#The Manifesto Show

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

caterpillar? more like cu. more like cunty. cuntypil. um.

[eddiespornstache]

It starts because they don’t think they like each other very much

Josh has always been unlucky in love. Nobody ever sticks around for him. So he’s jaded. He’s internalized that he isn’t easy to deal with, let alone love. Fine, if he can’t have a partner, he can at least blow off steam with a fuckbuddy. And there’s been a few, and Josh is resigned to that being his life.

Eddie’s a nester, but he’s spent his entire life trying to build nests in the wrong places with the wrong people for the wrong reasons. He’s been doing everything based off what he thought was best for Chris and now he’s driven Chris away. So now, at his lowest, Eddie is maybe thinking about wanting what he’s spent years trying not want.

Josh and Eddie used to be coworkers, but they aren’t anymore. They’ve got mutual friends, but they’ve never spent significant time together. They aren’t unknown entities to each other, but it’s not like they particularly care about each other either. They’re both bitter, caustic men at their worst, but they can handle each other’s barbs.

Josh is the perfect guy for Eddie to explore having gay sex with without any strings. Eddie is the perfect guy for Josh to have another meaningless hook-up based relationship with.

And once Eddie gets his sea legs, it’s good sex. It’s great sex! Josh has a ton of experience and Eddie has always had a gift for pleasing his partners. They make each other feel incredible. And for a while that’s all it is.

But the longer that they’re going at it, and the more they realize that their bickering is foreplay, the more they realize they don’t dislike each other nearly as much as they thought. And suddenly, ‘I don’t care about him, but he can handle me at my worst’ becomes ‘he can handle me at my worst and, damn, I think i might really like him for it’.

And slowly the time they spend together becomes less and less about just sex. They can talk for hours, teasing and sniping and commiserating and giggling together. They start hanging out in other contexts. It’s almost like they’re dating. And that’s when they realize, they’ve fallen into it so naturally. They are dating.

And Josh is charmed by Christopher, because everybody is, and when they get officially introduced they get along quite well, even though Josh isn’t interested in being another dad to him. But Eddie realizes that it’s not what Chris wants either—and that it’s okay for Josh to be just another trusted adult in Chris’s life when he’s something more to Eddie. He’s Chris’s dad, and he’s enough.

And Josh could never have dreamed of a partner more dedicated, and adoring, and romantic as Eddie Diaz once he lets down his walls and lets himself want something wholeheartedly. They’re both something to each other they never thought or expected they’d be able to have.

[lena-hills]

I realized something about Nemik's manifesto and the whole Andor/Rogue One debate about the line "I've been in this fight since I was six years old."

Because, by Nemik's philosophy, every act against the Empire and against fascist control makes you part of the Rebellion. "There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they've already enlisted in the cause. Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward."

Cassian has been fighting the Empire through theft, self-defense, childhood attempts for vengeance, long before Andor starts, and it makes sense that looking back he would count all of it.

[coldarena]

hbo war themes BOB: we're all in this together : ) TP: you are born alone and you die alone MOTA: at least I have my bestie : )

[hawberries]

update: i got him!!!!!!!

[image is a digital drawing of Gorou holding his fish box and gesturing authoritatively as if giving orders, his expression serious. He is wearing a black t-shirt that reads “WORKING: service dog; do not pet; I’m at work!”]

[kirbombs]

May the 4th be with you.

[essektheylyss]

personally I hope that Mentopolis ends with the Fix and Pasha spending all of their time at the library together where they annoy the other patrons by ignoring the books in favor of reciting fun facts in incongruously sensual tones while holding intense eye contact and then eventually adopting Conrad, who spends library outings reminding people not to talk too loudly or damage the books, as their beloved son

