#also there was definitly some stuff involving that that really turned me off and i deleted and never published a lot of asks

[equalseleventhirds]

Okay so this is GM anon, to answer your questions: as a friend group we definitly lean towards sci-fi and adventure, as in we enjoy movies in those genres so we know and enjoy the conventions thereof. Horror too, but in the style of Scream watch-alongs, or watching scary movies to make fun of them (and hide that you're feeling creeped out) no actual like gore or serious contemplative horror. I don't really know if it's better to go with more serious of more silly games, I was def looking at the more silly stuff bc the serious ones feel really awkward to me (but that might be informed by the fact that most serious RPG's I've heard are longform? The actors get really deep and attatched to their characters and I can't really picture feeling that intense? But maybe I'm just biased to think that short games are always more comedic and silly?). I think I'd prefer more rules/guided games to start with, I think it'll help with getting started and not freezing up when you can't think of something. I think puzzle games or like a heist or mystery sound great! Social interaction too, that's def one of the plus points of RPG's and games over watching something, that you're spending the whole time talking to eachother. Tbh I really don't know what would be best to focus on, I'm just spitballing, I just think something with a clear goal. We usually have at least a couple of hours time together, but it's not necessary for a game to last that whole time. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this!! I'm in a different timezone, it's actually pretty late for me so if I don't answer any follow up questions, it's bc I'm sleeping LOL

hi again gm anon! glad u did not wait up for me bcos it took me a while (i have...... many games), but here is a handful of recs for you!

first up, i think generally caltrop core games might be p good for a beginner; it's a very simple d4 system with very structured rules (how much depends on which game, but generally it's turn-based with set actions to choose from). there's still room for roleplaying & improv ofc, but it's easy to keep a handle on the table. there's been a caltrop core game jam with lots of submissions before, and ofc u can browse the tag on itch, but something like crystal souls or cursed confections might be fun for your group!

futuristic scifi 'group of thieves/scoundrels/rebels/etc do a mission' games are also very popular (i own like........ 20? 30? some are cyberpunk and some are spaceships and just. lot of em.) and also generally have a decent structure to work with (altho less turn-based than caltrop core, usually). a lot of them are geared towards longer campaigns, but can be done as a one-shot if you ignore some of the between-missions stuff. or do it as a post-mission cooldown thing. u kno. (lots of them are sorta forged in the dark based, but the slightly less complex ones i think are good for beginners; fitd can get really involved, but there are also simplified ones!)

you might enjoy offworlders, off the grid: resurgence, xanadu, subway runners, what's so awesome about hacking the planet, weasel overdrive, make our own heaven, bubblegum wizards 2, or dwindle.

and finally, i do love a dungeon crawl; keeps everything to a relatively small & defined space, but you can get weird with it (npcs in a dungeon? yeah! timespace fabric folding in a dungeon? yeah!) and it's a place to do all the puzzles and riddles and inexplicable creature encounters you generally don't get a chance for in a 'here you are in A World' sorta game. also, easy to keep short (my game sessions tend to run 4+ hours for oneshots, but in a dungeon crawl you can just. skip to the last room lmao.) games designed for dungeon crawling tend to lean more horror (if they don't lean..... d&d, basically), but i tried to pick ones where you can either take out most horror elements, or choose to play them lighthearted and chill/campy. you may like crwlr, the dark below, or the empty house.

.......and that's some basic game recs for your group; should be fine for 3-4 players, or even for one-on-one play if you can't get everyone together, altho that's not the ideal. as far as games specifically designed as two-player games, i know there are a bunch of them on itch, but most of them are gmless (usually asymmetrical gmless, but still gmless), and many of them lean heavily emotional (altho some are silly!). i'm not sure if you have different requirements in mind for a two-player game; lmk and i'll see what i can do? altho probably not until after this weekend, i got some stuff to work on for school T_T (this is....... part of why i'm not actively looking to gm rn, even tho i waaaaaant to. too many school.)

oh also podcasts! i know there's more than this around, but you can always check out oneshotpod for shortform games of many kinds! international podcast month also has some oneshot ttrpg episodes; i gmed a game of dwindle this year that was lots of fun! i'll poke around for more sometime, but for now i rly gotta get some sleep lol.

[asoulofatlantis]

given how dark kuro no kiseki is compared to the previous trails I have a feeling a good maount of innocent people will die in the final installment ( and lots of people suspect gramheart is up to something bad) it makes me wonder about how olivert and co will get involved. ( if say olivert dies and gramheart tries to claim that olivert tried to assassinate him how many of the other countries would buy the story ) I have seen a theory that calvard will end up destroyed

I am not sure about the people dying thing, at least not when it comes to our heroes. So far, the only character that died that we as the players did care about and that was connected to the main characters to boost, was Dingo. Everyone else dying (and staying dead - since, you know, the time-travel stuff in Kuro 2 undid almost all the deaths happening there...) were usually characters we as the players barely knew and cared about. So I do feel like that Falcom will still be "hand-off" with our heroes in Kai no Kiseki. Not to say that they don't get dangerously hurt or anything, but that they are in actual danger of dying is doubtful. BUT of course innocent people, as you said, have a much higher chance to die. I mean, we've already destroyed a whole town including woman, children and Animals... so yeah, there will probably be even more people dying in Calvard or - depending on what Greamheart is planning - even some other countries. So we do better prepare ourselfs, this might indeed be a wild (and painful) ride.

