#and you know what I stand with my classist children

[francy-sketches]

In their mean bitch era damn

#.txt #i forgot they said this 💀 that's so funny sorry #we think ​they’re so cute and sweet only bc we don’t see them interact with poor people lol #and you know what I stand with my classist children #this was payback for arya calling tommen a fatass idc #'but she only thought it she didn't say it' he sensed her bad vibes he's an empath

[bethanydelleman]

AITA for advising my goddaughter not to marry a penniless sailor?

u/PoetryandProse

Looking for an honest opinion here.

Some year ago my best friend died. I am childless unfortunately, but she left behind three daughters, at the time they were E 16, A 14, and M 10. I became something of a mother figure to them, especially to A. We both love poetry and dislike playing cards. Also important: their father is high rank (I can't say what without doxing them).

This year, A was 19. She met a man, W 21, who was in the navy. He had no money, no current posting, and way too much swagger. Imagine my horror when A told me they were engaged! Not only was he far below her in status, but he had no plan to support her as a wife or a mother to their inevitable children. He told me he was "lucky" and he knew he would be rich. As if!

We are at war with France right now! W could get lucky and win huge prize money or he could be unlucky and die. Or come home missing half his limbs, or just never make more than his salary. This is a huge risk for A! And her personal fortune isn't really enough to live on.

So I told her that this was a horrible idea and to break it off. She did. Now A has been really sad and withdrawn, she's even lost weight. I really feel like I made the right decision, but it's hard to see her suffering. AITA?

Top Comment:

u/MiniBabyCakes

Wow, NTA at all!

I don't love the classism in this post, but you care about this girl and you told her some hard truths. She probably isn't ready for the responsibility of being married if she's making these reckless decisions. Especially to accept someone without any money or a job!

Hopefully, A will move on soon and find someone else. All you can do is keep being there for her.

u/BunnyBunBun I don't know, I want more INFO. Did A actually ask for advice or was OP just sticking her nose in without anyone asking? I have a feeling that the class thing is a bigger deal than OP is admitting...

u/Indiana-Dreams Are you saying she's just supposed to stand there and watch a person she cares about ruin her life? And who cares if she's classist, this is a bad move no matter what!

AITA Jane Austen Masterpost

#AITA Jane Austen #lady russell #anne elliot #frederick wentworth #jane austen #persuasion #I am firmly on her side #it would have been a profoundly risky move #and we see all through the book the bad ways it could have turned out #even a long engagement is talked about as a bad idea #Anne made the right call in the end #even though it cost them both a lot

[aegor-bamfsteel]

What do you think about Selyse Baratheon? Sometimes she gives me vibes of Cersei and Lysa.

I’m a fan of Stannis, but even I know that he treats her terribly, and he wouldn’t have been better to a “more attractive”, more pleasant, more fecund wife. You thinking of Lysa/Cersei makes sense because she’s an unpleasant person trapped in a loveless marriage, which helps show why Selyse is how she is (this is one of the strengths of the main series, how even minor characters have context for their actions). The difference between Lysa/Cersei is that not only is Selyse never attractive (men go out of their way to mock her facial hair, and she never has a loved one that softens her character), but she doesn’t matter as much. Cersei is queen and Lysa is Hand’s wife, daughters of Lord Paramounts, both of them become regents, both of them have sons they spoil; meanwhile, Selyse is the niece of a Florent, only chosen as a bride because Jon Arryn wanted to curb Tyrell power. Marriage to a king’s brother is supposed to be a great triumph for her…except the king deflowered her cousin in her marriage bed, she’s lady of an inhospitable island with few followers, her husband is more interested in ships and smugglers and can hardly stand to touch her, so the only child she has with him is a daughter, who had greyscale as an infant. She does the opposite of spoil Shireen, snapping at her to not talk about her cousin to Val, sending her to her room, kissing her on her unscarred cheek, Shireen wears her hood in her presence curled up away from her…It makes sense that she’d be so taken with the Rhllor religion. Suddenly she matters, her husband is the savior of the world rather than an embittered Master of Ships, all that has gone wrong in her life (Edric’s conception, Stannis’ coldness, her lack of children) can be undone by the right magic words and actions (even child burning). Whereas Cersei/Lysa found comfort in lovers (or pretend lovers), she found her sense of purpose in Rhllor, and thus will hold on to him to the end. She’s a lot more than “crazy lady with fetuses in jars” like the show depicted.

She actually has similarities to Stannis in their uncompromising attitudes and stiffness with people. However, just like Cersei/Lysa, she’s drawn much less sympathetically/impressively than her male counterpart. Petyr is one of the most formidable threats to House Stark in the series with little but his wits/money-making; Lysa is emotionally unstable, easily manipulated, and he kills her halfway through the series once she’s no longer useful to him. Tyrion and Jaime are hailed as two of the best characters in the series because of their complexity, and both are capable of bravery and even some kindness; contrast Cersei, who enables torture, murdered at a young age, is also vain and easily manipulated, runs her regency into the ground in less than a year, etc. GRRM says that Stannis is a righteous man for going North, he believes in meritocracy, and he has the most known victories of any commander in Westeros; Selyse…can you think of any redeeming traits for her? She mocks Cressen, advocates burning a child, wants to let the Hardhome wildlings die (so much for saving humanity), is classist and willfully misunderstands wildling culture, and she brings in the Florents who are incompetent (Imry) or cruel (Axell) leaders. Jon comments that she is always disappointing him. She has none of Shireen’s innocent openness, Stannis’ accomplishments and vision, Davos’ honesty and loyalty, or even Melisandre’s powers and showmanship. She’s repeatedly demeaned for her looks (as Lysa and later Cersei are), and I don’t think she’s made a sensible political decision in the series. But she doesn’t even have the “must protect my child at all costs” motivation of Lysa and Cersei, who do love their kids as more than just heirs to a seat, and took desperate actions to defend them. Maybe some of the ASOIAF theorists are right and she will show some love for Shireen at the end, giving her life trying to protect or avenge her, in a somewhat positive character twist.

#ask #opinion #selyse florent #asoiaf #paralells

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Adam B. Coleman

Published: Dec 15, 2023

Fewer people are lower than a leftist protester who disrupts the lives of regular people just to make a gesture that accomplishes nothing. They behave like scummy privileged children as they make themselves more important than people with real responsibilities.

And I truly mean this when I say privileged because they clearly don't know what it's like to have your job reprimand you for being five minutes late or driving an hour to a job that barely pays you enough money to take care of your bills.

The thousands of people they interrupted on the highway in Los Angeles suffer the repercussions of being unable to make it to their destination on time. How many parents were late picking up their children? How many had their jobs on the line as they sat in man-made traffic?

I remember a video of a man who was being held up by protesters on the highway and the man was pleading with them to let him pass through otherwise he'll violate his probation. They didn't care that his freedom was on the line and he was actually trying to turn his life around.

For them, the ends always justify the means and if it means you go to jail so their "message" can be heard, then so be it. What's become blatantly true is that these people who act like they're the saviors of the world don't care about the people who live in it.

They're trained to be "disrupters" to bring attention to whatever nonsense social cause at the time but it's really about bringing attention to themselves. They're narcissistic performance artists who are forcing you to patronize their public theatrics.

Any logical person knows that blocking the highway has zero correlation to a ceasefire in a region halfway across the world but the goal isn't to bring a ceasefire but to cease our comfort. It's the irony of the most privileged people taking away hard-working American's comfort.

They're the grown-up version of children who fell on the floor screaming at the grocery store when they didn't get the candy they wanted except now they lay on highways having public tantrums for an outcome they can't bring to fruition in the Middle East.

And just like those spoiled children, all they can see is what they want and have no care for who they impact along the way to get it. Their public theatrical showcase is more important than you providing for your family.

These people sleep comfortably at night without a care in the world for how many emergency vehicles in the Los Angeles region couldn't reach people in dire need. I mean, they risked their lives to bring peace to Gaza, so you can risk yours by not making it to the hospital, right?

None of the consequences come in their direction because they'll be bailed out of jail by leftist non-profits in hours and given lenient sentences by a justice system that lacks the balls to make an example of people who put the lives of others in danger with an unlawful protest.

They'll feel no shame because they'll get high-fives from equally shameless people. They'll get told how righteous they are for standing up for the oppressed while completely ignoring how they oppressed thousands of people so they could get public recognition.

So, I mean this with all of my heart: they're amongst the most despicable, unrespectable, and insufferable people that exist in our society. They don't care about the poor or the struggling working class because their actions never show this type of care.

They're sociopathic classists who exercise their privilege when they see fit and couldn't give a damn about how it impacts you. I don't use the word "hate" often because it's reserved for special people, but I legit hate these people.

And why not? They hate us too and it shows.

--

==

Woke Privilege.

#Adam B. Coleman #protesters #pro hamas #pro hamas protesters #blocking traffic #just stop oil #sociopaths #sociopathy #woke privilege #religion is a mental illness

[utilitycaster]

What bothers me on principle about Syldor: the man is an ambassador. His ENTIRE JOB is to be a good representative of his people and foster mutually beneficial relationships. If it takes twenty years and his estranged children showing him up by saving the world for him to decide that maybe his society and he in particular could stand to be less of a classist/racist* prick, it's hard for me to feel especially impressed. (*On that note, it looks like the current guide did some strategic editing about mixed ancestry, but the way half-elves were originally described was that humans saw them as a blessing, but elves saw them as impure and as something lesser. The first edition specifically said "the elves of Syngorn have looked on them with contempt." Whether it's currently part of the lore or not, that...kinda set a certain tone about that whole family relationship. It wasn't a great tone.) As for the others: Howaardt suffers in my recollection because that plot was happening right when my own father died, so it's hazy and I frankly don’t want to backtrack to remind myself of the details beyond "Tary eloquently told him off for his failings and I'm glad he said what he did." I’m with you about Thoreau, though. That man’s the worst.

So just to stave off any further questions...to be honest I don't need to know why anyone on an individual level thinks this about Syldor, and I do get that a lot of people don't recall Tary's arc terribly well for a variety of reasons. Call me cynical but "fandom opinions tend towards the less nuanced, and it's very easy for one person's highly specific projection to spread around as The Correct Interpretation" tends to explain it on a broad scale.

That aside, this feels like it seriously misses the point. Taking only 15 years and two visits from his estranged children for him to apologize - even badly - and begin a slow about face against his entire culture, even when he knows it will never be enough to mend the relationship? Quite a lot of real people would, genuinely, do anything for their parents to do the same.

(I also think that Syngorn's xenophobia does need to be considered in the context of "the ambassador from Syngorn to the primarily human society on the continent was assassinated, kicking off a bitter three-decades long war, less than three centuries ago and very possibly in Syldor's living memory." It doesn't make it justified, but the tone-setting is actually like...fairly good world-building that puts this in context.)

It is also rather irritating that in a fandom that loves a redemption arc, someone who has, again, fucked up badly, but then made an honest to attempt to improve, is so frequently thrown in the same (or worse) bucket as a serial gaslighter rather than treated as "kind of an asshole." Which is, to be clear, what I'm arguing. I don't think he's a good person. He was bigoted and took the twins away out of a misplaced sense that they couldn't be happy in a small town with their human mother. I think the twins are justified in being mad at him still. I would not expect them to ever forgive him fully. My point is that there are shades of gray here that are entirely ignored. (This also happens to cross into a more serious issue I have with fandom frequently diminishing some pretty horrific emotional and psychological abuse such as Thoreau's, but that's also a whole different story.)

With all that said I covered Syldor in the original post primarily because I found it particularly hypocritical that in TLOVM, he was as awful as the fandom makes him out to be, and unhappiness with the story shifted to the twins and Percy acting in ways that were consistent with Syldor being worse and with their mental state re: everything else going on being very different than in canon.

I guess the underlying point is that I'm fairly vocal when I find the story isn't hanging together logically, and both C1 and TLOVM do hang together logically. That, again, doesn't obligate anyone to like it, but I do want to observe that it does, in fact, make a lot of sense if one considers the actual canon of how Syldor behaves in each work, and it specifically makes sense for Vex's arc and the changes made to it.

#answered #pagerunner-j #tlovm spoilers #cr tag

[llycaons]

ep44 (2/2): not that I like him but the antagonism towards su she seems a little classist

why did wwx terrify children for fun lol. more importantly, why did wen ning go along with it? he seemed intentionally intimidating. I don't think he wants to be seen that way

anyway wwx bemoaning the fact that he can't strike fear into children's hearts is so funny. like he doesn't want to be blamed for everything going wrong but he DOES want to be seen and respected and maybe even feared for his power. and actually I get that. he is super powerful and he's been disrespected by the kids for weeks

oh yeah, again they have the same skin tone BUT lwj is shinier. must have something to do with the lighting or makeup

omg my favorite minor character, Female Cultivator With Dirt on Her Face. you can tell she's an antagonist because of the. because of the dirt

aww I forgot this. good old ozz, standing up for wwx. jgy's plan was quite bad honestly because if he starts shit and blames wwx then all wwx has to do is show up to prove his innocence by saving the kids. saving children is the number one way to rehabilitate your image. also sect leader ouyang's hanfu is tight as fuck

CLASSIC NHS LINE

who tf is this and why is he named. who cares. would be funnier if we wasn't named

aw sweet we got a visual of lwj standing with wwx against the world. well, another one

SWEET hanfu my leige

wwx shouting and pointing at the jins: THERE CAN'T BE ANYONE ELSE!!! LOOK!!! THEY'RE THE BAD GUYS!!!

this section of the show always felt kind of awkward and pointless to me. just a lot of people yelling and wwx not liking it very much and also lwj is there

uh oh. that wwx expression...oof. when you still really care about someone even though they've hurt you really badly and don't want anything to do with you and you feel guilty for what happened between you but you also can't stand how they treat you. and they're bleeding in front of you. anyway he jumps in to protect him

lqr too! lwj jumps right in as defense. I don't think his relationship with lqr is actually too complex. lwj doesn't deal well in vagueness or uncertainty. he defied his uncle and will do so again, and certainly disagrees with him about things, but he still respects him and cares about him as an elder and as his uncle

and look...a wen saving them. the irony

locked in a room with no spiritual energy and the yiling laozu, who says this to you. everyone's worst nightmare

nhs is bleeding?! I don't know if we've EVER seen that. he keeps out of danger pretty well

also, he's pushing the narrative into wwx's hands.

