#i was reminded of that scene towards the end of Children of Men

[all-made-of-stardust]

okay but here’s why I actually straight up started crying towards the end there.

when the Hells first arrived in Uthodern, the atmosphere was fear.  the city was dark.  temples were closing their doors.  the center for knowledge, where so many people came for answers, did not have knowledge.  did not have answers.  people were scared.  scared that they couldn’t find help, scared that they couldn’t reach out to loved ones, ask if they are okay.

and suddenly, within their very walls, within their homes, a horrible beast sprouted forth from the heart of the city.  there was death, there was destruction.  there was despair.  because if their own home wasn’t safe, then nowhere was.

the darkness was winning.

then a woman with purple hair and odd markings spoke into the captain of the guard’s mind and told him that things were better.  things were okay.  and he believed her.  because what else could he do but to cling to hope?

because that’s what the Hells brought with them, as this terrifying celestial beast that once brought death now steps out, wearing a peach bow, surrounded by the radiance and light that the city so sorely needed.  he is guarded by such an odd group, but they all exude calm.  there is a small gnome wearing a pink handknit sweater riding on its back.

they guide this noble, beautiful beast through an entire city, and the whole time they are showcasing to everyone that the darkness is not winning.  not now.  not while there is still hope kindling in our hearts.  not while ancient beasts can once again see the stars.

the world may be ending, but it hasn’t ended yet.

not if Bells Hells can help it.

#cr spoilers #umudara the sentinel beast #umudara #critical role #bells hells #i have a lot of emotions about this scene okay #aabria is right it was such a nice metaphor #i was reminded of that scene towards the end of Children of Men #where all the fighting and all the death stops for one blessed moment #because there is a child #because there is hope #as someone who eternally considers herself a dogged optimist #even in times of absolute heartache and sorrow #i know the absolute bulwark that hope can be #it's cheesy and silly and absolutely ridiculous #but the power of friendship truly can be the most magical thing in the world

[strideofpride]

Okay I can't stop thinking about the Barbie ending. Cause like as absolutely hilarious it was (the whole theater howled) it also is the perfect button for the theme of the movie, coming out of girlhood into womanhood. (this is going to be a very cis reading because, well, Greta is cis and was clearly drawing on her own cis experiences - terfs do not interact)

The first thing Barbie experiences in the real world is being catcalled and objectified, which reminds me a lot of a passage from Tina Fey's book. She talks about how she went to this women's conference when she was working on Mean Girls and they were asked how they knew they were becoming a woman. And pretty much every single one said it was when some dude said something gross to them out of a passing car. It's such a universal experience to get catcalled at 13-14-15 year's old, when your body is only just developing. And that's what Barbie also experiences first.

Then there's the scene where the Mattel men (and they're all men of course) try to put her back in the box. The shot of her hands being strapped down was so unsettling to me and I think that was Greta's intention. Maybe this is a huge reach but it almost felt like it was a metaphor for sexual assault. And I don't think it's a universal experience to be sexual assaulted, especially as a teenager, but I do think it's unfortunately still pretty common.

Then she gets back to Barbieland and has to confront the patriarchy head on, has to learn how to deal in this world catered towards men, has to learn how to develop a sense of self even though she's become depressed by the state of things. Depressed by the fact that she's changing and she doesn't know how to stop it. The "I'm not pretty anymore" moment is played for laughs cause the narrator rightfully calls out that this is an insane line to come out of Margot Robbie's mouth. But I think it speaks to going through puberty, to not feeling like you're at home in your own body anymore (hell this is the same scene where we see the Growing Up Skipper doll, a doll who's breasts can grow and shrink at her human's will - talk about body horror).

And because this is a movie centered on the hero's journey, Barbie and friends are able to get the patriarchy out of Barbieland and work towards a more equal future, but the real next step in Barbie's individual journey is seeing her creator (and this is where the gender swapped Adam/Eve myth of creation stuff really comes into full force but that's a whole other post altogether) who in a lot of ways is just Barbie's mother ("mothers stand still so daughters can look back and see how far they come" !!!!!). It's her mother figure that gets Barbie through that transition from girlhood into womanhood, who assures her that while things might not be perfect, it's still worth experiencing. (And of course there's the theme of mortality as well, that what makes the human experience special is that it's not infinite)

So that final button of Barbie going to the gynecologist for the first time is actually just the completion of her arc. I saw some people being like "I thought she was going to a job interview!" and I think that was absolutely an intentional misdirect, but I don't think her going to a job interview would've hit as hard. (For a lot of reasons, but the main one is it's a very capitalistic idea that you become an adult when you start to generate your own wealth) It had to be her going to the gynecologist, something only adults usually experience, not children. She's no longer a girl anymore, she is a woman.

#terfs do not interact #barbie spoilers #barbie

[footprintsinthesxnd]

Love and War

Previous Chapter Masterlist Next Chapter

Synopsis: Bob Floyd never expected to fall in love during the war, especially not with a pretty, young nurse during basic training. But love works in funny ways and can their love stand the rest of time, the war and the distance that separates them. Warnings: mentions of graphic themes, war, injury, weapons, sexual images, language, 18+.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Austria May to August 1945

Hitler was dead. The Germans had surrendered. The war was over in Europe.

Bob’s blue eyes gazed lazily over the tranquil landscape, the birds were singing, a light breeze brushing gently through the trees, the aquamarine lake was still. Bob couldn’t believe that in all the destruction they had witnessed a beautiful scene like this lay between all of it. After all this bloodshed somehow Easy Company had ended up in this paradise. The ruckus behind Bob pulled him reluctantly from his thoughts as Albert and several of the other paratroopers came running down the path, dressed in their PT kits and barefoot.

“Come on, Bob,” Albert called, racing down to the stone jetty. The paratroopers all pulled their white T-shirts over their heads before diving into the calm water below. A chorus of hollers and whoops followed as they began to slash around in the shallows, throwing water at each other.

A joyful smile spread across Bob’s lips, his eyes shining slightly with unshed tears. This is how their lives should be, young and joyful, living full and happy lives. They all deserved this after the years of their youth that had been stolen by this god forsaken war.

“Bob, come on!” George, one of the other paratroopers hollered, his boyish grin infectious. He reminded Bob a lot of Jackson, his youthful enthusiasm making them all feel younger than their years.

“Alright, i'm coming down,” Bob called, beginning to undo his uniform jacket as he made his way down the slope and towards the jetty. He pulled his clothes off quickly, leaving himself in just his underwear before diving into the cool water below. It was colder than he expected, taking a sharp intake of air as he resurfaced, coming face to face with the smiling men around him. Bob laughed loudly, throwing water at Albert, shouting gleefully. They spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and splashing around in the waters edge. By the time Bob and Albert were sitting back on the jetty their skin was pale and wrinkled from their time in the water.

“What will you do after this?” Albert asked, eyeing Bob curiously, squinting in the late afternoon sun.

“Probably get some food, I guess,” Bob sighed, toying with the wedding band hanging from his dog tags.

Albert groaned, letting out a light laugh, “no I mean after the war, when you go home.”

“I don’t know. We don’t even know if we are going home yet. Captain Nelson said that it’s highly likely we’ll be redeployed to the Pacific.” Bob sighed, he’d love more than anything to go home, back to the States with his wife. It had been five months since he’d last seen (y/n), since he’d last held her in his arms, kissed her. Bob dreamed of the day they would be reunited, finally able to be together as man and wife should be.

“But after that, well I’m gonna go home, back to Louisiana with (y/n). We’re gonna have a big house with lots of room for all our little Floyd’s.” Bob smiled at the image, thinking of (y/n) sitting on the swinging bench on the porch, a baby in her arms while she watched their other children playing in the garden, Bob by her side.

“Me too,” Albert replied, his eyes overcast and tearful. “You know I haven’t even seen my baby girl grow up. She’s gonna be four years old before I get home to her, I missed so much.” He let out a strangled sob, burying his head in his hands. Bob was a little stunned, in all that they had been through Albert had rarely cried, never showing his true emotions. Gripping hold of the man beside him, Bob pulled him into a desperate hug, ignoring the feeling of their damp skin against each other. He pressed a small kiss to the medic hair, cradling him, rocking him slowly. Before the war Bob could never imagine having this kind of connection with another man, he’d had male friends and they’d hugged each other before but with Albert it was different. He loved him. Not in the way he loved (y/n) but he loved him and he would die for him. Albert’s tears eventually slowed, his sobs becoming quiet mumbles into Bob’s chest. “It’s ok Albert, I’m gonna get you home to them. I promised you back at Toccoa I would. I’m not about to break that promise.”

Albert looked up at him, tear stained cheeks, his bottom lip wobbling slightly.

“Thank you, Bob. Thank you for everything.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bob’s knuckles wrapped on the large oak door, waiting for a reply to enter. The voice from the other side was gruff but Bob knew that was just the way Nelson spoke to everyone.

“You wanted to see me, Sir,” Bob stepped into the room, closing the door quietly behind him. He removed his cap, tucking it into the belt of his uniform before saluting the Captain.

“Floyd, take a seat.” He motioned for Bob to take a seat on the otherside of the desk, perching on the edge of the chair in anticipation. Nelson took a log sip of his coffee, savouring the taste and almost killing Bob with the suspense. “Do you know why I called you here?”

“No Sir,” Bob replied hurriedly.

“I called you here because the army has a proposition for you, a battlefield commission to make you a Lieutenant if you’d like to pursue a career in the army after the war.” Nelson spoke firmly but his eyes shone with the unspoken adoration that he had for all his men. “You have proven yourself to be an exceptional soldier and an even more exceptional man. It has been an honour to serve beside you.”

“Sir, the honour has been mine…” Bob began but Captain Nelson raised his hand, cutting off his speech.

“Now don’t be so modest now, Sergeant. Now I understand that you have a wife, correct.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“And I’m sure you are desperate to return to her.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“But this is a great opportunity and one that I would not wish for you to pass over lightly but I do understand your situation. I haven’t seen my wife and daughters for God knows how long. I have missed much of their childhood and I would not wish that on any man.”

Bob nodded in agreement, he already knew his answer. “Truthfully Sir, I am honoured but I have fought long and hard for my country, I have bled and lost friends for my country and I would really like to go home to my wife.”

Captain Nelson nodded, “I suspected as much and honestly I cannot blame you. I wish you and your wife a long and happy life full of peace. Happy VJ Day Sergeant Floyd, you're going home.”

“Sir, is it… really?” Bob stared back in disbelief.

“Yes Bob, the war is over.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Taglist: @bradshawseresinbabe @wkndwlff @a-reader-and-a-writer @callsign-phoenix @imjess-themess @averyhotchner @mayhem24-7forever @callsignmaverick5 @ssprayberrythings @smoothdogsgirl @xoxabs88xox @luckyladycreator2 @abaker74 @elenavampire21 @classyunknownlover @okiegirl24 @flashyourgreeneyesatme @airedale17 @shadowolf993 @flyboyjake @topguncultleader @callmemana @t-nd-rfoot @desert-fern @cherrycola27 @green-socks @jstarr86 @starkleila @alexxavicry @roostette @floralfloyd @soulmates8 @depressed-friend-blog @mayhemmanaged @shanimallina87 @shadowsintheknight @bcon24 @cassiemitchell @genius2050

#love and war #robert bob floyd x reader #bob floyd x reader #robert bob floyd imagine #robert bob floyd #top gun maverick #ww2 fic #ww2 au #101st airborne #101stairbornedivision

[sparklingmusicofstars]

My personnal opinion about the two last polls :

Hi everyone ! I told you that I will post it so here it is :

Geordo and Catarina :

To me, they look like a couple from a fairy tale, maybe because of Geordo's nature and their apparances (blonde hair and blue eyes and brown hair and azure eyes). When I was a little girl I always asked myself about what happens after the "they live happily ever after". I think they are a perfect example (althought Geordo is not one of my favorite) He is possesive and madly in love with her and often say the sentence "you belong to me" which often makes girl's heart skip a beat. After all these years I think Geordo deserves happiness. His scene after the kidnapping incident when they "save Catarina" after he knows about what happened was just so funny ! And his yandere end in the game is just...It startled me ! His black smile to prevent men to approach Catarina is really funny too. I hope he will never learn what happened during the sea town operation...

Keith and Catarina :

To me, Catarina and Keith look like lovers from a romance novel, because of their personnalities ; the two are shy, puerile and not really at ease with the opposite gender in a romantic way. But if you see them together, you have this aura about them about a gentle and loving couple. (In Keith's memory scenario, people around thought they were a married couple with even a child...) He always wants to protect her but has his limits (like in the volume 6 or 8) And, like Geordo, he considers everyone who shows any interest in his sister as rivals (guys and girls) Keith is constantly worried about his sister, who is oblivious of how many people she unintentionally seduces. He indeed has a severe case of sister complex... He is also affectionate, gentle and overprotective toward her. It's just a shame that he acts very motherly toward Catarina.

Alan and Catarina :

To me, Alan and Catarina look more like siblings than a couple because the two of them have a "childish" and "puerile" personnality. But if you try to see them as a couple I would say that they look like two mischievious children who were friends in their childhood and become conscious of each others as they grown up (and it's a bit the case) In this kind of story it often happen that the guy or the girl realizes that, he or she is in love with the other when he or she becomes jealous of the others guys or girls approaching the other person or something like that . Or even when (in this case) they start to become flustered with each other as they grown up (blushing when they brush, this and that) But even if Alan can be rude sometimes I think they look like a cute and cool couple next to each other.

Nicol and Catarina :

To me, these two look like the light and the dark when you see them together, you can't help but feel that it's very beautiful. Next to each other they really remind me Nicol's parents when I saw them for the first time. I couldn't help but feel that it's a good match. Their story looks like one of a romance story, at some moment I really wanted to say "Do it ! Kidnap her and live happily !" I know it's a bit too much ^^; Especially when I knew his parent's story. They look like an elegant, (VERY) charming and loving couple almost like in a fantasy story. And Catarina really puts Nicol at ease because he is not a sociable, I think it's very cute. The end in the game was really adorable ! I love Nicol's father !

Raphael and Catarina :

To tell the true, Catarina and Raphael is really one of my favorite ship. They just look so cute when they're next to each other. And Raphael is really sharp and wants to help and protect her in any way he can. Raphael is very caring and kind, like Catarina (you will see it it in the last bonus story I posted) Next to each other they look like a lovely and really adorable couple. To me, they look like childhood friends in stories who fell in love with each others when they were kids but were too shy to confess. I can imagine Raphael taking care of Catarina if they had know each other in their childhood, like a gentle, caring and diligent big brother. It's also because he really reminds me of Rozy in the game. I want them to get married !!!

Sora and Catarina :

Just like with Raphael, I fell head over heels for him at first sight and I really hoped he would fall in love with Catarina, I was so happy when it happened !!! I just think they look really similar and are really adorable during their interactions. The fact that Sora ruffles Catarina's hair every time she's too dense or says romantic things without realizing it is just too funny and cute ! What's more, Catarina said that he does that pretty often so...I really pity him, It must not be easy... He also acts so tsunstun with her ^^ And during the kidnapping incident I was so excited when he said he wanted to flee to another country with her ^^. So cute ! I really love the bonus short story when this girl thought they were a couple and I completely agree ! In short, when you see Catarina and Sora you immediately think they are an attractive and cute couple like "in a illustration of a romance novel" like this girl said. It's really the perfect couple at first sight for me.