[atopvisenyashill]

why do you think jonsa is happening tho? jonerys is different bc they are going to be enemies, but i don’t see what jonsa does for the story

so let me first lay out roughly what i think is going to happen should jonsa become canon. I personally love going down meta and graphic spirals, so I'm including links to other people’s theories/explanations/graphics of events too - also I would like to shout out @istumpysk because half these metas and gifsets were stuff I found on their blog initially, and also was the one who really convinced me that jonsa is less of a crackship and more of a contender for an actual canon theory, and from there i really found my niche in this fandom. specifically this meta about jon being the mummer's dragon is what pulled me out of my "we're never getting twow and if we do it's just gonna be that stupid dany has jon's magical baby while tyrion watches, then they all die theory" slump and lit my brain on fire again. let's goooo:

The Ashford Tourney Theory - Something Shady goes down at the tourney Petyr has planned that requires Sansa to make a quick getaway, and likely causes her to run into Brienne while fleeing. This theory for me is about hinting at Sansa's romantic future, allies, and how she's getting the hell out of the Vale: both the dark haired, Not Targ Looking Targ Prince that is the son of A Great Prince That Never Was being her romantic endgame but also it's about Brienne (/Dunk) getting her the hell out of there and becoming Sansa's number one ally and protector (with Sansa's number two being Bronze Yohn!! But he's not fleeing with her - if he helps her get out of the Vale, it'll be to cause a distraction or a fight so Sansa can slip away unnoticed. Bronze Yohn is coming with the knights of the Vale later to help defend his girl!).

The Girl In Grey - Out of options on where to go, Sansa & Brienne makes a long, fast, and dangerous trek to the only family she knows is still alive: Jon Snow at the Wall. No, I don't think Alys Karstark is the girl in grey on a dying horse; I think she's a red herring, the same as the scene where Sweetrobin destroys the snow castle, and that the real girl in grey (who slays the savage giant) is Sansa. Melisandre says that she sees "Jon's sister" but doesn't specify more than that, or how she knows it's Jon's sister, even - why would she assume Alys is Jon's sister and not some random Northern girl? Why was she so sure that it was his sister? It's because Alys isn't the girl in grey, it's Sansa, her horse dying because she's traveled halfway across the continent with Brienne and Pod, desperately trying to keep ahead of the dozens of people hunting her down.

The Blood of Winterfell - Sansa and Jon will reclaim winterfell together. This one is similar to above; just like Alys was a red herring, the scene where Sansa rebuilds the castle has a lot of foreshadowing (imo) but that isn't the moment in the prophecy Arya hears. The Savage Giant is Littlefinger, the castle of snow is Winterfell, and Sansa is going to liberate her home alongside Jon and what's left of the Northern lords.

Stone and Snow Remains - THIS is where Sansa and Jon will fall in love while fighting for the North. This is also the part where you lose a lot of people, because they think the evidence is real weak sauce but like, I also think the Jonerys "evidence" is weak af too (and no wonder, we have at minimum 2k pages left to get through!!). There's several believed foreshadowing points to this one, bare with me for this weird ass formatting because I can't do sub bullet points on tumblr:

1. Sansa's linking of snow with love and affection - "drifting snowflakes brushed her face as light as lover’s kisses, and melted on her cheeks...She could feel the snow on her lashes, taste it on her lips. It was the taste of Winterfell. The taste of innocence. The taste of dreams." along with her snow maiden and snow knight.

2. Bael the Bard and the Rose of Winterfell - the chapter where Sansa gets her period for the first time, Cersei refers to it as “flowering” a dozen times, linking being a maiden (a young girl, not quite of age or just barely of age) to flowers and several people refer to sex as ~plucking. Also notice the one who stole her from KL is Lord BAELish.

3. Aemon the Dragonknight & Queen Naerys - Sansa compares herself to Naerys, Joffrey to Aegon, and wishes for an Aemon, among the many similarities between her life and Naerys'. Jon not only calls himself Aemon, he has a deep connection with a different Aemon Targaryen. And if you’re thinking “Sansa isn’t Naerys, X is Naerys” I would remind you that Sansa as a character existed first, George purposefully had her compare herself to Naerys, and parallels don't belong to just one character.

4. Jenny of Oldstones and The Prince of Dragonflies - there's honestly a lot of parallels between them but like the Aemon/Naerys parallel, the Jenny/Duncan one stands out to me.