THIS TO SU SHE 😭 he's so polite too with his 'allow me to ask a question' then so rude even if unintentionally lmao

rly embodying the teacher role here.

lwj's love language is acts of violence, as petty a misuse of power it may be. you know that quote from bottoms? it's so them

lqr either likes ljy or hates ss because ljy did NOT quiet down about criticizing the su sect and he's right next to lqr and only lsz chastised him

okay I do not like su she but the fact that people hate him for 'copying the lans' is so fucking stupid. if he wants to found his own sect, what else is he going to do? he has the skills the lans taught him, of course that's his basis. in criticizing him so harshly, the lans come off as petty and really insecure for a rich and established clan. and this in the screenshot...THEY started in on HIM. the man was just defending himself. as soon as he complains about the disrespect, suddenly they're all 'well we have to be civil!' I swear this series makes really good point about classism with wwx but then it turns around and uncritically reinforces gentry hatred of lower classes by making characters like su she jealous antagonists who just aren't good enough to respect

anywayt. I always liked how wwx turns his back on everyone to ask lwj something. he gets all quiet and intimate

ohhh neat idiom

I love wwx verbally demolishing antagonists so much. he's that bitch

this is smart tho. like this is what I'm saying. granted betraying the sect was bad but he was a teenager and like he's shat on and disrespected for his entire life for not being very talented or original I guess when I KNOW there's gotta be untalented cultivators in other wealthy sects that still have a place in the cultivation world. but like he's SMART he figured that this would work and it DID.

here's nhs pushing the narrative for wwx again, helpfully verbalizing his thought process so everyone else gets it quicker.

personal highlights:

lwj's smiles in the very beginning of this episode were so nice

mm family <3

wwx's radiant gorgeous smile when looking at toys with lwj

wwx's moment remembering the wens, and his decision to let the past go with that beautiful scene of letting the dirt pour out

Lady with Dirt on Her Face my favorite minor antagonist

all the gathered cultivators' sick threads

wwx's 'why don't we have a chat' and his polite rudeness and his teaching voice

nhs nudging things along

everyone like 'noooo don't be divisive' once su she starts insulting the lans after first BEING insulted by them. come on guys

#cql re-rewatch

[semper-legens]

139. Hillsborough Voices, by Kevin Sampson

Owned: No, library Page count: The 15th of April 1989 would be a date etched into the minds of Liverpool supporters forever. Nearly one hundred spectators were crushed to death in the Hillsborough Stadium. Tragedy enough, but almost immediately, the police began to cover up their part in the disaster by pinning the blame on fans. The result was a struggle for truth and justice that spanned decades of hurt for those affected. My summary: My rating: 5/5 My commentary:

I...don't know how many people outside the UK are familiar with the Hillsborough disaster. Hell, I'm not sure how many people outside the north west know the details. I knew the shape of the story - the bullet points, as it were - but none of the specifics, so I wanted to learn more. I was born in Liverpool, and it remains the city dearest to my heart. People from Liverpool are often demonised as being benefit scroungers, thugs, criminals, scum, but this is just classist nonsense. Sure, it's not like Liverpool's perfect (particularly historically) but a lot of the problems with Liverpool as a city come down to decades of neglect by the government - 'managed decline', as they call it. And this, Hillsborough...this is one of the most potent and painful reminders of how the government sees Scousers and how they're willing to throw a huge amount of people under the bus to cover up their own mistakes and maintain the status quo.

(Warning below the cut for disasters, death (including the death of children), police mismanagement, police neglect, and generally the police being arseholes.)

Here's what happened, in short. (If you want to know more about the subject, please look into it, I'm just giving an overview.) Liverpool fans were given the worst, smallest, more dangerous end of a stadium that had not been safety-certified for a semi-final against Nottingham Forest. The turnstyles were not up to the amount of fans, and the police who were meant to be controlling and organising people going into the stadium made some terrible calls. A bottleneck formed, with supporters going down a central tunnel into a single central pen, rather than being guided to the side pens - which was made worse when an exit gate was opened to let people through without said tunnel being blocked off, meaning that people were funnelled into the already-overcrowded centre pen.

By this point, the crush was deadly. Fans were climbing the pens to try and get away from the crush, with some being lifted to safety by people in the stand above. The match was stopped, but the damage was already done, and in the crush 95 people died. The death toll would become 96 in 1993 when one person who had sustained traumatic injuries had life-support switched off, and rose to 97 in 2021 when another person with irreversible brain damage from the disaster passed away.

The disaster itself was horrific. There's no doubt about it, and I do not wish to de-legitimise the trauma of the actual event in my next statement. But the disaster might not have occurred, and people might have been able to heal from the trauma and move on and deal with their grief, were it not for the actions of the police. As I implied in the outline above, the police were one of the main causes of the disaster. They mismanaged the crowd. They didn't take steps to ensure safety. But what I haven't yet mentioned are their actions during and after the disaster.

Police formed a cordon across the pitch to stop Liverpool supporters from crossing the pitch, because they feared violence or a pitch invasion. Police wouldn't let people out of the pens despite them literally pleading for their lives, and in some cases pushed people back into the fatal crush. Police didn't let emergency workers and ambulances onto the pitch - or at least didn't alert them to the gravity of the situation, meaning that the response to the disaster was slowed. Many police just stood around watching while fans attempted to save lives and get as many people out as possible.

And afterwards? This book is a collection of testimonies from survivors, families of the victims, people connected to the disaster in one way or another. There are a few testimonies where they speak of having gone to the morgue to identify the remains of their loved ones, only to be pulled aside immediately afterwards and interrogated by the police, with no social worker or legal representation. The people who report this happening note that the police were focused on whether they or their loved ones had been drinking before reaching the stadium, mere hours after the disaster itself. And the reason why would be soon apparent. The police blamed the crush on supporters.

More than that, the police blamed everything on the Liverpool fans. They alleged that Liverpool supporters were beating up police attempting to give the kiss of life, urinating on the police, pickpocketing the dead, threatening to sexually assault the body of a dead teenager, that the disaster was caused by thousands of ticketless fans attempting to break into the stadium, that fans were drunk and disorderly and brawling and fighting and that was why the disaster occurred.

Needless to say, there's no photographic or video evidence of this actually having happened. Because it's bollocks. Because the police made it up to justify the fact that they fucked up so bad that ninety seven people died.

Most of these allegations were made in the newspaper The Sun. To this day, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone selling The Sun in Liverpool. Hell, the place where I work is outside of Liverpool, and I've still seen 'boycott The Sun' stickers around recently. To cause a disaster is one thing, to turn around and claim that it was actually the fault of the victims, when most of the people who were helping and trying to save lives and fighting so hard to protect as many as they could were the fans themselves, is absolutely odious.

But of course, the government took the police's side, and still nobody has been convicted of murder or manslaughter as a result of the Hillsborough disaster. How long did it take for a verdict of unlawful killing? Well, it was recent when this book was published. In 2016. Twenty seven years for an official proclamation that the victims were not to blame. Twenty seven years where the families did not get the justice they deserved. Just because it's easier to demonise Scousers as thugs, as drunks, as scum, than to admit that the police. Fucked. Up.

You'll notice I haven't spoken much about the actual book, but honestly, this whole rant is as much of an endorsement as I can give for this book. This book made me angry. I knew the cold facts of what the police had done, but I didn't feel it quite so much as reading the testimonies of the poor people involved. I knew that the cops were covering their own asses, but I didn't know they were questioning bereaved families about being drunk straight out of the mortuary and were blood-testing all of the victims for alcohol, including children. I knew that the aftermath of Hillsborough was awful, but I hadn't read exactly what happened in the voices of those who were there. This book is horribly, painfully relevant. I implore you to read it if you can.

Next up, two strange kids move into town.

#Hillsborough Voices #Kevin Sampson #bookblr #book blog #book blogger #5

[tired-reader-writer]

Enabled by the 2 notes on my “do you want this AU” post, here it is, or at least part of it because it got LONG:

Okay, so

I was gonna introduce my OCs but screw it, let's just talk about the world instead

So I'm gonna establish that this is alternate history

The change is that there's way more schools (well-funded ones at that!) accepting commoners and girls, due to the efforts of a certain charity organization's efforts. I don't have a name for them, but let's call them Tulip.

Shit's doing this well because Tulip has been a thing for 20 years.

Tulip is no ordinary charity org, however

We'll get back to that

It has three founders: Willard Hans Seymour, Shannon Seymour, and Edmund Velvet. We'll also get to them later.

With that preamble aside, we dive into the story proper

Young Albert is part of the London branch of Tulip. He really likes them, he's only met Shannon once and the other two founders never, but he admires her a lot and inwardly wishes she could be his mother instead. His father, Earl Murtagh (changed Moriarty to Murtagh, expect many name changes to pop up) still does acts of charity but only for appearance and good reputation, as in canon. Albert meets and adopts the two brothers as in canon (renamed Olivier and Lewis respectively) and things go roughly the same for a while.

Until Willard and his daughter Erianne swing in like a wrecking ball

Okay, more like two sudden and very courteous guests at the Murtagh estate but my point still stands

Albert and the Earl chat with father and daughter, but oh Willard's not here to chat with a faker, he's on a mission. He basically manipulates the conversation to make the Earl suggest Albert show Erianne around while the adults chatted.

Alright then.

Albert has heard of Erianne, heard of this girl so much like her mother, the girl who won a court case representing the lawyer-less workers of some workhouse just recently. She had yet to appear in London up until this point, and he notes her attire is... odd. The skirt silhouette is normal like what a girl her age should wear, but she paired that off with the shirt waistcoat and coat combo of menswear style.

Okay...?

As soon as they're in the garden out of earshot of anyone present she asks that he take her to his newly adopted brothers

Albert's heart drops because he knows what his family's doing to them is shit, he tries but he can't stop it, and it'd make a really bad impression in the eyes of the daughter of a charity org founder he really admires

In case the weight of the situation hasn't sank in yet, lemme clarify

Albert feels like an outsider in his own house. He can't relate to his family, his family thinks there's something wrong with his head and acts like it too, and not even the servants are on his side. They obey his mother over him. He may be heir but he has no power.

And at school... what makes you think he had friends, in an environment where children of classist families congregate? With none who shares his ideals?

Tulip had been his only solace

So in his mind: lose their respect -> lose the only place he's ever felt he belonged

So understandably he's panicking a whole lot

Erianne states that she already knows what's going on, her parents know, and they're going to help. But first she must meet them. So he takes her to... I'm not sure whether it should be his room or the brothers' room, but she basically gets to meet them, and reveals that her parents are gonna get the three out of this family's grasp but it will take time and probably would end in the family's death.

Albert is shaken but he steels his resolve, Olivier and Lewis are... suspicious but they decide to ride along.

There originally was a scene where Willard sneaks into the two brothers' room late at night and calls Albert there too, and they hash out a plan together, but I'm considering scrapping it— replacing it with some sneaky meetings at the org office instead, but whatever the case is they are given a plan of what'll happen next, and also somewhere along the way revealed that Willard is actually a notorious underground Robin Hood figure criminal Robin Kinglet. Probably in the scene Erianne meets them for the first time but hm...

Oh yes the criminal thing

Let me explain

Tulip is actually one of the many fronts of an underground criminal/rebel organization who's against monarchy and pretty much sick and done with the British Empire's BS

They intend to go through a revolution and instate a republic instead

Willard is no mere jovial harmless looking man, he's an active information gatherer and leader of said many crimes and schemes and all the shit going on underneath to fund and prepare the org

Shannon and Edmund are of course in on the thing 100%

Two new maids are employed at the Murtagh estate, but they're actually spies/agents sent in by Tulip™ to help the boys endure and also keep contact with Willard.

Something happens that tanks the reputation of the Earl and the family even if Albert's stayed relatively clean, I haven't decided what yet but the three brothers know it was orchestrated by Willard. Servants quit their job at the estate, that kinda stuff happens, until the kids and the two maids set fire to the manor, after which the two maids disappear into the night, so as to not get caught. They returned to their base.

Lewis still burns his own face deliberately, which reduced ppl's suspicions and it'd be actually shown. Lewis is smart, okay!!

No one complained when Willard swooped in to foster the children, the children of a fallen family and two of them orphans anyways. The three brothers live with Shannon and Willard in the countryside estate— their main base of operations.

The AU spans from their childhood to all the way up until they win the war— probably around 1870s but could probably go longer than that. Shenanigans ensue, basically:

Featuring: History professor Olivier, politician Albert, lawyer Lewis who works exclusively for commoners and victims of the wealthy and nobles' bullshit

Erianne and Lewis are lawyer buddies

Ollie, his eventual love interest, and not-Sherlock are locked in a three-way rivalry. A great many things have exploded or burnt to dust.

Not-Sherlock has no love interest as of yet.

Lewis gets a boyfriend. As a bonus the boyfriend is trans and he's very soft.

Not-Bondler is actually trans. His name is Jaime Bondler. His love interest is not-Watson.

Not-Mycroft is an antagonist as is Queen Victoria. Moneypenny too.

So uh, that's it for now, I actually have a lot more under the surface such as backstories and everything, additional cast members, the structure of Tulip the rebel org, etc, but imma stop here now. This post must be hella long.

If y'all want me to elaborate on anything just shoot me an ask. Pretty sure my askbox is open.

#moriarty the patriot #yuukoku no moriarty #Painting A Perfect World #<- that's the name of the AU #William James Moriarty #Olivier James Murtagh #Louis James Moriarty #Lewis James Murtagh #Albert James Moriarty #Albert James Murtagh #Willard Hans Seymour (OC) #Shannon Seymour (OC) #Erianne Adelaide Seymour (OC) #soon to come: Eilidh Areia MacKay and Bryen Bryce #Edmund Waverly Velvet (OC) #moriarty the patriot critical

[drunkengodsofslaughter]

Hey, this is mikes-pineapple-pizza (it's a sideblog so I can't send asks from it so I'm using anon). These have to be some the wildest takes I've seen:

"Lucas is classist because he says that Eddie looks like he hasn't showered in two weeks in Lucas on the Line"-- I don't even want to dignify that one with a response.

"Vickie is emotionally abusive to Robin in s4"-- I don't even know how the hell someone came to that conclusion, honestly. Still makes my brain hurt, tho.

"El is actually the bad guy because she 'took Dr. Brenner's side' in the fight against Henry"-- I have actually read this, and it actually made me want to scream.

"People only hate Billy because he represents the 'anger of the proletariat'"-- That one actually defies logic. The fact that someone thought of this idea then wrote an entire essay on it makes me fear for the future of humanity.

Yeah, those are my top four. This is just the tip of the iceberg, though, because there are a lot of insanely bad takes out there. I tried to go for the more absurd ones for this, rather than just the normal bad ones, though.

Omg hi! thanks for clarifying! And I didn’t realize that side blogs couldn’t send asks from it so that was new info so thanks. My reactions to each are going to be in the same number format for what you have it as.

1. Okay that is insanely weird and gross. Like god that’s so weird. I honestly don’t even know what to say to that take cuz it’s just so out of left field.

2. Okay this gets on my nerves. People complain about vickie not having enough screen time and yet they pull this out of their asses. Which also is so weird cuz I take this to mean that vickie was being emotionally abusive to Robin cuz she had a boyfriend and didn’t know about Robin’s crush. And was just living her own life. Like that’s not even in the ball park of being emotionally abusive to Robin. It’s just vickie living her life and somehow that’s being emotionally abusive like it makes no sense. Yep this take def makes my brain hurt too.

3. This take makes me want to scream too cuz holy fucking shit. El legit is just trying too survive and get Henry to calm down the best way she knows how- seeing kindness in people. Like she isn’t even taking brenner’s side which makes me think they didn’t watch the rest of anything where el tells brenner that he is the monster. And tells brenner to his face what a horrible person he was. She also just stands there and watches as he dies. Like there is no way that she can possibly be on brenner’s side.

