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uhzuku · 2 years

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— 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 ; 𝐦. 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝.

𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: this would be their very last secret rendezvous, so they had to make it special, right?

𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦: my hero academia. | 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: melissa shield/f!reader | 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: nsfw ; minors dni | 𝐰/𝐜: 2.31k.

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: spoilers for mha s6, fem!reader, all might’s daughter!reader, minor deku slander??, symbol of peace!reader, bad father/daughter relationship, fingering, cunnilingus, orgasm, plot building, nonsexual amputation, canon divergence.

— 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐦𝐞 !!

ever since they’d met back up during their first winter break in college, each visit was always the same: y/n would tug her away to some hidden area of the home she shared with her dad and would either eat her out until she screamed into a pillow or finger her until she cried. the majority of their time spent was with each other or all together with their fathers, laughing and acting like they’d hardly seen each other in swimsuits, much less completely naked — and melissa liked it that way. she liked having the knowledge of how soft and kind the normally cold y/n yagi was when she held her in her arms, and knowing that the all the soft, sweet words y/n whispered into her ear as they fucked were just for her ( and that no one else had ever heard them before ) was icing on the cake.

having y/n all to herself in ways the woman would never be shown to the world was reward enough for the years melissa had spent pining after the current symbol of peace in japan.

as she knelt between melissa’s shaky thighs, the edge of her prosthetic glinting in the low light as it’s hand gripped one of said thighs, y/n’s fingers crook up perfectly inside her, pressing brutally across her swollen g-spot in a way that makes her see stars. “o-oh god!” melissa cries, and y/n claps a hand over her mouth immediately, her eyes wide and dark with both lust and alarm. melissa looks at her through tear filled eyes, confused as to why she’d done it.

“lower your voice — we wouldn’t want our fathers to hear us, now would we?” y/n hisses lowly, a dark look flickering through her eyes in a way that made a fresh surge of slick gush from melissa’s pussy as realization washed over her features and she returned to pushing into her childhood friend’s touch.

“gimme — gimme more!” she whines into the flesh of y/n’s hand, and while muffled, her words have the desired effect; y/n presses her body against her and buries a second finger into melissa’s hungry snatch.

“what a desperate little cunt you have,” the younger woman growls,taking her hand off of melissa’s mouth. “your little hole’s so fucking needy for my fingers — how often did you play with it until you came after finding out i’d be arriving soon?”

“every — every day!” melissa gasps, and y/n laughs so lowly that she can feel the vibrations in her chest before biting the fat of the blonde’s thigh, making her whimper.

“what a fuckin’ sight you are, princess — and it’s all mine, isn’t it?” she purrs, the possessiveness curled around the question sending a jolt of heat to melissa’s core.

the desperation of y/n’s possessive nature when it came to her was always something that excited melissa. the urge for her to claim something and refuse to share it as she’d shared so much else ( her father with all of japan, his quirk that was her birthright with a stranger, the limelight of hero work with said stranger, and so on ) was strong in her. the blonde was not unaware of the bitter feelings y/n felt towards her father and the protege he’d chosen years ago when y/n had been fifteen that seemed to follow him everywhere; she’d listened more times than she could count to her friend’s angered mutterings about midoriya izuku and her father, often speaking of ‘the symbol of peace and the child he chose’ alongside the ‘daughter he was forced to keep’, musings that never failed to send pangs through melissa’s chest as her heart ached for her friend. she’d never felt such abandonment, as her father was more than loving and attentive, and there were times where she just couldn’t understand the way y/n was feeling; it always upset y/n, being misunderstood, and she’d always revert to her colder attitude when these moments sprung up between them, returning to her own world of exercise and endeavors to best her classmates and finally catch her father’s attention.

all of this had more or less come to a head when she’d lost an arm fighting the symbol of fear after the attack that webbed across japan the day tomura shigaraki and all for one had merged and become one being. eraserhead had lost an eye and a leg in that fight on the same ground that day, though for vastly different reasons; after being shot by a deleter round, he’d cut off his own leg. becoming woozy from blood loss, he’d lacked the speed to escape the way shigaraki clawed at his face and had lost an eye. y/n had kicked the villain away after and had picked up eraserhead where he’d fallen unconscious, shouting for the other heroes and her classmates to handle him until she got back, but the villain had lunged for her after regaining his wits. forced to make the decision between sacrificing herself or her teacher, she chose herself, turning so her body would shield his and casting up one arm while cradling him as best she could in her dominant one; with eraserhead’s quirk out of the picture, shigaraki’s decay quirk had been in full effect, and the moment his fingers locked around her wrist it began a length of spiderwebbed cracks across her flesh. she’d kicked him away again, this time farther, and after snarling out a cry of pain had used a sharp length of metal debris sticking up from what was left of a building to hack of her own arm by swinging it backwards towards it, cutting it off just beneath the elbow before decay could take the entire thing all while her classmates and the pro heroes on the scene with her watched in horror.

it had all happened in only a few seconds.

she’d carted eraserhead off then, finding a safe place for him before returning to the fight, where she’d joined the other heroes and had saved endeavor’s life twice before succumbing to blood loss. she’d been carted off to the hospital then, and her sudden amputation had been treated ( alongside her other injuries ); regardless, because of the way she’d cut it off, it had scarred terribly.

after her initial injury, all might had been sent into an absolute panic. melissa still remembered the call she and her father had gotten, her pseudo-uncle sobbing into the phone as he told of what had happened. even as they spoke, she and her father had been boarding a private jet, arriving in japan within a few hours. they’d arrived to find all might a mess at y/n’s bedside, where she was well into being comatose. they’d settled in with him, and the following two weeks had felt pretty much the same ( aside from spotty visits by y/n’s homeroom teacher towards the end when present mic wheeled him in at his insistence ) until she’d finally opened her eyes. all might and melissa’s father had both been asleep, and melissa had been dozing off, but her eyes had burst open when something was dropped on the floor and someone had cursed quietly. she’d looked over the room to see y/n dressing herself and had gotten upset, but regardless had helped her as much as her younger friend would allow, then walked with her to the roof.

“i can still feel it,” y/n had told her, smiling bitterly while looking out over the view they had. “it’s a strange feeling. hurts like hell, but i can still — can still snap my fingers. there’s just no sound.” her voice had cracked when she said that, and melissa had felt a stabbing pain in her heart, but she’d not known what to say — so instead she took y/n’s remaining hand in her own and had stayed.

that day, their relationship had become unwavering.

all might had apologized to y/n after calming down from the panic attack induced by her absence ( hell, a good portion of the hospital, patients and staff, were panicking over her disappearance, but when present mic had rushed to the roof after the thought hit him and had found him, all had been calm again ), but she’d brushed it off. melissa hadn't said anything, but she’d been more than proud when she realized that y/n was letting it go and making her own way rather than clinging to a life she felt she deserved ( she did, this was something melissa thought often, but never vocalized ). all might, unfortunately for him, had been crushed, but there had been no time for further conversation as a nurse had come in to change y/n’s bandages; that had been the first time melissa saw where y/n had amputated her arm, and it made her heart ache. it was healing, but clearly would scar terribly, something the nurse warned her of; she said she didn’t care, and melissa knew that she meant that, but that hadn’t stopped her from pushing off all of her other work to make a prosthetic that could withstand the strength of y/n’s quirk ( and she had; one of her proudest moments had been showing up unannounced to ua and offering it up to her, watching her absolutely demolish a training course with it afterwards ).

she’d been back on her feet sooner than was advised, but regardless had helped end the war that had started so long ago. midoriya izuku, the former bane of her existence, had become nothing more than a speck-like annoyance of her past as she shut him and a handful of others out to focus on her hero work — but never melissa. no, after the war, y/n had clung to two friends she’d made in her first year, and when the three of them graduated ua, she and they had joined melissa in california as the two girls followed in their father’s footsteps and her friends made their own ways in life. alongside other inventions, melissa made stronger and stronger prosthetics for y/n, meant to withstand ten times the weight of her borderline inhuman quirk, and the two worked together to ease the world from the grips of any villains they had to fight. fame had found them quickly, and when the time to return to japan came for y/n and her companions, melissa was quick to want to join them — college be damned — but y/n had told her no.

her points had been good, advising her to finish all of her college routes and claim the two phds waiting for her and then join her in japan if she still felt so inclined, and melissa had to begrudgingly agree that this was the wiser choice before following through — but this hadn’t stopped y/n and her father from visiting whenever breaks were set for melissa ( toshinori would do anything if it meant the potential for a true relationship with the daughter he didn’t realize he craved, and if visits to california to see david and melissa pleased her, then he’d said he’d make as many as she desired ), and then sometimes even when she didn’t have any — though their fathers were more than unaware of these… special visits.

now melissa was in her final year of college. this was her final winter’s break. she was so close to the end, so close to being able to see and touch y/n every single day — and they both knew it. after this break, y/n would have to remain in japan for at least five months to ensure her place in the popularity polls as well as her spot as the number one hero, a title she’d held for the last seven years regardless of any attempts from former classmates or up-and-coming heroes and heroines. because y/n would have to stay away for so long, they were both determined to make this last visit more than memorable — because it was the last visit, wasn’t it? melissa would be living with y/n and her two friends in their shared house after this, there would be no more call for visits when they were intertwined so closely.

melissa lets out a shriek when y/n sucks her clit into her mouth, clapping one of her hands over her mouth as the other fists around what she could grab of y/n’s hair. her eyes roll back to face the ceiling, her toes curling and her legs threatening to give out from under her as y/n lapped at her clit and curled her fingers inside her just right. slick soaked her cunt and dripped down her thighs messily as y/n made easy work of her, coaxing an orgasm from her depths like a musician urges a song from an instrument. melissa’s entire body spasms, and she screams shrilly into the flesh of her hand before her entire body falls limp, her legs giving out beneath her as her body spasms. y/n catches her, just as she’d trusted her to, and cradles her close while sucking the remaining slick from her fingers.

she lifts melissa up, carrying her off to the nearby bed in the bedroom they’d hidden away in, then gets comfortable between melissa’s legs.

“i — i can’t — i’jus’ came!” melissa whimpers, but y/n just chuckles lowly, a grin both wicked and lazy twisting her handsome features.

“be more grateful, honey — i haven’t gotten to cum at all, and here i am willing to make you feel good! so why don’t you sit back and spread those sexy legs for me so i can see what i’m about to feast on?”

and melissa does exactly as she’s told — after all, they had both promised to make this memorable, didn’t they?

𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 © { 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 } 𝐛𝐲 𝟒𝐈𝐙𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐒. 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐲, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭.

#melissa shield x reader #melissa shield x you #my hero academia x reader #boku no hero academia x reader #my hero academia x you #boku no hero academia x you #bnha x reader #mha x reader #bnha x you #mha x you

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tardis-stowaway · 5 years

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Ten years after the Not-pocalypse, Adam Young, age 21 and recently graduated from university:

-Works in a crappy retail job and lives in a tiny, crappy flat in London

-The crappy flat has no sound insulation, so he’s always hearing the absurd amount of movement from the people in the flat above and the really loud but not quite intelligible conversations from the people in the flat next door. It’s a long way to the nearest public park, and he misses the green of home.

-Is not all that good at his customer service job, with the exception that if a customer is irrationally angry about something, he says he wants to make sure he understands the problem and repeats their complaint back to them with this look in his eyes, and they universally back down and often apologize. His coworkers love him for it. Everything else is just drudgery.

-Single, despite his best efforts. Okay, maybe not his best efforts, but some efforts.

-Knows that his childhood was uncommonly idyllic at least partly due to his powers. He’s not entirely sure how his life went quite so off the rails lately.

-Maybe his powers have faded gradually since he rejected his destiny, or maybe it’s just that on some level he absorbed the expectation that being in one’s early 20’s means being broke and a little lost, and the expectation made it happen whether he wanted it or not.

-Or maybe he just should’ve chosen a more employable course of study at uni instead of comparative religion. In his defense, it seemed relevant to his life.

-Spends much of his free time on climate crisis activism. He’ll be damned (ha) if he stood against the forces of Heaven and Hell, the Four Horsepeople of the Apocalypse, and his own birthright to preserve the continuing existence of humanity on the Earth only for humans to blunder into destroying themselves unintentionally through greed and shortsighted decisions.

-He’s been doing this since he was twelve, when Brian sent the Them’s group text an article about the group Extinction Rebellion with the caption “named for us?? :)” Adam had laughed, then actually read the article. Within a week he’d convinced the Them and a dozen of their classmates to show up at the next town council meeting with a list of sustainability demands.

-No matter how many civil disobedience events he takes part in, he never seems to get arrested. Adam suspects it’s his supernatural entity privilege. Pepper says it’s probably mostly that he’s white and great at charming his way out of trouble.

-He’s still friends with all of the Them, but they don’t live especially close together. He does have a flatmate, an American who Adam met at uni.

-At this point you, a genre-savvy reader of much Good Omens fic and meta, are probably seeing the word “American” and thinking that Adam is flatmates with Warlock Dowling. For once, you are wrong.

-Adam’s flatmate is Jesus.

-Not Jesus Christ, but a young man named Jesus Dominguez, pronounced the Spanish way (like hay-soos).

-Jesus is from Southern California, and he talks more than a little bit like a surfer stereotype. He’s got warm brown skin, shoulder-length dark hair in perpetually-mussed waves, and a little beard. He’s kinda leaning into the look to mess with people, but it’s also the same style found on at least a third of the other male-presenting hipsters in London.

-When he learned that he was going to share a flat with someone named Jesus, Adam called Crowley and Aziraphale. He’s never been gladder that he stayed in touch with them, because he NEEDED someone who understood how the Antichrist and Jesus sharing a flat sounded like the setup for a joke or a sitcom. Crowley did indeed laugh out loud, then told Adam that as a fellow lapsed member of the forces of Hell, he could personally recommend sharing quarters with a heavenly adversary. Aziraphale just muttered “oh, stop” at Crowley.

-Adam moved to London because it was easier to get to the important protests there, and because he was curious. He spent the first six months desperately homesick for Tadfield. The city was so crowded but somehow he still felt so alone, other than Jesus.

-Then a midnight fire-alarm in their building sent him and Jesus into the streets along with dozens of their neighbors. Adam finally met the people in the flat above theirs who made all that moving around noise. They were an older couple who took ballroom dancing lessons at the senior center and liked to practice at home. Mrs. Kapoor tried to teach Adam how to foxtrot right there on the pavement in the middle of the night. He stepped on her feet, but since he was in bare feet and she’d actually taken the time to find shoes it wasn’t a big deal.

-Meanwhile Jesus was finally talking to the loud young men from next door. By the time Adam wandered over, Jesus had learned their names (Leon, Seamus, and Nazim) and secured an invitation for the two of them to come over to watch Saturday’s football match, and to join their next D&D campaign (“just no more paladins,” said Nazim). Adam looked forward to finding out whether it was the D&D or the football that was the cause of more yelling.

-As the evacuation stretched on with no hint of either actual fire or clearance to go back inside, the building’s children began to get fussy. Adam found a coin on the ground (successfully picking it up, because Crowley didn’t make it to this neighborhood very often) and proceeded to distract them with stage magic.

-He initially learned stage magic from Aziraphale, but he’s better at it than the angel ever was. He hardly cheats physical reality at all. The kids love it.

-When the fire department finally gives them the clearance to go back inside, Adam’s stomach rumbles. “Is anyone else hungry?,” he asks, to a chorus of agreement. It’s too late for any nearby takeout, but Jesus chats with their neighbors about options.

-Jesus enlists Adam’s help in going from flat to flat gathering ingredients from everyone, and before long they’re serving fish tacos and grilled cheese sandwiches to a small crowd of pajama-clad people. It’s 2 am, but everyone is smiling, or at least has contentment at the edge of their yawns.

-The next day, Mrs. Kapoor brings Adam and Jesus a spider plant cutting, because she thought their flat looked too bare. Adam texts a picture of it to Crowley and receives back lengthy instructions on watering, pot size, soil, and the most effective threats for the species.

-Five months later, the local planning council has an intense debate about why crime rates in one neighborhood have dropped by 75% since their last meeting. They each try to claim credit for their pet civic projects. Actually, it’s because Adam Young has started to love London, or at least his nook of it.

-Buskers soon realize that certain tube stops are generating far more tips than they ever have before, with no obvious demographic shift accounting for the change. The common ground is that these are the stops on Adam’s commutes to work and his activist meetings. He can only occasionally spare a tip himself, but his enjoyment of the music is contagious.

-Even after the breakthrough, not every day is good. On a late summer day that just happens to be the anniversary of the day the world didn’t end, Adam comes home from a protest fuming.

-“Dude, you okay?” asks Jesus, looking up from his guitar. (Jesus sometimes goes to protests with Adam, but not usually the ones where they’re planning on breaking laws. “I’m a brown-skinned foreigner, man. Do you think I’ll get away with what you get away with? I’m not ready for that yet,” he says, and Adam can’t argue.)

-“The media barely showed up at our event, probably because it was about a million degrees and even though that’s exactly what we’re protesting, nobody wants to be out in it. Six of our people passed out from the heat and three got arrested. They still didn’t arrest me, but I got pushed over and cracked my phone screen. On my way home, some drunk on the tube vomited on my shoes. Our green jobs bill still doesn’t have the votes in Parliament, and have you seen the latest news on the Antarctic ice sheets?” Adam kicks off his shoes, then collapses dramatically onto the futon and groans.

-“Sounds rough,” says Jesus.

-“I should’ve just ended the damn world when I was eleven and I had the chance. Would’ve been quicker,” Adam mutters.

-Jesus gets up and goes to the kitchen. He brings Adam a beer. “You don’t mean that, bro,” he says.

-Adam sighs, accepting the beer. “I suppose not.”

-He drinks his beer. Dog, now grey-muzzled and slow, shuffles over to curl up at his feet. Adam pulls out his phone, which is cracked but still seems functional. He’s got a text from Aziraphale.

-“Dear Adam,” the text begins, because Aziraphale might have finally deigned to learn to text but he steadfastly refused to adopt its stylistic conventions, “I hope that you have returned safely from today’s protest. I’m very proud of your continuing efforts, and though he won’t admit it I know that Crowley feels the same. Please write back at your earliest convenience. Fondly, Aziraphale”

-Adam texts back to reassure the angel, who will doubtless pass it on to Crowley, then he texts similar reassurances to his parents and to Mrs. Kapoor upstairs. He’s still figuring out this adulthood thing, but he’s got a lot of parental figures looking out for him. His Infernal Bio-Dad isn’t one of them, and that’s the way Adam likes it.

