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darkblueboxs · 5 years ago

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The Manga is Way Better (Save me from the Fangirls)

Read here or on AO3

Inspired by an absurd GC conversation feat. @hope-coeurell and @karmacharmeleon18 about exy anime in the aftg universe.

Neil wakes up to eleven hundred new twitter followers overnight, which sets off alarm bells for a number of reasons.

He didn’t want the damn account, but his publicist insisted, and Carol rules Neil’s public life with an iron fist. He leaves her to post generically upbeat tweets on his behalf about the exy world, and in return he tries not to start any fights that she’ll have to finish. Emphasis on tries.

He assumes that the influx of followers is down to some vaguely rude retort going viral that he’d already forgotten making, but to his bafflement most of the new followers seem to have cartoon avatars and names that are more emoji than letter. He clicks on one profile out of curiosity, understands about one word in five, and promptly loses interest.

He puts it down to the ramp up in interest caused by the approaching world cup and shuts off his phone. The muggy SoCal heat makes Neil drowsier than he usually would be, but the sound of Andrew brewing coffee in the kitchen is enough to drag Neil from bed. They’re only on the western coast for a few days while the national team attends a few mandatory press junkets and board meetings, and Neil would resent it more if not for the opportunity to spend time with his family.

They’re actually scheduled for a day off, but Kevin pulled every contact he had with the Trojans to bag use of their court for the day, and he’s dragging every player he can in with him. Luckily for them, it’s the off-season, so the only players they’re booting from their own pitch are the ones with nothing better to do on their break.

The fox’s group chat is buzzing regularly on the ride to the stadium, but Neil ignores it for the city sights rolling by his window. Neither he nor Andrew have visited this part of California before; it leaves a far better impression than their previous experiences with the state.

It’s when he arrives in the locker room to find Matt and a few other players huddled around a phone screen that the alarm bells return.

Matt looks up, takes one look at Neil, and bursts out laughing. “Hey, look, it’s Niall Jamestown.”

Neil gives him a deliberately blank look as he shoulders his bag from his shoulder. “Morning, Matt.”

“You’ve watched this, right? Tell me you’ve watched this.”

Neil glances to Andrew, who seems to know as much as Neil does, before replying. “No?”

“Oh my God,” says Matt, and shoves the phone in Neil’s face.

The sight he is met with is baffling to say the least; a bunch of cartoon boys with brightly coloured hair yelling at each other in Japanese the middle of an exy court.

“Japanese soap opera?” Neil guesses.

“Just wait.”

Neil watches with disinterest. The doors to the cartoon court bang open and the lights flicker as the music crescendos, building up to some dramatic reveal.

A kid with red hair, blue eyes and a scarred face steps into frame. “I’m Niall Jamestown,” say the subtitles as the character slings a racquet across his shoulders. “And I’m going to beat you all!” Then the screen goes black.

Neil is genuinely speechless.

“You’re an anime character, Neil!” Matt beams. “How cool is that?”

Neil looks back to his cartoon doppelganger. “What the fuck is anime?”

Neil is acutely aware of when the next episode comes out, because his twitter following jumps wildly again. He has a lot of new messages, although none of them seem to really be directed at him.

“Do not fucking talk to me about fucking King of the Court,” Kevin snaps as they toss a ball back and forth.

“It’s a show about exy, isn’t it?” Neil says. “Why wouldn’t you like it?”

“It’s thinly-veiled Raven propaganda that shows no respect for actual exy rules. They have a distant cousin of the Moriyamas on the creative team because they figured it might be a good merchandising opportunity, but thankfully the manga never really took off in America.” Kevin’s expression darkens. “The new TV adaptation, on the other hand…”

When Neil continues to look at him blankly, Kevin rolls his eyes and explains, “A Manga is like a comic book.”

Neil nearly drops the ball. “I’m a comic book character, too?”

“No, they’ve clearly changed the character’s name and appearance in the remake to make him look like you. They’re going to make you look like an asshole.”

Neil thought he was used to being on television; it turns out he was sorely mistaken. He shrugs. “I’m pretty good at doing that by myself already.”

Kevin throws the next ball to him harder than necessary. It whistles past Neil’s right ear; an inch to the side and it would have been a black eye. The whack of a racket against the ground clatters from the other side of the court, Andrew’s idea of a friendly warning. “Take this seriously.”

“It’s a cartoon, Kevin, how on earth do I take it seriously?”

“I wasn’t exaggerating when I said it was Raven propaganda,” Kevin snaps. “The main team, the protagonist, they’re very…” Kevin trails off. “Just go look it up when you get home.”

Neil tries ten minutes of the first episode, but quickly loses interest when he realises there’s more heartfelt speeches about friendship and teamwork than there is actual playing. Kevin’s right, though; the main team, Iwatobi Crows, are a clear stand-in for the Ravens with their black-on-red uniforms. They’re supposed to be the underdog team, which is hilarious, but worst of all is their captain, a charismatic, friendly, dark-haired teenager with a conspicuous beauty-spot on his left cheekbone.

Neil retches quietly before throwing his laptop aside and vowing never to think about the show again.

“People on twitter are yelling at me.” Neil frowns. “A lot.”

“This is not news,” Andrew says without raising his eyes from his book.

“This one says I ‘hurt her precious baby.’” Neil scrolls. “They could be a little more creative with their death threats.”

Death threats is enough to pique Andrew’s interest. He takes Neil’s phone and scrolls for several minutes, the crease between his eyebrows deepening slightly. He hands the phone back. “Your cartoon alter-ego is insulting their precious king.”

Neil snorts. He plays a clip beneath one of the tweets showing Neil’s character and Riko’s in a heated argument. It’s melodramatic and darkly lit, and fake-Neil’s smile is wide and sharp as he tells Riko his team will never amount to anything. “You are destined for failure,” Niall snarls. “Pathetic.”

It isn’t meant to be funny; it’s meant to be cruel and devastating, but Neil laughs. “This guy is growing on me.”

Andrew shakes his head as he returns to his book. “Don’t come crying to me when the fangirls break your face.”

Neil snorts. “I’d trust you to patch me up again after.”

Andrew raises an eyebrow but doesn’t deny it.

“One of my co-workers has asked me for your autograph,” Nicky says, his voice cracking and jumping across the videocall. “Think you can get a poster to me before Christmas?”

