#it's 2 am and i think jon deserved a very good hug

[eclypseaf]

safe (house)

do you ever just draw the most self-indulgent h/c in your life-

(pose reference by @mellon-soup)

[one-strugling-bean]

So.

I finished the 4th season (MAG #160)

......I'm unwell

(part 3 of my Magnus Archives experience)

Ahhhhh where do i even start???? Ok, ok I think I'll start with the lesser things

First off, right off the bat, RIP Tim. More than ever, now I know he didn't have to die and I am so so sad he did..... Flirty boi deserved so much better u^u

Martin collected many moments of badassery throughout the 3rd and 4th seasons. Im so proud of his growth. Not him burning statements and snipping back at Elias - ahhhhhh he was so coooool, I wish someone else was there so that they could tell him! And when he made Fairchild sit back down to finish answering Martin's questions, I swear I got chills!!

Anyway. I continue being a fierce Martin fan, nothing new there

What is new is my newfound adoration for Daisy. Seriously. She's my baby now. Idc what happens or who dies, she needs to end this story okay :'))))

No, im 200% serious, if Daisy doesn't survive to the end, im def going to cry. Because i can totally see her being the "sacrifice herself so that everyone else will have a chance" type.

I swear she was the only one holding the brain cell power this season –  and FINALLY, someone who's not Martin is not being a bitch to Jon!!!

I wasn’t even expecting Jon to be able to bring her back. Much less for them to become supportive avatar besties! I’m so glad the writer decided to take that turn with her. It’s really satisfying from a narrative standpoint to have Daisy of all people do a whole 180 on her standpoint with Jon.

Idk, i just really liked her this season. She deserves all the hugs. So she gets a meme :)

Basira, on the other hand, fell a bit for me, but i think that was kind of the point. She was fierce and stony and nearly zero compassionate, – very Gertrude-ish of her –  but after everything that’s happened, i can't really blame her :/

Im just here praying to everything that the cop ladies can get a modicum of a happy ending

And just so I round up the gang, im scared for Melanie... She is now blind and also has (had?) a monster as a therapist. And Georgie doesn't feel fear which makes them even less likely to sense danger if it comes for them. I hope they're able to push through whatever season 5 throws at them

Okay. So only Jon is lef now. What can i say about him tho?? I mean, i can say he's been going through it.

Like, I spent my whole time hearing this podcast lowkey making fun of him for collecting beatdowns from pretty much every character - AND IT TURNS OUT IT WASN’T EXACTLY JOKING MATTER AND WAS ACTUALLY PLOT RELEVANT??

WHAT IS THIS SORCERY AND WHY IS IT MAKING ME FEEL BAD FOR VOICES ON MY PHONE??

I just feel so bad for Jon. The guy did not deserve all of this. He really was a lamb to the slaughter—a poor wet cat, an eternal damsel in distress, the Antichrist…?

That last statement from Elias/Jonah is so good tho. Like, objectively. I love it. Not only does it take the listener in a nice little trip down memory lane - nostalgia is always fun - but its also just. So evil.

They really gave us such a sweet start – Martin and Jon bunking together in a cabin in Scotland(?) seemingly happy and it's all "uwu, they sho cute, yada yada- and then BAM!! APOCALYPSE HAS BEGUN!"

(i could literally be here for hours coming up with titles for Jon. he makes it too easy.)

Elias though...... I was spoiled that he was Jonah Magnus halfway through season 2 or so, so the reveal wasn't a big deal for me. I wonder how shattering it was for listeners when it first dropped though... At least he upped his villainy cred this season. Suits him better than the "unbothered neutral/evil stand-by" vibe he gave before.

And one last character thing, I fell in love with Peter so quickly. His lines were all gold and his delivery even more so. He just had that unflappable vibe to him. Like he didnt have a care in the world.

Oh, and him and Elias totally had ex-wives who spent the last 10 years fighting about who gets what in the divorce energy.

No, i will not elaborate.

Uhhhhh yeah. I grew to appreciate Helen more and more every time they showed up. Simon Fairchild was surprisingly fun for an old man, Gerry deserved the freaking world (thank you so much Jon for burning that page) and i think that’s kinda it on my favorite “creatures and associates”

Im super excited for this last stretch. i wonder if TMA will stick the landing. I sure hope it does, and honestly trust it will.

Anywayyyyyy, off i go for those last 40 episodes. Wish me luck!

Finish testimony, or whatever

[robinrequiems]

hey any1 want some superman jon and batman Damian hcs? too bad cause you’re getting them

• damian realized why no one wanted to be batman when he turned 18 and Bruce decided to give him batman when he was 22.

• jon realized why jon didn’t want to be superman when he also turned 18

• oh and right, by gave, I mean bruce sorta can’t be batman anymore. medical reasons…

• damian sorta uh. persuaded clark into giving jon superman.

Damian: look. I don’t wanna be worlds finest with you, old man.

Clark: im- im not old—

Damian: listen here, jon and i? we are gonna surpass you and my dad. so give it to jon and let me prove it.

Clark: this doesn’t seem like a good idea— you aren’t ready— neither is jon

Damian: wait- wait, you don’t believe in your son and i??? wow. WOOOW. okay. i see.

Clark: that’s not it!-

Damian: sure. sure. don’t worry. I see now.

Clark: wait I do!

Damian: no, no you don’t.. it’s— it’s okay, I get it, it’s me, huh?

Clark: no!

Damian: I get it

Clark: please i do! I’ll - oh my rao, you’re playing me

Damian: i am. i cant do this without jon though. please, Clark.

Clark: *sigh, how did he get manipulated by a kid he used to babysit* okay.

• okay so now jon may be a little overwhelmed because one day he’s flamebird, the next, he’s becoming superman? huH. it’s extremely uh. worrying. and really just? wow.

• does Damian feel bad? oh yeah. he does. so bad. but he really can’t do it alone. they always dreamed of being their parents. or being better than them. but they grew up and realized that they really didn’t want to be their parents.

• but here they were, getting fitted for their suits and adding their own details to it.

jon: hey, you look hot

damian: please. shut up.

• they could do this. they could do this. shoot they can’t do this.

• damians own anxiety was going 50 mph. look, okay? remember before heretic when Bruce thought that Damian would become a satanic batman and basically rain hell all over gotham? yeah. that’s what is going on in damians mind.

• he doesn’t want to be that. ( “you won’t be like that, cmon, d, we’re gonna be better.” ) and how Damian wants to believe jon so bad..

• he doesn’t want to become obsessed with Batman like his father did, he still wants to have a life. he doesn’t want to isolate himself away and adopt kids as a coping mechanism. that’s why he needs jon to be superman. jon helps him, he helps him not go off into his own little world and stay there. he believes that with Jon, he’ll be okay. he has to be. maybe he uses jon as his own coping mechanism, but that isn’t the point.

• together, they will outshine their parents. the supersons can do this. they are the next generation, and it’s not like they are alone. they have so many other people to help them. they’ll be okay.

• they have been preparing for this their whole life, but they both feel like they got it too soon. they thought they had more time. Damian does feel guilty when he hears jon talking about how stressed he is about superman and not living up to whatever the hell he has to live up to, but Damian does fear what would. or could. have happened if he didn’t have jon with him. becoming batman took a lot out of him, more than he would like to admit. he just got constant flashbacks to heretic and that whole fiasco he thought he put behind him a loong time ago.

Jon: are you sure you’re okay?

Damian: yes idiot, quit worrying.

Jon: I’ll always worry about, d.

• jon somehow becomes MORE sappier when he becomes superman.

• okay, also, funny story. ( Clark and Bruce don’t find it funny AT ALL ) superman and batman? yeah they sorta kissed after an almost alien invasion. in their suits. uh. in front of an alien who they were arresting for the green lanterns. most people believe that when people say it, it’s a lie, kidding. no they don’t. there were pictures.

bruce: you want to explain this?

damian: not really, no.

• the public knows there’s a new Batman and Superman since yk. Jon’s face is public and was seen as superboy flamebird and now superman, and batman was slightly smaller and had some different moves

• but here’s their main line up: batman ( dami wamie, obvi ), superman ( jonnyboy kent ), nobody ( maya:)) ), green lantern ( tai pham, my baby boy ), lace ( wallace west 2, he goes by lace instead of flash because i said so. ), and shazam ( billy b ).

• fun fact, they have a den mother even though they are all in their 20s. poor dinah.. yeah black canary is their den mother. ( stole it from from yj )

• dinah makes sure they get their injuries checked out, train regularly, and you know. don’t blow up a building.

• again.

• ( when damian and jon were younger, in their teen years, they stupidly accidentally blowed up a building. in their defense, the building was owned by the penguin. and there were no civilians in the area. but they also got a lot of men sent after them.. oops. )

• they are very chaotic. they are the definition of dumbass energy sometimes.

• damian tries to keep the pda down whenever he’s batman, BUT JON DOESNT KNOW HOW TO DO THAT

• hence the amount of photos of jon hugging Damian or kissing him

• damian has never once initiated one in suits

• ( that one time jon almost died does not count )

Damian: thought you were gonna be batman.

Tim: nah, i don’t wanna be bruce. i saw what it did to dick. I would’ve became just like him.

Damian: am i like him??

Tim: god no, bruce would never kiss superman or date him or spray paint the new justice league logo— nice logo, by the way— onto villains bases

Damian: is that a good or bad thing?

Tim; good, that means you probably won’t be a total emotional stunted person using crime fighting as an outlet for unresolved childhood trauma.

Damian: you do realize why i became Robin right

Tim: .. not the point im trying to make. I mean now, brat.

• sometimes you can see some of the heroes dropping by to surprise kids, they heard that their old mentors used to go to children’s hospitals to visit sick kids, so they did that too. on a rare day where there isn’t any crime, which is really rare, they go to a school and talk if it’s a weekday, or they drop by an orphanage to hang out with kids.

• they have gotten into a lot of trouble though. they’re still learning how to work as a team. jon and damian are used to being solo and working with each other, Tai had tagged along a few times when they were younger and knows how they work, along with maya, but billy and Wallace do not.

• they often all get into arguments.

• damian lacks a filter and will criticize everyone if they mess up. and he often goes off alone or is too blunt.

• it takes a long time before they all realize that Damian is just: Damian, he doesnt mean to be mean. ( surprisingly )

• billy is used to being the big kid stuck at the kids table, it’s funny that he’s actually the second oldest when he used to be the youngest. ( lace is like.. 27? shazam is 25.. nobody 24. & the supersons 22. pulled all those ages outta my ass. you’re welcome. )

• dinah is also their therapist. poor dinah.

• like really giving pity to dinah. but dinah loves those kids, she has known some since they were kids. she used to take damian out for ice cream and train with him, and also babysit him. ( AUNT DINAH IS MY FAVORITE GOODBYE ). and she did the same with Jon.

• dinah actually does help a lot of them get over their trauma, not completely, but most have finally spoken about it. they began talking after they all got hit with fear gas.

• that was a bad night.

• they had almost disbanded before when they thought lace had died by the hands of captain cold. they had been arguing all day, and if they didn’t, they might’ve saved him:

• but turns out he wasn’t dead.

• but the argument was still there, and it was strong. it took a while for them to actually work together without dinah forcing them.

• then soon came another new member after maya left to go do some undercover mission for the justice league regarding some alien tech being distributed some place. it was a sad goodbye, but she would be back and she would have a place here.

• welcoming: yara flor. yara was a bit headstrong and wild. damian has screamed at her a lot and almost got into a fist fight with her before being dragged off by his boyfriend 💋

• but she settled in fine. minus the fact damian really wanted to shove a batarang up— anyways. she just had to learn teamwork and shit, she was used to being a solo and she was somewhat new. so they helped her out and she became a solid member of the team.

• sometimes damian and jon just go and sit on a rooftop like they did as kids togeyher. just alone with each other. thinking about how their life changed so quickly.

Damian: i thought we’d ruin our fathers’ legacies and plummet to the ground.

Jon: *he coughed* ..what?

Damian: yeah. i didn’t think we’d get this far, but here we are.

Jon: of course we got this far, and we’re gonna get further.

Damian: i know.

• oh yeah. so. superman. fucking proposed after they defeated darkseid. ( the battle was long, so many people were left injured and on the brick of death, Damian and jon had been separated when it all started. Damian had stayed on earth at first before going to apokolips. Damn he hadn’t seen it since he got resurrected.

Darkseid: oh. I remember you.

Damian: mhm?

Darkseid: ah yes, the little boy who was resurrected here.. the chaos share, your father used it on you.

Damian: i know. i remember what happened. I was there afterall.

Darkseid: I wonder if you are as smart as the original batman.

Damian: i am.

• damian was buying time. he was waiting for reinforcements, namely the people who had powers and could take him down. damian wasn’t stupid. he realized darkseid liked to talk. his friends were fighting off the female furys or whatever they were called. he just had to wait and entertain.

Darkseid: quite the ego there.

Damian: i saved the justice league when i was 13, i deserve to have an ego.

Darkseid: oh, you are by far more talkative than the original.

Damian: thanks.

Darkseid: not a compliment, you fool.

• yeah so. darkseid tried to kill damian, with a beam thing. Damian was about to flip away like the baddie he is, but. jon. went out and yk. took the hit. dumbass.

Damian: you have such a big hero complex.

Jon: wow I just saved you and that’s what you say?????

Damian: yes.

• anyways, after they defeat darkseid, jon pops out a ring from his pocket and asks damian to marry him on apokolips.

Damian: you seriously couldn’t wait til we got on earth?

Jon: dames you almost died. what if- what if something happens, I’ve been putting this off for so long. cmon please?

Damian: you’re seriously asking me to marry you here where, I’m pretty sure, a lot of shit happened to our parents here.

Jon: no time like the present.

Damian: fair. okay.

Jon: just okay???

Damian: im sorry, do you want me to cry or something?

Jon: ughh, you can be so extra and petty sometimes.

Damian: i am not being petty.

Jon: just because I ask you to marry me here you wanna be like “okay” and that’s it

Damian: you’re so dramatic. I’ll marry you. I wanna marry you. Better?

Jon: yeah:)

[amazingphanisnotonfire-imagines]

Toni//i don’t wanna think of anything else now that i thought of you (part 2)

hey! i hope you like it! i love this so much, it’s so cute and gay and lovely. like me! here’s part 1 if you wanna read it! 

“Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay.” Amber slurs, a sleepy grin on her face as she rests her arms on the side of the pool. You and Toni share a concerned look from the sun lounger you’re sharing, and as a collective, all of you move a little closer to her. She’s bound to fall, but at least if she does she’s already in the pool. “Lets play truth or dare!” She cheers and everyone groans. 

“Amber you always ask the worst questions.” Betty rolls her eyes from beside you and downs the rest of her beer. Sweet Pea and Fangs nod in agreement, pausing their game of ‘who can drown the other the fastest’ and join the conversation. 

“Maybe you’re just not interesting enough to have a proper answer to my amazing questions.” She huffs and splashes the blonde. 

“She’s plenty interesting.” Jughead defends his girlfriend and she places a hand over his. 8 years on and still nothing has changed between your little group.

Betty and Jughead are still madly and sometimes a little annoyingly in love, Fangs and Sweet Pea are still as immature as they were when they were 17, it’s just now they have jobs to go to, ones that they still get to annoy each other at. Amber still can’t handle her beer, only now she has someone to hold her hair back when she’s throwing up after two beers, and you can guarantee that when she has finished puking, Jade will always send pictures of her asleep on the toilet to the group chat. 

And you and Toni? You’re still very much in love, and still denying that you have been since you first met. Only now, that hate has laid the foundations of a life together. An amazing home, your dream jobs and so many pets that you’re sure you keep getting strays and not noticing. 

“So!” Amber claps, splashing water at Sweet Pea and Fangs who have now joined her side. “Toni, seeing as though it’s your house, you go first! Truth or dare.” 

“Truth.” Toni replies, the sunlight catching her eyes, making them shine a golden colour and your breath hitches. 

“Boooo.” Sweet Pea jeers, a smug smile on his face and Toni flips him off. Fangs reaches around Amber and slaps the back of his head and the two of them break off into a mini fight that ends up with Fangs under water while trying to kick at Sweet Pea. 

“You always pick truth.” Jade adds and rolls her eyes at the pink haired girl. “Hey! Bee! How are you getting on with that barbecue because I am starving.” She shouts right in your ear and you send her a glare as you rub your ear. Toni stifles a giggle while patting your shoulder and Jade shrugs at your annoyed stare, before facing Amber again. 

“You’ll get it when you get it!” She shouts back and a few serpents that are gathered around the barbecue groan and walk away disgruntled and in search of something to do while they wait for food. 

“Try not to poison us this time!” Jade adds cheekily and then screams a little when a tomato is thrown at her head. 

“That was one time, 7 years ago. I’m now an actual, proper chef or are you forgetting that.” She replies and Jade holds her hands up in defence. “I’ll spit in your burger if you’re not careful.” 

“Is that a promise...chef.” She winks and you all laugh loudly. Bee shakes her head but a small smile plays on her lips as she checks on the food. 

“You’re so fucking gross.” Fangs pulls a face while chuckling and she grins at him. 

“I always pick truth because you always dare me to something stupidly dangerous and extremely deadly, and surprisingly, I quite like being alive.” She says, smiling at you and you tuck a piece of hair behind your as you smile at the floor. 

She leans forward and presses a kiss against your cheek, causing them to heat up even more. 

“Get a room.” Sweet Pea splashes you both and the two of you send him an annoyed glare. 

“We have a whole fucking house.” You motion to the building beside you and he sticks his tongue out at you. 

“Fineeee.” Amber huffs. All she wants to do is play the stupid game and get drunk and her friends are making it increasingly difficult to do by making her wonder how they are all still friends. “Okay, Toni. Have you ever said something you regret about someone here?” She asks, her blue eyes sparkling with chaos and Toni shifts uncomfortably while eyeing each of her friends. 

Everyone, including you have a curious smiles on your faces and you all subconsciously move closer to her making her gulp. 

“Yeah.” She nods. “I told people I was friends with Sweet Pea and I’m still regretting that.” She sighs and Sweet Pea stares at her offended before chucking water at her. It lands on the both of you and the two of you squeal. “Sweet Pea! I spent two fucking hours doing this makeup, I am going to drown you.” She threatens. 

“I would like to see you try.” He laughs. 

“It’s okay.” You squeeze her hand. “I’ll just get Bee to spit in his food.” You add and grin. 

“Come on. Seriously?” Amber pushes and she sighs before looking at you. 

“I mean, I may have said a few choice words about you when we first met.” She says, a guilty expression clouding her face and you roll your eyes. 

“Well, that’s not exactly a secret.” You laugh. “And I definitely deserved it.” You shrug and she nods. 

“Okay, well then no. I haven’t.” She smiles and the group sends her suspicious looks. 

“Have you actually?” You mumble and she nods. 

“I’ll tell you later.” She whispers in your ear and the two of you giggle quietly. 

“Boring!” Amber huffs. 

“I told you.” Jade smiles smugly and Toni pick up the slightly squashed tomato and throws it at her again. 

“Y/n!” Amber turns her attention to you and you swallow nervously. “Seeing as though this is also your house. Truth or dare?” You think about it for a few seconds, weighing up all of the possible things that could kill you in your eye line, before finally deciding on truth. You don’t want to jump off the roof into the pool...not again anyway.

“Oh God.” Jonathan throws his hands up. You honestly had no idea he was that close and a few of you jump when you notice the brunettes presence. “You two are just as bad as each other. Remind me, when did you get married?” 

