of his abuse and mistreatment, and still find a way to shift this much responsibility onto him?

I think the process of adapting Wuthering Heights, which is a tale about racism and classism driving a person to destructive rage, into the PJMverse where this racism cannot be replicated 1:1 partly caused this issue. Heathcliff suffers the same mistreatment and "born wrong" rhetoric that Novel Heathcliff did, but instead of race it's pinned onto his status as a homeless, poor child. Limbus adapts a very large chunk of his abuse - he's lashed, starved, locked out and more. But his story diverges from Novel Heathcliff (who is most definitely an inspiration for Erlcliff) - they have to somehow make things hopeful.

My issue is how Heathcliff was framed to be "fixing what he broke" rather than... any other way they could have framed it. It honestly felt almost whiplash-y, having him constantly berated, distorting, betrayed to just leave all that aside at the end. The last scenes focus so heavily on what Heathcliff could have done differently, while failing to acknowledge that he did what was most reasonable with the knowledge he had.

What the Canto did with Nelly was also... interesting. Her betrayal and abrupt twist wasn't bad on its own, but her actions feel like they were written in a rush. She places equal blame on Heathcliff and Cathy, despite claiming she felt pity for Heathcliff's abusive childhood. She claims they don't deserve happiness because they didn't communicate enough WHILE ACTIVELY BURNING HEATHCLIFF'S LETTERS. Despite having his only good adult destroyed, Heathcliff still extends forgiveness to her, saying she deserves to write her own story. And she spits in the face of his kindness, because "she wants to give the golden bough to the person who showed her the mirror." Right after Heathcliff proves he can change his fate. Her hate-ability wasn't fun in the way Ahab's was - she became another injustice in Heathcliff's life, which has far too many and is not acknowledged by the other Sinners enough.

In the end, my opinion remains unchanged that Heathcliff did absolutely nothing wrong, and he deserved better than every single person in the manor. I do love the Sinner interactions in Part one, and the numerous book references really made me enjoy my second viewing. If Heathcliff gets a follow-up anytime soon, I hope that someone will acknowledge how much of a saint he is, all things considered.

(Also - why in the world did they autotune his Pass On to hell and back? His voice actor has an amazing singing voice, and the tuning felt like it was taking out the rough edge that makes Heathcliff's charm.)

[magpiesbones]

I’ve never read or watched bnha (mostly because fanservice give me hives) but I am adjacent enough and have friends who are obsessed with it and. FRANKLY. it is CRIMINAL that bnha has the Most Interesting Character Setup Of All Time and then wastes her.

I am talking about Todoroki Fuyumi, of course. She should, logically, be the main character.

She should be the main character, for ease of writing and plot, because she is THE CLOSEST to almost all themes while being enough of an outsider to allow for some exposition. She also lives a thematically insane life. And she’s a side character! At best! HOW.

like okay first off: she has been a failure since birth, and not for gender reasons but for OTHER REASONS inherent to her genetics. Fantastic setup to explore parental neglect. She has been the mother figure in a survival mode family since her mother was institutionalized. How old could she really have been, ten? Thirteen at the most? THESE THINGS FUCK PEOPLE UP. You could have explored the ways in which Fuyumi believes that because she is ignored, if everyone else tried they too could escape physical abuse, which is, you know, a fucked up way to think. Eldest daughter syndrome to the maximum. Not only that but she literally knows her father is capable of pushing her siblings so hard they die. This is fucked up knowledge to have. We could have explored atypical responses to abuse.

She has very close experience with the idea that actually not all Heroes are good people, yet still believes in the institution. Incredibly thematically dense there. We can also connect this back to her home dynamic— Heroism isn’t a flawed system, criminals just need to try harder, like her siblings maybe, and Not Get Attention. This could be INCREDIBLY GOOD.

I’m frankly unclear on whether or not Dabi is her twin or not. Either way, what better plot twist is ‘our father’s abuse made my brother a villain and almost killed him’ I think this would definitely fuck her up a little. Or a lot. More than she was already, you see. Also, the sheer amount of parallels you could make in this situation. None of them were ever considered because the mangaka thinks women are ineffective and More Background Of Characters Than Men, but the possibilities are endless. I’m envisioning a situation where she realizes that Dabi does the same shit as her father thus rendering the hero/villain dichotomy essentially meaningless, and/or confronts Either Of Them with this information. That would require Fuyumi to have had character development enough to confront someone, and bc she is Fawn Response The Character, probably unlikely.

I am Very Much Aware that Fuyumi has a quirk and the quirk is Ice, not very powerful, etc. but how fucked up would it be if SHE got all for one and kept it Very Much A Secret. Fuyumi is now pitted against her littlest brother and discovering her Inner Potential For Extreme Violence at the same time, something that has no potential at all for going very very badly. Please picture this with me: Fuyumi is making dinner for the brother who they BOTH know is pitted against All Mights Successor, whoever they may be, and he is telling her all about his quirkless friend who is breaking records at his school etc etc. and she knows that once he graduates their father will put him against her in the publicity battle to the death, which she has decided she is Very Very Mad About. However I honestly think this shouldn’t happen. Quirk transference should be treated like a Later plot twist after you really get Used to the idea that a quirk is Inherent and unchangeable. This should shake her DEEPLY and ideally she should learn About All For One after the Hawks Reveal (child trafficking).

I don’t know if it’s canon whether or not Natsuo has a quirk. If he doesn’t this effectively renders Midoriya’s character moot, because here is a MUCH closer way to talk about quirklessness in this society. What’s Fuyumi’s take on this as de facto mother. What’s Fuyumi’s take on this as abused child? lots to think about.

The whole Eugenics Thing that endeavor is doing is pretty glossed over in the manga to my understanding. It is however SO fucked up, first of all, and second of all. The Implications this has on Fuyumi as endeavors only child (Canonically) capable of bearing children. How powerful is her quirk actually? Is she as powerful as Dabi but with ice? Would she ever let her father know if she was (was she hiding her power deliberately or subconsciously)? Do we think he was arranging her marriage before Shouto was born and he had his own success. What are Fuyumi’s thoughts on this whole Thing. I think Fuyumi would have a VERY nuanced take on abortion rights and no fault divorce.

What does Midoriya Izuku have? Plot armour? The power of friendship? A heroics hyperfixation? Does canon have a singular consistent theme tied to Midoriya, In Particular?

I realize that most of the fandom fucking hates Fuyumi, sometimes more than endeavor (why?), but she seems to be someone both Very selfless (she’s a teacher (I think), presumably salaried, who still lives in her parents house with her underage and severely abused brother and the abusive father, despite having the means and the societal pressure to move out) and VERY aware of the Power Dynamics in that house. Whether or not she genuinely believes that her brothers could manage to make peace with their father or if that is a peacemaking tactic, she’s clearly got Some Thoughts about her duty, responsibility in general, et cetera, that would have been literally fascinating to explore. Storytellingwise, I think it would be fascinating if this started as a genuine beleif that she had some character development about and then began using as a coping mechanism until she got enough character development to actually experience anger.

Just HOW do you accidentally create a character with THIS MUCH potential and then completely ignore her except as (it sounds like) a minor antagonist to a secondary protagonist. When she is SO perfectly placed to be the protagonist, in a fun little antihero type of way.

[prettysymbiosis]

risk e. rat’s pizza and amusement center

the awkwardly long name (read: it’s always sunny in philadelphia) - both character and show meta incoming and I feel like that’s the first hint of the latter

am I the only one who keeps thinking risk e. rat’s pizza is the pizza for you and me…

“they make kids feel like they’re the ones in charge” - so interesting coming from mac mcdonald. soon followed up by “they were the first set of boobs I ever saw since my mom’s” which ties right into the burgeoning mommy issue thread

at the end of the day it’s all part of the fun!

just the gang singin’ in the car :)

dennis “that’s not my name” reynolds

how have I just NEVER noticed that dee is left-handed???

the broken water fountain - does it mean anything? I’m too tired to figure it out I need my tumblr brain trust

maybe mac being clean-shaven this season is to make him seem more boyish? I have a new theory for this every episode

I think I saw someone else say this but I do think it’s fitting that charlie and dennis are together on the titties storyline because of their shared baggage around childhood sexuality, like no one else in the gang would really be able to relate to dennis here and if charlie is figuring his shit out with that then he'll definitely serve as a parallel for dennis having to figure it out too

I like how they represent three different eras of risk e.’s (frank, gang, present day) to really explore changing values and how things getting softer can be bad in some ways but good in others. this episode definitely feels in keeping with lethal weapon 7 as a very sunny way of critiquing sunny that feels satisfyingly self-aware but also fairly true to form which is a pretty fine line to walk, to give credit to rcg and the rest of the creators

also if you haven’t seen the john oliver piece on chuck e. cheese go watch it because it provides so much context and crazy true history of these types of places that was definitely in my mind while watching this episode

dee and frank paired up again, and in a childhood place, probably ties into the dee parent-issues thing I hope they’re building up to

each character really tells on themself about what fucked up stuff they’ve come to believe is acceptable or even enjoyable but should be questioned:

frank - violence and verbal abuse toward children and everyone; sexually harassing women with impunity; calling people the r-slur

dee - ethnic humor, not racist humor; making her explain how it’s funny and realizing it’s not; ecologically irresponsible plastic cheese that gets immediately thrown away; dimwit duck or whatever his name was; not understanding what satire really is!!! ← they really took one of their biggest critiques head on

here’s a question I have about dee’s character - she tries to justify her problematic sense of humor and every time frank points out the truth behind it, illustrating what’s really awful about it without really meaning to, and dee seems to genuinely recoil like she doesn’t like that. does she feel bad and react that way because she doesn’t want to do harmful things, or just because she doesn’t want to be perceived as being un-pc because that’s what’s uncool now? like remember when charlie said “I think I might’ve called an old lady a cunt this morning” and looked kind of aghast at himself? could dee be developing more of a conscience too and if so, what does that say about her? or is she just a vehicle for rcg to navel-gaze about the show? also remember in lw7 how mac was like “if you don’t praise me for being a good person then why am I doing it?” I lie awake at night wondering how much rcg want to be better people vs. how much they don’t want to be kicked even further down the hollywood totem pole for being yucky. please share thoughts if you have any

mac - simulating real-world violence to get it out of his system; shame - “if you got no shame, you’re never gonna hate yourself enough to stop being bad”

dennis and charlie - being unprotected growing up; that’s what the bone’s for! (there’s nothing like a glenn and charlie riff btw); is it wrong because she’s underage?

sunny is really amping up the inner child work for the gang, I mean arguably the gang have always been childish but this season I feel like they’re exploring it in a more comprehensive way like via the setting of this episode. and it ALSO works as a perfect commentary on the show and we love the layers

there’s no adults around…

“cause we need monster representation” we need some representation for those who are freaky and fucked up okay??

