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onrainynights · 3 years

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why you can't compare buddie to destiel (from someone who ships both)

this is kind of addressing the recent negativity in the buddie tag, but it's also a collection of my thoughts and reasoning for being buddie-positive despite my experiences with destiel and spn in general. the text of 911 is not really discussed at all, and this is relatively spoiler-free, so if you're thinking of watching 911 I encourage you to read it. if you haven't seen both shows it probably won't make perfect sense, but I wrote this with spn fans who haven't seen 911 in mind, since that's most of my followers (and also seems to be where much of the negativity was coming from) pretty long post under the cut to save your dash

I just want to prepare y'all for the fact that buddie could be the slow burn will they/won't they mlm romance we've been waiting for practically forever.

at this point it's not fair to call it queerbait because where their relationship is now fits the characters and their development. this is not like destiel, where there were many moments over the years that could've ended with them getting together and it would've made sense with the story. buddie right now is in this sweet, wholesome pre-relationship kind of place, which on its own is a compelling dynamic and so fun and good to see. a resolution of it right now would feel out of character—they both still have some development to do before that would feel natural. and so, I don't think we can really call it queerbaiting unless the characters get to that point and there is still no resolution.

also I'd like to point out the overall positivity from the cast when it comes to buddie. both Eddie's and Buck's actors have said (I'm paraphrasing cast statements in this post unless they are in quotations) positive things about the pairing, and Buck's actor has said that he likes the interpretation of Buck as queer, and he would be happy if the writers took his character in that direction. also Eddie's actor with "that's what they all say" when buddie was referred to as a "bromance". Jennifer Love Hewitt, who plays Buck's sister (another main character), is very supportive of buddie, saying she's "rooting for it", that it would be "amazing", she doesn't "see how it couldn't happen one day". this was in response to hearing that a fan insists Buck and Eddie will be a couple. She flat-out said "I think so, too." She jokes about buddie with Buck's and Eddie's actors all the time. Also, my favorite bit from the video of her saying all this, "Let's manifest it together!"

It's safe to say this is a VERY different environment to spn. I don't think I've ever seen a cast this positive about a show's main non-canon queer ship before. NEVER. I think it's safe to say that if/when buddie is canonized, the cast will be just as excited as the fans—at least JLH will be! Add into the fact that the show's PR seems to be leaning into bi buck and buddie right now, it's a VERY different vibe than spn had, definitely. There's no gaslighting of the fans here, at least not that I've seen. also, although 911 has a large casual viewership, I think it's safe to say the GA would not be upset by buddie—there are only 3 serious, long-term romantic relationships involving main characters in this show, and one of them is a lesbian marriage with two children. And yes, the characters are shown being lesbians, it's not just a stated fact; the audience is privy to their relationship (and their interactions with their adorable kids). I think it's safe to say that buddie would go over well with the fans, even the casual viewers (of which there are many). buddie doesn't seem to be a huge divider in fandom like destiel is, either. reactions generally seem to be either "I ship it" or "I don't care either way."

Also I'd like to point out that while yes, it's possible that buddie is only bait (which would be disappointing), there's a reason queerbaiting works. people WANT to be queerbaited, because it's nearly indistinguishable from a slow burn will they/won't they queer romance. queerbaiting allows fans to make theories, create fan content (including fic), and keeps them engaged with the dynamic and the show. fans who are vulnerable to queerbaiting want a slow burn will they/won't they queer romance, which is currently an almost completely untapped market. spn could've tapped it, but despite the huge fandom they did not. there are SO MANY people outside of spn fandom who want a slow burn mlm romance, one that keeps the audience guessing, one that's will they/won't they, one that is not guaranteed, and that is why queerbaiting works so well. the audience doesn't just want the payoff, they also want the build-up. the longer the build-up, the higher the payoff, and the suspense of the build-up is gone if you know from the start that the payoff is definitely coming. that's part of why malec from shadowhunters didn't fully tap this market—there was no question of if, only the question of when (which wasn't really a question either, given there was an episode in season 1 literally titled "malec" when they got together.) the characters were always queer, the show being an adaptation of a book series where they were in a relationship and eventually had children together.

this was why November 5th was such a big deal—fans were so far past the will they/won't they aspect of destiel, firmly believing that destiel would always end as a "won't they" and not a "will they" that when cas confessed his romantic love for dean, destiel trended on Twitter over the US election. you all know that story, but maybe not everyone reading this knows that after Nov. 5 there was a case of hundreds if not thousands of spn fans experiencing love sickness because of the confession scene. the payoff of making destiel fully canon (and reciprocated, in English) would've been huge. fans would've been throwing their money at the c/w.

which leads me to the possibility (this is not at all me saying that I think this happened or even is likely, just that it's one possibility that /could/ have happened) that buddie started as bait, that the writers never intended for them to be a couple, but saw fan reactions to buddie during season 2 and started to lean into it in season 3 (and 4 so far, but it just started so I don't want to make any generalized statements about it) possibly still as bait or maybe not deciding yet if they'll go anywhere with it. and then maybe they saw destiel trending on November 5th, realized just how BIG the market for a slow burn will they/won't they mlm romance is, and said "hey, we already have the foundations for one of those. why not go for it and draw in all those viewers who clearly want one so badly?"

if buddie goes canon, because the cast and PR have been so positive about it, unlike spn, and because of the text of the show itself, the show's creatives could VERY EASILY claim that they were never baiting, that it was all an intentional slow burn will they/won't they romance from the beginning, and most people would believe them; there isn't really any evidence to the contrary, although I am sure there would be at least a few fans convinced it started as queerbaiting, and there might not be any evidence to refute that, either.

the point is that 911 is currently sitting on a gold mine. if they play their cards right, and execute buddie well, they will monopolize this market that old straight white men serving as network executives have failed so far to really tap into. they queerbait without the payoff, which gives the show a reputation among those in the market who haven't seen it, guaranteeing they will never watch it. shows in this vein: sherlock (huge reputation for queerbaiting and a finale fans didn't like) and spn (huge reputation for queerbaiting and a finale fans didn't like). spn got so, so close with cas's confession but then continued to gaslight its fans, and PR did not lean into destiel AT ALL. if 911 did buddie? the PR team would be all over it. it would be a moneymaker, big time, and Fox knows it. if buddie, or even just bi buck, went canon, tumblr would be all over it. viewership for the show, which is already impressive, would skyrocket. 911 would monopolize this market, because fans wary of queerbaiting would watch it with the knowledge that the payoff is there, and there really wouldn't be a competitor until other shows saw the success of buddie and followed suit with their own pairings, and given the fact that the market specifically wants /slow burn/ queer romances, that might take a couple years. that puts 911 in a really good position, where suddenly the fandom of the show, not just the GA, is very large and likely very dedicated to the show. the success of canon buddie might just change the landscape of TV in the coming years, showing execs that while queerbaiting does work, actually going through with it is really where the money is. 911 would not just monopolize the market for a while; it would pioneer it.

if buddie never goes canon, I would probably be a bit disappointed at the wasted potential, but unless the characters get to that point where canon buddie seems like the most logical outcome and they /don't/ go for it, I won't be truly upset because I don't think it's fair to claim its queerbaiting until then. I can't tell you how likely it is that buddie will be canon at some point, but it seems FAR more likely than destiel /ever/ did, and we ended up getting cas's confession in the end. I have hope, despite being hurt so badly by spn. 911 is a genuinely great show with some fantastic writing, and they don't leave chekov's gun unfired, unlike spn.

really, it comes down to this: if Jennifer Love Hewitt is allowed to clown for buddie, then so am I, and I'll enjoy this show—which is amazing even without canon buddie—while I apply my clown makeup.

#9-1-1 #spn #buddie #tagging as #destiel #so anyone with that tag blacklisted can avoid this post #unfortunately I have seen w/ncest shippers in the buddie tag so that's just a precaution so I don't get attacked #posts for puck #I might add more to this later who knows but I think this is a pretty good collection of my thoughts #buddie positivity #911natural

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tundrainafrica · 3 years

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So I see your a LeviHan shipper!! I enjoy the ship a lot too!! But are there any specific reason that their your favorite?? Maybe you could explain that a little through a list? But anyways I hope your week has been good so far, Sav. Have a good day/night!!!! - Signed by Your Secret Santa 🎄

Hello! Thank you for asking about my week (and my ship).

I enjoy the ship a lot too!! But are there any specific reason that their your favorite?

To answer that first question...

You’re in for a long rollercoaster ride of a rant because I don’t think I’m the type of person to ship anything to the point of writing domestic fluff fics unless the I felt really really drawn to the ship.

Anyway, (slight) spoilers abound! Will keep manga spoilers subtle, mostly Levihan scenes.

Disclaimer: I do not want to start shipping wars. I specifically avoided the words like should or best because I recognize that shipping is generally based on preferences. I respect everyone’s preferences on what they want out of a ship or even a relationship and through this, I just hope to express my own preferences and maybe even gush with people who agree.

1. The ship did not move the plot. The plot moved the ship.

Attack on Titan is not a romance or a shojo, if it’s not fairly obvious from any chapter you would randomly read. As a reader, I would have expected it to fall short with pairings. Most shows which are not romance based tend to have a few pairings which just suddenly end up together towards the end of the manga because “What’s a happy ending without marriage and kids?” There is usually a trend of just pairing of the extras and sometimes, or maybe even more often than not, it just seems to come out of nowhere (ehem... Naruto.). Maybe the relationship worked off screen but I dunno. Like no shipping war here but the only pairing I had full support for was Shikatema.

In stories classified as romances, there is enough of a spotlight on the sexual tension and mutual pining of specific characters for the romance to be considered reasonable. In my opinion, some authors tend to sacrifice really good world building for a good romance. Objectively twilight for example had some crazy good world building but it just kinda focused a little too much on emo Bella and emo Edward for the world building to actually be appreciated by the casual reader. Tbh though, this is not necessarily bad because people get into stuff for reasons, sometimes, I just wanna read a good fantasy, sometimes I just wanna read a good romance.

Romances though as a main driving point for narratives, require some convenient serendipity moments and sexual tension which can be written well but as a reader, I prefer to see more natural relationships born out of necessity (Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata is a good example of what I’m talking about in a romance novel.)

Attack on Titan through its narrative actually made Levihan seem VERY VERY possible. If I had to compare the presentation of this ship in canon to at least one relationship in other anime, I would compare it to Royai from FMA.

Like, if Attack on Titan didn’t give us random subtle hints about romantic or just platonic relationships between the two or even about anyone, even if Levi and Hange did get together in the end, it would have been one of the pairings, I probably wouldn’t have raised an eyebrow at.

But they could be just friends? Which brings me to my next point.

2. Their current situation makes it so it’s only natural that at the least, they considered it.

Yes. Friends is a valid interpretation for anything. I mean, given our hook up culture, people can fuck as friends too. People probably have made out drunk as friends too. Like I have seen my fair share of this type of bullshit in high school and college and I would say, we do not need a kiss or a fucking session to recognize that something can be a good relationship or to recognize that they have probably thought about it.

A relationship requires a commitment (conscious or unconscious) to caring for the other, keeping the other safe, recognizing their flaws and thinking about them regularly (Call me scott peck or marriage counselor but like I honestly think the world would be a better place once people recognize that quality romantic relationships are worked for).

Mind you, Levi and Hange lost everything.They literally lost everything from their old life, all their friends, all their loved ones and all they have is each other and they’re forced to take care of a bunch of kids.

There are people who have said before, no one gets very close with someone without ever considering a romantic relationship with them. Or even if they never considered it romantic, they could consider at least “living with them their whole life,” or “supporting them through thick and thin.” The things is, towards the end, they were constantly together and what drove them to that situation is that both of them are aware of what the other had lost. They understood each other more than anyone else and they recognized that they were the only ones left in their own circle and I personally think that is more than enough for a relationship to naturally bloom between them.

3. The relationship and the signs are subtle and it works.

I personally probably would not have enjoyed it if canon showed a romantic relationship of the two after Erwin died. It’s a valid interpretation to consider that it could have happened, based on my explanation for number 2 but Hange is commander, Levi is captain. They have a professional relationship and they have goals and obligations which take precedence over personal desires. They are in the middle of a war and the most which probably could have happened was a secret mutual pining between the two and I think Isayama has injected the most subtle hints which are the most that could have been appropriately put into canon without seeming too OOC. Hange and Levi are not selfish people. They have promises, dreams and obligations which they respect and have committed themselves to already. It has also been shown at earlier points of the manga that they do put their survey corps duties on top of everything so acting on a romantic attraction at that point in time would have definitely been inappropriate.

I personally think, the scenes of Hange going out of her way to save Levi as commander, killing her other soldiers to save both their asses, suggesting in the forest that they live together instead of go back to the war and not leaving an injured Levi until she had no choice were more powerful than a lot of romantic scenes where people actually fuck and kiss. Kissing and fucking are easy. Leaving the duties and responsibilities they have worked for for five years to keep the person they love alive hits way harder.

Call it platonic. Call it romantic. But no one like Hange would have deserted her post as commander for a few chapters to take care of a sick comrade and kill her subordinates to save their asses if there wasn’t anything between them.

4. It gives a great example what healthy relationships can come from.

I grew up reading sweet valley and chick lits cause I was a basic bitch and I kinda grew up with a somehow unrealistic idea of where relationships come from. Call me a late bloomer but I only actually figured out where the romance and the happiness of a relationship was when I got into one with my best friend for five years.

