#it’s his dichotomy. he has to look carved from stone and yet the smile is soft as silk

[crimson-nail]

i participated in a gift exchange and drew stamp vash with a gator :)

[butterflies-dragons]

I don't think antis know about meaning of 'willowy'. When Jon said that Val is a warrior princess not a willowy creature brushing her hair, willowy is not an insult. It means tall, slender and graceful. And Sansa qualifies as willowy brushing her and like knights. It seems like Jon throwing shade on Sansa, but why? Considering he liked her brushing Lady hair and he himself wanted to be knight. Why he subtly remember Sansa while differentiating her with Val?

This is what I wrote about Val and the willowy creature line a while ago:

Val

Repeat after me: Val is not a warrior woman. Again: Val is not a warrior woman.  One more time: Val is not a warrior woman. If you don’t believe me, then read this:

However, in my own defense, I should note that Dalla was not a “warrior woman” per se. She was from a warrior culture, yes; one that gave women the right, but not the obligation, to be fighters. Ygritte was a warrior woman, as was (most conspicuously) the fearsome Harma Dogshead. Dalla and Val were not.

[Source]

But you may say, ¿What about the “the warrior princess and the willowy creature that only brushes her hair” quote?

Well, as GRRM has stated many times, all his POVS are “Unreliable Narrators”.  Being from a “warrior culture” doesn’t make you automatically a “warrior woman”.  But here is Jon Snow “deciding” that Val was a “warrior princess”. Once again, the contrast, the dichotomy in one single person: ¿A warrior like Arya, a princess like Sansa?  Not that Arya has ever fought in a war, but you get my point.  And Sansa was created following the princess archetype.

I will show you one of my favorite Jon’s passages that will serve us to read “the warrior princess and the willowy creature that only brushes her hair” line with a better and more revealing light:

I call this passage the “Jon -It’s nothing special- Snow”.  Or as we say in Spanish when we can’t get what we really want: “Al cabo que ni quería”, that can be translated as “I didn’t even want it anyway”.  Let’s see:

"Oh, I learn things everywhere I go.” The little man gestured up at the Wall with a gnarled black walking stick. “As I was saying … why is it that when one man builds a wall, the next man immediately needs to know what’s on the other side?” He cocked his head and looked at Jon with his curious mismatched eyes. “You do want to know what’s on the other side, don’t you?”

“It’s nothing special,” Jon said. He wanted to ride with Benjen Stark on his rangings, deep into the mysteries of the haunted forest, wanted to fight Mance Rayder’s wildlings and ward the realm against the Others, but it was better not to speak of the things you wanted. “The rangers say it’s just woods and mountains and frozen lakes, with lots of snow and ice.”

—A Game of Thrones - Jon III

I mean… COME ON!  This is one of the most telling passages to know, to really know Jon’s true nature, and it’s very, very similar to the quote about “the warrior princess and the willowy creature that only brushes her hair”:

They are all convinced she is a princess. Val looked the part and rode as if she had been born on horseback. A warrior princess, he decided, not some willowy creature who sits up in a tower, brushing her hair and waiting for some knight to rescue her.

—A Dance with Dragons - Jon XI

“Some willowy creature who sits up in a tower, brushing her hair and waiting for some knight to rescue her.”  Nah, it’s nothing special, I didn’t even want it anyway, not for me, no.

“It’s nothing special,” Jon said. He wanted to ride with Benjen Stark on his rangings, deep into the mysteries of the haunted forest, wanted to fight Mance Rayder’s wildlings and ward the realm against the Others, but it was better not to speak of the things you wanted. “The rangers say it’s just woods and mountains and frozen lakes, with lots of snow and ice.”

Do I have to say more???

Actually, yes, I have.

Jon Snow does really want a lady.  Jon Snow does really want to be a knight and rescue a maiden.  Jon Snow does really want a lady to love and be loved back by her.  Here some evidence:

Jon Snow wished that his mother were a highborn lady: “Not my mother, Jon thought stubbornly. He knew nothing of his mother; Eddard Stark would not talk of her. Yet he dreamed of her at times, so often that he could almost see her face. In his dreams, she was beautiful, and highborn, and her eyes were kind.”

Jon Snow wanted to be a hero like the Prince Aemon Dragonknight.  The same Prince Aemon that jousted in a tourney, won it, and crowned his sister and lady love “Queen of Love and Beauty”, something that is straight out from the courtly love book: “The Dragonknight once won a tourney as the Knight of Tears, so he could name his sister the queen of love and beauty in place of the king’s mistress”.

Jon Snow tried to comfort Gilly with courtesy: “Gilly, he called me. For the gillyflower.”  “That’s pretty.” He remembered Sansa telling him once that he should say that whenever a lady told him her name. He could not help the girl, but perhaps the courtesy would please her”.

Jon Snow put Ghost between Ygritte and him and remembers that knights put their swords between their ladies and themselves, something that is straight out from the courtly love book: “After that he had taken to using Ghost to keep her away. Old Nan used to tell stories about knights and their ladies who would sleep in a single bed with a blade between them for honor’s sake, but he thought this must be the first time where a direwolf took the place of the sword”.

