#kl ​just hates pretty girls

[eliaakgae]

Elia “in kings landing, she found herself surrounded by lions” Martell

[rynnthefangirl]

I get that it is pretty standard storytelling to stack the odds in favor of your villains in order to make the protagonists eventually success more satisfying… but it is so frustrating to see how the mood of Westeros at the start of the Dance was so flipped around from what it was in the books.

People WANTED to fight for Rhaenyra. She was the Realms Delight, Viserys’ Little Girl, the rightful heir. During Aegon’s coronation, Smallfolk murmured in hesitant confusion, occasionally shouting out “Long live Queen Rhaenyra!” The Starks, the Arryns, the Velaryons, and many more houses were 100% behind her. Even in the Reach, which should have been fully in the Hightowers pocket, many houses were declaring for Rhaenyra. She had the majority of the Houses in Westeros on her side! Meanwhile Otto was writing for foreign aid in a desperate attempt to get more support for their side.

The Greens believed that the Realm would side with Aegon due to misogyny and fear of retaliation, and were shocked at how much support Rhaenrya managed to garner. They usurped the throne not just bc they were willing to tear the realm apart for power (though they were) but bc they believed it would would not be necessary. But as it turns out, stealing a throne, slaying a peace envoy and your own nephew, and imprisoning/murdering lords for keeping their oaths does NOT make you popular. The Greens were doomed by their own arrogance. They themselves had no respect for oaths or loyalty, and assumed that the rest of the Realm was the same. They thought that as long as they had Kings Landing and Vhagar, they could bribe or threaten the houses into submission. But that was not the case. The Greens plan did NOT go as they wanted bc other houses were not as grasping and selfish as they expected. Not as grasping and selfish as they and their allies were.

But in the show?

-People hate Rhaenyra for the death of Jaehaerys, but absolutely nobody seems to give a shit that Aemond murdered his nephew, a 13 year old peace envoy. I don’t think he has even been called a kinslayer yet.

-The smallfolk all cheer at Aegon’s coronation (though I will give the show credit that the smallfolks attitudes are shifting against Aegon after the ratcatchers and parading of Meleys’ head, as they should).

-Jane Arryn, Rhaenys Targaryen, Corlys Velaryon all seem to resent Rhaenyra. It’s not even clear why they are fighting for her, as it seems to be with the greatest reluctance.

-The Brackens are the noble oathkeeping house that will burn before betraying their king, while the Blackwoods are evil underhanded murderers.

-Rather than the taking of Harrenhall being a decisive and important victory for the Blacks that shakes Aegon to his core, Daemon is floundering to get any support while all the Riverlords hate him and call him and Rhaenrya a tyrant.

-The Freys are only reluctant allies, again solely for whatever they can get for it.

At this point, the only ones that seems to pose any sort of threat to the Greens is their own leaders. Certainly not any of the Blacks. I’m not even sure why Criston Cole is bothering to take smaller castles around Kings Landing instead of just marching his men to Harrenhall. They’ve talked about it being the key to the Riverlands, and it’s not as though Daemon has a host there (or seemingly any firm support from anyone but House Blackwood). So go take it! What they hell are they waiting for?

Despite the brutal losses of Rhaenys and Jace, the Blacks take both Harrenhall and then Kings Landing quite decisively and with little bloodshed. Rhaenrya’s downfall is due to her own descent into grief, vengeance, and paranoia following the death of her children and multiple betrayals, combined with the insanity sweeping KL and the realm due to the stolen crown treasury and the horrific war crimes being rained down upon the realm (thanks Aemond, Daeron, Dalton, Ulf, and Hugh).

As it stands though, I’m reminded of Game of Thrones S7-8, where Cersei is able to do anything she wants with no backlash while Daenerys and hated and betrayed for her every action, despite Dany being an infinitely better person and ruler. I mean, it’s not quite at that level, but it is in the same ball field.

Stakes are good and all, but let the leaders of Team Black be as cool as they were in the books. And let Rhaenyra be flawed, let the burden of the war force her to make bad and vengeful decisions. While I certainly don’t want Rhaenyra to be totally demonized and it should not all be on her, we’ve swung too far the other way. The show’s depiction of Team Black needs balance. And the Greens need to face consequences for what they do.

[pessimisticpigeonsworld]

A fantastic example of the TG hypocrisy and how they're "totally not sexist" is how Rhaenyra is criticized left and right for having a lover, meanwhile Harwin, Laenor, and even Daemon aren't criticized for their extramarital affairs (I'm including Harwin because he did still participate in an affair, he just wasn't the one married).

Greens have written fucking essays about why Rhaenyra is such an awful person for sleeping with Harwin and having and raising bastards. Harwin never catches the same shit, I mean he literally sired the Jace, Luke, and Joff (allegedly in the book). Yet, TG pretty much leaves him alone, focusing exclusively on Rhaenyra, despite the fact that Harwin chose to have an affair with the married heir to the throne. Isn't that just as immoral according to their precious Faith?

Then there's Laenor. Being gay is a sin in the eyes of the Faith, just as much as having an affair and having bastards. But I don't see any metas about how "in the culture this is perceived as wrong therefore..." No, instead they just focus on Rhaenyra. Again, there's no mention about how Laenor is a "whore" for having an affair with Qarl or for sleeping with Joffrey before marriage. Then there's the fact that Laenor is the accepted father of Alyn and Addam, meaning that, in the eyes of Westeros, he had bastards.

Daemon is hated by the Greens, which makes sense, he is their greatest opponent after Rhaenyra herself. However, for everything they hate Daemon for, none of them are about Mysaria, the fact that she was pregnant with his bastard in the book, or that he was speculated to have slept with Nettles and Mysaria after his marriage to Rhaenyra. Sure, they talk about his abuse and how badly he treated Rhea in the show, but they never bring up his many affairs. After all, Daemon frequented the KL brothels all through his marriage with Rhea, but apparently that's fine?

Then there's the fact that their favs have engaged in infidelity. Aegon constantly in the brothels and his habit of raping servant girls. Aemond, betrothed to Floris Baratheon, asleeping with (raping) Alys Rivers and getting her pregnant with a bastard as well as the Helaemond theories. And Alicent's "transactions" with Larys, began happening before Viserys died and still count as sexual infidelity.

I'm bringing all this up in order to highlight just how hypocritical TG is. They constantly berate and call Rhaenyra a whore because of Jace, Luke, and Joff. The only thing that separates Rhaenyra from Harwin, Laenor, and Daemon is that she is a woman. And the fact that TG excuses the horrible actions of Aegon and Aemond as well as Alicent's indiscretions, shows that they aren't interested in actual morality (wrong that would be). They also clearly aren't concerned with the Faith's morals, for the reasons stated. That leaves the true reason for their hatred of Rhaenyra and fixation on the Velaryon boys: misogyny. They hate the image of a woman with control over her body, power of her own, and who challenges patriarchal roles.

[strangedreamings]

HOTD S2E3 (spoilers abound)

I like that they buried the twins together. In together, out together. Rhaenys counseling Rhaenyra was also good.

Ah, Criston. The Peter principle made flesh. Dude, your impatience is gonna get you killed (keep at it).

Once in a while, one of the Greens gets the group braincell and actually makes a good point. Of course, it never lasts.

Rhaenyra and Mysaria. Emma is killing it this season, they need an Emmy and a Golden Globe (and whatever other awards they're eligible for), they make you believe the pain Rhaenyra is feeling with their voice alone.

Rhaenyra asking her stepdaughter/first cousin to take her two youngest to Pentos. I can understand why but I gotta side with Rhaena on this -- if she had a dragon (i.e. been of use in this war), Rhaenyra never would've considered sending her away. When is she gonna get Morning? (Or is the rumor true and Rhaena is going to be combined with Nettles and thus get Sheepstealer? God, I hope not. We need more WOC on this show, not fewer.)

I swear, Caraxes is the only dragon I can recognize from any distance, because of his neck. Harrenhal. I hope we see its destruction someday, I wanna see dragonfire melt stone. I think this scene of Daemon looking for whoever's in the castle is supposed to be tense (there's no music, it's like the show is holding its breath), but all I feel is bored.

I love Ser Simon! (I've loved his actor for years now) He's pragmatic, a trait that is far too uncommon in Westeros. Also, he's funny -- he pledges his loyalty to Rhaenyra then immediately tells Daemon the dinner menu.

Daemon, quit being so goddamn picky about your form of address. "King consort" isn't a real title anyway. :P

Ser Simon isn't going to survive this season, I'm sure. Hell, he might not even survive this episode if he doesn't stop calling Daemon "your highness."

"The throne?"

"It's a big chair made of swords."

Daemon, you're a little shit (mixed) but I love your sense of humor.

Oh yeah, Alicent has a brother. He was in the pilot, right? He's pretty, which is a blessing and a curse in Westeros. Dude, if you had any brains at all, you'd leave Westeros and never return. Your sister and father are full of shit, you'd be better off without them. Ugh, I listened to him say three words and I already hate him. He sounds like every rich man's son talking to someone socially beneath him. Criston, the concept of friendly fire doesn't exist in Westeros but I'm counting on you to introduce it.

Can I just say I love how Criston's Hand of the King chain is worn? It looks to be attached to his armor. It stands out more than just a pin would have.

Dornishman? Oh, right, this is before Daeron II, so everybody still hates Dorne, got it. Add "racist" to Gwayne's other shitty traits.

Criston, you're really fucking pushing it.

As much as I hate Alicent, I think Olivia deserves all the awards too. Alicent is barely keeping things together and Olivia is doing a great job showing that.

