#i am a jon apologist now

[ghostinthegallery]

Magnus Archives season 3 complete!! Well a lot certainly happened. Events sure did occur. Many of them. My goodness.

I'm obsessed with the world building. Totally recontextualized everything in such a satisfying way. 11/10.

Jon is the most endangered species on the planet. He is so bad at self preservation and also feelings. I love him with my entire being.

Oh Tim 🥺

Me in seasons 1-2: fucking Elias (derogatory)

Me in season 3: fucking Elias! (complimentary)

Guys I'm a little obsessed with Elias, he's amazing. Hilarious. So chill, such a dick. I will never forgive him for the shit he pulled on Martin but everything else was pure gold.

Oh Melanie. Glad the murder attempts didn't work. But they were funny. Until they weren't.

So when is Daisy gonna realize she's and avatar of the Hunt? I mean she's not dead she's just in a coffin. Which yes that's normally where dead people go but this is a weird staircase coffin so. That'll be fun.

Basira and the books. Handling all this surprisingly well.

Martin my sweet beloved! Go you. Burn shit down. I support you. And FEELINGS FOR JON CONFIRMED! My ship is leaving port, guys. Rough waters ahead I'm sure but this is progress and I will take it.

Fucking Peter.

Yes I did start season 4 pretty much immediately and omg Jon wanted tea when he woke up from his coma but Martin wasn't there to make it for him. I'm devastated 😭😭😭

[talenlee]

The Unutterable Smugness Of Being

A complaint I heard a lot, about ten years ago, was that Online Atheists were ‘smug.’ This was seen as a major complaint about us, which didn’t really do anything to bring our attention to the very real problems we had with misogyny and racism and transphobia and islamophobia, but it also worked as a really good kind of social brush to tar a group with because even now, you’ll hear the word used like it’s an automatically necessary descriptor: ‘smug internet atheists.’

Good news, I have no desire at all to ask you to change your mind on internet atheists, because there sure are a bunch of them who seem to be complete tools. Again, the ones I think of as tools, I would probably recommend that it’s much more important to confront them on, again, the racism and the misogyny and the transphobia and the islamophobia and then on the misogyny again because that… that sure is the actual problem, but I’m not seeking to claim unsmugness.

Just, like, what does ‘smug’ mean?

I got started on this thread when I realised if I had to see another well intentioned atheist youtuber bring up a clip of Mike Winger to provide an illustration of a Christian apologist delivering a particular family of bad point, I was going to stop watching them altogether. Not because what they did was fundamentally a bad thing, that they were somehow platforming a bastard, but because Mike Winger as a person to me, is painfully, unpleasantly smug and condescending and almost always, completely and utterly wrong.

I find Mike Winger really smug.

Smug in this context isn’t really a fact or a testable trait. I don’t think people mean smug as smug as like, the dictionary word. Smug means, in the dictionary, that someone is ‘highly self-satisfied.’ This is a complaint I hear a lot about a type of person, usually a type of person I am, usually around me, without actually realising I am a member of that community, which often results in me asking some questions making a mental note about someone to never bother talking to again and peace the heck out. Pretty consistently, I hear it used as a way to describe someone who is right but do they have to be an asshole about it? Or, someone who isn’t right enough, like Jon Stewart when he derided George W Bush for being bad at being a president, was just ‘smug’ about it.

You do know one of the people that atheists present themselves as against is the pope, right? Like, it is a not insignificant thing that there is a man whose job title is ‘the voice of god on earth,’ who is the head of a corporation and a country and who oversees what his church claims is 1.3 billion people. That organisation claims that membership and boasts of its charity work running 5,000 hospitals worldwide, which is a heck of a number, but also seems pretty titchy when you line it up alongside the claimed populace of 1.3 billion. For comparison, India, population 1.4 billion, is estimated to have around 70,000 hospitals. And I know it’s a cheap shot to bring up the way that the Catholic church compares badly to a country, but it is a little weird, right, for a thing that’s ostensibly empowered by god itself and headed up by, again, the voice of god on earth, to boast about 5,000 hospitals when a mere country, a country with comparatively few Catholic people, is able to lap that number ten times and change? Is it smug to think that India builds more hospitals than the Catholic church does? Is it smug to think that owning a golden throne is still bad even if you don’t sit on it?

At that point it’s kinda a positional thing, an aesthetic, right? It’s not what’s said, it’s the overall demeanour of the person saying it. And the thing that messes me up on this front is that like, atheists are people primarily responding to the most powerful social organisations in their societies, who in addition to their positions of actual literal privilege and prestige, are making claims about knowing the creator of the universe personally and being able to make value judgments about who you should or shouldn’t marry or why, based on that insight. Right?

You know they’re still mad about gay marriage, don’t you?

Okay okay, but like, ‘what is smug,’ it’s being highly self-satisfied. And I find Mike Winger smug. Well, yeah, and you might wonder ‘who is Mike Winger?’ He’s a Christian apologist. He has an audience for his youtube channel in which he delivers a really badly made point across ten minutes or so about his faith, usually in an attempt to ‘address’ some problem with his opposition, which, like

You gotta remember that a lot of the time it’s gay marriage.

Now this is entirely a point. This is, strategically speaking, a thing that Mike Winger is actively trying to do. Mike Winger has an affect and a disposition that comes from the overt position that he is an expert in the most important thing in the world, and that he is humble about it, and that everyone who doesn’t agree with him just chooses not to agree with him. And this is where a lot of these professional wheezes wind up falling into a problem of just being bad at their jobs, because rhetorically, they’re not making good points or making them well, because you can always see the seam when they have to ignore the actual argument and make it about something else. Winger believes that Atheists don’t really mean it, even if they think they mean it, because they don’t really mean it, because he says they don’t really mean it.

And remember: atheists are the ones he even complains about being smug.

What I would ask, is if you’re someone on the sidelines, who doesn’t know what the discourse atheism is engaged with, and if you’re not familiar with the parties involved, is to interrogate what the smugness is that you dislike. Delivery? Aesthetics? And if that’s the case, sure, don’t engage with it, seems like a great reason to not bother. But it’s really important to remember that one side of this argument has golden thrones and laws made for their benefit and billionaire lobbyists and asserts it knows the future and is willing to support genocides to make that future happen and that they’re good people for it and that maybe that’s kinda highly self-satisfied too.

Oh and stop responding to Mike Winger, the man is at best an insincere liar and deserves to be spat on in the street.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[artpoint420]

A Long Winded Analytic Defense of Nermal Cat from Garfield -DRAFT

I’ve said before, Nermal isn’t that bad, y’all just mean.

Go ahead. Hate me. Send me to Abu Dabi. But I am a Nermal apologist. I think Nermal makes a good addition to the Garfield cast and he's even a bit of an interesting character, the world's cutest kitty cat yet the most overhated.

I can understand why he's hated, certainly. I'll admit he does deserve some hate.

HOWEVER

As a cat crazy individual, I will never hate a cat. That's my main reason for not hating Nermal. In fact, I want to adopt Nermal so bad but he's just a cartoon character at the end of each Monday (and everyday), unfortunately. There are other reasons I defend him too and here (and next parts) I'll give a detailed overview/ analysis of all Garfield media Nermal has been in, the role he plays, his dynamics with the other characters, and his behavior.

PART 1: THE COMIC STRIPS (early era Nermal)

Let's start with the obvious, his first appearance in the comics.

... to which Garfield immediately hates him. But hey, it's a great way to immediately establish their dynamic, and show the main reason Garfield dislikes Nermal is his jealously (and annoyance at how he interuppts his naps.) The fact Nermal looks so happy to meet him though <3

The next few strips feature Garfield telling Nermal how he hates cute, his general disappointment in Nermal, and all the little ways Nermal annoys him. Here, Nermal is just the naive baby of the group and doesn't seem to mean to annoy Garfield. It's honestly reminisent to how Garfield and Odie were when Odie was introduced early on as well as a reflection on how cats tend to treat new cats, which is usually not very well until they get used to each other. (I have three cats trust me.)

