#but it very well couldve been written before (as other works in that book were written before 1984 as well)

[a-a-a-anon]

appreciation post for Lise Mayer!! she co-wrote The Young Ones (and The Bachelor Boys book, additional material like when they did Comic Relief, etc), which is well known. but she also wrote for other things in the alternative comedy scene like Rik Mayall and Ben Elton's comedy tour (source: BBC Breakfast Time interview)! and, something I didn't know until recently: she co-wrote/wrote for Kevin Turvey! she's not credited in his television appearances, but see below for sources.

i really loved the podcast episode she did with Alexei Sayle about TYO, you gain a lot of insight into her perspective! she also mentions misogynistic treatment like being asked to go make tea when they were doing script readings, not getting invited to a big BBC party because it was presumed she'd be Rik's plus-one, and getting groped at the BBC bar. it pissed me off on her behalf and partly prompted this post.

some specific accolades/accreditation/fun facts:

Rik crediting her with writing/conceiving the Kevin Turvey non-joke "All right, biting political satire: What do Lech Walesea and Menachem Begin have in common? They’ve both got foreign names! What do you mean it’s not funny?" (x)

Alexei Sayle in Thatcher Stole My Trousers crediting Lise with co-writing Turvey: "Lise was, like Linda for mine, a vital part of Rik’s career, co-writing both The Young Ones and Rik’s character Kevin Turvey..."

a 1987 source for Lise co-writing Turvey: "The assumption that women do not write comedy scripts was one with which Lise Mayer, co-writer of The Young Ones television series, has also had to contend. She started writing for Rik Mayall’s Kevin Turvey in the television series A Kick Up the Eighties..." (x)

Rowland Rivron (comedian who toured with The Comic Strip gang and lived with Rik and Lise) in What the f*** did I do last night?: "[Lise] also had the unenviable job of standing at the side of the stage when Rik was performing, and jotting down anything he said that was unscripted. If it got a laugh, it would be woven into the next night’s routine."

the only time i've ever seen a Rik Mayall/Ade Edmondson/Lise Mayer writing credit: for a poem called Distance which was collected in this anthology! Rik and Ade seem to have acted it out (or at least a version of it) in this 20th Century Coyote performance

Rik on Lise writing TYO: "‘She discovers different things: the comedy of embarrassment and awkwardness – she draws out the cheating and stealing that goes on in the house.’" (x) (Lise also says her "favorite comedy was always the comedy of embarrassment" in the Alexei Sayle podcast)

Rik: "... Lise Mayer wrote this great scene where I find a tampon in a handbag and it's my birthday party and I think it's a present because my character is Rick, who is such a git, he didn't know." (x)

Helen Lederer in Not That I'm Bitter, writing about being on The Young Ones: "[Lise] was known to be the brains behind it all, particularly the more surreal elements…"

she and Rik chose the bands (x)

Lise: “We’d have a table read at which point we’d discover that the script ran over an hour long, and then I’d have a sleepless night editing it.” Alexei: “You did that?” Lise: “Usually me, yeah…” (she later explains they'd present the script Monday and rehearsals were Tuesday, Wednesday-so she literally had one night to edit!) (x)

facts from the blu-ray commentary tracks:

Rick's yellow dungarees in Interesting were based off a picture of Lise in a similar pair

Lise wrote an essay about the tampon joke in Interesting so that the BBC didn't cut the scene (though they still edited it)

Paul Jackson (producer) credits Lise with arguing "you are seriously telling me that we cannot refer on television to something that happens to 50% of the population for about 30 years of their life? and we're not allowed to even refer to it" to make an executive back off about the tampon joke in a meeting

Lise came up with Neil's flowerpot covering in Nasty

Vyvyan/Vivian's name comes from Lise having lived in Vyvyan Terrace, Bristol

Lise thought of the cast switching costumes in Bambi (one of my favorite moments!!) (/end of commentary track facts)

this is guesswork, but i've seen Ben Elton and Rik Mayall's handwriting and i'm pretty sure the editing/handwriting on the bottom left on this script must be Lise's, which gives insight into what/how she wrote: (x)

i feel like it's easy for people to overlook or minimize Lise's impact, something that happens to female creators far too often. i hate when women's identities are framed around their association to a man-girlfriend to Rik in this case-which was the norm whenever i saw Lise discussed in articles/books/online discussions about TYO. it's important to know she was a writer and co-creator with her own identity and (underappreciated) contributions. The Young Ones (and Kevin Turvey, and things we don't even know she goes uncredited for) would not have been the same—or wouldn't have even existed—without her!

[sothischickshe]

I was tagged by @bourbon-ontherocks (ty! 💛💛💛) to answer 20 questions for writers:

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

21!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

278,245

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The only fandom I've ever published fic for is good girls

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Bringing down the neighbourhood

waiting for someone who needs me🧞

What a sight to see🧛🏻

(a) time to kill

yourself and others

I'm not sure the middle 3 would def be there were it not for the anon kudos bombing but w/e it's nice having some single chapter fics in the top 5 🤘

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes! 🥺🥺🥺

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

A time to refrain (from embracing) methinks!

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Both installments of the Are you afraid or is it true series are pretty fluffy. Maybe the second part (Through the park and by the tree) wins out? 🤔

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not generally. There was someone in the gg fandom leaving mean bookmark notes tho 🙄🗑️

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes. What are the kinds? 👀

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I haven't, and I don't imagine I would?

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, not that I'm aware of. It could be interesting to see how it would go!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes actually, as kids me and a friend co-wrote a tortall 'verse crackfic.

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

Ooof. Maybe spuffy? That met me at a very formative time of my life, and I didn't expect it to become so canon (as opposed to like under a spell etc) and I think that experience really reshaped my brain 🤯🤯🤯 but fundamentally faves questions are immoral thus this is a very rude question.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I hope I'll finish all of them, and do intend to! I'm not sure I'll ever write the hilarious abortion fic tho.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Mm, a love of language/interesting prose. A love of brevity/somewhat chiselled sentences. A love of editing/willingness to improve. Interesting stories. Dialogue, tho brio get little bc theyre annoying. Characterisation!

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Well I violently dislike plot. I don't feel super strong on creating original characters. I'm slow! I'd rather let things be confusing than beat readers over the head with info, which I think can be detrimental. I wouldnt say my descriptions are super strong, though I think they've improved a lil. Sometimes there's too much internal monologue at a go which breaks up the pacing of an eg dialogue scene (though again think that's improved somewhat). My love of planning and love of pantsing are at constant war lol, I get grumpiest abt stuff not having been established earlier and thus needing to state things which couldve been well demonstrated. Blocking, sometimes. I love short stories and oneshots but I'm apparently prone to writing long fics & continuing things into series which I consider a real weakness, lol.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I'm not against it in principle, I've read a lot of books which contain a lot of eg French or Spanish (often untranslated). We've got access to Google translate or w/e right? I do appreciate it when translations are provided bc lazy (and I think Ao3 does poss let you do hyperlinked superscript?). I feel the same way abt it in fic as in other media I think -- if you're happy for it to be a bonus to those that understand and everyone else needs to work to figure it out, I concur. If you think it needs to be understood, then providing translations (even if just as notes @ the end) makes sense.

