#and in each one the biggest conclusion Ned can draw is she will do what it takes to protect her children

[jackoshadows]

One of the things that totally baffles and frustrates me in the asoiaf fandom is the fanon that Sansa is smarter and more diplomatic than Jon and Dany.

How can anyone read the books and come to the conclusion that Sansa is more diplomatic than Jon and Dany? On what basis is this comparison made? Jon and Dany are military leaders and rulers respectively who have successfully negotiated from disadvantaged positions. What is the equivalent of this for Sansa?

These are the issues that Dany faced in Meereen -  olive trees burned down, winter on the horizon making agriculture disadvantageous, former merchants and slaves with no money and a blockade on Meereen by surrounding regions. Jon has 19 decrepit castles on the wall that he has to refit and rebuild and get ready and he has no money, food or men to do this. What is Sansa’s more smarter and diplomatic tactics to deal with these issues?

What is his tax policy? How does he feel about crop rotation? How does he handle land disputes between two nobles, both of whom think that they should have the village, so they burn it down to establish their claim. This is the hard part of ruling be it in the middle ages or now. It’s not enough to be a good man to be an effective ruler. It’s complicated and it’s hard and I wanted to show that with repeated examples in my books with my kings and hand of the kings - the prime minister if you would - trying to rule. And whether it be Ned Stark or Tyrion Lannister or Tywin Lannister or Daenerys Targaryen or Cersei Lannister trying to deal with the real challenges that affect anyone trying to rule the 7K or even a city like Meereen and it’s hard. You know, we can all read the books or read history and say oh, so and so was stupid and made a lot of mistakes and look at all these stupid mistakes they make. But these kind of mistakes are always much more apparent in hind sight than when you are actually faced with the decision about, oh my God, what would I do in this situation. How do I resolve this thing? Do I do the moral thing? But what about  the political consequences of the moral thing? Do I do the pragmatic, cynical thing and kind of screw the people who are screwed by it? I mean, it is HARD. And I want to get to all of that - GRRM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJCb3xyWyAg

Where has Sansa dealt with the above issues to make a determination on how she would do better than Dany? Or even do better than Cersei for that matter?

Here is GRRM talking about how frustrating it is that he was not able to compare Daenerys and Cersei as rulers in ADWD:

His biggest lament in splitting A Feast for Crows from A Dance with Dragons is the parallels he was drawing between Cersei and Daenerys.  

Cersei and Daenerys are intended as parallel characters --each exploring  a different approach to how a woman would rule in a male dominated,  medieval-inspired fantasy world.

GRRM, SSM,  July 08, 2007  

George regrets that Cersei and Dany will not be contrasted directly.   He likes the extra breathing room to flesh out the characters. Bran  didn't have any chapters and Dany's ending was different. Now he likes  the way she ended. I think he actually may be doing more with Dany.  

Comic-Con (San Diego, CA; July 20-23)

Where has he talked about contrasting Dany and Sansa? Or Sansa and Cersei? Where are the parallel leadership arcs for Dany and Sansa or Jon and Sansa like there is for Jon and Dany in ADwD?

Jon Snow has negotiated a loan with the Iron Bank, Dany agrees for peace with Yunkai by marriage with Hizdahr and Sansa managed to persuade an eight year old to eat his dinner. How are they even compared at the same level?!

It took an entire book and Ned Stark losing his head for Sansa to realize that the Lannisters were not the good guys. Despite the Lannisters doing increasingly evil things like ordering Sansa’s pet wolf killed. Her younger siblings like Arya cottoned onto that in their first chapters. Sansa then thought that beautiful, charming Margaery was simply the best and the Tyrells ended up using her. She thought Dontos was a good guy. In the Vale, she is pushing the Maester to do what LF wants with respect to SweetRobin. How is she smarter than Jon, Dany or the rest of her siblings? It’s this weird changing of canon in the completely opposite direction. Take the least smart character among the youngsters in the books and make them the smartest in fanon.

I know the show is responsible a lot for pushing this piece of fanon, when Benioff, Weiss and Cogman stripped book Jon and Dany of their leadership arcs and tried to hand them off to Sansa to prop up their favorite character.

But what’s baffling is the so called asoiaf book experts writing about stupid Jon and smart Sansa. About psychopathic assassin murder baby Arya and clever, measured leader Sansa, about ignorant, impulsive Dany and calm, compassionate, hope for the future Sansa. The thing is, no one knows on what basis and metrics they come to this conclusion. It just is. There are no detailed essays comparing Jon and Sansa’s leadership arcs, or Dany and Sansa’s arc of being rulers. But Sansa is still somehow more intelligent and diplomatic.

It’s also connected to this rather sexist strand of thought that only women who wield soft power are smart and level-headed. Tyrion is the only male character allowed to be smart and women who wield hard power like Dany or gnc characters like Arya and Brienne are impulsive, arrogant and ignorant.

In some ways I can see why this has happened. A lot of fandom want Sansa to be special in some way and have an important role to play. And since her narrative story arc is with Littlefinger, she is assigned to be the SMART one. But to be special, she has to be the only smart character.

