#also like the combination of letter that make up the word “rape” is so common in other words you fully rely on people tagging it to avoid

[if-loki-was-a-fox]

Why is it so impossible to filter some things it's so annoying

I can have so many variations on the same phrase filtered and stuff will still slip through anyways T-T

[ruthoakenshield]

Very Good Friends (Chapter 16)

Catch up here: [Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6] [Chapter 7] [Chapter 8]  [Chapter 9]  [Chapter 10]  [Chapter 11]  [Chapter 12]  [Chapter 13]  [Chapter 14] [Chapter 15]

Reader x Henry Cavill, Reader x co-star named Dan

Warning: This tale is for 18+ readers ONLY!!! Mentions of flashbacks: (rape, anal sex, non-con sex, abuse), severe bruising and injury, mentions of suicidal thoughts, depression,   humiliation, and some of the good kind of fluff to make us feel better. Smut (the happy good kind) comes soon!!!

If  ANY of the warnings upset you or make you uncomfortable, DO NOT read  below  the cut! go find something else to read in this case and if you want to be removed from the taglist for this story, let me know. I won’t be upset, I promise!

If you are okay with reading those things then enjoy the tale below the cut.

Feedback  and reblogs are appreciated. I do not own Henry nor do I have any   personal knowledge of him besides what is common knowledge amongst the   Cavillary. Any mistakes and typos are mine, story is not beta-tested.   GIF I got from the tumbler search thingy.

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Two weeks later you, Henry, and several co-stars, as well as crew members find yourselves in the courtroom facing down Dan, your co-star. He is glaring daggers at the two of you as you testify to his behaviour, words and deeds as well as how it affected you and threatened the film. The two of you are each dismissed after your time on the stand. After two days of hearings all day long, you and Henry and your co-stars and crew members wait to hear the results out in the hallway. Henry sees how upset you are after having to answer some of the questions and being verbally attacked by the defense attorney who kept trying to pin this all on you

You tremble in Henry’s arms, your mind racing with all the ‘what if’ scenarios. Henry recognizes the start of you having an anxiety attack starting, and he uses the distraction techniques your counselor taught the two of you to bring you out of it. He helps you focus with deep breathing and holds you close. “Just listen to my heartbeat, Kitten. Focus on that and my breathing.” he tells you. “Find things around us to focus on for each of your senses”. He reminds you.

You close your eyes and focus on him. His musky scent combined with his sandalwood and cedar wood cologne, his warmth and strong body holding you secure. His calming and steady heartbeat beating in your ear as you lean against his broad chest, and his steady breathing, you look at his huge arms holding you close and you taste the peppermint he gives you to suck on. They all lulled you into a relaxing trance while you both waited to hear the results.

Henry rested his chin on your head, focused on keeping his breaths steady, the scent of lavender and your peace and calming oil keeping his nerves at bay. He focused on your body and how it felt in his arms and against his chest. Your arms wrapped around his waist, hidden by his suit jacket from everyone. He counted your breaths for something to do to keep his focus on you and not the ‘what if’ scenarios his brain kept trying to come up with.

Finally, the court room doors were opened, and people began to leave. The studio’s attorneys approached you both and told you that he was convicted on all accounts and will be in jail for the next 30 years and will have to register as a sex offender now. they say, “His acting career is over.” They inform you that you will be getting a hefty amount for restitutions for all the pain and suffering and slander you suffered by his hand and decisions and you will receive a letter from them when it hits your bank account.

Your jaws drop and you look at each other. Henry thanks the attorneys and they shake both your hand and Henry’s. You look back up at Henry and he is beaming. “I’m proud of you, Kitten. You stopped him from hurting any other women.” he says and kisses your forehead. “And Hollywood now knows they won’t be able to mess with you like he did!” you blush and nod. He gives you a hug and offers you his arm. The Cast and crew who also testified cheered at the news and congratulated you and give you hugs and handshakes as well. The two of you head out into the sunshine and walk to Henry’s BMW.

Suddenly a reporter spots the two of you and asks for an interview. Henry and you decline and tell her you are not able to discuss the case or it’s results. Then the two of you climb into the car and Henry pulls out of the parking lot.

He takes you to his favourite little restaurant that is off the main drag and the two of you enjoy a nice dinner with your agents and publicists. The six of you discuss the case and it’s results and the reporter who approached you both. “You handled it nicely.” Henry’s publicist tells him. “Do the same thing if anyone else approaches or asks about it.” she tells you both.

Once everyone is done eating, Henry picks up the tab and you all head home. You and Henry crash into your beds and quickly fall asleep knowing you both have to be up ridiculously early for filming. It’s going to be 16 hour days for the next few weeks and you both are looking forward to it, yet are dreading it too.

You arrive and the whole set is abuzz with the news of the verdict. Everyone is congratulating you and telling you how proud they are of you for standing up to him. Finally the director gets everyone settled down and you are able to film your scenes. Richard is there today with you and Henry filming some of the last scenes with him. He gives you a gentle hug and also congratulates you and tells you he is proud of you and how you’ve rebounded from this. “I hope you continue to get wonderful parts in film, Sweetheart. You’re an amazing actress!” he tells you, making you blush.

The remaining month and a half passes quickly and principal filming wraps ahead of schedule leaving time for re-shoots if they are needed. You both get called back for re-shooting a couple scenes with Richard. Then you have to go into the recording studios after that to do the voice overs for the scenes that they recorded when your voice was still hoarse or non-existent after the attack. Once that is finished, you all are whisked off to begin press junkets, interviews and tv spots all over the globe, glad to be able to start them earlier than expected.

**********

The night before the rat race of Press Junkets begins, you and Henry are in adjoining rooms at a lovely hotel in Los Angeles. You are cuddled on the bench on the balcony and he has made you Peppermint tea to drink and he sips on coffee.

You are watching the sunset and talking quietly enjoying the cool night air. Henry looks at his watch and sighs. “Time for bed, Kitten. We’ve got to be up early in the morning.” he tells you and lifts you off his lap. He easily carries you into the suite and sets you down. “Night Bear.” you tell him and give him a hug. Henry grins and pecks your nose with a goodnight kiss. “Night Kitten.” he tells you and watches you head into your room through the adjoining door.

The two of you agreed to keep the doors open in case your nightmare flares up, which it does occasionally. Henry can always tell when it does because you crawl into bed with him, wrapped in your burrito of the comforter or heavy blanket and you plaster yourself to his side or back.

You crawl into bed and sigh. You’re nervous to start the press junket and you can’t sleep. You toss and turn for over an hour. Finally, you get up and grab the comforter. You wrap it around yourself and creep into Henry’s room. He is sprawled across his bed spread eagle. The room is warm still even with the French doors open letting the evening’s cool breeze in. He refused to use the AC, knowing how you hate the sound of them. You hesitate to crawl up against him knowing he hates being hot when he tries to sleep. You sigh quietly and turn to go back to your room when you hear him sit up and say quietly, “Can’t sleep either, Kitten?”

Turning, you see him propped up on his elbows looking at you. “How can you stand being cocooned in that comforter?” he asks quietly as you approach the bed. He sees sweat rolling off your face and neck. He scoots to the end of the bed and unwraps it from your body. You’re covered in sweat and his fingers gently graze your arms. He is trying hard not to be turned on by your heady scent. “Come with me.” he says quietly and takes your hand.

Leaving the lights off, Henry turns the water in the Jacuzzi on filling the tub with cool water. He strips down and climbs in, then holds out his hand. You hesitate, but want to cool off so you strip down to your panties and bra and climb in.

Henry watches you with appreciative eyes. He pulls you over to him and puts you on his lap as the two of you relax in the cool water. You try to ignore his massive hard on pressing into your back and you focus on his breathing and the feeling of his arms around you. The two of you end up falling asleep in the Jacuzzi’s cool water.

Somehow during the night, you end up turned around and facing him, straddling his hips, his morning wood is pressing into your belly and your head rests on his chest. His arms rest on your thigh and his hands on your ass.

You are surprised you were asleep with him like this and try not to move. You feel him stir and his hands grip your ass momentarily and he moans. Once his brain catches up with his body, he quickly moves them to your back and he quietly asks you if you’re awake. “Mmmm, just woke up.” you murmur. He glances at the clock and yawns. “We need to get going, Kitten. We have to be at the TV studio in an hour.” he tells you.

You sit up and yawn, then stretch, forgetting that you’re nearly naked and sitting on his equally naked lap. His hands grip you to steady you and your eyes open in surprise. “Oh, OH!!! I’m sorry, Bear, I forgot …” you start to apologize when you see the surprised look on his face. You look down and realize your bra and panties have become see through now that they are wet. He lifts a hand to your lips and stops you from finishing. “Don’t apologize, Kitten. I rather like the view.” he says with a smirk. “Soon I will be able to enjoy it every morning in my bed, if you let me.” he purrs making you blush beet red.

Grinning, you move to stand and climb out of the Jacuzzi tub. You grab a towel and dry off, then head to your room. Henry enjoys watching your nearly naked ass sway from side to side as you walk, your hair just barely touching your waistline. He sighs and looks down at his morning wood. Groaning, he takes care of it as he drains the Jacuzzi and then climbs into the shower to freshen up. You do the same in your room. Then you both get dressed, grab your things and head down to meet Richard at the SUV that the studio sent to pick the three of you up.

You spend the next month hopping from one plane to another, one country to another, one hotel to another and one interview to another promoting the movie you were in with Richard and Henry. Sometimes the questions were easy to answer, and other times the interviewer just didn’t get that you couldn’t talk about some things in the movie and they would get upset, which in turn upset you. Henry and Rich both quickly learned your tells that you were getting upset and would quickly squash any unpleasantness.

Twice one particularly belligerent interviewer asked the two of you about the rape case and got upset when all three of you told him that the topic was off the table for discussion and no questions regarding it would be answered. Richard and Henry eventually told him to get out and that the interview was done, despite him still having 10 minutes left. Henry told him that since he couldn’t be respectful of what the three of you could and could not discuss, that the interview was done and if he didn’t get out that security would be called.

The man quickly got up and left, Henry apologized to you, and the film crew taping the interviews just stared in shock. Henry looked at Richard and Rich nodded, so Henry ushered you out into the hallway, seeing you were upset and helped you to calm down. “Why do some people have to be like that?” you say as he holds you and gently rubs your back.

“Because they never learn manners. All they want is to get their story and don’t care who they hurt. They’re no better than paparazzi.” Henry tells you. “Now, are you ready to go back in and hit repeat?” he teases. It was the running joke between the two of you and Rich. You placed bets each morning how many times you’d get asked the same questions. Some days you were closer, other days he or Richard were.

You giggled and nodded. The two of you entered the small room once more and resumed interviews. As the busy day ended the two of you walked out of the studio with Richard, and Henry chuckled, “Well you won today, Kitten. Where do you want to go eat at?” he asks.

You pull up the restaurants in the area and decide on one. The three of you walk arm in arm through the streets with you in the middle, stopping to sign autographs and let people take pictures with the three of you. Everyone seemed excited to see the movie. Finally, you all reached the restaurant and the three of you were seated. None of you could read the menus since they were in a foreign language, and you all laughed trying to figure out what they said. You each decided to just pick something from the pictures that looked good and hope it was something that tasted good.

You all giggled and laughed as you ate and enjoyed the meal. You ended up with something resembling a stuffed steak with a type of potato and local veggies. Henry ended up with a seafood platter including squid and calamari. Rich ended up with something resembling Shepherd’s pie. Henry offered you some of his platter, but you declined, knowing he just wanted your huge steak. You giggled as he eyed you enjoying it. You’d tease him and pretend to offer him a bite only to quickly put it in your mouth. He laughed and told you that you’d pay for that. To which you quipped, “Nope, I won the bet, so you’re payin’ big guy.” Which sent Richard into a laughing fit.

You all were stuffed silly by the time you left the restaurant. You ate your fill of the steak and let Henry finish it off and he ate most of his platter too. He didn’t seem a huge fan of the calamari and squid though.

The three of you walked through a nice park. You were in the middle and Rich was on your right arm, Henry was on your left arm. The three of you visiting, laughing and sharing stories of press junkets they’d done as you all headed back to your hotel. You all arrived, tired and with full bellies.

You wished Rich a good night, then went to your room and began to pack your stuff for the early red-eye flight out. Henry did the same, as did Richard. You and Henry again had adjoining suites so the door between the two was left open. Your suite had a Jacuzzi and Henry was a little jealous his didn’t. You invited him to come join you in it and you set your alarm for an hour before you both needed to be leaving in case you fell asleep in it again.

You and Henry cuddled in the Jacuzzi enjoying the jets circulating the water. Henry massaged your tired feet and you thought you had died and gone to heaven. He was grinning from ear to ear at the lovely moans he was drawing from your lips as he simply massaged the knots and pain from your aching feet. You returned the favor when he was done; and at first he didn’t want you to do it, but once you caught one of his big feet and began to rub with a slow, firm pressure, he melted like a stick of butter in your hands.

“Oh God Kitten! That feels amazing!” he murmurs as you face each other in the Jacuzzi. His foot propped up in your lap as you massaged it. His eyes were closed, and he had a goofy grin on his face. You let his foot slowly drop back into the warm water, and he lifted the other one for you to grab and work on. You noticed he was close to falling asleep. Once you finished his other foot, he was asleep.

“Henry,” you said as you gently shook his massive shoulder. “Henry, wake up. Let’s get you out of the tub and into bed.” you tell him. He groans and moves to stand, his eyes still closed. You chuckle and guide him out of the tub. You hand him a towel and he dries off, his eyes still closed. You giggle and ask, “Aren’t you gonna open your eyes?” he shakes his head and holds out his hand. You chuckle and guide him over to the bed and turn back the covers, you turn him around and sit him down in the bed. He scoots in and you cover him up. He is snoring before you get back to the tub to drain it.

Once it’s drained, you climb into bed next to Henry and curl up and try to get a few hours of sleep. He ends up curling his huge frame protectively around you as he spoons you and pulls you against him as he sleeps. You giggle and just let him cuddle. Just as you finally fell asleep, the alarm goes off, startling Henry, since it wasn’t his normal alarm. You giggled as you heard his going off in his room.

He groans, and gets up. He walks into the room and you admire his god-like physique as he saunters away from you completely naked. His member swung as he walked. Even flaccid, it was huge. You shook your head wondering how it would feel inside you someday if you could ever manage to tolerate having sex. Henry’s sleepy head peers back in through the doorway and he has a funny look on his face once he shut the alarm off.

You sit up and say, “Hen, what’s wrong?” he comes back into the room with his boxers now on, and sits on the bed for a moment, trying to wake up and figure out what was different. “You slept next to me in your bed. I was naked and you weren’t wrapped in your cocoon.” he comments, looking at you puzzled.

You shrug. Hen, we’ve got today left of interviews and then it’s just the red carpet for the movie release. I figured it was safe enough to not cocoon myself up. I felt comfortable and yeah. Don’t worry, you didn’t do anything inappropriate. Just cuddled and spooned me.” you tell him with a giggle, then look down at your lap.

He reaches over and takes your hand. He brings it to his lips and kisses each finger, letting his lips linger on each one, almost sucking them into his mouth. Then he slowly and sensuously kisses the top of your hands and your palms. He stands and leans over the bed to you and kisses your forehead, “Soon.” is all he says and heads back into his room to get ready.

You sit there, in a daze for a moment wondering what the hell was that. You shake your head and yawn, then get up and get ready. The three of you head to the airport and board the plane for the last leg of the trip… London… and their PR whirlwind of a day.

Henry and Rich are both excited to be ‘on home territory’ as they say, and Henry can’t wait to show you around after today’s press junket finishes. Both men are giggly, beaming and in very good moods for the day, setting you at ease once again.

More chapters to come…

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[mediaevalmusereads]

An Extraordinary Union. By Alyssa Cole. New York: Kensington, 2017.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Genre: historical romance

Part of a Series? Yes, Loyal League #1

Summary: As the Civil War rages between the states, a courageous pair of spies plunge fearlessly into a maelstrom of ignorance, deceit, and danger, combining their unique skills to alter the course of history and break the chains of the past . . . Elle Burns is a former slave with a passion for justice and an eidetic memory. Trading in her life of freedom in Massachusetts, she returns to the indignity of slavery in the South—to spy for the Union Army. Malcolm McCall is a detective for Pinkerton's Secret Service. Subterfuge is his calling, but he’s facing his deadliest mission yet—risking his life to infiltrate a Rebel enclave in Virginia. Two undercover agents who share a common cause—and an undeniable attraction—Malcolm and Elle join forces when they discover a plot that could turn the tide of the war in the Confederacy's favor. Caught in a tightening web of wartime intrigue, and fighting a fiery and forbidden love, Malcolm and Elle must make their boldest move to preserve the Union at any cost—even if it means losing each other.

