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windriverdelta · 12 days

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On the Grand Northern Conspiracy

Somehow I have been thinking a lot about the Grand Northern Conspiracy, an ASOIAF fan theory that posits that in AFFC/ADWD the lords of the North and Riverlands are plotting to install Jon Snow as King in the North. Well, no time like present to write a comment.

TL;DR I find it extremely implausible and would very surprised if TWOW featured anything even resembling that. It's a far-fetched conspiracy theory.

First of all, as other people like @turtle-paced have pointed out, there are lots of barriers to communication between the supposed conspirators and no evidence that they could coordinate their actions. Now, there is evidence in Arya's ASOS chapters that the Brotherhood Without Banners has contacts to the Riverlords and one wonders if Jaime Lannister in AFFC is being deliberately steered to Brienne, but that doesn't mean the Northerners can do the same.

Second, where is the set-up for the Northern lords using Stannis like that? Late Walder Frey is amply established as a traitor, opportunist and oathbreaker two books before the Red Wedding, there is no foreshadowing at all for Mormont, mountain clans etc. This isn't Game of Thrones, spectacular betrayals do not come out of thin air in ASOIAF. In this context, it's worth noting that foreshadowing in ASOIAF usually takes the form of a few unambiguous meaningful events, not a lot of very ambiguous little things that can interpreted in multiple ways like the infamous "Corn Code"

Three, Jon Snow does not work very well as a fulcrum for such a conspiracy. Ignoring for a moment that nobody has bothered getting his buy-in for such a plot (what if he deems it dishonourable and sleazy and ices out all the participants?), there is no indication that any physical copy of Robb's will survived the Red Wedding. Remember, the various lords and ladies are referred to as its "witnesses", and most of them are now prisoners of the Freys. Look at it from a character's perspective: Two lords who somehow survived the Red Wedding, claiming that Robb wanted to make Jon king. Why would anyone believe them? Especially Jon Snow, who knows in ADWD that Robb was killed by his own men, he has no reason at all to trust Maege or Galbart. And without the will, Jon Snow would just be an usurper and deserter from the Night's Watch.

Narrative-wise, I don't see much foreshadowing of Jon being king in the north in the main series - all so-called "foreshadowing" I've seen are ambiguous allusions or far-fetched interpretations. I see no thematic or character purpose, either - I tend to think that R+L=J, the three dragons and his assassination lead into him being a dragonrider and fighter against the Others. In my opinion, the political side of the Northern storyline is Sansa and Stannis' job. And there is plenty of potential conflict around them without the need for a king in the north scheme.

But the big sticking point is that the actions of many of the supposed conspirators don't fit with theory. Just to cite a few examples:

Lady Stoneheart is not crowning Jon with anything but a noose, not in a million years, there is no evidence whatsoever that she's anything but a revenge zombie.

Wyman Manderly is entrusting Rickon Stark to consummate Stannis loyalist Davos Seaworth, which makes no sense at all if he planned to betray Stannis later - why would he risk Rickon becoming Stannis' hostage?

We have no reason to believe that Barbrey Dustin is lying about not liking the Starks - for one thing, Dustin troops are noticeable by their absence for the War of Five Kings, true to her word. She'll probably jump ship if Roose falls, but that's not the same thing as becoming a Stark restorationist. In fact, I could see her supporting Stannis to take the Starks down a peg.

People keep citing Lyanna Mormont's defiant letter to Stannis as proof of Bear Island not being truly on his side, but not only is she (as Jon points out) not in charge of House Mormont, we later see Alysane marching with Stannis. She almost certainly is in contact with Maege given her comments to Asha about her family; I doubt that this is a right hand vs left hand situation. I am not even sure that she has much of a retinue, either - the problem with Rickon above may exist here too. Finally, recall that in AGOT Maege challenged Robb, telling him that he was so young as to have no business giving her commands. The Mormonts don't let anyone boss them around, that doesn't mean that they are Frey Lite.

In short, this theory requires lots of poorly foreshadowed OOC behaviour to enable a rather pointless political ploy that doesn't fit the narrative very well.

#asoiaf #the winds of winter #stannis baratheon #jon snow #grand northern conspiracy #rickon stark #wyman manderly #lyanna mormont #alysane mormont #barbrey dustin #robb stark #lady stoneheart #anti grand northern conspiracy

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spideyjimin · 5 months

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No matter how much of a good person Eunji as a friend & a co parent in Jungkook's life. Can she fuck off? Like it wasn't her place to say about anything about her baby's father & his ex's relationship. She wasn't there in their relationship.

Does she even know what made YN break off the relationship? Looks like she never heard both the sides of the story.

Coming to Jungkook. I was honestly pissed off when i read that he just like that took the name (Arya) which he decided with YN for their child and gave it to the daughter he had with another woman. I was heartbroken for him too. He never deserved to be heartbroken but god what a jerk!

Bro never had any issues at his company like ever? Is he only facing problems only after he met YN again? Ain't he's acting like a petty ex? He clearly used YN after 10 years. It was just sex? If he feels that his family is perfect as it is then he should've kept it inside his pants instead of kissing & having sex with YN whenever possible. Looks like be just want to break her after what she put him through.

"This's a moment deeply cherished that will forever stay in his heart.... This is a moment where time completely stops"

Helppp! Me!!! I agree with him being a best father for Arya. Him putting her as his first is appreciatable. But bro Eunji?

"This would have probably never existed with you by his side" then fuck off you ratass!

This girl put him as her priority and resigned her job to be beside him and it only took him "JK, are you sure it's a good idea, would you want to try again?" from a chick he had ONS with and someone who's also dating a whole ass human behind her daughter's back to reconsider his decision. Eunji simply gaslighted him :)

Jungkook is a fucking coward. Honestly he fucking used YN and threw her away like a paper this time and never bothered to even stay until she said something back. He just said one simple 'take care' and left.

No wonder YN felt wanted (used) but not loved. I hope she finds her happy ending. And if (only if) JK & YN dosen't end up together. Then he should go broke or get heartbroken again. Ass.