“Easily. I can get a hold of some national team merch as well if she-”

Nicky cuts him off with a snort. “No, it’s cool, she isn’t really into exy.”

At the kitchen counter behind him, Andrew’s knife stalls over the carrots. They share a baffled look.

“What?” says Neil eventually.

“Oh, yeah, she doesn’t follow exy or anything, she’s just really into that show, what’s it called? King of the Castle?”

“Something like that.” Neil says, keeping his expression remarkably straight. “You’ve heard about it?”

“Are you kidding me? The whole anime world is talking about it. Not that I’m deep in the weeb community or anything, I just followed a few people for posting those cute yaoi ice-skating gifs a while back and they’ve been talking about nothing else in months.”

Neil understands some of those words. “Okay.”

“Say, Neil, do you know what a ship is?”

“Like, a boat?”

Andrew reaches past Neil and hits the end call button. “Not today.”

Neil nods, feeling as though he has just been saved from something unfathomably vast and dangerous. “Not today.”

Robin sends a picture of the photo wall in the Foxhole Court’s lounge. Someone has put up a poster of Anime Neil in one corner. It’s life-size, and he glares across the room with overshiny blue eyes, a leather jacket thrown over his shoulder as he scowls. She accompanies the message with a simple smiley emoji, but Neil isn’t fooled.

Not funny, Neil texts back.

He’s taller than you, she replies.

“What are you going to do about it?” Kevin says on one of their phone calls. “You can’t let them burn your reputation to the ground like this. They’re portraying you as a mouthy bad-boy who listens to no one and breaks all the rules.”

“Just like real life, then,” Andrew says loudly enough that Kevin can hear.

“Kevin, some kid’s cartoon isn’t going to affect my exy career,” Neil says, scooping Sir onto his lap as he talks. “It’s about how well I play.”

“It’s about image, Neil. Your publicist will agree. Has she considered suing for defamation? I know some good lawyers if-”

“She’s looked into it.” Neil had watched Carol’s growing exasperation with detached amusement; she was, as far as he knew, a good person, but watching her having a meltdown over a cartoon caricature had been mildly entertaining regardless. Neil just couldn’t bring himself to see what all the fuss was about. “They’ve changed my name, so it’s a no-go.”

Kevin makes an exaggeratedly pained sound. Neil doesn’t have to picture his expression; he knows all too well what Kevin’s disappointed face looks like.

“You’re taking this heavily,” says Neil. Then, “Did make you into a character too or something-?”

Kevin hangs up.

“Neil, how does it feel knowing my husband loves you more than he does his own wife?”

“This isn’t news.” Neil smiles as Dan laughs. He can see moving boxes and sports equipment behind her as she spins, showing Neil through the camera their new living room.

“Have you seen the monstrosity? Has he shown you? He said he wanted to bring it on our next fox holiday, but I said no, there’s no way I’m sitting next to that thing in the truck for six hours, besides, it’s not even that funny.” The amused tilt to her voice says otherwise.

“I’m not sure I want to know.”

“If I have to be traumatised then so do you.” Dan leads into her bedroom, and for a moment the picture turns dark and grainy. The lights flick on, and on the bed Neil sees-

“Dan, what the fuck is that?”

“Randy came across it online and thought it would be funny.” Dan sighs.

“What is it?”

“Haven’t you seen a body pillow before?”

Neil screws up his nose, leaning into his screen to get a better look despite himself. “What is he wearing?”

Dan hesitates. “Swimming costume?”

“It’s a show about exy.”

“Yeah, I got nothing. So I’m guessing you don’t want us to bring it on holiday?”

“Burn it. Please.”

“Good idea.” Dan pauses. “Unless you think Andrew would-”

“No. He would not.”

Neil’s anime persona gets a girlfriend, which Neil discovers only when he opens Twitter (an action which becomes more fraught with danger with every passing day) to see art of them having sex.

He blocks several hundred more followers (he’s gaining more than he can possibly hope to block every day, but it’s for the sense of control more than anything) before throwing his phone aside and climbing back into bed.

“I have a girlfriend,” Neil announces. Andrew’s head appears from beneath the covers to blink at him blearily, dislodging one of the cats as he does so.

“An unexpected development,” he says eventually.

“Anime me. He has a girlfriend.”

“Jealous?”

“Don’t ask questions you already know the answer to.” Neil nuzzles under the covers and waits for Andrew’s go-ahead before shifting in against his side.

“Does it upset you?”

“No, it’s just weird.” Neil stares up at the ceiling for several seconds before meeting Andrew’s eyes. “Well, it’s not the show, really. It’s the people.”

Andrew doesn’t reply, but his gaze remains fixed on Neil, encouraging him to keep talking.

“I’m just not used to being seen like that. Like, the people who are yelling at me because they don’t like the character I kind of get. It’s more the really flirty ones. Like, why? They don’t know me.”

“The flirty ones?”

“Just a lot of people saying really sexual things. I keep blocking them, it’s fine.”

Neil thinks he has inadvertently conditioned Andrew to tense up at the word fine; he has long tried to erase it from his vocabulary, but it still slips through now and again.

Andrew’s chest presses against his as he leans over Neil to the bedside table. For a moment Neil’s mind stops working, just thinking about skin against skin. When Andrew leans back, Neil’s phone is in his hand.

“Don’t bother looking, honestly, it isn’t worth it,” Neil says as Andrew taps several buttons.

“I’m not,” says Andrew. When he hands back the phone, the screen says account set to private.

“Carol isn’t going to like that.”

“Carol can take it up with me.”

Neil smiles. “Jealous?”

“No,” says Andrew flatly, and Neil realises that, oh, this isn’t about him.

After several minutes on the phone with Andrew, Carol concedes that keeping a low profile might not be the worst thing in the world.

“Neil, it’s bad,” Kevin says before he’s even through the door. “How are you not keeping up with this?”

“Digital detox,” Neil answers as Kevin pushes past. “You should try it. Great for the skin.”

Kevin doesn’t dignify him with a response. “Your character broke Riko’s - I mean, Ryuu’s – arm. Mid-match. You can’t stand for this.”

“Are you watching this show every week?”