It’s the sexual tension and the “will they wont they?” push and pull which can lead to satisfying sex or a happy ending in romance novels. I think in a way, media kinda overglorifies it which kinda gives a lot of young people the wrong idea about why they getting into a relationship is fun in the first place. Because after the satisfying sex and the kids, what’s next for the relationship?

Years of utility bills, diapers, chores, schedules, parent teacher conferences and compromises until someone gives up or dies. And what kind of relationships can actually thrive through all these?

Those that have mastered the underrated parts of relationships. These include conflict resolutions, compromises and open communication. I think we have seen enough of those two, even before season 3 that have shown that they know each other very well and they have shown to at least have a relatively equal power dynamic which is a foundation for open communication and mutual trust in relationships even beyond the fucking and marriage stage

5. They have a great foundation of character development for both parties.

As I mentioned above, they have a relatively equal power dynamic. I love Royai from FMA and I have compared Royai to this multiple times. I would say though I prefer Levihan over Royai because I felt that Royai had more unequal power dynamics? (Though I still think Royai is a top tier ship ). Also, they have shown to tell off the other when they don’t like what the other is doing. They are complete opposites but here is the magical thing. They talk everything out. They’re generally open people to each other and they know each other way too well as hinted in scenes before and opposites work as long as the others are willing to compromise. I think (especially in season 3 and season 4) that they have done enough for each other and have compromised enough for each other in the survey corps that these skills could easily be brought with them even after the war.

That open communication is just what makes them maintaining a relationship while being complete opposites very OC and realistic. Eventually, they did probably did make compromises, which most likely softened or moderated the crazy parts of their personalities which is just a really fun part of their relationship to explore.

6. It could realistically last so maybe ...

7. A good foundation for happy children?

Maybe it’s how it is written because of the actual story and why would Yams write a romantic drama in a story about genocide and war. Tbh, I would attribute it more to Levi and Hange’s personalities though because Mikasa and Eren have their fair share of drama, mostly one sided though coz Mikasa. This relationship has no drama, no misunderstandings which just further supports my point that they have a relationship that thrives on open communication and mutual trust. Drama is fun like when we’re the ones on the sidelines eating the popcorn but I have third wheeled enough people in my life to realize that I will not support a relationship where both parties are just not ready to be mature about it, in real life and in fiction.

My favorite couples, in real life and in fiction, are definitely those who keep conflict among themselves and maybe among trusted people. I think one sign of a healthy relationship is one where problems don’t become public through social media or through like 20 people. One important yet underrated part of relationships is the atmosphere of comfort and freedom which encourages both parties to be able to directly approach one another before tensions and uncertainties get out of hand.

And a life free of dramas at least in the early stages of life just kinda shows at least that both parties are ready to bring a new life to the world? Because like immature parents with shitty conflict resolution skills really fuck kids up man and I passionately believe the world would really be a better place if babies were born out of trust, mutual understanding and open communication instead of sex but yeah, make sex fun to keep our race alive.

So anyway, I guess, I just finished explaining why I love this ship so much while also disclosing my preferences for relationships.

As mentioned above...

Other pairings which I support for those curious: Shikatema, Royai, Victuuri, Percabeth etc.

Also... To answer your second question...

My week has been great, some pretty solid life developments but US elections wise, not so great... (WHY IS THE ELECTION RACE SO CLOSE?)

#levihan #levi x hange #levi x hanji #levi ackerman #hange zoe #ship #analysis

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ganseys-hoe · 3 years

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Ok so a lot of people are saying a lot of things about the resolution of Whiskey’s storyline and I just wanted to share my thoughts (even though no one asked)

*SPOILERS

First off: I dont think this was a perpetuation of the “cheating bisexual” stereotype

While his sexuality is never confirmed in the comics, i dont think hes attracted to women

He says that he’s not a flashy person, that he doesn’t want to stand out in the way that he thinks he will if he dates a man.

If he wasn’t gay, maybe bi or pan, then him still being true to himself could mean staying with his girlfriend, and not standing out.

But then he says he can't be like Bitty, he can’t stand out

‘Can’t be like him” implies that something (internalised homophobia, his family’s beliefs) is getting in the way of him being like bitty and “standing out” (being in a relationship with a man)

Won’t, or isn’t, would imply that he has some variability in his options, like he could try to not act on his attraction to men, and still have some semblance of romantic happiness with a woman. If he used either of these words, it would indicate that he is attracted to women.

But since he says can’t, it leads me to believe that him being who he truly is would cause the end of a romantic/sexual relationship with a woman, that he isn’t attracted to girls

So if he is not attracted to women, he is not bisexual, and is therefore not perpetuating this stereotype by kissing that lax bro haha

While I interpreted his character as being gay, i think that he himself is confused. He’s trying to cling onto his girlfriend from home while experimenting with people he really is attracted to

Internalised Homophobia (his relationship to other queer characters)

So this is a big one

We see all of the characters through Bitty’s eyes, and so when Whiskey is cold to him, we feel personally hurt, we believe bitty when he complains to Jack that Whiskey hates him

But after 4.9 (the iconic lax bro/whiskey kiss), we can see him differently

He doesn’t hate Bitty, he resents him. He resents Bitty’s ability to be out, he resents bitty’s relationship.

I also think he sees bitty as vulnerable, something he’s been training himself not to be for a very long time. Whiskey sees Bitty’s openness as weakness, as something someone can exploit to hurt him.

I also think Connor has a lot of internalised homophobia. His relationship with Bitty reminds me a lot of Isak and Eskild from the “Pride” skam clip. Both Isak and Whiskey see being open about their sexuality and proud of it as being flashy, as shoving it in someone's face. Eskild and Bitty both know that being who you are is not being “over the top”

When Connor see’s Jack and Bitty kiss on the ice that day, he probably feels a lot of things

1. Jealous, wanting what they have

2. Uncomfortable with the backlash they’re exposing themselves to

3. Embarrassed, thinking its “too much”, that they could have had that moment in private

He calls himself a private person, and uses that characteristic as a reason why he isn’t out, which I think demonstrates how he thinks liking boys is something that should be kept quieter than liking girls

THAT (yes, THAT) party

Ok so I’m a firm believer that Chad L. (the lax captain) is who Whiskey was kissing that night

I don’t think it was a one time thing, due to Bitty’s previous mention of Whiskey hanging out with the lax team

Also the way they look at each other is TENDER, like no amount of alcohol can fabricate that affection

MOVING ON, the fact that Whiskey did this at a hockey party and not a Haus party is very telling

It reminds me a lot of the AFTG series, where Neil wouldn’t drink in order to not divulge anything about his mafia-affiliated dad. Obviously Whiskey’s predicament is not life and death if people find out his secret, but I maintain that he chose this particular party to finally cut loose at for a reason. because he knew that it was the one party Bitty didn’t want them to go to, the one party where Bitty was sure not to be.

Now this raises a tricky question. Whiskey is generally very cagey about his attraction to boys, but is in a public place when spotted kissing that lax bro. Does he at this point feel so comfortable with the lax crowd that he’s able to do this, or his problem entirely with Bitty knowing?

Because there were other hockey boys at that party that could have spotted him, I believe his problem is solely with Bitty knowing. But why?

Maybe because he knows he can’t pass it off as a drunken mistake to Bitty and be done with the conversation. Maybe because he knows bitty will try to tell him how much he supports him, and Whiskey doesn’t want Bitty to see how vulnerable and scared he really is.

I think it shows tremendous character growth for the both of them that Bitty backs off and leaves Whiskey room to tell him on his own terms, and that Whiskey has grown by being able to confront this topic with the one person he was trying to hide from.

The Ending

UUggghh I loved the ending

I know a lot of people see the comics as saying OUT = GOOD, HAPPY

CLOSETED = BAD, REPRESSED

Although Whiskey is still not out at the end, calling him repressed is totally ignoring all of his character development

The endgame for some isn’t coming out to others, its finally accepting themselves

Whiskey isn’t out and proud just yet, but he’s more secure in his identity, and is starting to realize that his previous idea of “gay” isn’t what it means to everyone

He might be perfectly happy in a less public relationship with Chad L. (THEY’RE DATING, OK!!!)

He might be still dating his girlfriend (i personally think she's from canada (fake))

What he definitely is is more comfortable with himself than he was

I also think it’s nice that in this largely idealized comic, there is some realism. Not everyone gets the immediate happy ending. Some people are still figuring their shit out, some stories are still being written.

thank you for reading this very long rant I wrote a 1am haha

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whentheynameyoujoy · 4 years

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If There Was One Thing That Could Make Me Go ‘Spoilerphobia’ Good…

Although I generally don’t give a damn about spoilers and in fact sometimes seek them out, there’s a point the anti-spoiler crowd makes that I agree with. When you know how things are going to turn out, your viewing experience tends to change from “first-time discovery” to “analytical repeat viewing”. Suddenly, you’re not watching a story unfold, wondering how it turns out, but interpreting it in the view of the ending, assuming that everything that precedes it ties into and sets it up—because it should. Now, this doesn’t matter all that much if the thing you’re watching is internally consistent and actually does set up the conclusion.

If it doesn’t, well…

So anyway, if there’s something my ATLA rewatch highlighted to me, it’s how confusing and trippy it was to watch the show as a thoroughly-spoiled presumed Cataanger-to-be.

Here are my thoughts from eight years ago as I viewed the story for the very first time, knowing that Cataang was endgame and expecting the story to actually conform to the ship.

The Boy in the Iceberg

“If no one told me Cataang was endgame, I’d have guessed from this single shot. A story about a hero saving the world, and when the hero meets the main female character it’s shown like this? Doesn’t exactly spell ‘trope breaker’ to me. I’m glad TPTB are committing to this ship and developing it from the get go.”

“Though I don’t understand the necessity for the age/maturity gap, or for it to be highlighted in this way. It says quite a lot that while Aang views himself as a child and seems to have lots of growing up to do, Katara needs to be reminded she’s still a kid and almost immediately assumes the role of the Gaang’s resident caretaker.”

The Warriors of Kyoshi

“After a few episodes of pretty heavy stuff and Katara interacting with it while fully embracing her motherly role, we’re getting a filler with lots of space for developing the relationship in a romantic way... yet nothing happens. All pursuing is decidedly done by Aang who seems desperate for Katara’s attention which she doesn’t give to him until the end when it’s framed like a mum lovingly watching a nagging son. Neither does Katara recognise Aang’s obsession with fame for what it is—a desire for her to be smitten with him, just a little bit. Not even the opportunity to display some jealousy on her part is seized as she seems more annoyed with his vanity than put out by being sidelined.”

Jet

“Alright, I guess Cataang is going to be the ‘get out of the friendzone’ type of romance because this is getting ridiculous. It’s been ten episodes and so far not a single sign of romantic interest on Katara’s part. Yet there is absolutely no doubt the girl’s crushing on Jet hard and itching to pursue it, war or no war, so it’s not like there’s any ambivalence in terms of her feelings for Aang—they’re not romantic at this point, period. I wonder what Aang will do to become a blip on Katara’s luv radar.”

The Fortuneteller

“So we get a romantic shot of Katara from Aang’s POV, a hilarious romantic shot of Aang from Meng’s POV, no indication that Katara perceives Aang as a romantic possibility at all, and the whole episode is about unrequited crushes, failing to catch your crush’s attention, needing to move on, and destiny being bullshit. Yup, definitely the ‘get out of the friendzone’ type of romance.”

“OK, I’m confused because there is some thematic clashening going on. The point of the episode so far has been about not minding prophecies and that everyone’s the master of their own destiny, yet Katara’s marriage to a powerful bender is apparently bang on the money? So what is the story telling me, that a) Katara learned nothing about her crippling reliance on fate? Or that b) she’ll pursue Aang, of whose existence she needed to be reminded, to fulfil Aunt Wu’s prophecy? I don’t think I like this. On the other hand, the romance is beginning at last. It’s now impossible for Katara not to factor this revelation into her dealings with Aang, and since Cataang’s endgame, there’s no way she won’t see him in a new light. We’re totally getting lots of pining, aborted touches, and blushing, Toph’s-crush-on-Sokka style, baby.”

The rest of Book I—no sign of Katara’s emotional investment in a romantic Cataang whatsoever

The Cave of Two Lovers

“I have no idea why this episode exists. Not only does the legend of lovers from enemy villages not fit Cataang AT ALL, but the whole story is a thinly veiled excuse for getting the two of them to kiss—and they don’t? And Katara’s so weirdly utilitarian about it? You know, for a girl who was validated in her obsession with destiny and informed she could very well end up marrying this guy, she’s acting pretty nonchalant about possibly kissing him for the first time and forgets about it the second the plot stops hinting at it. So what was the point? Christ, I hope the experience at least finally gets Katara to reflect on her relationship to Aang.”

The rest of Book II—no sign of Katara’s emotional investment in a romantic Cataang whatsoever

Return to Omashu

“OK, I really need her to verbalize her feelings once because ffs.”

City of Walls and Secrets

“I could so do with a single moment of Katara reacting to Aang in a similar way and suppressing those feelings. Hell, being infatuated with his power as The Fortuneteller seeded would be enough at this point because I’m being fed nothing.”

