#a bit of subtext even

[maya-caffrey]

can we bring back procedurals? or at least just proper shows like how TV used to be? 5 to 15 seasons, a generous amount of episodes per season, 45 minutes: the sweet spot between too long and too short, pilot episodes that are wildly different from the rest of the show, filler episodes that overall contribute nothing but are extremely fun because that is what god intended, random musical episode, crossovers, waiting an entire week in anticipation to see what happens next, like, this was the PEAK of television, where did we go wrong

[sadhorsegirl]

not only do glinda and elphaba participate in an array of romantic courting gestures (the constant hand holding, dancing together at the ozdust ballroom, the enemies to lovers/"loathing" of it all, etc etc), glinda also mirrors specific gestures fiyero makes towards her and uses them on elphaba (giving elphaba the flower fiyero gives her, when they first meet fiyero says "our first fight" then in the popular sequence glinda says "let's not quarrel" to elphaba)..............like.........................

[s0fter-sin]

soap's whole deal being sniper and demolitions gets me going bc on the surface they sound so different but when you get into it, you realise it's bc soap's smart

sniping is all math; calculating distances and wind interference and bullet drop. something i think people overlook is he was listed as a sniper first so it can be implied that he's better at it than demolitions. he does more sniping in both campaigns than demolitions work; in capture or kill, ghost specifically calls on him to take down the aq snipers

and demolitions is math with a hit of chemistry; knowing what mixes with what, knowing how much to use, recognising environmental factors and adjusting accordingly. it's not just about the boom; so much work goes into contained/ planned explosions. especially when having enough power for a breacher charge and not bringing down the whole building is the difference between mission success and failure

the chemical bombs he makes in alone can't just be any old cleaners, they have to have the correct reaction to each other; he just knew off the top of his head what would mix with what to create what reaction. he would also potentially have to recognise them by sight/smell bc they would’ve been written in spanish

soap would also have to know architecture; recognising structural integrity and weak points so he knows exactly where to plant a charge to bring it down and how it'll come down

he has an incredible soldier's mind people just forget that bc he's sociable which itself is a skill

we know he tends to buck against orders he doesn't agree with like when he pushes back against ghost in capture or kill and shepherd when he tells them to release hassan

he gets closer to people and sees if he can trust them and that's when he follows them without question. really think about how he talks to alejandro and rudy; he asks about their home and alejandro's family and rudy's relationship with him. those aren't questions you ask a stranger after a few hours of knowing them. that's not even touching on his relationship with ghost

he also deliberately brings people of higher ranks down to his level; talking informally with ghost and giving him a shoulder punch, addressing alejandro (a colonel!!) by his first name and rudy by his nickname despite literally just meeting them. he personalises all of them and it’s in direct opposition to the reason most characters do that; it’s not due to insubordination or lack of respect, the more he respects and trusts someone, the more casual he is with them

he digs into people; he wants to know what makes them tick and that determines if he can one, trust them and two, follow their orders. once he decides that, he's the ultimate soldier; he bleeds loyalty which makes him vicious when that loyalty is taken for granted

he isn't naive or bubbly or insecure; he's an incredibly smart and aware soldier. he's aggressive and bloodthirsty and loyal and intuitive and i love him so much

[fatedroses]

And some days, I just wish you wouldn't look at me at all.

[sebdoesthings]

I'm so glad i watched Sk8 the Infinity as an adult and not a teen so I didn't turn into one of those annoying idiots who complain about "renga not being canon because they didn't kiss"

[angelsdean]

I need people to understand how S&P (standards and practices) works in television and how much influence they have over what gets to stay IN an episode of a show and how the big time network execs are the ones holding the purse strings and making final decisions on a show's content, not the writers / showrunners / creatives involved.

So many creators have shared S&P notes over the years of the wild and nonsensical things networks wanted them to omit / change / forbid. Most famously on tumblr, I've seen it so many times, is the notes from Gravity Falls. But here's a post compiling a bunch of particularly bad ones from various networks too. Do you see the things they're asking to be changed / cut ?

