#Instead of having a side line story for the longest time like in S1

[t100ficrecsblog]

an interview with @changingthefairy-tale​

What are you working on right now? Right now, I’m focused on BellarkeFic-for-BLM (I just got an amazing canon prompt I’m really excited to finish). I’ve also been participating in this round of the Chopped Challenge, which has been fun and challenging. In between prompts, I’ve got two WIPs that I’m slowly cranking through. Shoutout to every single reader who’s been incredibly patient while I’ve been so slow on those updates — though, reminder that you can donate to a BLM organization (even a $3 donation works) and request an update to get those higher on my prio list while I’m focused on that initiative.

What’s something you’d like to write one day? My absolute dream job and the ultimate goal is to become a showrunner for a prime time TV show. I love TV shows — I love the way actors and directors and crew take a script and breath life into it, I love how you take a general idea for a story and mold it into something amazing as you go, I love how a series gives a story more time to be fleshed out and explored, I love the concept of a writers room and collaborating on a story. It’s a different ballgame from fic writing (which I do for fun) and travel writing (which I do for a living), but I’m determined to make it happen. JRoth, I’m coming for your job, babe. 😉

What is the fanwork you’re most proud of? I’m still really new to fic writing, especially compared to some of the powerhouse writers in this fandom. And I’m sure one of my WIPs (when finished) will probably supersede this. BUT, my one-shot about Madi calling Bellamy on The Ring (She called you for 2,199 days) is something I’m really proud of. I’m a long-winded writer, so one-shots have never come naturally to me. This one just…clicked. It’s got some good lines in there that I’m proud of, and based on the feedback I’ve gotten, it really made readers feel something and connect to the story. It’s not my longest story or my most thought-out. But it shows my growth as a writer these past few months, and I’m proud of that.

Why did you first start writing fic? I started writing fic as a creative outlet for my writing. My day job is writing about travel and credit cards. And while I enjoy that, it’s just not as creative. My dream is to write for a TV show though, and I was craving a way to flex my creative writing muscles in a low-stress way. I started watching The 100 when it first came out, but I didn’t really get into the fandom until I came back to the show during the S5/6 hiatus. That’s when I started reading fics and reblogging stuff about the show on Tumblr. During the S6/7 hiatus, I had this idea for a Greys Anatomy AU, and my sister (who is also a major fan of the show) was like, “You literally write things for a living. If you want to write a Grey’s AU for t100, there is absolutely nothing stopping you.” I published my first chapter on that The Choices We Make in Dec. 2019, and the rest is history.

What frustrates you most about fic writing? For me, I think that the most frustrating thing isn’t even about fic writing itself; it’s the fact that it’s a side-hobby and not something I can dedicate my full attention to. When you write all day for your day job, then do some for your freelance gig, and then turn around and try to write for a few hours every night for fic… that gets hard sometimes — especially since starting quarantine where I’m not traveling, going out with friends, getting a break from it, etc. Fic writing is a creative release for me, and I absolutely love crafting and writing these stories that involve some of my favorite fictional characters. And I love interacting with other writers and fic readers, I love talking about ideas and exchanging headcanons and fangirling over my favorite writers’ works. But (because there’s always a but), sometimes I just don’t have the mental energy or capacity to write at the end of the day when I’ve turned in 3 deadlines for work. I’ve got all these ideas floating in my head, but only so much time and mental energy I can dedicate to it.

What are your top five songs right now? Oh boy. So I live alone, which means I’ve got either music or Netflix on in the background 24/7 because ya girl doesn’t like silence. I have a different playlist for different moods. I’ll share my fav song from each of those playlists. Lol Fvck Somebody by The Wrecks (On my “Summer state of mind” playlist for when I wanna dance it out in my kitchen like an idiot)

Don Quixote by Drapht (On @talistheintrovert​’s “My Good Bitch Murphy” playlist for when I’m feeling *edgy*)

that way by Tate McRae (On my “Pandemic Jams” playlist bc I like angsty music and this song is a Bellarke MOOD)

Washington on Your Side from Hamilton (On my “Feeding my Broadway Obsession” playlist for when I wanna sing show tunes and plot overthrowing the government)

Tea by Noah Davis (Shameless plug for Noah bc it’s a bop and I literally dated Noah’s older brother in junior high — so proud of this kid for making his dreams a reality)

What are your inspirations (books, songs, other fic, really good cake)? All of the above, except I like pie more than cake. lol But really, I kind of use everything around me for inspiration. “The Choices We Make” is inspired by my love of Grey’s Anatomy. “Intertwining your soul (with somebody else)” is inspired my the first draft of my YA novel (though the setting was adapted to a grounder canonverse AU). “The Day He Shut That Rocket Door” and “She called you for 2,199 days” were inspired by @historyofbellarke‘s headcanons that were brought up in S7 speccing conversations (shoutout to her for enabling my angsty ass). My most recent WIP “There are some things written in the stars” that I started as part of Chopped (but will continue because I’m obsessed with the idea) is inspired by my love of Timeless. And I have an entire Notion database filled with fic ideas — some one-shots and some multi-chapter fics — that are inspired by quotes, songs, conversations with friends, books I love, shows I adore, random HCs that pop into my head while I watch, my own life experiences, etc. I take inspiration in any form it decides to come in. 💕

What first attracted you to Bellarke? What attracts you now? I’m a ho for enemies to lovers — the idea that you can put your worst foot forward and show someone all the ugly parts of you… and that they’ll see that and somehow look past it to see the good stuff too, falling in love with your whole self instead of just the pretty parts. Yeah, it’s my favorite romance trope. And that tension is what originally drew me to Bellarke. Now, it’s a combination of things. I love each of these characters in their own right. I relate to Clarke in a lot of ways, and I aspire to be her level of badass. I straight adore Bellamy Blake (flaws, stupid decisions, and all) and would marry him in a heartbeat if he were real — I’m not even kidding. lol But I also love their dynamic. They are partners, best friends, perfect compliments to the other. They see each other in a way no one else does, and they are the one person the other constantly risks everything for. They are both so driven by their responsibilities to their people, yet that all typically goes out the window the moment the other is at risk. I don’t believe in soulmates in real life, but it’s nice to get to believe in this fictional world that they are just made for each other.