The Guru

“My post-catholic brain has no idea what this episode is saying about Aang’s feelings for Katara. Are Avatars as an entity supposed to live like hermits, with no romantic relationships whatsoever, otherwise they won’t ever master the Avatar State and will only go into it at random? Wait, that can’t be correct—Roku is in a loving marriage yet can glow up at will, meaning that romantic love clearly isn’t an obstacle. So what, is Pathik full of crap? Well, no, because everything he teaches Aang works, up to and including his advice to let go of Katara. So what about Aang’s love is such a problem? I’m also pretty confused about Pathik’s likening of the Air Nomads to Katara. Like yeah, the love and belonging Aang had with the Nomads survived and was transformed, but isn’t Cataang supposed to be a romance, albeit one that’s so far failed to manifest? I didn’t get romance from Aang’s relationship to any airbender. I don’t get this.”

The Headband

“FINALLY, a clear sign of Katara’s romantic feelings for Aang. And it took only 41 prior episodes where she either treats him like a baby, or has to be reminded by outside circumstances that he exists as a romantic option, so it’s not like there was much setup. I would also appreciate if Katara didn’t realise she’s attracted to Aang in the very same episode where she literally pretends to be his mum but beggars can’t be choosers. I now feel pretty confident in saying that I’m getting Katara blushing and pining like crazy at last.”

The romance doesn’t come up again for the next seven episodes

The Day of Black Sun

“WAIT, SHE WAS INTERESTED IN THE HEADBAND! She displayed romantic attraction! WTF happened? Why does she look like someone who was just violated by her sonion? OK, I need a resolution, I need them to address this, have a conversation, something!”

The romance doesn’t come up again for the next seven episodes

The Ember Island Players

“So we’re officially pretending The Headband didn’t happen, I guess. The only thing that surprises me at this point is my lack of surprise. Anyway, what’s the nature of Katara’s confusion? Because with four episodes left to go until the ship becomes endgame, I’d like more specificity as to her feelings since this line reads less like ‘I’m confused because war/I have no clue what my feelings are exactly’ and more like ‘I don’t know how to let you down gently/I had no idea you felt this way or what to do with it.’ Address this, please!!”

The romance doesn’t come up again for the 99% of the next four episodes

Avatar Aang

“They turned my girl into a golddigger. Fucking end me.

So what I’m getting from this is either a) Katara wasn’t interested in Aang until he became the best candidate for Aunt Wu’s prophecy, or b) Aang was originally supposed to recognise his one-sided puppy crush for what it was and overcome it.

I feel dirty.

Anyway, I heard people are into Zuko x Katara, maybe there’s some decent brain bleach about that.”

#anti bryke #anti-kataang

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onefenix · 4 years

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14 Long Fic Recs

I've been mostly a fandom lurker for the past five months (since the Game of Thrones Series Finale). Since then I've been reading some of the best fanfiction I've ever read. I've been a part of some very small fandoms before and can say the J/B fandom is lucky to have many very talented writers. I wanted to make a list of my favorite stories so far for J/B Week, but life... so here it is now. I’ll try to be brief (I anticipate I am going to fail at this) and not spoil the stories.

These are all stories with more than 14k words (up to 190k). The division between short and long fics is a bit arbitrary but necessary due to the length of this list. I am sure there are better ways to classify these stories that I may get around to later on.

Sorry in advance for the overuse of words such as beautiful, perfect and spectacular, the Jaime/Brienne fandom writers are that good. Also, English is not my first language, so sorry for any mistakes.

I’ve tagged the authors whose handles on Tumblr I know. If you wish to have your tag removed or added (I’d love to follow you!), let me know.

You can find a short fic rec list here.

Diplomacy by Gwen77

As I'm sure you’ll be able to tell by the end of this list, arranged marriage stories are some of my favorites. If I remember correctly, this was the first J/B story I read and I have revisited it quite a few times since. This story has Jaime and Brienne dealing first-hand with Cersei and jealous Brienne, in addition to being wonderfully written. In fact, everything written by Gwen77 is a piece of art.

In This Light by SigilBroken @chickren

Look. I can't even... This story has everything you could ever ask for. This is one of my favorite pieces of writing ever. This is THE Game of Thrones Endgame for me. The scale and description of the long night surpass that of the show by a very wide margin. The storytelling is spectacular with subtle details buried in each chapter that make a re-read 100% enjoyable. The story is completely faithful to Jaime and Brienne as characters and the depth of their bond is exquisitely explored. It also works wonderfully as an ensemble story with memorable moments for Cersei, Myrcella, Tommen, Stannis, Shireen, Sansa...

Honor Thy Regard by SigilBroken @chickren

This is another wonderful Post ADWD story by the wonderful SigilBroken. This is (I believe) a more intimate story (if that makes any sense) than In This Light. The dialogue in this is fantastic, there are many, many scenes that simply stay with you, the melancholic tone throughout the story is enrapturing and the ending never fails to make me cry and (mini-spoiler!) smile. The magnitude of the connection the author manages to forge between Jaime and Brienne and the way it's conveyed is unparalleled by any other story.

The Seven Bind Their Fate by RoseHeart

This is another epic story. This is a canon divergent story in which Jaime meets Brienne in Renly's camp. It's really amazing how much with that apparently ‘little’ change from canon, RoseHeart manages to create such an original and well-paced story. Jaime being there for the bet, the meele and Renly's death is extremely entertaining to read. And gods! the Red Wedding re-imagined in this verse is FANTASTIC.

Beauty and the Beast by SigilBroken @chickren

Another story by SigilBroken so you know it is GOOD. This is very different from the author’s other two stories. Maybe it’s the fact that this story is a Modern AU or the fact that everything that happens in this story feels so relatable, but the exploration of Jaime and Brienne in this story, their fears and ambitions feel very authentic. Also, I love angry, intense and protective-of-Brienne!Jaime (be it of others or of her own feelings of insecurity) and Beauty and the Beast has one of my favorite scenes depicting this. Seriously, if you do not have a reaction similar to that of Ellaria Sand when you read this story, you are way more immune to Jaime than I am.

The Gentlest Schism by SandwichesYumYum

This story is not concluded and the last update is from 2014, but listen: YOU HAVE TO READ IT. If you think you know what UST is, wait till you read this story (and it’s definitely not in the way you expect). This story reads like an ode to Jamie and specially Brienne as individuals but also to the pure, caring connection between them. SandwichesYumYum’s Jamie and Brienne know each other to their very cores, have carried each other through their very worst and are also capable of laughing with each other. The world-building in this story is fantastic and the original characters are the best I’ve read in fanfiction. The place where the author left the story is not a cliff-hanger but instead a satisfying point in our favorite characters' lives.

Where I follow, you'll go by Lady_in_Red @ladyinredfics

Am I recommending another Arranged Marriage/Marriage of Convenience story? Apparently yes. This story has some great Aunt Genna and Tywin appearances and, like everything written by Lady_in_Red, has amazing pacing and is beautifully written. The push and pull between Brienne and Jaime, the slow build of intimacy and trust in their feelings... it’s all perfect. You should actually go ahead and browse through all of Lady_in_Red’s fics. They have one the most extensive and varied collection of stories I’ve seen and they are all truly amazing.

Bargains by Gwen77

This is an arranged marriage story in a Regency-era Westeros. It’s one of those stories where you want to scream at your screen ‘Just kiss already!!’. It takes them both a while to realize their feelings for each other and even longer to acknowledge them out loud. Jaime is still infatuated with Cersei for a good part of this story, so if that’s not your cup of tea...

Pretty by astolat @astolat

Everything by astolat in the Game of Thrones works is FAN-TAS-TIC and all ten stories are very worth reading but this one is my favorite. This is a canon divergent story starting in Season 4. It has wonderful appearances by Tywin, Olenna, Tommen, and Sansa. Jamie and Brienne in King’s Landing is something I always enjoy. Protective Jamie, Badass Brienne, and Crazy Cersei. It’s quite perfect.

Madonna of the Balcony by QuizzicalQuinnia @quizzicalquinnia

This is fic reads like poetry. It’s really hard to describe how lyrical and evocative the writing in this piece is. In this story, Jaime is a sculptor and Brienne becomes his muse. I love that this is a sort of reverse story in which Jaime is immediately infatuated by Brienne and we get to see his journey from longing for Brienne the muse to loving Brienne the woman. Also, Jaime’s beautiful, beautiful descriptions of art make me crave a visit to the Louvre or the Rodin Museum.

A Dance with Ice and Fire by ShirleyAnn66

This is a canon continuation and it is EPIC. If you’re looking for an ending for Game of Thrones as a series with satisfying resolutions for most characters and storylines, centered around Jamie, Brienne, their individual growths and their connection to each other: THIS IS IT. This story has one of my favorite takes on Jaime ever. Other characters like Tyrion and especially Cersei are beautifully interpreted. Also, the intimate interactions between Jaime and Brienne felt really true to their characters. If you’re still not convinced: you’ll get to read (at least) four different Jaime/Brienne weddings.

Battle is the Great Redeemer by Lady_in_Red @ladyinredfics

It looks like Lady_in_Red is an MVP on both this list and the short fic rec list. This is a show fix-it and it does Jaime so, so much justice. It’s incredibly well-plotted and keeps you biting your nails from beginning to end. There is not one dull moment in this story. It has some fantastic Jaime/Arya interactions. Bran and The Hound also have some stellar moments in this. I think this story ties pretty much every loose end in the show (and as we know there are quite a few).

Everyone Has Secrets by ellaria @khaleesiofwine

This story is based on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The story revisits many of canon events in a modern setting where Jaime is a disgraced journalist and Brienne is a motorcycle-riding computer hacker. They join forces to investigate the disappearance of Sansa Stark. The Red Wedding, Ramsay's sadism and the trafficking of women are all very jarring to explore in this modern setting and the author handled it perfectly. This version of Brienne owns my heart. She is exquisitely crafted, from her backstory to her use of her helmet and motorcycle as armor, to her determination to use her "powers" to fix the world and bring Sansa home.

Weekend at Casterly by green_light

Weekend at Castely is a very recent discovery. It is a true romantic masterpiece set in a near-Regency era. Here we have a combination of possessive!Jaime and feels-unworthy-of-Brienne!Jaime that is one for the ages. This story is perfectly crafted. The dialog is quick and funny and the characterizations are masterful. The confrontation of feelings between Jaime and Brienne is some Pride&Prejudice level drama. Also, it has a beautiful, beautiful resolution between Jaime and Tyrion.

#jaime x brienne #jaime/brienne #fanfiction #fanfic rec #jaime lannister #brienne of tarth

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fictionadventurer · 4 years

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Here, have a bunch of scattered thoughts, observations, and opinions about Greta Gerwig’s Little Women:

(Spoilers below, which wouldn’t usually be a big deal for something based on a classic novel, but I will be discussing the ending).

General Thoughts

The colors in this movie are lovely. The cinematography is lovely. This is a movie with so many wonderful things to look at. (Though the lighting was too dark in some scenes).

I loved how tactile this movie was. The things on-screen just feel so real and textured. I don’t know, like, there’s a fence Jo climbs over, and we see the splinters in the fence and it just feels weighty and textured. It made me appreciate the things in this movie’s world and in ours.

The music was great. I want the soundtrack.

I loved, loved, loved all the dancing scenes. Not sedate, not romantic, just so much vibrant joy and life. Jo’s dance in the pub was one of the highlights of her story. Almost as good were her and Laurie’s ridiculous dances at their first meeting–you see how well they get along as friends. The focus on dancing is definitely one of my favorite parts of the movie (and another reason I want the soundtrack).

A lot of the acting had weird rhythms to it. Especially in group scenes where there was a lot of talking, it felt like people were just rapid-fire reciting lines from the book, rather than saying real things that real people would say.

The beginning confused me. I couldn’t figure out whether the woman was supposed to be Jo March or Louisa May Alcott (part of the problem is that I wasn’t expecting a blonde Jo). I kind of wish Gerwig had just made a Louisa May Alcott biopic if she wanted to explore Little Women’s publication process, because it just makes this story more confusing.

The flashbacks were less confusing than I was expecting. There were a few times where it took a few seconds to figure out which part of the timeline we were in, but for the most part, I could follow it because I was familiar with the book. I’m not sure I could have followed it if I hadn’t been familiar with the book.

Some of the flashbacks layered together really well. Other times, it just felt like we were jumping randomly through time. At some points, it didn’t feel like a story. It was just stuff happening, and even if it looked nice, I couldn’t connect to it emotionally.

I kind of like the way they layered Beth’s original bout of illness with her death, but then the story moves on to other storylines and other flashbacks and the death doesn’t really have an impact. Her death is just another thing that happens, rather than an emotional turning point.

The ending is very frustrating. So many of my thoughts about the movie in general are shaped by that ending, so it’s going to get it’s own section (and probably at least two other posts about it).

Character-Focused Thoughts

Laura Dern was a good Marmee. A bit livelier than might be expected, while still being warm and motherly. I can believe this Marmee would struggle with her temper.

(For some reason, I just really like Laura Dern. I don’t know why. Thus, I can’t give a real assessment of her Marmee because I just like that she was in the role).

That conversation between Marmee and Jo about her temper made no sense. Marmee starts out saying that she’s learned to control her temper, and when Jo says she wants to be like that, Marmee responds, “I hope you’ll do better. There are some natures too noble to curb, too lofty to bend.” What? It sounds like she’s saying that Jo doesn’t need to change, which is the exact opposite point this scene should be making. Unless she’s trying to say that she wants Jo to do more than curb her temper, but become someone so strong in her morals that she can stand strong against the temptations in life. But that’s not clear from the scene, and it’s easy to read it as a vague “empowerment” message. It’s another point where conflating Jo with Louisa May Alcott (by giving Marmee a line from one of Alcott’s mother’s letters) made the story more confusing.