I wish I could remember who said it but someone suggested that the de-breastifying of justine has to do with dennis’ heteroness disappearing and that is a very fun take - I do think it says something that they’re fixated on a very abstracted version of sexuality via these almost disembodied tits that aren’t even human… like are we overcompensating for something gentlemen? can the characters and the show itself have any relationship to women that doesn’t objectify or otherwise dehumanize them?

I for one think sam is supposed to look like a young mac, I saw some people questioning why they cast that kid and this is my theory. this is important for both the inner child and possible child-rearing stuff they’re bringing in

“hey man, I’m a licensed psychotherapist–” “you’re a talking dog”

“guys I hate to admit it but this place sucks now”; “that’s crazy, this was like one of the best bars in town, man”; “they could redeem themselves in the show” all very meta

“you cannot call a place a website” hahaha

“so that these kids can have the same experience that we had when we were younger” fucked up childhoods, the cycle of trauma, but also the show being how it used to be

and of course, an attempted revival of all that leading to immediate disaster. let’s move forward, not backward :)

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here bestie and *deep sigh* here we are...again. Not to get off topic but have you ever seem The Green Mile?? I have a complicated relationship with that movie but I the thing from it permanently imprinted on my brain is when the warden comes in demands "What in the Blue Fuck was That!?" It a whole ass mood right now after watching that clip and I highly recommend just watching that line to get the full effect.

Why, for the love of God, are we bringing up Shannon again??!! She didn't even really come up during Eddie's PTSD arc but we're just gonna randomly insert her in a episode sort of about death?? Of course we are because KR has literally no new ideas. Oh except for this season where she's like "You know what hasn't been done yet?? We haven't emphasized importance of family by blood so we'll redeem all the horrible parents with zero effort to let everyone know your grudges are petty and just hurt you." You know why that hasn't been done Kristen??!! Because this is a show about FOUND family, realizing your importance and worth in a space that's safe for you to do that, and having the support you need when the bad times come!! She has actually forgotten the very foundation of this show and I'd scream but I'm also so, so tired. You know what time it is then 🍸🍸🍸. Gonna read comfort fic and find a comfort show to put on when that gets hard. Cheers friend!!

Bestieeeee! What. The fuck. Is happening?! I didn't answer this Friday and I should have because yesterday was a WHOLE other mess! I feel so bad for dragging you into this show just in time for it to all go to shit. We survived RNM, we don't deserve to suffer like this again! 😩😩😩

Your "KR has literally no new ideas" line is SO apt after that clip yesterday literally recycling the eddieana meeting. Parallels can be used and be effective but after she literally just re-did Buck's fight with Bobby over returning to work with Eddie (only to not show their apology or Eddie's decision to return to work on screen), and re-did Eddie's "it's time to get back out there after Shannon and figure out what you want") s4 arc last week, this "Buck meets a girl on a call in the exact same way Eddie met Ana" just looks...so so so lazy. Not to mention Buck and Eddie are only ever with women after they meet them on calls, AND we are reverting Buck back to season 1 "a relationship with THIS women must be able to fix me" which is just...gross. Buck was always one of my favorite characters but GOD I dread his personal scenes now because KR just doesn't know what to do with him unless it's trying to get into his pants in some way and she doesn't understand any of the motivations or what drives him as a character. Stop ruining my boy!! GOD I need her off this show like, YESTERDAY.

ANYWAY

This whole Shannon thing has me so 🙄🙄🙄 because as good as Ryan and Gavin are and Eddie/Chris scenes always are because they play so well off each other, this is like, the LEAST interesting thing they could have done and it's clearly not about Chris or Eddie or their complicated history with Shannon, it's just being used to push the "Eddie choosing someone to date for himself" idea. They could have given something deep and emotional this season like Chris now being old enough to start asking harder questions about Shannon leaving and Eddie trying to navigate that with him, or having a talk about Chris starting to be interested in dating and asking Eddie some hard questions about why Eddie isn't dating again since Ana has been gone for so long. But nope! It's "let's pretend this parent never did anything awful and there are zero complex feelings about them" hours once again. Thanks, I HATE it. And for me it ruins the nuance of Shannon's character because she WAS just a person who was struggling. But where Eddie thought his son didn't need *him* so much as he needed Eddie to provide for him and once he found out Chris just wanted to spend time WITH him he fought tooth and nail to make it work no matter how hard, Shannon decided it was too much and cut off all contact because keeping in touch with her son and making sure he knew he was loved wasn't as important as her not wanting to be put in an awkward position. And that's life! And Chris and Eddie should be allowed to acknowledge that they loved her at some point, Chris should be allowed to have good memories of his mom, and still be allowed to acknowledge that she abandoned them and hurt them deeply and there are complex feelings around that!

These complex parental relationships leading to the found family of the 118 has ALWAYS been at the heart of the show and you're right that KR has NEVER understood that and has spent this season undermining that bond across the whole team and any time the story tries to emphasize the found family it's also still pushing the blood family importance so the storytelling comes out confused and in opposition to itself giving the audience emotional whiplash. I'm just so very very tired of this. I'm positive it's too much to hope for but with audiences tuning out and the constant complaints at how the show is handling arcs and pacing and KR's choices, and even now articles by people who often write about 911 calling out the inconsistencies, maybe the negotiations for renewal will come with some stipulations on who gets to be in charge. Even if I didn't love EVERY storyline choice in the early seasons, the episodes themselves were ALWAYS enjoyable overall and there was so much good stuff going on it was easy to let the stuff I didn't like as much roll past, so it would be good to get back to that sort of vibe again and KR has proved over several seasons that she is NOT up to that task. With the Tarlos wedding wrapped up, we might get...I don't want to say "lucky" because I don't think Tim is the greatest thing ever, but we might get some bit of pacing and consistency and flow back in the show (I know LS has some pacing issues as well but that feels to me more like them having to work around RL's insistence on centricity than anything else)

Oof. Lets see if we can make it through these last few episodes with this dating nonsense, the sperm donor arc and L coming back, and maybe even a Tay Kay jumpscare. Can't wait 🙄 At least Ravi is back home and the finale emergency looks like it will be good and we're getting injured Chim so we're going to get *some* crumbs out of this mess. And then it will be summer and I've got a fic idea started soooo, we'll see if I can get anywhere with my astronaut!Buck, NASA medic!Eddie Countdowns inspired thingy. Cheers my friend, we are going to NEED IT. (But hey, if we survived RNM, we can do ANYTHING. But also we shouldn't have to and I need this show to STOP IT.) 🍹🍹🍹🍹🍹🍹🍹

[gainaxvel3o]

Volume 9 was great! Right up until the last two episodes, where they rush some stuff through, but it’s still pretty good.

I love this take on Alice in Wonderland and its exploration of stories. The Ever After is an assortment of bright colors and unnatural environments, which gives it an inherently surreal vibe that I like. Its citizens are one note to serve the “story” of the Ever After is both an example of how otherworldy the place is and an interesting exploration of a supporting cast in the story. They get tired of their roles as any person, and they use Ascendance to transform into whatever their desires wish them to be for good and for ill. We get a glimpse of this with the Red Prince, where the Red King was so distraught with his loss to Alyx he became someone who’d do anything to win the game, and it really comes full force with the Curious Cat’s curiousity eventually revealing him as the villain trying to break the characters in order to escape the Ever After to find new things to do.

It’s a much lighter Volume at the start, which was good. We got entertaining and funny moments with the cast interacting in this bizarre environment they’ve found themselves in, and some positive developments on the side. Blake and Yang finally get together, and its incredibly wholesome to see them as a couple. We got some hints of them in Volume 7, but they’re very lovely sweet now that they’re official, being supposrtive and cracking jokes at each other. it serves a nice contrast to the darkness that reaches the final few episodes, 

Ruby and Jaune go through a parallel arc that drives them new dimensions. Ruby, a character who’s had to push aside her pain the whole way through to this point, finally breaks apart for real the weight of her massive feelings of failure. Being surrounded by constant reminders of her failures, such as Penny’s sword, or jabs made by Jinxy or Neo’s illusions, she furiously lashes out n a moment that felt a long time coming, her bitterness driving her further to the edge of despair, When it seemed lost, Ruby learns a lesson in self-care, realizing even though she feels like a failure, that doesn’t mean she is worthless. In a moment striking in its beautiful simplicity, Ruby realizes she is enough, for herself and her friends, and comes out with a new version of Red like Roses that I NEED TO HEAR YESTERDAY. Jaune arrived earlier than the others as the Rusted Knight, “protecting” the Paper pleasers in an effort to stay sane, but not taking the time to understand their perspective due to his own traumas. Similar to Ruby, he tries to compensate for failure by acting as a hero, but the way that manifested was in prioritizing his own wants over others needs, which he learns a lesson in valuing. His return to who he actually was upon leaving the Ever After felt perfect in that light, ditching the weight he placed upon himself to be more at peace, much like Ruby had learned to do. 

There is a lot to sink your teeth into, in terms of analysis and character development. It makes the last two episodes feel strange in retrospect. My understanding is that two episodes were cut from the Volume, and it feels that way once we reached the finale. The fights were still incredible, but story elements feel rushed. Neo in particular feels extremely underdeveloped. Her backstory is briefly and barely hinted at, but as at least two commenters pointed out to me I didn’t understand what actually happened due to not reading the Roman Holiday novel. All well and good, except the show should be able to stand on its own, and it didn’t do that properly. Neo commits some heinous acts in this Volume, but I feel like that is kind of glossed over due to a rush to get to the next plot point. The lack of real anger or acknowledgement from the heroes about what she did bothered me, I won’t lie. The reveal behind Alyx was good and tied with the themes, but could have been fleshed out more in retrospect. The final fight I wish was longer as well. 

