#moral of the story series

[justkending]

Moral of the Story. Chapter 21.

Summary: Marrying too young out of highschool leads to a naive and failed marriage. Now 10 years later, word comes that the divorce was never actually completed. Bucky and Y/N have to come back together after all these years to settle what wasn’t all those years back. Passive attitudes, miscommunicated endings, and reminiscing of old loves and lives all comes back for the two.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Y/N

Word Count: 1900+

A/N: 

Chapter Twenty-One:

It’s been 2 months since she had been back in California. The amount of phone calls and facetimes had tripled since the last time around. The well spent time in Brooklyn made it harder for her to continue on with her normal life.

With no bad relationships there any longer, the want to come back was stronger and more augmented than ever.

“What’s been going on with you lately?” Donna came in. 

Donna was one of her co-founders. Someone she met in college and had helped grow this entire company with. She was also the cash mule when it came to building it. Without Donna’s family riches, they would have been about 100 steps behind where they started. 

So to give the bullet points, Y/N was in charge of making the meetings and working with the clients to figure out their wants and needs and how they could better be efficient, but Donna was in charge of finances and final say on where their business went. 

There were a few other people who were in the higher ups, but Y/N and Donna were the main head honchos. 

“Going on with me?” Y/N shrugged, mindlessly clicking things on her computer while she slouched with her chin in her hand. 

“Don’t act like it isn’t obvious,” Donna chuckled before sitting down in the seat in front of her desk. “You’re usually all business at work and I have to drag you away. Lately, you’ve been leaving at a reasonable time and seem to be making some boundaries.”

“Would you rather I didn’t?” Y/N countered, finally looking up with a smirk on her lips.

“You know what I mean,” Donna rolled her eyes playfully. “What’s going on?” 

“I don’t know,” Y/N let out a big sigh. “I guess I’m just homesick after hanging out with old friends and my family after so long.”

“Went there for divorce papers and came back depressed after signing them. Explain how that works…” Her co worker stood and sat on the top of her desk. A casual conversation making its way into the atmosphere. 

“It’s not even about the divorce papers,” Y/N’s cheeks flushed as she tried to avoid eye contact. “I just miss seeing my family as often.”

“Don’t believe the first half of that, but continue,” the dark haired woman nodded. 

“There’s nothing more to say. I just miss being closer to my family. But we both know, we’re too young of a company to-”

“About that. I was actually coming in here to talk to you about a possible new business idea,” she cut her off. 

“Ok, back to work I see,” Y/N chuckled, slightly lost at the immediate redirection from personal life to biz. 

“Sorry, no,” Donna waved off. “It has to do with you and your family as well.”

“My family and the company go hand in hand?” 

“Just shut up for a second and let me explain,” she hopped off her desk and moved around to the other side of the desk, leaning on Y/N’s side as she fell back in her chair ready for her proposal. 

Y/N gave her the hand motion that showed her to continue. 

“You know those business cards you handed out in the farmer’s market back in Brooklyn?” 

“Yeah…”

“Well a few of the businesses got a hold of us and wanted to set up some consultations.”

“Oh, really? That’s great!” 

“I know! But it’s a little more than just a consultation,” Donna explained, shrugging her shoulders as she crossed her arms. “It’s going to take more than a zoom call and what not. I want to see how their business runs and what resources they’re using everyday to get an idea of where they need help.”

“I can get that information,” Y/N turned to her computer, getting ready to send an email. 

“No, no. You’re not getting it,” Donna shut her laptop and looked at her. “I think Brooklyn could be a great place to branch out into other communities.”

“Elaborate…” Y/N crossed her arms now and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. 

“I know you think this company is young, and yes. Seven years isn’t a whole lot, but we also didn’t necessarily start from nothing.” Donna turned her body to her as she gestured with her hands while she talked. “You’ve said it yourself, with the help of my parents' donations to this brain child of ours, we are 100 steps further ahead than most usually are on something so ambitious.”

“I guess that’s not wrong.”

“I think it’s time we broaden our horizons.”

“All the way across the US? I mean, not that I’m against it, but wouldn’t a neighboring state be smarter and make more sense?” Y/N asked hesitantly. 