“Shut up Jon.” Toni shoves him. 

“Or do you want me to tell a certain chef that you like her?” You add and his eyes widen as he looks over at Bee. She sings along to the music while smiling along with what Dana and Maggie are talking about. 

“Okay, okay, okay. Be cool.” He holds his hands up. “You guys were made for each other.” He huffs before sulking off to get another drink. You and Toni giggle as you watch him walk away and he pulls a face at the both of you which only makes you laugh louder. 

“Truth.” You repeat, turning your attention back to Amber. She hums in reply, her eyes hooded as she leans her chin on the side of the pool. “What is your biggest regret?” She asks and the smile falls from your face. 

You look at each one of your friends, all of them smiling widely and waiting for you to answer. Toni nudges you gently and you feel your throat go dry, suddenly it’s too hot and the gaze that you’re under only makes it worse. 

It’s a loaded question, and it’s one that you think of a lot. You’ve made a lot of mistakes, like a lot, but the one that you always go back to, the one that sometimes makes it difficult for you to get up in the morning, or to look at pictures of your younger selves, or for you to fall asleep, is just how badly you treated the people who you now consider your dearest friends. 

“I-er. I.” You stutter and Toni grabs your hand giving it a light squeeze. Jade shuffles closer to you and wraps an arm around you, and the rest of your friends are now looking at you with worry. “I hate how I treated you guys.” You admit and they all share a look. 

“Shut up.” Sweet Pea says bashfully. 

“Yeah, that was years ago.” Fangs adds and you look at them confused. 

“Plus, we gave as good as we got.” Jade adds and you lean your head on her shoulder. 

“We love you, and all of that was forgiven as soon as you got your head out of your ass.” Jonathan adds before sitting down. His legs hang into the pool, disturbing the water and splashing Sweet Pea in the process. 

“I still feel bad though.” You sigh. “I hated you so much for absolutely no reason. Well, I hated you because of where you were born and were you grew up, and I was awful to all of you. But now, you’re like my best friends and I love you so much and I think back to that time and I was an asshole. Like a huge one.” You ramble and Toni pulls you into a hug. “So, I am really sorry, to all of you.” 

“We know.” Toni smiles at you. “You were forgiven a long time ago.” 

“Food!” Bee shouts and everyone stands up quickly. Toni pulls you up and your quickly enveloped in a large group hug before they all go off in search of food. 

“We love you.” Toni says. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” You reply. Sweet Pea and Fangs run past you and get back in the pool. You watch as the concentrate on trying to keep the food out of the water and you ask them why they didn’t just put it on the side while getting in. “Don’t throw up.” You warn as they eat and splash and they both roll their eyes at you. 

“If you do, you’re cleaning it up.” Toni adds. 

“Sorry, moms.” Fangs teases and you flip him off. 

“I’m gonna go get some more drinks.” You tell Toni and press a kiss to her cheek. She nods and reluctantly lets you go before getting some food from Bee.

---

“Hey baby.” You smile as you feel a pair of arms wrap around your middle. Warm skin against yours makes you feel lightheaded and you turn around in her arms, capturing her lips in a kiss that tastes like watermelon and whiskey. 

Her hands squeeze your waist and yours tangle in her hair, the drinks long abandoned as she presses you against the counter. 

“Are you having a good day?” She says breathlessly and a small laugh follows, the sound making your heart soar. 

“Even better now that you’re here.” You reply and pull her in for another kiss. She helps you up onto the counter and you wrap your legs around her middle. The two of you giggle and laugh into your kisses, a warm buzz settling in your stomach from the alcohol, and pure happiness fuels the moment and keeps you wanting for. 

She mumbles that she loves you, and when you nearly fall into the sink and she catches you, the two of you laugh loudly, completely forgetting about your friends and the party and the rest of the world for a few minutes. 

You look at her, her brown eyes wandering over your body and you’ve never felt so loved in your entire life. It makes your heart ache at the thought that someone could love you like this. And you think back to all those years ago, when you were a Northside Princess and she was the Queen of the Buskers, and it makes you think, what if. 

When you first met, when you first looked in her eyes and felt nothing but hate, you had no idea that now, when you look into those very same eyes, they are filled with nothing but love. 

“Toni?” You whisper against her lips. 

“Yeah?” She asks, stopping at the sudden seriousness of your tone. 

“Will you marry me?” The words fall effortlessly out of her mouth and she gasps a little and pulls away. 

“Are you serious?” She says, her eyes wide and full of surprise. You nod and she nods too, although she’s not really sure why. You jump off the bench and wrap your arms around her, the two of you smiling and laughing. 

“Is that a yes?” You ask and she nods quickly before the two of you go back to jumping around the kitchen. 

Sweet Pea strolls into the kitchen and raises an eyebrow at the two of you. His gentle whistling causes the both of you to stop and look at him, neither of you unable to keep the smiles off your faces. 

“What?” He asks, a confused laugh escaping his lips. 

“We’re getting married.” You smile and grab Toni’s hand. 

“She’s officially gonna be Queen of the Buskers.” 

✨taglist ✨

@amberritonicole

support my writing! if you’d like!

[mkstrigidae]

Okay so I'm making my way through your masterlist and I'm in love?? Like let's start off with Winter's Child- a masterpiece. You make Sansa a loving and relatable character and interweave the powers into cannon in a way that actually makes cannon make more sense (preconceived biases and such). Jon and Sansa's relationship is SO SWEET and they way they bonded was absolutely adorable (and the backstory with the houses and the powers they have make so much sense) 1/3

(2/3) Neon Rain literally the best Cyberpunk AU! I've ever read. Like what you did with the world building?? The stark class differences (haha see what I did there?), the choices in SOUND, and I could FEEL myself there! I love the family dynamics between the Starks and I'm loving the little details you're dropping with the Greyjoy's , Jon's parentage, and all of the medical procedures. Jon is dramatic af and I love it and Sansa is a bamf AS SHE SHOULD. Nothing but love for this

(3/3) A Past Worth Having has a special place in my heart. You build up this setting like a tapestry, just seeing more richness and depth the longer you look. I'm proud of Sansa for holding her composure, just FEELING in the angst that the older Starks feel at her return, and loving the relationships with Robin and the rest of the Starks + Jon Arryn. The detail that you're putting into the investigation/Oberyn is awe inspiring and I can't wait to see what you do next with the trial + Jonsa

Haha thank you so much!!! This is such a sweet ask to get! My response is under a cut, because this might get kind of long! (lots of my own meta below, bc i accidentally had a lot to say, haha)

With ‘Winter’s Child’ I’ve really enjoyed weaving in fantasy elements to the world because I like to look at stories and pick at loose threads until they unravel and asking ‘what if?’. I thought it would be a super interesting concept to take a character like Sansa, who in ASOIAF is exactly what she is supposed to be as a noblewoman of her class and conforms very well in that role, and put her in a position where she was essentially a societal outcast in a lot of ways! In WC, Sansa has a lot of similar coping mechanisms to ASOIAF Sansa, in that she sort of romanticizes society to avoid thinking about how absolutely awful it is. In ASOIAF, Sansa holds tight to the notion of knights and chivalry and courtly love to cope with the fact that she essentially has no control over her future and, as a woman, is basically property. In WC, I have her really struggling to make herself into that perfect lady and using that as a sort of shield to the fact that, without a gift, there isn’t anything she can do to improve her lot in life. Sansa has these ideas about becoming a perfect lady and hoping that being perfect in other areas will ‘make up’ for what society perceives as deficient about her, but is more jaded than ASOIAF Sansa due to her age and her earlier exposure to the ills of society. So you get a Sansa who gets along better with Arya and Jon as a result, in part because she’s had that exposure to what it’s like to be an outcast in society. I think that the best fantasy has a really strong emotional backdrop (a really great example is ‘Fruits Basket’ which starts by hooking you with this wacky, fun premise about people in a family turning into animals when hugged by a member of the opposite sex, and slowly builds into a point where you can see that the family ‘curse’ is a representation of generational and familial abuse- of bonds that should be broken, and of bonds that may kill us even as we cling to them- it’s extremely complex and rich and if you haven’t read or watched it, I can’t recommend it highly enough), and so while I really love writing about the fantasy aspects, and writing scenes where Sansa does really cool things with her ice powers, the core of the story is really about Sansa coming into her own, and learning that she was a person who was worth something even without any sort of gift. Sort of overcoming societal stigma and realizing your worth and forcing others to see it. It’s so much fun to write, but i’m stuck at the moment, because i need to reread the books, and my roommate is borrowing them right now haha!

God, APWH is like, indulging my inner world-building suspense-narrative loving writer persona. It’s literally my all time favorite trope- which is of someone growing up to find out that they’re a long-lost somebody or have family they never knew about- combined with a lot of research on trauma (which i’ve been doing for academic and other reasons for a while) and a lot of slowly growing psychological horror courtesy of Petyr Baelish (trust me, it’s going to get WAY more intense). There are so many pieces of media that I love, but I think that GRRM has so many characters and such a well fleshed out world that it’s very fun to dive into his worlds and create something there. Inherently, I love a slowly unraveling mystery and morally gray characters, and this is allowing me to indulge in both!!! World-building is my favorite, because i tend to be fairly detail oriented, and i’ve been laying bread crumbs in so many places throughout the story to hopefully build up to a decent conclusion! I know sort of how it ends, and I think people are going to absolutely lose their minds if I execute it correctly. We have a few chapters to go until we get to anything in the semblance of a trial- there’s some more emotional aspects that I think need to get addressed first, and so I’m so grateful that people are so supportive of being willing to wait for the Jonsa, because they really start spending a lot of time with each other during the trial and prior to the trial (i’m a big believer in bonding via long car rides and so there’s a lot of that!). I’m just so humbled and awed by the response to it- I never dreamed that people would enjoy the story this much- when I started it, I was writing a light-hearted family piece that wouldn’t be too long, and, uh, it kind of evolved from there. Clearly, I am not good at keeping things concise haha.

I left Neon Rain for last, because your comments on this one really made me smile! Of all of my stories, oddly enough, Neon Rain is actually the most deeply personal for me, and I’m just so flattered at your kind words! I spend a lot of my time thinking about the flaws inherent in our society, and without getting too detailed, Sansa’s experience with a family member struggling in the medical system is not unfamiliar to me. There’s a weight that comes with the realization that a system that is supposed to care for people is based on capitalistic ideals of profit maximization, and as someone who has experience working in the healthcare system- no matter how bad you think it is in the US, I can promise you it’s actually worse.

Neon Rain actually just started out as a series of mental images from listening to music that I had to get down on paper, and evolved from there. I actually really love the ‘soulmates’ and ‘class differences’ and ‘mastermind art thief’ tropes, but am incapable of writing fun stories without thinking about the reality of those tropes (see APWH for another extreme example of this haha), and so as I was writing and trying to capture this mental image, the rest of the world began unfolding around me. Jon is different because of a different upbringing here, and so is Sansa, and to see the formerly idealistic Sansa become so jaded by the time she meets her soulmate is just catnip for me. You have this interesting dynamic between them, because Jon wants nothing more than to have Sansa in his life, and give her everything she wants and needs, but where the old Sansa (who was arguably middle-class and somewhat naive, as financially secure teenagers understandably tend to be) would have swooned over that, the Sansa who meets Jon when the story begins is seeing the world and all the unfair and unequal systems in it. She can’t just live happily ever after with him right away- there’s a sense of guilt there, of sansa not feeling like she deserves nice things, and there’s also Sansa’s deep sense of compassion and kindness that won’t allow her to just live life as the well taken-care-of girlfriend of a wealthy man, because she isn’t able to just put on blinders and pretend that all the injustice in the world around her doesn’t exist, simply because it wouldn’t affect her that way anymore.

I think that the core to writing Sansa, for me, in any universe, is that she is a kind and compassionate person who is capable of feeling sympathy towards even the people who have done horrific things to her and her family- that emotional awareness and empathy is a harsh thing to have in a world like Neon Rain, and in our own world, honestly. I’m so glad that you appreciate Sansa’s BAMF-ness in the story- I think that her chapters demonstrate that she is capable of doing extraordinary things when she’s doing them for people she cares for, to be kind (The scene where Alayne helps Robin down from the eyrie is most indicative of this I think), and so in this world, I just love having Sansa be a complete badass out of necessity. Also, it’s fanfiction, and I really wanted to give Sansa a cool motorcyle, because no one else was gonna do it!!!

Also, my characters like to run away with me, and before I knew it, Rodrik Greyjoy had a huge adorable crush on Sansa in the story that I immensely enjoy writing. The Greyjoys are fun because they’re all absolutely insane, and i’m a total sucker for ‘gruff dangerous character is completely a sucker for the kind sunshine-y character’ trope.

God, this accidentally got really long??? I’m sorry- thank you so much for such a kind ask!!! I love hearing what people think of my stories, and this was so sweet :)

[ghoulsters]

Finally listened to this week's episodes!

I have a lot of thoughts and fears about our apocalypse boys.

(more below the cut)

185:

-Now, I know there was quite a bit of controversy surrounding this episode and im not really going to offer my two cents since am neither 1. a PoC or 2. a person who knows enough about the justice system and corrupt policing, or at least not enough to add any value to the conversation.

-all I will say is that Jonny is a fantastic writer, as always. I know it must've been hard to have to write about a topic that hits so close to home for him, especially when he had to be public about this after the fact.

-children continue to be small humans full of spite. I will be putting the one who threw the rock at Tina on my "fictional small children I do not like" list. the opposite of her would probably be greg from over the garden wall. and that's a rock fact.

-I would love to sympathize with jon with the whole "im a monster and other monsters recognize me as their own you'll have to get used to it martin" point, but it's just a reminder for me that jon is slowly becoming less human. he's practically accepted his role as the archivist and as an entity higher than the others. I know this probably won't mean much at this point, but it still scares me to see jon so comfortable and uncaring about the loss of his humanity.

-jon "big arse" sims

-I remember before this episode and during one of the Q&As Johnny talked about how avatars get "chosen" per se. He was trying to be vague about it but from we gathered is that an avatar doesn't have to kill to join a fear, but they can join a fear by a variety of methods. This episode solidifies that with this part:

"I just mean that nobody here deserves the position they’ve found themselves in, not really. I suppose a few may have asked for it, sought it out even, but far more didn’t. They just made the wrong choices for the right reasons. Or even the right choices. But ones that still led them here in the end."

Which, obviously we already could assume this based on people like Agnes, who were born into the role, or Oliver Banks, who gained the powers of his role, eventually embracing it. I do think if they don't turn the world back Martin will have to accept his own role in other people's suffering.

-fuck the inspector

-martin really said "the second someone insults my bf it's on sight" then abandoned the inspector to rot in prison. good for him.

-so jon HAS watched a movie before

-oh boy here we go into Martin’s domain

186

-everytime I get reminded of 170 I get super emotional, it sucker punches me in the feels. like, I related to it massively but it’s still one of the few episodes that really had that big of an impact on me.

-get this boy an umbrella !!

-martin 2: im here to deliver you an existential crisis

-I am glad that they touched on how jon and martin's relationship is so complicated yet so simple. these guys have to save the world but also communicate after squabbles and continue to love each other despite everything around them. it's good that martin has jon there for him but it's also good to have your own space. and that's just a good lesson about loving another person.

-felt on the friends being your therapist thing. im not one to talk to my loved ones about emotional issues because they'll just try to temporarily make me feel better instead of tackling the root of the issue. if everyone lives after the last episode of TMA they'll need a BOATLOAD of therapy.

-mmm, tea. don't like oolong though. more of a green tea person myself. also I find it hilarious that Also Martin carries a thermos of tea everywhere with him.

-”we love ‘that guy!’” same martin, same. 

-the talk about who might have to possibly die to save the world has me EMOTIONAL. I had to pause multiple times to collect myself. We all knew it would have to be talked about at some point but I wasn't ready for it to be this straight forward. just... please johnny...spare both of my boys. I know deep down this is a tragedy but my mind is still telling me this is a fluffy office rom-com.

-confirmation that martin dreams about kissing jon and beating the shit out of elias. king shit.

-martin was so willing to die if he needed which makes sense for how he's doing right now but makes me sad as fuck. someone give this man a HUG!!

-THE TIM PART NOOO

-That statement was heartbreaking and very relatable. We all put up some walls, big or small, to keep those closest to us from seeing our true selves. It's especially easy during this year to get lonely, to stop communicating with people if we feel we don't have the energy to. It's a terrifying thought that we could be forgotten after we die, that no one will ever think about us again. We just cease to exist.

"And… And if it comes down to it…

I’ll get John to destroy me like the others."

PAIN, PURE PAIN.

"Yeah. But… this time, it doesn’t feel like despair. It feels like resolve."

"Well, hopefully it won’t come to that."

FORESHADOWING?? AND PAIN.

anyway thanks for reading my silly little thoughts if you did

[takaraphoenix]

Hi! May I ask why you dislike the Shadowhunters finale?

You may ask, I am going to try and answer, but you’re asking me to unearth long-buried memories there. So let’s see how much I can still piece together; the big things for sure, the little things I may have forgotten.

And because this is 4k long, a quick TL;DR/table of content:

the plot and resolution were messy

the show forgot that Clary is its protagonist

Jace Herondale deserved better too

Everything (else) wrong with the flashforward (Maia also deserved better)

Magnus and Alec’s love ended racism and homophobia

1. The Plot and Resolution Were Messy

I still think that the whole Glorious/Heavenly Fire plot was... a mess. The Heavenly Fire was born from the Soul Sword, but somehow they used ScienceTM to reate an antidote for being a Downworlder with it and then when the whole thing explodes, it gets embedded within Isabelle, but instead of killing Isabelle with its intense powers, it grands her the ability to explode Lilith and literally destroy all of hell. What the fuck was that. Nothing about that was... satisfying, or felt like it was really set up anywhere. I mean, I sure didn’t see it coming that Isabelle is the war-ending hero in this tale. That role is usually reserved to the protagonist.

But instead of ending the war or destroying Edom because she has super angelic blood, Clary’s role was to... hug her brother to death with angel-wings she created. What was even happening in that scene. To this day, I don’t understand what was going on there. I mean, she literally hugged him to death. How weird was that. And how unnecessary.

Honestly, I... I didn’t want Clary to be the one to kill Jonathan? He’s her brother. She already killed her father. Sure, they’re The Villains, but... that shit still gets to you, especially since she spent so long hoping against hope that there’s good in Jonathan? To then make her the one killing him.

I think Jace should have killed Jonathan for good, not Clary. Because she doesn’t deserve that burden of having killed her brother, even after all the bad shit he’s done.

And the method of killing was just dumb. I mean, I can not stretch it enough just how dumb it was that she hugged him to death. Not just because it’s as stupid as it sounds, but also because she literally got a warning from the Angel.

The Angel came to her (wow, now that all the action is done, they decide to communicate, awesome...) and warned her that if she keeps creating runes, she will be punished.

There was no need to create a new rune for this. She didn’t have to. Just stab him. You like stabbing things, girl. Stab him to death, or - as I’d have preferred - leave the stabbing him to someone else. Heck, I’d have preferred if Isabelle killed Jonathan via hug because left-over Heavenly Fire embedded in her, that’d have made more sense. But... there was no need to create a new, weirdly specific rune that gave her wings so that if she hugged him, they’d... I have no idea... killed him somehow with their pure godly goodness or whatever.

(Seriously, Isabelle’s Heavenly Fire powers would have made more sense, if we’re operating under the pretense that regular stabbing wouldn’t have been enough at this point, which I am not entirely buying because Alec exploded a higher demon by shooting him in the face.)