Cezar and Catarina :

I loved him from the beginning, he has a incredible personnality, the one that we lacked in the group. He is also very handsome (in his normal clothes) and I love his oriental style. I was so happy when he fell in love with Catarina, his POV is so cute ^^ For me, physically it's a strange mix but so beautiful, "A man and a woman from different countries meet by coincidence and one of them fall in love with the other" They throught they will never meet again but it happens".It looks like a romance novel !!! They also get along in no time and their interactions are one of the best. It's just a shame that it didn't last long... But in the volume 13, Cezar comes back !!!! I can't wait to see them again and the synopsis is very interesting.

Rozy and Catarina :

I really love Rozy too ! I don't really know why but when I saw him for the first time I couldnt help but feel that he really looks like Raphael (but unfortunality not him...) And their personnalities are very alike too. Rozy is very cute and I love his background too. His story with Catarina is adorable too, how he loved her when they were children and all ^^ And how he looks after her even as children. The story looks like "A lost childhood friend" My favorite picture was the one when he hugs her at the end after Catarina said she will come back for him. I blushed so much ^^ Next to each other they look so cute and lovely, like a painting ! It's just a shame that we don't see Rozy in the original story... His shy and gentle side really is adorable !

Silva and Catarina :

I loved Silva at first sight, he's so handsome ! Just like with Rozy, he really reminds me Sora, their personnalities are so alike ! Silva's route is really my favorite and the end is just perfect. His relationship with Catarina is so cute, their moments and especially when we have Silva's POV about how he feels for her and the customs from his country. Just adorable ! Next to each other they look like so much things, a painting, an illustration of a romance novel ect... Their story sounds like the one Sophia was talking about on the ship with the pirate and the noble lady (and also with Sora but it was inverse) In short, Silva and Catarina is really one of my favorite couple. And Silva is an incredible character. There is just one thing....Silva was able to make Catarina fall in love with him in... a few days and with Geordo and the others it took 8 years !!! He's good ! (and Rozy too)

I think it's all, thank you very much for reading, and all of that is only my opinion, don't forget ^^

It's also okay if you don't agree with anything I said ^^

#hamefura #my next life as a villainess #katarina claes #bakarina #otome game no hametsu flag #geordo stuart #keith claes #alan stuart #otome game no hametsu flag shika nai akuyaku reijou ni tensei shiteshimatta #nicol ascart #light novel #hamefura light novel #hamefura manga #hamefura anime #hamefura pirates #my next life as a villainess: all route lead to doom #raphael wolt #sora smith #cezar dall #rozy lind #silva

[randomvarious]

Today's compilation:

The Wild Bunch 1995 Reggae / Roots Reggae / Rocksteady / Dub

First off, let me just say that I am in total awe of this crop of reggae instrumentals from the 60s and 70s here. So much music since has come with so much more fuss and technological advancements, and yet an unscalable pile of the stuff that came out after this doesn't seem to come close to how good a bunch of these simple tunes still are. In a broad sense, all these songs' formulas are pretty simple, but they really still just manage to click so damn well 😌.

From this comp's liner notes:

During the past eight years, Trojan have pioneered the 'Revival' Reggae scene. Our re-issue programme has preserved some of the best vocals ever recorded in Jamaica, but with the emphasis being placed on some of the island's many talented singers in recent years, the musicians have tended to be ignored. This current release reverses that trend by turning the spotlight onto the 'players of instruments', and in so doing we pay tribute to Kingston's legendary session men.

Now, because nearly all of these are straight-up instrumentals, they all pretty much operate in the same way, and each of them seem to have one thing in common that ends up either making or breaking the tune: the lead instrument. Because reggae riddims are inherently repetitive and steady, if left alone, they will naturally get stale. So, it takes a good melody of some kind to be laid atop that riddim in order to lend the song some much needed variety. And in a whole lot of these 27 tunes, that ends up coming to remarkable fruition.

It's hard to even really know where to begin with this album since there's so much goodness to be found within it, but the thick, whistle-ringing improvisational organ of Lloyd Charmer's "Ling Tong Ting" is an absolutely terrific place to start. Then the JJ All Stars get topsy-turvy with the audio channels on "Memphis Underground," by sending the melodic leads exclusively and *very prominently* through the left, and 90% of the riddim through the right; Herman Marquis' "Tom's Version," whose intro I'm pretty sure I've heard sampled in at least one hip hop tune before (Wu-Tang, maybe? It's honestly driving me crazy that I can't put my finger on it), then follows by doing a wonderful job of harmonizing its organ and trumpet, yielding this fully warm and satisfying haze; the legendary Augustus Pablo, who singlehandedly managed to transform the melodica from a mere plaything for children into an instrument with serious gravitas, shows why on a rootsy piece of dub called "Great Pablo;" and then towards the end, we get a bit of a surprise with a piece of gospel-reggae that's actually not an instrumental: the Harry J All Stars "Holy Moses," which is aided by a small set of female singers whose deployment of soul harmonies reminds of the backup singing that can be found on a bunch of Bob Marley hits.

But the closing title tune by the Music Doctors may be both the most remarkable and most fun track of them all, for the simple fact that it uniquely trades its leads between—not things like guitars, horns, and organs—but just bass and drums. And the bassist just seems to carefreely play this laid-back and very recognizable piece of melody from The Jackson 5's "I Want You Back;" it's so good!

So, a phenomenal collection of rare Jamaican reggae instrumental classics here, from the genre's premier label itself, Trojan. Yesterday, I posted about an excellent metal cassette from 1985 that's also called The Wild Bunch, and given how good that that album was, I really didn't think that this one could outdo it, but it very much did!

Highlights:

Selwyn Baptiste - "Mo' Bay" Boris Gardiner - "Memories of Love" The Dynamites - "Phantom" Sound Dimension - "Soul Food" Lloyd Charmers - "Ling Tong Ting" The Aggrovators - "The Sniper" JJ All Stars - "Memphis Underground" Lynn Taitt & The Jets - "Love Me Forever" Herman Marquis - "Tom's Version" The Tennors - "Copy Me Donkey" Winston Wright - "Heads or Tails" Augustus Pablo - "Great Pablo" Harry J All Stars - "Holy Moses" Music Doctors - "Wild Bunch"

#reggae #roots reggae #rocksteady #dub #dub music #music #60s #60s music #70's #70's music

[the-somewhat-rambling-reviewer]

Love for Love's Sake EP1

I’ve only watched episodes 1-3 so far.

Given the opening scene, I’m worried Yeo Woon is actively suicidal.

Tae Mayung Ha adapts really quickly to this how possibly being in a virtual world thing. I always have trouble with premises such as these, because, I know if too much time is spent on the main character struggling, it’ll turn viewers off, but I also know someone like me would not last long at all if I suddenly found myself in a different world or what have you. I would question my sanity hardcore, and assuming I decided I was still sane, I would likely kill myself in the process of trying to reverse what had happened.

Did his author friend do this to him?

It’s interesting how I haven’t seen anything online about how a 29-year-old is actively pursuing an 18-year-old. Granted, virtual world (possibly), he’s in a 19-year-old body (possibly), and even in the real world, I don’t think there are any countries where a 29-year-old being with an 18-year-old is illegal, nor do I think it should be illegal, either. But also, if an 18-year-old loved one of mine was with or being pursued by a 29-year-old, I would not have good feelings towards this 29-year-old.

This said, it being fiction, I’m not counting myself as hypocritical for the fact I’m shipping Sang Won with Mayung Ha.

Sang Won reminds me so much of Jang Jaeyoung from Semantic Error.

And unfortunately, it seems I’m the only one shipping these two right now.

I don’t dislike Yeo Woon, but I honestly don’t understand why everyone is cooing over him, either. I feel bad for him. I do think people aren’t taking his grandmother’s death into consideration at all and that he should be given time, and possibly, counselling, to actually mourn her. But other than feeling sympathy for him, I don’t see what makes him so appealable to both the audience and Mayung ha

Back to Mayung Ha waking up in the classroom, the teacher’s reaction was milder than I expected, and in this circumstance, sending him to stand in the hall was likely best for Mayung Ha, but a good teacher would actually be trying to find out what caused such a bizarre reaction in a student.

So, Mayung Ha finds Yeo Woon, and it was smart convincing Yeo Woon that he was close to Yeo Woon’s grandmother. All the same, there are more plausible answers to the question of missing her funeral than, oh, sorry, I was so late that I didn’t even make it.  

Speaking of grandmothers, I no longer take cultural or generational differences into consideration when it comes to abuse. Mayung Ha’s grandmother is a horrible person. Parents from 1950s movies and Thailand BL series and so on who lay their hands on their children are terrible people.

Onto non-horrible people, I love that Kyung Hoon is basically Mayung Ha’s teddy bear. It’s not scary to see when he physically stops Kyung Hoon, and in later episodes, he’ll openly cuddle him multiple times.

Speaking of adorable, bedsharing!

I do find it interesting how Asian shows tend to make much less of a big deal about two boys/men sharing a bed when there’s no romantic relationship in play. Which they should. I’m going to squee over most instances of bed-sharing regardless of whether it’s parents co-sleeping with kids, a couple, or just two or more friends, but I don’t find it commentary-worthy in and of itself when two male characters who aren’t in a romantic relationship end up sharing a bed.

I know Yeo Woon and Mayung Ha will almost certainly end up together, but couldn’t it just be a case of Mayung Ha helping this depressed kid be happy and maybe Mayung Ha ending up with Sang Won?

I’m not sure this new format is doing much better at helping me present my thoughts in a coherent fashion, but I’m going to try it a few more times.

#love for love's sake

[indelibleevidence]

Apparently I didn't do this the first time round (what was wrong with me?), so here are my 4x02 thoughts:

Really cool puzzles in this episode - both the magnetite map and the ATM have such great solutions. I wonder who came up with the creepy facial recognition gas-ATM.

I get why Patterson was so pissed at Boston to begin with this time around (the whole 'I coded a backdoor into Wizardville so I could snoop on people's phones' thing was a massive betrayal of trust, even if he then apologised and helped the team arrest his terrorist boyfriend), but why was Boston so mean to Kurt? 'You got one, Limpy!' I'd love to see you survive a gut shot, Boston (and let's be realistic, if they hadn't stopped the show at season 4.5, he probably would have gotten one, because gut shots are Blindspot's favourite injury - Mayfair, Jane, Roman, Patterson, Kurt, Keaton, Weitz...).

I've said it before and I'll say it again - as much as I love both Rich and Boston, the comedy gay couple/sassy gay friend trope makes me facepalm. I just don't get the sense in this episode that these men are attracted to each other, despite Rich's cooing. They have sibling chemistry, not ex-lovers who are still pining for each other, and they remind me of children squabbling over who gets the first cookie. 🙄 At least 4x08 goes a little way towards fixing that (until Rich ruins it by being a total asshole).

Remi's face when Sokolov describes the FBI as hamstrung by bureaucracy and ego is just awesome. She's like, 'Yep, this guy gets it.'

And again, the FBI's 'shoot first, ask questions later' policy comes back to bite them, because if Sokolov had lived, no 4x08... 🤷‍♀️ But also, I have no idea how they would have written it into the show, so...

The Remi and Roman scenes just made me so sad, because Remi is completely alone, talking to her brother who isn't there, trying to justify herself and her convictions (which we see at the start of 4x03, she isn't that sure of. 'Of course I can kill my husband...but not right now, that wouldn't be the right time.'

They really could have used the 'Zapata was on the plane, but not really' plot thread to make everyone cry, but they didn't bother. I wonder if they filmed a scene or two that were cut for length. I'll forever be sad that we never got any deleted scenes for seasons 4 or 5. 😭

Sometimes Blindspot is as subtle as a brick to the face with its cases and subplot parallels, but they did a great job with this episode. Sokolov being able to convince agents from multiple agencies to hand over documents, because there's no inter-agency cooperation, goes nicely with Keaton's complete lack of inter-agency cooperation re: Zapata (and why does it need to be kept so super secret that even a team working to take HCI Global down can't be read in, Keaton?). And Madeline's gleeful confession that she killed her husband pairs really well with Remi mixing up a little gift for Kurt at the end of the episode.

Audrey did so well with her 'I hate this undercover assignment' scene. Poor Tasha. Even though I don't see why Reade couldn't know, I do feel awful for her.

Madeline has such potential to be a great villain, but they just didn't bother to go anywhere meaningful with her. Helios was pretty masterful as a plan, but her underlying motives with her father are tissue-paper thin. :/ It makes all of the Helios arc feel kind of pointless, in retrospect. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio does a great job, but after Shepherd and Roman, Madeline is just meh. Plus Remi just steals the show with her plotting and scheming.

Remi turning an argument around on Kurt again is so much fun to watch, and especially the way she course-corrects with the giant eyes and 'I just want to help people, just like you' stuff. Makes me think of the Jane-as-Goth!Remi episode, where she's just overly bitchy. 😁

Brb, squeeing over every moment of Remi now! Especially her knowing that he'll be first through the door to save her, even though she doesn't remember anything about being in the field with him from being Jane.

#blindspot #blindspot rewatch 2023 #blindspot 4x02

[liquorisce]

Tengoku Daimakyou rereads, Chap 2 & 3

cw: SPOILERS!!

One of the things I loved about this series is the worldbuilding. Inside the academy, the utopia or heaven as they call it, in chapter 1, we have one world. And in chapter 2 we are introduced to the "Outside" which looks to be a post apocalyptic wasteland.

here we meet kiruko and maru, who look like wanderers or treasure-hunters at first glance. maru refers to kiruko as "sis". they wander into a couple of houses, the second of which is nicer, where they find a decaying bodies of a couple on the bed, who seem to have died holding hands. this scene reminds me so much of the last of us. i have a niggling feeling that we might find out who these bodies belong to. maybe i'll have a lightbulb moment later lol.

as maru continues exploring he remarks that the house probably belongs to rich people and we see a plaque stating: nawashiro syndicate. again, idk if this is foreshadowing something.

after a failed cooking experiment, where kiruko uses some leaves to flavour the food but it ends up being too bitter, they try to get some sleep. maru then asks if the people who died here ended up having to eat other humans because there was no food. i wonder if this is just a theory or if this is meant to be a hint about the psyche of hirukos and why they eat man-eaters. it's probably a stretch.

we then get some back story on kiruko. she is looking a pictures of 2 men that she carries with her, and maru asks if they're her lovers. by this point we get some hints of maru's attraction to kiruko, which largely feels like coming-of-age feelings, boy meets girl and they travel together for a common cause and they have awkward situations like walking into a toilet when the other is doing their business (bc there's no door), they sleep closeby etc. kiruko refers to herself as maru's bodyguard, although maru says that she is welcome to leave and that he will be fine on his own (in a nice way).

we are then introduced to our first monster:

it's pretty horrifying to look at it, eyes on it's neck, and is that a foot coming out of its neck too?? anyway, there are some theories about this monster, but we'll get to it in later chapters. i personally haven't seen the hints yet.

as maru and kiruko decide where to head in their journey, they came across a group of 3 bandits. the bandits try to attack them (some creepy, sexual connotations here) and bc they think maru and kiruko are women (both maru and kiruko declare that they are guys), they say, "we'll take you to heaven." it turns into a confrontation and kiruko ends up scaring them off with her weird shaped gun. eventually she threatens them and asks them to take her to the heaven that they were talking about.