Plus, Sansa has progressed the least in her arc compared to her peers. She’s a blank slate on whom her fans can project their desires and wishes for her character. The show did something similar - only D&D were too lazy to come up with something original and gave her Jeyne Poole’s story.

But still, there has to be a basis for such statements about the book characters.  It’s not just enough to keep repeating that Sansa is the smartest ever - like ultimate hacks D&D did on the badly written garbage show did. They were rightly laughed at for their ‘Sansa is the cleverest person’ dialogue. But for some reason such statements are accepted for the book version.

The books are well written with gradual character development. Surely, if Sansa is smarter than Jon and Dany we should read that in the books? That this fanon has literally become canon despite not having any basis at all in the books is one of the most frustrating aspects of asoiaf fandom.

[teamironmanforever]

Far from home review

So after reading the leaks I did NOT want to watch the movies but I already had tickets and I couldn’t cancel. So now that I have watched it and have had some time to process Imma give you a quick overview of my thoughts (under the cut for those avoiding spoilers)

The good

- Awkward MJ and Peter were EVERYTHING. I love the dynamics. I love how honestly young and wholesome that relationship is. They make each other better and I appreciate that MJ has her own agency outside of Peter Parker. She is not defined by his narrative but rather compliments it perfectly. 

- May and Happy’s relationship was everything I never thought I would want. They were adorable and I loved that it was mostly just off screen? Like it was chill. it was just something that was happening and we were vaguely aware of and it was a cute/funny point. 

- The graphics and CGI were amazing. Like honestly kudos to whoever worked on it bc they were on fucking point. Mysterio’s illusions were so powerful because of how good the effects team was so props on that. 

- Ned was just as good as in the first film. I love his and Peter’s friendship. Honestly love love love it. 

- May being supportive of Peter and of spiderman made my  heart swell up. 

- The world having statues, drawings, monuments to Tony Stark EVERYWHERE you looked was a mood. I can’t think of more than 10 mins of film where you didn’t see a Stark logo somewhere in the background. It wasn’t that they were focusing the cameras on that - it was just there. I appreciated the fact that they let us know that the world has not forgotten Tony Stark and that he is LOVED. Like he was never EVER that appreciated in life (which w t f but anyway yes the world is mourning). 

The bad 

- I did not like skrull!Fury. I get that it was Thalos, but like, he was very dark. The way he acted towards Peter, the way he behaved with Ned and the utter lack of care for civilian casualties was fucking awful. Like yes it may not be the real fury but I do think Thalos knows the man well enough to not act that way while pretending to be Fury. ALSO, I do believe Thalos, a refugee that has lived far too many years of war would never be that callous. 

- Their explanation as to why Peter was the only man for the job was weak at best. If the elementals were as strong as Beck described them, then you can bet your ass Captain Marvel would be there in hours. Not only that but the very nature of the elementals and the multi-universe as Beck explains it SCREAMS Dr. Strange intervention. It makes 0 sense that Dr. Strange wasn’t all up in that business. Saying he is “unavailable” is not an actual valid excuse!! He is not the only fucking sorcerer on earth. 

His entire fucking order is meant to battle inter-dimentional/multidimensional/mystical threats. There is NO actual valid reason for at least ONE of the masters not to be available. Like, sorry, your excuse for this particular solo film was bullshit, but, again, it is hard to explain away why no one else but a 16 year old kid is fucking available to help. 

- Nowhere are we explained how the fuck Beck knew about Edith. Tony would NEVER in a million years EVER pass that information around to the point that it could get back to the ears of a wacko asshole whom Tony knows is unstable and wanting to create dangerous tech. It make no sense that Fury knew about Edith either. Tony would just not share that information with anyone. period. 

- Peter trusting Beck in less than 3 hours after everything that has happened to him in the last few years makes 0 fucking sense. Peter Parker would a) not become best buds with someone he just met that fast b) would NEVER hand over Tony’s tech like it was candy in the course of less than 3 days. Fuck that and fuck their lazy writing. 

- Using Tony’s corpse as an illusion was something I expected but that scene was honestly very gruesome and quite unnecessary. It was much too much and much too soon. I just… no -10/10. 

- I… honestly thought they could have handled Peter’s mourning a lot better than they did. His mourning consisted mostly of not talking about it, acting as if he didn’t care, looking away, making hella fucking bad choices, and that’s… it? Listen, based on who Peter Parker has been portrayed to be, I DID expect a bit of internalized pain and self hatred but I expected him to talk to May or Ned or even Happy (earlier in the film not at the very fucking end). I don’t see Peter giving away the ONE thing Tony left behind for him. I don’t see him walking away from that. I see him working himself to death not saying lol fuck the world spiderman who? 

- Where the fuck was Karen ? 

The ugly 

- Beck’s origin story. it was the biggest load of bullshit in the entire movie. It made me see red quite frankly. This is the second spider man villain in a row who has his origin story traced back to Tony Stark and neither made any sense. 

1) Saying that the Barf technology was Beck’s was fucking idiocy at its finest. How DARE they take that away from Tony. The MIT scene was a precious scene. It was an uplifting scene showing us how far Tony has come. It was Tony seeking/creating help and working to make it available to the public. 