“Brooklyn is a very well known city in a state that has very high pollution. I think we hit more of the places like that and we make a much bigger difference.”

“Well, yes, but-?”

“Y/N. Before you say anything, I’m trying to get you back home to your family and your challenging everything I’m saying.”

“It’s not that I don’t like the idea. Especially since it’ll help with my family distance issue, but this is a really big risk to take, I feel.”

“Starting this company was a big risk, yet here we are. One of the top eco friendly companies and growing,” she smiled at her knowingly.

Y/N thought about it. Since day one they had been taking risk. That’s what got them this far. That and connections. And Y/N had that in Brooklyn. She had connection after connection. And if she didn’t have one, she knew someone who did. 

It would be a risk, yes, but it would also be monumental if they pulled this off. A city with as much pollution and trash as the New York area could always use a helpful hand in learning how to be more environmentally efficient and friendly. 

“How long would you want me there?” Y/N asked. 

“Well, I would say a few months to meet some of the clients and get a feel for their community and teams. More than one reached out so it’s not going to take just a little bit of time.” Donna stood up and walked to the window. “Would 3 months work for you?” 

Three months back with her family and back to reconnect with her friends. It sounded like a dream. But then there was always the leaving part that she knew would come back to bite her. 

“I can stay with my parents,” she agreed with a smile. 

“Are you sure? We have enough we could hook you up with a rental or an airbnb for the time.”

“No need. If I do end up stir crazy, which I doubt will be the case, I’ll call and make arrangements. I’d rather save money where I can,” Y/N waved off. 

“Alright, so we have a deal?” Donna beamed clapping her hands together. 

“I think we struck a deal,” Y/N laughed. 

“Great! I’ll get started on the paperwork and get Melody to have a list of clients that you can get in contact with,” her coworker smiled, walking toward the door. 

“What about my job here? Who will cover the clients we already have?” Y/N stopped her. 

“We will reassign them for the time being. Plus, most of your companies you work with are settled and may just reach out for updates and what not. If we really need your expertise on it, I’ll reach out. But Y/N,” she paused. “You’re a master when it comes to customer relations. I doubt you’ll have to worry about much going on here.”

“Thanks Donna,” Y/N smiled. “For everything.”

“I got you sis. We were friends before we were business partners. I just want to see you happy,” Donna winked before catching the door handle and making her exit. “I’ll email you everything to sign, and I’ll have my assistant work on the flights.” 

____________________________

“That’s amazing Y/N!” Nat exclaimed as Y/N packed her second suitcase. “Oh, I want to head back home for a while. Maybe I can come crash with you guys for a week or so.”

“You know my family wouldn’t say no to that. And Steve, Wanda, Bucky, and Vision would all be happy about it too.”

“Three months… That’s quite a bit of time. How do you feel about leaving after that much time though?” 

“Well… That was the other thing I wanted to talk to you about.”

“I’m listening,” Nat rested her temple on her knuckles as she leaned on the back of the chair in Y/N’s room, watching her stuff her toiletries in a bag. 

“If all goes well, the trip might go longer. Could be multiple months but it all depends on the connections I make.”

“How many companies are you working with now?” 

“Well about four people from the farmers market reached out, and they also said their business friends would be interested in having a meeting with me to discuss possible changes.”

“That’s wonderful!”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to get my hopes up too much. Right now I need to worry about the first three months and see how that goes,” Y/N shrugged, folding a jacket and tucking it in. 

“You’re going to blow them away. I’ve yet to meet a person you haven’t been able to convince to be more earth conscious.”

“It’s more than just that. Their company has to be able to financially make the changes. Unfortunately it’s costly to be more eco friendly. But hopefully I can show them it’s worth it in the end.”

“True. But enough work-talk… Are you going to hang out with anyone while you’re over there?” Nat smirked. 

“I told you, we don’t talk much,” Y/N rolled her eyes. 

“Much. Which is a BIG step from 2 months ago.”

“He sends updates about my nephew and family more than anything.”

“But that’s something!” 

“Very little of something,” Y/N chuckled shutting the now packed case and pushing on it to try and zip it. 

