#i brought it up in the gc because it was my impression and i wanted to check in with people who have been here longer than me + are also

[meirimerens]

(ran this reblog through a discussion with some people who have more experience in storytelling/gamedev than i do and some who are central asian indigenous [which i'm not] to get their point of view on the Kin so it's probably going to be long because I'm condensing multiple discussion pieces in one, it's gonna be one of them Long Posts)

while the Kin is obviously heavily inspired by the Buryat, including in its language which does contain a lot of Buryat words, but also a lot of not-Buryat words (Yargachin, pointedly incredibly important in the game, is Mongolian directly. as stated above, Yas & Merdrel are also Mongolian), I do not know if I agree that finding the other inspirations is "forgetting that and trying to match them to other cultures". The Kin is not "its own somewhat distinct culture", it is its own, imagined, invented, imaginary culture, which takes inspiration from (/plainly steals) from existing ones. It is an imaginary people with heavy foundational roots, in the same way the town is imaginary with heavy foundational roots, and the disease itself is imaginary with heavy foundational roots. It is obvious the game takes inspiration from the Buryats (and from others), but it also, in the name of storytelling, creates a religion which is almost an inverse of Buryat Tengrism (Tengrism, with Kyuk-Tengri, father-sky-god as head of the pantheon, being, from what i'm understanding, pantheistic [the Main God is in everything, and everything is a manifestation of him], polytheistic [while Tengri is the main one, there is a heap of other gods, goddesses and spirits under/around him, with great importance placed on those spirits [44/55 associated with different things]], and of course with a main head of a father-sky-god; whereas the Kin's religion, with Boddho, a mother-earth-goddess* [whose name seems to relate more to Mongolian], is pantheistic [mother Boddho is in everything and everything is a manifestation of her], monotheistic [she is the only one, the all-mother, all-creatoress] OR duotheistic [her + Bos Turokh are the only deities], and lacking in spirits entirely, which are so important to Tengrism), has an important spiritual caste of women (the Herb Brides) who have no resonance within Altaic/Mongolic/Turkic cultures because no culture has Naked, Dancing Young Pretty Women Whose Sole Job is Dancing For Harvest (some types of goddess-priestesses / witches / oracles have always existed, but the Herb Brides are a distinct, obvious invention, which deserves scruteny. you could argue that they correlates with shamans, but in the text it appears evident that is more the place of Burakh [father, then son], and the Herb Brides directly go against a widespread shamanic practice which is the wearing of many layers made of animal skins, bones, antlers, horns in order to disguise oneself, to wander between worlds, to trick the tricksters, etc), and also like. Worms. "crude", "unfinished". half-man half-dirt.

*the cult of an earth-mother/mother-earth exists in Buryat Tengrism with Umai, because earth-goddesses exist/have existed in most pantheons, especially before the advent of pastoralism; however, she is daughter of Tengri, whereas Boddho is all-mother. Mongolian Tengrism has her be named Etugen, and while she is said to have all control over the natural forces and all living forces be subordinate to her, Kyuk-Tengri is still "above" her, she is the "second highest" after him. the existence of a earth-goddess within two religions does not make them more similar than any others (the Greeks had an earth-goddess, Demeter, with theories that she was there before the advent of the hellenic pantheon as an all-mother... etc etc so on). there is also sources stating that at some point, Tengrist or proto-Tengrist peoples might have worshiped him/a sky-father exclusively or so majoritaly that the other deities were aside, but it could also come from biased or outside sources.

we are also unsure about your claim that the Kin represents the Buryats in "interesting and careful" ways. We do not know of your position wrt indigenity (and it's none of my business specifically, might be the business of those in the group who are indigenous but i'll let them decide if they want to contact you directly) and if you were doing research on the Buryats out of a reconnecting journey or intellectual curiosity/desire and personally feel that the Buryats are respectfully represented in P2 as one, but I have read many other Central Asian Indigenous people in this fandom write, since the release of P2 (and possibly before that about P1, as well as in the discussion we were Just Having about this ^) about how the Kin does not represent them faithfully, or even sometimes just kindly, and the treatment of it and its members being insulting in multiple ways (including the fact that their beliefs and language are a hodgepodge of languages and beliefs that feels to "steal" from multiple sources [=appropriative instead of appreciative] which itself is another discussion, do not represent any real-life religion while obviously being inspired by some, and on other levels just the fact that the Kin's clothes do not resemble the vibrant, intricate, and historically-significant clothing of the Buryats, or any of the peoples they are inspired by. That and the fact that they literally have non-human/in text sub-human members [the Worms]). Most of the discussions around the Kin that i've seen, from Central Asian Indigenous people, recognizes and celebrates the inspirations (plural) while still interrogating how callous, cruel, sexualizing and misogynistic the narrative and metanarrative treatment of the Kin is, a far cry from a "careful and interesting way" of representing the Buryats (or any of the other inspirations).

last thing: I am personally curious as to where/how you've found the "half Chinese" data piece, because I have not been able to find anything of the sort online (doesn't help that my grasp on Russian is nonexistent). I have seen it going around, without a source, and I also have seen (in the tags of this) the data of "1/16 Manchu or Han", which is a far cry from "half-" anything, and not related to Shenekhen Buryats. [deleted the rest to add:]

Dybowski, from his own mouth, is not half-chinese, and the tagger who mentioned it being 1/16 was right: on page 57 of [this interview], he mentions his grandfather's father (so great-grandfather) having married a Chinese woman (when he was 60 and her 20, but that's a whoooole other story), making him 1/16 chinese (possibly Han or Manchu as the tagger mentioned). I do not doubt this informs his view of the world and how he is treated, even if he mentions being "the only one in [his] family who really looks Russian", but it is a far-cry from "half-" anything. that does not change the general discussion i've read for years at this point around the Kin, which is that the inspirations are obvious and should be celebrated, but it is obviously imaginary/invented, and in the hazy lines of imagination lies a treatment of the Kin which is cruel, crude, sexist (more specifically misogynistic), often racist and feels more like appropriation for a morally gray ethnicity that pays lip-service to its inspiration but mistreats it nonetheless rather than full, hearty representation.

great discussion! 👍🫂 i'm genuinely glad we can exchange on this. but what is contained in your reblog is, from what i've seen and read, pretty far from the consensus on the Kin. we all can recognize (and we should appreciate and take good care in handling) the real-life inspirations while still seeing that, in the blurry lines of storytelling and "invention" for the sake of (technically) a ~fantasy~ ethnicity, lies like. a racist mistreatment with appropriative qualities. which i've seen people talk about for years at this point.

the pathologic Kin is largely fictionalized with a created language that takes from multiple sources to be its own, a cosmogony & spirituality that does not correlate to the faiths (mostly Tengrist & Buddhist) practiced by the peoples it takes inspirations from, has customs, mores and roles invented for the purposes of the game, and even just a style of dress that does not resemble any of these peoples', but it is fascinating looking into specifically to me the sigils and see where they come from... watch this:

P2 Layers glyphs take from the mongolian script:

while the in-game words for Blood, Bones and Nerves are mongolian directly, it is interesting to note that their glyphs do not have a phonetic affiliation to the words (ex. the "Yas" layer of Bones having for glyph the equivalent of the letter F, the "Medrel" layer of Nerves having a glyph the equivalent of the letter ��,...)

the leatherworks on the Kayura models', with their uses of angles and extending lines, remind me of the Phags Pa Script (used for Tibetan, Mongolian, Chineses, Uyghur language, and others)

some of the sigils also look either in part or fully inspired by Phags Pa script letters...

some look closer to the mongolian or vagindra (buryat) script

looking at the Herb Brides & their concept art, we can see bodypainting that looks like vertical buryat or mongolian script (oh hi (crossed out: Mark) Phags Pa script):

shaped and reshaped...

[riddlessecretss]

Train ride with Mattheo Riddle:

• You CANNOT tell me he would not bombard your phone with selfies.🤣

• Your passcode being his birthday>>

• Fucking him in front of his friends because you two don’t care.

Omg the way he looks in this photo is just majestic.

“Y/nn! Hurry up, I don’t know why you brought that suitcase for this year.”

“I’ve got a dorm to myself this year which means I’ve got more storage. And I’m going to use it.”

He chuckled and helped you with pulling the case up from the platform. “Thank you baby.” You thank him with a kiss on the cheek. You start looking for your assigned seats and get the window and middle seat. Opposite you is Theodore and opposite Mattheo is Tom. You guys lost Tom and Theodore a while back while you were smoking and flirting with Mattheo.

You have a seat but sit on Mattheo’s lap so you can cuddle. You are always tense about the train since your older brother left the school and doesn’t go on the tram anymore. But messing around with Mattheo makes it better.

Theo didn’t get enough sleep last night because he had girls over, of course. He fell asleep first so you decided to take a photo.💀

You and Mattheo couldn’t stop laughing at how mad he looked even when he slept. When you got to know Theo you would learn that he’s probably the sweetest Slytherin out there. But he doesn’t like to show it.

But you were too busy still laughing at him to realise Blaise and Enzo had been editing photos of Tom and Draco. You open your phone to the gc to see these.

Tom👺- That is not funny! Just you fucking wait tonight Lorenzo Berkshire.

Enzo🌺- I take it back!!

Tom👺- Too late.

You- BAHAHA🤣

Draco��- I CANTT

Blaise🏋️- Draco don’t think your safe💀

Mattheo❤️- Oh shit😭 the first one is baddd buddy.

Draco🌝- My father will hear about this!

You get tired after all the messing about with Mattheo so you decide to take a nap. Which results in another photo added in the gc.

Enzo🌺- Aww

Theo🇮🇹- And they laughed at me for sleeping!

You wake up from the smell of liquor and w33d. Mattheo passes you the joint. “Thank yo-“

“Any snacks for the remaining journey?”

For three years in a row you and Mattheo buy nearly everything and throw it around the carriage to share. You and Mattheo have taken upon yourselves to be the parents of the group whether your responsible or not is not important. You all get high as you arrive to school.

Dumbledore’s greeting speech is always a bore and you have to sit through all the new first years hat sorting ceremony. Mattheo has got his hand on your thigh the entire time.

“Can you stay quiet for me doll?” You nod as he slides his hand up and reaches under your skirt. You try and keep a straight face while Mattheo’s hand is on your pussy. He starts rubbing your clothed cunt and eventually speeds up. Before you get to cum Mattheo moves his hand away. Tease. You take a drink to help you cool down. His hand starts to creep back as the boys share a few sniggers in the new years crying over their hogwarts house.

His hand gets higher than before as he sneaks a finger in and curls up to hit your g-spot. A squeal leaves your mouth as you cover your mouth, luckily no-one heard. Mattheo adds two fingers as he adds, “You can be as loud as you want tonight.” You smirk as you remember your good luck tradition to make the room more welcoming is to fuck on the first night.

You squirm under his touch and it isn’t long until you cum in his hand. He hold eye contact as he licks his fingers.

“We have got a new student joining the 12th year!” Dumbledore announces as you all turn your head. The brunette walks up to the hat and already looks like fun, you wanna be her friend.

“SLYTHERIN!”🗣️🗣️

It’s late because I fell asleep. Enjoy and i will prolly make this a series. If I re log a post go and show them some love because these peoples works are impressive! Tyy for nearly 300 likes on a post! Navaiah💝

[assassyart]

Odd question.

Who would you say was more unfairly sidelined?

Angela Cross, Sasha Phyronix or Talwyn?

Hmm. That's an interesting one. Sure, I'll bite!

I guess this may be a bit controversial, but I don't really think Angela was "unfairly sidelined" at all. She had her place in the story in Going Commando, a prominent one at that, and despite me thinking her arc kinda sucks in GC, it doesn't erase the fact that her character was basically done after Going Commando. Her one goal was to stop Fizzwidget Qwark from releasing the crazy Protopet.

It's only now with ACiT and RA that Angela actually serves a purpose beyond Going Commando (and even saying that is a stretch, considering the purpose as of right now is just a mix between "where did she go?", "is she a lombax?", and the fact she is presumably with max apogee). She was never *intentionally* sidelined, in my opinion.

Overall, she was just a fan-favorite side character until they accidentally messed up with the whole "last Lombax" thing, and she didn't really seem all that important to the main characters beyond being a girl Ratchet thinks is pretty and wants to impress lol.

The other two, on the other hand... they both have it pretty bad.

Sasha is never brought up after Deadlocked's intro scene until the comics, post-ACiT. Even in the comics, Ratchet and Sasha's relationship is barely touched on, so we don't really have any idea of why they broke up besides that one site that claimed it was because of political differences. Sasha is treated like she wasn't important to the cast when she clearly WAS important to, at the very least, Ratchet. She isn't that important of a character to the story which is why I wouldn't be all that surprised if we don't see her again, but she was still IMPORTANT to a character and that alone means she deserved more than just an offscreen send-off in the comics.

It's like they specifically took Ratchet to a completely different galaxy so they could avoid past characters and introduce new ones, and OH HEEY WAIT A MINUTE, does this kinda sound familiar...?

Because it happened again. That's essentially the same thing that Rift Apart does. To avoid the elephant in the room (Ratchet's important relationships with other characters that would add to his hesitation with risking it all to go find the Lombaxes, i.e. Azimuth, Vendra, Talwyn, Cronk, Zephyr, Tachyon, etc.) they straight up just ignore having to talk about those characters by putting him in a position where they will never realistically be brought up— a different dimension, with new characters.

Despite Into the Nexus cementing Talwyn as an important character and RA being the sequel to Nexus, Rift Apart chooses to play it as safely as possible by vaguely mentioning her in one very easily missable dialogue that is, while cute, not important whatsoever towards Ratchet's inner conflict.

If this was the first time her character was treated like this, it wouldn't be a big deal... but this isn't the first time. She was (allegedly) axed from A Crack in Time, axed from Full Frontal Assault, had her role minimized in Into the Nexus, and was reduced to a credits cameo in Rift Apart. Anytime she DID have screentime, it was rarely spent developing her or her goals, and instead developing Ratchet's character and motivations.

Things do HAPPEN to Talwyn, but they happen so that she can be more relatable to Ratchet, not because it'll benefit her character.

In conclusion: sasha got the worst of it by being completely ignored until the comics because she was too cool and capable and will probably never show up again. angela isn't that bad because she still gets referenced and the door is still wide open for her to be included in a future game whenever IG decides they've had enough fun messing with going commando fans, but i do understand and sympathize with the pain of waiting over twenty years to see her again. aaaaand talwyn is a big ole mess but she's my mess so i love her no matter how many times they cut her from the games :D

[cdroloisms]

so... the red banquet, huh?

im not going to lie, i was cheering on the eggpire the entire time (/lh) - what can i say, something abt the demon possessed resident evil crew just speaks to my heart. theyre FUN, ok? 

anyway, a lot of people were theorizing abt what c!dream showing up at the banquet could look like - and, well, i thought i’d write my version of it. this takes place in the “guard dog au” developed primarily by a gc im in on twitter (@stabbysideblog being the main originator of it, do check sunny out !!) - the basic premise is post-getting the revive book from c!dream, c!quackity continues to get his, uh, “use” out of him by basically treating him as a bodyguard/guard dog as he goes around the server - which should probably give you a pretty good idea of how this is going to go :] 

tws: death, grief, implied torture, starvation, abuse, blood, murder, unhealthy relationship, dehumanization, possession, trauma, mental illness, violence, dark content, dark imagery, emotional distress, mental instability, pandora’s vault/prison arc, c!quackity critical (not really, but a very dark portrayal of him) 

A strangled sob claws its way up Puffy’s throat as she watches Foolish fall.

He drops in a spray of golden ichor in the crimson, brilliant green eyes trained on hers, jaw slack in horror, pain, dipping to the ground and whiting out before he’s even fully collapsed. The others’ screams hardly even meet her ears; all she can see is her son, falling, her son, dying, her son, that same sunlit kindness still held in the curve of his lips in this room that knows nothing but pain and betrayal, gone gone gone gone-

Because of her.

Ant’s still staring at her, pupils thinned to needles from the brightness of the lava at their backs, ears alert but stance entirely calm as he twirls his sword, still dripping gold. His mouth is moving but she cannot hear anything above the ring ring ringing in her ears, the world swirling and blurring dangerously from the tears gathering in her eyes and spilling over her cheeks, Ant’s eyes polished rubies where there had once been a cloudless sky. Bad gestures at the crowd, pushed back towards the lava’s fire in their fear, leaving her to stand in the middle of the room as one desperate dying scream, the egg, standing as a silent witness to it all-

“Bad-” a flash of blue, and there’s someone standing in front of her, shoulders pulled back, a diamond sword glittering their right hand, “Stop it.”

“Quackity.”’

Bad snarls, tail whipping back and forth; Puffy takes a step back, then another, shoulders still shaking in grief for her son, for her friends, for everyone who’s about to lose their lives in this twisted realm of crimson and hellfire. There is no fear on Quackity’s face though he stands unarmored, and for the first time in this awful day something like worry flashes over Bad’s face. There’s history here, she realizes - what did Bad say about Quackity attacking? - but none of this is making sense, not the self-assured way Quackity is carrying himself, wings relaxed and folded at his back, not the simmering unease making itself known in the foreign cadence of Bad’s voice.

“Oh my gosh, look at what you’ve done,” Quackity says, voice almost patronizing, like a parent stumbling in on the mess their child has made out of their bedroom, “this is impressive, I’m not going to lie, this is quite impressive.” Puffy swallows thickly, hears the shuddering gasp of someone behind her - Fundy, probably, or Sam - as Quackity’s voice drops. “You have to stop right now.”

“Stop?”

“This whole Egg thing is just getting out of control - you just killed a man,” Quackity stalks across the netherbrick floor like he has all the time in the world, ignoring the crossbows that the Eggpire has trained on his back, guarded only by the off-white shirt he’s wearing, an untied tie hanging limply around his neck. She sucks in a sharp breath through her teeth - my son, they killed my son, she means to say, but the words stick to the walls of her throat and only escape her lungs in another series of wracking sobs. “Is that what you wanted to do, Bad?”

He laughs - laughs, of all things, and there is something here that Puffy is missing, that isn’t clicking through the muddied fog of grief hanging grey and suffocating around her head, but Quackity is speaking again and she can’t think about it all, not now, “-and I’m not gonna have it anymore, Bad.”

He slips over by the crowd, eyes glancing all of them huddled in one fearful mob over the tables, eyes dark and daring and cold; the Eggpire keeps their eyes trained on him, Bad’s eyebrows furrowed, Ant’s muzzle twisted in a snarl. Puffy watches, their words passing over her like water skidding against the surface of a rock splitting a stream in two, heart thudding in her ears, marking out the heartsick beats in this poisoned melody - one-two, her-son, her-son, her-son-

He stops in front of her in the middle of monologuing, eyes trained on her own like he’s trying to tell her something. His eyes flick down and she follows their gaze to his other hand, the one not clasped around a sword handle, watches as he gestures vaguely in the direction of the Eggpire. She frowns, confusion cutting through the grief - what is he trying to say? - and Quackity sighs, index finger slashing in the air in the shape of what might be an A as he spins on his heel to walk back towards Bad and the others.

“So how about we just stop playing?”

Quackity smiles, teeth white and glittering from the lava’s glow even as the Eggpire surrounds him, pushes him back against the wall. Bad seems to hesitate, hand clasped around the trigger of a crossbow he keeps pointed at the other’s head; when he speaks, he almost sounds mournful.

“I can’t,” he mutters, quiet, stepping forwards as his shoulders straighten, pushing Quackity back in a motion that the others are quick to follow. Puffy watches, an awful sinking feeling falling through the hole left in her chest by the sight of her son, falling, her son, dead - watches as Quackity’s wings open, shine golden in the lava’s light - what is he planning?

“You know why I can’t stop.”

Quackity heaves a heavy sigh through his lungs, “Bad- you and all your buddies here, drop your weapons, and leave. Let all of these people go.”

“Or what?” Ant’s voice is sharp, but Quackity barely pays him a second thought, swinging a glare at his head and cutting him off.

“I’m not talking to you,” he laughs, dismissive, “I’m talking to Bad.”

“No-” Puffy watches as Bad’s hand tightens on his crossbow, punctuating the word with a step forward. “You put your weapon down. If you wanted to stop us?” He’s too close to Quackity for Puffy to make out either of their faces, crossbow bolt aimed and ready to send straight through his skull. She stiffens, sees from the corner of her eye as the ones beside her look away, and resigns herself to the inevitable spray of blood on brick - not again not again don’t make me watch again - “You should’ve brought more than just yourself.”

Quackity laughs.

“I did,” his voice is dangerous in its levity, making Bad, then the rest of the Eggpire step back as his wings spread open further, watching with bated breath and wide eyes as a swarm of white descends from a hidden hole in the wall, “Or, well, I did the next best thing. I brought my worst enemy.”

“What?”

“Alright Quackity, where’s this Egg thing?”

Technoblade jumps down into the room in a familiar purple-black blur of expertly enchanted netherite armor, form impeccable despite the seeming exhaustion in his voice. At his feet, a pack of wolves gather, pace, muscles coiled and clearly ready to strike; he rolls his shoulders back, signature fireworks loaded into his crossbow, and the crowd behind Puffy immediately breaks into shocked murmuring and soft cheers.

On Quackity’s other side, someone else flips into the room, wearing a suit of all things, crisp and well-pressed; Purpled grins, entirely too gleeful as the Eggpire presses back further, held off by the dogs swarming and growling at their feet.

“Purpled- we hired you!”

“To be frank with you, Bad, a sword appears in Purpled’s hand and he flips it casually, blade thin and gleaming, “Quackity just had the better price.”

“We- we still outnumber you!” Bad’s voice is a near-scream in its desperation, his tail lashing back and forth as he shifts his weight forward, “It’s four against three- we’ll still win-” Despite herself, Puffy’s mind spins; either way, they’re still at a disadvantage from sheer numbers alone, never mind Quackity’s lack of armor. Maybe if they all work together, they’ll be able to sufficiently stop them, but there’s no way she can see this ending in anything less than a bloodbath-

“I didn’t want for it to come to this, Bad,” Quackity’s voice drops low and sweet, the sincerity in his tone belied by his glittering eyes and jagged grin. The shift in tone sends a shiver down her back, has even his allies shifting uncomfortably in what seems to be confusion - Puffy catches something like a murmured no from Sam, behind her, before Quackity whistles, loud.