Chap 3

As the kiruko forces the men to lead them towards heaven, the men speculate about the gun. we learn from maru then that the gun takes 30 seconds to fire, and that ammo is precious.

i found this panel very interesting. one of the bandits states that maru and kiruko must be part of the "lawless generation." maybe this is just world building 101 but i love the way that Ishiguro sensei slowly introduces details of their circumstance. Along with the scenery of dilapidated buildings and corpses and bandits and monsters, it's clear that something changed some years ago, post which society has essentially become lawless. people, even children, have no qualms with killing.

the bandits lead them to a place which was probably once a facility. here we can tell that kiruko has experience living in this world and negotiation with scumbags and she threatens to kill them if they don't let her use the generator to charge her gun. nice of her to ask lmao.

it's clear that kiruko and maru are interested in something to do with "heaven". but when kiruko asks them, one of the bandits say:

now we know that something called "the fall" has probably triggered events that have led to the state of the world. it's nice to pick up on this detail this time around bc i definitely didnt pay attention to this when i watched the show. in later chapters/ eps there are more hints about what really happened, and i still am not 100% sure if an asteroid has hit the earth or what is called the jeweled spear of heaven.

From the bandits they learn about a place that grows tomatoes, that kiruko jokingly names tomato heaven. think again of the tomatoes in the academy that we saw last chapter, it seems to be a clear correlation. after getting some hints about where to go, they set out to leave. when they find out that kiruko was charging her gun, and didnt have actual ammo to threaten them, they try to attack her again (unsuccessfully). as they leave, they remark about how kiruko was acting brave because her brother was there (insinuating that they would have tried to assault her otherwise). but her brother was always covering her blind spots.

says something about how protective maru is of kiruko (and also vice versa).

as they head out, the scene changes to the academy with children (heaven). tokio is talking to tarao (the sick child, who is now on a wheelchair). tarao agrees that there is something outside of the academy.

he is suspicious of what goes on past doors where only teachers are allowed to enter, and where their food comes and goes, what's in the vents etc. when tokio mentions the beasts, tarao asks if that isn't just to scare the kids away. smart kid!!!!!

tarao then asks if tokio likes mimihime to which tokio responds innocently. i find this interesting because tokio probably doesn't understand the intention of tarao asking this. tarao then gets violently sick, and dark spots begin to appear on his arms. before tokio can notice or ask about them, tarao pulls his sleeves down and says he will go back inside by himself.

while tokio is walking back she spots two girls kissing amidst the trees. it confuses her. then she runs into kuku who is flaunting the new drawing that kona gave her. this makes tokio jealous because kona had promised all his drawings to her, earlier.

this is probably the first time tokio realises she is jealous.

this whole scene between tokio, kona, kuku and mimihime is so precious. the little girl lesbians in the forest, too. children going through their feelings without much awareness of what they are. without the ugliness of the outside world telling them what to think.

in the background we see shiro looking outside the window, noticing mimihime's casual interactions (and touch) with tokio and kona. the parallels are so beautifully done.

later in her room, tokio is staring at the drawings on her wall, all made by kona.

i have no idea what it all really means, perhaps i should make a reddit post for that lol. maybe children sharing one mind? the world turning upside down? two children from one embryo (that seems to be clear foreshadowing)? winged angels in the sky (seems to be about asura)? and i have no idea what the top right image is, lol. if anyone knows, please tell me.

the chapter ends with a suspicious message from mimihime, on shiro's phone showing a picture of her nude, taking a bath. i have no idea how he gets this? I can't remember if it was hinted at in future chapters.

is he being a creep and has he set up some monitoring device in her bathroom? i dont think so + i think in future chapters he tries to ask her about it and she's clueless, i'm not sure. sounds like some cheesy porn plot lol

was this sent to shiro by meena?? perhaps this something else to ask the redditors.

#tengoku daimakyou #td rereads #chap 2 #chap 3

[adamwatchesmovies]

Leatherface (2017)

While I didn't enjoy this film, that doesn't mean you won't. No matter what I say, the people involved in this project did it: they actually made a movie. That's something to be applauded. With that established...

No long-running slasher series can resist telling us what happened before the killer got their favourite weapon, superpower, or iconic mask. These misguided efforts at expanding the characters always disappoint. There are now two prequels in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre series. The first, released in 2006, told us what happened before the 2003 remake. Now, the 1974 Tobe Hooper classic has received the same treatment. This is not a good movie but for what it’s worth, it’s the best of these “slasher origin” movies we’ve ever received. Before I tell you why, what’s this movie about?

In 1955, Verna Sawyer’s sadistic children are taken away from her and sent to a mental institution by Sheriff Hartman (Stephen Dorff), who believes the family is responsible for the death of his daughter. Ten years later, nurse Elizabeth White (Vanessa Grasse) and patients Jackson (Sam Strike) & Bud (Sam Coleman) are taken hostage by Ike (James Bloor) and Clarice (Jessica Madsen) following a riot that sees many patients and staff killed. As they travel the countryside, leaving a trail of violence in their wake, the police close in.

With the children’s names changed upon admission to the Gorman House Youth Reformery, neither the characters nor the audience know which of the three men is Jud Sawyer, the boy who will one day grow up to become Leatherface. Astute viewers can probably deduce who it is, but there’s still a mystery as we watch the events unfold and wonder what will turn them into the killer we know. This uncertainty is what elevates this film past the likes of A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Child, Rob Zombie’s Halloween, 2011’s The Thing, Hannibal Rising and other horror prequels. At least this one has ambition. It wants to tell a new story. In fact, if it weren't for one scene towards the end, you probably wouldn’t know Leatherface is a prequel, and I mean this in a good way.

Directors Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, along with writer Seth M. Sherwood have made a film that stands on its own… except when it doesn’t. In the opening scene, we see a young Jud receive his first chainsaw and you will roll your eyes. Still, it’s a breath of fresh air compared to what we've been subjected to by this series before. As of 2017, there are 8 Texas Chainsaw movies. Most of them simply regurgitate what we’ve seen before. Their stories are so bad they would need at least 4 passes through the ringer to become worthy of viewing… and at the end of the process, you’d just have the original movie so they’re utterly pointless. Revise this story 4 times and who knows? I know it sounds like a backhanded compliment but you don’t understand just how awful some of the TCM movies have been.

So it’s the cream of the crap essentially. I appreciated many things this film does but I still would never call it good. A full moon turns to a quarter moon and then a full moon again within the span of a few minutes. The evil characters are so evil they feel out of place. Everyone else is often too unlikeable for you to care what will happen next. The gore is excessive, certain characters or plot points are introduced and then disappear as if forgotten. Ultimately, by being a prequel to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, all this movie does is remind you of a better movie you’d rather be watching.

And so, we’ve finally come to the end of the series. What a downhill ride it’s been. If I were to rank them all from worst to best, I’d go #8: Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. #7: Texas Chainsaw 3D. #6 Texas Chainsaw Massacre III. #5 Texas Chainsaw Massacre IV: The Next Generation. #4 Texas Chainsaw Massacre II. #3 Leatherface (not too bad, eh? Though this mostly speaks to the inhumane wretchedness of the other movies rather than this one’s quality). #2 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) and #1 - of course - the original. Now, let’s hope we can finally put the series to rest on this “high note”. (On Blu-ray, May 31, 2019)

#leatherface #the texas chainsaw massacre #movies #films #movie reviews #film reviews #julien maury #alexandre bustillo #seth m. sherwood #stephen dorff #lili taylor #vanessa grasse #sam strike #chris adamson #finn kones #jessica madsen #2017 movies #2017 films

[reginarubie]

Hello! I'm obsessed with your jonsa works and just saw the ask, asking about whether or not you think jonsa is canon. I thought so too but Jon died for Arya saying I want me bride back 3 times and his last thoughts were stick them with the pointy end. And GRRM said that asides from the details the ending has always been the same, like the original script that was leaked. What do you think of that? I'm still on the fence about believe they're canon, either way I love them 💙💙

Ciao anon!,

First of all thank you, I am happy you enjoy my Jonsa works, sadly I haven't been able to update them as regularly as I'd like but alas real life can be a pain in the side sometimes.

Also, post being reference to x.

While thinking the original outline could bear some importance in the endgame plot might be worrying, I think we forget, though, that while the underlying of the original outline might be the same ‘Stark girl + Tyrion + Jon love triangle’ which should have featured Arya as the Stark girl in truth it has featured as the Stark girl Sansa. So when Martin says that the original outline might still serve to hint toward the end I think he means the trope of ‘brother and sister turned cousin triangle with Tyrion’ and who is the Stark girl Martin married to Tyrion in the books? Sansa.

Also, he dies for Arya that's true. He dies to go save her from Ramsay with the resounding ‘I want my bride back’ and his last thought is of Arya; and I think Martin is very much playing on the whole siblinghood vs courteous love trope here, with this passage:

Of Sansa, brushing out Lady's coat and singing to herself. You know nothing, Jon Snow. He thought of Arya, her hair as tangled as a bird's nest.  — Jon XIII, ADWD

He puts Ygritte, his supposed love interested between his two sisters, so I think that to see which one is the one who will end up being his possible romantical partner (as I've stated in the why I ship Jonsa post) we have to analyse how he fell in love with Ygritte:

Ygritte was safe territory, she reminded Jon of Arya because she was wild and unruly and her hair were always a mess — sibling stuff — but the romantic stuff comes in when Ygritte sits near the fire, which bathes her pretty red hair in warm light as she sings which is something associated basically only with Sansa of the big female characters. Even with Val, he is attracted to her mostly when her hair look like honey (darker than blond and yet not brown) and because of her diplomatic and lady-like sensibilities, he is attracted to the fact that Val would turn heads in whichever court (something that speaks of Sansa so loud I'm going to cry in a corner); and he finds compelling and lovely to a point Satin capability of reading a room and know his social standing during the wedding feast, also his sweetness and the way he is gentle and kind, all characterisations he shares with Sansa (of whose Tyrion of all people speak about in these very terms during the feast for Joffrey's wedding — like we see the parallel here, don't we?), Jon himself knows he always wanted the lady-love who'd be some great lady of a great keep and gave him children, which coincidentally happens to be Sansa's dream and part of what her arc is about.

Also, another pointer at his, might be held in this book reference (I still have to analyse it in depth and it has been sitting in my ask-box for days but I digress):

Then I'd push him in a stream or throw a bucket o' water on him. Anyhow, men shouldn't smell sweet like flowers." "What's wrong with flowers?" "Nothing, for a bee. For bed I want one o' these." Ygritte made to grab the front of his breeches. — Jon V, ASOS

This is reminiscent to me of the scene on the show, of which I don't think there is a counterpart in the books (save for this one) in which Jon tells Ygritte he'd like to see her in a silk dress, and she has been mocking his romantic ways, so Jon backtracks and tries to play it off as something sultry (but all us book readers know how romantic Jon is at heart):

It's because this is what reminds Jon of Arya, the unwillingness of being lady-like, being wild and messy, but what Jon dreams about is a lady in a great keep, wearing silk he could tear off her body after he has admired her in it (‘I like the wolf bit’ — Jon Snow, s6 👀, like I see you Jonny boy, I see ya); also Jon connects his talking to girls to Sansa's and her teachings (‘Gilly he called me for the gillyflower’ ‘that's pretty’).

So I think that when Martin speaks of the original outline, he actually speaks of the idea of the triangle between Jon/Stark girl who reaches him North+ Tyrion and we know in the canon he published that girl is Sansa, and not the specificity of it with Arya inside.

Also as I've already said in the post you mentioned, I want to believe and hope that Martin will give us more than little crumbs and inner dialogue, but I very much think as plausible that Jonsa will play a very important part in the story while remaining something only innerly acknowledged by both of them leaving the open ending and thus the potentiality of it without exploring it further.

Also all the foreshadowing he has with Sansa is soft and subtle while that he has with Arya is way too blunt, it's like Martin wants to use it to deceive and hide the true endgame. But that might be only wishful thinking on my part, tho it does feel that way!

Either way I'll be shipping them even if they don't end up together in canon!, so there's two of us, loving 'em even if they don't end up being canonically together!

Again thank you for your ask, and I hope you keep on enjoying my works!, several chapters will be updated soon, so stay tuned! Sending all my love ❤️ ~G.

#anon asks #ask the hag #jonsa ask

[adultswim2021]

Saul of the Mole Men #7: “What's Happening down There?” | March 26, 2007 - 12:00AM | S01E07

When we last left Saul and his Mole Men: Saul’s heart’s been broken by Fallopia, his would-be big-titty blonde GF. She tries to reassure him that she values him as a “totally sexless” friend. This is Irina Voronina’s first real comedy line that she really has to sell. As for her comedy chops, they’re uh… (*googling her to see how hot she still is*) pretty good!

Lil, who is very Sigmund-esque (of and the Sea Monsters fame), is going through puberty, and his father won’t help him with a particular right-of-passage. We learn later what this entails: A trip to Puberty Gulch, where the darling little Mole Boy has to hunt for a pair of testicles. The testicles are portrayed here as skittish little insect-like creatures who are difficult to trap.

Meanwhile, Bertram has begun his Project Thunderhole, which if you need reminding entails digging a huge hole upwards towards the Earth’s surface. This was previously considered forbidden. As we cut back to the worksite we see worker Moles begin digging and immediately get crushed by a cave-in, one by one. The final scene in this runner has Bertram putting up a memorial statue to the workers who have lost their lives to Project Thunderhole. The statue topples over and crushes one of the workers. Solid joke.

This horrific process is the reason Clancy is too distracted to take his son to Puberty Gulch. Luckily Lil and Saul run into one another while they are off moping around and licking their respective wounds. Lil needs to go through puberty lest he be condemned to a fate worse than death: become (Married… With Children slime font) intersexed. That line hit my ear a little harshly, but we’ll move past it. Sorry to anyone out there who watched this episode of Saul and got bummed out by it. Luckily, nobody watched this show, so the chances of that are infinitesimal.

Also notable: Saul gives Lil his amber gemstone, one that he says he got from deep in the bowels of Indochina. This has made a few appearances in the series; Saul pulls it out to gaze at it while reiterating his theory that all rocks are sentient and descended from one ancient “mother rock”. Saul does this because he’s so despondent over Fallopia that he basically gives up everything that he cares about (at first).

Saul and Lil go hunting for testicles and eventually find some. Perhaps this is symbolic in Saul’s own character arc; having just been rejected for his own presumed lack of sack he winds up grabbing a pair for someone else. This selfless act redeems him in Clancy’s eyes, who arrives late on the scene with the pathetic offering of his grandfather’s hand-me-down hangers.

Throughout the episode we see a bird watching the action from a monitor. The episode ends with this bird grabbing Saul and flying him to its lair. I believe this is recycled from the pilot, and a tiny bit of footage from the pilot makes its way into this episode. 

I suppose this is one of the stronger episodes. It actually manages to stand alone for the most part. It’s notable that director Tom Stern actually considers this one his favorite (as noted on his vimeo page, where I got that weird title card). This show, for as samey as it seems, does have peaks and valleys. A geologist’s dream!

MAIL BAG

Did you ever see Josh Gardner-as-Saul on Jimmy Kimmel Live for a sitdown interview? Going by an old Toonzone thread, it seems it was on March 30, 2007. Gardner seemed sloshed. Shame it’s not online. I can’t imagine it’s worth looking up’

I only have the vaguest of memories of him as Gerhard Reinke on Kimmel, and I think it was just to throw to a video segment when they were trying to salvage that character from Comedy Central’s trash heap. I don’t even believe you’re being real with me, and that’s a shame. I thrive on respect. You blew it buster.