Overall a solid Volume, and one of my favorites. The ending where Vacuo’s forces arrived is a great note to end on, the promise of hope after the characters struggled through the volume with their feelings of failure and change. I wish it had more episodes to flesh out its ideas more, but I’d say it did a good job regardless.

[lynnedwardswrites]

Le Writing Process in 5 Drafts:

This is just how I approach writing a scene from scratch. Each step represents one pass of writing and editing. It's not a super strict pattern, just a vague outline that helps me know what to focus on when I sit down with a scene that day. Hopefully it will help someone!

Step 1: Dialogue and critical action

Firstly, you just put down the important parts of what happens. This is gonna be like a detailed version of whatever your outline says happens.

"How are you?" he asks.

I slap him across the face. "How dare you show your face!"

Step 2: Grounding action between the critical stuff

Now you add more action that creates smooth transitions between the major points, so that the story runs more like a movie and less like separate images.

"How are you?" he asks, spreading his arms wide and leaning in for a hug.

I slap him across the face. "How dare you show your face!"

My palm starts to sting.

Step 3: Character developing details and description

Next, you add the details that make each character distinct, and answer the "but what does it mean to them?" question for each character, basically adding the details that make each character's expectations and motives clear. You should also make sure you've got an emotional reaction from your perspective character for each major point.

"How are you?" he asks, spreading his arms wide and leaning in for a hug.

He knows what's coming, but doesn't get out of the way fast enough before I slap him across the face. "How dare you show your face!"

My palm starts to sting, and my eyes go wide. I hadn't meant to hit him that hard. I didn't even know I was *capable* of hitting someone that hard. Maybe I *am* getting better.

Step 4: Grounding environmental details

Now you make sure the reader has a good idea of where the characters are in space, and what's around them.

He crosses the distance between the door and the bed in a few strides.

"How are you?" he asks, spreading his arms wide and leaning in for a hug.

He knows what's coming, but doesn't get out of the way fast enough before I slap him across the face. "How dare you show your face!"

My palm starts to sting, and my eyes go wide. I hadn't meant to hit him that hard. I didn't even know I was *capable* of hitting someone that hard. I sink back into the pillows, contemplating the implications. Maybe I *am* getting better.

Step 5: Make any abstract descriptions concrete

This is a polishing step where you get to add any last fun, interesting details that really make the story shine. This one definitely takes the most work and lasts the longest.

He crosses the distance between the door and the bed in a few strides.

"How are you?" he asks. He spreads his arms wide, leaning in for a hug, but jerks his head back before I've even started to move. He doesn't get out of the way fast enough.

My palm connects with his face. "How dare you show your face!"

My hand starts to sting, and my eyes go wide. I hadn't meant to hit him that hard. I didn't even know I was *capable* of hitting someone that hard. I sink back into the pillows, staring at the pink mark already forming across his cheek. Maybe I *am* getting better.

Conclusion

One of the best parts of this process is that often each pass will create new opportunities for connections and parallels that I hadn't foreseen. Also sometimes you'll get to the end and realize you've gotten a little side tracked from the core of the scene and need to cut back or change which details get all the words. But as someone who tends to write too few words rather than too many, that's an issue I can deal with!

Bon écriture!

[bitletsanddrabbles]

WIP Werewolves...I mean Wednesday

Would someone please tell me how to control my brain's hyperfocus? Please?

This morning I learned that one of my favorite webcomics - Phantomarine - has fanfiction on Ao3. Invitation to go read it, right? Wrong. Apparently it's an invitation for my brain to realize that one of my other favroite webcomics - How to be a Werewolf - probably also has fanfiction (I checked this and yes, it does, all is right with the world). And then, because my brain likes unification and finding things that we all have in common and parallels and such, to realize that the pack politics in HtbW are not dissimilar to the New money vs. Old money politics found in The Gilded Age.

...

If you know me, you should know what came after that.

...

The good news is that I have 809 words so far, and have figured out the pack territories (wtf why so many packs in a dang city?) and family alliances, along with which characters are werewolves, which are witches, and which are plain ol' humans.

The bad news is that I have no actual plot and so this will likely wind up in the 'dur, no idea, never finish' pile.

For now, though, have George Russell trying to sell the idea of his sandwiching his tiny little pack in between three established packs to Caroline Astor, Jay Gould, and, because his mother wasn't available, Oscar van Rhijn...who has not yet begun to annoy the rest of the room!

(He will though. Have faith.)

-

1879

George Russell stood in the middle of the room as if he were in court. Around him sat a semi-circle of New York’s elite. Bertha would know their names, he was certain, but he hadn’t bothered yet. After all, she’d been the one over seeing the building of the house.

And once she’d been seen, he’d been summoned.

“And so you thought you would, what, simply move into our territory?” the woman seated directly in front of him asked, tilting her head so she managed to look down her nose at him even though she was seated and he was not. Even if she’d stood, he’d have towered over her.

George might not know the names of everyone else in the room, but he knew, broadly speaking, who they were. There were three established packs in New York, although two of them contained more than one family. They were the Astors, the van Rhijns, and the Goulds. It was a lot for one city, admittedly, and he was well aware that a fourth pack would be pushing things, but he was nothing if not determined. Smiling, he met the eye of the woman in front of him, his gaze just as sure as the tone in which he met her attack. “The house we are building is not in Astor territory. The land was unclaimed by any pack in this city when we bought it.”

“It was the neutral divide between our territory and the van Rhijn lands,” Mrs. Astor - The Mrs. Astor, as she was apparently called - informed him. “And a narrow enough one to start with. The last thing we need is you making it narrower.”

“Which raises the question of why three packs decided to settle within such close proximity,” George countered. Frankly, if he’d had any choice in the matter, he wouldn’t be here. He and his pack would have settled someplace sensibly far from any other pack and while they still would have had to petition for rights to the territory, there wouldn’t be this fight. He couldn’t begin to imagine why there were three packs settled in a six block radius of each other.

There was a brief, snorting sound from the van Rhijn representative which could have been a sneeze, but from the smirk on his face probably wasn’t. The boy, because really, he couldn’t be long out of school, lounged indolently in his chair, throwing the occasional amused glance across the room at the older New York citizens. Jay Gould glared back at him, but Mrs. Astor kept her eyes firmly on George.

[esther-dot]

Elia suffered because of Aerys and Rhaegar. Quentyn was burned by Rhaegal. If Dany is going to burn KL with Drogon, Aegon is going to die. So I don't think Aegon being one of dragonrider will make sense. Also sand snakes are foreshadow to take down a dragon. Jon is a stark and bonded with his direwolf. Dragons and Dany are negative in Starks chapters. I don't think he would ride a dragon. Mostly I don't think Dany will share her WMD with anyone unlike show.

Dany actually thinks about the possibility of getting another dragon rider, so in a way, it makes more sense in the book (to me) because the idea is established?

 "Your Grace," he conceded, "the dragon has three heads, remember? You have wondered at that, ever since you heard it from the warlocks in the House of Dust. Well, here's your meaning: Balerion, Meraxes, and Vhagar, ridden by Aegon, Rhaenys, and Visenya. The three-headed dragon of House Targaryen—three dragons, and three riders."                 

"Yes," said Dany, "but my brothers are dead." (ASOS, Daenerys I)

"If you were grown," she told Drogon, scratching him between the horns, "I'd fly you over the walls and melt that harpy down to slag." But it would be years before her dragons were large enough to ride. And when they are, who shall ride them? The dragon has three heads, but I have only one. She thought of Daario. If ever there was a man who could rape a woman with his eyes . . . (ASOS, Daenerys V)

The dragon has three heads. There are two men in the world who I can trust, if I can find them. I will not be alone then. We will be three against the world, like Aegon and his sisters. (ASOS, Daenerys VI)

And this bit, seeing as Dany doesn’t think Quentyn will be a rider, seems like it’s laying groundwork for future events:

When it happened in the show it made no sense to me, but there is some context in the books for Dany allowing, wanting, someone to ride a dragon. Although, I think once it happened, if Jon bonded with a dragon, she'd realize what she'd allowed and regret it. So, regardless of how I feel about it, imo, it wouldn’t be quite as absurd.

I agree that it seems unlikely Aegon will ride one as he and Dany will be at war because she will believe he is a fraud, but to me, Jon riding a dragon is a possibility if Martin wants to make Jon’s parentage public knowledge. You know? There needs to be something that would be deemed as proof by other characters, to make it believable for them to accept R+L=J. Right now it seems like the easiest way for Martin to get to his endgame of King Bran is through Jon Aemon-ing which feels like the odds of Jon doing something identifiably Targy are good? So I guess it depends on the impact you imagine Jon’s parentage having on the political endgame. I think it has to matter because it’s emphasized so much throughout the story. It feels like a secret that has to impact the fate of Westeros as well as having a massive personal impact on Jon. Of course, considering how stories grow and the different versions of truth that are presented in the series, I suppose there’s no knowing how Martin might play with that regarding Jon’s parentage. ��

Another reason I think it is possible (and I’m not arguing it should happen, I’m just pointing to things that make me squint), is that there are some interesting parallels and contrasts with Sansa and Arianne. That’s pertinent here because her plain brother left to marry Dany and then attempted to tame the dragons. Obviously, that ends in tragedy, but the talk about how Quentyn was taking Arianne’s birthright, how he was an enchanted prince that needed a kiss to be transformed, how he was a good person without a particularly attractive face...a lot of passages there seemed like we might hear echoes of it later when it comes to Robb’s Will, Jon being a bastard but us getting the revelation that he is actually a prince, Jon possibly going to Dany for help or even a marriage alliance if this is to be really similar, Jon being a good guy but not that attractive...it may be nothing, but I think there’s a lot there that feels like parallels/contrasts for future Stark experiences.

