#i just don't see an ending for jon that doesn't involve the wall

[rhiaemrys]

So, I've been trying to identify who would escalate a prank war to Kevin McCallister levels in the batfamily and I've come down to Three (3) options. By all means feel free to have a (fun) debate about it, though. This is just my opinion.

Option one, the most understandable: Damian Wayne

Damian was effectively raised as an only child while also being told to be The Best. Of course he's chronically unable to back down once challenged and so no matter who started this, Damian will attempt to end it. It's an easy way to prove himself their betters while also being super petty. Also, he desperately want's to prove to Jon that he's not a stick in the mud. Also also, his brothers are insane and there's no telling what the next prank will be and who will be caught in the crossfire. Might as well make sure that any revenge is premeditated.

Option two, the wildcard: Cassandra Cain

Cass is also an only child. She was also raised to be The Best and is stubborn as hell so of course she gets involved in what she sees as a fun competition with her family. Her image of retaliation is skewed, though so she always ends up going slightly overboard. Not enough for anyone to get mad, but it's suspicious that it's always enough to make the person ticked off, yet not murderously enraged. She's also a little shit who can get away with anything with Bruce if she looks innocent enough. It drives her brothers up a wall because there's no evidence to prove she DID do it. Cass knows exactly what she's doing and she's not afraid to do it.

Option Three, the Actual Kevin McCallister: Tim Drake

Listen, okay. I had to put him here. On top of being an only child I swear to god this kid was obsessed with Home Alone. He absolutely would take the opportunity to MacGyver some shit to torture his siblings, bonus points if it hits Bruce too. You cannot convince me he didn't booby-trap Drake manor at some point while his parents were globe trotting. He doesn't have any excuse of pride about challenges, he's just a malicious actor here. Tim fears no retribution or god, he's nearly been killed several times and it hasn't stuck so why would it start now. You attack, and he attacks back a thousand times harder. You attack Tim and practically sign a waiver allowing him the freedom to ruin your costume or civilian lifestyle.

Cut here before the explanations of those who don't escalate (Need to emphasize here, they still may participate but they don't make it worse) because this has gotten out of hand

Reasoning for others to not be included:

Duke: He's unhinged yes, but he's not batshit insane. He fully understands that if he escalates, someone is going to make a murder attempt. He doesn't want to be the next Tim, that's not a position he wants to willingly put himself in yet. He'll contribute or join a team, but ultimately Duke can be found in the one Neutral Zone, Alfred's kitchen, watching with bemusement as his siblings attempt to turn the Manor into a war-zone. If pranked, he'll prank back, but not escalate. Also people feel a little like kicking a puppy when they prank him. Duke weaponizes this and uses it to get out of bullshit or pull off bullshit scot-free.

Stephanie: Maybe she's on a team. Maybe she's a free agent. She doesn't want anyone to target her specifically because then she truly has to be paranoid. Instead, she's always helping with pranks, making everyone indebted to her and thus allowing her to be the only safe person other than Alfred.

Barbra: I just. I cannot emphasize how much the family leaves her out of this. She will find a way to get back at you and it will end your idea of pranking her again. Unlike Alfred, who was universally known to be off-limits, she knew that someone would try something because all of that family is made up of little shits. This meant that she has to shut it down once it starts. She is immune. Inevitably someone will push the envelope and Babs will remind them that she control's their tech and information systems. She will however, assist if a prank gets particularly nasty and someone needs to shut the war down. Typically she's recruited by Alfred or Bruce to end the war where it stands once it starts to get to the Property Destruction Level.

Jason: He was asked not to participate by Alfred and Jason willingly obeys only Alfred. This is specifically because of one incident when this happened with Tim, Dick, and him. Back when he and Tim were getting along somewhat and Dick had somehow pissed both of them off, they escalated The War. It ended with three new craters in the warehouse district, The Riddler so traumatized that he completely avoids doing Rouge Activities when Red Robin and Red Hood are on speaking terms, and Dick stuck in a box on his way across the country. Instead, Jason enjoys being on Stephanie's side of aiding whoever is funnier. He is not off limits though. Oh dear god he is not off limits. He is the victim of so many pranks. He just cannot retaliate. In turn, he turns into a snitch for this event, and only this event. Jason will alert Alfred of any destructive pranks. He will let Alfred know of birdies staying up too late, of birdies jumping off buildings because superman will catch them, of birdies doing general dumb ass restricted shit. Jason will make the pranker's life a living hell.

Dick: Dick matches the energy of the prank. He's petty so it will always be perfectly organized so that it causes maximum damage while never managing to be something one can reasonably escalate against. (For example, Tim once hid all of Dicks cereal in increasingly impossible places and swapping the boxes so they were labeled wrong. In retaliation every single one of Tim's coffees became decaf. They're the exact same flavor, but the caffeine content is so low it barely counts as coffee. Tim didn't notice until he went on a case bender and passed out thirty hours in despite drinking eight cups of coffee. This was weeks later after the war ended. There was no retaliation. Tim still has no clue how Dick got in, out, AND made the perfect replica) Damian learned at the feet of the master, but unfortunately has too much localized anger to play it to perfection like Dick can.

Cullen and Harper: They don't live at the Manor. They refuse to participate. They'll help small scale, but they're both sensible enough to know that anymore makes them targets.

Bruce: I don't need to explain this. He's tired. He doesn't want to be here. He never actively participates and yet always ends up in the crossfire. Can people please stop pranking each other on patrol? Must you dye Tim's suit neon pink? It's really not conducive to being the cities silent protectors.