What was your reaction to seeing Dana Snyder do live action for the first time? Back when only his voice was known, wasn’t that something? Or was he already in some DVD extra I’m forgetting?

I don’t have any memory of this! I must have seen him for the first time at some point. I feel like I got into ATHF to the point I felt the need to seek out photos of him. Someday I’ll redo this blog and weave in every single DVD extra as well. And then I can finally kill myself

#adult swim #adultswim2021 #saul of the mole men

[apeshit]

i’ve been thinking a lot about azumanga daioh + cardcaptor sakura and thinking about which is worse in their portrayal of predatory men . azumanga daioh is constantly making uncomfortable jokes relating the characters’ japanese teacher being perverted in respect to his students , which is an uncomfortable part of the show. the thing is, we never see the students laughing at these situations even though the reason hes added is supposedly to add to the humor of this comedy show. but he is shown to make everyone uncomfortable, and nobody likes him. even when we are shown him picking up trash and donating to charities we are reminded at the end of the skit that he is a piece of shit regardless. he makes everyone uncomfortable and he is included in the show in a way that seems to say “hey, teachers who are into their highschool students are fucking losers” (maybe. i cant say this is objectively the specific message meant to be portrayed but thats what i take from it) meanwhile in cardcaptor sakura, we have a father who is portrayed in only the most positive light by the show, meanwhile he met his future wife when she was 16 and he was an adult teacher. it is a show about a 10 year old girl and the lower part of the range of the expected audience is very young. the show effectively normalizes that dynamic for younger children. but obviously azumanga daioh is much less comfortable to watch when they show any scene with the teacher in it because of the nature of how they present it. its always blatant and focuses his scenes entirely on how much he loves younger girls. but then again, which would be considered worse? cardcaptor sakura normalizes this real world possibility to a very young audience whereas azumanga daioh is moreso for older people but constantly throws these uncomfortable scenes in your face in a way that also sort of normalizes that type of person, but in a way that isnt positive towards the teacher in question. nobody likes him. unlike sakuras dad who has a lot of serious screen time. im not at all saying azumanga daioh’s inclusion of this character is “woke” at all because to be honest i kind of fucking hate this aspect of the show, but i at least find comfort in seeing that every character in the show feels the same way about him that i do

#canto viii #i feel like im not describing what i intend to in the way i want to describe it but yeah #i cant word it better right now #ad #ccs

[succubusphan]

A Rose of Winter - Chapter 13

Summary: All Daniel wanted to do was escape the stifling life as a Stark of Winterfell and travel the world. Between the looming threat North of The Wall and the den of lions in the capital, he unexpectedly finds love in the midst of a war set to tear Westeros apart. Caught between loyalty to his family and duty, he is torn in a thousand directions that all point to one man: Philip Flowers.

Rating: E (There are only a few smut scenes but it's an M for battles, war, and other adult topics)

Tags/warnings: I removed most triggers (no R or SA, no minors involved in sex, no gore). It does include: Deaths either written without details or in a poetic way if it's an important character (Dan and Phil, Ghost and Balerion will live but everyone else is fair game). Strangers to lovers, Slow Burn, missing each other. The prophecies and stories foreshadowed are fulfilled, a satisfying ending to the entire story without plot holes. Extreme canon divergence. Dan and Phil are not replacing characters, they were written in. GAME OF THRONES AU

Author's Note: This is my OSPBB 2022, Couldn't have done it without my betas @effingmeteors and @filisaceaf.

Word Count: Each chapter will be around 15k and have at least one Dan or Phil pov. The total wc is about 210k.

Read on Ao3

DAN

Dan frowned as he looked around Castle Black. There were dead bodies, men of The Watch and wildlings alike, littered all over. After taking a few deep breaths he followed Sam and helped him carry bodies to the pyres. They were not to leave any behind. Jon said they had made that mistake before and the dead rose from their slumber and tried to kill Lord Commander Mormont. 

He pressed his lips together. Poor man, killed by the men who were supposed to follow his lead… Dan tried to not look at their faces, but then it was time to carry Pyp from the bridge. A nice lad, around his age, one of Jon and Sam’s friends. No matter how much death he saw along the way, he still found it odd. A person being there and then - not. All light gone from their eyes.

Leaving the boy with the others, he saw Jon walking towards the tunnel and made eye contact with Sam before they ran after him.

They made it about halfway through before they found more bodies. A group of men of The Watch and a giant. The inner gate was nearly destroyed but the men had managed to kill the giant before he finished. A shiver ran through his body as he thought what that giant could have caused inside. Nobody would have survived.

Jon kneeled on the ground and closed the eyes of another one of his friends. “Grenn,” he mumbled. “You held the gate like I asked you to. Thank you.”

Sam placed his hand on Jon’s shoulder as tears fell from his eyes.

Then, the moment was gone. Jon rose to his feet and wiped his teary eyes with the back of his hand; it reminded Dan of when they were little and Jon would cry over his fights with the other children and Dan would sneak into his bed and pretend to be scared to let him hug him to sleep.

“Here,” Jon said, giving his sword to Sam. “I promised Mormont I wouldn’t lose it again.”

Dan frowned. “Where are you going?” he asked.

“I have to do this. They are nothing without Mance Rayder. Just a group of squabbling tribes. If I kill him, they will scatter again.”

“They will kill you,” Sam said.

Jon looked at him but said nothing.

“You’re not expecting to return.”

“I am the Lord Commander. I have to do this.”

“No, please,” Dan hugged him tightly. “I just found you. Please don’t leave me.”

“Dan-”

“No! No!” Dan sobbed. “I had to watch Father die. I watched Arya march here and she never made it, I watched Sansa being taken hostage and I was outside The Twins when we lost Robb and my mother. I can’t do this again. Please, stay.”

Jon held Dan’s face and looked into his eyes. “It is my responsibility. I’m sorry.” He then pressed a kiss to Dan’s forehead. “If I don’t return, take Ghost with you and leave. It is not safe here.”

Dan rested his head on Sam’s shoulder awkwardly due to the height difference and watched his brother walk out for what could be the last time. 

“Come on, Dan. Let’s bring Grenn and the others to the Pyre. We’ll need help with the giant.”

---

Days later and still no news from Jon, Sam invited Dan to go up when they heard something happening on the North side. It had to be good, the men were cheering for it. When they finally made it up, they saw an army riding in perfect formation, breaking through the wildling camp, killing quite a few of them and causing the others to run north.

He tried to spot the banners and then he finally saw them. The Knights of The Vale. They must have crossed The Wall at Eastwatch or just sailed past The Wall. He wondered why they had joined the fight but he was happy nonetheless.

Once they saw the Knights requested access, Dan went below and his knees almost gave out under him when one of the riders lowered their hood and he saw fiery red hair and the sweetest most loving eyes he’d ever seen staring back at him. 

“Sansa!” He yelled and ran to her, helping her dismount and not waiting for her feet to touch the ground. 

“Brother!” She laughed and hugged him. 

It was strange how much she had grown. “You are almost as tall as I am!” Dan said, unable to tell who was shedding more tears.

“Couldn’t leave all the attention to you. You already have Phil.”

“Did you meet him?” He asked. 

“I did! He introduced himself as soon as he got to the Capital. He helped me get out of there,” she said and leaned closer. “He also asked me to tell you that he’s coming as soon as he can. He will find you,” Sansa whispered.

Dan took a step back and looked into his sister’s eyes. “I hope that he does.”

“I believe him.”

He raised his eyebrows when he saw The Hound looking at them and rolling his eyes.

Deciding not to ask questions just yet, he pulled Sansa into another hug, maybe squeezing her a bit too tight; but soon the two of them found themselves knocked to the ground.

“Boys, you’ll crush me!” She laughed.

Balerion had run down the stairs of The Keep and came to greet Sansa, jumping her and running around. He was soon joined by his brothers. Dan let out a long deep breath from the floor. Their family was finally coming back together.

ARYA

The Vale, Westeros.

Arya reached the harbour in only two days and smiled when she saw a ship ready to sail. She tucked her hair behind her ears and walked up to one of the men loading crates. “Hello… I would like to sail north.”

“I’m not going north, child,” said the man.

“I can pay…” She tried.

“No amount of silver will make me sail north. There’s only war and pirates up north.”

“Where are you headed to then?”

“I’m going home: to The Free City Of Braavos!” he said and Arya could have smacked her head. Of course, the man’s accent sounded familiar because of Syrio Forel. 

“I have something for you then,” she grabbed the pouch she kept and looked between the gold coins to find the one she needed.

“I told you, no gold-”

“It’s not gold; it’s Iron!” Arya said and gave him the coin Jaqen H’gar had given her. “Valar Morghulis,” she said.

“How -” he frowned. “Valar Dohaeris.” The man stepped aside. “Of course,” he said, gesturing to the ramp. “You’ll have a cabin.”

---

It had been a long time since Arya had been on a ship for a considerable period of time, but she found that she enjoyed it quite a bit once she got used to being rocked with the waves.

In only two months she was there, crossing the entrance to Braavos which was marked by the statue of a Titan as tall as the Red Keep. It was a magical place consisting of small islands connected by stone bridges; except for her destination. The captain of the ship took a small rowing boat and took her to The House of Black and White; an odd looking building, as its name indicated, it was half black and half white, very square and had a giant double door at the front but no windows. 

Arya was so focused on her destination that she barely thanked the captain and waved him goodbye before approaching the doors and knocking. She looked around and waited but nothing happened. A few minutes later, she tried again. This time a disgruntled looking man wrapped in a tunic and barefoot opened the door and looked at her with one eyebrow raised.

“I’m looking for Jaqen H’gar,” she explained.

“There’s no one here with that name,” The Man said and shut the door on her face.

She knocked once again and the door opened but just a crack. “Who are you?” She asked.

“No one,” The Man said and shut the door.

She knocked again and again but there was no answer. Looking around, she considered jumping into the water and swimming back but she was scared to drown- that would be such a stupid death. Not knowing what to do, Arya sat at the steps in front of the building and waited until she was too hungry to stay. 

Tired and disappointed with the result of what she had assumed would be her training, she walked up to the sea and dropped the iron coin Jaqen had given her with a huff. She walked around the island and found that there was a small market and narrow streets with houses. Things seemed to be looking up for her at last, or that was how she felt once she had eaten, but when she took a stroll down one of the side streets, she met three men who decided to attack her.

She only had that much silver, so it was integral to keep her coin purse close, but - 

“Give us your silver,” said one of three men standing before her.

“I won’t,” she replied.

“Give it here, girl!” Said one of the others.

She assumed position and pointed Needle at them. “If you want it you’ll have to come and get it.”

“Is it worth it to die for the silver?” 

“I won’t die, you will,” Arya said.

“Come with me,” said a voice behind her and she almost felt her heart give out. The three men ran as fast as they could from the men whom she had spoken with at The House of Black and White.

They walked back in silence, but as The Man started to climb the steps to the door, Arya asked: “Who are you?”

He turned around and gave her the iron coin she had dropped in the sea. “You forgot this,” he said and removed the face of the man he’d been wearing as if it were a mask to reveal Jaqen’s face.

“You said there was no Jaqen H’gar here!” She whined.

“There isn’t,” he said, now sounding just like Jaqen. “A man is not Jaqen H’gar.”

“Well, who are you then?”

“No one,” he said, turning towards the door and climbing up the steps. “- And that is what a girl must become.”

She followed him in and stared all around at the incredibly high ceiling, the utter silence and the statues depicting every single God Arya knew about hanging on the walls of the very dimly lit place. In the centre, there was a circular fountain with still water, and a girl walked by barefoot, wearing only a simple dark tunic, carrying buckets of water around.

Jaqe - The Man didn’t explain anything to her, anything at all. He just gave her a broom and put her to sweep the already clean floors for days before she saw anything of significance happen before her eyes. The Man spoke quietly with a visitor who seemed to be in anguish, but The Man filled a glass with water from the fountain and offered it to him, leaving him to pray in front of one of the Gods. 

She walked up to ‘no one’ and spoke her mind. “I’ve been sweeping floors here for days.”

“Good,” he said.

“I didn’t come here to sweep floors.”

“No? Why come then?”

“You said I could come here, that you could teach me how to be a faceless man.”

“A man teaches a girl,” he said. “Valar Dohaeris. All men must serve; faceless men most of all.”

Arya frowned. “I want to serve!”

“A girl wants to serve herself. Here we serve the Many-Faced God. To serve well, a girl must become no one.”

“Which one is the Many-Faced God? I see the Stranger, I see the Weirwood face, I see the Drowned God…”

“There is only one God. A girl knows his name, and all men know his gift.” He turned around and left.

Two men came out of a smaller chamber with a wooden plank and approached the now dead body of the visitor. His eyes were opened wide, but his face still seemed at peace. They put the body on the plank and carried him away.

She walked up to the odd-looking girl with the water buckets and asked: “Where are they taking him?” But she didn’t reply, or looked at her - or acknowledged Arya at all before exiting through another door.

JON

Jon was still shaken up by the events at Mance's camp. But the slowly healing wounds on his arms, hands and face reminded him how lucky he was to be back, alive. And to have returned to a family.

Doubts plagued him some nights. But he knew he had done the right thing.

Mance was just like him. In charge of people he wanted to protect above all things. With responsibilities greater than themselves. And the same threat that was coming to take them all.

He walked into the library and stood between the rows of books upon books listening to what Master Aemon was telling Sam about. The Legend of Azor Ahai.

“The Long Night was thousands of years ago, when winter lasted a generation. There was no daylight, no light at all. Then, from the land of always winter, came the others that rode ice spiders and the horses of the dead, seeking to extinguish all light and warmth from the world.”

“But when people thought everything was lost, came the Prince That Was Promised, Azor Ahai, born as a red star bleeds, among salt and smoke. This warrior had a fiery sword called Lightbringer.”

“Daenerys is the one: Born amidst salt and smoke! Her Dragons prove it!” he said. “Her parents were told by a wood witch that the Prince, or Princess, must have dragon’s blood, specifically of the line of Aerys and Rhaella. They knew Azor Ahai would be born to them. She must be counselled, taught, and protected. For all these years I’ve lingered, waiting, watching, and now the day has dawned. I am too old. I am dying.” Maester Aemon said. “The dragon must have three heads, but I am too old to be one of them. I should be with her, showing her the way, but my body betrayed me.”

It was sad. Maester Aemon had lived long enough to see his entire family die and know that the last remaining survivor was fighting as best as she could without him to help her. Despite having given up his life as a Targaryen, Maester Aemon still felt very much a part of his house in his heart.

Stepping out of his hiding place, Jon looked at Sam. “Sam, I need to speak to Maester Aemon alone.”

He nodded and left, surely in search of Gilly and baby Sam.

Taking a seat at the small table, Jon asked: “How are you feeling, Maester Aemon?”

“Oh like a hundred-year-old man, slowly freezing to death.”

He placed his hand on the old man’s and gave him a gentle squeeze. It was true; there was no benefit in denying it. “I need your advice,” he started. “There's something I want to do; something I have to do, but it'll divide the Night’s Watch basically. After, men will hate me, the moment I give the order- “

“Those men hate you already, Lord Commander.” Maester Aemon said. “Do it!”

“But - you don't know what it is!”

“That doesn't matter, you do. You will find little joy in your command” Maester Aemon said, touching Jon’s face gently, “but, with luck, you'll find the strength to do what needs to be done. Kill the boy, Jon Snow, winter is almost upon us. Kill the boy and let the man be born.”