It all happens too fast for her to follow; one moment, the Eggpire is standing, weapons raised and ready to fight; the next, and there is a new netherite-clad figure in the middle of the room, signature sparks of purple from a pearl still glittering around them, axe buried into Antfrost’s chest. The room devolves into shrieks as his body dissolves, Bad gasping sharply and something dark bubbling in Puffy’s chest - good - as the newcomer in the room moves over to Ponk, bloodstained axe swinging in a downward arc, only barely stopped in time by a diamond sword catching on the crook of the blade.

“Go!” Quackity’s voice rings out above the chaos, and Techno and Purpled - seemingly shaken from their shock - fly into motion, fireworks bursting in flashes of red and black that send Puffy blinking out stars from her eyes, Purpled moving to match blows against Hannah and Techno’s army biting at the ankles of the Eggpire leader. Around her, people scream in relief, cheering as the Eggpire, clad in eggshell-blue, are pushed back one by one, hindered by a shifting wave of teeth and claws and clashing blades and netherite moving smoothly over the uneven floor - Bad screams, “RETREAT!”, and they disappear into the wall.

Purpled curses; “I’m going after them.” Puffy watches, still reeling, as he dives into the corridor that Bad had revealed, a flash of purple and blue melting into the shadows; the mystery figure - still hauling a heavy, bloodstained axe, nearly dragging against the floor - moves forward as to follow.

Quackity snaps his fingers, and the figure stops, turns, immediately moving to the winged man’s side. Behind her, Puffy can make out cheers, gasping, hysterical sounds of relief; she can’t join them, feels nothing but the shuddering weight of her grief pressing further on her lungs as the adrenaline fades, head dizzy with Foolish’ sharp gasp in pain, Ant’s yowl of agony. Her eyes flick to the side, catch on Sam pacing, muttering under his breath; when his eyes meet hers, they widen in something like - alarm?

She shakes her head; she can’t think about all of that, right now. Her hooves stumble over the vines and rot strewn over the floor, carrying her forward to the glitter of gold on red, to where her son had fallen and she could do no more but watch with a scream caught between her teeth.

A hand lands on her shoulder- “I’m sorry we couldn’t make it in time.”

She whirls around; Quackity’s looking down at her, face twisted in sympathy. Behind him, the armored stranger looms, hair long and tangled, helmet keeping their face in shadow and hiding their features from view. There’s something distantly familiar to them, in the way they shift from one foot to the other, something that makes her eyes narrow and throat tighten-

“Who are you?” The words tumble from her mouth, making Quackity freeze, jaw snapping shut, the figure behind him tensing almost imperceptibly under their armor. “Who-”

Quackity’s eyes are dark, piercing; she can’t read them, the flat line of his mouth as confusing as it is frustrating. His eyes flick up to somewhere over her shoulder before moving back to her own

“How rude of me,” He smiles, gold tooth glinting, “I didn’t even introduce our special guest.”

His right wing presses against their back, and they drop, immediately, to their knees, making her step back in shock. Quackity’s hand slips easily under the edge of their helmet, ripping it off with little care and letting their hair fall in a wave of dusty browns over their face; he pulls the strands back roughly, revealing the paleness to their skin, the hollows in their cheeks-

“Dream?”

Her breath shudders in her chest, eyes snapping up to Quackity, still smiling, hand still pressed against the back of his skull. Dream’s face is pale, thin, clawed with new scars that highlight the jut of his cheekbones and the dullness of his eyes. He looks up at her, eyes glassy, skin almost grey, and for a moment she’s looking at Foolish, eyes unseeing in death, the luster of his skin stolen like the air from his lungs, and she nearly screams.

“Puffy, Puffy,” Quackity murmurs, almost kind, “It’s alright, see? Everything’s fine now.”

“He- he’s supposed to be in prison,” she hisses, not missing how he flinches, not missing how even that is hindered by the hand braced against his head. He looks strangely small kneeling at Quackity’s side, dwarfed by the netherite he’s wearing; even with an axe strapped to his back, the blade still wet with crimson and reeking of iron and decay, he hardly looks like the villain that had terrorized the server, the son she could no longer recognize in the midst of the bridges he burned.

“Oh- don’t worry about him,” Quackity shrugs, wings fluttering, “It’s all being done with the Warden’s permission, Puffy, I know what I’m doing.” As if to prove his point, his hand tightens on the other’s hair, tugging his head back by the roots; Dream hardly even reacts, simply letting himself be manhandled, throat bare and exposed to the air, similarly criss-crossed by scars. “He’s perfectly well-behaved now, you see?”

Her throat closes, the pit in her gut torn open by the sight of her son with a blade skewered through his heart only growing wider, hungrier, by the dullness in the eyes of the other. Foolish’ death had happened too fast for her to react: one moment, he was staring at her, eyes mournful in goodbye; the next, he was a tumble of gold and green and blue against the floor, half of his name still not having left her lips. Dream’s head swivels to hers, face entirely blank; there is nothing quick written in the gauntness of his face, more scar tissue than skin, in the shadows under his eyes or how they seem to stare, unseeing, in the long, knotted strands of hair twisted over Quackity’s knuckles. He looks like he’s been dying, slowly, for months, and the screaming cry of YOU FAILED ringing in her head in Ant’s voice only grows louder.

“What did you-” the words scrape roughly against the inside of her mouth, “What did you do?”

Quackity shrugs, letting go, and Dream’s head tips forward to stare at the floor. “What had to be done.”

He clicks his fingers again, and Dream stands, falling behind Quackity with his shoulders pulled up to his ears. Quackity hands him back his helmet, keeping his hand stretched out, palm up, even after Dream takes the netherite and fastens it back over his head. Puffy watches, heart stuck in her throat, as Dream fiddles with something by his throat, pulls out a thick coil of iron chains, pressing the end to Quackity’s outstretched hand - the other side, she realizes, fastened around his neck.

Her breath stutters when he looks back at Quackity, gut roiling at the familiarity - it’s an imperfect copy of the way he used to look at her, a skittish shadow at her tail, all awkward smiles and fidgeting hands. Only now, his eyes don’t dance with the same light, his lungs shivering in fear instead of wheezing laughter; she watches as his head follows Quackity like he’s the only person in the room, a duckling imprinted on the nearest person and ready to follow to the ends of the world and further, and her heart shatters all over again.

“Anyway,” Quackity’s eyes soften, lips curled in sympathy, “My condolences, Puffy, for your son. It really is a tragedy.”

She watches him leave with tears in her eyes, a sob once again caught in her throat. The images overlap - Foolish, smiling under the sun’s glow, sitting on the roof of his summer home - Dream, grinning in the treetops, eyes as green as the leaves surrounding him - Foolish, falling in a spray of ichor and a gasp of pain, Dream, grey-eyed and silent, dead as the crimson rot surrounding his beaten body-

My condolences for your son, Quackity’s words echo in her skull, and not for the first time, she laughs miserably, tears falling from her eyes.

Which one?

[jayjaysocks]

Listing my favorite animes (because I’m jumping on the bandwagon)

❗️⚠️ *spoilers!! (Duh)* ❗️⚠️

5. Deadman Wonderland

I was really really sad when I found out this anime got cancelled. The music was fantastic, the animation was really good, and the voice acting was incredible. Even the fucking dubbed version (I loved the voice they chose for Senji. God he was hilarious). I binged this show so fucking fast it wasn’t even funny. I loved watching the characters go through their own struggles and grow as people in the very small amount of episodes provided. There was a lot of development within the snippet that we actually saw, and I was thoroughly impressed with how well it was done. I wanted to scream or something when I found out there wouldn’t be a second season.

Sigh. Oh well. At least we got some of the manga’s masterpiece translated into a show, even if we were missing some fucking awesome characters.

4. Guilty Crown

Ugh, don’t even get me started. This anime was beautiful and I got so invested so freaking quickly. I literally go back every few years to rewatch it because I get ship starved.

Shu and Inori’s story was so beautifully done; between Shu uncovering his courage and Inori’s journey of self-discovery, I was continuously awe-struck and filled with feelings—I mean, I had never felt such raw emotion while watching something and I was completely blown away by the affect it had on me. Anger, hatred, sadness, it was all there (even for the main character lmao) and it was one of the first times I had ever felt a ship so heavily that I literally cried at the end. It was one of the very first Animes I’d ever seen and was one of the reasons I got such a taste for them. Thanks for throwing me down that rabbit hole, GC.

3. Soul Eater

This was literally the first Anime I’d ever seen, and my god I couldn’t have asked for a better starter. What I like about this one is that it’s style is so unique and different. It’s very punk and grunge, something I admired and appreciated in a genre that is normally the opposite (like Guilty Crown, for example). Also the fight scenes were badass, like holy shit just look at that gif ??? Freaking amazing.

I loved the way the show transitioned from light hearted to intense and adrenaline pumping so effortlessly. That can be said about a lot of shows, but this one went from *haha cute show* to *holy shit, like they’re actually gonna die ohmygod howaretheygoingtosurvivethis* so smoothly I was genuinely surprised. They made one of the main villains actually cool and each character had their own beautifully done arc. I loved and adored how the show solidified and expanded on the different friendships/relationships that were involved—specifically Soul and Maka’s (also, holy shit, Stein’s arc? Fucking prime, dude). There was a lot of growth in each and every friendship (CRONA!!!), and that really pushed the viewer to invest in the individual characters.

I am fucking delighted that this was my first anime, and (though the ending was a little anticlimactic) it remains one of my top favorites to this day. It set the bar pretty fucking high, and for that I am extremely greatful.

No one asked for Soul Eater: Not! It is the unspoken sin of the Soul Eater world (then again, it is called Soul Eater: Not!)

2. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

If you have been following me for a while, then you are no stranger to my love of FMAB. Some of my most popular posts are about this anime, and for good reason.

Unfortunately, I was late to the party. I actually didn’t watch this until last year, but got invested really damn quick. I have a tendency to be extremely picky about the animes that I watch/like (which is why NONE of these shows are that recent), to the point that I will literally research them before I start watching (a bad habit, do not copy me). I have an incomparably hard time finishing a show when I start, because I get bored really quickly, but this was an exception. I started watching and I just... didn’t stop. I spent a straight week watching FMAB, gobbling it up during any small amount free time I could manage, and finished it before I even knew what happened. I wasn’t picky about it, I didn’t research it, I just dove right in and gosh, I was not disappointed.

The subtle romance that was alluded throughout the entire show was super cute, the devotion the brothers had for each other was to die for, and the struggles that each person went through was more than moving. I never once found myself bored while watching, and that’s saying a lot for my adhd ass. I was invested in each and every second of that damn anime and I was never, ever left underwhelmed. That probably had to do with the fact that every. Single. Character. Had a purpose. I’m not even kidding. Every single person contributed to the big fight at the end and that alone is fucking fantastic.

Not to mention ALL the women, every female character, was a badass bitch. None of them were reduced to sex appeal or romantic subplot, they all had real feelings, real arcs and real, unadulterated badassery that I thoroughly admired and appreciated. I could watch this anime over and over again every single month and I wouldn’t get bored. Between the emotional struggle, self discovery, and personal development of each character, I promise you will not see a lack of plot or meaning here. The more you watch, the more you discover and that is not a lie. There are so many layers to its story, which only makes me wish I had watched this sooner.

There is nothing I have to offer in the ways of criticism, and for that I couldn’t be happier. Thank you, Hiromu Arakawa, for such an incredible piece of art. You deserve every bit of love that this manga/anime gets. You go girl.

1. Cowboy Bepop

Holy shit holy shit holy shit this anime is so fucking good and it has been my favorite for so damn long. I have been watching anime for years, and while some of the shows in my list have moved around, this one has yet to be bumped down from the top (and I doubt it ever will). There’s a reason it became such a cult classic.

For starters, the animation. I mean, just look at Spike and the way they animate his fighting (yes I am aware that this gif is from the movie, but that still doesn’t change my point). The sequences in the show/film have been reused in many other shows and for good reason. It’s good, incredible, actually and they make him look so badass with just a few hand movements. I was consistently impressed with the way the fight scenes were portrayed and wasn’t ever left underwhelmed or disappointed (or, for that matter, feeling like they completely over exaggerated/overcompensated the scene with huge close-ups and tons of debris and lights). I loved watching this and my heart was always pounding with every intense interaction. I didn’t feel bored during any of the episodes and always found myself laughing when they cracked a joke—pretty much all of their funny lines hit and that’s saying something, dude.

The show, while having a lighthearted surface, has a heavy meaning that you don’t see at first glance. It’s about dealing with grief and loss, and how the characters themselves accomplished that in different ways. The most prominent quote is the biggest indication of its moral “you’re gonna carry that weight”. Basically: ‘You’ve gotta pick up your baggage, because the world moves on, with or without you’. Or ‘You’re going to carry that weight whether you like it or not, because life keeps going’. When I figured out the show’s actual message, while staring at my ceiling in the long hours of the night, I almost cried. This realization brought something entirely different to the table, a new understanding of the show’s characters and overall essence.

The main characters, all of them, had depth. They had real, palpable depth, and even if you didn’t want to care you found yourself seriously interested in their lives. Each of them had relatively shitty pasts. Faye with her lost memories, Spike with Julia and the people who fucked him over, Jet with his old flame and the ISSP, Ed and her/his father... throughout the entire show we got to see how all of them dealt with these things, whether they wanted to continue on with life or not. The way they portrayed it was engaging, because the characters individual, contrasting journeys weren’t repetitive or one note. The beauty that the show holds so achinging close to its core, the layers of grief that the characters are wrapped in so delicately is almost suffocatingly real—because they’re all different. It’s something you discover when you think on the subject in a deeper light, which is another reason why I enjoy it so much. It has both a surface story and a deeper one. You can either take the show at face value or choose to understand the underlying moral.

This show inspired my very first, thoroughly fleshed out OC, and continues to inspire me to this day. It has contributed to my own personal growth, and has helped push me to continue my art and writing. It is beautifully written, beautifully executed and even though some of the episodes seem like filler, it has never disappointed me. I rewatch it all the time because there’s something so infinitely refreshing about the beauty of this anime, whether it be the way we watch the characters develop or the overall moral it portrays. This show has given us a message that is essentially timeless, it can be ‘carried’ through generation after generation, and still have the same impact—something I absolutely fucking adore.

I owe so much to this anime, including my very own artistic development. I discovered it during a really shitty time in my life and I couldn’t have asked for better timing. I will never tire of the bittersweet message or the thoroughly fucking fantastic animation. Everyone who contributed to this masterpiece deserves love, because it’s seriously fucking gold.

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

BFCD Reviews by Nesha: We Are Who We Are

There's too much kissing in this show. I have to begin with that, because it's like a lot of kissing and I hate that about it, very much. It definitely has redeeming qualities, but I'm very upset by the amount of kissing I had to endure/try to avoid.

I didn’t liveblog or make notes for the first few episodes, but maybe started around 4/5. I took up interest in this one from @saturnineaqua and was NOT disappointed to see this story unfold. Really, I absolutely would love this show if it weren’t for all the kissing. What is with the production/directing that was like, “Yes, this kiss definitely needs to be long and have audio”? Gross. Lol.

This show... It's... Realistic without the blatant stuff that a lot of the shows that show teens are. They're on a military base in Italy and he's this jerk sergeant. He loves his "daughter," but the new Colonel, this lesbian with a very eccentric neurodivergent and queer coded son becomes best friend with them and so their dad is fucking TRIPPING.

This is actually a great cast. The boy who's Eddie from It, Chloe Sevigny is his mom, and these other kids Idek, but nobody is like, 'This person can't act." They're all compelling, even the unlikable characters. The character that this blog cares about highlighting - Caitlin Poythress is played by Jordan Kristine Seamón, who I’ve never seen before now but was DEFINITELY impressed with/proud of. I’ve seen it said that they are nonbinary, and the character is exploring trans identity, so I’m not positive their exact labels, though I’ve heard Jordan refer to Cait as she, so Idk if they’re she when they’re Cait and he when they’re Harper, but for that reason, I’m trying to merely use they/them/their pronouns for Caitlin/Harper.

Anyways, the first episode is a little hard because there's dick for no good reason, other than I guess for you to know that Fraser might be interested in dick? But, for the most part, the hard stuff isn't so punch to the gut. (At least for me). I was expecting to have to run into the almost inescapable unecessary hurting of Black female characters and that never came, so that was a HUGE relief, even though I spent every episode preparing myself for it, so I was tense about that. If that’s a thing that makes you tense, then I can tell you that it doesn’t happen, so you can watch this without that fear.

Baby... These outfits that Fraser leaves the house in... 😂😂😂

Kid Cudi standing out here looking like Michael Myers. He's doing some pretty good acting, because this dude is aggravating, but I love me some Cudi. Kid Cudi's character on this show makes me so irritated. He's a bad stepfather. An asshole soldier. He has a problem with a woman in charge, homophobic, wears a goddamn MAGA hat with his Black ass. 🙄 He ain't shit.

**********

I'm real sick and tired of everybody acting like Maggie doesn't have a fucking child! She's raised Fraser and is there for him. He reaches out to her. I hate this. 

So, okay... This episode where their friend dies was the hardest watch for me. It was really real in terms of everyone having varying degrees of how they deal. Having known a lot of Black people whose *best* option was to join the military, I have a lot of emotions about young soldiers, despite fucking HATING the military as a whole.

Jenny made me REALLY sad. The way that women will give up their entire lives and identities, then when something happens she can't possibly have controlled, she blames herself for taking just a moment to do something for herself. 😭 But when she said, "If you had children, you would understand..." Damn. That's fucked up. That cut.

It honestly don't matter how much of yourself you put into a child, if you didn't birth them, people will always undermine those contributions in the long run.

Idk why I'm watching this show at a military base and didn't expect to have to have a death storyline. 🥴

I think this woman know that lady fucking her wife tho...

OOP SHE DO

Imagine walking in the house like, "I want it over between the two of you." 😂😂😂 Chile...

Hold up, Jenny... Wait.... I need to be in my notes. Not in the GC. And I meant Maggie. Dammit. I'm drunk.

SO... This heffa really said that "his daughter's not good for Fraser?" Ummm.. You've seen NOTHING to indicate that. Nothing at all. We need to discuss how Fraser's mom set him up on a date with a grown man as a "male figure" and that grown man damn near molested him whenever he stopped by unannounced.

This prayer in the rain 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

This is literally the only scene that Danny has been bearable in for me, and they gave him a great scene because I was very distressed, thinking something was going to go wrong, but no. It was just a Black Muslim man praying! 😭😭😭

MY GOD PLEASE STOP WITH THE FUCKING KISSING. THEY'VE BEEN KISSING FOR LIKE A FULL MINUTE. I'M GONNA VOMIT.

You can only cover your ears and shit your eyes AFTER it's begun. You've already been exposed to the mouth sounds and tongue touches and further exposure when you check to see if it's over. 😤😤😤

If you're a kissing repulsed person... I'm not giving markers, because I avoid kissing vehemently. But like.. be warned that there's a lot of kissing. There's kissing every episode. Mouth sounds and all.

Overall, very good show.

I love the way that Fraser always asks Cait/Harper, "What does this have to do with us?" I love how, even though we don't realize it until their friendship forms, but they've been an "us" since almost the beginning.

The way that Caitlin responds to Fraser telling them about Mark is one the most touching things in the world, and it's very important that he admitted those things, because those of us who watched him from the beginning saw him do that with Caitlin... only, she didn't shun him that way. She befriended him and began exploring her own identity.

Yoooo... This last episode. 🥺🥺🥺

Whenever Harper has this Cait meltdown or whatever and Fraser is texting ☹️ Then he leaves the possibility of "seeing the most beautiful place in the world" to go after them 🥺 AND THEN HE BROUGHT THEM BACK TO IT 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 For the love of... WHY? IS? THERE? SO? MUCH? KISSING??

Do people who kiss people kiss this much in real life? Do y'all be touching tongues this regularly??? 🤢

I mean... It just felt like excessive kissing. If they had cut down the kissing even to just us seeing the kisses that these two characters had, and us getting to this final kiss and it being like, “Awww, they said they weren’t gonna kiss, and they ARE AKJWNWSKLNKJLQDWNMKLWEMEWKL” But like... Several characters all over this piece was kissing, and I know... it feels like I’m placing a lot of emphasis on how much kissing there was, that’s because it felt like that’s how much it was to me, who does not enjoy kissing or watching others kiss and definitely not hearing kissing or mouth sounds of any sort. So, its important to me.

But. like, yes. I will definitely stick with this show if it returns and I love the main characters very much.

[the-gc-record-club-blog]

TRADITION (MONSUNE)

Selected by Chavo

OCHIENG’S TAKE

Favorite Song: Cloud

Spit Yo' Game/ Talk Yo' Shit: “Choose Your Weapon” by Hiatus Kaiyote is probably my favorite album of all time, so around mid last year I decided that I needed more music like that in my inventory. Through some Spotify deep dives I came across a plethora of new and old age RnB and Neo-Soul artists and of that bunch was Monsune. “Cloud” had been a sleeper hit in my playlist, I only recently rediscovered it this year and it’s been on repeat ever since. “Tradition” is a excellent EP and I’m extremely impressed with Monsune’s talent. He seems to be very confident in his sound and he has some absolutely insane vocal runs that give me full body chills (the end of “Jade” is just *chefs kiss*). The fact I was able to find such a consistent and enjoyable project just fucking around on Spotify confirms my hypothesis that the talent pool in music is larger than ever.

Lit-mus Test: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 

VANESSA’S TAKE

Favorite Song: CLOUD

Spit Yo’ Game/Talk Yo’ Shit: One of the main reasons this record club started was to help us break past what was familiar to us individually and seek out new sounds, artists, genres, whatever — I'm so glad it exists because Monsune is now on my radar. This EP is such a treat; barely 20 minutes of back to back gems. I listened to it on repeat during an especially long and winding drive recently and it got better each time. It was hard to pick one favourite but the chorus on "CLOUD" steals the show. Honourable mention for "MOUNTAIN" though because it's just so pretty. I'm quite sure this short and sweet EP will still in rotation for me this year and I'm already very happy about that.

Lit-mus Test: 🔥🔥🔥🔥

OBELLA’S TAKE

Favorite Song: 1998 (honorable mentions to Cloud & Outta My Mind)

Spit Yo’ Game/Talk Yo’ Shit: Monsune does the thing I love most about an album is just when it starts off and completely grabs you. For me most albums and whether I enjoy them can be boiled down to the first three songs and Monsune brought the vibe front to byke so there was no option but for this to work. It also matches nearly any condition. A drive. A walk. A run. A kickback. A sunday cleaning. The versatility of the vibe is a reflection of the power Monsune is wielding!