***Full review under the cut.***

Mild spoilers in the Plot section.

Content Warnings: racism, threat of sexual assault, use of the n-word, violence, blood, false rape accusations

Overview: I first became aware of Alyssa Cole via Courtney Milan’s recommendations page, and I decided to start with this Civil War spy romance because... why not? It looked fun! And it was, to an extent. I liked the high stakes, the dynamics of the romance, the characters themselves. But what ultimately prevented me from giving this book more than 3 stars was the plot, romance trajectory, and some aspects of the prose. Of course, your mileage may vary, so if you’re a fan of romance, I suggest giving this book a try for yourself.

Writing: Cole’s prose is fairly clear and easy to read. It flows well, so you can skim or read more in-depth, depending on your preference, and I think that works for the genre Cole is writing in. I also really liked that Cole would drop in random quotes from classic literature to demonstrate Elle’s eidetic memory, and I liked that she was able to communicate the stakes of each scene without overwhelming the reader with infodumps.

I do think, however, that Cole relies a bit too much on telling instead of showing. We’re told over and over again through the characters’ inner thoughts that they have feelings for one another, but I didn’t quite see how those feelings were brought about externally. The banter and the arguments, while good, didn’t quite foster feelings of romantic connection, and I wish a little more was done to show the characters’ chemistry, rather than being told that they had an effect on one another.

Plot: Aside from the romance, the majority of this book revolves around Elle and Malcolm as they infiltrate a Southern senator’s house to learn more about Confederate operations during the Civil War. While I liked the idea, I ultimately thought Cole could have done a little more to give this plot structure. Both Malcolm and Elle seemed to be placed in the house to be on the lookout for any useful information, so from the get-go, it didn’t feel like they had a strong purpose. I think I would have liked to have seen Elle go in with the knowledge that the Confederates were planning something; maybe the Union/Loyal League had whiff of a plot to break the blockade, and Elle is tasked with doing everything in her power to make sure that blockade stays in place.

I also think Cole could have made her characters a little more agentive. While I liked that Malcolm was purposefully flirting with the Senator’s daughter to weasel his way into their good graces, it felt like both Elle and Malcolm were passively waiting for information to fall into their laps. I would have liked to see more scenes of them sneaking into the Senator’s office, trying to find letters or other information, or something else that required the characters to be proactive. The only real scene where we got that, I feel, was when the two went after Dix, the engineer, but even then, they seemed to just follow him out into the woods before getting accosted by slave catchers, forcing them to return home with nothing useful (which they don’t seem too disappointed about).

Speaking of the pursuit of Dix, many scenes seemed to be like this one, and by that I mean many seemed to have been inserted into the plot to create empty tension or action. The characters don’t really get anything useful out of following Dix; the scene was mostly there to give Malcolm and Elle some time to talk and to put Elle in danger. There were others that I felt had a similar purpose. The scene where Elle suspects Malcolm of being a double agent, for example, seemed to come out of nowhere and be over and done with way too quickly, only used to manufacture false tension and then give the two a reason to be alone together. The ending, too, seemed to rely on a lot of exciting things happening in quick succession, and while I liked that it forced the characters to think quickly and make plans, it also felt like Elle and Malcolm had to rely on surprise plans from other people and impossible coincidences.

Lastly, I think the prologue was an odd episode to serve as the book’s initial inciting action. We open with Elle going undercover to pass a message to another operative, and just as she does so, she is harmed by some racist separatists and blacks out. One year later, Elle has recovered and is on a new mission in Virginia, and we learn that she was saved by none other than Malcolm himself. While I felt that this prologue could have worked if Elle and Malcolm hopped around the South on missions and kept meeting up again and again, the events of the prologue didn’t seem to have much significance other than to show that Malcolm had met Elle once before, and even that revelation fizzled out soon after they both realized it. I think I would have liked a more sustained plot where Elle and Malcolm kept crossing paths while doing spy missions, or else have the prologue feature something like a secret meeting where men are talking about building the ironside.

Characters: Elle, our heroine, is a smart, sharp-tongued Black woman with an eidetic memory and a fierce devotion to the Union. I really liked the nuance she brought to interpretations of the abolitionist movement and the politics of slavery and race relations; she would frequently call Malcolm and other well-meaning white people out on their inability to see slavery and racism as something that affects individuals (they see it rather as an abstract concept). I also really liked that she knew her worth but was conscious of what acting on her anger and frustration could do to jeopardize her goals. It made her feel pragmatic and human at the same time, which I very much enjoyed. The only thing I didn’t like about her was that she seemed to keep going back and forth on what she wanted with Malcolm, but more on that in the next section.

Malcolm, our hero, is a Scottish undercover detective for the Pinkertons. I liked that he had a roguish personality without being a Scottish stereotype - he didn’t drop a lot of random slang words, nor was he overly violent or drunk. His main asset was his charisma and his ability to weasel his way into places of power, and I think Cole showed that well. I also liked that he served as a vehicle to explore topics relating to racism, and he was constantly learning about how to be practically anti-racist, not just generally not racist (if that makes sense). I do think, however, that Malcolm made way too many stupid mistakes for one supposedly so good as his job, and I think his attraction to Elle was too insta-lovey for my tastes (but more on that below). He also seemed to have no serious character flaws to overcome; he rather seemed to be a “nice guy” whose only “flaw” was that he just had some things to learn about the Black experience.

Side characters varied in the quality of their usefulness to the plot, but I think Cole wrote them all with good purposes in mind. Susie, the Senator’s daughter who Malcolm flirts with, was appropriately written, being neither an exaggerated villain nor a sympathetic product of her time. The fellow slaves at the Senator’s home were likeable and I enjoyed the way Elle expressed her affection for them; I wish Mary’s plans had been foreshadowed a bit more, but it is what it is. Probably the most underutilized character, in my opinion, was Rufus, whose true identity comes at a surprise to Elle and Malcolm. I feel like a rival espionage plot could have worked well in this story, especially if Elle and Malcolm’s story had been more reluctant-allies-to-lovers, but Rufus’ twist seemed to come out of nowhere and only be important in the last 50 or so pages of the novel. Dix, too, could have been more of an interesting character, but he seems to exist only to put Elle and Malcom in a risky position. Nothing really comes out of his character.

Perhaps the least compelling character, in my opinion, was Daniel, Elle’s supposed longtime friend who was born free but sold into slavery. Daniel never makes an actual appearance on the page; Elle talks about him a lot, but since we never actually see them interact, I felt like I was expected to care about a person I never met. The drama with Daniel seemed to exist to either create jealousy in Malcolm or serve as a way to make Elle trust Malcolm, and honestly, I don’t think Daniel needed to be included at all.

Romance: While I liked the idea of this romance, Elle and Malcolm’s story ultimately didn’t work well for me because I personally found it insta-lovey and somewhat repetitive. Malcolm is attracted to Elle right away, which isn’t a problem, but it seems like they developed feelings for one another after their initial chat in the woods. I prefer my romances to build up over time, with characters falling for one another after becoming emotionally vulnerable and bonding over shared values or helping one another overcome personal character flaws. Elle and Malcolm, by contrast, had some nice banter, but Elle would push Malcolm away, then remember how attractive he was, then the two would kiss or be intimate before Elle would declare they couldn’t be together because it compromised their jobs, and the cycle would repeat. While a conflict of interest could be an interesting point of tension in a romance, I personally felt like Elle was too back-and-forth, and I personally don’t find that back-and-forth very compelling.

I also found some of the sex scenes to be a bit too clinical and clipped, which may work for some people but may not for others. Personally, I like my sex scenes to show not just physical intimacy, but emotional intimacy, and it seemed like some of them were used to that effect while others were just... “she did this. he did this.” I think I would have liked to see Cole put more pressure on the idea of sex as comfort. The first time Elle and Malcolm are physically intimate together, Elle describes it as seeking comfort. However, it’s not really brought up again, and I think it would have been interesting to expand on the idea, perhaps by portraying their reluctant allyship as first a purely physical release/escape to something more emotional and mutually supportive.

TL;DR: An Extraordinary Union brings some much needed diversity the romance genre, and while it has an intriguing plot and likeable characters, it also features a fairly cyclical romance and depends on things happening to the characters, rather than the characters being active subjects.

[nightqueendany]

What Does Jon Snow Know About Daenerys Targaryen?

Translation: Does Jon know enough about Daenerys to believe she’s someone who can’t be trusted AND/OR that she’s someone he thinks shouldn’t hold reigning power over the North?

AKA Is there even REASON for there to be a “Political Jon” in the first place? (aside from Jon apparently being in love with his sister which would be basing theory on theory {political Jon is true because Jon loves Sansa} which is the logical fallacy “Begging the Question”)

Let’s start with the basics.

What Jon would know of Daenerys aside from what Tyrion writes in his scroll?

Jon should know that Daenerys is the daughter of Mad King Aerys and that she was exiled as a baby and grew up in Essos. While we do have the scene of Sam reading to Aemon about Daenerys, Jon does not show up until the very end of that scene so it’s unclear if he heard about her freeing slaves in Essos. He would know Aemon is her great-great-uncle and that her brother Rhaegar kidnapped and raped his aunt Lyanna (allegedly).

That’s essentially it. Daenerys is never mentioned around book Jon so to ascertain Jon’s impression/thoughts of Daenerys, we only have Season 7 to go off of.

Without further adieu, here we go:

(another obnoxiously long-winded one, I probably ramble on a bit too long but whatever, read if you like)

7x02

Tyrion’s scroll  -

Queen Daenerys Targaryen, First of Her Name, invites you to Dragonstone. My queen commands the combined forces of Dorne and the Reach, an Ironborn fleet, legions of Unsullied, a Dothraki horde, and three dragons. The Seven Kingdoms will bleed as long as Cersei sits on the Iron Throne. Join us. Together we can end her tyranny. I appeal to you as one bastard to another. For all dwarves are bastards in their father’s eyes. - Tyrion Lannister, Hand of the Queen.

What can Jon surmise about Daenerys from Tyrion’s letter alone?

1) She’s powerful. She would have to be in order to command a Dothraki horde. Jon might not know much about the Dothraki, but he certainly grew up with stories of them. Lewin mentions Dothraki boys and how they learn to shoot a bow from horseback to Bran so we can assume Jon knows what they are, how fierce of warriors they are, and probably, that they’re a patriarchal society. With Daenerys being a woman commanding them, she’s got to be pretty damn special.

2) She has already won the allegiance of the Reach, Dorne, and the Ironborn (at least, some of them). The Reach and Dorne are easy to guess why they sided with Daenerys: because they hate the Lannisters/Cersei. However the Ironborn is the oddball. The Ironborn are “known” for their failed rebellions and wanting to distance themselves from the Iron Throne. And yet they’ve sided with Daenerys. That, in the least, tells Jon Daenerys brings more to the table than just revenge against Cersei. He may not know what that is yet, but he knows there’s something there, something other than Cersei, that would draw the Ironborn to her. Again, there’s something *different* about her.

3) She may have miraculously birthed dragons into the world again. It’s not written anywhere how this is done. That’s why the Targaryens went without dragons for 150 years though obviously there were eggs around. No one knew/remembered how to do it. Yet apparently, Daenerys figured it out and now has dragons. So she is *possibly* magical... like him.

4) Daenerys chose Tyrion as her Hand. Jon knows Tyrion is a dwarf and how people look on him. And as Tyrion reminds Jon in the letter all dwarves are bastards in their father’s eyes. Last Jon saw of Tyrion, he was just a bookworm and kind of a drunk, his only claims to fame being he was the Queen’s brother and a dwarf. Yet Daenerys chose him as her Hand anyway. She didn’t have to do that. She could have just kept Tyrion on her council for being a Lannister and picked someone else not related to her enemy as her Hand. But no, she chose him. This is likely the most telling thing Jon could learn about Daenerys. Knowing she chose Tyrion as her Hand, Jon can see Daenerys is someone who looks past a person’s outward “faults” and values them for who they really are, regardless of what society thinks of them. This right here was likely the deciding factor in Jon choosing to actually meet with her in person.

7x03

1) Jon and co are asked to hand over their weapons before meeting with Daenerys - Jon could see this as an intimidation move, a test to see if he’s “compliant”, a power play, what have you. Perhaps it’s meant to make Jon and co feel vulnerable, at Dany’s mercy, Jon doesn’t really know as he’s never met her, but it certainly rattles him. “My bannermen think I’m a fool for coming here,” he says and Tyrion doesn’t disagree with this statement. “If I was your Hand, I would have advised against it.” So Jon likely thinks Daenerys isn’t someone he wants to tangle with. If her own Hand is telling Jon he would have advised him not to come were he in Davos’ shoes, that tells Jon he may have made a mistake in coming. It’s not meant to make him feel at ease at all. So Jon goes in to meet Daenerys with his guard already up. To add to that feeling...:

2) Jon see’s Drogon. This clearly tells Jon Tyrion wasn’t lying about the dragon thing. They’re fucking real and really fucking huge. They could likely burn down Winterfell within minutes. Though Daenerys isn’t on Drogon’s back, controlling him, commanding him to fly over Jon and the welcome party, it’s yet another intimidation move, albeit unintentional. Again, Jon would likely be thinking about how powerful Daenerys really is. The evidence just flew over his freaking head. She’s powerful!

3) Daenerys is announced with all the bells, whistles, and titles and immediately assumes Jon is there to bend the knee. Jon clearly gets irritated during this conversation with Dany, telling her, “As far as I can tell, your claim to the throne rests entirely on your father’s name and my own father fought to overthrow the Mad King.” Jon likely thinks Daenerys arrogant for assuming he’d bend the knee to her without getting to know her, a bit full of herself for having to be announced with all her titles, entitled because she’s trying to reclaim the Kingdom when her family’s rule was overthrown, and likely that she has illusions of grandeur when she says “Together, we will save this country from those who would destroy it,” as if under her rule alone the Seven Kingdoms will be as right as rain. He’s not impressed by her visions of the future and he no doubt thinks her foolish for believing Cersei is the worst threat against the Seven Kingdoms when he’s standing there telling her it’s the Army of the Dead she should be focused on instead.

However, though Jon is clearly not impressed with Dany in this first conversation, seeds are sown of what she’s really like: She admits her father was an evil man and wants to be seen as different from him; she considers Jon a Stark worthy of holding the North for her though she knows he’s only a bastard; though she may want power for power’s sake, she also has lofty ideals about protecting people which *may* align with his own efforts. But of course, that’s yet to be seen.

4) Tyrion tells Jon that Daenerys stayed in Essos to “save people from horrible fates.” At this point, again, Jon has likely been on Dragonstone for a week or so and has probably now heard about her slave-freeing efforts in Essos. While Jon may not see the importance with what Daenerys was doing in Essos, he at least gets it from Tyrion that her true wish is to protect people. Though her version of saving people is not quite in line with Jon’s - Dany’s wishes more broad, wanting to rule and Jon’s wishes more narrow, just wanting to defeat the Night King - they do have this one small thing in common, regardless of how they approach the issue.

5) Daenerys gives Jon the dragonglass. Jon has just essentially ambushed Dany on the steps. It doesn’t appear as if it was a planned meeting between them. She’s just out there watching the dragons and watching the sunset and he comes to find her to speak with her alone. “You’ve been talking to Tyrion?” - that line right there tells us Jon wasn’t sent by Tyrion or summoned by Daenerys; it’s a completely candid moment between the two of them. Jon gets angry again and tells Daenerys he hasn’t changed his mind about not bending the knee - again, this likely makes him think she’s stubborn, entitled, difficult, shortsighted, any number of negative things.

BUT THEN Daenerys does something completely unexpected: she gives Jon the dragonglass AND alots him men to help him mine it. She doesn’t require Jon bend the knee for the glass and she doesn’t ask for any kind of payment from him. Though, yes, the dragonglass is virtually useless to Dany, at least with the White Walkers on the other side of the Wall, it’s still something Jon wants. It’s on her island. Supply and Demand. Dany could charge Jon a lot for this glass as he needs it and she has it. Gold would only help in her war against Cersei - buy some more ships, ship in supplies from Essos, etc. But she gives it to him for free AND she gives him men to help him - fighting men that could be spending their time on the battlefield instead of in the mines with him. In this moment, Jon may feel slightly defeated for Daenerys still *possibly* not believing him about the Army of the Dead and the Night King, but he also will be feeling grateful for her giving him the dragonglass free of charge. Daenerys knows next to nothing about Jon except he was named King by his people and he won’t bend the knee to her. But she gives him this anyway. She’s taking a leap of faith. Jon has to feel thankful to her. He’s not a punk. He knows Dany didn’t have to do this and he’s appreciative of the progress Daenerys is making toward an alliance with him. Again, Jon has done nothing to earn Dany’s trust aside from telling her of this mythical magical threat no one has seen in millennia. He offers her only words and an even bigger problem than she’s already facing. She offers him weapons. It’s an unequal exchange. Jon has to appreciate this selfless gesture.