They turned a GOOD scene into a villain origin story that made 0 fucking sense. First of all the barf tech is supposed to deal with traumatic memories already stored in the brain. The tech is supposed to reshape memories into either something slightly altered or less traumatic in order for a person to be able to cope with said memories. Beck’s illusions are completely made up images not based on any form of reality other than what his imagination can come up with to trick the mind of others and, more importantly, Beck meant his technology to be weaponized. 

They give no explanation as to how a) Beck was even allowed to work on that as a Stark Industries employee when Tony wasn’t making any form of weapons any more. b) How the fuck did a weapon became a therapy-based technology that works based on your brain waves. c) They never explain how/if Beck is actually unstable. 

Also it is lazy as fuck that they decide now, YEARS LATER, to give this tech to Beck bc it is convenient to the plot especially considering Tony has a level of genius high enough to crack fucking time travel in one night and can make a gauntlet powerful enough to withstand the power of all 6 infinity stones. 

2) Look the whole drones thing was… really really not good. Like REALLY not good. You are telling me that Tony, the man that fought against his teammates for oversight, would create MULTIPLE satellites FILLED with killer drones?? Tony who wanted to create a SHIELD around the world would create weapons that could easily destroy the entire world? Like… considering how hotly we debtae drones today and how many problems there are around them… idk man I though it was the wrong story to tell at the wrong time. It was tone deaf as fuck. We live in a world where countries order drone strikes on each other and civilinans get murdered as if it meant nothing. It is honestly DISGUSTING that they would tarnish Tony’s name like this. I am so fucking tired of marvel disrespecting him. 

Also you are telling me the man that created the iron man tech, that was so paranoid that his suits were eventually coded to fit the thing he injected himself with and eventually used nanite technology that again only works with HIS specifications, would create an AI that Peter can simply transfer to someone else by saying “confirm?” 

ARE. YOU. FUCKING. KIDDING. ME????????? 

Tony trusted his tech to 3 maybe 4 people in the entire world. Tony Stark would have NEVER ever allowed a piece of his tech to be transferred like that. ESPECIALLY when said tech can so easily be used to destroy entire fucking countries. 

Conclusion - it was an entertaining movie. I love Peter I really do and I liked a lot of it, but I personally can’t get over the absolute bullshit that they pulled. I already had a bad taste in my mouth after endgame but with this… I think I have reached my limit of bullshit for a good long time. 

[ourmrsreynolds]

Hi, I’m wondering if you could answer my query. In the chapter Theon II of ACoK, he meets Asha after a decade, enough for her physical appearance to have changed & within a few minutes is attracted to her. Asha is somewhat similar to Arya IMO. We know that Theon’s a foil for Jon, based on this can it be reasonably predicted that Jon will be attracted to Arya almost immediately after they reunite even though he would know it is her?

I think Theon is indeed a foil for Jon, but I think we need to look at why he gets a hard-on for Asha in ACOK. It boils down to Asha doing an impressively believable rendition of a Cool Girl. This is the definition of the Cool Girl, courtesy of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl:

Men always say that as the defining compliment, don’t they? She’s a cool girl. Being the Cool Girl means I am a hot, brilliant, funny woman who adores football, poker, dirty jokes, and burping, who plays video games, drinks cheap beer, loves threesomes and anal sex, and jams hot dogs and hamburgers into her mouth like she’s hosting the world’s biggest culinary gang bang while somehow maintaining a size 2, because Cool Girls are above all hot. Hot and understanding. Cool Girls never get angry; they only smile in a chagrined, loving manner and let their men do whatever they want. Go ahead, shit on me, I don’t mind, I’m the Cool Girl.

Here you have Asha who plies him with compliments and isn’t at all clingy, in stark contrast to the captain’s daughter (the one who was sucking him off in the previous Theon chapter) who actually has the temerity to beg him to take her for a salt wife in full view of the whole harbor!!! She’s weepy and needy and no fun at all. Asha otoh gently draws him out on his plans for the Iron Islands once he inherits the Seastone Chair, being sure to stop and praise his boldness and his vision every step of the way. So the point of the barely averted incest between Theon and Asha isn’t that you can be attracted to your sister after a lengthy separation, it’s that Theon doesn’t know Asha and never did. Asha of course is an attractive woman, and Arya will be too, and they both defy their society’s expectation for their gender, so I’m not saying there aren’t similarities them; just that Jon’s attraction to Arya would have an entirely different basis from Theon’s attraction to Asha, which was based on her stoking his ego. (Side note it breaks my heart that Asha asks him to return to Deepwood Motte “for the sake of the mother who bore us both,” and then when she gets back to Harlaw the first words out of her mom’s mouth are “Did you bring my baby boy” and Asha’s like “Theon couldn’t come” bc she’s trying to spare her mom the  the truth, and there’s so much guilt laced with her relationship with Theon you know? She feels guilty for not saving him from his own foolishness. She feels guilty for letting her mom down.)