Lit-mus Test: 🔥🔥🔥🔥

CALVIN’S TAKE

Favorite Song: Outta My Mind

Spit Yo’ Game/Talk Yo’ Shit: True to his name and a man of his word, Monsune came through and truly rained torrentially on the shores of the GC Record Club — thanks to the storm warning of part-time meteorologist and full-time Club member Ochavious Bombastus Theophrastus. This record really washed over me, and your boy was singing in the rain. Especially nowadays, I praise things for being short but now realize that what I really mean and want is concise. Tradition has a clear concept, mood, style, and - I felt - recognizable influences. There’s still tons of personality on the record though: a little razzle here and dazzle there that make it so that not every song songs in the same way. My favorite of these was all the “ooh’s” in the “Outta My Mind” hook, I mean are you KIDDING me! He knew he had one. Little moments like that really push this project up to the mountain top for me. They’re short and savoured.  Just like this EP.

Lit-mus Test: 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[halcyonmusings]

1, 4, 12, 19, 21 for two ships of your choice!

i’ll go with eris & teague and minako & kiryu since they’re living in my head rent free >:( 

1. What was their first impression of each other?

eris/teague: eris noticed his ears... thought he looked a little funny, but was also interested in the fact that there were overseers in the gc since one of the strictures forbids that type of behavior. she thought teague looked out of place, and didn’t expect to be chosen by him, he was more like a passing thought to her. 

with teague, he found eris to be very beautiful, he was immediately drawn in to how icy blue her eyes were, but he wasn’t interested in sleeping with her. he just needed someone to take with him so he can blend in with the overseers and not arouse suspicions. 

minako/kiryu: minako thought he was another thug out to try and kill her, so she was ready to charge at him until he was like “i’m trying to help you”, so then after that, she thought he was either dumb or very brave to have come all the way to save someone he didn’t even know for reasons unknown to her (at the time).

for kiryu, he was i guess, impressed by her for immediately wanting to attack him? because all the info he was given about her was that she was just a general practitioner and he’s never known any doctors who are ready to fight lmao he hadn’t met her in person, he’d only been given a photo of how she looked like and he felt sadness for her because he knew if he found her, she’d be brought into a lifestyle that was dangerous and didn’t want that for her. 

4. What was their relationship like before they got together?

eris/teague: he was just another client to her, she knew not to develop any type of feelings for him, but like the clown she is... she did. it didn’t help that teague would stop by frequently to see her and she didn’t do anything to stop that or discourage him because she did enjoy the time they spent together. some times they wouldn’t even have sex, they’d just talk. 

minako/kiryu: it was more like he was her bodyguard? he felt like he couldn’t abandon her and leave her to fend for herself when she had no idea of how the yakuza even works, especially with her being considered kashiwagi’s daughter, he knew people would try and manipulate her or try and have her killed to get her out of the way. in a way, he felt like watching out of her was his way of atoning for nishiki killing dojima. of course it slowly developed into something more the more they found themselves alone together, but they both pushed it out of their minds until they couldn’t :/

12. What would happen if they never met?

eris/teague: eris would’ve gone on to try and keep making ends meet, finding ways however she could and get elixirs to stave off the plague from killing clara. she might’ve ended up leaving at some point with mateo when things got worse because she knew she couldn’t live at the gc forever and she figured getting out of dunwall before the rat plague got too out of control was the best course of action. teague would be dead either way, so... yeah. 

minako/kiryu: if kiryu didn’t get involved in anything the tojo did, minako probably would’ve been killed or saved successfully by other means, she would outright refuse to help the tojo and would’ve had to disappear because she knew they’d still look for and attempt to kill her. 

19. Talk about a headcanon you’ve never talked about before.

eris/teague: i feel like i’ve talked about them so much i don’t think there’s anything i haven’t talked about with them.... i mean, there’s one thing i like to think about and it’s eris going to kingsparrow island to confront teague and she unintentionally saves teague from drinking the poisoned wine. she slaps the drink from his hand and tells him off for abandoning her lmao 

minako/kiryu: after everything in 6, kiryu and minako went into hiding under different aliases. kiryu runs a ramen shop while minako is a ballet teacher and teaches little kids how to ballet. they secretly send money to haruka and haruto and the kids from the orphanage (haruka knows it’s them but keeps it to herself). 

21. What’s a really significant moment in their relationship?

eris/teague: when teague left her the first time (which led to him getting captured). after he hadn’t come back, she knew she had developed feelings for him and him not returning it confirmed it. usually she wouldn’t care if her clients didn’t come back or asked for another girl, but the fact that teague didn’t return at all, terrified her and it left her feeling depressed. it reopened old wounds of having been abandoned by her brother, something she didn’t want to relive, so she knew right then and there that she’d fallen for him >:(

minako/kiryu: when kiryu confessed his feelings to minako. kiryu is usually stoic, when he reacts to things it’s got to be heart-shattering, like even when kazama died, he cried sure, but he still internalized it. the only times he’s ever reacted to anything was when tachibana and rikiya died. once kiryu and minako start seeing each other in secret, he still kept up a wall that minako tried so hard to break through but felt like she couldn’t because kiryu couldn’t bring himself to since he was afraid that he’d lose her somehow, that he wasn’t deserving of any type of normalcy. so of course, like the drama that is the yakuza franchise, he ran to save her from herself when she was on the brink of no return, he finally told minako that he’s loved her since the beginning and laid it all the table for her. which of course makes minako cry and it’s very sweet :’)

[rorvk]

Snow is the Ideal Lightning: an FFXIII Analysis

I don’t really see this brought up a lot, and I would like to talk about it. FFXIII spoilers.

Snow and Lightning’s relationship is one of the most complex friendships in the FF franchise. The combination of insecurity, jealousy, humor, tension, reconciliation, and eventual familial love is what solidifies itself as intricate and impressionable. In this thoughtpiece I would like to explore a less discussed aspect in Snow and Lightning’s dynamic.

Lightning and Snow, despite surface impressions, aren’t that fundamentally different as people.

To start, they share similar backstories and attributions derived from said backstories. Snow and Lightning are both orphans who suffered from lack of parental guidance, and in turn, they became the parental guidance figure for the people around them. Snow for the NORA members he grew up with since his orphanage, and Lightning for Serah’s sake when the Farron sisters were bereaved.

As a result of this, Snow and Lightning both place emphasis on heroism and familial values for the sake of others. Snow grows into his hero role as a vigilante group leader, but also acts as a family man towards them, even drawing Maqui out of his shell of introversion before he joined NORA. Snow even states he wants to have a “big happy family” with Serah, and a large part of his heroic efforts in XIII in general are for her sake at a constant. Lightning also strove to obtain her idea of heroism, but the methods she used to do so weren’t beneficial in the long-term. The bereaved Lightning, at the age of 15, had an idea of heroism that focused on physical strength as means of protecting and providing for her family, and thus joined the army. Regardless of effectiveness, both fundamentally follow very traditional models of heroes to embody a pillar of physical and parental strength for the people around them who depend on them.

Where Lightning and Snow are disparate is the effectiveness of their values and how they conduct themselves, emotionally, in their ideas of heroism. Snow wears his heart on his sleeve, and also is very emotionally accommodating (when not being oblivious). He fulfills the roles of his (unpaid) job and family in almost every aspect. Lightning, on the other hand, interpreted being emotional as weakness when she constructed her martial persona as a teen, and also was described to have been emotionally inept in social situations with others as a child. This later spiraled into being destructive, both physically and emotionally to her family and teammates––essentially having Snow’s morals but with am aggressive approach.

Snow and Lightning’s worlds collide when Snow tries to marry Serah, or effectively merge his idea of family with Lightning’s. He even calls Lightning “big sis” in the JP version ( just “sis” in ENG ) to both be accommodating and inclusively familial to her. Lightning sees this as a threat, regardless of Snow’s good intentions, for a number of reasons.

In their first encounter, audio dramas and official novels, Snow and the rest of NORA meet Lightning on a GC mission and effectively save her life from monsters in the field. Amodar, Lightning’s own boss, praises Snow and his teammates for his work, even asking him to join the GC. Snow, of course, immediately denies. Thus begins Lightning’s insecurity towards Snow and everything he and his group stands for.

When prompted by her boss if she had heard of NORA as an organization, Lightning immediately lies out of jealousy as a form of preserving her dignity. Snow & co. were able to accomplish her same job as her without being professionally trained, and were rightly prideful in it, which made Lightning insecure about her own abilities and pride.

Lightning spirals into further insecurity and jealousy when Serah, accompanied by Snow, breaks the news about Serah being a l’cie at Lightning’s 21st birthday party, and also news of their engagement.

Lightning interprets this as a ploy by Serah to have an excuse to get married to Snow. She lashes out by threatening the possibility of killing her as an intimidation tactic, and also did this because she wanted control over the situation to mitigate the insecurity over “losing” Serah. Regardless of her intentions, she emotionally hurt Serah who straight up runs away, the opposite of what she intended to do: to protect her.

In the novels it is shown that Lightning had been emotionally dissonant with Serah prior to this fiasco. Ever since she joined the Guardian Corps, she was consumed with her career and estranged herself from Serah, chasing and becoming a toxic idea of heroism while unintentionally running away from her problems. She becomes aware of how she negatively affected Serah after the encounter, but she does not understand that the problem is not only from not spending time with Serah––the emotional strain between them is from her own toxicity and escapism, which the game itself tackles.

Snow picks up where Lightning “left off”, and after confronting her, vows to be the one to protect Serah, implying Lightning has already given up this position despite being Serah’s blood family. Serah herself criticizes Lightning’s approach of good intentions with bad actions and emotional neglect, and how Snow was a bigger emotional support to her than Lightning was.

Snow does what Lightning can’t––but wants to do––through his constant direct action. Naturally, this causes the jealousy from Lightning’s behalf towards Snow in their relationship in the course of the events of the game.

In the first half of the chapters in XIII, Snow and Lightning collide at every turn, even so far as to get physical.

Snow’s belief and trust in Serah is his guide for a large part of his sense of hopefulness and positivity. Snow is willing to do “whatever it takes“ and because a combination of guilt and responsibility, he is bent on protecting Serah and keeping his word.

Lightning is also consumed by guilt over failing Serah, but runs away from addressing the actual problem or providing viable solutions not rooted in senseless violence/fighting. Lightning also wants to do “whatever it takes”, and even recognizes in Chapter 3 that Snow has the right idea, but her insecurity towards him prevents her from cooperating.

Another reason Lightning lashes out on him is, because instead of verbally acknowledging herself as the problem as to why she “lost” Serah, she thinks it’s easier to take her frustration out on Snow––the manifestation of her mistakes. Snow is also someone who shared similar values and even a similar job, played by the rules, and was able to fulfill the roles of family man not just to one person, but to multiple people, and thus excels in actualizing his desires and values, unlike Lightning.

Neither he government, l’cie curse, nor Snow were the ones who took Serah away from Lightning, in an emotional sense. The estrangement between the sisters and both the rapport between Snow and Serah is a product of Lightning’s own actions and deficiency, which she refuses to understand and own up to for a large part of the narrative.

Lightning eventually comes to terms with her impractical idea of strength and begins to unpack such mindset. She gradually understood the persona she constructed as a teen backfired, emotionally stunted her growth, and poisoned the familial relationship she was trying to preserve in the first place. The turning point of this mindset is when she shows weakness and honesty in making peace with the physical representation of her guilt and shortcomings: Snow.

At the end of the day, Lightning and Snow are both people with similar experiences, goals, and morals, but are different in their success in engineering their reality to match their personal values. They clash because of Lightning’s insecurity and jealousy, and it’s only when Lightning decides to give up her pride and talk through her problems that she is able to move on from such negative feelings.

In her emotional growth, Lightning admits she desired the ideal pillar of emotional strength that Snow provided for the team, and begins to channel and reapply herself into that same paragon. She becomes the ideal hero she wanted to be, but specifically in the emotional department, even supporting Snow in his times of despair, along with the rest of her teammates and family.

Disclaimer: I’m sorry if this makes Snow look angelic, he is very flawed as a human being and that’s literally the entire point of the Snow+Hope arc, this is just me talking about him in the context of Lightning’s perspective of jealousy, she herself even acknowledged some problems with his personality.

My sources are the trilogy, the Episode Zero Promise novels, and the audio dramas. Thanks for reading!

[rosesfromcth]

Too Hot

word count:1.8k

Part 1/?

Summary: Enemies to lovers trope, frat boy! Calum hood, etc.

Inspired by the calum hood sidehoes gc credits to all of them for ideas especially @slimthicccal screw u

It was dark and crowded. You had decided to go out with a group of friends to what was supposed to be a chill hang out. But as your group was hanging out one of them got a text from their boyfriend telling her about a party at his frat house. You had begrudgingly agreed to go with them, figuring they would need someone to keep them in check. You had an early morning the next day so you didn’t want to get drunk or anything.

You were standing in a dark corner, gathered in a circle with a few of your friends, they were all talking about other people that were at the party when you heard a familiar name. Calum Hood. They all started to talk about how attractive they thought he was. You couldn’t help but feel your eyes roll every time someone said anything along the lines of, ‘Oh My God!’ “I swear!’ or ‘He’s so hot.’ You hated how much attention he got. Sure, he was a very attractive guy. But he was way too attractive for you to ever trust him. You were sure something had to be up with him.

“Hey Y/N, you should totally go for Calum. You two would be such a good fit together.” One of your friends, Isabel, giggled and soon the rest of them were nodding their heads in agreement.

“I bet Ashton could set it up, they’re good friends, same fraternity, too.” Your friend who had gotten you all invited to the party spoke up. Ashton was her serious, long term boyfriend, anytime she mentioned him, you swore you heard wedding bells ringing.

“Absolutely fucking not.” You snorted. Everyone in your circle looks at you in shock for a minute and no one says anything right away.

“Wait why? He’s so hot and he’s, like, a good guy.” Isabel protested.

“I’m so not interested, I fuckin hate him.” You said. You felt a little uncomfortable at the confession that had just fallen from your lips. You didn’t really hate anyone, but for some reason, you felt such strong emotions toward the dark haired boy.  

“Why? What did he do? I’m not kidding, if he hurt you, I’ll hurt him.” Maren, another girl, said suddenly.

“It’s stupid, but like he’s too fucking good looking to be the kind of guy he is. He’s too perfect, something doesn’t add up. I don’t fucking trust him.” You admit.

“What? Does little Y/N have a crush? All the more reason for me to set you up.” Ellie said as she called her boyfriend over. “Ashton, come here!’

Ashton heard her and walked over from the opposite side of the basement, it was amazing how he heard her from across the room, and it was so loud and crowded. “What’s up, babe?” He asked as he greeted her by wrapping an arm around her waist and kissing the side of her forehead.

“We HAVE to set Y/N and Calum up, she totally likes him.” Ellie said.

“I,” you interrupted, “do not like him, he’s an entitled ass. He’s too good looking and he’s too nice and smart. Besides don’t you think he can be kind of cocky and, I don’t know, smirky?”

“C’mon, there’s no way you hate him because he’s hot.”

“You totally like him, you can’t hide it from us.”

“Y’all would be a power couple if you got together.”

“I can go talk to him right now, Y/N, if you want? He’s here somewhere. I saw him like twenty minutes ago.” Ashton said

“Ashton, thanks but don’t. Can we drop it please?” Ashton seems to get it but no one else takes the hint or notices the slight icy tone in your voice.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Ashton, go get him right now!” Ellie demands.

“I said drop it. Don’t mention him again. I don’t like him. At all.” This time, your voice was completely icy and everyone could tell just how serious you were. For the second time that night, everyone was quiet. Then they moved on to a new subject, not wanting to push you. You were quiet for the rest of the night, waiting to leave the party. You were no longer in a good mood and couldn’t wait to get home but you had to stay to make sure everyone else got home safe as they continued to drink the night away.

It didn’t take long for news of your dislike for the popular frat boy to spread across campus. You were both fairly recognizable people on campus, you had been on the top of the dean’s list ever since your first semester at university and this was your second year as Student Government president. Not to mention the many other positions you held across campus and the many other organizations that you were a part of. You had a very good reputation on campus. You were well liked and very friendly to everyone you met which is why people were so surprised to hear of your hatred for Calum Hood. Calum was known well for being his Fraternity’s President, team captain of the intramural soccer team, volunteering on campus during the week and the parties he throws off campus on the weekends.  He was also known for, as had been brought to your attention too many times to count, the fact that he was insanely hot.

----

“Hood, did you hear that Y/N basically hates you guts?” Luke mentioned casually one day while their group was getting a late lunch after classes.

“She does?” Calum asked. He had no idea she felt that way. He’d barely every spoke to her so it seemed odd, but maybe it was just a rumor.

“Yeah. She was so pissed at the party last Friday night when someone mentioned that the two of you would be a cute couple. What did you do to her?” Luke continued.

Calum would be lying if he said he’d never thought about Y/N that way. She was cute, in a girl-next-door kind of way, and she totally acted the part. Top of her class, super sweet to EVERY ONE and she was always laughing. She seemed insanely innocent and as far as he knew, she’d never been the hook up type and he couldn’t remember her ever having a boyfriend. She had her shit together, anyone could see that.

“I mean, I have no idea. I don’t think I’ve ever really talked to her before so I don’t know what I could have done to piss her off.” Calum said. He could feel himself growing more confused as he thought about it. He couldn’t think of anything that he could’ve done to upset you. He was quiet throughout the rest of lunch as the rest of the boys moved on and chatted about a variety of other things.

---

It was just about a week later when it finally caught up to you. You were sitting in the on-campus coffee shop, doing some study for a huge exam you had coming up when Calum Hood walked in. You barely gave him a glance when you heard the door to the shop swing open, you saw his dark mop of curls and turned back to your work. You were not about to have a conversation with Mr. Pretty Boy. Typically, when people you knew walked in, you would wave at them or have a quick conversation, but you were not in the mood to talk to him. You hated hating him, it was exhausting and it felt like he was always taking up room in your life. You didn’t hate people, you always went out of your way to be nice to others and not in a fake nice type of way. So instead of being rude to Calum Hood, you would always be courteous and polite if you had to interact with him, but nothing more, nothing less.

Realizing, your focus was completely on Calum, you shook yourself out of it before turning back to your work. You were stressed enough about this exam without worrying about Calum so you needed to get back to studying. You put your headphones back in and softly hummed along to the Aces while jotting notes down and making flashcards, occasionally picking your coffee up to take a sip. You had completely forgotten about him until you felt a shadow fall over your table. When you looked up, there he was standing so you unplugged your headphones.

“Hello Calum.” You nodded. He must’ve taken it as an invitation to sit down because that’s what he did next.

“How’s my favorite student government president?” He smiled at you from what was now, his seat. He was happy by your pleasant greeting. He had been surprised to see you in the shop but was happy it gave him a chance to talk to you and gauge your feelings.

“I’m great, how about yourself?” You asked trying to think of way to get out of there.

“I’m pretty good, the frat and soccer team have both been-” He was cut off by you quickly grabbing your stuff.

“Oh shoot. I’m sorry I actually have to run. I totally forgot I have a thing to get to, like, now. I can’t be late. I’m sure you know how it is.” You rushed as you grabbed your stuff. You knew you weren’t being very tactful about leaving especially not about your excuse but you couldn’t just sit there and chit chat with him.

He slumped back in his seat and started to say goodbye but you were already crossing the shop. He looked upset and you almost felt bad. But not really. He had so many girls falling at his feet and why should you feel bad for him when he had everything with the flick of his wrist?

“Wait, actually! Hold up, Y/N!” He shouted as walked across the shop and caught the door behind you. You were surprisingly fast for your size and he had to speed walk to keep up.

“Y/N. I know you don’t like me.” He said loudly. This made you stop in your tracks.

“That’s not true.” You stuttered. “I’m just in a rush. Really. Calum.”

“Get off it. I know it’s true, obviously, by the way you’re acting.” He says. “All I want to know is why.”

This time you stopped in your tracks.

“Really. Calum? Not everything is about you. I don’t know why you’re bringing this up. Not everyone has to like you.” You sighed.

He stared down at you, you were itching to get out of there, so you rolled your eyes at him before trying to walk away. This time, he grabbed your arm, gently, and nudged you back. You could’ve easily pulled away but you let him.

“Ooh, that really hurt, angel.” He rubbed a small circle over his heart. “Here I was, under the impression that you were friendly.”

“Well I am. Just not to you.” You scoff, this time, you walk away and don’t let him get the chance to get another word in. However, you did hear him softly mutter, “what the fuck?”

[minddofbecka]

(long) gc fic rec

All The Days Of My Life by rilla - 41k

It's 2016. At the end of the band's last tour, Zayn and Harry get married in Vegas. It's not the worst thing that's ever happened to them, but it certainly comes close. Half fix-it fic, half woke up married.

Trust Me by alnima - 78k

Zayn has trouble trusting Harry to catch him when he falls, but Harry is determined to be there no matter what it takes. Part 1.

Stay With Me by alnima - 173k

Zayn and Harry could never get it quite right. And now isn't any different. Except it is. Part 2.

and you and i were fire, fire, fireworks by trishapocalypse - 21k

espresso yourself yeah?? I stopped by there today

YOU WERE? what time??? maybe I saw you???

oh it was like half-eight? had an early class and all

oh ): i was hoping maybe you were there when i was… woulda been like fate, huh??

(Or: the one where Zayn is drunk and lonely and Harry is a number graffiti'd on a loo stall door that Zayn texts. A lot.)

like a sledgehammer by colourexplosion - 5k

Harry’s a good flatmate otherwise. He doesn’t ask questions when Zayn leaves without telling him for a few days and comes back looking refreshed and a bit younger than before. He doesn’t burst into Zayn’s room unannounced and he respects the fact that Zayn doesn’t go out during the day unless it’s absolutely necessary.

And if he’s figured out Zayn’s a vampire, he’s never brought it up.

Or, Zayn's a vampire and Harry's his human roommate.

let me be the one who calls you baby by alnima - 8k

“You look lovely, you hunk of man meat,” Harry declares, winking at Zayn.

Zayn blinks at Harry, his movements stilling for just a second before he continues to crawl into bed. He settles back against the pillows, wets his lips, and says, “What did you just call me?”