While she struggled, Nat carried on her snooping. 

“But you are going to hang out, hm? I mean after the whole cliche romance airport scene, you can’t NOT.”

“I’m sure we’re going to hang out. Yes,” she said annoyed, but also with a sense of a flutter in her chest. “But so are Steve, Sam, Wanda and Vision. We’re all friends.” She threw her suitcase to the ground and sat on it in an attempt to smush it down in space. 

“But-”

“The only butt I need is yous on this suitcase to help me close it. Now get down here!” Y/N cut her off, and Nat rolled her eyes before smiling and helping. 

“Mark my words, Y/L/N. I may not get anything out of you now, but the next three months are going to be hell for you and my phone calls.”

“I’m sure they are. Now zip it.”

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My Lovelies forever:

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@chloe-skywalker​​​​​ @charmedbysarge​​​​​ @jbarness​​​​​ @bellamy-barnes​​​​​ @katiaw2​​​​​ @aikeia​​​​​ @stopjustlovethemcu​

[rainyinautumn]

Did someone say COMPLETE DATA ANALYSIS OF ALL THE DEATHS IN THE LIFE SERIES? No? Well. I did it. Here are some neat graphs for you guys to look at so that you don’t have to deal with the gigantic spreadsheet I did!

Let’s start off with the big bad question: what gets people killed in this game, anyway?

Note that a CAUSE OF DEATH is not the same as a KILL. Cause of death is what pops up in the chat when someone dies (ex. PearlescentMoon was slain by Smallishbeans, BdoubleO100 fell from a high place). The cause of death does not always account for player responsibility (ex. TNT traps). Generally, a player is only considered to be someone’s cause of death if the death occurs through direct PvP combat. HOWEVER, responsibility for an indirect kill such as a trap still goes toward a player’s total kill count—for example, Joel has 14 kills overall, 10 of which are direct enough for him to be considered the actual cause of death. After all, axes don’t kill people without being swung by someone.

A few other whacky things about kill counts:

Self-inflicted deaths do not count toward a player’s kill count (ex. Grian doesn’t get a kill for jumping off Monopoly Mountain at the end of 3rd Life, Scott doesn’t get a kill for blowing himself up at the end of Double Life).

When it comes to Double Life, soulmates are considered to share their three lives. No distinction is made between Soulmate A's life and Soulmate B's life, and each death only counts as one kill (ex. Joel gets one kill for killing Scott with fireworks, even though that also killed Pearl (however, Pearl’s cause of death is still Joel, as her life is considered the same as Scott’s)).

Using the /kill command does not count toward your kill count. Grian.

With that cleared up, let’s look at kill counts.

By the skin of his teeth, Grian leads the pack in total kills. The top three you see on that graph are the only players who have a KDR (kill-to-death ratio) of more than 1—for you folks who are unfamiliar with those, a KDR of more than 1 means you kill other people more often than you die. Less than 1 means you die more often than you kill other people. Here are the highest and lowest KDRs in the series:

“What’s this?” I hear you say. “Jimmy Wet-Paper-Bag-of-a-Man Solidarity DOESN’T have the lowest KDR in the series?”

No. No, he does not, and it’s actually really funny you should ask.

Because of Last Life’s mechanic of life transferring, even players that have been in all three installments of the Life Series don’t have the same death count. Eight players died more than three times in Last Life. Another eight died exactly three times. And one player only died twice.

By virtue of starting on yellow and never receiving any extra lives in Last Life, Jimmy holds the record for fewest deaths in an installment of the Life Series with just two deaths in Last Life. He is the only player to ever die less than three times in a game. This means that although he has just one kill, he has fewer total deaths than BigB (who has died a very standard nine times), the only other player with one kill, so his KDR is higher. Congrats, Jimmy, you’re not last in everything. But you are still the only player without a PvP kill.

Speaking of PvP, it’s time to look at how people do that! Here’s a graph of the top five weapons that tend to land PvP kills the most in the series:

And now here’s weapon preferences by game:

[Double Life not depicted due to lack of PvP deaths—only 4 occurred, using a diamond axe, a diamond sword, fireworks, and an iron axe respectively.]