5. Janos Slynt - I mean. Iconic. This was the scene that made me first think about what their relationship could be in the future and there’s a reason Jonsas fixate on it. It’s about Sansa being desperate for a hero and the hero she dreamed about being Jon the whole time. 6. Societal Alienation - There's the bastard parallels here, the "it would be so sweet to see him again", the "Winterfell belongs to my sister, Sansa." It's about how Jon, through circumstances of his birth, finds himself alienated from the rest of society and reconnects with his prim and proper sister Sansa, who finds herself alienated from the rest of society as well but for vastly different reasons.

Robb’s Will - Howland is going to show up in the North, along with Maege and Galbert, with some WILD news about why Jon can’t rule Winterfell. There’s a lot of contention around this. Bran probably shows up around this time too, and Arya gets to the Riverlands to discover Lady Stoneheart and give her the gift of mercy. This is where all the inheritance stuff is going to happen and I have no idea how it's going to go down besides it's going to be messy as all fuck.

The Pact Of Ice And Fire - Jon & Sansa get secret married bc they’re in love, not siblings, & jon is the only man she trusts not to steal her claim. This isn't the only possible foreshadowing instance of a marriage either - some believe the Sandor/Sansa scene during the Battle of the Blackwater is foreshadowing as well (personally I feel that's a bit of a stretch but I wanted to include it anyway).

Jon As An Envoy - I talked about this in my "what's Jon's ending" a little but I believe Jon will act as an envoy for either Sansa or Bran to Aegon VI, essentially playing out a similar story that he does in the show with Daenerys. By which I mean, Jon is not the King because the ruler themselves do not go as an envoy, that’s stupid and dangerous, but he goes as an ambassador for Sansa or Bran, to treat with a new claimant to the Iron Throne that is gaining support - Aegon VI & Jon Connington. They will probably clash, Jon will probably have yet another identity crisis, there had BETTER be gay incest subtext, then Aegon dies, and Jon has his sixth quarter life crisis in a row.

“King” of the Gift - again, something I touched on in my Jon meta is that I think he’s going to have a hand in resettling the Gift. Personally, I think it's likely that Jon leaves to protect the claims of his siblings (see: Duncan and Jenny) and goes to the Gift to help resettle it to keep out of the way. This ending is typically referred to as the "bael the bard" ending but i like to think of it as the "brandon's gift" ending instead - though he is not physically with his family, Jon feels fulfilled having confirmed his family loves him through reclaiming Winterfell and marrying Sansa, being reunited with Arya, and being given the Gift by Bran. Sansa claims her children were fathered by a wolf.

So…what does all this do for the story?

Well, in my opinion, several things.

I think the main barrier here is that most people in the greater fandom describe Sansa's story as ~growing past childish wants~ and Jon's as ~rejecting love~ and I do not agree with either of those takes even a little bit. This is where (imo) the dividing line between Jonsas and the rest of the fandom is. I don’t think the answer to Sansa’s question “will anyone ever marry me for love” is going to be “nah" - that's not just a sad story to me (wanting to be married isn't childish! craving intimacy and understanding isn't childish! it's also not wrong for a child to be childish!), I think the idea that Sansa (or Jon) will not find another love just doesn't line up with how George approaches his story. Who Sansa's husband will be has been such a big question, and her story is so heavy into the more romantic tropes like courtly love and chivalry and the line between politics and love and identity, that the question of Sansa's hand in marriage will be plot relevant. I also think it's kinda naive of people to pretend like George isn't very interested in the sexual dynamics of the characters he writes about (yeah, sure, no woman needs a man but "needing a man" is not what this is about. look at everything this man wrote in F&B and tell me he is going to write a female character that longs for sex and desire and doesn't get it!).

After AGOT, nearly every time Sansa thinks about marriage involves her longing for love but believing she will never get it because a man will only ever love her for her claim. Giving her a man - like Jon - who not only will not steal her claim and in fact has defended it twice over already, who will love her for who she is and not what she can give him, is a really important aspect of her story in my opinion.