To my surprise, I really liked Emma Watson as Meg. Or at least, I liked Meg and was able to forget that she was played by Emma Watson. She was a bit distant, a bit bland, but there was also something compelling about her sedate sweetness. (I loved her purple dress).

Her little subplot with John and the silk was my favorite part of the plot. Just when I was thinking, “This is just like other Little Women adaptations where I can’t connect to the characters”, we get that stunning scene of them discussing the price of the silk and I get teary-eyed over John’s regret that he’s too poor to give his wife what she wants. His compassion warring with his frustration, his love warring with practicality. Exquisite. And the resolution was perfect, with both of them willing to sacrifice for the other’s happiness.

As you can probably guess, I loved James Norton as John Brooke and wish he’d had more to do in the story.

While I kind of wish that we’d seen more of John’s love story with Meg, I also kind of like that we kept the focus on their married life. This movie’s so obsessed with marriage, but this is the only part of the movie where we get to explore what marriage actually looks like, rather than just listening to characters talk about their opinions of it.

Jo was lively and vibrant and I loved how they kept her relationship with Laurie so thoroughly brotherly (until the ending, which I’ll get to later). And I loved the “I’m so lonely” line, but the movie didn’t really do anything with it. There was so much potential for character development, but then she just didn’t develop. It’s the exact opposite of everything that I talked about in my essay about the ‘18 Little Women. The earlier adaptation got a lot wrong, but Jo’s arc was strong and compelling. This movie just assumed that Jo’s already great and didn’t give her an arc at all.

Beth was sweet and adorable and I wish we’d gotten more of her. The scene where she thanks Mr. Laurence for the piano was one of my favorite character moments of the movie. Her barely audible, stammering ‘thank you’ is such Shy Kid Culture.

Florence Pugh played older Amy very well, and highlighting her practicality was an interesting choice. But why didn’t they hire a kid to play younger Amy? She was ridiculous in the role of a twelve-year-old girl. I spent half the movie trying to figure out what young Amy’s voice reminded me of, until I finally realized: It sounds exactly like Mallory from Studio C whenever she plays a little kid in a sketch. I doubt that sketch comedy was what these people were going for in their Oscar-nominated movie.

Amy and Laurie’s romance had very interesting moments to it, and I love how they pushed each other to change. I liked the idea of it (and loved the scenery it took place in). But as two characters who fall in love, I’m not sure that what we saw on-screen was enough to make me really believe in it.

Mr. March was almost a non-character. I really wish that he’d been more present, and I wish they’d highlighted his letter and his role in his daughters’ character development more. (But this movie wasn’t really interested in the virtue-development part of the plot). He was bashed a lot by Aunt March and we didn’t get a chance to see if she was right about him or not.

Aunt March is a delightful old-lady character. I loved a lot about her. I didn’t love how she was a mouthpiece for their most ham-handed ideas about marriage.

Hannah was excellent. Added a nice dose of practical common sense. One of my favorite characters.

Making Mr. Laurence into a Southern gentleman was an interesting choice, especially given how this episode highlighted the Civil War part of the setting. I liked him, especially his relationship with Beth.

I laughed during Laurie’s first appearance, when the camera slowed down and made it into the most cliche romantic-comedy moment possible. Then when he spoke, I understood for the first time in my life why people like Timothee Chalamet. The goodwill toward his character was not to last.

Brotherly Laurie was adorable and likable. One of my favorite scenes was when he first meets the March family, and just stands there silently appreciating their lively, loving, comfortable family atmosphere.

Romantic interest Laurie was a jerk and a creep. The way he kept touching people who didn’t want to be touched, forcing affections on people who didn’t want them. Not cool. And “She calls me ‘my lord’?” Creeeeeepy.

After all the hype over the smock scene, I was expecting a lot more. I was like, “That’s it?” Not that I’m complaining–I was expecting something a lot more overtly sexual and I like that it was restrained.

(The cloak that Amy puts on after the smock scene? Gorgeous. I want it.)

I hate that Jo decides she wants to marry Laurie. After a whole movie spent showing how she’s right that their relationship was brotherly and that Amy’s a better fit for him, suddenly out of nowhere she just wants to attach herself to him because she’s lonely. And then it fails not because Jo has any revelations about herself or life, but because he’s already taken. It was just so bizarre. Especially in light of the ending, but again, I’ll get to it later. (Probably in another post).

Bhaer was a lovely character. I don’t understand why they made him French, but he’s such a steady, sensible, caring presence for Jo, so sweet and intelligent, and the movie completely failed to make use of his character and the arc he could have provided for Jo.

The Ending

It’s my biggest source of frustration. I’d been fully spoiled for it, knew that it was “ambiguous”, and came fully prepared to do as many mental gymnastics as necessary to allow for the interpretation that Jo and Bhaer’s love story is the “real” ending. I couldn’t do it. There is no way that I can see that chase in the rain as anything other than a “forced” ending to the fictional story in Jo’s book.

When Bhaer visits the March’s, Jo’s not warm. She’s not happy. She’s just stunned and awkward. Frederick saying that he’s taking the job in California is nothing more than the most blatant set-up for a romantic-comedy ending. Even when he leaves, Jo doesn’t seem regretful, he’s just like, “Come and visit me sometime,” and Jo’s only response is, “Yeah, I probably won’t.”

Then, when she turns around, everyone has the most forced, zombie-like smiles on their faces. “You love him,” they all insist, and Jo is just baffled, like she’s in a Twilight Zone episode and struggling to assert her reality against a world that’s warped around her. Then they railroad Jo into a romance plot, setting up everything for the romantic-comedy chase in the rain against all of Jo’s protests that it’s unnecessary. And then the actual declaration of love is so entwined with Jo’s talk to her publisher that I can’t see it as anything other than fiction. The lines are such vague romance stuff that seems unconnected to anything that we’ve seen in Jo and Bhaer’s relationship through the rest of the movie. “I have nothing to give you,” he says, even though there’s never been a mention of him as poor before, no indication that this would have been a problem for their romance.

And then we see the lovely sunlit ending where everyone is happy and living active, fulfilled, love-and-service-filled lives, contrasted with the cold sterility of Jo watching her words get bound into a book. Don’t get me wrong, the binding process was beautiful to watch, but putting it forth as a “better” ending than Jo and Bhaer running a school together was absolutely ridiculous.

At best, I could try to say that the sunlit ending is a happy future brought about by the publication of the book–the royalties fund the school, everyone can be together, and Bhaer works at the school and he and Jo are friends and colleagues even if they don’t get married. But it’s given such an unrealistic gloss, and when the scene fades out and turns into the cover of the book, it seems like the final stamp saying that this is all fiction, and the only real thing about this ending is the book that Jo holds in her hands.

Instead of being surrounded by loving family and friends, she’s alone, holding a book. A book that isn’t even the book she wanted to write, a book that forced her to abandon her artistic principles for the sake of money. And to me, she looks like she’s about to cry (not happy tears), and it’s just such a bleak, sterile ending to a movie with the potential for such vigorous life.

(I do kind of wish I’d seen it without being spoiled for the ending and not knowing Gerwig’s thoughts about the “best” ending for Jo, because I’ll never know if I would have come to the same interpretation of the ending if I’d been coming in completely blind. I kind of feel like I’d have had similar thoughts, but I’ll never know.)

There’s so much more I could say about this ending, but all my thoughts are connected to how it affects the arcs and messages of the rest of the movie, and this post is far too long already. I’ll need at least one significant essay and at least 1-2 other posts to untangle exactly how this ending affects my feelings about this movie.

#little women #little women 2019 #if anyone actually reads all of this they deserve a prize #i'm shocked by how long this got #i spent like two mornings and a good chunk of this evening writing this #does anyone care about my minute opinions of a movie that's been out for a month?#unlikely #but what else am i to do with these opinions i ask you?

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jonsa101 · 5 years

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Fuck It! Here’s My Episode 2 Analysis Now!!

*SPOILER ALERT* I really wanted to wait until the episode actually premiered tonight to write this but since I already watched it and I have so much to say about this episode, I’m going to share my thoughts about this now!

First of all, I LOVED THIS EPISODE!! My favorite scene by far was Brienne becoming a knight! Wow just wow!!! What a beautiful scene. I wish the show would spend 80+ minutes on emotional scenes like this. These are the type of scenes I want to see above everything else because this to me is truly the heart of the show. With that said, let’s dive into this thing!

First and foremost, POLITICAL JON HAS ABSOUTLEY BEEN CONFIRMED!!!

Like this shit is so obvious now it’s not even debatable. The first dead giveaway was Jon’s nonreaction to news of Cersei not bringing her armies. Y’all he was so nonchalant about it. I don’t think the show even gave us a reaction shot of his face hearing the news. When he finally did speak, he still didn’t have much of a reaction to the events unfolding before him. This behavior perfectly aligns to the behavior we have seen from Jon thus far and why many of us believed in political Jon in the first place.

The Second and most important giveaway was Sansa’s and Dany’s conversation! Again wow! Just wow! What a fucking scene.

WHO’S MANIPULATING WHOM?!! BITCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and that dawn of realization on Sansa’s face!!!!!!

Sansa literally came into that conversation thinking Jon was in love and came out of that convo realizing that he has been manipulating her the whole time. The best thing about it is Dany spilled the tea herself without even realizing it. Fuck Jon telling Sansa shit! Sansa finding out about political Jon straight from the horse's mouth was the scene I didn’t know I needed!!

Moving on, let’s talk about the elephant in the room...Theonsa.

I just want to say, I absolutely understand why their scenes can be viewed as romantic. It’s not, I don’t ship it in the slightest, but I understand why. During my first watch, when I saw their soup scene I was like “oh no,” but after my second rewatch their scenes read as platonic to me. Let me explain why. First of all, the only scene that I potentially viewed as romantic in my first watch was the soup scene. That’s it. Their reunion was beautiful and emotional but it came across as familial to me. It was like Sansa was reuniting with a long lost brother or a friend that she had missed dearly. I also think people need to realize the context of this scene. Theon left the safety of his home, where the white walkers weren’t likely to attack, to serve Sansa. He didn’t have to come. He didn’t have to risk his life to help the Starks but he did. That speaks volumes and Sansa in that moment understood the magnitude of his actions and was deeply moved. This is a deep bond that was formed over shared trauma and the journey that they’ve been through to overcome said trauma.

For the soup scene, I think on Sansa’s end it’s more astonishment than her or Theon catching feelings. First of all, Theon still faces a tremendous amount of guilt even after everything. He’s on a path of redemption after all which is the main reason why he’s at Winterfell in the first place. During their interaction, he looks at Sansa but can’t fully look at her before he tears his eyes away. He’s still guilt-ridden and is clearly uncomfortable. Sansa, on the other hand, is full on staring at him. People need to realize that the last time Sansa saw Theon he was practically still Reek. So the fact that he’s even there, in his right state of mind, eating soup in front of her, must be jarring to her. But she’s relieved and happy that Theon is there. That’s my interpretation of that scene. It’s similar to Jon and Sansa’s scene in a sense with how Jon had the same astonished look, looking at Sansa after they just reunited. But I think overall, Jon and Sansa's scenes were romantically coded with added context. Plus they were alone. Another thing I want to point out is that the “couples montage” was NOT A COUPLES MONTAGE!!

If anything, it was a montage of the last things these characters were doing before the White Walkers attacked Winterfell. The montage showcased everyone who has played some sort of role in this story. The scene truly started with Poderic and company. Former enemies, deeply bonded by the events that just took place. Seemingly united under one cause. Then it led to Sam with his family, Theon and Sansa eating soup, a sleeping Gendry, and a pondering Arya Stark (I will address this next), Missandei and Greyworm kissing passionately, Jorah on his own and before it finally cut off, Dany staring at Jon looking at Lyanna’s statue. If this was a couples montage it was one hell of a disjointed couples montage and I’m going to explain why. First thing, Jorah appearing solo in a montage that features “couples” doesn't make sense. This is one of the main reasons why I’m adamant that this montage was just showcasing what the main and secondary characters were doing before the WWs arrived. Secondly, Arya and Gendry people. This might be an unpopular opinion but they’re not a couple. That look on Arya’s face said it all and I think showing a sleeping Gendry and a pondering Arya was meant to showcase the emotional disconnect Arya feels in that moment. I think Arya definitely is still struggling with her identity as Arya Stark and No One. Nothing wrong to hook up just to hook up, but that’s exactly what it was. They looked like two separate entities.

Other things I want to quickly point out, for some reason, I was getting deep friendship vibes from Jaimie and Brienne rather than romantic. Maybe I need to do another rewatch. I do think they love and care about each other deeply but I wasn’t picking up on the obvious romantic vibes that I used to get. If anything maybe their relationship is built on deep respect and admiration for one another. IDK these are just my thoughts. That knight scene moved me like no other though.

The last thing I want to address is Dark Dany. I’m not going to go into detail but at this point, if you don’t recognize this, that’s on you. It’s there. It’s as plain as day and there’s no need to keep beating a dead horse about it. Dark Dany isn’t coming; dark Dany is HERE!

Again these are just my thoughts. As for Jonsa, I definitely still think it’s at play. Jon and Sansa still don’t have a resolution to their tension and I am excited to see that unfold. Especially now that Sansa knows that political Jon is at play. Also, she’s still not aware that Jon is her cousin and this matters!