7x04

1) Dany agrees to meet with Jon to see the dragonglass cave. This doesn’t really tell Jon much about who Dany is as a person as it could mean a lot of things: she’s just a nerd who likes looking at volcanic rock in caves, she’s got nothing better to do (actually pretty accurate), she’s genuinely curious about this substance found on her home island, she’s trusting - not requiring her Dothraki guard to accompany them and being alone with Jon - she’s got the hots for him (also pretty accurate), she’s open to the idea of accepting the Night King and Army of the Dead are real (also accurate). There’s nothing really negative Jon can assume about Dany by her agreeing to let him show her the caves. The most obvious things he could think are that she’s open, trusting, and curious.

Jon could assume Daenerys is attracted to him and that that’s the reason she agrees to go into a dark cave alone with him. But it’s not really Jon’s character to assume so highly of himself. PLUS - what’s stopping Jon from assuming Daenerys is trying to seduce him to get him to bend the knee? Again, he doesn’t know Dany. She’s young. She’s pretty. She’s single. What’s to stop her from trying to use her womanly charms to get the young Northern King who was supposed to be recently celibate (Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch) to bend the knee? If Jon tried actively seducing Daenerys, his plan could completely backfire - or just be utterly pointless - if she in turn was trying to seduce him. And if Jon *thought* of the idea of seducing Dany to get her to come over to his cause, he would have had to at least consider that Daenerys would think of the exact same plan to get Jon to bend the knee. But I’m going off on a tangent...

2) Daenerys tells Jon she would fight for the North IF he bent the knee. Now, I’ve seen a lot of Jonsa/anti-Dany blogs describe Jon’s look in this scene as “disappointed” and I see nothing wrong with that assessment. Dany gets Jon’s hopes up by saying “I will fight for you. I will fight for the North” - at this Jon looks like it’s Christmas. And then Dany drops the bomb “when you bend the knee.” Of course he’s disappointed. He thought he had convinced her of the real threat, the really important war, not her one with Cersei. And she does let him down. Yes, I think Jon is disappointed in this moment. What could this make him think of her? He could still think she’s entitled, for wanting ruling power over the North. He could think she’s shortsighted/stubborn for wanting to defeat Cersei first. He could also think she’s manipulative for getting his hopes up, stepping into his personal space, being close with him, using her soft bedroom voice, calling him a king. (and again, if Jon has thought of seducing Dany purely for gain and not because he genuinely likes her, he has to consider the possibility she’s doing it right back to him. One of her nicknames is “foreign whore” after all. And what do whores do? Seduce men for personal gain) If Jon’s feelings aren’t genuine, he’d be an idiot not to consider the possibility that Dany’s feelings aren’t genuine either.

Then Daenerys tells him, “Isn’t their survival more important than your pride.” Verbatim what he told Mance. The. Exact. Same. Words. While this could still make Jon think Dany is being shortsighted and entitled, he’s got to recognize the oddness of her word choice. It’s not a common phrase. It’s not a thing people just...say. The coincidence of her words have to freak Jon out a little bit, even if he didn’t like what she was saying. So it has to at least put him back in that mindset he was in with Stannis threatening to burn Mance. No, Dany hasn’t physically threatened him or his people. But she’s offering something he wants - protection - and in order to get it, he’d have to give her something she wants - loyalty. This has to at least a little bit, start making Jon mentally weigh the pros and cons of having Dany as his queen. He doesn’t want his people to end up like Mance’s people at Hardhome. That’s what he’s trying to avoid. So to avoid what happened to Mance’s people, he’s got to be considering not making Mance’s mistake. So there’s that also.

3) Their encounter in the caves ends and Tyrion and Varys deliver the bad news that Olenna has been murdered and Highgarden is sacked. Daenerys orders Jon and Davos to stay with them on the beach and then she contemplates flying to King’s Landing to burn down the Red Keep with Dragonfire. Jon looks a little exasperated at this, especially when she says “you will stay.” Again, this likely furthers his belief that Dany is entitled, used to getting her way. When she mentions burning down the Red Keep with the dragons, Jon could be thinking Daenerys is ruthless - but he wouldn’t be thinking she’s completely uncaring though because she did just tell him she would help him, if he bent the knee. There’s a very delicate line there she’s balancing on. And he wouldn’t be thinking Daenerys is mad like her father, because she takes no pleasure in this decision and it isn’t unprompted. Cersei attacked her ally. Daenerys wants to retaliate. It’s a natural reaction in war to want to retaliate against one’s enemies. Hell, it’s the entire reason why Jon nearly punched Ramsay’s face off - anger and retaliation for killing Rickon and raping Sansa. Cersei (her armies at least) captured/killed Dany’s allies. She wants to attack Cersei right back. It’s not madness.

Hearing Daenerys talk about wanting to fly to the Red Keep - Jon again, likely thinks Daenerys a bit ruthless. But she’s still not on a level with Cersei - Cersei has remained protected within the confines of the Red Keep, letting Euron and Jaime do her biding. But Daenerys wants to join the fray herself. Normal queens wouldn’t do that. “What kind of a queen am I if I’m not willing to risk my life to fight them?” Jon may not agree with Daenerys’ plan, but he likely respects her as a fellow fighter. This could be an attractive quality to Jon when he thinks about the Great War. It wouldn’t just be him alone out there facing the Night King as he faced Ramsay’s cavalry. He would possibly have her beside him. And that would be a comforting thought. Again, Daenerys may be ruthless, but she takes responsibility for herself and her people, just as Jon does. 

4) Daenerys asks Jon for advice. This is an incredibly telling moment between Jon and Daenerys. Jon means nothing to Dany. They have a very shaky alliance at this point at best. They’ve met in person all of three times. But Daenerys still asks Jon what he thinks she should do about the Cersei problem, over her own Hand. Jon begins to tell her “I would never presume...” but she still asks for his advice anyway. She wants him to tell her the truth.

For all those people who think Jon picks up on some kind of “secret language” people speak to Daenerys with - flattering her, telling her she’s special, painting her as a savior, blah blah blah blah blah - this move from Dany completely destroys all of that bullshit. Jon has offered Daenerys no praise at this point. The only thing he has told her that could be seen as even a neutral statement is “At the very least, you’re better than Cersei.” That’s not a compliment. He has not flattered her at all at this point. But she turns to him for advice anyway.

If Dany were wanting to be flattered and pandered to in this specific moment, the person she should turn to is Missandei - the slave girl she freed and saved from her masters. Missandei would likely have the most praise to lay on Dany and would tell her something to make her feel good in this moment. If that’s the way to Daenerys’ heart, then Jon is the person she would seek advice from the least. But she asks for his input. That move right there tells Jon she doesn’t want to be pandered to. She doesn’t want to be flattered. None of that shit works on her. He’s only told her the brutal truth at this point and that’s what she’s looking for. Jon doesn’t tell her she’s special or flatter her in this moment. He warns her what she would be seen as if she flew off to King’s Landing. For Daenerys to seek Jon’s advice and then take it to heart (she never attacks a civilian population), Jon has to be thinking that he and Daenerys are similar in that respect. She values the truth as much as he does.

Jon scoffs at Sansa when she says “You’re good at this you know. Ruling. You are, BUT you have to...” - Sansa giving Jon a “compliment” before she tries to tell him what she really thinks of him and his ruling style. Daenerys doesn’t want useless compliments either. She wants the truth. Even if that truth comes from someone who is virtually still a rival to her. Jon has to respect Dany for this. He may not agree with her thought process, but as one leader to another, he would respect this.

5) Daenerys leaves Dragonstone to attack the Lannisters who sacked Highgarden and he learns from Missandei that she used to be a slave whom Daenerys freed. This doesn’t necessarily tell Jon anything he didn’t already know. He’s kind of left in charge of the island - at least a few of the Dothraki are there to protect him and follow his commands as we saw on the beach scene with Theon. Tyrion is with Dany and Varys isn’t there on the beach with Jon when he meets Theon. Missandei doesn’t step in either, letting Jon have complete control of the situation. This is Daenerys putting a lot of trust in Jon. She puts her trust in him when she asks for his advice and then she puts even more trust in him by letting him have basically free reign of her island when she’s gone. If Jon really were Dany’s prisoner, she would take him to the mainland with her and keep him guarded while she fights the Lannisters. But she doesn’t do this. He’s left to keep mining dragonglass with his new Dothraki bros. The Dothraki are, again, a patriarchal society. Why would Dany leave some of her men with Jon, a king, a fighter, all the things Dothraki would respect in a khal, if she didn’t trust him? Jon has to see all of this. He may not completely agree with what Daenerys has left to do, but he would see how trusting she is of him. That, or he would think Daenerys doesn’t see him as much of a threat anyway and that she has complete control/the loyalty of her people. Likely, he’s thinking both.

7x05

1) Daenerys returns from the Loot Train Battle. While some in the fandom don’t think it very telling that Jon is waiting for Dany when she returns, I think it’s very telling. I mean, he’s out on a cliff, Dany’s other dragons are still on the island. He’s alone. He’s vulnerable. In the 7x05 commentary Dan Weiss says Dany is like 85% sure Drogon won’t eat Jon - meaning there’s a chance he still might. Yet Jon is there waiting for Dany anyway. He shows his bravery (or stupidity) and stays, pets Drogon (YOLO, I guess...? Or sorry, YOLT as Jon’s on his second life), and then he banters with Daenerys about the dragons being gorgeous beasts. Notice Jon smiles as he says “wasn’t the word I was thinking of but....” He’s comfortable enough around Dany to laugh and attempt a little banter. He’s just had a scare of his life - having a dragon rush him on a cliff - and he’s lived to tell about it. His adrenaline is going. This wouldn’t put him in a calculating and manipulative mindset. And again, even if he were trying to manipulate Dany, he wouldn’t tell her “No I’m not” when she asks “You’re not sure how you feel about that” - in reference to her battling the Lannisters. He’d say something like “You did what you had to do and I respect that,” to get on her good side. But he’s still butting heads with her. If Jon is trying to seduce Dany, he’s the worst seducer in the world.

2) Sometimes strength is terrible. Daenerys doesn’t use flowery words around Jon...or ever really. So he’s got to appreciate her honesty. He may not agree with her worldview on the surface, but he can’t deny the similarities between the two of them. Daenerys points this out to him: “How many men did your army kill taking Winterfell back from the Boltons?” Again, Jon may think Daenerys a bit foolish for thinking the Seven Kingdoms will be better off under her rule, but still, he can’t argue with her logic. It’s the same argument he used in order to justify taking back Winterfell. After all, who appointed Jon protector of the Free Folk and protector of the North from the White Walkers? No one. He promised the Free Folk safe passage south. He never said he would protect them after that; he only asked they help him when the Night King came. That’s it. Jon took it upon himself to be their warrior. Daenerys is doing the same thing with the Seven Kingdoms. If she’s foolish, then he’s foolish too.

3) Jorah returns. So far Jon has seen Daenerys interacting with Missandei, Tyrion, Varys, and her Dothraki. Aside from her friendship with Missandei, he hasn’t really seen anything other than the regal side of her. Then Jorah shows up. Shipper goggles aside (if Jon isn’t jealous of Dany and Jorah’s relationship), he at least is now privy to this softer side of her. Right after she calls the dragons her children and is a little vulnerable, she then reunites with Jorah and she’s got tears in her eyes. If Jon was thinking Daenerys is nothing but a cold-hearted, ruthless, entitled queen before, these interactions would have to change his mind and make him see there’s more to Daenerys than meets the eye. Jon knows who Jorah is, having served his father in the Night’s Watch. He knows Jorah was once wanted for selling people into slavery - yet Daenerys’ whole plight in Essos was about freeing slaves and Jorah is loyal to her. So Jon must be able to put it together that Jorah has changed - so much so that he’s even gained Daenerys’ love and affection (in whatever context). Jon has never seen Dany as emotional as when she reunites with Jorah. This, right after she’s told him “We both want to help people. We can only help them from a position of strength. Sometimes strength is terrible.” These interactions with Daenerys, her showing him her belief system, showing him they’re not so different, and her affection for Jorah, would make him see that there’s this softer side to her, a caring side.

4) The letter from Sansa. Jon tells Daenerys at the beginning of this conversation “I need to go home.” Daenerys, not put off by Jon’s anger, puts things back into perspective for him. “You say you don’t have enough men.” Jon’s being a little bit of a hothead here, reckless, possibly suicidal. He and Daenerys know he doesn’t have the men to face the army Jon’s described to her. If what he says is true, he’s as good as dead. And when Jon asks her “unless you’ll join us?” she doesn’t give him an automatic “no.” She gives him a very legitimate reason as to why she can’t YET. She’s not even talking about Jon bending the knee here. That’s all gone. Daenerys hasn’t mentioned Jon bending the knee since the last episode, before she rode off into battle. When Jon starts to pile on more evidence for her - even if it’s questionable evidence - Dany forgets this bending the knee nonsense. It doesn’t matter anymore. She does want to help Jon but she tells him the truth - she’s afraid of what would happen to her lands and people if she weren’t there to protect them from Cersei. Whatever Jon was thinking before, he now knows that Daenerys is not beyond reason and her heart is in the right place. There are just obstacles in the way, preventing her from helping him right away. She wouldn’t go along with such an idiot plan if her heart weren’t in the right place. She wants to help him. She’s willing to delay indefinitely her war with Cersei in order to do so. And he knows this now.

7x06

1) I’ve mentioned this before in THIS post but when Jon tells Tormund “She’ll only fight beside us if I bend the knee.” That’s not true anymore. Their mission beyond the Wall proves that. Jon hasn’t promised to bend the knee to Dany when he returns from the mission with the wight. Yet the whole point of the mission is to get Cersei to agree to a truce so Dany can come North without putting her people in the south at risk. Why would Jon think she won’t fight with them unless he bent the knee with this whole truce plan in place? At the very least, Jon’s just being forgetful here. At the most, he’s possibly already thinking (unnecessarily) that he’s going to bend the knee to Daenerys once he gets back from the mission.

Or, you know, it’s just a really really stupid and glaring error in the writing of this episode. Which is also entirely possible.

2) Jon thinks of Daenerys to come and help them. At this point, yes, she’s the only one who can help them when the entire army of the dead is after them. BUT, to even ask for her help, Jon has to be hopeful that Daenerys would come save them at all. And then she actually does. I’ve mentioned this before but I’ll repeat it again, Daenerys has never given Jon a reason not to trust her. He wanted the dragonglass, he got it. He wanted to figure out a way to make people believe him about the army of the dead, Tyrion thought of it and Dany didn’t stop the mission. He asked her to come save him and the fellowship of the wight. She saved them. She has done literally everything Jon has asked of her.

Of course, again, Jon could be thinking, “hey, maybe she likes me.” But if Daenerys is already doing what he’s asked of her, what would his motive be to further try to seduce her and get her into bed? He hasn’t slept with her yet or been terribly affectionate with her. But she’s done what he’s asked anyway. If he were seducing her, wouldn’t he want to keep dangling the carrot? In dog racing, you have the little motorized bunny for the dogs to chase. You don’t stop the bunny for the dogs in the middle of the race and let them play with it! You keep the bunny running until the finish line. So if Jon were trying to get Daenerys to fall in love with him so that she would do what he asked, wouldn’t he keep himself slightly distant, feeding her small bits of hope of a relationship, but holding out until the very end, when the Night King was defeated?

And if Daenerys asked Jon to sleep with her...he could give any number of excuses not to. “I was a man of the Night’s Watch and I’m a virgin, I want to wait until I’m married, I don’t want to dishonor you, we should be married first, I want you to meet my family first, etc.” Literally so many excuses that would make him seem even more honorable.

But I’m going on a tangent again...

3) Daenerys pledges to fight for Jon without requiring that he bend the knee FIRST. Again, Daenerys hasn’t mentioned Jon bend the knee in two episodes. Why? Because it’s no longer a requirement for her to come help him. She just needs her truce with Cersei to ensure her people in the south will be safe. That was established in 7x05. Dany coming to save him and pledging to help him - no strings attached - has to make Jon feel ridiculously grateful to her. And she just lost a lot. He now sees what she has to lose and she did lose. Yet she’s willing to risk the lives of her other two dragons, her two remaining “children” to continue to help Jon until the Night King is defeated. What else could Jon feel in this moment but immense gratitude? What else would he think of Daenerys other than she’s a generous and caring person who finally gets it. Jon would have no reason to think ill of Daenerys in this moment. He would have no reason not to trust her word in this moment. Again, as far as he has seen, she has done everything he’s asked. And now she is finally pledging to do the first thing he ever asked of her - help him defeat the Night King. He has no reason not to trust her AND no reason to bend the knee to her...other than that he thinks she’s better equipped to save/protect his people. Which she is.