4. I swear to god those people will bring up anything to make billy seem like a hero which it sucks sooo much. Also had to look up the last word of proletariat and god they will bring up anything to make it seem like billy is a saint. They constantly bring up ‘oh look he’s from a middle class or lower class’ as if that excuses his actions. Also little side rant here but Billy’s arcs barely had anything to do with the fact that he is from a lower class or working class. Is it part of his story? Sure. But it’s not a fundamental part. We don’t really see him do much work or get info that he is struggling with jobs. Unless you count season 3 but all the teens including Steve (who is rich) have jobs. And on top of that we’ve never once heard billy complain about being in a lower class structure. As far as we know in canon billy doesn’t really care or think about how he is in the class structure. I’m not saying that he doesn’t have problems or it doesn’t affect him. I’m just saying thag in canon billy doesn’t seem to care that much. Also if he wanted to be angry at the system he wouldn’t take it upon himself to hurt children because that wouldn’t be who he is angry at.

Thanks for sending this and yeah I can totally see how it’s just the tip of the iceberg. And thanks for choosing these ones cuz damn they seriously were more absurd.

[shieldofrohan]

Antis act like Sansa was too dumb or selfish to see joffery true colours when A was smart enough to notice Lannisters were bad news. The trident incident was enough to think that Lannisters are bad news. Yet neither Ned nor A think what would happen if Sansa get married to Joffery. Ned even warn A that KL is not safe neither people are so good. But not for once they think how would Sansa going to deal with Lannisters. Atleast in GOT, A did ask Ned for why he was marrying Sansa with Joffery.

Hello Anon,

Aryaaaa? Smart? When? Where? LOL.

Arya didn't notice that Lannisters were bad news.

If anything Ary* had a crush on Joffrey (Remember there was a tumblr post about how Sansa's first crush was a prince: Joffrey and Ary@'s was poor Gendry and they talked sh*t about how Sansa is a classist b*tch but in CANON, Sansa's first crush was a black brother Waymar Royce- a third son- and Ary*'s first crush was actually the evil prince Joffrey... anyway).

Jeyne glanced over to make certain that Septa Mordane was not listening. Myrcella said something then, and the septa laughed along with the rest of the ladies.

"We were talking about the prince," Sansa said, her voice soft as a kiss.

Arya knew which prince she meant: Joffrey, of course. The tall, handsome one. Sansa got to sit with him at the feast. Arya had to sit with the little fat one. Naturally.

A Game of Thrones - Arya I

Arya found Joffrey handsome and she knew that sitting next to him is a huge thing. But she of course hadn't have such chance when perfect Sansa was there.

It wasn't fair. Sansa had everything. Sansa was two years older; maybe by the time Arya had been born, there had been nothing left. Often it felt that way. Sansa could sew and dance and sing. She wrote poetry. She knew how to dress. She played the high harp and the bells. Worse, she was beautiful. Sansa had gotten their mother's fine high cheekbones and the thick auburn hair of the Tullys. Arya took after their lord father. Her hair was a lusterless brown, and her face was long and solemn. Jeyne used to call her Arya Horseface, and neigh whenever she came near. It hurt that the one thing Arya could do better than her sister was ride a horse. Well, that and manage a household. Sansa had never had much of a head for figures. If she did marry Prince Joff, Arya hoped for his sake that he had a good steward.

A Game of Thrones - Arya I

Look at her believing that Sansa is not good enough for a prince because she is not good with numbers. You know who is better with numbers? Ary*! She is implying that she would be a better queen than her sister. Yeah sure... you can't even recognize the Northern houses' sigils but sure.

Ary* is simply jealous.

“Arya started it,” Sansa said quickly, anxious to have the first word. “She called me a liar and threw an orange at me and spoiled my dress, the ivory silk, the one Queen Cersei gave me when I was betrothed to Prince Joffrey. She hates that I’m going to marry the prince. She tries to spoil everything, Father, she can’t stand for anything to be beautiful or nice or splendid.”

“Enough, Sansa.” Lord Eddard’s voice was sharp with impatience.

A Game of Thrones - Sansa III

"She hates that I��m going to marry the prince."

Sansa was right. Arya was jealous but not because she wanted to marry Joff or become a queen. She was jealous that Sansa was the one who HAS THE CHANCE to marry a prince and become a queen...

She even tries to ruin Sansa's happiness by insulting Joffrey out of nowhere. And it is also ironic that her insult came from someone who was also a jealous child. Jon was jealous because Joffrey was a prince who was going to marry a highborn beautiful girl and have children and become the king but Jon had no chance for such things: It wasn't fair. Joffrey had everything.

Sansa had the grace to blush. She blushed prettily. She did everything prettily, Arya thought with dull resentment. "Beth, you shouldn't make up stories," Sansa corrected the younger girl, gently stroking her hair to take the harshness out of her words. She looked at Arya. "What did you think of Prince Joff, sister? He's very gallant, don't you think?"

"Jon says he looks like a girl," Arya said.

Sansa sighed as she stitched. "Poor Jon," she said. "He gets jealous because he's a bastard."

A Game of Thrones - Arya I

Sansa was really spilling the tea about how both Jon and Arya were jealous kids. Go gurl.

Arya's dislike toward Lannisters was mostly about them being the royal family who CHOSE Sansa as their future queen. And also they weren't fans of giant mythical deadly animals (dire-wolves).

I am scared of dogs so I must be an evil b*tch too.

Look at her childish dislike:

"I don't like the queen," Arya said casually. Sansa sucked in her breath, shocked that even Arya would say such a thing, but her sister prattled on, heedless. "She won't even let me bring Nymeria." She thrust the brush under her belt and stalked her wolf. Nymeria watched her approach warily.

"A royal wheelhouse is no place for a wolf," Sansa said. "And Princess Myrcella is afraid of them, you know that."

"Myrcella is a little baby." Arya grabbed Nymeria around her neck, but the moment she pulled out the brush again the direwolf wriggled free and bounded off. Frustrated, Arya threw down the brush. "Bad wolf!" she shouted.

A Game of Thrones - Sansa I

Btw the same BABY Myrcella felt sorry for her when she couldn't sew well but Arya forgets the kindness of others sometimes.

The septa examined the fabric. "Arya, Arya, Arya," she said. "This will not do. This will not do at all."

Everyone was looking at her. It was too much. Sansa was too well bred to smile at her sister's disgrace, but Jeyne was smirking on her behalf. Even Princess Myrcella looked sorry for her. Arya felt tears filling her eyes. She pushed herself out of her chair and bolted for the door.

Septa Mordane called after her. "Arya, come back here! Don't you take another step! Your lady mother will hear of this. In front of our royal princess too! You'll shame us all!"

A Game of Thrones - Arya I

Arya says she doesn't like the queen because Queen didn't want those dangerous animals near her kids. And she insults Myrcella out of nowhere. Wow she is so wise. Great judge of character.

So before the Trident incident, Arya was jealous and acting like a baby. These were the reasons for her dislike.

And after the incident... she is a hateful girl, of course she hated the Lannisters.

Arya desperately wanted to explain, to make him see. “I was trying to learn, but…” Her eyes filled with tears. “I asked Mycah to practice with me.” The grief came on her all at once. She turned away, shaking. “I asked him,” she cried. “It was my fault, it was me…”

Suddenly her father’s arms were around her. He held her gently as she turned to him and sobbed against his chest. “No, sweet one,” he murmured. “Grieve for your friend, but never blame yourself. You did not kill the butcher’s boy. That murder lies at the Hound’s door, him and the cruel woman he serves.”

“I hate them,” Arya confided, red-faced, sniffling. “The Hound and the queen and the king and Prince Joffrey. I hate all of them. Joffrey lied, it wasn’t the way he said. I hate Sansa too. She did remember, she just lied so Joffrey would like her.”

“We all lie,” her father said. “Or did you truly think I’d believe that Nymeria ran off?”

Arya blushed guiltily. “Jory promised not to tell.”

“Jory kept his word,” her father said with a smile. “There are some things I do not need to be told. Even a blind man could see that wolf would never have left you willingly.”

“We had to throw rocks,” she said miserably. “I told her to run, to go be free, that I didn’t want her anymore. There were other wolves for her to play with, we heard them howling, and Jory said the woods were full of game, so she’d have deer to hunt. Only she kept following, and finally we had to throw rocks. I hit her twice. She whined and looked at me and I felt so ‘shamed, but it was right, wasn’t it? The queen would have killed her.”

“It was right, her father said. “And even the lie was…not without honor.”

[...]

“Let me tell you something about wolves, child. When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. Summer is the time for squabbles. In winter, we must protect one another, keep each other warm, share our strengths. So if you must hate, Arya, hate those who would truly do us harm. Septa Mordane is a good woman, and Sansa…Sansa is your sister. You may be as different as the sun and the moon, but the same blood flows through both your hearts. You need her, as she needs you…and I need both of you, gods help me.”

He sounded so tired that it made Arya sad. “I don’t hate Sansa,” she told him. “Not truly.” It was only half a lie.

A Game of Thrones - Arya II

Lannisters personally caused her pain.

Joffrey hurt Mycah, Cersei wanted to kill Nymeria (and when Robert provoked her she chose Lady for revenge) and their dog Sandor killed Mycah, her friend. This is the story for Arya.

Ned encourages her to hate Lannisters tbh. Which is a stupid thing if you ask me (also Ned doesn't even defend Sansa... this man finds a way to let down Sansa in every page. Unbelievable).

Even the 9 yo Arya was ready to realize her mistakes.

She wasn't supposed to be with Mycah,

she wasn't supposed to practice with him,

she was supposed to be with Septa and Sansa,

she wasn’t supposed to hit Joffrey,

she wasn't supposed to run away for days,

she was supposed to come to her father who was the HAND and the FRIEND of the KING.

She KNEW Nymeria was in danger so she knew that she DID STH BAD.

But of course Ned doesn't let her acknowledge her mistakes... because he sucks... and he encourages her further by awarding her with a "dance" teacher.

I am not saying that he should have blamed her but she made everything worse and Ned should have pointed her mistakes out to prevent her doing the same mistakes again in the future. And look him never DEFENDING Sansa... he is truly to worst father ever.

BUT what was the story for her Sansa??

A Game of Thrones - Sansa I:

Sansa is ready to love her prince aka her future husband:

Prince Joffrey might be there. Her betrothed. Just thinking it made her feel a strange fluttering inside, even though they were not to marry for years and years. Sansa did not really know Joffrey yet, but she was already in love with him. He was all she ever dreamt her prince should be, tall and handsome and strong, with hair like gold. She treasured every chance to spend time with him, few as they were. The only thing that scared her about today was Arya. Arya had a way of ruining everything. You never knew what she would do.

The only thing that scared her about today was Arya. Arya had a way of ruining everything. You never knew what she would do.

Lol, she was right about Ary*! Martin really tells you form the start that Arya is gonna f*ck things up...

Sansa's prince comes her rescue:

And her prince was there.

"Leave her alone," Joffrey said. He stood over her, beautiful in blue wool and black leather, his golden curls shining in the sun like a crown. He gave her his hand, drew her to her feet. "What is it, sweet lady? Why are you afraid? No one will hurt you. Put away your swords, all of you. The wolf is her little pet, that's all." He looked at Sandor Clegane. "And you, dog, away with you, you're scaring my betrothed."

The Hound, ever faithful, bowed and slid away quietly through the press. Sansa struggled to steady herself. She felt like such a fool. She was a Stark of Winterfell, a noble lady, and someday she would be a queen. "It was not him, my sweet prince," she tried to explain. "It was the other one."

Joffrey wants everyone to respect Sansa (and Sansa sees that Joff gets angry easily):

"Now, wolf girl, if you can put a name to me as well, then I must concede that you are truly our Hand's daughter."

Joffrey stiffened beside her. "Have a care how you address my betrothed."

"I can answer," Sansa said quickly, to quell her prince's anger. She smiled at the green knight. "Your helmet bears golden antlers, my lord. The stag is the sigil of the royal House. King Robert has two brothers. By your extreme youth, you can only be Renly Baratheon, Lord of Storm's End and councillor to the king, and so I name you."

Joff doesn't seem to like it when people being smug with her betrothed and he takes Sansa's hands to soothe her:

"Ser Ilyn has not been feeling talkative these past fourteen years," Lord Renly commented with a sly smile.

Joffrey gave his uncle a look of pure loathing, then took Sansa's hands in his own. "Aerys Targaryen had his tongue ripped out with hot pincers."

Joffrey wants to spend time with her and he acts like he is ready to defend her like some historical knight:

Joffrey, perhaps you would be so kind as to entertain our guest today."

"It would be my pleasure, Mother," Joffrey said very formally. He took her by the arm and led her away from the wheelhouse, and Sansa's spirits took flight. A whole day with her prince! She gazed at Joffrey worshipfully. He was so gallant, she thought. The way he had rescued her from Ser Ilyn and the Hound, why, it was almost like the songs, like the time Serwyn of the Mirror Shield saved the Princess Daeryssa from the giants, or Prince Aemon the Dragonknight championing Queen Naerys's honor against evil Ser Morgil's slanders.

Joffrey doesn't seem to hate dire wolves but logically he thinks they should leave Lady behind:

Joffrey glanced back at Lady, who was following at their heels. "Your wolf is liable to frighten the horses, and my dog seems to frighten you. Let us leave them both behind and set off on our own, what do you say?"

Sansa doesn't want to look stupid and she realizes Joff doesn't like to be treated like a helpless child:

"You mean the Hound," she said. She wanted to hit herself for being so slow. Her prince would never love her if she seemed stupid. "Is it safe to leave him behind?"

Prince Joffrey looked annoyed that she would even ask. "Have no fear, lady. I am almost a man grown, and I don't fight with wood like your brothers. All I need is this." He drew his sword and showed it to her; a longsword adroitly shrunken to suit a boy of twelve, gleaming blue steel, castle-forged and double-edged, with a leather grip and a lion's-head pommel in gold. Sansa exclaimed over it admiringly, and Joffrey looked pleased. "I call it Lion's Tooth," he said.

They are having amazing time and Joff says Sansa can do whatever she likes:

It was a glorious day, a magical day. The air was warm and heavy with the scent of flowers, and the woods here had a gentle beauty that Sansa had never seen in the north. Prince Joffrey's mount was a blood bay courser, swift as the wind, and he rode it with reckless abandon, so fast that Sansa was hard-pressed to keep up on her mare. It was a day for adventures. They explored the caves by the riverbank, and tracked a shadowcat to its lair, and when they grew hungry, Joffrey found a holdfast by its smoke and told them to fetch food and wine for their prince and his lady. They dined on trout fresh from the river, and Sansa drank more wine than she had ever drunk before. "My father only lets us have one cup, and only at feasts," she confessed to her prince.

"My betrothed can drink as much as she wants," Joffrey said, refilling her cup.

Now, Sansa feels dizzy because of the wine and I bet Joffrey drunk probably more than her and she wants to go back but Joff hears noises (btw he sings for her... romantic):

They went more slowly after they had eaten. Joffrey sang for her as they rode, his voice high and sweet and pure. Sansa was a little dizzy from the wine. "Shouldn't we be starting back?" she asked.

"Soon," Joffrey said. "The battleground is right up ahead, where the river bends. That was where my father killed Rhaegar Targaryen, you know. He smashed in his chest, crunch, right through the armor." Joffrey swung an imaginary warhammer to show her how it was done. "Then my uncle Jaime killed old Aerys, and my father was king. What's that sound?"