Sorry for this long ass ask. I couldn't stop myself from writing this. I hope you don't mind the fact that I dragged JK's character here. 😅

Love your writing. Looking forward for the next chapter (honestly petty me wants to see JK regret using & throwing away YN).

hi angel ✨

don’t be sorry about this long ask, it even made me laugh & you can totally drag this jk!! thanks also for being adorable & hopefully you’ll like the next part 😬

then, i totally understand your point of view with eunji, probably, she shouldn’t have given her opinion because she doesn’t know the full story & doesn’t know yn’s side of the story. she actually went through a lot before breaking up with jk. but she simply wants the best for him, they are close & she was just trying to be helpful. for sure it didn’t help but it came from a good place.

then, for jk, he didn’t act well at all but it’s just completely lost. having Yn back in his life was harder than expected & he simply was overwhelmed with everything. the company issue was just the final straw. he was unhappy & hurt people hurt people. he could have done things better & it really feels like he used yn (which he did). but let’s hope he acts better afterwards 😬 i can guarantee you that yn will have her happy ending because she truly deserves it 💛

#anon #ask #right time #timing series

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buttercuparry · 1 year

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People are very quick to dismiss Sansa's part in the Trident event. Actually they are eager to introduce Arya as having a part in Lady's death.

They say Mycah's, "She asked me to" is the proof that Arya uses her class to get what she wants. I won't deny Arya had an advantage over Mycah, that we don't exactly know if Mycah felt like he had to indulge his lord's daughter. And yes Arya has tried ( keyword being tried) to use her station in the story. But let us take a closer look shall we?

When sansa stans accuse Arya of using her class against Mycah, do they forget that if pulling her station over someone really was in her character, she could have easily rebuked Jeyne Poole? Jeyne knows Arya's social station is above her- and that even with the younger girl's reluctance in pursuing "womanly arts", she still would have better prospects than the steward's daughter and certainly that has to hurt. So if Arya truly were as they want her to posit- she would have long ago put an end to Jeyne's caustic address to her.

And yet Arya keeps mum and carries on through the bullying. So it's highly unlikely that Arya would have forced Mycah with: you have to obey me because I am Ned Stark's daughter. But regardless, Mycah still might have felt pressured to play at swords with Arya. And that's the unfortunate reality of their world order. But tell me one thing: if Joffrey had in him the bare minimum decency, empathy, really anything except for the maniacal sadism ( I don't give a fuck about his age ), the Trident incident wouldn't have happened. Now beyond this the Sansa Stans say that Arya escalated the situation more than what could have been.

So...you all see the crown prince joking about hurting Mycah only to the extent he feels is necessary ( which can be lopping off his appendeges for all we know ) to teach Mycah a lesson about daring to play with highborn lady and then you say that Arya did wrong to intervene? Like you want her to plead and beg, use "soft power" to try ( again a keyword) to divert Joffrey. But here is the thing, even you all don't know if it would have worked. But I wonder if this criticism is born out of Mycah's fate or if it is actually another jab at Arya being too "masculine".

Also a classist girl would be more than willing to let the prince do whatever the hell he wants- she wouldn't interfere as strongly as she did and threaten the prince for harming a mere butcher's boy.

What is so fascinating to me is that the Trident incident is twisted into a narrative of Arya's actions being responsible for Sansa's anguish- because Lady got killed. The only time Mycah is brought up is to argue about the merits of maintaining class structure- which is actually a criticism of Arya ( this either goes two way; one where Arya is blamed for breaching the social bias or as stated above using her position to play at being a commoner)- which in turn becomes another fawning session over the perfect lady Sansa Stark who only lies to protect Arya, or is just coping- her sister's life be damned.

It is so funny that one of them has said that Sansa wishing death upon her sister and telling her she isn't wanted and fit only for Hodor ( I have so much to say about this because holy shit) is just her stooping to Arya's level because apparently she has been the aggressor in all their interactions. But the fact is they bring Arya down to Sansa's classist attitude. They are the one to pull down Arya because they know how Sansa looks beside someone who is open to change.

The only times Arya pulls class is when she is on the run and is desperate to reunite with her family. You can say that this is the remnants of her privilege talking but how does the interaction progress then? Because George is quick to rid Arya every time of the notion that she has the right to demand anything from anyone amidst war. She is rid of the black and white notion of the good and bad lord ( the highborns are forever the bane of common folks), she is forced to bear witness to the horrors of her little coup, and is given a revelation while trying to escape the Bolton men that maybe she is selfish in her wants and it would have been better if she didn't pull in Gendry and Hot Pie ( she immediately decides to reveal her identity). But tell me throughout the series: does Sansa ever come to an epiphany about her privilege? About how good she has it? So really...don't talk about stooping down.

I have so many other things to say about a meta that was sent to me. Like lol. Just you all wait.

#arya stark

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cellsshapedlikestars · 2 years

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Kit Harrington 🤝 Jensen Ackles

Spending actual money to produce their own fan fictions after their characters get terrible endings.

As someone in both got and spn fandoms, this is just weird. If someone “et tu brute”s Kit I will literally die laughing. I really hope Jon insists that Ghost gets more screen time now that they don’t have 3 dragons and a bunch of wights to cgi.

I have not watched spn since around season 6, but I have heard about what's going on through tumblr. I'm less surprised on that front, 1 - because spn became clownery a long time ago, and 2 - it's the CW.

But I'm also not totally surprised that HBO is trying to go the Star Wars & Marvel route and just pump out as much media for an IP as possible to make as much money as possible.

I think Kit cares and if GRRM is involved, I hope that means a good show, but also, I don't know HOW Kit interprets his character and we don't know HOW involved GRRM will be.

(my ranting about this spinoff got quite long, so under a cut. this is genuinely a rant about the show, you've been warned)

I also am quite sure we won't get Jonsa, but that's my personal opinion and I know a lot of people are really hoping for it. And if it happens, amazing! I just... this show genuinely broke me. I have no hope that I will ever be happy with anything GOT again. Not a spinoff or prequel, I don't think the books will ever come out... I think the best we'll ever get is an outline of what would have happened after GRRM dies.

What I would want out of the show is for Sophie and Maisie to return. Sophie because literally how could you do a Jon show without her? Sansa is the QitN. Like unless Jon just hops on a boat and fucks off to Essos, how does he not encounter her? Obviously Bran and Arya are easier to explain away if they don't show up, just due to distance, but I was so disappointed with how little screentime Arya and Jon got together. Of all the siblings, they had the best relationship in the beginning and then the reunion was just... nothing. Honestly same with Sansa & Arya, because the chance we got to see them be badasses together was ruined by making it look like they were fighting for a whole season. So dumb. How amazing would it have been if we could have seen Sansa & Arya working together to fuck with Baelish?? But once again, D&D needed everything to be a SHOCKING TWIST, so we didn't.