Here are a few lines that stood out to me:

I did wonder if this would be the description of Jon arriving at KL after Dany burns it to hell

Here’s the frog quote and it’s very odd to me that Martin so directly references a fairytale here:

On the one hand, I was a little offended at calling Quentyn a frog, but considering the interest Martin has in discussing identity, and the fact that we have two sons of Rhaegar, two potential princes, in the story, this enchanted prince thing really strikes me. Quentyn dies horrificly, but Arianne will likely marry or be betrothed to Aegon, and I believe that Sansa will be romanticly entangled with Jon in some way, both of them hidden Targs/“enchanted” princes. Idk, I feel like there’s a lot embedded in Quentyn’s story about future events even if I haven’t sorted it out and that makes me feel like it’s possible one of our hidden princes attempts to ride a dragon. Obviously, in the chapters themselves Martin has some self-contained points, but I feel like the significance of what happens extends beyond Quentyn’s tragic tale, and not just because it will turn Arianne/Dorne against Dany/dragons. Martin definitely wanted to take the time to expose us to the horror of dying from burn wounds by having a character we care about experience it. I believe it was meant to make us understand how terrible the thought of Dany unleashing dragons on the world really is, in spite of the wonder of their birth:

So, I suppose to me it isn’t something I want, but I can see how it could connect to some ideas. I think Quentyn’s story is meant to hit us in a devastating way so that we are even more fearful for future characters (Aegon) when they face Dany. It also feels meta in a way that I haven’t quite sorted through. A very self-aware discussion of heroes, and how we glorify the idea of them going off to do heroic things because in novels they survive, but Martin gives us a cold dose of reality and has our hero who faces a dragon die. There’s an even broader idea behind it too, an acknowledgment that unlike neat and tidy stories, sometimes the person who should be victorious, who should survive, doesn’t. To me, it feels similar to Robb’s death that way. Writing Quentyn’s desire to not fail his father and his desire to marry only for us to have to read of his death���it’s so brutal.

We also have this line:

which fits in really well with your spec! 👀

Anyway, I really don’t know what will happen. I don’t think dragon riding is out of the question although I think the context wouldn’t be to give Jon a hero moment but rather, to prove who he is/win Dany’s trust before he betrays her? Or, a temptation to him to give into “the dark side” although I can’t imagine he’d even be tempted if he meets Dany after she’s killed Aegon/destroyed KL. I prefer the idea that they’re straight up enemies who go to war, but it would make sense to me that Jon can’t risk outright war with someone who has dragons, so he goes to Dany as a Targ and part of getting accepted is doing a Targ thing because after meeting one guy she dismisses as a fraud, I think she’d be suspicious at another long lost nephew popping up? I’d prefer limited to no interaction between Jon and Dany, but there was a lot in Quentyn’s chapters that makes me wonder. ☹️

[chainofclovers]

Ted Lasso 2x7 Thoughts

“Headspace” is a very apt name for this episode, in which we learned almost no new information about the characters in Ted Lasso but learned a great deal about the way many characters’ brains work.

Most of the episodes this season have been so full of new information (if you wanna know something about how my brain works, the critique that early s2 episodes lack conflict does not compute), so full of dramatic irony (Sam and Rebecca don’t realize they’re messaging each other on Bantr! Rebecca’s voicemail to Ted doesn’t actually indicate that she spent a significant portion of time panicking and looking for him!), and misunderstandings that it was really nice to spend a bit over thirty minutes on an episode with very easily mappable plotlines.

Ted and Sharon and Therapy

Ordinarily in my little recaps I talk about the characters as real people making their own decisions, because every character on this show feels very real. But I have to take a minute to just, like, celebrate the acting in these scenes. Sarah Niles and Jason Sudeikis brought the perfect energy to each of their three scenes in Dr. Sharon’s office.

The drinking bird toy! The way he switches from nodding along with it to shaking his head no while the bird continues to shake its head yes, just like Ted shook his head no while saying yes, they should hire a sports psychologist! The way he finally stills the bird in the final therapy scene in the episode...but performatively throws the tissue box.

(Someone is going to need those tissues, Ted. It might be you.)

I also LOVE that this is the first time we see Sharon in an extended scene that takes place in a session. We’ve seen her rapport with the players, we’ve seen the results, and we’ve seen the things she does to make someone feel comfortable at the start of a session, and that’s all the information WE need to know to feel confident in her excellence as a psychologist. But because Ted hasn’t been able to fully appreciate those things, it’s so fitting that his sessions are a time for us to learn more about Sharon’s approach along with him.

It’s just...such good acting. The way she tells him he doesn’t need to worry. The kind of charming (but not performatively charming, just...charming) smile on his face when he claims he knows he doesn’t need to worry. And the way his voice changes a little as the conversations progress—deeper, less controlled, with some very genuine Midwestern “ma’am”s.

Sam and Rebecca and Awkwardness

Sam and Rebecca were so awkward when talking to each other in the hallway! If I had been in that hallway I would have been physically unable to stop myself from doing something even more awkward and diverting to make it stop. (I say this as someone who is neither disgusted by or delighted by the direction of the Bantr storyline. This is a good story about two good people who are in very different places in their lives existing in both a manufactured connection and the real, and very different, connection they have when they aren’t glued to their phones. This story is supposed to be awkward and uncomfortable.)

I did like the parallels of their friends sort of urging them on/coaching them through the inherent panic of the three dots that appear and disappear—a source of panic whether you’re the one creating the dots on the other screen or watching them and feeling at their mercy.

I like that in this episode both Ted and Rebecca are loudly broadcasting “I AM NOT IN THE RIGHT HEADSPACE FOR A ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP”—Ted with his rueful awareness that Michelle would be upset if she heard him still referring to her as his wife, Rebecca with her insistence that relationships are doomed and awful even though she’s talking to two people (Keeley and Higgins) in committed relationships.

Roy and Keeley and Space

This plot was a really wonderful...counterpoint? complement? to the places both Ted and Rebecca are in as Ted starts to come to terms with the fact that he’s going to have to deal with his past and the losses he’s suffered (including the loss of his marriage) and as Rebecca questions whether she’s really going to embark on the next phase of a relationship with someone whose identity she does not know.

Because Ted and Rebecca are stuck apart, it was great to see Keeley struggle with needing space from Roy without worrying for a second about whether or not this challenge was a threat to their relationship. (Keeley and Roy aren’t used to long haul relationships, so they both see it as a threat, but the audience doesn’t have to.)

There was so much going on in that boot room. I love the coexisting realities there—Rebecca and Keeley and Higgins treating the boot room as their personal room for secret smoking, but as the crowd grows all these other unspoken dynamics emerge (it’s been two days since the panic attack and this is the first time we see Ted and Rebecca in the same room and there’s no evidence that they’ve talked about what happened with the panic attack or Rebecca’s parents or any of the big stuff).

Everything about Keeley’s plotline this episode reminded me of how Ted and Keeley are so similar (and, to a lesser extent, Rebecca and Roy are so similar). Rebecca and Roy both tend to write things off (Rebecca is so certain any relationship she has will be doomed, but it’s just because of how hurt she already is; Roy wanted to convince himself he was happier as a pundit than as a coach, but it’s just because he was scared of how much he wanted to be back on on the pitch), only able to deal with things when a safe person like Ted or Keeley sort of startles growth out of them. (We talk a lot about how Rebecca should be in therapy, but Roy should too.) And Ted and Keeley! Everything’s great, everything’s sunny, but look at how Keeley stands on her couch and screams in sadness and anger when she blows up at Roy and he leaves.

This time, things work out between Roy and Keeley because he figures out what Keeley was trying to communicate and respects what she needs, but in the future she’s going to have to figure out how to articulate herself more clearly. (And so will Ted...not only in therapy with Sharon, but as everything with the other coaches and the team and Will and basically everyone in his life come to light.)

Nate and Beard and Twitter-Insecurity-Rage

Ahhhhhhhhh.

This plotline made me feel almost as nervous for Ted (the things he doesn’t know) and Beard (the things he knows) as it did for Nate and Colin and Will and everyone.

At first I was really bothered by the repetition of Nate checking Twitter. We know! He’s on Twitter a lot now that he’s semi-famous! He’s obsessed! But then it occurred to me that it’s extremely perfect that Nate checking Twitter becomes this silent refrain building him up or tearing him down based on the latest 280-character compliment or take-down. Because this is how the internet works! You get obsessed with something on it and then check it a million times per day until you feel sick. It could be a dating app, or a trending story, or almost anything. If you check it often enough, the internet won’t even have anything truly new for you...it just feels like it does. So the repetition of Nate scrolling Twitter wasn’t meant to deliver us new information, but rather to mimic the old information coming through again and again.

I feel so deeply for Nate, who’s brilliant about football but unfit to coach because the power dynamics of coaching are a totally foreign concept to someone like him, who relies entirely on external inputs to take his actions. Ted and Beard and Roy all go and learn things and bring them back to the pitch, but none of them have had the capacity to teach Nate how to do this. Even Nate’s private thoughts, which he wrote down during s1, only come to light when Ted prompts him. And when your external inputs are coming from social media and an unappreciative father and a hyper-awareness of insult after years spent on the receiving end of bullying...it’s very dangerous. Maybe even literally physically dangerous.

I also feel so deeply for everyone who interacts with Nate right now, particularly Will.

Some Bonus but Never Extraneous Trent Crimm

Trent in the pub made me NERVOUS. Seeing him in this new place where Ted goes to wind down, almost coaching Ted through lying to him about having had food poisoning?! When they both clearly know that isn’t what happened?!?

It felt very fitting that this uncomfortable yet kind-of-mercifully-executed lie takes place towards the end of an episode full of such positive and negative growth for the characters. Such movement. It felt all wrong (in a good way), like covering something new and smooth and precious with spackle because maybe you actually wanna paint something else after all even though it won’t serve you in the long run to do it. To paraphrase Dr. Sharon, the truth will set you free but first it will piss you off, and Ted’s conversation with Trent is a reminder of all the layers there are to cut through on the way to the truth.

If Apple TV could simply release 2x8 - 2x12 this week, I would bargain with something crazy and miserable like giving up caffeine until October 8, the air date for the season finale. I continue to love this season and to feel the serenity of watching excellent actors execute on excellent scripts...but we’re getting to the point where the momentum’s built up and is heading to ever-scarier places, and I neeeeeeeeeed to knoooooooow.

[wolfstar-in-color]

July Colorful Column: Remus is a Crip, and We Can Write Him Better.