Sansa heard it too, floating through the woods, a kind of wooden clattering, snack snack snack. "I don't know," she said. It made her nervous, though. "Joffrey, let's go back."

"I want to see what it is." Joffrey turned his horse in the direction of the sounds, and Sansa had no choice but to follow. The noises grew louder and more distinct, the clack of wood on wood, and as they grew closer they heard heavy breathing as well, and now and then a grunt.

Joff acts like a brave prince:

"Someone's there," Sansa said anxiously. She found herself thinking of Lady, wishing the direwolf was with her.

"You're safe with me." Joffrey drew his Lion's Tooth from its sheath. The sound of steel on leather made her tremble. "This way," he said, riding through a stand of trees.

Joffrey sees Arya and Mycah, Mycah hurts Arya, Joff finds it funny and Arya rudely chases them away.

The boy was years older, a head taller, and much stronger, and he was pressing the attack. The girl, a scrawny thing in soiled leathers, was dodging and managing to get her stick in the way of most of the boy's blows, but not all. When she tried to lunge at him, he caught her stick with his own, swept it aside, and slid his wood down hard on her fingers. She cried out and lost her weapon.

Prince Joffrey laughed. The boy looked around, wide-eyed and startled, and dropped his stick in the grass. The girl glared at them, sucking on her knuckles to take the sting out, and Sansa was horrified. "Arya?" she called out incredulously.

"Go away," Arya shouted back at them, angry tears in her eyes. "What are you doing here? Leave us alone."

PAY ATTENTION PLEASE:

Arya loses against someone lower born than her,

She is in pain,

She lost her weapon

Someone is laughing at her

Arya glares at the person who witnessed her defeat

Arya has tears in her eyes

Arya chases them away rudely

hmmm...

Joff questions Mycah, Arya once again orders around rudely to a prince:

"He's my friend," Arya said sharply. "You leave him alone."

"A butcher's boy who wants to be a knight, is it?" Joffrey swung down from his mount, sword in hand. "Pick up your sword, butcher's boy," he said, his eyes bright with amusement. "Let us see how good you are."

Mycah stood there, frozen with fear.

Joffrey orders Mycah to fight with him...

just like Arya asked Mycah to practice with her:

Joffrey walked toward him. "Go on, pick it up. Or do you only fight little girls?"

"She ast me to, m'lord," Mycah said. "She ast me to."

Sansa had only to glance at Arya and see the flush on her sister's face to know the boy was telling the truth, but Joffrey was in no mood to listen. The wine had made him wild. "Are you going to pick up your sword?"

Joff is drunk, he thinks he protects Arya's honor (uses this as an excuse but that's the text), 

Arya once again rudely orders Joff to stop and finds a weapon:

Mycah shook his head. "It's only a stick, m'lord. It's not no sword, it's only a stick."

"And you're only a butcher's boy, and no knight." Joffrey lifted Lion's Tooth and laid its point on Mycah's cheek below the eye, as the butcher's boy stood trembling. "That was my lady's sister you were hitting, do you know that?" A bright bud of blood blossomed where his sword pressed into Mycah's flesh, and a slow red line trickled down the boy's cheek.

"Stop it!" Arya screamed. She grabbed up her fallen stick.

Sansa warns her but she doesn't listen 

and yeah.. she attacks THE FCKING PRINCE:

Sansa was afraid. "Arya, you stay out of this."

"I won't hurt him … much," Prince Joffrey told Arya, never taking his eyes off the butcher's boy.

Arya went for him.

Arya hits his head FROM BEHIND...

And look at her keep attacking Joffrey even after Mycah runs away...

Sansa begs BOTH OF THEM to stop.

Nymeria attacks Joffrey.

Joffrey is in pain.

Sansa slid off her mare, but she was too slow. Arya swung with both hands. There was a loud crack as the wood split against the back of the prince's head, and then everything happened at once before Sansa's horrified eyes. Joffrey staggered and whirled around, roaring curses. Mycah ran for the trees as fast as his legs would take him. Arya swung at the prince again, but this time Joffrey caught the blow on Lion's Tooth and sent her broken stick flying from her hands. The back of his head was all bloody and his eyes were on fire. Sansa was shrieking, "No, no, stop it, stop it, both of you, you're spoiling it," but no one was listening. Arya scooped up a rock and hurled it at Joffrey's head. She hit his horse instead, and the blood bay reared and went galloping off after Mycah. "Stop it, don't, stop it!" Sansa screamed. Joffrey slashed at Arya with his sword, screaming obscenities, terrible words, filthy words. Arya darted back, frightened now, but Joffrey followed, hounding her toward the woods, backing her up against a tree. Sansa didn't know what to do. She watched helplessly, almost blind from her tears.

Then a grey blur flashed past her, and suddenly Nymeria was there, leaping, jaws closing around Joffrey's sword arm. The steel fell from his fingers as the wolf knocked him off his feet, and they rolled in the grass, the wolf snarling and ripping at him, the prince shrieking in pain. "Get it off," he screamed. "Get it off!"

Joff wasn't going to hurt Mycah... much 

and Nymeria didn't hurt him... much...

Arya takes prince's sword...

She throws his ( A PRINCE'S) sword into fcking river???

Arya's voice cracked like a whip. "Nymeria!"

The direwolf let go of Joffrey and moved to Arya's side. The prince lay in the grass, whimpering, cradling his mangled arm. His shirt was soaked in blood. Arya said, "She didn't hurt you … much." She picked up Lion's Tooth where it had fallen, and stood over him, holding the sword with both hands.

Joffrey made a scared whimpery sound as he looked up at her. "No," he said, "don't hurt me. I'll tell my mother."

"You leave him alone!" Sansa screamed at her sister.

Arya whirled and heaved the sword into the air, putting her whole body into the throw. The blue steel flashed in the sun as the sword spun out over the river. It hit the water and vanished with a splash. Joffrey moaned. Arya ran off to her horse, Nymeria loping at her heels.

Now...

Joff lost against a girl and a wolf,

He is in pain,

Sansa, his betrothed, witnessed his defeat

And Joff rudely sends her away.

After they had gone, Sansa went to Prince Joffrey. His eyes were closed in pain, his breath ragged. Sansa knelt beside him. "Joffrey," she sobbed. "Oh, look what they did, look what they did. My poor prince. Don't be afraid. I'll ride to the holdfast and bring help for you." Tenderly she reached out and brushed back his soft blond hair.

His eyes snapped open and looked at her, and there was nothing but loathing there, nothing but the vilest contempt. "Then go," he spit at her. "And don't touch me."

THEY ARE THE SAME PICTURE:

The boy was years older, a head taller, and much stronger, and he was pressing the attack. The girl, a scrawny thing in soiled leathers, was dodging and managing to get her stick in the way of most of the boy's blows, but not all. When she tried to lunge at him, he caught her stick with his own, swept it aside, and slid his wood down hard on her fingers. She cried out and lost her weapon.

Prince Joffrey laughed. The boy looked around, wide-eyed and startled, and dropped his stick in the grass. The girl glared at them, sucking on her knuckles to take the sting out, and Sansa was horrified. "Arya?" she called out incredulously.

"Go away," Arya shouted back at them, angry tears in her eyes. "What are you doing here? Leave us alone."

Joff/Arya lose to people who are beneath them

They lose their weapons

They are in pain

People witness their embarrassing defeats

They chase the witnesses away RUDELY

They are perfect for each other, they love riding, swords, fighting with butcher boys, calling Sansa and everyone/everything stupid, they are psychos and they love killing. LOL.

anyway..

So, for Sansa it goes like this:

Everything started great, Joff acted like a gallant prince, they had a good day, they drunk too much wine, they saw Arya doing sth she shouldn't, Arya acted rudely, drunk Joffrey hurt Mycah, Arya and Nymeria attacked Joffrey and Joff ended up worse than Mycah and Arya, Joffrey sent her away rudely because she witnessed him being beaten.

Arya is the one who PROVOKES drunk Joffrey by being a rude a*s. Imagine if it was Sansa who was practicing with Mycah. Sansa would never scream GO AWAY to a prince. She would find the words to keep the prince humored.

And this brings me back to the beginning of the chapter where Sansa immediately realizes Joffrey gets angry easily and humoring him is the best way to control him:

"Now, wolf girl, if you can put a name to me as well, then I must concede that you are truly our Hand's daughter."

Joffrey stiffened beside her. "Have a care how you address my betrothed."

"I can answer," Sansa said quickly, to quell her prince's anger. She smiled at the green knight. "Your helmet bears golden antlers, my lord. The stag is the sigil of the royal House. King Robert has two brothers. By your extreme youth, you can only be Renly Baratheon, Lord of Storm's End and councillor to the king, and so I name you."

[AGOT - Sansa I]

Sansa knows how to deal with Joffrey (ACOK- saving Dontos etc) but Arya doesn't. Because Arya is not smart enough to read the room or to judge a character and act accordingly.

So Sansa has excuses for JOFFREY... he was drunk and Arya was rude.

She doesn't know Joffrey enough but this one unfortunate incident can't tell the whole story about him to her. She needs to give him a chance (she is gonna marry him!). But she knows that Arya always finds a way to ruin things for Sansa especially. So she knows Arya and it is easy to blame her because she is just like that.

She knows that Arya can provoke people ("Jon says he looks like a girl") but so far Joffrey was a kind prince. It is easy to blame the wine, Arya and the embarrassing situation that Joffrey finds himself in.

ARYA literally runs away and they can't find her for days. She knows she is in trouble and instead of going to her father for help she hides and leaves her "friend" to his own fate (such a good friend).

And of course Joffrey lies about what happened because it would make him look bad and weak:

“And what business is that?” Ned put ice in his voice.

The queen stepped forward. “You know full well, Stark. This girl of yours attacked my son. Her and her butcher’s boy. That animal of hers tried to tear his arm off.”

“That’s not true,” Arya said loudly. “She just bit him a little. He was hurting Mycah.”

“Joff told us what happened,” the queen said. “You and the butcher boy beat him with clubs while you set your wolf on him.”

“That’s not how it was,” Arya said, close to tears again. Ned put a hand on her shoulder.

“Yes it is!” Prince Joffrey insisted. “They all attacked me, and she threw Lion’s Tooth in the river!” Ned noticed that he did not so much as glance at Arya as he spoke.

“Liar!” Arya yelled.

“Shut up!” the prince yelled back.”

A Game of Thrones - Eddard III

Arya the idiot is still screaming at the fcking PRINCE?? 

If she was smart she would apologize and Joff wouldn't drag it out because he is guilty too (btw I mean if she was smart enough to go to her father in the first place... at this point it was already too late for Mycah...).

Which one is important?

Saving people or being right?

Sansa lied for Dontos and it saved his life.

Sansa cares about the saving people part... Arya can't relate.

And Ned the idiot he is, asks Sansa to pick a SIDE... 

Poor Cat had to fck this idiot for years.. yikes. 

But Sansa is smarter than them so she doesn't pick side. 

In the end THEY ALL HATE HER. GREAT. And now she is the bad guy... 

BTW Ned really wanted Sansa to tell people that YEAH ARYA REALLY ATTACKED THE FCKING PRINCE????

Arya literally physically attacks her.. wow you really made your point about not being an aggressive child Arya you idiot.

“His eldest daughter stepped forward hesitantly. She was dressed in blue velvets trimmed with white, a silver chain around her neck. Her thick auburn hair had been brushed until it shone. She blinked at her sister, then at the young prince. “I don’t know,” she said tearfully, looking as though she wanted to bolt. “I don’t remember. Everything happened so fast, I didn’t see…”

“You rotten!” Arya shrieked. She flew at her sister like an arrow, knocking Sansa down to the ground, pummeling her. “Liar, liar, liar, liar.”

“Arya, stop it!” Ned shouted. Jory pulled her off her sister, kicking. Sansa was pale and shaking as Ned lifted her back to her feet. “Are you hurt?” he asked, but she was staring at Arya, and she did not seem to hear.

“The girl is as wild as that filthy animal of hers,” Cersei Lannister said. “Robert, I want her punished.”

PAY ATTENTION: No one gets punished! Not Arya not Joffrey.

“Seven hells,” Robert swore. “Cersei, look at her. She’s a child. What would you have me do, whip her through the streets? Damn it, children fight. It’s over. No lasting harm Was done.”

The queen was furious. “Joff will carry those scars for the rest of his life.”

Robert “Robert Baratheon looked at his eldest son. “So he will. Perhaps they will teach him a lesson. Ned, see that your daughter is disciplined. I will do the same with my son.”

“Gladly, Your Grace,” Ned said with vast relief.

BUT Cersei is not done and rightly she asks that dangerous animal to be killed to keep her children safe. NOT LADY. NYMERIA.

Robert started to walk away, but the queen was not done. “And what of the direwolf?” she called after him. “What of the beast that savaged your son?”

The king stopped, turned back, frowned. “I’d forgotten about the damned wolf.”

Ned could see Arya tense in Jory’s arms. Jory spoke up quickly. “We found no trace of the direwolf, Your Grace.”

Robert did not look unhappy. “No? So be it.”

The queen raised her voice. “A hundred golden dragons to the man who brings me its skin!”

“A costly pelt,” Robert grumbled. “I want no part of this, woman. You can damn well buy your furs with Lannister gold.”

The queen regarded him coolly. “I had not thought you so niggardly. The king I’d thought to wed would have laid a wolfskin across my bed before the sun went down.”

BUT Robert the stupid King provokes her... And she turns to Lady this time.

Robert’s face darkened with anger. “That would be a fine trick, without a wolf.”

“We have a wolf,” Cersei Lannister said. Her voice was very quiet, but her green eyes shone with triumph.

It took them all a moment to comprehend her words, but when they did, the king shrugged irritably. “As you will. Have Ser Ilyn see to it.”

“Robert, you cannot mean this,” Ned protested.

The king was in no mood for more argument. “Enough, Ned, I will hear no more. A direwolf is a savage beast. Sooner or later it would have turned on your girl the same way the other did on my son. Get her a dog, she’ll be happier for it.”

That was when Sansa finally seemed to comprehend. Her eyes were frightened as they went to her father. “He doesn’t mean Lady, does he?” She saw the truth on his face. “No,” she said. “No, not Lady, Lady didn’t bite anybody, she’s good…”

So in the end only Sansa, Lady and Mycah get punished.

Gonna leave this here:

Question: What was the hardest thing in writing about such an alien world

GRRM: The vast majority of fantasy is middle agey time wise, and he himself finds the period fascinating; glad to adopt it for novel writing - likes knights and castles and such. He objects to bad fantasy practice which adopts a time setting without accepting the culture - imposing 20th century values like the cheeky stableboy telling off the princess (in reality cheeky stableboy would lose his tongue - look what happend to Micah); the class system was not just and ornament and these people truly belived in blood, and the rank and priviledge that came with "good" blood. [SSM, 2006]

ARYA was the cheeky little girl, not Mycah Martin. ISTG.

BTW Robert later admits that he knew Joff was lying... So the fans who say Sansa had a power over the situation and outcome are lying:

“He took the horn, upended it, belched, wiped his mouth. “I am sorry for your girl, Ned. Truly. About the wolf, I mean. My son was lying, I’d stake my soul on it. My son…you love your children, don’t you?”

“With all my heart,” Ned said.