-Through the open window comes the sound of music blasting from a car stuck in traffic below. Freddie Mercury and David Bowie are singing:

And love dares you to care for the people on the edge of the night, And love dares you to change our way of caring about ourselves.

-He turned down the chance to rule the world, and he’d make the same choice again, but he still feels a certain proprietary responsibility towards the planet and its inhabitants. His father—his real, earthly father—didn’t raise him to shirk responsibility, and he’s not one to cave under pressure.

-Life is hard, people are mostly idiots, and the world is coming apart at the seams, but it’s his messed up life and his idiotic people and his beautiful, half-broken world.

#good omens #adam young #good omens headcanons #fanfic #post-canon #please excuse any errors and americanisms #long post #tardis-stowaway's writing & stuff

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aboveallarescuer · 4 years

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Daenerys Targaryen in A Storm of Swords vs Game of Thrones - Episode 3.1: Valar Dohaeris

In this series of posts, I intend to analyze precisely how the show writers downplayed or erased several key aspects of Daenerys Targaryen’s characterization, even when they had the books to help them write her as the compelling, intelligent, compassionate, frugal, open-minded and self-critical character that GRRM created.

I want to make it clear that these posts are not primarily meant to offer a better alternative to what the show writers gave us. I understand that they had many constraints (e.g. other storylines to handle, a limited amount of time to write the scripts, budget, actors who may have asked for a certain number of lines, etc) working against them. However, considering how disrespectful the show’s ending was to Daenerys Targaryen and how the book material that they left out makes it even more ludicrous to think that she will also become a villain in A Song of Ice and Fire, I believe that these reviews are more than warranted. They are meant to dissect everything about Dany’s characterization that was lost in translation, with a lot of book evidence to corroborate my statements.

Since these reviews will dissect scene by scene, I recommend taking a look at this post because I will use its sequence to order Dany’s scenes.

This post is relevant in case you want to know which chapters were adapted in which GoT episodes (however, I didn’t make the list myself, all the information comes from the GoT Wiki, so I can’t guarantee that it’s 100% reliable).

In general, I will call the Dany from the books “Dany” and the Dany from the TV series “show!Dany”.

Scene 1

Summary: show!Dany and show!Jorah are on a ship. The two discuss a) the dragons' growth, b) whether it's worth being complicit in the slave trade or not and c) the Dothraki's seasickness.

We begin the episode with this conversation about the dragons:

JORAH: They're growing fast.

DAENERYS: Not fast enough. I can't wait that long. I need an army.

Is it true that Dany needs the dragons to conquer Westeros and wishes they were bigger than they are at this point in the books? It is:

Another year, or perhaps two, and he may be large enough to ride. Then I shall have no need of ships to cross the great salt sea.

But that time was not yet come. Rhaegal and Viserion were the size of small dogs, Drogon only a little larger, and any dog would have outweighed them; they were all wings and neck and tail, lighter than they looked. And so Daenerys Targaryen must rely on wood and wind and canvas to bear her home. (ASOS Daenerys I)

However, that's not all there is to their relationship. Dany loves them as she would love her own human children:

They are my children, she told herself, and if the maegi spoke truly, they are the only children I am ever like to have. (ASOS Daenerys I)

Because she loves them like a mother would, she pays attention to how they grow and develop and act like a mother would:

Dragons always preferred to attack from above, Dany had learned. Should either get between the other and the sun, he would fold his wings and dive screaming, and they would tumble from the sky locked together in a tangled scaly ball, jaws snapping and tails lashing. The first time they had done it, she feared that they meant to kill each other, but it was only sport. No sooner would they splash into the sea than they would break apart and rise again, shrieking and hissing, the salt water steaming off them as their wings clawed at the air. (ASOS Daenerys I)

That level of care and attention (and her own cleverness in the choice of the word "dracarys") is what allows her to figure out how to order them to breathe fire on her own:

She took a chunk of salt pork out of the bowl in her lap and held it up for her dragons to see. All three of them eyed it hungrily. Rhaegal spread green wings and stirred the air, and Viserion’s neck swayed back and forth like a long pale snake’s as he followed the movement of her hand. “Drogon,” Dany said softly, “dracarys.” And she tossed the pork in the air.

Drogon moved quicker than a striking cobra. Flame roared from his mouth, orange and scarlet and black, searing the meat before it began to fall. As his sharp black teeth snapped shut around it, Rhaegal’s head darted close, as if to steal the prize from his brother’s jaws, but Drogon swallowed and screamed, and the smaller green dragon could only hiss in frustration.

“Stop that, Rhaegal,” Dany said in annoyance, giving his head a swat.

“You had the last one. I’ll have no greedy dragons.” She smiled at Ser Jorah. “I won’t need to char their meat over a brazier any longer.”

“So I see. Dracarys?”

All three dragons turned their heads at the sound of that word, and Viserion let loose with a blast of pale gold flame that made Ser Jorah take a hasty step backward. Dany giggled. “Be careful with that word, ser, or they’re like to singe your beard off. It means ‘dragonfire’ in High Valyrian. I wanted to choose a command that no one was like to utter by chance.” (ASOS Daenerys I)

She feels a lot of pride for them and knows how to distinguish each of them:

Every man of them, from captain to cook’s boy, loved to watch the three fly … though none so much as Dany.

[...] Viserion’s scales were the color of fresh cream, his horns, wing bones, and spinal crest a dark gold that flashed bright as metal in the sun. Rhaegal was made of the green of summer and the bronze of fall. They soared above the ships in wide circles, higher and higher, each trying to climb above the other.

[...] Drogon was aloft as well, though not in sight; he would be miles ahead, or miles behind, hunting.

He was always hungry, her Drogon. (ASOS Daenerys I)

Now, does this scene prevent any of these aspects from being true for show!Dany as well? No. That being said, not only these aspects don't come across as strongly in this scene (aside from how proud she is of them), it's also important to notice the show's priorities: they would rather focus on how show!Dany is dissatisfied with their slow growth because of her need to wage war and take back the Iron Throne (which, as I said in this post, is only a means to an end rather than the end that Dany really wants). Benioff describes Dany as "fiercely ambitious" and says in this video that "what she wants, more than anything, is to return home and to reclaim her birthright". I can't agree with these descriptions, so I need to call out this scene's priorities.

Related to how Benioff feels about Dany, we also have show!Dany saying this:

DAENERYS: Not fast enough. I can't wait that long. I need an army.

At this point in the books, Dany isn't even thinking of that, she is thinking that she will go to Pentos and meet Illyrio.

“From Meereen I am sold to Qohor, and then to Pentos and the fat man with sweet stink in his hair. He it was who send Strong Belwas back across the sea, and old Whitebeard to serve him.”

The fat man with sweet stink in his hair ... “Illyrio?” she said. “You were sent by Magister Illyrio?”

“We were, Your Grace,” old Whitebeard replied. (ACOK Daenerys V)

(Now, it could be argued, like @rainhadaenerys did in this meta, that show!Dany has more agency than Dany when she realizes, on her own, that she needs an army. It's a valid perspective that can coexist with what I'm saying here.)

This change doesn't bode well with the fact that they are choosing to portray the Iron Throne as show!Dany's most important goal when, like I just said, this is not what primarily motivates Dany. They are making show!Dany more ambitious (which, again, is not a bad thing in and of itself) than in canon and will have her pay the price for that later on.

JORAH: We'll be in Astapor by nightfall. Some say the Unsullied are the greatest soldiers in the world.

DAENERYS: The greatest slave-soldiers in the world. The distinction means a good deal to some people.

If D&D were following Dany's characterization, she wouldn't be aware of how deplorable and unacceptable slavery is at this point:

“...In Astapor you can buy Unsullied.”

“The slaves in the spiked bronze hats?” Dany had seen Unsullied guards in the Free Cities, posted at the gates of magisters, archons, and dynasts. “Why should I want Unsullied? They don’t even ride horses, and most of them are fat.” (ASOS Daenerys I)

Some people could argue that show!Dany's awareness of these issues from the get-go is a good change. However, I think it detracts from Dany's character development quite a bit. As @khaleesirin says here:

Dany’s supposed arbitrariness and hypocrisy ranging from “why wasn’t she against slavery earlier?” to “why did she leave Astapor?” stem from the fact that her beliefs, her core principles, were “anti-foundational”; they didn’t come from some pre-existing knowledge she adapted as a priori truth. They were all a result of her actual experiences. (x)

With this change, show!Dany misses out on the chance to receive this sort of growth; it detracts from her arc being of someone who develops her political goals and moral values along the way and may actually later validate claims that Dany is too self-righteous (she never was). Now, to be fair to the show writers (and I know this can be hard), particularly to Weiss (who, at least back in 2013, seemed to be much more sympathetic towards Dany than Benioff), he knows that Dany was a slave herself and that that informs her feelings and eventual actions against the masters (And so does Emilia Clarke). Even so, I have to say: I don't think Dany would have gone to Astapor if she were fully aware of the implications of being complicit in the slave trade.

“Khaleesi,” he said, taken aback by her fury, “the Unsullied are chosen as boys, and trained—”

“I have heard all I care to of their training.” Dany could feel tears welling in her eyes, sudden and unwanted. Her hand flashed up and cracked Ser Jorah hard across the face. It was either that, or cry.

Mormont touched the cheek she’d slapped. “If I have displeased my queen—”

“You have. You’ve displeased me greatly, ser. If you were my true knight, you would never have brought me to this vile sty.” (ASOS Daenerys II)

“I want to sail now, not on the tide, I want to sail far and fast and never look back. But I can’t, can I? There are eight thousand brick eunuchs for sale, and I must find some way to buy them.” (ASOS Daenerys II)

In these passages, we find out that witnessing the Unsullied's training is so hard for Dany that it makes her cry. It makes her question Jorah's honor as a knight for having thought that it was okay to bring her there. It makes her want to leave Astapor and never look back. I would say that Dany is an accidental queen (in the sense that she only became one for very specific circumstances, namely that all the men around her died) and, similarly, an accidental revolutionary - not in the sense that her haters argue (i.e. she just wanted an army and it became convenient to free the slaves), but rather because she only ended up in Astapor for very specific reasons: a) she didn't know how wrong slavery was and thought that slaves were treated like normal servants and b) she needed an army (not because of her "ambition", but because she realized that she shouldn't depend entirely on Illyrio and remain a beggar queen).

Show!Dany, on the other hand, knows that slavery is unacceptable and still sails to Astapor. Some things remain like they are in the books despite that change: like Dany, show!Dany still feels empathy for the slaves and risks a dragon solely because she wanted to free them. However, on a superficial read, it gives a bit of weight to the notion that she is too ambitious or that freeing the slaves was only a secondary goal to that of getting an army. Even if show canon can still disprove these claims, it's frustrating because they would be even easier to debunk if the show writers had been more faithful to the books.

JORAH: Do those people have any better ideas about how to put you on the Iron Throne?

DAENERYS: It's too beautiful a day to argue.

One of Dany's core traits is that she is open-minded and accepting of feedback, both positive and negative.

“A queen must listen to all,” she reminded him. “The highborn and the low, the strong and the weak, the noble and the venal. One voice may speak you false, but in many there is always truth to be found.” (ASOS Daenerys I)

The old man had not wanted to sail to Astapor; nor did he favor buying this slave army. A queen should hear all sides before reaching a decision. That was why Dany had brought him with her to the Plaza of Pride, not to keep her safe. (ASOS Daenerys II)

“Your Grace, I did not mean to give offense.”

“Only lies offend me, never honest counsel.” (ASOS Daenerys II)

This characteristic, however, doesn't come across in this scene, in which show!Dany is brushing off any discussion and trying to retain her own opinion on the matter.

Now, this is not to say that there aren't moments in which we see show!Dany listening to her advisors and following their counsel (there are many) - heck, even now, she is following show!Jorah's advice since she is still going to Astapor despite her misgivings.

However, considering that:

a) the show is, in this episode, adapting parts of ACOK Daenerys V and ASOS Daenerys I and II (all of which contain explicit moments of Dany asking for advice and feedback and truth from her advisors, even if they disagree with her),

b) the show will later try to paint show!Dany as reckless or dangerous when she doesn't listen to her advisors and

c) there's a widespread misconception that Dany (especially the show version) is unable to consider other people's perspectives... I end up looking askance at this scene.

They could have written many others (such as any of the three examples from the books that I showed above) that would have left us with a different impression of Dany. Worse scenes will come, of course, but I'm taking note of every single thing that may have helped to mischaracterize Dany in the eyes of the general audience.

Also, unlike show!Dany (who isn't shown onscreen offering either counterarguments or "better ideas" than show!Jorah's advice to turn Astapor), Dany is shown onpage making lots of questions to Jorah's counsel before deciding to follow it:

“How am I to buy a thousand slave soldiers? All I have of value is the crown the Tourmaline Brotherhood gave me.” (ASOS Daenerys I)

“Those are Illyrio’s tiger skins,” she objected. “And Illyrio is a friend to House Targaryen.”  (ASOS Daenerys I)

“There will be dangers on such a long march ...” (ASOS Daenerys I)

“What if Captain Groleo refuses to change course, though? And Arstan, Strong Belwas, what will they do?” (ASOS Daenerys I)

While it could be argued that Dany is not offering "better ideas" here either, that's not my point: my point is that Dany is being shown here as an active player who takes part in discussions of which course of action to take, which is not what we tend to see in the show. Indeed, there are plenty of moments in which the series has show!Dany follow her advisors' counsel with no objections or complements of her own at all. That's why there are lots of different flavors of misconceptions about Dany: when it comes to whether she listens to people's advice or not, some argue that she can't think on her own and depends too much on them, some argue that she is too self-absorbed and never listens. In D&D's case, they have said that show!Dany has only relied on the men around her for the first two seasons, which is blatantly untrue in the books - see examples of Dany making her own decisions in both AGOT and ACOK here and here. Their misunderstanding of Dany is what makes me wary of this scene (for it is informed by said misunderstanding), so it's necessary to point out that what it intends to convey about show!Dany isn't what the books intend to convey about Dany.

Then, we have this:

DAENERYS: It's too beautiful a day to argue.

(Dothraki man vomiting)

JORAH: You're right. Another lovely day on the high seas.

DAENERYS: Don't mock them. They're the first Dothraki who have ever been on a ship. They followed me across the poison water. If they'll do it, others will. And with a true khalasar ...

JORAH: The Dothraki follow strength above all, khaleesi. You'll have a true khalasar when you prove yourself strong. And not before.

This exchange may be brief, but it is wrong and offensive on so many levels.

First, show!Dany seems to suggest that she is interested in expanding her khalasar when she says that "if they'll [follow her across the poison water], others will", which is something Dany never expressed any desire to do in the books.

Second, both show!Dany and show!Jorah think that the former doesn't really have "a true khalasar". Why doesn't she have a "true khalasar"? Is it because they are too few? Is it because show!Dany hasn't proven herself strong (as show!Jorah puts it)? In any case, both suggestions are bullshit. Dany does consider her "meager" group (as she puts it) a khalasar:

“We follow the comet,” Dany told her khalasar. (ACOK Daenerys I)

Yet even as her dragons prospered, her khalasar withered and died. (ACOK Daenerys I)

Aggo, Jhogo, and Rakharo were brave warriors, but they were young, and too valuable to risk. They kept her khalasar together, and were her best scouts too. (ASOS Daenerys V)

Also, while I've criticized the underdevelopment of Dany's khalasar before, each of them have different reactions to traveling at sea, so the show's portrayal manages to make their lack of characterization even worse:

Her brave young bloodriders had stared off at the dwindling coastline with huge white eyes, each of the three determined to show no fear before the other two, while her handmaids Irri and Jhiqui clutched the rail desperately and retched over the side at every little swell. The rest of Dany’s tiny khalasar remained below decks, preferring the company of their nervous horses to the terrifying landless world about the ships. When a sudden squall had enveloped them six days into the voyage, she heard them through the hatches; the horses kicking and screaming, the riders praying in thin quavery voices each time Balerion heaved or swayed. (ASOS Daenerys I)

Perhaps more importantly, unlike what show!Jorah says, Dany's khalasar is already devoted and faithful to Dany ever since she walked out of the pyre unscathed with three dragons. They already think that she is strong:

She was naked, covered with soot, her clothes turned to ash, her beautiful hair all crisped away ... yet she was unhurt.

[...] The men of her khas came up behind him. Jhogo was the first to lay his arakh at her feet. “Blood of my blood,” he murmured, pushing his face to the smoking earth. “Blood of my blood,” she heard Aggo echo. “Blood of my blood,” Rakharo shouted.

And after them came her handmaids, and then the others, all the Dothraki, men and women and children, and Dany had only to look at their eyes to know that they were hers now, today and tomorrow and forever, hers as they had never been Drogo’s. (AGOT Daenerys X)

“We follow the comet,” Dany told her khalasar. Once it was said, no word was raised against it. They had been Drogo’s people, but they were hers now. The Unburnt, they called her, and Mother of Dragons. Her word was their law. (ACOK Daenerys I)

Jhiqui had braided her hair Dothraki-fashion, and fastened a silver bell to the end of the braid. “I have won no victories,” she tried telling her handmaid when the bell tinkled softly.

Jhiqui disagreed. “You burned the maegi in their house of dust and sent their souls to hell.” (ACOK Daenerys V)

At this point, Dany doesn't have to prove herself as a leader to anyone because she has already done so. However, D&D seem to think that show!Dany still has to. What's even worse is that this plot point will be forgotten; show!Dany's khalasar will only make a brief appearance in season four and then disappear until she's captured and later unites all the khalasars to her cause. Then, when show!Dany crosses the narrow sea in season six, the Dothraki's fear of the "poison water" will no longer be an inconvenience (even though she is carrying thousands of them). It's lazy writing that, nonetheless, undermines Dany's character.