Was the raven/crow eating Cheese's eye truly a necessary shot?

The music as the army leaves KL is really good. Ramin is at the top of his game this season (as always).

"It would be treason." My girl Rhaenyra, standing up to these men who want to set her aside.

I love Corlys and Rhaenys together but I know Rhaenys has a ticking clock over her head. Rook's Rest is coming soon. If not tonight, then next week.

Rhaenyra sending her three youngest away. It's sad that Aegon III and Viserys II probably know their nannies better than they know their parents. Rhaena and Baela had a good moment but damn, we need more from both of them, the writers aren't giving us nearly enough.

Aww, Helaena smiled at Jaehaera and it was so sweet.

"I forgive you," Helaena tells her mother.

For what, Helaena? For fucking Criston when he should've been protecting your son? You're forgiving Alicent for that? I know you're her daughter and I know you've got a big heart but seriously?

Aegon II is wearing his namesake's armor? That armor is 130 years old, surely it's out-of-date by this point. And how far are the writers going to take this "I have no identity of my own" shtick?

I hate Larys but his actor is compelling. Looks like it's promotions for everybody this season.

These new Kingsguard knights are pathetic.

Ulf the White, huh? I'm THOROUGHLY unimpressed. Also, would it have killed the hair department to, you know, give him the white hair he was known for?

Oh good lord, Aegon II goes whoring and runs into Aemond.

Full frontal, really? I think the show is trying too hard to go viral this season. Shocking moments need to be earned and (except for B&C) this show just hasn't done that yet. (No shame to Ewan. Like Nicola Coughlan, I'm sure he wanted to be able to look back on this year in the future and remember how hot he was.) Did the color of Aemond's sapphire change? It's not as blue as it was last season (or maybe that's just the shitty lighting).

Baela should've barbecued those assholes.

Oh, Rook's Rest has been mentioned! The countdown has begun in earnest.

Young Rhaenyra and Jaehaerys? Daemon, your subconscious is fucked up. But hey, a guilty conscience is better than no conscience at all.

So that's the famous Alys Rivers? What the hell was that voice? She doesn't sound like an adult at all.

"Killing her would be easier." Mysaria, honey, you are so right but if she did that, we wouldn't need the promised third season.

Rhaenyra, your crush on Alicent is gonna get you both killed.

She's dressed as a septa? I can just hear the Rhaenicent fans now.

I'm 99% sure this didn't happen in the book. *side-eyes the writers* Don't start going off-book now, you know what happened to GoT.

"though not before I killed you." Rhaenyra, you could've threatened her in a letter, you didn't need to do it in person.

I can't stop staring at the beadwork on Alicent's gown. HOTD's costume department could teach a thing or two to Bridgerton's.

This is getting us nowhere. Rhaenyra, this was a very dumb idea. Get out now before Alicent (who couldn't keep her voice down if you paid her) calls the guards.

You know, Rhaenyra, if your family didn't insist on naming EVERY THIRD BOY Aegon, you wouldn't have this fucking problem.

"... you know what Aemond is." A loose cannon with mommy issues? Just saying.

Ugh, they're ending it there? No tense moment of Rhaenyra getting the fuck back to Dragonstone?

Yep, we're definitely getting Rook's Rest next week.

[jackoshadows]

There are many people in the fandom who claim Sansa is the one who resembles Ned the most out of her siblings. Do you think that’s true?

I have always disagreed with this fandom viewpoint. I would think that logically the characters who resemble Ned the most would be the characters who value Ned’s wisdom and advice, and that would be Arya Stark and Jon Snow.

Sansa and Ned are very different in terms of personality and characterization. Ned loves his family above all else. He sacrifices his honor for his sister and takes in her baby despite it being a stain on his honor. His love for his sister outweighs his friendships with Robert Baratheon and Jon Arryn.  Sansa, on the other hand, keeps supporting Joffrey over her sister every single time and puts her little sister in danger by telling Cersei that it's Arya who is the traitor.

Ned confesses to treason to save his daughter’s life. The only reason he warns Cersei of the danger to her and her children was because he didn’t want Myrcella and Tommen to suffer the same fate as Elia’s babies. The only reason Sansa tattles all of Ned's plans to Cersei ending up with the girls - Arya, Jeyne and Sansa herself - trapped in KL is because she wanted to remain in KL, marry Joffrey and become queen.

Ned’s act was selfless, putting himself and his family in grave danger to save his enemy’s children. Sansa’s act is selfish, putting her father and her family in grave danger because she wanted to become queen.

In the post I made about  Ned’s friendship with Robert Baratheon, I have seen comparisons made between Ned’s blindspot for Robert and Sansa’s blindspot towards Joffrey. I disagree!

Ned’s friendship with Robert was despite him knowing that Robert is not a good person. Ned condemns Robert for supporting the deaths of Elia and her children. He resigns as Hand when Robert continues to press for Dany’s assassination. It’s in Ned’s own POV chapter that he critiques Robert as a person. Ned’s opinion was pretty much that Robert sucks big time but he’s my friend so I love him.

Sansa on the other hand does not acknowledge Joffrey’s sadistic villainy even when it’s right in front of her, because she wants to marry him and become queen. She’s willfully blind to everything he does. Instead she blames Arya and Mycah - the innocents in this - for all of Joffrey’s wrong doing.

At first she thought she hated [Joffrey] for what they’d done to Lady, but after Sansa had wept her eyes dry, she told herself that it had not been Joffrey’s doing, not truly. The queen had done it; she was the one to hate, her and Arya. Nothing bad would have happened except for Arya.

She could not hate Joffrey tonight. He was too beautiful to hate - Sansa, AGoT

In fact, rather than being similar to Ned, Sansa is more similar to her mother Catelyn here. Just like Catelyn blames and hates an innocent child Jon Snow for something Ned did because she wants to love her husband and be happy with him, similarly Sansa hates Arya for something Joffrey did because she loves Joffrey, wants to marry him and become a queen who can do things like order Arya around.

Notice also in the quote above, how at this point of time, Sansa also blames the queen - Cersei - for Lady’s death and thinks on how Cersei and Arya were the ones to hate. Later, when she wants to prevent Ned from taking her away from KL, she secretly goes to Cersei and tattles all of his plans that he tells her in confidence. She no longer hates or blames Cersei anymore because Cersei is necessary for her to stay in KL and marry Joffrey. Sansa therefore keeps changing and crafting the narrative according to whatever suits her personal self interests instead of having a honest conversation with the truth.

A repeat of this is happening at the Vale where her little cousin is being slowly poisoned by dangerously high doses of SweetSleep and the Maester has outright told Sansa that this is harmful to SweetRobin and she ignores this because Littlefinger’s plans are more important and crafts a narrative that SweetRobin will be perfectly okay.

There can be no one more honest than Ned Stark (The only two instances where he lies is to save his nephew and his daughter) and that is in stark contrast to Sansa herself.

Then there are other aspects like Ned Stark’s relationship with the workers of Winterfell. Again, it’s Ned younger daughter who mirrors him here.

Her father used to say that a lord needed to eat with his men, if he hoped to keep them. “Know the men who follow you,” she heard him tell Robb once, “and let them know you. Don’t ask your men to die for a stranger.“ - Arya, aGoT

Arya had loved nothing better than to sit at her father’s table and listen to them talk. She had loved listening to the men on the benches too; to freeriders tough as leather, courtly knights and bold young squires, grizzled old men-at-arms. She used to throw snowballs at them and help them steal pies from the kitchen. Their wives gave her scones and she invented names for their babies and played monsters-and-maidens and hide-the-treasure and come-into-my-castle with their children. - Arya, AGoT

Sansa knew all about the sorts of people Arya liked to talk to: squires and grooms and serving girls, old men and naked children, rough-spoken freeriders of uncertain birth. Arya would make friends with anybody. This Mycah was the worst; a butcher’s boy, thirteen and wild, he slept in the meat wagon and smelled of the slaughtering block. Just the sight of him was enough to make Sansa feel sick, but Arya seemed to prefer his company to hers. - Sansa, AGoT

Sansa does not like to interact with the workers of the Winterfell and looks down on Arya’s interaction with them while Arya follows in Ned’s footsteps and spends time listening and learning from them.

So, yeah, I can’t think of any one similarity between Ned and Sansa and am always baffled that this is a popular opinion in fandom. Of all the siblings Sansa is the least like Ned, highlighted by the fact that Sansa never thinks of Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell the way Arya, Jon and Bran do.