[ilargizuri]

I have a writers block because some people make fun of me in RL

Honestly my 3 in 1 Theory is done and all I have to do is translate and upload it. But recently I got some backlash not only because I believe in this Theory of mine, but also because I believe that Jon Snow isn't dead.

Many people in Real life belittle me for my thoughts and believes. And I constantly hear the Words "Nothing in the text Supports that." "Oh you never read the books, you are stupid, that could never happen" And that really kills the Joy of anything. Esspecially when you read the books, maybe not a thousand Times like others.

Just being passionate about something, just sharing what i know and think and how i came to my ideas. And than constantly hearing that i am wrong and made fun of it. That is hard and kills a lot of fun and joy.

Online it is easier, here I have some Distance, i am not as involved emotionally and it doesn't hurt as much, as with people who I know personally.

And than the fact that I know that the Texts does suggest that Jon died like Robb and will return like Coldhands as a Wight with a Consciousness, that doesn't make it easier. Because I also know that the Text suggests that Bran will be the next Tree God and most likely will never ever come out of this tree ever again. All these hints that suggest that Rikkon indeed will End up alone as the last stark, just because he was the youngest of the siblings, similar to Benjyn, who just survived because he was the youngest. Seriously that makes me sad.

I know I am to dramatic, but sometimes thats me.

But knowing that Jon most likely will come Back as a Version of Coldhands and neither Arya nor Sansa will see him again alive, that is sad. And GRRM did say it will become a lot worse before it gets better. I would really like to see Arya to reunite with Jon, a changed Person, but alive, not a Zombie. I would like for Sansa to have a Chance to have a Real Relationship with Jon, not a romantic relationship, just any relationship. I would like for Rikkon to have a big brother who is still with him and can tell him about Robb. Because lets be honest, Thron will most likely die in Stannis's Camp somehow.

So if someone has either a Theory how Jon survives without ressurection or anything that hints towards anything good for the Starks, I would like to hear it. Because atm it looks like Sansa will die, either when she flees to the Wall or shortly after she arrives there, Jon will be ressurcted only to be the next eternal servant to Brans 3-eyed-crow, Arya will End up as a emotional and traumatized Wrack, Rikkon will be put into the Position of Winterfell and everyone will try to use and abuse him.

So I really need some positive energy to read, because atm I am at the point were I would ask GRRM to just burn the whole World of Westeros, because seriously I don't see the point that people try to fight for the effort to make that Wesþeros-world a better place, when the whole Worĺds seriously is not interested in that and just kills you for it.

[bellysoupset]

Has Wendy told anyone else, specifically Bella, about her kink? Or is she ever planning to? I’m really interested in Bella/Wendy friendship dynamics. Are they friends, or do they just hang out cause Luke and Vin are besties? Somehow I always imagine them scheming in corners and sharing secrets, but I just realized that there hasn’t really been a lot about their friendship since the breakup. Would you ever write one of them as sickee and the other as caretaker with none of the guys involved?

-🩰

Hi 🩰!!

Alright, these are a lot of Big questions.

Has Wendy told anyone, specifically Bell about her kink? Nope. Only Vince and even Vin is like.... uhm. Mostly because Wendy doesn't know shit about her kink, she's figuring it out very much in real speed with us reading.

I also don't think Wendy would ever fess up about it with anyone. I just don't see Wendy being the type to talk much about her sex life, I think she's rather private. To Bella and Jon I could see her making a couple throaway jokes or innuendos, if the other two initiated, but she wouldn't start it.

Are Bella and Wendy really friends? YES. They didn't start as real friends, it def used to be "my boyfriend's bestie's girlfriend", but then the breakup happened and I think two things clicked in Bell's brain: she needs friends that are her own friends, not Luke's. She needs to open up for others who are not Lucas.

I think the breakup really was rough on Bell, because so much of her individuality was tied to Luke, since they started dating basically when she moved to town. Now she's building her own network, but like, baby steps.

I do think Bella and Wendy would get along like a house on fire and I see Wendy being the type of person who doesn't care how different people are from her, if they want to befriend her, she will befriend them. It's very "on the other one to screw up, not me" with Wendy, if this makes sense?

I'd love to write more of the two girls together and I actually did have one draft, a while back but that ended up being scrapped because the plot moved before I could finish it, that went in detail about how Wendy was the one who convinced Bella not to move back to New Mexico after the breakup.

Bell, for all reasons above, was very ready to pack and go since she was graduating soon and Wendy was the one who sat her down and was like "do you think Lucas fucking Atwood owns Maine?? You're not leaving, are you crazy."

She was also the one who helped Bella pick a place, Bell wanted a hole in the wall-barely-1-room place and Wendy sat with her and they went over her new job's paychecks, benefits, taxes and rental bureaucracy. It was Wendy who was like "you deserve to live in a nice place, even if it's small. You can afford it. Don't torture yourself", because Bella's financial anxiety kicked IN.

ANYWAY i'm rambling. Tl;dr they're actual friends, even if they're still baby stepping.

Would you ever write one of them as sickee and the other as caretaker with none of the guys involved? YES I would!! I just don't get much (any) requests for that and truth be told, I prefer male sickees. But I'm bi and I can and would love to write for my girls too lol

[kingsmoot]

8, 9 and 10?