Despite 19 more deaths occurring in Last Life than 3rd Life, the two actually have the exact same amount of PvP kills (28). It’s interesting to note the strong preference for bows in 3rd Life, which was a much more warlike game and had several fairly formal battles where people fought from a distance. Last Life required an overall sneakier strategy, resulting in a higher use of traps. In combat, non-ranged weapons like swords and axes were generally preferred due to fights often starting in close proximity and without warning, courtesy of the Boogeyman curse. Comparatively, Double Life saw remarkably few PvP kills, likely due to each person being twice as accident-prone by virtue of being linked to another player—in fact, with a total of 12, accidents accounted for three times as many deaths as PvP in Double Life and overall for more than half (57%) of the deaths in the game.

As for individual player stats sheets, here’s an example of one of those:

If you want to see one of those for ALL 17 PLAYERS, you can go to this slideshow! More details about the stats can be found in the presentation notes of each slide. And, if you have a really specific question and want to get into the nitty gritty, feel free to send me an ask! Hope you guys enjoyed the data!

[idrawstuffsometimes]

The prophecy has been fulfilled

[helpallthenamesaretakensblog]

the attitude of the pjo fandom about tv!gabe is giving me flashbacks to that one ttc scene where percy meets frederick chase and he's like "annabeth told me you were abusive???why dont you look abusive??"

[ghostly-schematics]

I think what more people need to understand is that the pjo cast were cast with the intention of matching the reasoning behind their book appearance, rather than just how they were described. Luke, for example, was described in the books as a blond, muscular surfer kind of guy. At the time of publishing (2005), that was your generic attractive character, and he was described like that to make you trust him more so the betrayal was more unexpected. Now, almost twenty years later in the show, he looks like a tiktok fuck boy because that’s what people now tend to like more. On the other hand, Annabeth was blonde in the books because that was what made people doubt her intelligence, which isn’t something as common now. However, racism is still very real (as proven by people’s responses to Leah being cast), which makes people underestimate her, giving way for the same character arc. This concept works with the rest of the castings as well. Grover still gives the vibes of a lovable loser. Percy looks ready to sass a ninety year old man. Chiron looks appropriately wise and the Ares kids look ready to fuck you up.

The only character that I would say is different is Clarisse. In the books she’s described as big and muscular and ugly, as it was quite common at the time to say ugly = bad which is something that has not aged well at all. Dior’s casting goes against those negative attitudes and ties into the theme of “not everyone who looks like a monster is a monster and not everyone who looks like a hero is a hero”

And at the end of the day, everyone in the cast perfectly captures their characters’ personalities regardless of their appearance

[myusuchaa]

Alfons and Ring together are certainly a pair

-excerpt from 'Miss Fairytale Keeper, Come Play with Us' story event

Ring: I did not think that!! ...You're exactly as the rumors say... a walking violation to public morals and decency!!

Alfons: I won't deny that, but you're overreacting like quite the virgin, aren't you, Ring?

-two minutes later-

Alfons to Kate: ..I'd like to stick something other than my finger in that little mouth of yours and make you moan.

[kingoftieland]

Ted Lasso's karaoke episode is based on a TRUE STORY! 🎤

[kingdomoftyto]

I'm crying laughing, the DVDs are even worse than I remember... Season 1's menus are silent with a single static jpg of the same key character art they use for everything else, and the episodes on the Season 2 discs don't even match what's listed on the box! Absolutely stunning lack of shits given. Truly unparalleled. But I really shouldn't be surprised given... well... everything about how this series has been treated since the very beginning.

Time for a quick ~✨PHANDOM HISTORY LESSON✨~ to give newer/less hyperfixated folks more context for why the graphic novel being as great as it is is such a HUGE deal:

Danny Phantom was one of Nickelodeon's MAIN cartoons, in its time. It was a central pillar. One of the top three or four of their lineup, which is saying something when the competition includes the cultural juggernaut that is Spongebob.

Despite this, and despite its superhero theming making it perfectly marketable, it got basically ZERO official merch.

What little we did get was often ugly and very, very cheap. The dedication at the start of the graphic novel that jokes about collecting the Burger King toys? That's because it was some of the most notable merch the franchise EVER had. (I sadly do not have any of it. There was no BK in my hometown. Here's a pic from the internet, though, to give you an idea.)