Now imagine, anything you want to get into your show and actually air has to get through S&P and the network execs. A lot of creators have had to resort to underhanded methods. A lot of creators have had to relegate things to subtext and innuendo and scenes that are "open to interpretation" instead of explicit in meaning. Things have had to be coded and symbolized. And they're relying on their audience to be good readers, good at media literacy, to notice and get it. This stuff isn't the ramblings of conspiracy theorists, it's the true practices creatives have had to use to be able to tell diverse stories for ages. The Hays Code is pretty well known, it exists because of censorship. It was a way to symbolize certain things and get past censors.

Queercoding, in particular, has been used for ages in both visual media and literature do signal to queer audiences that yes, this character is one of us, but no, we can't be explicit about it because TPTB won't allow it. It's a wink-wink, nudge-nudge to those in the know. It's the deliberate use of certain queer imagery / clothing / mannerisms / phrases / references to other queer media / subtle glances and lingering touches. Things that offer plausible deniability and can be explained away or go unnoticed by straight audiences to get past those network censors. But that queer viewers WILL (hopefully) pick up on.

Because, unfortunately, still to this day, a lot of antiquated network execs don't think queer narratives are profitable. They don't think they'll appeal to general audiences, because that's what matters, whatever appeals to most of the audience demographic so they can keep watching and keep making the network more money. The networks don't care about telling good stories! Most of them are old white cishet business men, not creatives. They don't care about character arcs and what will make fans happy. They don't care about storytelling. What they care about is profit and they're basing their ideas of what's profitable on what they believe is the predominate target demographic, usually white cis heterosexual audiences.

So, imagine a show that started airing in the early 2000s. Imagine a show where the two main characters are based on two characters from a famous Beat Generation novel, where one of the characters is queer! based on a real like bisexual man! The creator is aware of this, most definitely. And sure, it's 2005, there's no way they were thinking of making that explicit about Dean in the text because it just wouldn't fly back then to have a main character be queer. But! it's made subtext. And there are nods to that queerness placed in the text. Things that are open to interpretation. Things that are drenched in metaphor (looking at you 1x06 Skin "I know I'm a freak" "maybe this thing was born human but was different...hated. Until he learned to become someone else.") Things that are blink-and-you-miss-it and left to plausible deniability (things like seemingly spending an hour in the men's bathroom, or always reacting a little vulnerable and awkward when you're clocked instead of laughing it off and making a homophobic joke abt it)

And then, years later there's a ship! It's popular and at first the writers aren't really seriously thinking about it but they'll throw the fans a bone here and there. Then, some writers do get on the destiel train and start actively writing scenes for them that are suggestive. And only a fraction of what they write actually makes it into the text. So many lines left on the cutting room floor: i love past you. i forgive you i love you. i lost cas and it damn near broke me. spread cas's ashes alone. of course i wanted you to stay. if cas were here. -- etc. Everything cut was not cut by the writers! Why would a writer write something to then sabotage their own story and cut it? No, these are things that didn't make it past the network. Somewhere a note was made maybe "too gay" or "don't feed the shippers" or simply "no destiel."

So, "no destiel." That's pretty clearly the message we got from the CW for years. "No destiel. Destiel will alienate our general audience. Two of our main characters being queer? And in a relationship? No way." So what can the pro-destiel creatives involved do, if the network is saying no? What can the writers do if most of their explicit destiel (or queer dean) lines / moments are getting cut? Relegate things to subtext. Make jokes that straight people can wave off but queer people can read into. Make costuming and set design choices that the hardcore fans who are already looking will notice while the general audience and the out-of-touch network execs won't blink and eye at (I'm looking at you Jerry and your lamps and disappearing second nightstands and your gay flamingo bar!)