#Jonsa #got spoilers #jon snow #sansa stark #got s8 speculation #jonsa is endgame

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sometimesrosy · 5 years

Note

1. Maybe people want all of the kiss/confess of the media the producer’s done to shut down romantic Bellarke. I’m not in fandom and agree with your Bellarke analysis, but before I learned to stay away from his interviews, I did hear him say things like, “We like to call Clarke and Bellamy platonic soulmates,” and it’s stayed with me.

2. It makes me wonder if, despite what I SEE on screen, he’s trying to give them romantic tropes, but as besties, to be “different.” To show besties can have soulmate love without being IN love. Which if he was trying to do that, for the record, there’s a way to convey that, and Bellarke is not it. Admittedly stupidly, listening to that crap has made me not always trust what I see and analyze on screen. I love the idea of them being like P&P, but what if I’m wrong?

3/4. I’m so invested in this beautiful story within a story that’s been building for six seasons, and (not as much anymore) I do have moments where I have GoT flashbacks, and I’m like, “But what if the story I see and love never bears fruit?” It’s like I see the romance, but I fear a open end, if that makes sense? Like no resolution, maybe? It’s hard to explain. But, yes, I do let fear get me every now and then. And then tell myself to stfu because I love this show regardless. 🙂

This is why I stick to the text and only consider extra-textual comments to be interpretations... something to take into consideration, but if it doesn’t fit with canon, to discard.

Whether fans, reviewers or cast and crew are making commentary. I recognize that I cannot know their entire context or agenda for making their commentary, so if it doesn’t work? It’s set aside. JR has said a LOT of things, from “I see what you see” and “the road is long,” and “we’ll give romantic bellarke to you eventually,” and “the 100 is about Clarke and her relationship with Bellamy.” to they are non romantic partners and soulmates.” I’m not actually sure he’s EVER said they were platonic. Non romantic and platonic are two different things. But fandom keeps saying he said platonic. I wouldn’t trust fandom on that. JR has however refused to spoil the Bellarke story, which means he couldn’t possibly tell anyone that it wasn’t happening. Because that would be a spoiler. He’s done everything he can to make us wonder “will they or won’t they.” And most of it comes from social media, not canon.

I mean, do I trust JR? Not 100%. I won’t ever trust a tv show or movie franchise 100% because hollywood is a bitch. And it disappoints sometimes. And with tv shows, it almost never keeps the same excellence until the end. It almost always loses something you know? And that’s assuming that your OTP stays the center of the story. I mean. listen. There are a lot of shippers who are SUPER pissed at this show for NOT making their ship the center of the show. CL, Linctavia, Kabby is the most recent. At this point, we have Bellarke, Memori and Marper who have kind of won shipping. B/E is up in the air. But if I were them, I wouldn’t be happy with it since all Bellamy’s attention seems to be goign to clarke... which I’m NOT unhappy about.

How do you know when your interpretation of the show is the story they are telling???? Honestly, you just have to keep checking back with canon. And asking yourself honestly, “Does my interpretation still work? Is it following through? Is this the story they are telling?” and then when it fits, you keep going and when it doesn’t you let go and find a new focus. And then you also have to LET GO and give the creators some freedom to tell their own story, because a lot of bellarke fans are disappointed with the way it turned out in s5 and 6 despite it being SO bellarke focused? I’m not. I like it. I LOVE it. It’s gotten even better, and I like what they’re doing SO MUCH MORE than I would if it were just a simple “get together” kind of story.

TBH, I don’t think that the audience really got GOT wrong. I think D&D pulled that dumbass PLOT TWIST! trick and threw unearned story at us, because they got so full of themselves and let their success get to their heads and forgot that story was important. Also, I think they didn’t really UNDERSTAND the deeper level of GRRM’s story about what it was all ABOUT. So to them, it didn’t have the same meaning it did to much of the audience. I mean, too many people from far flung interpretations were appalled at how it turned out.

I don’t think JR will pull a D&D. The 100 is HIS story and he has intentions with it and has since the beginning. I think they’re working on an ending more like Mad Men, if you watched it. Not the particular MEANING of that story ending, but the craftedness of it. That it was all this kind of circular tale about the characters and the time and place, and it rounded everything out in a satisfying, if not particularly explicit ending. Open ended doesn’t mean unsatisfying.

With the addition of c/b/e and very romantic overtones, Bellarke has already entered the romantic zone, not platonic, I don’t think JR will leave BELLARKE open ended, as in, we’ll know that they are romantic and so will they, but I don’t know how life will be for them?

But what happens if, after all of this, we ARE wrong about the ending?

Not a damn thing.

If we’re wrong? We’re wrong. It doesn’t mean anything. There’s nothing wrong with being wrong. Certainly not about an interpretation of a tv show. It doesn’t ACTUALLY affect our lives or anyone’s lives. If we want to keep shipping Bellarke, we can do that. Fanfiction is great. Or rewatching. Or maybe we just find another show that hits our buttons better. Maybe we’re more careful in the future with how invested we get in tv shows.

It’s just a tv show. They aren’t real people. They’re fictional. Our attachment to them is what we make of it. If we are too torn apart by the story, then I honestly suggest we find something else to give our hearts to.

Listen. I love fiction. Movies, Books, tv shows. It has made my life richer in many ways. But if fiction hurts or damages you in any way, rather than making your life richer, then it’s time for a different way of engaging with it. It’s supposed to be SAFE. A safe way to engage with the world and emotions and thoughts.

i think i’m starting to babble now. i guess essentially the key is to stick to the text, keep checking on your interpretations to make sure they fit and adjust accordingly, don’t be so worried about being right, ignore the nonsense, don’t get too attached because no matter what Hollywood is a bitch, and maybe just enjoy the ride and relax into s7.

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bemused-writer · 5 years

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The Cain Saga Vol. 1 - Forgotten Juliet

I’ve been wanting to revisit some series I’d read in the past and I’m starting with The Cain Saga! This review isn’t spoiler free at all, so keep that in mind when reading. For anyone new to the series, I’m just going to put a content warning for the series; the themes are rated “Explicit” although this review itself is not.

This volume starts out with a one shot mystery following a character named Ariel. He works at a flower shop and promised Suzette, an aristocratic woman, he'd bring her some primroses. Unfortunately, it's not to be: she passes soon after. Regardless, Ariel's not our protagonist. Cain Hargreaves is and we meet him this chapter through Ariel's eyes. Honestly, at first it's a little puzzling why we're seeing all of this from Ariel's perspective instead of Cain's but I believe this is so we get an idea of how the outside world views him before we see his own opinion on himself.

He's mysterious and rather edgy and he seems to glorify in that because it becomes swiftly apparent that society’s opinion of Earl Hargreaves isn't very high--he's gone and missed Suzette's funeral, which appears to be a typical thing for him. She's also his cousin, so there's a family connection. In other words, his own family isn't terribly fond of him and expects this kind of behavior.

While this is enough to make it seem like he’s a bit questionable we also quickly learn grave digging isn't all that unusual for him either, which should give you some idea of how things are going to go in this series.

He then proceeds to mock his aunt later, saying she was always horrible to Suzette. We're not given nearly enough time with Suzette or her family to verify these claims but considering Suzette has come back from the dead to kill her I guess it's safe to assume things weren't great between them.

The whole thing is swiftly revealed to be a torrid love affair between Suzette, Ariel's uncle, Miles, and a Miss Claremont. In other words, Miles was a cheater. But Suzette didn’t just wake up wanting revenge; her plan to fake her death made her mad as she was forced to contend with being buried in a coffin for hours.

Furthermore, Cain was in on the whole thing and was hoping to help her do it right, hence the grave digging. Also, he was the one who gave her the poison to help her fake her death, which is now being used to kill a bunch of people.

Insanity is a common theme in this series, especially when mixed with love, so it makes sense that we start with it right away. Pulling a Romeo and Juliet proved to be a terrible idea though.

After going insane, she starts killing people including Miles, her would-be Romeo.

But the really pertinent part of all of this (at least for Cain) is the revelation that Cain himself loved Suzette.

Love becomes a very prominent them in this series and the fact that the very first person we see Cain admit to loving is his insane cousin who stages her death for the sake of romance only to come back and kill everyone who did her wrong is, uh, telling.

So, the first chapter is honestly pretty straightforward but it gives us some information that is going to be crucial later on: Cain doesn't have a good relationship with his extended family, he's not a stranger to "forbidden love" (loving your cousin in a romantic sense was hardly uncommon in the 19th century but I still count it as "forbidden" here because she had no idea how he felt), he's associated enough with poisons that his extended family comes to him for help faking their deaths, and, while it's brief, we see he has a servant that seems to stick close to his side.

Honestly, I wish we’d learned a little more about Suzette. As it is we only know she was super determined and, according to Cain, always had to have her way. I suppose that gives us a basis for the kind of person he likes but not a great deal more.

And with that out of the way we’re moving on to chapter 2! This one starts out from Cain's perspective, so it already feels like a more "proper" beginning to the series. And one page in we see that Cain has some serious Sherlock Holmes tendencies:

Riff isn’t paid enough for this.

Anyway, Cain definitely isn't overly concerned with treating animals well (although he claims the hen will be fine) and his servant, Riff, whom we saw in the last chapter, is apparently already used to this kind of behavior and has all but given up on expecting things to be any different. He's definitely the Watson of the piece (except that he’s also a butler).

This mystery is another family based one--Cain seems to have a constantly revolving door of relatives. In this instance it’s his uncle Leland who asks him to look into a letter he received from his deceased daughter, Maddy, whom Cain admits to not ever noticing much.

The shadow in question was Bibi, his uncle Leland’s illegitimate daughter that he had with a prostitute and it’ ultimately Bibi that we see Cain really grow attached to.

Maddy didn’t seem to think too highly of Cain after all:

And the feeling was apparently mutual.

This is an important scene for Cain down the road though because we eventually learn just how much he’s suffered in his own life. For him to say he can’t stand other people who wallow in self-pity it means he doesn’t allow it for himself either. It means he doesn’t allow himself to consider his own sorrow and that’s a difficult thing to maintain.

At any rate, while Cain has done a lot of questionable things in this volume so far, the one area he's shown to be chivalrous in is he doesn't take advantage of Bibi even though she’s a prostitute herself just like her mother. Even though he paid for her time he doesn't demand sexual compensation and instead admits their similarities: neither of them had parents who loved them. Bibi was never loved by her father, Leland, and her mother is cold to her as well.

This statement could have easily come from Cain himself. While the ultimate resolution of this particular story is one I'm unsure how to feel about, it parallels Cain's own life quite well, though we aren't supposed to know that just yet.

The twist of the story boils down to "Bibi" was actually "Maddy" all along and Bibi was the one who died and while Leland was contacted by his daughter it was a daughter who had been hypnotized by his ex-mistress to kill him for mistreating the real Bibi. And before you think Leland’s had it rough, he wanted to marry his daughter, Maddy, and that is why he stopped being a playboy.

...There’s a lot to take in there but we don’t have time to unpack all that but there are some tidbits of information that will be relevant later.

Maddy was an aristocrat who was forced to demean herself through prostitution just to survive and she had a father who desired her sexually. In other words, it was an abusive relationship between parent and child even though this element of the story doesn't really get touched on much. Maddy was also taken advantage of by Bibi's mother. The similarity is that Cain was also demeaned and abused by his parents and this is already being alluded to pretty early in the series. It’s also becoming apparent that it’s not just Cain’s immediate relatives who are problematic (something this volume has yet to even touch on really) but his extended family seems cursed as well. Is it a message about the aristocracy or just this bloodline? We’ll have to wait and see.

Another important element to this story is we also see that Riff is one of Cain's only constants in his life and that he supports him quietly but firmly. He doesn’t say anything accusative after Cain reveals he ultimately killed Maddy. He did it because it was the only kind thing left to do and it was at her own behest. It’s a cruel revelation: the only way he can be kind is by being cruel.

The third story is ... interesting for sure but unless I'm seriously missing something here, it doesn't seem to feature Cain at all...? I suppose one interpretation could be he was undercover years ago at a boarding school but that seems like it would be stretching it. Still, the themes very much fit in with The Cain Saga: failed attempts at immortality, the abuse of the weak by the strong, and things of that nature.

The fourth story also doesn't feature Cain at all but the themes of one person replacing another and fame corrupting fits in with the series. I would say more but, to be honest, neither of these stories give us a lot to interpret regarding Cain or the other primary characters in the series. In this particular story there’s a running thread of homophobia, which I suppose could be argued as fitting in with the forbidden love theme but I feel that’s a little tenuous at best. This is kind of an unusual thing to do in a series. I wonder if, originally, this wasn’t going to be about Cain but more of an exploration of themes? Hmm... With the fifth chapter we're back to Cain (and the 19th century...) and we're thrown in the thick of it right away with Cain accusing a man of killing his brother, and Cain's friend, Cleo. This is a very short story but it emphasizes that Cain is ... not always that kind, although ultimately he was trying to avenge Cleo. He tricks Orlando into thinking he has poisoned him (a legitimate threat considering we have already gotten it confirmed he's well known for poisons in general) and Orlando ultimately kills himself.

Once again, I would really have liked to know more about Cleo. How close were they? Later in the series it feels like Cain doesn’t have any friends at all but this points out that isn’t the case.

Riff hasn’t gotten a lot of focus this volume either but his quiet presence is notable in how it’s one of the few consistent things throughout for Cain.