If you think I'm exaggerating about that being the most significant physical merch to come out of the series, consider that the first video game had an entire menu option specifically for the Burger King promotional tie-in:

That video game, by the way, was one of only two ever based on the show. The first was an adaptation of "The Ultimate Enemy" in the style of a short sidescrolling beat-em-up, and the second was themed around "Urban Jungle" and (as far as I can tell--I've only played the first couple levels) was an arcade-style scrolling shooter. Both were for the Gameboy Advance, and both are...... fine, as far as cash-grabby video game tie-ins to kids' shows go. This was pretty normal for the time, so I suppose we did okay in that department, actually. They're not GOOD, but they're playable and have at least a bit of effort put into them.

But besides those two video games (plus a handful of simple, long-defunct Flash games on nick.com)? In the decade and a half since the show ended?

Nothing.

No books, no games, no comics, no web shorts--unless you count mega-crossovers with every other Nicktoon (a la Nicktoons Unite), or soulless promotional material like "Fairly Odd Phantom" (which, trust me, despite being the first new DP animation in over 10 years was not even worth the effort of watching).

...I think there was a limited edition FunkoPop once?

So yeah.

A Glitch in Time is not just the first cool, well-made thing we've seen from the franchise in a while. It's the first THING we've seen since the show. PERIOD. And arguably the first worthwhile supplementary material to EVER come out of the show, depending on how you feel about those GBA games and the Nicktoons crossovers.

This franchise is widely beloved even now, almost 20 years after it first aired, and it feels like that fact is now, finally, FINALLY getting some official recognition.

PLEASE read A Glitch in Time. Tell other people about it. The series--no, the fans--deserve this (and more of this, if the folks in charge see enough of a response and decide to grace us with any followup). It's LONG overdue, but better late than never.

[lord-squiggletits]

One of my favorite parts of phase 2 (and indeed one of the few moments I resonated with IDW Prowl) was when the neutrals were coming back to Cybertron and Prowl said that he refused to let Autobots be pushed aside and overruled after they were the ones who fought for freedom for 4 million years (the exact wording escapes me atm).

And I mean, that resentment still holds true even once the colonists come on bc like. As much as it's true that Cybertron's culture is fucked up, and as funny as it can be to paint Cybertronians as a bunch of weirdos who consider trying to kill someone as a common greeting not important enough to hold a grudge over.... The colonists POV kind of pissed me off a lot of times, as did the narrative tone/implications that Cybertronians are forever warlike and doomed to die by their own hands bc it just strikes me as an extremely judgemental and unsympathetic way to deal with a huge group of people with massive war PTSD and political/social tensions that were rampant even before the war?

Like, imagine living in a society rife with bigotry and discrimination where you get locked into certain occupations and social strata based on how you were born. The political tension is so bad there's a string of assassinations of politicians and leaders. The whole planet erupts into an outright war that leads (even unintentionally) to famine and chemical/biological warfare that destroys your planet. Both sides of the war are so entrenched in their pre-war sides and resentment for each other that this war lasts 4 million years and you don't even have a home planet any more. Then your home planet gets restored and a bunch of sheltered fucks come home and go "ewww why are you so violent?? You're a bunch of freaks just go live in the wilderness so that our home can belong to The Pure People Who Weren't Stupid And Evil Enough To Be Trapped In War" and then a bunch of colonists from places that know nothing about your history go "lol you people are so weird?? 🤣🤣 I don't get why y'all are fighting can't you just like, stop??? Oh okay you people are just fucked up and evil and stupid then" ((their planets are based on colonialism where their Primes wiped out the native populations btw whereas the Autobots and OP in particular fought to save organics. But that never gets brought up as a point in their favor)) as if the damage of a lifetime of war and a society that was broken even before the war can just magically go away now that the war is over.

Prowl fucking sucks but he was basically the only person that pointed out the injustice of that.