And then, when the audience asks, "is destiel real? is this proof of destiel?" what can the creatives do but deny? Yes, it hurts, to be told "No no I don't know what you're talking about. There's no destiel in supernatural" a la "there is no war in Ba Sing Se" but! if the network said "no destiel!" and you and your creative team have been working to keep putting destiel in the subtext of the narrative in a way that will get past censors, you can't just go "Yes, actually, all that subtext and symbolism you're picking up, yea it's because destiel is actually in the narrative."

But, there's a BIG difference between actively putting queer themes and subtext into the narrative and then saying it's not there (but it is! and the audience sees it!) versus NOT putting any queer content into the text but SAYING it is there to entice queer fans to continue watching. The latter, is textbook queerbaiting. The former? Is not. The former is the tactics so many creatives have had to use for years, decades, centuries, to get past censorship and signal to those in the know that yea, characters like you are here, they exist in this story.

Were the spn writers perfect? No, absolutely not. And I don't think every instance of queer content was a secret signal. Some stuff, depending on the writer, might've been a period-typical gay joke. These writers are flawed. But it's no secret that there were pro-destiel writers in the writing room throughout the years, and that efforts were made to make it explicitly canon (the market research!)

So no, the writers weren't ever perfect or a homogeneous entity. But they definitely were fighting an uphill battle constantly for 15 yrs against S&P and network execs with antiquated ideas of what's profitable / appealing.

Spn even called out the networks before, on the show, using a silly example of complaints abt the lighting of the show and how dark the early seasons were. Brightening the later seasons wasn't a creative choice, but a network choice. And if the networks can complain abt and change something as trivial as the lighting of a show, they definitely are having a hand in influencing the content of the show, especially queer content.

Even in s15, (seasons fifteen!!!) Misha has said he worried Castiel's confession would not air. In 2020!!! And Jensen recorded that scene on his personal phone! Why? Sure, for the memories. But also, I do not doubt for a second that part of it was for insurance, should the scene mysteriously disappear completely. We've seen the finale script. We've seen the omitted omitted omitted scenes. We all saw how they hacked the confession scene to bits. The weird cuts and close-ups. That's not the writers doing. That's likely not even the editors (willingly). That's orders from on high. All of the fuckery we saw in s15 reeks of network interference. Writers are not trying to sabotage their own stories, believe me.

Anyways, TLDR: Networks have a lot more power than many think and they get final say in what makes it to air. And for years creative teams have had to find ways to get past network censorship if they want "banned" or "unapproved" "unprofitable" "unwanted" content to make it into the show. That means relying on techniques like symbolism, subtext, and queercoding, and then shutting up about it. Denying its there, saying it's all "open to interpretation" all while they continue to put that open to interpretation content into the show. And that's not queerbaiting, as frustrating as it might be for queer audiences to be told that what they're seeing isn't there, it's still not queerbaiting. Queerbaiting is a marketing technique to draw in queer fans by baiting them with the promise of queer content and then having no queer content in said media. But if you are picking up on queer themes / subtext / symbolism / coding that is in front of your face IN the text, that's not queerbaiting. It's there, covertly, for you, because someone higher up didn't want it to be there explicitly or at all.

[just-an-enby-lemon]

Nothing will be more hilarious to me than the party's - specially Ben's - outrage about Alex's sneaky reference to William Shakespeare slowly fading as they remember that half of the NPCs are actually historical figures. Like they are genuinally going "what's this assassin's creed? You put Shakespeare in the gift Augusta Leight gave to our honorary party member Oscar Wilde while waiting for Ada Lovelace and Nikola Tesla to see if we can talk to the brain of Charles Babbage about the mission Albert Einstein teleported us to? Shakespeare a whole historical person? "

[nandysparadox]

"the prince always does the right thing! the good thing..."

[scienceoftheidiot]

Time for a little self rec for @qs63 and I ! We are both very proud and love this fic we wrote together very much.