Finally, while at least they have show!Dany empathizing with the Dothraki the way Dany also does in the book, I wish the writers had made show!Dany empathize with the Dothraki based on her experiences like Dany does, because it highlights that Dany is humble and views herself as an equal to them:

The Dothraki distrusted the sea and all that moved upon it. Water that a horse could not drink was water they wanted no part of. They will learn, Dany resolved. I braved their sea with Khal Drogo. Now they can brave mine. (ACOK Daenerys V)

This scene may last for less than two minutes, but, as you can see, there's still a lot of wrong (or at least questionable) to dissect in it.

Scene 2

Summary: show!Dany is given a tour of the Unsullied barracks by Kraznys while show!Missandei translates his Valyrian into the Common Tongue. Show!Dany is outraged by their training, but show!Jorah still urges her to purchase them. On the way to the ship, show!Dany is distracted by a child who turns out to be an assassin sent to deliver a deadly manticore to kill her. Show!Barristan impales the manticore with his dagger and the child leaves. Then, show!Barristan introduces himself to show!Dany and offers her his service.

Considering how other aspects were poorly handled, I think Dany’s discomfort with the Unsullied’s training was translated relatively well from the books to the show. Even so, I wish they had added more of Dany's emotional reactions:

“What is he doing?” Dany demanded of the girl, as the blood ran down the man’s chest. (ASOS Daenerys II)

“How can that be?” she demanded through the scribe. (ASOS Daenerys II)

“No names?” Dany frowned at the little scribe. “Can that be what the Good Master said? They have no names?” (ASOS Daenerys II)

Dany’s mouth surely twisted at that. Did he see, or is he blind as well as cruel? She turned away quickly, trying to keep her face a mask until she heard the translation. Only then did she allow herself to say, “Whose infants do they slay?”

“To win his spiked cap, an Unsullied must go to the slave marts with a silver mark, find some wailing newborn, and kill it before its mother’s eyes. In this way, we make certain that there is no weakness left in them.”

She was feeling faint. The heat, she tried to tell herself. “You take a babe from its mother’s arms, kill it as she watches, and pay for her pain with a silver coin?”

When the translation was made for him, Kraznys mo Nakloz laughed aloud. “What a soft mewling fool this one is. Tell the whore of Westeros that the mark is for the child’s owner, not the mother. The Unsullied are not permitted to steal.” He tapped his whip against his leg. “Tell her that few ever fail that test. The dogs are harder for them, it must be said. We give each boy a puppy on the day that he is cut. At the end of the first year, he is required to strangle it. Any who cannot are killed, and fed to the surviving dogs. It makes for a good strong lesson, we find.”

Arstan Whitebeard tapped the end of his staff on the bricks as he listened to that. Tap tap tap. Slow and steady. Tap tap tap. Dany saw him turn his eyes away, as if he could not bear to look at Kraznys any longer. (ASOS Daenerys II)

Even the part where show!Dany is horrified by the discovery that the Unsullied are forced to kill a baby while its mother watches (which at least the show writers rightly focused on) doesn't convey a lot of emotion like in the books... It doesn't seem like show!Dany is struggling to hide her revulsion or that her blood pressure is lowering because of her anxiety in the moment. I understand, however, that the directors never allowed Emilia Clarke to express too many feelings in her portrayal of show!Dany, so I don't tend to blame her.

I also want to take note of what is in line with the Unsullied's training in the books:

The Unsullied are forced to stand for a day with no food or water to prove their discipline and strength.

The beginning of their training, the drilling from dawn to dusk and the mastering of the weapons.

The Unsullied not being considered men.

The Unsullied not moving even after their nipples are cut off.

The Unsullied needing to go to the slave marts to kill a baby before its mother’s eyes.

There are some things that were changed or omitted, however:

Even more Unsullied die during their training: only one boy in four survives rather than one boy in three. (Which makes it even more disgusting that they will try to frame "conciliation" with and "mercy" towards the slavers as the better path in the later seasons)

No mention of the “wine of courage”, which the Unsullied drink in the books to feel less pain and endure any torture.

No mention of the puppies that the Unsullied are given only to be forced to kill a year later (and, if they don’t, they are fed to the surviving dogs).

No mention that their names are changed every day so that they lose their sense of individuality. This will be included on episode 3.5, however.

Kraznys is not shown whipping Missandei and other slaves.

Overall, the show gave us enough reasons to understand why show!Dany's rebellion against the slave masters is righteous.

The biggest problem of the scene was replacing Barristan for Jorah as the advisor who is with Dany when she meets the Unsullied: it gives room to the perspective of a slaver, who attempts to normalize the masters' treatment of the Unsullied. This undermines how abhorrent and unjust their training is. Right off the bat, we have our first sign that the show will turn into slavery apologia (to the point of later comparing Dany to the Nazis and the Ghiscari slavers to the Jews via subtext).

In the books, there is a Doylist reason as to why Barristan is with Dany when she meets the Unsullied for the first time: his presence and opinions emphasize how wrong and unacceptable the training of the Unsullied is.

“I call that madness, not courage,” said Arstan Whitebeard, when the solemn little scribe was done. He tapped the end of his hardwood staff against the bricks, tap tap, as if to tell his displeasure. (ASOS Daenerys II)

“You have lived long in the world, Whitebeard. Now that you have seen them, what do you say?”

“I say no, Your Grace,” the old man answered at once.  (ASOS Daenerys II)

Arstan Whitebeard’s face was still, but his staff beat out his rage. Tap tap tap. (ASOS Daenerys II)

“Bricks and blood built Astapor,” Whitebeard murmured at her side, “and bricks and blood her people.”

“What is that?” Dany asked him, curious.

“An old rhyme a maester taught me, when I was a boy. I never knew how true it was. The bricks of Astapor are red with the blood of the slaves who make them.”

“I can well believe that,” said Dany.

“Then leave this place before your heart turns to brick as well. Sail this very night, on the evening tide.” (ASOS Daenerys II)

That's not to say, of course, that he was the one who motivated Dany to begin her abolitionist campaign (that's her decision and only hers), only that his appearance influences the framing of the scene (just like show!Jorah's appearance does). It also has negative implications for show!Dany's characterization, since, as @yendany said here, Dany may have unconsciously desired to have someone with an anti-slavery stance (like hers) by her side when she chose to have Barristan accompany her to meet the Unsullied.

Also, having show!Jorah be with show!Dany when she sees the training of the Unsullied means erasing the fact that, in the books, Dany left Jorah on the ship because he forced a kiss on her and she no longer trusted him enough to be alone with him. Erasing this event from the books means that Jorah's creepy and disrespectful behaviors toward Dany are, in the show writers' opinion, irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, which is horrible. I will talk more about this issue in the post discussing the things from the books that the show completely left out, but I still felt the need to briefly address this here.

Replacing Barristan for Jorah also led to one of Dany's best assertions to be cut:

“Better to come a beggar than a slaver,” Arstan said.

“There speaks one who has been neither.” Dany’s nostrils flared. “Do you know what it is like to be sold, squire? I do. My brother sold me to Khal Drogo for the promise of a golden crown. Well, Drogo crowned him in gold, though not as he had wished, and I ... my sun-and-stars made a queen of me, but if he had been a different man, it might have been much otherwise. Do you think I have forgotten how it felt to be afraid?” (ASOS Daenerys II)

In the books, this scene highlights a few things:

Dany is not looking for an army because she is "fiercely ambitious", but because she lived in poverty for years and saw her brother not getting the help he needed (something she also experienced in Qarth, despite having dragons). She knows it's not a good idea to rely entirely on others, which is why she went to Astapor. (besides her ignorance, which I already explained above and in this post)

Despite empathizing with the slaves' plight, Barristan did not go through what they went through (he is a well-intentioned ally, as you will). Dany, on the other hand, did. She was a sex slave once and does not need to be reminded that being complicit in the slave trade is morally wrong. She still remembers "how it felt to be afraid".

Show!Jorah would never say that it's "better to come a beggar than a slaver" because he is okay with slavery, making it harder for this assertion to be added. It wasn't impossible for the show writers to have added it, however - they could have simply had show!Dany be less confrontational and say, by her own initiative, that she knows what it is like to be sold and that she hasn't forgotten how it felt to be afraid. To be fair, as I already said, Weiss shows awareness that Dany's empathy is informed by the fact that she was a slave before, but there isn't any scene in the show explicitly making that point, which is quite a shame. Instead, most of the scenes seem to communicate Benioff's reading of the events:

Benioff: Idealism is wonderful, but it's not gonna happen if you're idealistic, you gotta be a realist. She feels like she has this almost divine mission and nothing is gonna prevent her from achieving it. (x)

Benioff: For Daenerys to win, ultimately, she's gonna have to be just as ruthless as the others, and maybe even moreso. (x)

This idea that show!Dany needs to be a "realist" makes it very likely that Benioff (and who knows which other writers) sides with show!Jorah on this discussion. This also explains why his perspective is being favored to the detriment of show!Dany's and show!Barristan's.

Also, I've already written an entire post about how Dany is not primarily driven by prophecies or destiny or, as Benioff puts it, a "divine mission".

Also, he misses out on the fact that Dany's idealism in the books (and even in the show) actually pays off. As I said here:

Like with Viserys and Drogo, Dany is influenced by both of their [Jorah's and Barristan's] recommendations and apply them in different ways while forging her own path: she will not help to maintain the oppression of the slaves like Barristan advised her, but she won’t play by the rules (because they view human beings as objects to be sold and invalidate her moral values, so they shouldn’t be acknowledged as such to begin with) like Jorah advised her: she will break the rules because of her moral duty (as she sees it) to free the slaves.

And yes, this act of rebellion will have negative (and unintended) consequences later in ASOS and ADWD, but it was still righteous and necessary for it to have happened for the reasons expressed in these links. To summarize them, ending the supremacy of the masters will always be a good thing, and this wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for Dany's idealism. The books validate her idealism instead of belittling it.

DAENERYS: How many do you have to sell?

MISSANDEI: She asks how many Unsullied are for sale. (Kraznys points eight fingers) 8,000.

KRAZNYS: Tell the Westerosi whore she has until tomorrow.

MISSANDEI: Master Kraznys asks that you please hurry. Many other buyers are interested.

I'm singling out this part of show!Dany's talk with Kraznys and show!Missandei because I don't think the show writers really understood why Dany asked "how many do you have to sell?" in the books. First, let's see the context in which she made that question:

“Tell her it is well she came to Astapor, then. Ask her how large an army she wishes to buy.”

“How many Unsullied do you have to sell?”

“Eight thousand fully trained and available at present.[”] (ASOS Daenerys II)

As I said in this post, Dany doesn’t ask how large an army she wants (though she admits she needs soldiers), but rather how many Unsullied he has to sell. This is one of the several hints that she wants to rescue them all (not her interest to buy an army), even she must go to extreme lengths to do so. See also this passage:

She doesn't have to find a way to buy eight thousand of them. Jorah himself had only advised her to buy a thousand. But then, again, it's because she wants to free them all.

In the show, this doesn't come across. Aside from her uneasiness about the training, the show cuts all of the other moments hinting that Dany will do against the slave trade rather than be complicit in it.

“The Good Master has said that these eunuchs cannot be tempted with coin or flesh,” Dany told the girl, “but if some enemy of mine should offer them freedom for betraying me …” (ASOS Daenerys II)

Dany knew she would take more than a hundred, if she took any at all. (ASOS Daenerys II)

It wouldn’t have been hard to have her say it out loud that she will take “more than a hundred, if any at all” or that she can’t leave the city now. It wouldn’t have been hard for her to ask Kraznys about what would happen if a hypothetical enemy offered freedom to the Unsullied.

To be fair, we also see show!Dany saying this to show!Jorah while they are going back to the ship:

DAENERYS: 8,000 dead babies.

Like the Dany of the books, show!Dany is also distressed at the systematic killings that allowed for the Unsullied to become who they are, so I can't say that they are only making her motivations be about the need to get an army (though, as I showed above, they overfocused on that need too). Anyway, this brings me to this part:

DAENERYS: 8,000 dead babies.

JORAH: The Unsullied are a means to an end.

DAENERYS: Once I own them, these men ...

JORAH: They're not men. Not anymore.

Unlike in the show, Dany is the one who reminds Jorah that the Unsullied are no longer men. However, the reason why she does so is completely different from show!Jorah's:

“How many men do they have for sale?”

“None.” Was it Mormont she was angry with, or this city with its sullen heat, its stinks and sweats and crumbling bricks? “They sell eunuchs, not men. Eunuchs made of brick, like the rest of Astapor. Shall I buy eight thousand brick eunuchs with dead eyes that never move, who kill suckling babes for the sake of a spiked hat and strangle their own dogs? They don’t even have names. So don’t call them men, ser.”

“Khaleesi,” he said, taken aback by her fury, “the Unsullied are chosen as boys, and trained—”

Mormont touched the cheek she’d slapped. “If I have displeased my queen—”

“You have. You’ve displeased me greatly, ser. If you were my true knight, you would never have brought me to this vile sty.” (ASOS Daenerys II)

I will quote myself on the significance of this scene:

Here, Dany recognizes that no human being should ever have to undergo the sort of systematic abuse and torture that the Unsullied were forced to experience in order to become as subservient as they are. Dany recognizes how dehumanizing and unacceptable that sort of treatment was for making them “like one man” meant for sale (or “not men” at all) - that’s why she tells Jorah to not call them men: she asks that he doesn’t erase their suffering and talk as if the way they were treated was, in any way, acceptable.

Jorah doesn’t understand any of this, though. While his advice for Dany to go to Astapor ultimately paid off because of Dany’s actions, we should remind ourselves that he did her no favor. I’ve already shown in another post how he still has no problem with slavery even after being exiled, and you can see that in the next passage below: he can’t understand why would Dany be angry at him for advising her to go to Astapor to buy them nor why would she be appalled by how they are treated, so he tries to normalize the situation by focusing on how effective as a force they can be (“the Unsullied are chosen as boys, and trained…”). That’s enough for Dany, who rightfully slaps him in the face.

She makes it clear here: if he were her true knight, he wouldn’t have brought her to Astapor. (And that he forced a kiss on her and looked at her breasts without her consent makes her anger even more pronounced, rightfully so.) Thankfully, Dany is a true queen, but not because of him.

Does any of this come across in the show? No. For one, as I said above, show!Dany is given less agency because she needs to be reminded that the Unsullied are no longer men and her righteous anger toward Jorah is erased. For two, show!Jorah's perspective is again prioritized and never called out as immoral like in the books. (Again, the show writers' bias in his favor is showing).

Their dialogue goes on like this:

DAENERYS: Once I own an army of slaves, what will I be?

JORAH: Do you think these slaves will have better lives serving Kraznys and men like him or serving you? You'll be fair to them. You won't mutilate them to make a point. You won't order them to murder babies. You'll see they're properly fed and sheltered. A great injustice has been done to them. Closing your eyes will not undo it.

While it's true that Jorah also gives arguments as to why Dany should buy the Unsullied, they are different ones:

“I saw King’s Landing after the Sack. Babes were butchered that day as well, and old men, and children at play. More women were raped than you can count. There is a savage beast in every man, and when you hand that man a sword or spear and send him forth to war, the beast stirs. The scent of blood is all it takes to wake him. Yet I have never heard of these Unsullied raping, nor putting a city to the sword, nor even plundering, save at the express command of those who lead them. Brick they may be, as you say, but if you buy them henceforth the only dogs they’ll kill are those you want dead. And you do have some dogs you want dead, as I recall.” (ASOS Daenerys II)

We'll see some of these arguments from ASOS Daenerys II being expressed in episode 3.3, but that's not my point: my point is that the show writers prioritized show!Jorah's point of view so much that they created new arguments for him to make show!Jorah seem, as Benioff puts it, "realist". In the books, for instance, Jorah never acknowledges that “a great injustice has been done to them” - he only focuses on how they'll be useful to Dany and how they'll cause less collateral damage (which is what Dany wants). So, again, we had foreshadowing for the show's turn into slavery apologia right from the beginning of show!Dany's storyline, especially when one compares it to the books (which are far from perfect; I've already criticized, for instance, the books' lack of attention to the freedmen's perspectives. Even then, however, I doubt they'll be justifying slavery any time soon).

Then we get to the scene in the docks. Honestly, I don't understand why they changed it so much. I’m not even referring to the fact that it takes place in Astapor rather than Qarth, but rather to other two major divergences.

First, in the books, Jorah notices that he and Dany are being followed:

As they made their way toward the next quay, Ser Jorah laid a hand against the small of her back. “Your Grace. You are being followed. No, do not turn.” (ACOK Daenerys V)

Dany makes plenty of questions and observations about the followers as she observes them:

Dany let her glance sweep over the strangers. The brown man was near as wide as he’d looked in the platter, with a gleaming bald head and the smooth cheeks of a eunuch. A long curving arakh was thrust through the sweat-stained yellow silk of his bellyband. Above the silk, he was naked but for an absurdly tiny iron-studded vest. Old scars crisscrossed his tree-trunk arms, huge chest, and massive belly, pale against his nut-brown skin.

The other man wore a traveler’s cloak of undyed wool, the hood thrown back. Long white hair fell to his shoulders, and a silky white beard covered the lower half of his face. He leaned his weight on a hardwood staff as tall as he was. Only fools would stare so openly if they meant me harm. All the same, it might be prudent to head back toward Jhogo and Aggo. “The old man does not wear a sword,” she said to Jorah in the Common Tongue as she drew him away. (ACOK Daenerys V)

She also has a very funny scene with a merchant; he wants to sell a platter for an expensive price and she keeps asking for it to go down, but she is actually only using the platter to pay attention to how the two men following her look like and what they will do. It’s a scene showcasing both her cleverness and her sense of humor:

“A most excellent brass, great lady,” the merchant exclaimed. “Bright as the sun! And for the Mother of Dragons, only thirty honors.”

The platter was worth no more than three. “Where are my guards?” Dany declared. “This man is trying to rob me!” For Jorah, she lowered her voice and spoke in the Common Tongue. “They may not mean me ill. Men have looked at women since time began, perhaps it is no more than that.”

The brass-seller ignored their whispers. “Thirty? Did I say thirty? Such a fool I am. The price is twenty honors.”

“All the brass in this booth is not worth twenty honors,” Dany told him as she studied the reflections. The old man had the look of Westeros about him, and the brown-skinned one must weigh twenty stone. The Usurper offered a lordship to the man who kills me, and these two are far from home. Or could they be creatures of the warlocks, meant to take me unawares? (ACOK Daenerys V)

Second, in the books, a Qartheen offers Dany a jewel box:

A Qartheen stepped into her path. “Mother of Dragons, for you.” He knelt and thrust a jewel box into her face.