But I also think pls don't write it via Google translate... If u don't speak the language/don't have someone who can help u translate it, don't write dodgy shite Spanish or w/e 🙈 not everything needs to be literal dialogue u can just say 'he explained to his grandmother abt the change in plans' or w/e I swear

...o wait I'm guessing the q meant me as a writer not reader 🤦 I don't think I've done much of it? Altho I do always seem to imply that every character speaks French, a language I don't really speak so who the hell knows 🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Published for: good girls. Wrote for hmmm I guess tortall books maybe? 🧓🤷🏼‍♀️

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Ooof, immoral question! Let's say upon your ignorance (and the gray despair) of your ugly life tho bc every time I remember I wrote a fic where rio & Dean swap bodies I giggle 😂 there's so much abt this fic which is very funny to specifically me teehee

Tagging🔖🔖🔖🔖🔖: @hereliesbb @nakedmonkey @nottonyharrison @inyoursheets @bensonstablers @blizabrth @delicatelingon & U right in the middle of your forehead if u wanna play 😚🎯

[sanchoyo]

danny phantom, season 3 episodes 3-6 thoughts!

see prev episode thoughts in this tag <3

-johnny was actually pretty civil with danny and left when he asked! thats nice. also, SKULKER?? HAD A FRAMED PICTURE OF EMBER?? oooo fuck wait had they established they were a Thing Before?? I dont think so. thats weird. its like that country boy/goth girl meme lmfao. I think i am going to choose to ignore this new info and pretend I didnt hear it. 100% unrelated to the jazz/ember fanart I already drew and posted....😳

-LADIES NIGHT EPISODE THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT. wish it didnt really center around the guys or them being pissed at them, but. willing to bet this was written by men lol

-THEY ERASED ALL THE MEN??? meanwhile, jack and danny are fishing at. silent hill or something. im glad jack is trying to read a parenting book and making an Attempt. (theyre at lake erie, but, they made it actually eerie...thats fun)

-the girls alt outfits...cute. EMBER MADE A NEW SONG TOO!!! kinda. jazz being one of the backup singers and being AWFUL. NOOOO

-'how are we going to get kitty to blow a kiss?' 'she'll have to think there are still some males in town!' ...i dont know how to break it to you, but I dont know that a 100% het girl would wish for all men to Begone. I think. I mean im not a het or a girl so I dont really know for sure. she Is probably Bi tho. esp having the other ladies in town chanting NO MEN!!! excitedly............(then again, the kiss is to get Rid of men, so, she probably would have blown it at the ladies only if they were actively trying to attack/stop them, so...I MEAN. THE DRESSING LIKE DANNY BIT WAS SO EXTRA)

-I feel like an all female cast ep couldve been way way way way cooler than that was. like. why was it still somehow all about Men. ...anyway. (where was valerie...)

-next ep opens with the observants, and, way way more of them than I expected...existed? I mean I guess them being a council/jury of some kind is what I expected from their first appearance (bc at that time they were basically TELLING clockwork to kill danny, not asking,, so I figured they had SOME kind of authority) but. there were so many. anyway, here goes vlad! letting his own hubris go brrrr. releasing a weather ghost for political gain! #justvladthings

-okay say what you will about him (he IS an asshole) but having an umbrella with his own face on it and more prepared to share is SUPER FUNNY. and him being fanned by huge wads of money by his bodyguards. SO ineffective but so Dramatic. He UNDERSTANDS that if youre rich you need to be. you know. obnoxious and kinda eccentric about it! fuckign hate when rich people are boring about it. I would trust vlad with nothing except to not be a boring rich asshole who wears...fucking khaki or some shit. man knows his Presentation Skills. and that 'V' chair in his mayoral office. is that fucking embroidered?

-maddie get your MAN PLEEEEASSSE. IM SO EMBARRASSED FOR HER. the way jack stays simping for this man. in FRONT OF HIS WIFE!!!! ...my god its like a love triangle. jack clearly loves vlad, who loves maddie, who loves jack. jack fenton is at the very least bi, right................. this is an OBSESSION . 'THE V MAN COMETH'???? i...my god. (also, on a serious note, to have a friend THIS SUPPORTIVE...and still be SUCH A DICK TO HIM (TRYING TO KILL HIM AND STEAL HIS WIFE??) NOT COOL VLAD. JACK IS YOUR 1 AND /ONLY/ HYPE MAN. if someone loved and supported me THIS HARD...LIKE. CMON DUDE.

-STOMP the fucking GAS, JACK

-this would make a great shirt design, looks like a metal band design! we love The Maelstrom

-oh, so vlad did in fact get a mansion in amity park. and its purple! good color choice! not as flashy as a CASTLE or MURDER CABIN, but still pretty eccentric, which I appreciate.

-...vlad knows the difference between picasso and da vinci? in the ep last post where we were watching him fail at conquering every historical time ever he didnt seem to know history well enough to like. be effective...was vlad taking art history at college?? (was he an art MAJOR??? we never DID KNOW WHAT HE WENT TO SCHOOL FOR. I kinda assumed business because in the masters of time ep he was still rich without ghost powers so he had to have..known something about business or something, right...but also, art and or theater FITS HIS PERSONALITY. possibly also something science-y, I guess, but I always felt like he got roped into that, esp how pessimistic he was about the ghost portal in the flashbacks to college, like, i felt like he was just there for maddie and was uninterested/un-invested at the time...)

-THIS GHOST JUST ELECTROCUTED MADDIE (THE CAT) BITCH!! THATS MY FAVORITE MADDIE!!! vlad going after vortex and being ~shocked~ .....WHEN. WHEN WILL YOU LEARN. THAT YOUR ACTIONS. HAVE CONSEQUENCES!!!

-the way this random man with a camera sees the mayor laying in an alley covered in TRASH AND DECIDES TO TAKE A PICTURE HAHAH

*snap* this ones going in my cringe compilation!

-vlad 'if we're going to defeat vortex, we're going to have to do it together!' *immediately dips after dropping danny off in front of vortex* JKASDFHKJHJKN

-DANNY CAN DUPLICATE!!! ...he couldnt even attack with it, but he DID IT!!! INTO (4) OF HIMSELF!!! SO PROUD!!!!!!!!!!

-'THE ROLLER COASTER EMOTIONS OF A TEENAGER THREATEN MY PLANS!' ...0 self awareness of his own dramatic moodiness. incredible, how dumb this man is. its very close to circling around to endearing, if he was less of an asshole. at least its very very funny to see danny shooting him with tiny lightning bolts anytime he's even slightly irritated! vlad you should be nice to danny anyway. this is what you GET

-...making sandwiches and ice cream and playing video games with your nephew is a totally normal thing. WHY is vlad acting like this is the end of the world. if you were a GOOD UNCLE YOU WOULD ALREADY BE DOING THESE THINGS!!! bitch I make my nephew food all the time and dont forget what he does and doesnt like. if u didnt know danny didnt want tomatoes, thats on u. if u, a grown adult, are gonna piss of the 14 yr old by not letting him win, u deserve to have to pay for the arcade machines he ruins because he now has uncontrollable storm powers because YOU THREW HIM INTO A FIGHT WITH THE STORM GHOST. fuck u vlad. paypal me $400,000 while ur at it tho. (also, gamer vlad confirmed)

-VLAD CAN COOK THOUGH???! I assumed he had...people working for him that did that. I mean. billionaires usually dont do that. then again, we've only seen those vultures working for him (and I guess the dairy king was AT his old mansion, but it was never really clarified if he worked there...I think he probably just Hung Out and they Enjoyed Cheeses Together. thats what I think, I dont think a KING would be working for anyone and also the dairy king was nice <3) but then again he would be a private person and we cant have anyone accidentally finding Ghostly Things, so...still, that's hilarious. pour one out for that really cute banana split that got ruined 2 seconds later

-vlad just fucking picking danny up and THROWING HIM AT VORTEX TWICE WITHIN LIKE A MINUTE. JUST ABSOLUTELY LAUNCHING HIM. BITCH THATS MY SON BE CAREFUL!!! HES GOT ORGANS AND THINGS!!!!

-danny seeing those animal commercials and feeling sad is the biggest 2000s throwback so far. i legitimately had to change the channel or walk out of the room when those came on bc id CRY AND BE SAD ABOUT THEM FOR DAYS AFTER. fuck those commercials and fuck that IN THE ARMMMS OF AN ANGELLLL song 😭

-'vlads ego almost got the town destroyed!' yes danny thats the entire episode. the entire series anytime vlad shows up honestly. this episode was just him being really embarrassing the entire time, and, me laughing about it. 10/10 would laugh at him again

-NEXT EP WE HAVE A SHAPESHIFTING GHOST?? I've said it before but shapeshifting is the power I would want when asked those 'what superpower do you want' questions...its the Best power! this guy looks like a homestuck character. ive never read homestuck but thats the vibe

-I love every time we see tuckers family, they are by far the most functional family. and dash has a lil chihuahua!!! named pookie!!! i am crying (I've had 3 chihuahuas, so I am very biased, but...) AND HE WATCHES THE ROMANCE CHANNEL WITH POOKIE. POOKIE I WILL DIE FOR YOU YOU SWEET LITTLE BABY.