7x07

1) Daenerys and Jon talk and she tells him for the second time that she can’t have children. He could think she’s mistaken and that she actually can get pregnant. He could think she’s telling the truth and that if he slept with her he’d be safe from getting her pregnant. He could think she does have feelings for him as it’s a fairly personal thing for her to divulge. If anything, he would be thinking about Daenerys’ softer side and that she does have things she cares about other than being a queen - she wants to be a mother. He could guess that she fears being like everyone else, being mediocre/ordinary, not making a difference in the world. He should think of her as strategic at least as she doesn’t want to jeopardize her people in the south and wants to ensure their safety first before going North.

2) Daenerys decides to sail with him versus flying on Drogon. The Emmy script tells us Jon wants to smile at this news. Now, if Jon were really manipulating Daenerys, is this something that would necessarily make him smile? If he felt it was going to lead to his having to sleep with her (as in he doesn’t want to and it’s going to be like a chore), he probably wouldn’t smile! You smile when you’re happy. If he didn’t want to sleep with her but now thought that he had to sleep with her because they were sailing together, though it’s part of his plan, he’d probably be feeling a lot of pressure - he’s got to preform well after all - he’d probably be feeling upset/sad/mad (some combination of the three) because he doesn’t want to sleep with her. He may feel slight relief that his master plan has *worked* and he’s going to be able to get her alone. But this wouldn’t make him so happy he has to hold back a smile. Jon isn’t some evil genius mastermind, like Baelish. He’s not mad like Aerys. He doesn’t take pleasure in other people’s pain, even if he thinks other’s suffering is necessary - planning to kill Mance for instance. He’s a guy with real feelings. If he felt obligated to sleep with Dany, it’s not going to make him happy at the prospect of it. He wouldn’t smile.

But Jon does smile...or tries not let his smile show. The only reason Jon would be smiling is because Daenerys agreed to his plan to sail together rather than flying by herself. And the reason her decision makes him smile is because he’s excited to be sailing with her. The prospect of them sailing together makes him happy. He’s not thinking about an obligation or a master plan he’s trying to put into place. He’s thinking about how the woman he’s slowly fallen for just agreed to stay close to him for the next month or so while they sail and he’ll get to spend more time with her.

And what Jorah said about it being more dangerous for Dany to travel with him on land, angry man with a crossbow nonsense...well, if Dany died on the way to Winterfell, Jon would be fucked. Her safety is paramount to him because otherwise, her armies and dragons go the fuck back to Essos. Why would they stay and fight for Jon when their queen is dead - due to his dipshit plan - when they don’t know him, don’t speak his language, haven’t seen him fight, haven’t seen his strength, and his own people won’t be very welcoming of them. If Dany dies, Jon loses his army. He has to see her safely to Winterfell since she’s not flying - which means sticking even more closely to her as he’s pretty much the best fighter around.

On a non-shipping level, Jon would think Dany’s agreeing to sail with them would mean she values their alliance, she values Jon’s opinion, and she wants to make a good impression on his people. Even if Jon isn’t in love with her - as a small portion of the fandom speculates - he would at least appreciate that. He would appreciate all the efforts Daenerys has made to 1) save his ass 2) save his people and 3) earn his people’s trust. Dany cares about how she’ll come across to the Northerners which means she cares about their voices, their thoughts, their opinions. And Jon would have to see that. Just as she values him as one of her vassal lords, she would value the rest of them. It’s what good queens do.

So regardless of whether Jon’s initial impression of Daenerys was bad not, his opinion of her would have had to change as she began making efforts toward an alliance and to helping him and his people.

Again, Jon likely thought of Dany as arrogant, entitled, and foolish when they first met. But through his interactions with her he saw that she’s not arrogant - she seeks advice from him when she doesn’t even know him well, meaning she’s sensible enough to know when to humble herself; she’s not entitled - she knows she needs to earn the Northerners trust which is why she’s finally agreed to come help in the war against the Night King; and she’s not foolish - she saw the real threat to the realm and she immediately answered his call to arms.

Once Daenerys pledges to Jon on the ship coming back from Eastwatch - really when she agreed to let the wight hunt mission happen in the first place - there’s no reason for Jon to “trick” or “plot against” Dany anymore, if he was plotting against her before that. Again, she has done everything he’s asked up to this point. She has never broken her word to him. It makes no sense for Jon to think that Daenerys would break her word on coming North to help them fight the Night King.

AND

On Jon pledging the North for Dany...

I’ve seen some people say he did it to “protect” Sansa...as if somehow he was making it okay for her to be named Queen while he’s gone and then the Northerners could rise up against Dany when they come to Winterfell...but that wouldn’t make sense. If Jon pledged the North to her and they rose up against her, it would put Jon’s people in even more danger because Daenerys would be well within her rights to execute any dissenters - namely Sansa.

There is really no reason for Jon to pledge the North for Dany unless he couldn’t actually really mean it. To do so, again, puts his people - his family - at great risk.

And if Daenerys has already promised to help Jon defeat the Night King and she’s done what she’s said she would do thus far, there’s no reason for Jon to bend the knee to Dany to get her to come North. She already has agreed to do so.

Worst Case Scenario - if Cersei didn’t agree to Dany’s truce, Dany would be forced to burn down the Red Keep to take King’s Landing quickly so she could become queen, ensure the safety of everyone in the south, and then march North - this would be a much shorter timeline then Jon deceiving Dany, them getting all the way to Winterfell, and then the Northerners raising up against Daenerys OR them getting all the way to Winterfell only to find out Cersei betrayed them and Dany leaving to deal with Cersei first, then come North again.

Jon bending the knee to Dany - whether or not he intends to betray her - was a much more risky move for Jon. Again, if things go to shit, there’s still the chance Dany would leave to deal with Cersei so her people in the south don’t suffer. why would Jon risk that? Risk that much more time being wasted not helping his people and not fighting the Night King?

The only reasons Jon pledged to Dany were because he truly believed her to be a fair ruler, the right ruler of his people, he believed in her...and he loves her (that’s not the only reason or the main reason, it’s just in addition to the others).

TL;DNR:

Political Jon is utter bullshit. Jon has no reason not to trust Dany. Jonsa isn’t happening. Everyone can suck it.

[merrillmastersenglish]

Discussion Post 4

Prompt: 

The last half of Chun's Updating to Remain the Same applies some of her theories to practical issues.  Three specific topics she discusses are the "leakiness" of Internet friends, the "outing" of people on YouTube (Amanda Todd and Jonah Mowry), and cell phone addiction.  Chun explores whether these real-life digital spaces and devices are making us dependent upon digital media and, perhaps, helping us to escape and/or reject physical reality.  Is the truth digital?  Are we so far down the digital highway that there is no going back to old versions of truth, or can anything (or should anything) be done to re-instate traditional, empirical truth in our lives?  Write an original post where you agree/disagree with/negotiate Chun's ideas.

In her book Updating to Remain the Same: Habitual New Media, author and researcher Wendy Hui Kyong Chun’s argument about the habitual nature of media centers around the question “Why have networks become the concept to explain everything new about our current era” and in doing so-- she lay bare the framework for the analysis of networks, networking, and connectedness in the 21st century. Chun ends this exploration with a call for “us” to create spaces in public “domains” where we can loiter-- creating our own privacy within the public sphere. What Chun fails to conceptualize is that we may already be too far gone for this to happen, and (especially in a post Trump era) we may be too divided to come to any sort of consensus that would or could result in real change. Our country is plagued by racism, sexism, and classism-- and new media actively reinforces these tropes. There is no incentive for them to not be reinforced-- and as Chun herself notes-- even if there were an incentive, many times the solution to the problems are more restrictive than the problems themselves. In order to be able to embrace spaces that are public in which we can “loiter” there has to be unwritten rules that are embraced by a majority share of the population-- a doctrine which exists to define norms, and a system to reinforce those norms.  Absent of these things, it is impossible to imagine a world which embraces previous “truths”-- but it is equally problematic to assert that there is a truth that existed previously that is better than where we are now. When combining these two things together it is clear that there is no easy button to the problems that are created at the hands of new media, but in order to even begin approaching this problem we must embrace one central truth: to create a space of absolute truth, we must ourselves become absolutely truthful, and to do this we must analyze the current shortcomings of new media (really, media in general), define systemic problems that plague our society, and create intersections so that we can foster growth, acceptance, and change.

Centering on new media skips past the problems created by “old” media-- and absolves them of their sins. In reality, new media may be the go to of our current generation, but old media such as newspapers, radio, and television are the paver stones that laid way for new media practices and in many ways continue to drive the policies implemented by new media companies. This is truer now more than ever-- when the United States just went through a political administration that was so problematic that they alienated not only a large portion of the population but also the reporters who covered it. While one of the biggest worldwide pandemics in modern history played out in real time-- a tug of war in way of words created confusion among the masses and caused a large swath of the population to question where to even turn for facts. Many people glued themselves to political coverage during the Trump administration if for no other reason than to watch the train wreck in real time-- and now that there is comfort in the practical decision making of our current administration-- people have turned away from the media, and caused Trump to be right about at least one thing: the president whose life echoed the lyrics of ‘without me’ by Eminem did cause news ratings to plummet (Farhi). Beyond the current generation and our crises though, older versions of media perpetuated the crisis of drugs, “reverse discrimination,” promiscuity of women, cyberporn, entitlement culture, cancel culture, and more. Media -- new or old-- thrives on crisis.  In fact, a famous saying in the news industry is “if it bleeds it leads” which is just another indicator of the insipid hold that crisis has on the lives of citizens.  Further though, when crisis is not dominating, the need for crisis is so strong within the citizens of this country that they create their own crisis via sharing personal information in any type of tell all format that they can imagine. From biographies, autobiographies, blogs, vlogs, and other venues-- people are willing to share almost anything-- and others (even if they are not as brazen) are willing to listen-- and in fact are quite rapt by the stories of crisis that play out before them. If there is one thing that can prove this is it the dominance of crime shows and ultra dramatic stories on channels like Lifetime. 

None of this is to say there is no change happening in the media industry-- in fact, that is far from the truth. Media, like any industry, is constantly evolving and changing, but the pace at which they evolve is problematic. Like new media, earlier media forms are not incentivized to change, and often find themselves on the tail end of a change curve-- often waiting to change until things are too distasteful to society to continue. A great example of this practice would be the use of mug shots in stories. A close personal source revealed to me that large media conglomerates are just now talking about discontinuing the use of mug shots and perp walks in stories.   The reasoning they are using is that they rarely follow up on stories, and the prevalence of new media means that a mug shot used for a story can haunt a person for years. One recent incident would be George Floyd-- who while a victim of police brutality-- took center stage through mug shots plastered across media platforms. The net result was an uproar over the use of a victim’s previous mug shot. People decried the practice and lobbied hard to change it because doing such a thing would unduly prejudice a potential jury in favor of a plaintiff due to the “history” (or assumed history as it is) of a victim. Media acts as though they are on the cutting edge-- choosing to acknowledge this problem now as though it is new, but let’s be real-- this has been happening for years. The media’s role in engrained bias is obvious, but they are often unwilling to examine their problematic practices until they absolutely have to. 

The late arrival of systemic change in the media industry plays an enormous role in the perpetuation of systemic problems such as racism, classism, and sexism because the policies of these media conglomerates perpetuate these systems through the reinforcement of stereotypes, continuation of dangerous tropes, and an overzealous embracing of the shock factor that goes hand in hand with doing these things. The moral outrage that happens when a black cop kills a white woman is much greater than when a white man rapes an unconscious woman in a park. None of this is to say that one crime is worse than the other (comparison is a slippery slope, right?), but the mere fact that the punishment and word choices publicized about these things are so starkly different is problematic in its own right. In fact, until just this year MPR reported that Mohammed Noor was "the only law enforcement officer ever convicted of murder in Minnesota for an on-duty incident" (Romo). Noor, who was convicted of 3rd degree murder, was ultimately sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison. On the other hand, in another incident involving a white woman-- Stanford student Brock Turner-- facing a 14 year prison sentence-- was sentenced to a mere 6 months in jail by a California judge because the judge feared that a longer sentence may have “a ‘severe impact’ Turner” (Baker). These cases probably seem as though they are worlds apart, but they are not -- because they lie at the intersection of stereotypes about women. One case contained a white woman who was scared in an alley-- in her pajamas-- and that poor woman was just looking for big strong men to save her.  The other woman was a slut who attended a party and got too drunk; she was probably asking for it. BuzzFeed started it’s story about the letter that Turner’s victim wrote by introducing a line of questioning: 

-- which while sad, aptly describes the stereotypes that women face when attempting to find justice for themselves in the world. Stereotypes that Chun describes in detail when discussing the case of the Steubenville rape and subsequent trial of hometown heroes of the football caliber. Chun aptly notes in her analysis that “rape is also difficult to prosecute because conviction usually and unfairly relies on the perceived virtue of the victim: the victim must be impeccable and must be able to describe traumatic events coherently-- a nearly impossible task given the effects of post traumatic stress disorder” (98). 

Of course this is just one simple example of how the media (including Web 2.0) perpetuates myths about marginalized groups, but it would take volumes upon volumes to discuss the innumerable examples in which this happens. These things do need to be discussed and addressed to move on, but we also need to create spaces where intersectionality can exist so that people can learn from each others’ varied experiences and lenses. Rhetorician Kenneth Burke centered on this idea of intersectionality when he talked about finding common ground to relate to each other. One of the serious limitations of new media is the ability to silence those who have differing opinions and move away from them. By doing this we relegate people into groups, and create systems of oppression by building our own defined groups of hate and love. Chun discusses these communities in her book when she references Saidiya Hartman’s ideas of shame-- noting that Hartman claims that “slut shaming can be seen as an attempt to create community-- decent community-- by attempting to make certain women objects of shared shame” (157). She furthers this point by citing Sara Ahmed and noting that she argues that “hatred generates community-- more properly, communities (of the hated and the loved)-- by aligning the particular with the general: I hate you because (you are a slut, etc). Hatred as an ‘investment’ projects all that is undesirable onto another, while concealing any traces of that projection so that the other comes to appear as a being with a life of its own” (157). In arguing about the divisiveness of communities, these two women also open an opportunity of convergence-- creating communities of intersectionality.  Many times we find ourselves divided along political or religious lines, but in intersectionality we can discover that while we may have different beliefs we are also more alike than we think we are. Burke’s ideas are central here-- we must find common ground in order to create safe spaces to loiter online. 

Of course, all of these things are very utopian.  Perhaps I am a cynic, but being a child of the foster care system, having children with special needs, and teaching students of varied ethnicities tells me that it is often easier to state that something WOULD work than it is to put it into practice. Paolo Frarie argues in the book Pedagogy of the Oppressed that the oppressor will work to continue oppression because he knows full well that it is not in his best interest to end said oppression (34). I want to believe that we can change, but change would take radical ideas to work-- and radical ideas would take cooperation of people across the political spectrum.  We will not to that space if we cannot confront reality and find intersectionality though. Is it possible to find change and to create safe spaces to loiter in new media? Perhaps-- but it is just as possible that oppressors in new media could simply find new ways to assert their oppression onto the oppressed so as to not lose their power. 

Citations:

Baker, Katie J.M. “Here's The Powerful Letter The Stanford Victim Read To Her Attacker.” BuzzFeed News, BuzzFeed News, 17 Mar. 2021, www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katiejmbaker/heres-the-powerful-letter-the-stanford-victim-read-to-her-ra.

Blake, Aaron. “Analysis | The Vexing 'Lab Leak' Theory on China and the Coronavirus.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 24 May 2021, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/05/24/fix-china-lab-leak-0524/.

Farhi, Paul. “Trump Predicted News Ratings Would 'Tank If I'm Not There.' He Wasn't Wrong.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 23 Mar. 2021, www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/media-trump-bump-slump/2021/03/22/5f13549a-85d1-11eb-bfdf-4d36dab83a6d_story.html.

Freiere, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Penguin Education, 1972.

Kyong, Chun Wendy Hui. Updating to Remain the Same: Habitual New Media. The MIT Press, 2017.

Romo, Vanessa. “Ex-Minneapolis Officer Sentenced To 12 1/2 Years In Death Of Unarmed 911 Caller.” NPR, NPR, 7 June 2019, www.npr.org/2019/06/07/730691678/ex-minneapolis-officer-sentenced-to-12-1-2-years-in-death-of-unarmed-911-caller.