And yes. 100% more Ghost screentime. It is actually unreal to me how much the dragon/D stuff took over. Nearly every single thing that happened with the Starks in the last 2 seasons were in service of the D plotline, and trying to hide that she was a villain for as long as possible. Bran and Arya barely got screentime, Sansa was presented as bitchy and rude around D to hide the fact that she was actually right & D was the villain, and Jon got turned into one of those pull string dolls that can only repeat the same 3 lines over and over again with no real personality.

(this also applies to Tyrion, who's character was also ruined the minute he got sucked into the D vortex)

Also, for the news that EC will not be returning... I really hope that's true and not just some dumb "no, Jon Snow is really dead, we promise uwu" bullshit. As someone else said (I think @esther-dot) they really screwed with her by not letting her know Dany's end for so long (but then I also think... girl, didn't they tell you to study Hitler speeches to prepare? How did that not clue her in? They must have gaslit her HARD, which makes me feel so bad for her.)

ANYWAY. This got so off topic. I just genuinely, 3 years later, cannot get over how bad the show ended and how completely they ruined every character and plotline. And maybe I'm just a pessimist, but I have no faith this spinoff will do anything to fix it. This show truly and utterly has ruined me & the way I consume/enjoy media.

All that being said, I will watch it, and I will let Jon Snow absolutely destroy me again.

#cellsshapedlikeasks

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waitingforwinterwinds · 1 year

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Sew Long, Fair Well - 01 SANSA (pages 01)

Sansa makes a final sacrifice for her people, and wakes to discover she's made a deal with a god.

The years of war, and the sheer number of their combined forces, the sheer appetite of the dragons, everything had put too large an impact in their reserves. Her people were going to starve before the new crops could be grown to harvest, before the animals could breed and mature enough for culling, the glass gardens were still in ruins, and winter still upon them. Spring hadn't magically come sweeping in when Arya had slain the Night King, the Long Night hadn't mystically given way to the spring dawn.

That's actually something I'll be interested to see when we reach it in the books, how the resource situation is, because with the wars, and The War, resources are going to be so low, I have concerns about the post Long Night survival rates.

“Please,” she asked, “if you know of any way to save my people, please tell me how, please help me save my people.” “What are you willing to give up for them?” It was a test, Sansa knew, and thought of rough hands on her skin, thought of all she has lost, and all she had fought for with whatever she could. With words and looks, and favours and lies, with the blood of others and with her own. “The last thing I have left to barter with,” Sansa told him, hoping it was enough, “the last thing I have which is rightly mine to give away.”

“That's-Not-Bran” Theory at play here. I do kinda like that one, just for the fridge horror aspect of it. I also like the “rightly mine to give” mentality when characters deal with eldritch/ancient beings, cause you could give them anything, including the life of another, a thousand other lives, but where's the personal sacrifice in that. (Also it makes you look like an asshole.) This one showing us just where Sansa's priorities lie, it's not just about the building, it's about the people in it

“Down through the crypts, until the tunnel turns into a cave. Down through the cave to the heart of the hot springs, where the waters of Winterfell are born. Until there's nothing left to give.”

You know, I have now read two fics with Sansa Time Travel that feature the hot springs in the tunnels under Winterfell as the medium for said time travel. Two different types of time travel, mind you, but I see any more and it will officially be a pattern.

In her mind, she could see a golden light flowing through Winterfell, spilling out into the surrounding lands. It was like watching a flower slowly blooming. Sansa vaguely felt herself slip completely below the surface of the hot spring, but she didn't care, didn't fight it. She wasn't sure if she was dreaming, or if she was truly witnessing a miracle, but these were her last moments, and Sansa chose hope.

This would have been such a tough ask though, after everything Sansa survived, after everything that didn't kill her, after everything lost and regained, for her to have this presented as the saving move, when she can't even trust the source it came from, like, not really. For all she knows, That's-not-Bran just wants her out of the way so he can take over.

Anyway, the world is much nicer when people choose hope. (Nicer still when hope pays off.)

Sansa?

Yes, that was right, she was Sansa Stark of Winterfell And she was dead. Were the dead allowed to play games?

“I won't tell if you don't.”

ngl, that made me laugh.

Fun? That sounded nice. Sansa missed nice things, like lemon cakes, and her family, and practising her sewing. It had been so long since she'd last embroidered anything... No, that wasn't right, there had been a wolf... for Jon .

🍋=🥛

She was a child. She was a woman grown. She'd never left Winterfell. She'd been to King's Landing and the Eyrie, she'd even visited The Wall. She was in love with the idea of love, and couldn't wait to be a wife and mother. She was jaded, married twice, and revolted by the idea of sharing any man's bed. She was Sansa Stark of Winterfell. She was Sansa Stark of Winterfell. A summer child. She'd seen the Long Night. She'd died for her people and now she was either in heaven, or she'd had a second wish granted. She was home, and safe, and she had a chance to fix everything.

I feel like I don't see it enough in fanfics, but I do enjoy the use of formatting as a storytelling aid. Like this section, how the two versions of Sansa are put on opposite sides, and then the center alignment to show that the two versions were separate have melded into one being. (tumblr doesn't like left center right alignments, so I've indented the right aligns.)

People format their fics in different ways and some of them are good, and some of them are one paragraph of 8,000 words. This fic has a lot of 1-2 sentence paragraphs. I know one author, different fandom, and I love their premises, but my gosh, there's an epidemic of people who have never heard of “new speaker, new line,” and they are one of them.

GRRM doesn't always start a new paragraph whenever someone new starts talking, and sometimes he'll let someone start talking at the end of a paragraph, but he never really has two or more people speaking in the same paragraph, where readers get confused because you start reading the second voice assuming it's the first. Sometimes he has the speech tag before the spoken line, instead of after, he actually does a really good job of keeping an easy to read flow with conversations and he has a good balance with the speech tags themselves.

...Sansa just accidentally Blood Magicked the mystery Embroidery Hoop. In her defense, as someone who has dabbled with embroidery, can confirm: those needles are freaking sharp. Fiber arts are hardcore, I have such mad respect for anyone who can do them.

The Hoop was on the ground before her. Sansa looked back at her table, where the hoop was not. She picked it up again, and put it back on the table. She turned to dress, and the hoop was back on the ground before her. Huffing, Sansa picked it up again. This time when she put it on her table she said, partly pleading, “at least let me get dressed before I deal with you.” She stepped back, eyes on the hoop. It stayed where it was. … In all honesty, if Sansa hadn't been through what she'd just been through, she would have been freaking out over the hoop far more.