BESIDES Bellarke, what character or pairing do you like best on t100? My favorite character besides Bellarke is John Murphy. His arc has been BY FAR the best on this show, going from that little shit in S1 to this “asshole we love” in the middle to now a true hero in this final season. And through it all Richard Harmon has been amazing to watch on screen.

My favorite pairing besides Bellarke is Linctavia. Yes, that ship is problematic in a lot of ways, but I still loved their dynamic. Lincoln helped Octavia navigate this new world that she was so desperate to be apart of while being mindful of her safety. And I thought they were a good match — he helped tame her fire without putting it out, and she helped challenge the way he was raised. Given time, I think they could have become one of the most stable and loving relationships on t100. Of course, that couldn’t happen because Jason needed Bell’s actions in 3A to have heartbreaking consequences, O to spiral for her own character journey, and whatever mess happened off-screen between Ricky and him. But they still remain my favorite ship aside from Bellarke.

Why did you decide to start writing for bellarkefic-for-blm? The second I saw that Sam was planning on doing this, I reached out to ask how I could help/write/be involved. The BLM movement is so important, and this is an amazing way for me to contribute while pursuing my passions. It’s a way for the fandom to get involved and do something good. And ultimately, this helps organizations that need donations. Shameless plug for everyone to please go check out the Bellarke Fic for BLM page — check out the many amazing writers and artists we have participating, and send in prompts. Most of us are allowing WIP chapter update requests, and there are a number of us (myself included) who are matching donations made! No donation is too small, and you’ll be supporting a movement that is a necessity in the U.S. and beyond.

What’s your writing process like? My mind is literal chaos, so I plan and outline like hell in order to make sense of everything. When I get an idea for a fic, it goes on my Notion database. Within Notion, I write down my inspiration for the idea, and a pretty in-depth summary of where I want the fic to go — dialogue ideas, any feelings/emotions I want to invoke, literally just a brain dump of all my ideas. From there, I’ll arrange that brain dumb into an outline. If it’s a one-shot, I’ll generally write the whole thing in the Notion doc. But multi-chapter fics will get a checklist within Notion for me to keep track of progress, and I’ll actually write the fic in Google Docs. I generally start writing from the beginning of a story, but if I get stuck or have an idea for a later scene, the fact that I’ve outlined heavily allows me to jump around as ideas come to me. I’ll read each one-shot or chapter after I’m done to make sure it flows before publishing. I post chapters for my WIPs as I write them, which I should really stop doing. lol For my readers’ sakes, I should work ahead and publish on a schedule rather than making them wait for my slow ass to finish chapter to chapter. But right now, that’s my process!

What are some things you’d like to recommend? Oh goodness, too many fics to possibly name. Instead, I’ll link to my AO3 rec bookmarks (which isn’t all-inclusive of the amazing fics I’ve read in this fandom, but it’s got some good favs in there) and shout out all of our awesome Bellarke Fic for BLM writers. Y’all should check out their work (and send in prompts)!

Where’s the best place to find you (twitter? tumblr?) I’m @changingthefairy-tale on Tumblr and @changingthefairy_tale on AO3! My ask box is always open for anyone who wants to scream about the show, ask about specs, talk about my fics, etc. Come say hey!

#bellarkefic for blm #bellamy blake #clarke griffin #john murphy #bellarke #bellarkefic for blm interviews

[xsecretblastsx]

2x01 Summer Kind of Wonderful

SEASON TWO HERE WE GO.

I was dying to get here, this is one of my favorite episodes in the whole show. It’s also the episode were I really turned into a Chair shipper, so there’s that too, also The Hamptons!! Honestly was not to love about this episode.

I think this is the longest recap I’ve done in a while. As usaul recap under the cut.

Thoughts I had while watching:

I’ve watched this before and yet I’m still surprised our first taste of S2 is Nate going at it

After the super promising tease on Nate and Serena on the S1 turns out... she’s covering for him while he sleeps around... 😒

Chuck being Chuck, still a womanizer, still obsessed with Blair and as always ignoring Serena’s disgusted face. Also hilarious his enormous basket with cuttlery and such.

Look Joe Goldberg!!! Or is it Dan Humphrey? This bookstore setting is making it even more confusing.

Hi Jenny! And her never ending disatisfaction with her place at whatever she’s trying.

This scene between Chuck and Serena is so underrated. Her mocking face is hilarious. Pimp all you want Chuck it’s useless. Good luck in your suicide mission indeed.

What’s a Jitney? 😆How about where Blair returns to the Hamptons with a new beau. On your face Chuck Bass! On the words of GG: ain’t karma a bitch? We know Blair Waldorf is.

“A hot lifeguard is like Kleenex: use once and then throw away, you couldn’t ask for a better rebound” so says Blair 🤔

“The only thing lamer than dating Dan Humphrey is mourning Dan Humphrey” speaking words of wisdom Blair Waldorf

Of course all the wisdom goes out the window when Chuck appears. With the most extra polo ever and the shortest shorts in the history of menswear

Not that Blair wasn’t transparent with all her talk about James but oh my god Serena’s is so bad a going along with it.

“You’re lying. Your eyes are doing that thing were they don’t match your mouth” Chuck Bass: a walking manual on Blairisms

“I bet you’ll like him as much as I do” “If by that you mean I won’t like him at all then you’re right” meanwhile Serena is trying to pretend she’s anywhere else and not there silent witness to that verball pin pong

I always wonder how Jenny and Dan end up being like that with a Dad like Rufus

So this is “Jenny admitting she was a bitch and that Eric didn’t deserve it” first season.