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

i'm going to try and pick something here that isn't just a popular ship that i really don't like (although in general i'm really shocked by how ship-focused this fandom is specifically with people saying that their favs are going to end up together and be happy... like this series is so demonstratively not about two people getting into a relationship and everything going great after that, it baffles me how many people only see a Happy Ending for their favs going that way)

actually i'm just going to leave it at above parenthetical. i think it's super weird how many people seem convinced that 1. their ship is endgame 2. their ship getting together will somehow fix everything for the parties involved

9. worst part of canon

getting a little more serious here the racism is really glaring. reading dany's agot chapters is really difficult for me this time around because all i see is the ambiguous brown people who (regardless of their closeness to dany) remain basically anonymous

there are better and more nuanced descriptions of the random girls in the whore houses littlefinger owns than there are of dany's serving girls and bloodriders, the blood of her blood :|

10. worst part of fanon

there are many bad parts but i'm currently very annoyed at how people misrepresent the relationship between the starklings plus jon and theon

like arya and jon are clearly so close and think of one another so often, and arya wants so badly to be more like her big brother jon who looks the most like her of all her siblings and who takes her more seriously than robb. they care about one another so much! and somehow i see this discussed never and nowhere? but jon and sansa are one of the biggest ships in the fandom when they very literally do not exist to one another. sansa obviously adopts her lady mother's perspective which is that jon snow does not exist and is not a part of her household. jon doesn't think about her and doesn't spend time with her before going to the wall.

it's things like that which are so obvious and plainly stated in the text... in this same way i cannot understand throbb. i think they don't really have anything going for them outside of an outlandishly good ship name.

[atopvisenyashill]

@riana-one To be fair our educated forefathers couldn't figure out this shit and neither can our modern leaders and Dany was an abused sixteen year old turned magic savior without even a social infrastructure to lean into. Robb Stark and the North went to avenge the murder of his father and the Riverlands, his mother's kingdom, the common people can't tell the difference between wolves and lions in the end. And to admit my bias. I probably would burn all of Slaver's Bay down.

I mean yeah for sure, I bring up Andrew Johnson not just because it's an example a lot of people probably have some familiarity with but just to show that this is how this goes when you use these half measures and see yourself as above the rabble. You can see this pattern in a lot of societies that attempt to outlaw slavery (although I use the South because it was a slaving economy the same as Slaver's Bay, so it's more applicable imo) or caste systems - they really, really fuck it up because they tend to go into it with the same mind as Dany - "i'm better than you" "i'm more civilized than you" "i'm really fucking pissed off about why we're here."

but like, I don't give robb any quarter for his good intentions either. i think robb's rebellion is justified in that the lannisters are working at a pretty heinous level of moral corruption and the kingdoms going "i'm sick of this shit actually" and leaving is like, perfectly legitimate. but at the same time, if you're going to enter into a war you have to be aware that you're, you know, entering into a war. i think robb is incredibly naive regarding how well disciplined his army is, and how much he can trust his leaders, plus he consistently ignores good advice that he doesn't like because the solution involves biting back his pride and anger. obviously, the northern front of the war is much more complicated than "teenager naively makes all his grief and family issues everyone else's problem" and yet, that's essentially what he does by botching so much of the politics in acok and asos. i fucking love jon with all my heart but he completely fumbles the wall in ways that are completely avoidable because he's a stubborn angry teenager and he is not old enough to be leading like this. i definitely mourn the loss of the five year gap because I'm going to have a hard time taking some of the starklings seriously as leaders i think due to their age!

if all dany or robb or jon had done was plot and dream but never actually take that next aggressive step into power, that's one thing. it's why i don't hold arya, sansa, or lyanna to their level - those girls have no actual power. but once you are seeking power out, you are responsible for what happens when you mess up how you wield that power, regardless of age, maturity, or experience.

and also, like, i am eternally frustrated that when i say "dany has made some missteps" that people always default to the crucification even though that's usually not even what people are talking about. it's all the stuff the anon blew past - irri, mirri, taking a cut from selling slaves, her reliance on violent fucked up dudes like daario, and the sack of Astapor. like ultimately, the crucification is way low down on my list and it's way more of a "here's how she fumbles politically" than "here's how she fumbles morally." Morally, I think that one is complicated. But Irri, Mirri, Astapor, etc? Not that complicated at all in my view, I think she's objectively wrong and she knows it, she just rationalizes it away.

"Daenerys has done a lot of wrongs" and said are killing slavers

thanks for this one actually because you gave me an excuse to talk about that for a bit.

now first of all - i find it very frustrating that when people say “this was wrong” everyone defaults to “why do you care about slavers” when usually, when i’m talking about things dany has done wrong, i’m talking about mirri maz durr, sacking astapor, sexually abusing irri, and taking a profit off slavery. mirri wasn’t a slaver, she was a slave, and she was blood sacrificed by dany. sacking a city, regardless of who is in that city, is always messy and bad - ask Cleos the Butcher and the people he rules over how they feel about the Sack. Ask the people of King's Landing how they feel about their houses being set on fire every few decades. Ask Missandei how she really feels watching the woman she put all her faith in take a cut off the selling of slaves. Hell, Dany knows that Irri does not want to have sex with her and is doing it because she feels "obligated" because she's a slave and Dany still uses her as a bed warmer and then bars her from expressing an interest in Rakharo because she doesn't believe Irri is ~worthy~ of Rakharo (worthy to fuck but not to love and don't I fucking know about attitudes like that coming from white straight girls lmao).