Nonetheless, it doesn't take long until we get strips showcasing the ways they actually enjoy their time together, finding ways to play that shows their friendly side with each other without completely altering their established dynamic.

These are some of my overall favorite Garfield comics. Jim Davis honestly deserves kudos for being able to draw and write his characters in ways that feel like a natural sibling rivalry with both good and bad moments. But when the moments are good, they're so damn good. Here's more examples:

God this is my favorte Nermal and Garf stirip. I can hear them giggling as they confuse Jon.

I don't blame you for thinking that Nermal.

He's just his little baby brother and I will accept no other answer.

However there's this one:

If nothing proves Garfield's hatred is fueld mainly by jealously, this will. So much for Nermal being the "evil" one. (They both have their evil moments I suppose.)

In this one, Garfield fully admits it.

To move forward because I can analyze each and every comic, truly I can, but I also have so much more I want to talk about, I'll just say there's a few basic formulas for a Garfield and Nermal strip in this era I've observed, and that's one of these few:

-Nermal being snobbish towards Garfield to which Garfield is reasonably annoyed.

-Garfield just being a jerk to Nermal unprovoked or scolding him harshly usually ending with Nermal being tossed out the door.

-Garfield yearning for Jon's attention upon Nermal getting attention.

-Garfield trying to copy Nermal and/or have Nermal teach him to be cute (you are cute though Garfield, you're a cat, of course you're cute, Jon or Nermal just won't admit it.)

-Nermal and Garfield asking each other what seems like genuine questions out of a true interest about each other's lives.

-Something a bit more on the wholesome or brotherly side.

Or something kinda random.

Now, before both our attention spans die out, lets quickly look at modern Nermal comics and how Nermal's character has developed over the years. As we can see, early on, he had his snobbish moments but could also be sweet enough to break through Garfield's walls he puts up. Does that sweetness remain or get replaced?

To be honest, their dynamic hasn't actually changed too awfully much. There's so many modern ones with Nermal that feature Garfield's age and birthday more often than the past one's. Nermal is usually insulting Garfield's age but there's one where he does try to comfort him, proving he's still a cute sweet kitty despite his smart-aleck attitude. But I'll have to continue in part 2 because there's already 29 pictures in this post and I can only add one more which isthis one, which I coudn't leave out:

"Garfield! You're blocking my sunlight!"

Tee-hee, yep, one more cute one for the road. Can't get enough of it? Tune in for my next post because we'll have to do a Part 1 part 2!

[jackoshadows]

@blankwhiteshield I thought I would respond in a separate post since I don't want to derail from @fromtheseventhhell's OG post about something else. You responded to my comment here by saying that I was 'entirely wrong' and linking to an essay on Jaime Lannister and I did try to read through all that to get a gist of your explanation.

First I want to mention that Rhaegar being a pre-asoiaf/background/tertiary character means we don't know a lot about him. I can only speculate as to his thoughts and motives and why he did what he did.

I wrote that comment because the absolute hypocrisy of Jaime Lannister apologists/Braime shippers critiquing Rhaegar grinds my gears something fierce. And I am not even a Rhaegar fan - he's a character that there's to set other characters on their journey and to set the story.

The consequences of Jaime's incestual adultery was the spark that lead to the WOT5K that two years on is still ongoing with no stability in war torn Westeros. Jaime Lannister attempts to murder a little child because he can't keep it in his pants for the short duration they are visiting the Starks. Jaime was hunting down a 9 year old to cut off her hand. That poll about Rhaegar being a bad father when Jaime refers to Joffrey as semen in Cersei's cunt is a farce.

Hence my comment.

Now, let's start with Jaime being Aerys' hostage. Yes, Aerys used Jaime against Tywin. However, why was Jaime in the Kingsguard (KG) in the first place? He was Tywin's golden child and heir to Casterly Rock, unlike Cersei and Tyrion having no value for Tywin because she is a girl and he is disabled.

Aerys had no power over Jaime until he chose to join the KG to serve the Mad King. Jaime had more choice than the 14 year old bastard Jon Snow who had to leave Winterfell and the NW is pretty much the only option available to him. He had more choice than his sister Cersei. He had more choice than disabled Tyrion getting physically/sexually abused by his own family.

So why did Jaime decide to join the KG? So that he could be close to Cersei and sleep with her. Jaime joins the KG knowing that he was going to break the KG oaths of celibacy. He didn't care about oaths when joining the KG , right?

This is why Jaime's entire spiel about oaths never had any emotional weight for me, coming from a character who had no value for oaths in the first place and who had no intention of upholding his sworn oaths when he joined the KG.

I can understand a character like Jon Snow's angst and conflict when he is forced to sleep with Ygritte or when he has to choose between the NW and saving his sister, because oaths are important to Jon Snow. Oaths and honor is important to someone like Ned Stark. Jaime? Considering his total disrespect for the KG oaths when he joins them to simply be close to Cersei, I don't get it.

Next, Rhaegar's conversation with Jaime.

Why do you assume here that Jaime was scared of Aerys and asking Rhaegar to save/rescue him from Aerys? I mean, Jaime was KG. At 13 he won his first melee. At 15 he was defeating other skilled swordsmen.

It could just as well be Jaime eager to fight with Rhaegar in battle and asking that Rhaegar leave behind the older KG like Darry to instead guard the king because the battle is where the fight is. Jaime thinks that guarding someone is not as exciting as fighting in battle. It's even right there in the next sentence when Jaime gets angry about being referred to as a crutch and he's like ' I AM A KINGSGUARD'.

We see something similar when Jon begs his uncle to take him for ranging.

Three days after their arrival, Jon had heard that Benjen Stark was to lead a half-dozen men on a ranging into the haunted forest. That night he sought out his uncle in the great timbered common hall and pleaded to go with him. Benjen refused him curtly. - Jon, AGoT

There's also not much Rhaegar can probably do at that point (speculating here) - facing war/battle - about his volatile, angry father, the King. There are all these essays about the effect that Tywin had on Jaime... imagine the burden of being the Mad King's son. What power does Rhaegar have to take away the King's choice of KG? Rhaegar didn't even have the power to send his own wife and children elsewhere. Him actively interfering was only going to further anger a king who was already paranoid about the crown prince. Hence the 'I dare not take away that crutch from him at such a hour'.

I think you also mention that Jaime was terrified of being executed as an hostage - is this mentioned anywhere in the books or are you just assuming/speculating on his thought process here?

Jon Snow is elected Lord Commander of the Night's Watch at 16. In Westeros 16 is considered a man grown and Jaime is an adult by Westerosi standards and Rhaegar certainly didn't see him as some kind of child hostage like that post deliberately twisted it into.

A boy in Westeros is considered to be a "man grown" at sixteen years. The same is true for girls. Sixteen is the age of legal majority, as twenty-one is for us.

At any rate, Rhaegar and Jaime's fellow KG expected the KG left behind in KL - Jaime Lannister - to do his job and protect the crown prince's wife and babies as per sworn oaths.

In which Jaime fails because while his father's men, including the Mountain, were scaling the walls to rape and murder Elia and her babies, Jaime was lounging on the throne waiting for one of the rebels to get there. And hence his guilt when confronted by ghosts of his past in his weirwood dreams.

You have written a lot on how Jaime could not have known about what Tywin's men would do. I mean, why is he waiting around to find out what they would do?! Sorry, these are piss poor excuses and even Jaime Lannister himself doesn't really believe this because he knows that he should have immediately gone to their side after the King was dead as his ghosts tell him.