ANYWAY what I actually want to talk about is what Theon being a foil for Jon means for Jon/Arya. Theon and Jon were both outsiders in Winterfell at the outset of AGOT; by the time ADWD rolls around Theon’s plot revolves around a bastard, a ghost, and a girl who is not Arya. “Roose is not pleased. Tell your bastard that,” Lady Dustin says, and putting aside why we are playing telephone (could Roose not have spoken to his own son himself?? they’re snowed in & they literally can’t leave the castle!) the way she says it implies Ramsay belongs to Theon and Theon to Ramsay. This is the chapter where Theon’s internal monologue repeats There are ghosts in Winterfell and I am one of them not once but twice. In the selfSAME chapter (Theon V “The Turncloak”). YOU KNOW WHO ELSE HAS A WOLF NAMED GHOST??? Also in this chapter: Theon corrects someone that “Lady Arya is not my sister.” Man, Barbrey Dustin is the the gift that just keeps on giving lol.

In conclusion: Theon’s identity is bound up with a bastard’s; Theon’s identity is implied to be a  GHOST or revenant; Theon is insistent f!Arya is not his sister. Then the coup de grace: Theon finds himself wandering in the godswood. Why? He’s not sure: “These are not my gods.” But you know who also rode two hours to a godswood so some recruits could say the words in front of a weirwood tree two chapters ago? Jon motherfucking Snow, that’s who. I mean, the parallels are astounding. Theon is thematically a stand-in for Jon in this chapter, and you will not convince me any different. And what is the overarching purpose of this chapter? Again, this is Theon V ADWD “The Turncloak.” Shoutout to my main bitch Barbrey Dustin who comes right out and says it: The North is rising for “valiant Ned’s precious little girl.” TELL ME AGAIN how Jon and Arya are not the most important people in each other’s lives

[neverlandparker]

“Could this be another lead?” (peter parker)

Word Count: 2.4k words

Warnings: none, enjoy!

Author: @neverlandparker

Requested By: @broadwayshtuff p.s. thanks so much for requesting!

Prompt: #7 from my prompt list: “Peter, my favorite avenger is Spider-Man. He is super amazing and believe it or not, I think I’m really close to finding out his identity…”

RINGGGG

The shrill school dismissal bell finally rang and jolted you out of your thoughts. You couldn't be any more excited. You quickly gathered all your belongings and rushed through Midtown’s main hallway to wait by the main entrance for your best friends, Ned and Peter.

This week had seemed especially long and a stressful one too. The teachers somehow decided to dump loads of homework on you this week. You heaved a great big relieved sigh. 

It was FINALLY Friday, and you couldn’t wait because Fridays were the best. Not only were they the last day of school for that week, but it also meant that you and your friends, Ned and Peter, would walk home and spend some time together. 

You guys would often hangout either at Ned or Peter’s house and build legos, watch movies, or play games. Friday nights were something you’d constantly look forward to each week, and you were especially excited since Peter had promised he would be there after mysteriously skipping out on the last few Fridays. 

What brunette nerd was oblivious (or hopefully oblivious) to was that you had begun to slowly develop feelings for him and you saw him as more than a friend, but afraid of risking your friendship, you had kept the secret to yourself. 

You shook out of your thoughts as the boys spotted you and made their way through the crowd, weaving between students in order to get to where you were standing by the doorway. 

“Hey Y/N! What a week huh? But yay, it's Friday! And you know what that means??”

You gave a laugh at Ned’s enthusiasm and smiled, and off the three of you went.

When you arrived at Ned’s house you made yourself at home, after all, it was almost like your second home because you practically went over all the time. You grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around yourself sighing at the comfort and warmth.

Then all three of you sat down and somehow, your conversation with Ned and Peter about Star Wars turned into one about the infamous Avengers.

Oh.

It's on.

Let’s see who the biggest fan actually is...

You were the ultimate Avengers fan, you had posters, drawings, and even Spiderman pajamas that you were only slightly embarrassed about.

When you had the opportunity to speak, you practically fangirled and told Ned and Peter all about your love of the Avengers and your newfound fascination with the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

“Guys, my favorite avenger is Spider-Man. He is super amazing and believe it or not, I think I’m really close to finding out his identity…”

After your little fangirl moment and rambling about how much you adored the Earth’s youngest Avenger, you looked up to see Ned who was weirdly smiling like Earth’s biggest fool (which you had no idea why) and also Peter who was totally red in the face and a sputtering mess.

Expecting them to agree or even chime into your fangirling, you were confused  and a bit disappointed by their strange facial expressions. Weirded out, you quickly back and forth between the boys several times.

Pausing because you registered the awkward atmosphere your fangirling had suddenly created, you frowned.

“Wait. Was it something I said? I’m sorry...”

The boys gave you no response but all of a sudden, Peter abruptly walked out, mumbling over his shoulder some lame excuse about having math homework to finish (but Pete, its Friday) or something like that to do, and then you heard the front door click shut, signaling Peter’s rushed departure.

When Ned’s front door shut, it seemed to end this trance that Ned was in after you finished your little Avengers outburst.

“Sooooo....uh what was that about? Did I say something wrong?” you questioned Ned with a slightly accusing look. 

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.” was all Ned managed to say.

You sighed.

He was such a bad liar. There was definitely something suspicious that just happened here.