Before we get to the part about the Angel’s threat, I’d like to point out the finale’s biggest flaw.

2. The Show Forgot That Clary is Its Protagonist

Clary Fray is the protagonist of this story. The main main character. This was her story, above all else. All others are only secondary characters to her. I would argue that in the hierarchy of characters, Jace also stands above the others (but still second to Clary), because he is just as personally interwoven with all of this as Valentine’s son and the other half of the Jonathan experiment.

But the show temporarily forgot that. Part of that is the above mentioned wish from me that Clary should have destroyed Edom (if we have to destroy hell, which I do think was unnecessarily stupid and should have just been sealed off). I mean, that was the big show-down.

I do think that, to pay off the way the story was set out, Clary should have been the one to get the big finish of destroying Edom and Jace should have gotten the revenge and satisfaction of killing Jonathan, in a last ultimate showdown of who’s the better JC.

I already reasoned why I didn’t particularly like seeing Clary kill Jonathan and why I thought the method of killing him was stupid, but one more thing comes into play there.

By hilling Jon the way she did, she provoked the Angel into doing as he threatened. She is your protagonist and you’re punishing her for saving the world.

I mean seriously, Clary just helped save the world and she just used her powers to kill off a really big enemy. And instead of rewarding her for her services - since she did this shit for the Angels - she gets punished for it.

We spent this three years journey (for us; three months for her. I really can’t stress enough how bad the condensed timeline is, all around) following Clary.

She already suffered so much. But she kept powering through it and she was really finding her place there. She was finally training, she got her Angelic rune to accept her into this society, she was making friends, she was making plans. That little conversation between her and Isabelle about becoming parabatai? That was awesome. Like, something I hadn’t realized I needed until they said it. That was great, really.

And then they just took her memories away. They took their protagonist and just... left her stranded on the streets with no memories at all about the past three months of her life.

And then we timeskip - and I’ll get into the non-Clary related timeskip issues after the Clary-section of this post, so let’s focus on hers for now.

Luke is off in Brazil fucking Maryse, instead of being in New York with his daughter. This show’s always done a half-assed job with that relationship. They often name-dropped a “dad” or “daughter” there, but only when it served a plot-purpose of sorts; they rarely gave us some genuine bonding moments between them and I think that was a fault throughout the show, but this ending was just completely fucking that dynamic over.

Luke was cured from being a werewolf. And instead of choosing the mundie life that he’s pretended to lead for the past 18 years, he decides to not just go back to the Clave, who mistreated him and to whom he technically should still be a wanted terrorist for having been a Circle member (you know, the thing Maryse got deruned for). And, ship aside, the fact that Luke chose to go with his new girlfriend somewhere far off instead of staying with his daughter? Still feels like character assassination for me, quite frankly.

What, she’s not allowed to remember the Shadow World. Great that Luke is no longer a werewolf and has to associate with the pack anymore! Great timing that he’s now a Shadowhunter, something you can apparently really easily pretend not to be if you look at Jocelyn. Or, hey, actually he should have been deruned for his past crimes, which would be even more convenient because then he would get to actually live a mundie life, with his daughter.

I mean, seriously, how did that past year that is so conveniently skipped, even go? She was out in the streets, alone. How much did she even remember? Her name? The things prior to the last three months? How was anything explained to her, who did the explaining? What does she think happened to her mom, to Luke, to Simon? Because they were a part of her life before all of this.

I think the memory-wipe in itself does Clary a disservice because it erases her entire journey, but the very least they could have done if memory-wiping her would have been to give her a happy ending. To show her living a good mundie life with Luke.

But the memory-wipe wasn’t about Clary. That’s where the “the show forgot she’s the protagonist” comes into play again. Not only did they punish their protagonist for doing the protagonist-y thing of saving the day; they... they essentially fridged her.

I don’t know a non-dead term for fridging, but for all intends and purposes, she was fridged. She lost her memories, not as a part of her own plot, she lost them for Jace’s Man Pain.

That was the framing device the show chose.

They could have made Clary’s memory-loss about Clary; shown us how she adjusted to the new life, or even as mentioned before given her a happy ending there, in the mundie world. They could have shown us her suffering about this.

Instead, it’s framed around Jace. Jace, sparring with Simon, being called out for still pining after Clary. A whole-ass year and Jace is still hung up on Clary, still regularly checking in on Clary, still stalking her, still sad, still suffering. He pines from afar as he watches Clary’s art show. And when she suddenly remembers his name, it is framed as a happy moment for him.

Her suffering served a man.

They really took their female protagonist and decided, in the finale, to make her suffer, for the sake of her male love interest. That would be absolutely gross if she was just the love interest of the male protagonist, but she is the protagonist and they turned her into a plot-device.

And it didn’t even stick. I assume the memory-wipe was an idea hatched prior to the show being cancelled. She is memory-wiped and we go into hiatus and next season, we have Jace and the others chase after her and bring back her memories. Would still be shit and do Clary a disservice, but at least it’d have like... a purpose.

There was no purpose to the memory-wipe as it happened. It lasted literally 2 minutes screen-time before Jace’s sad puppy-dog eyes triggered Clary’s memories again and look, her brain didn’t melt! She got to remember him.

So what was even the point of that memory-wipe...? Clary wasted a whole year of her life in total isolation, thinking everyone she loved was dead, when in reality her memories could have safely been brought back at any time.

The Angel punishing the protagonist for doing protagonist-y things would have already been a dick-move, but this? This was the Angel playing a cruel prank on Clary, really. And what was the point of that...? Nothing, absolutely nothing.

Nothing is gained from the memory-wipe. The finale would have been improved by simply not including the memory-wipe. Literally just, have her have a good time at the party, be happy. And include her in the flashforward as being parabatai with Isabelle and being happy. The pay-off the protagonist of your show would have deserved at the end of said show.

3. Jace Herondale Deserved Better Too

As I mentioned in Clary’s section, Clary being essentially be fridged like that would have been a shit move even if she was just the love-interest to the actual protagonist. But Jace isn’t the protagonist. He’s one of the main characters and I’d argue the second most important one but that stands to debate I suppose because I have favorite-character-bias there. It can definitely not be argued that he is not the primary protagonist, because that’s Clary.

But Clary had to suffer for his man pain.

And honestly, my AO3 track-record shows how much I love seeing Jace suffer, but even I think this was absolutely useless and unnecessary.

In the past three months of Jace’s life, he:

learned his father didn’t die but was a (still alive) wanted terrorist

spent weeks thinking the girl he had a crush on was his sister

was abducted by his father and tortured for five days straight

thought his mother (Jocelyn) wanted to kill him

nearly got mauled by Maia “kill first, ask questions later” Roberts

got thrown into prison after being freed

where he was then tortured by his boss

tried to commit suicide through the Soul Sword in the City of Bones (1)

thought his mother (Jocelyn) wanted to kill him

was harrassed in his own home to the point of willingly moving out

thought his mother (Jocelyn) was dead and mourned her

was abandoned by 3/5th of his adopted family (but they said sorry afterward so people forgive them *snorts*)

tried to commit suicide through the Soul Sword thinking he could destroy it (2)

tried to commit suicide through letting Simon drink him dry (3)

learned his father wasn’t his biological father but a mad scientist who killed Jace’s parents and cut him out of his mother’s womb

was literally killed by his own father. I mean he died. He actually died

was possessed by Lilith for weeks and in that time

killed multiple mundies without any control over his body

repeatedly killed the people he loved inside his mind-prison

was sexually assaulted by Lilith

actually killed his own grandmother and only living relative due to toe possession

learned that there’s mental illness running in his family and that his mom actually committed suicide

They crammed all that trauma into three months and at no point did they actually allow Jace to process any of that. Nope, instead of letting him process, or just stopping to beat him down, they decided to make him suffer some more at the end.

The ending he deserved would have been a fucking therapy session, not “my girlfriend doesn’t remember me so I’ll be sad and pine for a year :(”.

Made even worse by the decision to move Alec onto another continent. I appreciate that little bonding moment between Jace and Simon, I really do, but the fact that his parabatai was just... off living his best life, somewhere else, while Jace was suffering like this? That didn’t sit right with me at all and really goes against what that parabatai bond is supposed to mean.

My boy tried to commit suicide three times and actually died once in those three months. But instead of a rewarding ending that somehow... gives them all something good to end on, they took Clary away from him for a whole year - a vital year, the year after the war, the time he should have spent on healing himself and dealing with his trauma. Reducing his character to sad, heart-broken boyfriend instead of finally letting him heal.

And for what? Clary immediately regained her memories when she saw him; all of this additional suffering served no purpose at all aside from “they both suffered for a year lol”. Stupid and unnecessary and especially after the excessive torture they put Jace through, he really deserved better than to have his “one year later” moment be “uh actually you totally wasted that year pining from afar, coulda just talked to her at any moment lol”.

4. Everything (Else) Wrong With the Flashforward

This is going to recap a lot of the things peppered into the other points, but it needs to be put into one sub-point too, because the sum of things in this flashforward is just bullshit.

The memory-wipe that is magically undone by Jace’s sad puppy-dog eyes and thus served absolutely no purpose.

Showing the “a year later” but not how Clary got there; what her journey to that point in life even was.

Luke happily joining the Clave again after everything and deliberately abandoning Clary to frolick at the beaches in Brazil.

Bat and Maia. Those are the only new things I have to add here, because... wow. Bat had a total screentime - I mean, total of this entire show - of under 10 minutes. I’d wager more close to 5, really. There was no build-up here, because the show was so busy side-lining Maia after they promoted Alisha to main cast - which in itself was just ridiculous; you promote her and instead of giving her character more to do and a prominent storyline, you just feature the return of her ex and then basically write her off the show for a while. She just... up and left for multiple months after becoming the Alpha, leaving the pack kind of... leaderless. And then she’s just back again and now she is with Bat, which didn’t even feel much like a deserved happy ending considering they never really established their dynamic - or Bat’s character - much.

Quite honestly, with the way this show had messed around with romance, I think the show should have gone non-canon and kept Simon and Maia together through to the end, because while season 1 set Simon and Isabelle up really well, season 2 kinda forgot about that again and 3B had to rush that back in again for the sake of endgame.

Maia’s final scene wasn’t a pay-off, because the show forgot to give her the set-up for it. They never showed her become the Alpha, they never showed her be the Alpha, so seeing her there in charge didn’t feel like much. They never showed her and Bat develop much more than an acquantanceship, much less fall in love, so her being with him in the end felt more like a consolation prize.

And, in theory, you could argue that, well, she’s not the protagonist so you can’t flesh all that really out. But then the show even put more focus onto their little non-canon Luke/Maryse romance than they did on the Bat/Maia canon romance. She deserved to have a proper build-up to make her ending be a worthy pay-off

Then there’s Alec and Magnus, but they get sub-point 5 so we’ll get back to them later.

5. Magnus and Alec’s Love Ended Racism and Homophobia

To drive home how much their ending bothered me, I have to go back some.

Shadowhunters are inherently homophobic and racist; that is what this show told us rather early on already. They’re homophobic and they’re very racist against Downworlders.

The show claimed that and they clumsily tried to show that, at times, but... they put zero effort into doing something to change that and still want to reap the glory for making them change their ways. And it’s... pathetic, bad writing and genuinely offensive to anyone who’s ever actually dealt with someone homophobic and/or racist before.

I’m a white lesbian, so I’ll not pretend that it’s up to me to speak to the way the show handled the racism subplot; many fans, who are people of color themselves and can speak to this much better than I ever could, have addressed that in more detail in the past.

But it’d be wrong not to mention it here too, because... they really dropped the ball on this plotline centered around a huge real world issue. They set the Shadowhunters up as racists but here we are, only one year later and not only did they allow a Downworlder to live in their super holy city (which they were forbidden from entering only a year ago; they only got to live in the wild, also explicitely stated to be rogue and wild werewolves, more beast than man), they appointed Magnus the High Warlock. Not only did they “end racism” within a year, they also got Magnus a high-ranking political position. Really?

I’ll focus more on the homophobia here, because I can speak more to that. And I do think that the two issues run relatively parallel in how they were handled. (Because they were both not handled.)

Alec’s still deep in the closet when we start the show. Then he agrees to a political marriage to a Good WomanTM, just to publicly come out, in front of his bosses and everyone he works with. Which, I still think was horribly handled, but I digress.

He was in the closet for a reason. Because of the Shadowhunters’ inherent homophobia. Which the show then just... kind of... forgot.

Alec is never shown to face homophobia. Alec is never shown to actually speak up and do something to help other gays.

But the show still thinks to deserve a pat on the back, and gives it to itself via Andrew Underhill praising Alec for all he has done for gay people. By... what, exactly? Kissing Magnus in public?

Same for Aline, who is so deep in the closet when we first meet her, she can’t even dare say it in anything but a whisper even while being with the only person she ever confided in about her sexuality, but a month later, during Magnus and Alec’s wedding, she can dance and laugh and kiss her girlfriend in public.

The show really pretends that The Power Of LoveTM ended homophobia, because, I don’t know, the Clave looked at Alec and Magnus and shipped it so they were now okay with all gays I guess??

That’s bullshit. You didn’t have to set up this society as inherently homophobic; if you’d just done that, the way it progressed would have been fine. But if you make them inherently homophobic, you don’t get to do... nothing.

Alec is an openly gay man. He’d have gotten shit from his coworkers. He certainly wouldn’t have gotten all of those promotions in such a short time!

No one speaks up against him being appointed head of the Institute - even though someone really should have, not even just because he’s gay but also because he’s a Lightwood and we started this whole fucking mess of playing musical chairs with the position of head because the Clave wanted to take it away from the Lightwoods! But also because he’s gay. And dating a Downworlder, just to remind you of the inherent racism again.

He’s offered the position of consul within a month of having been head - a position he only got through nepotism to begin with. Consul. That... That’s a high-ranking political position.

And in the flashfoward, only one year after, he is... he is the Inquistor.

They really pretend that this gay man came out as gay, ended homophobia and racism with the power of love and then, within a year’s time climbed onto the highest possible political positon.

Just, imagine that in the real world. During the height of “don’t ask, don’t tell” and when interracial relationships are far from socially accepted, this guy just comes out as gay, never does any activism aside from actively being gay, gets married to this man of color (and it’s very peculiar that the majority of Downworlders also make up the majority of characters of color) and then the guy becomes president of the United States within a year.

The narrative the show chose belittles the actual struggle oppressed minorities have been fighting for decades and centuries, because it claims the pay-off of having ended the oppression, without ever actually showing the struggle and fight. It makes it look like, well, if the right queer interracial couple kissed in public, then people would see how silly their racism and homophobia were and just stop being racist and homophobic.

The show did not earn that ending. The show didn’t earn the pat on the back from Underhill to Alec, the show didn’t earn that out and proud wedding inside the Institute, the show didn’t earn that Underhill/Lorenzo and Aline/Helen open, happy, uncaring dancing during said wedding, the show didn’t earn Inquisitor Alec and the show didn’t earn High Warlock of Alicante Magnus.

Because the show didn’t put in the work to earn that.

[sweet-sammy-kisses]

Cream Puffs and Puppies Chapter 2

For TimKon week Prompt: Matchmaker. I went in a different direction with the prompt. I hope you enjoy.  Pairings: Kon/Tim, Jason/Roy/Kory, Cass/Cassie, Dick/Wally, Diana/Bruce, and Jon/Damian You can also read it on AO3

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this." Jason Todd growled as he glared at his two lovers and then his little sister.

"Come on Jason, you have to admit that it is clear that Bruce, Dick, and even the little demon miss Tim, and Tim misses them greatly." Roy reminded the growling man.

"I know that! I just don't get why we have to do this at a stupid con or why we have to dress up!" Jason hissed back as he tugged at his costume, at least it wasn't something ridiculous. "And why the hell can't I wear a shirt?"

"Because Dante doesn't wear a shirt." Kory happily informed Jason stealing a quick kiss. "How do I look?" She asked twirling around in her cosplay outfit.

"You look amazing." Roy came to stand beside Kory they both ended up going as Neo Queen Serenity and Neo King Endymion both looked amazing as their characters.

Cass had decided to go as Sailor Mars and Jason had a feeling a big part of her choice had to do with the fact that Cassie was going as Sailor Venus.

"Just so you know the only reason I am doing this is because I want to see what Blondie and Babs picked for Bruce, Dickie, and the demon spawn," Jason informed them as he crossed his arms over his chest.

A wide grin appeared on Roy's face as he clapped Jason on the back, "Sure Jay whatever you say."

Jason glared at Roy then turned his attention to Elizabeth, who he ended up adopting after his fifth visit when Tim rolled his eyes and shoved the adoption papers in his hands and told him to just fill them out already, gave him a doggy grin full of love. "Fine, let's get this over with."

+*****+

"You look amazing my space husband." Tim beamed at Conner who had finished putting the final touches on his costume. In Tim's opinion, he made a very handsome Shiro.

Tim had decided to go as Keith Kogane when Conner surprised him with tickets to a comic con and every Keith needed his own Shiro.

Conner could only smile as he pressed his lips against Tim's he knew his lover was obsessed with Voltron and what he called the epic love story of Keith and Shiro, he refused to accept the ending that neither Keith and Shiro or Lance and Allura ended up together.

"How dare they deny them their happy ending." Tim hissed as he watched the final seasons.

Conner had kept a close on Tim after that, the last thing he wanted was for him to do something drastic like buy the studio and redo the entire last season himself.

"The last time I went..." Tim trailed off the last time he went Dick had been there, they even managed to get Bruce to come along with them.

"Come on we better get going to meet the others." Conner stole a kiss from Tim, he hated the pain in Tim's eyes, he knew that he still missed his family. 'Please let this plan work.'

+******+

Barbara Gordon wasn't someone you messed around with, she rolled into the Batcave with Alfred and Stephanie both behind her.

"If you want to win back Tim this is your chance," Barbra informed them as she passed them their outfits. "You have half an hour to get ready before I call in reinforcements in the form of Wally, Jon, and Diana." Grinning as her threat had the effect she wanted she rolled herself out of the Batcave, she had her costume to pack.

With Bruce having his own plane it was easy to get them to San Francisco in time. Of course, Barbra had left out the little fact that Wally, Jon, and Diana would still be joining them. She rather enjoyed watching Jon appear in front of Damian and hug him.

Barbra made sure to get photos she had no clue how Diana convinced Bruce that yes he had to dress up as Wesley from the Princess Bride to her Buttercup but she had managed to do so. She had a feeling the black outfit helped.

Jon had picked Sasuke for Damian and Naruto for himself. Damian's scowl matched Sasuke's perfectly while Jon was just as happy as his character was.

Wally and Dick, well Babs was impressed at how much Dick managed to look like Tony Stark while Wally looked like a stupidly in love Steve Rogers as he gazed at Dick. 'Perfect for them.'

Barbra had chosen to go as Captain Marvel (Carol) and she rather pleased with how her costume had turned out.

Stephanie looked amazing as Spider Gwen, she looked unrecognizable.

"Now remember that our goal is to talk to Tim and prove to him how much we miss him." Dick reminded them. Guilt had eaten at him when Jason returned Red Robin's suit and everything to them. He had failed his little brother.

"Indeed." Damian, after Jon, pointed out how he talked and treated Tim had been wrong, had come to realize that both he and Tim were loved and wanted. He needed to make amends for his past treatment of Tim.