[eleonorasmia]

Druck - language specifics - Clip 28 I wish you a very awesome life

for more information: read this

the time stamps I’m using are the ones of the official youtube video here

I’m not gonna go into the lyrics that they’re singing, because well, it’s a song and lyrics are always weird, and I also really don’t wanna think about the song too much tbh, I’m just gonna explain the line that is used as the title of the clip but if anyone wants to listen to the song, it’s Glasperlenspiel - Geiles Leben

[00:29] ‘Er wird sich schon melden, glaub mir’

> ‘er wird sich schon melden’ can be translated to ‘he’s gonna call’, but I feel like this only gives you half of the sentence; ‘melden’ can’t be literally translated to ‘text’ (the literal translation is actually ‘notify’), instead it means more something like he’s gonna contact you in /some/ form, whatever that may be, text, call, email, letter, pigeon, whatever,.. and also the ‘schon’ in there, it gives you something assuring about it, like ‘he’s REALLY gonna call you’, sadly there’s no suitable translation for the word

[00:34] ‘Was wenn nich? Was wenns aus is?’

> ‘nich’ dropped the t of ‘nicht’ (’What if not?) and ‘wenns’ is the short version of ‘wenn es’ -> drop the e, add the s to the previous word; both things are for easier pronounciation I also wanna mention ‘aus sein’, an easier to understand expression would be ‘zu Ende sein’ -> ‘something is over’, in this case their relationship (the only three times I can think of that we use ‘aus sein’ is when it comes to classes, movies and relationships (there are more, but those are the times we mainly use it))

[00:43] ‘Was ich dir jetz verrate, bleibt unter uns, okay?’

> ‘jetz’ also just dropped the t of ‘jetzt’ ‘unter uns bleiben’ is a normal expression, it would literally translate to ‘it stays under us’ (that’s maybe why you sometimes hear a german person use that instead of ‘it stays between us’)

[00:48] ‘Eigentlich hab ich nen mega guten Musikgeschmack’

> ‘nen’ is the short version of ‘einen’; ‘einer/eine/eines’ in all their cases are pronounced differently in every region of germany, so don’t get confused by that ‘mega gut’ can be translated to ‘extremely good’ or ‘amazing’, the word mega is quite informal tho, so don’t use it in a professional context

[00:49] ‘Wenn mein Musikgeschmack n Fußballspieler wär, dann wär das dieser Messi Ronaldo, so gut ist mein Musikgeschmack, okay?’

> ‘n’ means ‘ein’ (same thing as above); ‘wär’ also dropped the e of ‘wäre’ (twice) -> both are just because it’s easier to say

[00:58] ‘Ich hab keine Ahnung worauf du hinaus willst, aber okay’

> ‘hab’ dropped the e of ‘habe’ ‘auf etwas hinaus wollen’ is an expression that translates to ‘getting at smth’ (‘I have no idea what you’re getting at’)

[01:04] ‘Wenn ich schlecht drauf bin, dann hör ich das’

> ‘hör’ is ‘höre’ ‘schlecht drauf sein’ is actually informal but it’s such a normal thing to say; it means ‘to be in a bad mood’ (a more formal version would be ‘schlecht gelaunt sein’ (side not here: you will probably never hear someone say ‘gelaunt sein’ in the south of germany))

[01:34] ‘Ich wünsch dir noch n richtig geiles Leben’

> as mentioned above, I’m only gonna do this line of the song since they used it as the title of the clip: ‘n’ again is ‘ein’ ‘richtig’ literally translates to ‘correct’, but in this context it means ‘extremely great’ and here we go with the word ‘geil’ again, I really wish there were an english word for it, it’s a mix of ‘awesome’, ‘amazing’, ‘great’, ‘fantastic’ and all the words that fall into that category; an extremely informal word, but also a word that is used A LOT by younger people

[02:13] ‘Ich hol dich ab, wir fahrn irgendwo hin’

> ‘abholen’ means ‘to pick something/someone up’ ‘fahrn’ dropped the e of ‘fahren’ (’drive’) I wanna go a little bit deeper here, because the word ‘fahren’ already means ‘to drive’, so why are we adding the ‘hin’? you need to add the ‘hin’ because without it, it would just be the action of ‘driving’, the ‘hin’ gives you the info that there’s a destination; the ‘irgendwo’ just shows that there’s no specific destination planned, just ‘somewhere’

[02:19] ‘Pass mal auf Axel’

> two things here actually: 1. while Axel actually IS a german name, it mostly sounds the exact same as ‘Achsel’ which means ‘armpit’ and I’m very happy that they went with that play on his name 2. ‘Pass mal auf’ has the meaning of ‘Listen up’; the word ‘aufpassen’ actually means ‘to pay attention’ or ‘to be careful’, but if you say ‘Pass auf’ you want someone to listen to you, the ‘mal’ in there in combination with her voice gives the vibe of ‘Listen up, you idiot’

[02:23] ‘Wie auch immer’

> alright, this one translates to ‘whatever’, but none of those words actually mean that by themselves, so yeah: ‘wie’ is ‘how’, ‘auch’ is ‘also’ and ‘immer’ is ‘always’, but together they have the same effect as ‘whatever’ (it’s also a bit regional, I’d personally use ‘was auch immer’)

[02:24] ‘Ich bitte dich jetzt ein letztes mal freundlich, dich zu verpissen’

> ‘ich bitte dich’ means ‘I’m asking you’ (in a very polite way); the expression ‘jemanden bitten etwas zu tun’ translates to ‘I’m asking you to do something’ ‘freundlich’ literally translates to ‘friendly’ (which it’s also used as), but in this case it means more something like ‘nicely’ ‘verpissen’ is extremly informal and I’m assuming we also took that one from the english vocabulary and it simply just translates to ‘piss off’

[02:26] ‘Wenn du dann nicht abhaust, zeig ich dich an wegen Belästigung’

> ‘abhauen’ is a more harsh word for ‘leaving’, a bit with the sub-context of never coming back

[02:34] ‘Okay, meld dich einfach, wenn dus dir anders überlegst’

> ‘dus’ is the short version of ‘du es’, again, drop the e and add the s to the previous word for easier pronounciation ‘anders überlegen’ is the german expression for ‘changing your mind’ ‘melden’ is again the same one as above at [00:29] ‘meld dich einfach’ translates to ‘simply text/call/.. me’, but most of the time you drop the ‘simply’ in the english translation

[02:48] ‘Wie cool bist du denn?’

> you translate this to ‘how cool are you?’ and drop the ‘denn’, it isn’t really needed and there’s also no proper translation for it, it gives it a bit more the vibe of ‘man, you’re really cool’

[02:50] ‘Der Axel-Spruch? Wie kommst du denn darauf?’

> ‘spruch’ literally translates to ‘saying’, which isn’t really something I’ve heard people use in this context in english say all too much, in german on the other hand it’s quite common I’d personally translate it to ‘the Axel-thing’, meaning the entire thing that she called him that, but I’m assuming there are others who would translate that differently

[02:52] ‘Das hab ich gelesen in so nem Artikel über pick-up artist; da stand, dass man Frauen mit falschem Namen ansprechen soll, weil sie das verunsichert und dann gefügig macht’

> ‘nem’ is ‘einem’, same thing as (twice) mentioned aboved ‘ansprechen’ is a word you mainly use when you talk to someone for the first time (there are also other scenarios tho); ‘sprich den mal an’ would translate to ‘talk to them’ ‘verunsichern’ translates to ‘make unsure’, like a person feels unsure about what they’re doing/saying in that moment ‘gefügig machen’, honestly I don’t think I’ve ever actually heard someone say this irl, google translates it to ‘submissive’ or ‘obedient’, but it’s a bit more of manipulating them so that they will do what you want them to; the only times I’ve heard this is when someone talks about drugging someone so they’re ‘willing’ to sleep with them (so in general in rape context) (so that was a bit weird for me, poor word choice, but idk, maybe that’s just me)

[fanfiction-wordsmith]

So, I wrote this in response to a new to Nonnie on my fanfiction blog and thought the information might be helpful for others, so wanted to post it here!

A sort of introductory guide to things that will help a new reader enjoy their journey through the vast world of fanfic without bumps and messes! Fairly long with my thoughts intertwined! Enjoy!

Pairing | Ship | Shipping | OTP

pairing–refers to the primary relationship in the story (some stories have more than one)

ship–the root of this term is ‘relationshp’, and implies a romantic relationship not platonic

otp–'one true pair’ (alternately, some fans have a NoTP), and it is a heartfelt love for a particular pairing in a fandom

ship/otp/pairing is UNIVERSALLY accepted to refer to a romantic/sexual relationship. It is RARELY used to depict characters as ‘just friends’, and to be honest, in most fandoms I have written for it’s frowned upon because it creates confusion in labeling. It’s best to presume any fic that has a 'ship’ name, 'otp’, or 'pairing’ listed that these things denote a romantic/sexual relationship between the two characters.  

These terms are generally listed as character a/character b, and there’s a whole lot of crazy nonsense about who is dominate and who is the top and who is the bottom and all of this stuff that has actually caused fanwars and such which is completely ridiculous and I’m not even going to get into here.

Examples:

pairing: Yamada Ryosuke/Chinen Yuri

ship: Yamada Ryosuke/ Chinen Yuri

otp: Yamada Ryosuke/Chinen Yuri

or simply Yamada Ryosuke/Chinen Yuri <–this is a relationship tag, not a character tag. A character tag will not have the / in between them. The / denotes they are in a relationship, whereas if they were not they would be listed as Yamada Ryosuke, Chinen Yuri

Personally, I don’t put that much thought into which character is listed first, so A/B denotes absolutely NOTHING about the characters in my story or their sexual preferences.

It is VERY COMMON among all fandoms to denote this as SHIP NAMES instead of A/B. So if character A is Sally and character B is Robert, the fandom will refer to them commonly as 'Salbert’ or 'Robly’ or any combination of the name.

In this case there will be no note such as pairing, ship, otp, relationship, etc.

On my post that spurned this entry, an anonymous reader had been taken by surprise when my two male characters were involved in a romantic/sexual relationship. In the tagging and intro to that story, the fact that I called it a 'Yamachii’ (the ship name of the two characters) story is in and of itself meant to tell the reader that it is about Yamada and Chinen in a romantic relationship. This is a very common practice.

If you are going to read a lot of different fandom fics you’ll want to be very sensitive to this as A LOT of fics involve m/m or f/f or m/p ships. If you see terms like those above from your fandom then you need to open the fic with the understanding there’s a 99% chance that the content of the story will be about a relationship that is romantic/sexual in nature.

I couldn’t be sure if my reader was bothered merely by the content being simply m/m being in a relationship or if it was more along the lines of the explicit sexual content that appeared later in the story.

This is where the commonly used rating system comes into play: 

(there’s been a movement to use a fanfic created rating system due to copyright issues from the whatever arrogant association thinks they can own the combination of letters below--it isn’t nearly universal enough for me to outline it here, as I find most writers are still using these ‘cease and desist’ provoking letters to signify their rating.)

Ratings:

G–non-offensive, suitable for all audiences

PG–some content may be included that isn’t geared for those who are younger or sensitive (like language for example) but these fics will not include, or if it is included it will be very MILD: overt language, sexual content, or violence

PG-13–content includes mild language and sexual content, depictions of violence

R–content includes adult themes–language, situational, sexual, violence, etc. but does not contain explicit depictions or words

NC-17–strongest rating, story will contain graphic or explicit sexual descriptions, language, and/or violence, must be 18 or older to read the story

and the additional term:

NSFW–'not safe for work’–stories that contain any element that is explicit in sexual nature that would make them sketchy to read while in a public setting where someone could potentially see (originally work, but now is understood to be coffee shops, libraries, etc.) Often stories will have a rating, as well as be labeled NSFW depending on the content and language expressed in the story

Since my story was labeled both NC-17 and NSFW the reader would know that there is explicit content, and in all probability in relationship based fics, it’s okay to go into it assuming it is sexual in nature. 

It may also be beneficial to know some stories label 'relationship types’, though keep in mind–not all authors will feel the need to denote these kinds of details depending on how accepted they are in the fandom. However, the most commonly used types are m/f (male/female), f/f (female/female), m/m (male/male), and mp/OT3 (multiple partners or 'one true’ 3–>or more!) If you see these denotations it is commonly accepted that you will understand that these are referencing a romantic/sexual relationship and not a platonic one. Some stories will be labeled ‘femslash’ or ‘femmeslash’ (f/f) or ‘slash’ (m/m) as an alternative.

Author’s Warnings:

Along the same vein, most authors will also use warnings:

BDSM (or any combination of those four letters because not all stories will contain all of the elements) = Bondage Domination Sadism Masochism: Any story with the presence of bondage, dominance/submission, humiliation, punishment, pain play. Ideally, any fic with these attributes will be clearly labeled only because it freaks out people who are not necessarily looking for this kind of setup.

bondage (part of BDSM but the most common aspect of that which is used most often on its own)= use of physical restraint to heighten sexual experience–not when one character is kidnapped and tied up or things like that–this is universally used to denote its use in a sexual context.

character death–I know that a lot of authors HATE to put this warning on their fic if there really is a death in it, but I find that any author worth their weight will soldier through this for the sake of their readers. There are a few kinds of stories that will be greatly impacted if the death is revealed–in that case most authors will put a lot of effort into ensuring that the reader understands where the story is going.

kink/squick–something within a story that the author has no issue with but is concerned that some readers may be completely freaked out by. This is often listed in context with sexual content, though it can be multiple types.<–subjective and your 'issue’ may not be listed by the author

triggers–this is where an author will point out any elements of their story that could potentially offend or bother their readers, or at worse actually trigger a flashback or panic attack in someone who has survived trauma. This is VERY subjective and even the most conscientious author can miss a label inadvertently because whatever the trigger is they never imagined it as one. Common trigger warnings include suicide, slavery, rape, torture, self-harm, abuse, death, incest etc.

note about triggers: because of the subjective nature of triggers it’s important that a reader not put all of the responsibility onto the author to protect them from content that will be problematic for them! If a reader realizes that the story is moving in a direction that will become a trigger for them, they are responsible for hitting the back button even if it’s not labeled with a trigger. Trigger warnings are a KINDNESS from authors, because they often compromise the delivery of certain elements of their story when they reveal them–which I’m not gonna lie, I sometimes struggle with. I always put them, but I understand why some authors do not. Let’s look at it this way, main-stream published works do NOT put 'warnings’ on their content for this reason AND the fact that they take ZERO responsibility for handling reader’s choice to read the book.

consent warnings–this includes

consensual (not actually denoted as a warning–simply here for reference) all parties are capable of making conscious decisions and are in agreement to the sexual contact

’dub-con’ (dubious consent–a kind of situation where the consent is questionable, can be true in the story for many different reasons including plot device (think of two people who must engage in activity against their will but agree because it will be mutually beneficial), because their judgement is impaired by drugs or alcohol, or even because they are not mentally capable of making a consensual decision.

Despite this having a kind of overlap with rape for the sake of clarity–it is almost always labeled as two different warnings.

non-con/rape–no consent, sexual content exists in the story that is unwanted and/or forced, does not always end in rape which is why the rape tag exists as an additional warning

I thought if you’re new to reading fanfic I would also put together a list for you of some common words, tags, and labels you will see!

Types

(basic insight into a story’s tone, a single story can be more than one type, please know this is not an exhaustive list!)

angst–basically a way to say the author is going to use the characters in the story to rip your heart out, stomp all over it, and attempt to destroy your spirit with fiction. Like the author wants to torture you with their words by destroying all the good and happy things in the universe. (sometimes angst stories will offer a bit of comfort before the end of the story, but if the amount of 'fixing’ is extreme this would be better labeled as hurt/comfort instead)

a/u–alternate universe: any plot, setting, or personality in the story that goes against the known canon for an established work.

Example: Harry Potter being a normal guy who runs a business selling magic supplies.

It is generally understood that this is pretty much ANY 'real person’ fic all the time, so most authors of that kind of fic do not mark it a/u unless it is something like the Idol/singer/actor/figure is no longer an Idol but a businessman or bartender, or works at a cafe, or something like that.

crack–a story that is so completely outrageous, unbelievable, and utterly insane that you couldn’t take it seriously if you wanted to. Generally, these are written to be fun, with no other motive, and should not be taken seriously–though, admittedly, I’ve read some crack fic that I find I could actually label a/u–so I don’t tend to speak in absolutes.

The authors of these fics are shameless (believe me I’ve written a few!) and meant to be addictive to their audience. (the 'crackfic’ idea is that the only way the author could have produced such a monstrosity is to be high on crack)

crossover–when a story has content of any sort from more than a single fandom. This would be like a story about Percy Jackson attending Hogwart’s.

dark–the fic contains elements that are morally sketchy or evil, often these kinds of stories have disturbing content (and shouldn’t be confused with 'angst’)

rpf/rps–real person fiction/slash, stories that feature a real life person, celebrity, historical figure, etc. This kind of fic is controversial, though I can admit I’m cloudy on why.