-danny can lift a bus! I shouldn't be surprised, but i am proud of my son. hes got lil kid fans. i am going to cry about this

-JAZZ KEEPS A SCRAPBOOK WITH DANNY'S LIL HEROICS AND NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS!!! we've actually seen it on her floor before, but I didnt realize it was a scrapbook!! thats sooo cute.

-...and danny has to stand there listening to his parents saying danny phantom sucks and is a 'filthy ghost' and calling him egotistical...i am once again stealing their kids!

-THIS GHOST RIPPING JAZZ'S SCRAPBOOK!!! ILL KILL YOU. SHE WORKED HARD ON THAT!!! BITCH

-yes, maddie, the one with red eyes is For Sure Actually Your Son. ignore the, red eyes... (CLEARLY she hasnt watched the other 2 eps where danny has been evil, she doesnt know red eyes= evil!!!)

-'billy fenton'.......................

-danny being stuck as phantom in his own house, no way out is a fucking NIGHTMARE. his parents pointing giant weapons against him and SHOOTING AT HIM. THIS IS A HORROR MOVIE.

-NINE INCH NAILS POSTER.

-this is the most screenshot of all time

-amorpho turning into mr. lancer because hes 'someone no one will want to be around' BUT HES WRONG, I WOULD BEFRIEND AND HANG OUT WITH MR LANCER SO FAST.

-tucker dressing as danny, now I have the full Tucker set of him being sam and also being danny. also saying 'the ghost...uh...RIPPED MY FACE OFF.' and then running. SMOOTH. NOT AT ALL CONCERNING TO ANY PARENTS.

-sam accepts the toast from jack. and then 2 seconds later is like 'why am i eating this.' THIS SHOWS HUMOR IS SO UNEXPECTED SOMETIMES ITS REALLY GOOD. and then the scene after, mr lancer running into his ghost doppelganger and being like 'YOURE GORGOUS' THEN FAINTING. I AM CRYING. AND DASH FAINTING TOO.

-sam disguising herself as danny again to help tucker run from the fentons. but leaving him shirtless in the streets. incredible. 'plEASE DOnt NOTice MY FACELessNESS I MUST LIVE IN EXILE' this episode is destroying me the humor in this show is exactly my brand of corny and cheesy

-the impromtu story made up by danny and amorpho to explain stuff to the fentons. my god they are both such bad liars. but amorpho is a good egg. wish danny wouldnt have said he didnt wanna see him in town again!! I want him to be reoccurring. not that thats gonna matter since I'm almost done with the series, but the idea of this being the Only Time We See him is :(

-NEXT EP SAYS STARRING MARK HAMILL??????!!! hello ! mr . joker....mr. star wars.... I feel like I should be. idk. taking off a hat im not wearing in respect. I shouldnt be surprised tho bc hes in a lot of cartoons as a very good voice actor, and dp has already had a lot of talented ones so I've been looking out for ones I might know, but....mr. hamill....

-sam has her own greenhouse, names all the plants, and says thank you to them (in the languages from where the plants are from) whenever she harvests from them. thats SO cute. and her lil gothy lunch box...

-and danny's lil red fuzzy lined jacket!!! ive said it before but every time the characters get alt outfits im like :D

-danny has ice powers now!!! THATS WHAT FROSTBITE MEANT. HE KNEW SOMEHOW WAY BACK THEN

-THIS SHOW NEVER LETS YOU FORGET VLAD IS A BILLIONAIRE, HUH.

-danny's lil 'holy hibiscus!' first off the 50s batman swearing is hilarious. 2nd. my username is from the flower sanchoyo hibiscus, so, shoutout to ME this ep. hi :)

-EURGH UNDERGROWTH MAKING EVERYONE PLANT ZOMBIES. HIVEMIND PLOTS SCARE THE SHIT OUT OF ME. and this dude made the city SO overtaken so quickly like how long was danny asleep?? oh god

-evil fucked up sam! now the whole trio has gone evil at some point! the voice actress did a really, really good job with making her sound like a zombie...

-frostbite's paws are so so so big compared to danny. oh my god. i want to hug the snow dog...

-the far frozen has an advanced medical stuff!!! very cool. very smart snow dogs

-im so glad danny has a friendly ghost snow dad to explain this new power and teach him!!! this is so sweet. DANNY'S GHOST SENSE WAS A PART OF HIS ICE POWER?? OOOH. COOL. we love a training montage!!!

-danny saying if he cant defeat overgrowth, that he'd want to stay with frostbite...oh my god...do you think this is the first real supportive adult figure in his life (I am NOT counting his parents because they threaten him on the daily even if they dont realize it.) I mean mr lancer is a Teacher, but he was also nice but this is different, but this is a GHOST WHO IS WILLING TO HELP HIM with his powers and also will help him when hes injured and is so so nice and comparatively so much more mature than 90% of the adults in this show!!!! god. dad frostbite is my everything.

-the framing and lighting this episode, and all the angles...they went all OUT and it looks really really good. this is my nightmare scenario, tho. like, FUCK zombies and dead city zones and hivemind shit. and using the humans as 'nutrients for the children' i am going to THROW UP.

-MALEFICENT VIBES WITH THE HORNS AND GREEN EYES! this costume kicks so much ass. sam is now mark hamills daughter, I guess.

-danny's ice powers making his eyes blue!!! thats neat. and him going for the roots underground was SO SMART. i will not stand for danny ever thinking hes stupid, hes SO smart.

almost done with the show... :"( thats a sad thought!!!

[skaianet]

so i swapped them hives (act 2) and...

huh i have some thoughts. like gameplay thoughts and some tinfoil story thoughts. spoilers below, obviously

- i loved the game, generally speaking. the grand majority of the puzzles were good and the writing had good moments and it did make me laugh/chuckle out loud a several times

- character writing was fun, except for some parts. even then im not sure if the characters were written bad or if i just got mad at the game and it made me bored of the characters

- the “parts” im speaking of is actually just one big part which you probably guessed right away. THE TRIAL. it was genuinely fucking awful. the game was great before and after it, but that single thing just dragged on way too long and was god damn obtuse (though i was playing it at...... 3 am or something. maybe not the best time for detective work but oh well. tyzias i hope your hand isnt sore from all the holding)

- everything else besides the trial was great. to give an overall rating for act 2 would be difficult due to such a wild disparity in gameplay quality.

- the other puzzles were good. i had to use the hint button only a few times outside the trial for genuine clues. the last puzzle is fresh in my mind because in the end i just kinda spammed the button to be sure i was safe to break the glass/turn the switch because i didnt want to do the whole process over after failing so many times. that was annoying but otherwise the puzzles were cool in my book.

- OBSERVATIONS: some early parts seemed disjointed, like right at the very beginning (after the explosion, in the cave and the bee farm). There were some weird excuses to cover the fact joey and xefros just somehow ended up to the cave. Also it was OBVIOUS the screens from the cave didn’t lead up to the farm properly. We’ve seen in-development animations and screenshots from Zebede and Charun in these areas previously, looking pretty complete. Also the gears at the farm windmill were very intricate, suggesting that maybe there used to be a puzzle there at some point? Also the skip to the train station from the forest was very abrupt. I feel kind of... sad? knowing weve lost some cool content probably forever for whatever reason, but the game is still good. the dev team said that if some troll call trolls are missing from the game they will appear in future acts, so its not like zebede and charun dont exist anymore, but... i wonder why they were scrapped. i mean, probably due to the absolute development hell, but at least charun was in the first steam trailer a year ago iirc. id love to know why this stuff was scrapped

-PLOT THOUGHTS 1: okay okay theres a lot im still thinking about but what im most curious about is the jeevik week. like its some kind of a festival but to what end? the tetrarchs (dammek, cridea, fiamet, xefros/chixie) were apparently planning something and i believe the jeevik week is supposed to be the culmination of those plans. in addition to the tetrarchs, i think marvus has some interest of their own in this, but its uncertain if theyre in on the same plot. he protected joey a lot, and i think it was kinda suspicious how they emphasized how marvus just “happened” to be on this train.