Jaime knows his father. He knows what Tywin is capable of. He was there for what Tywin did to Tysha. KL was even then being raped and pillaged. And he thought nothing would happen to the Targaryen princess and her children?

The Mad King was dead - literally backstabbed by the hostage. What should this skilled Kingsguard do next? Immediately go to Elia and the babies to protect Rhaegar's family as Rhaegar entrusted him to do or sit on the Throne waiting for someone to come there? We know what Jaime chose to do:

'Then he climbed the Iron Throne and seated himself with his sword across his knees to see who would come to claim the kingdom. As it happened, it had been Eddard Stark'.

This is what is given to us in the books. Nothing more, nothing else. You can add to this of course, but that would be speculative theorizing on what Jaime's thoughts and feelings are about all this, not what is actually given to us in the books.

[jsimsarchivist]

Hello. My name is Jonathan Sims, I work as the Head Archivist at the Magnus Institute in London. I used to have a Tumblr account back in uni, so let’s hope I haven’t forgotten the interface.

Spider apologists DNI.

[profile art by camille.leto on instagram. ooc & such below:]

hello! my name is crowns (she/her), @crownsspades is my main. i’ll be signing off any out of character posts with -👑♠️

the jon of this blog doesn’t have a specific season in mind, at least as of now, though i’ll generally default to s3. i might sort posts that fit the context of a specific season

ask what you will- though i must ask for nothing nsfw. i am a jonmartin shipper, so i might not rp other ships since i won’t get the dynamic. possibly.

all in character -> #tma rp

out of character -> #crowns

asks -> #asks

conversations -> #chat

og posts -> #voice of the archives

may or may not tag content warnings, i’m not good at it, so expect mentions of canon/canon-typical events

[cyborg-empress]

I really wanted to make a post about The Magnus Archives because I'm going crazy about this podcast and need to share my thoughts. Season 4 spoilers under the cut!

Ok so this is about Jon in Mag 142 - Scrutiny.

I love this episode. The voice acting is amazing and the statement/complaint is super well written.

First off, what Jon did is awful. He completely ruined her life and that's so not alright. The statement giver said she was doing fine and he took that away from her. Like dude, not ok, what the hell.

But the problem is I just go so dang excited when I listened to the episode. I like Jon so much he's totally my favorite character and this episode actually just made me love him more. Not as a person, cuz he's getting more morally grey by the second, but as an amazing character.

I realized that this is the first statement we got where Jon is actually the "evil" force of the episode. It's always him taking the statements of the horrors of the Fears and Avatars but now it's a statement about him. And I just ahhhh I love it so much. Horrifying? Absolutely. But I love the fact that he's losing his humanity to the point where he really is becoming a monster! It is just so interesting and exactly where I was hoping the podcast would go from a story perspective. Like oh no my poor guy but also just yessss. I just love slow corruption arcs (not the fear, the moral kind) so so much. I think villains are so interesting and seeing Jon go in that direction a bit makes me very excited, even if it's really not good for him as a person and I do actually want him to be happy.

Also the fact that he is using his powers? Just so cool!!! He's so freaking creepy I love him. Just sitting in the corner like a weirdo?And "He's all eyes" ? I am kicking and screaming. (To be clear I am in no way excusing his actions I just think it's neat).

The Martin and Daisy convo about Jon's trauma response was also just so *chef's kiss*. Him being reckless to feel in control and because he's self destructive due to guilt is simply amazing character development that makes me just feel worse for Jon. And make me love him more of course.

From what I've read under the tag for this MAG, this episode made a lot of people like Jon less but it just made me love him more.

I know I'm super duper late to the podcast but I'd love people's thoughts! I'm totally aware that I'm just rambling on and being a Jon apologist. I just didn't feel the need to do any super insightful media analysis because so many other people have done some excellent break downs of this episode.

No spoilers please tho I'm only on MAG 157 as of writing this (but I hope to finish the season really soon).

Thank you so mush for reading my ramble! I'm so obsessed with this podcast. I love Jon so much.

[a-leg-without-fear]

thoughts on jon bernthal being a genocide supporter and a domestic abuser apologist and someone who knowingly worked with a pedo after his conviction? 🎤

i try to keep this blog happy and stress free, but i will answer this because it needs to be said.

i do NOT support jon bernthal in any way. the people he’s supported are disgusting. we live in an unfortunate world where fear runs rampant in our everyday lives. finding out your childhood hero supports those who create that fear is like a punch in the gut. it sucks that the picture i have with him now has less joy filling each detail than it did. but the support jon has provided to those with such malice is not something that can be excused.

i do, however, think it’s important to separate the art from the artist. i still adore frank castle and believe what netflix did with his character was phenomenal. i fully, 110%, condone people pirating jon’s work so they can watch without supporting him.

i am just a leg, so please don’t take my word as gospel. these are my thoughts on the matter. feel free to think as you wish about this issue. everyone love each other, hold each other up, and help those in need.

love, leggie

[jonkentdeservesbetter]

So, now that I’ve used 24 hours (+ a longfic from a completely different fandom) to calm down from the end of the last episode, #3, summoning all the child-abuse apologists of this fandom, I can share a theory. I actually posted about this one before, back when S2 had recently aired it’s finale, and Mannheim was name-dropped by John Diggle, to JHI.

(This is messier than I wanted, but tbh I’m still really fried from the fandom shittiness; it’s unsurprisingly not dissipated, so, yeah. Largely I just wanted to get this out before forgetting, since I like this theory quite a bit - mostly, I think, because it feels probable.)

While this show would not be described as comics-accurate by literally anyone, there’s a history of “totally unexpected” (read: out of fucking left-field; all misdirection and no foreshadowing groundwork) plot-twists, yet we are apparently not getting that with S3’s main villain; as was, iirc, stated in interviews.

That said, there’s always at least one thing put in that, because of how the show uses comics-canon, we can’t spot coming. It’d be pretty interesting if this time, instead of the writers playing with comic details to create a fake-out not comics-accurate, they made a plot-twist that is, plus actually well-received by most, as well as, shockingly, has gotten foreshadowing. Yep: Jon getting his powers.

I won’t go over every detail of foreshadowing Jon getting powers, because it’s a list, and I am…verbose. Instead, let’s look at ep. 3x03.

In episode 3, we not only actually get some real focus on Jon doing “hero stuff,” which we’d been ‘promised’ by the show-runners would be the case for Jon at last, but which many burnt out fans would not believe in, we also got something else. Kryptonian blood experiments, done on Mannheim’s orders.

How does this connect to Jon, specifically?

For those who aren’t aware, and for those who may have simply forgotten, in comics-canon, when Lois was investigating Bruno Mannheim and Intergang, they kidnapped her and Jon. Now, maybe they don’t know that Jon’s blood is special, or maybe, since nobody treats him as Kryptonian, Jon did the blood-drive without anyone even being aware, tipping Mannheim off to taking him.

I don’t need it to be one or the other, for my theory: it just matters if they’re kidnapped.

Because in the comics? When Jon is taken with Lois, and Superman can’t save them (not in-time, but also, Mannheim is able to hide them from Clark in the show, so), Jon’s powers awaken. He gets them out of there.

Things of course would be very different in the show, in other regards, like Mannheim possibly taking Jon to refill the blood supply he lost in the explosion, and also, that, like in the very similar Smallville plot, so long as one has access to continuous injections of Kryptonian blood - like medication - they’re able to survive diseases that would be fatal, Lois could also be experimented on with his blood while they’re captured, which helps her cancer. It isn’t a magically cure-all that would eliminate cancer, because it has to be a continuous supply, and there may also be the factor of blood compatibility - although, that likely wouldn’t be an issue for the two.

It would further Mannheim’s plans, would establish his goals more clearly to us, and yet, at the same time, it would show exactly how far he’s willing to go; what evil he does.