“A honk instead of a knock? Did someone order a townie?" Blair’sn lines this episode are hilarious

I feel bad thinking that Nate’s main contribution so far is looking really good without a shirt.

Chuck Bass: a walking encyclopedia on everything Blair Waldorf.

If only the show had given us more Chuck and Cece interactions.

I feel I should have kept a score for all the Chuck and Blair jibes to each. That pin play on Blair’s part was check mate though. Auch. I almost feel bad for Chuck. Almost

In terms of cinematography that scene were they talk about the pin is gorgeous probably my fave in the show only behind that scene in Paris in S4. The matching outfits, the colors and the scenery are sooo good. Also the acting.

Knowing her like he does it’s interesting Chuck doesn’t realize Blair only gave that pin to James to hurt him. But the fact that it works is very telling on Chuck’s insecurities and feelings.

Nate being kicked out so the husband won’t catch him wouldn’t be half as hilarious if it wasn’t for Serena’s “no effing way face”

“Damn that Motherchucker” a novel by Blair Waldorf

I love Blair’s summer dress by the way

“All I could see was that Chuck Basstard” the sequel novel, also by Blair Waldorf

What a difference a summer makes: Nate and Chuck talking about Blair. I do feel Nate’s like “thank god it ain’t me anymore”

“And unlike you I don’t lose something if I let it out of my sight” Blair strikes again, this girl is on fire.

This episode is kind of proving that I barely care for any other storyline that doesn’t have the original four. After those two side by side arguments, getting back to Dan is really annoying

I kind of love it when Rufus points out to Dan how he never stops talking and doesn’t let anyone else said anything. Is kind of boring already how he only seems to write about Serena and the UES.

Chuck’s cricket outfit reminds me of how I should enjoy the crazy outfits while they last.

Ofc Chuck’s has a PI on speed dial Eric, duh. Gotta love him though: “i know that face, that face is not your friend” sorry Nate

I’m still trying to come up with the reason why the show let the fake dating storyline between Nate and Serena be such a waste. Whyyyy????

Just in case I forget: this white party was sponsored by Vitamin Water. For real there’s product placement and then there’s this.

The constrast between Serena looking like a greek goddess next to Nate’s I didn’t bother of an outfit is making me dizzy.

Chuck’s outfit for the white party kind of deserves a post of his own. Then again is probably my fave outfit of his on the whole show.

James calling out Blair for using him, while mentioning charade feels kind of overplayed now. Anyway he’s already pointing out how Blair and Chuck are the same and that’s why they deserve each other.

“Don’t you see? We’re the same? Stop trying to fight it” “I will fight it to my last dying breath because any resemblance to you is something I would hate about myself” this whole dialogue feels like a premonition.

Serena and Nate kissing and being totally into it while paparazzi plays is the background is just one of those moments. This is the kind of content I’m here for. Only to be ruined by Dan Humphrey.

And here we are again Dan getting mad when he doesn’t have a right to, thankfully karma is a thing in the form of drinks poured all over him

And somehow is Serena the one busy cleaning that suit, useless Dan is useless

Chuck’s “I’m so screwed” face when his PI tells him Blair’s guy is actually a british Lord is priceless.

THREE WORDS EIGHT LETTERS SAY IT AND IM YOURS.

Epic scene aside they both look so good here. This episode is gift in matching outfits.

Dan, Serena and fireworks. 😪 here we go again

I loved this episod the first time I watched it and I think I love it even more so now. It’s really good, full of funny lines, great outfits and epic moments. Season two is as of now my fave season (i think this is also true for many people) and it starts with a bang. Quite literally actually with the opening scene being Nate going at it with an “older” woman, which I guess was meant to be shocking in part because we ended last season wondering if something was going to happen between Nate and Serena.

Sadly it didn’t and that’s my biggest complain for this episode because how on earth did they thought it was ok to waste all that set up, and to add insult to the injury they are like so Serena and Nate are secretly dating... but it is just like a throway line because except for that amazing kiss at the white party we never see them fakee dating and I honestly want to pull my hair out of frustration. Just imagine the possibilities that weren’t, granted fake dating is one of my favorite tropes but it could have been quite the storyline imagine: Serenate fake dates and that sparks the feelings that were pushed aside on S1 but that were always there, and now there’s nothing that can stop them to act on it, except Serena has feelings for Dan too, and she struggles because of it all the first half of S1 until eventually she picks Dan and breaks Nate’s heart, combined with all the other pressures in his life, he wants something easy and this happens to coincide with Blair’s downright spiral and that’s how Nair happens again in the second half of S2.

My point being you could add so many more moments in the Serenate saga, also give more force to the idea the show always tried to do: that Serena can’t really let go of Dan, because Nate and her are quite something and yet... and still have almost the same story on the second half which was important because it gave closure to Nair and also had both Chuck and Blair realizing a couple of things. Alas one can only dream and be happy that at least we got that kiss at the white party

So back to the episode, we learn that Nate is having and affair with a married woman, Serena misses Dan a lot and basically mourned him the whole summer meanwhile he was being an asshole in the City fooling girls he met at his intership and Jenny is working and trying to stand out in her own internship at Waldorf desings. Which reminds me Eric is such a gem of a character, he’s always have good one liners but whe’s also a nice counter balance to all the manipulation and bitchery going around him. Anyway all of these storylines are barely a tease of what’s coming, and they really take off in the next episode, so I’ll get into them then, so at the end of the episode Nate manages to keep the affair goin into the city, Jenny earns a bit of respect from her boss and Serena and Dan see each other again (thanks to Cece which is another character I wish we had see a bit more) they meet at the beach ready to see if there’s something to salvage between them. We’ll see.