+*****+

"Wow, you guys look amazing." Tim praised as he caught sight of everyone's costumes. Raven looked amazing as Gamora and Gar looked like he was having a blast as Star-Lord. Bart was hopping around as Spiderman and Cassie looked amazing as Sailor Venus.

"Let's go," Jason growled as he stalked towards the entrance.

Linking hands with Conner Tim pulled him to follow after his older brother.

+****+

They had been there for about an hour when Conner got the text he was waiting for.

We are here.

Giving the signal to the others they followed Cass who would easily find her family.

"Look," Tim whispered to Conner as he walked behind his sister and friend.

Conner grinned as he spotted the link hands between Cass and Cassie and the faint blush on both of their cheeks.

"Hey Spiderman, looking good." Spider Gwen appeared out of nowhere, nudging Bart in the side.

Tim blinked he would know that voice anywhere. "Steph?" He had been so focused on being happy for Cass and Cassie that he hadn't been paying attention to the fact that he had been lead into a room.

Tugging off her hood Stephanie grinned at Tim, "Hey, ex-boyfriend long time no see."

It took Tim one glance around the room to see who else was there and his chest clenched. "What are you all doing here?"

Dick took a step towards Tim, "We are here for you Tim. To ask for a second chance to make things right with you. To prove that we love you, that you are part of our family. I know I haven't been the best brother to you and I want to fix that."

Bruce followed Dick and came to stand next to his oldest, "You are my son and I am sorry that I should have never made sure you knew that."

Jon nudged Damian who rolled his eyes as he followed his family, "I owe you an apology, Drake... Timothy. I was wrong in how I treated you and I wish to get to know you as my brother."

Dick gave Tim a a pleading look, "I love you, Tim, we all do will you give us a second chance?"

Tim had missed them all so much, yes they had hurt him deeply but he couldn't deny them that he missed them and wanted them back in his life. "Okay, I missed you all and I want my family back."

Dick moved and engulfed Tim in a tight hug. "I have missed you, little brother. And I'm not going to lose you again."

Tim clung to Dick, he had missed his hugs, "I missed you too big brother."

Jason rolled his eyes as he spotted Bruce's hands twitching, "Oh hug him already." Jason wasn't in the mood to watch him brood.

Tim and Dick were engulfed in Bruce's warmth as he hugged them to his chest.

Jon looked at Damian, "I am not hugging them." Damian informed his boyfriend.

A sweet smile appeared on Jon's face, "You're here that is a good start."

Once the hug broke Tim turned to face Conner, "Was this your idea?" He asked.

Conner grinned sheepishly, "It was a joint effort. We could see how much you missed them. You weren't whole without them and from what Stephanie and Barbra said they were even more miserable than you. Besides, I figured you would want your father to walk you down the aisle."

The room went silent as everyone stared at Conner.

Tim's eyes were wide, "Are you asking me to marry you?"

Conner fell down to one knee and pulled out the ring box he had been carrying around with him for a month, "Timothy Drake-Wayne since the moment I met you my life was changed for the better. I couldn't imagine my life without you. The day I met you was the day I met my soulmate and I want to spend the rest of our lives together and be able to call you my husband. So will you marry me?"

Tim lunged at Conner, wrapping his arms around his neck and kissing him deeply.

"I think that is a yes," Bart commented.

Bruce let out a distress noise that had Diana linking their hands together, "I think this is wonderful a union blessed by the Gods. Their souls have always been meant to be one." She whispered to Bruce who could only grunt.

Wally shook his head as Dick looked torn between happy that Tim was getting married or upset that his baby brother was getting married. "Conner is good for him and he will treat Tim the way he deserves to be treated." Wally did his best to comfort Dick.

"Don't worry I already gave Conner a long and very detailed list of what will happen to him should he hurt baby bird." Jason drawled out.

"What! You knew?" Dick whirled around and glared at his brother who just let out a crackle than a curse as Dick tackled him.

While chaos broke out behind them Tim broke the kiss and rested his forehead against Conner's, "The answer, by the way, is yes. Thank you for bringing my family back to me."

"Anything for you my space husband."

[let-me-love-you-loki]

The Christmas that Wasn’t-Ch. 2

A/N: Written with @mox-made-me-do-it​

Chapter 2: Allie

           “Umm yeah…” I said slowly, feeling my heart pounding against my ribs. “Cowboys are supposed to be lucky. As long as they aren't from Dallas at least."

           Oh my God did I just say that? Surprisingly, my unfunny and awkward football joke earned a definite chuckle from Adam. But, oh, the way he smiled. Those eyes, I swear, could glow in the dark.

           The voices at the table seemed to fade away. I could just make out Leigh’s voice as she kept the conversation going. She was talented like that—able to talk up everyone she met. It was how we met in freshmen year at in the first place. She and Kenny seemed to be hitting it off, propped on their elbows and talking over the cheese fries and cookie skillet. I sat there in a stunned sort of silence every time I thought about trying to talk. Maybe not to Kenny, but definitely to Adam.

           I was suddenly jerked back to reality when I realized Leigh was poking my leg. She was watching me from the corner of her eye, lips turned down in a worried frown. Across the table, Kenny tapped his spoon on the skillet.

         “Hello? Anybody home in there?" Kenny said with a teasing smile.

           Leigh poked my thigh again. “Hi...sorry… the mimosas we had on the plane are kicking my ass." For a second, the world went fuzzy. Without warning, I jumped to my feet and excused myself, grabbing my backpack as I dashed off.

           I hurried to the ladies’ room. My ribs were tight, making it hard to breathe. I swore I was going to either throw up or pass out before I made it into the bathroom. I heard Leigh’s faint voice in the background, apologizing behind me as she followed behind at a run.

           “Als? You ok, babe?” Leigh asked, following me to the sink. The panic was so thick that I couldn’t think of anything else to do but giggle… almost maniacally.  “What's going on? What’s wrong?”

           I threw my bag on the counter, searching through it for one specific thing. Half a dozen things came out as I dug, finally pulling out what I wanted. I held up a smooth grey rock with the word courage engraved in black on the top.

           “Remember this?" I asked, holding it up. “You gave it to me at the airport when I moved to LA. It hasn't left my bag since.”

           Leigh stepped close and put her arm around my back and dropped her head against my shoulder. “Als…”

           “Jon made fun of me for keeping it with me, but I can't imagine not having you by my side, Leelee.” My voice broke. As much as he’d royally screwed me over, it still hurt to think of all the time I’d wasted with Jon. When I thought things were going perfectly, when I thought we were two steps from happily ever after… I squeezed my eyes shut to keep from crying. I refused to give him that satisfaction.

         “I can't believe you keep that with you,” my friend replied, hugging me tight. I turned and wrapped my arms around her. For a moment, we just stood there as the panic bled out of me. “I know things are hard, but there is a super hot, super confused cowboy and out there with our loaded cheese fries. If we leave them alone too long, they’ll eat all of them. And the cookie,” Leigh said with a nudge and a wink. 

         I grinned, relaxing with my friend’s presence. “What about Curls—Kenny? I think he likes you…” We parted and I leaned against the counter, raising a brow as I looked at her. We were almost the same height, but her hair was shorter and dyed a deep ruby red. “Maybe it’s time to jump back on the pogo stick?”

           Leigh blushed and tucked her hair behind her ears. She looked over her shoulder at the door. “He's so fit… and hot. I mean, look at him and look at me. I doubt he goes for the thick girls.”

           I knew the feeling. The doubt. I thought I’d found someone who accepted and loved me just for me, but I’d been wrong. I suppose it had been the same with Izzy and Leigh. They were like Jon and I… happy on the outside but broken deep down.

           As doubtful as she sounded, Leigh had a faraway dreamy look in her eyes. “Man… his smile, though. And those eyes…but I don’t know, Al… But I guess we’ve got to leave the ladies first so we can find out. Remember a week away from reality.”

           I took a deep breath and looked at myself in the mirror. Whatever tan I’d gotten living in California had washed out beneath my panic. My hazel eyes looked shell shocked. I splashed some cool water on my face and behind my ears, the surprise bringing color back to my cheeks. Leigh handed me a paper towel.

           “You good?”

           “Yeah, I'm good.” I smiled and hugged Leigh again, glad to have her with me. I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Seriously, though. Kenny looked at you like we looked at that cookie skillet. I can't believe you don't see it. He is definitely into you. You deserve it after Izzy—go for it.”

           Leigh rolled her eyes and snatched my backpack up from the counter.  “Come on, our fries are probably cold.”

           We laughed as we exited the ladies’ room arm-in-arm. As soon as we opened the door, I was surprised to find the cowboy leaning up against the wall. His brow was furrowed, and his blue eyes were dark with worry.

         “Is everything okay, Allie?” Adam asked with concern. His southern accent seemed to get thicker and desperately more adorable “You turned pale as a sheet.”

           Something warm settled in my chest. “Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks,” I replied, smiling a little. I thought of that stone in the front pocket of my bag. “I guess I shouldn't have had that last mimosa. Got a little light-headed.”

           Adam nodded and tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans. I tried hard not to think about how good he looked in them. “Let’s get some food in you. Always helps when I’ve had a few too many.”

           I felt Leigh bump me lightly in the hip as she unwound her arm from mine and slipped in front of us. Adam shortened his stride to match mine and I could have sworn he turned just a little bit toward me.

           “Hey… half the fries are gone,” Leigh exclaimed from the table. Adam and I sidled up to the table just in time to see Kenny look up at her sheepishly, melted cheese and bacon bits still on the plate in front of him.

           Kenny looked around, as if he were searching for someone even as he tried to casually wipe the grease and cheese onto his napkin. “Yeah, I looked away for one second, and somebody just swiped them.”

           Before any of us could say anything in response, Leigh’s phone went off in her pocket. I watched her face go grey as she recognized the ringtone. Don’t answer it. Don’t answer it, I thought, wishing she could hear me inside her head. But she couldn’t, and I watched her hands shake as she put the phone to her ear.

           “Hello, Itzabelle,” my friend said, her voice barely trembling. I could feel the fear spilling into her veins.

           I could hear her ex’s voice on the other end. She was shouting and screaming, clearly upset about something. What does she want now? Hasn’t the bitch done enough?

           “It’s none of your business if I am in Tahiti with Allie. You gave up having an opinion about what I do a long time ago.” Leigh was starting to go pale and I dashed over to slip a chair under her, guiding her to sit down. “I’m not telling you a damn thing, Itzabelle. You’ve broken my heart enough. I’m not letting you do it again.”

           Leigh dragged the phone from her ear and ended the call, clutching the device tight in her hands. She looked sick. Adam handed her a glass of water. “Head between your knees if you’re gonna pass out.”

           My earlier panic had been quickly burned away by something like rage. Itzabelle Parker and I hadn’t exactly gotten along while she and Leigh were together, but I’d done my best once they got serious. But I’d be damned if she tried to ruin my friend’s life after they’d broken up.

           The high ring of my phone made my heart jump a beat. I dug it from my bag and grinned sadistically when I recognized the number. I answered without hesitation.

           “Listen here, Itzabelle Parker,” I spat, the words drawing out. I paced a few steps away. “You don’t get to speak to her like that. You made your choice the minute you touched her cousin, and you don’t get to be pissed off at her for going on a vacation with me.”

           She snarled back at me, hurling insults and insinuations. I couldn’t help but laugh. “You never deserved her. How many times was it, Izzy? And don’t just say the once because we both know you are a lying bitch who broke my best friend’s heart.”

           The angrier I got, the more I could hear the southern Alabama slipping into my voice. I’d lost all but hints of it when I moved to LA, but it seemed pure and unadulterated rage could bring it right back. “She’s moved on to better and definitely bigger than you. My girl will be well taken care of by one of the hottest men I have ever seen if I have a vote in it. She deserves some happiness after everything you’ve put her through.”

           I hung up on her without another word, feeling some vicious glee at how she sputtered at the end. It never occurred to Izzy that Leigh might find a guy who could make her happy. “Gimme your phone,” I commanded, holding out my hand to Leigh. She dropped passed it over without complaint. I powered both of them off and stuffed them into the bottom of my backpack. “Now…”

           I finally looked up, drawing a deep breath. The anger I’d felt at Izzy had completely torn away at the panic I’d felt moments before. Leigh was looking up at me with a mixture of awe and embarrassment. Across the table, Kenny had turned a horrible beet red and was suddenly very interested in counting the bacon bits on his plate. But Adam…

           Adam was looking at me with an awful appreciation in his eyes. He grinned and nodded, bracing his hands on the back of his chair and leaning forward. “You, Allie Mason, are as full of surprises as a hellcat.”

           “I’m sorry. That woman just…” I growled, still caught up in the rush of adrenaline. “She thinks she can dictate everything Leigh does even though she’s the one who royally fucked up. I’m not having it.”

           As I watched, Adam looked over at Kenny and burst out laughing. I finally stopped long enough to realize how I might have embarrassed him. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Kenny. I didn’t mean… That woman is horrible, and I wanted to shut her up. I’m so sorry I embarrassed you!”

           He took a deep drink of the soda in front of him. Then he downed the water next to it. “It’s fine,” he said, waving his hand in the air. “Flattered really. I mean… surprising that I would… you know… make her… jealous? But… yeah… um…”

           For a moment he sat quiet, then looked down at the iPhone on the table. “Hey Hangman, our ferry leaves in like 10 minutes. Unfortunately, we need to bid these lovely ladies adieu." Kenny said, the slight sadness present beneath his lingering embarrassment.

           Leigh glanced over as well. "Shit! Allie, ours leaves then, too. Grab a box from the server for the fries.” She glanced up at Kenny—who was still a delightful shade of red—and Adam—who was trying not to laugh at his friend—and queried, “Where are you guys off to?"

           “The Four Seasons resort at Bora Bora,” Adam said easily.

           I looked at Leigh, my heart beating hard against my ribs. No. It wasn’t possible… She looked quickly between Adam and I and smiled. “So are we.”

[suhmayzooka]

cursed child broadway, feb. 23, 2020

third time seeing cc in three months for one reason: my sister is, in her words, “in love with joey labrasca” (karl).  she thinks he’s absolutely perfect.  this past week i’ve endured her talking about how hot he is.  i mean, i’ve gotten quite a bit of good lily luna material for my fics now, but at what expense? did i need to know that joey’s (very mild) acne made him look handsomer? did i need to know about how deep his eyes are? did I?

i teased her about what she’d do if he wasn’t on, and she said she’d be so upset.  

we get to the theatre, i look at the cast…and james romney was karl.

my sister was shocked.  the love of her life, who most likely has forgotten about her existence, wasn’t there for what looks to be our final time seeing the year 2 cast.  she was devastated.

we also got to see antoinette robinson as hermione and tom patrick stephens as ron!  and sarita amani nash was myrtle!!  and kimberly dodson as polly!!

james!karl was great and i will bombard my sister with as much james romney content as i can in order to piss her off further :)

patrick du laney was the sorting hat and aaron bartz was the station master.  we actually saw aaron walking into the theatre as we waited outside for part 2.  he definitely has the draco swagger.

anyway let’s get to the good stuff!

~james snyder as harry! great as usual. i don’t think he did much differently than last time, or if he did it wasn’t very noticeable.

~diane davis as ginny – same w james.  i think she held on to albus longer when they hug in godric’s hollow this time?

~jonno roberts as draco: okay this guy singlehandedly inspired me to start a fic back in december (that has…….yet to be finished………) with how his draco and bubba’s scorpius behaved and this was no exception.  idk whether his mic got caught on something or if he was really bringing it all out, but when he shoves scorpius’s head against his desk in the dark world, he GROWLED the “you do NOT use her name in vain” line ???? i’ve never heard him say it like that, it’s usually more of a hiss.  idk how to describe how he said it other than “growl.” almost like an animal.

then when he said “do it safely, i can’t lose you too” he’s looking directly at scorpius.  it’s different from how i’m used to seeing him and closer how i picture him saying it; usually he’s looking away, like he’s afraid of showing vulnerability to scorpius.  but here, with him looking directly at him, and said with so much emotion and love, even in such a dark place…oOOF

he refused to let go of scorpius when they met again in godric’s hollow.  my heart…..always one arm around scorpius’s shoulders, or one hand on his chest, as scorpius clings on to him.

~kimberly!polly SMILED and giggled when she stepped in blood? “oh, potter, i’ve got blood on my shoe!” *delighted* and then as the staircase rolled away, she turned on her stomach to gaze down at scorpius, grinning flirtatiously.  this is my second time seeing her as polly, but from what i remember, katherine!polly wasn’t as sadistic in the dark au as she was.  i personally prefer kimberly!polly.

~sarita!myrtle!! like w kimberly!polly this is my second time seeing sarita!myrtle and i don’t really remember much about lauren!myrtle to compare, but sarita!myrtle was hilarious.  she got a round of applause just for appearing.  “girls….*turns around, stares directly @ albus* AND BOYS” *albus turns around, confused, as if she’s talking to someone behind him* UGHHH she’s so good and she’ll absolutely kill it as (main) polly, i can feel it.

~this was my first time seeing jack pravda as young harry! his voice is deeper than zell’s, and he was so adorably confused in the graveyard scene.  “why are there so many flowers?”

~antoinette!hermione was a lot less playful than jenny!hermione.  she does try for comedic effect, but she’s a bit more serious overall.  she was so scary in the first timeline!  when she waves her wand to dismiss the class and she’s standing all alone, she looks out with such a distant, despairing expression, then composes herself immediately. 

~tom!ron was very funny!  again, my issue with ron in cc comes down to how he was written.  he may have been relegated to shitty comic relief (why……is one of the first things he says……a fart joke…..?), but it’s up to the actors do what they can to flesh out some semblance of a likeable character from the bs that the script gave us.  and tom!ron was great!! he’s not as…dopey? dorky? as matt!ron, who’s very funny but a bit—childish? i guess? tom!ron feels more like an adult who still has a childish sense of humor, if that makes sense.

~ROMIONE.  watching a new take on romione was like falling in love w romione all over again.  tom/antoinette was a very loving pair.  jenny/matt tease each other a lot more, but tom/antoinette are more tactile.  their kiss was so sweet

~there’s hardly any love for sara farb’s delphi for some reason. i’m not sure why; her shift from delphi diggory to delphi riddle is so chilling. delphi diggory has a high pitched voice and is really goofy around albus.  scorpius absolutely hates her lmao.  as soon as she switches, her voice drops to a low growl and she’s downright terrifying.  i’m sad to see her go!

~WILL CARLYON.  is it possible to fall in love with the portrayal of a character in a handful of scenes? he’s got like five lines total but oh my god.  one thing a lot of people note about nicholas!albus is the way he’s so obviously a fourteen-year-old child.  will’s james sirius potter is SUCH a thirteen-year-old in the opening scene…it’s somewhat disconcerting watching this very-obviously-twenty-something-year-old man flap his arms going “WATCH OUTTT FOR THE THESTTRRAAAAAAALS” but it works? it’s believable?? he’s so close with lily luna.  this is my third time seeing him and every time he pretends to pounce on her and hug her during the thestral line i fall in love?? ginny scolds him and he is sheepish, but he won’t stop making the troll face at albus.  “SLITHERING SLYTHERIN STOP WITH YOUR DITHERING” *smacks albus*

~yeah i promised jsp content and i’m fucking delivering

~he’s sO excited watching albus get sorted. when the hat goes “SLYTHERIN” he’s absolutely shocked.  he’s confused.  he just stares at albus, confused, until yann (jonathan gordon, who once again gives us a delightfully dislikable yann) says some shit and james just turns to him and swats his hand at him.  he genuinely looked ready to fight yann.  i couldn’t tell but i think he tells him to stop?? it was hard to hear but his mouth definitely moved, i think to tell yann to cut it out.