“I have to be ahead of the backlash,” Kevin says emphatically. He throws himself down on the couch, before standing up again, clearly too agitated to stay still. “You don’t understand, Neil. This could destroy you in the Japanese markets before you’ve even made it big in America. You have to-”

“What did they do to you, Kevin?” Neil interrupts. Kevin stops short, mouth open mid-sentence. “Because this clearly isn’t about me.”

Kevin looks away. “His name was Kev. The bumbling, obsessive, star-struck idiot that messed up the whole team’s dynamic, injured himself by pushing himself too hard and crashed out into nothing.”

Neil sobers. “Everything they told you you were.”

Kevin doesn’t look up.

“Kev? They didn’t even bother to change your name?”

Kevin shrugged. “Why bother? I couldn’t sue them. I was under the Moriyama’s thumb, remember?”

Neil stares at him. “You aren’t anymore.”

“I’m-” Kevin starts, stops, starts again. “Oh.”

“You said you knew some good lawyers, right?”

A smile breaks across Kevin’s face. “Right.”

King of the Court does not get renewed for a second season. Several of the foxes send Neil messages of faux commiseration, which he responds to with equal sarcasm.

A few months later, after the exy world cup medals are hanging securely over Neil and Andrew’s dresser, the same studio releases a promo for a new show. It’s nothing like their last exy anime save for the mutual sport. The characters are all decidedly fictional, neither looking nor sounding like any prominent figures in the exy world, and the protagonist’s strip doesn’t share the colours of any big USA teams.

The new anime looks as cheesy and melodramatic as the last, although Neil likes the name a lot more this time.

All for the Game. That’s a title he can get behind.

Thanks for reading, let me know what you think!

#aftg #tfc #andreil #neil josten #andrew minyard #kevin day #my fic

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ilosttrackofthings · 6 years ago

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A comparatively brief rundown of C.S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy (because I love it and need to babble but also it is looong and no one will read it so you can all read this instead):

Book 1: Out of the Silent Planet

spoi|ers: we’re the Silent Planet

this dude named Ransom is taking a proper English walk and hears sounds of distress

he discovers some random escaping from our two villains and helps him get away

no good deed goes unpunished and he’s captured in the random’s place

the villains drag him on their spaceship and blast off into space

they all spend a few months just chilling because it’s a long trip to Mars and the whole kidnapping issue is gonna have to wait

the villains wanna make nice with the Martians and need Ransom to be their human sacrifice to the Martian god to really solidify this new interplanetary friendship

Ransom, not wanting to do any of that, escapes when they land

turns out there are lots of different kinds of Martians and he chills with the really tall otter people for a few months

also Ransom is a linguist and learns to speak their language because he’s cool like that

at one point he sees a little kid talking to their imaginary friend and tries to do that adult thing where he pretends to talk to him too

and the kid is just like “...what?”

because it’s not an imaginary friend

it’s an angel eldil

Ransom convinces his otter buddy to stay out on the lake fishing even though it’s time to come in and otter buddy dies because this was a sin and Ransom feels SUPER GUILTY for corrupting his bro and getting him killed

man, sin is harsh

Ransom ends up leaving for reasons and goes to deal with our villains, who are still running around on Mars somewhere

he has more adventures, one involving a cave that is described in minute detail because it’s a MARTIAN cave, don’t you care just so much?

all the Martians think Ransom’s cool

the ~advanced ones the villains wanna deal with make a frieze depicting Ransom’s adventures

all the humans on the frieze look like Ransom

everyone gets to meet the god of Mars

who is not a god, he’s another angel eldil, he’s just in charge of Mars/the spirit of Mars

he also thinks Ransom’s cool

Ransom is allowed to take the villains home so they won’t cause Mars anymore trouble

they naturally plot to murder him

one of them dies, the other escapes, and Ransom goes off to enjoy normal Earth things like sandwiches and tea and beds

Book 2: Perelandra

that’s Venus

because Ransom is so cool, and also the only human being who’s not a villain and has been off of Earth, he’s sent to Venus

they’re still at the Eden stage and it’s time for the snake to show up and make his offer

Ransom basically gets in a glass box and is carried through space by the eldil

he’s all sunburned on one side and ~Eve laughs her ass off when she meets him

Venus is all oceans with floating islands like that island of insanity in Life of Pi

[that was literally the only part of Life of Pi I liked and this connection is why]

all the animals are super chill because there’s no sin yet

Ransom ultimately realizes that he might have to die to stop Venus from Falling

he decides he’s cool with that and also recognizes that his name is appropriate like he’s a character in a story

such a nerd

I love him

he does not die

Venus does not Fall

it’s all good

Book 3: That Hideous Strength

new main characters!

professor who just wants to be in the cool clique at work and his wife who’s having second thoughts about this marriage

the wife freaks out one morning when she sees a picture of an executed murderer in the paper because she had a dream about him the night before

there is a LOT of stuff about how the professor’s college has this pretty little wooded area that they’ve sold off secretly as part of some mundane-sounding measure and it’s all gonna be torn up even though people LIVE THERE and the town goes into chaos but it’s too late, the damage is done

the professor is taken out of town by his new friends, who all work for the people who bought the land

they say they’ll give him a job, tell him to write up some blatantly false propaganda for them to keep the little people thinking the way they want

he starts to realize that this fancy new job is too good to be true

also they’re not paying him

whenever he tries to leave, the harmless figurehead stops him

he makes sure to leave when the figurehead is occupied in his office inside, no way he could get in his way

he barely makes it out of the house before he sees the figurehead, not inside, but in the distance, coming across the lawn

it is not even the creepiest thing

the Creepiest Thing is the head

ohmygosh the head

the head of the executed murderer, removed from his corpse, hooked up to machines to put saliva in the mouth and air in the throat and to make it talk

this is how they communicate with demons their outerspace friends

the head is a stepping stone to their ideal person: no body, just a mind, free and untethered by silly wants and needs and UGH I’M STILL THINKING ABOUT THE HEAD IT’S SO GROSS

sidenote: THE MOOOOOOOON

the moon is inhabited

aliens live under the surface

the ones on the dark side are cool, they’re like any of the other neato aliens we’ve met

the ones on the side that’s locked facing us have been corrupted by humanity’s sin and they’re so disgusted with their own flesh that they build robots of themselves so that moon-husband doesn’t have to have sex with his moon-wife, he can have sex with her robot double instead, clearly way less gross