Two Roy, two Riza, one transmutation circle, one mistake, oops! But being stuck walking in your - fucked up - double's shoes for a while puts things in perspective. Post Promised Day AND post CoS. Double the fun, double the royai 😇

Disclaimer : this isn't an established relationship fic. The establishment/renovation/deepening of relationships are what's at the heart of it. The point of the fic is for them to see how it is on the other side... And that the grass isn't necessarily greener there.

[sorrinslays]

Gepard-Sampo confrontation

Roleswap AU

Gepard is running. That, in it of itself, is not rare. He's used to running. Either from people he stole from or the Silvermane Guards. Sampo Koski, the Captain of the Silvermane Guards, is chasing him. That isn't unusual either.

What is unusual, is that the blonde is panting and struggling to keep going. That is strange. For whatever reason, the Captain is much more determined to catch him. They've been running around for almost six hours with no breaks and, from the looks of it, the blue-haired man can keep going for at least another hour.

That is Unusual. Capital U.

Usually, after an hour or two, Sampo loses him in a chase. Or he gets distracted by other matters. Not today though.

And it's making the thief wonder, what the hell did he do for the Captain to be on his ass this ferociously?! Did he pickpocket from a friend of his? No, that can't be right. Gepard is always mindful to avoid messing with soldiers or any acquaintances of Sampo's. Did he offend the little girls that hover around Sampo at some point? They did come to him the other day asking to play...

Shit, is the Captain hunting him down like some kind of prey because he refused to play hide and seek with them?!?!

This is bad. He's going to get arrested after ten years because he refused to play hide and seek with some toddlers. Is this really how Gepard Landau's story ends?

Too lost in his thoughts, the thief trips, resulting in a crash on the pavement. He can hear playful whistling behind him and it doesn't take a genius to figure out who's humming a tune. "Well hello there Geppie!" a very aggravating voice calls out, chuckling.

Groaning, the blonde gets up, a frown on his face and his ears red. He doesn't grace the Captain with a response as he continues trying to even out his breathing.

"Aw, not even a hello?" this grown ass man fucking pouts, batting his eyelashes and making embarrassing faces. Yet, he's not making any attempts to arrest the thief. Why?

"You're not arresting me," Gepard points out, earning a raised eyebrow.

"Excellent deduction skills Geppie," the jade-eyed man chuckles, "could've mistaken you for a Silvermane."

Ignoring the other's comments, "why?" the thief asks simply.

"Straight to business, eh?" the Captain smiles, "I can work with that," he starts walking towards the other, "I have a deal for you, dearest Landau. One that I think you simply cannot refuse."

The blue-eyed man frowns at that. "Why would the Captain of the Silvermane Guards want to make a deal with someone like me?" he asks.

Sampo tilts his head at that, walking even closer. It feels as though he's circling his prey. "You know the newcomers?" he asks. "What are the names again...?" he hums in thought, clicking his tongue. "May 11th? Dan Feng?"

"March 7th, Dan Heng and the Trailblazer," the blonde answers. "What about them?"

"The supreme guardian just assigned them as criminals," the Captain comments. He keeps his eyes on Gepard, as if waiting for a specific reaction.

"Criminals?" the thief repeats, "why?" he asks. They seemed like good people...

"She accused the three of plotting against her," the jade-eyed man shrugs.

His choice of words is weird. Sampo is smart, especially with words. So there must be a reason behind this odd phrasing. "Why are you telling me all this?" the blue-eyed man asks.

Whatever reaction the Captain was looking for, he must've found it, because he smiles wide, all teeth. "Seele is sent to arrest them tomorrow first thing in the morning," he says, "they are gonna ambush them outside the hotel they are staying at right this second."

Gepard's frown gets deeper as he asks once more, "this is interesting and all, but, again, why are you telling me all this?"

"I need you to take them to the Underworld," the Captain says bluntly.

What.