[jnsq]

post-holiday blues (and then some)

getting the title post in first to lock in the date just so it's time-accurate and reflects the first 24hours of thoughts, feelings and emotions running through my system after 9 days vacay-ing in CN.

looking back, i'd have thought (and expected) to be employed by this time of the year and also after leaving my last job but turns out the wait had been much longer than i was mentally prepared to hold out for. but thank heavens, things still eventually 'happened' and the affirmatives came in writing/b&w after countless sessions of texts and phonecalls (reassuring ONLY up to a certain point because yeah). but still the decision to go through w this trip still held, and so was the very act of (trying my very very best) not to let the thought of expense>income get too far ahead in my purchase decisions on vacay. well honestly i admit certain things would have been switched out but looking back now at everything, i'd conclude that it's an acceptable win-win, with just a hint of compromise. well done SH, the many past months of learning how to live (i hate to use this word but i have to) frugally has done you good.

feels just way beyond indescribable/putting in words how good it feels to be back again with this bunch since Jul (with the girls, on the crazy second whirlwind trip to KL) and then with buddy P since Feb/CNY period (when i was still 'gainfully' employed but with one foot out of the door at that point of time).

we've all come a long way since that last video call session across PEK, SH, SG celebrating P's 31st when he was still in SH, when physical face-to-face was as good as impossible, and things have moved along well ever since then (but not with some rather serious hiccups here and there along the way, as life has always been).

i think what i will grow to miss most (until our next meetup in highly possibly 2024) from these 9 days would be the company, the conversations (mostly sober with a little post-hangover), the quality time, the laughs, the reminiscing of old times, re-living some childhood memories and then more recently (i realised the last time i cycled seriously was back in Yilan/Taipei during my stay at the countryside/farm circa '17) and then fast forward 6 years later, i'm doing the same thing in the heart of Beijing (mostly in a sober state until my last night/birthday night when i was feeling a lil' high from the beers at Slow Boat) dressed pretty darn decently (i still remember my first ride on my first night in Beijing en-route to the Peking Duck dinner - suit jacket, fitted chinos and thank god, Camper sneakers). and N was like - "are you ok with the idea of cycling there?" and she succeeded where L failed when she asked the same question in Zhuhai. (LOL)

and now we move on to that topic that has evaded my life for the longest time yet - relationships. so i found out (whilst in a semi-high state from all the sake imbibed post-supper in Macau) that she was getting married in less than a week's time. wow. well it didn't hit me like a bullet train but well, i still admit that it still felt like something. 4 years ago since we first met, and there was no explicit 'yes' and also no explicit 'no'. then covid came and i decided to call it quits in early '20 because of all the questions (marks). and then buddy P brought up C, whom i finally got to meet face-to-face earlier in Jul. then his questions started coming -

"so how?"

"so what do you think?"

"so can anot"

one thing that i've learnt and will sum it up in my concluding thoughts for the year would be to really slow down that bullet-train pace of thoughts, don't overthink, and just go with the flow and flow with the go.

to date, i haven't got a satisfactory answer to my question -

"is it better to begin a relationship as 2 strangers who just want to start as BF/GF straightaway and then learn how to accept each other's quirks and plus-points along the way OR is it better to slowly progress from friends to eventually becoming each other's significant other?"

i have always thought the former to be very goal/result-driven (and something that reflects who i am as a person, but i'm gradually trying to move out of this paradigm to 'explore' a different way of doing things, after hitting some speed-bumps along the way.) whilst on the latter, the idea of being 'stuck in the friend zone' is very real and when that happens, what's next?

so now as i'm putting my thoughts to 'paper', things are starting to clear abit. like thinking about the possibility of C figuring in my life down the road or... i really don't know. but her marriage news did complicated my thoughts abit during these 9 days, but thankfully when i left Macau, they gradually faded to focusing on the present instead, and now i can't deny that C has this infectious cheerful/positive aura about her which i feel when i'm around her. maybe the geographical distance from GZ does help after all (LOL).

(i think it's not so good a sign i have no one physically around to talk about all that i have written here, but i also have to be grateful for the fact i have this 'avenue' for me to pen my thoughts and then have something to look back on down the road?)

as Nietzsche 'killed it' with his words -

"I notice that Autumn is more the season of the soul than of nature."

right?

good night world.

[nikkiruncks]

Ok wow! Klaus is a pretty complicated one tbh.

I liked him in s2 and early s3 because I thought he had a lot of potential to be a good villain. He was cruel, creepy, sadistic. He gave me the chills man, sm wasted potential. Then kc happened and the writers turned him into a 1000 yr old Damon and started having him draw ponies and yap about hummingbirds and go after a teenage girl in a happy relationship with someone else. He was just a total pussy with the temper tantrums and manpain eps. I don’t get how some stans bitch about him be “ooc” in to, but ignore all of this. And I’d argue he had better development there and I don’t even watch that show. I used to have a love hate relationship but then some stans started vilifying Tyler and even Caroline to make kl*us look better 🙄. Like there are valid reasons to criticize care, but her being mean to kloos isn’t one of them. She could stab him with a white oak and she’d still be too nice to him. The way stans talk about Damon being woobified and shit but turn around and act like Tyler and caroline owe Klaus something is total bs.

[crosby-interesting]

This is one example of that crazed Kathy fan posts “YOU HATE HER AND YOU’RE A TROLL, BEEN PROVEN FOREVER NOW. WHAT THE F*CK IS YOUR LIFE WITHIN THIS THOUGH? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? HOW DISEASED A MIND CAN BE THEN SHOWN WHEN, OF ALL THINGS, G.A.S.P!!!!!!!!!, a girl just painting a picture?” Remember the time when Kathy was spotted with other WAGs painting a pic.? Was it a painting contest or something like this? Anyway, this is when that unhinged anon. showed up on the SC gf sport-talks board for the first time, and since then she/he/it came on pretty much every night to attack anyone who questioned Kathy’s beauty and her relationship with Sid. Many anons, including me, left the forum shortly.

This is not a contest, it was the most boring 30th anniversary celebration in the world

It was KL’s birthday and she invited the wags to draw little birds. “Look how cute we are...”

[ladyofasoiaf]

I have to say it's so refreshing to see someone unafraid to criticise Ar/ya. It feels like I get more tired of her character on each re-read I do, and her stans' insane, overly aggressive behavior makes it difficult to like her. Although personally like you I don't care for her trope-y type of character either. I think she was a whiny little crybaby in her early chapters and awful to her sister until they were about to sail to WF. How do fans ignore all that but see occasional mean words of Sansa as satanic?? Anyway, that was rant-y, but thank you.

Hello Anon,

Thank you very much.

The thing is I am in this fandom since 2011 and I am too tired and old to try to censor my thoughts at this point. I used to be more understanding to her character and I actually didn't have many problems with her. If anything I even liked her first (I think it was because Arya actor was so cute in the show) and I was looking forward for Sansa-Arya reunion.

At first I wasn't into fandom that much so I wasn't aware of the fact that her fans HATE Sansa for fanon reasons. After witnessing that in the worst way I tried to understand why do they hate Sansa so much. And I realized that it was because they were totally misreading the characters and the dynamics. I also realized that Arya was much darker than I thought when I first read her.

Just like you said, her character really suffers from re-readings. You start to realize that she was bratty, rude, ill-behaved and violent. Her underdog/overlooked persona is just a fabricated false narrative (or maybe I should say written unconvincingly). When you first read her POVs without paying too much attention, you think she suffers as the unsatisfactory sister because of Sansa but in truth she is just jealous and it is HER who makes her sister life difficult. You realize that Sansa is actually the overlooked child who is trying too hard to have the attention of her father but Ned simply ignores her as a real human being with her own feelings and desires while focusing on Arya. When you see this dynamic, AGOT makes more sense. You understand how even a father who loves all his children can totally ruin his children's lives.

People love to say that Sansa was so rude to Arya and she was only truly rude her when she LOST everything (and Arya had a part in those) and Arya had everything she ever desired while being the troublemaker in the first place. Also watch how that scene goes:

Their father sighed. “I did not call you here to talk of dresses. I’m sending you both back to Winterfell.”

For the second time Sansa found herself too stunned for words. She felt her eyes grow moist again.

“You can’t,” Arya said.

“Please, Father,” Sansa managed at last. “Please don’t.”

Eddard Stark favored his daughters with a tired smile. “At last we’ve found something you agree on.”

Look at Arya saying SHE DOESN'T WANT TO LEAVE KL.

She is objecting to her father..

WOW what a little betrayer. How can she betray Ned like that? SMH...

Father’s mouth twitched strangely. “Sansa, I’m not sending you away for fighting, though the gods know I’m sick of you two squabbling. I want you back in Winterfell for your own safety. Three of my men were cut down like dogs not a league from where we sit, and what does Robert do? He goes hunting.”

Arya was chewing at her lip in that disgusting way she had. “Can we take Syrio back with us?”

“Who cares about your stupid dancing master?” Sansa flared. “Father, I only just now remembered, I can’t go away, I’m to marry Prince Joffrey.” She tried to smile bravely for him.”

Look at Arya willfully asking sth she DESIRES. (Btw if she couldn't have Syrio she would totally talk to him about this- them returning WF- because that girl is WILLFULL like Lyanna right? You can't call her Lyanna2.0 without accepting this, I am sorry)

PURE EVIL!! (also Sansa is always rude in her thoughts... until the very end she just keeps it to herself about how Arya is not pretty, dirty, naughty etc... she doesn't share her opinion with Arya... But I am sure no one has ever thought harmless but bad things about someone they actually love... no one!! Only too kind to share her thoughts Sansa has done this)

Arya made a face. “Not if Joffrey’s his father,” she said. “He’s a liar and a craven and anyhow he’s a stag, not a lion.”

Sansa felt tears in her eyes. “He is not! He’s not the least bit like that old drunken king,” she screamed at her sister, forgetting herself in her grief.

Sansa is literally crying and losing herself in grief of broken dreams and Arya thinks this is the best time to talk shit about the boy she likes... (Jon says he looks like a girl 2.0)

“I am looking for a fast trading galley to take you home. These days, the sea is safer than the kingsroad. You will sail as soon as I can find a proper ship, with Septa Mordane and a complement of guards…and yes, with Syrio Forel, if he agrees to enter my service. But say nothing of this. It’s better if no one knows of our plans. We’ll talk again tomorrow.”

Sansa cried as Septa Mordane marched them down the steps. They were going to take it all away; the tournaments and the court and her prince, everything, they were going to send her back to the bleak grey walls of Winterfell and lock her up forever. Her life was over before it had begun.