The real star of this episode are Chuck and Blair. This episode belongs to them. I’ve seen comments that claim this is the season that made them epic and really take off and I quite agree, and this episode in particular sets up the stage for it, touching on a lot of the aspects that are going to be their arc for this season and even beyond. So at the end of S1 Chuck stands up Blair and she goes alone to Tuscany and he doesn’t goes after her the whole summer. Instead he spends the summer in The Hamptons being Chuck Bass, she ends up in France. We soon learn that while Chuck  enjoyed himself during the summer Blair wasn’t far off in his mind:, the minute she’s back he goes aftet her, roses in hand only to find out she came back with a new guy, and she does everything in her power to rub that fact in his face which Chuck should have expected, it obviously bothers him but truth is they both know this is just Blair trying to get back at him for abandoning her, he hurt her, she obviously doesn’t tell him but he ruined his summer and she couldn’t stop thinking about the motherchucker

Shenanigans ensue but there are bits that really stand out: first of them the heart pinn. That's a telling bit about Chuck’s feelings, when that pin make its first appearance on S1 it was the beginning of the end for Chuck, the meaning of it was what got her to accept going to Cotillion with Nate  and now she has gave it to James and Chuck buys it because I guess part of him couldn’t believe she would go as far as to use that to hurt him, that’s a low blow and she also didn’t gave it to him that week they were going out after the wedding, even though it went really well but most importantly he believes she can’t really feel that way about him because he’s just not the kind of guy someone can feel something for, but specially someone  like Blair Waldorf, who dreams of finding her prince charming and such, and to his utter horror it’s revealed that Blair’s new guy is actually a british lord. Just his luck.

He’s anything but that, therefore not for Blair. He tells her as a much later in the episode when he let’s her know that he basically stood her up because he was afraid of her getting to really know him and see he was not good enough nor someone she could be with. And this is something that’s going to be quite the struggle for him for a long time, more than once during the show he’s going to remove himself from the picture because he believes she deserves someone better who can actually make her happy, and this season this happens quite a few times.

Thing is nothing is ever that simple, and this is the other bit that really stands out for me: when James calls her out on how she just use him to make Chuck jealous she justifies herself by pointing out Chuck’s an awful person, who lies and deceives so he kinds of deserve it, and James points out the fact that well she’s sort of the same, and they deserve each other. She lashes out at Chuck because of this and blames him for her argument with James, it’s his fault she played with James, and Chuck’s point out that no one force her to do anything she did it because they’re the same, meaning they scheme and manipulate to get what they want, so she should just stop fighting this thing between them, she rejects him claiming she would hate any resamblance to him. This whole argument is honestly quite interesting, because variations of it are going to keep popping up the rest of the show, and depending on who you ship you either take literally as if  Chuck is the root of Blair worst tendencies or rather see this argument as representation of Blair struggles not with Chuck, but with herself.

Blair struggles in accepting herself, at her core she’s an insecure person, and the fact that she has a dark side that she can’t exactly change because it’s so deep roothed in her bothers her even before she and Chuck were anything, to me it bothers her not because she really wishes she was nice & good person, but rather because Serena is  nice person, who’s regarded as literal ray of sunshine at times, and Serena got two things she wanted for the longest time: positive atention from Eleanor and Nate’s interest.So that fight within herself was always there, it didn’t appear the day she started dating Chuck, is just that in the same way they brought out the best in each other, when things go bad between them the opposite sometimes happened, and even then when they blame each other for something half the time it was to share some of the hurt and to avoid dealing with their own shortcomings and mistakes. Truthfully Chuck and Blair did something for each other no one had really done for them they accept each other fully, Blair’s able to accept and love his darkness, and for Chuck there’s no darkness in Blair she’s the way she is and that’s what makes her wonderful. It was easier for them to love each other than to love themselves. 

Finally the biggest stand out of the episode is that iconic scene, the one that really puts into place the dynamic they will have for the rest of the season: Three words, eight letters are brought to the table, and they won’t move forward until the words have been said. It makes sense, because they tried this twice before, the first one came out of nowhere and it ended with Chuck getting dumped in favor of Nate, and that burned him badly, the second one Blair was the one who got hurt, and both times this pretty much happened because they aren’t able of telling each other how they feel, particularly Chuck. The first time he didn’t let her know he actually cared and wanted to be with her, the second one he didn’t tell her he was afraid, and all of this was too much too soon. So Blair wants, needs some kind of reassurance, and it makes me wonder how that week after the wedding really went, what happened? how wonderful it must have been that even though he abandoned her a that helipad she still had hope in the fact that he may love her. He doesn’t say it, and yet I still love this moment so much for  because jus by asking him to say it is in some way an admittance on her own feellings, and he fails to saythe words  but he did try, and the fact that he did try is also a form of admittance and as such  from here on no matter what happens, how much they fight and toy with each other there’s always an undercurrent of love behind their actions,and this is (borrowing a phrase from a certain popstar) the most amazing unspoken dialogue ever. 

Random bits I’ve noticed

Chuck has a bouquet of yellow roses for his intent on getting Blair back. If my memory serves right, those were his mom favorites

I’m such a sucker for the little backdrop details like the Van der Bass house having all these background pictures of the wedding

Thanks to Chuck for giving us the rank on Blair’s favorite films: Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Roman Holiday & Funny Face (even if he said Charades to prove a point)

I’ve read somewhere I think it was on twitter that Blair’s crying in the garden scene was unscripted, Leighton did because she got really caught up in the scene particularly by Ed’s acting. I’ve looked it up but so far I haven’t found anything on this.

There’s a bunch of miniature cyclists under the mirror where Cece’s doing the final touches to her hair, looks sort of weird.

that vitamin water is even on the invitation, agust 30, 2008.

#gossip girl recap #gossip girl rewatch #gossip girl #2x01 #summer kind of wonderful

[mebongster87]

Could Arya be the Valonqar?

In this post, I provide pieces of foreshadowing (book verse and show verse) that sets up Arya Stark as a strong contender to be the Valonqar to kill Cersei.