Jon Snow imagined romancing Ygritte as if she were a lady: “If I could show her Winterfell … give her a flower from the glass gardens, feast her in the Great Hall, and show her the stone kings on their thrones. We could bathe in the hot pools, and love beneath the heart tree while the old gods watched over us”.

Jon Snow wished for a domestic life in Winterfell, with his wife and children: I would need to steal her if I wanted her love, but she might give me children. I might someday hold a son of my own blood in my arms. […] I could name him Robb. Val would want to keep her sister’s son, but we could foster him at Winterfell, and Gilly’s boy as well. […] Mance’s son and Craster’s would grow up brothers, as I once did with Robb. He wanted it, Jon knew then. He wanted it as much as he had ever wanted anything. I have always wanted it, he thought, guiltily”.

Jon is a romantic that called his mare “sweet lady”.

Jon Snow closer friends in the Night’s Watch are Samwell Tarly and satin, they are literally male!Sansas.

Jon remembers fondly Sansa’s more feminine and ladylike traits: her romantic nature, her courtesies, her singing.

It’s also worth to mention that, despite Val’s beauty and physical attractiveness, Jon Snow, once again, appreciates her being maternal and singing to Gilly’s son, but was turned off by Val saying she would kill Princess Shireen:

“I have heard you singing to him.”

“I was singing to myself. Am I to blame if he listens?” A faint smile brushed her lips. “It makes him laugh. Oh, very well. He is a sweet little monster.”

“Monster?”

—A Dance with Dragons - Jon VIII

Once outside and well away from the queen’s men, Val gave vent to her wroth. “You lied about her beard. That one has more hair on her chin than I have between my legs. And the daughter … her face …”

“Greyscale.”

“The grey death is what we call it.”

“It is not always mortal in children.”

“North of the Wall it is. Hemlock is a sure cure, but a pillow or a blade will work as well. If I had given birth to that poor child, I would have given her the gift of mercy long ago.”

This was a Val that Jon had never seen before. “Princess Shireen is the queen’s only child.”

“I pity both of them. The child is not clean.”

—A Dance with Dragons - Jon XI

Wait a minute! Val was “singing to herself” like Jon’s memory of Sansa “singing to herself” while brushing out Lady’s coat???

Where did Jon get this idea of “some willowy creature that only brushes her hair” from???  It could be from his half sister Sansa, a literal princess, now trapped in a tower, that always brushed her hair and even brushed out her direwolf’s fur???

“She had brushed out her long auburn hair until it shone” —Sansa

“Her thick auburn hair had been brushed until it shone.” —Eddard

I often sent away her maid so I could brush her hair myself. —Catelyn

He thought […] Of Sansa, brushing out Lady’s coat and singing to herself. —Jon

And I also suspect that when Jon said this about Val:

Then Ghost emerged from between two trees, with Val beside him.

They look as though they belong together. Val was clad all in white; white woolen breeches tucked into high boots of bleached white leather, white bearskin cloak pinned at the shoulder with a carved weirwood face, white tunic with bone fastenings. Her breath was white as well … but her eyes were blue, her long braid the color of dark honey, her cheeks flushed red from the cold. It had been a long while since Jon Snow had seen a sight so lovely.

—A Dance with Dragons - Jon XI

He was remembering another pretty girl, princess like, next to a direwolf, looking as though they belong together.

A young beautiful girl, that everyone considers a princess, next to a direwolf???

Val is a beautiful young woman, Sansa is a beautiful young maiden.

Val has long blonde hair the color of dark honey which she wears in a braid. Val actually take care of her hair, enough to braid it, like Sansa that always brushes it. And if you google “dark honey” hair color you will find a variety of reddish brown (auburn) and reddish blonde hair colors.

Val has high sharp cheekbones, like Sansa.

Val’s eyes are pale grey or blue.  Again the grey/blue eyes pattern…

Val is slender with a full bosom, like Sansa.

So?

Then Ghost emerged from between two trees, with Val beside him. […] It had been a long while since Jon Snow had seen a sight so lovely.

Of Sansa, brushing out Lady’s coat and singing to herself.

Think about it!

* * *

For anyone interested, this is an excerpt from this post.

[rainingskyguy]

Alternate First Meetings, Ukyou & Senku

Disclaimer: I have not yet finished the manga. I do not know who Ukyou actually is lmfao.

I (now) know the promise was made over the phone, but this scene was inspired? and based off? i guess? by @a-stone-world-saga ‘s own scene rewrite that you guys should definitively check out if for some reason (how??) you haven’t yet.

Enjoy?

-o-

"Zero deaths?" Senkuu repeated, something shifting in the lines of his face. Suddenly he was no longer open, nor cordial. Suddenly, Ukyou was staring at a man who had been stewing in anger for three thousand years. "You want to win this war with zero deaths?"