“Let me tell you a secret, Ned. More than once, I have dreamed of giving up the crown. Take ship for the Free Cities with my horse and my hammer, spend my time warring and whoring, that’s what I was made for. The sellsword king, how the singers would love me. You know what stops me? The thought of Joffrey on the throne, with Cersei standing behind him whispering in his ear. My son. How could I have made a son like that, Ned?”

“He’s only a boy,” Ned said awkwardly. He had small liking for Prince Joffrey, but he could hear the pain in Robert’s voice. “Have you forgotten how wild you were at his age?”

“It would not trouble me if the boy was wild, Ned. You don’t know him as I do.” He sighed and shook his head. “Ah, perhaps you are right. Jon despaired of me often enough, yet I grew into a good king.” Robert looked at Ned and scowled at his silence. “You might speak up and agree now, you know.”

“Your Grace…” Ned began, carefully.

A Game of Thrones - Eddard VII

Look at Ned making excuses for Joffrey...

Maybe Arya should have attacked him too.. She should have kicked him in front of everyone while also screaming at him LIAR LIAR... 

BLA BLA BLA...

OK..

So we have Arya's side, Sansa's side, Joff's side.

Arya hates Sansa, Joffrey, Cersei, Hound.

Joff hates Arya

Sansa first hated Joff but then she only hates Queen and Arya.

And most importantly Arya was allowed to HATE LANNISTERS.

It was Sansa who was going to marry Joffrey and live with them FOREVER.

Sansa and Septa Mordane were given places of high honor, to the left of the raised dais where the king himself sat beside his queen. When Prince Joffrey seated himself to her right, she felt her throat tighten. He had not spoken a word to her since the awful thing had happened, and she had not dared to speak to him. At first she thought she hated him for what they'd done to Lady, but after Sansa had wept her eyes dry, she told herself that it had not been Joffrey's doing, not truly. The queen had done it; she was the one to hate, her and Arya. Nothing bad would have happened except for Arya.

A Game of Thrones - Sansa II

Sansa blames Cersei and Arya. Not Joffrey.

Well tbf, Joff didn't ask Lady to be killed. It was Queen... after King provoked her. Sansa was the only one who truly saw Robert's true colors... what about that ha??

Anyway... unlike NED and ARYA (her so called family) treating her badly or worse ignoring her, let's look at how Joff treated her after the Trident:

She could not hate Joffrey tonight. He was too beautiful to hate. He wore a deep blue doublet studded with a double row of golden lion's heads, and around his brow a slim coronet made of gold and sapphires. His hair was as bright as the metal. Sansa looked at him and trembled, afraid that he might ignore her or, worse, turn hateful again and send her weeping from the table.

Instead Joffrey smiled and kissed her hand, handsome and gallant as any prince in the songs, and said, "Ser Loras has a keen eye for beauty, sweet lady."

"He was too kind," she demurred, trying to remain modest and calm, though her heart was singing. "Ser Loras is a true knight. Do you think he will win tomorrow, my lord?"

"No," Joffrey said. "My dog will do for him, or perhaps my uncle Jaime. And in a few years, when I am old enough to enter the lists, I shall do for them all." He raised his hand to summon a servant with a flagon of iced summerwine, and poured her a cup. She looked anxiously at Septa Mordane, until Joffrey leaned over and filled the septa's cup as well, so she nodded and thanked him graciously and said not another word.

The servants kept the cups filled all night, yet afterward Sansa could not recall ever tasting the wine. She needed no wine. She was drunk on the magic of the night, giddy with glamour, swept away by beauties she had dreamt of all her life and never dared hope to know.

[...]

And Joffrey was the soul of courtesy. He talked to Sansa all night, showering her with compliments, making her laugh, sharing little bits of court gossip, explaining Moon Boy's japes. Sansa was so captivated that she quite forgot all her courtesies and ignored Septa Mordane, seated to her left.

All the while the courses came and went. A thick soup of barley and venison. Salads of sweetgrass and spinach and plums, sprinkled with crushed nuts. Snails in honey and garlic. Sansa had never eaten snails before; Joffrey showed her how to get the snail out of the shell, and fed her the first sweet morsel himself. Then came trout fresh from the river, baked in clay; her prince helped her crack open the hard casing to expose the flaky white flesh within. And when the meat course was brought out, he served her himself, slicing a queen's portion from the joint, smiling as he laid it on her plate. She could see from the way he moved that his right arm was still troubling him, yet he uttered not a word of complaint.

A Game of Thrones - Sansa II

Joff is being really nice to her... so why not give him another chance? Meanwhile Arya hates her and Ned is too fcking distant to her. And look what happens:

Later came sweetbreads and pigeon pie and baked apples fragrant with cinnamon and lemon cakes frosted in sugar, but by then Sansa was so stuffed that she could not manage more than two little lemon cakes, as much as she loved them. She was wondering whether she might attempt a third when the king began to shout.

King Robert had grown louder with each course. From time to time Sansa could hear him laughing or roaring a command over the music and the clangor of plates and cutlery, but they were too far away for her to make out his words.

Now everybody heard him. “No,” he thundered in a voice that drowned out all other speech. Sansa was shocked to see the king on his feet, red of face, reeling. He had a goblet of wine in one hand, and he was drunk as a man could be. “You do not tell me what to do, woman,” he screamed at Queen Cersei. “I am king here, do you understand? I rule here, and if I say that I will fight tomorrow, I will fight!”

Everyone was staring. Sansa saw Ser Barristan, and the king’s brother Renly, and the, and the short man who had talked to her so oddly and touched her hair, but no one made a move to interfere. The queen’s face was a mask, so bloodless that it might have been sculpted from snow. She rose from the table, gathered her skirts around her, and stormed off in silence, servants trailing behind.

[...]

Sansa started as Joffrey laid his hand on her arm. “It grows late,” the prince said. He had a queer look on his face, as if he were not seeing her at all. “Do you need an escort back to the castle?”

“No,” Sansa began. She looked for Septa Mordane, and was startled to find her with her head on the table, snoring soft and ladylike snores. “I mean to say…yes, thank you, that would be most kind. I am tired, and the way is so dark. I should be glad for some protection.”

Joffrey called out, “Dog!”

Sandor Clegane seemed to take form out of the night, so quickly did he appear. He had exchanged his armor for a red woolen tunic with a leather dog’s head sewn on the front. The light of the torches made his burned face shine a dull red. “Yes, Your Grace?” he said.

“Take my betrothed back to the castle, and see that no harm befalls her,” the prince told him brusquely. And without even a word of farewell, Joffrey strode off, leaving her there.

Sansa could feel the Hound watching her. “Did you think Joff was going to take you himself?” He laughed. He had a laugh like the snarling of dogs in a pit. “Small chance of that.” He pulled her unresisting to her feet. “Come, you’re not the only one needs sleep. I’ve drunk too much, and I may need to kill my brother tomorrow.” He laughed again.

Suddenly terrified, Sansa pushed at Septa Mordane’s shoulder, hoping to wake her, but she only snored the louder. King Robert had stumbled off and half the benches were suddenly empty. The feast was over, and the beautiful dream had ended with it.

A Game of Thrones - Sansa II

Everything was great but then the drunk King shouts at his queen and queen leaves. Once again Joff doesn't want Sansa to witness this harsh truth about his life (Grrm did Joff dirty, that boy had horrible parents and Grrm chose to make him a psycho instead of writing a tragic boy... but only Tyrion can have that).

He sends his own guard to escort her (because Ned has no one to protect his daughter... istg). And Hound ruins her night a little more.. etc.

Sansa is good at judging people. Look at her understanding Joff (and how worthless is Robert as a king):

“I had a dream that Joffrey would be the one to take the white hart,” she said. It had been more of a wish, actually, but it sounded better to call it a dream. Everyone knew that dreams were prophetic. White harts were supposed to be very rare and magical, and in her heart she knew her gallant prince was worthier than his drunken father.

“A dream? Truly? Did Prince Joffrey just go up to it and touch it with his bare hand and do it no harm?”

“No,” Sansa said. “He shot it with a golden arrow and brought it back for me.” In the songs, the knights never killed magical beasts, they just went up to them and touched them and did them no harm, but she knew Joffrey liked hunting, especially the killing part. Only animals, though. Sansa was certain her prince had no part in murdering Jory and those other poor men; that had been his wicked uncle, the Kingslayer. She knew her father was still angry about that, but it wasn’t fair to blame Joff. That would be like blaming her for something that Arya had done.

A Game of Thrones - Sansa III

Sansa knows Joff can be violent but she also believes that (wants to believe that) he is NOT THAT VIOLENT..

Sansa was falsely punished for sth ARYA had a part... and she tries to see Joff as a victim too like herself.

And in truth yeah... Cersei and Robert were the bad ones not 12 YO JOFFREY.

And unlike her idiot father, Sansa truly sees what kind of a man/king Robert is. He is violent, drunk, useless, bitter and awful.

Arya made a face. "Not if Joffrey's his father," she said. "He's a liar and a craven and anyhow he's a stag, not a lion."

Sansa felt tears in her eyes. "He is not! He's not the least bit like that old drunken king," she screamed at her sister, forgetting herself in her grief.

Father looked at her strangely. "Gods," he swore softly, "out of the mouth of babes …" He shouted for Septa Mordane.

AGOT- Sansa III

Idiot Ned finally understood that Joff is not Robert's kid thanks to Sansa btw. She really is the only one with BRAINCELLS.

And Sansa couldn't trust this old bitter violent drunk.. that's why she went to Cersei for "help":

"How well I know that, child," Cersei said, her voice so kind and sweet. "Why else should you have come to me and told me of your father's plan to send you away from us, if not for love?"

"It was for love," Sansa said in a rush. "Father wouldn't even give me leave to say farewell." She was the good girl, the obedient girl, but she had felt as wicked as Arya that morning, sneaking away from Septa Mordane, defying her lord father. She had never done anything so willful before, and she would never have done it then if she hadn't loved Joffrey as much as she did. "He was going to take me back to Winterfell and marry me to some hedge knight, even though it was Joff I wanted. I told him, but he wouldn't listen." The king had been her last hope. The king could command Father to let her stay in King's Landing and marry Prince Joffrey, Sansa knew he could, but the king had always frightened her. He was loud and rough-voiced and drunk as often as not, and he would probably have just sent her back to Lord Eddard, if they even let her see him. So she went to the queen instead, and poured out her heart, and Cersei had listened and thanked her sweetly … only then Ser Arys had escorted her to the high room in Maegor's Holdfast and posted guards, and a few hours later, the fighting had begun outside. "Please," she finished, "you have to let me marry Joffrey, I'll be ever so good a wife to him, you'll see. I'll be a queen just like you, I promise."

Queen Cersei looked to the others. "My lords of the council, what do you say to her plea?"

AGOT- Sansa IV

Cersei was her last hope... she didn't go to her because she was loving the queen (remember her saying that she blames the queen for Lady).

But the King was worse. Sansa was let down by the authority figures in her life: Her father, king etc.

Long story short:

Arya didn't realize shit about the Lannisters (she is still alive thanks to Grrm's plot armor)

Arya (and Jon) was just bitter jealous kids

Arya ruins Sansa's day quite often and Trident incident was just another example

Sansa had reasons to sugarcoat Joffrey (he was drunk, provoked, attacked and humiliated- like ARYA- lol)

After the incident Joff and Queen treated her well but Ned, Arya and King were awful or distant to her

She can see the true colors of people (from the start she realizes Joff has temper issues and King is shit) but she doesn't want to face with them openly because her dreams are bound to Joff.

Ned uses Sansa for his own investigation and he cares about Robert more. He doesn't end the betrothal after the Trident (he even tries to defend Joff against his father) so why should Sansa stop wanting Joffrey? He ends it when Joff was being good to Sansa... it makes no sense for Sansa to listen him.

Ned puts Sansa and Arya in danger by forcing them to pick side or encourage them to hate Lannisters

If they were so woke about Joffrey, why didn't they feel sorry about Sansa in the first place then, like you said.

In conclusion:

Sansa is smart but afraid to face the reality

Ned is an useless idiot and a bad father

Arya has a very strong plot armor and is in fact an idiot (or was the word "stupid" her fav word??? ).

Thanks for the ask, have a nice day.

#mine #asoiaf #anti arya stans #anti arya stark #grrm critical #a little #agot #sansa stark defence squad #sansa stark #ask #anon #answered #reply

[jackoshadows]

Let’s be clear here. Sansa did not lie in front of everyone and side with Joffrey over her own sister because it was protocol or to save Arya or because she was afraid of the Lannisters. She did it because she loved her beautiful prince Joffrey and thought that he was right and she wanted to marry him and become queen and do shit like this:

"Go ahead, call me all the names you want," Sansa said airily. "You won't dare when I'm married to Joffrey. You'll have to bow to me and call me Your Grace. "

After Joffrey sadistically tortures Mycah and attacks her little sister Arya with a sword:

After they had gone, Sansa went to Prince Joffrey. His eyes were closed in pain, his breath ragged. Sansa knelt beside him. “Joffrey,” she sobbed. “Oh, look what they did, look what they did. My poor prince. Don’t be afraid. I’ll ride to the holdfast and bring help for you.” Tenderly she reached out and brushed back his soft blond hair.

Just sisters being sisters, am I right? Yeah, my sister would also have more compassion for the guy who attacked me with a knife! That’s really how siblings are with each other!

Even later, she still victim blames Mycah for what happened when it’s just Arya and Sansa in the room:

“It’s not the same,” Sansa said. “The Hound is Joffrey’s sworn shield. Your butcher’s boy attacked the prince. ”

Much later, when Sansa is now the target of Joffrey’s abuse, she realizes that what Arya did was right:

He’d owned a sword named Lion’s Tooth once, Sansa remembered.  Arya had taken it from him and thrown it in a river.  I hope Stannis does the same with this one. 

AGoT Sansa was a vain, self-centered, spoiled, snobby, classist bully who didn’t give a damn that another child was being tortured or that Joffrey attacked her sister with a sword, or that her 9 year old little sister was alone in the woods for several days and being hunted down by Lannister men. It’s more important that one’s hair is shiny and brushed when appearing before everyone to lie about what happened!

Joffrey’s lie - that Arya and Nymeria attacked him without any provocation - only stands because Sansa refused to support her sister’s side of the story. Joffrey knows that what he did to Mycah is wrong and that’s why he changes the story and lies.  Noble children mingle and play with the small folk all the time.

Put any character in Arya’s spot - Brienne of Tarth, Jon Snow, Robb Stark, Bran Stark, Daenerys Targaryen, Catelyn Stark, Tyrion Lannister, Ned Stark, Renly Baratheon, Barristan Selmy - and they would have all done the same thing that Arya did and protected Mycah from Joffrey’s sadism.  Brienne of Tarth would have applauded the fuck out of Arya for what she did - and Brienne is exactly the kind of knight that Sansa claims to love in her songs.

What’s the point of Sansa loving all these songs of chivalry and knightly valor when she can’t tell right from wrong and recognize that in this case it was Arya who was the brave knight standing up to a bully. Just like her aunt Lyanna did before her and stood up for Howland Reed against a bunch of bullies. Oh, but the parallels are really between Sansa and Lyanna, right? Sansa and Lyanna -  they both cry for songs aww ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️! But it looks like only one of them really understood the themes of these songs.