~the scene with the students eavesdropping on mcgonagall’s meeting with the parents.  oh my god i don’t think he did anything that much differently than last time but i need to talk about this because i didn’t do it justice in my last recap.

~they sit on the stairs (iirc) top to bottom craig, yann, karl, rose, james.  i’m gonna ignore craig, yann, and karl since there are some serious family feels going on w rose and james

~jsp and rose begin the scene smiling, snickering as they hear that albus and scorpius fucked up.  “ahaha they got into deep shit” but then when they learn that they wrote rose and hugo (??whom??) out of time and then killed harry, their faces fall.  james’s eyes become vacant, far-off as he learns what happened to his brother.  his breathing becomes heavier and faster until he’s a few breaths from hyperventilating.  he leans his forehead against the stairwell/banister and shakes his head, mouthing/whispering “no…no…”

~nadia brown’s rose is such a little shit but she’s so good in this scene.  when she learns that she didn’t exist in the new timeline, she grabs james’s shoulder and he grabs her hand.  they don’t let go for the rest of the scene.

~i’m like half convinced that will got the part because of his amazingly expressive eyebrows.  i think my sister calls it “back row acting?” his eyebrows can probably be seen from the back row.  after the mcgonagall scene is over he sits on the stairs, raising one eyebrow at rose and hermione, then goes back to reading the scroll.

~i didn’t mean for this to become a will carlyon fan account but he deserves it.  according to nicholas he’s the biggest potterhead in the cast. he’s a ravenclaw. he can sing.  he’s so fucking valid and i’m so glad he’s staying for year 3.  he’s got two followers on youtube and one of them is me.  please guys like no one talks about him and i’ll fill this niche.  same with the lovely sarita. she’s so kind and so beautiful and so talented she can sing so well and she gives everything during wand dance listen i spent the beginning of this thing making fun of my sister for liking joey so much but sarita……..

~cc nyc said straight girl/lesbian solidarity  

~anyway…

~nicholas podany as albus.  so. Many. Tears.  i didn’t realize this before but his whole body trembles when he cries?? i first noticed this when he and harry were in the slytherin common room.  i was like “are his pajamas vibrating?? is this an optical illusion (they’re striped pajamas)???” no, his whole body was shaking with suppressed crying.  once i noticed i couldn’t un-notice and this continued for the rest of the show.

~bubba weiler’s scorpius didn’t seem much different from usual? i could go on about him but….that’s what my unfinished fic is for……one day……….

~okay so this is where i elaborate on the scorbus moments that made me want to YEET myself off the roof of the theatre (if you had to make sense of my typos on discord: i am Sorry)

~the slytherin dorm scene: scorpius tickles albus to wake him up.  he then makes himself comfortable on albus’s bed and won’t stop rubbing and patting his thigh.

~in addition to being austistic, bubba!scorp is bisexual (jon case would be proud) and here is PROOF: to flirt, bubba!scorpius leans against objects, sprawls his body out, plays with his hair, etc all extremely cheesy, greasy, suave moves.  he blows a kiss to polly as he’s sprawled across the stairs.  when he ROLLS down the stairs (looked painful…) to see rose at the end, he plays with his hair, shoots her a finger gun (further proof he’s bi), and lowers his voice.  but the comparison i need to highlight is THIS: when he says rose smells like bread, (1) he leans against the suitcases, trying to look suave, and (2) his face is instant regret. he silently bends back and mouths “WHAT WHY BREAD?? WHAT??? WHY???” and now…when he delivers his “ENGORGIMPRESSED” line to albus, he (1) leans against the sink, (2) grins, lowering his voice, and when the pun doesn’t land, (3) his face immediately falls, instant regret, the literal definition of “oH MY GOD WHAT WHY DID I JUST SAY THAT” the same expression he had when rose wasn’t impressed.  coincidence? i think NOT.  he’s trying so hard to flirt but he has no idea how to interact w people im --

~delphi in the church: when the adults have all surrounded delphi with their magic in the center of the stage, albus, ginny, and scorpius are huddled together. scorpius is behind albus, clutching his shoulder and hand.  albus breaks free for “SHE’S A MURDERER I’VE SEEN HER MURDER” (an underappreciated line imo) and scorpius just watches him, clearly wanting to help but not knowing how

~the final hug.  my initial, endorphin-fueled reaction was, verbatim: “THE FUNAL HUG NSCWR SEEN IR LAST SO LLNG NEVER SAW NICJ HUG HIM BACK NOSES ALMOST TOYCHONF.”  not even this is enough to convey my reaction to the final hug, but i’ll try my best to transcribe it.  

scorpius: runs up the stairs, grabs albus into a hug

albus: stunned for a moment, then wraps his arms around scorpius’s shoulders and hugs him back, burying his face into the crook of scorpius’s neck.  this is the first time i’ve seen him hug back, at least so fiercely.  they stand there for a good 3-5 seconds, then albus says, quietly, “what’s this? i thought we didn’t hug.”

scorpius, pulling back but still close to albus: “i wasn’t sure whether we should…” *looks up at albus, literal inches from his face* “in this new version of us…” *more gazing into each other’s eyes for a few seconds*

albus: “well…you better ask rose if it’s the right thing to do…” he sounded unsure? not as playful as before?

scorpius: *stares at albus for a few seconds* “a..aaha………..yeah right!”

he turns around and runs down the stairs.  albus goes “i’ll see you at dinner!” and scorpius turns around, smiles at him, and walks off, albus grinning and gazing so lovingly as he departs i’m gonna c r y

i can’t think of anything else to say about the show itself?  but my sister has given me a lot of material so i’m gonna talk about what went on with her because it’s relevant to our stage door interactions.

as we ate, she described how she would rewrite cc.  she has valid and absolutely invalid suggestions.  she would keep the father/son issues, make scorbus canon, remove or rewrite rose, and rewrite delphi’s backstory (valid).  she would remove the sorting hat and the dark timeline (not valid).  

during the intermission between acts 3 and 4, we started looking through the playbill and she started gossiping/venting about how much she hates the people in her school’s theatre (valid, since they’re bullying assholes).  i brought up a meme i sent her that i saw on twitter about how no high school theatre guys can sing, act, dance, and not be sexist.  somehow this discussion went back to nicholas podany? she was like, “i’ve been listening to his songs and deep blue is a low-key bop.” i asked if she heard his most recent song, telling myself.  she hadn’t and she immediately went to soundcloud to listen to it.  her reaction was PRICELESS.  she absolutely adored it.  she was dancing in her seat, going “okay this is actually really good??” like ofc it is? i don’t recommend bad songs? she tried to replay it but then her data ran out and the lyric theatre wifi is shit so she got very upset.  then the lights turned off and she reluctantly took out her earbuds.

there was a little girl (around 6-7ish, i’d say) in the very first row dressed as hermione for part one--complete with a doll and a broom.  for part two she was wearing a hedwig costume that looked homemade! she was very adorable, and bubba waved hello to her when he came for the curtain call.

stage door:

~sarita came out first! we told her that this was our third time at the show and second time seeing her.  i congratulated her on being cast as polly and she was so happy! dare i say…..loml

~tom and antoinette were so happy to have been the first cover romione we saw! tom was like “ah, you saw the best ron (himself)!” we were in front of a man from the uk who had seen the london show five times, and he and tom struck up a conversation about where they were from.

~nadia brown was so happy to see us! she didn’t remember us lmao but she’s so friendly

~edward james hyland (amos/dumbledore) was…politically campaigning?? the people in front of us were from vermont and he was like “ah…vermont…do you support bernie??” just like that.  they were caught off guard but i think they gave an affirmative answer, and he was like “and if he doesn’t get the nomination…?” they were still caught off guard and he just went “you’ll vote blue, right…? cause it’s the right thing to do….?” idk i’m firmly liberal but i thought this was a weird place to get political but okay

~EVERYONE was telling nicholas podany about how much they love telling myself.  he was telling the people in front of us about how it was mastered/mixed by solange’s producer(?) and my sister and i exchanged :0 looks.  she was getting shy, but i was like “tell him! he’ll love to talk about it, i guarantee it!” because even though i produce 0 content, i *am* an artist and i *do* know that we artists love validation

~so he came to us and she started talking about his songs! we’re fortunate that it was a more rock-y song so we’re…able to sound like we know what we’re talking about lmao.  growing up our mom would play us classical music (check out beethoven’s wig yo) and our dad would play us the ramones.  one of my earliest memories was arguing with my sister (probably around 4 at the time) about the lyrics to “i wanna be sedated” ahh… (she was correct btw)

~(don’t argue with me the ramones may not be poets but they’re valid)

~i was right! he was SO excited to talk to us!! my sister complimented the song and the production.  she said “i ADORE your new song!! it’s a high key bop!” and he broke into the BIGGEST smile.  she was like “i’m gonna play it until i hate it” and he said something along the lines of “i was in the studio listening to it nonstop for 8(??) hours i can’t stand it.”  he was talking about how he made the song with his “own scorpius” but i forgot who…he said scorpius and my mind blanked lmao.  he’s brought this person up before in interviews so i can probably find it.  she complimented the fact that it was different from his usual stuff and he told us about how he had a rock band in high school.  @nick where tf is your rock content pls deliver

~i actually spoke this time and cut in to tell him about how she was trying to listen to it on repeat but the signal gave out. she was trying to tell me to shut up but it’s my legal duty as the older sister to embarrass her.  

me: “I told her about your song during the intermission—”

her: “don’t!”

me: “no, nO, i told her and she was listening and then she ran out of data—”

him: “aaAa noo!”

her: “I listened to it!”

~then i told him that we loved seeing how he played albus and that we’re going to miss him, that we were going to see the cast change show but we couldn’t get tickets (i kindly left off the reason why), and he was so sweet about it *clenches heart* he told us how much he loves being able to experience this, that we’ll be so lucky to have james romney take over, etc etc i kinda wasn’t listening bc I was too emo, but I remember going “…but I don’t want to say goodbye…” and he just. gave me a sad look like “I know.”  there was so much pity in his expression.  why is he leaving us.

~the uk guy behind us was talking about how he’d seen the london year 3 and 4.  nicholas was like “oh, joe and dom? yeah i’ve spoken to joe and dom—wait, no, i haven’t met dom? i know he has an impressive social media presence” and they started talking about how different actors bring different things to albus and how the show allows them to explore different aspects to their characters and he just…wasn’t making any of this any easier for me lmao i’m mourning the loss of nick!albus and it’s not even march

~i feel bad that we weren’t able to speak with fiona reid (petunia/umbridge) because nicholas was talking to us.  

~jonno roberts.  this was the first time i’ve interacted w him at sd.  his draco has made such an impact on me, he’s my favorite actor in the show, and what do i say? what great words come out of my mouth? “hi you were great.” my sister KICKED me with her heeled boots. good thing i’m a lesbian because my doc martens protected my feet from the force of her anger.

~james snyder was enraptured in conversation with the people in front of us and just took our playbills to sign as he spoke with them. then he went “hi,” passed over us to talk to the guy behind us.  my sister was like “you were great!”

~tbh sd was kinda messy bc we were at the end of the line and the barrier things didn’t allow for the actors to get enough room to interact with the fans at the back. also jonno was standing there and he’s not a small man.

~saw several male actors leaving sd, waving goodbye at us and just walking away.  MOOD.  i was exhausted and i wasn’t the one running around on stage!

[alj4890]

Love Prompt

(Thomas x Amanda) in a continuation of their reconciliation after a break up as requested by @krsnlove

(Thomas Hunt x oc*Amanda) A Choices: Red Carpet Diaries Fan Fiction

A/N Okay, clearly I have been on a Mad Men binge, which explains the many Jon Hamm/Don Draper gifs recently. *clears throat* After being tempted with my bff's questions and suggestions, this second part came about. Breakups aren't the easiest thing to get over, even with a heartfelt reconciliation. Often it is harder on the ones that care about the two individuals that decide to try once again....

Part 1

Masterlist

@lxaah11 @alleksa16 @penguininapinktuxedo @blackcoffee85 @stopforamoment @krsnlove   @annekebbphotography @cora-nova @bella-ca  @hopelessromantic1352 . @sunflowergirl05 @desiree-0816 @greywitchyshots @lilyofchoices @emceesynonymroll @dr-nancy-house @aworldoffandoms @pixieferry @lolablackwrites @i-bloody-love-drake-walker

Once Again, Please. Part 2

Los Angeles California...

"Have you heard from Thomas?" Addison asked.

"No. I only received a text from him that he wasn't returning to the office after lunch Thursday." Holly handed her phone to Shannon. The three friends were sitting together at an outdoor cafe.

"Did he come to work Friday?" Addison asked, worried that seeing Amanda might have sent him into a depression.

"No. He sent a text that he would be working indefinitely from home." Holly replied.

Shannon frowned at Holly's phone. "This doesn't make sense. Thomas hates to text yet that is all he has done the past few days."

"Maybe he can't talk about how heartbroken he is." Addison mumbled.

"We should go over to his house and check on him." Shannon decided.

"We can't just ambush him." Holly argued. "We have to have a reason for stopping by."

"I found some new material to make the night club singer's costume. I could say I wanted his opinion." Addison offered.

"Perfect!" Shannon exclaimed. "He hates reviewing things through pictures sent over the phone so we will all go over and see how he is."

_______________

Thomas Hunt's home...

Amanda wrapped her arms around Thomas's neck as he pulled her closer. The water in the pool did little to cool their heated skin. Her breath caught when he moved one of her swimsuit straps to continue kissing along her shoulder and neck.

He paused and whispered how much he loved her before capturing her lips in a passionate kiss. She felt her body respond to every touch and tried to remain upright. "Thomas, I love--did you hear something?"

He frowned and looked over his shoulder. "Whatever it was, I don't hear it now." His irritation at a possible interruption disappeared when she finished saying how much she loved him. His hands moved over her body as their lips met again.

"His cars are in the garage. He must be out here some--" the three ladies halted and stared with mouths open at catching Amanda and Thomas kissing in his pool.

The couple broke apart and looked up at them. Thomas snapped out of his surprise first. "What are you doing in my home?"

"We...I...needed an opinion on this material for the nightclub scene." Addison quickly held a swatch up.

Amanda blushed at their attention going from Thomas to her. She cleared her throat and raised her eyebrows when he looked over at her. He sighed and pulled her close to him. "In regards to the actual reason for being here, which I assume is to check up on me since I did not return to work, Amanda and I are back together."

"That's wonderful!" Shannon exclaimed.

"I knew it! I knew that's why you were texting!" Addison squealed.

"Oh thank goodness. I was not looking forward to working with a mopey Thomas Hunt." Holly plopped down on a lounge chair.

Thomas glared at her before turning his attention to Amanda's visible happiness as she answered the questions posed to her. He couldn't help but smile when she wrapped her arms around his waist.

After a few minutes of conversation, the three friends noticed the longing looks between the couple and decided to leave. With their happiness at seeing the two back together said once more, they left.

Two weeks later in Cordonia...

"I HATE THEM TOGETHER!" Olivia stormed into Liam's study with Drake and Maxwell following closely behind her.

Hana and Riley looked up in surprise. Liam dropped his paper while his brow furrowed. "Hate who together?" He asked.

"Thomas Hunt convinced Amanda to give him a second chance!" Olivia spat the words out like they were of the worst curse words ever spoken.

Hana clasped her hands together. "Oh how sweet! I knew he had to have loved her like she does him."

"I don't know. We all saw how hurt she was when they broke up." Maxwell's blue eyes clouded with worry. "Can he be trusted to do things right this time?"

"See! Maxwell gets it!" Olivia addressed the room. "He used trickery to get her back!"

"What?" Liam rose up, his anger beginning to boil.

Riley placed a calming hand on his shoulder. "What do you mean?"

Drake rolled his eyes at the unnecessary drama. "The secret meeting was with Thomas. Her agent never told her who it was that would discuss the screenplay."

"He had to have set this up, the snake!" Olivia exclaimed. "Demand she come back home!" She ordered Liam.

His frown eased somewhat. "Maybe Thomas realized he made a mistake."

"You are too sweet, Liam." Olivia muttered. "You see the good in everyone whether they deserve it or not. Now is not the time! Make her come home and get away from him. I refuse to see her heart crushed again."

Maxwell nodded in agreement. "Do it, Liam. Amanda always listens to you. Come up with something that demands her attention."

"I'm not going to lie to her!" Liam narrowed his eyes at them. "I--"

"The Children's Hospital!" Maxwell exclaimed.

Olivia slowly smiled at him. "I am impressed Maxwell. That is the perfect thing to make her come back. Liam, tell her it is time for another fundraiser."

Liam griamced. "I will do so, only because it is true." He checked the time and decided he would do so tomorrow.

"That gives me time to get the man here who I think would be perfect for her." Olivia's smirk held a hint of triumph.

_________________

The next evening in California...

Thomas pressed Amanda against the door to her suite as their kiss began to get out of control. "I hate saying goodnight and walking away." He whispered against her skin. "The long drive home." His lips brushed behind her ear. "The empty house." He gently sucked on her neck. "The lonely bed."

Amanda closed her eyes and tried to calm her racing heart. She moaned softly when his lips returned to hers. Her hands pulled him completely flush to her as she returned his kiss. "I--" she looked over where her phone was vibrating. She slipped away and quickly answered.

Thomas walked over to her when he noticed her brow pucker with worry.

"Of course. It's my charity. I will take care of everything. See you soon." She ended the call and pushed her hair out of her face. "That was Liam. I need to return home."

He frowned and tilted her face up. "Nothing's wrong, is there?"

"A budget discrepancy was found in our children's hospital. If research is to continue without pause, then there needs to be a fund raiser held as soon as possible." She hugged him and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Hopefully, I will be back in California soon."

"I could come with you, if you wish." He offered. Thomas held her close. "I would be more than happy to be your date for the event and help with whatever you need."

"Really?" Her smile made his own form.

"Yes." He softly kissed her. "I told you how I feel about you. I'm not going to remain behind if you need or want me there." His lips captured hers again. "It could also be our way of announcing our being together before the press."

Her eyes widened. "You want to tell the press? You used to hate dealing with them."

"I still do." He replied. "But I love you and I want them to see how important you are to me."

"Thomas." Amanda her arms tightened around his waist. "How do you always know what to say?"

He gently caressed her cheek. "With you, the words come easily."

_____________

A few weeks later in St Orella, Cordonia...

"Why didn't you call me? I would have helped with all this." Olivia waved her hand towards the crowd.

"And pull you away from a certain grumpy commoner? I think not." Amanda teased. "Besides, Thomas has been here helping me whenever I needed an opinion."

"He has?" Olivia asked, her voice laced with doubt. "And how is dear Mr. Hunt?"

"Very well, thank you."

Olivia spun around when she heard him answer.

"Good evening." He nodded his head to her as he placed an arm around Amanda's waist. "How have you been?"

Olivia grit her teeth. "Fine." Her narrowed eyes zeroed in on their blatant happiness. "May I have a word with you?" She asked Amanda. "In private."

"Of course." Amanda excused herself, her smile glowing when he pressed a tender kiss to her cheek, and followed the red head into her study.

Olivia placed her hands on her hips when the door was shut. "How long has he been here?"

"Who?" Amanda asked. "Thomas? We came home together." Her friend's irritation finally registered. "Liv, I told you. Thomas and I have worked everything out. We want to be together."