It would also, naturally, give Jon his powers. Plus, while we’ve had little things building up to this - the blood-drive flyer, finding bags of blood, the identification of the blood as from Clark (as Kryptonian) - in the show, we have also gotten interviews that’ve said Jon’s plot is something that’ll have him finally following in his father’s footsteps, and that Bishop is really excited for the fans to see this season - Bishop, who’s hoping for Jon to be Superboy in the show, and talked about wanting Jon to fly, and watched seasons 1 & 2 alongside us.

So is there hope? Will Jon’s powers finally awaken? Well…the poster quotes hint at it possibly being true. The question, however, with this show and Jon, is if follow-through will ever appear, or drop off a cliff suddenly.

Personally? I would LOVE if Mannheim not only came after Lois (because we all know she’s a threat, and she JUST destroyed his blood supply), but also took Jon, preferably because he found out about his blood (that would be a great time for SOMEONE to at last say “you’re Kryptonian” to him!! finally!).

Whether of not Mannheim discovers Jon’s got Kryptonian genetics or not - and think how much it would up the stakes if he did, because he would definitely put the pieces together, not to mention if he experiments with Jon’s blood with Lois she can believably recover without it being a terribly ableist magic one-and-done cure, instead creating a very unique ‘medication’ that really could only be used for her, as well as would have such a short supply it wouldn’t matter if it didn’t, and that it explains itself for why the Lane-Kents can’t risk anyone else knowing; because it would out their family and place the boys in immediate danger - either way, Jon gets his powers, and it would be both original enough for the show, and comics-accurate enough for the fans wanting that.

[buttercuparry]

I will never get the essence of asoiaf fandom's morality.

I will never get how someone can preach that shipping jonrya is wrong as according to them it would mean that the shippers are condoning and encouraging incest in real life; but then have no qualms in sending asks pertaining to Jon's fertility. I mean if I am to assume that you are an adult (not pinpointing any specific blogger but a group as a whole), and think that our fictional ticks carry onto our real life then why are you discussing about a teenagers dick. Since you are so quick to label us as pedophiles or pedo apologists, then how come this argument not extend to you?

Now this nonsense going on maybe just a strategy to deflect our attention from whatever fallout is happening in the other part of the fandom, but still this fandom's notion of morality surprises me.

To them the fictional woman who abolishes slavery is a tyrant but those who benefitted from slave trade were, according to their moral sense, the victims.

The fictional character who refuses to submit blindly to the status quo and is livid at her friend's murder is behaving irrationally because what matters the most from their moral point of view is maintaining the class divide.

If an execution is done on the orders of their favorite character then that would be acceptable but they draw the line at a rapist (chiswyck) being murdered after boasting about the act.

People can sympathize with Oberyn wanting justice for Elia but not Arya wanting justice.

Catelyn protecting Bran is bravery but Dany should not feel rage at her unborn son being killed.

This fandom is quick to vocalize their misgivings about "poc" characters being treated poorly but then go on and be parasitic on the actual trauma of brown women (to gain an upper hand in an argument)

How does it make sense.

[lesenbyan]

I think a lot of the remaining “archives” crew doesn’t understand Jon’s guilt at this point. Let me explain:

Spoilers for: season 5, and esp 199

The crew seems to remember Jon Knows Everything any time they want to know a Certain Answer to a Certain Question (ie “what’s happening here?” “how many other dimensions?” “Where is X?” etc) but they don’t seem to really comprehend what knowing everything means in the same way my roommate without chronic pain can’t quite understand the fact that I am always in pain. There’s knowing and there’s knowing. and none of them can do the latter. Esp considering Jon’s been admonished for having feelings so often over the series, told to bottle it up and get it together bc he doesn’t matter, he’s hurting people. And sometimes he was! But as far as we know (and canon seems to support) he never talked about these issues, he never really dealt with them. So when it comes to something like this, something so massive, to knowing and Seeing everything his instinct is to play it pretty close to his chest. He’ll talk to Martin about more of it than the others, of course, bc he’s the only one who has never failed to validate Jon’s feelings.

But then you get to the conversations about guilt, esp the one in 199 and you see Jon say “I” and everyone else insist “we” but they don’t....

Jon’s been walking through this fearscape since he and Martin left Scotland. And the entire time (except when with Salesa) he has been feeling the suffering, the agony, the torment of everyone in those domains. He has been hearing himself cursed and reviled as the man who did this (even if he didn’t mean to!) and he already has a massive guilt complex with crushing amounts of survivor’s guilt, starting from when he was 8yo. Except now he’s hearing thousands and thousands of voices saying you did this and this is your fault and why would you do this to us and Oh god make it stop. And a man can only withstand so much. Andb Martin wants to help! he does! but he can’t handle Jon talking about the suffering and agony of those around him for too long, there’s a reason he doesn’t want to be around for statements.

And the others? have all shut him out. Melanie hates him and Jon wants to respect that, Georgie, as much as she cares, left him high and dry when he most needed an out, during the last time he probably could have left. And Basira’s been a Daisy apologist and an actual asshole to Jon on and off up until Daisy’s dead. He’s not going to sit there and explain “no really i because because because” He’s not going to tell them about the endless hours of the endless mantra of fear and screaming, not going to tell them about the guilt of knowing this is sustaining him, not going to tell them that he’s lost count of the number of people cursing him for bringing this about, not going to tell them about the agony he feels along with them, not going to tell them about the sadistic joy he can’t help but feel, not going to tell them that that makes him feel even worse.

Because how do you explain that? How do you explain that no really the entire world hates me specifically and the world would actually be better off with me dead to people who refuse to believe it? To Martin who refuses to live in a world without Jon in it, who refuses to imagine the world could be better had Jon not existed in it. How does he tell his kind, patient, loving, bleeding heart boyfriend that he’s not sure he’d be able to live with himself even if everything does go as planned? How does he say that even if they fix this the entire world knows him as the man that made them live that? How does he explain that he actually knows now what it’s like to literally be the most hated man on earth.

So everyone else says “we”. Everyone else tries to share the guilt. But it’s not theirs. Yes, all of their decisions and actions helped Jon end up here in varying ways. No, no one is more to blame than Jonah. But the insistence on we diminishes the sheer agony and torment Jon’s been through. But it’s okay. He’s used to his feelings and trauma being diminished and belittled and pushed aside.

and then there’s this:

MARTIN

The point is you don’t have a responsibility to sacrifice yourself just to make everyone else’s lives a bit easier.

ARCHIVIST

I’ve already made them a hell of a lot harder!

MELANIE

Hmmm.

MARTIN

[Sharply] Then we should all sacrifice ourselves, because everyone in this room has some responsibility for it.

Which also drastically misses the mark. This isn’t just the blame game. This isn’t “everyone is equally responsible for the parts they played.” This is “Jon was groomed for this for four years whereas the others had arguably minor roles that didn’t change Jonah’s script too much”. Is it Jon’s fault? Absolutely not! He’s a victim too.

But at the same time if, under duress, you make a decision that kills a person you still go to jail for murder.

What Jon wants is to feel like he’s paid the price for actions that, while not entirely his own, he played a large part in. Jon cannot live with himself and the consequences of his actions even if they weren’t his fault. Jonah didn’t read the incantation. He lined everything up, set the stage, manipulated all the pieces to where they needed to be, but he didn’t pull the trigger. Jon did. And Jon knows that. And no amount of “we” from the others will change that. No amount of “I can’t live in a world without you” from Martin can make him understand this.

This isn’t a burden he can share, so he doesn’t try. He’s happy they don’t know or understand bc it means they don’t hurt like this. But it also means they don’t understand why he simply cannot live with himself after it’s all done.

Even if MAG had and ending where everything went as planned and Jon and Martin made it out, I don’t think Jon would survive long anyway.