Anyway, this is a bit of a rough start to the series but I actually enjoyed it quite a bit! The gothic vibe is excellent, of course, and the conundrums presented are interesting to sort through. Since it’s been so long since I read I’ll admit I’d forgotten a lot of details but I’m looking forward to relearning them. ^^ I hope to get a review up of volume 2 soon.

#cain saga #count cain #godchild #long post #Bemused's post #spoilers

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rebelsofshield · 5 years

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Star Wars Dooku: Jedi Lost- Review

The radio drama is as essential a part to Star Wars history as the novel, the comic, or even the movie. The early 1980’s saw the original trilogy bring Star Wars to the airwaves and today Del Rey and Lucasfilm continue that tradition with a new audio drama by Cavan Scott, Dooku: Jedi Lost, following the early days of the infamous Sith Lord. Unfortunately, while a nice experiment and an interesting new way to explore the Star Wars galaxy, Dooku: Jedi Lost proves to be a flawed and frustrating product.

(Review contains minor spoilers)

Mystery surrounds the new master of Asajj Ventress (Orlagh Cassady). Rescued from the fighting rings of Rattatak, the former Jedi Apprentice finds herself thrust into the dark and strange world of the Count of Serenno, Dooku (Euan Morton). His instruction is cruel and impersonal, and his motives are just as ethereal. However, when Dooku sends his new assassin to track down a missing member of his courtly family, Ventress begins to uncover secrets about his past with the Jedi Order and how he became the deadly man he is today.

Count Dooku has always been a bit of an enigma. Despite being the central villain to Attack of the Clones, his motivations and past are always kept at arms-length and he doesn’t even appear in the film until well over ninety minutes into its runtime. His hints of his past with the Jedi are spoken of in character asides and Christopher Lee’s performance casts a wide shadow, but the live action Dooku enters the screen with an air of mystery and confusion before quickly exiting in the opening moments of Revenge of the Sith. Since 2005 we have seen Dooku evolve into an intimidating (sleepwear rocking) villain in The Clone Wars animated series and his expansive connection to the larger Jedi Order has grown through glimpses in various novels and comics, including this year’s great Master and Apprentice. A story following Dooku’s early years as a Jedi and his eventual abandoning of the order is an intriguing subject matter and tying it to such an infamously complex point of view as Asajj Ventress seemed like an easy recipe for a standout novel.

There is a lot to like in Dooku: Jedi Lost. While it was billed as an audiobook, the finished product plays out more like a traditional audio drama. While Star Wars audiobooks have for years now featured bursts of music or sound effects to accompany the narrative, Jedi Lost takes this to a new level. Characters speak in bursts of dialogue and internal narration and the experience as a whole feels much more akin to the sort of spoken word stage play that we have seen a boom of in recent years in the podcast market. If you have listened to Marvel’s rather great Wolverine: The Long Night, you may have an idea of the sort of experience to expect.

The result is for the most part a well-produced aural experience. The voice acting is across the board fun and dramatic if occasionally on the hammy side. Cassady’s interpretation of Ventress adheres closely to the sinister, raspy whisper of Nika Futterman while creating her own identity befitting a much younger version of the character. Morton goes the opposite route and doesn’t even attempt to mimic Christopher Lee or even Corey Burton’s take on the malevolent count, and while the difference is at first jarring, Morton quickly makes the character his own and he becomes one of the stronger voice performances in the cast. Marc Thompson’s well-practiced Yoda is another standout, which proves only natural given the amount of work he has had with the character in past projects.

The general sound direction is for the most part strong as well. Jedi Lost often succeeds at creating a strong sense of atmosphere and place with a great sense for ambient noise. Hums of lightsabers, chattering crowds, and zipping speeders fill the spaces of each scene and help bring the setting of the galaxy far, far away to life. It doesn’t prove immaculate though. Some of the more action heavy scenes opt to loop sounds rather than choreographing them to Scott’s script or the character narration and the musical cues are often distracting or ill-fitting to the scene at hand. (I can’t count the number of times “Across the Stars” seemed to slip into decidedly not romantic moments in the story.) The overall presentation is still, for the most part, successful but there are enough chinks in the production of Jedi Lost that as a whole make this feel like an experiment that maybe should have been more tightly honed, especially considering that the stellar work being done in the podcast realm in similar media essentially for free.

Where Jedi Lost proves to be its most uneven, however, is in Cavan Scott’s script. Star Wars regulars will recognize Scott the most from his time writing for IDW’s rather delightful all-ages comic imprint Star Wars Adventures. While Scott has written his fair share of traditional novels in the past, his familiarity with dialogue heavy mediums such as comics make him well suited for an audio project like Jedi Lost. Unfortunately, the narrative that Scott creates for Dooku struggles in its overall structure.

The central concept of Asajj Ventress learning about Dooku’s past for a relevant mission is intriguing, but it ultimately boils down much of the “present time” action to her listening to or reading the writings of her new master. Narrative beats are frequently interrupted or paused so that a new diary entry can be found or presented and while it becomes an accepted part of the story after some time, it can’t help but feel like one of those found footage horror movies where characters have to keep explaining why they have a video camera on them.

Luckily, the actual narrative of Dooku’s upbringing proves much more successful if still flawed. The strongest portions of Scott’s script follow a younger Dooku through his early days as a Jedi initiate and later a Padawan. Scott injects Dooku and his friendship with other infamous Jedi Sifo-Dyas with a Harry Potter-like sense of youthful adventure and curiosity. Their explorations of Temple secrets and Jedi artifacts carry with them a YA flair that also brings an unexpected sense of tragedy and dramatic irony given the dark fates that will befall both of these young men in the decades to come. Scott crafts Dooku as a Jedi that is frequently distracted by emotional attachment and responsibility not only to the citizens he has sworn to protect but to a courtly family on Serenno that he reconnects to as an adolescent. How Dooku deals with his conflicting loyalties and also the mentorship he receives from atypical Jedi Lene Kostana make for some of the most intriguing character work in the story and it gives the first half of Scott’s book a sense of discovery and emotional immediacy.

However, as the narrative progresses the peaks into Dooku’s past become more scattered and episodic in nature. We are treated to only glimpses to his training under Yoda, his relationship with his first apprentice Rael Aveross (a standout in Claudia Gray’s Master and Apprentice but annoyingly one note here), and his education of Qui-Gon Jinn. Each of these could have easily filled a book of their own, but here they feel like frustratingly brief glimpses into other worthy stories.

Scott attempts to keep the relationship of Dooku and his birth family on Serenno as the emotional throughline of the narrative and for the most part this proves successful. It allows for a natural climax to Dooku’s contained arc in this aspect of the story while also providing another example of the larger Jedi Order’s failure to accommodate more renegade individuals in their ranks. However, in doing so, Scott misses one of the fundamental pieces of Dooku’s story, his actual seduction to the Dark Side. While Scott hides hints of the darkness brewing in him throughout the novel and plots his defection from the Jedi in believable detail, when exactly Dooku changed from a lost Jedi to lightning spewing Sith Lord is a beat that is glossed over almost in its entirety. Outside of the initial disappointment that we are not treated to Dooku’s Sith training or even the larger conspiracy regarding the creation of the clone army, this switch in teh character to such a malevolent place proves to be an essential plot point to the resolution of the book’s frame narrative. It may create a strong contrast showing how far the Count of Serenno has fallen, but the end result feels jarring and it can’t help but feel like the listener has simply been obscured from essential information.

The end result is a story that is often entertaining and occasionally thought provoking, but is just as frequently frustrating and stilted in its structure and execution. Dooku: Jedi Lost is an interesting project, but it feels like a product that could have used more refinement both in its conceptualization and in execution. Star Wars fans that are looking for a listen during a long trip may want to partake in this aural journey, but others may want to wait before uncovering the secrets of this Sith.

Score: C+

#Star Wars #Star Wars books #Star Wars novels #review #reviews #Cavan Scott #Count Dooku #Asajj Ventress

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kuronekonerochan · 6 years

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Rambles on Miss Hammurabi (light spoilers for the first episodes)

I like it. I like the moral dilemmas they face, I like how idealistic she is and how everything is not so black and white and forces her to meet in the middle and find suitable solutions. I like how her pushiness in turn makes her colleagues consider more the individual and not go by the textbook law and give in a bit and show some kindness and humanity on the rulings. I also enjoy how they tackle a different social issue each week and how the resolution is not perfect and they second guess and regret their rulings, even if they came to the conclusion that rationally, and abiding the law it was the right decision. The way they all have their moments of doubt in the system and whether they are doing what's right, or if they are actually making a difference or if it is all meaningless... it's great to watch and I love how the characters are so well fleshed out that they work through their self doubt but remain true to their personality and ideals, while improving because of their interactions with each other. The female lead (and the kdrama) sometimes feel a bit too preachy and on the nose, but the point is, you need people like that in the world... they might look too radical and sjw in their approach, but they do end up shaking things up just a bit when they go head to head with cynical bureaucrats and the people who "are just used to the way things are", and the middle ground they reach is certainly not an utopia, but it is definitely an improvement on the world, little by little. Without idealistic people like her, nothing changes for the better, and if there is no change, stagnation will inevitably lead backwards, changing for the worse. I didn't see the ahjumma harassing the guys scene as "funny" and I don't think the drama meant for it to be taken that way either. For me, the point of that was NOT that it was OK for it to happen because they were old ladies catcalling and grabbing younger guys, but it was so that they'd experience and understand how embarrassing and humiliating it was and how helpless they felt (albeit for different reasons). I actually think it was a subtle and effective way for the drama to prove a point, although It might have been interpreted otherwise. The guys felt trapped because they couldn't express how wrong what was happening was and ask the old ladies to stop or get mad at them for their behavior... all because of the cultural belief that you should "respect" the elderly woman, regardless of their wrongdoings. Also, adding to it, they would look to outsiders as jerks for getting into an argument with "those sweet frail ahjummas". For all these reasons, they felt like they couldn't speak up and stop the old ladies, they had to endure it quietly. And that's the main point for me. The Female lead designed this as a sort of controlled experience so that the guys could understand how workplace harassing felt like for woman (they were in no danger of things escalating to full on assault from those ladies, unlike a real life situation with the opposing gender, plus she knew them and they toned it down afterwards, so she might have given the ladies a heads up and give them permission to go full out). I think it was just a way to make them understand how most times women feel helpless and have to play it for laughs and put up with it instead of speaking up, because of that same cultural constrains of "respecting their male co-workers/ superiors", worrying that society will label them as hysterical or disrespectful if they complain about a harmless comment our touch. Same goes for the comments on how exposed you are dressed and how that is somehow a sign of flirtiness and consent, which is not. None of this is funny, neither was that scene for me, I just think it was meant to give the viewer an idea of how harassment can be taken lightly when you put a bunch of old ladies as the perpetrators, and in doing so see how lightly it can be taken on a work environment from the perspective of the male workers, who will think catcalling a female co-worker is harmless, but on both cases none of that matters because the victims still feel ashamed, humiliated and helpless.

The drama is very light on romance, but for some reason I don't mind it here. You can feel the tenderness between the leads and how much they care for each other. Instead of a crazy whirlwind romance with a half-assed insta-love (cough, looking at you, About Time, still not sure WHY they love each other, they just suddenly do, ok, cough) I get a domestic feel as if this can be all be told many decades in the future to their grandchildren... the story of how they met each other and how they fell in love slowly after really getting to know and understand one another, attracted to each others personality, her bright idealism and tender heart, his strong sense of justice and troubled awkward heart. How they dated, got married, supported each others careers, went through hurdles together. And the quiet domestic tender vibe I get from them through their little actions and cute moments is somehow much more romantically appealing to me than most other current kdrama couples, though I could do with some more "contact". Come on guys, just kiss, already!

#kdrama #miss hammurabi #rambles #kdrama rambles #go ara #kpop l #kim myungsoo #spoilers

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occupyvenus · 7 years

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I don’t buy it - Jon isn’t “a northern fool”

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!! SPOILERS FOR LEAKED EP 6 AHEAD !!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just don’t buy it. I still believe that Jon is playing Danielle (btw we are using this name so it won’t show up in the search, not as an insult), going “undercover” as he did with the wildlings, to ensure she helps against the white walkers. Want to know why? Keep reading, but I warn you this got ... very, very, very long.

This turned, more or less, into an analysis of the entire Jon x Danielle interaction over season 7 somehow, even though it wasn’t really supposed to be that. Just to be clear about this: If you are a hardcore j0nerys shipper who doesn’t like people having different opinions.... you better stop reading right now. All nasty comments will be deleted without exception. If you see things differently and are open for a civil conversation, well don’t let me stop you. I’m not trying to “hate” on somebody else’s ship here, but as a fan of the series I can analyze and interpret the things happening. J0nery is one of the things happening right now.

They way I see it, there are three key issues to their relationships that can be seen both as motivation for them working and being together, and as distinct sources of conflict. Both internally for each character and in their interpersonal relationship. 1. the personal aspect | their personal feelings for each other, generally and specifically romantic 2. the political aspect | Jon’s duty to stand for an independent North vs Danielle's desire to rule over all Seven Kingdoms 3. the ... “end of the world” aspect | the looming threat that will end them all

At the beginning of ep3 Jon and Danielle were opposed on everyone of those issues: They didn’t know or particularly like each other, they both are relentless about their political decision, Danielle doesn’t believe him about the WW’s and/or is only ready to help under certain conditions.

At the end of ep6 these three issues seem to perfectly align, all conflict seems to be resolved: They are clearly, if not in direct words, admitting their love for each other, Jon has given up his claim on the Northern Crown, Danielle has decided to destroy the night king and his army.