But let's move past all of that (you certainly seem uninterested in talking about the personhood of slaves like Missandei and Mirri after all, despite ostensibly defending them here) and dig into the crucifying of the Great Masters. In fact, let's turn to Dany's own thoughts over this, bolded part mine:

In the plaza before the Great Pyramid, the Meereenese huddled forlorn. The Great Masters had looked anything but great in the morning light. Stripped of their jewels and their fringed tokars, they were contemptible; a herd of old men with shriveled balls and spotted skin and young men with ridiculous hair. Their women were either soft and fleshy or as dry as old sticks, their face paint streaked by tears. “I want your leaders,” Dany told them. “Give them up, and the rest of you shall be spared.” “How many?” one old woman had asked, sobbing. “How many must you have to spare us?” “One hundred and sixty-three,” she answered. She had them nailed to wooden posts around the plaza, each man pointing at the next. The anger was fierce and hot inside her when she gave the command; it made her feel like an avenging dragon. But later, when she passed the men dying on the posts, when she heard their moans and smelled their bowels and blood… Dany put the glass aside, frowning. It was just. It was. I did it for the children.

Immediately after doing it, Dany regrets it. She recognizes she did it while angry and impassioned and reckless, and that the deaths were agonizing, that she did it not for the children but because she was angry and humiliated. This scene has never been as righteously clean morally than people would believe from the moment it was on page! She recognizes she did a fucked up thing but rationalizes it away because she can't admit she made a mistake. She reflects on it later again as she's ruling Meereen:

She had not forgotten the slave children nailed up along the road from Yunkai. They had numbered one hundred sixty-three, a child every mile, nailed to mileposts with one arm outstretched to point her way. After Meereen had fallen, Dany had nailed up a like number of Great Masters. Swarms of flies had attended their slow dying, and the stench had lingered long in the plaza. Yet some days she feared that she had not gone far enough. These Meereenese were a sly and stubborn people who resisted her at every turn. They had freed their slaves, yes … only to hire them back as servants at wages so meagre that most could scarce afford to eat. Those too old or young to be of use had been cast into the streets, along with the infirm and the crippled. And still the Great Masters gathered atop their lofty pyramids to complain of how the dragon queen had filled their noble city with hordes of unwashed beggars, thieves, and whores. To rule Meereen I must win the Meereenese, however much I may despise them.

She lets the bodies of the people she wants to rule rot, the smell lingering in the plaza for weeks, reminding the people she is trying to make peace with that she can and will viciously murder their families and gloat over their corpses and they cannot stop her. Then doesn't put in any rules about wages, anything to help the sick and disabled. She blames the Great Masters for working within the system they've had for generations despite yelling at them to get a new system and doing nothing to help them move to that new system. She judges them, she hates them, and she wonders why she has the Meereneese version of the KKK springing up afterwards. She is just as ineffective as Andrew Johnson is during Reconstruction, too focused on her own feelings to look objectively at what this destroyed city actually needs from her, instead judging them from her own lofty pyramid with her own slaves and her own superior culture and mopes about how much she wants the Seven Kingdoms.

SHE is the one who decided she was going to rule this place. But instead of focusing on reconciliation, she focuses in on revenge. And that is why she sets herself up to fail.

[the-king-andthe-lionheart]

The meaning of Arya’s name varies from “air, song or melody” to “honorable, noble, of a good family” to “treasure, gold, of good value” to “lion/lioness”.  However some of these things seem very Lannister-esque, which pretty much tells me that in the original outline Arya’s endgame was going to be with Tyrion, not Jon.  I just had to get this out into the world even though someone probably has said the exact same thing before. :P

[spacedace]

So I have an idea for a dp x dc fic and I'm going to throw it here since i need to get it out of my head and i'm not sure i'll ever actually write it (and as always if anyone finds my rambles interesting any/all of it us up for grabs to run with):

Elle ends up crashing into the DC universe while exploring, but despite all the dimension/multivariate nonsense that always goes down (or maybe because of it) she can't actually get back, and the levels of ectoplasm are a lot lower than most dimensions which weakens her quite a bit.

There's enough for her to survive, and use her powers a little bit, but using them too much makes her get really weak/maybe even causes serious harm depending on how much she uses.

She finds this out when she tries to open a portal home and both fails to open the portal & passes out as a result of trying. Cut to Elle waking up in Cadmus and realizing "ah, fucked up unethical science, I am familiar with this fuckery" and escapes.

In the process of escaping she comes across Kon, who isn't "finished" yet. He's alive and aged up to a teenager, but isn't quite done with his programming/whatever (this idea came to me based entirely off what I've gleaned through fandom so I don't know the canon of Kon's whole time with Cadmus). Elle immediately realizes "Oh clone baby, that's not good" and breaks him out and takes him with her.

Kon in this doesn't know he's a clone of Superman, he doesn't know a lot of things considering how early into the clone info-dumling process he was in when Elle broke him out. He barely knows language and how to read. What he does know for sure though is that Cadmus is Bad and Getting the Fuck Out is Good so he's down to go with Elle

Queue them becoming friends and being on the run together, learning about this world/dimension together and coming to see each other as family. Eventually they end up in Gotham because it's one of the places that naturally has a higher ectopalsm level and because if you're in the right area no one cares if you have no legal ID (in some circles it's a plus).