[agentrouka-blog]

So , now Ygritte is similar to LF. Even though Ygritte was the one to call shots but she never intended abuse or rape. She & Jon had consensual sex & even after her death , he remembers her fondly .No matter how much you try to stan Sansa or pretend to care about Jon, still you don't want her to have sex with Sandor, a man she fantasizes & might be happy or in case of Jon, his 1st love was abusive.Could you suggest any woman with the exception of Sansa that Jon might have consensual sex with ?

Hi anon,

1) I can’t decide what bothers you more: 

That I call out Ygritte, a grown woman and enthusiastic rape apologist, for gleefully coercing a fifteen-year-old boy into having sex with her? After he had taken pains to avoid her physical advances? 

Or that I don’t want Sansa, a girl of currently thirteen, to have sex with a grown man twice her age who has purposefully frightened, threatened, belittled and physically assaulted her, and whom she does not find attractive?

That I call the Unkiss a trauma coping method? 

That I speculate Jon employs a similar trauma coping method with Ygritte? 

2) Jon can have consensual sex with any woman he so chooses to have consensual sex with. As in consensual sex. That he chooses to have. Consensually. Though, I’d prefer if the currently sixteen-year-old boy had some more time to emotionally heal first.

3) Denying a thirteen-year-old should have sex with adult abusers makes me a fake Sansa fan. Noted. 

4) Voicing my opinion that the 19-year-old who called the fifteen-year-old, essentially, stupid every other sentence and took massive advantage of the power imbalance between them to orchestrate a sexual relationship with him, after he had tried to avoid just that with her, and in which she cared about his feelings exactly zero percent of the time, unless it was to get really upset when they didn’t match what she wanted them to be, at which end she proceeded to shoot him with easily lethal projectile weapons when he escaped after she had tried to push him into murdering an innocent person, before murdering that innocent person herself... voicing my opinion that this woman was abusive and not his “1st love” makes me a fake Jon fan? Noted. 

5) My baby girl is turning two years old tomorrow. She loves singing and dancing. Elsa is her favorite Disney character, but Rapunzel and Moana are tied for second place. We like singing the songs together. She knows a surprising number of the lyrics by heart. I am only mentioning this because I wanted this post to contain something wholesome and positive. Because the rest of it really isn’t.

[youandthemountains]

#5, 2, 10, 17, 20

2. what fandoms were apart of that you aren’t any longer?

I don’t flounce out as much as fandoms just die out or I get fixated on something new SO i’m using this as an excuse for a chronological fandom history. how many people will hate me when I’m done, let’s find out.

LISTEN this is possible the most annoying post I’ve ever created but was also very fun so I’m answering the rest of these in a separate post bc it got too long already.

but, you all should feel free to ask me if I was ever in one of your fandoms because at this rate signs point to yes.

Bandom is I think what I first found fic for. look, i KNOW. i KNOW. i was a child. specifically I remember reading stuff for The Libertines (I KNOWWW leave me alone. I am aware. There were some really good writers for it, everyone was doing it, idk man). and god REALLY early on, like what, early middle school? I remember a lot of those pop-emo bandom fics particularly. jesus this is embarrassing. but ry*n r*ss / br*nd*n ur*e fic. I’m sure there were others but let’s move on before the cringe incapacitates me.

House/Wilson on LJ babeyyy. Where I was introduced to hurt/comfort. Fun times. Related, Sherlock Holmes. Inescapable. All versions.

pre-MCU Marvel - fully comics based. X-Men had the best fics. I remember loving in particular - Peter Parker/Johnny Storm, anything with Jubilee, I personally shipped Shadowcat/Jean Grey before I knew what shipping or the internet or fandom was, I loved Gambit/Wolverine and I remember some really good Gambit/Nightcrawler fics. Lot of discourse on the nature of being monstrous in those that was interesting. I would read Hawkeye and anyone because he had good and totally different dynamics with so many different characters but I did have a soft spot for Clint/Bucky, Clint/Sam, and Clintasha. oh I was also into Bucky/Natasha because I did really love comics Black Widow. the less popular ones that i loved were - Sunspot/Cannonball, SamBucky, Jessica JSilk/Black Cat, MJ/Gwen Stacy, Peter/Harry Osborn, Sam/Bucky,  Elektra/Natasha, Foggy/Matt, Kate Bishop/America Chavez, Daredevil/Black Panther, the Heroes for Hire polycule, god I think Angel/Quicksilver purely bc of Marvel 1602, honestly there were a lot. This would need it’s own post because comics are a bunch of attractive people with interesting dynamics and plenty of What If? opportunities.  

Speak of comics, I was also into DC - Superbat, Booster Gold/Blue Beetle, Kaldur’ahm/Superboy (literally no one was into this besides me lmfao), was and am a huge Batfam fan, I am 100% a Damian Wayne apologist, oh was and tbh still kind of am really into Dick Grayson/Clint Barton fic. Yes I realize that’s insane but idk love the concept of carnies in love. Wonder Woman/Meera, Constantine/Zatanna, Zatanna/Wonder Woman, Constantine/King Shark now of course, Harley/Ivy, Harley/Ivy/Selina, Kate Kane/Renee Montoya, Constatine/Dream, Vi you turned me on to au teen girl Chastantine and I love that. Again, I’m sure there are more.

The Social Network also on LJ babeyyy. Of course Markwardo, but there were some great writers that made a really compelling case for Sean/Eduardo.

Heroes - specifically Matthinder which was ICONIC and still deserves so much more attention. They RAISED A CHILD TOGETHER. Honestly I was into Mohinder/anyone though.

MI-5 which was me and like 4 other people. Adam/Zaf is still my all time favorite ship that has zero engagement whatsoever. I know in my heart that Zaf faked his death and met up with Adam who let him retire with him in secret and safety. For something even more obscure that I care about way too much - Vik/Jez endgame and Vik/Rob as friends with benefits from Spooks: Code 9. I have a very detailed story in my head about them but maybe 7 people total watched that show before it was cancelled. Rob is probably the most villainous character that I’m into. 

Torchwood - yes Janto, also Owen/Ianto again purely because there were some really good writers for it.

If we’re getting into my obscure fandom phase - Primeval: New World. Mac/Evan and Mac/Connor. I could talk about this forever, I think it’s such a fascinating and tragic story but I won’t because no one will have any idea wtf I’m talking about 

Of course Doctor Who. Come on man. I was a sucker for Nine/Rose, Nine/Jack, Eleven/Rory/Amy, and Amy/Rory. Martha was my favorite companion but I didn’t really like Ten and he was a dick to her. 

Dear White People -  Sam/Coco, Sam/Jo, Troy/Lionel, Jo/Reggie, Reggie/Lionel (did this make sense? no. did I think it’d be hot? yeah.) GOD LIONEL/SILVIO UNTIL SILVIO WAS EVIL. 

Xena and Gabrielle/Xena

White Collar - Neal/Peter & Neal/Burkes

The Get Down - Shao/Zeke, Pretty Dizzee D/Thor, god these kids!!! 

MASH - Hawkeye/BJ

HP but literally the tiniest corner of it, had a mild interest in Ron/Draco & Ron/Harry so I barely checked it out bc that was pretty niche

the Gene Wilder multiverse. oh also the Gene Kelly multiverse. both the Genes always give themselves a boyfriend and a girlfriend that are gorgeous and hilarious.

I still haven’t seen Jurassic Park III but I think Billy/Dr. Grant are in love

Indiana Jones - I read. Every single one of the novels. I watched Young Indiana Jones. I adored him. 

The Flash TV - this one I did actually leave. I was in it for Cisco, Wally, and Iris. I think Iris/Barry are sweet, and I also liked Cisco/Barry, Cisco/Wally, and Iris/Cisco. I just lost interest in the show. 