Good of her to acknowledge that she's either having a mild disassociation, or has been struck by the blasé attitude stick a few too many times. Look, don't get me wrong, “nothing can phase me” is a fine personality type for a girl to have, but when all the only -female-characters have it, it starts to grate. Like how “snarky, sarcastic, he'd be an asshole if he weren't so cute, clever, and charismatic” became default male protagonist personality for a while th- … actually I think they're still doing that one.

...../ HELP \ .../ I've made a deal with \ /an Ancient God, and now I \ | don't know what to do! | .\ (Slide finger from right to / ...\ left to turn to next / .....\ page) /

'Oh,' Sansa thought, feeling a little faint, 'so that was real.'

Apparently. Don't worry, I hate when that happens to me too. (Also I shudder to think how long it took to do the console format every time.)

So I actually had the message box open and was going to fire off a message to see if @redwolf17 would be cool if I did The Weirwood Queen for this, but then I thought “if my review curse* triggers, I will be devastated, everyone will be devastated!” So I picked one that's been on permanent hiatus for... three and half years? Oh wow, I didn't think it had been that long. Time is an illusion.

Anyway, I have author permission, and I'm even allowed to be as mean as I want. Oh, the evil that could unleash >:3c (I've fiddled with the formatting slightly, just because the layout in the og is very... laid out.) This fic is also more GoT than ASoIaF, sorry, but I poorly worded the fic option in the poll and no one gave me recs.

*I have this unfortunate curse where if I review a fic that's still in progress, something happens and the author drops the fic like 86% of the time. It's not because I'm mean or anything, I don't go for the writing jugular, it just. happens.

Happy April Everyone!!!

#sew long fair well #sansa stark #a chapter a day reading #april fools book swap

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hellsbellschime · 2 years

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Wow I really loved the video you did on Sansa, I get sooo annoyed how misrepresented she is not only in fandom but even in the damn show (thanks D&D)

You really highlight what make her an amazing character and the points about her story being of her breaking the cycle of abuse is something I knew on a fundamental level but never had it so clearly presented like that before!

It is really true though, we all be a Sansa Stark if we were in ASOIAF

Thanks! And I get why a lot of people might not be interested in Sansa's story, especially when there are so many characters like Dany or Arya who are actively doing shit to sort of avenge or empower themselves, but the fact that people are frustrated that Sansa doesn't do anything drives me nuts because it flies in the face of what abuse really is. Like, of course abusers don't abuse people that they think can get away, and of course they manipulate their victims into situations where they're almost powerless. In the case of almost all people who have been abused, the best thing that they can do for themselves and the world is to not become an abuser once they've gotten out of their abusive situation, and that is truly a monumental feat and more than enough. And I really love that ASOIAF has a character who represents the fact that yes, you might experience horrific things that you can't escape, but you can still choose who you want to be, choose to never treat others that way, and choose to make things better if you're in a position of power someday.

#sansa stark for ts

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orsull · 2 years

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Okay the ask:

6. 10. 15. 18. 25. 26. 32. 40. 48.

I am HYPED

Thanks for asking, glad she seems interesting to you!

What is their name? And how does this fit their character?

Arielle. Mostly because I think it's a very nice name, but she's also named after a goddess who some priests believe she is.

6. Gender and sexuality?

She's a woman. And I think being straight fits her the most.

10. What is their motivation?

She deeply regrets her actions from when she was working with the priests that worshiped her as a goddess, and wants to atone for them. However, first and foremost, she wants to help people. Not to seek redemption, but just because she wants to do the right thing.

15. Character they're based on?

I didn't explicitly base her on a specific character, but I suppose I'm never truly free from inspiration. The first one that comes to mind is Elsa from Frozen, though that's mostly aesthetically, not really personality wise. Maybe Arya from Eragon?

Thinking about it now, I think any similarities between characters coming to mind are more accidental than intended. A comparison I thought of would be to the Hulk, as both characters have a terrifying powerhouse sharing a body with calm and composed person, but besides from that they're not exactly similar. At all.

18. Character they would get along with if they were in the same universe

It's always very hard for me to come up with what universe to pull characters from. Oh! Marianne from Fire Emblem: Three houses. Probably Dorothea as well. I don't think she'd get along with Edelgard though.

Looking around my room... Mercy from Overwatch probably, Mipha from Breath of the Wild. Let's leave it at that for now. Nobody else jumps to mind.

25. Assign them an aesthetic

I mean. I guess in the main story it would be impossible to assign her anything but the Ice Queen aesthetic. Afterwards, she'd still fit that aesthetic, just not the personality. At all.

26. What are their strengths?

She's not physically very strong but very dexterous. She also has quite powerful ice magic, but that's relatively more powerful due to the lack of magic in the universe, not because she is that experienced with it.

32. Book they would definitely read

I don't know, I don't read books myself. Why would you ask me this. Yeah I'm looking at my bookcase and there's not really anything I'd imagine her liking.

...

Yeah sorry I've got nothing for you on this one :(

40. Childhood experience that defines an aspect of their life

Oh that one is easy. She lived with her mother, who got shunned by the followers of Arya, the goddess I mentioned before. They lived very far from the established settlements, so when her mom got killed by a lost and desperate thief, she had to wander a barren tundra by herself. When she was like 8. Kind of a significant experience.

48. Can they swim?

Good question. I suppose she wouldn't have been taught to, no. On account that anyone learning to swim would probably die of hypothermia.

Hope this satisfies your curiosity! Feel free to ask me anything else about her, I love talking about her.

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jonsaslove · 24 days

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Not sure if you want to expand, but how is Braime misunderstanding either of the characters? I think the beauty x beast retelling is right there... If you just don't ship it, I get that too cause I don't care for it myself but I thought it was, not canon exactly but it's THERE

Hey anon! Sure I'll expand.

Disclaimer, this is just my opinion and not something I even talk about very often as I try to not spend a lot of time focusing on things that I don't like. If anyone reading this likes Braime then that's awesome but it is not my cup of tea and I'd recommend skipping this post.

Breaking it down further, there are a few things I'll touch on. I'll talk about my thoughts on Braime's narrative, Jaime's arc, Brienne's arc, and then a bit more about the Braime fandom.