This could be the natural progression of the story. My question is whether this resolution, despite being rushed, was properly portrayed, developed and flashed out over those 3 episodes. Whether the last interaction between Jon and Danielle was earned, whether Douchebag&Dumbass (they earned those nicknames by butchering Arya’s and Jaime��s character, btw) used their limited screen time to build up to this moment. After all, the (supposed) J0nerys romance is clearly meant to be the “emotional climax” of this season.

Now when you look at all their interactions over the season you notice that something is missing. Something very important when developing an intimate personal relationship such as a romance. There is no real human bonding moment for them. Though I supposed that’s not completely true. Danielle does share a few personal issues with Jon, but we never hear Jon talk about anything personal and/or private with her.

This starts in their first interaction when Danielle talks about her hardships, while Jon keeps shut about his and when she later talks about their dead brothers and Jon doesn’t really respond to the topic. This pattern persists when she asks for his advice on the beach, clearly indicating that she came to value and respect his opinion, while he is resisting to give her a clear answer, responding only with a vague statement praising her previous achievements and alluding to her potential. He doesn’t just outright says what he thinks, as he has f If he was sure about Danielle having a “good heart” and trusts her, wouldn’t he feel free to just speak his mind? But it seems he’s afraid of saying the wrong thing, worried about alienating or offending her. Which makes sense, he is in a very vulnerable position right now, basically her prisoner, and needs her to be on his side. Pissing her off is the last things he would need.

The interesting thing about the cave scene is that while it is shot as the most “romantic” scene for those two characters - the location, the lighting, the dramatic music score, EC’s line reading - they don’t really talk about anything personal in it. Not really. Their shared appreciation of the locations historical significance makes for a bit of a human connection, I guess, Danielle is definitely guilty of some heart-eyes, Jon puts on a more sympathetic face as well, but despite what EC’s voice is trying to tell you: The topic of this conversation is neither personal nor romantic. It ends with their thus far unresolved conflict: To kneel or not to kneel, that is the question.

The dragon petting session was definitely a moving moment for Danielle and finally Jon being a secret targ means ... something. But Jon makes it pretty clear that his targ-blood doesn’t immediately make him regard dragons as cute pets. When his statement about them offends Danielle, he corrects himself and calls them “gorgeous beasts”. Again, she is sharing something personal and important - her connection to her dragons - but Jon doesn’t respond with an equally meaningful story. It’s obvious that he doesn’t approve of her actions - wait until he finds out about the Tarlys - so their one-on-one conversation ends on a conflicted note. I’m pretty sure that Jorah views heartthrob Jon Snow as a potential love rival (what man wouldn’t?), but I don’t think that Jon looks jealous at all. Mostly confused about the weird, old, know slaver that just showed up.

When Bran’s letter arrives, Danielle is trying to strike a more personal tone by telling Jon she’s happy for him, but Jon is going straight back into politics and EotW territory. This would have been a perfect opportunity for Jon to show his “human” side a little bit more. Forgetting about everything else for a minute, sharing ... something, just something about his long lost siblings with the supposed love of his life. But nothing, straight back to White Walker talk. Danielle is obviously worried about Jon going on this stupid ass mission, I have no doubt in my mind that she is head over heels for him at this point. But Jon? He calls her a stranger. He asserts his position as king (Y’all are disappointing Tywin this season) and makes it clear that she can’t force him to stay on this island. Danielle is obviously in too deep to care about it anymore. (It’s a shame Dickon never had a chance to seduce her... ).

Last, but not least their farewell scene She states that she has grown fond of him, while Jon is keeping the conversation proper and formal. While Danielle is longingly looking after him, Jon doesn’t turn around. This fact is even more emphasized by Jorah’s presence who does take a last long look at the woman he loves, whom he might never see again. Why not have Jon do the same? Why not have Jorah turning around only to see them two exchange a long meaningful look, causing some love-triangle tension? Don’t tell me that Douchebag & Dumbass would be “above” this.

Compare it to Jon meeting Gendry. They talk about their fathers (why Gendry has come to care so much for his sperm donor is anybody’s guess, btw), joke a bit and connect. Jorah and Jon have a similar conversation about their fathers in ep6. We have an interaction like this for most, if not all characters who are forced to or decide to work together. We see this with Tyrion & Jorah, Sansa & Bran, Bronn & Jaime, Tormund & the Hound, Brienne & Arya etc etc. Because in order for us to care about the bond two people share, we need to see that bond being formed. We need characters to tell each other about their feelings, experiences, opinions, families, traumas, etc. for us to get emotionally involved with their relationship. We simply have no interaction between them where they connect as human beings. Especially Jon never brings up any private issues. We never see them actually getting know each other as people. Which is so so odd. If their love story and relationship was this important to the overall story, wouldn’t they want to make sure we get emotionally involved in it?

They could have easily written in Jon telling Danielle about his “father”. This is a difficult topic for them, considering the rebellion and stuff, but he brings up good old Ned to almost every single person he talks to. Jon has some serious daddy-issues and it would make sense for him to defend his father to Danielle. To make her see that he wasn’t the kind of man who sends assassin after newborn children. But not once do we see him go “I can’t speak to Robert and you might not want to hear this, but my father was the most honorable dudebro in all the seven kingdoms, blah blah.” Btw, why did Varys never tell her that Ned quit his job because he didn’t agree with Robert? He could have chimed in, overhearing them “by accident” and tell that story. Them having a conversation about Danielle’s father, the rebellion, this conflict and tension between their houses would have given real depth to their relationship. I would even consider them sorting out these issues a key requirement for them to even have a healthy, mutually loving relationship. Why were they never brought up? Why do we never see Jon talk about anything that matters to him as a person, other than the threat beyond the Wall and his duties as king?

What I’m trying to say is that their personal interactions are biased toward Danielle. She has made obvious heart eyes, talked about personal issues and showed that she gained trust in Jon. I’m not saying that Jon isn’t attracted to her or dislikes her completely. But, at least everyone should be able to admit that up until their goodbye in episode 5 Danielle looks a lot, like a hella lot, more love-struck than Jon. Even if one could argue that Jon has his moments where he shoots her a tender look, the disparity is pretty apparent.

But then in ep6 immediately after Jon wakes up on Danielle’s ship (btw, at least Jon didn’t decide to ditch WF for KL by his own choice. Of course Douchebag&Dumbass had to put him straight on a boat, because as so many people - me included - pointed out: It makes no sense for him to want to go. He should have want to go to WF by all means, home to his family and his people, preparing them for the threat that is getting really fucking close), he basically hands her everything she wants on a silver platter, without any coaxing from Danielle whatsoever.

Don’t you think that’s at least a very drastic, sudden shift in his behaviour? Even if we assume that he has changed his mind about Northern Independence eg he’s willing to kneel in exchange of her help, even if we assume that he has developed serious feelings for her, why would he be the one to bring this up? Why would he be so direct about it all of a sudden? Why not wait until Danielle mentions the whole kneeling issue, hoping that maybe she’s ready to put the political struggle aside now that she’s seen the enemy with her own two eyes - as was Jon’s original plan - but still being ready to give in should she press on about it? I wouldn’t begrudge Jon for doing so, but just giving up the north by his own choosing, proclaiming her “his queen” -ugh- stands in direct contrast to his convictions so far.

What has changed? Seriously, what happened between the end of e5 and the end of ep6 that could have made Jon do a literal 180 on this topic? . Let’s look at the conversations Jon has with his suicide squad companions, shall we?

Jon talks to Tormund in Eastwatch | It’s interesting that Jon doesn’t try to distinguish between Cersei and Danielle in any way. When Tormund asks which queen he has to convince, he simply says “both”. Though I was under the impression that Danielle already believed him - maybe still a bit unaware about the true extent of the issue - and this was first and foremost to get Cersei on board. He could have said “Danielle won’t risk sending her armies north until Cersei is convinced” or something like that. If he was already in love with her and believes her to be “his queen” -ugh- wouldn’t he come to her defense? Wouldn’t he try to put the “blame” for this stupid, stupid, stupid idea firmly on Cersei?

Jon talks to the Brotherhood without Banners in their Cells | The one thing to notice here is that Jon makes it clear that nothing else matters anymore, everyone who still breathes is on the same side. We have to work with people we neither like, nor trust because all of these squabbles don’t matter anymore. The only thing that counts is defeating the Night King.

Jon talks to Jorah | This would have been the perfect opportunity to bring up Danielle. Seriously, when I saw them starting talking I was already shielding myself for some “isn’t she just amazeballs”-comments from Jorah and maybe even Jon. Simply because ... well it’s Jorah’s favourite subject in the whole world and if Jon really was jealous he could have asked some side-eyes question about his relationship with her. Jorah himself could have pulled a Tyrion a la “Kh*leesi is the most wonderful person in this world, you will see that and then call her your queen -ugh- too.” Have Jon say something a la “D*enerys, she is quite an impressive woman.”. He’s talking to someone who knows the woman he supposedly loves very well, why isn’t he prying for some information? But she isn’t a topic of conversation between them at all. Similar to many of the things mentioned above, while this scene doesn’t necessarily refute any potential romantic feelings from Jon’s side, it is clearly a missed opportunity to shift our focus on them.

Jon talks to Tormund | Danielle comes up, but again not in a personal context. Another missed opportunity to mention the emotional aspect of their relationship. Since, you know, this is Tormund. They could have easily written in a comment a la “What does a fucking dragon queen look like?” or something like this. If you need a shameless character who doesn’t care about personal boundaries and just outright asks inappropriate questions, Tormund is your man. Hell, it wouldn’t have been out of character for him to straight out ask whether “Jon’s little pecker got happy with the dragon queen while he was south. Is that why he took so long?” or something alike. But no. He only asks “so you’ve met that dragon queen?” and Jon takes the conversation into the political direction. He brings up that she’ll only help if he bends the knee and Tormund this train of thought by highlighting the Jon/Mance parallels in this situation once again.

Jon talks to Beric | His talk to Beric revolves around the whole Lord-of-light, brought-back-from-the-dead, what-are-we-fighting-for issue. Beric states that they are not fighting for some king or queen, but for life itself. Weird that Jon would proclaim a woman “his queen” -ugh- not 30 min later. Jon rehashes a line from his night’s watch vows: The shield that guards the realms of men. This is a call-back to his conversation with Half-Hand back in season 2(?), who reminded him that “we are the watcher’s on the wall” before he died and told Jon “to do what needs to be done.” Does anyone remember how Jon infiltrating the Wildlings went down?

Looking back at the three big issues surrounding the relationship between Jon and Danielle, only two of them were brought up in their time apart: The impending threat from the dead, how fighting them is all that truly matters and Jon’s dilemma of bending the knee to get Danielle’s help. She is never mentioned as a love-interest. The personal side of this equation is not addressed between him leaving DSt and him being saved by her.

Which is weird, because ... a bunch of dudebros alone in the wilderness, some of them even talk about ladies and sex and dicks (emmy nominated writing, folks), would have been a great opportunity to bring this up. But instead the theme of Jon’s conversations seem to be “proud men and their downfalls”. Something that has been mentioned many, many times over the season.

His conversation with Jorah (like he didn’t talk about Danielle with Jorah -kh*lessi loving- fucking mormont.) also revolves around the topic that honorable men don’t always get what they deserve. Jorah’s father was killed by his own men, Ned was executed. Plus the Mance dilemma is connected to this as well. “Pride” and “honor” are more or less the same thing when you think about it. This plays back into the “Northern fool” narrative the season has been setting up since episode one. We here about three men who found their untimely death because, or despite of, their own kind of honor. Jon has been warned by Sansa not make those same mistakes and Jon himself has admitted to coming to close to doing just that. But more on this later.

All of Jons interactions and seeing how effective the dragons truly are explain why he has made the decision to bend the knee, at least why he’s ready to give in to her demands, not why he would actively give it up. But there were no conversations that would allude to his growing feelings for Danielle. At all. If that was the “emotional climax” of the episode, shouldn’t they put in a few things hinting at it?

I would also like to mention how very odd his behaviour after waking up was. The first thing he said wasn’t “where am I?”, it wasn’t about his uncle who just died to save him (which I would assume would be the first thing that comes to mind). It wasn’t Danielle asking him “How did you get out of there??!! We all thought you were dead.”. Before Danielle could say anything, he tells her how sorry he is about Viserions death. I’m not trying to be insensitive here, I know that her dragons are immensely important to her but to Jon? His uncle was just killed in front of his eyes, shouldn’t that be the thing he is heartbroken about? He didn’t even build any kind of personal connection to Viserion specifically. He should have started this conversation with many other things, but he very deliberately chose to start with that.

If I’m allowed to put this in colloquial terms, he is sucking up to Danielle. Just as he’s been doing in ep4 when she asks for his advice, just as he did in ep5 when he didn’t think “beautiful” was the right word to describe her “children”. This is before Danielle promises to destroy the night king with him, it seems to me that he is doing what he’s been doing for the entire season: Catering to Danielle’s feelings and wishes. Soothing her temper. Not saying the wrong words as not to alienate her. Rather than holding his tongue or beating around the bush, as he has done before, he actively says exactly what she wants to hear. And that’s exactly how that interaction progresses.