For the past few months, you had been obsessed with the Avengers. After all, they had saved your city. There were all these crazy space aliens who invaded and caused chaos upon New York, but thankfully, the Avengers were there and managed to save the city. It was thanks to them that New York was still standing and the fact that you were still alive. 

More recently, you noticed a new superhero, “Spider-Man” as YouTube dubbed him. And you had been fascinated with the new hero and curious to learn his real identity. So all things led to other things, and for you, your Avengers obsession quickly turned into an investigation to find the face behind the mask of Queen’s very own Spider-Man.

You quickly told Ned an excuse that was something like, “Uh...yeah I will go do that, but actually, I also really need to go, my mom just texted me and she wants me home. I’ll see you later! Bye!”

And with that, you booked it down the hallway and out of Ned’s house. As you were making your way back to your house, you were too busy thinking about Spider-Man and your mind was running wildly. Could this be another lead in your rather far-fetched investigation in finding the identity of the spandex superhero?

So you paid more attention to Peter Parker over the next few days. But every time you tried to approach him to talk with him, he would just avoid eye contact with you, make a random excuse, and walk away. He seemed to be desperately trying to avoid you. You were heartbroken. What did I do to deserve this? 

At lunch, it seemed like every time you had tried to bring it up the topic of the Avengers or Spiderman, he would start to fidget awkwardly and avoid the conversation. You also noticed he seemed to grow more distant. If you were partners in Chemistry class, your once lively conversations with Peter now dwindled to little or none besides the occasional muttered “hey, can you pass me the beaker?” or “what do we do after stirring the mixture?” And to be honest, you felt strange and tired of this weird treatment you had been receiving after that one “fateful” Friday night at Ned’s house.

You decided that as Peter’s friend, it was your responsibility to find out what had exactly happened on Friday night when you had had your little ramble that had led to Peter avoiding you for the entirety of this week. The question that you had left to ask yourself was, “Did this have anything to do with the identity of the superhero?” 

Deep in your thoughts as the history teacher rambled on about your assignment, you had begun to think of possible reasons to why Peter was avoiding you. Then, after several focused minutes of thinking, you finally came to your questionable, crazy, and absurd but only logical conclusion. 

What if...What if...the reason that Peter had been avoiding you had been because...

You gasped at your conclusion, the fear and shock making your drop your pencil which dropped to the hard tile of the school floor with an audible “clank” and it seemed that half the class seemed to stop whatever they were doing before to stare at your shocked expression. Your hands flew up to your mouth in a failed attempt to cover your loud gasp. Embarrassed that you had made quite the noise, you shrunk in your seat and laughed it off, hoping your fellow peers would buy it and turn their attention back to what they were doing before. ,

...because he himself, 

Peter Parker...

was Queen’s very own neighborhood Spider-Man?

At first thought the idea of nerdy, socially awkward Peter Parker as the spandex hero almost made you laugh out loud, but thinking about it again now, it made perfect sense. 

Suddenly, everything clicked:

...why he had decided to avoid you after the conversation at Ned’s house

...why he had tried to avoid you this week

...the numerous times in the past he had skipped your Friday movie nights that you, him, and Ned would enjoy after a long week of school

...why he had seemed to gain quite the athletic form recently.

...why he specifically avoided the topic of Spider-Man

and now, you had been assigned yourself a new mission:

To confirm the identity of the web-slinging hero, Spider-Man, as your friend, Peter Parker.

Feeling energized with a the sense of discovery and epiphany, you could hardly wait until class was over. And when the school bell once again signaled the end of the school day, you dashed out of the classroom and walked out towards the front grounds of the school. You had a plan. And one that involved with you spying on Peter. 

If he wasn’t going to tell you, you might as well take the initiative to figure it out yourself. Besides, you were getting tired of Peter treating you like Flash Thompson, the school bully who Peter always actively tried to avoid because of the taunts that he would often shout at him to ridicule Peter whenever saw him. 

That’s right, you, Y/N, are on an investigation to identify the face behind the mask of the web-slinging hero. 

Instead of waiting by your usual spot to wait for Ned and Peter, you had decided to hang out in a secluded shady spot underneath a tree where Ned and Peter were most unlikely to spot you. 

Waiting in the shade, you noticed Peter and Ned looking for you, but after a while of looking, they gave up and went their separate ways. But what caught your attention was the fact that Peter walked away from the school in the direction completely opposite of the neighborhood he, you, and Ned lived in. Instead, it seemed like he was heading straight towards an alley. Tailing him loosely, trying hard not to get noticed by him, you followed him into the alleyway. And what you saw, only seemed to confirm your earlier suspicions.

You cautiously approached the-person-who-must-be-Peter in his Spider-Man suit standing with his back facing you in the alley, but despite your best attempt at not getting discovered, he whipped around, recognized you, and jumped backwards. His spider eyes of his suit seemed to dilate and you could only guess it was out of surprise.

“Soooooo...Parker...you have some explaining to do...” 

But before he managed to modify his voice....it was too late and in a timid and surprised voice he exclaimed, “Y/N?!?” 

He tried to cover it up...he really did...but he tried...and failed...miserably.