 Ukyou's hand tensed around his bow, unsure of how to react to this abrupt change in attitude. Despite the anger simmering behind ruby-red eyes, Senkuu's heartbeat was eerily calm. "I-I know it might be hard to achieve, but-"

 Senkuu stepped forward, a smile on his face. "When does the tally begin?"

"...Excuse me?"

 "Yeah," Senkuu said. "When do you start counting for this zero death nonsense? After you defected? After you coming here? Or did it start today? Or will it start tomorrow? Come on, tell me, Mr. Hero. When do the deaths start to matter?"

 "I don't... I mean, I know, that there is blood on both-"

 "What do you know about that?" Senkuu said, drawing even closer. Somehow managing to look as exhausted as he was angry. "What do you know about the lives your side has taken? What do you know about the lives, futures that Tsukasa has shattered? What could you know, of how heavy these deaths are?"

Ukyou was the first to look away.

Senkuu exhaled, letting the anger escape like the breath through his lips. "If you're not ready to shoulder the burden of your inaction, the crimes of your past, don't come begging me for empty words."

Ukyou looked down, feeling something knotting in his stomach.

Senkuu sighed.

“I can offer you a place to live.” He began, none of that previous anger in his voice. “I can offer you a job that doesn’t require you to kill anyone. I can promise you we’re going into this war looking for the least amount of casualties. But it is far too late to ask for zero deaths. Far too foolish.”

“Would you really let me stay? Even- even if I didn’t fight?”

“The Kingdom of Science welcomes everyone.” Senku declared, standing proud and tall. But there was no forgiveness in his eyes. “But Ukyou, life is not a fairy tale. What you decide to do or not do, will affect other people. So choose carefully.”

If you choose not to fight, your inaction will kill more people. He didn’t need to say it. Ukyou knew. He knew too well.

The grip he had on his bow was bruising. He gritted his teeth.

He could stay. Despite everything Senkuu would let him stay. Even if Ukyou proved to be as much of a coward as he was an idiot.

“How… how many have you…?”

Senkuu sighed again, even as his heart missed a beat. Fear? Sadness? Worry?

“Directly? A few.” He shrugged airily, carelessly even. But his features were carved in stone. “Indirectly? Well, I was the one to revive Tsukasa and start this mess.”

Ukyou stared at him, wondering if he was hearing correctly. Stupid, really. There’s no way he would have misheard that.

His earlier words come back to mind.

What could you know, of how heavy these deaths are?

He couldn’t help the nervous grin that spread on his lips as he understood.

Senkuu narrowed his eyes at him. “What?”

“When I- when Yuzuriha-san told me about you… when she said you were kind I thought… I thought you were an idiot.” Ukyou couldn’t help but chuckle weakly. “I mean, so am I. More so than you. But… But I wasn’t expecting, well, you.”

“…What does that mean?”

Ukyou breathed in, out. Trying to keep his nerves under control. “Okay,” he said, a non-sequitur. “Okay I’ll join you. And- and I will fight, for you. For the Kingdom.”

“Where does this sudden change of heart come from?”

“When I asked you for a zero death war- I mean…” He tugged his hat down on his eyes, shadowing them completely. “In war, not one side ever thinks they’re in the wrong. Of-of course they don’t, otherwise there wouldn’t be… But never, not a single war has the same amount of deaths on either side. Nobody takes on another’s burden. You could have… you could have just blamed it all on Tsukasa and called it a day. But you didn’t.”

Senkuu was silent. Ukyou chanced a look up.

He looked maybe just as angry as before, but suddenly all Ukyou could see was the lines of exhaustion under his eyes, around his mouth.

All he could see was a grieving man.

“I,” he swallowed. Began again. “I hate killing.” He confessed. “And I’m not… I’m not ready to kill again. But… But I think nobody in their sane mind ever is. And- and you’re shouldering all of this on your own, even though nobody expects you to. And I want to help you. Not just because I’m on your side now. But because I feel like that’s the right thing to do.”

He extended his right hand again, half-expecting to be brushed off.

A calloused, scarred hand met his own in a firm shake.

“Welcome on-board then. Saionji Ukyou.” The anger was still there in his eyes. But the grin on his lips was sincere, and Ukyou knew he’d just have to learn to deal with this human dichotomy. “The Kingdom of Science is happy to have you.”

[thevoidgod]

A Conversation With the Void-God

I have studied the arcane arts of the Void for many years. Through passion and borderline insanity, I found the Fringe Athenaeum. The infamous--and legendary plane the Void-God inhabits. Seldom few have written treatises of such a magnificent place, let alone listen to the abyssal voice of the Void-God himself.  However, I postulate none have returned from his realm, for many reasons. It may be rumor, but rumors start somewhere, and I am not one to ignore information despite how it circulates, lest it hide the truth. My fail-safe for this is woven into my ritual. I will have an hour before I am pulled back to my physical body. After practicing my projection techniques, I am confident nothing can interfere with my fail-safe.

The andeamer believe Mariax Stygal entices passionate scholars to his realm, or those seeking answers to their questions, and quickly the descent into madness begins in the feverish search of those answers. I, however, am willing to take that chance as I have reasons to believe none have my gifts. I also was not intentionally drawing the attention of the Void-God.