---

Not a week later, Jon along with a group of brothers of The Watch he trusted sailed the icy waters of the Shivering Sea to Hardhome, where the rest of the Wildlings would be. Tormund, the leader of one of the wildling groups that had commanded the attack on Castle Black, had agreed to Jon’s proposal if Jon himself came to parlay with the free folk. Upon arrival, the red-headed wildling was deemed a traitor by the Lord of Bones, the leader of another clan. He was quite intimidating, dressed only in furs and the bones of his fallen enemies. Even his face was covered down to his nose by someone’s skull.

Tormund tried to negotiate with him but he wouldn’t listen and he was turning the others against them so he simply beat him with his own bone sceptre until he stopped moving.

They gathered the elders inside the single wood cabin in the camp. Around the fire, the elders asked Tormund why he would come with a crow and why should anyone trust them. Jon tried his best to convince them that crossing south through Castle Black would be the best option for them. “My name's Jon Snow. I'm Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. We're not friends, we've never been friends, we won't become friends today. This isn't about friendship, this is about survival. This is about putting a 700-foot wall between you and what's out there.”

A woman spoke, she was much too young to be one of the elders, but perhaps Wildlings didn’t live long enough to be elders. “You built that wall to keep us out. Since when do the crows give two shits if we live?”

Jon nodded. “In normal times we wouldn't, but these aren't normal times. The White Walkers don't care if a man's free folk or crow. We’re all the same to them - meat for their army, but together we can beat them.”

“Beat the White Walkers? Good luck with that. Run from them maybe,” she said.

“It's not a trick. As a gift for those who join us,” Jon said, giving them a leather satchel. “Dragonglass. A man of the Night’s Watch used one of these daggers to kill a walker.”

“You saw this?”

“No,” said Jon, “but I trust the man.”

“There are stories about dragonglass,” said the woman.

“There are old stories about ice spiders big as hounds,” said one of the Thenns. 

The woman raised an eyebrow at him. “And with the things we've seen you don't believe them?”

Jon tried to reign the conversation back to the deal. “Come with me and I'll share these weapons.”

“Come with you where?” She asked.

“There are good lands south of the wall. The Night’s Watch will let you through the tunnel and allow your people to farm those lands,” Jon said. “I knew Mance Rayder, he never wanted a war with the Night’s Watch, he wanted a new life for his people; for you. We're prepared to give you that new life-” 

“If?”

“If you swear you'll join us when the real war begins.”

“Where is Mance?” Asked the Thenn.

“He died,” Jon replied. “I put an arrow through his heart.”

There was a collective gasp and for a moment the cabin fell eerily silent, until -

The Thenn put a hand on the knife he had attached to his leg. “Send the Lord Commander back to Castle Black with no eyes.”

Tormund stepped in front of Jon when the others got too close for comfort. “None of you saw Mance die. Those of us taken as prisoners that day told me about it. A southern army broke our defences, Mance tried to fight but fell back into the big campfire. Every one of us that tried to save him got severely burned and died. Jon Snow’s arrow was mercy, he saved Mance from his pain. He defied the southern army that wanted to let him suffer. What he did took courage and that's what we need today; the courage to make peace with men we've been killing for generations.”

“I lost my father, my uncle, and two brothers fighting the damn crows,” said the Thenn.

“I'm not asking you to forget your dead. I'll never forget mine,” Jon admitted. “I lost 50 brothers the night Mance attacked the wall, but I'm asking you to think about your children now. They'll never have children of their own if we don't band together. The long night is coming and the dead come with it. No clan can stop them, the free folk can't stop them, the Night’s Watch can't stop them, and all the southern Kings can't stop them. Only together - all of us - and even then it may not be enough, but at least we'll give the fuckers a fight.”

“You vouch for this man, Tormund?” The woman asked. 

Crossing his arms, Tormund nodded. “He's prettier than both my daughters, but he knows how to fight. He's young but he knows how to lead. He didn't have to come to Hardhome; he came because he needs us and we need him.”

“My ancestors would spit on me if I broke bread with a crow,” the Thenn elder said. 

The woman shrugged. “So would mine but fuck���em they're dead. I'll never trust a man in black, but I trust you, Tormund. If you say this is the way, we're with you.”

“This is the way,” Tormund said.

 A red-headed man, quite similar looking to Tormund, spoke next. “I'm with Tormund. If we stay here, we're dead men, at least with King Crow there's a chance.”

“Keep that new life you want to give us,” said the Thenn. “And keep your glass.” He turned to Tormund. “As soon as you get on his ships he’s gonna slit your throats and dump your bodies to the bottom of the Shivering Sea. That's our enemy, has always been.” He walked out of the cabin and many of the other clan leaders followed him.

Tormund looked at Jon and said: “I fucking hate Thenns.”

Those who agreed to come along with them started lining up for the boats that would carry them to the bigger ships The Knight’s of The Vale had allowed him to use for the endeavour; women and children first, of course. He smiled at the ‘elder’ woman that was putting both of her little girls on a boat, assuring them that she would join soon after as she needed to help the old folks. 

They didn't get very far before they noticed something was amiss. Jon heard someone yell at the guards to close the gates of the camp which seemed unusual. Then he saw the cloud of… smoke? Fog? He didn’t know, but it descended from the mountains around Hardhome like a dread. He saw many people getting trapped outside the camp and shortly after there were screams, rattles at the gate, then - nothing.

Jon unsheathed his sword and looked into Tormund’s eyes, wondering if they were thinking the same thing. They didn’t have to wonder for long. People rushed to the boats and even into the Shivering Sea by foot, trying to get away from the wights. They started coming from every direction, climbing over the gate, breaking through it, jumping from the snowy mountains; attacking everything and everyone who crossed their path. It was like a swarm of flies feasting on a rotting carcass. Behind them, White Walkers sat on their dead horses, wearing leader armour and with their ice weapons at the ready.

As wights descended upon the cabin, Jon asked his brothers to save as many people as they could and board the ship before running back to fetch Edd and the dragon glass satchel. He found him fighting side by side with a giant at least twice as tall as any human, when the dogs started barking outside. “Go!” Jon screamed. He saw his friend leave while he lifted the floorboards in search of the dragon glass and found it, but not before one of the White Walkers got to him and threw him to the other side of the room. As soon as the creature stepped close to the fire, it went out as if its presence alone was enough to take its life.

The Thenn that had been so adamant about not joining him, told Jon to get the dragonglass while he tried to keep the creature away just long enough to give him a chance at winning, but the Walker put its ice sword through him with one swift movement. Its icy blue eyes focused now on Jon again. He tried to take the high ground but it didn’t help him greatly, so he took the opportunity to roll out of the cabin when the Walker attacked him next. It only provided a short break for him to catch his breath before the creature was on him. Jon managed to swing a sword at him but it met its ice spear. To both of their surprise, Longclaw didn’t shatter but held the icy weapon making a high pitched sound. It meant - 

It meant that if he - Jon ducked the Walker’s next attack and swung his sword at it again, watching it shatter and blow in the wind like a million ice crystals.

Part of the wights attacking the camp fell to the ground immediately after. Jon looked around in shock at the turn of events but ran for the boats, fighting his way there and managed to get on the last one, Tormund joining him at the last second.

“Wun Wun! To the sea!” He yelled desperately at the giant, who had stayed behind, still fighting.

The giant stomped on a few more wights and walked into the Shivering Sea with a frown.

As they sailed away, Jon saw one of the White Walkers with dark leather armour and ice spikes coming out of its head like a crown, going all the way out the dock and looking him in the eye as it slowly raised its hands. The dead rose to their feet slowly; icy blue eyes to match the creature. 

Some of the elders were now in the creature’s army, the woman who had promised her daughters she’d be back was among them. They had tried their best to save people but it had not been enough.

---

Just as expected, their return to Castle Black was not welcomed. Thorne, who Jon had left as acting Commander in his stead, looked down at him from atop The Wall and took a few minutes to finally decide to give the order to raise the gate for them.

The faces of most of the men were riddled with hate towards Jon, but now, with everything he’d seen, he was even more certain that he’d done the right thing, by him, by his brothers and by the wild- the free folk.

Thousands of them walked peacefully and in silence. In through one gate of Castle Black and out the other, watched from every corner of the Castle by men of The Night’s Watch.

Olly gave Jon a disgusted look and disappeared for the rest of the day. One day, he would understand.

PHIL

Phil heard Dan’s voice calling him, begging for him to come to him and he couldn’t resist. He knew his duty was with his family, but he’d been away from his love for far too long. They had gone through so much horror without the comfort of each other’s company and Phil was starting to lose his mind. He just wanted to kiss Dan again, hold him, sleep on his chest and love him until they were no more.

“Phil, Phil. Please… I miss you,” he said.

A shiver ran through his body and Phil sat up in bed, finally waking up from his dream. He was covered in sweat and his eyes filled with tears. He ran his fingers through his damp hair and slumped back into bed, pulling the covers up to protect himself from the increasingly cold weather. He had to do something - he needed to find Dan. 

He felt a pang of guilt in his chest, remembering the last time he’d seen Sansa. Should have he done things differently? Phil could only hope that she was safe and prayed that the lack of news was a good sign. If anything happened to her, Dan would never forgive him; he would never forgive himself either.

Come morning, he sighed and got out of bed, putting on his new outfit for Margaery’s wedding. Thankfully this one would be much faster and it would hopefully end with the bride and groom alive, unlike the previous one.

He made his way to the Sept a bit early to avoid the crowds that would form in the streets to greet their King and Queen. By the time he saw the litters approaching, his feet hurt and he was beyond bored, but he couldn’t help but smile. The people didn’t call for Tommen, they didn’t call for Cersei, they called for Margaery, for Queen Margaery, the one who saw to their needs, who spoke to them and made sure that people were being treated well. It made Phil incredibly proud to know that his cousin was a wonderful ruler already and even if she had fought her way to the crown, it was well deserved after all.

Both Margaery and Tommen looked incredibly happy during the ceremony. This time her dress was even more beautiful than the previous one and Tommen had decided to match her golden gown and accessories. They were, for lack of better words, a perfect match. 

He let out a sad sigh, thinking about Dan and wondering if they would ever get to celebrate their love like this. Thankfully he was able to excuse himself early and retire to his chambers.

---

“I’m leaving,” Phil said.

“Don’t be stupid,” his grandmother waved him off. “Where would you possibly go? Your entire family is here.”

He gave her a look and she pressed her back into her chair with a huff. “That boy has a hold on you. Be careful now.”

“I need to see him, know that he is alive and well.”

“Well, he is alive; I can tell you that much.”

Phil’s ears perked up. “How do you know?”

She grumbled. “The new Master of Whispers, that deranged… Qyburn received word from Castle Black. It appears that your beloved Daniel has reunited with his bastard brother and even survived a battle against the wildlings.”

His eyes widened. “The wildlings? On this side of The Wall?”

“Yes, yes. But that was not the big surprise.”

“What do you mean?” 

His grandmother leaned forward with a smirk and patted his hand. “Our little Sansa arrived with The Knights of The Vale and killed the wildling King. She saved her brother’s life, the other one, Jon Snow. They say it was quite impressive.”

“How did she convince her aunt to support her cause?”

“She and her cousin executed Littlefinger for killing her aunt it seems,” she scoffed. “Good riddance. A dead man can tell no secrets. He is gone, Tyrion Lannister is gone and Margaery is Queen with King Tommen. Everything is as it should be.”

Phil blinked repeatedly. Dan was alive and well, Sansa rode north with The Knights of The Vale and the wildlings… “I - I need to ride north. I want to be with him.”

“And you will. But not now. Your cousin just became Queen, we can’t afford to leave her yet,” his grandmother sighed. “It is too dangerous for you; you know that.”

“Grandmother…”

“When I leave for Highgarden, then you can leave to be with your Daniel.”

He thought about it. Would the guards even notice him scurrying away in the middle of the night? On the other hand -

“Phil, I know what you are thinking, but I am asking you to follow your brain - not your heart or your breeches. If you don’t, I’ll have you dragged back to King’s Landing by the hair. Do you hear me?”

He nodded and kissed her hand softly. “Yes, Grandmother. I will do as you say.”

“You have always been such a good boy; don’t fail me now.”

“I won’t,” he said and poured himself a cup of tea, still regretting not leaving without a word.

Margaery joined them shortly after looking at them with a raised eyebrow. “Have you been fighting again?”

“I don’t fight with our grandmother!” Phil said.

“It is true, he doesn’t. A fight needs two people engaging in a disagreement and Phil knows better than to disagree with me.”

Phil pressed his back into his chair and grumbled as he crossed his arms.

“Cheer up, cousin!” She said. 

“I don’t think I can do that today. Why are you so happy?”

“I think I convinced Tommen to send his beloved mother back to Casterly Rock where she won’t be able to smother him constantly and distract him from me. He wants to be seen as a strong man, of course, and he won’t be able to present as such if Cersei is looking over his shoulder at all times.”

“That is true,” said Phil even though he knew Margaery was also doing it to get rid of Cersei. He couldn’t blame her. Cersei had turned into an insufferable hag, wanting to keep Tommen as her little boy given that he was her only child still alive. Even though she had stopped wearing black, her gown had started to include more and more metallic pieces, each resembling an armour more than the previous one.

“She is not leaving without a fight. I’ve heard whispers about her speaking to the religious fanatics that arrived at the Capital with her cousin Lancel. Their leader calls himself The High Sparrow…” She said, her eyes far away.

“Margaery?”

“Sorry.”

“Something worries you,” said their grandmother.

“Yes,” Margary said. “Quite. They are against many things. Things that Westeros has accepted for centuries such as loving someone of the same sex. I fear that she will try to take Loras away from us now that she doesn’t plan to marry him.”

“Oh,” Phil said, frowning.

Their grandmother looked at Phil sternly. “See to it that you are quiet about your feelings for Daniel or any other man, Phil. You have an advantage that Loras does not.”

TYRION

When the crate finally opened, Tyrion was blinded by the sunlight, dizzy and dehydrated. He rolled out of his confinement and was immediately sick on the floor, Varys looking down at him with a disapproving look. “Where are we?” He groaned.

“Pentos. This is the house of a very dear friend of mine, Illyrio Mopatis. He is used to housing quite illustrious guests.” Varys turned around and looked out to the sea. “We met many years ago through mutual friends. A group of people who saw Robert Baratheon for the disaster he was. We tried to do what was best for The Realm by supporting the Targaryen restoration. And thus began the chain of mistakes that led us both here.”

Now that Tyrion was able to stand and stumble his way to the wine left out on a small table, he could see that the terrace they were standing on overlooked a beautiful water garden and beyond it, the sea. He shut his eyes as he tried to keep the memories of the life Shae had wanted for them in Pentos… if only he had listened.

“Things have gotten worse, not better. Westeros needs to be saved from itself,” Varys said.

Tyrion poured himself another glass of wine. “Hmm, much better.”

“My Lord?”

“No, I don’t suppose I am anymore,” Tyrion shrugged.

“You already drank your way across the narrow sea.”

“In a box! Why stop now?”

“Because we are talking about the future of our country.”

“The future is shit, just like the past.”

“You know, there are faster ways to kill yourself.”

“Not for a coward. Why did you set me free?”

“Your brother asked me to.”

“You could have said no. You risked your life, your position, everything. Why? You are not family, you owe me nothing!”

“I didn’t do it for you. I did it for The Seven Kingdoms.”