“Hunk of man meat,” Harry repeats, and it sounds kind of silly the second time that he says it.

“Right, I thought so."

Dancing On My Own by rilla - 59k

A Four Weddings and a Funeral au. Zayn and Harry keep meeting at weddings over the years, and slowly fall in love.

baby i’ll never leave if you keep holding me this way by estrella30 - 10k

“Does he have your mark?” his mum asks. Zayn shakes his head. He’d looked at Harry’s wrist explicitly for the edgings of Zayn’s family crest but couldn’t find anything. Not that that means Harry’s not the one; it might need a touch or connection to come to the surface. Zayn’s not sure he wants to find out though. He doesn’t know if he’s strong enough to know for certain.

“Ah, well. It could be coming,” she adds, and Zayn shrugs. She’s silent for another moment, before quietly adding, “You could pick him, you know.” She sounds thoughtful, distant even. Zayn wonders what she’s thinking about, what she’s remembering. “If you want to that is. I know you’ve not been looking for your mate Zayn, but maybe this was what you needed. Maybe you needed your mate to find you.”

or - Zayn is an immortal modern times non evil sexual incubus who is reluctant to find his mate. And then he meets Harry.

all that is gone and all that’s to come by greenandgolden - 10k

Once upon a time, Zayn’s Instagram had been littered with photos of Harry. Some of them together, some of him alone. One of Harry sleeping in Zayn’s bed, his face a bit puffy and his hair a wild mess sprawled across Zayn’s pillowcase. Pictures of them with each other’s families from holidays and birthdays, everyone with smiles on their faces and their arms wrapped around each other. Most of those photos are saved on Harry’s phone, hidden away because he couldn’t bear to delete them but at the same time he can’t stomach looking at how happy they were together versus how miserable he is now that he’s alone.

a post break up au

i fall in love whenever we meet by leighbot - 5k

“You had on operation on your back, babe. D’you not remember?” the man says as he reaches a hand out to rub gently at Harry’s chest.

Harry turns back again, feeling queasy with all of the movements. “No. I’m sorry… are you my doctor, too?”

“No, I’m not your doctor. My name is Zayn, H. Do you remember me?”

“Zayn,” Harry repeats, enjoying the way the word buzzes at the tip of his tongue.

Or, the one where Harry has temporary amnesia after surgery; he doesn't need his memories to know he loves Zayn.

He Feels Like Home by moonstarwrites - 21k

Under the impression that he would never meet his soulmate because others in his family faced the same circumstance, Zayn married Perrie and built a life with her. While that life wasn't anything out of the ordinary, it would do. Then, Zayn met his soulmate, Harry.

Love Is Blind (and darling, right now, I can’t see you) by purpledaisy - 35k

Harry had squeezed his eyes shut pretending it was real for the moment, that Zayn was actually his. Still, it doesn’t matter if the lights flashing behind his eyelids were the brightest they’d ever been because Zayn must have had his eyes wide open just waiting for it to be over. - Written for the prompt: pretend boyfriends

Boy with a Coin by Archangel_Blood - 29k

A piece of paper falls out of the bundle, and Louis snatches it and starts reading before Zayn can prise it off him.

“He’ll have eyes as green as frogs.” Louis arches an eyebrow at his brother. “Very romantic, Zayn. He’ll wear sparkly boots and he’ll be marvellously kind. He can juggle, and he—four nipples?” Louis barks out a laugh. “Zayn, such person doesn’t exist!”

“Exactly!”

Slide

by thisonegoes - 87k

Zayn's dad explained it to him in a small speech, the day she was born."No one prepares you for it. There aren't any manuals. Sometimes being a good parent means simply keeping your kid alive. Keep them breathing, make sure they're safe, love them until you could burst with it. On days when everything feels especially hard, just remember that your kid is Number One. Everything else becomes secondary. Less than. Minuscule by default. And believe me when I tell you this: when she eventually paints you a picture, sings you a song, does a cartwheel... always be sure to clap. If you're proud, make sure to say so."An AU about being a father, having faith, and growing up.

What If This Storm Ends by Archangel_Blood - 18k

Despite all evidence to the contrary, Harry does actually know how to take a hint; sometimes he just chooses not to. It’s not that he particularly enjoys disappointment, but he can deal with it. What ifs, on the other hand, those are the paper cuts and grazed knees that seem like nothing much, yet they take forever to heal, itching and stinging and driving you mad.

Give It All Away To You by disarm_d - 10k

“Zayn’s got love at first sight,” Louis says. “Again.”

University AU in which Zayn and Harry figure out how to give each other what they want.

we can take the darkness by leighbot - 72k

“I’ve met the guy and he’s always making eyes at you when you’re not looking.”

“No, he isn’t,” Zayn dismisses, finishing off his second glass of water. “I would have noticed if Harry ‘made eyes’ at me,” he says, using the air quotes. “We’ve been best mates for over three years.”

“That’s why I said: when you’re not looking,” Griff repeats. “It’s like you’ve never seen a Sandra Bullock movie.”

Zayn rolls his eyes and stands up. “Harry Styles and I are best friends,” he says, loudly and clearly. “Nothing more.”

Entangled Arms (or a vacant space) by vinoharry - 43k

When Harry first approached him at the bar, hips swinging and walking dick first, Zayn thought it was going to a night of perfunctory small talk before they fell into bed together. But Zayn got so much more than he bargained for.

new clothes, bloody nose by dutty (vodka) - 22k

The one where Zayn is an escort and Harry happens.

a sky full of stars by weddingbells - 20k 

In which Harry Styles is a librarian and Zayn Malik reads lots of books, and Harry pines and Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan tries to help him to get the boy who might be the boy of his dreams, and Harry just wants to know everything about the tattooed angel he can't stop thinking about. Basically.

You Might Just Be What I Need by PornyZiallFeels - 47k

Saw Zayn again today

Figured you would that’s the thing with dot n his daughter being mates

Runnin into him might become a regular thing now

Fuck me

your love is a waiting game by alnima - 26k

It’s been four days without Harry and Zayn’s feeling brave. He loves him, but he’s not waiting for him, not anymore. If Harry can’t love him – won’t love him – then he’ll find someone else.

When All I Want Is You by estrella30 - 9k

The flat is small. It’s tiny and cramped and nearly everything that’s inside is either broken or on its way to needing to be fixed. They’re never going to fit all of their things here, and will be in each other's faces every second of their lives.

Zayn absolutely cannot wait. It’s tiny but it’s theirs. It’s going to be theirs.

When Harry moves out a year later and Zayn’s left alone, the flat’s never seemed so big.

or - Zayn and Harry move in together and don't have a lot of money and everything falls apart (and then gets put back together)

where did the party go by shuttermutt - 34k

"…insofar as the two parties who want to wed should decide to do so before they have both reached the age of eighteen (section 1.ii) they will have a period of one year henceforth to decide if the marriage is fruitful and if not, they shall be allowed to part as if having not been married in the first place…" Section 2 of the 'Romeo and Juliet law', passed into law in Britain and its territories, 1803

They duck into a tattoo parlour that’s halfway between the city centre and Harry’s mum’s and Zayn gets two black lines carefully inked onto his left ring finger. He smiles up at Harry while it’s being done.

"It’ll last forever," he says. "Just like us."

Conspire Against the Odds by whatwasthatharry - 38k

“Louis?” he asks, eyebrows knitted together as he tries to process what just happened.

“Yeah, Z?”

He sounds tired, and Zayn finds himself wondering if it's because it's clear something is weighing on Harry..

“Is everything okay with Harry?”

(A story in which Zayn meets Harry during their senior year of college and immediately becomes infatuated with him. But Harry disappears most nights, and it's clear he's hiding something. Zayn wants desperately to know what's going on, but no one seems to want to tell him anything.)

In A Flash by hmarie - 24k

Zayn found Harry slouched in the corner of the destroyed nursery. His hands covering his face as tears streamed down his cheeks. The white crib Zayn had spent five hours making sure was put together 100% correctly, flipped over and smashed to pieces. Zayn had to step over the crumpled blue bedding in order to even get to Harry.

“I can’t do it anymore, Z.” Harry’s sobs tore their way from his chest.

Zayn’s fingers trailed across Harry’s cheeks, wiping away the remaining tears. He cradled Harry’s face between his palms as a few more tears slid from his own eyes. He slowly nodded. “Regroup, we can do that.” Zayn let his forehead rest against Harry’s as he gently leaned forward to capture Harry’s lips. “Let’s get out of this room.” He quickly stood and pulled Harry with him.

Or- Harry and Zayn give up on their dream but Gemma won't let them.

you can drive all night by liquidmeasure - 25k

"Harry needs someone to guide him, to tell him where to put each part of himself. It feels right somehow, and lately maybe something more than right, because sometimes he catches himself contemplating intentional accidents, just to see if Zayn will come running, where he’ll touch Harry. An elbow, a shoulder, the curve of his waist."

Harry doesn't know where to put his parts. Zayn helps him figure it out. Louis yells a lot.

Million Dollar Man by soyane - 50k

Harry is a student, who'd much rather focus on writing articles and participating in conferences than working to pay for his bills.

Zayn might have a proposition for him.

What If This Storm Ends by Archangel_Blood - 18k

Despite all evidence to the contrary, Harry does actually know how to take a hint; sometimes he just chooses not to. It’s not that he particularly enjoys disappointment, but he can deal with it. What ifs, on the other hand, those are the paper cuts and grazed knees that seem like nothing much, yet they take forever to heal, itching and stinging and driving you mad.

Once upon a different life by withbatedbreath (heart_eyes) - 45k

Zarry version of The Vow

When it comes to love you're an easy fight by orphan_account - 11k

AU. Harry never really could say no to people.

Hands All Over by blainedarling - 8k

“Point is,” Louis leans over the back of the sofa. “Point is, that Harry Styles has got a very good bum. And I feel very confident in saying that having seen it up close and in person now, too.”

The room goes very still, and quiet. Even Niall stops eating.

“What was that?” Zayn asks, as calmly as he can manage. This is Harry Styles they’re talking about. It’s not like he’s got a crush or anything, but— He might have gotten off to that photo of him on holiday in the tiniest of tiny yellow shorts more times than he would care to admit.

“Harry Styles,” Louis replies coolly, his eyes twinkling. “Was signing off on his pre-exercise questionnaire upstairs when I was on my way down.”

—or, the one where Zayn tries and fails to massage his celebrity crush without getting massively turned on.

Tight Lips and Cold Feet by mmaree - 17k

He remembers an intensity of feelings but not a lot of words.  He recalls drunken laughter with mates, sunny days and shy smiles, shit weed and tattoo parlours, cold sheets and burning touches.  Harry recalls a fantasy where real life took a backseat, where all that mattered was that they were young and alive.

At some point, Harry got scared.  He needed something he could hold on to, something he could be sure of.  But the more he dug for reassurance, the more Zayn clammed up.

And the more they f*cked.

Maybe Zayn saved his words for his books when he should have spoken them aloud.  Maybe Harry should have ended it better instead of running away like a coward.

Then again, maybe he should just stop dwelling on the past.

Or the one where Harry gets cold feet.  Three years later, Harry’s an editor and Zayn is the new writer he’s been assigned to work with.  

They have a lot more than just a book to work out.

Readiness is Near by greenandgolden - 13k

“Morning everybody, sorry I’m late.”

Harry looks up from his tablet, his heart dropping when he sees Zayn walking into the room. He’s heading for the desk in the front and no, this is not happening. Harry did not just douse his professor in coffee. He did not just give his professor his shirt and his phone number.

A teacher!zayn, (adult) student!harry kidfic.

hey moon (please forget to fall down) by leighbot - 7k

He spots a tape on the nightstand on his side, next to a glass of water and two small paracetamols. Zayn, watch me is written on a sticky note and Zayn smiles, confused, as he scoots closer to the edge.

Or, a 50 First Dates AU.

on the line by alnima - 32k

Zayn nods and watches him, feeling like he should feel relieved. Mostly he’s worried. It’s a silly thought, but sometimes Zayn wonders if Harry has some boyfriend across town that he goes to see on nights like this, nights where the air feels different between them. And because even after six years, it’s never made sense to Zayn why Harry, a salesman, needs to spend so much time at the office at night. But who is he to have suspicions when he’s about to head out and deal with some drug trafficker across town?

Or, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, the Zarry version

[snarky-gourmet]

She deleted so I guess all of you got what you wanted. She won’t answer messages on kakao or texts. She didn’t deserve this.

Sorry this took me more than a day to get to, I don’t usually check my inbox unless I get a notif, and then it took a while to write everything out as it is quite lengthy and then on top of that the incidents related to this topic kept persisting literally as I wrote it :)

I checked the time stamp on this when I saw it and it seems like you sent this about an hour after I talked to Madds’ friend yesterday–we had a very civil and pleasant talk that cleared up a lot of stuff and she informed me that Madds is doing just fine, which I’m extremely glad about. **Edit: on March 21st, 2 days after the first conversation between us, I received messages from Madds’ friend to alert us that Madds has contacted an attorney, and then continued to falsely accuse those of us in the group chat, including those who have never had ANY involvement in this from the beginning of the disagreement until now, of stalking and harassing her. Those screenshots will be included at the end of the post.**

There seems to be a lot of rumours going on and a lot of people are under the wrong impression given the fact that Maddison has spread falsehood after falsehood in order to make herself look like the victim in a situation that should have been initially so insignificant, there was no valid reason for victim-hood on either side.

This conflict with Madds has been ongoing for several months now, and all of us involved are honestly done with the false accusations, vague-posting, and borderline harassment. As a result, the decision to make this post was reached.

This post’s purpose is to clear our names and make it known that the things Madds has been saying about us are not true. We do not wish for ANYONE to go after Madds or her friends. We would never want harm to come to her. All we want is for this to stop, and according to her party, that’s what she wants as well, so here we go.

Let me make it clear:

None of us from the fandom-oriented group chat Madds used to be in, and then left on her own after a disagreement, have ever:

-Stalked Madds through her public blog or through any other platforms

-Bullied her off the site

-Stabbed her in the back

-Sent her anon hate/death threats or asked others to on our behalf

-Done anything at all that was malicious towards Madds at any time

The only times any of us have contacted Madds personally since she left the group chat have been to try and reason with her, to try and console her, to try and ask her to stop making vague posts about us, to stop blaming us for the anons she was getting, and to ask her to stop trying to turn shared friends/mutuals against us and let the incident go.

The only times any of us have been to Madds’ new blog after she deleted her old one have been to check on her well being, as we would never want harm to come to her, as well as when she has mentioned any of us by name and people who were shared friends/mutuals brought it to our attention.

I will not be mentioning all names of people involved in this conflict as none of us from the group chat at least, wish to drag any more people into this mess who really didn’t have anything to do with it.

Until this point, my personal role in all of this has been little more than a bystander. I am still an active member of the group chat that Madds left, and I know everyone in there very well. I have witnessed what has happened since the start and with the permission of everyone else from the gc, I’m happy to provide answers as to what has actually been going on.

Below the cut is a timeline containing all screenshots we have of everything that has gone on from the beginning of the conflict leading up to a few days ago now, when Madds apparently made the choice to delete her blog completely unprompted by any of us, who were all making it a point to distance ourselves more than before after she threatened to call the cops on us in a text post because she thought we were stalking her.

Tw for in-depth mentions of suicide baiting and implications of self-harm among other things that may be distressing for some to read.

–

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The initial disagreement that started all of this took place on November 21st last year, and it is quite frankly, embarrassing and unnecessary that such a small scale disagreement escalated to the extent that it did, and is still ongoing despite our (the gc’s) attempts to reason with, and then when that didn’t work, cease contact with Madds.

We were discussing Key’s upcoming album when Madds (sunshinekibum) brought up how she wishes that sh/awols were more hyped about it, which was a valid point of discussion to be made.

Madds expressed how she felt that she and other lockets couldn’t be happy without others having a negative reaction to it. Kiri brought up the fact that it was close to December, and therefore it was not anyone’s fault if they were not in high spirits, but made it clear that lockets had every right to be happy and there was nothing holding them back from that. Madds apologised, appearing to have taken it the wrong way, then removed herself from the server.

After she had left, Kiri messaged Madds via tumblr to talk things through.

Kiri reiterated that due to the timing of Key’s album being released, she and some other sh/awols were having a hard time being excited and clarified that her words were not meant to be taken as a personal attack on Madds. She apologised, as did Madds, but Madds did not understand that Kiri was not claiming her words to be insensitive. She instead appeared to be using the incident to beat herself up. Kiri pointed out to Madds that she had made a valid point and the way she felt was justified, so there was no reason she should be so harsh on herself.

Madds then explained the reason behind why she left the group chat, citing a difference in viewpoints as well as a desire to not cause any harm, which she had never caused in the first place. Efforts were made to try to get her to see that and possibly invite her back to the gc on her own terms.

Kiri brings up how Madds is misunderstanding her words and feelings about the disagreement in the group chat and doesn’t seem to be interested in seeing her side to things. Madds responds by clarifying that her words were not aimed at Kiri specifically but rather meant as a generalised statement from what she had personally seen. She also acknowledged that proximity to December as a factor, but also stated that she still felt as if she were going to face criticism for being excited by those who were not. Kiri then defends herself, citing Madds’ word choice and tone as the reason for her own words in the group chat.

She continues and points out that Madds is the one beating herself up in this situation, and that no one thought ill of her and no one was harmed by Madds’ words. Kiri then clarifies again what exactly the source of the disagreement was, and requests that Madds does not twist her words as a means to punish herself. Madds apologises.

After this, a bit of time passed, and Madds changed her Tumblr URL to “imaginemp3″. During this same time, there was a post made by Madds that Kiri later alludes to, that appears to reference the disagreement that happened between her and Kiri in the gc, suggesting that she had resentment, or at the very least, remaining displeasure with Kiri for said disagreement. It was later deleted.

Shortly after, Kiri deactivated her previous blog due to an extremely high amount of anon hate and desire to distance herself from the drama at hand. A mutual friend of ours and Madds was also receiving such anons.

After Kiri deactivated, Madds began receiving anons as well, written in the same tonal and vocabulary pattern as the ones Kiri and the mutual friend received, suggesting that they were all sent by the same person. We suspect that Madds is the one who sent them to Kiri, the other recipient, and herself as well. This is the event that Madds claims was all of us in the gc “bullying her off the site”. None of us sent those anons to her. Unfortunately, no screenshots of the ones Kiri nor the other person received exist due to A) the upsetting nature of the messages and B) at the time they received the messages, there was no reason to save evidence of them, seeing as how it was on in retrospect that we suspected Madds of being behind them.

Above are some of the anons that Madds had received, accusing her for being the reason Kiri had deactivated and for suicide baiting her. As a result, Madds makes the last post at the top of the image.

Thinking the worst, many of the people from the group chat and who followed Madds reached out to her via dms and text.

Among those people were Izzy (keyjapandebut) and someone who will be referred to as Sunny, as it is unnecessary to bring their name into undesired drama. Sunny is the 3rd person besides Kiri and Madds to have received the anons just mentioned.

Izzy initiates the conversation and tries to make sure that Madds is alright after the anons she got. Madds deflects, expressing concern for Kiri as priority even after Izzy states that Kiri is fine. Madds continues to place all of the blame on herself unnecessarily. This is when she alludes to the vent post previously mentioned, denying that it was about Kiri or the subject of their disagreement. (Due to the timing of the anons that both Kiri and then Madds received however, as well as the wording in Madds’ post, the opposite appears to be true. Izzy attempts to talk Madds down from the place she was in, and he tries to reason with her.

After Izzy’s first attempt to explain to Madds that she can still talk to Kiri if she needed to, Madds claims that she had been blocked by Kiri on the platforms she could have reached her on, which was not true according to what Kiri had shown us. The most likely explanation, if Madds had indeed sent 4 different discord messages to Kiri, but they had not been delivered, is that since they no longer had a shared server, discord would not deliver Madds’ messages to Kiri. However, when a message does not go through on discord, a bot will reply to the sender with the reason why.

Madds then states that she had requested Sunny to give her phone number to Kiri.

(*There is a missing screen shot before the first message from Izzy in this set. They were taken to show Kiri during this last attempt of his to mediate between the two, then deleted from his device immediately after, so he does not remember the context of the first message.)

Madds once again just asks for Izzy to deliver the message that she says sorry to Kiri and the rest of us. At the same time that Izzy is talking to Madds, he is delivering what Madds asks him to to Kiri. Kiri asks Izzy to relay to Madds that all she wants from this is for Madds to move on. To this request, Madds says she cannot and says that we “can all go be fine without her”. Izzy asks what Madds meant by this, reassures her that what she is suggesting is not necessary for a resolution, and that she had not caused Kiri the amount of distress she thinks she caused her from the disagreement in the gc. To this, Madds seems to shut off, repeating “okay im glad she’s okay”. Izzy picks up on the fact that Madds isn’t really listening anymore, and points it out. Madds continues to just say that “we don’t have to worry about her”.

Izzy attempts to explain as someone who was still on good terms with Madds at this point in time that ceasing all concern over her wasn’t possible, but Madds argued, claiming that since we “all have each other there’s no reason any of us need her”. Izzy sees that as long as Madds is acting like this and continuing to make herself out to both be the sole reason behind all of this as well as the victim at the same time, and tries to reach a resolution with Madds. Madds then says goodbye, that she’ll be okay, and that she is sorry for causing trouble, but will “make sure it doesn’t ever happen again” (that clearly didn’t happen). This was Izzy’s last interaction with Madds.

None of us blamed her for anything that was going on at this point, nor did we ever say anything to imply that we wanted her gone or to feel guilt. All we wanted was for her to stop beating herself up so much–as none of us saw a reason why the disagreement back in November should have caused such distress–and to listen to the words we had to say, as we were genuinely concerned for Madds’ well being.

It was only after later examination of the language that she used during her talk with Izzy, the fact that Madds was still connecting this back to the rather small disagreement that took place, her initial reaction to the disagreement, and the eventual realisation that all of the anons that had been received by Madds, Kiri, and Sunny had the same syntax, that an inkling of suspicion ever rose up in regards to Madds. Izzy in particular became suspicious of Madds due to his first encounter with her when her url was peachykibummie. Madds was a stranger to him, a stranger receiving suicide-baiting anons with the exact same syntax as the ones she, Kiri, and Sunny received. Izzy’s efforts to console her led to a friendship that is now history.