Right now on Broadway we have the smash hit 'Hamilton’ which is technically a (*gasp*) 'rpf’ and no one who is a fan of HISTORY is losing their crap over it. Just saying. I’m pretty put out by the way 'rpf’ is treated across multiple fandoms to be honest, and I think people should just click away if they don’t want to read it instead of being all butthurt over it.

fluff/fluffy–a story that does not contain angst, often comforting and uplifting to read. Really, generally, they are full of happy, joy-filled, blissfully sweet scenes that are meant to be read with a smile. (can be combined with other attributes to better define it: fluffyromance, fluffysmut, fluffydomestic, etc)

genderbend/swap–a character is changed from canon sex to another. Can be portrayed multiple ways, whether meant to be shocking if done through magic or something like that but often it is just where the author has taken the character’s gender that is canon and written it so that they have always been another gender.

hurt/comfort–so this one isn’t always labeled, but it is meant to denote a story that may contain angst and suffering, but that it will ALSO contain equal amounts of support, love, and comfort.

self-insert/reader-insert–relatively new to the fanfiction scene, and more popular in certain fandoms over others, these fics are written to allow the reader to imagine themselves in the story.

A lot of authors will refuse to add any details at all to the insert character, though I’ll admit, I often add details because it feels too flat without them–and to be honest, I am probably not doing it the commonly accepted way lol

smut/porn/lemon/lime–story contains graphic depiction of sexual contact

And finally, a few terms that will help you navigate the fanfiction world:

headcanon–an author’s personally applied thoughts and characterizations to the established canon. Often this is meant to denote that while the idea isn’t known within the canon–there is little to no reason why it couldn’t be true. There’s no such thing as a wrong headcanon–as they are specific to each fan within a fandom–so if someone is blasting about it being wrong you can tell them to simmer down, because it’s JUST a PERSONAL interpretation.

OC–original character created by the author that plays a primary role in the story

OOC–out of character, personality of a canon established character falls outside of the accepted norm. This has different levels of acceptance to be honest, and it varied widely from fandom to fandom.

one-shot–a single story that reads as a stand alone. Generally, but not always, they are not continued as a chaptered fic is, though they can be created within a collection that features the same world established in the first one-shot. These are not related to other stories by the author–if they are then they are generally considered 'outtakes’ instead.

canon–in agreement with original source, understood dynamics and facts of the content according to the original book, movie, show, manga, anime, etc.

prompt–a story idea that is given to help an author write a story

drabble–okay, so this is really open to debate right? Because even fanfic authors can’t figure out what the crap a drabble is most of the time. It was ORIGINALLY a story that is exactly 100 words in length.

Most author’s basically say 'screw that’ (I do, sorry, not sorry) and use the word to describe any small headcanon, musing, or tiny fic that isn’t big enough to be labeled a 'one-shot’.

There is another word that is sometimes used for works that go over 500 words which is ’ficlet’ but I honestly don’t see this used often, despite being acceptable.  

I find, personally, the difference in a 'one-shot’ and a 'drabble’ to be whether there is exposition and resolution to the content.

Whew, that was a lot of info and you read this far, then thank you! I’m sure I have overlooked some terms and ideas here, as no single list can be completely exhaustive of something as broad at fanfiction, so if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to let me know!

[grahamfinch1990]

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[wnnbdarklord]

Dear Worldbuilding Exchange 2018 creator!

Hi! This is my first year participating and I am excite!

AO3 username: wnnbdarklord

Worldbuilding Exchange 2018 Letter:

General Likes

Art Likes

Do Not Wants

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Request #1 - worldbuilding Asgard and/or Jotunheim

Request #2 - worldbuilding Sokovia Accords, Wakanda, Stark Industries

Middle Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Star Trek the Next Generation

General Likes:

Polyamory, gen, het, slash, femslash, families of choice, competence, BAMF female characters, angst, hurt/comfort, teamfic, pretty much all the tropes especially if there is a twist, worldbuilding, humor, redemption, for want of a nail AUs, time travel, werewolves, dragons, crossovers, non fantasy/SF canons encountering the supernatural/aliens, fix it fics

For worldbuilding specific stuff: I think I'd be happy with pretty much any deeper exploration of canon or implications of canon. Building on throwaway references is also great as is considering logical endpoints that might not even have been intended by the creators. Or exploring something the creators never even mentioned but that has to exist for that world to be at all functional (like agriculture and trade in fantasy worlds as something rarely mentioned or explored in depth). Or unintended applications of technology and/or magic that exist in canon. Or exploring how history would change with the presence of certain canonical elements.

Feel free to combine or mix up the prompts! The character choices are mostly there just as preferences or ones I think would fit with the worldbuilding prompts. Since the focus of this exchange is on the worldbuilding, I'd be perfectly happy to get something that doesn't focus on any of the characters or even original characters.

All of my requests are open for either fic, art or in universe meta. I love fics that blur the lines with meta.

Art Likes:

I’m pretty sure I’d love any art! I love sketchy styles with maybe just a splash of color to draw the eye. Black and white images with only one color to highlight Important Things is A+. That said, any art in any style would be amazing! As for subject matter, I’d love to see any scenes from the prompts or stuff from my likes.

Do Not Wants:

The ones bolded are the most important to leave out, but here is an expanded list:

permanent character death, incest, rape, dubcon, torture porn, underage stuff, infidelity, humiliation, character bashing, ship bashing, no powers AUs, love triangles, fake married/dating, power imbalances in relationships, hate sex, scat/watersports, necrophilia, PWP, abuse, fusions, zombies, 1st person POV, issue fic, themes of cynicism and futility, nihilism that isn't of the optimistic kind, animal abuse, unrequested ships, slavery, genderswap of the always an x kind, unrequested AUs , jealousy

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Request #1 - worldbuilding Asgard and/or Jotunheim

Loki (MCU) || Thor (MCU) || Hela (MCU) || Brunnhilde | Valkyrie (MCU) || Original Character(s) (MCU) || Any or No Characters (MCU)

WB: Jotunheim (MCU)

Ever since the first Thor movie, I've wanted more about Jotunheim. Anything! What is their culture like? Society? Geography? Politics? Flora and fauna? Gender? Medicine? Education? Trade? It'd be really cool if there was something dealing with the differences pre and post war with Asgard.

Why did they try to colonize Midgard? Given the revelations about Asgard in Ragnarok, were the Jotnar even trying to turn the Earth into Jotunheim's image, or was that just propaganda by Odin and the possibly innocuous presence of Jotnar on Midgard a convenient excuse for more war? Was their attempt one of desperation?

How are their relations with the other Realms? Do they still have any trade with them after the war? What does Jotunheim think about the events of the Thor movie? Are they even aware who it was that tried to destroy them? What were the consequences of the Bifrost attack? Severe planetwide or just local?

For art: I'd love to see a map of Jotunheim or plant or animal studies. Or maybe something detailing Jotnar clothing. Or architecture. Or what their language and alphabet looks like.

For in universe meta/fic: Excerpts from books or videos from various scholars on all the Realms. This could be really interesting, especially as a way to see how the Jotnar view themselves vs others, especially with Asgardian propaganda (and racism in their tendency to refer to any species but their own in derogatory terms). Or maybe something detailing what Thor and Loki would have learned through their education, skewed as it likely was. There had to be some reason they were both so convinced Jotnar were monsters.

WB: Aesir and/or Jotnar biology (MCU)

I love me some alien biology worldbuilding! They're clearly more hardy than humans, stronger and longer lived, but what are the other differences? Why does Odin disintegrate into sparkles upon death, but not other Aesir? Are there developmental differences between Aesir and Jotnar? Is one more long lived than the other? Hardier? What about nutritional requirements? Are they allergic to any foods the other is not? Do Jotnar have hair? Horns?

Any reproductive differences? Aesir seem to align to human norms fairly well (and what if they don't?), but do Jotnar have more complicated arrangements? What is their sense of smell, taste and vision like? In the myths, Jotnar were shapeshifters and so is Loki in the MCU. Is this a species wide thing or just more common on Jotunheim? How do their instincts differ

How do Aesir and Jotnar powers work? Why do Odin, Hela, Heimdall and Thor have powers, but the rest of the population doesn't seem to? How does the freezing touch of Jotnar work? Is it constant or just a defense mechanism? How cold can they get to shatter leather and metal made by Asgardians? Can all of them produce ice?

For fic: I'd love something where Loki is forced to confront his Jotun form long term. Perhaps Odin's spell on him fails when Asgard is destroyed and he'll have to deal with whatever differences there are.

For art: Anatomical studies and/or comparisons would be amazing! I'd be especially delighted with anything highlighting the differences.

WB: Asgard and its history (MCU) || WB: Relations Between Asgard and the Other Realms (MCU) || WB: Politics of Asgard (MCU)

All of these seem thematically related, so I'm lumping them together. Feel free to focus on whichever you want or combine as you please!

Ragnarok really made me hanker for more info about Asgard's past and its relationship with the other Realms. How did Odin and Hela go about their conquests? The murals depict Asgard being built by slaves. Where did the slaves come from? What happened to them?

Neither Thor or Loki are aware of Asgard's true history. What were they taught instead? Was that just Odin being Odin and keeping secrets, or was there some magic or technology behind Asgard's collective amnesia? Or just fear of the king?

How were Asgard's relations to the other Realms affected by its bloody history? Do the other Realms remember it? How were they affected by it? Have they recovered? Has Asgard purposefully and actively kept them lower, despite all its words of peace later? What was the relationship like after Loki-as-Odin pulled Asgard away from actively policing the other Realms?

How has Asgard itself been affected by these revelations? Its destruction? Do the people start a revolution on the ship? Is there a reason they're so passive throughout Hela's reappearance? They didn't seem shocked or particularly resentful of Loki usurping Odin's place either.

For fic: I'd love something where the Asgardian refugees have to contend with going from the top of the pile to the bottom. How would the other Realms treat them?

For art: I'd love to see more of the murals! What other secrets has Odin been keeping? How prevalent are they? I'd love a before and after like in the movie, but for other events.

WB: Relationship between magic and science (MCU)

Thor says they're one and the same on Asgard. Is that true elsewhere? I mean, there seem to be quite a few differences functionally. How does magic work and how is it different from science? Is everything on Asgard just technology so advanced it basically works like magic? If not and magic is actually a thing, how does it work? Can anyone do it with enough study? Does there have to be a natural aptitude for it beforehand? Or are there degrees of separation where anyone can do magic with certain artifacts and rituals, but only naturally born magic users can use it without those interfaces? Is shapeshifting magic, a natural ability or technology?

For fic: I'd love something dealing with Loki learning magic, or even Thor trying to learn it! They both seem fairly comfortable with advanced technology, but Asgard itself doesn't seem to have any visible tech. How does that work on Asgard?

Request #2 - worldbuilding Sokovia Accords, Wakanda, Stark Industries

Tony Stark (MCU) || Pepper Potts (MCU) || James "Rhodey" Rhodes (MCU) || T'Challa (MCU) || Original Character(s) (MCU)

These requests might not be as detailed as the Asgardian stuff above, but don't take it to mean I'm less enthusiastic for them! I just found it easier to come up with prompts there. I'm sure I'll be happy with whatever you come up with!

WB: Stark Industries (MCU)

Stark Industries sounds like it should be a huge corporation! With all the advanced tech in the MCU in general, what wonders does SI create that make the MCU just that bit different from our Earth? How did the company restructure after Tony returned from Afghanistan? With SI's focus on clean energy, is climate change less of a big deal in the MCU?

What's the legal differentiation between SI and Iron Man and the Avengers? Especially after the Sokovia Accords? What about Tony's work for SHIELD before it went under? What's the public's perception of SI after everything? What does the day to day running of SI look like? Perhaps a perspective from the average worker that has to deal with the fallout of their boss being a superhero/involved with a superhero?

How did the internal shakeup of SI go after Obadiah Stane and his double dealing? After SHIELD fell, how many of its agents sought refuge with SI? Is Hill still there after the Civil War? What did SI get up to after the events of the Avengers? Did they get access from the government to the Chitauri tech?

For art: I'd love something schematic-y for one of their products or maybe pamphlets or something from their public relations department. Or magazine and newspaper articles on SI or Tony, Pepper or Rhodey.

WB: Sokovia Accords (MCU) || WB: Public Relations and superheroes/related agencies (MCU)

I'm Team Tony, so I don't really want anything dealing directly with Steve and his team, but I also don't want any character bashing. I just really don't understand Steve's perspective. Ross is definitely an asshole who used the Sokovia Accords as an opportunity to push his agenda, but the concept itself did not originate from him. And he isn't capable of single handedly forcing 117 countries to agree to them. I don't think the UN works like that.

I also don't think the script writers know what the UN works like either? So, give me the Sokovia Accords with more of a focus on the legal and diplomatic realities rather than the dramatic tension necessary in a movie! They had to have been in the works for years at the very least, how did none of the Avengers know about them? Or did they and it just wasn't mentioned in the movie? How many times were they amended? How will they be amended? How do they work in practice? They certainly weren't ratified during the bombing because of the bombing, so why did the movie proceed as though they were in full force?

What does superhero PR look like in the MCU? Before the Accords? After?

WB: Wakanda increasing its international openness (MCU)

I don't have anything in particular in mind for this, I just saw the tag and my brain went !!! How and why does Wakanda decide to stop its isolationist policies? How does it affect them? How does it affect the rest of the world?

Middle Earth - J.R.R. Tolkien

Boromir (Middle Earth - Tolkien) || Faramir (Middle Earth - Tolkien) || Original Character(s) (Middle Earth - Tolkien) || Original Gondorian Scholar (Middle Earth - Tolkien) || Gandalf | Mithrandir (Middle Earth - Tolkien)

WB: Libraries & Archives (Middle Earth - Tolkien)

WB: Southern Middle Earth (Middle Earth - Tolkien)

WB: cultural differences between races (Middle Earth - Tolkien)

WB: trade in Gondor (Middle Earth - Tolkien)

WB: education in Middle Earth (Middle Earth - Tolkien)

WB: afterlife for non elven races (Middle Earth - Tolkien) /

WB: Mythology and Religion (Middle Earth - Tolkien)

I've been a Tolkien fan since I was 11, but haven't recently reread the books. I tend to float in and out of the fandom, but it is always near and dear to my heart. I don't really have detailed prompts for these, because it feels like they're pretty descriptive on their own.

I'd be most interested seeing something dealing with Gondor or Men in general throughout Middle-earth. In universe texts, stories, and songs dealing with aspects of the prompts would be great! Especially considering a lot of the mythology is presented to us as fact (despite the layers of 'it's just a translation' conceit) rather than from the perspective of the people themselves. The readers know what happens to Men when they die, but do the Men themselves know? Sure, there's accounts from the Elves and what the Valar and Maiar told them, but I doubt all of them are aware of it. Or if they had been at one point, how did that change after lack of contact?

Middle-earth is a big place, but we only really know a lot about one small part of it. What do the people we're familiar with think about the places we've never seen? Is there any contact at all? Are those places filled with familiar Races or is there more variety? Did they ever visit? What did they bring, if so? What did they leave with?

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Ken (Dirk Gently TV 2016) || Farah Black (Dirk Gently TV 2016) || Dirk Gently (Dirk Gently TV 2016) || Bart Curlish (Dirk Gently TV 2016) || Original Character(s) (Dirk Gently TV 2016)

WB: how the Blackwing subjects' powers work (Dirk Gently TV 2016) || WB: Cosmology (Dirk Gently TV 2016) || WB: Blackwing (Dirk Gently TV 2016)

Gosh, I just love this series so much! I want to know more about everything in it, but managed to limit myself to these :D

How does the universe work in DGHDA? In the second season it's implied that it's broken and that the Blackwing subjects are effectively the debugging programs of the universe. How does that work? How did Blackwing find them? Did they ever make a mistake? Are there more out there? What are they doing? How does the universe decide which people to chose? We also get to see the universe's backstage. Why do people's eyes go different in that place? Why were Amanda's and Todd's fairly normal, but Friedkin's were red? What does the glowy stuff mean?

There are a number of holistic identities and the way they work seems to be very varied. Francis Cardenas' power was very overt and amazingly powerful. Bart is basically unstoppable and Mona can turn into literally anything. Dirk's power, by contrast, is fairly low-key and unobtrusive. Has he fully realized his potential?