Every person in that room knew that Arya was right and it was Joffrey who provoked the attack. But the one witness to the entire thing lies and says she does not remember and turns it into a he said, she said scenario that allows for Cersei to demand punishment in the form of a dead wolf and a weak-willed Robert to give in and order Ned to do it. The loss of the direwolf here is symbolic because Sansa chooses the Lannisters/future family over the Starks/current family.

Does anyone think that Catelyn Tully - Family, duty, honor - the embodiment of family loyalty, would have been okay with Sansa siding with Joffrey against Arya?

It should have been Catelyn in that scenario and not Ned.  Ned was wrong to not confront Sansa about her lying. And no, he does not explain to Arya why Sansa lied - because Sansa lied for a selfish, petty reason. He wants Arya and Sansa to stop fighting each other and puts the onus for all that on Arya. What he should have done was give Sansa a similar talk and explain why what she did was wrong and that she too had to put in the effort to get along with her little sister.

‘The lone wolf dies but the pack survives’ should have been something that Ned told Sansa since it is literally her wolf that dies. But Arya is GRRM’s central character and hence gets the thematic line and little talk from Ned about unity being more important than division and strife. 

So no, Arya is not responsible for Lady’s death and Nymeria is not going to be Sansa’s direwolf as recompense. 

As for Mycah - Unlike her sister and her fans, Arya rightly places the blame for that where it belongs.

Arya screwed up her face in a scowl. “Jaime Lannister murdered Jory and Heward and Wyl, and the Hound murdered Mycah. Somebody should have beheaded them.”

#Sansa Stark #Arya Stark #Joffrey Baratheon #Mycah #Ned Stark #GRRM #The incident at the trident #Had enough of this both girls were innocent but really it's Arya to blame bs #Only one of them lied about something important

[botanicallyinclinednerd]

In my quest to examine the canon s4 dynamic between Leon and Gwaine (they interact so very little) I found that the scene in which they interact the most is from Lamia. Specifically the scene where they try to kill each other. Now, if you operate under the assumption that Lamia's influence causes the Knights to say and do things they never even would have thought under their own will (as much of the fandom and fanfic writers seem to do), then this scene isn’t significant to their dynamic. But, (and please bear with me, just hear me out) what if their actions, their words, do come from deep within them? Deeply buried resentment, long ignored beliefs and grudges being brought back to light, brought back to the surface and amplified by 100. It certainly would explain a lot. The behavior had to come from somewhere, it makes sense that the lamia would dredge up long past intrusive thoughts, ingrained prejudices and biases, grudges, buried instincts, and resentment in her victims and make it volatile enough for them to act on that influx of negative feelings while feeling only adoration towards her in order to keep herself safe and her (for lack of a better term) prey vulnerable to her attack. It’s not how they think now, but it was at some point or another.

I think that this is a logical explanation for the knight’s behavior in the episode. The whole reason I was watching through scenes with Gwaine and Leon in season 4 in the first place was because I wanted to see if there was any canon evidence for my headcanon that Gwaine was hostile towards Leon in the beginning due to Leon’s noble status and Gwaine’s hatred for nobility which caused their relationship to be rocky in the beginning. Lamia was the only episode I clearly saw evidence of this, but if my theory about the why of the knight’s actions is correct, then its all the evidence I need. If Gwaine originally hated Leon because of his nobility, then that would be brought to the surface. And indeed it looks like it was as it was Gwaine that antagonized Leon and initiated  the fight between them. From Gwaine (the episode) we know that one of the things Gwaine hates about nobles is their belittlement and mistreatment of servants. Well, shortly before the scene where Leon and Gwaine fight, Leon yells at Merlin and dismisses him by yelling at him “you’re nothing but a servant!” and if you watch Gwaine in the back ground, his face is twitching and he looks pissed at Leon. So not only is Gwaine’s hatred for nobles brought into play, but specifically his dislike for Leon because of his nobility (which he just displayed towards Gwaine’s best friend). This is further backed up by Gwaine saying to Leon right before the fight “Why don’t you watch your damn tounge” which doesn’t really connect as a response to “Why don’t you watch where you’re going” but it does connect to Leon berating Merlin earlier. And then of course they try to kill each other, which is why I think they didn’t always got along, because while Gwaine had reason to be pissed at Leon, Leon didn’t have reason to be as pissed at Gwaine as he was unless there was past conflict and disrespect between them.

Now the part of this I was dreading: explaining the knight’s behavior towards Merlin (and Gwen, but mostly Merlin). I’ll start with Percival. From his actions in the episode, I don’t believe Percival’s aggression towards Merlin has anything to do with the fact it’s specifically Merlin. We know Percival lost his family and while we don’t know if this entailed parents and siblings or wife and children, it would be reasonable to conclude that he was protective of his family. That is what Lamia is manipulating, making Percival feel protective of her the way he would a family member and causing him to treat anyone who causes her fear or discomfort like a foe. If she had acted afraid of one of the other knights, I believe Percival would have treated them the way he treated Merlin in the episode. 

I don’t have a whole lot to say on Elyan because he was unconscious for most of the lamia business, but he was dismissive of Gwen so maybe Lamia used a past sibling grudge or sexism to cause him to be short with her and dismiss her opinions. It might be a reach though.

Now Gwaine: I stand by what I said earlier that he fought Leon in part because of his treatment of Merlin. But we must remember that Gwaine was raised as a noble, so that view may have been a result of him realizing that what he was taught as a child about class treatment was not fair or right. But that still stands that it was a view he once had, allowing the Lamia to make him act on it. I fully believe that the end result we see is why Gwaine hated nobles so much, and why he hid his nobility and would not act on it. Because he didn't actually seem overly aggressive or violent towards Merlin until Merlin told him not to do something and grabbed Gwaine's arm. A sign of friendship, of familiarity. This could come from the servant thing, it could also come from a place of "fuck authority" since Gwaine doesnt like that Merlin told him what to do. I just know my heart breaks at Merlin's flinch and expression.

Finally Leon. He was by far the most aggressive towards Merlin, both verbally and physically. I believe that the lamia was dredging up Leon’s past prejudices and biases, as well as potentially previous thoughts and beliefs. I want to stress that these are past feelings brought forth and amplified by the Lamia. I’ll start with the very painful “you’re nothing more than a servant!” Well. Leon is a noble, a knight, and he was raised in Camelot which is very classist. This could very well have been Leon’s upbringing talking, or just as likely, this could have been part of Leon’s opinion of Merlin back when he first became Arthur’s servant and was very snarky and bold (like he is in this scene that sparks this remark): that he should not be so bold to talk to those above him like that because of his status as a servant. Much of his behavior towards Merlin and Gwen can be attributed to this, as Leon got mad that he was being contradicted and questioned by servants which was not the status quo in Uther’s Camelot. I’m not going to go in depth on it because I hate it, but Leon attacking Merlin is coming from the same place of Servants should stay in their place and if they don’t they deserve to be punished. I think his anger and short fuse also speak to how his patience and level head is a result of effort and is not his default.

#back on my lamia bullshit #character analysis #episode analysis #merlin #bbc merlin #theory #you know how much it hurt to apply this theory to Leon's treatment of merlin when I hc them as having a brotherly relationship?answer: a lo #for an episode that causes me a lot of emotional diress i sure do talk about it alot #and because i talk about it i have to rewatch clips of it so im accurate #liv talks merlin #sir leon #sir gwaine #sir elyan #sir percival #bbc guinevere #guinevere pendragon #long post #sorry #i started analyzing and couldnt stop #i rewatched all these scenes several times to get the details right and they HURT ME #i new to stop thinking about this episode only then will i find peace #the knights of the round table #lamia #im not even sure if all of this makes sense

[moon-light-jukebox]

Learning Styles - [Reid x Reader]

Summary: Reader has worked hard to get to the FBI, but a misunderstanding has her feeling insecure. 

Pairing: Spencer Reid / Fem!Reader

Word Count: 2.5k

Genre: Fluff

Rating: PG

Content Warning: Mention of normal criminal minds stuff briefly. 

A/n: I got these two requests and they were so similar I decided to combine them. I hope that’s okay, but I feel like the stories would have been almost identical. 

Requests:  - I have a fic suggestion. Reader pretends to be dumb but is actually really smart. I’m thinking of that quote about marilyn ”you have to be really smart to pretend to be dumb”. One day spencer realizes that reader is smarter than she lets people know.

- Hi! Can I request a spencer reid x reader fic where reader isn't great with numbers but brilliant with behaviour and humanities (i.e. literature, history, sociology, up to you)? Maybe a dash of insecurity to spice things up?

-- Learning Styles -- 

My favorite professor in college told me that everyone learns differently; what works for one person won’t work in the same way for another. We are all different human beings that are shaped in different ways.

I had always been oddly insecure about my intelligence level. One of my earliest memories was my mother yelling at me while I sat at the kitchen table when I was in first grade. I was the only kid in my class who still hadn’t learned how to read. I just didn’t understand. All of my friends were progressing so much quicker than me and my mother was losing patience.

It wasn’t until my grandmother stepped in that everything changed. My elementary school teacher was training children to read by memorizing sight words, a concept I didn’t understand. When my grandmother sat down and taught me phonics. I distinctly remember everything snapping into place.

I was in 1st grade and reading at a 7th-grade level by Christmas. Once I finally understood my learning style, I really began to thrive.

But no matter what I did, I could still hear my mother yelling at me, telling me I was stupid.

In my line of work, I see just how much the throw away comments that parents make can shape a child’s development. Luckily, those comments just made me a bit insecure, not a murderer.

Up until I was 22, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do beyond this desire I had to help people. SSA David Rossi had come to guest lecture in one of my abnormal psych classes during undergrad. After I heard him speak, I was done. I couldn’t have done anything else with my life. I had obtained my master’s in psychology before I joined the FBI.

It took some time, but I was finally assigned to the Behavioral Analysis Unit at Quantico. I was so excited on my first day that I remember my hands physically shaking.

Until they weren’t.

I can still remember my first day so clearly. SSA Hotchner had introduced me to the team, saving the “best” for last.

“And this is Dr. Spencer Reid,” he had said. “He’s our expert on…well, everything.”

Reid was my age and he had his Ph.D. I remember feeling awed by him.

Until I didn’t.

"I hold 3 Ph.D.'s in Chemistry, Engineering, and Mathematics. I also have BAs in psychology and sociology."

I remember my jaw almost hitting the floor. While I was impressed by him, I wasn’t insecure about my place on the team.

Until I was.

My grandmother may have helped me master reading, which opened the door to me mastering anything else I put my mind to…except math.

I was fine at statistics, luckily. You couldn’t get a psych degree without a ton of statistics work. But statistics was different, I could see the practical use of statistics. I just couldn’t wrap my head around calculus or algebra.

On my first case with the team, Reid had calculated some insane mathematical equations on the whiteboard, running down the probabilities and applying a mathematical formula to the unsub’s behavior.

It wasn't until later, after the case was solved when I was standing in front of the whiteboard that my confidence was hit. Reid had come into the room and saw me looking at his work.

“Don’t bother trying to understand it,” he had said. “You’d have to be a genius to understand what I do.”

I didn’t have a word to describe the feeling that settled in my stomach at his words, I wasn’t sure such a word existed. The feeling was cold and heavy, but also made my body burn with shame.

I had just offered him a tight smile before I left the room.

On the plane home I had made a decision. I was no match for Dr. Reid, I doubt anyone was. So, I would take myself out of the competition. I couldn’t get hurt if I wasn’t playing the game.

And that is how the next year of my life went. I allowed Dr. Reid to explain things to me that I was an expert in, never saying a word. I acted like I didn't understand concepts that I had written papers on. The only thing I didn't dumb down was my profiling skills. Those were necessary for my job and for saving lives.

I don’t think anyone realized what I was doing.

Until they did.

--

The team had been called to Colorado to assist in capturing a serial rapist.

All of our cases bothered me, every last one…but something about ones with this vile element really struck me.

We had the unsub’s name, Tyler Childress. He had spent time in prison for sexual assault and burglary. It seems while he was in prison, he spent time perfecting his methods; it was only by pure luck that we found his fingerprint inside the victim’s house, making him the main suspect.

When we paid Mr. Childress a visit, he had managed to get the drop on Prentiss and Morgan, allowing them to escape. Morgan was furious.

All of us were sitting around a conference table in the local prescient while we let Dr. Reid talk.

I was trying to be calm, I was, but my nails were digging into my palm so deeply I was worried I was about to draw blood.

“Guys,” the expert on everything said. “He has to have some sort of accomplice.”

Rossi just sighed. “But the profile doesn’t point to him being the sort to do well with others; he’s a narcissist.”

Reid wouldn’t budge. “I know that, but he isn’t intelligent enough to pull this off alone. He’s just not. He had an IQ test done when he was 20. He scored in the mentally handicapped range. I’m telling you he has to have help.”

“Are you sure, Reid?” Hotch asked.

“Positive. I have his results right here.”

“IQ tests aren’t a good measure of intelligence on their own.”

I was so startled that someone had contradicted Dr. Reid that it took me a second to realize it was me who had contradicted him.

He turned to face me; his brown eyes wide. “What?”

Well, in for a penny, in for a pound. “IQ tests aren’t a good measure of intelligence.”

Dr. Reid laughed. He laughed at me like my comment was funny. “I don’t know where you heard that,” he began.

But I interrupted him. "IQ tests are classist and oftentimes racist. The man who invented the IQ test never intended for it to be used as a complete measure of intelligence. He regretted making the test.”

Reid sputtered. “You…it’s not racist!”

“Yes. It. Is.” I ground out. “If it wasn’t it wouldn’t be illegal to administer an IQ test to a black child in the state of California.”

"Wait, it's illegal to do that?" JJ asked, her brows drawn together.

"Yes. There was a court case in the 1970s over it. Teachers were using tests to separate white children from black children. The black children were put into special education classes they didn’t need to be in. Just because the teachers didn’t want those children in their classrooms.”

I should have stopped, but I was on a role. “They’re also inherently classist. How can you expect a child to answer a question about Romeo and Juliet if they haven’t heard of it?”

That had Dr. Reid scoffing. “Everyone has heard of it.”

I shot to my feet, unable to hold back anymore. “No, they haven’t. Children in underfunded schools that don’t have access to resources might not have heard about the most famous play in history because their school wasn’t able to provide the materials to teach them about it. There was a study done in a remote part of Russia right after the IQ test was invented. Every. Single. Person. Scored in the mentally handicapped range. Because they didn’t understand.”

I knew my voice was rising but I couldn’t stop myself. “Once the researcher took the questions and applied them to things they understood, they all scored as above average. They didn’t understand math as an abstract concept, but they understood it when it was applied to their businesses, to something they actually knew about.”

I cleared my throat. “The test isn’t fair, it’s not equal. Tyler Childress didn’t go to a good school and he didn’t have a stable home life. You can’t use one measure to calculate his intelligence. He’s gotten away with 7 assaults so far that we know of. He’s not stupid.”

The entire room was silent once I had stopped speaking. I couldn’t bring myself to regret it though. What kind of person was I if I played dumb because I was afraid of being mocked when a monster was out there attacking women? No, those women deserved to have me at my best.

And I’ll be damned if I wouldn’t give it to them.