“I mean...u-uh w-w-who’s Parker? I don’t k-k-know him...a-anyways hey, whattcha doin’ here?” he said, but this time, in a newly modified voice an octave lower than his normal one. 

His stuttering only grew worse and you grinned, knowing that his cheeks would be flaming underneath his mask. His best effort to fool you failed miserably, and you shook your head, responded with a slight giggle, and gave him a look. 

You laughed...“Please don’t do this, Pete.” 

However, despite his failure in the beginning, he seemed adamant on keeping his act up.

“Okay, if you are so convinced I’m Parker, then you can prove it to me” he stated in a gruff voice, this time, with new-found surge of confidence that you were 99% sure that only came with the Spider-Man suit. He was still hoping and trying to mislead you. But you wouldn’t be deterred. You knew it was him under the mask, but for some reason, he was still trying his absolute best to throw you off your little investigation. 

You confidently strode up to him and to be honest, you think you surprised him with your confidence because he seemed rather taken aback by your actions, judging by his almost-comically dilated Spider-Man eyes. You smirked. 

“You are Parker...Peter Parker because...

“number one...,” you counted off on your fingers, giving your favorite hero an award-winning smile, one that translated into that’s right, I’ve solved the mystery now, its game over... “...our height difference is the same.”

“number two...,” you continued to list off. “um, you sound like him, duh.” you stated flatly, at which he shook his head wildly against, which you found so amusing that you almost just burst out laughing right then and there. But reminding yourself that you were in the middle of your oh-so-serious interrogation, you managed to stifle your laughter.

“u-uhhhh, n-n-no I d-don’t...” Peter interjected, but instead of his gruff confident voice, his normal stutter voice slipped out. 

You raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

“andddddd…..” you continued...

“o-okay, okay, okay, okay,” the masked hero sputtered, but this time in his ordinary Peter Parker voice.

Sighing, he dropped his shoulders, and he turned away from you to check his surroundings, making sure that there weren’t any peeping eyes, to which indeed thankfully there were none, before finally lifting his mask up and off his face to reveal a brunette boy standing with his back towards you.

You held your breath, waiting for the big reveal that would confirm your suspicions.

surely you were right...right? 

Finally, after what felt like 10 minutes, but was only a few seconds, he finally turned around to meet your glance. 

“You caught me.” it was indeed no other than your best friend, Peter Parker, who turned around, grimaced, and raised his hands in surrender. 

You gave him a look that said really?

He just gave you a sheepish smile, rubbed the back of his head, and you swear that you could see a blush that had crept up his cheeks. 

Glad that you had managed to solve the mystery as you felt your investigation come to an end. But you still had one last thing you wanted to tell you friend. 

“Oh! And Peter?”

“Huh?”

”I meant what I said,

But Peter just stared at you with confusion written all over his face. 

”At Ned’s House...I meant what I said...you’re my favorite Avenger,” and with your reference at the words you had said “that one fateful night,” you gave Peter a wink and a wave, and walked out of the alleyway with an uncontrollable smile tugging at your lips and a new bounce in your step.

And once your words had sunk in, Peter Parker was left in the alleyway, once again, a sputtering mess, but this time his cheeks were a flaming crimson color...

...one that perfectly complimented his Spider-Man suit. 

Author Notes: Sorry this one took me a while to write...I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!! :)

[everythingjonsa]

Do you think the possibility of a political marriage between Jon and Sansa is more probable than a full fledged romance? Show wise at least

Hello Anon, 

Good question by the way. So let’s consider the facts first before we get down to answering this question. In the books Sansa feels that no one will every marry her for love. 

Which is very sad if you think about it. She has also resigned to the fact, which is even sadder. Also, I don’t think she is searching for that kind of love anymore. She’d rather be safe at home with family than be anywhere else with anyone else. If she has any feelings for Jon at this point  (which she definitely does and even if you’d rather call it familial love - she cares about him, thinks he’s a good ruler/ a good king, she thinks he’s as far from Joff as anyone she’s ever met which is a huge compliment considering what she’s suffered at Joffrey’s hands, she trusts him, she wants him to be home with her, she’s scared for him when he leaves for the south and definitely looks at him longingly more than once), she’s unaware about her feelings and how deep they run. 

Considering all that she’s suffered, its telling that she trusts Jon instantly and is even the first one to initiate physical contact. 

Also, she’s actually comfortable when he touches her. 

So if the show is going for a romance angle, I would say we are already somewhere in the middle of the narrative. That Jon and Sansa trust each other and love each other is quite clear by this point of the time in the show to most of us except to those who still think Jon and Sansa can’t stand each other. 

Which is what surprises me quite a bit, because there are fairly a large number of people who still think that at the most Jon and Sansa just tolerate each other. I’m wondering if we’re watching the same show??? but anyway, that’s beside the point. 

My guess is as good as yours at this point. Let’s examine a purely political marriage scenario. It is possible, you know, that the subtle hints that the show’s been leaving since season six is so that the audiences get accustomed to the idea of a Jonsa marriage not a Jonsa romance. My shipper heart says - NOOOOOOO, Lol. But I have to admit that it is a possibility. How will this scenario play out - 

1. Sansa gets married to Jon, because he’s a targ and she’s key to the north. They get married to unite the north. 

2. They get married, so that Jon can take the Stark name. 

3. After the great war and the internal conflict war, if Jon is alive and is ruler of the seven kingdoms, whatever is left of it, he marries Sansa to unite the north and the south. They’re King and queen. 