Arya as usual gets what she wants while being the trouble child and people pleaser Sansa is once again being punished. Sansa is crying, depressed and she already told us that SHE LOST HERSELF IN HER GRIEF.

“It won’t be so bad, Sansa,” Arya said. “We’re going to sail on a galley. It will be an adventure, and then we’ll be with Bran and Robb again, and Old Nan and Hodor and the rest.” She touched her on the arm.

“Hodor!” Sansa yelled. “You ought to marry Hodor, you’re just like him, stupid and hairy and ugly!” She wrenched away from her sister’s hand, stormed into her bedchamber, and barred the door behind her.

I am sorry but it easy to be kind (?) when you win everything and the other person is losing ALL. (and don't forget that this Arya had a heartfelt conversation with her father about her hatred and trauma... unlike Sansa)

And even in her consolation you can see that she is still blind to her sister's desires. Sansa doesn't want to sail and have adventures (LOL THE SHIP GIRL IS LOADING) Arya... that's not Sansa... that's YOU.

Also why the fck Hodor?? Why would seeing Hodor be same as becoming a queen in a place you find magical?? And if my sister tried to console me like this I would freaking lose it too. (let me also say that it wasn't little Arya's job to cheer/console her sister in the first place, it was Ned's but he is... idiot)

So Sansa calls her stupid, hairy and ugly at the end of her patience (after Arya insulting her future husband, after Arya being rude to her future family, after Arya doing sth she wasn't supposed to like playing with butcher boys, after Arya being rude to the prince, after Arya attacking the prince, after losing Lady because of Arya's wolf, after Arya being hateful to her, after Ned being distant to her while being there for Arya, after Arya once again insulting her future husband, after losing the chance for your dreams to come true while Arya having all that she desired).

Give her a break for real. I would be worse ngl. And I am sorry but calling your sister's any hobby/interest stupid and attacking her physically MORE THAN ONCE is just as bad (if not worse... it's worse imo..)

BTW why doesn't Sansa just call her HORSEFACE and done with it? I thought she was constantly bullying her with that name? Can't believe she doesn't use that name when she was the lowest and the angriest.

Because Sansa-I AM TOO KIND AND COURTESY IS EVERYTHING- Stark totally would use that word!! I am sure she uses that name.. Let me find it!! She had to think about it at least... she had to acknowledge that name at some point:

404 NOT FOUND.

Sansa's proper as* has never used that word. She has never even acknowledged that word but Arya can't be wrong ofc because only Sansa is the unreliable narrator... (Arya didn't misremember the name of Joff's sword or Jon didn't misremember that it was actually him who called Tyrion a friend not the other way around but Sansa is the only UN people...)

And it is funny because Sansa acknowledges she has a horsey face:

"Myrcella is a little baby." Arya grabbed Nymeria around her neck, but the moment she pulled out the brush again the direwolf wriggled free and bounded off. Frustrated, Arya threw down the brush. "Bad wolf!" she shouted.

Sansa couldn't help but smile a little. The kennelmaster once told her that an animal takes after its master. She gave Lady a quick little hug. Lady licked her cheek. Sansa giggled. Arya heard and whirled around, glaring. "I don't care what you say, I'm going out riding." Her long horsey face got the stubborn look that meant she was going to do something willful.

"Gods be true, Arya, sometimes you act like such a child," Sansa said. "I'll go by myself then. It will be ever so much nicer that way. Lady and I will eat all the lemon cakes and just have the best time without you." [AGOT- Sansa I]

So why has she NEVER used that name? What was stopping her EVEN in her THOUGHTS? Anyway... in any case Arya was worse as a sister so I understand why her stans are holding so tightly on "bully Sansa" narrative. Sad.

After re-readings you realize Sansa is actually the outsider of the family. 90% of her family simply don't deserve her for real but whatever.

But I want to say this again: My problem is not Arya as a character. It is the fanon characterization of Sansa by her fans and the author's really weak and forced writing when it comes to Arya. Even when I criticize her you can see that I am mostly angry at characters like Ned, the author himself and her fans. If they were more objective toward Sansa then I wouldn't be bothered by her character this much.

Thanks for the ask.

[esther-dot]

There are some BNFs who hate Rhaegar, Viserys and Aerys and some deranged Targs, think that Martells especially Elia and her children deserves better but go ahead and stan Dany. They think Dany is a hero. Because apparently Dany is nothing like her deranged family and breaking traditions of Targ legacy. Dany hero-worship her brother after knowing his deeds and refused to acknowledge her father tyranny would somehow is better than her family. Plus the way they excuse the racism in her story.

I mean, they have a point. If people choose to just stand there and burn, that’s their fault. Dany is a hero and the smallfolk really should consider the consequences of their actions (making Dany, a hero, look bad) when they opt to die.

(I feel compelled to say that I am not being serious there!)

I recently unfollowed a blog I like because they had a little spiral into the “Dany can be the hero even after she mass murders the people of KL” cesspool, and I understand how having so many morally grey characters can make us ignore red flags, but Martin already indicated what he thinks about this issue.

Stannis’s choice to continue on his path of burning people alive will result in him burning his own daughter alive.

Let’s think about that.

The point is that these steps the characters take mean something. They’re being led down a path to their own destruction. These characters aren’t purposing to do evil, they do evil because they convince themselves it’s ok when done in service of their greater good.

Dany kills masters because slavery is wrong but then uses unpaid labor, she profits off of slavery, not because she thinks those things are right, and she certainly isn’t doing them because they’re evil, she just decided it’s worth it to get her throne.

Stannis and Dany are both doing this. It’s an incremental descent, and denying the descent might make fans feel better, but there’s a clear destination. Stannis allows kinslaying to get his crown and will end up killing his daughter. Dany burned a woman alive to get her dragons and will end up burning countless people to get her throne. How can we all recognize the horror of Shireen’s death and deny the horror of Dany burning KL just because many of her victims will be unknown to us? Burning KL is an atrocity and Dany’s point of ultimate corruption, just as burning Shireen will be Stannis’s.

It makes no sense to insist that all the steps leading these characters to such acts don’t matter, or that Dany will be a hero even after she does that. Isn’t that the moment the audience realizes, “oh shit, this is what her choices/experiences made her.” I understand that other than Sansa stans few people will admit this, but I think that’s clearly what we’re meant to do. See and think about the descent of these characters, not pretend that actually what they’re doing is fine and things will be ok for them in the end because they’re a hero, dammit! The group think around Dany and the weird “she’s a girl, we can’t judge her” is bizarre because these are often the same people who think it’s imperative Sansa prove she is no longer shallow by ending up in a romantic relationship with a grown man who assaulted her. If they’re finding fault with Sansa, I’m not sure why they can’t be critical of AGOT Dany pouring oil on Mirri’s head and burning her alive. Actually, it’s weird that a lot of the BNFs are S@ns@ns or adopt a lot of their interpretation, love the Hound, a burn victim, feel immense sympathy for him even to the extent of denying his actions, and still stan a woman who burns people alive. Idk, his wounds sound pretty horrific to me, his trauma pretty severe, if they can extend their sympathy to him, why aren’t they thinking of all the people who haven’t ever murdered a child who Dany is about to burn? All the children she will murder?

Also, Dany specifically says some crappy things about Elia because she can’t imagine blaming Rhaegar for ya know, publicly humiliating his wife and paying what may (or may not) have been unwanted attentions to a teenager. Like, how do you hear that story and think, “Elia made him do it.” How do you read Dany thinking that, and not wonder, “huh, maybe not recognizing that Rhaegar caused this mess is a bad omen for Dany’s ability to understand what her family did to Westeros/how she will be viewed.”

Rhaegar is a real mystery to me because he totally changed who he was to save the world and either threw that aside because he fell in love with Lyanna or he was willing to kidnap/rape her to get his prophecy baby. I really don’t know how Martin will depict it because it seems like both interpretations involve some contradictions to how he is presented elsewhere. Either way, I still hate him because to me, his choices are what led to the death of Elia and her children, and I will never forget little Rhaenys hiding under his bed (it may be the most upsetting line in the series to me). But, even so, his desire was to save the realm, Dany’s is to conquer it. Dany is setting out to cause a war.

That’s Dany’s intention. 

How is Dany the aberration from the Targaryen legacy when she is setting out to conquer and reinstate Targaryen rule? How is that breaking traditions? It’s more of the same. Actually, her whole story is very enmeshed with Targ proclivities and some similarities to Rhaegar specifically. Rhaegar wanted three heads of the dragon which led to Lyanna’s death, and a woman dies in the funeral pyre from which Dany got her three dragons. We don’t know exactly what happened with R/L, and Rhaegar wasn’t there when his family died, but the idea of human life paying for Rhaegar and Dany’s ambition, for their dreams being born in death…let’s not ignore this stuff.

Actually, it’s interesting that Rhaegar’s father was mad and Viserys reads similarly, and we know Aerys was worried about plots and Viserys was showing the same kind of paranoia, and we read them as villains (they are), but their feelings weren’t unfounded. Rhaegar was planning to depose his father (or by another name, usurp him), and Dany effectively did usurp Viserys. Obviously he was abusive and threatening her life so we don’t care, but Dany determined he was no dragon before he threatened her child. Again, I don’t mind, but Dany is planning to take Westeros a la Aegon, she has some ties to Rhaegar’s story beyond just romanticizing him and imaging herself to be him. She’s already burned someone alive and even BNFs admit she will burn KL, so uh, there’s a connection to Aerys. Just because we know her (and some love her), doesn’t mean we can pretend the author isn’t writing this stuff into her story.