Braime's Narrative: I do think that Braime has an interesting story narratively and actually I do see the reason why people ship them, there is a lot compelling factors to their relationship. My hang up is the shippers who think they are an epic love story or they are "obviously endgame" and that the show "ruined them". IMO Brienne and Jaime are not going to end up with each other and that has never been the direction GRRM was going with them despite the obvious romantic aspect to their overall arc. I don't see it with them ending together. So again, my issue is less with people shipping them but more with people who truly believe they will end up together and will listen to no argument to the contrary. In contrast, I believe Jonsa should end up together and think it would be narratively satisfying but I'm more than willing to recognize that there's arguments against it.

Jaime's Arc: From the first time I started reading ASOIAF and then watched GOT it was very obvious to me that Jaime's arc was a tragic one. His relationship with Cersei has many toxic aspects but I don't believe that he is going to "break free" from it. In my experience a lot (obviously not all) of Braime shippers view Cersei as this abusive villain who has tricked Jaime into being with her and that she doesn't love him at all. Jaime and Cersei both do awful things to each other and the power balance in that relationship is endlessly fascinating but I don't think one of them is the clearcut victim to the other. If anything over his life Jaime feels more resentful to his father and the expectations Tywin has of him and how he is unable to live up to them.

Another key factor is that I believe Jaime WANTS to be a "better" man. He doesn't want to be known as the Kingslayer, he doesn't want to continue committing incest with his twin, but his arc to me is about his attempt to be a better man and his failure to do so because he is always eventually going to return to Cersei. This may not be narratively satisfying to those who hope for a "redemption arc" but to me it is what's most realistic. I don't believe any of the Lannisters are getting a "happy" ending.

Also, Jaime views Brienne as a possible means to being that better man but in the show we see that as soon as he tries with Brienne he realizes that "good man" is not who he actually is and he falls back into the same patterns. I don't see this as D&D's bad writing, I see it as the natural conclusion of Jaime's story.

Brienne's Arc: Brienne's story...this is something I admit I feel less confident about but I'll give my thoughts on her arc. I think Jaime's presence in her storyline has a lot to do with Brienne's rather rigid thinking about good and bad or right and wrong. She initially thinks that Jaime is nothing more than a Kingslayer but comes to see that people have more complexity than that. Her ideas about the world are challenged through her encounters with him and she grows as a character because of it.

I do believe that she has genuine feelings for Jaime but again I think Jaime's arc is meant to end with Cersei. I have less strong opinions on how Brienne's arc ends, but I think she will have a roll in Arya and Sansa's ending and be with the Starks at the end of the story. I also think one day she will find the love she is looking for from someone who isn't using her to try and prove something about himself. In other words Jaime trying to be in love with Brienne to prove he is a good man.

The Shippers: As for Braime shippers, I've already mentioned this but I think at large they have convinced themselves that this is a fairytale romance with a happy ending and I will simply never see it that way. I also will not forget the way many of them were frothing at the mouth at the idea of Jaime going to KL in S8 to kill Cersei and their unborn baby. Some of the posts from that time were genuinely nauseating.

Now there's a whole conversation to be had about me shipping Jonsa and Jon killing Dany, of course. There are obvious similarities and I could go further into depth with my thoughts on it but ultimately it's my opinion that the situations are different enough for it not to bother me. I also feel that the two fandoms approach Jon killing Dany and Jaime killing Cersei in vastly different ways.

All of that to say that the Braime fandom left a bad taste in my mouth from their treatment of Cersei, I don't believe it makes sense narratively for Braime to have a happy ending, and I don't believe a happy ending would actually "work" for either of them in the long run. I don't think they are well suited to each other on a basic level and I really believe Brienne deserves miles better than Jaime.

#anti braime #asks #starting discourse on a wednesday afternoon???#i have never really gotten into my dislike of this ship before but this kind of sums it up #again not trying to incite anything so if you disagree that's fine #i've had all braime tags filtered since 2018

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ofthepyre · 2 years

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i don't know who needs to hear this but Arya has never been a “naturally violent” person. before being thrown into a war-torn land and witnessing horrors no child should, she was a well-adjusted, friendly and smart kid who, despite being subjected to bullying for years, only ever physically lashes out twice: 1. at Joffrey, for torturing her friend and attacking her and 2. at Sansa, for lying about it and defending her attacker. both perfectly normal reactions due extreme circumstances.

i don't know who needs to hear this but Arya is a traumatized child soldier, forced to bloody her hands, even though it hurts her, even though she's filled with shame at the though of her family finding out what she had to do to survive. she reacts to her trauma and to the world around her in the only way she knows how.

i dont know who needs to hear this but Arya doesn't enjoy killing even when she feels she should, that it's the right thing to do, administering justice and so on-

As she worked, Arya thought about the people she wanted dead. She pretended she could see their faces on the steps, and scrubbed harder to wipe them away. The Starks were at war with the Lannisters and she was a Stark, so she should kill as many Lannisters as she could, that was what you did in wars.

“that was what you did in wars”… this is why Arya is likened to child soldiers. she's so entrenched in death, violence, and pain all around her (and administered to her,) that she fully believes that killing horrible people (like Raff, the rapist and The Tickler, the torturer) is for the best, for the survival of herself and good people. and yet she takes no pleasure in it.

i don't know who needs to hear this but Arya isn't with the Faceless Men because she wants to be an assassin. she has never professed that. has no desire whatsoever for that. it's all over the books, screaming at you, that she is there because she has nowhere else to go:

“I want to go north, to the Wall. Here, I can pay.” She gave him the purse. “The Night’s Watch has a castle on the sea.”

“Eastwatch.” The captain spilled out the silver onto his palm and frowned. “Is this all you have?”

It is not enough, Arya knew without being told. She could see it on his face. “I wouldn’t need a cabin or anything,” she said. “I could sleep down in the hold, or… I could work,” said Arya. “I could scrub the decks. I scrubbed a castle steps once. Or I could row…”

“No,” he said, “you couldn’t.” He gave her back her coins. “It would make no difference if you could, child. The north has nothing for us. Ice and war and pirates. We saw a dozen pirate ships making north as we rounded Crackclaw Point, and I have no wish to meet them again. From here we bend our oars for home, and I suggest you do the same.”

I have no home, Arya thought. I have no pack. And now I don’t even have a horse.

Jon Snow on the Wall. That was where she had wanted to go. She told the captain as much, but even the iron coin did not sway him. Arya never seemed to find the places she set out to reach.