Cersei has been on Arya’s Kill List for the longest time. Killing Cersei will be incredibly satisfying for both Arya and Sansa (and for the audience too) because Cersei’s death at their hands will be justified and I hope this allows Arya to finally find peace. How much of this Kill List Arya gets to complete remains to be seen but finally putting an end to the one woman who has been at the heart of all the tragedy that has befallen House Stark might just be what Arya needs to achieve nirvana. 

1. Valonqar means little brother in High Valyrian. Arya, disguised as a boy named Arry, when she escaped KL with Yoren, right after witnessing Ned Stark’s death. Arya as Arry the boy makes her little brother to Robb, Jon, and Sansa.

2. Season 3 Episode 6 The Climb

When Arya is with the Brotherhood and Melisandre comes to get Gendry from them, they have this interesting conversation...

Melisandre to Arya: “I see a darkness in you. And in that darkness, eyes staring back at me...brown eyes, blue eyes, green eyes. Eyes you’ll shut forever. We will meet again.”

Who in this story is famous for having beautiful emerald green eyes????

CERSEI LANNISTER!

Arya may be the one to shut Cersei’s green eyes forever.

3. The Braavosi Play in Season 6.

The name of Lady Crane, who portrays Cersei in this Braavosi play, has been offered to the Many-faced God. Her name was put forth by the girl Bianca, who plays Sansa. After watching the play and Lady Crane’s habits, Arya decides to poison the rum, something that only Lady Crane drinks. However, Lady Crane and Arya develop a friendship of sorts, which prevents Arya from killing Lady Crane and ratting out Bianca as the person behind the poisoning attempt. Waif is around to notice this, which leads to Arya getting stabbed. Lady Crane then heals her back but loses her own life at Waif’s hands. 

The subtext of this little play, I think, was to foreshadow that while Arya spared Lady Crane (Cersei), who was kind to her, she will not spare the real Cersei, who wreaked havoc on House Stark.

If you remember Tyrion’s plans to hire faceless men to kill Cersei from the books...this play feeds into that. 

"A very skilled assassin.""There are such. I used to dream that one day I'd be rich enough to send a Faceless Man after my sweet sister."

-Tyrion X, ACOK

Arya is now a Faceless Man, a killer. It is interesting that a Sansa stand-in (Bianca) is the one who offered Cersei’s name to the Faceless Men to kill her. What’s equally interesting is the ways employed to murder Lady Crane....poisoning her drink.

I believe, Arya will use the poison Strangler in Cersei’s drink of choice, wine, and Cersei will choke on it...mirroring how Joffrey died...and this is what these lines from Maggy the frog’s prophecy imply.

"And when your tears have drowned you, the Valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you."

-Cersei VIII, AFFC

In the Braavosi play, Bianca wanted Lady Crane’s spot as the Queen of the show, she was jealous of Lady Crane’s talent and skills and wanted to oust her so that she could become the new Queen of the show. Doesn’t this reek of “Younger and More Beautiful Queen” part of the prophecy to you?

Cersei is the current Queen of the 7Ks and when Cersei dies, Sansa gets to become the new Queen (by marrying Jon). 

While Sansa isn’t jealous of Cersei, she has learned a lot from her, something she reiterates again in S7. In S8, Cersei will find out that Sansa is the prophesied YMBQ.

4. Foreshadowing from the House Stark (S1-S7) Video and the “cat of a different coat” from the Rains of Castamere song

I wrote a bit about it in this post

If you remember the lyrics of The Rains of Castamere,

And who are you, the proud lord said, that I must bow so low? Only a cat of a different coat, that’s all the truth I know. In a coat of gold or a coat of red, a lion still has claws, And mine are long and sharp, my lord, as long and sharp as yours. And so he spoke, and so he spoke, that lord of Castamere, But now the rains weep o’er his hall, with no one there to hear. Yes now the rains weep o’er his hall, and not a soul to hear.

What I speculate is that Arya or “Cat-of-the-Canals” as she is in AFFC, is “the cat of a different coat”  and “no one” from this song and will bring the end of House Lannister by killing Cersei just like how Tywin had ended House Reyne and Cersei had finished off the Tyrells.

There is also another nod to cats regarding the Valonqar from AFFC

In life the crone had screamed at them in some queer foreign tongue, and cursed them as they fled her tent. But in the dream her face dissolved, melting away into ribbons of grey mist until all that remained were two squinting yellow eyes, the eyes of death.

The valonqar shall wrap his hands about your throat, the queen heard, but the voice did not belong to the old woman. The hands emerged from the mists of her dream and coiled around her neck; thick hands, and strong. Above them floated his face, leering down at her with his mismatched eyes. 

-Cersei VIII, AFFC

Right before Cersei dreams of Tyrion with his mismatched eyes as the Valonqar coming to choke her, she dreams of two squinting yellow eyes, the eyes of death. Cats have yellow eyes, again another subtle nod to Arya as Cat-of-the-Canals possibly being the true Valonqar.

5. Season 6 Episode 8 No One

In this episode, Arya finally becomes No One and decides to go back to Westeros as Arya Stark of Winterfell. Arya is ready to start doling out justice in the name of House Stark to all those who have harmed them.

Next Episode is Battle of the Bastards when Sansa says this to Jon.

Now whichever way you look at it, killing Cersei will not be easy. Why? Because the Mountain guards Cersei. Killing the Mountain is not going to be easy for anybody. In order to kill Cersei, you probably have to kill the Mountain.

Whether Sansa gets kidnapped or not remains to be seen. If it does occur, then a rescue party will probably be organized to get Sansa back. Jon will probably be wanting to go and this might just be what tips the scales in driving Daenerys mad, that Jon will choose Sansa/House Stark over her. Others part of the rescue party could be the Hound, Brienne and Arya. As much as I would like to be Jon to be the hero to rescue Sansa echoing Aemon the Dragonknight rescuing Queen Naerys, Arya being the one to do so will be far more satisfying. The two Stark sisters sticking together and protecting each other like a pack, like how Ned would’ve wanted, is what I would like to see.