I mean, think about what their saying. They’re pretending there is no correlation between Dany burning KL and her father wanting to. How is wanting to do it evidence of Aerys being a monster, but Dany actually doing it doesn’t alter her hero status? How is thinking to do it worse than actually doing it?

If it was right to kill Aerys to prevent it (a universal sentiment in the fandom), then uh, it’s right for Dany to die for doing it.

I do think some people are reacting to our anti Targ sentiment because they’re thinking we are holding people responsible for their parents and that’s unfair, or saying Dany is doomed by her blood. But, that’s why Aegon matters. Bringing Aegon into the story is fun because he and Jon are what allow shades of grey rather than making this a screed against Targaryen blood. The Martells will support a Targ (Aegon) and also fight (Dany) a Targ. The Starks have Jon so they will support and also fight a Targ (Dany). It’s possible for Rhaegar’s sons to have the blood of Targaryens but not actually be Targaryen in the way that means death because ultimately, it’s your choices that damn you, not your blood. But Dany, Dany is a Targaryen in the worst way.

I wrote this sometime after the show ended in 2019 when a Dany stan was accusing us of sexism for saying Dany was a villain:

Even though that’s what I think, let’s say you guys are right though. Maybe the books will be kinder to Dany. Maybe book Dany is a hero, maybe she’ll have a grand romance with Jon before she dies a hero's death saving humanity. But if our heroes run around leaving the corpses of countless children in their wake as the cost of their ambition, I'm not sure that we should want them to be successful. I'm not sure that we should want them to survive.

If our heroes aren’t thrust into war but pursue it, choose to wage it because they want power, if they choose to paint their road to victory with the blood of innocents, well, with heroes like those, who needs villains? (Link)

This is why I call both incarnations of Dany villain. Book Dany is far more nuanced, I get that, but if this was anyone else we all would recognize her for what she is, and it’s silly to pretend otherwise. I guess if I cared about the opinion of the ASOIAF fandom beyond our little circle, wanted to be popular or make money off of them, I’d deny the obvious too. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[reginarubie]

Some of the endless reasons I love Sansa Stark

So, I was talking about it with @sansaissteel, and she asked a very poignant question: why do you stan Sansa?

And I feel like there are so many reason to stan her.

For one, I think she is the bastion of non-toxic feminism along with other characters (like Arianne Martell just to cite another one of my fav) . And with this I don't mean in anyway that those characters who don't abide to social rules imposed to females (for example in a world like that of asoiaf) are the propaganda picture of toxic feminism. For example Daenerys herself is a feminist and I think there is nothing of misogyny in her descent into tyranny and madness but I feel like characters like her and Arya can easily be spun around to make young girls identify powerful women only with aggressive women and that's not okay. Sansa on the other hand embodies very feminine traits often overlooked and the fact that she can say her own amidst a world either male or aggressive-female (to be sure Cersei is the embodiment of toxic feminism imo) and come out on top is so inspiring.

Like Lucy Pevensie, she is that character that builds herself up with kindness and gentleness. With compassion and empathy.

She is relatable. I truly think that's her greatest fault, Sansa especially in the beginning is the kind of plausible character we may all have been as kids. Naïve, kind and a bit spoiled as well, also in love with the concept of love. Her mistakes are relatable, mistakes we probably would've done in her place and that's what most people cannot forgive her. Her behavior of having to bow her head and accept what is thrown at her is something we dread and hate to do ourselves though we are forced in real life, it's easier to stan, perhaps, that character that takes no shit from no one, that comes around guns blaring because they've been wronged, but as in Sansa Stark's words "That's not the way to get people to work together".

Because she is good and doesn't loose her goodness. Despite everything she has seen and suffered, when Cersei tries to indoctrinate her to her way of seeing life and ruling, Sansa merely says "Yes, thank you" (but no) and not only does she say that, she actively does that. How?

comforting the people during the siege (the very same people who looked as she was humiliated and beaten publicly, the very same people who did not raise a single finger to stop the abuse inflicted on her).

helping Lancel when is about to die and get to him medical help (despite him having actively inflicted emotional pain on her) and I am not talking only of that, but also of her commenting on him "looking strong and that it was good to see him getting better" knowing the effect it will have (and does have) on both him and his father emotional state, offering the courtesy that would make them feel better.

the same principle applied to all the courtesans she praised of interacted with at Joffrey's wedding.

saving ser Dontos despite having no reason to do that and have every reason to be afraid for her life if she speaks up.

never forgetting the difference between good ruling and bad ruling (remembering her lessons about love being a surer route to loyalty and think she'd make them love her instead of fear her)

helping and basically raising Robert Arryn.

saving the people during the riot convincing Joffrey to spare them.

And these are only some of the examples one could make.

because she is clever. Manipulates Joffrey to fight in the first line, stays alive in that serpents pit KL was for her, plots her own escape with unlikely help (and I am pretty sure almost no one knew of her encounters with ser Dontos to plan her escape), is on the verge of outsmarting Littlefinger (and did so in the show).

because she is a romantic despite it being actively beaten out of her. And that's not being foolish because she adjusts her perception of the world (thinks maybe her husband will love her if she gives him children) but still hopes to be loved (that's imo the meaning of her stepping out even if she thinks that is a pure world she is too ruined for).

A pure world, Sansa thought. I do not belong here. Yet she stepped out all the same (Sansa VII, ASOS). That's just something so healing about this. Because that's what this is, Sansa believing that despite all she has suffered, about all she has seen, even if she can't return that naïve child anymore, she is still worthy of love and healing. And that's beautiful and it inspires me so much.

Because she is just that good and fair that she feels sorry about framing Marillion even though he tried to rape her and was aiding Lysa in killing her. She knows her deserves to be judged, still feels sorry about lying.

Because in the end she has become the hero she wished for. Sansa prayed for Robb's victory, for him to save her, to come to KL and deliver her of the Lannisters. Instead she was left alone and even disinherited by her champion. Yet, even when Jon in the show did basically the same with giving away her and their siblings birthright she just stepped up, regrouped the northern troops and marched them directly to KL to demand Jon's release.

Because she honored all of her family members in her crowing attire. Which was a very fine touch, btw, to show us how strongly Sansa feels for her family, because we aren't showed it in the show not as often as in the books, where she is constantly thinking of them, praying for them and generally missing them.

Because she prays. Yeah it can sound strange, especially since I myself believe in the message more than in the institution of the Church; yet I love how steadfast Sansa is in her faith, I love how she prays and wish and how pure that is, how strong that is.

So yes, I am sure more reasons will come in mind to me and to you all others; but out of curiosity. Why do you stan/like Sansa Stark?

@sansaissteel

@atimeforwolvesstuff

@woodlandcrochet

@palominojacoby

@eonweheraldodemanwe

@istumpysk

And all the countless others, sorry if I do not tag you all (or sorry if I tagged you out of line), I don't know you all, I'm just curious.

[battlestar-royco]

hey I was wondering if you've seen House of the Dragon and what you thought of it? Lots of people were pretty pissed about certain things in episode 2, so I wondered what you thought (I haven't seen the show yet but I've seen spoilers)

I have! A few things, with spoilers under the cut:

I still hate the Targs. I don't think anything will change that. But I do think they're setting up complex, grounded characters, which is a classic draw of ASOIAF/early GOT.

The first episode felt more dense with set-up, the second felt more like an actual story.

I'm disappointed in the theme song 😭! I was expecting something new or a Targ-themed infusion. But it's not the worst thing.

The production value is good! CGI is slightly painful (like pls sirs I am begging you to build miniatures of KL) but overall not horrible? The wigs are sooo much worse. I just want them to all pull an Anya Taylor Joy and go bottle blonde because... Rhaenyra? Laena? ... RHAENYS?! Sweeties I'm so sorry. But the set builds are so pretty, and I'm loving some of the costume design. Dragonstone almost had me in tears, I'm not joking.

The time jumps between episodes are slightly wonky at first but easy to get used to.

Despite some truly distasteful elements of the first 2 episodes, it is said that all you need is three good scenes to make a good movie (episode in this case), and I think they're accomplishing that so far.

On to spoilers:

I think everyone knows I'm not the biggest Targ fan. They're incestuous, pedophilic, colonizing, manifest destiny blood supremacists. And though the show is clearly setting them up for a downfall, the writing is still biased toward Targ characters so far (especially Rhaenyra and Daemon) to please their fandom after what happened to Dany. So that's been hard to take.

Fwiw all the nasty parts are included to make a certain point, but there are more important and more interesting things they could focus on.

For example, you could tell they wanted to show off their production value with the tourney, but I just don't think a sporting event (especially between characters we don't know and with vague stakes) has the same tension as someone dying in childbirth. So that part didn't work for me.

The child bride plot also got lots of airtime that could have gone to, say, developing Alicent. So far a lot of the writing efforts have gone toward making Rhaenyra a bAdAsS dragon princess while leaving all the other women to be objectified, commodified pawns, or have fake girl power dialogue about the patriarchy like on a Shonda show. And I despise that they're setting up Dae////nyra when they could have been the best relationship of the show as just a deranged uncle protecting his headstrong dragonrider niece. So, hoping for improvement in that realm.

That said, Rhaenyra is, to my surprise, my highlight so far. I loved her angry tears at the funeral, her and Alicent mourning their mothers at the sept, and her threatening but peaceful intervention at Dragonstone. Very strong performances and good dialogue. And I have high hopes for Alicent in the coming episodes.