Greamheart is certainly up to something bad. He hasn't built this military machines for nothing and there is no way in hell that the only thing he is hiding is the space station he built. Its possible he is trying to attack Erebonia from Space, were there would be no way in hell for them to counter the attack or protect themselves in time. So I totally agree with that. Greamheart IS planning something bad and it also definitly is going to be dangerous for all of our beloved characters. (But they will still do not die...)

Olivert is an unlikely character to die anyway. Not only is he far too high in the ranking of most beloved Trails-Characters, but he also already has "died" once. No way in hell does Falcom think it would be funny to actually really kill him off now, after everything we've been through with him.

But I humor you here and tell you that no other country would believe Greamheart's story. Olivert has friendly relations to MANY other countries and connections to people from powerful countries (with how many people from the Church he knows at this point, plus Eies lover Toval, there is no way in hell, the Ateria would not intervene if someone would make such a false accusation. Liberl and Crossbell would be defending Olivert immediately too. Everyone who ever knew Olivert knows that he always was fighting for friendly relations with anyone and if Greamheart would dare to kill Olivert he would turn A LOT of countries against himself. And while Erebonia on its own is now too weak to fight Calvard, with Liberl, Crossbell, Ateria and likely also Elsaim on their side (possibly backed up by even more of the surrounding countries Olivert might have had good relations with without our knowledge) there is no way in hell Greamheart would survive this. And frankly, I do not believe he is stupid enough to pull something like this. He very likely wants control over Zemuria and making Enemies of multiple neighboring countries by one stupid move would not help him with his plans, I am sure...

Olivert and Co. will get involved because they found something out we do not know yet. As of Kuro 2, we know that Towa, Crow and possible also George and Angie are currently in Calvard and we know that something was bothering Rean about Calvard and that he himself and Olivert are currently on the move with the Courageous two, possibly gathering allies in case their worries come true. Fie is back in Calvard and so is Rixia and there is also Renne. Not to mention Rufus and his team are also around. And we also do know that Van has connections to some of our previous heroes in one way or another. All of that, makes the flow of information very easy, even IF Rene managed to outwit Lechter somehow.

With Renne there, its very likely that at least Estelle and Joshua will eventually come to Calvard, especially if they find out through those multiple sources what Greamheart is planning. (Its possible Tita and Agathe join them, but I wouldn't count in it do to their screentime in CS3/CS4.) And Killika and Zin are already around as well and while Killika kind of does work for Greamheart, we also know that in truth, she and a few others in the Intelligence division do NOT agree with Greamheart as much as it might look like. Now we also know that Lloyd has family in Calvard and we've already met Elies father in Kuro 2. Giving those two (and possibly their adorable daughter...) a very good reason to show up as well, especially if they also find out about Greamheart planning something stupid. Calvard is also their neighbor, after all. And if Rean comes rushing in, as the hero he just can not stop to be, I am pretty sure some of our Class7 guys will join him too. We know from the latest knew of Kai no Kiseki that the Church will be more active as well, likely getting Kevin back into play. And Ourobors will be finally more active again as well.

If all that isn't an indication that whatever Greamheart is planning is really bad, then I don't know what is.

I do not think that Calvard as a whole gets destroyed. But as we know, Falcom does not like to leave an Arc with the strong country still being strong. So it might at least take an immense amount of damage. If not by towns getting destroyed and people dying, then by some sort of Economic damage caused by whatever Greamheart is up to or whatever the other countries do about it.

Kai no Kiseki will likely be one hell of a game and we better prepare ourselfs.

[the-ghost-king]

different anon but i know this is a little more what you hc for nico and i adore it and maybe the other anon will too: headcanons for nb nico who is fairly fem? idk feminine nb nico makes me so happy 🥰 i love that you make a fair amount of content for it i truly love to see it on my dash, i appreciate you so much

Firstly, thank you for the compliments; and yes anon, you would be correct, femby Nico is something I'm so down for:

So originally Nico doesn't know he's trans, he doesn't even know the word trans exists

He's one of those people who is like "most people don't care about gender it's not a big deal it doesn't matter" and he's quite confused when people enforce rules based off of sex/gender

He's stands there going, "okay?? but it doesn't matter?? it's not real??"

Gender just straight up confuses him

Anyhow, I think Nico definitly gets his further slightly more in depth explaination of queerness from Will, and Will is like "yeah then trans people-" or maybe Will is trans and tells him after they've been dating a short while

Either way Nico is like "oh, that's cool!"

Anyhow Nico doesn't really think about it for a long time, and kind of carries on without thinking about gender much.