-PLOT THOUGHTS 2: so what happened at the end of the act. it seems likely that the first guardian axolotl thing from the concept art just blasted the train (directly hitting the rustblood car, mind this) though that thing seemed to have wings? does the axolotl have wings or is this something else? its most likely the axolotl, but there are more options... the green fire seems to hint at a green sun-powered creature either way. could there be a link to the act 1 creatures? which were black with green insides, like some kind of nega first guardian? could someone gotten their hands on ectobiology equipment and started producing first guardian-like creatures, powered by the green sun? on alternia, obviously as lusii, but as earth doesnt have them, as some kind of weird mutants? just food for thought

-PLOT THOUGHTS 3: okay, this is kind of a wild idea, but i suspect the attack at the end was intended to eliminate joey and xefros. the creature specifically targeted the lowblood car, and from one of the ending freeze-frames we see half of the wagon being obliterated probably killing everyone inside. xefros is a lowblood and joey was posing as one, so if the attack was intentionally directed whoever is behind it couldve assumed those two were in there. and if the creature was indeed the axolotl, the culprit is likely fiamet as thats likely her lusus or something (something that has been theorised from some in-development screenshots having a axolotl character as a stand-in chitter avatar for her). fiamet also knew joey and xefros were on the train. anyway if thats in any way accurate theres a chance shell be the secret final ultimate antagonist of hiveswap. but who knows

anyway thats my two cents...  mean at this point, my about 30 cents on hiveswap act 2.

[letstalkaboutshtufff]

Ivar x reader Close call

Pairing: Ivar x reader

Warnings: mild language, mentions of poison and slavery, I think that's it?

Summary: Reader who's a slave tries to save the king before it's too late.

***************************************************

Hello my loves! I've recently gotten back into Vikings and wanted to write a little something. Hope you guys like it😚

The great hall was full of life in celebration of some new lands that had been conquered. The ruthless king himself sat on his throne clapping and laughing loudly as the warrior beside him told a crude joke.

You wish you could join them at the table but you were no warrior. Nope life had given you the short end of the straw on that one.

You were just a slave, heck you weren't even an interesting one. Some of your slave friends had managed too woo their masters and be set free with their charming personalities but you weren't bold like them. The boldest thing you've done in your life was sneak some extra portions from the kitchen when no one was looking.

You made your way into the kitchens for the millionth time that night and grabbed some more ready dishes, those warriors ate like starving wolves. The delicious smell of chicken wafted through your nose and you resisted the urge to snatch one up. You hadn't eaten anything since the morning what with everything being so busy preparing and all.

You made your way back into the bustling hall. Setting the down the dishes close to where the king sat. By the gods he was handsome, those blue eyes were like sparkling oceans. Usually you were able to get away with a few glances without him noticing but you must've lingered too long because somehow those ocean eyes were now on you with an eyebrow slightly raised, "Is something on my face slave?"

Shit...

"N-no n-nothing, sorry my king.." you quickly bowed your head down in embarrassment and turned away. An warm hand pulled your arm back before you could run away,

"Make yourself useful and get us some more mead" he ordered.

"Yes my king" you scurried away back to the kitchens, cheeks on fire. Geez what were you?! 12?! If just a little contact made your heart beat so fast and stutter like that, how were you ever gonna get a man.

With a sigh you pushed open the curtain to the kitchen and searched for some bottles.

"Hmm that's strange, someone mustve taken it." You couldve sworn there was a full bottle just a moment ago when you got the dishes.

"Mira do you know where some more bottles of mead are?" You asked one of the other slaves in the kitchen.

"There's more in the back shed! Need help carrying them?" She asked setting down some dirty dishes.

"No I'll be alright!" You smiled and made your way outside. The cool air felt great on your heated skin. It was nice being away from all the noise.

You slid in the slightly open shed door and paused when you saw a brown haired girl standing with her back to you. You heard a quiet clanking noise, like a bottle being shaken, not wanting to startle her you opened the shed door more making a creaking sound.

She jumped visibly and shot around. Eyes slightly wide and a thin layer of sweat on her fore head. She looked panicked for some reason.

"Sorry didn't mean to scare you" you giggled trying to lighten the mood, "Are you alrig-"

"I-I'm f-fine.." The girl quickly turned around, gathered up what appeared to be a bottle, and rushed past you.

Okaaay that wasn't weird at all.. she must be a new slave from the conquerored lands. It wasnt uncommon for the new slaves to be scared at first, especially those taken from their homes. Thinking nothing more of it you quickly grabbed up some bottles, the last thing you wanted was Ivar to be angry at you for taking too long. You'd seen the king slap slaves for far less. You knew you shouldn't have been so infatuated with a man who could be so cruel but by the gods when he smiled your morals flew out the window. You wish you weren't a slave, that way you could've had a chance at least to be his friend. Maybe in another life you would be a powerful shield maiden and he would be enamored by your strength. There were so many scenarios that ran through your mind you could've written a book about them. Hell you could've filled a an entire library with all the situations you've dreamed up. Loneliness and a creative mind are a dangerous combination.

When you walked back into the hall you frowned noticing the girl had given Ivar the bottle instead of you.

Aw man I wanted to do that...with an internal sigh you set the mead at the other end where you noticed it was running low. You wondered how much mead these men could actually drink before they drowned themselves inside out. Speaking of drunk men, it might be helpful for you to try and calm the poor girl down. After all drunk men loved to prey on sacred skittish girls. At least knowing she had someone she could talk too and call a friend might help relax her nerves.

You scanned the room and soon spotted the familiar mop of brown curls hiding behind a pillar.

Poor thing must be terrified. Half her body was concealed and she held her fingers to her mouth, nervously chewing on them. You took a few steps towards her but stopped when you noticed she was staring at something like her life depended on it.

Following her line of vision your eyes landed on the kings laughing form. He was pouring from the new bottle and somehow that made the girl even more nervous. Somethings not right...

You were about to start walking towards her again when she suddenly darted off out of the hall.

You looked back at the king narrowing your eyes as he lifted the mug halfway.

The pieces began clicking like a puzzle in your mind

A new slave you've never seen before..

The clanking in the shed...

The nervousness...

Oh no...

It was like everything was in slow motion when you dashed across the room like a madman over to where the king was starting to drink. The cup was just barely grazing his lips when you dived onto his lap smacking away the cup onto the floor.

The commotion caught the entire halls attention and your heavy breaths were the only thing that could be heard in the silence.

You were frozen, completely terrified as the situation you were in dawned on you. All eyes were glued to you.

You turned slightly in his lap and met his very shocked and confused eyes. All 2 of your brain cells managed to squeeze out a single word in defense. "P-poison" you whispered and tried to shuffle off his lap, only for him to firmly grab your arms trapping you in place.

He was getting angry now, a dark look swimming across his eyes, "Poison? Explain yourself slave!".

"T-there was a girl- one I hadn't seen before getting your mead from the shed, before I came in she was doing something I couldn't see and she looked frightened, I didn't think anything of it until you were pouring your drink. She was hiding looking at you like her heart was gonna burst, before you lifted the cup she took off outside. I put two and two together and just reacted..it could be nothing but..." you looked over to where his brother ubbe lifted the fallen cup, carefull not to touch any of the fallen liquid. He held it up to his face and looked deeply inside the cup. His eyes narrowed when he spotted something collected at the bottom, "It's true" everyone gasped around the room, Ivar tensed under you. "Theres powder on the bottom".

"Where is this girl you speak of?" Ivar growled, you shivered even though his anger wasn't directed at you, lifting a finger you pointed towards a side entrance, "She ran that way, she was wearing a red dress and had brown curls." Ivar nodded to some guards and they quickly ran in the same direction. "Do not let that bitch escape!" he yelled after them.

You shifted uncomfortably, he still hadn't let you go.

Apparently the girl hadn't gotten far at all because only a few moments later 2 guards had brought the girl in kicking and screaming. "LET ME GO, PLEASE I DIDN'T DO IT" tears were rolling down her face like a waterfall.

Ivar smiled wickedly before loosening his grip.

You immediately got off and watched as he grabbed his crutch. The shaking girl watched in utter horror as he slowly walked towards her like a predator.

"Didnt do it? Didnt do what hmm? Didn't try to poison me?" He knelt down a few inches from her face grabbing her chin with his fingers.

"Shh shhh stop crying, I'm not going to kill you" he caressed her face in a calming motion. The girl started to calm down but you knew what was coming, with a smirk he leaned towards her ear, "I'm going to break you". She thrashed around once more as Ivar got up and ordered the guards to take her to a cell, she fainted and had to be carried out when he said he would be in later to interrogate her. Poor thing, you guessed someone had threatened her because she did not look like a killer. And slaves were an easy target for such schemes.