[earnestly-endlessly]

Hi! I'm wondering if you can make a list of fics where Erik's jewish heritage isn't ignored? I just came across the fact that a lot of authors don't explore this part of him for some reason and i found it kinda upsetting so i'm wondering if you have any recs! I liked "As They Kiss, Consume" and "Who Shall be King Hereafter" by sherwoodfox, in case anyone who's reading this ask is interested in the same topic.

Hi Anon. I'm sorry for taking so long with this list but your request sent me on a wide search for fics that fit with your request. I tried to find a variety of fics where Erik's Jewish heritage is addressed. Some of them aren't necessarily cherik, but most of them are. I hope you enjoy this list.

Mistletoe, Latkes, and Long-Term Revenge Strategies – pocky_slash

Summary: Charles knows that Erik hates working at a department store in the best of times. Being Jewish in a department store during the holiday season is far from the best of times. He does what he can to help.

A Nice Boy (the Family Matters Edition) – pocky_slash

Summary: Erik's not sure whether the problem is that he doesn't want his parents to meet Charles or that he doesn't want Charles to meet his parents. Either way, he never invites Charles to brunch. Why should he? It's not like they're dating.

A Road Trip to Pennsylvania – Aainiouu

Summary: For a year Charles has nurtured the biggest and most embarrassing crush known to man towards Erik. They are friends and roommates and when Erik asks Charles to accompany him to home on Thanksgiving of course Charles goes.

In the Bleak Midwinter – keire_ke

Summary: It is not easy to find out, well into the second decade of the twenty-first century, that your mother arranged a marriage for you. It is even less easy to convince her that you have no interest in the very fertile Magda, she of the wide hips and lustrous auburn hair. Fortunately, with a good friend at his side over the holiday weekend, Erik is sure he will prevail.

Speech Making – phalangine

Summary: Modern Emma AU- Charles Xavier, accomplished matchmaker and headmaster of North America’s preeminent school for mutants, intends to add another notch to his belt: setting up his friend Moira. His oldest friend, Erik, has doubts about this plan.

Charles doesn’t share them.

This is life (and everything’s all right) – pocky_slash

Summary: Edie Lehnsherr came into Charles' life long before he ever heard Erik Lehnsherr's name, and her death left a gaping hole in the lives of everyone in Charles' family. As the first Purim without her approaches, he begins to get creative in his efforts to bring everyone out of their grief. Kitchen creativity, however, is not quite his strength....

Bashert – AvengingAngel

Summary: Erik and Charles meet and fall in love. I wanted to write a story where Erik had a huge family. Pretty fluffy (for me anyways). I suck at summaries.

Note: The summary doesn’t reveal much but if you’re looking for a fic where Erik is jewish and has a large family with a heavy dose of cherik fluff and angst then this one is for you.

Math Reasons – pearl_o,  pocky_slash

Summary: "Mom says Erik always knows what he wants, it just sometimes takes him a little while to actually realize it," Ruth said.

Charles fell in love with Erik the first night they met, the first week of freshman year. Two years of friendship, adventures, arguments, hijinks, secrets, and summer visits later, Erik is starting to catch up.

Ser

It’s kind of our whole things – pearl_o, pocky_slash

Summary: After two years of best friendship, Charles and Erik thought they knew everything there was to know about each other. They're surprised, then, when their first summer as a couple reveals that they have a lot to learn about each other and themselves.

Sequel to Math Reasons

A Winter in New York – nextraordinaire

Summary: Charles and Erik have been childhood friends for as long as they can remember – Erik, living with his mother in Queens, and Charles in the big mansion in Westchester. For all, expect themselves, it was just natural progression that they'd end up together.

A series of ficlets from the same universe – can be read as separate and are out of chronological order.

Baby, It’s Cold Outside – heyjupiter

Summary: "It's just, this is my first Chanukah away from my parents. And it's--it's like 90 degrees out."

Erik Lehnsherr and Kitty Pryde celebrate a Genoshan Chanukah. It's a little different from the way it used to be in New York, but some unexpected visitors help them embrace the spirit of the holiday season.

Hold Back the Rain (front!strict mashup) – euphorbic

Summary: Charles Xavier: society darling, powerful political activist, well-known professor, and Dominant.

Erik Lehnsherr: anti-social, international motorcycle racer, and defiant submissive.

Erik is at Sepang in Malaysia for the fourteenth leg of the International World Championship. After doing poorly in qualifying, he's furious to find he has to take another VIP around the track instead of meeting Charles at the KL airport.

The Swan – waitfornight

Summary: In 1939 Erik and his sister Ruth are sent to Devonshire, England, during the Kindertransport refugee program to live with Kurt and Sharon Marko as foster children just before the start of World War II. Angry and wishing he could return home on the night of his seventeenth birthday, Erik meets a boy alone in the forest who is cursed to transform each day into a swan, only taking his true form by night.

Swan Lake AU.

The boy with the heart on his sleeve – euphorbic

Summary: Charles loses a high-stakes bet to Raven and is required to get a tattoo. However, when he makes a disparaging remark about the art form, Raven's acerbic mentor, Erik, steps in.

Or, the one where Erik and Raven are tattoo artists.

The Wurst Case Scenario – sareyen

Summary:If anyone asked why Charles, come rain, wind or shine, made the significant trek during his dismal lunch hour to dine at "Edie's Kosher Delicatessen", he would stubbornly say that it was because their pastrami on rye and potato knishes were absolutely to die for. He wasn't completely lying, because the deli's namesake, Edie Lehnsherr, made the best matzah ball soup Charles has ever had in his life. Still, Charles would rather shave his full head of hair off than admit that the real reason he would willingly walk through hail and fire to get to the corner deli was because of Erik, the insanely attractive man working the counter.

Sure, Erik has barely spoken two words to Charles other than "Hello, what can I get you?" or, after the third day in a row that Charles came to the deli, "Welcome back, what can I get you?", but Charles was more than happy to just ogle at the man from afar while devouring the juicy wurst Erik had put together with his (large and very capable) hands.

But, little does Charles know, Erik doesn't usually work the front counter. He only does it when he knows the cute blue-eyed man will be dining in.

This is life (and everything’s all right) – pocky_slash

Summary: Edie Lehnsherr came into Charles' life long before he ever heard Erik Lehnsherr's name, and her death left a gaping hole in the lives of everyone in Charles' family. As the first Purim without her approaches, he begins to get creative in his efforts to bring everyone out of their grief. Kitchen creativity, however, is not quite his strength....

c'est regarder ensemble dans la même direction – melonbutterfly

Summary: Since that day on the beach, Charles and Erik have learned to agree to disagree for the sake of living and working together. Then, for Christmas, and Charles gives Erik Hanukkah back a second time, and their relationship shifts a little further.

Terrible Hanukkah Sweaters and Other Life Challenges – professor

Summary: “Why am I here again?” Erik groans.

“I need you to lift things and glower at people over my shoulder when I tell people that it’s not ‘politically correct’ or a ‘war on Christmas’ to have a non-denominational winter holiday festival,” says Theresa Pryde.

Well, at least those are two things he’s good at.

Shrapnel – librata

Summary: It's late 1940, and tensions between the Axis and the Allies are tightening. Displaced and alone, 16-year-old German Jew Erik Lehnsherr finds himself employed as a servant by some snobby, terrible family in England whose house is far too big and whose money never seems to end. The worst part is, he isn't just mucking stables or cleaning plates–-he's tasked with tending to the whiny, disabled son named Charles, who might just drive Erik into absolute madness.

Or, the World War II fic in which Erik and Charles experience a changing world and a lot of teen angst.

Defying Expectations – Baamon5evr

Summary: Charles and Erik meet each other’s family. Neither of them gets what they expect.

table for three – pocky_slash

Summary: Erik should have known to call ahead to the Chinese restaurant--it's Christmas Eve and he lives in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, after all. But before he can go home to mourn the loss of another one of his mother's yearly traditions, he's accosted by a teenage girl with a strange proposition--that he should stay and have dinner with her and her mother, instead.

different from all other nights – metonymy

Summary: "This year we are slaves; next year we will be free." Kitty and Erik host a seder for Passover at the Xavier School.

Libertad – ariadnes_string

Summary: Erik knew the look, had seen it his whole life, even before the war.  ”You, with your height and blue eyes and straight nose, you can pass. You can be free of us. You are not marked with your difference.” If you only knew, he’d thought then. He thought the same thing now. And it was that thought, as much as anything, that made him move towards the gate.

Wash Away – sebastian2017

Summary: One quiet, lonely morning, before Yom Kippur, Erik makes his way to the sea in search of forgiveness.

After? There is No ‘After’ – Unrepentant_Marvelist

Summary: Erik knows what he is for. He has known his responsibilities as a survivor since the moment he woke under a scratchy, lice-infested blanket in the Red Army hospital. His world is painted in lucid blacks and whites (so often splashed in red) and there is no room for uncertainty or indecision... until a certain sunburned Englishman throws himself into his world.

The Children of an Idle Brain – Margo_Kim

Summary: Sometimes, when he’s lucky, Schmidt can’t hurt him. It’s like there’s a room inside of Erik’s head that’s he’s usually locked out of, that won’t open no matter if he beats himself bloody against it. On those days, he endures. But sometimes—and Erik doesn’t know why, whether it’s that the stars align or some higher power takes pity or Erik screams loud enough to earn his reward—the door opens. Erik can duck inside and slam it behind him and watches himself through the windows as Schmidt slowly, methodically tortures him to strength.