If Will is trans in this as well, then Nico learns more about himself through learning about Will's gender... But if Will's not trans then maybe Nico finds out Lou Ellen is trans (I have a whole bunch of trans Lou Ellen and trans Will headcanons I need to write with Cecil too)

Anyhow basically Nico knows someone who's trans and there's a conversation of gender at some point where Nico's like "but gender isn't real?" or something similoar because he just doesn't understand the idea of feeling male or feeling female, it confuses him

So eventually he has a conversation with some friends who are cis, and he realizes that even they know they're a boy or girl, and so Nico is confused because "why does everyone have this figured out?"

So he starts asking more questions, and finds out about nonbinary and he gets nervous because he knows Will likes boys, but what if Will won't like him anymore because he's not 100% a guy

So he does eventually work up the courage to tell Will how he might be feeling and Will is super chill about the whole thing and he's like "Nico I like boys and girls, and most of all I like you" and Nico's happy because Will isn't going to break up with him

Anyhow they have a long conversation where Willl is like "please don't worry about coming to me with stuff I love you very much okay?"

Eventually Nico begins to try out different pronouns but just when alone with Will because he's not comfortable telling everyone yet

He decides he likes he/him, but she/her is nice too, and he dables in xe/xem pronouns but he has mixed feelings on them

In my last trans Nico post I said Nico would like alternating pronouns but maybe I don't think so... I think he would tell people what pronouns he wanted when/what day or he would say "you can use he/him or she/her" or something

and some people would use one set, and some people the other, and some people would mix his pronouns

So Nico starts getting more involved in fashion around this point

Mitchell and him are friends and Mitchell's dad is a fashion designer so free stuff!

Anyhow Nico finds all of this stuff fun, and eventually one day she gets the courage to try a skirt on and it quickly becomes her favorite type of clothing

Nico likes to wear skirts with tights and combat boots

Nico also falls in love withe leggings because "they're just so soft!"

He never really comes out he kind of just chooses to live life and if people know or find out whatever

Like he'll be somewhere with Jason and someone would ask for her pronouns and she'd be like "he/him or she/her is fine" and Jason is getting whiplash from how fast he turned his head to look at Nico and Jason's stumbling over "he/him" while looking at Nico because he wants to say congrats so bad

Or maybe Will is like "my girlfriend" and Percy's like "you have a girlfriend too?" and Will's like "no??? I mean Nico??" and Percy is confused af because he didn't even know people could be gay until recently- but people can be trans too?

(Percy has his own gender questioning that happens, although a bit smaller and he decides he/they and that dresses and heels are fun)

So Nico's friends all eventually know but they just sort of find out rather than a big coming out (this is how they all found out Nico was gay too, Nico was like “yeah so me and Will Solace are dating” or “my boyfriend” because Nico has a hard time saying “I’m gay” or “I’m trans” so he finds ways around it to make himself more comfortable).

Nico struggles a little bit with the concept, not as much as he did with being gay but there’s still obsticales there for him to overcome

When Hades finds out he’s just like “mhmm good for you okay love you… daughter?” and that makes Nico happy because he’s still trying to be a good dad

Anyhow immediately after Nico leaves Hades runs to find Dionysus or Apollo and is like “trans what does it mean? Daughter was the correct word right? I’m sorry tucking is what now??”

He’s confused af but also supportive af

“Nobody says that about my son-err daughter?”

“Both are fine, Papa”

And Will and Reyna are in the background silently giving Hades thumbs ups

Sometimes Hades buys Nico weird shit and is like “it’s for your gender” and Nico doesn’t need the stuff but his dad cares so she appreciates it

Dionysus is super chill about the whole thing when he hears it through the grapevine (ha!) and he’s like “new name or same one kid?”

Nico’s like “oh um, same name, just new pronouns”

And Dionysus is like “great sit your ass down you have therapy to do”

(Dionysus always gets trans kids name right and never even jokingly messes it up so he always asks)

Also, Nico loves little hair clips, you know the little ones that tik tokers wear? Yeah those he has hundreds of them!

Cloth headbands are also her best friend, she has so many of them… (they’re like square cloth pieces you tie and wrap a specific way and roll your hair around it… I don’t know the right word they were popular in the 50s)

Nico ends up growing out his hair because he likes being able to put it in a messy bun on top of his head and he likes having it in braids down his back too

She learns to do makeup from Hazel (Hazel had a makeup face and likes kpop I don’t take criticism on that) and it looks great tbh

Also in public all the time when people see Nico they’re like “Boy? Girl?”