they’ve already perfected the whole body-free thing and they’re trying to force it on their non-corrupted moon-brethren

anyway

back to the story

the professor’s wife has been doing her own thing

she’s trying to deal with these ~weird dreams~ she’s been having but the only help she finds is in some kinda awkward people and no one wants to hang out with that

only then their sleepy little town becomes a warzone because of the destroying the land and the professor’s propaganda and also the people her husband is with send someone to kidnap her so yeah, she’ll take the awkward people

at this point we’re like halfway through the book and there’s been no space stuff and no Ransom and you’re probably wondering what this has to do with anything but it’s a really dense book so there’s really no stopping now

the wife ends up in a kinda weird house with a weird collection of people and also a bear

the bear is great

he is a puppy

a very tiny englishwoman bosses him out of her kitchen

the best

all of these people know about the bad guys the professor is with, some of them were displaced by the land being taken

they’re all here to help the guy upstairs

no, not God

literally the guy upstairs

who is Ransom

freaking finally

he’s kinda frail but also not? and he seems super young but also old?

basically his space adventures messed him up but not in a bad way

he is the New Pendragon

this happens a lot, Pendragons, the True Spirit of England having to be fought for and preserved

he’s not Arthur reborn, he’s just ... filling that role or whatever in these modern times

and also he is not a king

def. not

but he’s in charge and also we need to find Merlin

he’s buried in that quaint little wood the baddies are tearing up

and also the wife is psychic, that’s why she has the dreams

so they need her to tell them where to find Merlin

remember that this is the Space Trilogy?

everyone’s going after Merlin at once

he gets away by pretending to be a tramp

because he’s Merlin

he goes straight to Ransom because he knows what’s up

they do lots of cool magic stuff

the spirits of like three different planets come upon Merlin to infuse him with power and it’s just a really pretty section of the book with each spirit overflowing to briefly alter the emotional state of everyone nearby in really cool ways

Merlin goes off to fight the bad guys by freeing all their animal test subjects and setting them on them in a horrible massacre

the bear was also captured by the bad guys previously and is ashamed of his actions during the fight

it’s sad

Merlin dies from all the power

oh also the surviving villain from book 1 was one of the baddies here

he dies

the professor is saved

he and his wife reunite with a new outlook on their marriage

Ransom gets to go back to Venus because his work is done and he loved it so much there

and that is the Space Trilogy

where is the movie series?

#talkytalktalk #bibliophile

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thelawyerthatwaspromised · 7 years ago

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House Stark and the Northern Fool Fallacy

“Maybe you are just a Northern Fool.”

~Tyrion Lannister, right before Jon Snow upstages all of his influence over Daenerys Targaryen

If you believe the Starks are less intelligent than any other group of characters, you’re wrong and you’re buying into the show’s propaganda.

The popular conception of House Stark (and the North at large) is that of a simple, hard people that are stubborn, honorable, and stupid.

Are the Starks actually less intelligent? Do they have trouble connecting dots? Can they not trace chains of events? Do they struggle with building winning strategies?

“No” to all of this. The Starks simply play the game differently than the others...but the constant underestimation of their wits has not only been shown to be untrue by the actions and reasoning methods of the Starks, it’s been shown by the contents of the series itself to be an inaccurate caricature.

The most unfortunate part (or fortunate if you’re looking to be surprised and enjoy when characters exceed your expectations as a viewer) of this misreading of House Stark is that it’s lead a lot of the general audience to believe that Jon Snow is stupid and hasn’t thought through the political ramifications of his interactions with Daenerys Targaryen.

This is one of the ironies of the show. The general audience - which largely sees the Starks as stupid or foolish - are themselves being guided wrongly into a false position even though we’re shown more than enough to KNOW that the Starks aren’t stupid. They simply value life and justice differently than the other houses.

There are specific examples of characters underestimating the Starks supplemented by specific examples of historical events portraying the Starks as unthinking barbarians which are so blatantly false that viewers should also understand that the Starks are not stupid - and yet that myth persists.

We can essentially knock down these lies character by character:

Ned Stark the Fool / The Play in Essos

One of the most gut-wrenching and significant moments of the entire series has been warped into largely a comedy act in Essos.

The saddest part might be that Ned Stark is now quite often considered a stupid character. He may have made mistakes but what he “stupid”? Let’s look at the fiction followed by the fact.

The Portrayal

Portrayed as an unwashed Northerner who doesn’t understand the line of succession. Viewers get that he wasn’t power hungry and didn’t speak like an idiot. Yet somehow the view of Ned being stupid persists.

The Truth

Ned figured out the Gendry / Robert connection. He also figured out that Cersei’s children were not Robert’s. Ned’s reality in trying to uphold the proper line of succession and rightfully deny Joffrey the throne is the exact opposite portrayed in the play in Essos (which is the popular narrative in Westeros, one can then gather).

What was Ned’s great mistake?

His refusal to drag children from their beds in the night. His refusal to be like Tywin Lannister. Was this stupid? Did he not understand this was playing with fire? No. He told Varys that his madness in telling Cersei was that of mercy. He was betrayed by Littlefinger (who preferred Joffrey to stay on the Throne to Stannis). A series of events led to Ned’s beheading. None originated from Ned’s stupidity.

In fact, the Starks are exceptionally skilled at snuffing out bullshit. Take Benjen, for instance. Tyrion is offering empty platitudes. Benjen knows what he really thinks, even if Tyrion initially won’t say it.

Benjen knows what NED taught him, that everything before the word “but” is horseshit. Benjen can see right through Tyrion. It’s a small example but one that reinforces the idea that the Starks as a bunch are extremely perceptive people who, while choosing not to play the games the other houses play all the time, understand when someone is feeding them bullshit.

Ned’s Execution

The way in which Ned was executed, including what his daughters perceived at the time, became important (rather stupidly so) in Season 7 with Arya temporarily believing that Sansa had taken part in Ned’s betrayal.

Ned, perhaps the most dignified person in the show’s history, did not blubber or plead. He even lied to the world in backing Joffrey’s claim with the hope that it would save Sansa’s life.