Once the guards dragged her away Ivar turned to the crowd, "My friends, I believe we were in the middle of a celebration were we not? Bring out fresh mead!" The men cheered and soon the silent hall was once again bustling. You stood there awkwardly by the throne not knowing if you should just leave and get back to work. While you were debating the king turned to you with an amused smile. "What is your name my little hero?" You felt heat rise to your cheeks at the nickname.

"Y/n my king" you bowed slightly.

"Y/n...I believe I owe you a thank you" he walked closer to you which made your heart do a little leap.

"That's not necessary my king I was only doing what anyone would". He laughed and you looked up at him slightly confused. What was funny?

"Believe me when I say there are many who would like nothing more than to see me dead" the thought of that made you very sad.

"Well in any case" he stopped until he was right in front of you, lifting your chin up with a finger "you deserve a reward don't you agree?" The feel of his fingers on you were too good and suddenly words evaded you. All you could do was stare into his devilish eyes and nod slowly.

The Cheshire cat could learn a thing or two from how he was smiling now. Leaning into your ear he whispered "Good, because by the way I've caught you looking at me the past few weeks, I think I know exactly what kind of reward you desire".

Gods help me...

***************************************************Thanks for reading! Comments really make my day and inspire me to write more so if you liked it please let me know:)

[zuxnon]

CEO SVT | wonwoo - fast pace

disclaimer: i don’t know what the fuck i’m doig, i didn’t proofread this or anything, i feel weird formatting it to look niceish when it’s bad but imma try anyways, i changed up minor details a bit into it and a good bit of it was written when i was half asleep so if you notice something’s wonky ignore it and/or lmk so i can fix it thanks. ANOTHER DISCLAIMER consider this somewhat of an intro i couldve just made it one long part since the next one is gonna be him too but oh well

summary: everything moves fast when you’re the ceo of a large company. you never have time to waste and when you want something, you get it. what do you do when what you want might not be used to the same lifestyle as you?

seokmin always had weird requests. it was nothing unusual for him to send you, somewhat of an assistant to him, on wild goose chases for random purposes. for that reason, you weren't particularly surprised when he told you to go to a small bookstore across town and buy exactly 15 copies of "The Case of The Missing Heart," a new murder mystery book that had just been published about a week before. you didn't bother questioning it like you might have back when you had just started here. you just grabbed your drink and purse, stood up from your desk, and smiled. "sure, boss." was the only reply you gave him, somewhat hummed in a tone of clear amusement, but he didn't seem to care. he flashed a pearly grin, sent you a wave, and turned back into his office as you turned to leave. there was nothing else to it.

soon enough there you were, scouring the relatively empty bookstore for your boss's most recent questionable request, and you found it. it had probably already been half an hour since you'd left work, you figured he'd probably expect you back in another half hour, and while you doubted he'd care too much, you still didn't want to be late. if you could call it late, that was. with that thought crowding your mind, you quickly snatched a book, then two, then three off the shelves. you would've continued, had you not been distracted by subtle movement out of the corner of your eyes.

standing there, to your utter surprise, was the grim reaper. or, well, you assumed it was more likely a very tall man under a grim-reaper cape, staring down at a game. a game that looked rather familiar from the corner of your eye, and with a risky glance away from the hooded figure and towards the game he was pulling off the shelf, you understood why.

"I worked on that game," you mused aloud, not entirely understanding why you felt the need to tell the grim reaper your life story. but it was too late to do anything about it now, wasn't it? he stilled for a moment, shocked, but slowly turned his head to look at you. you were pretty sure that somewhere under all that thick black fabric, you saw the glint of some silver-rimmed glasses and a few curls of hair.

"You did?" he asked, and if you were to give the grim reaper a voice, it would've probably been something similar to that. your mind briefly flashed back to the scene in goblin where eun-tak asked the goblin if he was the goblin in the library, but you smartly decided against recreating that for fear he might kill you. internally, you gasped. were you already dead? what if this was a test?

wonwoo, on the other hand, was horribly amused. he felt bad, finding amusement in a girl's struggles, but judging by the look on her face, she knew he caught her as soon as she saw his face. he lazily, reached up, finding no reason to continue hiding his identity anymore, and slipped his hood off. she seemed even more stunned. he almost had to bite his lip to hold his smile back, but he somehow managed to keep it at bay without such a show of amusement. she was cute, he noted, but she was also a liar. Wonwoo was friends with the creator of this game, had even made a few appearances to help when he could.

"that's interesting, i didn't see you working when i was there." he said. it was interesting, a change in character that any of his friends would've mocked for months had they seen it, but something about the awkward, familiar energy (familiar in the sense that in some way, she reminded him of himself) she held calmed him. he couldn't explain it, or really understand it, but he could tell she was nothing to be afraid of, she didn't have it in her to tell anyone that he was different around her than his image would suggest. nor did she have the guts to argue, which was also comforting because, well, neither did he.

contrary to his beliefs though, she felt a fire ignite in her veins at his words. the tips of her ears flushed red in embarrassment and she glanced around to make sure nobody was listening in. to her relief, there was nobody around.

"that's interesting, i didn't see you while i was working on it either. as someone credited on the back of the game, you'd think i'd recognize you if you were there." you hissed, crossing your arms defensively over your chest. it wasn't a particularly harsh hiss, but there was no denying the slightly confrontational diction you chose, and he was taken aback just as were you. you, of course, were proud of your work, didn't want that credit stolen from you by some grim-reaper cosplayer who just happened to go shopping and decided to pretend he knew everything about everything- you shut yourself up, knowing you should stop before you made yourself any angrier.

you knew you weren't exactly confrontational, and soon enough the adrenaline of your little outburst had passed and you were slowly cowering back to, avoiding his eyes and looking back to your bookshelf.

"what's your name?" he asked quietly, after quite a few moments of silent staring on his side, flipping the game to see the credits. you said you were on there, and of course you should know your own name.

you shot him a look out of the corner of your eyes, collecting more books off the shelf one at a time. "Why, so you can stalk me? i don't think so."

"oh, so you're admitting that you're not in the game credits?

"I never said that." you bit quietly, frowning to yourself. at this point, he had a bit of a frown on his lips as well. well, at least until he noticed the book you were pulling off the shelf.

"well, i published that book you seem to want so many copies of."

at this point, he was just being an ass. you knew for sure you didn't like this grim reaper. you weren't going to tell some random man off the streets your name, give him more opportunity to find and kill you, and he didn't seem to like that so he decided to mock you. well, it didn't sound like mocking when it fell from his lips but you could tell a mocking word choice when you heard one. you dished out a lot of them yourself, rather than actually confronting people.

"yeah, and i wrote it." you grumbled. with one big, bad idea of a swoop, you somehow managed to catch the rest of the 15 books that somehow fit on that shelf before you used your arm as a makeshift windshield wiper to knock them all in your pile and scurried off. but even though your encounter was brief, somewhat of a reserved argument between reserved people, it left him deep in thought. curious. wondering. and, of course needing that game more than ever before.

and then that was the end of it. you got back to work, followed seokmin's orders and studied more on game creation with the help of both him and the team working for him. you forgot about the cute but obnoxious grim reaper boy and continued on with day to day life. three months passed, to be a little more exact, until the next game launched, and seokmin threw a party. you were still too new to have experienced one of the launch parties before, but he always invited the people he worked most closely with and, of course, his friends. it was somewhat of a small event though, at least in comparison to the expectations you had for such a highly coveted event. or, at least you assumed it was because of the guest list. you didn't know much about your boss' personal life, but it was impossible not to know about seokmin's 12 high-end ceo friends because all of the young women in the building seemed to have a favorite. jeonghan was the name you heard the most. you weren't sure what he did, but you didn't doubt that he was probably gorgeous.

you just didn't find the time to look into it, as you were just finishing up school and devoting all extra time to your job as seokmin's assistant. you started out as an intern, but he liked your drive, your goals, and so he offered you a real job to help pay the bills and get you more experience. he didn't have to help you, but he did and you weren't going to make him regret it.

due to that, this would be your first time meeting any of his friends. you were a little nervous, but you felt the same way meeting anyone. rich, famous, cute as they may have been, you wouldn't let it make you any more nervous than usual. you had little time to be very interested in them, and they would never be interested in you anyways, you're just seokmin's assistant so what would be the purpose of it? theres no sense getting any more nervous around them than you would your mom's friends.