And he’s like “yeah both is good, but also neither, I have all the genders and also no gender”

And Will’s standing in the background laughing his ass off at the confused look the cashier has on their face

Just imagine Nico and Will’s kids calling Nico both Mama and Papa interchangeably ~

She does end up changing her name from Nicolò to just Nico because Nico is gender neutral

So much jewelry… so much of it, Nico loves it

Nico ends up getting a leather jacket with “give us our roses while we’re here” printed/painted on the back of it and little roses built into the actual jacket as well

Nico always seems to have some new hair length going on, like sometimes her hair is down to her waist, sometimes it’s at her shoulders, and other times she has a mullet, while other times she has an eboy cut

He ends up dying his hair all the time, at first he does gold and silver highlights in really small spots so it looks like his hair sparkles with glitter when he moves

After that Nico does half of her head in blonde and the other side in black like a split down the middle type dye

And he ends up drying his hair a swirled blue and pink color as well when it’s short

When he grows his hair out long, he dyes it with the little egirl dye in the front

She also does that thing where you have a rainbow under your hair and a normal color on top

Nico gets an undercut at one point where she leaves enough in the center top to put it up in a bun or leave it down to her shoulders

He dies his hair a blue-green one time while lit’s long too and Will gets an ombre at the same time using his natural blonde and a bubble gum pink in his like “bangs” area (Will has like a halo of pink hair when he does that dye)

And yeah idk I’m out of ideas but nonbinary Nico is great actually

[gettin-bi-bi-bi]

Weird af question but I’m 16/bi/afab and I straight up don’t like vaginal sex. Like I masturbate and it’s ok but anytime anyone touches me there it feels wrong in a way I can’t explain even if I fully consented and was turned on before. And it feels like it’s something ingrained in my personality (this sounds dumb ik) bc like even if I’m ready for it 100% as soon as it happens my gut instinct is just like “gonna be a yikes from me”. It makes me feel existential dread and it’s so weird (pt 1/?)

Like in the exact moment it happens it feels wrong not afterwards it’s like a feeling of “I don’t belong here”. It sucks cuz I’m ok with oral and giving hand jobs but even if I want to I can’t go further cuz the mood very noticeably gets killed. Is it just cuz I’m not having the kinda sex I want (cuz I’m pretty femdom and I’d honestly much, much rather peg my bf even tho that doesn’t stimulate me) and maybe it’s different v girls? There’s just so much shit that makes me uncomfortable (2/?)

And it sucks cuz I really wish I could like sex but I don’t. I don’t think I’m trans, I think I’m enby (I’ve thought about this v hard) but that’s honestly the only solution to this specific issue I had. Like I’ve never heard of a f presenting afab person who feels uncomfortable with this in this way. It’s so hard to explain to my bf bc I’m like super kinky and shit in theory but I just can’t fucking do it. Even if I try to ignore it I get visibly uncomfortable and it turns off (3/?)

Everyone who wants to fuck me and it confuses my partners since I’m ok w certain sex acts and most guys my age don’t understand sexual dynamics or gender issues or whatever. Is there something wrong with me or is this normal and I just need to find sex acts I enjoy cuz I could live w/o sex but I feel so disappointed. I haven’t been sexually assault and I’m not transmasc even tho I’ve jokingly described myself as a cis-girl who wants to have a dick. I’m also sex positive so I don’t (4/5)

Understand why I’m having this issue? Like I like certain aspects of being female I like my body for the most part (even tho I have experienced dysphoria but it could also b due to me just wanting to be thin bc bullying) I just dislike the social expectations but that doesn’t have anything to do with your gender identity. Like I really just want the male genitalia otherwise I’m good and it feels deeper than shame bc society. Sex Ed didn’t cover this (5/5)

Some people with vaginas just don’t like penetration. If you have gender dysphoria or some kind of trauma connected to your vagina it could also be a reason why you’re uncomfortable with your partner touching you there or penetrating you.

If it really stresses you out a lot then it could be worth talking to a therapist about it if you can afford it. Iit’s nothing that needs to be fixed but if it causes you anxiety then talking to a specialist about it might help you to be cool with it.

Your partner should definitly respect your boundaries and there is a lot of ways you can have sex that don’t involve vaginal intercourse. Maybe you’re okay with anal or you could try masturbating in your partner’s presence. Maybe there’s other areas where you like to be touched by your partner while you “take care” of the southern regions yourself.

And you mentioned pegging. If that’s something you are interested in and your boyfriend is up for it then try it out. You say “even tho that doesn’t stimulate me” but actually pegging can also be very stimulating for the partner who wears the strap. There’s friction and pressure happening that can feel really good and of course there’s the whole psychological aspect of it that is very arousing. So it’s definitly not like pegging is only nice for the receiving partner.

Anyway, you’re 16, so getting your hand on a strap-on or other sex toys might be difficult at best and illegal at worst - depending on how the laws are in the country you live in. So maybe this will have to wait. But you’re only just starting out to discover your sexuality and to figure out what you like. You’ve got plenty of time ahead of you to try stuff out, with or without toys. I’m sure you will learn how to have a satisfying sex life. Just give it time and listen to yourself and your own needs and boundaries. If something doesn’t feel good then stop it. Maybe you want to go back to it later, maybe not. Either is fine.

EDIT: Oh shoot I just saw parts 3-5 of this. Give me a few moments and I’ll add some more advice.