Portrayal

This is the Sansa that Arya seems to remember. And it’s a mistaken memory. Arya seeing events this way (the play sort of echoes how she described Sansa in Season 7) completely colors how she treats Sansa and leads her to question Sansa’s loyalties to Jon.

Looks pretty stuipd in retrospect, right? Yet one of the biggest popular theories before Season 7 was Starkbowl. The idea that Sansa had been around Littlefinger and Cersei too much. That she was too dark now. Too jaded by her life events.

Truth

You, the viewer, saw Sansa’s anguish. You saw how much it crushed her in the coming episodes. You saw her look at the doll Ned had made for her with regret and sadness at Blackwater. You saw her fight to take back Winterfell, mentioning her father nearly every step of the way.

It’s a bad look for Arya to have acted like this towards Sansa. The interesting part was, she echoed so many of the foolish things that viewers seem to have believed (or maybe even hoped for) all the way through Season 7 / Episode 7.

Sansa Stark

Little bird. Stupid little girl with stupid dreams that never learns.

Littlefinger, through Season 6 when Sansa reunited with Jon, had been the closest thing to a lasting friend that Sansa had after leaving Winterfell. She was used as a pawn, manipulated, sold, basically treated the same way Daenerys had been without receiving the same measure of sympathy.

She’s constantly ridiculed and left without agency up until her escape with the Boltons. Her greatest crime was naively believing the the world wasn’t terrible and that people meant it what they told her. Then her father died. She lived as a prisoner at the hands of Cersei and Joffrey. Her ONLY respite was a temporary friendship with Margaery.

Her other “friend”, Baelish, still treated her like a stupid little girl. His plans to win the North and the Iron Throne centered on using her as a pawn. He never truly respected her.

One of his lessons was that she’s a poor liar. She proved this wrong when she lied for him regarding his murder of her Aunt Lysa.

He began treating her more as a mature adult after that but he never stopped manipulating and underestimating her.

He believed he had her in his clutches. He didn’t at first understand that he couldn’t wedge the bond formed between Sansa and Jon. When Jon choked him and LF observed Sansa longing for Jon as he departed Winterfell, he abruptly switched to trying to wedge Sansa and Arya.

LF thought Sansa could be turned. Littlefinger thought surely she couldn’t break free of his machinations. MAYBE betrayal and treachery are actually NOT tactics that are as effective as a casual political philosopher might believe?

Then this happened:

Sansa knew all along during Season 7 what he wanted. She couldn’t just have his head hacked off while he carried influence. His scheme to drive apart Sansa and Arya allowed her the timing to have him executed. She may have questioned Arya at points. Arya sure acted aggressively towards Sansa after their reunion. But she never took her eyes off the bigger picture: that LF was as threat to their home and family and at some point he had to go.

Robb Stark

Perhaps my least favorite characterization of a Stark is Robb.

Portrayal

Another unwashed Northerner. He’s shown running around proclaiming himself as the Rightful King (itself a lie). It doesn’t show Robb possessing anything that can be described as honor or cunning.

This is to be expected. It’s war propaganda. The Lannisters would never publicize the fact that they COULDN’T OUTMATCH ROBB ON THE BATTLEFIELD.

This portrayal of events is the EXACT opposite of how things happened.

Truth

The fact of the matter is that Robb captured Jaime Lannister at Whispering Wood not because he had a direwolf or slew 1,000 Lannisters single-handedly. He won because he outwitted them. He laid a trap and both Tywin and Jaime fell for it.

Tywin was forced to acknowledge Robb’s intellect and the devotion he inspired from his men after he continually got his ass kicked by the Young Wolf.

Tywin, the same guy who had routinely talked down the threat of the Young Wolf in the build-up to the war, found himself begrudgingly accepting the fact that he would have to rely on political maneuvering and deceit in order to end this war because, when it came to traditional means, he was no match for Robb.

That’s pretty damn significant. And yet the portrayal of events is a complete fiction...

What did Robb in?

Even more than the Freys and Boltons, Robb was defeated because he chose justice for slain Lannisters rather than forgive the actions of Rickard Karstark.

This event, and the beheading of the head of House Karstark, more than even breaking the betrothal to one of Walder Frey’s daughters, put Robb in a position where he was forced to choose between justice and military benefit.

The easy call would be to keep Karstark alive. To somehow keep his forces in the fold. Instead, Robb did what he thought was right and he died for that. I don’t blame Sansa for saying that Ned and Robb made stupid mistakes and lose their heads for it because in the end, Robb and Ned DID make stupid mistakes.

The difference seems to lie in how much House Stark was forced to suffer for their mistakes compared to other houses.

Jaime and Cersei tried (and failed) to kill Bran which is the event that really sparked the War of the Five Kings.

Robert became fat, lazy, and continued his philandering and behaved like a teenager all the way up until his death. His neglect of Cersei (driving her back into the arms of Jaime) essentially caused a powder keg politically which exploded into the War of the Five Kings.

Tywin stupidly bedded the person Tyrion loved (or at least believed he loved) and unnecessarily included her testimony when a conviction was a foregone conclusion which motivated Tyrion to murder him with a crossbow. His house suffered immeasurably and the best chance for its survival now lies with Tyrion, the child he hated.

Olenna underestimated Cersei entirely. She completely misread what Cersei was capable of and her house was destroyed for it.

Ramsay Bolton stupidly castrated Theon and continually tortured him physically and psychologically which eventually led to Theon helping Sansa to safety and his ultimate destruction at the hands of Jon and Sansa at the BoTB.

Roose Bolton first stupidly thought that his hold on the North could survive the ultimate betrayal of House Stark when he murdered Robb at the Red Wedding. He stupidly believed Ramsay could be trusted with political power and with responsibility and believed that Sansa Stark’s presence would help his cause rather than ultimately lead to the destruction of his house.

Littlefinger stupidly believed that Sansa was incapable of turning against him. He believed she was nothing more than a pawn to be used in his games. He believed that she would love him and give him the affection that Catelyn never did. We all know what happened to him.

The point is that not all the characters are stupid. The point is that the Starks are not. They make mistakes and are punished severely. They suffer consequences for their actions - but they are completely operating at the same intellectual level that any of the other supposed “experts” are operating.

So why do I care and why do I think it matters?