A little while after Izzy and Madds had their conversation, Madds and Sunny had talked. Sunny had told Madds that Kiri wished to speak with her.

(Kiri: Blue Text —— Madds: Grey Text)

The second message that Kiri sends addresses the apparent overreaction Madds has displayed since their disagreement. At this point, suspicion that Madds was acting like this out of desire for some sort of attention was starting to rise up.

To Kiri’s questioning, Madds acts as if she does not understand what Kiri is referring to. Kiri was aware of the way Madds had spoken in the chat with Izzy, as he had been the middleman between Kiri and Madds.

At the bottom of the first image in the set/top of the second image, Kiri brings up the fact that she did not receive any sort of messages from Madds as she had claimed from the conversation with Izzy. Kiri also brings up the post that Madds had made that seemed to have been about her and that seems to have kicked off the series of anons that Kiri, Madds, and Sunny all got.

Madds responds by claiming that she never lied and that Kiri deleted and blocked her over the post she had made, when in reality, Kiri had deactivated due to the anons, and denies that the post was about Kiri, despite the subject matter of the post being the same as the disagreement right down to the details.

(Last text cut off on the bottom reads “Move on. I have.”)

In this series of texts Madds does not understand that everyone was scared for her and that is why multiple individuals checked up on her after she made an alarming goodbye post after the anons she got were suicide baiting her. She then tries to turn the tables on Kiri and accuses her of being the one who is still upset over the disagreement, when the thing Kiri is actually upset over is the post, the anons, Madds essentially disregarding everyone’s concern while attempting to cause guilt at the same time, and then lying about several different things that have happened.

In Kiri’s message she brings up that it was believed that Madds was the one behind all of the anons, as supported by a multitude of details about them. She then clarifies the fact that people checked on her out of concern, as previously mentioned. Kiri also brings up the apparent guilt-tripping that Madds is doing and mentions that she wishes that Madds gets help, but doesn’t wish for Madds to use her as a means to punish herself, which is what she was doing. Lastly, Kiri expresses that she only wanted to ensure that Madds was alright, and that at the end of it all, nothing in the disagreement was important enough for all of this to come out of it.

Those were the last messages exchanged until December 28th.

On December 28th, Kiri has messaged Madds prefacing her request that she drop the situation once and for all after after Kiri had heard from Sunny that Madds was still not past the conflict, and had worked Sunny up enough to cause serious upset, with an apology. Kiri then brings up the fact that she blocked Madds in an attempt to put everything behind them and create distance.

Madds retorts that she had not tried to contact anyone except for Sunny since Kiri had blocked her. Madds then argues that what she says to Sunny about Kiri, who is, once again, someone who is a friend of both Kiri and Madds at this point, is none of her business and that Kiri has “her clean break’ due to the fact that Madds has not talked to her directly.

While it is true that Madds had not spoken to Kiri personally, she had tried to turn Sunny against Kiri, making Kiri out to be malicious towards Madds, and Madds herself the victim. That is what Kiri refers to in her first message in the second picture.

Madds says that it was an honest question for Sunny, and that she is allowed to ask questions and have her own opinions like everyone else. No one had implied that she was not allowed to have her own thoughts and ask questions to Sunny, the question was simply why she had done so if she had supposedly moved on. Kiri acknowledges Madds’ point, and continues asking what Madds’ goal was in asking if she really wanted nothing to do with her.

Madds responds by claiming that her inquiry to Sunny was out of concern for Sunny. Kiri then brings up the fact that while doing so, Madds had caused a significant level of distress to Sunny. Madds responds, suggesting that she did not understand how she had hurt Sunny. Kiri explains that there wouldn’t be a point due to Madds sole response to previous attempts at both Sunny and Kiri explaining how she has caused them harm has been that she “saw how it could come off that way” while never acknowledging what she had done. Kiri then elaborates by telling Madds that Sunny had said to Kiri that Madds had breached Sunny’s trust by attempting to turn her against Kiri.

Madds says that she is getting different stories on the matter, but apologizes for causing issues for Sunny and Kiri. Madds then brings up that her hurting Sunny does not excuse Kiri from hurting Sunny, which was never an argument Kiri tried to make in the situation. Madds also brings up that she wishes to continue the cease of contact that was previously between her and Kiri, and attempts to deflect any further discussion on the matter by claiming that Sunny does not want to be in the middle, which she would not have been if Madds had not tried to turn Sunny against Kiri.

Kiri points out that Madds has no knowledge of how she and Sunny had resolved things between them, and brings attention to the fact that Kiri has not mentioned Madds to Sunny or anyone else, but Madds was in fact mentioning Kiri in poor regards to Sunny, and that was the issue currently at hand.

Madds claims that Kiri is the one upset, and not herself, despite the fact that she had attempted to turn Sunny against Kiri for no apparent reason. Madds again cites concern for Sunny as being the motive behind asking why Sunny was still friends with Kiri. Madds apologises that her actions had hurt Kiri but does not feel as if she was in the wrong for her actions as they were supposedly out of concern for Sunny. She then claims again that she had let the disagreement go a while ago.

Kiri, done with being given the run-around by Madds, suggests a mutual agreement between the two of them to not bring each other up in any capacity any more, and that the two of them part ways and have their peace. Madds responds negatively, does not agree to the proposition, and again brings up that Kiri had contacted her first, which would not have happened had Madds not upset Sunny, and again pushes that what she says to others is none of Kiri’s business, apparently even if it directly involves Kiri.

To this, Kiri says that Sunny is not Madds’ friend, and Madds deflects by saying that Kiri and Sunny have different opinions on that matter and that it is not her issue. The last messages are sent by Kiri and are a request for Madds to gain maturity when dealing with conflict.

After this, there was no contact between any of us and Madds for a significant period of time. Madds had deleted her blog of her own volition. We had no reason to bring up her name in any capacity in the group chat, therefore we didn’t.

When things had settled, Kiri had created a new blog. Sometime during this duration, Madds had also remade and began claiming that we bullied her off the site. She began making vague posts that were in regards to us as well as posts that mentioned Kiri’s name and old URL specifically. These posts ranged from petty to the more malicious ones that were of Madds telling people the falsehood that we drove her off Tumblr.

There was no stalking involved to find her new blog, and to accuse us of such a thing is ludicrous. We are all in the same fandom, and due to this, Madds’ new blog was stumbled upon. We had no idea it was actually her until people who knew us alerted us of easytolovemp3 (Madds) talking shit about us, specifically Kiri. 2 and 2 were put together. Still then, only a handful of us who were actively present in the gc’s conversation at this time actually knew this was Madds, as the rest of us, namely myself and 1 other individual, were at our jobs at the time. Izzy and Kiri both blocked easytolovemp3 as soon as they knew it was Madds, not wishing to have contact with her.

Below is an image of a one of the petty incidents, essentially falsely accusing Kiri of being a kboo. This was brought to our attention through someone who was a shared mutual of both Madds and Kiri on their new blogs. You can see Kiri mentioned by name, and that is how this got around to us.

We were never actively dwelling on Madds’ new blog (or stalking as she put it) and until 2 weeks ago, two of us still didn’t know her new URL. One of us only found out yesterday. As a result, we do not have screenshots of all of the things she said during this time, nor did we save any of the screenshots others sent to us. The thought that this would be a still escalating issue at this point did not cross our minds back then, and honestly? We didn’t want to save the needlessly upsetting posts Madds had made.

Eventually, Kiri started receiving anon hate on her new blog and quietly abandoned it.

Sunny and Madds are still in contact at that point. Due to unrelated reasons, Izzy had deleted his blog some time in December. He recreated a new one this month with the purpose to have it as an art blog. It does not have his english name on it and the focus was on a different fandom.

Now we get to the point on the timeline that took place last week (the week of March 11th).

I had direct messaged Izzy on discord asking if he knew that Madds had deleted all of her posts except for several alarming and concerning ones, and he checked it out. I had gotten word from this from a friend. This was the first time that I had been to Madds’ blog and the first time I even knew this was her.

On her blog, everything was deleted except for posts of her once again accusing us of stalking her, as well as her essentially suggesting that she was going to commit suicide.

Both Izzy and I were extremely worried for Madds, as we would never want anything bad to happen to her. Despite the fact that she had accused the gc of stalking, bullying her off the site, sending her death threats, stabbing her in the back, etc., the fact that it seemed like she was going to harm herself was extremely upsetting. She is someone who we used to be friends with, after all.

In the first image, Madds claims in the tags of the bottom post that half of us have her blocked, which was not true. Only Izzy on his old blog and Kiri on her new one had her blocked. Izzy did not yet have Madds blocked on the newest blog he had just made. Everyone else in the gc had also not blocked her because some of us didn’t know about her blog until the most recent post about us “bullying her off tumblr” came to our attention and some of us had absolutely no involvement with the original disagreement and therefore, had no reason to even think about Madds. Kayden, for example, never had her blocked and had no involvement in any of this besides his proximity to Kiri and being in the group chat. We had indeed not interacted with her, but her claim that half of us had her blocked is incorrect.

We never sent her any of the anons she got on her imaginemp3 account, therefore her claims that we ruined the “one place she felt safe” and “ruined almost all her friendships” have no grounds and seem to be made purely for the sake of getting attention. Again, we strongly suspect that she was the one who sent her own self those anons. Additionally, if you recall the conversations Madds had with Kiri, she is told what exactly she did wrong: the issue was not the trivial disagreement back in November of last year, but the way she was spreading rumours, twisting words, and trying to turn people against us. Her claim to be the one “crying about it almost daily struggling with figuring out what she did wrong” makes no sense.

Shortly after we viewed the post, she had blocked both Izzy and I. Odd since neither of us had made contact with her or mentioned her in any way. It is unclear how she got Izzy’s new blog’s URL as his blog is no longer Sh/inee-oriented, has his English name no where on it, and no one outside of the group chat was privy to his new blog belonging to him. This, along with the timing of some of the vague posts Madds made previously, lead us to the conclusion that we believe someone in our group chat was essentially serving as a spy and sending Madds information on us. It does not add up any other way. The person/people who were possible suspects were removed from the group chat and we have had no further incidents directly tied to our suspicions.

On the left there is a new post coming after the ones in the left-hand image from the last set. On the right are more anons that she got.

The message on the top is the only reason Izzy and I continued checking on Madds’ blog at this point despite both of us now being blocked. It was to check on someone who seems to have posted a final goodbye–that’s what you do when you’re worried about someone, and we had more than reason to be worried.

Please take note of the one anon with the “x” signing the end of their message for later reference.

Above is an image of the post Madds had made after the ones in the previous set. Izzy had checked Madds’ blog early in the morning of last Tuesday, the 19th, to see if she was alright. He messaged me to tell me about it, as Madds was now threatening legal action against us, and I checked for myself, extremely alarmed.

In this post you can see a whole list of accusations Madds has against us, some very bitter adjectives, a lot of nasty names, and of course, the threat to contact the police. The nature of this post speaks for itself, so I don’t really feel the need to dissect it too much. “Terrified to make any move online because I knew you all would be waiting to ruin me again,” however, is especially interesting due to the fact that she was the one slandering Kiri’s name in particular, and every single time Kiri got a new blog, she received an avalanche of anons extremely similar to the others she had gotten before, some even bringing up personal matters that she only ever mentioned in the privacy of the group chat.

Considering the fact that we had done nothing in this extensive list, and she would have known this considering she was the one who had fabricated these baseless accusations, her threats to call the police on a group entirely composed of minorities, the majority being non-white and not a single one of us being cishet, honestly comes off as insidious.

(Some anons that were extremely similar in nature have been omitted due to the length of this post.)

On the left side of the screen shot, the first anon censors out Kiri’s most well known past URL, blingblingis. Madds clarifies that she was previously imaginemp3 before she deleted that blog and remade. “What she tried to pull with me,” alludes to the fabricated stalking, bullying, and other false accusations directed at Kiri and the rest of us. Madds then mentions in the tags that she knows that Kiri has a new blog, however she claims to not know the URL.

The second image in the screenshot can be taken as proof that Madds had spread rumours about Kiri bullying her off the site. Unless Madds sent this anon to her own self, in which case it is evidence of something else.

Please continue to note the “x” signing the end of that anon.

After taking note of all of this, Izzy and I both decided that it was in our best interest to no longer check on Madds even out of concern for her safety. We didn’t want for her to mistake that as stalking and push her towards legal action. It was unclear how Madds even knew we were checking on her at this point.

Later that day, I briefly and vaguely mentioned in the dms to a tumblr user I am friends with what was going on. Without me mentioning Madds by name, only (to be read in sarcastic tones) “How great it was to have someone who you used to be friends with threatening to call the cops on you and your friends over falsified accusations of stalking, harassing, intimidation, and bullying, all because she didn’t know how to handle a tiny fight over kpop,” she, who will be referred to as Moon, immediately knew who I was talking about.

As it turns out, Moon and Madds had spoken before, and Moon told me in a separate message that Madds was giving out a list of names of everyone in the group chat who she was accusing of stalking her, to those who messaged her asking for it. She also mentioned that Madds had told her the fabricated story of everything she claimed we had done to her, which made “us all sound fucking awful”.

The next day, Moon alerted me that Madds had deleted her tumblr out of the blue.

About an hour after Moon had told me that, Madds’ friend, who I mentioned way back at the very beginning of this post, messaged me.

Due to the fact that this individual is a minor that Madds has dragged into a dispute between adults and used as a middleman, they will be referred to as Nova to protect their identity. Please do not ask for their url. Please do not seek them out.

Nova begins interrogating me, who had no in-depth involvement prior to checking on Madds’ blog during her most recent alarming series of posts. Nova demands to know why the supposed “stalking” is going on “even though no one seems to want to talk to her after all of this” (correct!)

I clarify that none of us are stalking Madds, nor have ever stalked her or acted with any form of malice towards her. I also bring up the fact that I didn’t even know easytolovemp3 was Madds until my friend had seen the post making false accusations against us and told me. The fact that she did not have me blocked until after I looked at her blog is also something I brought light to, as well as the fact that the only time any of us from the gc have made contact with her since she left have been to ask her to stop posting about us.

Nova then presses for why we all still wanted to know about Madds and expresses that she thinks that it would’ve been better for us all just to leave it.

I do my best to remain extra civil during the exchange, as I do not wish to make things somehow worse than being threatened with legal action.

At the top of the left side, Nova has sent another message directly following her last one, asking for further clarification on the situation that’s taking place.

I provide a watered down and brief summary of what had happened to that point. I also state that the only reason anyone from the gc even knew about Madds’ new blog was due to the fact that she had literally mentioned Kiri by name. That Madds’ name was only brought up when Madds herself had done something directly affecting any of us, and that was also the only time Kiri had contacted her, was also brought up.

Nova asks how word got around that Madds remade and I clarify again that it was due to the fact that she had mentioned Kiri by name and everyone who knew put 2 and 2 together.

Nova presses again to know if we’re still worried about her, and I answer by saying that we are just worried about whether she may hurt herself, but no one has checked on her blog recently due to the fact that we don’t want our concern to be taken as “stalking”.

Nova accepts my explanation and then claims that Madds is alright and is “pretty much completely moved on now”, which is exactly the impression we all got from being threatened with legal action (this is sarcasm).

Not wanting to stir any issues between Nova and myself, as the conversation was actually going in a very civil manner, I say that I am glad that Madds is alright after her previous posts.

Nova thanks me for answering the questions and I assume that we are done with That.

However, on the 21st I received the first message on the right side of the screen shot from Nova.

Sunny has stated that she got the same message from Nova. She tried to calmly explain herself and Nova replied by telling her she doesn’t have the right to feel upset, in spite of Sunny’s urging that she didn’t do anything.

Nova notifies me that Madds has followed through with her threat of legal action in the form of contacting an attorney, and has named a handful of us from the group chat that she has accused of stalking and harassing her. She then tells me to pass along the message, which I do.

I write back, asking Nova to tell Madds that none of us have done the things she is accusing us of, and now attempting to prosecute us for, and that I am planning to make a post with every single screen shot of proof we are in possession of proving that she has lied and fabricated every single part of her story she has spread around about us as a response to this anon I am answering right now. I then pass along the promise from the gc that we all plan to fully cooperate if Madds gets an attorney, as we have done nothing wrong. This promise still stands.

Nova starts out by demanding to know how I knew her name, to which I respond that Kiri had told me who she was when I passed her warning of legal action along. I then begin questioning Nova as to what exactly Madds wants from all of this, as it has been literally months, and not only has she not let it go, but she has progressively made the situation worse for every single person involved, and has even dragged people who were never initially involved into it.

To my question, Nova claims that all Madds wanted was “to be left alone”. Nova then states that she remade with the intent of none of us ever finding her again, despite Madds mentioning Kiri by name, and then carries on to imply that it was somehow unthinkable that myself, Kiri, and the rest of the gc had access to Madds’ public blog that well over half of us were never blocked from. Additionally, Nova brings up the fact that Kiri had vented to Sunny about the fact that Madds was still not letting things go between them and was talking shit about all of us without any provocation whatsoever on any of our behalves. Nova also claims that “none of this would have happened if Kiri had just left her blog alone and stopped dragging (people?) into it” despite the fact that Kiri, nor any of us were actively “stalking” Madds’ blog, and we were all trying to stay away from her. Once again: Madds was the one dragging people into this. Nova again reiterates her claim that Madds “just wanted to be left alone and requests for all of us to “let it be over”, which is something we were all very much trying to do before shit hit the fan.

I make it clear that “Izzy blocked Madds as soon as he found out it was her in order to prevent any contact with her. Alex hasn’t been in the gc in forever. Kayden’s only association with this is that he is in the group chat. Kiri only found out about Madds’ new blog due to the fact that Madds kept on vagueing about her” (and blocked her immediately)  and that due to the fact that we are all in the same fandom, it’s not as far fetched at all as Nova, and apparently Madds, are claiming it to be that Madds public blog was found out by us when people notified us of the slander going on.

Nova only says “She’s gone you don’t have to worry about it” in response to my message.

I bring up the fact that Madds is the only one still hung up over everything, and point out that we never talk about her unless she has done something to slander us recently, as we have no reason to. Again, I make it clear that we never did any of the things Madds claims we did and that she has painted herself as the victim in what, in reality, was a victimless disagreement. Lastly, I express exasperation with the situation, stating I don’t know what else Nova wants me to say here.

Nova responds by repeating that Madds is gone, which sounds like she is suggesting she is now dead in order to make us feel guilty. Thanks! Shame on you.

From this point until otherwise noted, it is a collection of accounts from Sunny as well as texts between Kiri and Alex to further back everything up.

Here is Kiri messaging Alex to confirm that Alex has only talked to Madds once, when they had messaged her after the initial disagreement and Madds was receiving anons telling her to kill herself among other things.

This is a quote from a conversation between Sunny and Madds after Sunny found out that Madds had posted threatening to call the cops on us. Screenshots might be able to be retrieved, but the original conversation between the two has been deleted since it took place.

Sunny: whatever you do, I am begging you to leave Izzy out of this. Please think about what the consequences could be about calling the cops on a mentally ill trans black man. Please.

Madds: I don’t care. If he wasn’t involved he should have nothing to worry about. Maybe he should have thought about that.

Here is a screenshot of texts between Kiri and Sunny discussing that Madds had then told the same thing to Sunny that she had said about Izzy:

Sunny has also provided the following statements:

“She (Madds) would often message me to ask how I feel about this stuff and said “don’t you know they hate me for things I didn’t do” and then mock me when I said I was not understanding.”

“(Madds) Suicide baited me when she knows that’ll work to scare me because of my PTSD.” This is in reference to the fact that Sunny’s childhood best friend killed herself and Sunny had confided this information to Madds when they were on friendly terms.

“She sends me this shit whenever I unblock her to tell her to stop posting about y’all, then threatens to delete and/or hurt/kill herself when I don’t feel sorry for her:

“

Sunny has also stated that she received this same exact anon that I am answering right now! That is so interesting and not at all suspicious or questionable!

Now if I can please ask you to recall the anons with the x signing the end of their messages.

This is a screenshot provided by Kiri (Kirious) of an anon an unrelated blog had received while she and Madds were still friends, before the conflict had started.

In this screenshot of the conversation in the group chat, you can see a photo sent by Kiri of that anon, calling blingblingis a “known bully and liar” as well as “literal trash”. The anon then tells the blog to turn off anon if Kiri sends her “minions”, presumably meaning the rest of us in the gc, after them. The message is signed with an “x”. We suspect that this was Madds sending that anon to that blog due to the fact that it is signed with an x just like the ones Madds had gotten.

Also just like the one that Madds’ friend, Nova had received:

(Screen shot taken by me after Nova messaged me yesterday and before Kiri told me who she was. I had visited Nova’s blog trying to figure out who the hell I was talking to)

The common use of the word “minions” is also a very interesting coincidence. Make of those what you will, but it’s clear that it’s likely either Madds herself or someone “doing her bidding for her”. They have censored Kiri’s name out.

Several of the anons that Madds was receiving longer ago, before this mess, that caused Izzy to initially reach out to Madds at the start of their friendship were also tagged with x’s.

Lastly, but still related, here is a screenshot of the group chat when Kiri got anons mentioning her home life, something that she only discussed in the group chat, and therefore, was only known to members of the group. This also took place before November 21st. These anons were sent to Kiri after the unrelated blog got the anon signed with an “x”.

Unfortunately, due to the fact that having to provide a ton of screenshots to clear our names after all this damage Madds did was unforeseen, screenshots of the actual anons do not exist.

If you’ve made it to the very end of this very lengthy post, I want to thank you for the time you took to read it.

Let it be known that this post was made as an attempt to finally put a stop to Maddison doing the exact thing she accused us of doing so persistently: stalking, harassing, threatening, lying, backstabbing, sending violently malicious anons, and bullying people into remaking their blogs.

We do not wish for ANYONE to go after those who have ties to Madds, nor those who got dragged into this or provided us with helpful information, and that is why we have omitted so many names. If those people wish to come forward with their identity, that is up to them and only them.

So, no anon. We did not get what we wanted. Thank you for asking, though. We just want this to stop, it’s been long overdue.

[nightqueendany]

Alright, What About These New Promos/Photos/Putting It All Together?

*Friki leaks mentioned. Read at your own risk*

I’ll be doing this in order of the Episodes (Ep 1 as per the Friki leaks and subsequent Episodes based on my own speculation).

(This is super long and keeps getting longer the more promo photos they give us but I regret nothing!)