“A drunken dwarf will never be the saviour of The Seven Kingdoms.”

“I don’t believe in saviours. I believe that men with talent have a role to play in the war to come. You have your father’s instincts for war but you have compassion.”

Tyrion raised his eyebrows. “Compassion? I killed my own father with a crossbow.”

“I never said that you were perfect.”

“What do you want exactly?”

“Peace, prosperity,” Varys said. “A world where the powerful don’t pray on the powerless.”

“The powerful have always preyed on the powerless. That’s how they became powerful in the first place.”

“Perhaps. And perhaps we have grown so used to that horror we assume there’s no other way. If you sat on The Iron Throne would you spread misery through the land?”

Tyrion shook his head, his overgrown hair dancing in front of his eyes. “I will never sit on The Iron Throne.”

“No, you won’t,” Varys agreed, placing a hand over Tyrion’s. “But you could help someone else climb those steps. We will need someone stronger than Tommen but gentler than Stannis was. A monarch who can intimidate the High Lords but inspire people. Someone loved by millions and with the right family name”

“Good luck finding him.”

“Who says it has to be a he?” Varys said. “You have a choice to make. You can stay here at Pentos and drink yourself to death or you can ride with me to Meereen and meet Daenerys Targaryen, and decide if the world is worth fighting for.”

“Can I drink myself to death on the road to Meereen?”

---

The forsaken road to Meereen was eternal. If they didn’t get to Daenerys Targaryen soon, Tyrion was going to go mad. They were travelling in nice accommodations since Illyrio Mopatis had let them use his wheelhouse, but he needed to go out, walk freely, and speak to someone who wasn’t Varys. So in the next big city, he made his wish known and despite Varys’ protests he covered his hair and walked out.

His spider friend was close behind, of course, because he was sure that someone would capture him, but Tyrion knew the chances were very slim. The city offered a wide variety of entertainment. There were bars, whores, gambling, and, strangely enough, Red Priestesses spreading the word about the Lord of Light who hears everyone alike, rich or slave and about the greatness of the Dragon Queen, the magic girl who walked out of a funerary pyre with her three dragons to change the world.

Tyrion snorted. The Lord of Light was the same God Stannis was using as an excuse to burn people alive. In his opinion, all Gods were cunts. He saw Varys regarding the Red women with fear, too distracted to notice if he were to just… wander away.

The brothel called to him, so he followed his heart and walked in, taking account of how different everything and everyone looked. He ordered wine and took a seat, but was joined by Varys shortly after. 

A flash of white out of the corner of his eye called his attention; a woman with long white hair walked around in a nice dress, except that her behind was completely exposed. A sailor called her over and bowed before her, letting out a loud laugh. “The Mother of Dragons!” He said.

Tyrion’s eyebrows raised. It was both incredibly disrespectful and a weird way to honour Daenerys. The girl clearly liked to play the part and it was working well for her. Every man in the brothel was enticed by her presence. “It seems that you are not the only Targaryen supporter,” he said to Varys.

“Someone who inspires priestesses and whores alike is worth taking seriously.”

Given that she was taken, Tyrion spoke to another whore. She had beautiful black hair that fell in waves around her face, just like - “I’m sorry, I’m afraid I can’t,” he said and went to take a piss. He wondered if his heart would ever heal from the loss of Shae. No matter how beautiful or smart, nobody could come close to her, not for him. He heard someone’s steps approaching from behind as he pissed out the balcony and assumed it was Varys, but he realised his mistake when he felt the rope tightening around him and a rag shoved in his mouth.

It was just his luck.

---

Was it luck? Certainly not, but despite the fact that he was now a hostage instead of a luxury traveller, he was still headed to the Dragon Queen. It would be a much rougher introduction, no doubt, but he hoped Varys could join him as soon as possible. 

His captor was none other than Jorah Mormont, son of the great Jeor Mormont, the former Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. It was a pity that his own men had kill him and it was even more of a pity that Tyrion happened to mention this to his son when he didn’t know his father had been killed. The journey together was certainly awkward with Tyrion’s disposition to want to fill the air if nobody else was talking and Mormont not wanting anything to do with him. But alas, it was expected of him to have questions when Jorah had been an informant to Robert about Daenerys’ whereabouts, even having received a pardon because of it. Now he seemed truly devoted to her, so much so as to take their small sailboat through Old Valyria to get to her. The city was in ruins, stone bridges falling apart all around, its only inhabitants being the Stone Men, former humans who had contracted Greyscale; an illness so infectious, families vanished their relatives to the island and left them there to live out the rest of their days in madness.

The fog surrounding them as they sailed through Old Valyria was scary, to say the least, but hearing someone jump from the bridge in the waters they were navigating was more so.

Tyrion didn’t manage to ask if Jorah had seen anything before he was attacked by one of the Greyscale infected people. Every inch of their body was covered with it, all the skin so dead and hard you couldn't see their eyes. He tried to keep the thing from touching him but with his hands still in ropes, he was knocked off the boat and dragged to the bottom of the river. The next time he opened his eyes, Jorah had rescued him and they lay on a beach, without a boat or food - or anything else really.

The trip was going to take quite some time.

JON

Gilly went in search of Jon and called him to Maester Aemon’s chambers. He hadn’t had a good week but his health had deteriorated rapidly in the last few hours and even if she didn’t say it, Jon knew why he was being called. He was at least grateful to be able to be at Maester Aemon’s side when he was needed. Jon had never met his grandfather and his time with his father had been cut so short, that he felt like he had much to learn still; Maester Aemon had filled that role lovingly and helped him at every opportunity. It was much too soon, but he had given Jon and The Watch all the time he had left.

When Jon walked in, he couldn’t help but smile, Sam was holding the baby up to the Maester, letting him touch the tiny face to see his expression.

“There he is!” Maester Aemon said, touching baby Sam’s face. “Hello!” he cooed. “Aeg! Aeg laughed like that! One of the first things I remember…” 

Gilly looked at Sam frowning as she didn’t understand what he meant. “His little brother, Aegon,” Sam said. “He became King.”

“And before that, he was a jolly fella, like this one!” Maester Aemon said before he frowned and his face turned to Jon. “Aeg! Aeeg! Mother’s looking for you!”

Jon sat at his side and grabbed his hand. 

The old Maester touched his face and smiled widely. “There you are. I knew you were here.”

Looking into Sam’s eyes, he swallowed thick and nodded even if the Maester could not see him. He didn’t have the heart to remind him that Aegon was long gone, that his entire family had died while he was at The Wall. He cleared his throat and said: “Yes, Aemon. I’m here, I’m right here,” he whispered.

“Get some sleep, Sam,” Gilly mumbled. “You will have to speak for him tomorrow.”

Sam shook his head. “You don’t know that.”

“Get some sleep,” she repeated.

“I’m staying too,” he said, passing baby Sam to her and taking a seat on the opposite side, holding Maester Aemon’s hand. “He’s always been good to me. I can’t leave him now.”

“Aeg! I see you!” Maester Aemon said, facing Jon. “Aeg! I dreamed that… I was old.” He said and let out his last breath. It was quiet and peaceful, not laboured like in the past few days. In his last moments, as far as he knew, Maester Aemon was surrounded by family. Jon hoped that he truly loved them as much as they loved him.

---

The following morning, Jon carried Maester Aemon to the pyre and placed a quill in his hand. Dan stood at his side, trying to comfort him and added a wildflower. Sansa added a small scrap of fabric with a three-headed dragon embroidered over his heart. 

Sam had asked to be the one to speak for him and Jon felt nothing but relief; he didn’t know what he would say. He didn’t cry, but he wished he could. Too many feelings whirled inside of him and he couldn’t make sense of them.

His friend cleared his throat and finally began speaking. “His name was Aemon Targaryen. He came to us from King's Landing, a Maester of the Citadel, chained and sworn, and sworn brother of the Night’s Watch ever faithful. No man was wiser, or gentler, or kinder. At The Wall, a dozen Lord Commanders came and went during his years of service, but he was always there to counsel them. He was the blood of the Dragon, but now his fire has gone out and now his watch has ended.”

PHIL

King's Landing, Westeros.

Phil paced up and down the garden as he waited for his grandmother and Margaery to return. Only days ago, Loras had been taken as prisoner by the High Sparrow and now his family needed to testify to save him. Phil didn’t know exactly what would be the punishment for Loras’ ‘sins’ if he was found guilty, but he understood enough to know that Cersei had to be involved in this in some way. Nobody could just come to King’s Landing, imprison the High Septon, and continue as if nothing had happened. Their leader was even in charge of the Sept of Baelor.

For the first time in his life, Phil saw his grandmother, the Queen of Thornes, walk up to him with a lost look upon her face. She wrapped her arms around him and whispered: “They took Margaery too.”

“Margaery? But - she’s The Queen! Whatever did they take her for?”

“Lying to save Loras. That man he’d been seeing, the blonde one, said that Margaery knew of Loras’ sins but still said she didn’t… so they took her.”

Taking a step back, Phil looked into her eyes. “What will we do now?”

“We will get them out, one way or the other. I will handle the politics, you need to find another way. I have the feeling this will not go down as easily.”

“I’ll speak to Tommen and plan something.”

“Be careful with that boy,” his grandmother said before stumbling to a chair, her ladies in waiting rushing to her side.

---

At first, Tommen didn’t know what to do with the information. Phil prodded him and he seemed to have no issue with Loras’ alleged crimes which was a start but Tommen had looked up to Tywin for guidance and now he was surrounded by a vapid circle of snakes chosen by his mother.

Cersei was in a delicate situation with her son. If he knew she had been the one orchestrating the Tyrells’ fall from grace, she could be sent away from the Capital and she had no intention of leaving, so Phil advised Tommen to ask her for help. If she wanted to show her son true support and be in a better position, she would need to at least try to free Margaery or see that she was comfortable enough.

Tommen agreed that it was the safest course of action since Cersei seemed to have a good relationship with the Sparrows since she’d found a new connection to the Faith of The Seven, but that didn’t work to their favour either. No matter how much Cersei had supported the religious fanatics, it didn’t help her at all. The moment she walked into the Sept of Baelor, the High Sparrow took her into custody for regicide and incest.

It didn’t help Phil’s family, but the poetic justice did warm Phil’s heart. Cersei’s situation also set Tommen into action with wanting to be in the good graces of the High Sparrow and give him favours in order to find a way to safely get his family back. It also gave him much to think about, since he had heard the rumours about her mother and uncle but it had never occurred to him that his mother had been the one behind his own father’s death.

Phil became Tommen’s closest friend, begging him to keep it hidden so that nobody could interfere between them. He found himself wanting to help the boy, not only because it would serve his own family, but because out of all the Lannisters, he was the only innocent one. He was just a young boy, now close to turning 18, who had been ignored for most of his life until his demented brother died. That was probably why he had a sweet and gentle soul; his family had not paid him any mind.

Tommen was delighted to find that there was a series of passages inside the Red Keep that would allow him to walk freely and undetected. Phil showed him the way around and started to suggest ideas, planting them in his mind.

They walked through a small corridor between the walls and entered Margaery’s quarters. Tommen touched her pillow and sighed sadly.

“We will get her back.”

“I hope so. I love her, I truly do.”

Phil nodded and looked at Ser Pounce, who was stretching at the wall and meowing. “Come,” he said and pressed on the wall, making the secret door pop open and letting the cat walk ahead of them. In only a few steps, they found the connecting door to Tommen’s quarters. He looked in through a small hole and saw Qyburn going through Tommen’s things. Without a word, he let Tommen see as well.

They barely had to wait a minute before the man was gone. Only then did Phil open the door and walked in.

“What was he looking for?” asked Tommen. “How did you know about this passage?”

“Probably nothing specific. Your mother likes to keep an eye on you and she is close to him. It’s only natural that he would check and report back, even if she’s not here at the moment.” Phil shrugged. “I wanted to know what Varys’ little birds did. He did always say even the walls have ears in King’s Landing.”

“I can’t really trust anyone,” Tommen lamented. “I miss Myrcella. She knew what it was like to be a part of the family and not matter. I wish my mother hadn’t killed her.”

Phil’s eyes widened. “I thought she was ill.”

Tommen shook his head. “My mother thinks I don’t remember because of everything that happened that night but I do. She spent most of the Battle of the Blackwater drinking wine and when she thought we had lost, she took us to The Throne Room, told us a story and gave us each Essence of Nightshade. She told Myrcella to drink first, so she did. Then Ser Loras and my grandfather came in and let her know we had won.”

“I’m sorry, that’s horrible.” Phil wondered if Cersei had been as unstable before she killed her own daughter or if that had been the thing that really turned her into the Mad Queen she was. 

“My uncle Tyrion had wanted to send Myrcella away to keep her safe, but my mother delayed the trip just enough to kill her. In the end, her wanting to keep Myrcella to herself was what killed her. She could be running through the beach in Dorne now, being happy away from her.”

“I think that the best you can do to honour her memory is to not let your mother control you anymore. I know you love her, but - she hates Margaery. She will never accept us being here,” Phil said.

Tommen threw himself back on the bed and placed his hand on Ser Pounce’s furry head when the cat joined him. “I know. I just don’t know what to do. I don’t think these people can be reasoned with.”

“I have an idea,” Phil said, watching as Tommen’s head perked up. “We can explore all the passages and plan a way out of The Red Keep to the Sept without being seen. We’ll need to have clothes that help us blend in with the commoners and a plan of exit through land and through the sea.”

“Is that all really necessary?”

Phil nodded. “It is much harder to improvise when you have a loved one on the verge of death. Even if talking to The High Sparrow works, this could help you at a different time; you are The King after all.”

Tommen hummed and kissed Ser Pounce’s nose.

DAN

Things seemed to never be dull at Castle Black. Not a fortnight after the wildlings crossed, there was an unexpected visitor at the south gate requesting to speak to the Lord Commander.

Dan saw who it was and caught up to Sam, joining the conversation.

“There’s a woman asking for you at the gate,” Sam said.

“A woman?” His brother asked.

Dan placed his hand on Jon’s arm. “She’s the Red Priestess that accompanied Stannis to Renly’s camp when Mother and I were visiting. She likes to sacrifice people to gain favour with her God.”

Jon frowned. “I need to speak to her; see what she wants.”

“Jon, she burns people alive.”

“I’m not going to hide from a woman.”

Sansa, who had been sitting by the fire with Balerion narrowed her eyes at him. “Why not?”

“My men will see me as a coward,” Jon said, raising his arms defensively.

“A woman could kill you just as easily as a man, she would just be more careful about it,” Sansa said. “But - I think you should go. I want to know why she wants to speak to you.”

Dan looked at her and pursed his lips but she shrugged and went back to petting Balerion.

---

Once the gates had opened for her, Melisandre, as she had introduced herself, said that she needed to speak to Jon before looking past him and straight into Dan’s eyes with a smile.

“Daniel… it is good to see you again.”

“I wish I could say the same, My Lady, but I was there when you sent that… thing to kill Renly Baratheon. I saw it happen,” Dan said expecting her to deny it but she nodded.

“I only did what I thought was best for the realm. I thought Stannis was The Prince That Was Promised,” she said, “I thought I had interpreted all the signs correctly, but I now know why when I stare into the flames and ask R’hllor to show me Azor Ahai all I see is Snow.”

Jon shook his head. “I am no Prince, just a bastard.”

“Prophecies are a tricky thing, often metaphorical, with many meanings or no meaning at all, but this one in particular, has manifested in most cultures. There’ll be a Prince who will put an end to The Long Night - and winter is upon us.