Rossi spoke first, his eyes twinkling when he looked at me. “Took you long enough,” he said. “But y/n is right. We trust the profile; we don’t let personal bias cloud the way. That’s how we catch this bastard.”

--

Later that day, we were cleaning up the conference room while the local police processed Tyler Childress.

Pathological narcissism is a complex disorder, but we followed the profile and Rossi was right. Hotch set up a press conference in which JJ and Prentiss took center stage. They tore Childress’s ego to shreds on live television.

His narcissism wouldn’t allow that to slide. He got angry, he made a mistake, and we got him before anyone else got hurt.  

While the cat was out of the bag about my intelligence and that made me nervous, I couldn't regret any of it. I got to be the one to tell our last victim that we got him. I got to hug her while she cried because now that he was locked up, she felt like her healing could begin. I wasn’t sure if my rant about structural racism and the classism of IQ tests actually helped anything, but that didn’t really matter. There was one less monster in the shadows.

Today was a good day.

I was alone in the conference room, untacking photos from the evidence board when I heard someone clear their throat from behind me. I turned my head to meet the wide, honey brown eyes of Dr. Spencer Reid.

Oh boy, I thought. “What’s up, Reid?”

He shifted from foot to foot, his hands twisting in front of him before he crossed his arms over his chest. “I asked Garcia to look into you.”

My eyebrows drew together. “I’m pretty sure any nefarious things I had done would have popped up on my initial background check.”

“Right, I didn’t mean like that,” he mumbled, the apples of his cheeks turning pink. “I asked her to look into you academically.”

Shit.

He went on. “You double majored in psychology and sociology before you got a master’s in cultural psychology. She pulled your thesis. I just read it.”

“I see.” I turned my attention back to the board.

“You also guest lecture on cross-cultural psychology at Georgetown several times a year. And you’ve co-authored two papers since I’ve known you.”

Meh, it’s three. But that doesn’t matter. “Did you read those too?”

I took his silence as confirmation.

He was so quiet I almost thought he had left, but the crackle of energy I felt in the air told me he hadn’t. “Do you need something, Dr. Reid?”

"Why didn't you get your Ph.D.?"

I had answered that question many, many times. “I didn’t need a doctorate to do what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to waste time. Once I figured out what I wanted, I charged at it.” Which was a far more honest answer than most people got about that from me.

“W-why did you pretend to be dumb?” he rasped out, causing me to look back at him. “32 days ago, you let me explain the long-term effects of gerrymandering and the complex causes of poverty.”

“Of course, I did,” I said, frowning. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“One of the papers you authored was about generational poverty.”

“Just because I know a lot about something doesn’t mean I can stop listening to information. That sort of thinking breeds ignorance.” I smiled, unable to not tease him just a little bit.

Reid took a step closer to me. “You didn’t answer my question.”

I just shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t have a good answer.”

In all the months I had known him, Spencer Reid had never touched me, not even so much as a finger brushing against mine when he handed me something. That fact is why I was so startled when I felt his hand on my upper arm, turning me towards him.

He licked his lips, his eyes darting around. “Did everyone else know?”

I shook my head, my teasing mood long gone. "No. I mean, clearly, Rossi suspected but…No, I didn't tell anyone else."

“I just don’t understand. You’re brilliant.”

I scoffed. “No, I’m not. I’m decent a psychology, sociology, stuff like that. I can’t apply math to behavior to find patterns. I can’t even calculate how much something is gonna cost when it’s on sale without a calculator half the time.”

‘What do you…” Reid trailed off. “Wait. The very first case. You were looking at the evidence board.”

Goddamn eidetic memory.

The boy wonder was on a roll now. “I told you that you’d have to…is that why you didn’t tell me?”

What else could I do? I just nodded.

Those brown eyes closed, and he let out a groan. “I said that because I thought you were going to…I was worried…” He huffed out a breath and opened his eyes. “I wanted you to like me. I didn’t want you to think I was just a nerd.”  

Now I was confused. “Why?”

Spencer Reid’s blush went all the way down his neck. “Well…I just…Morgan said I should just talk to you. But I’m not…I’m not good at that. I panic, then I start to ramble. Like I’m doing now…”

“Reid,” I interrupted. “I’m not playing dumb now. I really have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I like you,” he blurted out right before he smacked both of his hands over his face. “Oh my god. I sound like a child.” I thought I heard him mutter idiot under his breath. “Emily says that my IQ gets slashed to 60 whenever I see a pretty girl.”

Much like that moment all those years ago when I was a child, I felt everything click into place. Oh.

I couldn't suppress my smile any longer. I rose up on my tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Well, we've already gone over how IQ tests aren't a good measure of overall intelligence."  

With that, I quickly stepped away and hurried out of the conference room, leaving a stunned genius in my wake. When I turned back to look at him, I saw his fingers brushing over the place where my lips had just been.  

--

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comment/message to be added 😊

#Spencer Reid #Criminal Minds #Criminal Minds Fan Fiction #Spencer Reid fan fiction #Spencer Reid imagine #criminal minds imagine #Spencer Reid x you #Spencer Reid x reader #Spencer read x y/n #Dr. Spencer reid #dr. reid

[thealexchen]

i’ve actually read both of the articles that you mentioned earlier! I could see where both of them were coming from at varying points, though shannon liao’s struck me as a tad harsh, as someone who felt very seen by Alex, particularly with regard to her asian-american identity, and the cultural details and familial attitudes you see displayed throughout the game (especially in episode 5.) I could see why others would like them to be more overt, but they’re still present & relevant as is, imo.

I'm happy you read and enjoyed them! Well, since we’re on the subject, I might as well give my fuller thoughts about all this. This answer got horrendously long, so I'm putting it under a read more. I really wanted to talk about this more fully, so thank you for sending this ask!

I definitely see Robert's point in his article. Alex didn’t need to be Asian for the story of True Colors to be told, but it’s still meaningful that she is so that Asian fans and fans of color can look up to her and feel represented. The Chens buck a lot of stereotypes too: Mrs. Chen was not a “tiger mom” and her kids and husband remember her fondly. Mr. Chen doesn’t push Alex and Gabe to excel in school, and in fact neither Alex nor Gabe went to college, but they still had happy futures. Alex isn’t the best friend or the Asian schoolgirl or the dragon lady or the Asian nerd. But at the same time, when Robert says "Alex never really talks about her thoughts on Chinese culture,” that’s like— well, what’s wrong with talking about it? Why not talk about it more explicitly? The words “Asian” and “Chinese” and “Vietnamese” aren’t even used in the game when "gay" and "lesbian" were, and that's a little disappointing.

I figured people would figure out Alex was at least Chinese because of her last name, but I saw some streamers unsure of what Alex’s ethnicity even was (“Alex is… Chinese, right?”). That was disappointing because Asians tend to be treated as a monolith when we’re so internally diverse. Also, it’s completely possible to miss that Alex and Gabe are also half-Vietnamese. Their mother’s name is Giang “Wendy” Chen, a Vietnamese name, but that’s only in the credits. There’s far less Vietnamese (and Southeast Asian) rep than Chinese, so I wish that had been made more explicit.

In Life is Strange 2, Sean and Daniel’s struggles (personal and institutional) were centered around their identity as half-Mexican boys. True Colors almost seemed to be going in the opposite direction in that Alex’s Asian heritage never really becomes plot-relevant, but Alex and Gabe’s background comes into focus in the last chapter.

Part of Shannon’s critique was that because Alex’s parents aren’t in the picture, the game can’t explore Asian culture through a familial lens. There is some truth to that: for children of immigrants in particular, their parents are their strongest (and sometimes only) link to their race and culture. I thought a big missed opportunity was exploring Alex’s possible sense of isolation and struggle to reconnect with her Asian heritage after being separated from her family.

After growing up with two Asian parents, eating Asian food, celebrating Asian holidays, likely speaking Asian languages, etc. it would have likely been disorienting and lonely for Alex to suddenly be raised by non-Asian foster parents and lose all those traditions all at once. Possible comments like “I really miss Mom’s pho” or “Do you know how difficult it is to find hoisin sauce in the stores around here?” could have inferred more at that specific kind of loss and isolation in Haven Springs. The game touches upon this very briefly when you look at Gabe’s shrine, and Alex does comment “I don’t even know if I’m doing this right… but I felt like I had to do something.” In this way, I find it especially poignant that she still held onto cultural traditions after so long.

But I still thought Shannon’s critique was overly harsh. The little details really do add up, like in Alex’s childhood home, and meant a lot to me too. And most importantly, there was representation behind the scenes too: Alex was voiced by two(!) Asian American women and the lead writer, Felice Kuan, is Chinese. I think Alex naming her mouse Shu-shu was my favorite detail. Because it’s the one detail you can’t miss. Every streamer remembers Shu-Shu’s name and loves how cute she is and they can probably infer it’s a Chinese term. It just is so visible and empowering in that way and my heart felt warm every time I heard someone say “Aw! Shu-shu!"

But that doesn't mean Alex's Asian heritage didn't matter at all. I really appreciated that Alex's backstory still mattered because she came from a poor, working-class immigrant family. Her life circumstances were used for drama, but none of Alex's suffering was racially motivated and that felt tastefully done. I’m gonna paraphrase a comment I saw on alliebeemac’s playthrough of episode 5: "It's no coincidence that both Alex and Ryan lost their mothers at a young age, but because Ryan's father was a military veteran and had a high-paying job as a Typhon foreman, he got to keep his childhood whereas Alex's entire world was torn apart... And if you want to look at it even more metaphorically, the white patriarch Jed was able to preserve his own image as a hero and 'good old boy' of Haven by literally sacrificing an immigrant family to the mines with the expectation that nobody would come looking for them. Whether you're an immigrant or whether you're a foster child, the system is saying 'we don't care about you.'"

And at the end, Alex tells Jed, "You want to look away and pretend the men you hurt weren't people. But I won't let you.” It's a deliberate stand against Jed (a white man)’s dehumanization of poor laborers, including her Chinese immigrant father. Jed isn't explicitly portrayed as a racist, but his actions come from a privileged, and subsequently racist and classist place. For me, it worked better than LiS2's portrayal of racism because it was subtler and more personal. Alex stands up against Jed out of a personal sense of justice for her brother (and her father).

Do I wish we had more? Yeah, absolutely. I wish Alex got to actually speak Mandarin or Vietnamese in the game because that's so rare in games, even though I knew that would be unrealistic because Erika Mori is Japanese. I wish the character artists had at least made a version of Alex and Gabe’s models without shoes, because it just didn’t look right to see them wear shoes in the house (especially in bed??) and even LiS2 had Sean and Daniel in their socks in some scenes. I wish Alex and Gabe talked more about their family while Gabe was still alive and Alex could have had that comfort of someone who misses the food and customs they used to celebrate. But like I said, one piece of media isn’t gonna please everyone. And Asian representation in particular is so tricky because not only is there not enough of it, but Asian Americans are so diverse and come from so many different backgrounds. Children of immigrants are going to feel more connected to their Asian heritage than third or fourth gen kids or mixed race kids for example. Everyone is going to have a different definition of “Asian culture” and “accurate representation.”

But on a meta-level, it really means so much to simply have an Asian face on the box of a major Western game ❤️ Like even just seeing the way Alex's eyes crinkle when she smiles or how other characters find her attractive (like Steph’s note during the LARP preferring Alex’s natural black hair), it feels so affirming. It’s incredible to see an Asian girl be called the hero of her own story, to see her succeed and fail and cry and laugh and fall in love and kiss another woman and be comfortable in her bisexuality. It acknowledges that the queer community includes Asians, that Asian girls can also be curvy, that Asian girls can and do struggle with mental health. And like Erika Mori said, Alex is a fully-realized character and that’s what makes her so compelling, first and foremost. She also has a strong moral compass and dreams and fears and is such an incredible role model for people of all backgrounds, and that’s what makes her identity as a queer woman of color so much more meaningful.

#life is strange true colors #listc #asian representation #answered asks #anon #alex chen #gabe chen #chen sibs #life is strange #true colors #true colours #lis: tc #life is strange 3 #my post

[sevenkittensinatrenchcoat]

You See: Jellylorum’s Arc and Why It’s the Best Grizabella Arc

Yeah, so, I got writer’s block trying to organize and write this properly, so I’m just writing off the top of my head. I can only hope that any of it makes sense.

I said that I might elaborate on Jellylorum’s hatred of pubs and Grizabella, and I decided to go ahead and do it, even though literally no one asked.

So, the general arc with Grizabella for most characters, especially Munkustrap and Bombalurina, is that Griz did something to offend everyone and they still hold a grudge, so they won’t let her back into the tribe, even though she might be literally dying. Then Grizabella sings Memory and everyone’s moved and they learn to forgive and Grizabella goes to the Heaviside Layer, which was probably Old Deuteronomy’s plan all along.

However, many people, even if they like Memory as a song, don’t really follow the Grizabella story. I’ve gotten the feeling that she’s not a popular character on this site, which is not helped by Munk and Bomba, much more popular characters, being against her for most of the show. The main problem with the forgiveness story is that the audience lacks any context. We don’t know what happened, so we don’t know if this is a story about forgiving someone for something petty, or forgiving someone who seriously wronged you. Most attempts to solve this problem fall flat. The 2019 film said that Grizabella went off with Macavity, but the movie had to alter the roles of several characters to get that to work. Mungojerrie worked for Macavity, and the tribe took him back. Demeter and Bombalurina had some sort of relationship with Macavity, and the tribe took them back. So, the movie makes Jerrie and Bomba more villainous and removes Demeter’s connection to Macavity, so Grizabella stands out. If you have to throw out large portions of what’s interesting about three characters to make your backstory make sense, it’s not a good backstory.

But, the show already sort of has a built in solution to this problem. While most of the characters hate Griz because of some past incident, there’s still at least one character arc about accepting Grizabella that’s based entirely on what the audience can see and hear.

This is where Jellylorum comes in.

If you pay close attention to how Jellylorum reacts to Grizabella, as well as to several other characters, you’ll notice that, though I’m sure she’s upset over whatever Griz did too, Jelly is not motivated by a grudge. It’s not about Grizabella’s past. It’s about her present.

Grizabella the Glamor Cat

Jellylorum, for the first few numbers, doesn’t really stand out. She’s always part of a larger group. In Gumbie Cat, she’s in a trio with two other queens. At this point, the audience really wouldn’t know what makes these characters stand out from one another. In Tugger’s number, Jelly is one of four older cats who are shocked and offended by Tugger’s antics, but the reactions of all four characters serve the same purpose. Jelly, Jenny, Skimble, and Asparagus are part of an older generation and they don’t get the things kids are into these days, finding them downright offensive.

If isn’t until Glamor Cat that this starts to change. At first, Jelly’s still the same as Jenny and Skimble, an older cat who stops the kittens from touching Grizabella. What’s different is how Griz reacts. Skimble leads Jemima away and Griz doesn’t comment. Jenny slaps Electra’s hand away and Griz doesn’t comment. But, when Victoria and Etcetera crawl towards her and Jelly runs in to stop them, Griz turns on her. Up until this point, the song has been fairly quiet. This is the first time Griz raises her voice, taking the orchestra with her.