“We have a visitor.”

His voice echoed through the Void. I searched for its origins, yet it came from everywhere… In my circling search, I found the Void-God himself stood behind me. I did not recognize this being to be him at first, no I thought it simply one of his minions.

It was a macabre creature. Imitating the form of a man veiled in black yet twisted by its own nature. It’s eyes… Its hollow eyes bore through me and I only admit to my fear now.

I dealt with these beings before, simple ones as I have learned, nothing like the behemoths that lurk the abyssal plane. I pulled the energy of the Void around me so easily. I was not bound by a veil that obscured the worlds. It was invigorating, to suddenly come from walking in water to walking on land and such ease of manipulation may have inflated my confidence at this encounter.

“Begone or I will destroy you.”

The stoic face like a mask twitched. A smile tugged the Chelsea grin across its face. He laughed.... Deep, carving, and tapping into some auxiliary fear hidden deep within me. “I know what you seek.”

“I seek nothing from you.” I so wisely stated he began to circle around me. Steps echoed through walls. Walls that had changed since I last observed them. New walls, shelves lined with books that organized themselves. Other void creatures wandered at a distance. The colors of the skies had changed their tones.

He paused. Eyes locked onto mine, or at least that is what I felt. “Are you sure of that?”

A vicious chill raced down my spine. It was at that moment, I recognized who was before me. “You are him...” I managed to say and state the obvious in the presence of the Lord of shadows.

“And you are [redacted], but you call yourself ‘Nightbane’ among your… peers.” Perhaps it was my own projection, but I felt a sting of judgement. One could never use their true name in my field of study.

“Surely, you know—”

“Naturally.” My defense of my pseudonym had become reflexive, but I sensed the Void-God would have none of it. He turned away. Hands clasped each other behind his back as he walked to the edge of the island we stood upon. His realm was ever changing… Perhaps at his will? “You have questions,” he said.

“Many.” I attempted to gather whatever sense I could, but it was difficult in such a being’s presence. I knew my risks coming here, yet… I never believed I would be in the presence of the Void-God.

“Ask and you shall receive.”

“I must know more about what your kind is—Voids and their nature.”

He looked over his shoulder. Another humored smile twitched. “My kind?” He laughed, a gentle laugh, yet it still unnerved me to my core. “You dive into depths one never surfaces from when it comes to my kind and I do not speak of the inhabitants of the Void.”

“You are not a being of the Void?”

He turned to me, “No.”

“Then what are you?”

“Our topic is: ‘what are Voids’.” I simply nodded. Finally, I saw the realm around me shaped to him. From the stone we stood on, it built upon itself a throne of sorts for him and he sat. “I do love these chats with your kind,” a slow hand rose and a blackened finger pointed to me. Behind me a throne like his had come from the ground when I wasn’t looking. “Do not mistake me, however, I lack tone and the nuance of speech so know that everything I say, I say literally. I have no sleight of hand reserved and no mirror to my words.”

“Ah,” I nodded, somewhat relieved. If he was telling the truth anyhow…

What are the Voids?

Your curiosity of the Void is shared by many, but seldom few have sought their answers at the source. These creatures are not unlike you but know that you are more [pause] special than they. They come in a variety; you have dealt with those that are but the equivalent of children; weak, blunt, small.

They are not dangerous, because they are small things. It is the intelligent ones you ought to fear and avoid. The Greater Voids were not given their positions. They took them. They are the most willful and intelligent Voidlings you will find and that is what makes them dangerous.

Where did they come from?

From the Void. This is their genesis. They are not born and do not die. They can be created from other Voids. Recycled by defeat or devoured. Some are merely contained, shackled by their foes.

What are their goals?

Their goals? Every creature has its goals and those are known only to them. Many know but a fraction of the Greater Voids. Hismael Hamariel does not have compulsion to corrupt the hearts of men. Valac Vetis is not forced to create dreams in the sleeping mind.

I see their symptoms, not their illness.

Why do they harm the living?

What makes you think they are not alive themselves? They are but another form of life. I do not know the minds of ants; however, I can speculate.

As I stated before they come in a variety same as humans. The dichotomy of man is not unique. Voids may attack because they are an animal defending its territory the same as nations defend their borders. …Or they attack because they are like a man, fearful and frightened seeking to end whatever perceived threat is near.

And then there are those who attack simply because they enjoy it. That variety, Void and man, are the closest I can confirm to be purely malevolent. They are always the intelligent kind of being. They know what they inflict on others.

Are there any who possibly help? In some way or have… traits we may consider “good”?

Yes, but you would not call them “Void” do you? The andeamer call them ätherä. But not all ätherä are benevolent Voids; they are something else.

I feel as though you’re trying to imply something—

I illustrate parallels simply because I find it the easiest means for you to comprehend. The beings of your worlds and Voids are not the same. One does not become the other.

What of the creatures called Void-turned? Many are under the assumption they’re possessed or become Void things leading many in my field to believe that we can become them.