And then from then on out most of the characters from other colonies like Caminus and wherever else are going "i fucking hate you and your conflicts" w/ people like literal-nobody Slide and various Camiens getting to just sit there lecturing Optimus about how Cybertronians are too violent for their own good and how their conflicts are stupid, with only brief sympathetic moments where the Cybertronians get to be recognized as their own ppl who deserve sympathy before going right back to being lambasted.

Like I literally struggled to enjoy the story at multiple points because there was only so much I could take of the characters I knew and loved being raked over coals constantly while barely getting to defend themselves or be defended by the narrative so like. It was just fucking depressing and a little infuriating to read exRID/OP

[its-just-hyper]

In anticipation for the ending of my hero academia, I gotta say: man, is anyone remembering that one time that one beloved book series about a wizarding school ended with the flawed government staying exactly the same, everyone having kids and naming them after killed off characters, and the protagonist becoming a cop?

[spicyvampire]

I find it interesting that the time Great spends with Tyme in Timeline1 are the only ones that leak through without Great having a 4 minutes into the future vision in the Timeline2 that we are watching, Great who is having a heart attack in Timeline1 must REALLY be in love Tyme

[markantonys]

just accidentally stumbled on an egwene hate reddit thread and everyone was bitching about how she tries to act like rand's equal when she's only the second-most powerful authority figure on the continent, and one sane person was like "well, balance was a huge theme of the series, so it's pretty clear that RJ did consider the dragon and the amyrlin two halves of a whole and that rand is meant to be egwene's equal co-authority rather than her superior" and of course they were downvoted to hell. and this one little thread just really epitomizes how the readers who approach WOT as a male power fantasy just fundamentally will never understand the series and its themes and the story it was ACTUALLY telling.

[nostalgia-tblr]

stopped reading a fic just there because it was insisting that thor & co went on many violent adventures pre-movies but of course left poor feeble loki behind cos he's a) feeble and b) blessed with a better understanding of imperialism than the rest, and there are a thousand other fics that also think this is obviously what happened but i think i may just have hit my limit on this one :\

[likeabxrdinflight]

tired of early 20-somethings acting like harry potter was never good or had no value in its day like shut the fuck up half of you weren't even there when it peaked

[nightswatchdisbandmentera]

I do think it’s quite interesting how GRRM’s ideals of a good king are confronted and challenged in Jon’s storyline.

Jon is undoubtedly a good person. And he has the capability to be a good king. But being a good person in the world of ASOIAF is not always rewarded. And being a good king is easier said than done.

“They say the king gives justice and protects the weak.” She started to climb off the rock, awkwardly, but the ice had made it slippery and her foot went out from under her. Jon caught her before she could fall, and helped her safely down. The woman knelt on the icy ground. “M’lord, I beg you—”

“Don’t beg me anything. Go back to your hall, you shouldn’t be here. We were commanded not to speak to Craster’s women.”

“You don’t have to speak with me, m’lord. Just take me with you, when you go, that’s all I ask.”

All she asks, he thought. As if that were nothing.

“I’ll … I’ll be your wife, if you like. My father, he’s got nineteen now, one less won’t hurt him none.”

(Jon III, ACOK)

The situation with Gilly at Craster’s Keep is a perfect example of how difficult it is to give the king’s justice in certain situations. Jon wants to help Gilly, he even feels guilty and horrible for choosing not to, but he cannot so easily offer his help because he is a man of the Night’s Watch.

What’s interesting about this conversation is that Gilly addresses and appeals to Jon as she would a king. She places herself as the weak party and Jon as the king who is expected to protect the weak. She kneels to him, as one kneels to a king, and addresses him as “M’lord”; ironic because Jon is just a bastard, who is now a member of the Night’s Watch. Much has been said about this exchange, and fandom often gives Jon a lot less empathy than he deserves. The truth is that he is in a very terrible situation, notwithstanding the character development that is to come regarding his perception of the wildlings.

