George Martin, 2013: "In a very basic level winter is coming for all of us. I think that’s one of the things that art is concerned with: the awareness of our own mortality. “Valar morghulis” – “All men must die”. That shadow lies over our world and will until medical science gives us all immortality… but I don’t think it makes it necessarily a pessimistic world. Not any more pessimistic than the real world we live in. We’re here for a short time and we should be conscious of our own mortality, but the important thing is that love, compassion and empathy with other human beings is still possible. Laughter is still possible! Even laughter in the face of death… The struggle to make the world a better place… We have things like war, murder and rape… horrible things that still exist, but we don’t have to accept them, we can fight the good fight. The fight to eliminate those things.There is darkness in the world, but I don’t think we necessarily need to give way to despair. One of the great things that Tolkien says in Lord of The Rings is “despair is the ultimate crime”. That’s the ultimate failing of Denethor, the Steward of Gondor, that he despairs of ever being able to defeat Sauron. We should not despair. We should not go gentle into that good night".
JRR Tolkien, 1962 : "One reviewer once said, this is a jolly jolly book, all the right boys come home [...]- this isn't true of course, he can't have read the story. [...] Human stories are practically always about one thing, really, aren't they? Death. The inevitability of death. . . . . . (He quotes Simone de Beauvoir) 'There is no such thing as a natural death. Nothing that ever happens to man is natural, since his presence calls the whole world into question. All men must die, but for every man his death is an accident, and even if he knows it he would sense to it an unjustifiable violation.' Well, you may agree with the words or not, but those are the key spring of The Lord Of The Rings".
"Lotr is all rainbows and unicorns and Asoiaf is nihilistic and grimdark". Wrong, and wrong. In all its hope and radiance, lotr often gets very dark, and despite all the death and suffering, the hopeful moments in asoiaf shine bright. The meeting point of these two is this: having hope while in despair, and even better, refusing to give up because you have to go on despite not having any hope left.
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time travel au but make it fucked. I've figured out what the thing I wrote is. Make it Jmart. Make it Jonelias. Make it weird.
Soooooo Martin discovers a door in the tunnels when Jane attacks, and afterwards, he keeps dreaming about the door. Eventually, he goes looking for it. He's not expecting to find a multi story library behind it, working electricity, or a man chained to a wall, reading a book. He's definitely not expecting the man to drop the book upon the sight of him and he's not expecting the man to try and reach him like he's desperate for it. Or the wings. Martin isn't prepared for the wings either. Good Lord, he's found an angel, locked away under the Institute.
The man (Angel) is striking and beautiful, even if he does have too many eyes sometimes and also (the bloody giant wings???? what the fuck???) and he (It???????) seems to know Martin. Or wants to, deeply. The problem is, Martin doesn't understand, and he doesn't feel the same. (except for concern for its??? his?? well being, because I'M SORRY WHAT THE FUCK?) Martin doesn't understand why it doesn't just tell him what it wants, until he realizes it cannot speak. Then he gets the bright idea to use one of the mouldering books (some are newer, he notes) to write like a message or something. Then the Angel rips it out of his hands (okay, rude) and stuffs the page into its mouth (what the fuck, again) and...
then it speaks, in a voice both raspy and emotional, it tells him its name.
Its name is Jon, and its been waiting 200 years to meet him.
WHAT IS MARTIN SUPPOSED TO SAY TO THAT?
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If I Should Stay
On the 15th, as promised! Ngl, I definitely almost forgot this. I have SO many feelings about this one, y’all check the tags if you want my ramblings. Buckle up. Also, happy stabbing Caesar day.
Part 1 | . . . | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66
Steve works his jaw, staring at Will. “Yeah,” he whispers. Will looks down. “Hey,” Steve says gently. “That’s not on you, okay? And Jonathan’s a really great guy. He and Nancy both had a lapse in judgement. They got together a while later and they were better for each other than she and I ever were.”
“But they hurt you.”