that thought, and any other, cleared when you walked in. it seemed normal. lavish, but that was to be expected. but before you had much of a chance to take in the decorations, you were swept into the madness by a familiar coworker.

time moved quickly, you were never granted with enough seconds to form proper thoughts or observations, feeling like a human hot potato as your coworkers passed you from conversation to conversation- which half the time you could only pretend to know shit about- each keeping you only until they found someone else to entertain themselves with. many of whom had already had just enough alcohol for everyone to tell they were drinking. it was somewhat entertaining, you thought as you finally snuck off to a corner off behind the snack table, slowly consuming a donut you grabbed off it in your escape. at least, until you bumped into something. originally, you thought it was a pole at first, or maybe a rather un-leafy plant, but upon feeling it stumble further back with a gasp, you realized it wasn't. with a squeak of surprise, you jumped around (almost tripping thanks to the heel on the back of your shoes) reaching to help catch the boy, but he had already caught himself and so you reaching for someone who wasn't actually falling caused you to fall, right into his chest.

he caught you with his hands on your upper arms, catching you with the tip of your nose mere centimeters away from smearing your foundation all over his pristine black suit jacket.

your breath is caught, a lump in your already-tight throat because you're so afraid that if you move at all you'll ruin his outfit. so you don't move. he moves you. slowly, he pushes you back up into your feet, neither of you meeting each other's eyes until you're steady, a safe distance away from him and his expensive looking suit.

oh, but when you do meet each other's eyes, all hell breaks loose between you. it takes mere seconds for you to recognize him, seconds of silently wondering where you recognized his face from until you unintentionally gasp aloud, "grim reaper!"  at the same time as he gasps in a similar tone "bookstore girl!"

[sorrelstream]

Ivypool, Hollyleaf, Thitleclaw and Bluestar?? I really want to know your opinion!

((Lets hope my html works on mobile UUUUHHH))

((Also putting in a read more bc i Ramble a Lot so its kinda long!!))

Ivypool

Do I like them?: yes!!!!! I rlly love her a lot shes a good character!!! I only read up to The Last Hope so idk how she is in AVOS and its been Years since i read any wc book (like,,7th or 8th grade SJSKKSKS) but i remember liking her a lot and she was cool in my onion

How I picture them: i imagine she looks a lot like her grandmas, Brightheart and Ferncloud! She has Ferncloud's soft/round features and ivys color palette closely resembles fern+birchs, while she also has the curled ears and short but soft fur brightheart passed on (whitewing actually had cloudtails long fur but dovewing got that skdksks) . Her gray patches also resemble brighthearts !! Her fur was smoother/softer as a kitten but during her training her fur got messier/more ruffled up 

How I would write them: uhhhh make her the lesbian we deserved....or at least if she Had To Be Het i wouldve paired her w bumblestripe (hes her age and not related 2 her) or smthn,,, anyways i heard in AVoS she and her sister are on the rocks or smthn???? Id have them repair their relationship and if dovewing wants to leave thunderclan id have ivy have a convo w her where its like. Ivy tells her she loves her and will miss her bc shes her sister but if leaving thunderclan will make dovewing happy than she supports her! Ivy and Dove have been through a lot i wish they like actually talked through their problems :"( 

Unpopular Opinion: i wouldve rather seen ivy stay single and happy on her own like mousefur than see her get paired w her cousin whos half her age . 

Hollyleaf

Do I like them?: YES !!!! ABSOLUTELY!!!! I LOVE HER!! shes one of my long time faves and i love her a lot 

How I picture them: Shes the tallest of three and shes actually the tallest cat in thunderclan (she gets her Height from grandma ashfoot whos got legs for days). Shes solid black and blends into shadows pretty well, as well as very thick heavy fur and oriental cat features (Big Ears and Long Nose nya) 

How I would write them: i would Not kill her off thats for sure !!! I also wouldve made her part of the three (maybe even replacing lionblaze bc honestly his power and arc were. Super boring) . I would have kept her alive and have lionblaze or someone die in her place too; shed be happy w her gf hazeltail

Unpopular Opinion: ppl keep forgetting that hollyleaf didnt know crow and leaf were her parents when she killed ashfur?? She killed him when she thought she was like a rogues kids so i rlly hate the "she killed him to protect a secret she revealed anyways!!!!" Bc theres a Very Severe difference between those two events! Holly was freaked tf out bc she was the result of a romantic affair that literally went against everything she believed in 

Thistleclaw

Do I like them?: not at all. I didnt like him in Bluestars Prophecy and i certainly dont like him now that spottedleafs heart dropped

How I picture them: large, muscular, with ragged and bristling fur; hes a gray classic tabby with a fair amount of white spotting and tufted ears

How I would write them: eh. This is more of a writing issue w spottedleafs heart but i rlly dont like how the erins portrayed him as a villain bc he chose the dark forest over spottedpaw and not bc of how he Literally Preyed on a child. A while ago (before SH happened) i had an au where thistle was blues brother instead of snow being her sister and like he believed the other clans were evil bc they killed moonflower and he swore vengeance on the clans and anyone who was intimate w other clan cats for betraying thunder or smthn i dont rlly like it that much anymore tho) 

Unpopular Opinion: just bc he was nice to his wife doesnt mean he was a good character. In bp he actively sought the harm of kittens and apprentices and i dont. Trust like that. Anyways jskfkek 

Bluestar

Do I like them?: oooohh shes a complicated character!!! I like her but i want 2 acknowledge that she did some. Really fucked up things??? That arent excusable djskf 

How I picture them: oriental shorthair! Shes a blue ticked tabby and i imagine her eyes closer to green than blue sjxjd

How I would write them: ohuhsjdhsj theres a lot. I rlly dont like the lostface situation eh. Also i rlly dont think she had 2 give up her kits to riverclan? She couldve said she was a surrogate for thrushpelt who wanted to raise kits (even if he had no mate) and gave her kits to thrushpelt to adopt+raise while she returned to her duties. I think she was young+didnt feel ready when she had kids and i dont rlly take her as someone who even wanted to be a mother that young

(Also if she rlly had 2 give up her kits i wouldve written it so she gave birth like near sunning rocks or smthn so that oak could just take em right away and she could return 2 thunder camp and say there was only 1 kit and they were stillborn or smthn. Mosskit rlly didnt need 2 die but whatever ksjdksjdks) 

Unpopular Opinion: uUUUHHHH i understand why ppl wouldnt like her but ppl who say shes worse than thistleclaw make me a Bit newvous.... 

[maidenoftheforestlight-blog]

"I do have some issues with how GRRM chose to frame Sansa in AGOT". Could you expand on that? What are those issues?

Well I’ve reblogged quite a few metas on this subject and written a bit about it myself and I’d love to link some of that here but… how to find that stuff on my blog without slogging through months of irrelevant posting? Hmm… I really  need to organise this blog better… 

Assuming I don’t manage to find the relevant posts (or at least some of them) then I’ll just say that my issues with Sansa in AGOT have to do with how GRRM (apparently) originally conceived of her character and how much of that actually remained in the final product; that is to say, she was originally intended to be a foil to Arya and the one Stark kid who caused problems in the happy family group dynamic. This was apparently because GRRM thought it wouldn’t be realistic for all the kids to get along perfectly and for there to be no internal strife in the Stark family at all… but isn’t it odd that out of all the kids he chose the two girls to set at odds with one another? And isn’t it doubly odd that of these two girls it is the more stereotypically feminine one who was initially created to be that little “problem” in the family dynamic? Robb and Jon could easily have been the warring siblings instead, no? Or maybe Sansa could have been a boy instead and Arya could’ve had a male foil to argue with… but instead…

Sansa, despite clearly becoming a well rounded character in her own right by the final draft of AGOT, still retains quite a bit of that original character sketch. She is written to be a foil to Arya and to cause complications for her family due to her relationship with Joffrey. While with close reading - keeping in mind the social mores of her society and the way she has been raised - Sansa’s actions and beliefs about her world are quite understandable, she is not generally written in such a way that suggests the author meant to endear her to the reader… Contrast to the way Arya is written (because Sansa is her foil and GRRM wants us to compare them in this book!); introduced as a plucky underdog who challenges the status quo. We are meant to immediately identify with, like and root for Arya, and we do. We are not meant to immediately identify with, like and root for Sansa. 