Also, an interesting question is - Why have most viewers missed the jonsa subtext? Because imo, that’s what the show’s hoping for. If Daenerys turning dark and possibly against Jon, is one of the biggest ‘wtf’ moments in season 8, then the show’d do everything in it’s power to keep it under the wraps and throws us off it’s scent. And keeping Jonsa subtle is the biggest way to help make this happen. You ask anyone who watches the show - what do you think is going to happen in the last season of GOT?? (I am talking about the casual viewers, the non-shipper and non-obsessed people like us, Lol) 

The unanimous answer is - Daenerys is going to get preganant. They’ve been trying to tell us that over and over again.

That’s usually the first prediction. Which leads me to believe that it’s theredherringthatwaspromised!!! I mean come on, If Dany having a baby was one of the surprises of season 8, would they have gone to such great lengths to make it sooooo damn obvious?? I happen to like Daenerys, especially when she goes in full dracarys mode. I like the arrogance that drips of her, I like the fact that she believes that she’s a saviour and that she’s meant to rule. It’s what makes her so powerful as an anti-hero. And I disagree with everyone who says Emillia can’t act. (Sorry, but I love her!!) She was great during that whole first meeting with Jon. There’s also this whole aura of the most beautiful woman being the most dangerous one that she carries off so well. 

It will be a wonderful conclusion if after 8 seasons we realise that all the while we have been cheering for Dany on the one hand and Jon on the other, we actually went on the journey of the making of a villain and that of a hero. More so that of an anti-hero whom we thought was a hero.

I honestly think it will be a bit of both - political reasons with a bit of romance. Dany coming to winterfell is going to push any hidden or suppressed feelings over the edge. 

But then again, the last season has only six episodes and there is only so much they can fit in the screen time and frankly there are a LOT of loose ends to tie. So, yes a political marriage scenario requires lesser time to execute, drawing parallels to Ned and Cat’s marriage, which is what they’ve been doing until now and leaving the viewers with the feeling that - Jon and Sansa are going to have a marriage similar to that of Ned and Cat - one that was not based on passionate love, yet one that was built brick by brick - Love, respect and trust being the foundation of it all. Even their theme song is called - trust each other. 

Sorry my answer’s so twisted, LOL but I was thinking while I was writing it. My shipper heart still hopes for a passionate Kiss or a beautiful wedding night that Sansa and Jon deserve. But whether it will happen or not, remains to be seen. 

Thanks for the ask!!

[yashuved]

How To Make Your Dragon

First thing’s first: Dear United States of America, how the hell are you still tolerating Nazis in your country? The world defeated Nazism over 70 years ago, and you played a big part in that. The birthplace of Nazism is more intolerant to it than you. Everyone in the world knows it, condemns it and vehemently opposes it. Everyone but you, it seems. 

The World hopes that for your own sake, you use your sense, just the common one in this case will be good for a start. 

On to happier things…

Last weekend I watched one of the greatest comedians in the world perform live. Jerry Seinfeld graced our shores with a one night only stand-up act and me and the wife were lucky enough to be a part of it.  

He has been doing stand-up shows for 40 years now and he is still the best. He doesn’t do sex. He doesn’t do race. He doesn’t do accents. He doesn’t do impressions. He doesn’t do politics (he didn’t mention Donald Trump at all!). 

90 minutes of non-stop gut wrenching laughter was all about observational humour. Much like his sitcom Seinfeld, which aired 20 years ago, the stand-up act is much about nothing. It just looks at people’s lives, as it goes by each day. The writing is so tight, the performance is so nuanced that you can almost see how much work must’ve gone behind it. He knows how to time the punch lines, he knows exactly when to pause, when to raise and lower his pitch. He knows how to draw the audience in and then take them on a journey.

There is so much class about everything that goes on about the show. Right from the moment you enter the arena. You walk in and there’s Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York blasting on the sound system. You hear that and you know, you’re in for something special. The set decor is simple, yet elegant. Everyone, from the announcer, to the opening act, to Seinfeld himself are dressed in very stylish suits - jacket, tie et al. 

Best of all, there is no fanfare before Jerry’s entrance. No DJ spinning some gangsta shit or some band announcing his entrance. Hell, even the announcer doesn’t do anything at that moment. The lights go out and Jerry just walks on to the stage. 

It was a dream, I never thought would come true. If I could, I would do it all over again. And if you ever get a chance, Do. Not. Miss. It!

Now, on to this week’s GOT. There are spoilers from S7, E6. If you haven’t watched it, you know what to do…

The penultimate episode came with big expectations. This series has been so huge - so many characters, places, houses, lineages, story lines, relations, alliances, enmities and deaths. So many deaths, and bringing-back-from-the-deads.

Now it is nearing towards an end. We know it, the writers know it and they need to do bring it all together in pure GOT style, in GRRM style. 