~Adding corrections to Ep1 as per the leaks from REDDIT in regards to the premier. I’ll keep my original thoughts and then also add the corrections underneath.

Episode 1

The episode clearly begins with Jon and Dany arriving at Winterfell - this is the “spine” of the Episode, as D&D would call it. It’s the “main event.”

Obligatory shots of Sansa and Arya seeing the dragons for the first time, a child climbing something to see the soldiers marching through Wintertown as callback to Bran in Season 1. Jon and Dany arriving side-by-side, “together” as they said they would. And of course, Varys all bundled up in a wagon.

Jon greets Sansa, probably hoping a hug will defuse some of the tension that is bound to be in the air with him seeing her for the first time since he bent the knee to Dany.

Dany waiting with Jorah a respectful distance away while Jon reunites with his siblings.

Either before or after the Sansa hug, Jon’s got to greet Bran because Bran is seated right next to Sansa (Premier ~ Bran is apparently “cold” to Jon, stone faced, whatever, but why would we be surprised by this?):

So Sansa greets Jon and Dany, tells Dany Winterfell is hers (a custom when greeting and welcoming a royal as Ned did with Robert, not Sansa giving up the castle to Dany or some other bullshit FFS).

(Look at Missandei in the background! Look at her little cloak thingy!) Anyway...

While all this is happening, Davos and Jorah stand back and watch things unfold:

I’m not sure why but I like the team-up of Davos and Jorah. After seeing this photo I’m hoping we get some Davos-Jorah interactions like we got Jorah and Thoros last season. But then again, much of Jorah’s stuff seems to be alongside Dany this season so there may not be time for it.

Then somewhere in this initial greeting and Dany’s arrival in Winterfell, Bran adds fuel to the tension fire:

He gives Jon and Dany the news about the Wall, the Night King, and Viserion. Dany is clearly very affected by this news because Viserion’s death was bad enough, this is so much worse. She has said several times throughout the series, “A dragon is not a slave” and now her son is an undead/unwilling/unwitting accomplice to the Night King’s plans. It’ll be a truly heartbreaking moment for Dany on a number of levels but she won’t have much time at all to process this because:

(premier~was right about Dany having 0 time to process because of the Northern Lord meeting, kudos to me)

After Bran tells them all the news, they call a meeting in the great hall with Jon, Dany, Sansa, Tyrion, and all the rest of the Northern Lords/Ladies. We know this will be a tense meeting. Tyrion says “We have to fight together now, or die” - likely this is after he has told the Northerners about Cersei promising her troops to come fight. 

Apparently, by the way the leaks sound, the Northerners are much more displeased with the fact that Lannister troops are coming North than they were about Jon bending the knee and Dany being their Queen. At least, that’s how all versions of the leaks read to me.

But this makes sense though, as we’ve argued before. Dany has done nothing to these people and she’s there to help. They can see her, physically, in Winterfell, putting her money where her mouth is. Cersei on the other hand, played a direct role in harming members of the Stark family and she’s not present and neither are her troops - yet (even though we know they’re not coming at all). So it’ll be easier for the Northerner’s anger to shift to this queen they already didn’t like and who isn’t there rather than continue to direct their hate toward Dany. Again, Dany’s there, and for Northerners, actions speak louder than words.

(premier~not sure this is exactly how it will go down. I’m pretty pissed about Dany not being able to speak. I don’t think Sansa says anything during the meeting either. Just typical sexist man writing letting the men speak and the women remain silent UGH. Apparently Lyanna Mormont seems “betrayed” by Jon and the anger seems more directed at him than at Dany. This also kind of adds cred to what I’ve said above. Dany isn’t really the problem here. It’s everything surrounding the situation. By Ep2, the Northerners should be glad she’s there, they’re just salty at their former King right now and also salty about the Lannister alliance.

I have to say though, Dany sitting through this shit and listening to these salty as fuck northerners bitch and moan and her having the restraint not to go full on Dragon Queen is impressive. She’s calm. She’s not lashing out. Not telling the Northerners to deal with it and be greatful for her help. She is merely listening to them voice their complaints, as a Queen SHOULD. So TAKE THAT salty anti bitches!)

After the Northern Lord meeting, Tyrion and Sansa chat and Sansa’s concern is: Cersei. As I knew it would be. Again, she’s not really concerned about Dany. If she were, she would just flat out ask Tyrion - hey, do you think my idiot brother bent the knee because he’s getting laid, etc. But she doesn’t. She asks about what she’s been concerned about from the very beginning: Cersei. This I think will foreshadow Sansa’s arc for the season - finding out about Tyrion’s eventual betrayal and then presiding over his trial and execution at the end. All of Sophie’s talk about threats to her family, taking things away that she loves, fighting for what she loves...it all goes back to Cersei. Sophie and Maisie’s words about wanting to finish Arya’s list, Sansa wanting to help Arya finish her list, it all adds weight to this theory. 

(Premier~thinking this might have some romantic undertones with Sansa’s line “I thought you were the smartest man I knew” or something like that. Really sounds like Cersei’s line to Jaime, “I always knew you were the stupidest Lannister” - both Lannister boys being condemned because they are underestimating Cersei. I don’t like it. It takes away from Sansa’s anger. It makes her anger more about Tyrion than it does about Cersei which is again, typical man writing. Make it about the man, not about the actual important thing. It’s as if Sansa is more “disappointed” in Tyrion than she is angry no one is taking Cersei as seriously as she knows they should).

Next up, according to the leaks, Jon and Arya reunite:

Now, first off, Jon is obviously brooding because of the meeting with the Northern Lords. Obviously. It literally is supposed to be Jon’s last scene right before this one so I don’t believe he’s brooding for any other reason. Anyway...

According to leaks, Jon and Arya will compare swords, “stick them with the pointy end”, etc. etc. Arya will be the one to point out to Jon that Sansa doesn’t like Dany and Jon will ask for Arya’s help in getting the two to be civil toward each other.

Now, Maisie’s “thinking with his penis” comments seem to contradict this but she also says that Arya will be on Sansa’s side. So I imagine that IF it comes up, it will not be in this episode. Yes, Sansa later confronts Jon about why he bent the knee, but if there is any talk about “thinking with his penis” it will be well after.

(Premier ~ apparently Jon isn’t brooding at all, he’s just paying respects to the gods...? I suppose that makes sense since he hasn’t had access to a weirwood in months. But I never considered Jon a very devout man especially after his resurrection so this seems odd. Maybe it’s just the leaker’s interpretation).

Further South, Euron will have ferried the Golden Company to King’s Landing to meet with Cersei:

And while she’s watching her fancy new army role up, Qyburn will be giving Cersei the news of the Wall falling, making Cersei even more happy.

Cersei will receive Harry Strickland, LC of the Golden Company, and Euron. In this conversation, since it hasn’t been brought up really in the show, I’m guessing Harry Strickland will remind Cersei about the Golden Company never having gone back on a contract. We kind of need him to say this and remind both Cersei and the audience because to me, it’s inevitable that the GC will switch sides before the end of the War, maybe after the NK comes to KL or something.

As per the leaks, Euron, after this meeting, blackmails Cersei to sleep with him. I’m hoping it’s not as rape-y as that though. I had read a “leak” (more a headcanon theorist as there was no evidence) a while back that said Euron would ask to sleep with Cersei and she would allow him to jerk off in front of her. And that to me just sounds way more them. It still has Cersei in a position of power, Euron is still a creep. But it’s much more consensual and even a little comical. So I’m really hoping we get something similar to that instead of Cersei full on having to have sex with Euron because he’s got leverage over her. But we shall see.

(Premier ~ so there is no actual sex scene but we get Euron putting on his pants after they do the deed or something like that. The way it’s framed, it’s sort of consensual - as consensual as blackmail sex can be. But I don’t think it was as if Euron held Cersei down and forced himself on her. She had a choice - give up her throne or fuck him so she fucked him. Idk, I still don’t really like it, it’s rubbing me the wrong way but it is what it is).

While Cersei and Euron are otherwise occupied though, we know from the leaks that Theon will rescue Yara in this episode:

This is not Euron’s fleet because that ship in the middle is not his Silence. It’s Theon and what’s left of his Iron Born fleet.

Now, SUPER interesting - as per the leaks, once Theon rescues Yara, he supposedly asks to go to Winterfell to help them fight against the dead.

And in the new PROMO, we have someone say “This goes beyond loyalty,” and I can’t, for the life of me you guys, decide whether it’s Jaime or Theon’s voice. It seems to have a slight Northern twang to it, which Alfie does for Theon...but NCW also has a strange accent because he’s Danish so...make of it what you will. The voice that says “This is about survival” seems to be a different voice than the first.

I do however, still firmly believe that we will see Theon and Yara in Winterfell in Ep3 or 4 at the latest. But I’ll get more into that in a minute.

(Premier ~ so this goes down pretty much as simply as worded here. Theon grabs Yara pretty easily - UGH again with the sexist shit. If it was so easy for Theon to rescue her, especially given his fragile state of mind, why couldn’t Yara have escaped herself and Theon show up to like, half the boat murdered and Yara just waiting for him like “What took you so long bro?” Would have been way more satisfying. But yes, Theon tells Yara he’s going North to help - remember he saw the wight in the Dragonpit too - unclear if Yara goes with him)

After Theon and Yara, we’re back at Winterfell with Jon, Dany, and the dragons. I think the way this scene will go is by Dany approaching Jon and adorably telling him she has a “wild idea” or something like that. Jon being Jon will be hesitant at first “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this” but will agree to do it nonetheless.

(Premier ~ I think the above pic with Jon smiling and Dany in awe will be after they’ve landed by the waterfall and he says the “We could live here for a thousand years and no one would ever find us” line. If you ask me, this is pretty fucking romantic and tropey. The way the scene is framed, Jon lands Rhaegal first and Dany and Drogon land beside them. So Jon was clearly looking for a pretty place to dick Dany down in private and so picked the most cliche place he could find - a waterfall. But waterfalls in Iceland are supposed to be fucking beautiful so it should be a really lovely setting at least).

Then, it’s dragon riding time!

I don’t think Dany will fuss around with taking Jon riding on Drogon with her first. I think she’ll introduce Jon and Rhaegal, make sure Rhaegal doesn’t eat him, then Jon will climb on and they’ll fly off right then and there. It’s a short episode. They don’t have time for lengthy introductions unfortunately.

(Premier ~ yep, was right about the no fussing. Dany asks Jon if he would ever ride a dragon, he asks “How does one ride a dragon” and Dany answers “By riding it”. There’s some banter and Jon saying he could fall and die so Dany cheekily answers “Then it was nice knowing you Jon Snow.” To me, this is Dany challenging Jon, like, daring him to get on the dragon and if he did, he’d get a “reward” at the end of it - which clearly, that’s what them landing by the waterfall is all about, they go there to have sex).

This is why I think Davos, Varys, and Tyrion look so astonished in the photo above. They’ve all seen the dragons before and have gotten quite used to them. So why would they be looking so surprised? Because Jon is on Rhaegal. Notice in the first photo above, the clip cuts out right before we see Rhaegal’s back - where a rider might perch. And if you mess with the colors in photoshop, that is Rhaegal, he’s green. So Jon rides him.

(Premier ~ yes, Jon rides a dragon. Was not that hard to put together. More on Davos, Varys and Tyrion in a bit!)

After the dragon riding, Jon and Dany kiss passionately. I firmly believe the above image is after Jon and Dany kiss because Jon still has his hands on Dany’s waist and they look super irritated, as if they’ve been interrupted, but by what, not sure.

(Premier ~ so apparently their faces of irritation are actually directed at the dragons for watching them make out. My post “Trying to make out here, you guys fucking mind?” was on the nose. I think the scene is framed like the dragons know what mom and dad are up to and it’s supposed to be comical).

It’s unclear if Davos, Tyrion, and Varys see their kiss but the leaks say they discuss Jon and Dany, Tyrion saying something like Varys thinks of Dany differently because he doesn’t have a cock - hinting at Tyrion’s feelings for Dany. (Dark!Tyrion emerging!)

(Premier ~ so as Jon and Dany walk away (or as they walk back in afterward - unclear ) Varys and Davos ponder getting Jon and Dany together - I guess like, formal marriage alliance, though don’t know if the word “marriage” is used. But I think this is pretty silly that they didn’t know Jon and Dany were having sex on the boat for a month. Then again, Perhaps Varys and Davos were on a different boat and Tyrion was the only one on the boat with Jon and Dany...? Whatever. So the idea of making Jon and Dany a “formal” thing is brought up. My guess is this won’t be the last time either. This is probably what prompts Tyrion to say Varys thinks of her differently because he has no cock).

One last interaction between Jon and Dany right outside the castle walls, so coming in from their dragon riding/make out sesh. Not sure what they’d be talking about here. Possibly Jon just told a really bad joke and Dany is not amused. IDK why but it totally looks like he’s smiling in that pic of the two of them!

(Premier ~ for your guys viewing pleasure, the whole Reddit comment on the Jon/Dany/dragon/sex fieldtrip:

(One last note about this scene: I love Jon’s line “We could live here for a thousand years...” because it says SO MUCH. 1) he says “we” as in him and Dany so he’s been thinking about living with Dany. 2) he wants his privacy with her, wants to be away from the public eye...maybe hinting that he won’t want to press his claim against her for the throne...? 3) this could be foreshadowing of Jon and Dany’s endgame and right now, with the way the writing is going, I’m not even going to hope for more than this. I don’t care who ends up king or queen, I don’t care about Westerosi politics. Just give me Jon and Dany holed up somewhere, living in peace with their baby. This line also totally gave me “red door” vibes. Goes back to Dany’s book quote in ADWD about Daario, “In her dream they had been man and wife, simple folk who lived a simple life in a tall stone house with a red door. In her dream he had been kissing her all over—her mouth, her neck, her breasts.” It’s what Jon seemingly wants, and it’s what Dany dreams of. Let them be happy!!!)

An Arya/Hound reunion follows, followed by my second favorite ship in the entire series:

Heavy flirting, flustered Arya, “M’Lady.” God, kill me now. My body is ready. Arya fucking deserves some good Gendry dick. Let our girl be young and carefree and comforted for once! I’m ready. I’m so ready.

(Premier ~ Arya apparently draws a design for a weapon for herself and Gendry starts making it for her. Totally Jaime/Brienne/Oathkeeper vibes. You love a woman, you give her a weapon. Though of course, I’m still pissed at her reunion with the Hound. Her being inexplicably angry with him...for being alive...? And him calling her a “bitch” is fucking gross. What the fuck were D&D thinking???)

A Sansa/Jon confrontation in which she asks him if he bent the knee for the North or love and Jon is likely left speechless because, as has been pointed out many times, he doesn’t have to choose between the two with Dany. He loves her and she’s going to save his people.

(Premier ~ Jon apparently “shies” away from answering and again, yeah, that’s Jon Snow. He doesn’t like to talk about his feelings anyway and now he’s being asked by his sister if he basically gave up the North for pussy. Of course he doesn’t fucking want to answer. And as someone recently pointed out - sorry, can’t remember who said it but credit to you! - if Jon were to say “no” he didn’t bend the knee for love, he’d be a liar, and if he said “yes” then he’d seem really dumb in Sansa’s eyes and prove all her thoughts about him being an idiot correct.

Sidenote: if Political!Jon were happening, why the fuck wouldn’t Jon just say it, in this, a private meeting with the woman he supposedly actually loves - and why would he fly off on a dragon to a beautiful waterfall secluded location to dick down the woman he supposedly hates? Fucking idiot antis. Guys, just steer clear of them until this is all over!)

Another intense encounter, this time with Jorah, Sam, and Dany, likely in the library, as we can see all the scrolls and books on the shelves:

Not sure how this will go. Perhaps Jorah will have seen Sam around Winterfell and want to introduce him and Dany. Then, Dany upon learning Sam’s name, will feel compelled to tell him about his father and brother.

As we know from the leaks, Sam will not be upset about his father, but upset about his brother. Don’t know Dany’s exact reaction but Sam apparently does say “thank you for telling me.”

Now, I’m not trying to diminish Sam’s grief. I’m sure he is incredibly upset at learning his brother was sentenced to death and executed by the woman he’s been hearing about for ages. This isn’t a great start for Dany and Sam to get off on but like with most things in GOT, none of our characters are ever given time to process their own grief or anger. Sorry, antis, that’s just a fact. Davos makes a quip in Season 7 about Tyrion burning his son with wildfire for fuckssake. I mean, come on. Jon is resurrected and two episodes later he’s gathering armies for his sister to fight in yet another battle to take back Winterfell. Dany learns about Viserion’s resurrection by the Night King and immediately has to face a bunch of grumpy Northerners who don’t want her there. The show isn’t great with letting our characters just be with their feelings for a while.

So while yes, I know Sam is upset and yes, his anger over his brother’s death will be directed at Dany, he won’t have much time to process this and he won’t have much time to stay mad at her. They have work to do and they have to work together now, whether Sam will want to or not.

(Premier ~ nothing really that I haven’t mentioned above. Seems suspicious that Sam goes from blubbering crying to heading to Jon to “tattle” on Dany and say Jon could be King instead - and he’s apparently not crying in that scene...? Idk, just seems weird and opportunistic. And Sam apparently makes a joke about his Dad’s death before he finds out about Dickon? Idk all around, the writing is just really confusing. Everyone’s emotions are all over the place. And yeah, I’m with several others, I hate that Sam’s “grief” is the lead in to Jon finding out about his parentage. As the Reddit commenter says, in this scene, you’ll stop giving a fuck about Sam because you just want Jon to find out who he really is. And that kind of comment seems really telling to me).

After Sam and Dany’s talk, Sam apparently immediately goes to Jon in the crypts:

Pretty sure this shot of Jon is before the parentage reveal. He doesn’t look upset and he is still wearing his Stark gorget - which he doesn’t wear in the Winterfell battle - you know, a time when it would really come in handy to protect his neck and chest...? So it appears that in the later episodes, Jon takes this off. But more on Jon’s outfits in a little bit.

Now, if this is before the parentage reveal, then I’m sure many people would ask, well, why is he lighting candles on Lyanna’s statue? And the simple answer is, because it’s what the Starks do. Sansa lights a candle at Lyanna’s statue in S5. She tells Baelish that Ned used to do the same thing. It’s just the Stark way of showing respect to their dead relatives. I can’t think of another reason why Jon would be down in the crypts anyway pre-parentage reveal but this is where Sam finds him - as per the leaks. So that’s just what Jon’s doing. Paying respects. And how perfect will it be that he’s standing in front of his mother’s statue completely clueless, only to learn moments after this that she is, in fact, his mother and not his aunt? I think Jon will likely turn back to her statue with an incredulous look on his face and see Lyanna in a whole new light.

Sam tells Jon about Dany burning his brother, tells Jon he’s the true heir, Jon insists Dany is queen now and is the one in charge, he already bent the knee, I think he argues with Sam a little about the parentage thing at first. It’s unclear how this scene will end but it will be the end of the episode.

(Premier ~ so apparently that is not the end of the episode. More in a minute. Apparently Sam tells Jon Dany would do the right thing for the people and bend the knee to him and Jon considers this possibility? Which 1 - weird. But as I stated in a recent ask, this is also another interaction that completely shoots down Political!Jon for those of you nervous-Nellies who have a heart attack every time an anti posts a new meta about it. If Jon were so afraid of Dany and suspicious of her and so distrusting of her that he had to sleep with her to manipulate her to his side, he wouldn’t think “hmm, yeah, maybe she will bend the knee to me as I’m the rightful heir”. He’d be terrified of this information and want Sam to keep it to himself. He would likely guess Dany would want to kill him if he distrusted her so. But he doesn’t distrust her and he apparently thinks she may bend the knee to him. This could be wishful thinking, but perhaps Jon is already considering a marriage alliance with Dany to avoid this drama altogether...? Who knows.

The actual END of the episode is Jaime showing up to Winterfell and locking eyes with Bran. No one else around. Just those two. The end.

Other things not previously mentioned:

Night’s Watch shenanigans. Not sure what goes on with this, if they are at castle black or not. Something with the Umbers - I had a really hard time interpreting this because it was so unclear. Will have to just wait for the actual episode. I think Sansa writers to Ned Umber too...? Fuck if I know.

Also ruins in the Wall at Castle Black...or at Last Hearth. Again, location is unclear. But definitely seems the Night King is trying to send the living a message of some kind, it’s just in an ancient language no one can understand. So this is interesting to say the least.

Also, Qyburn on behalf of Cersei, offers Bronn money to go find Jaime and Tyrion and kill them).

Phew, that was a lot.

Episode 2!

This is where I move heavy into tinfoily theory bits here but I think my guesses are pretty educated! Bear with me!

Episode 2 will open with Cersei alone in bed, Euron likely having left after they did whatever they did the episode before. And this is when Cersei will miscarry.

I have a very specific reason for thinking the episode will open with Cersei’s miscarriage but I will explain that later. Also, I know according to the early S7 script leaks, Cersei’s last 7x07 scene was supposed to be the miscarriage, but I think D&D had very good reason to shift it from S7 to S8.

So far as the rest of the order of the episode, it’s pretty unclear, as is whatever goes on during this episode because we don’t have Friki leaks to go off of anymore. But after Cersei’s miscarriage, I think we’ll head back to Winterfell where Dany will receive Jaime (remember, she’s the reigning monarch here so she would receive newcomers).

It’s going to be a tense meeting.

Because of the Jon parentage reveal the end of the episode prior, I don’t think Jon will be at this meeting. Dany may not even know where he is so it’s just her and Jaime and Tyrion and maybe a few other Team Targaryen folks.

Jaime will let Dany know of Cersei’s betrayal and that he “intends to fight for the living” regardless of what Cersei is doing.

Tyrion will stick up for Jaime, have his back, support him, tell Dany he thinks Jaime is telling the truth and that Jaime’s intentions are pure.

At this point, I don’t think Tyrion has any intention of betraying Dany and the Starks yet. But I think how Dany reacts to the Cersei news may inform Tyrion’s eventual decision to change sides later. Also, everyone please keep in mind Dany doesn’t know Cersei is pregnant (or was) and I don’t think Tyrion will tell her. I think Tyrion will just remind Dany of the dead coming south, Viserion, etc. in order to keep her from flying off for the afternoon to go take care of Cersei. If Tyrion were to tell Dany of Cersei’s pregnancy, she may immediately suspect him of knowing Cersei was lying about coming to help. So he’ll want to keep that information locked up tight.