Fear cuts deeper than swords, she told herself. “Arya.” She whispered the word the first time.

The second time she threw it at him. “I am Arya, of House Stark.”

“You are,” he said, “but the House of Black and White is no place for Arya, of House Stark.”

“Please,” she said. “I have no place to go.”

I have a hole where my heart should be, she thought, and nowhere else to go. “I’m strong. As strong as you. I’m hard.”

“You believe this is the only place for you.” It was as if [the Kindly Man]’d heard her thoughts.

When Dareon had first appeared at the Happy Port, Arya had almost asked if he would take her with him back to Eastwatch, until she heard him telling Bethany that he was never going back.

“It is not too late for you to leave us. Is this truly what you want?”

Arya bit her lip. She did not know what she wanted. If I leave, where will I go?

i don't know who needs to hear this but if your take away from the theme of violence in Arya's arc is that this all comes from her, that this is a natural ~ toxic ~personality trait that should be called out instead of seen as the tragedy it is, then you understand her as well as the people who go “cool badass assassin girl murder murder yay!”

hope this helps <3

#arya stark #understanding this about her shouldnt be so hard and yet!#asoiaf #valyrianscrolls #a song of ice and fire

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ladyofasoiaf · 2 years

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I have to say it's so refreshing to see someone unafraid to criticise Ar/ya. It feels like I get more tired of her character on each re-read I do, and her stans' insane, overly aggressive behavior makes it difficult to like her. Although personally like you I don't care for her trope-y type of character either. I think she was a whiny little crybaby in her early chapters and awful to her sister until they were about to sail to WF. How do fans ignore all that but see occasional mean words of Sansa as satanic?? Anyway, that was rant-y, but thank you.

Hello Anon,

Thank you very much.

The thing is I am in this fandom since 2011 and I am too tired and old to try to censor my thoughts at this point. I used to be more understanding to her character and I actually didn't have many problems with her. If anything I even liked her first (I think it was because Arya actor was so cute in the show) and I was looking forward for Sansa-Arya reunion.

At first I wasn't into fandom that much so I wasn't aware of the fact that her fans HATE Sansa for fanon reasons. After witnessing that in the worst way I tried to understand why do they hate Sansa so much. And I realized that it was because they were totally misreading the characters and the dynamics. I also realized that Arya was much darker than I thought when I first read her.

Just like you said, her character really suffers from re-readings. You start to realize that she was bratty, rude, ill-behaved and violent. Her underdog/overlooked persona is just a fabricated false narrative (or maybe I should say written unconvincingly). When you first read her POVs without paying too much attention, you think she suffers as the unsatisfactory sister because of Sansa but in truth she is just jealous and it is HER who makes her sister life difficult. You realize that Sansa is actually the overlooked child who is trying too hard to have the attention of her father but Ned simply ignores her as a real human being with her own feelings and desires while focusing on Arya. When you see this dynamic, AGOT makes more sense. You understand how even a father who loves all his children can totally ruin his children's lives.

People love to say that Sansa was so rude to Arya and she was only truly rude her when she LOST everything (and Arya had a part in those) and Arya had everything she ever desired while being the troublemaker in the first place. Also watch how that scene goes:

Their father sighed. “I did not call you here to talk of dresses. I’m sending you both back to Winterfell.”

For the second time Sansa found herself too stunned for words. She felt her eyes grow moist again.

“You can’t,” Arya said.

“Please, Father,” Sansa managed at last. “Please don’t.”

Eddard Stark favored his daughters with a tired smile. “At last we’ve found something you agree on.”

Look at Arya saying SHE DOESN'T WANT TO LEAVE KL.

She is objecting to her father..

WOW what a little betrayer. How can she betray Ned like that? SMH...

Father’s mouth twitched strangely. “Sansa, I’m not sending you away for fighting, though the gods know I’m sick of you two squabbling. I want you back in Winterfell for your own safety. Three of my men were cut down like dogs not a league from where we sit, and what does Robert do? He goes hunting.”

Arya was chewing at her lip in that disgusting way she had. “Can we take Syrio back with us?”

“Who cares about your stupid dancing master?” Sansa flared. “Father, I only just now remembered, I can’t go away, I’m to marry Prince Joffrey.” She tried to smile bravely for him.”

Look at Arya willfully asking sth she DESIRES. (Btw if she couldn't have Syrio she would totally talk to him about this- them returning WF- because that girl is WILLFULL like Lyanna right? You can't call her Lyanna2.0 without accepting this, I am sorry)

PURE EVIL!! (also Sansa is always rude in her thoughts... until the very end she just keeps it to herself about how Arya is not pretty, dirty, naughty etc... she doesn't share her opinion with Arya... But I am sure no one has ever thought harmless but bad things about someone they actually love... no one!! Only too kind to share her thoughts Sansa has done this)

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

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

Sansa is literally crying and losing herself in grief of broken dreams and Arya thinks this is the best time to talk shit about the boy she likes... (Jon says he looks like a girl 2.0)

“I am looking for a fast trading galley to take you home. These days, the sea is safer than the kingsroad. You will sail as soon as I can find a proper ship, with Septa Mordane and a complement of guards…and yes, with Syrio Forel, if he agrees to enter my service. But say nothing of this. It’s better if no one knows of our plans. We’ll talk again tomorrow.”

Sansa cried as Septa Mordane marched them down the steps. They were going to take it all away; the tournaments and the court and her prince, everything, they were going to send her back to the bleak grey walls of Winterfell and lock her up forever. Her life was over before it had begun.

Arya as usual gets what she wants while being the trouble child and people pleaser Sansa is once again being punished. Sansa is crying, depressed and she already told us that SHE LOST HERSELF IN HER GRIEF.

“It won’t be so bad, Sansa,” Arya said. “We’re going to sail on a galley. It will be an adventure, and then we’ll be with Bran and Robb again, and Old Nan and Hodor and the rest.” She touched her on the arm.

“Hodor!” Sansa yelled. “You ought to marry Hodor, you’re just like him, stupid and hairy and ugly!” She wrenched away from her sister’s hand, stormed into her bedchamber, and barred the door behind her.

I am sorry but it easy to be kind (?) when you win everything and the other person is losing ALL. (and don't forget that this Arya had a heartfelt conversation with her father about her hatred and trauma... unlike Sansa)

And even in her consolation you can see that she is still blind to her sister's desires. Sansa doesn't want to sail and have adventures (LOL THE SHIP GIRL IS LOADING) Arya... that's not Sansa... that's YOU.