"But can he be trusted?" Olivia persisted. "I know you said it was a mutual breakup, yet you were the one heartbroken. I don't want to see you be even more hurt when things don't work out again."

Amanda sighed and sat down on the arm of the sofa. "I know. I'm sorry if I drove you all crazy with my moping. I love him, Olivia. He loves me. We aren't going to let the past ruin this second chance. We learned from our mistakes and--"

"So he says." Olivia stressed each word. "Forgive me for not jumping for joy over his worming his way back into your life." When she noticed the familiar stubborn glint in Amanda's eyes, she groaned and folded her arms. "I'm sorry for wanting one of my closest friends to only have the best."

A laugh escaped Amanda's lips. "You are forgiven." She said.

Olivia glared at her before her smirk reappeared. "Now that that's over with," she linked her arm with Amanda's, "let's see how much money we can drain from these people."

Thomas had been talking to Hana and Rashad when Amanda paused in the entrance of the ballroom. He excused himself and walked over to her. He noticed a familiar face also making his way over. The exceptionally attractive man stopped before the two duchesses and kissed Amanda's hand.

"Lady Olivia was worried you would not have an escort. I knew I couldn't allow that to happen and came not only to offer my services but also my checkbook." Alasdair Morgan held onto her hand as he spoke.

Thomas eyed the multimillionaire business mogul warily. He knew that with Olivia's loyalty there would be some bitterness with his past actions. He had not considered though that she would resort in finding a man that could so easily take his place.

Amanda smiled warmly at the new guest and managed to remove her hand. "That is very kind of you." Her gaze landed on Thomas and softened. "Your checkbook I will greatly take advantage of. As for your escort, I already have a date for the evening."

Thomas shook the rival's hand and felt a burst of smug satisfaction come over him when Amanda moved to his side and took his arm. She then smoothly excused them to greet some late arriving guests.

"Seems I wasn't needed after all." Alasdair said.

"On the contrary," Olivia replied. "You are needed more than ever." A sly smile formed on her lips. "Here is what you should do next."

_______________

Thomas stood beside Amanda as she watched her guests dance. The checks had been collected earlier and were being tallied by her man of business. "I hope we met our needed goal." She whispered.

He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer to his body. His hand caressed her skin revealed by the open back of her dress. She rested her head against his shoulder and allowed his touch to comfort her.

Thomas spoke against her temple. "I've yet to give my donation. I will do what I can to make up the difference if one is needed. If none is, then my donation will hopefully be an added bonus."

His generous nature when it came to her touched her heart. She lifted her head and kissed him. He was stunned at first at her doing so in front of everyone and then sank into her embrace. Her tender kiss quickly turned ravenous as he turned toward her. Her hands slipped inside his tuxeudo jacket and ran over the muscles of his back. His lips took over the kiss while keeping her close.

A throat cleared beside them "Not to interrupt..."

They broke apart and realized they were still in the ballroom. Amanda's cheeks flared with color at having been so easily swept away with passion. She brushed the loose strands of hair back behind her ear. "Yes, Mr. Morgan? How may I be of service?"

He held his check up. "I'm afraid this is late, but I had hoped to add it to the others."

She nodded. "I can take it to Sir Francis." She reached for it and quirked an eyebrow when he pulled it out of reach.

His handsome face held mischief. "I heard that you have a variety of first additions in your study. Is there a chance my check could sway you into giving me a tour?"

She chuckled. "I suppose that depends on how much you donated." Her eyes widened when she saw the amount. "Mr. Morgan! This is incredibly generous. I don't have adequate words to express my gratitude."

He smiled and shrugged bashfully. "It is a worthy cause." He ignored the suspicion radiating off of Thomas. "Does it warrant a tour?"

"How could I refuse?" She squeezed Thomas's hand. "If you will excuse me."

He reluctantly let her go. He observed how perfect Amanda looked on Alasdair's arm. Her laughter floated back to him at whatever the man said. Thomas turned his attention back to the ballroom and noticed Olivia watching him. Her smile was evil as she lifted her glass in a smug, silent toast.

He realized why Alasdair was here. It seemed that Amanda's friends were not thrilled with her taking him back. Thomas shoved his hands in his pockets and stepped outside. He needed air while he contemplated how he should react to this.

__________________

"My great-great-great grandfather loved to read." Amanda explained. "He also loved history. He wrote in his journal that his goal in life was to begin a library that could one day rival the ancient one destroyed in Alexandria."

Alasdair nodded in appreciation. He leaned closer to the shelves as he silently read some of the first edition titles. "Incredible."

She smiled and led him up to the third story. She waved toward some books in protective glass cases. He examined a few that were hand written by monks. "Your ancestor's collection is extraordinary."

"It is one of my favorite contributions a relative made to the duchy." She began to descend the stairs to return to the party when he stopped her.

"May I ask you something before we join the others?" He asked.

"Of course." She replied.

Alasdair stepped down the steps until he was eye level with her. "Would you have dinner with me one night before I return to London?"

Amanda looked away. "That is very kind of you, but I am unable to do so." Her smile was apologetic. "I am in a serious relationship with Thomas."

Alasdair seemed to not be too surprised. "That must have happened recently. I recall reading an interview not too long ago about his plans to remain...what was the word he used...untethered."

Amanda hesistated. "I...things have changed within the last month."

The handsome businessman leaned closer to her. "It takes a lot of understanding and forgiveness for relationships to work the second time around." He placed his hand over hers that rested on the banister. "Sometimes it ends up that you are having to work even harder than before to hold onto something that isn't worth the effort."

A throat cleared close by.

Amanda and Alasdair saw Thomas casually leaning against the banister. The business man thanked the duchess for the tour and asked her to save a dance for him. He nodded to Thomas and left them alone.

Thomas watched him leave before approaching Amanda. He had heard enough to understand the game the man was playing. He stopped on the steps below hers and felt a deep, settling happiness within when she automatically moved into his arms with little urging on his part.

He placed a soft kiss on her lips. She took his arm and left the library. "Another hour or so and I will be free of my hostess duties."

"Is there anything you need me to do?"

She kissed his cheek. "I can't think of anything." She stopped him before they came to the ballroom. "In case I didn't tell you, I am very happy you came back to Cordonia with me."

Thomas wrapped his arms around her. "Good, because I meant what I said before. I am in this for the long haul, Amanda. There is no end game. The only result of us being back together I will accept is the two of us standing before an altar." His dark eyes searched hers for understanding.

She met his steady gaze with one of her own. "That is all I will accept too."

He relaxed his stance and placed a heated kiss on her lips.

______________

"So the snake interrupted your time with her?" Olivia glared at Thomas. He was across the room chuckling with Liam over some story or another.

Alasdair shrugged. "I asked her to dinner and she turned me down. I think I planted a few seeds of doubt in her mind. I need time to cultivate them."

Olivia rolled her eyes. She hated idioms. She also wasn't too fond of those who used them. "Why don't you go plant your seeds in his ear." She gestured toward the one she wanted thrown out of their lives.

He nodded and went to do her bidding. She sipped her champagne and smiled when Amanda came up. "How much did you bring in."

Amanda's eyes were bright with excitement. "We nearly tripled our goal! Your Mr. Morgan's generosity along with Thomas's pushed us on over. We might be able to add that new wing we discussed a few months ago."

Olivia's nose wrinkled at Thomas once again being a hero. "Well done." She looked over at the bar and noticed Alasdair had managed to get Thomas by himself. "Very well done." She murmured.

____________

Thomas leaned against the bar while listening to Alasdair try and convince him he didn't want to be tied down to any woman. He took a sip of his scotch and remained silent as the fool continued to show his hand at this ridiculous game Olivia was playing.

"You work with the most beautiful women in the world." Alasdair pointed out. "You are old enough to know that time is fleeting yet young enough to enjoy the fruits of your labor." He took a gulp of his whiskey sour. "Why a man in your position would want to be in a committed relationship is beyond my comprehension."

Thomas set his glass down. "I imagine a great many things are beyond your understanding."

Alasdair narrowed his eyes. "I didn't mean to insult you. I am curious as to why a man such as yourself would choose not only to get back with his ex, but with one who lives so far away." He chuckled as he motioned to the bartender for a refill. "Seems crazy to me."

"I suppose it would if one didn't know the details." Thomas countered. "Being a successful businessman, you should be the first to understand that concept. The devil is always in the details."

Alasdair slowly nodded. "So humor me. What details caused this to come about?"

Thomas leveled his steely gaze on him as his words held a hint of a deeper than suspected anger "Though it is none of your business, I happened to realize that I am in love with Amanda. Being surrounded by the so called beautiful women of the world helped me see that none could hold a candle to her. She is the only one I think of when contemplating my future."

He straightened his cuffs and leaned closer to the man, his anger coming fully to the surface. "Knowing how important she is to me, I would stop trying to interfere with us if I were you. I am a man that learned a hard lesson and will not hesitate from fighting for her. I won't lose her again." He walked away from him without another glance.

____________

"I don't think we should have done this." Maxwell muttered. "If Amanda finds out we--"

"Don't turn coward on me now." Olivia hissed.

"Liv, maybe he has ch--" Maxwell's eyes widened when Thomas approached them.

He looked like a man enjoying the party, save for the murderous look in his eyes. He managed to keep his voice down as he spoke.

"I know what you are doing and it is time I made something clear. Your childish games are going to end tonight." Thomas began.

Olivia narrowed her eyes. "Why you--"

He cut her off. "Amanda and I are both adults that made a decision regarding our lives. I understand that you only want what is best for her and your loyalty is to be commended." His gaze turned hard. "But if you persist in trying to sabotage her happiness, I will not idly stand by."

Olivia arched an eyebrow. "And by her happiness, you mean yourself?" She snorted in disgust. "Your ego knows no bounds."

"I am what she wants." He said softly. "I am going to do everything within my power to remain what she wants."

Maxwell studied him quietly. "Meaning?"

Thomas glared at him. "Meaning you two better get used to seeing me around. I'm not going anywhere. I love her and intend on spending the rest of my life with her." His voice held a note of barely restrained rage. "Understand?"

Maxwell slowly smiled. "Sounds good to me. Liv?"

She narrowed her eyes to mere slits. "If I remotely see her frown because of you...don't be surprised to wake up to body parts missing. Understand?"

Thomas's lips curved in approval. "I do and I expect nothing less."

Olivia held his gaze a second heart beat before nodding in acquiesce. She jumped in surprise when Amanda appeared beside her.

"The ball is about to end." Amanda announced while slipping an arm around her friend's waist. She squeezed Olivia in a side hug. "I think we have more than earned a respite from all the hard work." She smiled at the three. "Wouldn't you agree?"

Olivia eyed her before returning her hug. "I agree." She took Maxwell's arm. "Come on, Beaumont. Let's see where Drake disappeared to."

Maxwell grinned in relief and said goodnight to Thomas and Amanda.

The couple watched them swoop in on Drake and drag him with them as they searched for the others. Thomas laced his fingers with Amanda's, smiling when she tugged him along with her. Having him by her side as she bid goodnight to her guests sent the message to all that he was no mere date.

Once everyone had left, she took him upstairs. He paused outside his bedroom door and pulled her close for a kiss. She giggled when he teased her in between kisses for shrinking when she stepped out of her shoes. She bent down to retrieve them before taking his hand.

His eyebrows lifted in question when she led him to her bedroom door. Her cheeks were slightly pink as she met his eyes.

"Amanda? What--"

"I love you." She said simply. "You're what I want, what I have always wanted."

Thomas cupped her face between his palms and pressed a tender kiss to her lips. "I love you more than anything. Anyone."

She smiled and opened the door. They walked inside together and quietly closed the door.

[the-end-of-the-storm]

GoT 8x01: the wait is over and winter is definitely here - beware the spoilers below -

I just want to say beforehand that I woke up at 2.30 am to watch the new episode - so if this makes no sense at all, well ... let’s blame it on my sleep-deprived brain.

• Don’t know if we already knew this but they actually played the same song from the pilot when D*ny and Jon arrived and it made me a bit melancholic. It’s been a ride.

• The way Missandei eyes the Northerners watching her with distrust had me feel for her. However, watching it for the second time, it gave me another vibe too. As she was a slave, she knows exactly what it means to serve and obey someone you don’t want. So, if Missandei ends up urging D*ny at some point to leave the North be and just rule the other six kingdoms, well, I wouldn’t be surprised.

• Did you notice how happy D*ny was when her dragons intimidated the Northerners? It‘s been a while since I’ve seen her this happy:

This shot is Immediately followed by what has become her signature smug smirk that I dislike so much. Ships aside, a Queen worthy of the title shouldn’t have this kind of reaction to her children imposing fear on her newest subjects who she knows do already not like her all that much. This is like the dragon pit all over again, you know, when she was late to the meeting she demanded, and rode in on a dragon like she already owns the place, when it would have been so much smarter to be a little respectful and humble.

• The Jon and Bran reunion was nice; I suppose as nice at it can get with 3-eyed-Bran. Also, if Jon ever starts looking at D*ny like this, I‘ll start reevaluating him being part of the pack but not a heartbeat before:

• They made Sansa look THIS good for a reason. A sight for sore eyes, isn‘t it Jon?

(And yeah, this is her watching Jonny Boy.)

(And so is this.)

(Now, she’s too busy hugging her man. A smile on her lips and CLOSED eyes ... hmm. Do you see how her hands aren’t even attached to each other yet? Alright, let’s move on, shall we?)

• Lyanna Mormont is the Noorf in a nutshell and I’m here for her angry little girl attitude:

•Sansa isn’t here for chit chat with the saviour and whenever I think I couldn’t stan my girl more, I do. But I’m a bit afraid too, Sansa hates her new Queen amd D*ny KNOWS. 🔥

• Ok, I watched the meeting with the lords very carefully and I made some observations that I just want to throw in here for good measure: 1) D*ny is the last one to sit down at the Lord‘s table and it means things. 2) When poor little Lord Umber (who fucking deserved better!!) adressed Sansa an then Jon, we have them both in the frame, and no one else. However, when he adresses D*ny, we have her literally standing alone by the fireplace. 3) we have Jon and Sansa alone in a frame on 3 separate occasions, while we have only one shoot of Jon and the supposed love of his life alone (unless you count the one with D*ny and Jon‘s crotch ... then, well good for you, I guess). 4) Jon’s “It was the honor of my life.” fucked me the fuck up. You know, I was really afraid after the leaks that although I whole-heartily believe in Pol!Jon I would be miffed at him before it was officially revealed but I was soo wrong. This whole episode I felt so sad for Jon. He’s been through so much and willing to sacrifice everything he ever wanted to keep his people as safe as he can ... he deserves so much better than to be with the woman who took the honor of his life away from him without giving a single fuck about it. And yes, I did notice how Sansa glared at D*ny during this. Jon “I had a choice: keep the crown or protect the Noorf. I chose the Noorf.” I rest my case. 5) “If anyone survives the war to come, we’ll have Jon Snow to thank.” Right in front of D*ny; Tyrion, you brave, brave fool. 6) I think the leaks said, that neither Sansa nor D*ny said anything and I was very happy to find out that that wasn’t true. This is a very long scene, and D*ny only delivered us this little gem: Sansa: “What do dragons eat anyway?” (Which is a damn reasonable enquiry.) “D*ny: “Whatever they want.” 🔥 Maybe I’m overreacting things but this felt like a threat. Seriously, the Dark D*ny Force was strong in this one. They really went there ... wow. I mean it‘s not as if the food question wasn‘t legit. Also this whole the dragons *only* ate 17 goats and 11 of some-other-animal today is proof to me that the food thing is going to be huge. (Also, at first, I thought D*ny was worried that they eat too much when it was the other way around. LOL.)

• Tyrion: “Lady of Winterfell: has a nice ring to it.” Sansa: “So does Hand of the Queen; depends on the queen I suppose.” She really isn’t messing around, is she?

Also Sansa, same scene: “I used to think you are the cleverest man alive.” accompanied by her little judgy smile. She sure knows how to break a man’s heart.

• I’m crossing my fingers for D*ny to suggest to reactivate the Sansa/Tyrion marriage. Let’s be honest, Tyrion would be all for it in a heartbeat. She’s smarter, prettier and old enough that he wouldn’t feel like a creep anymore and now she actually is the Lady of Winterfell. He wanted her before - he must be drooling for her now.

• I was absolutely not disappointed with the Jon/Arya reunion. I thought - considering the circumstances - it was really cute and worthy.

• Arya: “She’s the smartest person I’ve ever met.” Stark sister feels. *-*

• Jon‘s „I'm her family, too.“ killed me a little bit inside. Man, my Jon feels are killing me right know. How can anyone see this and still claim that Jon will abandon his pack to become a Targaryen?

• When Sansa is the Queen of Shade, Cercei is the Queen of Smirk. I wonder if there’s anyway for Cercei to get out of this alive.

• Back to the food thing: it‘s been two years since S7, so thanks for the reminder that the Lannister army in the Field of Fire was people too, and were burned up like Sunday roast. 🔥

• I can’t believe that Yara is absolutely not pissed that D*ny couldn’t give less craps about her being abducted by Euron. even though without her Dany couldn’t have crossed the Narrow Sea.

• Alys Karstark, I see you and your red hair and your complete random appearance that served no plot purpose. Yet.

• Davos “What if the Seven Kingdoms (...) were ruled by a just woman and an honorable man.” I see what you did there, D&D. Also, if you guys are contemplating a J/D marriage, could you please have the decency and do it in front of Sansa? I need that. Thanks x

• If D&D wanted be to stop believing in Pol!Jon they shouldn’t have him happy-riding a dragon and kissing D*ny seconds after having her low-key threatening his sister. It’s just not believable that if this romance was real and between equals that he wouldn’t make it clear that she can’t threaten his family. Dany: “She doesn’t need to be my friend but I am her queen. If she can’t respect me ...” Jon: *then perish*

• Ok, but seriously D*ny, why would you give the guy you’ve just met and whose family and people despise you access to the the very things that gave you all your power? Why would you suggest dragon riding like it means nothing? Hop on, Jonny Boy. Just no. I have soo many questions. Why would you be so careless? (Arrogance, that’s why.)

• JON DOESN’T SAY “WE COULD STAY HERE FOR A THOUSAND YEARS.” But Pol!Jon replies with “We’d be pretty old.” giving no indication that that would be an enticing thought. No, he’d rather go back and fight some wights. Jon has a family he cares about and I don’t think she can relate at all.

•Rheagal is a creeper. Seriously, did you see the full on of him during the J/D snagging. Get a life, Rhaegal!

• I LOVED the Tent 2.0 Scene. Get my son some air. Also, while Jon talks serious stuff, Sansa’s like “No, she’s much prettier (than the Mad King).” with the same gaze she had when Littlefinger told her that a marriage alliance between J/D would make sense. I think it was the same weird voice too, but I’m not 100% sure right now. Jon really does reply nothing after Sansa questioning his motives for bending the knee and it tells me all I need to know.

• On this note, I want to repeat that I really need someone suggest a J/D marriage to Sansa.

• Sam finding out about his father and especially his brother broke my heart. It was everything I wanted and knew his reaction to be. And it was much worse to watch unfold than the leaks made it out to be. Especially since the scene started out really cute with Sam all nervous to be talking to them and cute about his book-stealing past and then he even tries to stay reasonable after hearing about his father but then he learns about his brother ... and it’s just too fucking much. Look at his face. I never ever cry during shows or movies but if I hadn't been prepared beforehand, I probably would have.