Maddie

[icharchivist]

Bookam Sr and Allen have this understated dynamic throughout the series that would be so easy to miss if you didn't really look for it. I feel like the past Allen bookman theory was what helped at least got me to look deeper into it but even w/o the theory the moments are there. You can't deny Sr treats Allen a little differently then anyone else. Yeah he's not warm/close with him like he is w/Lavi (he's not shown to be like that w/anyone besides Lavi). But he's not as distant either. Sr's not-

2 made of stone nor does he not interact with others. I think he plays chess with Krory and he teases Kanda a lot. He also helps out Komui with research stuff. But Allen’s the only one he’s shown concern and worry for on a personal level. I honestly completely forgot how Bookman was the only person to take Allen’s feelings into consideration about Chomesuke’s situation. That’s a pretty big deal since that’s a area everyone should know matters a lot to Allen. It’s also striking as you said-

3 Bookman has a hard time referring Allen by just his first name, despite knowing Allen prefers that. He only calls him by his full name when referring to him as the DOT (post intro) or Walker inside his own head. To Allen’s face and other people, Allen’s only ‘Kid’. Which is considered a term of endearment by some people while also a causal nickname for just anyone younger. Granted, Lavi is Sr’s 1# priority as a relationship but you can’t deny Sr also has this unshakeable faith in Allen. -

4 I can’t either shake off the feeling even when the Ark dissapeared and Bookman expressed deep worry/loss for Lavi. Bookman probably kept his believe Allen (and Cross because he’s a cockroach) were still alive because he’s the DOT. Which makes you wonder if Bookman has such faith, then his worry for Allen in the times it’s shown takes on a new meaning too. He’ll show anxiety for Allen’s wellbeing (as much as he’s willing) when he sees it. Which could even put a new spin on his distance.

yees definitly agreed with you! tbh I completely understated the dynamic until we started to discuss seriously Allen being the Lost Apprentice, and discuss therefore what that would mean for Bookman. 

Like you say it’s just, we don’t see Bookman interreact with a lot of people aside from Lavi and most of the stuff we see, Kanda Krory Komui ect… Are all rather “daily life stuff”. He does consider too Lenalee’s grief and guilt after Allen’s death but he mostly actually acts on it after Lavi is the one to react. So he does have a distance with everyone else.

But with Allen there’s this extra step, which can be ofc justified just by him having to keep an eye on him, but i really find it signifiant that there, to himself, he thought “oh Walker wouldn’t be happy”. It isn’t something he says to anyone to explain why this would be sad, like he would justify Lenalee’s grief, it’s.. just to himself, knowing specifically that Allen wouldn’t like it. Idk how others people would have reacted (Lavi is far away fighting, Miranda is far away, the others are out of focus) - Honestly it’s interesting Bookman’s reaction of “Walker wouldn’t like it” took precedence over Lenalee considering it’s Lenalee who had to hold Allen back from being reckless for the sake of self-destructive Akuma. If anyone had reasons in the plot to focus on it it was Lenalee, but there, probably because tied with Bookman’s knowledge of the Cross tempered Akuma, it’s focused on Bookman and that just makes his reaction all the more uncanny? It makes the extra mile for Allen’s sake. And if we add to that that it’s specifically something Allen’s other father figure set in place, idk, that put even more spotlight on Bookman specifically as a caretaker figure. Which we know he’s not for Current!Allen. Unless Lost Apprentice.

I’m honestly going to keep track of how he calls Allen because I was thanksfully told about him calling him kid early in my re-read and so far i could have paid enough attention to know specifically he calls him always kid to his face, “Allen Walker” when he can immediatly mentions the prophecy, and “Walker” in his head. 

tbh I feel like it was necessary too to mention who Bookman was talking about, i don’t know if saying “the kid wouldn’t be pleased” would have made it obvious who he talked about, but i do find it signifiant that the alternative is to address him by his “DOT” name in a way. Especially if Allen=Lost Apprentice, then “Allen” as a name would have been the apprentice’s last used name before his disappearance and would hold a history hard to process. Not to mention ofc that Bookman just refusing to call him an actual name could be just an extension of “since he changed first name all the time he goes by a nickname”

I will keep up my attention on the Ark’s disappearance to be sure, because if Bookman had an unshakeable faith in Allen even there… Yes there could be just “he’s the DOT he’ll manage”but there would be far far more to establish about Bookman somewhat feeling confident about Allen managing something as the Musician since it seems Past!A became the Musician before he merged with Nea (considering Red cries hearing the song while Nea is still asleep, which would much more imply Past!A’s feelings over Nea’s feelings for the song). 

We don’t know how much Bookman knows about Allen, and about Cross’s plans, and while i could see him have faith in Allen only because “the prophecy is why he’s here today” (which remains very valid since esp if Lost Apprentice, it brought Allen back to him in some way after believing him dead - which in itself would be a reason to think Allen wouldn’t die that easily), there could be a whole other can of worms about how much he knows about his Lost Apprentice’s involvement with the Ark.