You see the border of her coat is torn and stained with sand

Grizabella is dirty and beaten up by life and she accuses Jellylorum of responding to that, assuming that someone in Griz’s condition must be a threat to the children. This isn’t about a grudge. It’s about judging by appearances, specifically, the appearance of poverty, which will become more clear as we go.

When Demeter starts singing about Grizabella, she doesn’t sing about her glamorous past:

She haunted many a low resort

Near the grimy road of Tottenham Court

Tottenham Court Road, at the time this poem was written, was associated with crime. It’s a street in a lower class neighborhood which was infamous for theft and prostitution. So, Griz has been seen in a place where bad things happen. To think of her as a criminal is guilt by association.

The play decides not to tell us what Grizabella did to become an outcast, but it does tell us about her life as an outcast. From her character design, we can also see that Griz is in poor shape. This is the information the audience is actually given.

Bustopher Jones

Bustopher is easy to compare to Tugger, since the cats that don’t like Tugger all adore Bustopher. But, because we met Grizabella right before this, he can be compared to her too. Bustopher is everything the older cats see as ideal, while Griz is the opposite. Bustopher spends time among the rich in gentlemen’s clubs. Griz spends time in a working class neighborhood with a high crime rate. Even though they’re both probably strays, Bustopher presents as rich and Grizabellla presents as poor.

Just as different cats have different reasons for hating Grizabella, different cats have different reasons for liking Bustopher. For some, it’s his skill and gaining access to good food. Jenny has a crush on him. Misto likes that they look similar and that he’s the mature and sophisticated adult Misto wants to be. But, though Jellylorum’s part in the number is small compared to Jenny’s, the first thing she has to say about Bustopher is:

He doesn’t haunt pubs

Unlike gentlemen’s clubs, which are exclusive, pubs are everywhere and are for everyone. They’re frequented by the working class. Bustopher is only seen in the upper class parts of town.

Meanwhile, some of the locations Demeter mentions in Glamor Cat, The Rising Sun and The Friend at Hand are pubs. Bustopher doesn’t haunt pubs. Grizabella does.

The Glamor Cat Reprise:

So, a lot’s been implied about Jellylorum and how she admires things associated with the upper class and has disdain for things associated with the working class. But, this is where it all comes together. Grizabella accuses Jelly of treating her as someone to be feared and shamed because she’s from the bad side of town and looks it. Here, by repeating Grizabella’s words, Jelly confirms the accusation:

You see the border of her coat is torn and stained with sand

Jellylorum turns to Victoria, the pure white Symbol of Innocence who wears a sparkly pink collar, implying a wealthy owner, and points out that Griz is dirty and is both someone Victoria should avoid and strive not to be like. Victoria ignores her. Victoria is the feline equivalent of the sheltered princess, a proper young lady from a good family who hasn’t seen much of the world. But, Victoria is unaware of the implications of her status and sees someone like Grizabella as an equal. She doesn’t acknowledge class and doesn’t listen when adults try to explain it to her.

When Jellylorum pulls a kitten away from Grizabella, it’s always Victoria. The first time, it was Victoria and Etcetera, but Victoria is always involved. Victoria is never stopped by any other adult either. She seems to be Jelly’s responsibility, which creates and interesting contrast.

Gus: The Theatre Cat

After the Grizabella Reprise confirms that Jelly’s prejudice against Grizabella is based in classism, it would be easy to see her as a villain. The unspoken grudge of Munkustrap and Bombalurina is more sympathetic. 

But, very early on in act two, Jellylorum is given the spotlight, and we can see her good side. Gus is a lot like Grizabella. They’re both old and past their prime, but they once were stars of some sort. But, Gus is loved and cared for by everyone. Grizabella is one her own. 

Gus meets with his friends at the pub to tell theatre stories. You can tell from Jelly’s delivery when she brings it up that she’s not happy about this. But, she loves Gus anyway. Gus is old, his coat is a mess, and he hangs out in working class pubs, but Jellylorum loves him anyway. She’s perfectly capable of seeing beyond classist prejudice when it’s someone she already likes. She just hasn’t realized that Griz and Gus are the same. She can learn the lesson she needs to learn. She’s not a villain. She’s antagonistic, but she’s redeemable.

Memory

Griz appears one last time, Victoria tries to touch her, Jelly stops her. Same old, same old. Things don’t get interesting until everyone sits down. Jellylorum, along with Victoria, sits with Old Deuteronomy and Munkustrap. She’s right up there with the leaders of the tribe. This puts her on the same level as Munkustrap, who has his own lesson to learn from this.

Memory makes Jellylorum realize how much Grizabella is suffering. She’s not on Tottenham Court because she does bad things. She’s there because she’s in a bad situation and has nowhere else to go. Griz is also caught up in memories of her past like Gus is. Jelly, like everyone else in the tribe, figures it out.

When Victoria gets up to touch Grizabella, she looks back to the adults to get permission. Old Deuteronomy nods, letting her go ahead. But, it looks like all of the adults in that corner consulted each other. Munkustrap, at this moment, makes the decision to forgive Grizabella. Jellylorum, at this moment, makes the decision to accept Grizabella as an equal. She’s no longer beneath someone like Victoria.

Then, when all the cats greet and welcome Grizabella, Jelly looks very guilty, more so than the other older cats do. She’s realized just how petty she was being, that she was even worse to Griz than most of the tribe, because they either had a more emotionally-charged reason, or they just didn’t know any better.

Jelly’s story arc is a classic “don’t judge a book by its cover” story, with the symbols of class being the cover she judged.

In Conclusion:

Everything about this arc is based on information the audience is given. We can see that Grizabella is in bad shape. We know where she’s been spending her time because Demeter tells us. We can confirm Jelly’s motivation with the Grizabella reprise. We can compare how the characters of Gus and Griz are described:

You see the border of her coat is torn and stained with sand

vs.

His coat’s very shabby, he’s thin as a rake

Jellylorum sings the former line with disdain, but she sings the latter line with sympathy.

Jelly’s arc is where Grizabella stands out the most. Griz calls her out on her bullshit, is shown to be completely right in her judgement of her, and then is able to change her mind.

And, the emotional impact is all there, because no important information is hidden from the audience. The arc begins with the words “you see”, because you can.

#cats 1998 #jellylorum #grizabella #cats victoria #gus the theatre cat #bustopher jones #i did an essay #i had a surprising amount to say about that #jellylorum hates pubs #and it's actually important #class consciousness #but with singing cats #don't be a dick to poor people #this isn't edited #so i have no idea what typos it has #and i don't care right now #it's two o'clock in the morning #i give my last fuck at midnight

[vivithefolle]

Hi Vivi, can you share some thoughts on the "Hermione deserves to be/should have married to XYZ because she is way too good for Ron" mentality of this fandom??

I’m gonna copy-paste a Quora answer of mine, because recycling is important!

Claiming that Ron is “out of Hermione’s league” is a statement rooted in sexism, classism and probably a bunch of other -isms.

It might seem like I’m just throwing buzz-words around but let me explain.

First off, the sexism.

Oh, the sexism.

As I’ve pointed it out in yet another one of my answers  (I’m so sorry for drowning you all in a plethora of links), Ron is very much a female-coded male character.

Ron is emotional, wears his heart on his sleeve, has anxieties and inadequacies, walks off in order to cool down, has a temper, puts other people before his needs, and pretty much adopts Harry when he rescues him in the second book. He’s the Heart of the Trio: he doesn’t rely on sole logic, he can believe something without proof, he is sensitive and thus is the easiest to hurt emotionally.

Whether you call it a “beta male”, a “wuss”, “defying gender roles” or a “soft boy” is your own business, but the core of it is that Ron doesn’t meet the standards for people’s vision of a “desirable” masculine figure.

The little things Ron quietly performs in the books - when he helps Harry into his pyjamas in Chamber of Secrets because Harry’s arm is bloop; when he’s worrying about Hermione’s whereabouts in Prisoner of Azkaban; when he helps Harry unwind after his visions in Goblet of Fire; when he puts food onto Harry’s plate and wakes him up from his nightmares in Order of the Phoenix; when he beams that Hermione was “perfect, obviously” when she passes her Apparition test - all those caring gestures don’t seem like much, but if you bother to think about it, they paint an enormous picture.

Who gets Hermione to stop overworking while making her feel good about her accomplishments? Who comforts Harry from his nightmares and cares for him in the dead of the night, when nobody is awake? Who makes sure his friends are healthy and happy? Who wards off the dark and depressing thoughts, be it with his fists or a joke?

It’s Ron.

When you think about it, “traditional masculinity” in Harry Potter is as much frowned upon as “traditional feminity” is - which sometimes bites Rowling in the butt when you remember how she obviously seems to consider that Hermione and Ginny are the only desirable kind of girls.

Vernon Dursley? The entrepreneur “king of the household” prejudiced suburbian middle-class Dad? Fits in the usual tropes of traditional masculinity.

Dudley Dursley? The typical “boys will be boys” spoiled middle-class only child who’s the apple of his parents’ eyes and even takes up boxing, as if he wasn’t traditionally masculine enough.

Draco Malfoy? See Dudley, but toss in “upper-class posh aristocrat bully who doesn’t like to get his hands dirty so he has henchmen do it for him because he’s too rich for this sh-t”, would remind you of a few Christian Greys or Gatsbys.

Dolores Umbridge? Oh no, cat pictures, decorative plates, talks to teens as if they’re babies and PINK, SO MUCH PINK!!! So disgustingly feminine!!

Rowling very much frowns upon traditional gender roles - with Molly Weasley being an exception because Rowling feels very strongly about being a mother, and relates to Molly a lot.

Right - so, being a beautiful mess of paradoxes and contradictions (a “soft boi” who also punches bullies in the face, a fussy mother-hen who swears like a sailor, a tall athlete with badass scars on his arms who’s nurturing and sweet; in short, a wonderfully human character), Ron is obviously going to be a polarizing character. You painfully relate to him and get defensive when he’s criticized, you feel his characterization hits a bit too close to home so you hate him, or you disregard him completely because you can’t see anything “special” about him…

Now, onto another very, very sexist point that is often made.

People say that Hermione “deserves better” than Ron, often claiming that they “aren’t intellectual equals”, then citing Harry (who is mistaken as being some sort of slumbering genius but honestly, the kid is really a bit daft) or Draco (since apparently, being rich must equal to being intelligent) or, god forbid, Snape (because he’s a teacher and teachers are meant to be clever).

Soooo, I could go the loooooong way and pull out all the receipts that prove that none of these characters are perfectly intellectually matched to Hermione…

Or I could go the long way and simply give you this: this obsession with finding an “intellectual equal” for Hermione reflects the mentality of “women are not allowed to be better at something than their husband”.

Yep.

A woman has to be all-around pretty good at everything, whereas a man has to be the absolute best in his area of greatest competence (surely better than any puny female!) with a help-meet there to compensate for his weaknesses. People are very, very uncomfortable when Ron and Hermione reverse this dynamic. Hermione is extremely intelligent and dedicated to intellectual pursuits, but is complete pants at things like self-care and people skills. Ron is bright enough to keep up with her and strong in her areas of weakness.

Even if Ron was as dumb as a sack of rocks (he’s not), his other virtues are more than enough to “justify” Hermione loving him. (Because she needs an excuse?) But no. A woman has to be with a man who outdoes her in her area of greatest strength. - credit to @lytefoot

People don’t want Hermione to be with a man who’s her “equal.” They want her to be with a man who can be The Man so she can know the contentment of being The Woman.

But, with this sexist line of thought, how do we justify how Ron is supposed to be such a bad match for Hermione? Because if it was just about mere sexism, Romione would surely be more popular. Imagine! Ron happily raising the children, being a house-husband and proud of it, while Hermione is out there fighting for justice in the wizarding world! What a power-couple, defying norms and gender roles and not being the least bit conscious of it, prime OTP material for sure! So why do people still want Hermione to put Harry, Draco, or god forbid², Snape in Ron’s place? Is this an irrational hatred of redheads? An Harmionian’s delirious wet dream? A failure to separate the actors from their characters?

It’s all this and, quite frankly, something more: the inherent classism that comes with Ron’s status as an explicitly working-class coded character.

I know, I know, “Vivian! Calm down with the buzzwords, you’re starting to sound like an online pretend-feminist magazine!”

Or “Come on, people who don’t ship Ron and Hermione together aren’t all sexist or classist!”

Of course, of course! I know that! I’m not implying that!

But some of the “reasons” why they claim that Ron and Hermione can’t work - are extremely classist in nature, that’s just it!

Come on, think about it! What are the Number Ones arguments people always pull against Ron? Or the most common Ron-bashing tropes (look at fanfics and watch the number of stories that use at least one of those)?

Ron is stupid/mediocre

Ron is lazy/useless

Ron resents his wife’s hard work/success

Ron is a homophobe

Ron is a drunkard

Ron (the big prude who at 16 had never kissed a girl and sees a first kiss as the prelude to a wedding) is massively oversexed and cheats on Hermione with anything that moves

Not only do these “reasons” completely ignore ALL OF RON’S CHARACTERIZATION - except for the “lazy” bit but come off it, all teenagers are lazy and Hermione’s the exception to the rule - but it matches perfectly with the negative stereotypes associated with working-class white men in fiction.

It’s also very funny to note how many (assumedly middle-class or financially secure) fans look down on Ron for being “whiny” or “greedy” when he expresses the desire to have money of his own, or blame his parents for “not knowing when to stop” or “being irresponsible”, or even look down on them for being “too proud to accept help”!! Also how shocked people are when Ron dares to stand up for himself when Hermione or Harry act badly towards him. How dare this country boy not listen to the wisdom of his social “betters”?

So, obviously, because our Heroine can’t go with a Nasty, Mediocre Working-Class Man, she must be paired off with someone of Proper Status: say, a Hero that was raised in a middle-class home and might be a bit psychologically damaged but it’s nothing all those gold coins in his vault can’t fix; or this Rich Posh Aristocrat who actively rooted for her death, he’s a little bit eccentric and has some exotic pet-names to call you, but I’m sure you’ll learn to love him and will unearth the gold coins in his bank account… I mean, the heart of gold that lies within the surface; oh, why not a Way Too Big An Age Difference Teacher if you’re looking for a “cultured man” who has zero things in common with you; we can also bring Convenient Plot Device Famous Rich Foreign Athlete if you want some diversity and you don’t feel original!

But we can’t - oh, we mustn’t let her be with this Terrible Working-Class Boy! His brothers are fine, they have money, they have jobs, so they’re obviously Not As Mediocre. But let our precious Hermione be with this Just-Got-Out-Of-School hooligan? She can’t possibly be in love with him! You’ll see darling, you’ll get bored eventually! He’s too mediocre for you, you deserve a man who outclasses you - I mean, who can provide for you! You’re a fragile little flower who scars people for life when she’s not happy with them, what makes you think that this boy can possibly handle you even though he’s done so for the past seven years?

You wanted it, you got it.

People are shallow, have misconceptions about Ron’s character that they are unwilling to correct or use classist and sexist arguments to try to make it so that either Ron is the Devil himself / Hermione is a higher kind of being that can only orgasm if sufficiently “intellectually stimulated” / what-have-you.

#vivi answers #ask #ron weasley #hermione granger #romione #ron weasley defense squad #ron weasley defence squad #sexism #classism #hp meta #fandumb #hp fandom