I care because I love the Starks, first off. Their house represents the one with the healthiest worldview, in my opinion. Only the Tyrells are really shown to have had much a healthy intra-family dynamic compared to the other houses. Yet the Tyrells were all to willing to form alliances, play games of deception, betrayal, and murder, and ultimately the Tyrells fell.

Where am I going with this?

Jon Snow, as a player of the game and a member of House Stark (if not in name yet) is most assuredly not a Northern Fool.

Jon Snow is the character that I believe holds the most significance for the survival of Westeros and the improvement of the Realm after the Great War’s conclusion.

Season 7 may have featured more mentions of “Northern Fool” than any other season and viewers bought this lie hook, line, and sinker. D&D love their setups and if you believe Jon isn’t always thinking how to do what’s, isn’t always thinking about how his actions might affect his family and the people he loves, and is simply acting on his gut all the time, I have news for you: You don’t know Jon Snow.

Portrayal

“Maybe you are just a Northern fool.”

~Tyrion, S7 / E3

What better moment encapsulates how others view the North as a whole than this one?

If my suspicions are proven correct, that Jon Snow’s arc in Season 7 is centered entirely on his MISSION to bring Daenerys North at any cost, then he will have played the game absolutely masterfully while maintaining the image of the Northern Fool.

His enemies’ (and potential allies) misreading of his capacity for real politik puts him at a ridiculous advantage. Yet we’ve seen Jon play the political game. We’ve seen him observe and learn lessons.

He very quickly thought of how to earn Mance’s trust and gave the Night’s Watch invaluable intelligence regarding their plans. He couldn’t have done this as a dimwit incapable of quick-thinking and deceit.

People try to twist Jon’s murder as the result of his foolish bravery...yet my take (obviously) is very different on the matter. He knew it would be an unpopular position. He knew it put him at risk. He sought Aemon’s advice specifically because of this. Aemon gives the famous “kill the boy” speech which was Aemon’s way of saying “stop trying to please everybody and do the right thing”. In essence, isn’t that what the Starks just do?

It’s why they inspire their subjects, rather than continually finding themselves putting down their subjects. Say what you will about Robb’s assassination as contrary evidence to this, but Robb was killed because he brought justice to the Karstarks. Roose Bolton was a schemer that was simple trying to accumulate power, and House Umber felt betrayed by Jon’s granting the Wildlings lands in the The Gift. Which one of those events were caused by House Stark trying to do something other than the right thing in an intelligent, if not difficult way?

Which brings me back to Jon Snow.

Am I to believe that he hasn’t thought about how his alliance with Daenerys Targaryen will be perceived by the Northern Lords?

Am I to believe he didn’t consider the repercussions of announcing at the Dragonpit at the behest of Cersei Lannister’s demand?

Am I to believe he initiated a physical relationship with her, which by Tyrion’s look alone are foreshadowed as terribly complicated from a political standpoint, because he was just head over heels in love and it had no strategic purpose?

Am I to believe that Jon Snow isn’t hiding something when his mission to Dragonstone in the first place was to specifically get Daenerys to come North to fight the Night King?

Am I to believe that he isn’t skeptical of Cersei Lannister while knowing what she’s done to House Stark and also not even originally considering her as part of his mission when he departed for Dragonstone?

All of those questions I posed to myself are answered with a resounding “NO” on my part. Each one could basically be a meta individually but the bigger point is that if I answered “YES” to all of those, it would require that Jon Snow not have a thinking, planning, strategic bone in his body. That he’s like Forrest Gump drifting in the wind like a feather and simply lucky to be taking part in so many historic events.

My viewpoint is that Jon operates similarly to the other people in his life. He acts deliberately and with an eye towards a larger purpose. He may not always make the most advantageous choice but he’s not the type of person to throw his kingdom to a foreign queen because he wants to sleep with her.

When people call Political Jon a character assassination on Jon Snow, I have to answer that the idea that he would give the North to Daenerys without any other consideration or counsel from his own people or family the TRUE character assassination. It’s a viewpoint that paints Jon as stupid and it’s a characterization of multiple House Stark members that just falls flatly on its face when held up to scrutiny.

Think less of Jon if it turns out that he used Daenerys’ affections for him to get her to come North if you will but I will not fault the guy when he thinks it’s the difference between the extinction of men and it’s possible salvation.

Just don’t tell me Jon Snow is stupid and don’t tell me that House Stark consists of anything less than intelligent, capable leaders.

You might have believed that Jon and the Starks are dumb. You’ll be surprised at the end of the series. You believed the false narrative the show put out there. You fell for it. You will wonder how the Starks survive since the show said they were stupid. I will say....

#house stark #jon snow #robb stark #ned stark #sansa stark #arya stark #political jon theory #political jon meta #the north remembers

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breath0ftheglacian · 8 years ago

Text

A Man Of No Consequence

A Man Of No Consequence - Ardyn x fem Reader (NSFW) COMPLETE. All chapters may contain spoilers!

CH 1: Into The Lion’s Mouth CH 2: Famous Seafood CH 3: The Covenant CH 4: Blind Spot CH 5: The Revelation CH 6: In The Lap of The Gods CH 7: Across the Seas CH 8: In The Lap of The Gods, Revisited CH 9: Callings CH 10: Hand of a King, Heart of a King CH 11: Into the Dark CH 12: Breath Of The Glacian CH 13: Redemption CH 14: Cure for Insomnia CH 15: A Gentleman’s Agreement

- - -

Chapter 4: Blind spot

The night brings you little relief as you struggle to catch sleep. The bed is too hot, your ears are buzzing, and every time you seem to be drifting off, your mind won't let go and you wake up alarmed, clenching your fists, gasping for air. The dreams that come in between are dark and frightening. You find yourself in the middle of the cheering crowd again, running towards the parade, but when you look up, all you see is darkness. You fall into it, trying to swim for safety. A strange voice you don't recognise is whispering in your ear, mocking you. You won't make it. You're too weak. You're not the one.

A loud bang on the door pulls you out of your dream. It's morning, although you feel like you've barely had a glimpse of rest.

“Miss! Wakey wakey, miss!” the voice banging on the door calls.

You drag yourself out of bed, and look out of the peephole on the wooden frame.

“Who are you?” you ask through the door.