But yeah meanwhile his worries for Lavi extends. Normal too, because Lavi isn’t shielded by any sort of prophecies, and there is this whole thing that Bookman saw him grow up and Lavi almost died in his arms when he was 7yo, so I think Bookman has far more a consciousness on how the kid he raised can die, even if he’s tough, than Allen whom at this point is a different person than Past!A, and that if Past!A=Lost Apprentice, Bookman knows he survived unlikely experience, and especially had been distached enough over those past few years to hold on to faith where raw emotional parental affection had held him to Lavi unshakenly for years. 

And meanwhile the long term of Bookman’s worries for Allen just, like you say, show even more that it’s… deeply rooted, it puts itself in contrast with how much faith he has in him and how he seems to treat Allen differently and what are the threats Bookman are considering for Allen, and how much the extension to care about his wellbeing really seems like a lite version of how he cares for Lavi instead of him caring about Allen a bit above everyone else. Which is not helping the Lost Apprentice theories one bit.

Bookman is a character i’ve never really took the time to read in depth about because of how the whole clan’s “distach your emotions” stuff work, and it’s therefore very easy to dismiss his behavior as “the ideal of neutrality he’s imposing on Lavi”, but there’s so much nuances when you start to look for them, and Lost Apprentice!Allen had helped shed a lot of light on his character. Even if Allen doesn’t turn out to be the Lost Apprentice (even if it just strengthen this belief to me) this would have at least got us to really dive into Bookman and the sort of person he is. 

And for that i’m forever grateful to anyone who had come at me too discuss more about Bookman himself because damn i feel like i’ve missed a huge junk of the story when I end up reading one panel and let the information of it sink in dkjhfdkj

This is fascinating at least. Some things I would really never have picked up otherwise, it’s incredible.

[occupyvenus]

On why Dany should be an antagonist ( ≠ villainy villain )

Season 7 is right around the corner and I have some thoughts, opinions, speculations and theories I have to get off my chest. I will try to keep any book-specific analysis out of this discussion. This is (as much as possible) show only.

Something that always struck me as odd was the existing controversy sorrounding Daenerys’s character in the fandom. With all other characters, the audience can generally agree on where they fall on the “morality-spectrum”, so to say. Jon Snow is an unproblematic fave, if there ever was one, Joffrey and Ramsay are among the most evil characters to ever grace our TV screens, the Hound made a text-book antagonist-to-protagonist transformation (even receiving in-show absolution via Arya taking him of her kill-list) and show!Stannis - before the daughter-burning incident - was clearly planted in the middle. People liked him and even rooted for him, but no one’s arguing that he was involved in some very dubious, evil, amoral shit. Show!Cersei was ripped of most of her book-counterparts cruelty, but the fandom generally agrees that she is one of the clear antagonists / villains of the series. 

The point is that the audience - minus some radical stans or antis - can generelly agree on where characters are on the good-evil, protagonist-anatgonist chart at any specific time of the story or during a particular arc. If not on the exact point, at least on the general vicinity. 

But Daenerys? Her placement jumps all over from divine saviour to unreedimingly mad queen depending on who you ask, unlike any other character on the show. 

In the end what’s really important isn’t to wether a character’s behaviour is 100%, 75% or 50% evil/good but wether we - the audience - root for them (protagonist), root against them (antagonist) or aren’t really sure about it.  

If there are any clear protagonists, or hereos if you will, in GOT and ASOIAF it is the Starks. There is nothing they could do that would actually turn the audience against them. I know I promised to keep any book stuff out of this, but there is a reason A Promise of Spring’s original title was A Time for Wolves. The Starks are the heart of the story.

A little sidenote on starkbowl and Sansa becoming an antagonist (which I really can’t see happening): Sansa turning into a villain also comes at the cost of her being a Stark, just like Tyrion tuning into a good guy severed him from the Lannisters. When talking about “the Lannisters” you mean Cersei, Jaime and Tywin. Tyrion and his family have become two separate entities in the collective mind of the fans and show watchers. If Sansa really were to team up with Littlefinger and turn into an antagonist/villain she wouldn’t be ‘a Stark’ anymore. Even now, with her clearly being a protagonist of the series, anti’s will always fall back on the ‘she isn’t a real stark anyway’ rethoric. A Stark simply cannot be evil. (grr martin and D&D might let me fall straight on my face with this prediction, but I’d say that its veeerrrrryyyyy unlikely.)

But Daenerys? There is no other character in GoT who’s ultimate and inherent good-ness or evil-ness is so bitterly fought about. While misogyny definitley plays into it, I think it would be false to see it as the sole or main source or reason. Her character is set up to be ambigious. I disagree with those who accuse her of being a ruthless tyrannt, willing to do anything to achieve her goals and those who see her as a benevolent messiah who can’t do anything wrong. She is - at the same time - both of those things and neither. 

To the general audience she is very much set up as a protagonist. It’s easy to root for her when she overcomes her abusive brother, fights for agency in a partriarchal world, destroys slavery or is on a subjectively honourable quest to restore her families legacy and reclaim her home.   

But what happens when her goals and desires clash with those of our other protagonists? If the Starks are our heroes and her enemies/rivals, what does that make Dany to us, the audience? 