I applaud the demonstrated will to learn in any subject, it was I admire most of you. It is what separates you from Void-borne; you can learn and change.

But to answer your question, I will be blunt: they are wrong. What you see is akin to a disease. They are not possessed in the way you think. Corrupted? Yes. Corrupted to the core of their DNA. This engineered disease does not “turn” a man into a void creature. It rots the mind like many natural diseases that deteriorate the fragile neural networks, but the difference is that whomever infected the individual can control the deterioration effectively making them a slave.

It’s a disease? Engineered? Your statement has so many implications…

Extract what you will from it then. Yes, it means you can create a vaccine to defend yourselves, but this disease functions more like cancer, and there will never be a cure for such an ailment.

There wouldn’t’ be a cure? How?

I know you’ve no background in biology, [sighs] so, I must abridge this to an extreme. The disease of the Void-turned is based off their own generic makeup. Once infected, the virus morphs to control them. However, death is never intended, common, but seldom have I seen an infector’s virus truly meld into the victims as to not kill them.

Hypothetically, a cure is possible. However, to cure every infected individual, one would need just as many panaceas.

You mention earlier how we differ from Voids, and it is what makes us “special”, as you say.

Humans can learn and change. You are dependent on it. Adaptability is very important for organisms from your pocket of existence. Voids do not possess that. They do not “learn” exactly, few do, and it is a complex subject matter I still observe. They appear to absorb information, but never truly use it.

You know of the Greater Voids, at least those the andeamer fear. Of all them, the only one I have truly witnessed to “learn”, that is to absorb information and then use it to change outcomes would be Hismael Hamariel. The great heart-stealer is one those whose meddling is merely fun. She learned how to make her victims suffer more.

Can you learn?

[laughs]I want you to revisit that question and think just a bit harder. I am not of the Void. Yes, I can learn, adapt, change, just as you. It is how I sit here, upon a throne in my world with hundreds of legions of servants beneath me.

Those Voids loyal to you, can they learn?

Some. My second, Ronove, is just one. The first. It took centuries, perhaps longer, but he can. He is my favorite lieutenant. I took him from being a scuttling little insect rushing away from being crushed under the sabatons of another and I showed him how to walk, now he is a god in every sense.

I’ve seen his name before, rarely. He is often attributed to being a servant of Mïzäirn.

You rarely see the names of those who have not caused suffering. And you often see my and Mïzäirn’s spheres overlapping.

You’re supposed to be the Greater Void of the shadows and secrecy, yet you’re forthcoming.

I know what you think, but don’t say: only if I am telling the truth. No, I cannot read minds; I have existed a very long time. The sphere of the encroaching darkness was assigned to me by the andeamer who, just as I, see only the methods and not the goals. I do not blame them, and I won’t bother to correct them.

Why would you not correct them when you’ve already shown me so much?

That is how I fit into their mythology. It is their interpretation to events, who am I to say they are wrong?

Well, given that you are very real and witnessed what they believe to be true why not tell them exactly what happened?

What makes you think I am an unbiased source? Do you know what else the andeamer think of me? They also know of my wrathful nature. There is not one voice in existence that ever tells the truth.

You said every creature has its goals and those are known only to them. What is your goal then?

You will live to see the ends, but now it’s time for you to wake up.

[essawrites]

Time Travel - Excerpts From a Book I’ll Never Write

"No. I want you to explain this to me. You're dragging me around 'coz of it, least you can do is explain it."

His expression was mulish as he planted his feet and refused to move. She released his wrist, frowning as he folded his - now free - arms over his chest, rocking back onto his heels in a wordless I'm-not-moving. She raised an eyebrow at that, amused despite herself. Clearly he'd always been that stubborn. Though, judging by the way he set his jaw and jutted his chin out, he hadn't always been able to read amusement on people - or at least not her.

"Fine," she sighed, running a hand through her hair. She missed his look of victory at getting his way, too busy taking stock of their current location. They were in an alley off a busy road - not the kind of place she even wanted to hint at the topic. She directed her gaze back, locking eyes with him, willing him to understand how serious she was being.

"However, I can't explain here. We have to move." Seeing him about to object, she raised a hand. "Just far enough that we're out of immediate danger. Once we're safer, I swear I'll explain things a bit better."

She watched his reaction, judging whether or not he'd go for it. Based on his scowl, he didn't want to agree.

"Alright." It was ground out from between his teeth, face as unchanging as if it had been carved from stone. She smirked at his tone. It seemed he'd always been grumpy, gruff. She was surprised by the next words out of his mouth. "But you'd better not be lyin'."

She frowned slightly at the implied doubt in her, hurt. Why would he…? Oh. Right. He didn't know her yet. Swallowing down her response, she tried to smile reassuringly at him. From the narrowing of his eyes, he found something off about it, even if he didn't know precisely what. She stamped down the feelings of loss his inability to read and trust her had brought back up.