Legends of Tomorrow - Sara/all her girlfriends throughout time

Dragon Age - yeah I love Anders/Fenris & Dorian/Iron Bull. I think Cullen/Dorian has the occasional good fic but it’s definitely hit or miss. 

Star Wars - oh star war. how do i hate thee. let me recount the ways. No I still love Hanleia, Landoleia, Han/Lando, Hanluke, Leia/Mara Jade, Mara Jade/Arden Lyn, Luke/Mara Jade, FinnPoe (My LOVES), uhhh that’s it. I do also love Black Squadron and Rapier Squadron. Jess/Kare Kun was underrated although Kare/Snap is also fun. I saw Rose/Kaydel Ko and that was real galaxy brained.

Mad Men - I really did love Don & Betty’s dynamic post-divorce. Also him and Peggy - not romantically at all but just something cold and sharp.

Firefly - Mal/Simon, and Kay/Inara. I’d read Jayne/Simon bc there was more of it but it was not my fave at all

Community - Trobed my beloved

GLOW - everyone on this show had a great dynamic AND i love my brown lesbians <33

Game of Thrones - but I never got past the first book so. Theon/Robb and Theon/Jon, Sansa/Marjorie Tyrell, I do like the occasional Theon/Sansa

The Exorcist (TV) - Tomas/Marcus was SO good man. 

Glee - Brittana supremacy, Finn/Kurt was nice at first, and weirdly so was Puck/Kurt when written in a very specific way. 

Shadowhunters - listen I’ve only seen like 3 episodes of this but I like the fandom and Magnus/Alec are gorgeous

Rogue One - Bodhi/Cassian my beloved. Also love your Kes/Cassian stuff

MCU - listen I do still maintain ca:tws was a samsteve meetcute. 

United States of Tara - this was just a great show

okay have I alienated everyone yet. I’m sure there are more but this has been a LOT already.

[mcwebby]

people don't like basira because she's an abusive cop who enables OTHER abusive cops to indiscriminately kill and traumatize innocent people soooo :/ I mean, we can criticize the TMA writers for making one of the few canonical WOC a cop, but c'mon, you have to acknowledge that if you're talking microaggressions. The romanticizing of any relationship between two corrupt cops is decidedly tone deaf in this, and any, climate

i suppose you’re referencing that one ask i did answer about microaggressions here!

there are plenty of reasons NOT to like basira. we know that basira is a cop who abused her power, fuck basira lives, #acab. i am not a basira apologist. but my commentary in that post was more on how people in the fandom speak about her personality, the way that many folks make “hot takes” on basira’s interactions with others and critique her mannerisms as a character, mannerisms that jon also possessed up until about season 3 that we now look back upon fondly.

but, my point still stands, people can be undeniably misogynistic towards basira when discussing her traits. i would go as far as to even say even a bit discriminatory against her as a woman of color at times. this does not excuse her actions and it never will, i just believe that people should be more mindful about the verbiage they use when discussing her personality.

in other terms, i agree with you about daisy and basira’s relationship. i didn’t say this in as many terms as you did, but the fandom’s romanticization of two cops who used to mercilessly brutalize citizens is VERY tone-deaf, especially given our current climate right now. i feel like it‘s worse, even, because basira was ultimately daisy’s enabler.

as stated beforehand i did kind of glaze over fandom-specific microaggressions there in my previous post. but thank you for sending in an ask, it’s important to discuss these things!

[furiosaofscythia]

I am technically on vacation. This means that my blog post for Tuesday is a day late and I’m writing less-regularly than normal. Apologies for the delay. I am also in a mood, and that’s probably not a good thing to be in when trying to write a blog post, but I’m going to post this anyway, because it’s that kind of mood. You have been warned. My son and I went to see Captain America about two weeks back, and it was as enjoyable and delightful a trip to the movies as I can remember in years. My days as a bitchy critic of cinema are long past, mind you, and I’m not interested in posting a review. I could do that. I once did do that. I stopped doing that 20 years ago. The proliferation of people who mistake their opinion for criticism made me stop. We enjoyed it tremendously, and that’s enough. Given the current state of cinema, it may be more than enough. Rick and I did an interview on Monday for The Long and Shortbox of It with Jon Gorga and Josh Kopin, and over the course of the conversation, we ended up discussing the continued slavish devotion to that which is labeled “dark” and “gritty” in super-hero comics. You’ll get an earful on this when you listen to the podcast, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about off and on for a while now, and this seems as good a time as any to get something off my virtual chest, so to speak. When I was working on 52, I half-jokingly asked Geoff Johns what it was with him and decapitations. If you’ve read his work, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Black Adam, in particular, had a penchant for removing the top, so to speak. His response was that he’d grown up playing Mortal Kombat. Fatalities were common, as he put it; a decapitation was de rigueur. Me, I was in college whenNarc came out. Late formative years, and I still remember being taken aback the first time I watched the animated pitbulls tearing me apart on the screen. Rick and I want Lady Sabre to be fun. Stealing a page from the Clevinger-Wegener manifesto, if it’s not fun, it’s not worth doing. If it’s not fun, we’re doing something wrong. Captain America was fun. It was pure, and it was sincere, and it never once apologized for being either of those things, and in fact, that was why Steve Rogers was chosen to become the First Super Soldier. I credit an enormous amount of its success to these factors. Here’s the thing: I am sick and tired of super-heroes who aren’t super and aren’t heroes, but more, I’m sick and tired of Hollywood blaming us for their failures. I am sick and tired of hearing various Hollywood studio execs who are as disconnected from the reality of middle-American taste as Rick Perry is from Christianity excusing the poor performance of their ill-executed product by tacitly blaming you, me, and everyone else of us who didn’t pay to see their garbage. Catwoman fails? Instead of, perhaps, just perhaps, acknowledging that the movie is a piece of excrement unworthy of use as fertilizer, they conclude instead that a female lead can’t open a movie unless her name is Jolie. So now we’re not only guilty of not being willing to pay for 90 minutes of intellectual abuse, we’re all apparently sexist jerks, as well. The problem with Green Lantern’s performance at the box office is that it’s not “gritty” enough? I don’t think so. Art – and even if that art is commercial art, produced for entertainment – feeds and is fed by the society that consumes it. So I ask you, right now, looking around you, what flavor of escapism will go down best with you? In an era of terror alerts and bipartisan dysfunction, of rising hate and blossoming intolerance, of bank failure and wide-spread, global unemployment and recession, is grittyreally what we need? Look, I like gritty. I write gritty. There is a time and a place for gritty. I’ll take my Batman gritty, thank you, and I will acknowledge that such a portrayal means that my 11 year old has to wait before he sees The Dark Knight. But if Hollywood turns out a Superman movie that I can’t take him to? They’ve done something wrong. Superman is many, many things. Gritty he is not, something that Richard Donner certainly understood. (Pet peeve time: for the contingent out there who sneer at heroes like Superman and Wonder Woman and Captain America, those icons who still, at their core, represent selfless sacrifice for the greater good, and who justify their contempt by saying, oh, it’s so unrealistic, no one would ever be so noble… grow up. Seriously. Cynicism is not maturity, do not mistake the one for the other. If you truly cannot accept a story where someone does the right thing because it’s the right thing to do, that says far more about who you are than these characters.) This is not an argument of era or audience sophistication. Sophistication does not negate sincerity, nor does it even deny it, as the Captain America movie proves. Sophistication demands better storytelling, clearer motivation, purer intention. “Gritty” is an apologist word in this sense, used in the place of “realism.” We don’t go to the movies for “realism.” This is why documentaries aren’t the major product in the theaters. Sophistication does not demand realism; it demands smart. I can think of no other industry where the consumer is made to bear the blame for the product’s failure as much as Hollywood. Seriously, let’s think that one through. The movie didn’t perform, therefore it’s our fault? You got food poisoning eating the fish they served and you paid for, it’s your fault? The brakes on your new car crapped out and you wrapped it around a tree, it’s your fault? Here’s a crazy thought. Maybe you made a bad movie. Hold fast. Greg

Greg Rucka - "Light In The Dark" 2012

[multi-fandom-imagines8]

Short Lived Happiness

Request: Hi, can i request a Grey Worm OC post please? It can be any plot you want, it just sucks that I haven't seen any Grey Worm pairings on here. Thank you! Requested by @njadaka-apologist

Warnings: Death, angst, slight GoT 8x03 spoilers.