How did Blackwing come into existence? How long have they been operational? How were they so unsuccessful in determining their subjects' powers enough to lose almost all of their funding? Was it the recapturing of the subjects that made the universe broken? Anything dealing with Blackwing and their subjects during their captivity there would be great! Like, how did the logistics of keeping Ken in a taxi for 70 days even work? Things like that :D

Star Trek the Next Generation

Data (ST:TNG) || Jean-Luc Picard (ST:TNG) || Deanna Troi (ST:TNG) || Original Character(s) (ST:TNG) || Any or No Characters (ST:TNG) || Geordi La Forge (ST:TNG)

In most fandoms, I'm fine with a grimer, darker take, but for Star Trek I like it to encapsulate the ideals it was created with - namely, that we might not be perfect, but we can achieve so much if we're willing to try and strive to be better. Which isn't to say that life has to be perfect, but I'd like it to be hopeful. Cynicism need not apply.

WB: Warp Engines (ST: TNG)

There was a recent article about warp drive possibly not being such an impossibility anymore! The technical details would probably be beyond me, but I would love an explanation of Star Trek's warp engines combined with the real life science one! Give me all the pseudo technobabble!

WB: interspecies relationships (ST:TNG)

How common are they? How common is offspring? Genetic manipulation is forbidden in the Federation, but do people use it anyway to have children they otherwise might not be able to, legally or otherwise?

There's loads of culture clash between people from different countries from the same planet, how much more is there between two different species? Or does that make it easier in some ways?

WB: fashion and clothing (ST:TNG)

Honestly, this prompt was entirely and completely inspired by this tumblr post: http://cookiesforthedarkside.tumblr.com/post/169324738115/mosellegreen-justanothercarbonunit in which Gene Roddenberry has a problem with zippers. And buttons. By the time TNG rolled around, there were clothes with visible seams and such, but it was left ambiguous whether they were actually zippers. So, what does clothing without buttons or fasteners of any kind look like? How does it work? What material is it made out of? Is the lack of zippers and buttons the reason for some of the more...let's say eclectic looks?

WB: media reporting (ST:TNG)

Starfleet gets up to so many shenanigans, it's ridiculous. And we know reporters and journalists still exist! So, what do they report on? Is there a 24 hour news channel somewhere? Is there a gossip rag Picard secretly reads that absolutely butchers the Enterprise's mission reports? Are there dramatic readings of them in Ten Forward?

Are there a billion different channels of subspace radio that broadcasts all the local minutia of whatever system the Enterprise is currently in? Do they play it on the bridge?

I just feel like it'd be an interesting perspective on the little details of the Star Trek verse that have to be there, but we never really see. Go wild!

WB: AI rights and personhood (ST:TNG)

We know Data paved the way for AI rights in the ST verse. What ripples have his efforts caused? We know it's not just limited to him or other androids and robots - it seems like everytime we turn around, another hologram gains sentience. With the amount of holograms in use by the Federation, it could become a problem very quickly.

Do more androids eventually get built? Do the star ships themselves gain sentience? How would the Federation navigate these issues?

WB: Utopian Earth (ST:TNG)

It probably isn't a true Utopia, because those seem impossible and designed to fail, but I'd like to think it's pretty close. How does life for the average citizen of Earth look like? What do they do in a post-scarcity society? What do people not in Starfleet do? How do they live?

[definitelynotscott]

Dear Author for Purimgifts 2017

Hello, Friend! Do not feel bound by this letter as these are only suggestions. I’m sure I will love whatever you create! However, in case you are feeling lost and directionless in the pursuit of what to write for someone you don’t know very well, I have taken the time to write some things out that will hopefully serve as a compass to point you North. :D

General

Yes, Please. - Positive family stuff like bonding, teasing, meddling, supporting, interfering, protecting, etc. (blood relatives or found family, both are good).

Friendship stuff, I love to see friends working together and helping each other accomplish goals (big or small), also hanging out and just enjoying each other’s company, when they can exchange positive physical contact (hugging, kissing, cuddling) without it being taken as romantic/sexual that makes me happy.

I like romance too, getting together is fine, but that seems to be the most common kind, so if you wanted to do some established relationship stuff (1st-50th anniversary, going on a mission/adventure as a couple for the 1st-50th time, having/adopting a child, raising that child/children, threatening each other’s enemies, etc.) that might be kind of cool.

The trope where soulmates (platonic or romantic) have their first words written on each other’s bodies is fun, especially if one person said something either horrible or commonplace (”Hi,” “Excuse me,” you get the idea) and the other person resents it.

Cultural conflict is awesome. Things where standard behavior, action, phrasing, body language, terminology can lead to conflict, misunderstandings, etc. because they mean one thing in Culture A and something else in Culture B, I love that. (I love Janet Kagan’s books, particularly Hellspark.)

I like to laugh, sometimes at the suffering of fictional characters, but I lean more towards fluff on both the fluff/angst axis and the fluff/smut axis.

While I haven’t written much, I do tend to write what I want/like, so that can give you a clue if you’re still searching

No, Thank You. - Incest, infidelity, torture, gore, rape/non-consensual stuff, mind control, mental collapse/breakdown, teacher/student relationships, the phrase “Make me a woman!” .

Fandom Info

League of Legends

My favorite character is Lux Crownguard, and the fandom portrays her in some ways I don’t like, so I’m just going to come out and tell you what NOT to do and help you avoid accidentally spiking my blood-pressure. Basically it’s a rant about stuff you probably wouldn’t do anyway, so if you want to skip it simply remember I like her better as an awesome superspy and powerful mage than some helpless, naive princess.

*START RANT* Do not write her as stupid or foolish, she is canonically a prodigy. Bubbly and goodhearted does not equal stupid. Do not write her as helpless, she can reverse engineer spells after one viewing in a highly magical world, she is overpowered as hell. Do not write her as overly naive, she was conscripted into the army at age 13 and then served in a spy in Noxus (a place known for being violent and Darwinian, remember?). She may have managed to hold on to her innocence in some ways, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t know what’s what. Don’t write her as a weakling. True, she’s less buff than many champions (she is tiny and a mage) but she went through basic training, is an active member of her country’s army, and runs around wearing metal armor (less than some, but again, she’s a mage). Don’t write her as a weak-willed, submissive, shrinking violet. You cannot channel massive arcane power with a weak will, and, come on, she runs around yelling “In the name of Demacia, I will punish you!” This is a much smaller issue, but I’ve see a couple of stories where they depict Lux as a good cook, which doesn’t seem logical to me. First, she’s a noblewoman, cooking is what servants are for in their eyes. Second, she might have pulled some KP duty in the army, but that doesn’t really lend itself to gourmet cooking (”Look honey, I cooked 15 gallons of beans!” *stifled groan*). The only place I can see her learning to cook would be in Noxus, out of self preservation. And then she definitely wouldn’t advertise it. Demacia’s Lady of Luminosity can cook Noxian food but not Demacian food? How embarrassing! *END RANT*

So, now that I’ve ranted… Things you CAN do in this fandom. I mean… she’s a spy, so she’s probably thrilled when people gauge her wrong. Me, not so much. If you wanted to write something where someone underestimates her and then gets #REKT that would be juuuuuust fine.

If you’re interested in writing something family oriented, Lux and her brother Garen would be something I would enjoy, I love them both. Then, of course, there’s the Du Couteau family. If you want to write about Katarina, Cassiopeia, and Talon interacting that would be fun too!

If you’d like to write about friendship, Lux & Janna hanging out having fun, or comparing magic, or their experience as highly specialized mages would be good. Ezreal & Lux is another possibility. (They’re my NOTP though, but I’ve already ranted once this letter. Just… NO ROMANCE!) I’d love to see the two of them hang out, eat pizza, do each other’s nails, try to hook each other up with people… (romcom hijinks ensue) maybe they double-date the Blood Brothers? *shrugs*

For romance my preference is to pair Lux with Darius or Talon. I know they’re on opposite sides, but the points where they intersect are what interest me. Darius understands loyalty and service, and family, things that are important to her. Talon has more family loyalty than loyalty to his government, and they both assassin and spy aren’t such different careers (the fact that he’s The Blade’s SHADOW, and she’s all about LIGHT tickles my fancy as well). Also, see my previously expressed love for cultural conflict. That’s one reason I like Lux. As someone who understands both Demacian and Noxian culture (she understands it well enough to be an undetected spy there at least) she’s in a good position to solve or instigate some cultural incidents.

Shadow Unit

I’m very sad our time with these characters has ended, so pretty much anything would be great. I feel like the Purimgifts community could fall as much in love with Esther Falkner as I have (which is why I wrote a recommendation), so anything with her would thrill me. As previously mentioned, I like found family dynamics, so some Worth & Gates interaction would be good. Or if you wanted to write something set after the original works I’d love to see something with Nikki in her new role. Some of the Gammas, Natalie Summers-Barrington, Susannah Greenwood, or Anna Krol (especially Anna Krol!) I’d love to read about. If you like writing less fluffy stuff, Frost is always an option!

Marvel Universe

I used to read their comics a lot, and while I haven’t recently, I have a decent understanding of the general Marvel Universe background, so if you want to branch out from the fandoms I have listed go ahead!

My favorite character is Darcy Lewis, although I also love Pepper and Natasha. A story where the three of them combined their powers to save/take over the world would be awesome. Or even something less plot-y and more hanging-out-with-friends would be enjoyable. I did (ahem) write a summary for a Darcy story I’d like to see, and while it’s probably too long for a Purimgifts story XD it might give you an idea or two. If you feel like going crack-y, envision a world where Pepper Potts is a descendant of the Potts family from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Inventors are her destiny and/or inventing is in her blood!

[zeroviraluniverse-blog]

5 Ways the Little House on the Prairie Books Stretched the Truth

Visit Now - http://zeroviral.com/5-ways-the-little-house-on-the-prairie-books-stretched-the-truth/

5 Ways the Little House on the Prairie Books Stretched the Truth

For 80 years, Thornton Wilder’s Our Town has awed audiences. The American playwright’s delicate tale of small town American families at the turn of the 20th century is alive with humanity and poetry. Yet, there was a time when its content felt downright revolutionary.

1. OUR TOWN IS WILDER’S MOST POPULAR OF HIS MANY NOVELS AND PLAYS.

Today, Wilder is considered a titan of 20th-century American literature—and he’s the only person to have won the Pulitzer Prize for both literature and drama. His 1927 novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey was a commercial success and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1928. Ten years later, Our Town won Wilder his second Pulitzer, and first in the drama category. His third Pulitzer came in 1943, when his play The Skin of Our Teeth won the drama prize.

Wilder also wrote screenplays for silent films. And because Alfred Hitchcock was such an admirer of Our Town, the iconic director hired Wilder to work on the script for his 1943 thriller Shadow of a Doubt.

2. OUR TOWN IS A SIMPLE STORY ABOUT EVERYDAY AMERICANS.

Set in the humble hamlet of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, the play follows the relationship of young lovers Emily Webb and George Gibbs, who meet, marry, and separate over the course of 1901 to 1913. In his 1992 book Conversations with Thornton Wilder, English professor Jackson R. Bryer wrote, “Wilder presents ordinary people who make the human race seem worth preserving and represent the universality of human existence.”

3. THIS FICTIONAL TOWN IS BASED ON A REAL PLACE.

Wilder spent his summers in Peterborough, New Hampshire, and he aimed to capture its simple charms in his characterization of the fictional Grover’s Corners. Years later, Peterborough would return the compliment. As part of a dual celebration of the town’s 275th and the play’s 75th anniversaries, Peterborough dedicated the intersection of Grove and Main streets to Our Town, erecting street signs that read “Grover’s Corners.”

4. WILDER WROTE OUR TOWN IN PETERBOROUGH AND ZURICH.

Wilder wrote part of Our Town as a fellow of the MacDowell Colony, an artists’ retreat established in Peterborough in 1907. He also worked on the play at an isolated hotel in Zurich, Switzerland, where he was the sole guest. “I hate being alone,” Wilder once lamented in a letter, “And I hate writing. But I can only write when I’m alone. So these working spells combine both my antipathies.”

5. WILDER WAS ALREADY AN ACCLAIMED WRITER WHEN OUR TOWN DEBUTED.

After winning the Pulitzer for his book The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Wilder turned his focus to Broadway, where he debuted his original play The Trumpet Will Sound. Then, ahead of Our Town, he created English-language stage adaptations for French playwright Andre Obey’s The Rape of Lucretia (a.k.a. Lucrece) and Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. Both played on the Great White Way, in 1932 and 1937 respectively.

6. OUR TOWN BOASTED GROUNDBREAKING STAGING.

The play’s directions call for it to be performed on an unadorned stage: “No curtain. No scenery. The audience, arriving, sees an empty stage in half-light.” Simple set pieces like ladders and chairs come into play, but the actors use no props, and pantomime as needed to convey the story. The play’s narrator is named after an important theatrical crew position: Stage Manager. This crucial character has the power to communicate directly to the audience, but also can interact with the characters. Each metatheatrical element is meant to draw attention to the constructs within the medium of theater.

7. WILDER HAD USED SOME OF THESE TECHNIQUES BEFORE.

His one-act plays The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden (1931) and Pullman Car Hiawatha (1932) both had Stage Manager characters. Both also called for minimalistic set designs. Happy Journey used four chairs and a low platform to stand in for a family car; Pullman Car Hiawatha employed chalk lines and chairs to create train cars. But only Pullman Car Hiawatha has the Stage Manager address the audience directly as he does in Our Town.

8. OUR TOWN WAS A RESPONSE TO WHAT WILDER FELT CONTEMPORARY THEATER LACKED.

Before writing Our Town, Wilder expressed his disappointment with the quality of American theater. He feared the opulent costumes and spectacular sets of Broadway did a disservice to the written word. “I felt that something had gone wrong,” he wrote. “Finally my dissatisfaction passed into resentment. I began to feel that the theatre was not only inadequate, it was evasive; it didn’t not wish to draw upon its deeper potentialities.”

9. OUR TOWN WON INSTANT ACCLAIM.

The show made its Broadway debut to positive reviews. Some critics were puzzled, however, by its deceptive minimalism. “Sometimes, as it skips through the lives in a small New Hampshire town, it soars; but again it is earthbound by its folksy attention to humdrum detail. However it may add up, it is an intelligent and rewarding theatrical experiment,” wrote John Chapman in the New York Daily News.

The New York Times theatre critic Brooks Atkinson was more effusive in his praise. “Our Town is, in this column’s opinion, one of the finest achievements of the current stage,” he wrote.

Our Town‘s success transformed Wilder from a lauded writer to a critical darling. “He was now not merely a successful writer but a sage, a spokesman—a role that he seems to have relished, or at least tolerated,” Robert Gottlieb wrote in The New Yorker in 2013.

10. A POSTWAR PRODUCTION OF OUR TOWN IN GERMANY WAS SHUT DOWN.

The Christian Science Monitor reported in its February 13, 1946 issue that the Soviet Union had put a stop to a production of Our Town in the Russian sector of Berlin. The play was canceled “on the grounds that the drama is too depressing and could inspire a German suicide wave,” the magazine stated.

Wilder’s sister Isabel later offered an alternate explanation. “[Our Town] was the first foreign play to be done in Berlin shortly after the occupation. The Russian authorities stopped it in three days. Rumor gave the reason that it was ‘unsuitable for the Germans so soon—too democratic.'”

11. THE PLAY’S GENRE IS HARD TO PIN DOWN.

In theater, comedies often end in weddings, while dramas frequently end in death. Our Town offered a bit of both and in an introspective manner that celebrates the grace and frustrations common to the human experience. In 1956, theater historian Arthur Ballet and playwright George Stephens had an academic debate about whether the play was a tragedy. Ballet declared it a “great American drama” because the Stage Manager is born from the Greek chorus tradition. But Stephens rejected this categorization, calling it “gentle nostalgia or, to put it another way, sentimental romanticism.”

12. WILDER BRIEFLY APPEARED IN OUR TOWN.

For two weeks in its original 1938 run on Broadway, Wilder himself played the role of the Stage Manager, though Frank Craven originated the role in its debut production. The actor of stage and screen appeared in a long list of movies, including the Will Rogers drama State Fair (1933), the Howard Hawks-helmed adventure Barbary Coast (1935), and the horror movie Son of Dracula (1943). However, Craven is best remembered for his portrayal as Our Town‘s Stage Manager, a role he reprised in the 1940 film adaptation.

13. OUR TOWN CONTINUED TO WIN AWARDS.

Broadway revivals were mounted in 1944, 1969, 1988, and 2002. The 1988 revival starring Eric Stoltz and Penelope Anne Miller as George and Emily garnered the most acclaim. It earned five Tony nominations, including those for Best Featured Actor (Stoltz), Featured Actress in a Play (Miller), Costume Design, Direction of a Play, and Revival, as well as four Drama Desk nods for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play (Stoltz), Featured Actress in a Play (Miller), Lighting Design, and Revival. This production won the Tony and Drama Desk awards in the Best Revival category.