These days, this past week, there’s a boy in the room with him and he tells Erik, “That’s horrible,” like that means something.

Somehow, across the world, Erik's and Charles' minds touch when they need each other most. They can't be sure that the other boy is real. They suspect that he is not. But that doesn't mean they aren't each other's lifeline until they lose each other and then for a while longer.

Tehillim – kvikindi

Summary: Erik, in Israel, afterwards: another life he could have had. If.

I fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) – childishinquiry

Summary: Erik has worn long sleeves his whole life, even before they had to wear yellow stars. Marching along his arm, in neat, black, English letters, are the words "My name's Charles Xavier."

Precious Few Years – sherwoodfox

Summary: Erik and Charles (known only to each other by the letters inscribed on their wrists) are meant to be together, soulmates, destined for the most powerful kind of love and connection a human being can experience.

But they are separated in almost every possible way- by distance, by circumstance, by language, by war. Their chances of success- of finding one another in the labyrinth of the world- are very slim. There is a reason why most people never find their soulmates.

But of course, Charles and Erik aren't ordinary children-

They have their gifts.

[ihaverecurringnightmares]

I guess the one good thing about the AU world with them married is that it shows that she wasn't the one to bring out his humanity. And the other AU scenario showed the only reason he wrote her that fan service letter at the end of the main show was because of Hope going to school there not just to gain her favor for a future relationship. Double whammy.

Though I wonder if s5 didn't try to SUBTLY throw that relationship under the bus. They copied quite a bit of kl@mille scenes (like they say we did them) but didn't measure up.

Example: hope and l@ndon dancing (the human asks for the dance but isn't good at it. Dialogue is super similar) and then KC almost kiss.. that's like a direct repeat of 2x4 dance. Though they might of had the better almost kiss..like why Klaus? 🙄 Why you gotta go so hard like that? But he gets denied and she walks off and he doesn't even look back

I would have found you vs I would have noticed you. Are we even going to talk about how 'creep' was playing on the radio during that scene 🤣 and the last line of the song that plays says 'i don't belong here' 😂☠️

Rebecca calling her to get him to do something, you mean like she did cami after he was un-daggered.

Even her walking away without looking back dialogue is similar to Kieran's and Cami's. Yes it might also connect with how she remembers her husband but if someone didn't watch TVD they wouldn't know that. I'm just grateful she had to pull him in for that last kiss and he didn't actually make the move. Small thing but I'll take what I can get.

Oh and her dialogue of liking the bad boys (a big cami thing). Since when? She usually liked the guys that were good in her show. That just didn't make sense unless it was a copy/callback

There's more but I'm done lol. Well...one more thing, he could have let Elijah take the magic and stayed alive for her and Hope but he didn't. The writers even wrote her as not wanting him to die and even telling Elijah about it, I guess to stop him. Yet, he still was like nope, I'm out! Peace! He obviously wasn't moved enough to change his mind for her. True love at it's finest 😉

I hate s5 but boy am I glad the series ended with Klaus' death. I mean did the actors even like s5? I'm pretty sure DG didn't. Then, when I watched most of Klaus' scenes it was like I was watching JoMo and not Klaus. He just did not seem to be in to it.

But anywho, so you don't think he would ever want to marry Cami then?

The AU is actually really insulting to kc, and I think it flies over a lot of their fans' heads. It's stating that the only way they'd be together was in the worst possible scenario and timeline where the people they love are gone and they've resorted to turning off their emotions. It completely goes against the narrative of her being a "good influence" on him or "changing" him.

I agree with a lot of what you said about season 5. I think people assumed it would be this great pro kc season, but it did even more damage to it. Caroline was just this prop who had no interactions with other characters or any purpose other than to soothe Klaus' ego and make him feel good about himself. She was what kcers pretended Cami was. And then all the shady stuff like creep on the radio, the corny af dialogue about hovering essences, the retcons and ignorance of their past, them CLEANING GLASS together, Elijah snapping her neck and Klaus not caring, the kiss where their lips were on different parts of the other's face, Caroline smiling as she walked away, no declarations of love or even close to it. They wrote Caroline as a half-assed version of Cami, and it just didn't work at all because they're nothing alike. I remember seeing some kcers saying they wished the season never happened and it was all bad, which, of course, means they were pretending it was good to begin with.

And I wouldn't put much thought into that kiss. Nobody on the show did. It was a pity kiss that was drier than the sahara desert.

Did the actors like the season? From what I heard there was a lot of complaints on set, and then Daniel Gillies voiced his complaints about it being a backdoor pilot for another show instead of a proper sendoff (as well as his own death being dumb). You're spot on with Jomo. He was completely lifeless and non emotive in his scenes. When Hayley burst into flames and died he let out the smallest "No". Come on, dude, you can do better than that! It's why it shocked me for the klamille scene, when Cami walked in and his entire face lit up and his eyes widened, and he did the signature "Camille?" with a tremble. Nobody is ever gonna convince me he didn't enjoy that relationship, because he had to act opposite of both girls in that season and there was a drastic difference. Cami's presence pulled him out of autopilot.

Would Klaus marry Cami? Klaus already declared Cami his soulmate, gave her a ring, had her move in, promised to give her a life other's only dream of. That's as close to marriage as it gets. I think Klaus would propose if it was something that meant a lot to Cami. He did love her so passionately and was always making big romantic speeches, so him getting down on one knee would not shock me. That boy was IN LOVE.

[melrosing]

It is so weird watching the show and seeing how much they lionized/whitewashed Cersei, Tyrion, and Tywin while dragging Jaime through the mud. It’s so weird because by removing Jaime’s actual love story and growth, removing Tyrion’s darker impulses, skipping the fallout from Tysha reveal, eliminating fAegon & Stoneheart, elevating Cersei’s role in the story, they basically left nothing for either of the Lannister brothers to do besides stand around, make speeches or go on pointless side quests.

Yeah, I’ve been wanting to go into the whitewashing of certain Lannisters for a while because it’s so plainly a thing they’re doing, but I can’t quite put my finger on why? Because I think the reasons kind of vary depending on which Lannister you’re looking at.

Like in Tyrion’s case I think it’s pretty straightforward: he’s a fan favourite, the good guy on the bad side - I think the popularity Tyrion had at the time (dude was iconic whilst early GOT was airing) was something D&D were unwilling to compromise, and they felt GRRM’s shades of grey would do just that. So they made the bizarre choice to leave him completely stagnant, just sounding a little more tired as the show went on. I mean, they were so desperate to keep Good Man Tyrion that they made Shae’s murder an act of self-defence (...and then never really raised it again because turns out fans still weren’t really okay with it either way).

Tywin and Cersei is... a weirder case? Like D&D’ve full on come out and said they consider Tywin ‘lawful neutral’ (Tywin? The guy who ordered the gang rape of a child purely to hurt his own?? Are you sure about that???), and I think it’s obvious they think of Cersei somewhere along the same lines, but with a whole lot more gendered ‘but she’s just a girl! just a lady! just a mum!’ thrown in. D&D wrote all these kind of nurturing moments for both, where they try and make out that all the extremes the Lanns go to, they do for the love of one another - and I think they think they’re doing something clever like ‘humanising the bad guys’ with that. But in Tywin’s case it’s senseless considering what this man has done in their own show, never mind the books... and in Cersei’s case it results in a fuck load of misogynistic bs that I ranted about the other week.

Thing is, I think they do extend this to Jaime, in a strange way. I’ve heard people say they think Jaime in the books is meaner and crueler than Show Jaime, to which I just have to ask ‘where?’ because Book Jaime has a sharper tongue, sure, but Show Jaime has a way higher crime count, along with no clear desire to actually improve himself (Brienne is the one who has to keep reminding him to do it). I think these additional crimes are included to keep Jaime on Cersei’s moral level if I’m absolutely honest, because D&D do genuinely believe they’re only as bad as each other (à la ‘she’s hateful and so am I’). 

And yet at the same time, this Jaime kind of acts soft when he’s not doing Cersei’s bidding, so the audience goes ‘oh, he’s not so bad!’ Even though... he’s not so good, either. But what ‘Soft Jaime’ does is bring ‘softness’ to House Lannister. Because this isn’t really supposed to humanise him, it’s supposed to humanise them. It’s used to make the family behind the atrocities look like ‘just normal people fighting for their family, albeit on the wrong side of things’. He’s used to make Cersei more sympathetic, because through Jaime we get to see this vulnerable, motherly Cersei that D&D came up with. He’s used to make Tywin seem like a more fatherly figure, too i.e. through the reading lessons, the father-son chats, plus Jaime actually managing to get teary-eyed over the guy’s death in S7 lmao, none of that’s in the books but it’s in the show. 

The second Jaime departs from KL, Team Lannister becomes entirely unsympathetic (and no, D&D, the baby isn’t helping), so he’s sent straight back to bring some of that back, because D&D do believe that somewhere deep down, the Lannister cause is about love and family (it isn’t), and they needed the twins’ soft basement death to communicate that. Cersei by herself is a villain fighting for the throne and for power (book Cersei, in short), but Cersei combined with Jaime is ‘just parents trying to protect baby uwu’. Look! Sympathetic villains! For your consideration! 

So ultimately Soft Jaime is there primarily to provide a sympathetic lens for the bad guys i.e. his dad and sis, because see what Jaime sees! Cersei’s just a lovely mum, Tywin’s just a strict but otherwise loving dad, and hey, they all love each other even if they’ve got funny ways of showing it! (congrats on missing the point of the Lannisters completely!! congrats on missing how GRRM actually uses Jaime to show how cruel and unpleasant Tywin and Cersei really are, even to the person they supposedly love most!!!)