“It's Mr. Callux, miss, but you can call me Wedge! The Chancellor sent to let you know we're heading out in 'alf an hour. 'Please get ready, and wear some comfortable clothing' he says. Oh, and 'take your camera,' that's right. We're leaving 'soon as you're ready, miss.”

“Heading out where?”

“He says to come down and talk to him first, miss. I'm just here to wake you.”

“Thank you, Wedge. I'll get ready now.”

The man behind the door leaves and you rest your head against the doorframe for a brief moment. Forcing yourself on autopilot, you go through the motions of the morning routine: wash your face, brush your teeth, get dressed and ready. Why can't he ever just tell me what he's up to?

Descending the stairs into the hotel lobby, you see Ardyn talking to a tall handsome looking woman, accompanied by a man who you recognise as Wedge, and another man in a Niflhiem uniform. Seeing you, the Chancellor drags his gaze up and down your body, nearly making you trip over on the last step of the stairs.

“Good morning, dear.”

You haven't even had a chance to figure out what last night was about, and seeing his face makes you feel like a naughty school girl, being caught by a teacher, doing something bad. Last night, those lips were all over me. Last night, that tongue... You snap out of it.

“Good morning... everybody,” you respond, giving a little nod to the woman standing next to Ardyn, wearing a strange looking leather uniform with metallic shoulder guards. Ardyn introduces you to the woman, who is supposed to escort you today on your “scouting mission.” Aranea Highwind, Captain of the Niflheim Third Army Corps 86th Airborne Unit, you repeat in your mind as he says her name in the theatrical style he so enjoys.

“Nice to meet you, madam.”

“Don't call me madam,” she responds. “So, this little chick, eh? All right then, you better look sharp and better keep up.”

“Where are we go--?” you start, only to be interrupted by Ardyn.

“And please do look after her. She is very special to me,” he emphasises. They're talking about you as if you're not even there.

“Alright, leave it to me,” she responds confidently, turning to you and smiling. “Come with me then, doll. This way.” With that, she turns around and walks out into the plaza, faithfully followed by Wedge and the other man. You turn to Ardyn, your whole body asking a confused question.

“I shall see you tonight,” he responds before you have a chance to put it into words. “Better hurry up now, good girl.”

“Right...”

You have no further words, so you turn and follow Aranea into the plaza. She gives you an examining look as you reach her, scanning your physique. “You fight much?”

“No, not really.”

“You willing to if need be?”

“I... I think so.”

“I can do my best but I can't do miracles. A bit of common sense and alertness will go a long way.”

“Ok, I'll try my best.” You notice yourself swallowing loudly, feeling like a total featherweight next to her. She looks tough and proud, ready to take on anyone or anything. “So... where are we going again?”

Your first time flying is not as glamorous as you'd hoped. The Niflheim aircrafts are bleak and echoey, with the engine humming unnervingly all around you. You sit next to Aranea as the aircraft ascends and accelerates towards it's destination.

“So what's your story then?” she asks, crossing her left arm and resting her right elbow on top. “How'd you end up snapping photos for the Empire? I heard you're from Insomnia?”

You take a deep breath and let the air out slowly.

“Yeah... I've been asking myself the same question.”

“Is he paying you well?”

“I – uh, yes...”

“He better, it's a damn dangerous job snapping photos of daemons.”

You give a nervous nod, trying your best to appear brave.

The Niflheim Captain explained your mission to be scouting a new location to harvest daemons. Your role as the photographer is to capture samples of the specimen found in the location, for the chancellor to evaluate later. He's definitely trying to get me killed now, you deduce, as you anxiously look around at the Captain's men.

“Don't worry,” Aranea shoves you in the shoulder with a reassuring laugh. “Me, Biggs and Wedge will do our best to see you through.”

“That's right, miss!” Wedge confirms enthusiastically. “It's all in a days' work!”

The humming of the engine and the gentle rocking of the aircraft is starting to make you drowsy, and you allow your eyelids to get heavier.

“Getting sleepy, huh?” Aranea checks in.

“Yes...”

“Better get some rest, then. I'll wake you when we're there.”

You let your eyes close and soon you feel your body slowly falling into the warm waters of unconsciousness. The dark blanket of sleep wraps around you and you slip away.

“We're here.” A cold piece of armor touches your shoulder, and you're awake. What felt like mere seconds turns out to be nearly three hours, according to Aranea. It's time to move out.

“This tower only lets us enter in the night-time,” she explains, as you follow a long uphill path towards a tall temple ruin. “Lucky for us, the days are growing shorter, so we can get this done nice and early... I guess...” she continues. The sun has already started it's descent, and it's eerily quiet in the grassy open outside the tower.

“How long are we going in for?” You ask the Captain, starting to feel the nerves take control.

“Only as far until the first daemons appear. No need to push it today.”

You try to imagine what kind of daemons the tower houses. You've never even seen a daemon, only read about them in books. Living inside the Citadel, you were never exposed to the perils of the night, and having only entered the Kingsglaive three months ago, you never made it to the field.

“Hey, you ok?” Aranea asks you. She looks concerned.

“I'm fine.”

A low, howling noise echoes from within the tower.

“Miss, the entrance is opening!” Biggs calls out.

“Alright, here we go.” Aranea nods at you, and you nod back, following her into the darkness of the ruins.

You stare at a picture of a short, impish looking figure, with a long nose and pale purple skin all wrinkled around it's crooked grin. The dark, hollow eyes send chills down your spine. They stare right at you, and you can't bring yourself to look away from the photo.

“Nice one,” Aranea chuckles, leaning over to look at the picture. “They're so damn ugly. Great shot, though.”

“Thanks.”

Biggs and Wedge emerge from within the temple ruins. “All clear, miss! Ready to go!” Your small crew starts tracing back the steps down the hilly path towards the airship, grounded about half a mile away.

“I have to say, for a newbie you're pretty brave.” Your chest swells with pride, receiving a compliment like that from Aranea. Captain of the Niflheim devision... what was it?

“I didn't have a choice,” you laugh.

“Fair enough. How did you and the Chancellor meet?”

“We met at the celebration, the night before the Peace Treaty was supposed to be signed.”

“Uh-huh. That didn't go too well, did it?”

You shake your head. “No...” Suddenly you remember Nyx, how he risked so much to get you there, stealing a dress from the royal guests' closet for you, sneaking you in to the party. Did he make it out in time?