14. OUR TOWN GOT A HAPPY ENDING WHEN IT WENT HOLLYWOOD.

The play’s first film adaptation hit theaters in the spring of 1940. Martha Scott, who made her Broadway debut originating the role of Emily Webb, reprised the part in this movie. Major changes were made in the film version, like the inclusion of sets and props—but most noticeably, Emily lives, turning the play’s third act into a dream sequence. Perhaps surprisingly, Wilder argued for the change.

He wrote to Sol Lesser, the film’s producer, “Emily should live … in a movie you see the people so close ‘to’ that a different relation is established. In the theatre, they are halfway abstractions in an allegory, in the movie they are very concrete … It is disproportionately cruel that she die. Let her live.”

15. ITS SIMPLE STAGING HAS HELPED MAKE OUR TOWN A VERY POPULAR REVIVAL.

Thanks to the play’s minimal stage design requirements, community theaters and high school drama clubs can take on this American classic with meager budgets. And they often have. “Our Town goes on and on and on and on. Is there a high school in America that hasn’t staged it?” Gottlieb wondered in The New Yorker. Its accessibility, along with the play’s universal themes about love and mortality, have made Wilder’s contemplative classic a staple for new generations of theater lovers.

[projectshakespearia]

Two Gentlemen of Verona: The World of the Play Part II

Kyle Stockdall as Proteus and Stuart Ashenbrenner as Valentine. Their goofy faces make me giggle every time I look at this.

Introduction In Part I of this “World of the Play” series, I provided a little bit of background information on the show, the selection process, and some context for our conceptual approached. In this post, I would like to go into a little more depth about the text, its history, its “problems,” and some of the editing choices I made for this production. Hopefully this will adequately answer some of the questions/comments I’ve encountered since this show was announced: I haven’t heard of that one. I don’t like that show. Is that the one with the dog? What’s that one about again? I can see why people don’t stage that show very often. What are you going to do about the rape? (Yes, you read that correctly

While I don’t see a real need to defend this play or its author, I would like to explore some of the challenges of the text I face in staging it. The source material is interesting and provides some insight into Shakespeare’s process and development as a writer. Granted, this script is by no means “perfect,” but that’s no reason why it cannot be staged in an entertaining way in line with the work we do with Bard in the Quad.

Valentine rescues Sylvia from Proteus in a 1792 depiction by Francis Wheatley.

Background and Source Material As with many of Shakespeare’s plays, there is debate as to the precise date of the authorship of Two Gentlemen of Verona. While there is evidence that the play was written no later than 1598, generally historians and critics hypothesize the date to fall somewhere between 1590-1595 based on the writing style. Viewing the characters and plot devices that are used to greater effect in later works (spunky heroines disguised as boys, lovers separated by disapproving parents, rustic clowns, an untamed “green space” where chaotic events occur, etc.) I agree with the proposal that this play was very early in Shakespeare’s career and very likely his first play.

As with most of Shakespeare’s works, his source material came from a combination of literary sources and his own imagination. The three main sources for the plot and characters come from a “friendship tale” that includes a love triangle found in Boccaccio’s Decameron which results in one friend “giving” his lover to the other friend, a prose romance of betrayed love written by Jorge de Monemayor in 1542, and a long poem by Arthur Brooke titled The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet. The most original part of Shakespeare’s work, and probably the best, is the invention of Launce who displays a dizzying level of clever word-play and almost postmodern self-awareness in his two long monologues about his relationship with Crab, his dog.

There is no record of Two Gentlemen of Verona being performed prior to 1762, although we can assume Shakespeare’s troupe, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, staged it in repertory in the late 16th century. It is, after all, included in the First Folio publication in 1623. While is not a rich history of productions of Two Gentlemen of Verona, it is staged more often than even more “problematic” plays such as Timon of Athens or Cymbeline. Much of the writing about the production history has to do with how directors “deal” with the two major challenges with the ending. (Also note, this does not take into account the other inconsistencies that proliferate this script.)

The Plot In a not-so-brief plot summary, Two Gents tells the story of Proteus and Valentine, lifelong friends who part so Valentine can seek his fortunes by serving in the Emperor’s court (or later, the Duke, an inconsistency that is never addressed). Proteus has decided to stay in Verona to be with his beloved Julia. Valentine chides Proteus for being “over the boots” in love and heads off to Milan (or Mantua, or Padua, another inconsistency). The relationship between Proteus and Julia develops through a series of letters delivered by pages and servants. Meanwhile, Proteus’ father Antonio discusses with his servant Panthio Proteus’ future. He is concerned that his son will not be “a perfect man” if he does not leave home and experience the world.

Shortly after Proteus has received a love letter from Julia, Antonio commands his son to Valentine in the Emperor’s court. Proteus begs his father to delay his departure, but Antonio stands firm. Proteus and his servant, Launce, must bid friends and family farewell. Proteus and Julia exchange rings in a tearful good-bye and Launce performs his first monologue about how his dog, Crab, refuses to shed “one single tear” about the departure.

After an unspecified amount of time has passed, Valentine has settled into courtly life and finds himself in love with Sylvia, the Duke’s witty and sophisticated daughter. He denies his feelings, but his own clownish servant, Speed points out that Valentine has adopted the lovesick behaviors Proteus had exhibited back in Verona. Valentine indeed loves Sylvia and she reciprocates the feelings, however, the Duke wishes to match his daughter with Thurio, a wealthy and foppish suitor. It is at this time that Proteus arrives in Milan with Launce, welcomed heartily to the court by the Duke.

Valentine is thrilled about this reunion and eagerly introduces Proteus to Sylvia, begging him to espouse her virtues. He then reveals to Proteus his and Sylvia’s plan to elope. Proteus pretends to be a supportive and devoted confidant, but grapples whether or not to cross Valentine and abandon Julia in order to pursue Sylvia. He decides that it would be a betrayal to himself not to pursue Sylvia with whom he is now deeply in love and hatches a complicated plan to ruin Valentine, thwart Thurio, and have Sylvia for himself. By revealing Valentine’s plot to the Duke, Valentine is banished from Verona. With Valentine out of the way, Proteus sets to court Sylvia for his own. He convinces Thurio to write a beautiful song that will be performed for Sylvia and then promises Thurio he will woo Sylvia on his behalf.

While all this scheming has gone on, Julia has been waiting in Verona for her beloved to return. Growing impatient, she implores her maid to disguise her as a young page so that she may track down Proteus. Lucetta is, at first, reluctant and concerned about her lady’s plan, but eventually helps her. Julia leaves Verona and arrives in Milan disguised as “Sebastian” just as the musicians prepare to perform for Sylvia. Julia watches the scene play out and is heartbroken over Proteus’ overtures towards another woman. Proteus’ advances toward Sylvia, however, are thoroughly rebuffed and she pledges her devotion to Valentine and Valentine alone.

Proteus, desperate for some token from Sylvia begs for her portrait. She agrees and he employs “Sebastian” to deliver a letter to Sylvia and a ring, which happens to be the ring that Julia gave to Proteus upon his departure from Verona. In one of the best-written scenes in the play, Julia goes to Sylvia with letter and ring in hand. Sylvia, is kind and sensitive to the image of Proteus’ “former lover” and refuses to accept his tokens. Julia is, of course, relieved that Sylvia shows no interest in Proteus. Realizing that her father will force her to marry Thurio, Sylvia decides to enlist the help of noble Sir Eglamour to guide her through the wilderness and find Valentine.

Valentine and Speed are on the road to Mantua when they are accosted by a group of bandits. In a comic exchange the bandits attempt to rob the travelers until Valentine proclaims that he has been banished for attempting to kill a man. The bandits, perhaps impressed or intimidated, decide to make Valentine their leader. Back in Milan, Sylvia’s absence has been noted and the Duke, Thurio, “Sebastian,” and Proteus set out into the wilderness to track them down.

While on the road, the bandits capture Sylvia and chase of Sir Eglamour, but are intercepted by Proteus and “Sebastian.” The bandits scare off Sir Egalmour and Proteus “frees” Sylvia from her captors. There in the woods Proteus again confesses his love and devotion to Sylvia, which she again refuses. Proteus, growing increasingly frustrated threatens: “I’ll woo you like a soldier at arm’s end, and love you ‘gainst the nature of love: force ye.” He attempts to assault Sylvia when Valentine intervenes. Valentine confronts Proteus for his treachery, not against Sylvia, but against their friendship. Proteus, overcome with guilt, apologizes to Valentine (not Sylvia) for his breach of trust to Valentine and not for the attempted rape. Valentine immediately accepts the apology and in a gesture of goodwill “gives” Sylvia to Proteus.

Proteus’ happiness over this turn of events is short-lived when Sebastian grows faint. The two gentlemen attend to the page Proteus recognizes the ring he gave to Julia on “Sebastian’s” person. Julia reveals herself and Proteus’ feelings for her are suddenly reignited. Valentine joins the hands of Proteus and Julia. At that moment, the bandits return, having captured the Duke and Thurio. Valentine commands the bandits to free the Duke and he confronts Thurio, who immediately gives up all claim on Sylvia. The Duke, suddenly satisfied with Valentine’s honor, approves of the match. In one last request, Valentine asks the Duke to pardon the outlaws and he agrees. Happily, the group sets off to return to Verona with the assumption that Valentine will wed Sylvia and Proteus will wed Julia.

Got all that?

The “Problems” and the Editing Process There are, quite simply, more than a few issues a good dramaturg could have ironed out for Shakespeare, had such a thing been common practice in the 16th century, such as the inconsistencies in location or status . . . or the fact that several characters inexplicably disappear and are never heard from again. My work in editing this script took into account several issues: time/writing errors, story/theme challenges, and the overall director’s concept.

If you read closely the convoluted summary, you can get a sense of how it might be challenging for an audience to untangle the various plot lines and characters. In an effort to simplify matters, I first made some serious cuts to the text and changes to location references so that it was clear where and when characters were coming and going. I omitted long sections of dialogue between Launce and Speed that wasn’t directly connected to the plot, I cut out the characters of Panthio and Sir Eglamour entirely, and I made some internal cuts to several of Proteus’ longer soliloquies. Most of this was in the service of having a play that would run two hours or less. Why did there need to be a long scene where Panthio and Antonio discuss the merits of Proteus leaving home? There doesn’t, so instead Antonia tells the audience she’s kicking her ne’er-do-well son out of the house and then sends Proteus packing. It’s a quicker and funnier solution for our purposes and moves the plot along for efficiently. Sir Eglamour’s presence is also inconsequential when, with a few cuts, it makes just as much sense for a stubborn Sylvia to set out on her own, just as Julia does earlier in the play.

The story/theme challenges come mostly at the troublesome ending of the play with the attempted rape followed by Valentine’s “giving” Sylvia to Proteus. There are so many quick and complete reversals in this short scene that, besides egregiously offending contemporary mores, they defy logical reason. While some of these issues are explained away that this is the work of inexperienced author attempting to construct a “happy ending” to his romantic comedy, but others are best understood within Shakespeare’s own cultural context. The most problematic excerpt is from Act V, scene 2:

PROTEUS: I’ll force thee yield to my desire.

VALENTINE: Ruffian, let go that rude uncivil touch, Thou fiend of an ill fashion.

PROTEUS: Valentine!

VALENTINE: Thou common friend, that’s without faith or love, For such is a friend now. Treacherous man, Thou hast beguiled my hopes. Naught but mine eye Could have persuaded me. Now I dare not say I have one friend alive. Thou wouldst disprove me. Who should be trusted, when one’s right hand Is perjured to the bosom? Proteus, I am sorry I must never trust thee more, But count the world a stranger for thy sake. The private wound is deepest. O time most accursed, ‘Mongst foes that a friend should be the worst!

PROTEUS: My shame and guilt confounds me. Forgive me Valentine. If hearty sorrow Be a sufficient ransom for offense, I tender’t here. I do as truly suffer As e’er I did commit. VALENTINE: Then I am paid. And once again I do receive thee honest. Who by repentance is not satisfied Is nor of heaven nor earth. For these are pleased; By penitence th’ Eternal’s wrath appeased. And that my love may appear plain and free, All that was mine in Silvia I give thee. JULIA: O me unhappy!

Unhappy indeed! In this bizarre passage, it is clear that Valentine is far more concerned at Proteus’ treachery toward the bonds of friendship and not the attempted act of violence upon Sylvia. While at first, Valentine admonishes Proteus to cease the “rude uncivil touch,” it is the betrayal of their friendship that wounds him “deepest.” His reaction towards Proteus’ violent and despicable behavior towards Sylvia seems disproportionate. It’s one thing to forgive a friend who wrongs you, it’s an entirely different matter to completely dismiss a violent assault whether or not the victim is your romantic partner. While this is difficult for modern audiences to grasp, it is well in line with perceptions of gender and courtship in the 16th century.

One of Shakespeare’s sources here was, as mentioned earlier, a “friendship tale” from the 14th century proto-novel The Decameron. These types of Medieval tales emphasize the bonds of male friendship and are reminiscent of Arthurian legends of honor among men. Consider other male friendships in Shakespeare’s canon between Prince Hal and Falstaff, Antonio and Bassanio, or Leontes and Polixenes - these are men willing to fight and suffer for each other and feel the wound of betrayal even more deeply than one would from a lover. Although women in Elizabethan society did not lead completely cloistered lives, their gender was assumed to be weaker physically and morally and they were certainly not considered to be equals to their male counterparts. In terms of courtship and marriage between men and women, men were assumed to be the wooers and once wedded and bedded, husbands were responsible for their wives’ behavior in public as parents are responsible for their children’s behavior.

Culturally speaking, the only truly equal relationship was between people of the same gender. Shakespeare plays with this frequently by allowing his cross-dressing heroines to speak in honest friendship with the male objects of their affection. In this context it would have made sense for Valentine to be so offended by Proteus’ breach of trust. That is not to say that sexual violence was wholly acceptable, but such a crime would be viewed by Valentine akin to vandalizing his property rather than harming another fully autonomous human being. This also explains why Valentine can so easily give away his “rights” to Sylvia without consulting her. Sylvia (or any woman) must always been in the care of a man passed from her father’s care to her husband’s. It makes sense, in this view of gender and male friendship, that Valentine would demonstrate his devotion and love of Proteus and acceptance of his penance by giving Sylvia away.

Understanding the context, however, does not make for a palatable ending to a modern audience, particularly within the cheery atmosphere of Bard in the Quad. While I can imagine an intimate production of this play that delves into the complexities of female agency and male aggression, this is neither the time nor place.

My choice to cut the “All that was mine in Sylvia, I give thee” is not unheard of in the production history of Two Gents. It was common practice to omit the troublesome lines until actor/director William Charles Macready reintroduced them in 1841. I initially bristled at the notion of “fixing” the ugly parts of Shakespeare when my usual approach is to let the ugly be ugly, but concluded that while this ludicrous offer, as offensive as it is, could have made sense with a little more development, it does not in its current state. It happens so quickly and then requires the fickle Proteus to “metamorphose” once again when he discovers that Sebastian is, in fact, Julia. I left the attempted assault in the play, but have Proteus direct his apology toward Sylvia rather than to Valentine. At this point in rehearsal, the solution is a little shaky and needs some fine-tuning, but it’s much more in line with the spirit we are attempting in our sunny, summer melodrama.

The last set of changes I made to the script can be viewed as adaptations to suit the concept. For example, I changed Antonio’s gender to “Antonia” because I found the idea of a tough-as-nails, disapproving “Mama” character chasing her son out of town with a giant ladle funny. I have also named the “host” character “Miss Kitty” who will serve as emcee to the production and sing with her band, The Barn Bangerz, during pre-show and transitions. She’ll work the crowd during the pre-show, introduce our dog performer and the Human Society volunteers, and set the tone for the evening.

I knew I wanted to fold live music into this production and inadvertently came across John Denver’s AM Gold classic, “Take Me Home, Country Roads” while listening to a podcast over Spring Break. A little alteration of the lyric “Almost Heaven, West Virginia” to “Almost Heaven, West Verona,” and I was onto something. I scoured the John Denver song book to find other sunny ballads to work into the show and came across “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” Leaving on a Jet Plane” (altered to “Leaving on a Railway” for our purposes), and “For You,” among others. In a serendipitous bit of casting I was able to cobble together a band including guitars, banjo, fiddle, upright bass, spoons, and washboard. The music adds so much to the production as The Barn Bangerz underscore the action and involve the audience while layering a homespun anachronistic whimsy into the world of the play.

In my next “World of the Play” series entry I will discuss some of the script’s stronger merits and how we are using the Proteus’ piggishness to our comic advantage. In addition I will explore some of the characters and themes connected as connected to Shakespeare’s later and more well-developed comedies.