Dany took it almost by reflex. The box was carved wood, its mother-of-pearl lid inlaid with jasper and chalcedony. “You are too generous.” She opened it. Within was a glittering green scarab carved from onyx and emerald. Beautiful, she thought. This will help pay for our passage. (ACOK Daenerys V)

It makes sense for Dany to fall into this person's trap because she was receiving gifts from the Qartheen and people from other regions all the time during her stay simply for being the Mother of Dragons. (Which is not to say that they ultimately helped her; they did not)

In the show, a random child somehow captures show!Dany’s attention enough so that show!Dany follows her for no reason and then gets fooled. It doesn’t make much sense and actually portrays show!Dany as someone who is easily distracted by things. The only detail that is salvageable is that show!Dany is able to guess that the assassin was sent by the warlocks, just like Dany applies the knowledge she had previously received of the Sorrowful Men to correctly identify the person who tried to kill her as one.

Finally, we get to show!Barristan's introduction.

DAENERYS: You know this man?

JORAH: I know him as one of the greatest fighters the Seven Kingdoms has ever seen and as the Lord Commander of Robert Baratheon's Kingsguard.

BARRISTAN: King Robert is dead. I have been searching for you, Daenerys Stormborn, to ask your forgiveness. I was sworn to protect your family. I failed them. I am Barristan Selmy, Kingsguard to your father. Allow me to join your Queensguard and I will not fail you again.

First, as I said above, the show erases most (if not all) the moments in which Jorah attempts to isolate Dany from other men and make her distrust them. This moment is one of those:

“You know him?” Dany asked the exile knight, lost.

“I saw him perhaps a dozen times ... from afar most often, standing with his brothers or riding in some tourney. But every man in the Seven Kingdoms knew Barristan the Bold.” He laid the point of his sword against the old man’s neck. “Khaleesi, before you kneels Ser Barristan Selmy, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, who betrayed your House to serve the Usurper Robert Baratheon.” (ASOS Daenerys V)

Jorah's description of Barristan in the books is much less flattering than the one from the show because Jorah is hellbent on isolating Dany from other men.

Second, I know most fans think that having Barristan reveal his identity right away was ultimately a good choice for practical reasons (i.e., it would be too easy for the fans to remember Barristan's actor and figure out his identity), but I think this change ultimately did far more harm than good.

How did show!Barristan track show!Dany? Why would he think she was going to Astapor? How could he have known if he didn't have Illyrio's (or anyone's) support?

How was he aware that the warlocks sent an assassin after Dany? In the books, he saves her on a rush, after the manticore left the jewel box. In the show, he drops the ball before the manticore leaves it. For some unknown reason, he already knew that it had the intent to kill her.

In the books, Barristan is supposed to serve as a positive contrast to Jorah's negative behaviors when they are both put on trial for betraying Dany's trust. Because show!Barristan reveals his identity early on, the contrast is lost.

Barristan is the one who tells Dany about Jorah's betrayal in the books. Since it wouldn't make sense for show!Barristan to only tell show!Dany about this later on, the show writers had the Lannisters randomly think that Dany is a threat, that Dany and Jorah are a good duo that must be separated and that sending a letter pardoning Jorah would necessarily do the deed. Not only that's stupid (Jorah received and sent letters without Dany's knowledge in both mediums), it also validates the idea that show!Jorah is good to show!Dany (something that the showrunners think is the case). These are all unfortunate consequences that arose from the early reveal of show!Barristan's identity.

By revealing himself earlier, show!Barristan loses his arc from the books, which was partly about finding a liege who was morally worthy of being served after he spent years in the service of bad kings. (He might say later in episode 3.5 that he's looking for the right person to follow, but his actions don't show it in any way.) That Barristan hid his identity and only pledged his sword to Dany because he realized that she was more than Rhaegar's sister, but also a queen in her own right, speaks volumes to his character development and to how we're supposed to see Dany in a sympathetic manner. Unfortunately, the show writers (especially Benioff) don't like Dany very much. As this review hopefully shows (and others will make it even clearer), they go out of their way to undermine her intelligence and empathy and humbleness and all of the other traits that make Dany who she is, while GRRM goes out of his way to portray Dany in a sympathetic light, with this chapter review from @turtle-paced showing a perfect example of how he does so.

Third, I don't understand why the show made the question of whether show!Dany would accept show!Barristan's service as the episode's cliffhanger. First, book readers would already know that she would. Second, show!Barristan won't be treated any differently in the next episodes than he would be if they had met earlier (aside from show!Jorah's distrustful remarks). Third, I don't like how leaving this scene as the episode's cliffhanger makes us wonder if show!Dany will be merciful or not. We can point to her later actions and realize that she will be, but this shouldn't have been a question in the first place. It helps to mischaracterize Dany in the eyes of the public audience and doesn't convey that some of Dany's core traits are being open-minded and forgiving.

In the books, Dany doesn't really feel angry with Barristan. It's more that he becomes collateral damage after she finds out that Jorah, the person she trusted the most at that point in time, was lying to her from the very beginning:

“...And since the day you wed Khal Drogo, there has been an informer by your side selling your secrets, trading whispers to the Spider for gold and promises.”

He cannot mean ... “You are mistaken.” Dany looked at Jorah Mormont. “Tell him he’s mistaken. There’s no informer. Ser Jorah, tell him. We crossed the Dothraki sea together, and the red waste ...” Her heart fluttered like a bird in a trap. “Tell him, Jorah. Tell him how he got it wrong.”

“The Others take you, Selmy.” Ser Jorah flung his longsword to the carpet. “Khaleesi, it was only at the start, before I came to know you ... before I came to love ...”

“Do not say that word!” She backed away from him. “How could you? What did the Usurper promise you? Gold, was it gold?” The Undying had said she would be betrayed twice more, once for gold and once for love. “Tell me what you were promised?”

“Varys said ... I might go home.” He bowed his head.

I was going to take you home! Her dragons sensed her fury. Viserion roared, and smoke rose grey from his snout. Drogon beat the air with black wings, and Rhaegal twisted his head back and belched flame. I should say the word and burn the two of them. Was there no one she could trust, no one to keep her safe? “Are all the knights of Westeros so false as you two? Get out, before my dragons roast you both. What does roast liar smell like? As foul as Brown Ben’s sewers? Go!”

Ser Barristan rose stiff and slow. For the first time, he looked his age. “Where shall we go, Your Grace?”

“To hell, to serve King Robert.” Dany felt hot tears on her cheeks. Drogon screamed, lashing his tail back and forth. “The Others can have you both.” Go, go away forever, both of you, the next time I see your faces I’ll have your traitors’ heads off. She could not say the words, though. They betrayed me. But they saved me. But they lied. “You go ...” My bear, my fierce strong bear, what will I do without him? And the old man, my brother’s friend. (ASOS Daenerys V)

Before she knew about Jorah's deception, Dany is more puzzled and surprised about Barristan's identity reveal than anything else:

She was more confused than angry. He has played me false, just as Jorah warned me, yet he saved my life just now.

Ser Jorah flushed red. “Mero shaved his beard, but you grew one, didn’t you? No wonder you looked so bloody familiar ...”

“You know him?” Dany asked the exile knight, lost.

“Why are you here?” Dany demanded of him. “If Robert sent you to kill me, why did you save my life?” He served the Usurper. He betrayed Rhaegar’s memory, and abandoned Viserys to live and die in exile. Yet if he wanted me dead, he need only have stood aside ... “I want the whole truth now, on your honor as a knight. Are you the Usurper’s man, or mine?”

“Quiet,” said Dany. “I’ll hear him out.”

In this sense, I think Emilia Clarke's expression manages to capture how the Dany of the books must have felt when Barristan's identity was revealed; perplexed, but also grateful that he saved her life.

Also, they have show!Dany ask show!Jorah if he knows show!Barristan without the proper context: in the books, she only makes that question because he made an unpleasant comment about Barristan. In the show, she asks if he knows who he is in a way that makes her seem more dependent on him than it would have been if they had been faithful to the books.

My comments on the Inside the Episode 3.1

Benioff: For a great leader who is doing something unpopular for a certain segment, whether it's the Warlocks or the slave masters or whatnot, she's creating a lot of enemies, and powerful enemies, and those people are going to try to stop her regardless of how powerful she becomes, and it's something she's actually, in a weird way, used to, because she grew up running from assassins with her brother, you know, from the time, from the earliest time she can remember, she was being spirited from one city to another one step ahead of Robert Baratheon and the assassins, because there were so many people who wanted to destroy the Targaryen family and make King Robert happy and now there are thousands out there for all sorts of different reasons because she's made even more enemies, but, I think in her mind this is just the price you pay for being Daenerys Targaryen, for being the last of the Targaryens, and it's not going to stop her.

Benioff is not entirely inaccurate when it comes to Dany feeling that she's always been on the run:

It was not by choice that she sought the waterfront. She was fleeing again. Her whole life had been one long flight, it seemed. She had begun running in her mother’s womb, and never once stopped. How often had she and Viserys stolen away in the black of night, a bare step ahead of the Usurper’s hired knives? But it was run or die. (ACOK Daenerys V)

ASOS Daenerys V is particularly heartbreaking in that sense when she decides to leave her tent and interact with her people only to almost be killed by Mero:

She had no enemies among her children.

“Your Grace.” Arstan knelt. “I am an old man, and shamed. He should never have gotten close enough to seize you. I was lax. I did not know him without his beard and hair.”

“No more than I did.” Dany took a deep breath to stop her shaking. Enemies everywhere.

However, Benioff forgets Dany's very first chapter:

They had wandered since then, from Braavos to Myr, from Myr to Tyrosh, and on to Qohor and Volantis and Lys, never staying long in any one place. Her brother would not allow it. The Usurper’s hired knives were close behind them, he insisted, though Dany had never seen one. (AGOT Daenerys I)

I've already written an entire meta on how Dany's PoV is not entirely reliable and this is one of the instances. I imagine her thoughts on the matter changed because of this:

“A letter to Viserys, from Magister Illyrio. Robert Baratheon offers lands and lordships for your death, or your brother’s.”

“My brother?” Her sob was half a laugh. “He does not know yet, does he? The Usurper owes Drogo a lordship.” This time her laugh was half a sob. She hugged herself protectively. “And me, you said. Only me?”

“You and the child,” Ser Jorah said, grim.

“No. He cannot have my son.” She would not weep, she decided. She would not shiver with fear. The Usurper has woken the dragon now, she told herself ... (AGOT Daenerys VI)

It seems that Dany unconsciously and retroactively changed history in her mind after Robert tried to have her and her child assassinated (something that I forgot to talk about in my meta), which is quite interesting. I guess it's a detail that is easy to miss, so that's forgivable.

What's less excusable is the way that Benioff talks about Dany's mindset.

Benioff: I think in her mind this is just the price you pay for being Daenerys Targaryen, for being the last of the Targaryens, and it's not going to stop her. (x)

It's true that Dany is aware that she is the last of her family:

With Viserys gone, Daenerys was the last, the very last. She was the seed of kings and conquerors, and so too the child inside her. She must not forget. (AGOT Daenerys VI)

However, I look askance at the possible interpretation behind this statement. One could switch "Daenerys" for "Viserys" and it would be just as fitting. It's left ambiguous on its own, but, considering how he overfocuses on how "ambitious" she is or how she wants "more than anything" to "reclaim her birthright" or how "the only threat she poses is her name" until she frees the slaves in Astapor... I have to assume that he wants us to think that show!Dany is both arrogant and entitled for being a Targaryen. All of these mischaracterizations have been exhaustively refuted by @rainhadaenerys in this meta.

My comments on Anatomy of a Scene: Daenerys Meets the Unsullied

Weiss: Dany spent the first two seasons of the show leaning on men - her brother, Drogo, Jorah Mormont, Xaro Xhoan Daxos. She came out of season two realizing that the only person that she can completely trust is herself.

Benioff: Dany has her lovable side, but she is also ruthless, and she is also fiercely ambitious. What she wants, more than anything, is to return home and to reclaim her birthright.

Clarke: She needs the manpower to go back and conquer the Iron Throne and to be able to right the wrongs that she sees going on around her.

Minahan: She's been brought to Astapor, where she's reluctantly going to meet with slave traders. Her quest in this is to build an army without taking slaves.

Comments from Charlie Somers (location manager) and Christina Moore (supervising art director) that don't have anything to do with the storyline.

Benioff: The Unsullied were kidnapped as babies from their home countries and brought to Astapor and trained in the ways of the spear and castrated.

Emmanuel: They won't do anything without the command to do so first.

Comment from Tommy Dunne (weapons master) that doesn't have anything to do with the storyline.

Clarke: She's being introduced to the Unsullied by Kraznys, the slave master in control of them.

Emmanuel: Kraznys is being quite insulting to Daenerys. And Missandei very cleverly smoothes out her translation, just her initiative doing that shows her intelligence.

Clarke: Dany sees a lot of herself in her and can kind of see that it's a young girl who's capable of much more than the position she's in. She's his No 1 slave. If you were in the UN, she would be the translator for everyone.

Weiss: Kraznys speaks a version of Valyrian that's been bastardized and mixed with other local languages.

Comment from Majella Hurley (dialect coach) that doesn't have anything to do with the storyline.

Clarke: She's struggling with the moral aspect of the way that these cities are run. And it's something she's been grappling with because they are an army of slaves, which she fundamentally has moral issues with due to the fact that she herself was a slave.

Weiss: The only way she can make the world a better place is to become the biggest slaveowner in the world.

Benioff: She's put into a difficult position, and she's got her advisors whispering in her ears.

Glen: Jorah encourages her to get over her moral scrupules, with taking an army that were duty-bound to follow whatever leader it was, and that could change in an instant.

Weiss: What she wants to do isn't just conquest for the sake of conquest, but it's really conquest for the sake of making the world a better place, and she's a revolutionary in that sense.

Benioff: For Daenerys to win, ultimately, she's gonna have to be just as ruthless as the others, and maybe even moreso.

My comments about their statements:

Clarke: She definitely understands Dany better than Benioff and maybe even Weiss. My only nitpick is that there's no No 1 slave for Kraznys ... In the books, he repeatedly whips Missandei and has no problem giving her away to Dany as a gift. Even in the show, he still constantly disrespects show!Missandei.

Weiss: I've already said this above and will repeat: Weiss is wrong when he says that "Dany spent the first two seasons of the show leaning on men". Or at least that's certainly not what the Dany of the books (i.e. the character show!Dany's should ideally be based on) does, as my posts here and here showcase how competent a leader she's becoming and how much agency GRRM gives her. His comment about how Dany wants to "become the biggest slaveowner in the world" to make it a better place is also distasteful (though I don't think he meant it as negatively as, say, Finn Jones), so here goes @rainhadaenerys's meta disproving the claim that Dany is a slaver. As for "conquest for the sake of making the world a better place", I kind of agree with this, but I've already showed above how it does a disservice to show!Dany's character development to paint it as if she's always been aware of these injustices, because the Dany of the books was not. In hindsight, that change makes me wary because I know they will later try to sell show!Dany as someone who is morally inflexible, which she never was in the books.

Benioff: I've already criticized his claims that Dany is "fiercely ambitious" and wants "more than anything" "to reclaim her birthright" in many moments of this meta. I also condemned his opinion that Dany needs to be a "realist" when I explained how the show overfocused on Jorah's point of view. As for his point that "she's gonna have to be just as ruthless as the others, and maybe even moreso" to win... Considering how they made her choose the more ruthless option in the end only to punish her in the most traumatizing manner for that very choice (which made no sense and was completely OOC, no less) ... Fuck him, seriously. It's clear how the show made it impossible for show!Dany to win based on contradictory standards that only viewed her unfavorably. If she is merciful, she is stupid. If she is ruthless, she is a danger that needs to be stopped to save humanity.

Show!Dany's clothes

This episode adapts events from three chapters (ACOK Daenerys V, ASOS Daenerys I, ASOS Daenerys II). The first is the only one with a detailed description of her clothes:

If the Milk Men thought her such a savage, she would dress the part for them. When she went to the stables, she wore faded sandsilk pants and woven grass sandals. Her small breasts moved freely beneath a painted Dothraki vest, and a curved dagger hung from her medallion belt. Jhiqui had braided her hair Dothraki-fashion, and fastened a silver bell to the end of the braid. (ACOK Daenerys V)

In ASOS Daenerys I, Dany is only described using a coverlet to hide her nudity when Jorah comes to talk to her.

In ASOS Daenerys II, we don't know how Dany dressed when she went to meet with Kraznys, only that her garment had a sleeve.

In the series, we see show!Dany wearing this blue dress:

It's meant to pay homage to the Dothraki, so it's at least spiritually faithful to how Dany looks in the scene on the docks ... Well, more or less. Not only blue isn't a special color for the Dothraki despite what Michele Clapton might say, look at how Barristan reacts to seeing Dany for the first time:

“I regret if we caused you alarm. If truth be told, we were not certain, we expected someone more ... more ...”

“Regal?” Dany laughed. She had no dragon with her, and her raiment was hardly queenly. (ACOK Daenerys V)

This little scene displays both Dany's frugalness and how she doesn't take herself that seriously, for she doesn't mind if her subjects see her looking less than regal. That doesn't come across at all in the show, to the point of some people thinking that show!Dany never allows herself to look anything but perfect, which is certainly not true of the character she is based on.

#daenerys targaryen #asoiaf meta #valyrianscrolls #a storm of swords #a clash of kings #asoiaf vs got #asos vs got #barristan selmy #jorah mormont #s3

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alternislatronemhq · 4 years

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Congrats, JESTER, you have been accepted to AL for the role of OC ORPHEUS HITCHENS (FC: Gabriel Marques). Eeep, wow, how exciting to have a truly reformed character join us here at AL, especially one who’s distantly related to the Blacks! Jester, I fell in love with Orpheus and all of his complexities and faults and determinations. You’ve built a beautiful character and placed him here wonderfully in this plot, and I’m excited to see you continue to build him! Please send in your blog (no sideblogs for first characters, please) in the next 24 hours and be sure to take a look at our new player checklist. Welcome home (once again), we’re so excited to have you join the family!