There is one thing that can get me to close a fic so voraciously I don’t even make sure I’m not closing other essential tabs in the process. It doesn’t matter how much I’m loving the fic, how well written I think it is, or how desperately I want to know how it ends. Once I read this sentence, I am done.

It’s written in a variety of different ways, but it always goes something like this: “You don’t want me,” Remus said, “I am too sick/broken/poor/old/[insert chosen self-demeaning adjective here].”

You’re familiar with the trope. The trope is canonical. And if you’ve been around the wolfstar fandom for longer than a few minutes, you’ve read the trope. Maybe you love the trope! Maybe you’ve written the trope! Maybe you’re about to stop reading this column, because the trope rings true to you and you feel a little attacked!

Now, let’s get one thing out of the way right now: I am not saying the trope is wrong. I am not saying it’s bad. I am not saying we should stop writing it. We all have things we don’t like to see in our chosen fics. Maybe you can’t stand Leather Jacket Motorbike Sirius? Maybe you think Elbow Patch Remus is overdone? Or maybe your pet peeves are based in something a little deeper - maybe you think Poor Latino Remus is an irresponsible depiction, or that PWPs are too reductive? Whatever it is, we all have our things.

Let me tell you about my thing. When I first became very ill several years ago, there were various low points in which I felt I had become inherently unlovable. This is, more or less, a normal reaction. When your body stops doing things it used to be able to do - or starts doing things you were quite alright without, thank you very much - it changes the way you relate to your body. You don’t want to hear my whole disability history, so yada yada yada, most people eventually come to accept their limitations. It’s a very painful existence, one in which you constantly tell yourself your disability has transformed you into a burdensome, unworthy member of society, and if nothing else, it’s not terribly sustainable. Being disabled takes grit! It takes power! It takes a truly absurd amount of medical self-advocacy! Hating yourself? Thinking yourself unworthy of love? No one has time for that. 

Of course, I’m being hyperbolic. Plenty of disabled people struggle with these feelings many years into their disabilities, and never really get over them. But here’s the thing. We experience those stories ALL THE TIME. Remember Rain Man? Or Million Dollar Baby? Or that one with the actress from Game of Thrones and that British actor who seemed like he was going to have a promising career but then didn't? Those are all stories about sad, bitter disabled people and their sad, bitter lives, two out of three of which end in the character completing suicide because they simply couldn’t imagine having to live as a disabled person. (I mean, come on media, I get that we're less likely to enjoy a leisurely Saturday hike, but our parking is SUBLIME.) When was the last time you engaged with media that depicted a happy disabled person? A complex disabled person? A disabled person who has sex? No really, these aren’t hypothetical questions, can you please drop a rec in the notes?? Because I am desperate.

There are lots of problems with this trope, and they’ve been discussed ad nauseam by people with PhDs. I’m not actually interested in talking about how this trope leads to a more prevalent societal idea that disabled people are unworthy of love, or contributes to the kind of political thought processes that keep disabled people purposefully disenfranchised. I’m just a bitch on Tumblr, and I have a bone to pick: the thing I really hate about the trope? It’s boring. I’m bored. You know how, like, halfway through Grey’s Anatomy you realized they were just recycling the same plot points over and over again and there was just no WAY anyone working at a hospital prone to THAT MANY disasters would stay on staff? It's like that. I love a recycled trope as much as the next person (There Was Only One Bed, anyone?). But I need. Something. Else.

Remus is disabled. BOLD claim. WILD speculation. Except, not really. You simply - no matter how you flip it, slice it, puree it, or deconstruct it - cannot tell me Remus Lupin is not disabled. Most of us, by this point, are probably familiar with the way that One Canonical Author intended One Dashing Werewolf to be “a metaphor for those illnesses that carry stigma, like HIV and AIDS” [I’m sorry to link you to an outside source quoting She Who Must Not Be Named, but we’re professionals here]. Which is... a thing. It’s been discussed. And, listen, there’s no denying that this parallel is a problematic interpretation of people who have HIV/AIDS and all such similar “those illnesses” (though I’ll admit that I, too, am perennially apt to turn into a raging beast liable to harm anything that crosses my path, but that’s more linked to the at-least-once-monthly recollection that One Day At A Time got cancelled). Critiques aside, Remus Lupin is a character who - due to a condition that affects him physically, mentally, emotionally, and intellectually - is repeatedly marginalized, oppressed, denied political and social power, and ostracized due to unfounded fear that he is infectious to others. Does that sound familiar?

We’re not going to argue about whether or not “Remus is canonically disabled as fuck” is a fair reading. And the reason we’re not going to argue about whether or not it’s a fair reading is because I haven’t read canon in 10-plus years and you will win the argument. Canon is only marginally relevant here. The icon of this blog is brown, curly haired Remus Lupin kissing his trans boyfriend, Sirius Black. We are obviously not too terribly invested in canon. The wolfstar fandom is now a community with over 25,000 AO3 fics, entire careers launched from drawing or writing or cosplaying this non-canonical pairing. We love to play around here with storylines and universes and races and genders and sexualities and all kinds of things, but most of the time? Remus is still disabled. He’s disabled as a werewolf in canon-compliant works, he’s disabled in the AUs where he was injured or abused or kidnapped or harmed as a child, he’s disabled in the stories that read him as chronically ill or bipolar or traumatized or blind or Deaf. I’d go so far as to say that he is one of very few characters in the Wide Wonderful World of media who is, in as close to his essence as one can be, always disabled. And that means? Don’t shoot the messenger... but we could stand to be a tiny bit more responsible with how we portray him. 

Disabled people are complicated. As much as I’d like to pretend we are always level-headed, confident, and ready to assert our inherent worth, we are still just humans. We have bad days. We doubt our worth. We sometimes go out with guys who complain about our steroid-induced weight gain (it was a long time ago, Tumblr, okay??). But, we also have joy and fun and good days and sex and happiness and families and so many other things. 

Remus is a disabled character, and as such, it’s only fair that he’d have those unworthy moments. But - I propose - Remus is also a crip. What is a crip? A crip - like a queer - is someone who eschews the limited boundaries placed on their bodies, who rejects a hierarchy of oppression in favor of an intersectional analysis of lived experience, who isn’t interested in being the tragic figure responsible for helping people with dominant identities realize how good they have it. Crips interpret their disabilities however they want, rethinking bodies and medicine and pleasure and pain and even time itself. Crips are political, community-minded, and in search of liberation. 

Remus is a character who struggles with his disability, sure. But he’s also a character who leverages his physical condition to attempt to shift communities towards his political leanings, advocates for the rights of those who share his physical condition, and has super hot sex with his wrongfully convicted boyfriend ultimately goes on to build community and family. Having a condition that quite literally cripples you, over which you have no control, and through which you are often read as a social pariah? That’s disability. But using said condition as a means through which to build advocacy and community? Now that’s some crip shit. 

Personally, I love disabled!Remus Lupin. But I love crip!Remus Lupin even more. I’d love to see more of a Remus who owns his disability, who covets what makes him unique, and who never ever again tells a potential romantic partner they are too good for him because of his disability. This trope - unlike There Was Only One Bed! - sometimes actually hurts to read. Where’s Remus who thinks a potential romantic partner isn’t good enough for him? Where’s Remus who insists his partners learn more about his condition in order to treat him properly? Where’s sexy wheelchair user Remus? Where’s Remus who uses his werewolf transformations as an excuse to travel the world? Where’s crip Remus??

We don’t have to put “you don’t want me” Remus entirely to bed. It is but one of many repeated tropes that are - in the words of The Hot Priest from Fleabag - morally a bit dubious. And let’s face it - we don’t always come to fandom for its moral superiority (as much as we sometimes like to think we do). 

This is not a condemnation - it is an invitation. Able-bodied folks are all but an injury, illness, or couple decades away from being disabled. And when you get here, I sincerely hope you don’t waste your time on “you don’t want me”ing back and forth with the people you love. I’m inviting you to come to the crip side now. We have snacks, and without all the “you don’t want me” talk, we get to the juicy parts much faster. 

Colorfully,

Mod Theo

[smackurbeoms]

ex.

genre - smut; minho dom / reader sub, unprotected sex, orgasms.

word count: 1.8k

notes: hi there, hei here! this is ny first work here. i'm currently exploring different platforms as to where else i could share my works. i hope you enjoy this work! <33

_____________________________________

Fuck it— you uttered. You were being bombarded by senseless messages, pushing you to get off your feet and go unwind. You can't— and You don't want to. You're too busy thinking about what else you could do, something more purposeful. Recovering from a breakup is not easy. It has only been 6 months since you last saw your ex, and for now, you guess you could say that you've moved on.

A year of love (of course, with a lot of lust) is not easy to get over with. Especially if your first boyfriend is no other than the well-known heartbreaker that fixed himself only for you. Well, the breakup was mutual— you could say that you got tired of each other's toxic habits, but to say the least, he never cheated.

"Y/n, c'mon. You have got to enjoy the party. An hour won't hurt; I'll wait for you, okay?" your best friend called. She doesn't ask for many favors, so it makes you guilty to say no (like for the nth time).

"Fine," you said, ending the call to go shower. You dragged yourself to get ready, and you didn't want to look like a tormented bitch also, so you tried your best to fix up. You grabbed your silk, thin-strapped black body con, which hugged your figure oh so well, and popped on some stilettos that match the look. Your hair was brought character by some big natural waves, along with soft glam makeup as a final touch. Finally, before leaving, you sprayed some of your favorite fragrance— Bvlgari Omnia in Amethyst, to be exact, and you went on your way to the bar.

You went through a crowd of cheering and dancing people, and finally, you met your best friend. A few drinks in, and she's nowhere to be found, which you assume to be making out with some dude he had met over some online dating app or whatever.

You were drinking, still, and you suddenly smelled a familiar scent brushing through your nose. Oh no, This can't be. You turned around to see who it was, and lo and behold, there he was— your ex, Lee Minho.