"What?" the thief asks, "I don't know if you know, but the Underground has been sealed for ten years."

"And that's where my end of the deal comes into play!" Sampo beams, "I'll show you a secret passage to enter the Underworld, without anyone knowing, and in return I need you to guide those three in the Underworld!"

To say Gepard is stunned would be an understatement. "...Secret passage?" he asks with a shaky voice. Those exist? All this time, he could've sneaked off to find his sisters again?

"Yup!" the jade-eyed man popes the 'p'. "Got a couple of those," he answers, "and I'm willing to share one of them. Let's call it an, ah, secret. Just between us, okay, Gep?"

The thief feels tears build up, his vision slightly blurry. It's so overwhelming. He'll be able to see his sisters again. After ten years. All thanks to a guy that is supposed to be arresting him.

"Aw," the other man coos, "don't cry Geppie," he smiles sweetly as he wipes again the tears with his thumbs. All while avoiding touching Gepard as much as possible. "What do ya say?" he asks.

"You've got yourself a deal," the tears are replaced by a look of determination.

Sampo's smile widened, like a cat that caught the canary.

After the "meeting" with the Captain yesterday, Gepard found himself near Goethe Hotel, hiding in one of the numerous alley ways. He is peaking at the main street while the other man is leaning against the wall with a cigarette in his hands, smiling lazily.

"Why are we sitting here?" the blue-eyed man asks, "shouldn't we go and get them before the guards do?"

"And risk being seen with them?" the jade-eyed man raises an eyebrow, "there's no way we can sneak past the guards right now, not to mention the normal folks that are hanging out there."

Frowning, the thief huffs, "then are we doing here?" he eyes the other, who takes a drag out his cigarette. "What's your plan?"

Sampo just smiles, walking over to the other. "We're here," he pauses for a moment for dramatic effect, "to wait for a scene."

Gepard's frown deepens, "what do you-"

The Captain cuts him off, "there it is," he narrows his eyes at the sight just outside the alleyway.

Turning his gaze to where Sampo is looking, he is met with a surprising scene. There, the trailblazers are being led to Qlipoth Fort by some guards. Seele, the commander of the Silvermane Guards, is behind them in the distance. Next to her is Luka, the Intellegence Officer of the Silvermane Guards.

"We should help them," the thief turns back towards the other.

"Not yet," the Captain hums. As he says that, the grey-haired outsider hits one of the guards with their bat before all three of them turn to an alley that is full of fragmentum.

Gepard is about to say something, urge the other to help the outsiders. The jade-eyed man beats him to it, saying, "let's go."

The duo keeps up with the outsiders, making sure to stay hidden from the guards. Soon, Seele separates from the other soldiers and finds the trailblazers.

The commander attacks the outsiders, and the thief turns towards the Captain, "they aren't going to win this," he states, "we need to do something, now."

Sampo's eyes narrow and he takes something out of his pocket. Is that...?

"Is this a bomb?!" the blue-eyed man whisper-yells, "what are you thinking?!"

The jade-eyed man just chuckles, ignoring the other as he lights three small bombs and sends them towards the heated battle.

Immediately, smoke erupts, and a small part of Gepard's mind sighs in relief. The others are coughing and covering their faces as the Captain casually enters the smoke-filled area, completely unaffected.

"I apologize for the interruption!" Sampo says, no hint of struggling to take a breath like the others around him. "But Sampo is not one to turn his back to friends in need. I say what I mean and I mean what I say."

Just as he finishes his little speech, the Trailblazer, the last one conscious, passes out and slowly the smoke dispenses. When the cost is clear, Gepard walks over to the Captain, seeing him pick up Dan Heng and Seele.

As the thief watches Sampo work, an uncomfortable feeling creeps up his spine. He can outrun Gepard and he had smoke bombs with sleeping gas for Qlipoth's sake! For the better part of a decade, he could catch the thief anytime and he just. Chose not to.