Kon gets a lot of odd jobs before eventually ending up working at a strip club or burlesque bar or something (my idea is that it's years after escaping so he's in his early 20s at this point and not just a fresh baby clone anymore and he gets into it because he likes it and it's good money) while Elle uses her ghostly knowledge/what powers she can to work as like a psychic or something like that.

Meanwhile Justice League (with alive again Superman) have found out about the escaped Superman clone and, along with Cadmus, are desperately trying to track him down. The info they have is a bit murky, so they think it's actually *two* clones, one that had Martian dnd also thrown in to the mix based off a short clip they managed to find of Elle phasing through walls.

My idea is that it'd all finally come to a head when Constantine pulls Tim (and maybe also Damian) in on a JL Dark case that involves the Lazerus Pit and for reasons ends up having to hire Elle to help. I'm thinking it's a thing that Elle is a pretty respected name in certain magic circles due to her expert knowledge on the Infinite Realms, though she refuses to work for most people who seek her out - even though the money would be good - because usually it's only evil assholes that want to hire her.

She makes a deal with Jon to help (in exchange for something that would let her get a message to Danny letting him know what happened or something like that) and Kon joins in because there's no way he's trusting a dude Elle calls the "drunk soul slut" with his baby sister unattended, he doesn't *care* if she could handle herself it's not happening.

Anyway, Tim/Kon (and maybe some Damian/Elle) shenanigans during a Lazerus Pit/demon hunting road trip where eventually everyone figures out who Kon & Elle are, Elle manages to get a stable portal setup so she can go home and come back whenever she wants (Kon getting adopted by Danny? Kon getting adopted by Danny) and Kon joining Young Justice and having a good relationship with Clark (who had a lot more time to deal with things before meeting Kon and learned about him as a person before learning he was Clark's clone).

Anyway there would be a scene at the end where Kon would be in his superhero suit for the first time and just:

Clark: Did you choose a hero name yet?

Kon: Yeah, I figured I'd go with Supernova.

Clark, feeling touched: Yeah? Any particular reason?

Kon: It's cool, it has 'Super' in the name, and really it just seemed the easiest option, I'm used to responding to Nova, so *shrugs*

Clark: Yeah? Why's that? Nickname?

Kon: I guess kinda? It's my stage name at the strip club I work at

Clark: what

Tim, brain shut down by this revelation: ...do you do private shows?

Clark: w h a t

[beepbeepdespair]

this has probably been done a million times but. tma musical ideas courtesy of @emiwith2braincells and i

the lonelyeyes tango. peter cant dance, like at all, but hes trying his best. elias is annoyingly good at it (as always) and gets way too into it

either michael or helen gets to chase jon to california gurls. its horribly distorted though. bonus points if jon is screaming the entire time

annabelle and elias are the narrators and get to break the fourth wall to question the songs they've been given or shit that doesn't make sense, which confuses the fuck out of everyone around them. especially peter. he just watches his husband start talking in a random direction and refuses to acknowledge it. also elias and annabelle fight over who gets to narrate the best/most fun parts

whenever gerry comes on stage (which is often because i say so), mcr starts playing and he has to tell it to stop and wonders where it keeps coming from. hes involved with the eye enough to hear it but not enough to fully break the fourth wall. when he appears as a book dead! plays extremely loudly and he and jon have to yell their dialogue over it

in the later section of the musical whenever jonmartin does anything cute and the whole audience goes "awwwww" jon just turns to face us and says "could you not? we're trying to have a moment here" "jon who are you talking to" "don't worry"

someone gets trapped in the hallways and has a breakdown to fancy by twice

jane has a bag or something full of worms that she chucks into the audience sometimes so if youre unlucky youll get a faceful of worm

theres a big group number that almost all of the cast join in with... but its the jurgen leitner rant put to music. gerry gets to lead it

agnes shows up a few times and keeps opening her mouth to sing but is interrupted by various other people/things. in the end she never gets to say a word

elias has at least one ott costume change. theres definitely high heels or platform shoes at some point. when jon sees them he visibly dies inside

at one point nikola's skin is just a piece of ham stapled to her face. no explanation is given for this

leitner gets a huge buildup to his song, prepares to sing and then is immediately bpmed

somehow trexel breaks in at some point and either michael or helen has to get rid of him (i hc him as a spiral avatar). theyre like "this isnt your show fuck off" and just punt him offstage like a football

feel free to add onto this if you like lmao

[jackoshadows]

"GRRM is an old white guy writing the popular 90's bodice ripper trope of 'forced seduction' with his couples" I was thinking about george's couples and how... violent everything is with them (not even like dany/drogo but say jon/val he likes her for her warrior qualities), not that I think there was any jonsalsa anywhere but even if there was it would not be what their shippers want it to be with him being really soft and disney princess stuff like in the songs that sansa herself likes. Honestly I don't blame anybody for not liking george's romances because they are either really aggresive or there is a big age gap or incest but he's not writing these for people who only like fluffy YA books. They should read stuff that are more to their tastes, these books are not for them.

I don't think Jon/Val is aggressive exactly. Jon has a type - girls who go against the grain, who are different to the stereotypical high born Westerosi ladies, who are proactive and get things done. The girls who are ready to get down and dirty in order to get things done, who aren’t afraid to get dirt and mud on them, who are competitive and ambitious. He admires both Val and Alys Karstark for bravely beating the odds - like when Val goes on a dangerous mission to get Tormund and Alys escaping her uncle, getting to the wall and agreeing to a marriage with one of the Freefolk.