Minho stood by the high bar table in front of where you were settled, making you parallel to each other. You were trying your best to avoid eye contact, but you, of all people, know how much Minho hates it when someone avoids his gaze. You were chugging down your alcohol, and as you request for another glass to one of the waiters;

"No, thank you. She's not taking any more drinks," your ex said, accompanying you at the table. Yup, he is indeed my ex-boyfriend— Minho is a very stern and protective man, particularly to you, even when you were not yet dating.

"I can drink as much as I want," you replied, causing him you raise his brow at you. "Okay then, drink as much as you want. Only if someone's going to take you home," he negotiated.

"My best friend's out there making out with someone else. Do you actually think someone's going to take me home?" you rebutted. "Exactly my point, y/n. Now don't be a brat and try to be safe for once. No one's going to protect you now."

Fuck. Well, that shit hurt.

You tried to walk out of the situation when the moment you turned around, you bumped into the serving waiter making all the drinks on the tray pouring on to me. Minho, with fast reflexes, took off his coat and immediately covered you with it. "This is why you always need company," he annoyingly uttered. He brought you to his car and drove to his place.

"Cover yourself with my coat," he glared at you. "As if you never saw it," you whispered and did as he said. You both arrived at his studio unit, and Minho immediately pulled you in front of his closet. He rummaged through his closet and handed you his shirt. "Would you mind wearing one of my oversized shirts?" he asked. You nod to his question when deep inside, you felt ecstatic to wear one of Minho's shirts again. "Shit, I don't have extra undies," you said, making him widen his eyes. "You still have...uh...l-lingeries here," he hesitated.

Seeing his kinda flustered figure elated you, so you thought— It wouldn't hurt to tease a little, right?

Without any words, you rummaged through his drawers, and there you found a basket full of Minho's favorite lingeries of yours. You grabbed a red lacy panty forgetting about the bra and hopped straight to the shower. You purposely didn't close the door, and the sound of the water trickling down your skin was enough to make Minho remember all the time you spent in bed. After showering, you realized that you forgot to bring a towel with you, so you just went out naked, making Minho's eyes widen.

"Y-y/n, w-what are you doing?" he said, avoiding to look at you.

"I forgot to bring a towel. Can I borrow one?"

"Yea, sure," he said, immediately got his towel and covered you with it. "Dry me off," you provoked, making him look at you sternly. For a moment, you thought he was a different person as he obeys your commands. He was gently wiping you down with his towel. You can see his ears go red with every second, and as you look down, an evident tent was created by his growing bulge, which was enough to turn you on. You did not notice that you were staring relentlessly at his tent, so to your surprise, you gasp at a finger slipping to your now wet folds.

"I see that I still make you wet," he grinned, circling your clit around, making you releasing soft moans. "M-minho..." you yelped. You realized that you provoked him a little too much. Minho doesn't like you teasing him. It was always him that was the dominant one— the one in control. You grab onto Minho's shoulders as your knees grow weak with all the pleasure. He slightly laughed at you and immediately carried you to his bed. He hovered on top of you, making him settle himself between your folded thighs.

"I was kind of hoping to see you wearing my shirt again because you look good in it, but I've realized you look better without it," Minho said, peppering your face with sweet, light smooches as if he's not gonna fuck you out relentlessly later. You grew impatient as he continues to shower your face and your neck with wet kisses, so you cling onto his neck and kissed him. Minho, getting the signal, slipped his tongue inside your mouth wherein both your tongues were playing blissfully with each other.

In time, he was marking your neck, and his right hand was groping one of your boobs while the other was busy fingering you deeply. It began harder and harder to suppress your moans, and your lower lip was starting to taste rusty due to his and your biting.

"Keep moaning for me, baby. I want to hear them," he said, but you wanted to tease. "Make me," you said in between your breathy moans. Minho grinned at your response and pulled you to the edge of the bed. He lifted your thighs up and knelt down in front of your intimacy. His kisses were traveling down from the back of your knee, to your thighs, down to your core. As you felt Minho's lips in your heat, you couldn’t help but arch your back and moan with pleasure. Your moans were getting louder as you come closer to your high, and Minho flicking his tongue inside you was doing no help at all.

"You're so fucking wet for me," he said, licking you still. "I'm gonna c-cum..." you moaned. As expected, Minho didn't let you release just yet.

"Not yet, baby," he said, standing up and stripping down his clothes. As he took off his boxers, his erected dick sprung up, making you hunger to ram them inside of you.

"Suck," he commanded. You didn't need to be told twice as you kneel and started to suck him in. You should be teasing the hell out of him first, but you couldn't resist the sight of his warm hard cock inside your mouth. You start bobbing your head as he guides you with his hands. Deep throats are his weakness, so you kept on doing them while looking at him. He threw his head back due to the pleasure, and you kept on sucking.

"Fuck," he groaned, lifting you up and back to his bed. With no intro, he rammed his whole length inside of you, causing you to scream to the pleasure. "M-Minho..." you moaned, making him slam himself harder. "You're still so fucking tight around me," he whispered to your ear, sending shivers down your spine.

"On all fours," he again commanded. You turned your back on him, and he again slipped his cock inside of you and fucked you relentlessly. His girth stretching you out, and you couldn’t help but moan at the shaking experience he has been bringing you.

"Fuck, yes. Keep on clenching y/n. Just like that...

"Ride," he said. Minho laid down his bed as you sit on top of his member. You grind on top of him as his hands hold your waist. Seeing his beautiful, well-structured face turns you on more, finally making you insert in length in you. You lowered yourself slowly, and as you sink yourself, Minho pulled and embraced you, pumping relentlessly in and out of you. You moan by his ears, and at this point, you couldn’t help it anymore.

"Minho, fuck. I can't take it anymore. I'm gonna..." before even finishing your sentence, he hovered on top of you and fucked you faster, deeper, and harder.

"Go on, cum for me," he whispered as he rams himself in missionary. With a loud screeching moan, you came to your release as he keeps his pace, riding your high. "Suck me off," he said, and so you did. You sucked on him to his high, and with a loud groan, he came all over your face. The both of you laid silent in the bed, and in a while, Minho carried you in bridal style to the shower and washed you off. Minho was quite silent as he does his aftercare. Finally, he got his shirt that you were supposed to be wearing a while ago and assisted you in wearing them.

"Cuddle with me," he whined, making you hug him to your sleep. He was stroking your hair, making you fall deeper into his comfort. "You were supposed to wear my shirt a bit earlier, but then you began being naughty," he whispered whining to your ear. Before finally falling into dreamland, you felt him kiss you on the forehead and tightened his embrace.

"I missed you, y/n."

[iheartbookbran]

Ok so actually my biggest problem with the whole “Daenerys will burn KL” theory—not even the Mad Queen Dany theory, which is of course very sexist for obvious reasons, but just like, the idea that Dany will ~accidentally~ ignite the wildfire in the city, burning it all to the ground. That, at first, doesn’t sound that bad, but the longer I think about it the more I hate it because tbh it doesn’t do anything for her character? And also… that fate for her is just down right cruel.

Like, the most frequent argument I see on why this would be at all satisfactory for Dany’s arc is basically that it would be a sort of lesson for her about the dangers of unchecked power and the real threat the Dragons can pose on humans and that she shouldn’t use them to fight against other people. And that’s all well and good, excellent message… except that’s not something Dany’s ever really needed to learn? Not anymore that her fellow rulers, which I will touch on more detail later, but in general Dany has seen what the abuse of power can do. Starting with her conflicting feelings regarding Viserys and how she recognizes that even though he was her brother and she loved him, he also abused his power over her as her older brother, her only family and her king; she feels guilt about the atrocities Drogo committed to the lhazarene and tries to help them; she feels so much guilt about not handling things correctly in Astapor that she decides to throw away all her plans to go to Westeros and instead stays in Meereen.

And about not knowing the true danger that her dragons can pose? I mean, this is the same girl that literally agonizes across several of her ADWD chapters because Drogon killed a child, and then takes the extreme measure of caging Rhaegal and Viserion to prevent that from ever happening again. I think she’s at least a little bit aware that the dragons can be dangerous, thank you very much.

Ok so this got long...

Anyways, the only time Dany legit uses Drogon to harm someone and not just as bluff was at the house of the Undying, where she was being attacked, and in Astapor… and like, lmao, that asshole Kraznys mo Nakloz and the rest of his slaver buddies deserved it. Don’t at me. Also, Dany’s hardly the only one with a big magical and deadly beast at her disposal, why didn’t Robb had to go through some horrifying traumatic incident to learn he shouldn’t use Grey Wind in battle to tear his enemies’ throats. Bran will be learning about the dangers of abusing power, but that’s linked to his magic powers and an actual reprehensible thing he’s doing, not the use of his glorified prehistoric dog to kill, which he’s done, just like Robb. By all means let the narrative hold Dany accountable for her mistakes… but her actual mistakes and not shit she has no control over, because she doesn’t have much control over Drogon or the other dragons even though she’s trying to, and that’s very obvious in her last ADWD chapter where she’s delirious and Drogon could kill her at any moment, and she knows that.

The other big argument people make for Dany burning KL (even if it’s by accident!) is that it will teach her about the price of war, that someone as young as her shouldn’t be leading armies and conquering kingdoms, and that fighting for the Iron Throne is not a worthy cause, and I feel like that misses the actual point of her story by a mile. First of all because a) Dany is hardly the only teenage ruler in the story and b) this is a fantasy medieval story, a lot of the characters shouldn’t be doing the things they do, aaaand yet. Also speaking of other teenage rulers with far more power that they should have—Robb and Jon, being the biggest examples.

Granted, Robb and Jon aren’t exactly successful during their time as rulers, they’re literally betrayed and killed by their own men (even if Jon will technically come back for round 2 of bullshit he’s too tired for). But the moral of their stories is not that they lost because theirs was an unworthy cause and they were stupid kids wholly unprepared for their roles. And I actually partially agree! They are just kids, including Dany, and they shouldn’t be responsible for looking after so many others and going to battle, but their cause is still just and worthy, even with all the mistakes they make along the way. Robb didn’t loose because he was wrong in demanding justice for his family or trying to protect the riverlands from the Lannisters and their minions, he lost because Tywin Lannister was a giant coward who couldn’t take him out in a fair fight.