Also why the fck Hodor?? Why would seeing Hodor be same as becoming a queen in a place you find magical?? And if my sister tried to console me like this I would freaking lose it too. (let me also say that it wasn't little Arya's job to cheer/console her sister in the first place, it was Ned's but he is... idiot)

So Sansa calls her stupid, hairy and ugly at the end of her patience (after Arya insulting her future husband, after Arya being rude to her future family, after Arya doing sth she wasn't supposed to like playing with butcher boys, after Arya being rude to the prince, after Arya attacking the prince, after losing Lady because of Arya's wolf, after Arya being hateful to her, after Ned being distant to her while being there for Arya, after Arya once again insulting her future husband, after losing the chance for your dreams to come true while Arya having all that she desired).

Give her a break for real. I would be worse ngl. And I am sorry but calling your sister's any hobby/interest stupid and attacking her physically MORE THAN ONCE is just as bad (if not worse... it's worse imo..)

BTW why doesn't Sansa just call her HORSEFACE and done with it? I thought she was constantly bullying her with that name? Can't believe she doesn't use that name when she was the lowest and the angriest.

Because Sansa-I AM TOO KIND AND COURTESY IS EVERYTHING- Stark totally would use that word!! I am sure she uses that name.. Let me find it!! She had to think about it at least... she had to acknowledge that name at some point:

404 NOT FOUND.

Sansa's proper as* has never used that word. She has never even acknowledged that word but Arya can't be wrong ofc because only Sansa is the unreliable narrator... (Arya didn't misremember the name of Joff's sword or Jon didn't misremember that it was actually him who called Tyrion a friend not the other way around but Sansa is the only UN people...)

And it is funny because Sansa acknowledges she has a horsey face:

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

Sansa couldn't help but smile a little. The kennelmaster once told her that an animal takes after its master. She gave Lady a quick little hug. Lady licked her cheek. Sansa giggled. Arya heard and whirled around, glaring. "I don't care what you say, I'm going out riding." Her long horsey face got the stubborn look that meant she was going to do something willful.

"Gods be true, Arya, sometimes you act like such a child," Sansa said. "I'll go by myself then. It will be ever so much nicer that way. Lady and I will eat all the lemon cakes and just have the best time without you." [AGOT- Sansa I]

So why has she NEVER used that name? What was stopping her EVEN in her THOUGHTS? Anyway... in any case Arya was worse as a sister so I understand why her stans are holding so tightly on "bully Sansa" narrative. Sad.

After re-readings you realize Sansa is actually the outsider of the family. 90% of her family simply don't deserve her for real but whatever.

But I want to say this again: My problem is not Arya as a character. It is the fanon characterization of Sansa by her fans and the author's really weak and forced writing when it comes to Arya. Even when I criticize her you can see that I am mostly angry at characters like Ned, the author himself and her fans. If they were more objective toward Sansa then I wouldn't be bothered by her character this much.

Thanks for the ask.

#mine #anon #ask #answered #reply #anti arya stark #anti arya stans #sansa stark #sansa stark defense squad #asoiaf #ned stark critical #grrm critical

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melrosing · 2 years

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I know you answered something similar before, but which are ur least favorite/most annoying Jaime Lannister discourses? Which ones you think are more prevalent depending on different platforms you're familiar with & which ones are more debatable that most people'd like to admit?

I didn’t have time to answer this when I first saw it so sorry about that, but it has given me a long time to ponder all the bad Jaime Lannister discourse… and this is a hard ask, because I hate so much of it <3

But to kind of attempt an answer:

I think yes, there is a tendency in Jaime fandom to treat Jaime like he never truly did anything wrong, or at least nothing that can’t somehow be pinned on Cersei. Bran was Cersei’s fault. Arya was Cersei’s fault. And then for everything that can’t be laid at Cersei’s feet, there’s some other excuse: the way Jaime speaks to Brienne in ASOS is apparently completely justified. Jaime fucking up Ned’s men was only for Tyrion. And so on

However, there’s also a strange reluctance in other sections of fandom to see Jaime as a victim of anything either. His father’s treatment of him is seen as not worthy of comment, in comparison to how his siblings are treated. Cersei’s treatment of him is described as ‘mutual’. His experiences as Aerys’ KG are instead a source of criticism: people view him as just having stood around doing nothing till his own skin was on the line. A lot of people just don’t want to see Jaime in complex terms: they don't like him, so everyone who does must be making excuses for him - and they're not going to do that, they sleep with his list of sins under their pillow

And then we get meta where people are just making up additional bad deeds for Jaime’s list of Things He’s Done, because they want better reasons to hate him as much as they do. And I find this practice Bizarre. ‘Jaime didn’t rescue Jeyne Poole! Jaime sent Brienne off to die in the woods! Jaime forced Pia into sex with his squire! Jaime was complicit in Cersei’s crimes! Jaime was complicit in Tywin’s!’ I swear this list just keeps growing and it’s like?? Is his actual list of crimes not enough for you??? Why???

And when people are tired of that, there’s this retrospective approach they take to his entire narrative, where actually he killed Aerys for his own sake, actually he rescued Brienne for his own sake, actually he never loved his brother… and I just wonder if this two-dimensional villain is genuinely more interesting to them? Somehow I doubt it, I think at least in part they just want to shit on an arc other people find interesting, because that makes them feel smart lol

And then we finally get into my least favourite Jaime discourse of all time, which is the Limits of Redemption Discourse!! God this shit is so fucking juvenile but y’all have heard me talk about it before lol

In terms of how it varies between platforms… Idk, I think Reddit think they’re cracking a problem when they decide Jaime Is Awful In Every Way, Actually – they just enjoy being contrarian, because if you disagree with enough popular opinions you might be right eventually. Whereas on Tumblr I feel like there’s a performative aspect to Jaime hatred? Like they have to prove they’re not taken in by him? I dunno.