Now it may look like rescuing Sansa will come down to a Clegane Bowl, but I have a different take on it.

The GA is gunning for a Clegane Bowl and while D&D may give that to us as pure fan service in some format, I don’t think it will pan out the way the GA is wanting it to, meaning Sandor will not kill the Mountain. I don’t think, Sandor’s arc is headed that way. He has turned a new leaf and him killing his brother and becoming a kinslayer, will make all of the progress the Hound has made over the past couple seasons come to naught. So the person I see instead killing the Mountain is Arya. Furthermore, the Mountain has also been on Arya’s Kill List for a long time.

In the House Stark Video, there is this quick progression of shots where they show us the Hound falling down from the side of the cliff when he was defeated by Brienne.

followed by a shot of Arya and the Titan of Braavos.

Look how the shot of the Hound toppling over mirrors the shot of the Titan of Braavos with his legs spread out.

In the books, the Titan of Braavos is described as 

“The Titan of Braavos. Old Nan had told them stories of the Titan back in Winterfell. He was a giant as tall as a mountain..”

-Arya I, AFFC

The Titan of Braavos is a nod to the Mountain. The Mountain has brown eyes, (so did Meryn Trant) and could easily be one of those eyes that Arya will shut forever that Melisandre mentions in Point 2 of this post. ( I think the blue eyes is going to be a white walker...before I use to think it will be Melisandre herself cause she has blue eyes, but I think Davos will be the one to kill Melisandre in S8, for burning Shireen)

If you remember S4E08, The Mountain and the Viper, Oberyn Martell was able to bring down the Mountain by running circles around him and then toppling him. We may see something similar with Arya and the Mountain. While Arya gives the gift of mercy to Sandor (and later we see Sandor lives), she may gift death to the Moutain.

There is also this conversation in S7E07 The Dragon and the Wolf between Sandor and Brienne, which makes me think that it will be Arya who will take out the Mountain.

Sandor: “Whose protecting her (Arya) if you are here?”

Brienne: “The only one that needs protecting is the one that gets in her way”

Sandor: “It won’t be me.”

What this means is that it won’t be Sandor who gets in the way of Arya trying to kill Cersei, but the Mountain and that will cause the Mountain to be killed by Arya. 

Because right after this when Sandor meets with his brother, he tells him “You know who's coming for you? You’ve always known.”

And like Arya said to Walder Frey’s wife in S7E01...”...tell them Winter came for House Frey”...Winter aka Arya Stark will come for the Mountain.

All of these are speculations, so take them with a grain of salt. These are just my thoughts. Would love to hear what others have to say.

#GoT S8 speculation #arya stark #sansa stark #the hound #sandor clegane #the mountain #cersei lannister #valonqar #ymbq #house stark #arya as the valonqar

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S1 Ep 37: Swapping Bodies OMG There’s So Many Bodies

The card hell card games continue, and Yugioh has decided to fall on old habits and hide everything under his RNG hat.

Yep, for the 27th or 58th time people have just completely forgotten what it means for Pegasus to be a psychic. Yugi’s also a psychic so how did...anyways...

Up to now I thought the hats were a random toss of the dice, but it turns out Yugi has to choose which hat and apparently this is information that Pegasus can just reach over and nab and so Pharaoh and Yugi do their favorite thing and just start freakin the heck out.

(read more under the cut)

So, the brain brothers decide to have a time out, which is a thing they can do now, where they hang out in this hallway between a vine covered wall and a Tetris map.

It’s a little unclear if this is all happening in a split second, or if Pegasus and Yugi are just staring at each other this whole time while Joey and Tea twiddle their thumbs. I’d like to think the latter.

I’m glad we finally see the inside of this kid’s head. I’ve actually wondered for kind of a while and I’m happy to see it is sufficiently weird. Too bad we only ever get to see this blue floored room.

To think that Yugi’s super annoying habit to keep a secret and lie to everyone he loves became plot relevant to beating the final boss.

Also it’s kinda weird that we put so much pressure on Yugi and Pharaoh melding brains together like for...so many episodes, for the real answer all along to have been “Just don’t.”

It’s enough to screw over Pegasus.

Joey’s eyes have so many different looks. Like I’d say this is off model Joey but have we ever had an on-model Joey?

Considering that this is alternate history Egypt, I’m guessing that Pharaoh’s inevitable backstory plot will be way weirder than normal Egypt--it’s just that normal Egypt set a pretty high bar.

Side note from the research I did into weird Egyptian folklore, there’s some dispute about whether or not the Pharaoh that drew ho-ho’s and twinkie’s wherever he had a battle was one person or 3 people, which is even more like our Pharaoh.

Also on your own time please look up the story about the Pharaoh and the piss if you do not know it already, it is the precursor to Cinderella in the weirdest way possible.

Overall, he still hasn’t said which Pharaoh he is and hasn’t given himself a name. Yugi just calls him “spirit” which is...weird, honestly. I don’t even know if he knows at this point, he’s been dead a long time and without a body is it even important?

Speaking of people that clearly have no freakin idea what their actual name is or just don’t feel like it’s important, the ghost living in Bakura is having an excellent day.

It’s OK, storyboarder, it happens to the best of us.

None of you took off your jacket while running up this staircase? No wonder it took them like 5 minutes to catch up.

I’m actually genuinely surprised Tristan ever caught on and that his mind hasn’t been wiped yet. Like, this is the longest he’s witnessed dark magic without getting erased. He’s improving.

Anyways, lets get some lazy animation in there, with this slowly moving monster on a shot that slowly pans out. Mm. The good stuff. That’s the good low-budget stuff I’m looking for.

Anyway, Bakura really didn’t need to bother with the Man Eater Bug because he decided to throw a pot at them. Yes, a pot. It wasn’t all that interesting to look at so I didn’t cap it but the pot has been somewhat a recurring card that just kind of always screws up your day.