But I’m looking back at GRRM’s quote about how being king gives one wealth and power and ability to do something, anything. This is something that Jon absolutely lacks in this situation. He may have been symbolically positioned as the rightful king by the narrative, but that doesn’t mean he has any actual power to enact change within the narrative itself. If Jon were nearly as callous about this whole situation as this fandom wants us to believe, he wouldn’t feel so guilty about refusing to help Gilly as he does later on. P.S: I also want to note that Sam is often lauded for being the one to help the girl, “unlike Jon”…except, Sam only does so when the chaos that follows the mutiny and Craster’s death gives Gilly the opportunity to flee. Sam understood that he had no power to help Gilly early in ACOK and that’s why he sent her to Jon. But he also overestimated just how much Jon would be able to do at that moment. Jon may have been the Lord Commander’s steward, but that didn’t give him the ability to go against Mormont (especially when the LC himself was turning a blind eye to Craster’s vices).

It’s then interesting how this situation of a young girl trying to flee a precarious situation is repeated later on in ADWD and this time, Jon manages to help her. Except the difference is that Jon is the Lord Commander now, not just the LC’s steward. What he couldn’t do for Gilly in ACOK, he can do for Alys even though that too places him in a tough situation.

“Why not the king? Karhold declared for Stannis.”

“My uncle declared for Stannis, in hopes it might provoke the Lannisters to take poor Harry’s head. Should my brother die, Karhold should pass to me, but my uncles want my birthright for their own. Once Cregan gets a child by me they won’t need me anymore. He’s buried two wives already.” She rubbed away a tear angrily, the way Arya might have done it. “Will you help me?”

“Marriages and inheritance are matters for the king, my lady. I will write to Stannis on your behalf, but—”

Alys Karstark laughed, but it was the laughter of despair. “Write, but do not look for a reply. Stannis will be dead before he gets your message. My uncle will see to that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Arnolf is rushing to Winterfell, ’tis true, but only so he might put his dagger in your king’s back. He cast his lot with Roose Bolton long ago … for gold, the promise of a pardon, and poor Harry’s head. Lord Stannis is marching to a slaughter. So he cannot help me, and would not even if he could.” Alys knelt before him, clutching the black cloak. “You are my only hope, Lord Snow. In your father’s name, I beg you. Protect me.”

(Jon IX, ADWD)

We’re seeing a repeat of Gilly and Jon here. Alys is now the weak and helpless maid and Jon, who is still a brother of the Night’s Watch, is once again made to play the role of a king.

Obviously the narrative, as it was with Gilly’s situation in ACOK, is saying that Jon is the king because while Alys could’ve pinned her hopes on Stannis Baratheon (who is actually titled), she chose to flee north to Jon the bastard. And what’s interesting this time is that Jon actually helps Alys in whatever way he can. He uses his status as Lord Commander and his dealings with the Thenns to secure Alys’ marriage. He oversteps his bounds as Lord Commander, and the irony is that he starts to act more as a king would.

So it’s interesting to see how the character often marked as the true king by GRRM’s narrative handles the moral obligations that come with kingship. And GRRM is putting Jon through these tests when he doesn’t even have a crown of his own. GRRM often makes Jon prove his worth as a king despite thinking of himself only as a bastard. We see this best when Stannis comes to the Wall.

Surprisingly, Stannis smiled at that. “You’re bold enough to be a Stark. Yes, I should have come sooner. If not for my Hand, I might not have come at all. Lord Seaworth is a man of humble birth, but he reminded me of my duty, when all I could think of was my rights. I had the cart before the horse, Davos said. I was trying to win the throne to save the kingdom, when I should have been trying to save the kingdom to win the throne.” Stannis pointed north. “There is where I’ll find the foe that I was born to fight.”

(Jon XI, ASOS)

It is true that Jon and Stannis are in very different situations. Stannis is aware that he is the rightful king (as Robert’s heir), and he has also heard from Melisandre that he is the prophesied prince. Jon, on the other hand, is a bastard boy completely unaware of his royal birth or his magical destiny. Yet it’s so interesting that it’s Jon the bastard who was actually doing his duty as the king (without even knowing it) whereas Stannis had to be reminded of it. So despite his failings every now and then, Jon does live up to the author’s ideal of a great king.

[throwawayasoiafaccount]

question: how can you adore elia when she’s barely a character?

we do not know enough about this character for her to even have stans.

stanning elia is illogical at best, completely delusional and very concerning at worst.

because what even is it that is being stanned and adored? your self insert?