Jon establishing physical contact to create an intimate atmosphere, “using” her obvious crush on him, going a bit further by inventing a fun nickname for her, him calling her “my queen” -uuughhhh-, giving up the North and saying that what the Northern Lords want doesn’t matter because they’ll change their mind once they see how amazeballs she is. This entire conversation revolves around her, Jon only talks about things that are supposed to make her feel good. Again, there is no mention to how Jon survived. Jon apologizes for going on the dumb wight hunt ... when it wasn’t even really his idea?! Tyrion came up with the plan of catching a dead and bringing it to cersei. Why is he taking all the blame for this bullshit plot?

Danielle isn’t taking at least some part of the blame herself “if only I had believed you, all of this wouldn’t have happened. Viserion would still be alive”. The next comment might be fueled by a bit of salt and left-over range from yesterday, so don’t take it too seriously, but “you have to see it to believe it.” sounded almost like an excuse. “Don’t apologize, it’s good this happened, this isn’t your fault. But it isn’t mine either, because how could I know?” This would be consistent with her characterisation so far. She is not willing to admit any mistakes, not even to herself. If I look back, I’m lost. But Jon doesn’t point any fingers either, not even in the most subtle way “we had to do it to convince you and cersei”... which is odd. As said above take this last paragraph with a grain of salt, because it was written with an ounce of salt.

Why would he just call her “D*ny” all of the sudden? He hasn’t called her anything but “Your Grace” until now. This comes out of nowhere. It’s pretty easy to create a narrative leading up to this moment, btw. Why not have Danielle offer to address each other on a first-name-basis? Do it on the beach when they say their farewells, Jon calls her “Your Grace” and she answers with “Daenerys is alright.” Jon only nods and turns away. At first Jon declines because of the whole (potential) political, I-can’t-love-you-because-THA-NORTH, so-I-have-to-stay-formal thingy, but after she saves his ass he calls her D*enerys for the first time. She smiles, obviously moved by this and he jokingly says “or maybe D*ny?” and the show can take it from there. Sounds a lot more romantic and a lot less random, right? It would take two lines of dialogue to make this seem a lot more natural and a lot less suspicious and ooc.

Side-note: After Danielle leaves the room and Jon opens his eyes (did he only pretend to sleep?) he looks exhausted, exasperated. Not like a man who just shared a very intimate moment with the woman he loves. It just doesn’t add up. Why is Danielle lovingly looking at his sleeping face not the last shot?

Altogether, their “romantic relationship” is still as one-sided as it was before, only now Jon is actively pushing for it to be that way. All in all his behaviour is way over the top. It sounds like a man who’s simply trying to woo a woman for one reason or another. If they had taken it down just a nudge I would have believed it. If they had shown some restraint to either the romantic tones or the kneeling issue, I would have taken it as Jon’s genuine feelings. But this way? It’s too much, too sudden, without having a proper build up to it. It’s just not how “Jon” would act.

This is mostly what if comes down to: the romantic hints over the season were really, really on the nose - dramatic, emotional scores and line reading that do not match the tone of conversation (cave scene), or third characters spilling it out for the audience (davos), or moving deep into soap opera territory (boat scene) - but just as superficial. All these hints are thrown into our faces without properly being set up or developed. There were countless possibilities to give it some real depth and as little trust as I have in Dickheads&Douchebags writing abilities I don’t understand why they wouldn’t use them. As much as I disagree with a lot of their choices I can contemplate why they are doing stupid. The whole stupid arya vs sansa subplot is there to create some tension and drama in WF. I get it. It’s stupid as hell but I at least understand where the stupid is coming from. I know what they are trying to achieve with that stupid. But this? Half-assing the big love story of the show? The only explanation that makes some sense to me is that Jonnearrris is a red herring.

A really well executed one, btw. Make sure the audience can’t miss it, but also prevent them from forming a real emotional connection to it. After all it is supposed to distract from the real storyline (I’m going to assume jonsa & targbowl) not compete against it. You want the audience to be shocked, but not hate you for ruining the most amazing, emotionally involving love story you’ve ever seen.

This leads me to my final conclusion: There are only two options here.

a) Dickhead & Dipshit missed out several obvious opportunities to flash out Jon’s feelings, because ... just because, and fucked up to effectively use their limited screen time to develop the grand love story of GoT. The cave scene, for all it’s romantic lighting, background music and line reading, concludes on the very political issue of northern independence. Dragon petting could have been used for Jon to make a personal statement (I have a direwolf I love and miss very much - as does the audience, btw - I wouldn’t call him “my child” but I got the connection you have going on with those lizards), instead Jon isn’t to keen of the fire breathing lizards and their conversation ends with him not being to sure what to think about her victory on the field of fire. Their goodbye scene could have been used to have them throw a last longing glance at each other, instead Danielle looks on while Jon has his back turned and doesn’t look back. Jon’s conversation with Jorah could have been used to cause and highlight some tension between them since they are “in love” with the same woman, instead it revolves around honorable, upright men and their deaths. His conversation with Tormund could have been used for some light-hearted guy-talk, as is Tormunds speciality, but instead it’s about the lives Mance could have saved if he had let go of his pride (and honor) and knelt. Again, there isn’t much in the season that would outright refute any romantic feelings from Jon’s side, he at least seems attracted to her and perhaps a bit intrigued (she is beautiful and a very fascinating woman if nothing else), but I can see missed opportunities to have Jon’s feelings mentioned or emphasized left and right. So many that it’s hard to believe Dumbass & Douchebag aren’t aware of it. If the entire season was building up to this “revelation” in ep6 and the following boatbang in ep7 wouldn’t they have used everything they got to actually build up to it? If this truly is where the show is headed, they did a very very lousy job. And don’t tell me that all the things I mentioned above would be “too cheesy” because the last Danielle / Jon scene in ep6 was fucking cheesy as hell. Btw, maybe my Jonsa-shipping-goggles make me a bit “immune” to all this, but if that’s the case, jonnearis-shipping-goggles make people overly perceptive to it as well. This accusation goes both ways.

Which leads me to the second option:

b) They didn’t mention the personal aspects of this plot point because they don’t really matter. Because things are not as they seem. They emphasize the political and “end of the world” issues in Jon’s story line and his relationship to danielle because those are the things influencing his behaviour, most importantly the drastic shift in his behaviour between leaving DSt and reuniting with Danielle on the boat on their way to the stupid stupid dragon pit meeting: He is giving up on his political agenda and uses all means possible to make sure Danielle helps them. He has learned from his predecessors mistakes (Mance not kneeling - and dying, Ned being to trustworthy - and dying, Robb falling in love with a foreign woman - losing his people - and dying) and is now using that knowledge for his advantage. There are only three possible payoffs to the “Northern fool” narrative: 1. Jon is making the same mistakes as the men he’s compared to and will suffer similar consequences (unlikely, since he is aware of that and has already broken with his mance-persona), 2. he does the same mistakes without it backlashing because Danielle is just so amazing (very unsatisfying storytelling) 3. he learned from it and doesn’t make the same mistakes. He goes along with everything she wants, tries to win her over by all means possible because what he said is true “D*enerys is their last hope”. Not only in this specific event of stupidly getting trapped by the Army of the Dead in the middle of a frozen lake because ~someone~ thought it was a great idea to go on a fucking idiotic wight hunt, without horses, adequate manpower or any real plan, but also in the grander scheme of things. If Danielle doesn’t help them (what if she refuses to go back north after one of her dragons was killed there?) they are fucked. That’s why Jon went to DSt in the first place, later admitting that is was a stupid idea, that’s why he went beyond the wall to catch a fucking wight, even though that was a really bad idea. All his actions this season were motivated by defeating the threat to the north. All of them (except for choking Littlefinger, *cough*). Even reuniting with Bran and Arya had to take a backseat to this issue. Is it really that far-fetched that his ooc-behaviour at the end of ep6 is the same? If you consider all the things mentioned above? He can’t risk her bailing on him, so he does everything he can to cater to her feelings and desires voluntarily and up-front, to make sure she fights the WW’s, to make sure she doesn’t have any excuse to leave them high and dry.

I would also like to mention that this theory doesn’t even need to implement any possible dark!dany or targbowl or just general endgame speculations. Except for one paragraph, this is solely based on what happened on screen this season. This isn’t about me being a salty shipper either. It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of any j0nerys romance really, but the big pay off in e6 was simply unearned. Either Dickhead & Dipshit fucked up writing a romance or they are presenting us with a wonderfully crafted red herring. Being the optimist I am, I’ll believe in the second until proven wrong.

I teased to write a “little something” about this issue, but it turned into a “fucking big something” instead. Thanks for sticking with me until the end!

#jonsa #e6 leaks #anti-jonerys #got spoilers #my stuff #got s7 #meta #ish #long post #I didn't proofread this one more time because writing this already took so long

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supified · 7 years

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Only Modern Thinking: Review of The Infinite Now

The Infinite Now, written by Mindy Tarquini is an interesting book which seems to cross a few genres. It might not technically fit as a historic fiction, but given the amount of research the author apparently did, it is hard not to see the parallel. I don’t want you to take my word for this, I’ll try to explain what parts of the book seem to work and what do not and why so you can decide for yourself. Comments are always welcomed.

Mindy Tarquini is a talented author and while you may not feel it appropriate to consider the author of the story, it can be an interesting way to gain meaningful insight. Mindy is a self-described Italian traditionalist and it shows in this book. The historical accuracy seemed to be of interest to her as she sneaks in little details about the experiences of Italian immigrants during the early twentieth century. She also has a very sharp wit, which is evident if you follow her twitter feed. The light heartedness finds itself in her book between the moments of intense drama. If you ever find yourself bored and a little more interested in the author I highly recommend reading some of her tweets, they can be quite entertaining.

One of the first things the summary of the book, expresses is the passage of time and the future. There is a time bubble involved and one of the first questions this begs is just what does that mean? Without giving away the story, this is going to be one of the central themes, but it would be a mistake to see this complex story as something so simple. Right? If a concept like freezing time isn’t complex enough, but even with the myriad of possibilities here the book manages to be far deeper than that.

If this alone has convinced you to give this book a try then great, but that’s just scratching the surface of what is going on in this book. She uses a lot of common tropes and techniques in unique ways thorough her story. Early on there is a hint of a romantic interest and the way the characters interact may seem familiar, but it would be a mistake to think this book is going to be in any way predictable. Giving up on the book early on would be a big mistake since things do not necessarily play out as expected. This also shows up in the way the book portrays traditional values versus modern thinking, something which you may recall is dear to the author.

One of the main themes in this book is modern vs traditional. The battle between these two concepts is waged practically the entire time and it may seem like the author is trying to push one view over the other. I won’t spoil where this goes, only that you shouldn’t assume you know or that the book is going to fall into predictable patterns. One of the things that is most fascinating here is the setting, around 1920’s when a similar battle was being played out in the US. The culture wars may never cease and this book captures it well and wraps it up into the theme along with the time element. If you have a horse in this race then try not to let the early book bother you, it is just setting the stage for what is to come. I do not recall what city the book takes place in, but it could have easily been Boston or New York.

The Setting is an extraordinarily fleshed out view of this time and prospective. The descriptions are not limited to just the lives, but also the houses and even the technology at the time. No small amount of effort is put into describing the individual aspects of the daily grind or the struggles that go along with them. The story weaves these aspects so closely to the plot that it ends up feeling integral to the overall narrative of traditional versus modern with a heavy dose of personal responsibility tossed in. Some of the descriptions may not be for the faint of heart and the loss that occurs as a fact of life is likewise not sugarcoated.

Is this book a straight historical fiction? It is not. There is magic in the book even if the book leaves some room for the possibility that the magic occurs all in the MC’s head. That interpretation would probably be a bit of a stretch and for those seeking something entirely mundane in terms of fantasy elements, this book might not be for you. The magical part is questionable in what is going on, most of it is vague and without a great deal of explanation for better or worse.

LGBT is a rather big theme these days and a lot of books will address it in one way or another. Given the setting, it would be entirely forgivable if it didn’t come into this book, but it does. How it comes into play and where it goes would be a spoiler, so I’ll avoid specifics. This might be a bit of a sticking point for some and given the resolution it may seem like the book is walking a very tight rope, risking offending people on both sides of the isle. The only spoiler, non-spoiler I can give is that the book doesn’t pass judgement on the subject. Ultimately the book does try to lampshade this a touch by reminding the reader almost instantly that this portion is written in the context of the era.

The biggest thing that might bother some readers is probably the sheer number of topics being covered, or at least their combined complexity. Even as they do tend to work well together, things like family, responsibility, friendship, time, change. . etc.. These all come up and are very important to this book. Amazingly everything is managed, but not exactly neatly. Some of the resolutions may seem to be a little poorly explained or require imagination by the reader to fully grasp. It may not have been possible to tell this story without taking some risk, so it’s up to you if this sort of thing will bother you or not.

Ultimately this is a very thought-provoking book that does a good job of weaving a story that doesn’t exactly fulfill the expected paths it will take. The historic setting is nicely mixed with a modern view of the world, even though it is written from the eyes of someone living in the century it was written. Though Mindy self-proclaims to be in love with traditional Italian culture, she isn’t afraid of showing an evolving view of the world and the constant march of change, nor does she ultimately pass judgement on that either. Though the start may be slow, the destination is worth the effort and there are many treasures to be found in this book. I personally found it quite recommendable for this day and age. Only modern thinking.

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yyhfanfiction · 7 years

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Smoke Signals by Just 2 Dream of You

On: FanFiction.net

Summary: “One-shot: During the DT, Shizuru finds herself alone with a hibernating Hiei. But when he starts talking in his sleep, she discovers a few things about him.”

Overall Score: 95.63%