As for Jon, I am even more firmly against the opinion that his story is about rejecting love; Jon’s story is about wanting to be a good man, to measure up to his father ~despite~ his bastard blood. When Aemon asks if Ned would choose honor over love and Jon stubbornly says yes, Jon is wrong and it’s important to not forget that. Ned has never once in his entire life chosen honor over love; he chooses his daughter’s life over his honor, he chooses his sister & her son’s life over honor, he chooses Arya & Nymeria over honor, and on and on!!! Ned chooses love at almost turn but none of his children know that just yet - look at Robb choosing Jeyne’s honor over his own and how upset he is at the idea that Ned would be disappointed despite the fact that Ned would have understand Robb’s decision! Jon's whole arc is tied up in realizing that it is not wrong or dirty to feel and choose love, passion, and desire and if he never has another romantic arc again, I think you lose the second part of that lesson which is "you are responsible for how you act when you feel love but that doesn't mean that simply choosing love makes you a bad person."

There's also the fact that George has talked a lot about "who lives, who dies, who gets married" and yet we have not one marriage at the end of the show AND there's not a lot of guesses at what "who gets married" means besides Jon/erys (and even if Jonsa doesn't happen, I simply do not see Jon/erys happening. they are not similar enough, they will not be in the same space for long enough, and they are on wildlly different trajectories for their story, they are not getting married let alone having sex). I think Jonsa fits that bill very well.

These various theories - from Sansa being queen, Jon living in exile, The Ashford Tourney Theory, the secret marriage, every one of them - are ideas and themes that I have really been thinking about for about 12 years now. I think Jon and Sansa's relationship could fit with the themes in their stories, the overarching themes in the books, and my own personal opinions. I think it gives George a great opportunity to delve into the courtly love aspects he enjoys so much, as well as delve into inheritance, legacy, legitimacy, honor, incest (yes, that too), and above all, what George himself has said the whole series is about - love. The human heart in conflict with itself is what I think Jon and Sansa as a romantic couple does for the series.

[jimmy-wilson]

anD ANOTHER THING

Both of Wilson's ex-wives post Wilson and House meeting blame House for their divorce. Wilson admits multiple times that he actively cheated on them, and they knew about it yet they blame House. Not Wilson for cheating, not the subjects of the affairs, but his best friend. Not because House knew and didn't tell them, not because he facilitated it, but because Wilson spent too much time with House, and that in their minds is how their marriages fell apart.

When will I be free from this fucking brain melting show???

[ssruis]

I think it’s both funny & sweet that ruikasa are both legitimately addicted to that show grind. Their idea of a break is working on a show their idea of downtime is working on a show if you said “no writing or working on a show for 24 hours” they’d go watch movies or musicals or plays. so much of their relationship is comprised of their shared passion for shows because it’s what they love the most and the easiest way for them to communicate. Their wedding will be a sho[I am dragged off stage and beaten]

[waterme-stories]

Wild to me that there are ship wars for Interview With The Vampire when, as a teen, The Vampire Chronicles were some of my first exposure to non-monogany.

Obviously it wasn't perfect. I mean, Lestat/Louis/Claudia is a textbook example of "relationship broken, add more people (oh no now it's even more broken)," and "not every Vee should become a Triad." If you've ever experienced the drama of an incestuous non-mono community where everyone's dated everyone... those books all get a little too real. There's backstabbing, jealousy, domestic abuse, and more murder than I personally prefer in my own polyamory 😅

But there's also "we belong to each other, why would anything we do with other people affect that?" There's "let's find out what it looks like to be with someone for the rest of my life (or theirs)." The idea that relationships have value even if they don't last forever. That romantic relationships aren't inherently more important than platonic ones. The idea that you can hold multiple people in your heart at the same time, that there's room for everyone. That the relationship escalator (dating > marriage > kids > death) isn't the only (or best) way to have significant, committed relationships.

They introduced the concept of comet relationships to my baby brain more than a decade before I would learn the actual term--those people you don't see for months or years but as soon as you see them it's like no time has passed (a personal favorite for my ADHD ass).