IMO, Val/Jon would actually be one of the more healthy, non problematic relationships in the books. It's age appropriate for asoiaf. I think she’s in her early twenties and he’s 17/18. It has no incest, no abuse, no consent issues, both of them are attracted to each other. It’s a great ship! Unfortunately there’s no emotional investment in this relationship and it’s clear that the author is not planning on going this route. Jon/Val is the equivalent of Dany/Daario, if Daario was younger - 20 instead of 30.

Where 'forced seduction' comes into play in romance novels of yore is typically when the guy kidnaps the girl or forces himself on her and there is a lot of abuse involved and she ends up falling in love with him. Most of the Sansa ships in the books fall into this category. She's a hostage, she's forced into marriage, she's LF's pawn etc. Jaime is verbally and emotionally abusive towards Brienne and keeps denigrating her as a person while she falls in love with him.

Dany is sold off into marriage with Drogo and does not have a choice there. It's so bad, she wants to die at one point. And she falls in love with him. Ygritte threatens to reveal to Mance that Jon is still a NW brother if he doesn't sleep with her. When he does sleep with her, he is confused and guilt ridden about his oaths and not wanting to sire a bastard like Ned did and just feeling terrible and unsure about the whole thing. And he falls in love with her.

I think Sandor holding a dagger to Sansa’s throat and demanding she sing is for me an example of violence in GRRM’s romance rather than Jon seeing Val slash a man’s throat for trying to steal her and finding that to be sexy. Besides the world of Asoiaf is inherently violent, making it hard for any kind of Disney romance like Jonsa stans are expecting for Sansa.

Sansa did want a Disney prince from the songs initially but she is starting to be attracted to the Hound who is no Disney prince. This is what Jonsa shippers don’t seem to get - that Sansa’s story gradually shifts from a childish need to marry Disney prince Joffrey and become queen to a more undefinable attraction to a man who is anything but the chivalrous, handsome prince from her songs. 

I do agree hundred percent that Jonsa will never work in the books given how different Jon and Sansa are as characters, their likes and dislikes, their separate and very different narrative arcs and themes, their lack of emotional connection. More importantly Jonsa will never happen because of Jon’s relationship with Arya and Arya’s relationship with Sansa. And GRRM would never do that to one of the best relationships in the books that he clearly loves writing for.

What is your favorite line you’ve ever written?

“I certainly like ‘Stick ‘em with the pointy end.’ And it’s more than one line, but I like the ‘Oath of the Night’s Watch.’ I revised it a number of times, polished it to get it exactly how I wanted it and to this day, it still gives me goosebumps when I hear it.” [source]

Granny: Are you trying to say something to the reader by drilling into us how much Arya and Jon love each other?

George R.R. Martin: “Say something to the reader?” No, I’m just reporting how the characters feel. Of course, everything in the book says something to the reader.- GRRM, SSM

[black-streak]

Saturday night's alright for fighting (but Sundays are meant for rest) - Curious New Hobbies

Part 11!

My god this took a while to write! Special thanks to @st0rmy-w1th1n and @mysnis (hope this is your correct Tumblr) for bouncing ideas with me and @kceedraws for giving permission to use her breakdancing au as inspiration for this!

Tagsss: @persephonebutkore @emjrabbitwolf @mystery-5-5 @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @fandomkitty8 @dast218 @silvergold-swirl @shizukiryuu . @my-name-is-michell @kurogaya913 @elspethshadow @thecatnipmademedoit @shamefullove @ladylucina28 @crazylittlemunchkin @rayray384 @cassiejaydee @yuulxd @ladysblackcat @naclychilli @caffeinetheory

~---~

They had meant to go the arcade for their date tonight. In fact, they'd even walked in and started scoping out games to play, but alas it wasn't to be.

Within moments of arriving, who else but Damian would single Mari out and immediately tell them to leave.

And of course she protested. In response, Damian only pointed at Jon over at the pacman machine (how dare he, that's the game Marinette was searching for!) and mentioned his lack of ability to keep secrets and suddenly she turned and dragged Tim right back out the door.

Walking down the sidewalk, he side eyed her, considering the best way to start his interrogation.

"So. You trying to keep me secret then?"

"No! Of course not. Just might've forgotten to mention something like… over a month ago."

"And it involves not letting Jon know we were there?"

"Only because he's a nark who would've ruined the fun. And heaven knows Damian and I wouldn't be satisfied with a void bet."

"You made a bet about our relationship with Damian?"

"About your family," she partially corrected.

"Do I even want to know."

"Was supposed to tell you a bit ago so you wouldn't ruin the stakes, so probably not, but im telling you anyways."

Sighing with false exasperation, he gestured for her to continue.

"We have an ongoing bet over how long it'll take everyone to figure out that you and I are together and not Dami and me."

With that, she relayed all the details of their bet and his part in it, manic grin spread across her face as her gait gained a small skip to it. Tim couldn't help but shake his head at her antics, amused despite an itch in the back of his mind saying this wouldn't end well.

"Alright, I'll play along. Honestly, I think you'll both lose. Your predictions are too specific. Too many potential outlying factors."

"True, but we did give set time frames. So at least one part of the bet will absolutely be clear on who won. Plus, I find victory in the fact that Damian didn't think of that possibility. That we'd both be wrong."

"On another note, we need to find a plan b. Anything in mind?" He asked, reaching out and snagging her hand to draw her closer. 