But why can’t she just team up with the Starks and be a good guy ???

Two reasons: Drama and avoiding a clear good vs evil dichotomy.  Going into season 7, our main-ish characters are set up as follows: 

The Protagonists / Camp “Good Guys” Team Stark (Jon, Sansa, Arya, Bran, et al), Team Targaryen (Dany, Tyrion, Theon et al) 

The Antagonists / Camp “Bad Guys” The White Walkers, Team Lannister (Cersei, Jaime et al) & Euron, Littlefinger

Has Game of Thrones really introduced us to some of the most sympathatic villains, problematic heroes and placed almost every character somewhere in-between only to have it end with various constellations of Camp “Good Guys” batteling differing fractions of Camp “Bad Guys”? No, I don’t think so. (Unless D&D stray faaaaar from grr martins original plans and intentions, which could happen, sure....) In order to prevent merely explicit good vs evil fights one or more characters/parties have to move towards the opposing camp. In my opinion, the most likely candidates for that are The White Walkers turning more good-ish -or less less bad-ish, if you prefer - and/or Dany expiriencing a similar shift in the opposite direction. 

The show already laid the groundwork for the first option by revealing that the White Walkers originally were first men, who were turned into ice monsters by the children of the forest. [ The Youtube-Channel “A Theory of Ice and Fire” has some really good videos on the Origin of the White Walkers and the True Colors of the Children of the Forest. I recommend everyone to watch them and his other videos. His analysis and theories are very insightful and definitly worth a watch.] But humanizing the White Walkers can only go so far. It will be really hard, if not impossible, to make us actually feel any kind of remorse over their demise. They are such big threat to all of humankind, that any moral ambiguity about destroying them is lost and any question wether our heroes should oppose them becomes obsolete. Comparisons that come to mind are eradicting a virus or putting down a rabid dog. The dog isn’t responsible for the state it is in, but ultimalty it is for the best.

I will go into Daenerys transformation from pro- to antagonist at the end of the post.  

To make for some interesting drama we also need tension and conflict between characters that are on the same side. Finding possible sources for this within Camp “Bad Guys” is pretty easy. Jaime is probably going to turn on his sister at some point and every alliance with Euron is going to be fragile at best and will turn into chaos for one or both parties at worst. 

What about Drama within Camp “Good Guys” and it’s individual fractions?

Jons parentage is going to cause some tension within Team Stark, yes, but I don’t see any of the remaining stark children ‘throwing him out Winterfell’ because of it. I don’t see Jon discarding his identitiy as a Stark neither, especially after Arya and Bran come back into the picture. His relationship with sansa is so controversial that I don’t want to touch on it, but he isn’t going to go full Targaryen with his little sister and brother around. Can we at least agree on that? They will insist that he still is one of them and so will he. (I stand by my opinion that R+L=J and more importantly Jons reaction to it will cause a rift between him and Dany, not him and the starks).

The Dothraki and their way-of-life are probably going to cause some conflict within Team Targaryen. Dany isn’t as ruthless as some parts of the fandom make her out to be and she will be conflicted about bringing so much destruction to “her lands and people”. She might try to silence her conscience, because the ends justify the means, but she and her allies will have to face some really difficult choices. Tyrion might feel just a bit bad about attacking his home as well. 

It’s as good as impossible to predict or speculate on Bran’s or Arya’s story line, since they are kept top-secret, but I don’t think they involve one of them turning bad.

Sure, Sansa and Littlefinger could team up and cause some drama in camp ‘Good Guys’, but they simply don’t have enough influence to put the stakes sufficiently high. Seriously, against a Jon&Dany tag-team, what could they - or anyone really - do to oppose them? What use is an antagonist if he doesn’t pose a vital threat to our protagonists?   