“What is it that you ask of us, My Lady?” Jon asked.

“I just want to help. If you allow me to stay, I may find a way to stop The Others. I swear not to harm you or anyone at Castle Black, if that is your concern.” the Red Priestess said.

Dan wanted to argue, but when Sansa came to greet Melisandre with the wolves, they smelled her hands and sat quietly before her, even when she kneeled and looked into their eyes. She had been accepted.

DAENERYS

Daenerys didn’t want to regret staying in Meereen but part of her did and she felt extremely guilty because of it. There were constant revolts in all three cities in Slaver’s Bay which meant she had to send reinforcements and resources to take control back and keep her people free, but Meereen had bigger problems. There was a group of masked people - slavers or people working for them, she assumed - that constantly attacked the city from within, killing Unsullied and free people alike without remorse, leaving messages written with the blood of the victims on the walls, warning people, warning Daenerys, that things would return to how they were. 

One of those attacks, not unlike the others, actually took the life of Ser Barristan and got Grey Worm severely wounded. She was heartbroken about the loss of her loyal friend and Queensguard and worried about Grey Worm. With Jorah no longer around to comfort her, her friend circle was becoming smaller and smaller, making her feel alone. Ser Barristan had crossed a continent to find her. He believed in her; and he had died in an alley, butchered by cowards who hid behind masks. She tried not to think about it, but in situations like this, it was inevitable for her to remember how each of her friends ended up dying or betraying her.

Danny could still be grateful for Missandei, who got closer and closer to her every day. She was such a gentle and caring friend. It was only natural that she would walk into Grey Worm’s chambers to find her cuddled up to him, one of the sweetest men she’d ever met despite the horrible circumstances in which he grew up.

Not wanting to interrupt them, she exited without a word and went in search of Daario, asking him into her chambers, hoping his company would keep the loneliness away. He was no King, nor he would be ever, but he was good company - for now.

TYRION

Upon arriving at Meereen, Tyrion was surprised to hear that the fighting pits had been reopened when Jorah had mentioned Daenerys was against the practice and considered it barbaric, but it was a good way to find The Queen.

They walked in with the crowd and sat as close to her as possible, watching the fights until a tall and quite handsome man spotted Jorah and let her know. One of her guards in full black armour escorted them to her; even if she didn’t look them in the eye.

“What are you doing here?” Daenerys asked. “I told you I would have you executed…”

Tyrion looked at his travelling companion with wide eyes.

“I’ve brought you a gift, Kaleesi,” Jorah said.

She finally turned to him with a raised eyebrow. “Who’s this?”

“I’m Tyrion Lannister, Your Grace,” he said, watching Daenerys Targaryen’s eyes widened in shock. He smiled, pleased that his visit had at least come as a surprise; as much of a surprise as her imponent presence was. A true Queen.

They were taken back to the pyramid and the meeting continued there, with Daenerys Targaryen looking down at them from a bench atop a long flight of stairs. It was a smart way to make the power imbalance between them evident, Tyrion had to admit that.

“Your Grace,” said Jorah. “I-”

“You will not speak,” she said, and addressed Tyrion for the first time. “How do I know you are who you say you are?”

“If only I were otherwise…”

“If you are Tyrion Lannister, why shouldn't I kill you to pay your family back for what it did to mine?”

“You want revenge against the Lannisters?” He asked. “I killed my mother Joanna Lannister on the day I was born, I killed my father, Tywin Lannister, with a crossbow to the heart. I am the greatest Lannister killer of our time.” 

Daenerys raised an eyebrow at him. “So I should welcome you into my service because you murdered members of your own family?”

“Into your service? Your Grace, we have only just met. It's too soon to know if you deserve my service.”

“Should you rather be sent to a cell? Just say the word.”

Tyrion climbed a few of the steps and looked at her. “When I was a young man, I heard a story about a baby born during the worst storm in living memory. She had no wealth, no lands, no army, only a name and a handful of supporters, most of whom probably thought they could use that name to benefit themselves. They kept her alive, moving her from place to place, often hours ahead of the men who'd been sent to kill her. She was eventually sold off to some warlord on the edge of the world and that appeared to be that. And then, a few years later, the most well-informed person I know told me that this girl without wealth, lands, or armies, had somehow acquired all three in a very short span of time, along with three dragons. He thought she was our best last chance to build a better world. I thought you were worth meeting, at the very least.”

“And why are you worth meeting? Why should I spend my time listening to you?” The Queen asked.

“Because you cannot build a better world on your own. You have no one at your side who

understands the land you want to rule, the strengths and weaknesses of the houses that will either join or oppose you.” 

She smirked. “I will have a very large army and very large dragons.”

“Killing and politics aren't always the same thing. When I served as Hand of the King, I did quite well with the latter, considering the King in question preferred torturing animals to leading his people. I could do an even better job advising a ruler worth the name, if that is indeed what you are.”

“So you want to advise me? Very well. What would you have me do with him?” Daenerys asked, signalling to Jorah, rage written all over her face. “I swore I would kill him if he ever returned.” 

“I know.”

“Why should the people trust a Queen who can't keep her promises?”

“Whomever Ser Jorah was when he started informing on you, he is no longer that man. I can't remember ever seeing a sane man as devoted to anything as he is to serving you. He claims he would kill for you and die for you and nothing I have witnessed gives me reason to doubt him - and yet, he did betray you.” Tyrion said. “Did he have an opportunity to confess his betrayal?”

“Yes, many opportunities.”

“And did he?” He asked.

“Not until forced to do so.”

Tyrion was not expecting that; he assumed Jorah to be smarter. After a pause, he said: “He worships you; he is in love with you, I think, but he did not trust you with the truth. An unpleasant truth, to be sure, but one of great significance to you. He did not trust that you would be wise enough to forgive him.”

“So I should kill him?”

He shook his head. “A ruler who kills those devoted to her is not a ruler who inspires devotion. You're going to need to inspire devotion, a lot of it, if you're ever going to rule across the Narrow Sea but you cannot have him by your side when you do.”

Daenerys nodded and looked at her guards. “Remove Ser Jorah from the city.”

---

Tyrion’s fate became uncertain for weeks after that. He was not a guest, not a hostage, at least not the kind that is thrown into a cell, and not an advisor. He spent his days bored, drinking wine and not much else. It seemed that the Queen was still considering him, deciding what to do with him exactly.

She invited him to drink wine in one of her gardens. He knew that the casual conversation was a test.

“So have you decided if I’m worthy of your service?” She asked.

“Have you decided if you’re going to have me killed?”

“Probably my safest option,” she said with a smile. “Why did you kill your father?”

“Hmmm,” he said, swishing his wine glass around. “Some day, if you decide not to execute me, I’ll tell you all about why I killed my father, and on that day, should it ever come, we’ll need more wine than this.”

“I know what my father was; what he did,” Daenerys sighed. “I know that the Mad King earned his name.”

“So here we sit. Two terrible children of two terrible fathers.”

She frowned. “Am I terrible? Why did you travel to the other side of the world to meet someone terrible?”

“To see if you were the right kind of terrible.”

“What kind is that?”

“The kind that prevents their people from being even more so.”

Daenerys pursed her lips. “I’ve opened the fighting pits. Under my rule murder has become an entertainment again because the people wished it so.”

“Yes, that was wise,” Tyrion said.

She took a sip of her wine and thought for a moment. “I know what I’m going to do with you.”

“Kill me? Banish me?”

“No. You’re going to advise me.”

“On what?”

“On how to get what I want,” she said.

“Westeros?” Tyrion shook his head. “That’s not possible. You don’t have the support of the Houses there. The Starks and Baratheons are gone, the remaining Lannisters will not support you. Who else is left? The Tyrells? That’s not enough.”

“They told me I wouldn’t be able to take Slaver’s Bay either, but I did it, with the support of the common people.”

Tyrion leaned forward in his chair. “You are ruling here only with the support of the common people. How has it been without the rich? Easy?”

“Baratheons, Starks, Lannisters, Tyrells,” Daenerys said, brining her wine glass to her lips. “They are only spokes on a wheel, that on and on it goes, crushing those under it.”

“Stopping the wheel is a noble dream,” Tyrion said, raising his own glass. “Many have tried it before.”

Daenerys placed her glass firmly on the table and looked into his eyes. “I’m not going to stop the wheel. I’m going to break it.” 

---

Tyrion got ready in his new clothes and joined Daenerys at the fighting pits. The fights were brutal but the people seemed to love it, cheering constantly after every kill. Something felt strangely out of place though. He could have sworn that he saw flashes of gold between the crowd, but every time he turned, there was nothing there. 

Then, when the final kill was delivered, the last fighter removed his helmet to reveal his identity: it was Jorah Mormont. Daenerys’ face dropped. She clearly still feared for her former friend, even after his betrayal, but she had no choice. She clapped once, marking the beginning of the next fight.

Jorah killed opponent after opponent before grabbing one of the lances and sending it to where Daenerys was sitting. Tyrion’s heart beat so fast he felt it was trying to crawl out of him. He looked at the body falling to the ground at his side and saw it was a person with a golden mask and horns. It had to be one of the slave masters, the group that called themselves “The Sons of the Harpy” and wished to return to the previous status quo. Daario Naharis and Grey Worm closed in around Daenerys and helped her, Tyrion and Missandei walk down to the pit to join Jorah as the masked group of hundreds surrounded them. The Unsullied killed every person trying to cross the defence line, but they were being overpowered fast. They were outnumbered, until -

A black dragon as big as half the fighting pit landed beside them, instantly being attacked with spears and screeching. The creature ate a few of the masked men, burned some others and finally flew away with Daenerys on his back when she gave the command. “Valahd.”

He looked in awe as The Queen, the Mother of Dragons flew away from the fight.

---

Once the Unsullied killed the remaining Sons of the Harpy at the pit, they returned to the pyramid and decided the best way to track Daenerys down. According to her friends and advisors, even if she had been able to control Drogon, the biggest of her children, he was always challenging and rebellious, which was bound to be a problem. He had been missing for weeks at a time, often leaving in the direction he had flown that day, to The Great Grass Sea. 

Tyrion, Missandei and Grey Worm were left to rule in Daenerys’ stead while Daario and Jorah went on the mission to find their Queen and return her to Meereen safely. 

ARYA

Eventually, Arya was allowed to go in the back and wash the bodies of those who died in The House of Black and White, but she was never told what exactly happened to them after. There was yet another door; one that she was not allowed to cross, that held even more secrets. She asked and asked when she would be ready to know more, to play the game of faces, but never got a direct answer, so she continued with her menial tasks.

Shortly after, as Arya swept the floors just like any other day, someone came in, but this time, she was alone - unsupervised. A father walked in carrying her beautiful daughter, a girl who couldn’t be older than 8 years old.

He sat her by the fountain and said he would get help, but given that nobody else was there, the shaking man came up to her. “I have spent every silver coin I had, taken her to so many healers…” He whispered, wiping the tears falling from his eyes. “There’s nothing anyone can do - she suffers every day. Please, I  beg you.”

Arya knew she wasn’t allowed to provide any such services and that the help of the Faceless Men required payment, but - it was not fair to the girl, or to the father. Surely, the Many-Faced God would not mind helping this less than fortunate family. She nodded and walked to the little girl, sitting at her side and removing the hair from her face. “Does it hurt?” She asked.

The girl nodded, her breath coming out in choked gasps.

Arya thought of how the odd looking girl - the waif - had told her a story that resembled Arya’s to get her trust only to test her, how she had been so quick to become someone else, even without changing her face, just to play with Arya. She could try that, and comfort the girl instead of using it to toy with her. “Don’t be afraid. I used to be like you. I was sick, I was dying, but my father never gave up on me. He loved me more than anything in the world, just like your father loves you.” She took a deep breath and tried to keep her focus on the girl instead of thinking back to happier times with her family. “He brought me here and prayed to the Many-Faced God. I drank the water from this fountain and it healed me,” she said.

Using the small stone amphora left there to help people drink, Arya loaded some water from the fountain and brought it to the girl’s lips. “Drink. This will help you feel better. Before you know it, the pain will be gone and you’ll be healed.”

Nodding, the little girl drank and smiled at her, her body finally relaxing and her breath coming easier before it stopped altogether. 

The Faceless Man that oversaw her training seemed to approve of her decision to help the girl and once the body had been washed and prepped, he finally gave her a task. On that day, he finally walked out the other door and left it open for her. Arya followed him close behind as he walked down a set of stairs lit only by small pits of fire every so often. They made it to the bottom and walked into a room full of pillars where thousands of faces were displayed.

There, he told her she was not ready to be no one, but she was ready for something else. She was to drop everything that made her Arya Stark and become someone else, create an entirely new life, with acquaintances, a routine and a story of her own, even if she would still be wearing her own face. 

Her mission was, once again, unclear, delivered in few words - fewer than she needed to understand, but she was learning to do what she was told exactly. Arya was told to go to the peer in her new character, an oyster seller girl, and see. 

What she needed to see was not clear, but within a few days, she spotted a man running a gambling business where the captains of different ships would bet against returning home alive after their trips. An odd choice; if they lived, they lost, if they died their family was paid for it. But a man lost the bet and decided that he was not going to pay, causing the family to lose everything and become destitute. And so the poor woman and her children turned to their only hope for help: the Faceless Men.

Arya smiled when she was given poison to pour on her oysters before selling them to the gambler, but -

She saw a fat man; he had a complete entourage travelling with him. She followed him around until she learned his name: Mace Tyrell. Arya saw him walk into the Iron Bank of Braavos accompanied by two gold cloaks and Ilyn Payne. The executioner spotted her by the Harbour, but continued with his party. 

Instead of going on her usual route to sell the poisoned oysters to the gambler, she stayed closer to the bank, slowly selling her stock until she saw the men exit the bank. Ilyn Payne split from the group as she walked by and followed her into an alleyway with low transit. When he turned around the corner, she caught him by surprise and slit his throat. “This is for my father,” she said as the light escaped his eyes. 

---

Her transgression did not go unnoticed. The Faceless man training her took the poison back and drank it himself while wearing Jaqen H’gar’s face. Arya called his name over and over but he was gone. Arya heard Jaqen’s voice behind her and turned around to find him, or someone wearing his face, standing there. “Who was that?” She asked as she pulled at the face of the person still lying on the floor and saw another face, and another, and another until she saw her own face, her eyes unblinking and her skin pale. 

“He was no one. No one at all,” The Man said. “Just as you should have been, Arya Stark.”

Then, her vision blurred until she could see nothing but darkness. She was now blind.

PHIL

King's Landing, Westeros.

Tommen’s visits to the Sept of Baelor did help Margaery with the Sparrows but didn’t do much for Loras. Cersei had managed to strike a deal herself, confessing publicly to her crimes in a horrifying affair that was meant to break her spirit and strip her of her Highborn mindset. Her walk of atonement was something Phil wouldn’t have wished on his worst enemy.

He watched from afar as a shaved head Cersei was stripped naked and made to walk with no shoes among the people that she had wronged, the ones who hated her the most, a shower of rotten food and spit and shit as well as insults followed her. Someone had even slapped her but the Sparrows had beaten the person. So Cersei walked through the city in that vulnerable state and finally made it to The Red Keep.

Tommen of course visited her as soon as she allowed him to and comforted her even if he was horrified about her admitting to the accusations. Not only did she admit to killing his father but to sleeping with her own brother and cousin.