"Glad we're in agreement!" She deliberately made her words bright, needing him not to dig his heels in further. Not when she could already feel the phantom scratch between her shoulder blades. They couldn't afford to delay any further. Looping her elbow through his, fingers wrapped around his wrist, she continued. "On we go then!"

XxxxX

She barely holds back the flinch as the boy in front of her takes his mug. Waving him towards the small table, she focused on the mug in her hands. Rotating it within her grip to avoid looking at the boy - man, not a boy, he's a man - in his chair with his mug. Just because he's not him yet doesn't mean he's a child, she internally chastises. Though, how he was when I met him makes far more sense now.

Taking a breath to steady herself, she looks up at the bo- man sitting across from her. Now that they weren't rushing, panicked, she takes the time to really look at him. Her face tightens at what she sees.

Dishevelled brown hair, probably a few shades lighter than it looked due to the grime. Skin tone… about the same, based on what little was visible. Frayed clothing, but carefully layered. A dark hoodie was on the top, serving to keep him warm and hide the condition of his clothes - and perhaps hide his arms? Her lips thin as she considers his minute response to her grabbing him. His walls up, desperation high, fighting to keep himself safe. Based on how he holds his frame, he's tired, aching, and very hungry. The wariness and almost- fear present as he looks at her and away, cataloguing the space around him as though expecting an attack. His fingers almost bone-white with how tightly he's gripping the mug. It's only barely on the table, pulled as close to him as it is. It twists something in her chest to see him like this.

(No teal hair, no confidence, no cocky smirk, no pride, no carefully chosen clothes, no weapons, no feeling of safety, no security, no trust, no control, just defensiveness, snarling like a cornered animal, it hurts to see him like this, why-)

She breathes deep, settling the burning thing in her chest. He won't appreciate interference, she reminds herself. He doesn't know you, doesn't trust you. He has no reason to. Not yet, anyway. Abruptly, she raises her drink, needing something to do with her hands to prevent herself from reaching out. His eyes immediately return to her at the jarring movement. It breaks the calm that had settled unsteadily on the room.

Carefully lowering the mug, she rests her arms on the table in front of her. She nods at the mug he hasn't let go of yet, but also hasn't drunk from. "You can drink it, ya know." Her voice is soft, one side of her lips quirked up. He flushes lightly, scowl deepening. Anyone else wold only be likely to notice the scowl. Before he could snap back, she continues.

"We're gonna be here a while. I mean, I did promise to explain things to you. And, well. This isn't exactly a simple explanation. I know more than others, yeah, but…" She trails off, trying to figure out how to phrase things so that they would make sense. She misses the warily amused look the other shoots at her over the rim of the mug in his hands. Her head straightens from its contemplative tilt, expression clearing as she comes to a decision.

"Right. So. What do you know about Time?"

Seeing the look of confusion painting his face, she hurries to elaborate. "Not like, Stephen Hawking levels of theory, just, how you understand it." She feels her face scrunching in exasperation at his continued confusion.

"Ok. So, that isn't helpful. Right. How about… You know how we define Time? One second, one minute, one hour… All very definite. It is what it is. We know exactly how long each period of time lasts. This is constant, unchanging. However."

She pauses, taking stock of his comprehension. He seems to be following her explanation so far, if seeming dubious as to why, exactly, she is explaining this to him. At her pause, he meets her eyes, gesturing as if to say yes-and?-I-thought-there-was-a-point-to-this? Smiling, she continues.

"However," she repeats. "That is not at all how we perceive Time." His look of understanding fades, reverting to his earlier confusion. She powers on, watching his face to see when he's got it again. "We don't perceive Time as it is; we perceive Time as it affects us. Five minutes doing something enjoyable is gone exceedingly swiftly. Five minutes doing something you despise… it seems unending. You see? We define time strictly, but perceive it fluidly." She waits for him to respond. He nods slowly, brow furrowed. Frustration flickers across his face.

"Yeah. Yeah, I - I get that. Kinda. But- What's the point you're making?"

"The point I'm making," she answered, "is that there's a reason for the dichotomy - difference," she corrects, catching his expression. "Between how we define Time and how we perceive it. Haven't you ever wondered? How we can be so certain about it, with our fluid relationship with it?"

By the end of her questions, she's leaning forward, focused. He rears back a little at her intent gaze, his eyebrows rising. The prior frustration returns, colouring his posture and expression.

"No?" he ventures, voice hardening. "I mean, I've kinda had other shit to think about, so…" He looks at her pointedly. His frame tightens, showcasing his discomfort and mounting frustration. She sits back, frowning at the reminder of how she'd found him.

"Right, my apologies. But-"

"Ya know, I've been really patient so far," he interrupts, unimpressed, his frustration clearly climbing by the second. "I let you drag me around, 'coz you promised me an explanation at the end of it. And now you're telling me to consider Time?" He shoots to his feet, having passed from frustration to fury. "Are you having a laugh?!"

She rises. Delicately, she lays a hand palm-first on the table. "Sit down." Her voice is soft, almost achingly gentle. He stalls at the oddness of her tone when compared to his. "Wha-"

"Sit down."