We are introduced to Arya first and Sansa makes Arya feel bad about herself by being good at everything and prettier and getting her in trouble and… you get the point. Even though 9 year old Arya has biases, and we as readers should understand that, the mere fact that our introduction to Sansa comes through her POV already gives the reader a bias against Sansa on Arya’s behalf because that’s all we know about her! There’s also the fact that the quickest way to get your readership to identify with and like a character within a historical setting is to give them the values and opinions of a more modern person… and we get quite a bit of that with Arya, what with her challenging of gender norms and disregard for class and rank. We don’t get that short cut with Sansa. 

 When we actually meet Sansa in her own POV she is once again acting in her role as the foil… it’s the incident at the Trident where Sansa fails to stand up to Joffrey for Arya and Mycah the butcher’s boy and then doesn’t tell the king what really happened and “gets Lady and Mycah killed”, to hear some fans tell it (never mind her reasonable reasons for being confused about what to do and refusing to speak). It’s not a glowing moment for her here and tbh… there really is only one real glowing moment for Sansa in AGOT (before Ned’s imprisonment/death that is); the moment where she feels empathy for Sandor Clegane, overcomes her fear, and offers him the comfort he needs. 

Other than this, her POV mostly focuses in on the trivialities of her interests and concerns, on how very little she actually understands the adult world around her, and we hardly see her interact with others in a positive way. Again… other than Sandor Clegane! She and Arya bicker, her relationship with Ned is somewhat strained since the Trident, and you get the vague impression that of his children, Sansa is probably the one he is the least accustomed to spending time with or talking to (we get no scene of parental bonding with Sansa, unlike Arya) and even Jeyne - Jeyne who is supposed to be Sansa’s best friend - we get no scenes of them having fun together, braiding each other’s hair, gossiping about cute boys, playing cyvasse… nada. Oh we get scenes of them talking, but it’s mostly in scenes which, again, are there to place Sansa in her role as the foil; demonstrating her naivety and ignorance of the dangers at court. The actual fun times they have together as friends, the actual comfort and happiness they give each other, well we’re told about this in a few stray lines here and there… we don’t actually ever “see” it! 

And that’s important! That’s the stuff that makes you like a character! But GRRM didn’t want to show us Sansa being fun and a caring friend in AGOT or even showing off any of the things she is reportedly so good at (she does actually show off some of these things; she shows she is naturally apt at diplomacy and has a good memory for important persons, houses and sigils and rank in this book… but this is all quite subtly introduced. Her cleverness is not meant to be something the reader immediately picks up on). He didn’t particularly want us to start sympathizing with her until near the end of the novel… and it shows. Sansa’s more positive character traits are de-emphasized by the author for most of AGOT and this, more than anything she actually does in this particular novel, is why so many fans come away seriously disliking her as a character(imho of course); many with the claim that she has no positive traits!

This ties into my larger issues with GRRM’s writing of women in general. He definitely treats his POV female characters like people who deserve to be just as well developed and complex as his male characters, and I appreciate that! However, he seems to have problems with depicting women’s relationships with other women. That is to say, if he can avoid female friendships, he does… at least in the early novels (things may be looking up based on more recent stuff). We get great male friendships, and male/female friendships, but when it came  to showing women who genuinely like each other interacting, GRRM just… didn’t go there at the beginning. Yeah, you’ve got Arya and Sansa not getting along, and Sansa and Jeyne’s friendship happening mostly offscreen but surely there must be more women who can be getting along… right? Well… no. 

Catelyn seems to have no female friends or companions at all, even from memory (which is ridiculous!) and her relationship with Lysa is extremely strained. Later she meets Brienne and while their relationship is a positive one for them both, it is more that of a Lady and her sworn shield than of friends. Cersei has no real friends at all, let alone female ones… she actually killed her childhood “bestfriend”. Margaery and the Tyrell cousins were not real friends to Sansa, Arya’s best friends and travelling companions are all male (albeit she does have a brief but very sweet interaction with Lady Smallwood) and Dany’s female companions are all servants to her. All in all, the situation with regards to sisterhood and female friendship in ASOIAF ain’t great. 

Topping this off, there’s also the fact that while GRRM’s understanding of what medieval noblewomen actually got up to in a day’s work is better than GOT’s, there are yet still some suggestions that feminine gendered activities are quite trivial and frivolous, and these suggestions are, again, most evident in Sansa and Arya’s AGOT chapters where they, again, serve to highlight Sansa as the silly, blinkered, girly-girl, to Arya’s rebellious, open-minded tom boy. 

To sum it up, it is of great significance that Arya, who we are meant to identify with and like, is a tom boy and Sansa, her foil, is extremely feminine. The negative aspects of Sansa’s personality, the ones being highlighted above her more positive qualities in AGOT, are therefore associated with that femininity because her negative traits are framed in contrast to Arya’s positive ones, and Arya’s interests and behaviour are more stereotypically masculine. I liked Sansa despite all of this because, paying attention while reading her chapters and fed up with trope of cool tomboys vs annoying girly girls, I was actually able to see the subtle allusions to there being more to Sansa than what the author was choosing to place on the surface. However, I understand how a reader who has no inclination to pay such close attention while reading her chapters could easily be put off from her character. GRRM did that on purpose… and I just don’t think it’s fair to the character who otherwise might have been given more of a chance by so many readers who, even now, still disregard her value to the story.

Edit: A few discussions on this topic that I managed to find by searching the shadowy corners of my blog (this should be easier… I need to use better tags…) that elaborate a bit more on this...

https://maidenoftheforestlight.tumblr.com/post/163170555339/some-people-argue-grrm-has-done-sansa-a-disservice#notes

https://maidenoftheforestlight.tumblr.com/post/155575049279/what-is-your-opinion-about-the-friendship-between

https://maidenoftheforestlight.tumblr.com/post/148912128094/as-much-as-i-agree-george-couldve-done-better

http://asoiafuniversity.tumblr.com/post/119478322575/on-george-martin-ladies-of-asoiaf-and

http://nobodysuspectsthebutterfly.tumblr.com/post/149368992133/why-do-you-think-that-asides-from-jeyne-poole

https://maidenoftheforestlight.tumblr.com/post/158118270004/do-you-think-sansa-bullied-jon-snow-some-of-my#notes

[isaacathom]

ok this is actually a fun bit of writing here, even if the preceding shit was kinda garbage

tl;dr this bitch has to rant about this stupid book because i naively want to learn something about my family’s history and this is the only fucken way to do it

‘When he discovered he had to work to help provide for this instant family of a large flock of children, ‘Mick’ showed his true self and devotion to the family.

Within a year of the marriage, he left the fold, leaving his wife to fend for herself in the daunting task of raising her children.’

like.aside from just being kinda awkwardly worded (he bangs On and On about how his mum was the 11th of 11 children like fuck i get it its a big family, holy shit) i think thats just. a good concept there. the space really sells the punch. wouldve been better if we hadnt been told beforehand that Mick was a cunt, yknow. but thats nice

also lets keep going. ‘6 step brothers and 4 step sisters’ theyre actually her Half Siblings. they all share the same mother. theyre related. she’d be step if she was adopted, which she was not, because if she were, surely we wouldve been told about those circumstances.