Likewise, it isn’t wrong of Jon to try to incorporate refugees from beyond the Wall into Westeros. He’s not too stupid and honorable to do politics like his father (how I hate when people insult Jon and Ned like that), and while he did some very obvious mistakes that inevitably ended in a coup and in him dying, this is more connected to his inability to let go of his ties with his family (mainly Arya or who he believes to be her), and in isolating himself from his friends and the people he could actually trust.

I’ve always thought that Dany and Jon share a parallel narrative within the story, so while Jon is struggling with that Dany is faced with similar problems. She cages her dragons, that to her represent the only family she has left, and she tries to compromise with the slavers, marry a man she doesn’t love, pretend she’s ok with reopening the fighting pit. While she tries her best to rule wisely in Meereen, it all comes at the cost of betraying herself and her beliefs, so it’s no surprise when it all crashes around her and she’s betrayed and nearly killed. Ironically, it is Drogon who comes to rescue her.

If they are monsters, so am I.—Daenerys II, ADWD.

This is hands down one of my favorite Dany quotes from the whole series, and I hate that it’s been given such a negative connotation in the fandom, when for me it represents Dany’s humanity and compassion at the fullest.

GRRM has a knack for humanizing the ‘monsters’ of his story, for showing the good in the outcasts and the ugly and the scary. He embraces their ‘otherness’ and makes them the heroes of his stories; Arya, Bran, Brienne, Dany, Tyrion, Jon, Theon and many others are all compared to monsters or beasts at one point or another in the books.

Dany sees herself in her dragons, literal monsters in every sense of the word. Later on she faces Drogon inside the pit, and in that moment you could say that she accepts that ‘monstrous’ part of her, and in doing so she’s saved from her fate of dying at the hands of the men who would crucify innocent children and gleefully profit off of the suffering of their fellow human beings while watching them fight each other to the death for their own amusement. Now tell me who’s the real monster in this situation.

But shortly before that happens, Dany is able to see the humanity in Tyrion, an outcast who has been branded as monstrous and unlovable due to his disability all his life, a man who has come to believe in his abusers’ rhetoric about him so strongly that he’s started to act cruel and detached. She saves his life. She sees value in his life when few others would, because she cares.

I’ve always find it funny that the “dragons plant no trees” is—another—example fans use to argue in favor of Dany’s descent into Darkness™ because the actual scene goes like this:

You are a queen, her bear said. In Westeros.

"It is such a long way," she complained. "I was tired, Jorah. I was weary of war. I wanted to rest, to laugh, to plant trees and see them grow. I am only a young girl."

No. You are the blood of the dragon. The whispering was growing fainter, as if Ser Jorah were falling farther behind. Dragons plant no trees. Remember that. Remember who you are, what you were made to be. Remember your words.—Daenerys X, ADWD.

Now am I the only one who finds it at least a bit relevant that it’s freaking Jorah Mormont aka Jorah the Enslaver whom Dany’s subconscious, at her literal lowest moment, utilizes to represent this particular thought, which btw I’ve always interpreted as Dany’s own self-loathing manifesting in her, and this is something she’s actually always struggled with—the idea that she’s not enough and she’s failing. Because above all things, even Westeros or the Iron Throne, what Dany wants is peace, she wants to plant trees.

When Dany made her descent, Reznak and Skahaz dropped to their knees. "Your Worship shines so brightly, you will blind every man who dares to look upon you," said Reznak. […] This match will save our city, you will see."

"So we pray. I want to plant my olive trees and see them fruit." Does it matter that Hizdahr's kisses do not please me? Peace will please me. Am I a queen or just a woman?—Daenerys VII, ADWD.

But of course the world doesn’t work like that, and so long as there’s Jorahs and Tywins and Eurons out there, men who would take the freedom of humans and submit them to their will, Dany can’t have the luxury of peace, just like Jon can’t have the luxury of belonging and family so long as there’s people still beyond the Wall who need his protection.

And I think that’s fine. It’s fine that Dany failed, it will help her develop as a character and realize that there’s no room to compromise with slavers, the metaphorical monsters of the story who do far more harm than the other more literal ‘monsters’ of the story. So that when she has to face down Euron Greyjoy—who btw, there’s a high chance he will end up stealing one of Dany’s dragons via Victarion using Dragonbinder… y’know, as in enslaving one of her children and using said dragon to inflict god knows what horrors, yet not many people ever consider this for some reason?—she will know. When she has to face down the Others, the magical ice fairies with no regard for human life, she will know.

That’s why I believe that it would make absolutely no sense for Dany to have to go through such a tragic and traumatic experience like burning a whole city even by pure accident, over something that’s either never been a problem with her character or she’s well into her way of learning anyways, so it would just feel repetitive. As I have pointed out, she’s already reached one of the lowest moments of her arc. Not saying there will be no other blows for her, and probably the destruction of KL will be one of them, and knowing Dany she will feel responsibility over it no matter what, but that doesn’t mean she has to be the culprit, intentional or otherwise.

[the-greendalehumanbeings]

honestly why not make the sharmas a british indian impoverished gentry family living in somerset? there's clearly other south asians in england and the ton, the show could still show their culture and customs, but the voyage from india alone brings up a few issues. idk maybe kate had some suitors in somerset? but the timing was bad and she turned them down because her father just died, mary was still grieving, and edwina was like 10. since women were expected to leave their families to join their husbands, maybe none of her suitors had the money/accommodations/willingness to take her mother and sister in, so she chose to stay and take care of them instead. she becomes frustrated with these men and the idea of marriage, dashing her previous romantic notions of love matches like her parents or her dad and mary. being a naive 18 yo suddenly in charge of managing the household she didn't make the best financial decisions at first which made things worse, then asked the sheffields for help not realizing the extent of the situation with mary and her father (because she was so young when mary and her dad married, and they sheltered her from the harsher stuff the way she does with edwina now). now make it so that mary was absent in the first years but stepped up later (and show it!) and feels guilty so she's the one who asks lady danbury for help. kate actually tells mary about edwina's dowry thinking it was a good idea until mary fully explains what happened with the sheffields years ago and now she feels guilty. they get a proper mother-daughter character arc addressing their shortcomings and guilt. edwina becomes more aware of their financial situation and picks anthony (the rich titled suitor who cares about family so yay maybe he'll help them all?) because she (misguidedly ofc) feel like a burden and wants to repay the sacrfices kate and mary have made - edwina and kate both have proper character arcs revolving around duty to family for women in the era, which also serves to parallel anthony's arc about duty for a man. now there's a cohesive theme about duty vs desire for the season through multiple characters. and actual commentary building on s1 on marriage being how women survived in the era due to the lack of other options (edwina is not a golddigger 🙄 and kate's deal with the sheffields for edwina to marry a man of english peerage is a pretty typical goal for the women of the ton? the bigger issue is that they're terrible people whose love for family is conditional)

idk this is just me rewriting the sharmas in the show, trying to give them a proper backstory and spitballing ideas for character development, combining parts of the book and show, ofc it's not near perfect. i'm just coming up with possible alternatives to make sense of what the show was trying for but missed by a mile because of messy writing 😬 also me caring more about the female characters and women's relationships with each other more than these writers do 🔪

bridgerton is really lucky for the actors, they really sell their characters and work with what they're given, but even the best can only do so much with garbage writing holding them back

Yeah, I agree. They should have just come from Somerset. In s1, I think one of Daphne's suitors in the ton was played by a British Indian actor and had an English name as well (I think it was Lord Hardy). Then there was Lucy Granville, who had an English name. The changes to Sharma's backstory and Bridgeton's whole colour-conscious casting bring up many uncomfortable colonial implications. I cringe any time someone suggests Anthony visit India. Dorset was bad enough. We are just lucky he didn't mention yoga or anything about having a spiritual awakening when visiting India. Not to mention we all know what English aristocrats were up to when they visited India. Hopefully, next season the show and Anthony will stay far away from the topic of India.

Yeah, the season would have benefitted by having a theme related to all their subplots. I think it felt like there were more subplots than s1 because they didn't relate to the main plot. The subplots like the Ponzi scheme, Prudence, LW, Eloise and Theo, and Queen were all intertwined. Whereas the love story was completely separate from everything else that was going on. I also wish that Sharma's story arc explored women's lack of options and how vulnerable they were without a male relative/guardian. Making Kate's role align with Anthony was dumb. The books and the show seem to take the stance that wanting to marry for love = good debutante and marrying for money = bad debutante. And a lot of fandom seems to have internalised this, which is unfortunate. Honestly, I think it would have been fun seeing the Sharma's scheming to bag a rich man.

I think a large part of this S2's success is because audiences are desperate for romances with two good actors and great chemistry to match, which Jonathon Bailey and Simone Ashley delivered.

[snackleggg]

City of splintering hopes: Chapter 1 "Frosty conversations"