It’s a pot.

Bro and I did a quick count just to make sure, and not counting people that came back to life, and not counting people who have been dead before episode 1:

the imprisoned card boys trinity + PaniK + Guy who got ritually sacrificed last night + these unfortunate mooks who were just doing their job.

We may have forgotten someone though.

As for Bandit Keith, he died in such a wacky way that he’s probably fine.

Pegasus is so bothered that he can’t read their cards, that they wipe out his little toon town and he gave every hammy villain ever written a run for their money in how poorly you can scream “nooooo” Like I genuinely enjoy Pegasus’s VA but damn that line reading: wow. He destroyed it. Like not in a good way but in a “that was the take you decided to use?” kind of way.

And I went to see if there was a Youtube recording, but typing in “Pegasus nooooo” got me a lot of fan videos instead. So, I thought to myself, you know what? I can record it, it’s like half a second and I have the software, I do art and stuff!

So I go to record it in OBS but the thing about OBS is that the “record” button and the “stream straight to twitch” button are of course right next to each other. Like clockwork, I accidentally clicked “Stream” on OBS and had a legit panic attack that the five people who follow my art-only twitch account would suddenly get an email notification that instead, I’m streaming the worst voice acting in Yugioh. Thankfully, twitch has a safe guard where it won’t stream unless it’s been longer than a few seconds so...phew.

Needless to say it didn’t make it to this review. Maybe later, but I’m terrified of making that mistake again.

After mourning the loss of his weird fanfic cards, he decides “Fine then! I’ll make a freakin shadow duel! Have fun!” and Pharaoh was like “Dammit, again?”

Bakura pulling an Office, looking straight into the camera and just nodding smugly at me that he will never have to explain to me how the hell he broke all the rules so far set up in the past 30-some episodes of Yugioh.

So Ryou (which is Bakura’s first name it turns out--I did a hair of google research but didn’t click on any pages because of spoilers. We’ll talk later about how no one is close enough friends with him to use his first name.) is kind of a weird guy, right? Like he’s got a lot of the Yugi problem where you don’t always know where one ends and the ghost in his brain continues. When they’re compared with each other like this, especially in an episode where Yugi has to be independent, it’s an interesting take on the same problem.

Both Yugi and Ryou rejected their spirits at one point, but the big difference is that Pharaoh is a lot more flexible, and kinda understands that to get the puzzle to work you do actually need two people. This whole duel with Pegasus would have been pretty moot with one person. As for Bakura, he’s decided to try going solo with some desperate conjoined brain-twins surgery, and I guess we’ll find out how well that works out for him.

So Tristan has to do whatever Bakura says for a while out of the fear of getting sacrificed to a pot.

Remember, canonically, no one has checked on Tristan and Bakura in about three episodes because they assume Tristan has extreme constipation.

Anyways, next week on Yugioh:

Will Bakura take over Mokuba’s body and get hair that is like Super Saiyan huge? Will Tristan throw Bakura over his shoulder WWE style like he did to Double Spike Mohawk Mullet Man? Is anyone going to fall to their death down this big tall tower? It’s just this tower seems really underutilized, and I’m not used to seeing a villain on a tower like this in a cartoon without someone getting Disney-deathed.

#yugioh #yugioh recap #photo recap #humor #s1 ep37 #so many people died in this episode #bakura #ryou bakura #tristan taylor #yugi muto #maxamillian pegasus #joey wheeler #tea was there I guess

[coshayphinelove]

just some thinky thoughts after i wrote a tag essay that got way bigger than the tags.  feel free to read if you want, but forewarning... i have more questions after writing than before so..

so before i start anything i’d like to clarify that i love ob.  most of my issues with it are bc i got my hopes too high and held the creators to the standards i hold myself, which is not fair in art.  also, i’m only talking about the ob team and the characters, not the fans.  don’t get all in a twist, this is just me... thinkin.

so ep 5 was great.  2013 me would have loved it.  but 2017 me is like.. hard into communication and explicitly labelled representation.  and cophine is neither of those things.  like... i can understand that there’s not enough time to linger on stuff the way i would want to.  i get it.  but like... there was enough time to linger on alison.  for five seasons.  the first time she ever did anything main plot-moving was this season, she was always almost completely seperate.  she got flashbacks out the wazoo to explain her entire life story.  we met her mom.  her monitor is redeemed.  

i just am very unhappy with the doling of screen time.  like... it’s not even about shipping anymore.  it’s about plot holes and i am genuinely confused about the story at this point.  like delphine and donnie are easily comparable characters.  donnie monitored alison for close to a decade.  lied to her for a decade.  once he found out about the clones started doing things without alison’s knowledge or consent.  he is forgiven.  almost immediately.  for everything. 

delphine lasted as a monitor about... a month?  she was so bad at lying that cosima caught her.  she immediately came clean.  then in the flashback begged cosima to believe that she would always protect her.  and yet?  the conflict surrounding delphine for the entire show is ~is she good or bad???~.  and at every turn she is keeping that promise while making and keeping other promises.  and everybody, including her love interest keeps throwing her mistakes in her face.

donnie gets side plots and new dynamics to explore.  delphine has to have all of her characterization as a subset of cosima’s screen time.  donnie gets a seat at the bubbles table, delphine does not.  she has to leave and get shot (a whole different rant of equal length).

on another note, alison and cosima are also easily comparable characters: side characters used to provide info for sarah to react to.  cosima’s safety is always at risk, she’s been boiled down to her love interest for several plots, and she doesn’t ever get to acknowledge her Very Obvious PTSD and abandonment issues.  alison has low stakes conflict (up until this season, but that’s already over), she is never boiled down to donnie’s wife, and we got to watch her parse through her issues in s2 in great detail.  

like even the flashbacks.  like alison got half her episode told in flashbacks and it was gorgeous.  i by no means wanted that when there’s so much going on but i thought we would get at least a little more.  