OOC

name — jester age — 21, soon to be 22 pronouns — he/him timezone — est activity level — only reliably active afternoons & weekends

IC Overview

name — orpheus hitchens faceclaim — gabriel marques (model), naleye dolmans, miles mcmillan age — 25 gender — male sexuality — bisexual patronus — great grey shrike boggart — a coiling basilisk (representative of the lurking threat posed by the dark side and voldemort)

IC In Depth

personality traits —

+ courteous // while not raised in the wealthy, respected pureblooded family he liked to portray himself as belong to in his youth, orpheus still tried to emulate what he thought being a pureblood was. while he no longer quite aligns with the ideals of purity he used to admire, he retains the self-taught, overly formal mannerisms of his teen years.

+ quick-witted // with a honed intelligence and a natural skill for thinking on his feet, orpheus is not one to stay and ponder a decision needlessly ; this makes him particularly adept at dueling or high-action situations, but when needed he can sit still and think things through before acting.

+ confident // orpheus is proud of himself, his accomplishments and his talents.

- reactive // orpheus, for all his attempts at appearing level-headed and refined, has a hot temper and is very quick to lose it.

- conceited // hand-in-hand with his pride comes arrogance, an overinflated ego that’s rarely kept in check and is prone to pushing orpheus into a superiority complex when faced with wizards he deems “less accomplished.”

- abrasive // orpheus’ tendency towards both knee-jerk reactions and assuming superiority means he can be snappish and rude without fully thinking the consequences of his actions through.

character biography —

short version

the grandson of the disgraced iola hitchens nee black, orpheus spent his hogwarts years scornful of his family’s past “involvement” with mixing with muggles and secretly sympathized with some of voldemort’s ideals. it wasn’t until later, when death eaters killed his half-blood mother, that it hammered home to orpheus that his black family blood wasn’t enough to protect him from the wrath of dangerous pureblood ideaology. upon graduating, he vowed to leave that part of his history behind him and strive to be a better man, training to become an auror. when whispers started to spread of darkness rising again, he threw himself further into becoming a better auror, hoping to protect the future generation from the follies he himself was once enchanted by.

in depth

EARLY YEARS Iola Black, after eloping with muggle Bob Hitchens, had one daughter, one Cassandra Hitchens. Cassandra Hitchens followed her mother’s set example and had one son out of wedlock: Orpheus Hitchens, descendant of a pureblood family that had fallen very, very far from the tree. Orpheus was raised near-muggle as far as wizards go, but was still taught from a young age about magic. This had the opposite effect as to what was intended, and instead of feeling like he belonged to both the wizarding and muggle worlds, Orpheus felt like a wizard being forced to live like a muggle.

This resentment was further compounded when he began attending Hogwarts, and got sorted into Ravenclaw. While eager to finally be a part of the wizarding world, as he felt he belonged, learning of his full family history made him even more frustrated with what he’d been denied his whole life. He felt alienated from his housemates, feeling himself above muggle-and-halfborns, but not quite on equal footing with the purebloods. He overcompensated for it, throwing himself viciously into studies to the point where his health suffered. Throughout his life, he’d felt denied something he deserved, and now that he had access to Hogwarts’ library he wanted to claim what was his by birthright.

When he heard Voldemort’s message, the older students’ whispers of a message about reclaiming what wizarding society was owed, of blood purity and power granted to those who deserved it … it was the type of thing that resounded with dissatisfied folks like Orpheus, and he attached to the idea like it was a lifeline. He wanted to be told he was special, that he was someone who deserved good things.

He held his quiet support of the Death Eater ideals for years, but wasn’t in the right social circles to ever reach out, ever join properly. He was locked out by his blood and by the color lining his robes, and many times he lamented not being a Slytherin. A proper Black would have been in Slytherin, but he was a damned Hitchens and never had a chance of joining Voldemort no matter what his teenaged mind convinced him. He tried, of course, but the ones already deep enough to bring him in weren’t interested in the bright-eyed mudblood who thought he could fit in with them.

But he tried, oh, he tried. He practiced every bit of manners a proper pureblood would have, sat up late nights studying ancient bloodlines and histories and fashion. He got everything he could that he thought would make him fit in, be accepted among the people he thought it was worth something to be accepted by. What he couldn’t buy he bribed others for and what he couldn’t afford through even bribery he stole. He saw no shortage of detentions for his petty misbehavior, but few ever saw his actions as anything more than juvenile delinquency.

He was only confronted with the ugly truth of the real situation at the end of his fifth year, when his mother was brutally murdered by Death Eaters mere hours before he arrived home. The situation couldn’t have stared him more brutally in the face than it did in that moment, and he was forced to accept that no matter what clothes he wore or how he talked … he was scum to these people. He was worth less than the dirt under their boots for his blood, and there was nothing he could do about it. He buried his mother and lived alone in that house until the muggle family, two women who already had three children to care for of their own, took notice and started visiting, often bringing him meals and new books.

Their care for him, a stranger, made the grief burn even worse. He had been so drawn in by pretty words and ideas of respect and grandeur he had never even regarded his ideals would be the type to get these kind people killed.

He returned back to the books about old bloodlines, and decided to make a change. REALIZING HE WAS AN IDIOT Orpheus returned to Hogwarts quieter, more aware, and more angry. For the first few months he didn’t utter a word, just sat and watched and learned. And when he was done learning, there were no shortage of fights in the halls, angry whispered arguments in classes and more than one instance of rather brutal duels in broad daylight. Most teachers chalked this up to his mothers’ passing, but nearly every instance was incited by another student suggesting they supported the Dark Lord’s actions, or simply using the word ‘mudblood’. He was still a child, but so were the students in whom he saw the face of evil leering back at him. It was a miracle he didn’t get expelled, and saw even more detentions than he had before. But his grades were kept up, and he learned to be sneakier, even if still motivated nearly entirely by hollow revenge.

He was luckier than he knew, to avoid most of the losses of the war entirely, but it wasn’t a fortune he was pleased with. Even after graduating, still angry, still resenting the man he could have been, he wanted to fight. And Alastor Moody gave him a way to fight. He finished his Auror training before the deaths of Augusta Longbottom and Lord Voldemort, but not by much. He finally got his fight at the tail end of the war, making sure justice came to the Death Eaters he felt betrayed by.

Sometimes, he wondered if his anger was because they hadn’t wanted him. But it made no difference when he was seeing the monsters tossed into Azkaban to rot.

He was still a bit too like them, even now. Talked the right way, acted as stuck-up as any, carried himself with an air of dignity that others would call a big head. But he was vicious in battles and eager to prove himself, and no one ever voiced their suspicions to his face.

The war ended, and people talked of peace. Orpheus thought of old books full of bloodlines and dark magic and curses that made his hair stand on end, and thought this wouldn’t be the end of it.

MODERN DAY The peace did, in fact, calm Orpheus’ anger; leaving him with a scorching temper that, at least, sat as cooled coals rather than an inferno most of the time. He still had nowhere as much respect as other Aurors he worked with, but he did his job well enough, and his colleagues grew used to how absolutely insufferable he could be. It was nowhere near the grandeur he’d once longed for, but he no longer wanted vague, unattainable things like “being a fancy and respected member of the most Ancient and Noble house of Black”. It was silly, really. He’d finally grown content with being Orpheus Hitchens, and the years had both steadied and honed his wand hand for the war he was certain was to come.

He was sure of it. While Orpheus’ colleagues would generally describe him as “annoyingly verbose” and “kind of an arse”, he had taught himself more than just stuffy manners late at night in the Ravenclaw common room. He watched, and listened, and devoured every book he could get his hands on, and came to know many undeniable facts about the world. Firstly, that wizards were absolutely bullheaded fools about many things, blood status included. Secondly, that Alastor Moody is a terrifying force of nature and constant vigilance was less about keeping an eye out for dark wizards and more worrying your attention would slip and your boss would throw his peg leg at you for it.

And thirdly, that Voldemort’s followers were somewhere out there, like a spilled jar of oil coating the floor that you don’t notice until someone drops a match. Orpheus wasn’t sure who would drop the match, but Voldemort had struck it. So he remained insufferably verbose, with a war brewing behind his teeth and a desire to prove himself still gripping his arm, and swore to himself that this time would be different.

plot ideas —

moody // moody absolutely, certainly has heard rumors that one of his younger aurors once held voldemort’s ideals - there’s certainly room for doubt as to young hitchens’ loyalties, and there’s no room for those doubts in the coming war.

hogwarts class of ‘78 (lily, james, remus, sirius, etc.) // orpheus would have been a year or two behind them all, and was a ravenclaw, but he would be loosely familiar with them enough to potentially reach out once news reaches his ears.

sirius black // orpheus knows it’s unfair to resent sirius for something done a hundred years ago. does he hold a grudge against the black family anyways? only a little. still, he may eventually get over it and reach out to his distant cousin over their shared banishment from the family tree (even if sirius undoubtedly has little idea he even exists)

general // orpheus is a young auror who has dedicated himself to keeping voldemort from rising again, even if he has no idea how that would even come to be. while he may not be immediately accepted into the order of the phoenix’s inner ranks, he’s got a good wand hand and is eager to prove himself ; even with the smallest of tasks, he’s happy to help anyone who can tolerate his grating personality and wants to strike back against the dark side.

#harry potter rp #hp rp #marauders era rp #marauders rp #imperia:accepted #orpheus hitchens

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dreadhaus-literature · 6 years

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{January Collection} #2

Road Trip

Amended to include the new Weekly Writing Schedule; Wednesday’s Theme is Description.

“We’ll be back before you know it, angel.”

Normally, Monica didn’t like being left alone, but today...today was a different story. She could barely nod in response to Luvon’s statement, leaning up into the trio of good-bye kisses from her Big Brothers, known occasionally to those who knew them as the Von Triplets.

They were tall, imposing figures quite obviously cut from the same dark wood as their intimidating Father, whom Monica had only had the pleasure of meeting a couple times; she wasn’t sure where she fell on the scale of happiness about that. He was a terrifying man to behold--not a man at all, really, and neither were his sons. A Family of Shapeshifters, and she found herself surrounded by them, and now...now she was to be eternally bound to them.

Monica watched as the servants shut and secured the door after Savon’s swishing tail was out of sight (he always let his twins take the lead, and he walked in the middle and slightly behind them...he told Monica once in confidence that it always made him look like a King out with his two bodyguards) and she shook her head when asked by another if there was anything she needed. She didn’t need anything, but she did want some peace and quiet, and she retreated to the Estate’s library with intent to get it.

Monica had a Family; she had a twin, and she had older and younger siblings. She even had a Patriarch herself, but what she didn’t have, that this Family, this Tribe did, was a gaping hole that needed to be filled.

Or...did she?

The library was blissfully empty and Monica left word with the standing guard in the hallway that she was not to be disturbed unless the Triplets returned home early. The door clicked closed softly behind her, and finally silence enveloped her like a soft cotton blanket fresh from the dryer. In a way it helped, and in a way it didn’t. The book-lined shelves stood feet upon feet above her head, and it spoke volumes that ladders had only been implemented recently on her behalf; everyone who lived in this Tribal Estate was tall enough to reach these books without need of one. It was a realization that would have chilled most to the bone, but all Monica did was smile as the gentle tips of her fingers traced one worn spine as she slowly walked between the shelves.

Her arrival here had been something of a favor for her Grandfather, who was a very old and dear friend to the Patriarch some called The Chief. Atamu was his name, though Monica had trouble calling him that--she had trouble addressing him at all, especially when he turned those curiously opaque eyes on her. Have you ever been to the zoo and locked gazes with a Big Cat? The intelligence there will put ice in your veins, and that’s exactly what Atamu’s stare does to Monica; she’s smart enough to know she isn’t in any danger, but she’s also not naive enough to not know some of the smolder she sees in those hauntingly intelligent eyes has nothing to do with protecting her as his best friend’s granddaughter. It has to do with her as a woman, and it’s knowledge she can hardly stand to live with, but there’s a lot she’s had to come to terms with since coming to live with the Lakhani Tribe.

If it sounds bad, that’s a mistake. Monica truthfully has no complaints, which was another thing that surprised her. She’d never met so many broken souls before, each cracked in a way different than the one before it. There was Tod, who carried a look of desperation in his two-toned eyes that kept her awake at night any time she was alone with him. He needed, desperately, and he looked at her like she could give him what he sought. Then there was Markus, a hunted man who wore skin like most wore clothes. He smiled at her more than anyone else did (meaning only that he was openly friendly, because it seemed everyone in the Tribe, even those no one ever saw smile, smiled at her) but the smile never reached his eyes, and they were eyes that always darted from shadow to shadow, as if he could never truly relax. Monica worried he’d collapse from exhaustion and that was how he’d finally be caught by those outsiders who sought him. Lucca was one who worried her almost more than anyone else, because the boy never spoke. He never said a word, even when she spoke to him, but she didn’t feel it wasn’t because he didn’t want to. He looked at her as though he did, but there was broken trust behind desperately dark eyes and whatever words he couldn’t let claw from his throat were choking him into silence.

This Tribe held so many broken men who, as time marched endlessly by, seemed to come to rely more and more on her for emotional strength and support--though it was the Von Triplets who made the first move to claim her.

“They’ve certainly done that...” she murmured to herself, one hand passing along her slim middle, before she shook her head, shook the thought loose, and continued her leisurely stroll.

Had this been her Grandfather’s intention? He’d only ask that she come spend the year with his oldest friend, as the Lakhani were in need and he felt she was the best one to try and alleviate some of the terrible pressure that was cracking this foundation right down the middle. When pressed for more information, Angelino played dumb, telling her he didn’t know the innerworkings of Shapeshifters and he didn’t know what Atamu was truly asking for, only that Angelino would give whatever help he could, because he and Atamu had always done that for one another. So Monica did what she thought was best; she played the dutiful granddaughter, packed her belongings, and moved to an Island ruled by a Lion and guarded by the Sons.

What Monica had no way of knowing was that Atamu felt a calling for Monica from the first moment he laid eyes on her in her little baby crib years before. She’d been a beautiful, angelic little baby and Atamu felt the entire world shift when their eyes locked. But even he hesitated in telling Angelino that his granddaughter was the lifemate to the Lakhani Tribe.That was a monumentous responsibility and Angelino may have his own plans and desires for his granddaughter. Atamu didn’t lay claim to Monica then, and though he visited her often in her youth, the most he’d ever do was imprint his scent upon her, to ward others away. He never called to her and he never tried to force her to come to him and his sons. Atamu was a tyrant in his own right, most especially as the Chieftain, but he couldn’t bring himself to force Monica to his side. It wasn’t until he saw he was losing his children to the Sickness that he relented and asked Angelino for a year of Monica’s time. Unbeknownst to Monica, the Lakhani men were taking time with her like addicts take doses of their preferred vice--except she was giving them the will to live. She moved through the Tribe and breathed life into it, filling the halls with laughter and joy, and all the while seemed unaware of the affect she was having on the men themselves. It was part of what made her so beautiful, so perfect, in their eyes.

Atamu knew what his oldest sons were doing and he’d warned them multiple times not to do anything permanent, but only one of the three could be counted on to do the right thing at all times. Known to some as the Soldier, Luvon was the youngest triplet but no one would argue he was the most responsible. He was in charge of the Tribe’s armies and it showed, both in his posture and the rigid discipline that he affixed to every aspect of his life. Cavon was the oldest of the Triplets, and he operated as Atamu’s right hand, the Bodyguard to the Chief. Cavon drank like a fish but while most would suffer ill effects from such excess, it only seemed to make Cavon stronger. Some in the village whispered he must have been blessed by the God of Hedonism upon his birth. The middle triplet, Savon, was known as the Snake. He was as beautiful as he was charming, but like brilliant black scales of a mamba he was gorgeous to behold and deadly to turn one’s back on. Savon’s silver tongue was legendary, and it was whispered he could make you do anything he wanted with a single sentence. He operated as the Chief’s left hand, handling business and diplomatic affairs with the air of someone on the same level as the Chief himself.

The Von Triplets were not the oldest of Atamu’s children (Zaos and Markus were both older) but by birthright they were known as the Alphas, the ones everyone defected to when the Chief was not involved. As a result, they felt the most entitled to Monica and her time, and though they’d been warned not to do anything...permanent...that’s exactly what they’ve done.

Atamu was from another generation, a generation of Shapeshifters who might bow out to Shifter Sickness rather than “forcibly” claim their lifemate. Atamu felt obligated by his friendship to Angelino to respect Monica’s wishes and her life, and hadn’t made a move to claim her, but the Triplets’ kinship to Angelino was different. He was their Grandfather, yes, but they weren’t on the same level, so while Atamu thought he was respecting Angelino by not claiming his granddaughter, the Triplets circled like sharks with intent to do just that. They were not going to let her get away. They were not going to allow anyone else to have her. They were not going to let the Sickness consume them like it was consuming others in their Tribe.

You see, Shapeshifters need their lifemate. There is a reason they’re called “lifemates”; not only do Shifters bond for life, but it’s a bond that anchors them, enables them to reach their full potential. Once a lifemate is discovered, a Shapeshifter must claim them or they will begin to suffer ill effects known as Shifter Sickness. Some are affected more greatly by it than others--hence why Tod was beginning to lose his grip on reality, being so close to Monica yet unbound to her.

Cavon decided for the three triplets that wasn’t going to happen to them.

Monica hadn’t thought the Triplets’ behavior was any different recently, but then she hadn’t been expecting it to be. Her year at the Tribal Estate was nearly up, and...well, she felt saddened by that. She loved it, here. The Lakhani treated her like an Empress, she wanted for nothing. That “gaping hole” she had initially felt upon moving here seemed to be filling up, and she felt she’d made a difference, here. They’d made a difference for her.

Monica paused at the sight of a full length mirror, one fang worrying her lower lip. Today she didn’t mind being left alone because she had a lot on her mind, and all of it was about the Lakhani’s and her upcoming departure date. She’d thought it was all settled, it seemed to have been settled before she’d even arrived, but...love has a way of changing even the best laid plans.

A tew tentative steps toward the mirror and Monica’s gaze dropped to her middle. Shaky fingers pulled at the hem of her shirt, before slowly raising it as she turned to the side.

Pups.

She was pregnant.