• Bran needs to stop staring at people in the courtyard. Just sayin’.

• Jon and Sam in the crypts. My poor babies. I don’t really want to say anything about their talk at this point because I believe in Jon and his agenda and if he needs to be detached to deal with keeping up the facade, then my man needs to do what he needs to do. However, I will be watching his next interaction with Sansa very closely. OK, to be honest, since I already had read the leaks before the episode, I was a little distracted during the parentage reveal and I couldn’t help but imagine Jon thinking “Well, this explains a fucking lot.”

• Last but not least: JAIME IS IN WINTERFELL!!!

My favorite moments:

- The Tarly Reveal

- Jon x Arya Reunion

- all Jonsa scenes

- Sansa and Tyrion on the battlements

On my threatened-to-be-burned watchlist:

🔥 Sansa Stark

🔥 Lyanna Mormont

🔥 Lord Varys

🔥 Samwell Tarly

🔥 Gendry Waters / Baratheon

🔥 JAIME LANNISTER (I have a hard time imagining Jaime to keep his mouth shut when he realizes that D*ny doesn’t just fry up soldiers in battle but that it’s her favorite method of conducting justice. There is too much history and PTSD between them, they’re like a time bomb; you can’t put them under one roof without at least threatening to set it off.)

All in all, this was such a good episode and I’m thrilled to see what’s to come. I’m so happy that Jon is still all I hoped for him to be inside and that Jonsa is still on track. I was even a little surprised at how they portrayed D*ny in this episode, because D&D aren’t even trying anymore, are they? I might be a little biased but I think if you’re not a full on stan there wasn’t much to root for her in this one. Anyways, everything within the episode fitted neatly with our Pol!Jon, Dark!D*ny and Jonsa theories and I couldn’t be happier about it.

Cheers xxx

[adecila]

Game of Thrones – A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms - 8x02 episode analysis (kind of)

…or the episode we should have gotten last week.

And we’re back! I am not here to shit on last week’s episode I actually enjoyed it very much, if you just take it for what it was, but! I cannot help but remark how much better episode 2 has been to us… the writing was very very good and rich, and in character, and it finally feels like GoT and… I honestly don’t know what happened in episode 1. But moving on…

As you can already tell, this is going to my personal summary, thoughts and analysis of episode 02 of season 8. Going to put it all under a cut – spoilers, you have been warned.

Are you an Oathkeeper or on Oathbreaker? Or the Jaime Fucking Lannister Fest

Listen I am not calling this a trial, because it is not. Yes I know they call it a trial in the BTS and Inside the episode.

Dany’s speech about Jaime’s deeds against House Targaryen is very good. As I have mentioned in my preview analysis, this is the first time (third time is a charm ha) that Jaime and Dany speak to one another. She doesn’t know this man. This man tried to kill her and he killed her father.

I got right half of the stuff at least, for what it’s worth. Tyrion looks soooo sooo bad. LIKE YOU KNEW YOUR SISTER? Oh the glare!!! If looks could kill, Tyrion would be dust. LiStEn, Tyrion, honey. Sit down. Jeez, read the room, you are not making it better. Dany is right - why should she trust this man? And Sansa is right there with her… until Brienne speaks. 

Gwen called Brienne’s speech something “almost like a declaration of love” and I think that is so beautiful it hurts. Not a Braime fan, but hey you got fed fam, I am happy for you! I already mentioned in my live blogging that it was either incoherent or just plain retcon to forget that Sansa sent Brienne to KL because she thought Brienne would kill her if it meant a showdown with Arya. But I digress. 

I find it very interesting how Jaime didn’t apologise and his cojones to say so because “we were at war” - and I get it, my dude, Ser Hot Stuff, we all know all is fair in love and war, but I guess it would be ooc for him to apologise. Great delivery, I don’t particularly like NCW but this scene? Top notch. I rate it one doggy style fuck out of one, but so good your legs are wobbly and you can barely find the energy to plop on your bed afterwards. 

The things we do for love… and Bran is back with the fucking shit stirring drama. We stan Bran Starkashian. 

I find it interesting since this is also Dany’s chance to show how she rules - Lady Sansa says her opinion, which surprises Dany. Then she turns to Jon, who the entire time has been very very quiet. Like the kind of quiet you are when you have the biggest hangover and you are stuck in class and you just want it to be over with. So Jon says what he could say to get the fuck out of there. “We need every man we can get.” So Jaime is given his sword back after Grey Worm literally gives him the I AM WATCHING YOU BITCH glare. 

But Jon’s chair is not facing forward, it is slightly oriented towards Dany’s. Notice how he doesn’t look at her, even when she addresses him directly. She gets up and everyone does so afterwards FINALLY SOME FUCKING RESPECT and she turns to Jon… and he doesn’t even look at her… and my baby looks heartbroken because he just ignores her *coughs* As soon as the meeting ended, he rushed out, not giving her a chance to say a word. *coughs*

In defence of Jon… Know what, we’ll talk about Jon later, when we get to the reveal. 

Oh and Bran totes doesn’t care about Jaime enough to expose him in front of the entire Great Hall. Because ya know, he is a drama queen, but he keeps his cards close, he either already has a plan for Jaime or as he said, and as I have predicted from the preview, it serves no purpose to expose Jaime for what he did to Bran. Like just click on it and read it. Good that Bran called him out on his apology naaah bitch you don’t get to go holier than thou here. It is what it is. 

Me at Bran this episode:

Jaime and Tyrion’s conversation is very interesting, not only about Dany in general whether she is worthy or not, and Tyrion seems to be team Dany. Was it just me or Tyrion more like whispered the part where he talks about Cersei’s baby. Also also listen Jaime, unless you’re suddenly a gynaecologist how the fuck do you know she is not lying? I loved how Tyrion called Jaime out on the fact that he loved Cersei despite knowing full well what and who she was. Dude let’s call it what it was. Don’t play coy now. 

Ding ding ding Tyrion mentions marching to KL and killing Cersei … and that’s all I am gonna say about it.

Jaime x Brienne wow this ship is getting so fed - enjoy babies ! And I loved how Brienne was suddenly WHY ARENT YOU INSULTING ME I DONT KNOW HOW TO INTERACT TO YOU !!!! Brienne is leading the left flank and Jaime wants to be led by her. Keep in mind for next week’s episode! I am so proud of my son Pod, I am basically proudmom!Brienne tbh. 

The episode in which Dany gets a lot of counsel - because that’s also the type of ruler she is 

Tyrion x Varys x Jorah vs Dany - Dany gives the best scolding ever tbh. Moms, take notes, because look at Tyrion’s face. He knows this Christmas when the NK comes he will only get coal. No whores and wine for Tyrion. He was naughty boy.  

KHALESSI - Listen. I don’t like Jorah in the books, and my impression of show!Jorah has always been tainted by it. But this Jorah is redeemed and deserves to live I WILL RIOT IF HE DIES. The scene he has with Dany is one of my favourites because it just shows how much history they have together. I will sob if he dies because he is the only one left from S1E01 with her.  Jorah tells her to forgive Tyrion and seek out S.ansa to smooth things over. MY BEAR

S.ansa x Daenerys - First time I thought it was going well, they were bonding… and then S.ansa leaned forward and the hand placing seemed a bit too deliberate to me, too Margaery. What I am trying to say is that it is very hard to know if S.ansa is being genuine. It is a very good scene and it holds a lot of importance later on, more on that when I talk about the reveal in the last scene (and I this is what I wanted from episode 1 - cold but courteous.) 

S.ansa tells Dany Jon loves her and that “men do stupid things for the women they love, they’re easily manipulated” - which, fair point; she saw Cersei and Margaery do it. Buuuut she also had the counter-argument: she saw how Littlefinger manipulated her aunt. So it goes both ways, bby. 

“All my life I have known one goal: the Iron Throne […] until I met Jon 

INTERRUPTING THIS PROGRAMME TO FLAIL BECAUSE HOLY SHIT WE FINALLY HEAR DANY CALL HIM “JON” ON SCREEN YES YES FUCKING FINALLY THANK YOU BABY JESUS AND MARY AND THE ENTIRE TEAM OF 12 APOSTLES  

“Now I am here, half a world away, fighting Jon’s war alongside him. Tell me, who manipulated whom?”  - I love how Dany turns the tables here, because she is right; if Dany was manipulating Jon, then how come she is the one here, fighting with all her men and resources and dragons? Who gains from this more? SEE S.ANSA IT MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE IF YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN- 

FINALLY SOME GOOD FUCKING CONTENT. 

Then S.ansa goes for that smile ugh and agaaaain I am having soooo much trouble taking it for genuine. 

“I am here because I love your brother and I trust him and I know he is true to his word […]” I AM DEAD DEAD DEAD 

And then it goes to shite because S.ansa is now clearly drawing inspiration from Theresa fucking May since she has no fucking skills to bring up Brexit - is it Nexit? Dany retreating her hands tho - she feels played LIKE REALLY BITCH I WAS SPEAKING FROM MY HEART AND YOU WERE JUST BUYING TIME HERE. 

Theonsa everywhere - or the ship you never thought would happen in this show yet you can’t help but ship it 

That hug!!!! Wow I loved it!!! Sophie and Alfie killed it. Also watch Dany in the background - my baby!!! Do you know how hard it is being around people with big families when you’re… alone? It’s fucking depressing, and I just want to hug Dany and carry her to safety. 

We got 3 Theonsa moments (and one was a Jonerys parallel so you know the romantic undertones are strong) in this episode soooo yeah! Enjoy! I am afraid they are setting Theon up to die, especially since it would be poetic cinema.jpeg for him to die defending Bran after he took WF from him.

Also also feels like book!Theon and show!Theon are colliding again. 

The Merry Men and the Night’s Watch leftovers ; and Ghost for 3 seconds - you’re welcome ; the Hound and Beric; Missandei and Grey Worm

Tormund calling Jon “little crow” was fucking everything! did you catch Jon’s smile??? Precious baby!!! And then asking about Brienne!!!! But did you catch Jon’s face when he saw Sam was also there - like ugh you again - BYE 

Missandei x Grey - one of them is totally dead BYE I AM GONNA FLUNG MYSELF OUT THE WINDOW 

Sam x Jon on the battlements - ugh Sam really you are looking soooooo bad right now. Jon’s face is again precious. He is so over Sam atm and he is just like WHEN WILL THE NK COME FOR ME BECAUSE IF I HAVE TO STAY ONE MORE SECOND WITH THIS BITCH ISTG– Then I got emo when Edd came up. Damn. Watch Edd die too… I feel it in mah bones. That’s how the last of the NW dies. 

Arya x The Hound - I get soooo many dad feels from the Hound tbh and I love it. My guess the Hound makes it. Beric tho??? hmmm Idk about that. 

Tormund is fucking insane and I love him

THE BRIENNE KNIGHTING WAS EVERYTHING AND I CANT EVEN LOOK AT THE GIFS WITHOUT SOBBING MAH HEART - also!!! Dunk and Egg reference - Brienne parallel?? And the title of the episode! ugh Summerhall references? BRIENNE DO NOT DIE 

Sam gives Jorah Heartsbane - Good. It’s what Jorah deserves. *pushes Sam out of the shot*

Pod singing Jenny’s Song is tearing me apart and making me sob harder I FUCKING LOST IT AND I AM STILL GETTING CHILLS YALL THIS WAS FUN. SEEMS EVERYONE DIES. No, I jest. But I love how they paired up the couples for a tragic love song - Brienne x Jaime, Sam x Gilly, S.ansa x Theon, Arya x Gendry, Missandei x Greyworm, Jon x Dany. I wouldn’t look too much into the song choice tbh, since in Inside the episode they say they knew they wanted a song and they just picked this one and added more verses since it was incomplete. I know this is the second Summerhall reference, but ya know, I personally wouldn’t look too much into it.  Edit: I should have never trusted D&D - now go read these amazing posts made by @tomakeitbeautifultolive in which she explains the song and the significance for Jonerys. Also Ramin Djawadi spoke about the song and fed our fandom just today (April 25th).

The War Council or let’s gather around Bran Starkashian so he can spill some tea on the NK

Plan sounds basic imo, not that I had expected much about that, but in Miguel we trust and we know he will absolutely crash this battle in episode 3. 

Interesting how the casually dropped that apparently the NK’s goal is to destroy Bran. And the mention of the mark - so now basically Bran is chipped. Cool beans. Sam’s remark about “death is forgetting, being forgotten is very interesting. Memories don’t come from books, your stories aren’t just stories.” - interesting take here. I Sam writing the book about Jonerys? If so I am afraid he has A FUCKING BIAS OMG I AM GETTING HEATED AGAIN. Also my friend @iane-casey  was totally annoyed how much screen time Sam got which honestly same dude I am still pissed at you *joins Jon to brood and glare at Sam*

Dany publicly makes a point in that she still needs Tyrion aka he is forgiven so that there is no bad blood between them. 

Lmao my friend @zavocado says we should totes just tape Bran to Drogon’s belly and lure the NK away from WF *grabs the duct-tape* 

FINALLY A MAP: listen, they are outnumbered as fuuuuck… besides that it is clear that Dany’s forces will get the most hit since they are in the vanguard, Birenne on the left with the Knights of the Vale and some Stark forces, on the right we get the rest of the North, and the Mormonts are inside the gates! 

Jon walks on Dany a second time - Dany stops as the room clears out (Qhono and Jorah and Varys behind her), looks expectandly at Jon, he doesn’t look at her (MY BABY BOY HE LOOKS SO ROUGH DID HE EVEN SLEEP?), falters “Your Grace”, and bolts. She falters, her face is all WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING and she clears the room too. More on that at the end.

Gendrya or the OTP you did not know you need and why you fucking need it

First of all, this fandom is so pure. I loooooved all the Gendrya on my dash from episode 1 and then this episode I got flooded and I am here for it bitch. Give me all the feels.

I cannot wait to see Arya with her new weapon!!! 

GENDRY IS SO SHOOKETH BY ARYA AND I LOVED THAT SHE TOPPED HIM

I HAVE A SON YOU HAVE A DAUGHTER LET’S JOIN OUR HOUSES

The gendrya - jonerys parallels??? EVERYTHING JUST WOW

Jonerys parentage reveal 2.0 or the reveal Jon also deserved not the travesty he got

I will do a play by play of the scene, but first. Why does Jon avoid Dany? Simple. He is hurting. Since we get the Jaime vs Bran stare down and then we get the Jaime trial, it is safe to assume that happens the morning after Sam blurted the truth to Jon about his mom and dad. 

So at Jaime’s fake trial, Jon had what? A few hours at best to process everything - and by that I mean: Dany is his aunt; Ned lied to him his entire life (no matter the reason, Jon has been raised a certain way and to hear the man who was so honourable was capable of the biggest lie in the realm… das huge! so this is shocking his entire moral compass and belief system built upon the education his dad gave him); his dad actually loved his mom and married her so he is no longer a bastard - ya know aka the thing that affected his entire life and the thing he wanted most; his mom died giving birth to him and she managed to think of him in her last moments, enough to make Ned promise her he will take care of her son; the fact that if Robert even caught a whiff of it, he would have been dead. SO that is a LOT LOT. 

Which explains why Jon was so out of it when he is asked about Jaime. Also explains why he bolts out of the room without looking at Dany - I think if he had even so much as looked at her he would have broken down. He isn’t ready for it.

Oh the stuff I mentioned he had to come to terms with? On top of all of it we must add the stress of finding a way of telling all of this to Dany in a way that he doesn’t hurt her. Also I bet your ass he thought there was a chance she may not believe him (he himself did not in the beginning)… and a chance she may think he wants the throne since Sam drilled this into his head so now he is afraid of that too. 

So when Jon is in the war room he had what? around 12 hours in total since Sam told him? 15? 20? Do you think that’s enough? Because I don’t. But this time he is doing much better. So he is still not looking at Dany, but he addressed her “Your Grace” and leaves - which means he is already in a better place than where he was in the morning, but not quite there yet. 

This is good angst. We should rejoice, it will hurt before it gets better. 

Moving on. Why didn’t he just directly go to Dany? I honestly don’t think it’s in Jon’s character to seek out comfort. This is a kid who had no one to go to when he would hurt himself. That shit stays with you. You don’t just flip a switch and start seeking out your other half. No, in moments of stress the brain reverts to things it knows bets, to muscle memory and old habits; it uses the energy to overthink itself to death so ain’t nobody got time for that new behaviours shit. At this point jonerys have been together for how long? 3? 4 weeks? That’s not that much. They are used to each other, but not enough to break old habits and past traumas. 

Now, the reveal: 

Dany stops, silently asking permission before she approaches Jon. Poor bean must be a bit hurt that he avoided her twice, so better make sure he actually wants her company. Jon actually smiles at her, even if it is a sad smile. It kills me how he is just staring at him mom’s statue. KILLS ME. Only then, she approaches him (look at her face, brief relief!). She stops next to him, he turns to her and nods, and only THEN SHE EMBRACES HIS SIDE, HOLDING HIS HANDS, CHIN TO HIS SHOULDER.

“Who is that?”

“Lyanna Stark.” Jon eventually says

Dany looks a bit like oh… shit, again my family yikes… I would say she looks apologetic. “My brother Rhaegar, everyone told me he was decent and kind. He liked to sing. Gave money to poor children. And he raped her” - ok but this is big, because Dany just in S7 recognised her own rape… So no wonder her opinion on Rhaegar is not that good atm. 

“He didn’t” 

Dany looks shook, but she is still holding onto Jon. Notice how his hand is on hers? 

“He loved her.” 

She doesn’t interrupt. Jon almost looks like he is feeling brave, so he keeps her hand into his and turns to face her. 

“They were married in secret. After Rhaegar fell on the Trident, she had a son. Robert would have murdered the baby if he ever found out and Lyanna knew it.”

Dany is surpised, but so far so good. Jon stares into her eyes.

“So the last thing she did as she bled to death on her birthing bed was give the boy to her brother” – camera on Emilia — oh shit for a split second it starts to show that she is putting two and two together – “Ned Stark” – her eyes widen and she blinks – “to raise as his bastard” – she exhales, breathing accelerates – “My name,” – breathing heavily on her part –  “my real name” -- she looks incredulous and nods a smal no – “is Aegon Targaryen” – she blinks, exhales, puls away her hand and turn halfway away from Jon. 

She looks away, then at him, he is almost leaning over her but still too far. “That’s impossible.”

Camera on Jonerys

“I wish it were.” (SEE THIS IS WHAT I AM SAYING MY POOR SON)

“Who told you this?”

“Bran. He was it.”

“He SAW it?” She sound clipped, the ARE YOU KIDDING ME tone clipped 

“And Samwell confirmed it.”He read about their marriage at the CItadel” – camera on Emilia —”without even knowing what it meant” (OK BUT FUCK OFF SAM GILLY READ THAT) - Dany’s face her, she is clearly restraining herself because this sounds insane.

“A secret no one in the world knew, except your brother and your best friend, doesn’t seem strange to you?” she shakes her head and it breaks my heart how you can see the wheels turning in her head going fuck here we go again, I laid my heart bare and that’s it. Yet another betrayal. 

Camera on Kit. He looks at her, takes a step forward “It’s true, Dany.” – camera on Emilia – “I know it is.” (UM HELLO DANY I AM HYPERVENTILATING BITCH)

Dany shakes her head, her face looks full with distrust. Then it goes to despair - her voice shaky “If it were true, it would make you the last male heir of the House Targaryen.” – camera on Kit HE FUCKING FROWNS LIKE WHAT – camera on Emilia – “You’d have a claim to the Iron Throne” – camera on Kit and his face goes again WHA— 

THEN THE FUCKING HORN SOUNDS. Jon turns his head towards the door, but Dany keeps staring at him and she looks heartbroken.