Daenerys turning into an antagonist ( ≠ ultimate evil villain) simply makes the most sense from a storytelling-perspective. Both to cause tension between our  protagonists, shake up Camp “Good Guys”, color our final conflicts in a nice shade of grey and lead us toward a bittersweet ending. Why is Dany the best character to “break bad”? She is the most powerful human character right now. (With the threat of the White Walkers looming over everything, any secondary antagonist/”villain” will have to bring a lot to the table to form a interesting, engaging plotline. I think it’s safe to say that Dany’s help against the army of the dead will be crucial. Keeping her allegiance unstable or it coming at a great cost would be substantial enough to stand on it’s own, while still being connected to the bigger arc surrounding it.)   She is allied with some shady characters (As stated above, the Dothraki aren’t going to magically turn into peaceful people. Bringing an army whose entire culture revolves around raiding and raping and pillaging could be seen as a questionable move. Also, I do not think that her alliance with the Greyjoys is a coincidence. Yes, we all need to put our differences aside to face the White Walkers, but the Iron Born have caused so much havoc in the north, so recently, that their presence NOT causing any issue for a Dany-North alliance is hard to imagine. Specifically putting established enemies of the North - including Theon with his very complicated relationship to House Stark - on Danys side has to have some significance. As for the rest: I honestly believe that Olenna is going to kick the bucket very soon, she’s only still around because she’s so good at sassing people. I refuse to waste any more thoughts than necessary on the Sandsnakes, but murdering your family in cold blood isn’t exactly nice? Tyrion might be the only person on Team Dragon that has any kind of positive connection to the Starks. show!Tyrion, at least, does have a rather agreeable relationship with both Jon and Sansa.) Her political goals stand in direct conflict with those of the Starks (The Seven Kingdoms vs Northern Independece - and yes northern independence is actually important to numerous characters on the show) Jon’s parentage will cause some tension between them (some people believe that she’ll see him as a potential rival to the Iron Throne. I disagree. I believe the reason for Dany ‘turning against’ Jon won’t be him being a Targaryen, but him not wanting to be one. I am pretty sure that Jon’s initial reaction to R+L=J will be to utterly reject his Targaryen heritage, to get through this majore identity crises. And Dany will, understandebly, feel utterly betrayed by that. She won’t see him as a threat, she will try to persuade him to become ‘the man he was always meant to be’, she will want him to be a Targaryen and she will want him by her side -wether in a romantic way or not- when she takes the Seven Kingdom. And this is something that Jon will not give her. He will choose to be a Stark and that will be a hard blow for Dany. Her beloved brothers, Rhaegars son calling the “usurpers dog” his father. I don’t know who much this will influence the overall plot but it will definitely strain the relationship between Jon and Dany.) The North, Vale and - presumably- Riverlands allience (Having the same regions rally behind Jon/House Stark “against” a Targaryen queen smells of Rebellion 2.0 ~with a twist~ this time opposing a conquerer, not the established ruler. I admit that this leaves out the Stormlands but with Gendry coming back, who knows? He has a friendly - possibly romantic, *wink* *wink* -relationship with Arya and if he’s put in any position to make such a decision he will ally with her side.) She has shown the compasity for cruelty & violence (You can argue wether or not her opponents had it coming - yes for Kraznys mo naklos , no for the randomly crucified & burned masters of meereen, mayybe for the khals; but the fact that she’s willing to use such questionable, violant measures while having giant fire-breathing dragond at her disposal opens her up for a very dark path. Someone with nothing but swords going a bit too far wouldn’t have the same consequences as the mother of dragons stepping over the line. Speaking of dragons) Her dragons are a ticking time bomb, she can’t properly control (At one hand they will play a crucial part in defeating the army of the dead, but on the other hand they are fucking dangerous and Danys ~varying~ inability to control them is a well established plot point. Reducing their final role to being magicals weapons bringing down the big evil would be so chliche and go against many of the problematic themes concerning them. Btw when has one person having so much power ever ended well?) There will be no Iron Throne or Targaryen Restoration (I don’t believe that ASOIAF or GOT is about Dany restoring the Seven Kingdoms to it’s “ideal” previous state of absolute Targaryen rule. Not only would this render Roberts Rebellion meaningless, it would portray it as a mere temporal disruption of the rightful order which is just... no. The rebellion was a justified uprising against a tyrannical king, it’s the event that started the story and it should still have significance at the end of it. Sorry, not sorry, but Dany isn’t simply going to press the ‘reset button’ on Westeros. The Iron Throne is doomed, so is House Targaryen and so is Daenerys - unless she peacefully settles down as Lady of Dragonstone, which is ... rather unlikely.) The controversy about her character is exactly what grr martin wants (This whole long-ass post started with the extraordinary discrepancy concerning Danys position on the evil-good spectrum. People can’t seem to be on the same page when it comes to her. And you know what? That’s the point. No ones objectively ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. Characters are on opposing sides for their own reasons, not because they are inherently evil or good. Everyone can either agree or disagree with those reasons and form an opinion accordingly. Having the audience “choose sides” between two fractions we both rooted for when separeted, once their stories collide would be an appropriate ending for the story. 

I propose the theory that this contradiction (rooting for the Starks and Dany) and Danys role reversel when switching from her own separate to the shared storyline (from protagonist to antagonist) is already in full effect within the more obsessed part of the fandom (who loves to speculate and “think ahead”) and will hit the the casual viewer in season 7.  

Last, but not least having all of our protagonists team up after meeting for the first time and descending on the evil dudes with immense force just feels so ... boring, predictable,anticlimactic, lord-of-the-ring-sy? Everyone coming together and defeating the White Walkers after having some serious beef with each other (sometime mid to end seaon 8) would be way more dramatically satisfying. I think that Daenerys will take a clear antagonistic role against the starks until the very end when she comes around to save the day. 

Since I know someone is going to bring it up: I am not saying that any of this would be an impregnable obstacle for any romantic relationship with Jon. It would complicate things, yes, but also make them a lot more interesting. Neither am I saying that Dany will turn bat-shit crazy and burn down all of Westeros just because.

In the end, these are only my thoughts and opinions. Maybe I’m wrong about all this and the show will move into a completely different direction. We won’t truly know until the last episode, will we? 

Thanks for sticking with me until the end, you’re a champ, and tell me what you think.