She didn’t think the Triplets knew, yet, but it was hard to tell. Two of them were werewolves, and the other was a Dragon...and she was too shy to ask what all that meant they were capable of. Luvon’s gaze kept trailing to her middle, but she could have excused that away as him simply looking at her, as at her small stature she fell well beneath their elbows and thus, him looking down was to be expected.

So what did this mean?

Monica’s first initial thought was panic. She wasn’t ready! This wasn’t what she wanted! But as soon as the thoughts popped up, she countered them without really even thinking about it. She may not feel ready...but it was what she wanted. She was in no way disappointed by the knowledge that new life was growing inside her, and that she was now tied to not only the Lakhani Tribe, but even more to Cavon, Savon, and Luvon. She loved them, and she knew they loved her--they told her often, be it with Savon’s silver tongue or Luvon’s gentle affection, or Cavon’s rough claiming. Her fingers rubbed over her middle and she tried to imagine herself rounder with the evidence of their claim; it would have caused her to blush had the blood been flowing in her veins.

So should she tell them? What would she tell them? She couldn’t very well return back home pregnant and without them knowing, that wouldn’t work, but the thought of breaking the news to them nearly made her knees buckle. They’ve had her in the most intimate of their ways, but that didn’t mean it was any easier to look them in the eye.

There were a lot of uncertainties in Monica’s future, and the thought of children and even pregnancy sometimes left her with a bad taste in her mouth, but she knew it had nothing to do with the pups.

...Her pups.

It was simply a way of life. New steps are scary, continuing to move forward can be terrifying, but she wasn’t facing this alone. She had three very capable men at her side, and she was backed by a Tribe she knew without having to ask would lay down their lives for her in an instant.

Was it, then, truly so bad to be tied to them this way?

Monica was so grateful she had a few hours to decide how best to announce her pregnancy when the Triplets came home...

...but she had no way of knowing the only reason the Triplets had left in the first place, was to travel to meet with Angelino and inform him that Monica was Claimed and her home was with the Lakhani--

Now, and Forever.

#{theme} : for monica #{collection} : january 2019 #{character} : atamu lakhani-dreadful #{character} : cavon dreadful #{character} : savon dreadful #{character} : luvon dreadful

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royal-loki · 6 years

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Thorki Playlist

Sometimes you just want to hang out on your own blog and listen to tunes that remind you of your OTP. I made a playlist that you all can listen to on my tumblr as you scroll through posts. I also wrote a narrative to describe the events in the movies as they fit with the songs I chose. Hope you all enjoy my Thorki mixtape! (Sometimes ads play before the music starts but they are in the order listed below; to skip the ads just go back and forth between the songs)

Thor (2011)

Bad Blood - Taylor Swift

Loki feels extreme jealousy and resentment during Thor’s coronation and plots to interrupt his brother’s big day. All those years of living in his golden brother’s shadow has created some bad blood between them, at least in Loki’s mind.

Somebody That I Used To Know - Gotye

Thor is stunned by Loki’s treacherous actions towards him and their father. After Sif and the Warriors Three arrived on Midgard and told Thor of Loki’s plans, he was heartbroken. He can’t comprehend why Loki would betray him. They were raised together, played together, fought together, and now Loki is just somebody that he used to know.

Wrecking Ball - Miley Cyrus

During Thor and Loki’s showdown on the Bifrost Bridge, Loki expresses his rage in the battle against his brother. He never meant to start a war, he only wanted Thor to let him in. But Loki can’t live a lie, and like a wrecking ball he breaks the memories of his old life that their deceitful father had created and lets himself fall into the abyss.

It’s My Life - No Doubt

Loki had survived his fall but now finds himself amongst the bitter outcasts of the Nine Realms. Hurt by those closest to him and finding an ally in Thanos, he constructs a plan to get revenge on his brother. “It’s my life,” sneers Loki, “I am no longer bound to the throne of Asgard thus I shall create a new kingdom on Midgard.”

The Avengers

Break The Ice - Britney Spears

It’s been a year since Thor last saw Loki, believing that he had perished in the abyss. In his fury, he pulled Loki out the mortal’s aircraft and brought them down to the cold ground below. Now seeing him under the moonlight, after all this time, has been like staring at a ghost. He’s alive, thinks Thor, thank the Norns. “I thought you dead,” Thor utters to Loki, attempting to break the ice. He doesn’t want to scare away his brother. He just wants him to come home. He wants to hold him close and never let him go ever again.

Circus - Britney Spears

Loki wrought down a nightmarish invasion of Chitauri soldiers and giant leviathans that are wreaking havoc on New York City. Watching the Avengers scramble around to stop the Armageddon has been amusing. Loki feels the adrenaline moving through his veins, he has never felt more alive. Thor surely will see him as an equal now. As Loki stands atop of Stark Tower, he thinks, “All the eyes on me in the center of the ring, just like a circus.”

Sorry - Justin Bieber

The battle is over, Loki has lost. Thor leads his brother to where they will depart from Midgard and return to Asgard where Loki will face judgement from the Allfather. The Avengers surround the two Gods as they grip the Tesseract on opposite sides. Loki’s mouth is covered with a guard to prevent him from bewitching anyone. His silver tongue can’t get him out of this situation. He knows that he may have severed the last bit of trust Thor had for him. “I know that I let you down,” Loki ruminates while looking up at his brother, “Is it too late to say I'm sorry now?”

Thor: The Dark World

The Kill - 30 Seconds To Mars

Loki stands before the Allfather in chains. He is still proud despite the dire situation he finds himself in. Coolly, he addresses his father yet Odin doesn’t seem to understand the pain he has caused his adopted son by lying to him. Just as Loki finds himself on the losing side of the argument, Odin goes in for the kill, “Your birthright was to die!” Come, break me down, Loki thinks, bury me, I am finished with you. He is led away to the dungeons, spared from death but crestfallen.

Numb - Linkin Park

Loki passes time in prison without a single visit from his brother. Weeks pass as he begins to shut down emotionally. Frigga is his only visitor and the only one that begged Odin to spare Loki’s life. The Queen tenderly attempts to comfort her youngest son, trying to reason with Loki to spare the fragile relations that struggle to keep hold the bonds between the Asgardian royal family. Loki reaches out to his mother, numb yet longing for her touch. His hand passes through her skillfully crafted illusion, the same seiðr that she taught him as a child. As he watches her disappear, he dejects to himself, every step that I take is another mistake to you.

Vindicated - Dashboard Confessional

Thor recruits Loki to fight the Dark Elves. Although Thor claims he doesn’t trust Loki, his younger brother knows that if that were the case he would have never come to him for help. The fate of Asgard depends on Loki’s cooperation. Thor’s faith in him is but a faint glow in the dark void that Loki feels in his heart, yet his brother’s love makes him feel vindicated. Loki finds the morale to fight alongside his brother once more, and to avenge his fallen mother.

How To Save A Life - The Fray

Loki lay in Thor’s arms. “I didn’t do it for him.” His younger brother whispers as sinks deeper into Thor’s grip. If only Thor had studied the healing arts like Loki did then maybe he would know how to save a life. Sitting there, helplessly, he cries out over his brother’s motionless body. He knows he has to keep going, to pull himself together to save the Nine Realms but at that moment he wonders what is there worth saving now?

Look What You Made Me Do - Taylor Swift

As Thor walks away, Loki lets the seiðr illusion of the Allfather slip. What other choice did he have? Go back to the dungeons for thousands of years until he wilts away or take his birthright and relieve the Mad King of his duties? Look what you made me do, thought Loki. A smile begins to creep up on his face.

Thor: Ragnarok

Feeling This - Blink 182

Thor comes back to Asgard after defeating Surtur and finds Loki on the throne instead of their father. Upon finding out that Loki is alive, he feels no anger. It has been years and all he wants to do his grab his brother and take him to his chambers. Thor begins feeling this strange mix of animalistic desire and heavenly relief. Yes, they will go look for their father where Loki had said he left him on Midgard but for now...

E.T. - Katy Perry

Loki looks on in horror as his brother rolls up in the Grandmaster’s harness chair. Happy that his older brother survived Hela’s assault but terrified of his reaction to Loki’s part in all that has taken place in the past few weeks (or days in Thor’s case). Loki suddenly feels like an E.T. in a room full of strange aliens. Without hesitation, Thor senses Loki’s presence and calls him over. Later, in their shared chambers, Loki tries to calm Thor from erupting in rage and sorrow yet he can’t stop the storm brewing inside his brother. Sparks of electricity surround Thor as he grabs hold of Loki. In this unfamiliar place, Thor only can think of one way to take his mind off of the despair that is clawing at him over the death of their father, being lied to his whole life and the fate of Asgard. He places a firm hand on Loki’s neck as he has done countless times before and kisses him.

Take Me On The Floor - The Veronicas

The elevator ride turned sour very quickly. Loki had expected his brother to beg him to stay yet he was indifferent. As Loki attempted one last trick on his brother, Thor caught him off guard and turned on the obedience disk. The God of Mischief falls to the ground. Impressed by Thor’s cunning and equally turned on, Loki looks up at him and quips, “Take me on floor.” Thor smiles sheepishly, and turns off the disk. He wants Loki to enjoy every minute of their last encounter.

Stellar - Incubus

“I’m here.” Loki says catching the glass top. Thor suddenly feels a rush of warmth flow through his whole body. In this stellar spaceship floating through the heavens, he starts to move towards his brother. They’ve lost nearly everything, their home, their parents, and most of their people. Thor embraces Loki in his giant arms in a tight hold. He can’t let him go, not again.

Avengers: Infinity War

The Ghost Of You - My Chemical Romance

Thor struggles to get to his brother’s body. His own body barely moving from the torture that Thanos inflicted on him. Only Thor’s anguish animates him. Hunching over Loki’s body, he lets out a hopeless cry, “I shall be with the ghost of you soon, brother!” Thor holds Loki close to him and resigns himself to die with the only family he has left.

All That I’ve Got - The Used

Thor wakes up among the Guardians of the Galaxy, a rag-tag group of heroes that are also seeking to get their revenge on Thanos. Thor tries to hide his sorrow by making light of the situation but he can’t stop thinking about Loki and everyone that he has lost. “All that I’ve got is the satisfaction from the vengeance I will inflict upon Thanos,” Thor whispers to himself. He scavenges the food supplies aboard the Guardian’s ship as the rabbit prepares their shuttle for their long journey to Nidavellir. All I want inside, I still am empty, Thor thinks to himself, so deep that it didn’t even bleed and catch me...

Titanium - David Guetta

Thor holds his new battle axe in his hands. The newly formed power of Stormbreaker is almost too much to bare. Mortals may only know of strong metals like titanium but a God knows otherwise. His weapon, forged in the heart of a dying star, will be his tool to avenge Loki. “Nothing to lose,” Thor mutters to himself as he sets off to Earth using the Bifrost.

#Thor Odinson #loki odinson #thor #loki #thorki #perfect #playlist

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genevievedanielle · 7 years

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Thoughts on Jonerys Part 4

So I haven’t been able to get to this post as quickly as I wanted. I’ve had a weird few months, I took a new job and was living with some friends for a bit, my grandmother passed away a few weeks ago, and at the beginning of the month I moved into a new place, but things are kind of settling now and I’m getting back into a routine. So I wanted to continue with my series of thoughts on the progression of Jonerys and what’s stood out to me about their relationship after my recent rewatch of the series and having read the books. I’m going to throw a cut in here, so I’m not filling up your dashboards and my thoughts may be a little jumbled here because I’ve been writing sentences here and there over the last couple of months. Anyway, bear with me, I think this makes sense.

This is part of a series of posts, so if you’re interested you can check out the other parts here, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

I know for me as a fan who started watching the series first, then started reading the books because I loved the show. The thing that really jumped out to me originally was the parallels between Jon and Daenerys. Keep in mind I had no notion of the books when I started watching the show and my brother was the only person I knew at the time who had read the books and watched the show. I remember talking to him one night on the phone and saying something about how I couldn’t wait for Jon and Daenerys to get together when she came to Westeros and my brother just said, “That won’t happen for a long time, if it happens at all.” I was so confused, I remember saying to him, “They have to meet, their stories are identical, they’re set up as having similar journeys and they’re obviously ice and fire, if they don’t meet it doesn’t make sense. I’ll be honest I was a little obsessed with them, and photos of Kit and Emilia convinced me the characters would have all kinds of chemistry. My brother then said that there was another character in the books who might be a Targaryen and was probably closer to meeting Daenerys, and I was not having it. I started reading the books right away after that and was even more convinced Jon and Dany were going to end up together. So doing this rewatch, all those parallels kept jumping out at me again, but now I know where it’s going (in the show at least) so when I see them, I see something different in them every time. I’m not going to elaborate too much on the parallels right now because there are so many posts, comparisons and metas about the parallels, but they’re obvious and there from the very beginning.

One major thing that jumped out at me reading the books and then again during this rewatch was the similarities of certain lines like Ygritte saying to Jon, “You know nothing, Jon Snow.” and Irri and Jhiqui (a character who is not really featured in the show that much) always saying to Daenerys, “It is known.” Both Daenerys and Jon are in these worlds where people are trying to enforce their worldview upon them and both Jon and Daenerys have this different view on things and how things should be. They see outside the norms of their cultures and are criticized in a way for it. People keep insisting that they’re wrong because things in their worlds are known to be different.

What always stands out to me too is the contrasting colours they use with Jon and Daenerys. Daenerys’ hair is silver, almost white, Jon’s is black, Daenerys gets her silver horse, while Jon takes the black, the dragon Daenerys rides is black, while Jon’s direwolf is white. They always set up these contrasting colours, but the colours also link them to each other. Especially when you do a rewatch you see things even in the cinematography, like the fact that Daenerys always has warm colours in her scenes to suit her fire symbolism, while Jon always has cool colours in his scenes to symbolize ice. There are so many hints of them being linked that it’s hard to miss, unless you blatantly ignore them. Their scenes always connect thematically and almost always, when you see one you the other in the next scene (there are a few instances where it doesn’t work that way, but they’re few and far between).

In season 6 the storylines for Daenerys and Jon was interesting too. Both storylines that season took them back to where they began in a way, but also signifies them breaking out of those places. First we have Jon who has been killed by his brothers of the Night’s Watch. At the beginning of the series he started at the bottom in the Night’s Watch, he was assigned the role of steward, he rose all the way to Lord Commander and was killed. The only way out of the Night’s Watch is death so his death broke him out of there. We also see him return to Winterfell to retake his family home which has been lost to the Boltons and him and Sansa returning is so symbolic. He returns home, restores his family, and rises above his bastard status to be named King in The North. For Daenerys, she started her journey sold to the Dothraki as the bride of Khal Drogo, known as a beggar Princess. After Drogo’s death Daenerys was supposed to go to Vaes Dothrak to live out the rest of her life as a Dosh Khaleen. She ran from this because her destiny has always been greater. She rose from a beggar queen and a widow to free slaves and take places like Astapor, Qarth, Yunkai, and Meereen, then at the end of the fifth season we see her captured by the Dothraki again after Sons of the Harpy have turned her city on her. Beginning of season 6 she’s a prisoner, she’s at her lowest in a way. The only way for her to break out of the expected role the Dothraki have for her is to overpower them and claim them as her own, and she does that. She burns down their temple and claims the Dothraki as hers and they follow her. Both Jon and Daenerys are reborn and viewed as gods by people within two episodes.

Daenerys then returns to Meereen, overturns the Masters, and takes a fleet across the Narrow Sea, finally heading back to her birthplace and birthright. This is pretty much the same in the books, both are betrayed, we don’t see them rise back up because season 6 passed the books, but where they both ended season 5 is similar to where they end their stories in book 5.

Another thing that no one ever really points out about season 6 is how in Battle of the Bastards, both Jon and Dany have to retake a place. Everyone loves how Jon retakes Winterfell because “Yay the Starks!” But no one ever talks about how Daenerys basically just did the same thing as Jon. Jon and Sansa go throughout the North and rally houses to support them, Daenerys basically rallies the Dothraki and gets Meereen back on her side. Jon overturns Ramsey, while Daenerys overturns the Masters. Season 6 is such a pivotal season for both of their characters. Jon is named King in the North, Daenerys makes it to Westeros, it’s a big shift for them. Dany also makes an alliance with the Iron Islands, her first real backing house from Westeros, Jon pretty much makes an alliance with the Vale through Sansa. There’s such a big significance too in the fact that in Battle of the Bastards (6x09), Jon and Dany, who are both Targaryens basically live their family words, “Fire and Blood”. Daenerys takes back Meereen with fire, while Jon takes back Winterfell with blood. The whole episode is pretty much focused on Jon and Daenerys.

So both Jon and Dany are in a place of being betrayed at the beginning of season 6, Jon by his brothers, Dany by the people she’s freed, both are stripped down to nothing pretty much, Jon in death, Dany as a prisoner, and both rise up from the ashes. Jon retakes his home and Daenerys finally heads home. It’s a really big season for both of them and it propels them into the next season which finally brings them together. What’s really interesting is that while they are apart in the series they have to rise and continuously overcome all these obstacles. They always feel alone, and here is what stands out to me in that. Maester Aemon has the line, “A Targaryen alone in the world is a terrible thing,” in regard to Daenerys who he has just received news about and in walks Jon symbolizing she won’t be alone once they find each other. What also jumps out about that line to me is the fact that both Jon and Dany never felt at home where they were and always felt alone, Jon felt alone with Ygritte, Daenerys felt alone with Daario. They never really felt supported or at home until they found each other. Even Daenerys on Dragonstone seemed unsettled until Jon showed up there. When he goes to leave and head North, she’s impacted by it and she goes after him because part of her knows she won’t feel at home again if something happens to him. Both don’t hide anything in their pursuit of each other, they’re reserved at first, but once they let things show, they don’t exactly hide anything (sneaking off together in the dragonpit? Everyone can see them, everyone was there, they aren’t being secretive. Jon making sure she goes North with him? She willingly does it).

Another thing that’s more so a thing in the show than books is The King vs. King, Queen vs. Queen thing. Yes in the books the White Walkers/others exist, but their role isn’t as big in the books (yet?) as on the show. So in the show going into this last season we get another great parallel between Jon & Dany, they each have their main nemesis set up in positions of equal power and, ironically, it’s like Cersei said in the first episode, “Enemies to the North and enemies to the South.” The only way to defeat both threats is together, Jon needs Daenerys’ army and Daenerys needs support in Westeros. Both are together in the middle, Jon is a King and his enemy is a King and Daenerys is a Queen and her enemy is a Queen, but together they’re King and Queen facing the Night King and King and Queen facing the mad Queen.