What does it all mean?? no fucking idea, I think D&D were just very taken with the idea of ‘grey characters’ but had no clue what it means to explore the darker shades - in their mind, it’s about finding a justifiable reason for everything their villains do, and trying to make them out to be otherwise almost decent. Why is this such a big thing with the Lannisters and not... Ramsay or Euron or something? Probably just because the Lannisters were popular and the actors were amongst the strongest in the cast and so they devoted their best character writing to them, only unfortunately their best character writing is um... shit!!!

tl;dr honest to god can’t summarise this, just purging my brain of some thoughts that I hope at least distantly relate to your message

[janiedean]

ooh so linked to the Brienne ask re: the kingsguard part. What are your thoughts on Aerys’ kingsguard, especially like Arthur Dayne who Jaime from what I remember has complicated feelings for but pretty much idolises him. And they’re so loved by almost everyone in universe!!! Like idk how to think about them really my feelings for them are also complicated

+ okay good because I honestly don’t see why people love them so much like most of the things we’ve heard about them are like. Objectively bad. And like yeah the idea of them is cool but well that can only go so far. also I’m sorry if these asks are a mess I’m exhausted!! ALSO I think you’re amazing for answering all of us anons with such detail I always love coming on to your blog

(putting both asks in the same place uu)

in order: the fact that they're loved by everyone in-universe and fandom actually likes them (or at least arthur dayne hahahahaha god) is like... some of george's best trolling because guess what the entire point is that they're supposed to look like amazing people/the real deal when instead they're all terrible the end - except again for the poor martell prince whom we don't know enough about and I'll give him a pass bc martell people are usually not stupid af but in order:

as I said george has made a point of stating that knighthood is a rotten institution and the kg especially aerys being like... what should be the highest honor for a knight is equally as rotten as knigthood in general and is made of people who do Not Deserve The Title - I mean again hey it's orders so marital rape is fine, hey we're leaving the 15yo to man an entire castle? WHY NOT, the king is mad? WELL WE SWORE TO SERVE HIM, like not counting martell prince there isn't one single person in the aerys kg except jaime who actually upheld the oaths they swore ie protecting the innocent so make of that what you will

the fact that jaime aka the fifteen year old is literally the only one who gets the job and then goes there like 'hey we're basically covering for marital rape what the fuck' and no one else bats an eyelid should already say everything there is to say about these people's moral standard

the fact that none of them actually stuck up for the fifteen-year old who was obviously not ready for the job nor tried to idk do anything to make it easier on him or whatever also says everything about their moral standard because honestly fuck you

the fact that everyone thinks they're amazing jaime included when they're all pretty much shitty is like... well, same as fandom does, which means that the readers bought what people in-narrative do... except that the moment you scratch the surface it's really damned bad

and I'm saying barristan is on thin ice because from his chapters you can see he's like... not a bad dude but like his reaction to jaime being in there still when he saw aerys is 'ah that fucker who killed the king and was so proud he had to try and get into it at fifteen'? like??? fuck you?? honestly the fact that all of them literally served a dude who put people on fire and was a menace/danger to the realm and then have the gall to think that jaime is the worst or who didn't like try to help him or anything while he was obv struggling with his vows and the fact that he was serving a madman says all about their moral standards, again

and honestly arthur dayne is the literal worst of all of them because like - first of all oh you knight the 15yo who goes along with you slaying bandits and you don't try to dissuade him from joining the kg? what the fucking fuck am I supposed to think - second of all you don't even warn him of what is expecting him when he joins when you've been there for a while? - but third of all which drives me insane and I hate that fandom sleeps on it and goes around happily like ARTHUR/LYANNA THE SHIP OF DREAMS... okay listen like I have literally zero investment in lyanna as a character or in r + l and I don't necessarily think he did everything - I think they had a mutual infatuation and eloped and she sorely regretted it and then it was on r. who shouldn't have like acted on it because he happened to be the 20+ year old with a wife and kids, but there's the whole tower of joy situation - in which sorry but we have arthur fucking off KL with other kg people and leaving all the others in the literal shit bc they'd have to deal with aerys and it'd be less of them than they should be, to go with rhaegar to the tower of joy to help him elope which whatever, and then lyanna was left there after r. had to go back... when her brother and father were burned alive and like if she knew that then I doubt she'd have wanted to stay and if she didn't then they withheld fairly important fucking information, so like he stayed there guarding a pregnant 15-16 yo who most likely did not want to be there and who is pregnant by his best friend whose family oh accidentally murdered half of hers........ and lyanna was there even after rhaegar died so I mean it's not like the moment he happened this dude goes and says 'hey maybe we should actually go back and see if we can solve this mess' no he kept her prisoner there anyway - on top of that... here I'm wildly speculating but: he had to know rhaegar was dead and when ned showed up if we are to believe him and idt he was unreliable on that... ned didn't want to fight him or kill him he just wanted to get his sister and leave and like he was most likely in love with ashara aka arthur's sister so why the fuck would he want to kill him right, and like rhaegar's dead and arthur has nothing to lose by letting ned up especially knowing that lyanna is fucking dying in childbirth like she's dying her brother's there just let him up and solve it later esp when the dude doesn't want to kill you....... but no ned had to kill him because he wouldn't budge and why the fucking fuck wouldn't you budge at that point? your side lost the war, the guy you were friends with that you did all of this for is dead, the girl is about to die at least let her die with her family, why? - only thing I can deduce from it: that rhaegar told him that the baby's survival was the most important thing because third head of the dragon blah blah blah and that if the war was lost to just grab the baby and lyanna if she survived and fuck off to essos until he grew up, except that lyanna didn't survive so the conclusion is that he tried to stop ned from going up there bc he'd have found out about the baby and tried to stop them and at that point who gives a fuck if lyanna died or not but he'd have liked... let her die and kill ned in the process and done that most likely, and sorry but when they knightly vows are, I would like to remind everyone, In the name of the Warrior I charge you to be brave. In the name of the Father I charge you to be just. In the name of the Mother I charge you to defend the young and innocent. In the name of the Maid I charge you to protect all women…. like... what, what exactly has this dude done that would qualify as that? because lyanna would be young and innocent and a woman and he basically is letting her die, that behavior does not qualify as bravery and he'd like... deny the kid a chance of growing up with his family period if he killed ned and he didn't seem to particularly give a fuck las we checked, and that's like not counting the whole 'oh I won't tell the 15yo who idolizes me that he's signing

his life away to trauma nor I will support him for shit when he does' part of it, but the tower of joy stuff is shady whichever way you look at it and honestly the more time passes the more I'm convinced this guy is just a complete pos and the worst of them all except gregor when it comes to like 'people thinking you're a good knight and you're actually a pos instead' and I'm dying on that hill until george proves me wrong

and on that the thing is that... I ranted about it once here but basically jaime idolizes the shit out of him because he never saw that even if his subconscious kinda knows because when he had the weirwood dream his greatest fear was confronting the former kg and everyone was accusing him of stuff he couldn't have physically prevented (more ranting on the weirwood dream here) and he's there like 'ah I wanted to be arthur dayne but I became the smiling knight instead' but like... actually he is more of a true knight than arthur dayne can ever hope to be? because like in the above meta I was talking specifically about how to pia he's like... better than arthur dayne, but like not to be that person but jaime who thinks he's the gregor clegane of his time and not arthur dayne, while arthur dayne was... doing the shady toj thing with lyanna - saved an entire city from aerys blowing it up - risked his neck for brienne even if he didn't even like her as in he got himself kicked in a healing stump when he couldn't even stand up for himself so she wouldn't be raped - risked his neck going back for her at harrenhal and jumped into the bear pit without even knowing how he'd manage it - was actually being a decent person to tommen until c. forced him to leave - the moment he saw what happened with pia he gave her her rapist's head when she's like a commoner no one gaf about and took her into her service - when his squire wanted to bed her he like told him to be kind to her jfc - is per tyrion the only relative who actually loved him/freed him/actually stuck up for him (and tysha is on tywin thank you all very much and jaime feels so great about it he doesn't think about it until he can't anymore) (also he was the one chasing the bandits away in the first place so he was probably there like oH I HELPED A MAIDEN too lmao god fuck tywin) - actually stuck for his cat vow bc he took riverrun without bloodshed - sent brienne after sansa with the magic amazing sword because he wanted to upheld their shared vow to cat going against his own family - the moment brienne shows up like hey wanna blow this joint and leave the army you don't wanna lead to find sansa he didn't even like blink before saying yes and I'm supposed to think that in between him and arthur dayne he isn't the only one who actually stuck to his vows as well as he could/knows anything about them/is actually a trueknight™? because lmao the fact that jaime doesn't fancy himself one because of aerys when everyone fancies arthur dayne one when the latter did absolutely fucking nothing beyond slaying bandits to put his money where his mouth was while jaime didn't even like brand himself like that and still did all of that and half of it was acting on instinct not even like doing the math before and *he* was the one wanting to be knighted at fifteen and took his vows seriously when oh wait knightly vows are basically the epitome of selflessness is like again grrm trolling the hell out of everyone characters included but it's clear from the narrative imvho and I can't wait for the moment he serves the just desserts and a) jaime realizes it b) everyone else in-narrative realizes it c) bran timetravels to the fucking toj and we find out what actually went down there and this saint arthur narrative is burned to the ground because honestly no

there, I think I spat out almost all of my venom XD