Like, when I say those books changed my brain chemistry, I mean that my silly little self-insert Mary Sue OCs went from "marry my fictional crush and be with them forever" to "what if they only saw each other once or twice a year but it was still incredible" and "what if she was married but also had a vampire lover and everyone was chill about it (and also she was a rock star)" and "what if they all lived in one big house together" and/or "what if lived by herself and found that fulfilling" and "what if men and women and ???" That shit was formative. Some of those little daydream OCs live in my brain to this day.

-

Idk man. I don't have much patience for ship wars anyway (and I'm scratching my head about people getting upset about canon relationships being, you know, canon). But with TVA especially, my brain simply cannot comprehend it in a monogamous framework.

[pennie-dreadful]

Because I'm seeing way too many of y'all bend over backwards to explain to Sylkie antis that Sylkie isn't """"selfcest""""

STOP. STOP IT.

Besides the fact that selfcest is not real and is in no way analogous to real world abuse or harm, it wouldn't matter even if it were. This post is not about rehashing that disk horse, though. This post is to say that YEAH IT'S WEIRD, LOKI AND SYLVIE FALLING IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER IS DEFINITELY WEIRD. We have had Mobius and Brad/X5 both remark on it, in fact. A romantic relationship between 2 variants of the same person from different timelines is still pretty significantly fucking weird.

AND THAT'S OK

That's why I like Sylkie, godfuckingdammit. I could not have come up with the concept if I tried, and if it had just been explained to me I would throw my hands in the air in frustration (while I certainly have enjoyed plenty of Loki shipfics, at the end of the day I don't really ship him with anyone and I violently hated the idea of him getting a canon love interest). But Tom and Sophia sold me on it with their frankly insane chemistry, and I honestly think they're the only canon Loki pairing I could ever accept, because the relationship itself mirrors Loki perfectly: kinda fucked up, weird and deviant. It's not a fairytale romance. They don't fix each other. They had every reason to hide their feelings and not trust each other, but they still did. AND THEN THEY STILL FUCKED IT UP AND HURT EACH OTHER, because turns out they have opposing ideologies re: the multiverse and how to save it (and what it needs saving from).

Sylkie shippers, you don't need to pander or justify yourselves to self righteous moralizing biphobic assholes. You just don't! Own the weirdness that is Sylkie! I am begging you to stop trying to prove that there's nothing wrong with Sylkie, and recognize that the fucked upness is the whole entire goddamn point.

(Addendum for clarification: this does not mean that I think Loki and Sylvie can't still have a healthy and balanced relationship. They can! I very very very much want them to! But they are both 15 different kinds of damaged and they are so, so not there yet. It's about the journey, not the destination 💚)

[variousqueerthings]

there’s so many ways that queerness exists in texts, unintentionally and intentionally, coded and uncoded and partially coded and baited and confused and limited and expansive, and then there’s whatever is happening with Hawkeye Pierce, M.D. of the 4077th MASH unit

[dilf-in-peril]

Okay, who cares about merch sales? The REAL measure of success is how highly rated your feet are over at wikifeet.

Things I learned today: women don't get number ratings, probably because straight men can't be trusted with anything, and John Cena's feet are so amazing he managed to break the scale, which is somehow the most John Cena thing to do.

[vocowboyloid]

Something I noticed is that Faineant Girls music in her profile changed? Last time it was HERTZ by Blackdresses I think

[mellotronmkll]

Like I genuinely feel like a lot of fans of like late 70s/early 80s new wave and post-punk especially the 'weirder' and more artsy and high concept stuff would love early they might be giants Like can you not get enough of elements of the avant-garde in pop music do you love when music is sarcastic and irreverent and witty and surreal and absurd and DARK do you like when music sounds a bit scary and challenges and unsettles you do you like when its been made with DIY production on the cheapest crunchiest instruments and is performed in gritty underground clubs and presented to audiences in novel ways do you like when artists seek to play with and redefine the relationship between artist and audience or do you also just like when frontmen get down autistic silly and sensitive style and freak everyone out with the way they incorporate performance art into their live shows like just. please contact me so we can listen to the 1983 demo tape while holding hands and I tell you all about it and then I play you a bunch of hissy staticy recordings that were ripped off of an answering machine 40 years ago and you will be changed