Word Count: 1709.

You and Daenerys were twins and the last surviving women of house Targaryen. After Viserys’ death, you decided to rule the seven kingdoms together after you take back what’s rightfully yours. What you didn’t know is how long the journey to Westeros was going to take. You first went from Pentos were you were raised to Vaes Dothrak with Khal Drogo and the khalasar. After his wound was infected and he was hanging between life and death, Daenerys made a deal with a maegi to save his life and in doing so she lost her unborn child. Unfortunately, after she fell ill, the khalasar left with a new khal and only a few loyal dothraki warriors stayed by your side. Daenerys had no choice but to kill khal Drogo, for he was not a living man anymore. He was alive yes, but his mind and body weren’t. She burnt the maegi that lied to her and lied the dragon eggs next to Drogo’s dead body. She entered the fiery circle and you joined her. After the fire went out, you came out with three baby dragons. One for you and two for Daenerys.

You were out of food and water but kept walking until you arrived at the city of Qarth. The people who pretended to be your friends turned out to be enemies, but it was a lesson for the both of you. You needed an army to get to Westeros and so you sailed to Astapor, where you freed the unsullied and the wanted to serve you. Daenerys asked them to choose a commander who who will lead them. That’s when you first met Grey Worm. He introduced himself and both you and Daenerys were a bit upset by the names given to them. You told them to choose the names they desire, that would make them proud and Grey Worm kept his name.

After that, you headed to Yunkai. Daenerys told the masters to surrender and live, but they refused. Leaving you with no choice but to fight. They had hired the second sons who are known to be great warriors. When you tried to talk them into joining your forces, one of the captains was rude and made insulting comments, but you let him speak in hope of getting them to your side. Later that night, one of them that goes by the name Daario Naharis managed to sneak into your tent. He was sent to kill you and Daenerys.

“Why haven’t you killed me yet?” You asked.

“Because I want to fight for you” he wasn’t lying.

“Why should I trust you?”.

“Because I only fight when someone wants to fight me or for beauty and you are beautiful” he threw the heads of the two captains that were with him earlier on the floor.

“Swear to me”.

“The second sons are yours and so is Daario Naharis. My sword is yours, my life is yours, my heart is yours”.

Daario kept flirting with you every time he saw you until you finally accepted him. That was your first relationship, you could say you love him, but weren’t in love with him.

Ser Jorah, Grey Worm, the second sons and the unsullied went to fight and told the masters slaves army that you were there to set them free, so they surrendered and with that Yunkai was free.

One more city to free and then you’ll finally sail home you said to yourselves. Little did you know, that the time in you’ll spend in Meereen is going to be long and troublesome. You freed the slaves but shortly after, the dragons began to feed on innocents and so you locked them beneath the pyramid. You discovered the truth about Jorah and banished him.

You had something important to say, so you gathered the people you trusted. Daenerys, Missandei, Grey Worm and Daario Naharis.

“You want see I, my queen?” Grey Worm entered the room.

“I told you many times not to call me that. To my friends I’m Y/n”.

“As wish you, my qu- y/n”.

“I see your common tongue has improved, but you still need more lessons and practice”.

Soon after, the rest entered the room.

“I have gathered you all here, because you’re my friends and family and I wanted you present when I tell Dany that I do not want to be queen”.

“What?” She was shocked to hear you say that.

“I don’t want the throne, I never have. To be honest, I did not think one day it will be our time to rule. I always thought Viserys was going to but after he died you decided that we should rule together and I did not want to disappoint you. I’m sorry that it took me so long to tell you this” you admitted.

“I’m sorry I pressured you into this. I thought you wanted to. I guess I’ll have to take the throne back by myself”.

“No. I’ll be with you every step of the way. We’ll take back what’s ours, but I want to see you on the iron throne. I’ll still be your advisor, I promise” you gave her your word and she accepted.

Shortly after you freed the slaves in Meereen, a new group of people who go by the sons of the harpy started murdering innocent people.

Jorah returned with a gift for you. He brought Tyrion Lannister who turned out to be useful to your cause, so Daenerys made him hand of the queen after a while.

On the day of celebration, the sons of the harpy ambushed you and tried to kill you, but Grey Worm and Daario were able to fight them off. Unfortunately, Grey Worm was badly injured. The second that the sons of the harpy were killed, you rushed to see how he was doing. He was still unconscious so you waited by his side until he woke up.

As soon as regained consciousness, he wanted to stand up to greet you, but you put a hand on his shoulder to make him stay in bed.

“You’re too weak to stand up. You need to rest”.

“Nyke qringōntan issa vali. Nyke qringōntan issa dāria. Nyke qringōntan ao” (I failed my men. I failed my queen. I failed you).

“You failed no one. Are you ashamed? You were ambushed. Outnumbered. There’s no way you could’ve known”.

“This is not why. Wounded in war, there is no shame for this. I am ashamed because when the knife go in and I fall to the ground, I am afraid” he admitted.

“All men fear death” you reminded him.

“No, not death. I fear I never again see princess Y/n stormborn” he confessed.

For a moment you were speechless but then replied “well, you’re not dying anytime soon and I am not going anywhere. You should rest, now!” You kissed his forehead and left his chambers.

Over the years, you and Grey Worm grew closer to each other but couldn’t act on it, for you were in a relationship with Daario and he never thought he was worthy of you and considered you above him.

But as you finally sailed to Westeros, things changed. You knew he would never confess his feelings, fearing that he might’ve overstepped the boundaries and you were too stubborn.

When you met Jon Snow and he informed you about the white walkers, you decided to help. It was the greatest battle the realm would see. Everyone was afraid, not because they would die, but because they would become something else after death and you were no exception. If there was a time to tell Grey Worm how you felt about him, now was it.

“Can I talk to you?” You interrupted his speech to his men and he nodded.

“There’s something I have to tell you. Something we have both kept for a long time and if I’m going to die tomorrow then I’ll at least get this off my chest. Grey Worm I-“.

“I love you princess” he admitted.

“I love you too” you chuckled before you passionately kissed and spent the night together.

“I have to go now” he was about to get up from the bed.

“Stay! Just a few more minutes” you held his hand, dragging him back to bed.

“Just one. I have to prepare. My men are waiting. The dead won't wait”.

“Alright” you wrapped his hand around you and lied your head on his chest kissing the back of his hand. Both of you got what you’ve been wanting your whole lives; happiness. Even if just for a few seconds. It was worth it.

“Be safe, Y/n!”.

“And you”.

You and Daenerys rode the dragons to fight the night king, who now had Viserion and managed to knock you off Rhaegal. The night was so dark and Daenerys couldn’t see you. When you hit the ground, you were badly injured, but you stood up and fought the night king.

Unfortunately, he was faster than you and stabbed you in the stomach.

The living won the war, but at a high cost. After it ended Grey Worm and Daenerys searched for you, until they found you, next to Rhaegal who was guarding you.

“Princess! Y/n!” Grey Worm rushed to your side and held you in his arms.

“We won” you smiled at him.

“Yes. You are going to be alright” he pressed on the wound, but saw that you’ve already lost too much blood and were still losing some.

“You’re lying. You shouldn’t lie to a dying woman” you chuckled.

“Please! Stay with me!” He cried.