Too lost in thought, he didn't noticing the jade-eyed man walk over to him. He jolts violently when he hears the other's voice again, "come on, pretty boy, pick up the other two for me."

Dumbly, the blue-eyed man nods, doing as told. Before he realizes something. "You're taking the commander too?!" he asks, a panicked expression on his face.

"Yup!" Sampo says, popping the 'p' as he starts walking away. Hurrying to catch up with him, Gepard holds the trailblazer and March 7th tighter. "She deserves a change of scenery, don't ya think?"

The thief remains silent, following the other as they pass through never ending alleyways, avoiding all guards. Soon, they are in some sort of tunnel, opened by a manhole cover. And while he knows that he should be paying attention to his surroundings, the blonde can't help but try and make sense of the other's 'plan'.

The Underworld was pretty underprivileged, especially compared to the Overworld. He and his siblings came to realize that when they moved there for the sake of cheaper rent. And, technically speaking, Seele has never really seen the Underworld.

So the jade-eyed man taking the commander there while also saving the criminals from the law does make sense. But what then? Best case scenario Seele manages to go back up and everything goes back to normal and worst case she never gets back and a new commander is selected.

So, again, what is the bluenette's plan? And also why is he actively helping criminals (including Gepard)?

"Ask away," the Captain suddenly says, jolting the other right out of his thoughts.

"What?" the thief frowns, readjusting his hold on the two people he's holding. They take a left turn, he notes.

Sampo chuckles, "you're not good at hiding your thoughts Geppie," he teases, "I can practically hear your thoughts."

Glancing at the man who is walking a few steps ahead, Gepard shakes his head and starts walking a bit faster. "Why are you doing this?"

"I'm doing a lot of things right now, Gep," the jade-eyed man smiles, "ya gotta be more specific."

The blonde can't help but frown more, "you know what I mean," he weakly defends, "why are you helping them? And why did you bring Seele with you?" after a small pause, he decides to ask, "why are you helping me?"

The bluenette shrugs at that, "they're not bad people," he states, "and while in the past I might've listened to Natasha no questions asked, her recent orders are..." he hums in thought before shaking his head. "Either way, this one has been staring at the moon so much she has missed the butterflies, don't you think?" he asks, pointing with his head towards the unconscious Seele.

"You are making zero sense right now, just so you know," the blue-eyed man informs the other, "I genuinely don't know how your guards tolerate or even understand you."

The Captain just laughs once more, "where's the fun in making sense?" he asks, although it's obvious he isn't expecting an answer. "As for you," he shifts the topic, "I wouldn't say I'm helping you as much as I'm making profit, you know? You can do what I need you to and I have something you want. A fair deal, really."

Frown deepening, the thief speaks once more. "But what's your plan after this?" he asks, "what is the purpose behind all of this? Do you even have a plan?"

"Would you look at that!" Sampo exclaims, "we're here!" he smiles, "now, just head to Cocolia's clinic, I'm sure you know her, her new clinic is in the center of Boulder Town, a man named Peak is gonna come and help you," he explains, setting Seele and the Trailblazer down, "now I gotta run before Natasha looks for me! Bye Geppie, good luck!" he blows a kiss as he leaves.

Needless to say Gepard is very confused.

[hauntedjohnny]

personally see ‘ship’ as less i want these two to be in a romantic relationship endgame and more these two characters have specific personalities that i think would create an interesting fucked up dynamic that i would like to see explored as close to canon as possible

[topnotchquark]

It's crazy that every Pecco Bezz podium gives so much to the girls. You got your parc ferme humping, you got Pecco pouring Prosecco in Bezz's open and receiving mouth, you got Bezz saying he would rail Pecco in the cooldown room in front of god and a camera broadcasting to an international audience. Literally where else have we seen such yaoi fueling male bonding activities.