“Do you know what happened to Lady Lunafreya?” you ask Aranea.

“Well, the radio's saying she's dead, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was just some propaganda propelled by the Empire. I wouldn't lose hope if I was you. Were you close?”

“Not really,” you reply. “But someone I knew well was with her the last time I saw him.”

You look down at the grassy path beneath your feet. It looks strange, almost like your every step is sinking deeper into the ground. Rubbing your face with your hand, you try to focus your gaze. The white flashes are back, followed by hundreds of little glares, floating around your vision, forcing you to stop.

“Sorry!” you call out to Aranea, who's walking ahead. “Just a moment...”

She stops in her tracks and turns to look at you.

“What's the matter?”

“Nothing... I... I'm just so tired,” you respond, your head feeling heavy.

The Captain's eyes flash with determination and she approaches you, swiftly but gently grabbing your jaw and lifting your head to face her.

“Did he touch you?” she asks, with a pressing tone in her voice.

“...No.”

“You paused,” she looks worried. “Look at me,” she continues, placing her thumb on your cheek and pulling your eye more open, examining it as you look at her, then look away. “Are you sure you're ok?”

“Yeah...”

She draws back her hand, placing it on her hip, taking a long look at you.

“I'd be careful if I were you,” she says, with the same concerned tone. “I mean it. Don' play with fire.”

“I know...”

“Come on, then. We'll get you home in a few hours and you can rest.”

“Thank you...”

Wedge comes over and takes your arm, trying to help you walk. You're feeling angry at how incapable you are in situations like these. You're not a soldier, you're not even a spy. Why are you pretending to be all this?

“I'm ok,” you say to Wedge, pulling your arm away. “It was just a little dizzy spell.”

Though the flashing lights have subsided, the dizziness remains.

When your boots finally touch upon the soft hotel carpet, all you want to do is fall into bed. Yet in the back of your mind, a small annoying voice is telling you that seeing the Chancellor is more important than anything else. The thought of his fingers touching your skin again makes your heart do somersaults. You're telling yourself to keep away from him, yet as soon as you hear him call your name from the top of the staircase, you want nothing more than to surrender over your body as you did the night before. Like a magnet, he's pulling you forward.

“Please, to my room,” he ushers you as you enter the second landing. Following him, you catch a faint hint of his musky scent that you remember from when the seduction began on the first night of you meeting. Telling yourself it's a bad idea every step of the way, you curse yourself as you finally reach his suite and take a seat on the beautifully decorated divan upon his request.

All of a sudden, you're more awake than you have been all day. The aura of this man commands attention. His gaze rests on you once again, completely disarming. You can't pretend with him anymore. You have to know.

“Why?” you begin, stopping as he lifts his hand and gestures at you.

“My dear, I should be asking you the same.”

You try to gather your thoughts, all the questions, all the confusion rushing around your tired mind.

“I see flashes. I see strange dreams. I see lights and glares, out of nowhere! Why?”

“Perhaps they're trying to tell you something.” He speaks in a low, strangely calming voice. “Did you see the daemons today?”

You nod, taking your camera and handing it to him.

“In a moment,” he says, placing it on the large coffee table in front of you, turning his back. “Are you unharmed?”

“Yes.”

“Then perhaps it's best you get some rest now. We can talk in the morning.”

You feel completely disappointed by his suggestion. You have to tell me. Or at least, you have to...

“No, please...” you hear your tired voice shake more than you intended.

“What is it? Do you need help getting to sleep?” he turns around, smirking at you, almost mocking. You bastard.

“No,” you respond with resolution, “I want to talk.”

“What about, my dear?”

“Why did you send me to shoot daemons?”

He lifts his arms into the air, walking to the large window, stopping in front to gaze out at the night sky.

“The days grow shorter as we speak. It's wise to get accustomed to daemons lurking in the shadows.”

“That's not why...”

“How well do you know the lore of our world?” he enquires.

You scratch your head. “Not that well... I know of the Six, and of the Crystal.”

“Ah, the Crystal,” he repeats.

“Yes,” you continue, “The chosen king will rid the world of darkness.” You pause for a moment to reflect on the words you just said. “Do you... do you think that means Prince Noctis?”

“Indeed,” he responds. “You're a bright one, aren't you.”

You feel like he's constantly playing a game with you. Getting up, you approach him in front of the window. If I could only get through...

You turn to face him, feeling the fatigue in your body, yet your mind yearns for answers. His amber eyes turn to you, making you weak in the knees as they gaze down. The photograph of the daemon flashes through your mind. Suddenly you realize...

“Why did the daemons not attack me?” you ask.

“Ah...” he tilts his head, as if throwing the question back at you, why do you think?

You lift your palm to your forehead. It doesn't make any sense.You think through the short visit in the tower ruins, repeating all the steps in your mind. Aranea and her men were busy fighting off daemons, yet you were not harmed, not even a scratch, despite only pointing your camera at the devils.

“Don't worry your head, my dear” Ardyn says, gently taking your hand off your forehead. You look up at him, holding his hand in yours, as your eyes meet.

Turning serious, he looks unexpectedly vulnerable, confused. Narrowing your eyes, you study his face, his brow, his eyes, those cheekbones, those lips... I know you. You slowly lift your other hand to his cheek, touching it softly, trying to remember...

He turns his face away and pushes your arm down with one swift move. You can't help but feel hurt at the abrupt reaction.

“Don't get yourself in too deep,” he asserts, facing away. “It would be unwise.”

He doesn't speak after that, he doesn't really have to. The conversation has reached it's end. You feel your body finally giving in and demanding you to lay down to rest. Staring at the floor, you wrap your arms around your chest.

“Good night...”

You leave his room, dragging yourself down the hall to your own. Kicking your boots off your feet, you collapse on the bed, curling into a tiny ball, hugging the big, fluffy hotel duvet. Please, just let the me rest calmly tonight. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Sorry if I disappointed any of you but I felt like I had to draw the story towards a certain destination in this chapter. Don’t worry, the next one is already finished, with plenty more steaminess on the way. :P

#ardyn #ardyn izunia #ardyn lucis caelum #ffxv #final fantasy xv #fanfic #fanfiction #a man of no consequence

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