Now, sometime after Jaime’s arrival and reception by Dany, Tyrion and Jaime will probably have a brotherly conversation, I’m guessing Tyrion will bring up Cersei’s pregnancy, maybe ask how Jaime had the strength to leave Cersei knowing she was pregnant, other things.

Jaime could then go on to have a little reunion with Brienne and may even meet Bran again. (Premier ~ obviously this happened the episode prior and maybe we would just get a continuation of that scene before Jaime meets with Dany). There is also the possibility of another large council with the Northern Lords where they tell them of Cersei’s betrayal - which would further get the heat off Dany’s back and onto Cersei’s. The Northerners will be more motivated after this news to support Dany against Cersei because again, Dany is with them and stuck true to her word, Cersei did not.

Sometime after her meeting with Jaime, Dany will be somewhere...the library? Her chambers...? And Jorah will come talk to her:

He could be telling her any number of things in this scene. They could be talking about Sam and his family, they could be talking about Jon, they could be talking about Jaime. My guess is Jaime and reminding Dany of the right path because, you know, D&D love having men be Dany’s moral compass on the show and telling her right from wrong and what to do. So Jaime seems the most likely topic. I have another alternative theory for this scene but I will get to that later!

Sometime in Episode 2, we may have Theon and Yara en route to Winterfell. Alternatively, we may not get them in this episode at all and they could show up after the battle in Episode 4. More on this later!

I think for the most part, Jon may be fairly absent from Episode 2. Someone joked he’s going to be down in the crypts brooding for several days before someone realizes he’s missing and I don’t think that’s too much of a stretch (k it won’t be days and he’ll resurface to eat and give orders but he may make frequent trips to the crypts besides).

Obviously at some point, Dany will visit Jon in the crypts:

This may be closer to the end of Episode 2 or it may even be the beginning of Episode 3. But as Jon and Dany would have had a romance-filled Episode 1, it doesn’t make sense for that to be put on hold an entire episode so my guess is this is Episode 2.

Dany probably won’t know the truth about Jon when she approaches, she just knows something is wrong, and he will tell her in this scene. Dany will be shocked, I don’t think she will mention “rightful” heir at all unless she offers Jon the throne which he would obviously refuse. I think she would just want to support him in this scene and maybe even have a nice little moment where she throws his words back to him “You don’t have to choose.”

Now, will that be the end of the angst? No. Clearly not. My guess is even when Dany comforts him, Jon will still be torn, especially about the familial thing. They’ll part ways, Dany giving Jon time and space to think. She’ll be upset. He’ll be upset. It’ll be angst central but there will be no animosity between them. Dany may even bring up Rhaegal and why Jon had such an easy time riding him the episode before.

Also in this episode (likely before Dany goes to Jon in the crypts), we’ll get Dany in the library again and she looks happier than she did in her meeting with Jaime (potential meeting with Jaime but I’m like almost 100% sure that’s what it was). It’s been speculated that because of this set photo...:

That Dany is talking to Sansa, because Sophie is in the background. And certainly this new photo of Sansa in the library as well, adds weight to that theory.

However, it seems the library is a new and very frequently used set for this season, so these two photos could be from different scenes. But maybe not! Who knows!

I originally thought that Dany might be talking to Bran and he tells her the “...brought you where you are now. Home,” line. And I still think Bran says this to Dany, not anyone else. But it may not be this library scene or this episode.

So if it is Dany and Sansa in the library, and Dany is smiling, what could they be talking about? Perhaps they talk fashion, Dany commenting on Sansa’s armor, maybe she was even the one to have it made for Sansa, as the style is very much like Dany’s dresses and the Unsullied armor with those shoulders. They could be talking about Cersei and how Dany should have known not to trust her and they could bond over that. Whatever they talk about, it’s not going to be a terrible conversation, clearly Dany is smiling and she seems enthusiastic about something.

Prior to the potential Dany-Sansa library conversation, we could have a Sansa-Arya conversation, talking about maybe trying to be nice to Dany, listen to her, get to know her before they judge her, etc. The fact that Sansa will know by now that Cersei has betrayed them (because Jaime’s told them), and however Dany reacts to that, may endear Sansa to Dany a little bit. If Sansa was worried about Cersei in the beginning, and Dany has been worried about Cersei, I really feel like this could be their connection, and Dany’s connection to Arya as well.

At this point, I don’t think the Stark girls will find out about RLJ in Ep2. If they find out at all! It’s a private conversation between Sam and Jon, not a whole family affair. So who Jon decides to tell - we have to remember he’s broody. This isn’t something he’ll want to broadcast. So if/when the Stark girls find out about RLJ is very unclear.

And lastly, the end of the Episode. And my alternate theory as to what Dany and Jorah are talking about in this scene:

In these scenes, Dany looks tired, wary, possibly upset, maybe not feeling well...you guys see where I’m going with this??

If the episode begins with Cersei’s miscarriage (I know, that’s just my speculation as well but...), it would make so much sense if the episode ended with...Dany finding out she’s pregnant.

She’s just found out her lover is her nephew, Jon’s being distant and broody, Jaime just dropped the Cersei bomb, shit’s about to hit the fan...and Dany’s knocked up! It would make so much sense for them to order the episode this way.

Episode 1 will end with a bombshell revelation for Jon. (premier ~ well, pretty much almost ends with the bombshell revelation for Jon).

And Episode 2 will end with a bombshell revelation for Dany.

Two things that have plagued both of their stories from the beginning - Jon’s mother’s identity, Dany’s infertility. Both things coming at them one after the other.

So if Dany has just found that out, Jorah may have overheard, maybe ask Dany if she wants to talk about it, maybe ask her what’s up with her and Jon as he’s noticed they’re distant lately, and Dany’s just significantly overwhelmed.

Regardless of whether the Jorah scene also involves the pregnancy reveal, I still think this is how Episode 2 will end.

I know I left out lots of characters and potential interactions, but I just wanted to get down those that I felt more sure about and cover the big events. Obviously smaller interactions can and will be taking place this episode too.

Episode 3

THE BATTLE FOR WINTERFELL!!!

This episode is going to be balls to the walls from beginning to end. I am guessing the episode will open with Bran, seeing the Night King just a short distance a way, maybe a day away, and so everyone needs to hall ass and get ready.

Most of the episode will likely take place in the dark, at night.

This Sansa pic is probably the night of the battle or the night before while everyone is prepping. Shit hasn’t started happening yet which is why she’s still outside, but it will very very soon. Likewise this pic of Jon:

Now, sidenote on this photo. My fave youtube girl mentioned this in her VIDEO that she put out recently but even before she pointed it out, I had noticed it too. What is Jon wearing? I would say this is Longclaw, but it appears to be silver, not white. It could be nothing, but if someone else noticed it aside from me, then maybe not. You guys let me know if you noticed this broach looking thing on Jon’s chest or not. But regardless, Jon is, yet again, not wearing the Stark gorget.

Somewhere in here, I think is when Jon and Sam have their conversation. “Think back to where we started.” “Now it’s just us.” BUT, the conversation will get interrupted by three horn blasts. Winter is HERE.

That’s likely Sam’s face at hearing the horn blasts. Bran is unfazed because of course he is.

And now shit goes down:

(I’m gonna hate this episode for the simple fact that I WON’T BE ABLE TO SEE A DAMN THING!!!)

Missandei and Grey Worm have their (hopefully not) last kiss. Then Grey Worm puts on his “bitches bout to die...again” face.

Everyone runs outside the castle walls to line up:

(Notice in the above, there isn’t any fire yet so likely, this is right before the battle)

Jorah and the Dothraki get in position (and apparently that’s Ghost behind Jorah - can see his outline by Jorah’s shoulder - side note, where the FUCK is all my Ghost promo content???!!!):

Brienne, Pod, and the Knights of the Vale get ready:

Meanwhile in the crypts, Varys, Gilly and Baby Sam, and a few other non-fighters sit fearfully:

And then all seven hells break loose:

Sandor and Beric are in the fray (I think this moment is Sandor’s realization that he was always meant to fight with fire, not against it. Goes back to Rory’s words about Sandor finding “peace” serving Dany. He’s already seen her save people with the dragons and fire once, himself included, so he’s having an epiphany here. The fire will save him again, rather than harm him and I think we’ll see him light up his sword blood-magic style like Beric. I really hope we get some shots of him and Arya fighting side by side, him protecting her (though she doesn’t really need it) surrogate-dad style.

Jon’s running around on the ground, chopping wights and Walkers down. Still he’s not wearing anything thicker or more protective than his leathers. Then again, it might be easier for him to move around, I dunno. But he’s doing his thing.

Someone is chopping down wights on the battlements and at first I thought this was Brienne...but she and Pod were on the ground with the Knights of the Vale. They could have moved as it appears Pod winds up fighting next to Jaime on the battlements. But I think the person above might be...

The nose certainly looks like Alfie’s nose and the person appears to have chin stubble. Could be Theon, could not be Theon. I’m praying it is. I want to see Theon in the Battle for Winterfell being a bad ass sooooo bad! But if he’s not here, I do have some speculations as to what he might be up too...more later!

Jaime and Pod are doing stuff:

I’m convinced Jaime is calling “Bronn” in this scene and if Jaime looks this horrified, Bronn may have just bit it. I really hope not but of course, there will be many casualties in this episode so I can’t get too attached to anyone!

Arya’s fucking shit up while wights clamber over the battlements, those dragonglass spikes apparently doing nothing to deter them:

...and then something goes wrong. It could be one big thing, it could be lots of little things. But something goes wrong in the battle and for our heroes. Obviously we know Winterfell falls. Get it? Winter. Fell. It has to. Not a pleasant thought, but the Night King will triumph in this battle. He will not be defeated and everyone will be forced to flee south.

As to the logistics of how people get out of Winterfell and how the Night King still moves south, I don’t know. I think somehow Arya is going to lure some of the army of the dead through Winterfell, maybe to some kind of trap, while everyone else escapes through the crypts or secret tunnels or something. Why Arya? Because she’s quick and small and knows the castle better than most. But I could be wrong.

Whatever happens with this, again, Winterfell will fall and survivors will have narrowly escaped. The Night King will head south and our heroes will have to regroup. This episode will not end on a happy note.

Casualties in the Battle for Winterfell?

Jorah - this is almost a guarantee. With us having so much Jorah/Dany content for the first few episodes, it makes sense Jorah will die in 8x03.

Possibly Brienne - she could die saving Jaime (cuz he can’t defend himself as well as he usually is able). She’ll die defending a Lannister, a play on what she said to Catelyn in S2 when Jaime was the Starks’ prisoner.

Ghost - Come on, this has to happen. I’m gonna hate it, but they’re not gonna keep him around to ferry him to Dragonstone. He’s of the North, as book!Jon says. He belongs to the North. He will die in the North.

Bronn - already stated this. Though he may live...more later!

Maybe Rhaegal? Perhaps that is why Jon ends up on the ground, he was riding Rhaegal but then gets taken down and Rhaegal dies, forcing Jon to fight on foot.

I want to say Jaime could die in this episode too but I don’t know about that inadvertent NCW leak-lawsuit business. Is he in all 6 episodes? Is he just paid for all 6 because of an old contract agreement even if he doesn’t appear in them? Don’t know. I would guess though that he dies here.

Some minor characters: Royce, Glover, Lyanna Mormont, maybe? Maybe not all of them, but some of them.

Everyone else should make it to Dragonstone.

Episodes 4/5

Now, we know via this scene of Jon/Dany, that they wind up at Dragonstone after the Battle of Winterfell:

BUT HOW DO THEY GET THERE...??

I know I kept mentioning it but now I finally get to voice my theory...:

Theon and Yara will either show up before or right after the battle at Winterfell. I think because it’s the most logical location, they’ll park the ships in Torrhen’s Square so it’s an easy getaway for our heroes. White Harbor just seems too far away for them to travel to and they can’t really go by foot because they’d be marching behind the Night King so that would be weird. But I could be wrong on the location. Regardless, Theon and Yara will likely be the ones to ferry everyone to the safety of Dragonstone. Everyone’s armies - Night King’s and Jon/Dany’s, will have faced some very heavy loses.

Now, with everyone at Dragonstone, it’s a SUPER convenient location for shenanigans on all sides of the war.

I’ve mentioned in other posts and asks the possibility of an Arya/Sansa teamup to take down Cersei - Cleganebowl totally could play into this as well as Sandor loves both girls and would want to help them and also “cross a name off his list” along with Arya. This could be before or after the Night King is finally defeated, it’s unclear. My guess is after but once everyone is in the south, it’s going to pretty much be a free-for-all.

Another possibility is a Dany kidnapping. I’ve brought this up a few times and no, if you’ve been watching my other posts, it has nothing to do with stealing Jonsa theories. It also has nothing to do with Jonerys and Cersei for some reason trying to lure Jon in to capture him or something - it would just be a showdown between Dany and Cersei because as per Lena’s comments on the Dragonpit meeting last season, Cersei believes Dany to be the YMBQ and I have seen no reason to question that.

Another potential plot is definitely the Tyrion betrayal and how it will all go down, what will start it, etc. I *think* Tyrion’s betrayal will be triggered by a Jon/Dany betrayal of him first, otherwise I see no reason Tyrion would jump sides just because he’s in love with Dany. It really would be an insult to his character if it’s all because of jealousy...I would actually HATE that. I kind of want Jon and Dany to betray him first, but how, not sure.

That could be what Jon and Dany are discussing here:

I think by this point, after fighting and losing the battle at Winterfell, the parentage reveal will be a non-issue for them. They can’t still be angsting over that bullshit when they’ve literally just lost the thousands of people, some close friends likely included.

We know from Friki’s leaks that Tyrion says in his trial, “They deserved it.” Some people think he’s talking about Tyrion blowing up King’s Landing but he also could be referencing his betrayal of Jon and Dany - Jon and Dany “deserved” Tyrion betraying them because they betrayed him first. To me, this makes much more sense.

After all, what would the people of King’s Landing do to Tyrion in Season 8 that would cause him to be so cynical as to retaliate? Seriously, that just doesn’t make sense. “They deserved it” to me, sounds way more personal. As in someone close to Tyrion betrayed him. And as Peter Dinklage said in one of his interviews, it’s tough for Tyrion because he loves both Jon and Dany. So a betrayal from them would hit Tyrion really hard.

This could go back to Dany’s pregnancy though how, I’m not sure. By 8x05, Jon should know that Dany is pregnant. It could also have something to do with Cersei’s pregnancy. If Jaime believes he’ll die in the battle at Winterfell, what if he has a private conversation with Dany beforehand like “Please protect my child, don’t kill Cersei, keep her prisoner if you must but please don’t kill her.” If something like this happened, Dany could guess Tyrion knew about Cersei’s pregnancy as well and that Tyrion was holding back information from her for the benefit of his family. Dany could see this as a betrayal from Tyrion, everything she accused him of on the beach back in 7x04 would have been proven correct.

As to how Jon and Dany potentially betray Tyrion...perhaps it happened before Dragonstone. Maybe they couldn’t find Tyrion after the Winterfell battle and so left without him...? I’m not sure. Maybe they negotiate a deal with Cersei to trade Tyrion for...something? Maybe they just plot against Cersei, plot to kill her to get the Golden Company off their backs, and Tyrion is finally done choosing Jon/Dany over his family - believing Cersei is pregnant would certainly inform his decision on this.

As to how Tyrion could betray Jon/Dany, this could come about in a number of ways as well. But I definitely think it will be a betrayal of both Jon and Daenerys - or else why would Peter Dinklage have said that thing about loving both of them?

One thing is for sure: Tyrion will betray them, he will get caught - my guess is Sansa and Arya will figure this out (oh maybe they will figure it out when they’re plotting against Cersei, perhaps they will find something out Tyrion didn’t want anyone to know...), and Tyrion will be executed for his crimes.

I believe this image is definitely of Tyrion’s trial. He appears to be standing on sand or dirt, not snow, it’s sunny-ish (I could be wrong). But it’s my best guess.

Other wardrobe guesses...

Dany’s Dragonstone dress was her Wintefell battle dress. It likely will be right after they arrive - yes, yes, I know, the timing, the timing, but when has that mattered in recent seasons?

The dress that Daenerys wears for the majority of the rest of her time on Dragonstone/in the South, I believe will be this one:

It’s a lighter material, suede not fur. It makes sense.

Sansa’s scale dress:

...I think will be the dress she wears for Tyrion’s trial. It’s very remniscent of this classic Tully look:

And we know from previous seasons, that when Sansa wants to channel inner strength in difficult times, she takes from her Tully side more than her Stark side - her wedding to Ramsay and having the two Tully fish pins being a classic example.

And, granted Tyrion’s first trial was conducted by Sansa’s Tully mother, it would make SO MUCH sense for her to channel Cat as she’s doing something similar - putting Tyrion on trial.

I think for Tyrion’s trial there may be a lot of callbacks to both of Tyrion’s previous trials, his trail in the Vale and his trial in King’s Landing. Robin Arryn is allegedly there. Davos, Arya, Bran, Sam - I think, and several others.

Tyrion will likely have a speech remniscent of his “I’m guilty of being a dwarf” speech. Regardless of what all is said and what all Tyrion’s charges are, I strongly believe he will die at the end (or near end) of this episode.

Aaaannnddd...that’s all I got! Let me know what you guys think. If you reblog, please reblog with the cut because this is fucking obnoxiously long. If you reblog with an obnoxiously long reply, either use a cut or simply make your own post and link it in your reblog to better fascilitate discussion (I say this like you guys are actualy reading this, in reality, this will likely get like, 16 notes at best because it took so damn long lol).

[stormbornspawn]

Winterfell - Season 8, Episode 1 Review

My thoughts on every (I think every? let me know if I missed any) scene from the Season 8 premiere episode.

Arrival - there was nothing wrong with this scene at all. Everything about it was expected. The northerners being apprehensive is exactly what I anticipated. Give it up for Jon and Dany looking regal AF in this scene. Good lord. Arya watching this whole scene play out was really great as a call back to season 1. Love the proud mama look from Dany as her babies fly overhead and scare the living shit out of everyone below. And did you notice her hair is in the shape of a heart? Tyrion and Varys banter is always welcomed and encouraged.

Winterfell courtyard - frosty is the only word that really feels right here. Dany’s trying to make a good impression and doesn’t get pressed when nobody kneels. Jon bent the knee - they should be on their knees, but no worries. She’s gonna overlook that cuz it’s her boo-thang’s family. All in good time. Bran coming up with the - we have no time for this - and dropping the Viserion bomb was way too rushed. This is the first issue I have with this episode. Dany’s dragons are often referred to as her children, yet hearing that one of them has been enslaved is completely glossed over and cut to next scene. This should have been a much bigger deal. Not just for Dany, but for everyone. Jon should have needed to take her somewhere to console her...you know, somewhere private...

The Great Hall - how many times does JOn have to remind these people that they are going to die without Dany’s help? Do they not believe him? I realize there are only a few people that have actually seen the army of the dead, but come on. I don’t expect anyone to be swearing fealty to Dany at this point, but a modicum of appreciation would be nice. She abandoned her campaign for this war and lost a dragon. Why did nobody bring this up? Lyanna Mormont needs to sit down - she almost called Jon a bastard and I was about to come up out of my chair. Sansa whinging about food - like, you knew they were coming and you are just now concerned about this? Dany holding her composure through that took some serious control. Her little clap back was good - whatever they want - that’s right, because they’re goddam dragons. I did like that Jon and Dany seemed to inch closer and closer to each other throughout the scene and the little look while Tyrion was talking was cute. Tyrion was well-intentioned, but they still won’t listen.

Sansa and Tyrion - I was waiting for this reunion and it did not disappoint. I would have liked to see Tyrion quell some of Sansa’s concerns as it relates to Dany. I was a tad concerned about the side eye that Bran was giving Tyrion at the end. Bran knows some things, so I’m curious what goods he has on Tyrion.

Jon & Arya - LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I was prepared to be underwhelmed here, but her jumping into Jon’s arms was everything I needed. The talk about family and Sansa being the smartest person Arya knows - yeah, didn’t see Arya siding with Sansa over Jon, but I get it. How is that dynamic of supporting family going to play out when it’s public knowledge that Jon is not their brother, but a cousin? I was also a little miffed that nobody brought up Littlefinger and that Dany and Arya were not formally introduced.

Euron/Yara/Cersei/Theon/GC - This whole segment of the show was just okay for me. I didn’t care for the dialogue. I love Pilou as an actor, but some of his lines were just cringe - I’m gonna put a prince in your belly. Like, wtf? I kind of felt a little bad for Cersei (well, not really) that she had to sleep with him and Lena brought the power in the after math of that scene. She’s brilliant and it will be the travesty of the year if she doesn’t finally get her Emmy. Theon finally rescuing Yara and making the decision to go and fight for the Starks - let’s get that ball rolling...even though I really enjoy Yara, I don’t think we will see her until way later in the season. The GC - and no elephants - wtf? Well, whatever...I would have rather had Ghost - and that’s the second big thing wrong with this episode. There was plenty of time.

Bronn - why? Completely unnecessary to have all the tits and ass in this episode. I know it’s classic GOT, but we are all over that element, I think, and it could have easily been him in a brothel and Qyburn comes to see him without all that sexposition. I don’t like the crossbow thing especially with all the talk about Dany getting hit with an arrow or a well-placed bolt.

Davos/Tyrion/Varys - can we give it up for Davos finally speaking the truth - Dany is a just woman and Jon is an honorable man - yes, please. Get married, make babies, and save the realm. Why Varys and Tyrion weren’t all over that - I don’t know. Tyrion wasn’t completely opposed to it, but Varys seemed rather extra cynical just then.

Jon & Dany - a lot to break down in this scene. Dany knows Sansa hates her and is really concerned that if she can’t even get her to respect her than the north is not going to fall in line either - that’s my interpretation of the scene. Jon saying that Sansa didn’t like them when they were growing up either was cute. Now, why in the hell are my baby dragons not eating? They hate the north? Or maybe, just maybe, they can sense that their momma isnt quite welcome there and they are feeling that emotion. I am shook that Jon got to ride the dragon (well, another one ;)) before learning about his Targ history. I saw this scene as Dany really letting him know, babe, I love you and I am willing to let you babysit my kids if needed. That 1000 years comment is coming back around again for sure. That waterfall and smooching scene was not for me - I ship them and know they are in love - that scene was for anyone that didn’t really pay attention in season 7 or read any interviews from anyone ever to just solidify that they are truly in love. Okay - it was for me too - I’m on my 3,487th rewatch. My prediction for why the dragons are acting funny - they know momma is carrying that man’s baby and they are overprotective. @me

Jon & Sansa - Sansa, why? All these two do is argue and it’s starting to piss me off. She says she trusts Jon and has faith in him, but then doesn’t trust Jon and has no faith in his decisions. They needed Dany and her armies and dragons and he got her to come there. This is why he left in the first place. She does have a valid question though - did you bend the knee for the north or because you love her? It’s a legit question, JON!! Answer. It’s both. That is the big theme of this season - love versus duty - and Jon can do both and will need to balance them both.