Then, more than ever, Tommen and Phil continued to work on their escape plan while the young King continued to speak to the High Sparrow and pretended to align with his faith; in her cell, Margaery was doing the same. Phil could only wish that they were both pretending.

Swords, gold, and clothes were ready to go at a moment’s notice, they just needed to find the right time.

DAN

Dan woke up to Sansa shaking him awake. “Wake up, Dan. There’s a Lady asking for you.”

He frowned. “A Lady?”

“Yes. Blonde, very tall, wearing armour. She says she found a friend of yours,” she said.

Kicking his bedding off, Dan jumped to his feet so fast he nearly fainted. 

“Well, who is she?” Sansa asked.

“Brienne of Tarth!” Dan said, smiling. “She found him!”

“Found who?”

“You’ll see!” he said over his shoulders as he ran out the door to greet Brienne.

When he finally made his way to the gate, Edd gave Dan a disapproving look. For a place where women were not allowed, there were already two staying in and now a third visiting. “She will not be staying, just bringing word of a friend to me,” Dan said, his cheeks burning.

Edd nodded and opened the gate for him. 

“My Lady,” he said. 

“Daniel. I heard word that you and your brother had a good battle a few months back.”

“Yes, but I was only fighting the living and had many good men at my side. Jon, on the other hand, fought the dead.”

She looked at him with wide eyes. “Is it true?”

Dan nodded. “Have you-”

“I would be more comfortable if we could speak about it privately,” Brienne said.

“We could speak in my chambers,” Sansa said. “Sansa Stark, My Lady.”

“Brienne of Tarth; this is my esquire, Podrick,” she said. “Lady Sansa, I swore to Lady Catelyn I would keep you and your sister safe.”

Sansa’s smile dropped. “My mother-”

“I know. I was following her orders when it happened. We met - at Joffrey Baratheon’s wedding.”

“I don’t remember, I’m afraid. I was trying to keep my mind as far away as possible that day.”

Dan cleared his throat. “We should go inside.”

--- 

Once they all sat by the fire and had a glass of Ale in their hands, Brienne looked at Sansa and then at Dan. “Does she know?”

Dan shook his head. He hadn't told a single person. “Is he alive? The others?”

“Yes. The three of them have stayed as far north as possible. Not far from here actually.”

“How did you find them?”

“Find who?” Asked Sansa.

“They found me. A woman told them when I would arrive at Mole’s Town and to search for me. She even told them about the Wildlings attacking before it happened,” Brienne said.

“A woman?”

“A Red Priestess,” Brienne explained.

Dan frowned. “Melisandre?”

“No. He said her name was Kinvara. She has helped Philip in the past.”

Dan felt as much curiosity as he felt jealousy for the woman. “Did she?”

Podrick seemed to read his face better than Brienne. “She helped him when he was a child,” he rushed to say.

“Oh,” Dan said. “Well, where are they?”

“In Mole’s Town, waiting for us to bring you there,” Brienne said. “Kinvara said that they shouldn’t get to Castle Black until you had decided on your next steps.”

“Is anyone going to have the courtesy to tell me what is going on?” Sansa asked, the vein on her forehead very prominent.

Dan leaned close to her and whispered. “Renly Baratheon is alive. He is travelling with Stannis’ daughter and the man who helped her escape before Melisandre tried to burn her alive.”

Sansa’s eyes widened. “Why do we have her here then?”

“She’s here?” Brienne asked, clearly displeased.

Nodding to Brienne, Dan said: “I would be more comfortable with her not being here, but she said she could help with The Others and Jon believes her.”

Brienne looked into the fire. “She can do magic, but will she use it to help?”

“Balerion trusts her. He hated Theon Greyjoy, he disliked Roose Bolton. I believe that if she tries to harm us the wolves will kill her, but for now, we will have to trust her,” Dan said.

They packed for the short trip and made their way to the gate. Just as Dan stepped outside, he ran into a much taller man wrapped in furs. He looked up to see the red-headed wildling… Tormund, and blushed.

Tormund smiled widely at him and slapped his shoulder playfully with his heavy hand before setting his eyes on Brienne and winking.

Dan heard a disgruntled huff from her and snickered.

“Where is your little brother?” He asked Dan.

Again, Dan laughed. It amused him terribly that the wildlings referred to Jon as pretty and thought of him as Dan’s little brother simply because he was shorter. They respected him enough, but his appearance was a running joke among the much rougher and taller wildlings. “I believe he’s in the Common Hall with the others.”

“Alright. Don’t get lost,” he said. “Oh, the little fire Lady, and her burnt man!”

“Fuck off,” said The Hound.

“Hello, Tormund. Ser Sandor and I are going on a trip with Dan.”

“If my people bother you, tell them you are the pretty crow’s sister,” the wildling said and walked past the gate.

“Tormund?” Sansa asked.

He looked at her over his shoulder. 

“Have you considered my proposal?”

“No,” Tormund said. “We are still settling into the new lands. I’ll talk about it with the little man.”

Sansa pursed her lips. “He doesn’t know yet.”

Tormund laughed. “You are a bold Lady.” Without waiting for a reply, he continued on his way.

“What was that about?” Dan asked.

“You have your secrets, I have mine,” Sansa said.

Rolling his eyes, Dan pulled from Sansa’s hand and on their way they went. He hoped they would all be reunited with the Tyrells soon. He missed Phil every single day and he had no doubt Renly missed Loras too.

JON

Being Lord Commander was an ungrateful task. It was hard to keep order at Castle Black when nearly all his men hated him and those who supported him. Jon had heard about the attack Sam received while protecting Gilly from the others but no matter what he did, he couldn’t put a stop to the persecution. So when Sam asked to leave, Jon was surprised but he understood.

“Send me to the Citadel with Gilly and baby Sam. I am not a fighter; I will be much more useful to you as a Maester. Especially now that Maester Aemon…” Sam trailed off.

“I lost Grenn and Pyp; I can’t lose you too!” Jon tried.

“It is not safe for her here,” Sam said. “You still have Edd.”

“Sam…”

“Gilly and baby Sam need me, we are a little family now and they deserve to live in a safe place. 

“Really? Are you…?” Jon whispered.

Sam nodded. “Yes, it is my job to care for them.” He placed his hand on Jon’s shoulder, giving him a smile. “You have your family back as well, you are not alone.”

Jon nodded. “Alright Sam; go and keep them safe.”

He lamented the fact that he had to lose one of his last advisors, but he knew it was time to let Sam go. Just like Thorne had said: his circle was getting smaller and smaller every day.

---

It all happened so fast. It was pouring rain, but when Olly came running for him saying that one of the wildlings had brought information about Benjen and he was still alive, there was no time to waste. He didn’t even grab his furs, running out the door and down to the Courtyard, where the brothers were gathered. Once he made it there, they stepped aside and he finally saw a wooden sign that read: “TRAITOR.” He turned around swiftly and was met with Thorne, who stabbed him in the stomach. “For The Watch,” he said.

Each and every brother that had disagreed with his decision to let the wildlings pass gave him one more stab, repeating the same words like a mantra; Ser Janos doing his part with a smile on his lips. Just when he felt his life was about to escape him, his soul wanting to fly away and be free, Olly stood before him and after only a second of hesitation, he delivered the final blow. “For The Watch,” he said, and Jon fell to the ground. The rain had turned to snow and fell softly on him, Ghost howling as loud as he could in his cage, his brothers joining. 

And then - nothing.

#phanfiction #phanfic #phan #phan au #succubusphan fics #game of thrones #got fic #ospbb 2022

[goetzjpvis]

2/19/24 "Late Chrysanthemums" JPT3391

This movie was certainly the drama ever.... phew

And by that I mean, this was my first time watching a work of drama to it's completion, and the first time in which I felt like I was watching a screenplay of human life rather than a plot made up for entertainment. The story follows 4 ex-geisha and their relationships with their family, men they knew in the past, and each other.

Now, I will be honest and say I had a hard time following the exact plot. The movie's lack of color and the way the women dressed, carried themselves, and looked, were all incredibly similar to me. I could make out some differences in character, but I genuinely believe that my mental meshing of all 4 women provided an insight into the general theme of the plot that I otherwise would not have gotten if I knew the differences between each character (😂).

They were miserable- and I mean it! Debt collecting, mutual resentment, burning photographs of ex lovers, arguing with your own children, and getting stone-faced in a bar until the bartender has to pull you back in was an individual low point for each lady, but what I noticed did tie them together through all this suffering was their inability to let go of the past. All four women may have felt happy at one point, but each still chose to allow haunting moments from their past define their situations. The widow with a son felt incredible resentment toward her past husband, causing her to mistreat and resent her son as well. The woman with a daughter that did not condone her marriage watched in horror as she broke free from her grasp. Some women even resented each other within their friend group due to their youth in which they would compete with each other for top geisha, or resent that one would pay them money, and the other didn't t pay them back.

Now, what exactly does this mean for Japanese society? My best idea here is that the director and writer are arguing for a better future in which we do not hold onto the past. I know this movie was made POST WW2, where a lot of people had their lives ruined due to the bombings and failed economy. It may be a reminder to those plagued by their histories to not let their past control them, lest they end up like the women in the moving picture, going through their lives filled with ruin, hatred, and resentment.

Lastly, I want to make note of this new director, Mikio Naruse. His directorial style reminds me of Ozu, who was one of the first big 3. Ozu takes care in using camera angles and shots that (i believe) are generally pretty static. This leaves a lot of the focus on peoples faces, voices, and body language, which we can also see accentuated through a lot of the scenes in this film.

Man, these women hate each other, yet they strain themselves to be polite to each other. it's almost cringeworthy to watch!

[thewittyambitiousdiyodyssey]

Guardiano

On the second leg of my flight today, the last man of boarding Group One was a serviceman, matched stride for stride by his colossal teddy bear comrade-in-arms, nearly as tall as he was. Picture this: a fully booked flight with the serviceman assigned the front bulkhead row of coach class. Now, here's where the comedy begins – the flight attendants, in a high-stakes game of Tetris, had to squeeze this hulking plush into an already packed plane. The reason, I’m not sure if it was because our hero sat in the bulkhead row, or perhaps because the bear was simply too large or majestic to be confined.

The punchline? This furry giant ended up fashionably strapped into a jump seat at the plane's rear, like an off-duty fluffy air marshal. But the showstopper was our descent: the teddy bear, crowd-surfing back to its owner, in a heartwarming display of airborne camaraderie. It was as if the bear, a silent, fuzzy testament to the serviceman's journey, was saluted by every passenger. Each hand that passed it along seemed to acknowledge and honor the serviceman's story. A touching, slightly absurd scene that I'll remember for flights to come. (I did try to take a picture but I was too slow in actioning it).

Being in a four+ hour flight I obviously had lots of time to ponder. So I made up my own story about the bear titled Guardiano.

In a quaint village nestled among sage hills, there was a workshop famous for crafting the most extraordinary teddy bears. Among these, one was special: a giant bear with fur as soft as clouds and eyes twinkling with kindness. It was named Guardiano, for it was no ordinary toy; it was infused with the love and care of its creator, an elderly toymaker named Mr. Deathridge.

Guardiano was not meant for the shelves of a store. Mr. Deathridge had crafted it for his grandson, Lucas, who was deployed overseas in the military. Lucas, a man of great strength and courage, had always cherished a small teddy bear his grandfather gave him as a child. That bear had been his confidant and protector through many childhood adventures and fears.

When news reached the village that Lucas and his unit were facing challenging times, Mr. Deathridge decided it was time for Guardiano to fulfill its purpose. He believed that the bear would not only remind Lucas of home but also bring comfort to others who might need it.

The journey of Guardiano began with the village's children carrying it to the post office. From there, it traveled across seas and continents, drawing curiosity and smiles wherever it went. Finally, it arrived at the military base where Lucas was stationed.

Lucas was in the command center when he was called to receive an unusual package. As he walked towards the front of the plane where the package awaited, his men followed, intrigued by the giant box. When Lucas opened it, his stern, battle-hardened face softened into a smile. There was Guardiano, as large as life, staring back at him with its warm, inviting eyes.

The sight of the giant teddy bear in the middle of a military base was amusing and heartwarming. But for Lucas, Guardiano was more than a bear; it was a piece of home, a symbol of his grandfather's love, and a reminder of the innocence and peace he was fighting to protect.

Lucas shared the story of Guardiano with his unit. The bear quickly became a mascot and a source of comfort for the soldiers. They took turns sharing their worries and hopes with it, and in its silent, comforting presence, they found a piece of the home they all missed.

Guardiano's arrival not only lifted the spirits of Lucas and his unit but also reminded them of the personal connections and small joys that make life worth living, even in the most challenging circumstances. The bear, sewn together with threads of love and care, became a guardian not just in name, but in spirit, watching over the brave men and women who risked their lives every day.

And so, Guardiano, the giant teddy bear, found its place in the world – not on the shelf of a toy store, but in the hearts of those who needed its comfort the most.

#teddy bear #home #military #thankful #decor #dogs #aesthetic #plants #magic

[lastouillatloane]

I've finally seen it: Candyman

I'm continuing to watch films I've never seen, this week with Candyman, released in 2021. I'd never heard of it and watched it before my Sunken Place: Racism, Survival, and Black Horror Aesthetic course, so here are my raw opinions on the film.

First, this is my favorite horror film in my I've Finally Seen It series, beating out Get Out and US because it simply scared me the most. The concept itself is brilliant; saying the name Candyman five times in front of a mirror can be done by anyone, anywhere; it could happen to you. Then there are all the jump scares, the gore, the blood. I was struck by the scene where Anthony has his hand cut off. In fact, Anthony really was, for me, the main element of horror, with his physical degradation, the holes in his skin, which triggered my trypophobia (disgust or fear of a pattern of holes).

Like other Monkeypaw horror films, Candyman is critical of societal issues. What immediately came to mind when I watched it was the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement. After all, Sherman was murdered as a result of police abuse, even though he was innocent. The Black Lives Matter logo can also be found on the backpack of a black teenager who was locked in the toilets when Candyman attacked her high school.

This attack was aimed at several teenage white girls who had summoned Candyman on their own but who also seemed to be bullies of the black girl. Therefore, there's an actual theme of revenge against the whites here. Indeed, the other victims are Clive, the white art dealer, and his girlfriend, and Rebecca Spense, a white art critic. All of whom have been disrespectful of Anthony and will, therefore, pay the ultimate price. This feeling is fully confirmed at the end of the film when Brianna, being corrupted by a white policeman who doesn't want to admit that he wrongly shot and killed Anthony, invokes Candyman. The latter helps her by getting rid of the policemen and disappears just after saying, "Tell everyone."

The police are clearly criticized in this film: they only took action when the alleged culprit Sherman's razor-blade candy injured a white little girl, not when black children were involved, they are violent towards black people like Sherman and Anthony without any evidence and they try to bribe Briana to cover up their reprehensible actions.

Brianna will never give in and fights with a genuine black survival instinct, as shown by other black characters such as Anthony's mother, Brianna, and her brother Troy, who refuse to say Candyman's name five times. This survival instinct is the result of generational trauma, as shown by the history and existence of Candyman itself, being several generations of black men who have suffered injustice.

Finally, I made connections with elements covered in class, in particular the concept of the black man's desire for the white woman, which is at the origin of the first Candyman, or when Colman tells the story of the latter saying "they like what we made", referring to paintings, which reminded me of what Professor Tananarive Due said "they want us to entertain them, to do what they want, but nothing more".