This time it is clearly an order, her voice dark, and promising retribution on any who disobey.

He sits.

"Good," is her only response. She smooths a hand down her thigh, looking slightly abashed. Returning to her seat, a smile forms on her face. It gives the unsettling impression of being all teeth.

"Now," she says, voice pleasant. "I can understand your getting frustrated at my seemingly irrelevant information. Nevertheless, I assure you that what I'm telling you is, in fact, relevant to the situation at hand. I have been attempting to clarify the background information required for the explanation to make any sense. You want the short answer? Fine. Time-travel."

She leans back in her seat, arms folded across her chest. Her face is utterly blank. He sputters, face adorned with an expression of incredulity.

"Time- Time-travel?! What kind of an explanation is that?"

[butterflies-dragons]

Just passed on my tl that post about Sam/satin/Sansa and that that anti reblogged your post to add that quote about willowy creatures 😭 and I have to remind myself that this is the same fandom who reads jon saying that only a monster would give a child to the flames something like that, followed by a daniela chapter where her dragon BURNS A CHILD and says “if they are monsters so am I” and still manages to believe jon will love this girl. But a willowy creature? Never.

Hello Anon,

This post? The ‘willowy creature’ quote was added to the original post (@istumpysk), they missed my addition I think...

They always use that quote to claim “Jon loves warrior women and ‘consequently’ he hates ladies.” That’s their "clever logic"... LOL

I wrote about the ‘willowy creature’ issue in this post:

Val

Repeat after me: Val is not a warrior woman. Again: Val is not a warrior woman. One more time: Val is not a warrior woman. If you don’t believe me, then read this:

However, in my own defense, I should note that Dalla was not a “warrior woman” per se. She was from a warrior culture, yes; one that gave women the right, but not the obligation, to be fighters. Ygritte was a warrior woman, as was (most conspicuously) the fearsome Harma Dogshead. Dalla and Val were not.

[Source]  

But you may say, ¿What about the “the warrior princess and the willowy creature that only brushes her hair” quote?

Well, as GRRM has stated many times, all his POVS are “Unreliable Narrators”. Being from a “warrior culture” doesn’t make you automatically a “warrior woman”.  But here is Jon Snow “deciding” that Val was a “warrior princess”. Once again, the contrast, the dichotomy in one single person: ¿A warrior like Arya, a princess like Sansa?  Not that Arya has ever fought in a war, but you get my point.  And Sansa was created following the princess archetype.  

I will show you one of my favorite Jon’s passages that will serve us to read “the warrior princess and the willowy creature that only brushes her hair” line with a better and more revealing light:

I call this passage the “Jon -It’s nothing special- Snow”.  Or as we say in Spanish when we can’t get what we really want: “Al cabo que ni quería”, that can be translated as “I didn’t even want it anyway”.  Let’s see:  

"Oh, I learn things everywhere I go.” The little man gestured up at the Wall with a gnarled black walking stick. “As I was saying … why is it that when one man builds a wall, the next man immediately needs to know what’s on the other side?” He cocked his head and looked at Jon with his curious mismatched eyes. “You do want to know what’s on the other side, don’t you?”

“It’s nothing special,” Jon said. He wanted to ride with Benjen Stark on his rangings, deep into the mysteries of the haunted forest, wanted to fight Mance Rayder’s wildlings and ward the realm against the Others, but it was better not to speak of the things you wanted. “The rangers say it’s just woods and mountains and frozen lakes, with lots of snow and ice.”

—A Game of Thrones - Jon III

I mean… COME ON!  This is one of the most telling passages to know, to really know Jon’s true nature, and it’s very, very similar to the quote about “the warrior princess and the willowy creature that only brushes her hair”:  

They are all convinced she is a princess. Val looked the part and rode as if she had been born on horseback. A warrior princess, he decided, not some willowy creature who sits up in a tower, brushing her hair and waiting for some knight to rescue her.

—A Dance with Dragons - Jon XI

“Some willowy creature who sits up in a tower, brushing her hair and waiting for some knight to rescue her.”  Nah, it’s nothing special, I didn’t even want it anyway, not for me, no.

“It’s nothing special,” Jon said. He wanted to ride with Benjen Stark on his rangings, deep into the mysteries of the haunted forest, wanted to fight Mance Rayder’s wildlings and ward the realm against the Others, but it was better not to speak of the things you wanted. “The rangers say it’s just woods and mountains and frozen lakes, with lots of snow and ice.”

Do I have to say more???

Actually, yes, I have.

Jon Snow does really want a lady.  Jon Snow does really want to be a knight and rescue a maiden.  Jon Snow does really want a lady to love and be loved back by her.  Here some evidence:

Jon Snow wished that his mother were a highborn lady: “Not my mother, Jon thought stubbornly. He knew nothing of his mother; Eddard Stark would not talk of her. Yet he dreamed of her at times, so often that he could almost see her face. In his dreams, she was beautiful, and highborn, and her eyes were kind.”