“It’s alright. I am not in pain anymore. Dany, I’m sorry I won’t be there to see you on the iron throne as I promised, forgive me”.

“Shhh! Don’t apologize. You can rest now. I release you from your promise” Daenerys informed you.

“Thank you. I’m glad that you’re here with me. I always wanted to die in the arms of someone I love. I think my wish just came true” you chuckled.

“I love you” his tears were dripping on your face.

“And I you” you held his face in your hand one last time before closing your eyes forever.

[starwarshyperdrive]

I’m concerned about the Star Wars canon

I’ve always been a huge Star Wars fan but didn't follow the old EU (extended universe) because it was too convoluted and well.. a bunch of gobbledygook (granted there were some good bits in it, who doesn’t love the Thrawn trilogy even though he is pretty much a different character now), so I actually welcomed the new canon. Start over with a clean slate and make sure everything is connected, makes sense and feels Star Warsy. So far the story group has done a decent job, even though there were some questionable bits and pieces. As hardcore Star Wars fan and apologist I can force myself to get behind a lot of things and I was cool with the Bendu somehow, but the Clone Wars Mortis arc, as well as space whales and the world between worlds really rubbed me the wrong way. A lot of people are celebrating Dave Filoni as savior of the true Star Wars spirit and he is certainly an inspired artist and nice guy but I once again have to wonder whether or not some of the comic bookish stuff REALLY fits the Star Wars universe. Yeah I know ‘it’s a huge universe bla bla’ but do we really have to accept everything?

Someone recently described hardcore fans (such as myself) as a ‘cult’ and Star Wars Celebration to a religious ceremony and if I’m being honest and self-reflective I can’t really argue against it, but that’s also why you always need to check yourself and not just ‘swallow’ everything without questioning it. Keep a critical eye. Things like time travel and other super hero stuff ( I haven’t seen any of the recent Marvel or DC movies) have no place in Star Wars. Of course Star Wars is for everyone, but does that then also mean we need a Star Wars romcom, a Star Wars coming of age movie ..or ..?  I don’t know..porn? Leave that to fan fiction. 

Star Wars was always more about mythology, some sort of buddhist Excalibur and I am seriously concerned that at some point the ‘people in charge’ will forget that and it will become a shallow bubble gum entertainment focus on ‘what is selling at the moment’. A good example are - again - all the super hero movies picking up on trends. I don’t want a Thor Ragnarok Star Wars movie with a Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack. Don’t make everything the same. Keep Star Wars unique. Keep ‘that Star Wars tone’.

‘XY doesn’t UNDERSTAND Star Wars’ is an overused and abused phrase and in so many ways pointless as there are many facets to Star Wars especially now that we have generations of fans who grew up with the prequels, the Clone Wars, Rebels or even Resistance - I should point out that I actually liked Resistance because it’s not tempering with the mythology - but the lore has been laid out in the original trilogy and everything needs to acknowledge that. We cannot have some Terminator-franchise kind of disaster a la ‘Ezra traveled back in time and actually was there with Yoda on Dagobah’ or what not. 

By now it’s common knowledge that - despite what they say - there has been no overall plan for the sequel trilogy, which is quite concerning and feeding into my concerns that it’s all downhill from here (after The Rise of Skywalker and the Mandalorian or course). I know a lot of people who vehemently defended The Last Jedi when it came out, mostly as a reaction to all the stupid hate it got for the wrong reasons and I am one of them myself, but most of them are admitting now that there is something off about the movie. It is written into a corner and not picking up on the clues given in The Force Awakens. It has some amazing scenes and I will keep defending it, but there are some scenes that just don’t feel right and leave a bad aftertaste. I frequently rewatch all the movies and besides Attack of the Clones it’s the only one where I think ‘Now I have to endure THAT bit again’. I go to a lot of Q&A and it’s interesting to see how people who have worked on the movie feel the same. Even if you 100% loved it and it’s your favorite movie ever, let’s be honest - the humor is completely out of place. Fart jokes in The Phantom Menace > Your Mom jokes. And it’s just too long. Of course we all want MORE Star Wars, but where does it end. Would you go and see a 6h movie? If you are a good filmmaker you should be able to say what you want to say in the same about of time as the other movies. But that’s just my personal 2 cents. It just felt like someone who was hellbent on doing his own thing for the sake of doing his own thing and not for the sake of the story. Don’t get me wrong. It was a great idea to (spoiler alert) kill off Snoke that casually, so the movie has redeeming qualities that save it for me. Then again, as a Star Wars fan I WANT to like it. I still watched it 13 times or so. I was in the room for the trailer reveal at SWCO. I want to take ownership and be part of the hardcore fan community, but they shouldn't bank too much on it. I still want a good movie. I’m not gonna be meek and mild about something contradicting the core mythology. Ryan Johnson is allegedly still doing his trilogy and then there is the Benioff and Weiss trilogy. They didn’t exactly do a great job wrapping up Game of Thrones and left fans in awe about how the show ended and have not really proven that they can handle a franchise well either. Will all off them have free rein and just go to town on a Star Wars story as they please? Am I the only one who finds this a bit odd?!

I trust JJ Abrams to do the right thing and I hope my trust is not misplaced. I think the allegations of The Force Awakens being a A New Hope reboot are misplaced as there are also a lot of similarities to The Phantom Menace, so.. if you’re a fan you know what comes next.. ‘it rhymes, it’s like poetry’. So it makes sense. So I think ‘he gets it’..

My main concern in the new canon overall. I made an effort to get all the publications of the new canon, but the books and comics already started to get weird again. Star Wars always had a slight alien but yet familiar vibe and some stories feature people smoking cigars, drinking coffee in the morning and doing other stuff never depicted in Star Wars before. How long until someone gets a Star Wars burger at Star Wars McDonalds or orders Star Wars pizza while watching Star Wars HoloNetflix. I’m sorry. That’s ridiculous. It’s not automatically Star Wars just because you use Star Wars terminology like death sticks or Nerf steaks. Watch the movies and make an effort.

 And now the novelizations of the movies are apparently not considered ‘hard canon’ anymore because the authors didn’t know the direction the next movies are going, so the clues and hints may be completely useless. So why do I force myself through some really not very good books then (others are great, no generalization here)? That’s quite alarming. Wasn’t the entire reason they got a story group to avoid that? What’s with all the loose ends?  That's also why I think they will shy away from using canon characters in the movies (for the most part). Its easier to have a self contained canon universe where you can introduce Purge Troopers in a comic and then have them in a video game. I once read an interview with one of the Star Wars authors who invented a character and then got told ‘give him that name / make him this person’ instead of having this particular character in mind from the start. This is how you lose consistency. I’m well aware that over hundreds and thousands of years that’s EXACTLY how ancient history was written, which is why there are flood legends all over the world and why Jesus and Mithras are pretty much the same person, but they DID NOT HAVE A STORY GROUP and ancient mythology hasn’t been written over a course of a few years.

At the same time it’s interesting how there seem to be purists who are very determined to bring that original Star Wars vibe back. Like Jon Favreau with The Mandalorian. And like I said earlier about Resistance. Its so much easier to do that if you stay away from the mythology. It’s really tricky and so much could go wrong. The stuff introduced in Rogue One like Guardians of the Whills and the temple of Kyber is a perfect example how it’s done. Some of the stuff in the Clone Wars and Rebels is the complete opposite, so I’m really curious to see how Dave Filonis involvement in The Mandalorian pans out. He is really great with stuff like Mandalorians, Clones and I even came to accept Ashoka after reading the book and seeing her all grown up as Fulcrum, but I’m very skeptical when it comes to his ‘mystical side of the force’ interpretations.

In conclusion I know that I sound like a preacher and George Lucas repeatedly stated it’s ‘just for 10 year old kids’ but tell that to all the dead Bothans.

Please just don’t ruin Star Wars.