I know these may seem like random ramblings, but I think there’s been so much invested in the Jonerys relationship and their individual journeys leading toward each other and their journey that’s linked together that I can’t help but see these things. Especially with how the show has emphasized that they are facing things together now. Everything has come full circle, they both started alone, were outcasts with no real home and felt alone and now they have each other, they’ll do what needs to be done together.

#jonerys #jon x daenerys #jon x dany #daenerys targaryen #daenerys x jon #jon snow #kit x emilia #Kit Harington #emilia clarke #kimilia #game of thrones #got #ASoIaF #A Song of Ice and Fire #Dany x Jon #snowstorm #jon snow x daenerys targaryen #stargaryen

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nyangibun · 7 years

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Hi! First of all, I really like your blog. That's why I'd like to ask you a question. What do you think about Targ!bowl? Do you like this theory? I know it's almost impossible in the show, considering 7x06, but a man have a right to hope)) Maybe we'll see it in the books? I mean, Martin definitely sees dragons as dangerous as the Others. Thank you!

Hi, you’re awesome thank you!!

I don’t just like this theory. I believe wholeheartedly in this theory!

And it’s actually not impossible. There’s a variety of reasons why Targbowl is almost inevitably going to be the crux of the latter half of the story.

1) From day one, Danielle has based every decision in her life on the fact that she is the last Targaryen standing and it is her birthright, her destiny to sit on the Iron Throne.

Her speech here in 7x03:

We fled before Robert’s assassins could find us. Robert was your father’s best friend, no? I wonder if your father knew his best friend sent assassins to murder a baby girl in her crib. Not that it matters now of course. I spent my life in foreign lands. So many men have tried to kill me. I don’t remember all of their names. I have been sold like a brood mare. I have been chained and betrayed, raped and defiled. Do you know what kept me standing through all those years in exile? Faith. Not in any gods. Not in myths and legends. In myself. In Daenerys Targaryen. The world hadn’t seen a dragon in centuries until my children were born. The Dothraki hadn’t crossed the sea. Any sea.

What’s kept her going is this steadfast belief that she has a larger destiny. It’s a powerful speech, which is half about her confidence in herself, but also half about her sense of entitlement to that throne.

When my dragons are grown, we will take back what was stolen from me and destroy those who wronged me! We will lay waste to armies and burn cities to the ground! - 2x04

She fully believes this and will stop at nothing to achieve it. That’s her greatest character strength: her sheer drive and ambition. Now, what happens when it’s revealed that not only is she not the last Targaryen but she actually has no right to the throne? With the reveal of 7x05, Jon is actually the rightful heir. He is the only trueborn son of Rhaegar Targaryen, which means he is the first in line to the Iron Throne over Danielle.

To say that she would give all of that up for ‘love’ is a disservice to Danielle’s character. She didn’t go through everything she did for 7 seasons only to hand it all over to Jon. And a marriage between them would be politically stupid because they’re both Targaryens and everyone in Westeros knows or rather believes that Targaryen inbreeding is what led to Aerys’ madness.

Personally, I believe as well that Danielle is in love with the idea of Jon more than who he is himself. She likes the idea that there is another like her, who is a prophesised hero beloved by his kingdom, but to find out he’s a Targaryen as well with more claim to the throne then her, she’ll lash out. She may be blind to her own faults, but at a very base level, she’ll believe he’s capable of stealing everything she wants from her even though we all know Jon doesn’t want the Iron Throne. He’s a threat, plain and simple.

2) ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’, while Jon3rys shippers want to claim that as a reasoning for their ship, I believe otherwise. Actually, the Ice and Fire can refer to a number of things. I don’t think there is one solid answer, which I believe was the point of naming it as such. And one of the symbolic representations of Ice and Fire is indeed Jon and Danielle, but not as a couple.

You see, there was the Dance of Dragons, which sounds friendly enough, but it’s actually about the civil war between Aegon II and his sister Rhaenyra over their father Viserys I’s throne. It’s a poetic title for a horrible war, so I believe ‘the Song of Ice and Fire’ will be the poetic title for the war between Danielle and Jon.

And just to go off of what you said, Martin does see dragons as dangerous as the others, which is another interpretation of the Ice and Fire dichotomy. Ice obviously relating to the White Walkers and the Night King (a dangerous supernatural force in Westeros) and Fire being the dragons (another dangerous supernatural force in Westeros).

The fact that now the Night King has his own dragon, this becomes even more of a pronounced manifestation of Ice and Fire. I mean, would a wight dragon spout fire or ice? Should be ice, right? Anyway, dragon battles are coming too.

3) It’s already been foreshadowed.

Jon says to Danielle in 7x05:

“I wish you good fortune in the wars to come, Your Grace.”

This is a direct parallel to Mance Rayder saying it to Stannis Baratheon in 5x01 right before Stannis burned him.

And Ser Arthur Dayne also says the exact same thing to young Ned Stark at the Tower of Joy in 6x03 right before they started fighting and Dayne died.

I don’t believe Jon will die again because it feels like a repetitive plot point to have him die again [edit: although now I’m more inclined lol]. But let’s entertain that theory for a second. We know that Beric has been resurrected several times, so I suppose there is a chance Jon will die at the hands of Danielle, only to be resurrected again. It would bring Melisandre back into the story because she will be the only one who can do it. She also predicted that her involvement in this war isn’t yet over in 7x03:

“I will return, dear spider. One last time…… I have to die in this strange country, just like you.”

If she were to bring Jon back again, it would make sense that Danielle would have her killed instantly so that she won’t have the power to do so again, making Jon vulnerable. Him dying at the hands of Danielle would finally give him the strength to kill her himself because he might have been conflicted in doing so up until that point, which would also fulfill Danielle’s prophecy that she would be betrayed by a lover.

This would also explain why they keep bringing home the fact that Jon got stabbed in the heart around Danielle and why she is so drawn to that seemingly throwaway comment. At first, I thought it was to establish her obsession with prophecies and the idea that Danielle is Narcissus and Jon is her ‘reflection’, but maybe it’s foreshadowing that Danielle will be the second set of hands to drive a knife through Jon’s heart, either metaphorically or literally.

Perhaps another theory in regards to Jon ‘dying’ is that once it comes to light that he’s a Targaryen, Danielle will burn him with her dragon fire, unwilling to believe that he is a Targaryen (because she’s so adamant of being the last of her family, she’s hardly going to believe it). Or even if he has Rhaegar’s blood, it doesn’t make him a dragon, as Viserys also died via fire and you remember what she said about him:

“He was no dragon. Fire cannot kill a dragon.” - 1x06

But it turns out Jon is a dragon and he survives. Again, this also demonstrates to him and the audience that she is in fact not a hero at all. It absolves him of the guilt of being the one to kill her.

Either way, what these quotes foreshadow is an antagonistic relationship between the person who said it and the person it’s being directed towards. Yes, some are claiming it’s just a saying warriors say to others, but if so, then more people would’ve said it over the course of the show. The fact that there have only been 2 other instances and both played out the way they did, that’s foreshadowing.

4) I actually forgot to add this, but Danielle burning Randyll and Dickon Tarly will come back to wedge a huge divider between Danielle and Jon. The Tarly’s are Sam’s family. Whether he had a hostile relationship with his father or not, he didn’t hate his brother and Danielle burnt Dickon for utterly no reason other than pride and a need to instill fear.

Even Tyrion acknowledges this in 7x06.

Sam, as one of the most kindhearted individuals on the show, won’t take too kindly to this either. And as Sam’s best friend, Jon isn’t going to be happy about it. If people think Jon would side with Danielle, a woman he’s known for less than a year, over one of his most loyal and most trusted friends, a brother, then they sorely lack the ability to comprehend Jon’s character. It will be the first step towards Jon and Danielle hostilities, I believe.

Targbowl is coming, whether people are willing to accept it or not, and I personally believe it’s rather inevitable at this point.

#anti-jonerys #anti-daenerys #targbowl #game of thrones #asoiaf #got spec #got s7 #spoilers #asks #wwwhatnatahbd #long post #anti jonerys

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frozen-umbra · 5 years

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Captain Romcom: The Romcom Soldier (or, the official soundtrack to Captain America 3 if it were a romantic comedy)

Steve Rogers is just a normal guy looking for love…if by “looking for love” you mean “trying to find his amnesiac brainwashed assassin ex-boyfriend on the urging of his ex-military and superhero friends." When Bucky finally returns to his life, it looks like Steve might have a chance to recapture the love he had before. But Bucky’s past won’t stay in the past. Can their love overcome the interference of HYDRA, Bucky’s real monster of an ex(-covert Nazi organization)?

"It’s like The Runaway Bride meets While You Were Sleeping meets Dexter!” - a critic, probably

Tracklist and scene listing behind the readmore.

1. 1234 – Feist: sweet heart, bitter heart, now I can’t tell you apart We open on the Mall once again, as the tender chords of acoustic guitar accompany the sunrise and our intrepid hero, Steve Rogers, as he discusses his love life with his friend, Sam Wilson, in between laps. His best friend and ex, Bucky, has been missing since the events of the last movie, and Steve is torn between respecting Bucky’s wishes and trying to find him again.

2. The Way to the Future – Katie Herzig: you want to love, well, now’s your chance Spy, superhero, and general person with more patience for talking about Steve’s love life than Sam has Natasha Romanoff joins them in a charming independent coffee shop in DC and urges Steve to find Bucky, partially because there are signs that he’s been going across the U.S. destroying HYDRA bases. But also because Nat cares about Steve and wants him to be happy.

3. Alright with Me – Kris Allen: I know you better than you know, and you can fight but it’s not over Search montage! Steve and Sam search for Bucky, getting to HYDRA bases just moments after Bucky’s left, chasing him into alleys that he somehow disappears from, finding notes that say sweet nothings like “STOP FOLLOWING ME” and “I THOUGHT YOU WERE FASTER” left at crime scenes. Shots of Steve in the aforementioned charming independent coffee shop crossing off locations of HYDRA bases, getting increasingly frustrated, while Bucky lurks in the background and keeps stealing his coffee when Steve’s too slow getting to the bar when his order’s been called.

4. Replaced – Kate McGill: you know I used to know you well, I’m staring at the spot you fell The reunion. While Steve sits in a cozy armchair at the charming independent coffee shop, Bucky watches him, this song playing in the background over the sound of espresso machines. Steve rubs his forehead, sighs, and crosses another location off his list; he’s starting to lose hope. But then, across from him, “Can I sit down?" Steve looks up. It’s Bucky. "I don’t remember everything,” Bucky says, “but I…remember you." Slowly, tentatively, finally, Steve starts to smile. "That’s okay.”

5. Colors – April Smith and the Great Picture Show: like a lighthouse guides a shipwrecked sailor safely from the sea, I’ll wear your colors ‘til you come back home to me Steve and Bucky frondship montage! They go to the Smithsonian and look at the Captain America exhibit, Steve telling stories and Bucky nodding along, like he might be starting to remember. They go out for ice cream, and Bucky trades their cones claiming that he remembers chocolate made Steve sick so he shouldn’t have the Rocky Road and Bucky will just have to take this one for the team. They take a roadtrip to Brooklyn and go to Coney Island, where Bucky mimes throwing up and Steve laughs.

6. Dotted Lines – Sweet Talk Radio: But I don’t want to take something that never was mine, or fill in blank spaces with more dotted lines Tentative yet emotionally charged sex, tastefully shot: Steve and Bucky slowly undressing each other back in Steve’s DC apartment, which is dimly lit with a thousand tealights that must’ve been really annoying for the prop guys. Steve kisses Bucky like Bucky’s sunshine and Steve’s been a plant in the dark for decades (seven, to be precise); Bucky kisses Steve like he can’t tell whether it hurts in a good way or a bad. After a fade to black, Bucky watches Steve sleep (naked), looking happy and resigned and just slightly sad, like he knows it can’t last.

7. Back to Black – Amy Winehouse: and I tread a troubled track, my odds are stacked, I’ll go back to black Bucky leaves Steve while he’s sleeping and goes to the charming independent coffee shop, where he sits down at a table with a man in a suit. “I know what you’ve been doing, Winter Soldier,” the man says. “Don’t forget who made you. If you won’t stick to the mission, I’m sure we can find ways to persuade you even without the chair." The man pushes a picture across the table: it’s a candid shot of Steve outside the coffee shop, with crosshairs drawn over his head.

8. How to Save a Life – The Fray: or he’ll say he’s just not the same and you’ll begin to wonder why you came Bucky returns to Steve’s apartment to find an awake (and worried) Steve, who says he wishes Bucky had woken him up before leaving. Bucky looks away, so Steve can’t see his face, and says it was a mistake. Steve doesn’t understand, and Bucky goes on the attack: "I’ve been playing you, Steve. I thought you had information on HYDRA, but it turns out you don’t have anything of value after all." The fight escalates, culminating in Bucky yelling, "Your friend is dead and I’ve been lying to you!” and Steve staring at him, heartbroken, as he storms out. If this were a 90s teen romcom, this would be the scene where the lead finds out that the love interest was only interested in her for a bet and/or bribe.

9. Middle – Katie Herzig: it isn’t as easy as I thought it’d be, choosing the side that is everything I need Montage of Steve and Bucky being depressed after the breakup. Steve hanging around his apartment, Bucky preparing to go on a mission for HYDRA again. Steve sees a picture of him and Bucky taken at a photo booth and looks sad. Bucky holsters like five guns and looks sad. Steve goes for a sad run while Sam tries to cheer him up. Bucky helps HYDRA steal a bunch of old tech from SHIELD while sighing heavily. You know. Normal post-breakup stuff.

10. Parachute – Ingrid Michaelson: you are your own worst enemy, you’ll never win the fight; just hold onto me, I’ll hold onto you, it’s you and me up against the world, it’s you and me Sam and Natasha knock heavily on Steve’s apartment door and he opens it unenthusiastically. “Where’s Barnes?” Natasha demands. “Tell me he hasn’t done anything stupid." They were tracking down a HYDRA lead, Sam says, when they found someone who had this: it’s the picture of Steve. "They’re blackmailing him, Steve. They can’t control his mind anymore, so they’re using you to do it." Steve gets the look that means he’s about to shove his star-spangled boot up HYDRA’s ass, and there’s a power-up montage as the three of them suit up and go into battle, defeating HYDRA. Bucky runs, trying to keep himself away from Steve; Steve follows.

11. Never Look Away – Vienna Teng: you’re made of memories you bury or divide, so if you’re out there in the cold I’ll cover you in moonlight, if you’re a stranger to your soul I’ll bring you to your birthright Steve finds Bucky outside. It’s raining, because it’s always raining in scenes like this. "You need to stay away from me,” Bucky says. “I’m dangerous." "That’s okay,” Steve says, gently cupping Bucky’s cheek as the glorious high-definition raindrops cling to both their eyelashes. “I’m kind of a superhero. I think I can handle it." They kiss in the rain, until Bucky pulls back and says, "Can I rig HYDRA’s bunker to explode?" "Bucky,” Steve says, “you can rig as many HYDRA bunkers to explode as you want.”

12. Falling for the First Time – Barenaked Ladies: maybe the worst is behind; it feels just like I’m falling for the first time Off Bucky and Steve kissing again: roll credits.

13. [surprise bonus track – plays after the post-credits Easter egg scene]

https://starsandatoms.tumblr.com/post/84669759698/captain-romcom-the-romcom-soldier-or-the

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darkestheir · 4 years

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“ what do you make of this? ”

Regulus asks it over his shoulder, his head tilted back to look at Dismas quietly. the manor in the Hamlet itself is hardly more than a summer home, small compared to the manse that sits on the hill over the sea, but decorated nonetheless.

the portraits that remain have been taken down. one has been covered, a man who looks disturbingly like the heir apparent. instead, he looks at a different one, a woman with dark hair and wearing a cloak pinned by the iron crown.

it scratches. . .something in his mind. something like familiarity.

“ the portraits have survived the ocean spray all these years, despite the broken windows. ”

@openveined !

#me longingly staring at you and reynauld talking: i should write with them #me in a cloak: you fucking can you nerd #openveined #return home & claim your birthright. | ic.#new game + verse

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sublimetravelerpolice · 5 years

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Opinions Like Kittens: The End Of Thrones

By Grant Johnson

All roads reach their terminus.

It sucks that it’s over, but alas, all good things must come to an end. True that may be, but it’s still difficult to swallow, because reaching the end of any journey is bittersweet. You left home, and ended up somewhere else, the new place may be exciting, but it isn’t home.

Naturally, the Game of Thrones conclusion was met with the inevitable backlash, and it was inevitable. People are almost always dissatisfied with the ending of TV shows. Sure, there are exceptions, for every Breaking Bad, Veep, and Justified, there is LOST, Dexter, and How I Met Your Mother (I’ll also throw in the entire second season of True Detective, because people destested that also). Now the latest finale on the chopping block is Game of Thrones. Sure, not all finales are handled with as deft a touch as Six Feet Under or Avengers: Endgame, but I think it has more to do with audiences not wanting any ending, than the ending itself. Maybe some endings get caught under the weight of the audience expectations, maybe it’s just the burden of wanting more, which, to me, means the story is ending exactly where it should. Leave them wanting more.

She was The Mother of Dragons.

Does that mean the Iron Throne should belong to her? As strong and powerful a character as she was, Dany was so caught up in her quest for The Throne, believing it was her birthright, that she never stopped to think why she really wanted it, she only knew her brother wanted it. Compounded by the fact that she never seemed to come to terms with the man her father was, or what he did, or would’ve done (if not for Jaime). That being said, I was still ready to back Dany, even after the burning of King’s Landing. It made sense to me, in a Fight Club sort of way, you have to destroy what was there to build something new. I think she would’ve been a great ruler, but maybe that’s the problem, she was always a conqueror, not a leader. She never quite nailed down the political aspect of the job. She repeatedly wanted to take King’s Landing by fire, and repeatedly, she had to be talked down by Jorah, by Varys, by Tyrion, and by Jon. Not to mention, she never seemed able to separate vengeance from justice. Her hunger for power could never be slaked, that’s even more dangerous when you consider she has the dragons, the equivalent of several atom bombs, at her disposal. Still, I would’ve liked to see Dany recreate the world as she saw fit. There’s a whole other story there (that’s where those few more episodes would’ve come in handy). Ultimately, I think her story is a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of wish fulfillment.