Steve chuckles. “In the moment, sure. But I’m fine now, I’ve moved on. It surprised me just now because I didn’t expect her to react like that. I know that’s not who she is as a person, and I’m sure as soon as Joyce talks to her about it and she’s had some time to think about it, she���ll come apologize. But none of that is on you, okay?”
Will shrugs, playing with the hem of his pants.
Steve glances at Eddie, who winks and plops down cross-legged next to Will, nudging their shoulders together. “My dad’s in jail.” Will looks up at him, surprised. Eddie shrugs. “I’ve had time to process, but it took me a while to realize he just isn’t a good person. Now, my momma was an angel among women, she just had a disease. It didn’t make her a bad person. But they’re my parents, so that must mean I’m a bad person with a disease, right?”
“No!” Will says emphatically. “Just because they-” he pauses, mouth a perfect circle, before flushing and ducking his head, smiling a little. “Okay. I get it.”
“Good kid,” Eddie says fondly, ruffling his hair. “Now, back to the planning?”
“Probably,” Steve nodded. “First things first, who wants out?”
“Papa hurt El?” Mike asks. Steve nods. “Then let’s kill this fucker.”
“Language,” say all the adults, and Mike rolls his eyes.
“I’m in,” Will adds.
“Me too,” Dustin says, and Lucas nods.
Steve looks around, and all the adults present nod at him. Robin squeezes his hand, and Alli pulls him closer to her by his shoulders. “Alright, little brother,” she says. He elbows her. “What’s the plan?”
Steve sighs and looks to El. “What do you think, Ellie?”
“Everyone else is dead,” she murmurs. “But if I go into the rainbow room, I will see them.”
Steve’s heart breaks. “You don’t have to go anywhere you don’t want to.”
She smiles sadly at him. “You cannot promise me that, Steve.”
He meets Robin’s eyes above El’s head, watches her heart break. “Watch me.” He looks back to El. “I know what he put you through, El.”
“He loves me.”
Steve takes a breath, shuts his eyes for a moment. “Remember what I told you, last time you said that?”
El nods. “You thought the same thing about your parents.”
“Exactly. It took me a long time to learn, but they don’t love me. And there’s nothing I can do to change that. Even if I was perfect, that wouldn’t be enough for them. Does that make sense?”
She nods. “You love me differently from how Papa loves me.”
“Yeah,” Steve whispers. “Which do you like better?”
“Yours.”
“Do you know why?”
She thinks about it for a minute. “You love me because you see Ellie. He loves me because he sees Eleven.”
Next to him, Alli makes a broken sound. Steve reaches back to hold her hand. “Yeah, Ellie. That’s exactly right.”
“I do not want to only be Eleven anymore,” she decides. “I want to be Ellie.”
“And that’s why I’ll do all of it myself if I have to,” Steve tells her. “So you can be Ellie. You don’t have to go in the rainbow room, okay?”
“Okay,” she nods, wiggling around until she can bury her face in his neck and whisper, “I trust you.”
He blinks quickly. “I’m glad,” he whispers back.
“Ellie,” Wayne says, voice not much steadier than Steve’s. She shifts to look at him from where she’s tucked into Steve. “We all want you t’be just Ellie if you want it. We’re all gonna be right there with you.”
“Thank you,” she says quietly. “Steve?”
“Yeah?”
“I won’t be strong enough. If I see Papa.”
“That won’t be a problem,” Hopper says, checking his gun. She shifts to look at him. “He’s not going to hurt you again.”
She frowns and buries her face back in Steve’s neck. “I’m happy,” she murmurs. “But I’m also very sad.”
Steve sighs and hugs her tightly. “I know how you feel.”
“I don’t like feeling this way.”
“I know, El. I don’t think there’s really any way to get rid of the feeling, though.”
“Just life,” Alli says quietly, scooting closer and laying a comforting hand on El’s upper arm. “I know it’s a cliché, but it’s true.”
El looks up at Alli. “Okay. What’s a cliché?”
Alli meets Steve’s eyes, a smile starting to spread, and Steve thinks everything’s going to be okay.
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