But I am not sure what is their approach for this though. Are they bringing it as the fans want it? or as they want it, as George RR Martin would want it? GRRM is involved in it, no doubt. But the plot seems to distance itself from GRRM’s style. 

My gripe is not with the writing per se. It is with the plotting of the episode, the narrative style and structure. GOT has taken TV to a new level and in doing so, continuously built and delivered on new expectations. And this is working against them a little bit at this point.

Here are some of my observations/questions/WTFs…My 2 Cents

- Tyrion started off well on his attempt to get Dany to cool down on the people burning part. He was starting to get through to Dany when out of the blue, he started talking about succession! WTF man? She’s right - first get me on the throne and then we can talk about who will succeed me! Plus, what about my ships that Euron Grejoy stole/burnt? What about my important allies that are captured/dead/presumed dead? It was an awkward dialogue between the two with no logical conclusion in sight. The only thing it showed was that tensions between Tyrion and Dany increased further, which was evident when Dany left for North against Tyrion’s advice.

- Speaking of North, what’s up with Arya and Sansa? Haven’t they lost enough to be fighting now? Sure, sister jealousy and whatnot but they cannot make it this easy for Littlefinger. Arya, for all her new wisdom should’ve sensed that. They argue about the moment when Ned was beheaded. Both were there. For her to insinuate that Sansa was there, and not affected by it all is a bad jab at the viewers! Yes, a lot of this is setup for the finale and the next season but come on guys, please set it up a bit better. They teased the audience with the unsheathed Valyrian dagger and then did nothing with it! And where was Three Eyed Raven 2.0? Ya, we know he doesn’t care about any of this now but he can clear the air out. He can now see what happened. So see, clear the air.

- Moving further up North, North of the Wall, the first 10 min or so felt like The Fellowship of The Rings. Unknown companions on a quest to save the world from evil. But it was weird to see that at this stage of the series they were trying to build rapport between the characters. 

- There was a nice tongue-in-cheek moment between Jon and Beric (Dondarrion). Beric tells Jon he doesn’t look like his father at all. Kinda true for the show. However, in the books, Jon Snow was more Stark looking than any of his half-siblings. However, we the viewers know that Jon is Rhaegar and Lyanna’s son so from that POV, yes, he doesn’t look like his father at all!! Would Beric know something or was that an unintentional coincidence?

- How convenient was it for a small party of un-dead to be wandering separate from the main group? Just what they wanted, right. And how easy was it for them to capture an un-dead. But we all knew it was not going to end there. That confrontation between the living and the dead was so very one sided. There was no way out of it. But we have Gendry, the character who returned after four seasons to get a quick exit yet again! We also have a frozen lake. It’s not that frozen - BTW; we can buy you some time until the message reaches Dany. You just hold tight and don’t do anything stupid. Enter, The Hound, throwing rocks in a lake like a bored kid on a family picnic. The rest was an unconvincing fight sequence. But then what to do until the dragons show up? How silly would it look that the dragons show up and the two groups are just sitting quietly :D

- Why did Dany take all three of them up North? Drogon has already shown his power. Plus, it was not an attack. It was a rescue mission. Yes, I know it was necessary for a major, probably the biggest plot twist of the series. But that too came too easily. Are we to believe that the Night King has a spear more powerful than the scorpion and an arm more powerful than the scorpion? Lets say the former has magic involved. But the force with which the spear pierces Viserion was unreal. This means in battle, the dragons are essentially useless against the Night King! 

- Waddup, Uncle Benjen! Where did you come up from, yo? That was the most convenient placement for a Jon getaway. He just came there, out of nowhere to get Jon to escape and then he just gets himself killed! I guess the actor was just bored and the writers didn’t know what more to do with him.

 - There is an undead Dragon now. How strong is the Night King’s army now? Think about it - GRRM’s original title - A Song of Ice and Fire seems to refer more and more to a final showdown between dragons - two (until now) spitting fire and the one spitting snow! Obviously, the Night King will ride it into the battle. Does this mean they now have the weapon to bring the Wall down? Hell, as such they don’t need to bring it down anymore, they can just fly over!

Look, I am still excited and committed to the show. I even got a HBO subscription. The fans are very invested with the characters and want to know how it all ends. Jon and Dany obviously have a thing for each other. Even though I noticed that she withdrew her hand three times when Jon held it, I also saw the look on her face when Jon asked them to leave him in the North. 

We have picked our sides and we have spirited debates around the lunch room, with the Non-GOTs looking at us with blank looks! But as per my last post, we want entertainment. Game of Thrones delivers entertainment at a certain standard. While it is known for its violence and sex, it is admired for its characters, the plots and the politics. We want to see a final showdown. But we want to see it done with finesse and with justified motivations for actions as per the characters. They have kept Tyrion, Varys and Littlefinger in the background for most of this season. Remember when they ruled the plot-lines in the earlier seasons. It was so much fun to watch!

Since S4, E2 - The Lion and the Rose, GRRM has not written a single episode. He is currently busy writing the books (apparently), which are already way behind schedule. But that would mean an even more reduced input from him in the writing process of the episodes. 

Maybe there is a need for bit of an impetus from the man himself - a bit of course correction, if you will. 

Maybe he needs to…