‘[his mother] easily met that high standard as she was a very pretty young lady’ please dont perv out over your fucking mother you pig of a man. also you would hope ‘jock’ (his name is fucking robert but ok, Jock) was interested in more than how pretty Nellie was when they got together, right......... like there had to be more to it. am i naive? perhaps

‘scottish clan gordon’ the what. but we arent gordons???? are you. are you hundred percent sure. are you positive about this. are you sure thats why your name is gordon. alright buddy

‘according to buzzy’s story’ please never refer to yourself in the third person

‘hotels rarely burn down’ ?? i dont buy that at all. my guess is this famous hotel (which.... you didnt name so ok)

ok so theres a picture in here of my dad standing at some random gate, and he says its the same gate as a picture of his dad..... where is THAT picture??? this picture means nothing without that historic context, and it feels hollow if the actual picture isnt there.

granddad you dont. you dont need to wikipedia article dump me information about glasgow??? i mean sure, cool, id rather just be reading the wikipedia article.

jesus christ. so hes talking about his dad, right. who he’d technically set up earlier by saying he came to melbourne at 19. before he launched into a whole thng about his mother and shit. and suddenly hes come back to his dad to explain that his dad (so gordons grandfather) used to beat him! and its like, wOAH, where the fuck did that come from??? shit dude. thats rough. but he just mentions it suddenly out of nowhere. oH JESUS actually. sorry. i misread (yknow, because its written like shit). he means.... his brother??? right, he means his Brother Robert, was beaten by his dad, also named Robert, who was the one who came to melbourne aged 19. ok. ok that makes slightly more structural sense but ooof. ouch. poor robert (the younger). in my uh, defence, this book is written awful and i've never met robert? (my.... understanding is that he probably died before i was born? like with mary, who i dont recall having met either)

ok uhhh ‘most of the gorbal’s tenemenets were eventually demolished by the wise founding fathers many decades later, in the 1980s’ the WHOM. this isnt fucking america, this is scotland, what in the actual fuck are you TALKING about????????????????????????????? ‘modern day replacement improvements and architecture designed to achieve, what?’ fucker they were trying to fix the mistake they made in crowding 90k people into the fucking gorbals. maybe they didnt succeed (they didnt) but they were trying, it was naivete rather than fucking malice, you bitter old fuck. like, you visited in the 1980s.... and published this book in 2007......... without thinking to check back......... like hey maybe theyve gotten better? (newsflash - they fucking have) sooo... fuck

‘could the [my family] be related? [to the mcdonalds]’ yes??? we literally are. theres no question of that. being a sept of clanranald, we are Literally related to the fucking macdonalds. you absolute buffoon. yea its distant, and maybe thats your point, but when combined with you launching into this giant diatribe about rhw Campbells for shit that happened long ago, it seems youre picking and choosing how close ‘related’ is. we are. literally. related to the macdonalds. also it wasnt thought up in glasgow, they were from fucking new hampshire. but sure. 

‘his sheila wife of his’ excuse me?

‘so the name was related to a buzzing bee i suppose’ ? i still dont get it. like, he then explains that apparently his twin sister had difficulty saying Brother, so she called him Buzzy. that makes sense to me. i can understand that. but the buzzing bee thing? not sure i follow, given the prior context he provided. i dont get it. this is written like garbage. theres no structure. we went from jumping forward in time to the birth of my uncle Dale (my dads older brother) and suddenly we’re talking about Mick’s running career and gordon’s childhood! what the fuck happened.

‘coupled with the bigoted attitudes that were rife during those periods’ says the man who got angry at a black (i THINK, mightve been a separate story)  frenchman who couldnt speak english in France because ‘we saved them’. fuck off. youre just like them, you old codger.

also hes decrying his grandfather mick for being ‘no true irishman’ even though micks dad was full irish? by that exact same metric i can call my grandfather no true scotsman, because his dad is full scottish and thats it!!! you fucking fool. no true irishman, holy shit, how little self awareness could this man have.

‘then excessive drinking liquor isnt for me’ but is Is for your wife, is it gordon??? drinking wine when shes on antibiotics??? fucking incredible. god theyre. theyre so stupid.

‘not proceeding as a scholar as i could have’ you literally admitted like 5 pages ago that your twin sister was Far smarter than you, but sure! ~scholar~. if you were meant to be a scholar surely you wouldve bounded back from missing days with a vengeance. youre talking complete tosh.

im confused why theyd be doing bombing drills in South Yarra.... in preparation from a japanese air raid.... like im sorry, if the people north are doing their jobs, theres no physical way they couldve gotten to south yarra....... but ok. thats not his fault i just think thats strange.

im 110 pages in and he hasnt actually gotten to the point where he meets eleanor??? aside from a few time jumps forward and a brief mention of ‘meeting her in a milk bar in south yarra’ so like. hoi vey? the fuck.

oh jesus thats. thats a heavy thing to just chuck in the middle of a sentence??? like ‘oh yea after Skete the next scout leader was a paedophile who abused me and the others’ wwwOooahhh there buddy back up. what???? holy shit. ouch. thats. thats rough.

‘absolutely belted this poofta bastard’ yknow what? fair. id also beat the fuck out of a pedo with my boot. thats Relatable. good going on that, i suppose.

ooh thats full third person, weird.

one thing that is definitely kinda interesting, and very telling about his relationship with his family, is that he only ever refers to Nellie as ‘mum’, but refers to Mick as, well, Mick! rather than ‘granddad’ or anything of the sort. like its just sorta interesting when you get this big family photo and Nellie is the only one not called by her first name.

‘returning to those earlier days’ NO! FUCKING MOVE FORWARD IN TIME YOU GIT!!!! holy shit i just want to read about new fucking shit.

......... so like, at some point while playing footy, an opposing player kicked him in the leg and caused a fractured tibia. so a few weeks later... one of gordons friends took a mark on that player and kneed him straight in the head, with that player never playing again. and he’s PROUD of that!!! he’s proud of his friend for ruining a guys footy career. like yea, the guy was a dick, he broke your leg and it was at least partially malicious, but like........... you fucked him up????? hardcore?????? a straight up ruination. but go off i guess.

its interesting that he doesnt go even remotely into eleanors history beyond the fact (so far) that her father Leo didnt say much but was a good dude. then again the books all about him soooo fuck it i suppose.

‘recognition of our scottish heritage’ eleanor isnt scottish tho. shes irish. shes an o'donoghue. what the fuck. like yea naming them dale and glen is a ‘clever’ nod back to scotland (i actually do think thats cute and clever, joking aside. its the exact sort of ‘clever’ shit i love pulling) but............. shes not scottish. unless we’re waiting for volume 2 all about eleanor.

hE USED TO LIVE OUT HERE??????? IN SPRINGVALE????? fuck me. no fucking wonder we live here, huh, jesus. that. certainly explains something, i suppose. like ‘if you were raised in holbrook and YOU were raised in thomastown, why do we live in knox?’

OHHHHH HERES THE FRENCH THING!!!! OHHHH HERES ONE OF THE FRENCH THINGS. OH BITCH behold

so granddads being a dick, as usual, and he’s on some tour in paris. and the tour guide launches into a long thing about the glory of france, like french history and the fighting record, etc. and granddad calls out and tells him to knock it off, because ‘our australians died by the thousands for your country’

i. eh... uhh............... is he. is he aware? of how many french people died???? for france?????? how many????? il tell you how many - apparently 1.44% of the total population of france. thats 600000 people. how many did we lose? around 35k. thats, uh, a smaller fucking number. than the amount of french people. who died. for fucking france. you fucking idiot.

it kills me. is he gonna include the french speaking one too???

oh hell that sure is a picture of my father. good heavens. holy shit my brother really does look like him. thats uncanny, man.

‘one son Scotty’ his name is Scott, actually. not scotty. but cool, i got a really small shout out, weirdly BEFORE my older cousins did???? oh dear is he gonna talk about my uncles divorce actually. oh god. thats. thats terrifying to consider. oh, cool, he didnt in that small section, hopefully it doesnt come up haha (i can only IMAGINE what sort of vile shit he’d say about cathy)

also, ooh, more nuggets on grandma’s family. her dad was a freemason! thats cool.

ooh! he was the president of holbrook shire council! thats kinda neat actually.

ooh! the glenndale motel actually still exists! thats cool as hell. not that granddad told me that i just googled it

OHHH ITS THE FUCKING FRENCH SPEAKING STORY OH MY GOD

Ok first off ‘i slammed my fist into the counter and said very calmly’ yea no fuck that, youre fucking lying. theres no way you slammed the counter and spoke calmly. you almost definitely abused this poor french metro worker who, being a French Man living in France, is not required to know english. you fucking babboonnnnnnnnnn

apparently he nearly fell off a mountain innnnnn geeermany? austria, austria. and as he mentions my dad pulling him back up, he words it as ‘stopping me from falling to my final destiny’ what fucking wording IS that. my god.

uh well ok thats. about it i suppose. there was a big hullabuloo about like, hotels and shit, and there was probably some racism about Islanders in there (like i find it hard to believe there wasnt but im not gonna go back and double check, because this book reads like absolute garbage). but eh. yea?

uuhhh so that was an Adventure, for sure