Shrugging, she looked about them, seeing if anything caught the eye. Suddenly Tim stopped, accidentally yanking her back when she kept walking. She let out a sound of protest only to see his eyes locked on the building across the way with a considering look. 

The building was gray brick with no windows, however a neon purple sign to the right of the black wood door declared it "The Underground", a well known club amongst Gotham dancers and while neither were necessarily that, word had gotten around enough for both to have heard of the place before from word of mouth.

"How do you feel about checking it out?" Tim asked, a curious look about his eyes, studying her.

"I'm not opposed to the idea. Little surprised you're interested though," she commented, letting him lead the way inside.

A quick ID check and they were in, the room dark with neon tube lights flashing across different surfaces and strategic spotlights placed to bring attention to the various raised platforms. It was strange actually. The wall directly to the left of the hall they entered from held the bar on a raised level only to slide into a ground level dance floor which was normal enough, however in the opposite corner was a raised platform where different people would hop up to take advantage of the spacing to show off both freestyle and blatantly choreographed moves. Another few spotlight platforms raised up randomly in the floor, but the main focus was a rather large circular one in the center of the place, raised just enough to make it easy to see from anywhere in the place, but not so high as to block the view across the way. These places were the most lit up, allowing the anonymity to the dancers below while allotting the attention to those who choose to step up. Beyond that, there were many crevices and alcoves holding tables into the walls and a small hallway across the way presumably heading to the bathrooms. An upper balcony held only the DJ.

While Mari took in her surroundings, she felt Tim lead her out into the crowds, before turning back to her with a questioning look. Leaning in she spoke into his ear, a spark gleaning her eyes, "You've been before, haven't you?"

"A few times. It's the perfect place to destress without the nonsense of keeping an image. As long as you stay in the crowd, no one cares who you are," he replied, spinning her around before stepping in so her back pressed to his chest.  His hands ghosted down her sides to grasp her hips, starting to guide her into the beat.

For a while, they stayed like that, separating slightly and coming back together to follow different dances as the music flowed and changed around them. Turns out Tim was a surprisingly good dancer. 

Cheers broke out as a new song turned over, the first beats of Bum Bum Tam Tam coming over the speakers drawing attention towards the main platform as a pair jumped up, starting to get into the beat, working around each other only to burst into perfectly synced choreography at the first breakdown, resulting in more cheers. The two dancers would break away after that into a more freestyle, only to flow back into more rehearsed moves once more.

"Wait is that," she trailed off to a groan pressed to her shoulder.

"Yeah. That's them. Didn't know they came here."

As the song came to an end and the two on the platform jumped down, they could only stare as none other than Dick and Kori unknowingly made their way towards them. Tim pulled back from Mari subconsciously, not quite comfortable being so fully on display in front of people who actually knew them. Which made exactly zero sense when considering how much they cuddled in the manor. 

Finally the two spotted them, their grins widening and a new energy emerging as they rushed over. 

"Timothy! Starshine! You guys are here!" Came Kori's exuberant greeting, grabbing them both up in a hug.

"Hey, Mar, Damian not like dancing enough? Had to drag Timmy out?" Dick teased.

"Dami's at the arcade with Jon. And actually, coming here was Tim's idea," she answered amicably, conforming to the rules of the bet and not correcting Dick's obvious assumptions. "That was amazing by the way. You two looked great up there!"

Tim smirked down at her, seeing through her antics, especially now that she'd let him in on the rules of her game. Doesn't mean he couldn't play into it himself, he thought as he wrapped an arm around her waist and placed his chin atop her head.

"She's a great dance partner," Tim mentioned after both Kori and Dick had thanked and waved off Mari's compliments. "Considering learning something more structured with her, myself. Maybe give you two a run for your money."

"You definitely should! I can help with figuring out a style for you two if you'd like!" Kori offered immediately as Marinette turned to look at him in excitement.

"She has to agree first. Who knows, maybe this was a fluke and Mari will never dance with me again," he sighed in defeat.

Marinette turned, practically bouncing in anticipation, "Are you kidding? I'd love to! I want to come here again too."

"Even if you don't take my help with the dancing, I can record you two so you can look back and see for any needed improvements? That's what Richard and I do," Kori further offered up, Dick jumping back in right after.

"Oh yeah, it helps immensely. Especially if you were wanting to perform it on the platforms here."

Tim and Mari met eyes, before coming to an agreement, "Yeah, we'd appreciate that actually."

"Great! We'll set up some time here soon. In the meantime, I could definitely use a drink," Dick stated, looking back towards where he'd originally been headed. Kori grabbed onto Marinette instead, leading her back into the fray of dancers.

"We should invite Stephanie next. She would make a most interesting dance partner," Kori rattled on, suggesting a girls night that Mari agreed to immediately before getting back into the music with her new dance partner of the moment, Tim and Dick rejoining them shortly after. 

The night continued on this way, the four trading off between them, two not aware that it'd become a double date by this point. Eventually parting ways from the two, Tim and Mari made their way back towards his apartment, breathless and happy despite the unexpected interruptions to their night.

"How come we never end up at your place?" He asked suddenly.

"Because my apartment has become workzone number 2. Seriously, the place has essentially become a studio for my work that just so happens to have a kitchen and bedroom. Among other secrets not meant to be divulged… yet."

"Is that pertaining to the mystery of your magic."

"Perhaps."

"Mmm, whenever you're ready, I'll be happy to keep them for you. Though I can't imagine anything bigger than holding two technical gods in your pockets at all times."

"Shhh, don't let them hear you say that!"