Jon Snow wanted to be a hero like the Prince Aemon Dragonknight.  The same Prince Aemon that jousted in a tourney, won it, and crowned his sister and lady love “Queen of Love and Beauty”, something that is straight out from the courtly love book: “The Dragonknight once won a tourney as the Knight of Tears, so he could name his sister the queen of love and beauty in place of the king’s mistress”.    

Jon Snow tried to comfort Gilly with courtesy: “Gilly, he called me. For the gillyflower.”  “That’s pretty.” He remembered Sansa telling him once that he should say that whenever a lady told him her name. He could not help the girl, but perhaps the courtesy would please her”.

Jon Snow put Ghost between Ygritte and him and remembers that knights put their swords between their ladies and themselves, something that is straight out from the courtly love book: “After that he had taken to using Ghost to keep her away. Old Nan used to tell stories about knights and their ladies who would sleep in a single bed with a blade between them for honor’s sake, but he thought this must be the first time where a direwolf took the place of the sword”.

Jon Snow imagined romancing Ygritte as if she were a lady: “If I could show her Winterfell … give her a flower from the glass gardens, feast her in the Great Hall, and show her the stone kings on their thrones. We could bathe in the hot pools, and love beneath the heart tree while the old gods watched over us”.

Jon Snow wished for a domestic life in Winterfell, with his wife and children: I would need to steal her if I wanted her love, but she might give me children. I might someday hold a son of my own blood in my arms. […] I could name him Robb. Val would want to keep her sister’s son, but we could foster him at Winterfell, and Gilly’s boy as well. […] Mance’s son and Craster’s would grow up brothers, as I once did with Robb. He wanted it, Jon knew then. He wanted it as much as he had ever wanted anything. I have always wanted it, he thought, guiltily”.

Jon is a romantic that called his mare “sweet lady”.

Jon Snow closer friends in the Night’s Watch are Samwell Tarly and satin, they are literally male!Sansas.

Jon remembers fondly Sansa’s more feminine and ladylike traits: her romantic nature, her courtesies, her singing.

It’s also worth to mention that, despite Val’s beauty and physical attractiveness, Jon Snow, once again, appreciates her being maternal and singing to Gilly’s son, but was turned off by Val saying she would kill Princess Shireen:  

“I have heard you singing to him.”

“I was singing to myself. Am I to blame if he listens?” A faint smile brushed her lips. “It makes him laugh. Oh, very well. He is a sweet little monster.”

“Monster?”

—A Dance with Dragons - Jon VIII

Once outside and well away from the queen’s men, Val gave vent to her wroth. “You lied about her beard. That one has more hair on her chin than I have between my legs. And the daughter … her face …”

“Greyscale.”

“The grey death is what we call it.”

“It is not always mortal in children.”

“North of the Wall it is. Hemlock is a sure cure, but a pillow or a blade will work as well. If I had given birth to that poor child, I would have given her the gift of mercy long ago.”

This was a Val that Jon had never seen before. “Princess Shireen is the queen’s only child.”

“I pity both of them. The child is not clean.”

—A Dance with Dragons - Jon XI

Wait a minute! Val was “singing to herself” like Jon’s memory of Sansa “singing to herself” while brushing out Lady’s coat???

Where did Jon get this idea of “some willowy creature that only brushes her hair” from???  It could be from his half sister Sansa, a literal princess, now trapped in a tower, that always brushed her hair and even brushed out her direwolf’s fur???

“She had brushed out her long auburn hair until it shone” —Sansa

“Her thick auburn hair had been brushed until it shone.” —Eddard

I often sent away her maid so I could brush her hair myself. —Catelyn

He thought […] Of Sansa, brushing out Lady’s coat and singing to herself. —Jon

And I also suspect that when Jon said this about Val:

Then Ghost emerged from between two trees, with Val beside him.

They look as though they belong together. Val was clad all in white; white woolen breeches tucked into high boots of bleached white leather, white bearskin cloak pinned at the shoulder with a carved weirwood face, white tunic with bone fastenings. Her breath was white as well … but her eyes were blue, her long braid the color of dark honey, her cheeks flushed red from the cold. It had been a long while since Jon Snow had seen a sight so lovely.

—A Dance with Dragons - Jon XI

He was remembering another pretty girl, princess like, next to a direwolf, looking as though they belong together.

A young beautiful girl, that everyone considers a princess, next to a direwolf??? 

Val is a beautiful young woman, Sansa is a beautiful young maiden.

Val has long blonde hair the color of dark honey which she wears in a braid. Val actually take care of her hair, enough to braid it, like Sansa that always brushes it. And if you google “dark honey” hair color you will find a variety of reddish brown (auburn) and reddish blonde hair colors.    

Val has high sharp cheekbones, like Sansa.

Val’s eyes are pale grey or blue.  Again the grey/blue eyes pattern…  

Val is slender with a full bosom, like Sansa.

So?

Then Ghost emerged from between two trees, with Val beside him. […] It had been a long while since Jon Snow had seen a sight so lovely.

Of Sansa, brushing out Lady’s coat and singing to herself.

Think about it!

***

Thanks for your message ♡