They go out and it’s all business. He nods to her and she leaves. Interesting though - she comes out first. Jon turned back towards the sound so if they were just running out he should have come out first. Either he remembered to be courteous or there is another small exchange we didn’t get to see. Or maybe I am reading way into things and it was a lame ass decision hahah. 

Ok so the reveal to Dany - you better fucking take notes Sam cuz this is how you do a reveal: being calm, level headed, explaining to the person as much as you can, answering questions.

On Dany’s reaction: my friend @oadara said it so so well in this post here. So, building on that, we need to put her reaction in context, just like I did with Jon’s cold shoulder. Dany’s discussion with S.asnsa is fresh in her mind, not just the part about who is manipulating whom, and that must drive her nuts now, but also the part in which S.asnsa did a 180 on her just when she thought she was making progress, so feeling like she was being manipulated. One of course must start asking questions. Has Jon just found out? Has he always known? Did he seduce her to take her armies and her dragons her her throne?? Moreover, Dany specifically tells S.ansa that her only goal in life has been the Iron Throne. Imagine that - having one goal in life, and suddenly someone comes in and can just rip it all away from you, poof just like that, they just need to say the word. Moreover, males have preference… and so many would rather follow a male than a female. And that’s a fact.  

Moreover… she still thinks herself barren… 

Like I am not saying Dany suddenly hates Jon or will cast him away (ok maybe she will initially I have a prediction/theory I will explain in a different post). I am saying… JUST GIVE DANY TIME. She just found out and now she gotta go save everyone’s ass. Let the girl breathe.

I was asking myself but why would Jon tell her now? If he himself wishes she had never known? I think it may be a very Ned Stark thing - he genuinely thinks he will fall, and he wanted to tell her the truth, because Rhaegar Targaryen may be his dad but Ned Stark is his daddy. 

What do you think? As always, dms and asks are open! 

Will make a preview post and another about my jonerys theory. 

All in all, this episode was incredible and I loved it. I am so not ready for the fight fuuuuuuuuuuuu-

[shenanigans-and-imagines]

GOT: Season 8 Episode 1 Reaction

This is just a play by play of my immediate reaction to the latest episode of Game of Thrones.

Ooooooh! New opening!

Detailed Winterfell and King’s Landing to get a  better sense of space in each place; I like it

It’s a baby boy!

Oh, parallel to Bran watching the King approach in season 1: very nice

Don’t stare longingly, hug your brother Arya!

Hug your friends God damn it!

Missandei and Grey Worm’s internal monologue:

“Fucking White People”

Pleeeeeease, let my baby girl ride a dragon!

Fuck it, give both by girls a dragon

Yay! Reuniting!

More parallels

Sansa externally: Winterfell is yours. 

Sansa internally:

Lady Mormont ain’t having none of this bullshit; honestly, we stan

Don’t try to frame Jon’s choice as good D&D, it’s not

Sansa is ready to throw hands, and I am here for it

Okay, age difference aside, under different circumstances I could totally see Sansa and Tyrion being a power couple

Is Bran just gonna be creeping all season?

Yay! Long hugs! I’m sobbing!!!

Good big bro and lil sis

Yay! Arya sticking with Sansa

That’s right, blood is bullshit, Jon is a Stark through and through

Okay, there is like, no reason for Yara to still be alive, but fine, I guess

What the hell is Stricklands’ accent?

Hoe don’t do it...

Oh my God

Bronn is just trying to get a good lay; let the man rest

Bronn?! Bronn no!!!

Screw it, these two psychos deserve each other

(No, never mind, I take it back, Lena Headey is too good)

Ahhhh! Theon!

Wow, that was anti-climatic

Oh, that’s actually smart: go Yara

No! Theon, stick with your sister; you’re still not over your shit. (Honestly rescuing Yara should have been his redemption and fighting with the Starks would be the final nail on the head, but whatever)

God, words cannot express how much I don’t ship it

Dany, if you’re implying, what I think you’re implying...

Okay, Jon’s little “what if he doesn't want me to” is adorable

Drogon: Stop kissing my mom!

The Hound is so happy to see his daughter is okay! (in his own way)

Gendry is such a dork, I love him

Finally! I ship I can get behind.

Sansa, don’t you dare encourage this

Awww, Sam getting the recognition he deserves

Oh shit! Daenerys is actually going to have to face consequences for her actions.

You made Sam cry; fuck you!

Yep, Bran is just gonna be creeping

Aww, Sam and Jon reuniting

I love it; just drop that bomb Sam

Jon needs to lie down now

You’re right Sam! And you should say it!

Tormund is alive!

Edd is alive!

And they’re bros!

Oh, that’s creepifying

FUCK!!! Christ, give me a heart attack why don’t you.

JAIME!!!

Okay, what the fuck does Bran have planned for my boy?!

Episode 2 Teaser

Haha, we’re all going to die...

[ladyalice101]

Just read your fic "you gave all you had (and now i am whole)" on AO3 (I'm KaisaSegher there, btw) and let me just say it was amazing! I'm sorry if I'm repeating myself here, but it truly was. Thank goodness we have people like you to fix the mess D&D made, really. THIS is what should have happened, at some point. Heck, in my mind it will. What are your thoughts on the finale? Any favourite headcanons you'd like to share? Anyway, keep your amazing work! Big hug

ok ok ok i just typed this huge ass response to this and tumblr has swallowed it and deposited it in the aether, but i will retype though perhaps more briefly haha. 

so firstly, THANK YOU. you aren’t repeating yourself but even if you were i would still LOVE this bc you went to the effort to not only tell me you loved it once, but TWICE. you’re so kind and you have no idea how much it means to me. truly, thank you. 

so the finale - i dont have much to say that hasn’t already been said, but i still will answer! 

my biggest issue is that there was no release of tension. we spent 8 season with these protagonists, with their hopes and dreams, and not a single one of them got what they wanted. 

jon wanted to find a place to belong - i would argue he found that with sansa, though i know others disagree. some probably say that he found a place amongst the wildlings (and yes i do think this is true on some level), and i could probably be happier about jon’s ending being north of the wall if not for the way they framed it. we have a montage of jon getting back to castle black (the place he left bc he was fucking MURDERED there), and then we have him ride out north of the wall with sad music playing behind (notably jon doesn’t smile ONCE), and the camera is positioned inside the wall as the gate closes on jon, who is looking back over his shoulder, signifying that jon can’t go south again and he’s really upset about it. maybe if he smiled a bit. a quirk of his lips as the gate closed, or as he rode into the forest. but no. nope.

sorry, but i really can’t find it in myself to find that ‘sweet’ in any way. it’s just straight up bitter. it’s just straight up sad. 

sansa - my girl deserved to get agency over herself, and that’s why i like her being queen. the north deserved a queen as good as sansa. but? where is the personal fulfilment? sansa’s entire arc was about her romantic naiveté being ripped from her, so where was the full circle moment where she realises that life isn’t hopeless? where she and we get the fulfilment of realising that she was right all along, that there is magic is falling in love and being loved. 

so like cool she was ‘trained’ to be queen and she is, but that’s not what her arc was about and to reduce it to that is upsetting. 

i won’t get in to arya and bran - bc i’d just be repeating myself with the whole ‘they should be with family like they all fought for for 8 seasons’, or repeating other’s who have articulated the problems much better. 

but they tried to sell us some whack bs this season man.

life isn’t shit and then you die and it’s fucked up that they tried to tell us that it is. 

oh no, of course, i’m forgetting the two characters who deserved to get the happy endings that they did - tyrion and bronn! those two did such great things in the show and they deserved to be the only two were rewarded with everything they ever wanted! 

ha. ha ha ha. i’m going to cry myself to sleep. 

so why does this matter so much to me? 

when i first started watching got, my personal life was extremely different to what it is now. that’s to be expected, of course, because it’s been four years. i won’t go in to TOO much detail, bc shit’s about to get really fucking personal even though you didn’t ask hahaha, but earlier this year i was diagnosed with a genetic mutation called BRCA1 which basically means that my lifetime chance of getting breast cancer is 80% (it’s 12% for other women) and 40% for ovarian cancer (which, from memory, is 2% for other women). so my chance are pretty high. i got tested bc my mum got breast cancer late last year, and we have a family history, so she was tested for the BRCA1 mutation and was found positive. i decided to get tested, too. (my mum just finished treatment last month and it’s looking really good for her, thank GOD).

god do i know that this is not the worst thing that i could have been diagnosed with but i’m only 21 and i have to get 6 monthly clinical exams and scans done. by the time i’m 30 i’ll probably have had to have gotten a double mastectomy, and by the time i’m 40 i have to have had all my reproductive organs removed - ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, all of it. 

so. i’m 21. i’m single, and quite a romantic. i don’t expect to have found my life partner in the next few years, and i expect even less to be married by the time i’m 30. i’m facing the very real possibility of not being able to carry my own child, of not being able to breastfeed any child i do have. 

sure, not the worst, but it’s not great - but what does it do to my romantic prospects? at worst, it would turn men away (not that i’d want those weakass men that can’t see past that but you get the point), at best it would likely create some tension at some point. 

and do you know what got taught me this year? 

that life is shit and then you die. 

so amidst all of that fucking bullshit in my life, game of thrones s8 barged in and told me that the characters that i identify with (the sansa’s, the jon’s) they don’t get a happily ever after, despite what they hope for, what they want. they sacrifice everything, they go through all of that bullshit, just to never fall in love, just to be punished for doing the right thing. 

now maybe you read all of that and you’re like “oh that’s sad about the brca thing but i dont see what that has to do with got and maybe you should seperate them and move on” like most people in my life have told me. and trust me, one day i probably will. i want to now, but unfortunately i can’t. 

and that’s what upset me. media isn’t supposed to do that, isn’t supposed to make you so upset about your own life. they can claim realism all they want, but if they wanted to be realistic they wouldn’t have fucking thrown out arcs and stories and people having like actual consequences for their actions. realism is not just ‘there are no happy endings in real life’.  

so, in conclusion, game of thrones ruined my life. haha nah, but, really? they couldn’t have given us some sweet with that bitter? 

anyway. WHOO. that’s a long ass reply. as for headcanons - i don’t really have much tbh but if i think of some i’ll put them in a post. if there’s headcanons around a specific thing you want to see, then send me a message/ask bc you’ll probably prompt my imagination and i want to give you everything. 

otherwise thank you SO much for reading my story and this reply! xxx 

[dachi-chan25]

GoT S8, Episode 1: The Pointy End Recap Part 2.

-Once they are alone Tyrion muses about her title and she about his while throwing some shade at d, Tyrion says the last time they saw each other was at Joffrey's wedding, Sansa gives a half ass sorry for leaving like that and Tyrion is still salty about it (like fuck off) Sansa is like we both survived so... Tyrion makes a remark about how everyone that underestimated Sansa is now dead and she looks proud (damn right that is my girl) which in this case sounds ominious af for D. Then Tyrion proceeds to show how far he is into the lizard cult, by trying to sell Sansa Stark of all people that bs of Cersei sending the armies, and Sansa in not so many words calls him and idiot (my girl is not holding back her punches and I am here for it) and Bran is just staring at them probably enjoying the drama as much as I.

-Jon is on the godswood in front of the heart tree (you know what? ?? If aegony was real at all she would be there with him, he would like to show her the place where he grew up. he would be like i am really sorry about my people not wanting you here but you'll see they'll warm up to you once they see what a good queen you are or something along those lines, maybe even a kiss in front of a heart tree, a sacred place where you can't lie) but no Jon looks worried and fucking miserable

-Arya sneaks up on him, they banter playfully and can you believe??? He straight up casually mentions he died (👀👀) they hug and it's very heartfelt and brotherly (honestly no stark reunion has been filmed like the Jonsa one, ofc one can argue they were the very first reunion, but duuude the music, the snow falling softly around them, how they get a close up on both Jon and Sansa's face, the nuzzle, and how bloody long is that hug, as well as the fact that neither of them has had a follow up like just drinking having a good time together) they talk about Needle and Longclaw (like if you don't get how different are the Jon - Arya interactions played against the jonsa ones then idk what to tell you) Jon says something that really bothered me at first but then I really thought about it and I came up with why:

1) He is an asshole so far up D's ass he forgets Sansa is the one who really gave him a reason to fight for the living again, and that she literally saved him in the BotB, and that she made him a fur and called him a Stark, or that she has been doing an excellent job preparing for the war against the AotD , but this can't be, I would believe it if this was a season 4 or 5 or even a season 1 and I knew nothing about who Jon is and what he wants, and after seven seasons I know Jon enough to say he would never think this.

2) He is hurt about Sansa still not trusting him to protect her and their home,and is salty cause she really thinks he didn't listen to her when he did. I mean doesn't it remind you of that argument they had about Sansa undermining him, he was desperate to know that Sansa trusted his desicions (super unfair to sansa still cause she doesn't know anything about Jon's plans) he says sansa believes she is smarter than everyone, when he knows she is not seeing he listened to her and is appeasing D so they have a chance against the NK. And i believe this one because it doesn't destroy Jon's character.

Now he says this to Arya and not in the Great Hall (that would have been super shitty of him and would go along with number 1 case) because he and Arya used to poke fun at Sansa's expense when they were kids and he thinks Arya would agree with him and trust him, but she is totally on Sansa's side and defends her (yasss this is what we deserved after last season's shit show) that Jon wasn't expecting it (dude he was joking he doesn't say it with hate or anything like that) much less was he expecting Arya to say Sansa is just trying to protect the family (as if he wasn't) and we see number 2 is real when in a very vulnerable voice he says 'i am her family too' , like he really wanted Sansa's support and trust in the Great Hall and he thinks she is so angry and trusts him so little that she doesn't even consider him family anymore (i'll be crying in the corner excuse me) even more so when Arya makes that remark of not forgetting about that (like seriously we have seen this boy for 7 seasons like how could he ever forget about his family???) And duuude I can't even begin to imagine how sad and alone Jon felt. They hug again and Jon closes his eyes (important detail)

-We cut the scene to Cersei looking like the evil queen she is, smiling while Euron's fleet arrives with the Golden Company when Qyburn informs her that the Wall is no more, and she looks so pleased (dude also in the Recap at the beginning of the episode the really drove home that d was fire and the nk was ice, and i mean GoT starts with Robert's Frost poem about how ice and fire are destructive forces of nature) .

-We get a glimpse of the Golden Company, and then we get a scene with Euron and Yara, Euron is being an annoying piece of shit.

-now we are in the throne room, Cersei welcomes the captain of the Golden Company (his name is Harry but I can't remember how to write his last name) but she is disappointed about not having elephants. Euron is disgusting again, Cersei is savage with him but he starts complaining and is so insistent that Cersei finally gives in and fucks him.

-Bronn is having sex with some prostitutes, the only intresting thing about this scene is the girls talking about the Loot Attack and the horrible deaths of the guys who fought there (apparently Ed Sheeran's character face got burnt off and if that is not an attempt to show D as a villian then idk what that is) Qyburn arrives and says Cersei is summoning him, she is willing to pay and give him a castle if he goes north and kills both Jaime and Tyrion (also I feel Sansa's kidnap plot is gonna happen).

-We get a post-sex scene of Cersei and Euron, and Euron is fishing for compliments but instead annoys Cersei.

-While Euron is trying to measure his dickin' abilities to Bobby B's and Jamie's my boy Theon rescues Yara, who decks him in the face for not fighting for her, but still they escape (I have so many doubts about this, like Theon went to Braavos and back or he just waited, and how did he know he was coming back to KL after he supposedly betrayed Cersei,and if he knew it was a ploy why didn't he warned D or Jon through a raven) Yara wants to take the Iron Islands (I don't believe she gives a fuck about D she just wanted to take back her home) but she knows Theon wants to fight for the Starks so she tells him to go, and it's a good scene.

-More refugees arrive at WF, and we get a sense of the camp and how big is this army, we get a glimpse of Alys Karstark (she is wearing something similar in cut and color to Sansa, and i do believe people are gonna think Sansa is dead at some point) then we get Davos,Varys and Tyrion talking while they watch Jon and D at a distance. Davos tells them the northerns are not gonna like D, Tyrion is worried, but then Dadvos proposes a marriage between Jon and D (duuude I said he was going for this since last season but he only says it until now, this ship is doomed) and this would be a pretty good idea if the people didn't hated her and feared her already but Davos is not a good politician cuz he wasn't raised for it, he is loyal and all you want but he doesn't know the north. Varys is like nothing lasts and I don't blame him cuz he has been unimpresed by D since Mereen, and now he gets to see Sansa's savvy politics and A+ administration while he probably thinks Jon is just another dumb asshole thinking with his dick.

-D and Jon are walking around, and who is brought up in this conversation?? SANSA fucking STARK! !! Even when no northern lord liked her D is just whining about Sansa not liking her (they really trying to sell this triangle when I know, I see I hear with everything Jon does that Jon has no romantic feelings for d at all) and Jon's deadass answer is "well she didn't liked me either when we were kids" (i call bs cuz whe sansa tried to apologize for this he said there was nothing to forgive so this is not serious) he was trying to joke to light the mood, direct the conversation to how alike he and d are instead of a "I'll talk to her don't worry bae" duuude D is really dumb, but she is annoying again implying that if Sansa doesn't respect her she'll do something about it, we don't get to know what but you can see when d is not looking at him that Jon is not happy about what she just said (but also I don't think jon gets that it was a threat cuz he hasn't seen d's uglier sides and I believe he think he has, and he thinks he can manipulate her not to do anything rash).

Some dothraki riders inform D that the Dragon's are barely eating :0:0:0 oh noes!!! If only someone hadn't burned food during the Loot Attack (idgaf about the lizards at all )

Jon and D go to check on the dragons, and D prompts Jon to ride Rhaegal (Jon while not as afraid as before is still weary of dragons) Jon doesn't seem to want to and says what will happen of Rhaegal doesn't want him to and d basically jokes about Jon dying which is not cute or flirty cuz Jon looks scared af. We get further proof D is flying by the seat of her pants and doesn't know shit about how to control her dragons yet she probably thinks Rhaegal likes Jon because they are meant for each other or some other self important bs.

And Jon is not thrilled dude he almost falls off (you ruined horses for me is bs) and we get Varys, Davos and Tyrion see him on the Dragon. Tyrion looks worried.

Jon somehow takes the lead and takes D to some waterfalls, and she is like we could stay here forevaaaaa and he is like we would be too old (the romantic interactions are still at 0 the chemistry is again flat, Jon's responses are awkward and not romantic) he practically tells her she doesn't belong in the north and she asks him to warm her, they kiss (bland passionless) Jon opens his eyes to stare at the dragons, d is like don't be silly darling, he kisses her again and then fucking turns her around so he can stare at her dragons while kissing her. Peak romance amirite ?? Lmaoooo Pol!Jon is real sorry not sorry he had to stare at the dragons while kissing her making the dragons and not the kiss the focus of the scene. I do believe this was just to appease her and keep her happy and commited to the cause after everyone treated her like she deserved.

Gendry is working at the forge, and Arya enters, the Hound is being a cunt, and tells Arya she is a cold bitch for letting him to die and Arya couldn't give less of a fuck. She and Gendry flirt hard like pls make this canon, and pls don't let d burn my boy.

K Imma need a part 3 cuz the Jonsa scene!!!!