The Boy Who Would Be King.

Jon would’ve been a good King. However, he didn’t want it. If he had worn that crown, where would that lead? Would he have grown weary of it? Apathetic? Mayhaps. The idea of him being forced into the role of King doesn’t feel right. I want more for his character. Because he wanted one simple thing, to go back to that cave with Ygritte. After everything he’s been through, something resembling that end feels right for his journey.

Of Snow and Fire.

Dany and Jon are opposite sides of the same coin. One believed the Iron Throne was her birthright and was willing to take it by any means necessary. The other had the better claim to the Throne, but didn’t want it. Jon was willing to deny his claim for Dany, but Dany would, under no circumstances, reciprocate the gesture for Jon, or for Westeros. Because her entire ego had been built around the idea that she was the rightful heir to the Throne. Once her claim to the Throne was usurped, she completely lost sense of her identity. When everyone is celebrating after prevailing in the Battle of Winterfell, Tormund is applauding Jon for his valor, and for riding a dragon in battle. Dany looks over at Jon, her eyes filled with somber jealousy, and in that moment she becomes her brother, Viserys. Filled with anger for everyone giving Jon the adulation that she believes is owed to her.

Ultimately, no matter how much we should’ve been able to predict the trajectory of some characters, we didn’t, that, above all else, has been my favorite thing about this story. It’s hard to find a story that has been as consistently unpredictable as GoT. I’ll never forget my introduction to the TV series, a friend suggested that I watch the show because, “It has all the things that are great about the fantasy genre, but without the usual tropes.” I was sold from that pitch alone.

I didn’t read the books until somewhere between season 4 & 5, and fell in love with them, and George R. R. Martin’s sublime writing. On the Ink To Film podcast, Luke Elliot and James Bailey covered the first book and season of A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones (they also did a great postmortem of the show for a Patreon bonus episode). They discussed one of GRRM’s brilliant literary talents, his ability to subvert expectation. Whether it’s the reader’s expectations or the expectations of the characters, Ned will make it out of this, right? It constantly keeps you off-kilter, the moment Ned’s head leaves his body, all bets are off. No one is safe. That moment, that feeling, permeates throughout the series, much to our indignation. This is why I could never compete in the fan theory debates. What do you think will happen? Who do you think will end up on the Iron Throne? I don’t f***ing know. There’s no way I could’ve guessed, and it’s a good thing I didn’t place any wagers on my predictions, because that money would be long gone now. I was prepared for the Night King to eradicate everyone. But, at the end of the day, I’ve been happy to nervously watch it all unfold from the edge of my seat. I’ve appreciated the times the TV show has cranked the story up to 11, for instance, Talisa (AKA Jeyne Westerling) being present at The Red Wedding. In the book she stays back at Riverrun, therefore, she wasn’t present at the massacre. In the books she is still alive and...well, no one in the ASOIAF universe is doing well.

I’m not saying the final season is without its flaws, it certainly has them, no work is perfect. But I think it gave as satisfying an ending as this story would allow. George R. R. Martin has been very vocal about his love for J.R.R. Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings. He’s also stated he wants to emulate the ending of LOTR in Thrones. More specifically, its “bittersweet” ending. Although, even without that knowledge, if we thought Game of Thrones was going to have anything resembling a Disney-style happy ending, then we weren’t paying attention. Like Tyrion speaking of the corruption in King’s Landing, “If you’re looking for justice, you’ve come to the wrong place.”

There are still aspects that irk me, like Jaime pulling a full 180 (or a 360, depending on how you look at it), but I think Jaime is a self-punishing character, he doesn’t believe he deserves redemption, so he set about making sure to deny himself that redemption by returning to Cersei. The show runners could’ve given everything more time to breathe. Maybe they should’ve done a ten-episode season, especially since the writers wanted to pack so much into the season. Who knows, maybe if they had done a full ten, we’d all be sitting here talking about those four episodes where nothing happened. However, I think at least two more episodes of watching Dany unraveling, being a complete dictator would’ve solidified the arc. Some thought the Night King battle was pushed too far forward in the season, that he should be a final boss. The problem with that is, after dealing with the Night King, no matter what, the living still have to deal with each other. That being said, the final season did give us one of the most satisfying episodes (A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms), and arguably the most epic (The Long Night). Sure, the season felt rushed, but that’s because we didn’t want it to end.

All of this makes me more eager for GRRM to finish the books. I’m curious to see how he closes it out. So let’s all wish him good health. I’ll be very surprised if the books end like the TV show, but hopefully we will find out.

Ultimately, If you didn’t like the final season, I get that, we all have our issues with it, it’s part of being a fan. We all think it should’ve ended this way or that way. It doesn’t mean the way it ended was wrong, just different from what we expected. Was the second season of True Detective bad, or did we just want more Matt McConaughey and Woody Harrelson? Time will tell. I think the second season was fantastic and in some ways superior to the first. When Sopranos ended, its finale was met with venomous contempt. Now, more than a decade later, it’s revered as one of the best finales. One of the finales that “got it right.” Maybe, after the dust settles, the Thrones finale will be re-examined, and maybe the public will feel different about it. Just don’t let the ending mar the story as a whole, because, “A good act does not wash out the bad, nor a bad act the good.”

#game of thrones #hbo

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olympiansrpg1-blog · 7 years

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Congratulations, Harper! You have been accepted as Atlas (FC: Ricky Whittle). Richard shows a lot of intensity and promise, things that we were looking for in our skeleton of Atlas. Please be sure to message the main within 24 hours of acceptances with your account, read over the checklist, follow everyone on the masterlist, and track all tags. Congratulations, once again, and welcome to Olympians!

*Below is a sample application, please bear in mind that this does not reflect everything that is expected in an application as I went into full detail of my character.

OOC information

Name/alias: Harper

Pronouns: She/her

Age: 21

Time zone: GMT+10

Triggers: Extreme gore

IC information

Skeleton wanted: Atlas

Faceclaim wanted: Ricky Whittle, Brett Dalton, Godfrey Gao, Ryan Guzman, DJ Cotrona

Character’s full name: Richard Regulus Johnson

Richard: Means "brave power", derived from the Germanic elements ric "power, rule" and hard "brave, hardy". The Normans introduced this name to Britain, and it has been very common there since that time. It was borne by three kings of England including Richard I the Lionheart, one of the leaders of the Third Crusade in the 12th century.

Regulus: Roman cognomen meaning "prince, little king", a diminutive of Latin rex "king". This was the cognomen of several 3rd-century BC consuls from the gens Atilia. It was also the name of several early saints. A star in the constellation Leo bears this name as well.

Age/Birthday: 29/August 12th

Character biography OR para sample:

You have always been a king, this is a legacy that you have always known, the blood of royals running through your veins as your father let the heavy weight of the crown turn him into something cruel and marred by years of complacency.

It all started when you were a child, little legs running around the streets of New York City with not a single care in the world. You had always had the men and women with dark suits surrounding you at all times, so much so that they had faded into the background of your life. Your father wanted to always assure that his little prince would be protected, that there was nothing to fear in this life so long as you were safe. And for some reason, you always believed him. His words were like honey, sweet and filled with liquid gold. Your earliest recollection is sitting in his lap as a child, bouncing on one knee as he promised you that you would hold the weight of the world on your shoulders one day like he did. New York City was your birthright, Olympus was yours to claim whenever he would become too old to manage it.

“Richie, all of this will be yours, I promise you.”

The words echoed in your ears at night, satin sheets comforting you in the night as you slept on peacefully, assured that nothing in this life would be amiss. It was until halfway through your seventh year that life would hit you harder than it ever had before. You can still remember the way your mother clutched your hand, a firm and tight hold as tears ran down your cherubic cheeks. You can remember your father kneeling down on his knees to apologize to you, something in his tone telling you that he was both relieved that you and your mother were leaving but mournful of it as well. That was why you never once regretted moving to Germany with her, that was why your tears stopped spilling over the moment you both climbed into that town car with all of your belongings packed up into a suitcase. It was a dawn of a new era, young as you were, you knew that you had to become something that your father would be proud of one day as he was no longer here to watch you grow.

Moving to a new country was far harder than your pre-teen mind could have imagined, getting acclimated to a new environment when all you’ve ever known was a metropolitan city where everyone spoke English and you practiced safety in numbers with employees of your father. Your mother, however, always remained resilient through it all, every wayward spill and every heartbreak, she was there to save you from it all. You were just a mere child, unsure of what the rest of the world could do to you, but it was only when you grew to a teenager did you understand the toll that you were taking on your own mother. Where you could not understand the distant look in her eyes when your father called when you were younger, you knew now that it was because of the distinct female voices that you could clearly hear on the other side of the line. Where you did not understand why you had to leave, you once began to realize the veiled truth behind it all when your father would visit for only days at a time, making excuses that he had a business to run before jetting off once more.

The more and more you grew into Germany, the same Germany grew into you. This was home, you could hardly remember the urban jungle that was New York until you were reminded that a legacy was still a legacy and it was your rightful place in the throne when you were ready to claim it. You often heard whispers, tiny inklings of the things that were happening as you would often open news articles of strange misgivings that took place there. You heard tales of the Greek who ran the city, running it amuck and controlling it with fear and power, a thorn in your side as you heard of the mere existence of Zeus and Hades, two deities that represented so much in mythology as well as being known as Cronus’ sons in them as well. The title should have been yours. After all, you were the one true child of Cronus and it was your duty to lift up the world that he had built for you, you would remind them all that it was for you. Anger was not an emotion that you often greeted with open arms, quite the opposite, really. Determination was ever present in the forefront of your mind, coaxing itself to prove your worth more and more with each passing day. It was the only way that you could show that you deserved it far more than they did, the two looming figures that were ever present in Cronus’ life where you were absent. Every time he visited, you were sure to show him just how far you had come since the last time, proving that there was far much more to you than just being his son.

It was when you graduated that you knew that you had to prepare yourself. After all, your father had promised you a kingdom, but what would a kingdom be without loyal subjects? You had no doubt that he had his own who had done his bidding for an entire lifetime, but you did not know them nor did you trust them in the same manner that he did. So, you began collecting and analyzing, only the best of the best allowed to serve as you promised them a life much more than the ones they lived now and family to always return home to. Just because yours was splintered did not mean that you could not make another one, this one stronger and with a bond better than one simply rooted by a child. You were becoming a king in your own right, growing up from the little prince your father once called you and your mother was the high priestess who you would turn to for decisions that you were not sure you could not make alone. Gone were the large eyes of curiosity that only a child could hold, gone was the innocence that your father often mistook for weakness in you, gone were the dreams of a conflictless world where you reigned supreme. It was all replaced by strong shoulders, a devious look in your eyes, and a smile that could light up the world but hands that could strike out the moment something went amiss. You became a weapon, your own body purely made for the fight, but you had others who could fight for you first before you could even raise a finger. You only looked for the genuine, the loyal, garnered and gained their trust in the most intimate way you possibly could.

It was only when you heard about the passing of Eurydice did you dare to reach out to a member of the Olympians, offering your condolences to the one who called themselves Orpheus a mere few months after the “accident”. It was easy to sway them, to pluck them from the ranks of your father’s officers and coerce them to offer up the details of the incident as well as the aftermath along with everything that came along with the gang. It did not take very long or much thought for you to open your arms up to Orpheus, knowing full well what it was like to have been left behind by someone that you thought cared for you. You did not do it out of jealousy, no, you did it because despite all the claims you make, you still have a kind heart for the wayward souls that floated through life without any semblance of a family. The strong would only be weak without a foundation, it was your duty to give that to them as well as a shelter to run to when the storm grew too strong for one person. Right before your very eyes, you all became a cohesive unit, a family that you could be just as proud of as the one you left behind, if not more. Your legacy was finally beginning to come together.

Or so you thought. When you heard the news of your father’s untimely demise, it was like a lightning bolt through your spine. You could feel death’s cold clutches coming for you too, how fitting for Zeus and Hades to have claimed the defunct family that was now Olympus as their own. You laughed at the cruelty of life, your father having left you nothing as though he had forgotten about you. Something cruel began to sprout from the ground that which you stood, balled fists at your sides as you saw your life’s purpose crash down before you. The weak would have given up, but no, you were Atlas. You were Richard Johnson, son of the once great Harvey and it was only right that you take back what was rightfully yours. They say heavy is the head that wears the crown, but not if they had been born with it pressed upon their heads... And you’ve always known it was meant for you.

So you watched, in the shadows, allowed the prey to believe that they were predators and take each other out while you waited for a proper time to rise. You sent others out in your steed to gather information as you planned with them all, mechanically took out those who were weak in mind, but strong in body to them all. It was easy for the Olympians to become just as complacent as your father had been, never expecting those to infiltrate from the outside and wreak havoc on a place that was never theirs to begin with. You could only watch them with a laugh, lighting their world ablaze as you brought your own into New York City. They say Atlas carries the world on his shoulders: a heavy burden to bear in the face of what the world is now, but what would his purpose be without it?

You are coming for the throne and you will never lose sight of it ever again, such has always been your birthright.

Character Development:

I’d certainly love to have Richard make some really questionable decisions, letting his want for revenge truly affect him, so much so that the Titans would band together and try to urge someone into talking to him about it.

Although I’d love for Atlas to come out on top, I do think he needs a bit of a reality check. Running a mob in New York City isn’t the easiest thing in the world, especially when he only trusts a certain amount of people. Every gang needs its lackeys and you could have to be able to recruit in order to get some, something that he isn’t entirely familiar with.

Even if he wasn’t close to his father, I would still also like to have him grieve for Cronus for a little bit, especially if/when he finds out that Hera is responsible for his untimely death and it wasn’t simply a case of passing away due to age and stress.

I would also, maybe, like for the international arms dealing to eventually make its way into Tartarus, rather than just gambling. Even though Rhea is handling things in Germany for him, this is a new territory and Richard would rather have connections to things around him than those that are thousands of miles away and too far to help immediately.

Maybe an actual rational conversation between him and Zeus/Hades, where they can actually all acknowledge the fact that they’re all a little bit responsible for the fall of Olympus and maybe realizing that they all need each other to survive. This, of course, is probably far into the future.

Other:

-- Harvey was the one who put a gun in Richard’s hand as a child, urging him to learn how to shoot before he could even learn how to ride a bike. However, it was Rhea who was the one who taught him how to shoot with accuracy. She was the one who taught him where it would hurt most to shoot a man without killing them and where it would simply be a clean through and through and where the vital organs were. Like most things in his life, it seems as though Cronus would start them and Rhea would finish and forge them into an ability and so much more.

-- Prior to Orpheus’ visit to Germany, Richard was in the process of rooting a crime syndicate in the heart of Berlin, eventually planning on taking Olympus international in his time as the boss as he thought he would automatically assume the throne. With the announcement of Harvey’s death, he has left the up and rising weapons dealing venture to the capable hands of someone he trusts while he attempts claim Olympus.

-- While cruel to others, there is no one he loves more than the Titans he’s surrounded himself with. While they have strength in number, for him, that is also where they are weakest. There is nothing he wouldn’t do in order to help them in their times of need, even going on a suicide mission just to rescue them from someone else’s clutches and there is no one he trusts more to have his back when he needs them. The basis of their relationships is all founded on a mutual trust that he knows cannot be broken just by pure torture or manipulation.

-- (TW: Abuse) During his attendance at the University of Mannheim, Richard came across a puppy that had clearly not been taken care of by its owner. With matted black fur, multiple scabs, and a limp, it was only logical to him that he took the dog and nursed it back to health in the confines of his own apartment. Since then, he has found a lifelong companion in Hyas, named after the archer son of Atlas who hunted monsters. He has not left his side since that fateful night and Richard has never once thought about leaving him behind.

-- Richie holds a certain fascination for the night sky, constellations glittering as though they were alive, framed by the light of the moon. He is able to recite all the constellations by heart, a spark in his eyes as he talks about their origin stories as well. There is nothing more that he enjoys than to lay in the grass and stare up at the sky when he has the time to do so. Unfortunately, with his arrival in New York, not only is he not able to look at all the stars with the pollution in the air, but he does not have the time either.

-- (TW: Torture) Ruthless as he is, Richard is known to occasionally make an appearance during interrogations, not wanting to put Hyperion solely in charge of such an important matter despite the fact that he knows that they are the best of the best. After all, he wants to be able to have his fun with people that have crossed him as well as those who seated themselves at the feet of those who have wronged him. Though his method is not brutal, it is more emotional and mental and he often enjoys driving them crazy from simple things like loud, noisy music being played over and over on a sound system for hours and dragging a subject into freezing cold water until they crack under the pressure.

-- After the dissolution of Rhea and Cronus’ relationship, something inside of Richie changed. Though young and not quite understanding the truth of what had happened, he vowed to himself that he would never put love before his business. Though he’s had a few flings in the past, they have never been serious as he has not allowed them to be. Love is mostly an idea to him, something that is, above all, a distraction when it comes to his goals in life. While this may be true, that does not mean he does not know how to be charismatic. In fact, it’s rather the opposite. He uses his looks to his advantage, twisting his good looks whenever he can to get what he wants outside of those he considers family.

-- Though he considers manipulation one of his favorite methods, Richard is a big believer in assuring that things are done the right way by doing them himself. He is not about delegating jobs out to others to take care of, but taking part in them and putting himself in the line of fire as he is a man of action as well as showing face so others realize that he is not afraid to give his life for those he considers close. He knows that Zeus and Hades’ ultimate downfall is that they do not know their people and their people ultimately do not trust them in the same manner that his team does with him.

-- Richard’s earliest memory is one of Cronus and Rhea strolling in Central Park with him clinging onto both of their arms, his father endearingly calling him “little king” as they swung him back and forth. He can still remember the look of joy on Rhea’s face and the laughter that left his own lips as they formed one united front. It is, by far, one of his dearest memories and one he holds close to him. Though he knows he can never get that back, especially with Harvey’s demise, he hopes that his mother can one day find the same happiness with another.

(x) (x) (x)

#sample

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