Arya/Gendry/Hound - the Hound and Arya was hysterical and I love the banter between Arya and Gendry. It’s like they picked up right where they left off. Can’t wait to see where this goes.

Dany/Sam/Jorah - This is tough for me. I am a Dany stan through and through, but I did not agree with her decision to burn the Tarly’s. At least not both of them. I do find it hypocritical when people chastise her for something that men have done for ages and hold her to a different standard though. I didn’t care for what she did, but I understand it. Sam’s reaction was expected and I do feel very sorry for him. I wish Dany had exhibited a little bit of remorse. Even if she wasn’t sorry, knowing he is JOn’s best friend, should have made her say - I’m so sorry. Just something.

The Reveal - I hated everything about this. Sam didn’t tell Jon as a friend. He told him in a fit of rage to try and turn Jon against Dany. I’m not okay with this. Jon wasn’t having it either. Jon executed Janos Slynt for much less. And Sam is the same person who told Jon they needed Roose BOlton’s help after the Red Wedding and told Olly to forget about his family being slaughtered by the Wildings. It’s a bit different when it’s your own family, but double standards much? Jon wasn’t having it, so I’m good with that - he’s still gonna have some words with his queen later. The reveal pissed me off because I think Sam should have come at it from a place of tenderness and instead it was bitterness about Dany and this news is gonna fuck her up. He doesn’t know they are together and he doesn’t really know her. I was pissed AF with the line - you gave up your crown for your people - would she do the same? Okay - when is someone going to bring up the fact that Jon bent the knee AFTER she agreed to fight for the north? And, please - she abandoned her fight for King’s Landing to turn her armies north and help fight. So, yeah, she would. This was the scene I was most disappointed with. John and Kit did a great job, but the writing was atrocious. All I can see is that they are setting this episode up to carry all the angst forward until the Night King is knocking on their door and then - just as Jon said - it won’t matter.

Umber - what the actual fuck? But I’m glad to see Tormund, Beric, and Edd.

Jaime/Bran - he’s waiting for an old friend!! GAAAHHHH!! I can’t wait to see the shit storm that his presence is going to bring in episode 2. That preview got my dragon momma heated.

Overall, I’d give the episode a 7/10. It was definitely not the strongest episode in the series and I blame that on choppy transitions and weird almost campy dialogue. Episode two better bring a little more grounding to the show, because I was not overly impressed with those 54 minutes. There were some great things that happened - dragon date, arrival, reunions, and how much was my girl Dany smiling this episode?? I’ve never seen her smile this much in seven seasons. Guess a good dicking down and falling in love will do that to you. The dialogue and lack of timeline really killed it for me though. As well as the glossing over of what I thought were really important storylines.

Let me know if you want to discuss.

[socialismformilfs]

Mutual appreciation post

So a lot of people did one so here I am hoes

@jungkooksbuttons Hafsa there is no word to describe how much you mean to me, for real I could write a novel about how I feel about you but I’m sure you already know that with all the paragraphs I sent you mon cœur lol: did you know you’re the only person in my life that I wrote paragraphs for? That’s how much you mean to me. I don’t know you’re just amazing and you inspire me to try harder because I know that even if times get harder for both of us we got each back’s and i don’t plan on giving up now that i found you my other half: you’re so damn amazing like I can’t put it into words but you’re funny, pretty, thoughtful and I feel so comfortable with you?? It’s like we can do and say everything to each other without judgment and that’s something I never done before with anyone else but you, i also love how we’re both crackheads and we can talk for hours about nothing but still have fun somehow. Seriously you became such an important part of my life, I actually didn’t expect that when I first joined the gc but now I realized that was the best decision I made this year because I got to meet you. I have so much to say but I’m going to stop now because it’s not a Hafsa appreciation post djjdj seriously babe I love everything about you: your qualities and your flaws and nothing will ever change that

@bloomingjiminie I have so much to say about you didi oml i don’t even know where to start, you were the first person that talked to me in the gc and we got along so well?? I was chocked because I usually get hated easily lol but no with you, it was so easy it’s like you have a power to make people feel comfortable talking to you and that’s amazing, you’re amazing. Honestly I was a bit sad when we stopped talking for a while but then we did our gc and BAAM you became one of my closest friends and soulmate. I’m so glad I honestly made this gc because it brought me closer to you and the others. You’re an incredible writer and I have the best ideas with you and joking around with you is so easy because you have a great sense of humor so I’m not scared to say the dumbest things to you because I know you’ll end up saying dumb stuff too. You also know when to stop joking around and being caring to me when I feel upset and that means a lot. I love you chicken to my frog legs even if you clown me but it’s fair because I clown you too lmaoo

@chen-stans-are-the-best KERI you living legend and my partner in crimes, you’re so damn cool like everything about you is wow, you’re so sweet and loving but at the same time we know we can count on you if we’re in trouble to defend us. You laugh and put up with my dumbass like no one else and that means a whole lot because I know that it doesn’t make everyone laugh like it does with you and I tend to be annoying. I know we tease you a lot about you driving for example but you never get mad and that’s nice to know I can joke around without making you upset. Also you’re a genius, the ideas you create and the evil plan we did once was hilarious and wonderful to do with you. You’re a cutie (even if you say you’re not) and I love talking to you my soul sister because I know you’re here to listen if necessary. Even if I’m bad at expressing how I feel, I want you to know that I won’t leave this gc even if I get banned somehow because you guys became my family and you’re dear to me Keri, I love you (I wanted to make it dark purple cause it’s your favorite color but I don’t know if it’s dark enough lol)

@little-bunny-jungkookie Rae the queen of moodboards and my close friend, honestly you’re so friendly and creative and kind to me, I’m honored?? You’re an angel and I’m not joking even if you may disagree and I’m so happy you consider me as your friend. I know I can talk to you about serious situations without hesitation and go to you anytime to ask you for some advices and I’m forever grateful for that. You might have joined recently but it’s like we’ve been friends for a long time and I can talk to you in vc or send you random pics without thinking about it twice because you have such a comforting and peaceful presence for me, I know I can trust you. You may have flaws but know that it doesn’t make you less of a good person because your qualities have more impact on others than your flaws and your feelings are valid no matter what anyone say. You’re a great person and friend to me and I love you very much Rae and sorry I pronounced your name wrong at first djdj

@seokjinownsmyass My bro Mina, you’re so talented with what you write and we have so many moments together like the time we were teasing Simon and Dee about their “platonic” relationship was iconic or the whole thread we did with the « 🌚🌝 ». I love listening to you rant because that’s so cute (Raena is thriving) and it makes me feel closer to you, I’m happy you’re my bro and I know I joke around a lot and tease you but you’re really an important friend to me and I miss you a lot when we don’t talk. I care about you Mina and I’ll fight you if you doubt yourself because I love you so does Rae and others and you and your memes are the best so don’t ever think for a second that we’ll stop loving you bro because that won’t happen, I’m stubborn af after all. I hope you’ll join the vc soon tho I want to hear you voice Mina jkjk you don’t have to if you don’t want to

@killcomet Starlight, you’re so precious I literally can’t, you always tag me in cute things and I just melt because that’s how adorable you are and I appreciate it because it feels like you’re thinking about me even if we’re not talking that much lately so it makes me feel better and your voice is beautiful, I could listen to it for hours. You may say you’re annoying but that’s not the case hon: your flaws, your insecurities, your doubts, everything about you matters to me and don’t ever hesitate to text me because you might believe you’re annoying, personally it makes me happy to know I can be here for you and I’m always here if you want to talk Drew. I may not be physically present but I still will do my best to help you in any way. I love you and talking to you until 5 am was goal (Simon was here but he kept leaving so technically it was just the two of us dhdh)

@lofisapphic Bee omg you’re so fun to talk to you because we do so many icon things together first it started with the Simon protection club then the crush squad and finally the pickup lines war, I can’t I’m actually screaming everytime you send a pickup line to me jdjdjd im still surprised honestly we haven’t been banned but I’m not complaining. Also you’re so pretty like stop sis that’s not fair and you’re great because even if we have different opinions sometimes, we still respect each other and you’re very mature and respectful on a lot of subjects and that’s impressive, i stan. Anyway I love you and your gay panicking ass

@puppieseokie fay sis you’re iconic seriously, l miss you ranting about your girlfriend on the gc and I was kind of sad when you and bee left but it’s understandable. Your mind is a gift from the god seriously: you love hoseok and bts, you ship shrek and Yoongi and you’re a gay legend. I respect you ma’am and if you have cute moments with your gf, don’t hesitate to talk to me about it~

@simonbunnyjunior SIMON my French talking little bro, you’re the kinkiest person I met in a while but that’s goal honestly. You’re kind af and you do your best to help and make everyone feel better. You’re shameless but at the same time you’re still respectful so i live for that. ALSO the nickname you gave me is so fucking cute, I’m screaming. I admire you for not giving up even tho things are hard for you sometimes and I hope you know you can talk to me anytime if you feel like things are getting too difficult for you to handle. Love you

@bangtansoftboys Robin it’s been a while since the last time you were in the gc, I hope you’re okay and I hope you know that we’re joking when we’re teasing you because we’re crackheads anyway love you cute king~

@sundaetae Dee I own you a lot honestly because without you I wouldn’t have joined this gc so thank you so much and you were the first person I directly ever talked to so I think it’s cause of you I was able to not be shy anymore and I’m grateful for that Dee love u sis

@diamondjoonie Andrea hello~ i know we interacted like once but you sound like a great person to hang out with because the only time we talked we did memes and I wasn’t feeling awkward talking to you so if you ever feel like chatting again, don’t hesitate to message me

@busted-aesthetic MEL you’re so cool seriously, I know we just started talking recently but you’re so funny and you have like an aura that says don’t fuck with me cause I’ll hunt you down djjd talking to you until 6 am with mon cœur was hilarious especially when you guys started teaching me how to pronounce things correctly, iconic. Anyway I hope things get better and love you queen

@kingdomzeldaquest LOTTe my murderer and non-existent friend, I love our inside jokes that we had because now we can confuse others for no reason and that’s goal. You’re funny af and talking to you is nice because you’re an intellectual and your taste in music is great. Love you and don’t get arrested lmaoo

@spraklecrackle Thomas heyyyy i remember talking to you once? When we created the « Simon protection club » and you were super nice and you join the club so you’re a legend. We should talk sometimes and I saw you’re French too so hell yes French squad

@alien-the-magician Yasemin you’re so djdjjd literally you join the gc once in a year but everytime you’re here it’s hilarious for example the Dracula is your ancestor thing and when you were drunk lmaooo I love you and your drunk ass

@justramblingaboutthings HEYYY Raquel how are you? It’s been a while since I saw you, I miss screaming about Dia’s talent with you. Take care of yourself and hope you’re okay

[sheikah]

In the books wasn’t there 3 treasons, and one of them was a treason of love or something? Maybe daario will be danys final treason? I guess it could happen but honestly daario and Cersei just sounds odd to me. Even if he’s bitter and wants revenge, he knows exactly what dany is capable of and knows he’d be on the losing end.

Hey, anon. I’m going to use this ask to make a post about all of these “leaks” in general. Hope you don’t mind. The supposed leaks can be read here. More of my answer under the cut. 

Yes–in Dany’s book visit to HOTU she is warned of three treasons and one is “for love.”

Because of that, I agree that the idea of Daario working against her to be possible. But if I’m really analyzing it, I think that Daario leading the Golden Company would be the betrayal for gold–because he would be getting paid by Cersei/Euron/The Iron Bank, and I don’t think he would fight Dany “for love” of Cersei. It doesn’t add up. And I also don’t believe Daario was genuinely in love with Dany, so I can’t see his alliance with Cersei as like a spurned lover’s revenge. 

So to answer your question, Daario could be the final treason. But I think he fits better into the treason for gold than for love. 

Anyway, I also agree that it seems odd for this Daario plotline to be legitimate at all. So I’m going to address first the reasons I think the “leaks” are suspect. 

1. Tyrion and Varys are not mentioned. To be fair to OP, OP claims to only know details of episode 1 via a conversation with a source, and a few scattered details about the rest of the season thereafter. So possibly episode 1 is not heavy on Tyrion or Varys activity. However, OP didn’t mention this (at least not at the time that I read the leaks. He/she could have edited. I haven’t checked) which tells me Tyrion and Varys slipped their mind, which tells me that they just made up this episode plot and left them out. Say what you will about D&D and their flaws this past season, but Tyrion would be part of an episode they wrote in which everyone gets to Winterfell. He’s a mediator and would certainly be involved in the Jon parentage conflict, as well as some sort of interaction with Sansa at the very least. Tyrion is one of the big 5. He’s going to be around. 

2. The way OP described certain parts of the plot sounds “fanficy.” For example, they are vague and not very detailed when it comes to several plotlines, but they described in great detail how Jon supposedly kisses the tears away from Dany’s face when she cries about the Night King taking over Viserion. 

It also sounds overly cheesy and oddly detailed that Jon tells Arya that seeing her again feels better than coming back from the dead. Not to mention that Jon didn’t seem to enjoy the feeling of coming back from the dead at all. 

3. Certain parts of this don’t make sense considering what we know of last season. My understanding of the final shots of 7.07 is that Bran used ravens to spy on the Night King again, and that he was able to see the Night King riding Viserion and blowing a hole in The Wall near Eastwatch. You can see the scene again here. 

Based on this, the leaker’s claim that the season opens with Bran seeing this seems a little odd. We should believe that Bran already saw it, and instead begin the season by dealing with the aftermath. With only 6 episodes left, I can’t see a re-hash of this scene, a scene which already delivered its emotional payload and would be a weak opening for the final season imo. 

Furthermore, the leaker claims this revelation disturbs Bran and that he is so bothered by it, he is distracted and doesn’t address Jon’s parentage with him right away when Jon returns to Winterfell. I can see why from a writing perspective they would hold off on this revelation for tension, but it shouldn’t be because of Bran’s supposed emotional turmoil. Season 7 did its best to convince us that Bran no longer experiences emotional turmoil. This would be very inconsistent. 

4. Why would Jaime swear his sword to Dany upon arriving at Winterfell? We already know that Dany has abandoned the mentality of demanding oaths of fealty considering all that is going on, so we must assume Jaime does this of his own volition. But it doesn’t make sense. Jaime is disillusioned about Cersei, yes. But disliking Cersei does not equal respect for Dany. Jaime tried to murder her in 7.04. I’m not sure he’s going to be kneeling to her any time soon. His oath is to help in the war against the WW. That doesn’t require an oath to Dany personally. 

5. Speaking of Jaime, I think his death is more likely than Brienne’s. I see Jaime finally redeeming himself as “Kingslayer” by possibly slaying the Night King himself and maybe dying in the process. I know this is a long shot but I would love for him to be the one to deliver the final blow to NK as the true Kingslayer and one the realm would remember fondly forever. I do think it’s likely the Jaime/Brienne romance will proceed and that one of them will die. I just think it’s more likely to be Jaime than Brienne. 

6. Daario leading the Golden Company seems odd to me. How would he become the leader of this group when last we heard, he was maintaining peace and freedom in the former slave cities? When Daario was a mercenary, he was a Second Sun, not a member of the Golden Company. This seems strange to me.  

7. OP claims to know nothing of the ending. I think this is awfully convenient. OP claims to know that Jon and Dany stay together despite Jon’s angst over parentage reveal. OP claims to know the ending of Jaime/Brienne storyline. OP claims to know that Jon and Dany are likely to survive because Melisandre dies to save them. But OP doesn’t know specifics of Night King’s death? Doesn’t know for sure who survives the series? What kind of scenario exists where OP is told all of these super specific details but doesn’t actually know the ending? It seems like OP just didn’t want to write that part because their “tidbits” remain easier to swallow without the finality of the series’ end there as part of them. The other “leaks” presented ludicrous endings and were immediately shut down for it. Without presenting an ending at all, OP seems more credible in some ways. But it also makes me doubt them. 

8. OP never mentions Dany’s pregnancy plot until prompted in the comments. Again, just like Tyrion and Varys, this strikes me as odd. If there is indeed a Targaryen baby, which OP says there is, this would be a huge plot point. So for OP to know this, as they claim to in the comments, but leave it out of their description of the plot in the post itself, makes no sense. This tells me again that OP is making all of this up, forgot about the Targ baby, and had to cover their ass when it was brought up in the comments. 

All that being said, of all the leaks so far, these were some I was most inclined to believe. Full disclosure: that might be because these leaks are the only ones so far that don’t give us a sadistically horrible ending for Jonerys. So maybe I was ready to accept these simply because of my Jonerys obsession. But I do think there are other reasons to give these a little more credit than other “leaks” we’ve seen thus far. 

1. The Greyjoy plot makes sense. I’ve seen other fake leaks that present Euron as the real threat and villain of season 8, as the last man standing after Night King and Cersei fall. In these theories, Euron is some sort of evil mastermind that manages to kill many principle characters. I just don’t see that. So this leak sounds closer to the mark. We can already see that Cersei’s agreement with Euron is fragile and that she is using him. When he discovers that, he might very well go back to the Iron Islands to protect what’s his or gather his forces to retaliate. 

We’ve also now seen the beginnings of Theon’s redemption arc that I personally believe will culminate in saving Yara. Theon saving Yara wouldn’t be that significant if Euron is still in King’s Landing with Cersei instead of at Pike posing a threat to Theon’s rescue mission. So all of what the leaker presents in this regard sounds right to me. 

I also think that Yara ultimately dying despite Theon’s efforts is in keeping with the tone of the series. We can’t have everything we want and I would be sad but not surprised if Yara is killed. It would also be the final straw to shake Theon out of his indecisiveness and inaction–his rage over this could believably compel him to kill Euron, providing a fitting and satisfying end to that subplot. 

2. I’ve always thought that Arya would admire Dany, and the leaker says as much. Arya is canonically aware of Visenya Targaryen and even the name of her sword. It’s not a stretch to think that Arya would look at Dany–a Targaryen woman who is brave enough to ride into battle alongside her men, a woman who tamed three dragons–and see her childhood hero, Visenya Targaryen, a warrior queen. It also fits with Arya’s character to trust someone based on Jon’s opinion, and according to OP, Jon still defends Dany to the Northerners, and Arya would see that. 

3. Even though I question it above, I don’t think the Daario plot is as crazy as others seem to think. Everyone is happy to constantly remind that there are only 6 episodes left. That being the case, I would be very surprised to see a host of new characters introduced as the captains of the Golden Company, because no matter who the writers choose, they will be a new character to show!canon. Having Daario lead the Company doesn’t make sense, especially to more invested fans like us. But the GA would probably enjoy the angst of him landing on Westeros to oppose Dany, and would also like a familiar face instead of a new character as the leader of the GC who only shows up briefly to likely be killed off a couple of episodes later. 

I also don’t think it’s that surprising that Daario could sleep with Cersei. One of the things that Dany always lamented about Daario in the books is that he clearly loved her for what she was, not who she was. Daario is arrogant and enjoys a challenge. He loved Dany because she was an impressive conquest–the Mother of Dragons, the Queen of Meereen. She was formidable in every way. He admired her power as much as her beauty. 

Dany on the other hand, was taken in by Daario’s persistence and charm. In other words, he’s good with women.

Now take Cersei. Despite her inability to truly oppose Dany’s and Jon’s forces, she is still Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. She is still a beautiful woman, the Light of the West. She is exactly Daario’s type. She is also no prude. Cersei has slept with inappropriate men besides Jaime before, and in the book she even subtly propositioned Ned Stark in an attempt to save herself when he revealed that he knew the truth about twincest and the illegitimacy of her children. So sleeping with a man casually, or with a seemingly unlikely man, is not OOC for Cersei. I don’t think that after suffering the loss of Jaime and the miscarriage of their last child, that Cersei would be in a position of confidence. She might crave the attention and comfort of a man like Daario who is 1. attractive 2. charming and 3. (assuming he really is the leader of the GC) a powerful ally. 

And of course, these two sleeping together would explain why Euron ditches Cersei, which I fully expect to happen.

4. The Melisandre story works. Sort of. I don’t really know what “army” she could pull together from Volantis but we know she’s leaving Westeros, we know there must be a reason. We know she knows about the WW and wants to prevent their destruction of humanity. We also know that according to what she told Varys in 7.03, she will return to Westeros and die there. 

Considering all of this, her dying in some way to save Jon and Dany after bringing aid doesn’t strike me as crazy. I think it’s fitting, actually. She’s another dynamic character who has changed a lot over the seasons and who has seen the error of her prophecies and her assumptions, but I think her belief in Jon and Dany and what they could do for the realm is genuine. She also said she had been ready to die for a long time. So her dying to save them makes sense. 

And of course, no one is kinder or a better judge of character than Dadvos. I am totally on board with him forgiving her in the end, after seeing that she gave her life to try and right her mistakes. 

5. As I said above, it does make sense to me to hold off on Jon’s parentage reveal immediately upon seeing Bran, so that part sounds in keeping with a good plot structure for the final season. 

OP’s descriptions of Jon’s reaction are also in line with what I’ve been saying–that Jon will handle this revelation the way he advised Theon to handle his own identity crisis. I think it sounds very in-character for Jon to accept his heritage from both families and to ultimately embrace Dany and their love despite the complications. Overall, I don’t believe this is a true leak. But parts of it sound okay, and we need to keep that in mind if we are interested in a potential real leak in the future. Because if one were to come about, it’s entirely possible that some of this information might overlap. After all, some fan theories have been correct in the past. 

So we can disregard this leak and we should. But I’m not going to dismiss the whole thing outright because to do so might be to dismiss or overlook a future, genuine leak the way many people did with Lads. After all, the wight hunt sounded ridiculous–and imo it kind of was. But it was real. Who knows what D&D are capable of lol?