He only chuckled, leading her into the complex and up to his penthouse. Silence overtaking them until the door had clicked shut.

"You staying the night, sweetheart?" Tim asked, toeing off his shoes and walking towards his room to get changed.

"Mm, think I might," she replied, following him in and stealing a shirt before wandering into the bathroom to get first dibs on a shower. She still found it lucky that while he might be the shortest of his brothers, she was still small enough to be buried in his clothes. Made it easier for night like these.

Finishing up, she plopped herself on his bad as he went to shower as well. 

Eventually, the door reopened, Tim entering in only pajama bottoms, hair still damp and in his face. She hummed her appreciation, enjoying the view and reaching out to tug him closer.

"Is it weird how comfortable we've become in so little time?" 

"Only if you're uncomfortable with it."

"I'm not."

"Good."

With the affirmation, he picked her up only to lay her out further up the bed. Stretching out at her side, he pressed kisses to her cheek and down her neck, hand trailing against exposed skin, clearly enjoying having her in his home, in his bed, in his shirt.

'Hmm, what were two raging insomniacs to do with the rest of their night?'

… 

Bonus:

Not a week later, after a long discussion with Damian to ensure that Kori was not included in the bet and swearing the alien to secrecy, they asked her to film something for them. A dance they had come with that was just for them. Not anything that could be performed in a club or for anyone to see. Maybe one day they'd post it somewhere or show Dick, but for now, it was theirs alone.

[fortunatelylori]

I agree with all of this. Nihilism is something that bothers me not just with how the show seems to glorify it but also how some of the most ardent fans of the show revel in it. They love nothing more than watching a gory murder seen and cheer for it as if it's awesome. Violence is not awesome, killing people isn't a sign of strenght or smarts. Quite the opposite. It's far easier to destroy than it is to build. Far easier to break than to nurture.

Everyone lauds GRRM for his graphic and realistic depictions of war and murder and political machinations but they fail to see that he isn't glorifying these tactics. Far from it. What he's doing is showing that the "might is right" mentality will garner immediate results which is why so many of the "good" players of the game employ it with such gusto. But what does it buy them in the end? Joffery dies at his own wedding, Tywin is killed on the privy by his own son, Ramsay is killed by his own dogs, Stannis kills his own daughter and brother only to end up alone in the snow with Brienne there to end his misery. And the demise of these people doesn't just mark their own ends but also the end of their house: the Baratheon are wiped out, save for a bastard that they had no contact with and as such would completely change their house if he is going to be legitamized. The Boltons are gone. And the Lannisters are in shambles: by the end of season 7 both Jaimie and Tyrion have essentially turned their backs to their father's legacy. The only one that's left is Cersei and almost everyone else in the game is gunning for her. Whatever might be left of the house of the lion by the end will look nothing like Tywin would have wanted it.

The Starks on the other hand lose in the short term: their two leaders die grusome deaths at the hands of their enemy, Sansa is tortured by the Lannisters in King's Landing, Arya is on the run, among enemies, living hand to mouth, Bran is beyond the wall slowley freezing to death and Jon is stuck in the Night's Watch and ends up being killed by his own men. Oh, those Starks! Such idiots! They don't know how to play the game! Except that while being tortured, Sansa forges connections, is involved in the dealings of court, exposed to a world she would have been sheltered from but that she will need to know if she and her family are to survive. While Bran is freezing to death, he's also becoming the Three Eyed Raven, the key piece in destroying the Night King most likely. Arya might be on the run but she's developing essential skills: she learns how to fight, how to spy, how to infiltrate different groups and she's exposed to all manner of people, an exposure that would give her a very thourough understanding of how people from all walks of life think and act. And Jon? He makes alliences with the Wildings, gathers knowledge about the White Walkers, he learns how to lead and what the true balance between ruthlessness and kindness and fairness in a leader should be.

Look at the trajectory of all the remaining Starks and you'll see they've been playing the long game since day one. And while the time of the lion and the stag is quickly fading, the time of the direwolf is rising. And if its one thing the Starks are the opposite of is nihilism.

I’m done with Game Of Thrones ‘’atheism and nihilism are the answer’’ propaganda. The show not only acts as if being these things is inherently badass and that if you believe that there is good in the world or in a certain religion, you are weak, but it turned characters who were canonically religious/optimist into non-believers/nihilist for these same reasons. Sansa Stark is one of the most pious main characters in the story and continues in the books to believe in both the old gods and the new despite all the horrible things that have both happened to her and her family, whereas the moment Cersei told Sansa in the show that the gods were bullshit, she just believed her. Davos Seaworth is a fervent believer of the new gods, and gets a bit bitter at how Melisandre constantly disrespects his gods, but the show decided it was better to make Davos atheist to continue perpetuating the crazy religious versus the level-headed atheist with Melisandre and Davos. The Faith is turned into this incredibly homophobic and violent order, and while they are definitely flawed in the books, they are completely exaggerated in the show. When it comes to nihilism versus optimism, the show isn’t better. For them, a character developing is on who used to believe in others and in the world being good to someone who doesn’t trust anything or anybody. A conversation in the books between an optimist and nihilist character will turn into an one-sided monologue by the nihilist character about how terrible life is. Characters who believe that things can be better in the future will have that idea beaten out of them (as if you deserved to be punished if you are optimist). I just don’t find the constant ‘’life is terrible’’ rhetoric that the show seems to content in perpetuating that interesting. Sorry.