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Ao3

~~~

Frostbite quickly seemed to realise what he had said and stopped talking, immediately dropping his usually happy attitude. Danny was still processing what he had said.

"Hey Frosty?" Danny asked during one of his semi-regular visits to the Far Frozen.

"Yes Great One?" Frostbite replied as he finished up checking that Danny had fully recovered from a terrible case of the ghost flu he had caught a few days ago.

"You and the other Yetis seem to know alot about my hybrid physiology when I don't even know that. How come?" Danny asked. It was an innocent enough question. Jazz had pointed it out just before he left for his visit and he hadn't been able to shake it from his mind since.

"Well, of course!" Frostbite said with a boisterous laugh "You think you are the only Halfa to have ever allied with our tribe? We have always been friends to your kind Great One!" Frostbite said back with a carefree kind of happiness before he realized what he had just accidentally spilled.

Now they stood there in heavy silence as Danny processed the meaning behind Frostbite's words.

"Other Halfas!?" Danny all but screeched as he nearly fell from where he was sitting with the realisation of what Frostbite said.

Frostbite looked uncomfortable to say the least. He seemed to look around at anything but Danny as he replied "Y-Yes of course! You didn't think you and those two others were the only ones of your kind." Suddenly Frostbite looked Danny in the eye with concern "Did you Great One?"

Danny couldn't reply.

By the heavy look Frostbite was giving him it seemed like there was something deeper to this subject than he was realising. Danny just shook his head.

"Mmm no, the only other Halfas I've ever met were Dani and Vlad" Danny said matter-of-factly. By the look Frostbite was giving him it was obvious he was missing something, some unspoken fact that hung in the air just out of his reach.

Frostbite suddenly broke from his gaze as he huffed while looking to the side "That Plasmius should be ashamed of himself to even dare call himself a Halfa. He may be there biologically but none of his actions reflect on your people" Frostbite said with a tone of bitterness, a tone that was slightly sharper than the bitterness he usually talked with when talking about Vlad.

"Yeah, totally agree, 100% but back to the topic at hand I have a people!?" Danny's brain was trying to understand this new revelation. In a way it answered alot of questions that he had never really thought about. How were the ghosts able to tell he wasn't a full ghost. Why had Pointdexter known to call him a Halfa as if it was a common term. Why ghosts just didn't seem all that surprised about the existence of some weird hybrid. Of course Vlad could've had a part in that but Vlad was always too busy in his cheese castle plotting revenge to really interact with many ghosts outside of hiring them to do his dirty work.

But it also brought up a while slew of new questions. Where had these other Halfas come from? Definitely couldn't be another lab accident caused by his parents. Why wasn't there any information about the existence of ghost human hybrids on earth if there were enough Halfas around to be considered a people, a kind, not just an anomaly that repeated a few times but by the sounds of it some sort of society? And most importantly, where were they!? Danny had never ran into anyone like himself apart from Vlad and Dani.

He looked at Frostbite, trying to pick which question was the most important to ask first. It seemed Frostbite was blissfully unaware of his internal struggle as he just went on.

"Well yes Great One. The Halfas were a strong and prosperous people.... I suppose there isn't really a way for you to know that but I am surprised this is the first you are hearing about this" Frostbite said awkwardly.

Danny probably looked like a fish with how much he was opening and closing his mouth without a word coming out. Finally he managed to say something past his shock.

" 'were'?" Danny asked, his hopes at meeting someone like him suddenly beginning to die.

Frostbite just nodded, avoiding looking at him again as a sorrowful look came upon his face "Yes, Pariah Dark" Frostbite said the name like it was something foul and Danny was inclined to agree "wiped them all out when he sensed they would be a threat to his throne"

Danny almost snorted at that.

Pariah Dark sounded like a character in a tragedy or a myth in that context. In trying to stop Halfas from dethroning him he was indirectly responsible for a Halfa dethroning him. Okay maybe not responsible, Danny would've done it whether the race of people had still been around or not but still the irony was there. So was the karma.

Then he focused on the more depressing part of what Frostbite had said.

"Oh" so there really wasn't anyone else. He shouldn't have gotten his hopes up.

"But!" Frostbite said, a little bit of a cheer coming back to him "the ruins of their old city still stands! Maybe, if you are interested in knowing more, you could visit them? Of course everyone here in the Far Frozen would be more than happy to recount stories of other Halfas to you Great One but our knowledge is limited. Even with our friendship with them, they were always a secretive bunch" Frostbite explained.

Danny didn't really know what to think of the offer. It wouldn't be the same as actually talking to another Halfa but it would still be something, right?

"I'll... think about it" Danny said.

He had gone through too many revelations in too short a time span and he really just wanted to crawl into bed and take a nice long nap, which he could do since it was the weekend.

"Of course Great One. It is entirely up to you what you do" Frostbite said with a smile.

The rest of the visit seemed to fly by but the conversation he had with Frostbite was stuck at the back of his head. He kept on wondering about the other Halfas.

Were they nice? What kind of society did they have? Had they ever been to Earth or did they live exclusively in the Ghost Zone? Why were they as secretive as Frostbite said? Even to their own allies? Why had Pariah felt so threatened by them? Were they really that powerful? What will I find if I go to these ruins?

Even after he left to go back home the thoughts of a people just like him, a people long gone, lingered in his mind.

He was distracted.

He knew Frostbite and the other Yetis had noticed it even if they didn't comment on it but Jazz was alot more proactive about these sort of things. She noticed the far away look Danny had as they were eating dinner and afterwards pulled him off to the side as their parents went back down to work in the lab.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Nothing" Danny mumbled. He didn't know if Jazz would understand his dilemma. Sure he was born human but thinking about the possibility of other Halfas, even if he hadn't been born one, it made his core clench with a need to learn more, to find them

"It's obviously not nothing, you've been distracted ever since you came back from visiting the Far Frozen. What happened?" Jazz asked.

Danny couldn't meet her gaze. He didn't know how to fraze it, to tell her about all the spiraling thoughts in his head, the confusing feelings in his core.

"Danny" Jazz said seriously.

Finally Danny caved and told her about the conversation he had with Frostbite about other Halfas. He told her about his feelings and thoughts on the matter. It was like the dam that had been filling for the last few hours had broken and suddenly Danny was exasperated as he finished recounting everything.

"Other Halfas...." Jazz said thoughtfully.

Danny nodded. For some reason he felt guilty, he felt like he was betraying his family by trying to explore this part of himself.

Jazz, thank the ancients for the observation skills she definitely didn't get from their parents, noticed Danny's dip in mood and quickly went to comfort him.

"Hey, you shouldn't feel bad about this. It makes sense you'd want to find and learn about people who might've gone through similar struggles" Jazz said as she put her hand on Danny's shoulder, a grounding gesture which he was silently thankful for.

"But I feel bad about how if I do learn about this then I'll be keeping more secrets from mom and dad. I already feel terrible lying to them about The accident" Danny shrunk into himself. It's not that he wanted to keep lying to his parents but the perpetual fear of them not accepting him hung over his head heavily and he feared now that if he tried to explore and learn about these people who were like him it would only give his parents more reason to distance him from the family if they found out.

"Danny, look at me" Jazz urged and Danny barely managed to meet her gaze. It was determined and honest, an immovable rock he needed in the swirling river that was his thoughts.

"You don't have to go there if you don't want to but you shouldn't jump to the conclusion that it will only make everything worse. Think about it but don't forget that just as many good things could come from this as bad things" Jazz said and Danny nodded along. That made sense.

"Yeah. I guess the concept just kinda overwhelmed me" Danny said and suddenly he felt emotionally drained all over again.

"Go on, get some rest. Sleep on it but there really isn't a time limit" Jazz encouraged and she was right but Danny felt like if he did want to go then it might be better to do it sooner rather than later.

He crashed onto his bed not really knowing what to think. A few hours ago he was excited by the prospect but now he dreaded what he might find at those ruins, what secrets the Halfas kept hidden away even from those closest to them.

Danny almost laughed at the parallels as he thought about his own secretive situation with his parents. He was in no place to preemptively judge.

Finally he went to sleep.

Dreaming of a lullaby he never heard and a city of people he would never meet.

~~~

First | Previous | Next

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I'll be tagging all content do to with this story with the tag City of splintering hopes so if guys want to you can follow the story easier. You can also use that tag for any questions or content you guys make of the story!

Hope you all like this first chapter!

[aegor-bamfsteel]

You ever get sad for Daemon realizing how Bloodraven killed three of his sons (Aemon, Aegon, and Aenys), probably killed another (Daemon II), and may have killed the last one (Haegon)?

Of course I get sad, anon! We don't get much interaction between Daemon and his children (though we do get more than between Da3ron and his sons), but what we do get from Eustace Osgrey's tale is that he would sacrifice his life to try to save his sons'. It's clear that Rohanne knew that Daemon was fighting for the lives of their family (which is why she fled to Tyrosh with her remaining children, rather than risk the "mercy" of Da3ron II and Bl00draven); other people in the fandom seem to think his reason for "rebellion" was to save their lives after his unjust warrant for arrest. So he would be absolutely devastated that 5 of his 7 sons were killed unjustly by a half-brother that he might've grown up with.

Some talk about Bl00draven and Daemon, and what that might mean for Bran Stark's future under the cut:

House Blackfyre is my preferred house over the Targaryens from the era, since they at least tried to honor the rule of law and respect their opponents. Meanwhile, Bl00draven killed children and repeatedly violated feudal custom (honoring safe passage, fair treatment of prisoners, allowing enemies to surrender peacefully) for what people claim was the necessary "greater good". I've also explained in a few metas why I think Bl00draven is a horribly written character (he has too many inborn advantages and not enough setbacks; he's not at all consistent with the worldbuilding regarding corrupt councilors). It's a little galling when people try to argue with me that Bl00draven is some champion of humanity against the Others, given what we know of his history. None of the current Starks' mentors are good people or have good motives (Littlefinger wants to take over the kingdoms via Sansa; the kindly man is training Arya Stark to lose her identity), so why should Bl00draven be any different? They want the Starks to give up their true family, the one they miss so much.

Which brings me back to Daemon and Bl00draven. I'm in the camp that believes that the ghost of "the brother I loved" that haunted Bl00draven was in fact Daemon (why would he be haunted by Da3ron? So far as I know Bl00draven didn't betray him in any significant way); however, unlike others, I don't think this makes him any more sympathetic. Quite the opposite. In giving his mysterious speech, he's drawing a parallel between himself and Bran, and his own brothers (Daemon and Aegor = possibly Robb and Jon, as his oldest brothers). Bl00draven sacrificed his true family, as in someone he "loved", in exchange for power. This motif is very common in the series (Azor Ahai and Nissa Nissa, Daenerys Targaryen and Drogo + Rhaego, the whole deal with the Faceless men, in the show Stannis and Shireen) and what comes out of it is invariably death and destruction. It's not unreasonable, given that Bl00draven is forcing the Brynden=Brandon parallels, that he would try to encourage Bran to sacrifice his family in exchange for knowledge and power (there's Jojen paste theory; and Bl00draven wants him to forget his father's ghost so he can greensee better). I think that after his true identity is revealed, with Bl00draven admitting to killing a family member he claimed to love "for the greater good", that Bran will see how much they are not alike, and refuse to take the same path. Like Sansa and Arya, he will leave his evil mentor (possibly causing his death or the destruction of his way of life). We already know how much more he values his family than flying.

"He wished Robb were with them now. I'd tell him I could fly, but he wouldn't believe, so I'd have to show him. I bet that he could learn to fly too, him and Arya and Sansa, even baby Rickon and Jon Snow. We could all be ravens and live in Maester Luwin's rookery." -Bran, adwd