we met alison’s parent.  we hear about her in a natural and very not forced way.  cosima gets one very long line about her family very late in the game in a clunky and almost pointless way.  (like... why was it in there?  what purpose did it serve?)

i think the problem is subtext.  everybody is always talking about the subtext.  but the problem is there are several issues that the writer’s address almost explicitly.  like alison’s drinking problem.  we learned all about that and we cheered for her when she went to rehab and we we sad when she relapsed. with cosima it’s.... two instances of smash cuts of bad memories and her reacting to them.  ......*gestures with flailing arms* ISN’T THAT ALSO IMPORTANT???  

like.  i’m going to keep talking about delphine but.. that’s just where my head is rn..

but from s1 to s2 her arc was learning what her role would be in clone club and then how to do that.  and she made some big huge strides there.  and then she comes back for s3 and it’s gone.  she’s just.. not doing that anymore?  like they took the time to film her telling cosima immediately after she messed up that she had, in fact, messed up.  and then, what, a few days later she Can’t Tell Cosima Anything Anymore?  and don’t get on me about screen time here.  it could’ve been like.. 2 more lines.  “it’s not safe, they’ll hurt you.”  “b-but delphine??” “i’m sorry.”  LIKE?  they just wanted the drama of cosima not knowing.   which i can see wanting, but it didn’t end up working.  because then you had scenes showing delphine doing things for clone club.  so then... it was just.... confusing?  and imo drawn out for too long.  

but even to this day I, a delphine stan, am still kind of iffy.  she literally made an ultimatum (promise me, everyone.  you will never make an ultimatum in your romantic/sexual/platonic relationships.  that’s a manipulation tactic that a lot of abusers use.  slippery slope please don’t do it.)(i’m also not saying that delphine is an abuser or that you’re an abuser but just.. it’s a thing to be careful of.)  

“accept our toxic relationship as is or leave.”

IN WHAT WORLD IS THAT OKAY??? like i get the sentiment behind it.  like she was saying, ‘hey cosima i know i’ve been bad but like you don’t have to stay if you don’t want.  i’ll stop kissing you and everything.’  but then....  have her say that?  everything delphine ever says to cosima is wrapped in 3 levels of subtext.  or alternatively, cut the kissies in half and let them have a few lines about a new promise or something.  idk if that’s just her being extra or if that’s just.... the writers.

bc the creators... bless them.. they’re trying.  but when it comes down to it they were predominantly straight men.  and they did add tatiana as an executive producer which is like.. the head idea guy who tell the writers what to write.  which was awesome!  but like.. she’s straight (as far as we know).  so like.. i really don’t want to pull the sexuality card here.  but i think i am.  

bc it’s one thing if you don’t give romantic, mental health, or communication plot lines very much time.  it’s another if you give a straight couple plenty and a wlw couple scraps.  it’s one thing if the straight couple gets to delve into things multiple times and the wlw couple gets ten seconds before the plot needs to keep going.

i get that the cosima-centric ep was very plot heavy, stuff was happening, i get it.  but like... if you cared about giving good rep as much as you claim you do wouldn’t you... re-structure so that they have more than 10 seconds?  wouldn’t you sacrifice some of that oh so dearly beloved body horror to let them just... talk for a hot sec?  or let them be in the same room?

i know it’s hard work.  the longest original work i’ve ever finished is a 30 page script.  and even then it’s a lot of ‘is this dialogue working?’  ‘would that character say that?’ ‘that’s a plot hole’  ‘wait where is he going again?’  i get that there’s a lot to keep track of so like... knowing who cosima’s parents are wasn’t on a post-it note on the beat board.  but i just...  one of the questions i always ask myself is ‘is this healthy?’  so like... i always make sure that if the dynamic isn’t then i either address it somewhere else or change it so it is.

i don’t think they were asking themselves that.

bc straight guys are used to power balances in their relationships.  they’re used to ultimatums.  whether it’s in their life or in fiction, that’s what they see.  and they’re socialized to see that as normal.  so when they’re made aware that the media they’re making is feminist/progressive, these guys seemed like they did research and tried to make it more so.  but... they missed the mark.  bc straight men will never know what it’s like to be a wlw or a woman.  that’s just how it works.

and then.. like... they were so hyperaware of the fans and what they wanted.  and i think the thing they understood the best was that they wanted cophine kisses.  bc a lot of ppl wanted that and like...ppl who are cophine critical sometimes also want cophine kisses.  so that’s the loudest thing they heard/saw. and instead of doing the emotional work and the plot work they thought every scene had to have kisses.

and they also knew that they could always fill in the gaps at panels.  WHICH.  not canon if you say it at a panel y’all.  they knew the fans would spread their patches all over the place.  so instead of doing the work and explicitly taking a stand they just.. let people ask them questions so they knew what people were wondering about and then...... answered.

i don’t think they did any of this maliciously but like.. the whole drama surrounding sarah’s sexuality, the great debate of whether it was problematic or not.  like... knowing now that they didn’t intend it to come off as her lashing out and having a mental breakdown helps, but.... that’s still what it looked like at first glance.  and if i’m just a DVR viewer who doesn’t meticulously stalk everything ob online, i wouldn’t know that.  and they do that with delphine’s intentions a lot.  they do it with sexuality a lot.  they do it with gender a lot.  and it’s like.... it’s representation but... label-less to the masses.  like my dad was in the room when sarah was kissing a girl and he made some snide comment about it.  and it’s like... they were just too aware of fans that they gave them what they wanted (sarah kissing a girl/cophine kisses) without thinking about if was the healthy thing for the moment.  they didn’t think about the ramifications.

and it’s just so frustrating.  bc i love this show, i do.  there’s so much to talk about and so many themes and allegories and cool stuff.  but they just... do a lot of stuff that..... really grinds my gears.  like this isn’t even a comprehensive list.

#blog stuff #thinky thoughts #i think i like that tag...