[whenthegoldrays]

and like, despite the deliciously shippable couples it has, Twinkling Watermelon is not a romcom, it’s a fantasy coming-of-age. the theme is family, the main relationship is between Eun Gyeol and his father and while their respective romantic storylines are crucial, they’re not central.

which is nice, on the one hand, because it offers a slightly different (and beautiful) kind of story, but then because instead of being [main couple] > [second couple] it’s [son and dad] > [son’s gf and mom], it ends up letting down Eun Yoo and Cheong-ah a bit and leaving their resolutions a bit rushed / open ended (you know, like how in other shows you’ll see the second couple standing together at the main characters’ wedding but no actual, solid resolution).

so the final scene of the show is primarily a bonding moment and a resolution for Yichan and Eun Gyeol, and you don’t get much of Cheongchan and a very quick last-moment wrapping up of Euneun (and like. what happened to our girls in the years in between?? we need answers!)

[ben-penderwick]

rereading point mouette as an adult is so funny cause as a kid any attempts at foreshadowing completely went over my head and all of a sudden i can see it and it's like every other page

[xviistrings]

guys it would be so crazy if i wrote a whole analysis?? essay thing?? on the discussion of sexuality in persona 4 and what is and isn't meant to be gay rep

[ilynpilled]

what do u think is jaime’s biggest flaw

oh he has a bunch

Biggest one: his fear of truly confronting things. his cowardice (the brave knight is deconstructed)

Arrogance is a given. His obsession with perception and his ego. His destructive dissociative tendencies and forced detachment. His self delusion and cynicism he uses to enable acts that his conscience knows are wrong. He also often falls into the trap of cynicism when he expects quick results and does not get them. When he makes choices to become better and people keep dehumanizing him and expect the worst from him he gets super frustrated and petty (less so atp, just compare his behavior to Brienne’s reaction when he gives her Oathkeeper and she misreads his intensions vs the gate not being opened for him in ADwD) His misogynistic and classist blindspots. Him weighing his values wrong even when his conscience is screaming at him (multiple examples of this, e.g Jeyne Poole: “her eyes were sad and wary”, “then why do you sound so frightened?”: vows from so many vows speech in conflict: obey your father vs protect the innocent. He obviously chooses wrong. George was telling us the way he changed by the end of ASoS is not enough he is not where he needs to be yet) His desperate want to make his “so many vows” compromise instead of making the correct choice and drawing the hard line he already did at 17. His desire to become Goldenhand the Just (just a mess frankly, gold tends to have negative symbolism in his story, his goldenhand also is associated with violence and is his desperate attempt to recreate his old self, his phantom fingers — again, has to be addressed in a dream.) While we are here also his need for his subconscious to literally repeatedly slap sense into him (his dreams addressing things he refuses to consciously address because it would hurt to do so). His tendency to repeat his father’s dogma when he is viscerally aware that that man is the worst man oat (Lannister sibling parallels! uwu!), unwittingly contradicting it in every way, then trying again. His desire to pursue glory as well as honor (and whatever they mean in the subtext) when the symbolism is very clearly established that the two cannot be achieved simultaneously for him, he cannot ride two horses at once. It might be that both get turn down at the end in some form. The honor related to the KG, and the glory related to duty to house Lannister. I think that conflict is getting picked apart right now with the choice he makes in ADwD to abandon his position/hunting down the brotherhood any kind of glory tying to house lannister pursuit etc to follow an injured and suspicious Brienne alone (mind you he was also riding Honor in that chapter, ntm the half moon). I think both honor and glory are very abstract and are rooted in some form in his desire for love as well (honor and glory paid their parts but in the end it was for cersei is something he reflects on) but “the things we do for love” has to be something not destructive and prejudiced. He is disillusioned by both honor and glory, especially after aerys. “What is honor?” A horse. Like deep down he knows. His arc in AFfC-ADwD was about about taking apart and looking at all of these flaws imo, put him in a spot to make his choice in adwd. and all that matters are choices. He is also an asshole.