I guess it kind of comes part and parcel with such a popular character – anyone who doesn’t like him feels like they have to have a good reason for it. But god, it has led to so many stupid conversations lmao

#ask #jaime lannister #asoiaf #sorry this isn't super specific or else it would have been an essay anthology haha

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fedonciadale · 2 years

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Jon Snow straightened himself and took a long deep breath. Forgive me, Father. Robb, Arya, Bran … forgive me, I cannot help. He has the truth of it. This is my place. - AGOT

These four are the names that come up. This is extremely telling. These are the people that Jon wants to help, to save. These are the people who tempt Jon to abandon Castle Black, forsake his vows, and go to them. Jon is closest to these siblings, and it stands to reason that he loves them the most. Jon loves all of his family, but is really and truly devoted to those four. So it’s not that Jon does not spare a microsecond being concerned for Sansa because he can’t help her and she was far away. It’s that he just does not truly care about her. And can we really blame him ? If only one of out my five siblings insisted on distinguishing me as a bastard every time they referred to me, I wouldn’t love them that much either.

She had not thought about Jon in ages. He was only her half brother, but still… with Robb and Bran and Rickon dead, Jon Snow was the only brother that remained to her. Jon is an after thought in Sansa’s “list” of brothers. Contrast “she had not thought about Jon in ages” with the number of times Arya and Jon reflect on each other within their narratives. Even the “only” is indicative of the distance Sansa recognizes between them, even now. Again, this is not to say that they don’t see each other as family. Sansa clearly sees him as a brother, and Jon sees her as a sister but this is not the type of relationship that would drive Jon Snow from The Wall to break his vows.

Sansa has plenty of other relationships in the books where people love her and appreciate her for who she is. Who look out for her and help her and take care of her. It’s just that Jon is not one of them.

You're a bit wrong about what we want, you know. I actually don't want Jon and Sansa to have a close relationship, not yet anyway.

Because if they had a close relationship it would be that much more difficult to see each other with fresh eyes, once Sansa arrives at the Wall as Girl in Grey, and Jon awakes from his warging dream and probably barely remembers anything.

I don't know how often we Jonsas have to say it.

We don't want Sansa to be Jon's favourite sister.

Apart from that I would really like to see the plenty of other relationships Sansa has where people love her and appreciate her? Who exactly are you talking about? Joffrey? Cersei? Dontos? The Hound? Littlefinger? lol. No, Sansa might get friends in Mya and Myranda but we are not there yet and all these people who clearly didn't appreciate her will make her feel safe for the first time once she reaches the wall

#anon ask #Jonsa #honestly anon?#Did you ever read any jonsa meta?

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definitelynotcesia · 2 years

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41. let it rain

HELPLINE —kang taehyun smau ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ

pairing: kang taehyun x reader ⊰⊹ฺ genre: fluff, angst, humor/slice of life ⊰⊹ฺ word count: 756 ⊰⊹ฺ chapter type: semi text ⊰⊹ฺ chapter warning: can get a little confusing(?)

GENERAL FOREWORD: I have no ill intention of romanticizing emotional manipulation. I aim to portray a story that will give awareness to these matters, as they are very much real and victims shouldn’t be labeled, judged, or stigmatized. Please know that I made a thorough research prior, along with everything that I learned as a psychology major, as I was conceptualizing the story so as to give a realistic point of view.

"im sorry", is what greeted you the moment you met eyes with yeonjun. he was leaning closer and whispering.

"sorry for what?" you whispered back even though you weren't sure what you were whispering for.

"for failing to protect you", he replied tilting his head towards taehyun who was laughing with beomgyu a few steps ahead of you.

you disregarded the subtle action he did earlier and decided to tease him, "am i getting assassinated or what?"

"no, but i would be glad to do so if you don't stop acting all sunny with me, y/n." as expected, yeonjun gave you an annoyed look as he moved away.

"geez calm down, grandpa!" you raised both your hands up as a sign of defeat while stifling a laugh.

"what is going on here?", meg interrupted when she noticed your hands raised and the creasing of yeonjun's forehead. "are you bullying my sunshine?" she asked as she snaked her arms around your waist.

"sunshine?", he scoffed. "corny ass nickname if i'm being honest."

you mirrored the annoyed look he gave you earlier. if he wasn't so out of your arm's reach, he would've received a punch too.

"touché", meg hummed to which yeonjun chuckled in approval.

"and i thought you're here to defend me!"

"i am!" meg exclaimed. "but you gotta admit though, sunshine is overrated. i'd rather have a whole weather forecast than just all sunny days. you gotta let it rain at times, y/n. heck bring on a storm!! that doesn't make you less beautiful, at all."

that was rather unprovoked.

you were about to tease meg for saying those, but as if in cue, kai did the honor.

"man, we need the bingsu as soon as possible. meg's sputtering quotable quotes now!", kai's shrill voice interrupted the group making those who were in walking front of you look back.

you just realized how everyone's just been chatting randomly as you walked towards the shop.

"lower your voice, dumbass. you're embarrassing me!" meg elbowed him.

"so what? it's not like they know me anyways!"

"do you ever shut up?"

meg's full attention now shifted to kai, thus starting another unending back-and-forth between the two. you gave yourself a mental face palm. this afternoon is going to be great as you thought.

"meg's right. you truly are the sunshine, literally and figuratively. but you're also more than that, y/n." yeonjun whispered before dragging you closer to the group to join in on the ongoing conversation.

the bingsu tasted way better than you expected. probably because this was your first time so you didn't know what to expect— or probably because of the people you were with the whole time.

just when you thought meg and kai are already a handful, beomgyu had to come in the picture completing the golden trio. arya looked at them in amusement, probably thinking about how hard must it be for the parents if these three were siblings. speaking of parent, soobin took on the job as he attempted to pacify the trio but would miserably fail everytime. yeonjun was as sweet yet as mischievous as ever. if anything, he could pass as the mentor of the golden trio.

and taehyun... you tried your best to subtly avoid him. as much as you want him around, his presence still reminded of your heartbreak. yet you never wanted to treat him half-heartedly— or was it your irrational brain telling you one eye contact might bring you to the edge?

although it's weird, you were scared that he might see through you if you put your guards down, even just for a second.

you can't afford to do that.

not now.

however being with all of them feels surprisingly healing. you laughed harder than you expected making both of your cheeks and stomach to hurt. it felt like all the crying and pain you put yourself into these past few days were insignificant. which was hard to admit at first because you knew your emotions were real, and very painful to say the least.

and yet looking around you now,

the golden streaks of the afternoon sun coating the interior of the cafe,

the fat cat lazily lounging on the cashier counter as if he owned the place,

the laughter of your friends shamelessly filling the silence,

the afternoon felt as perfect as a dream.

but unlike any other dreamlike afternoon you've experienced, this one wasn't hazy. today was clearer, more vivid. more real.

"you are sunshine and more than that." as meg and yeonjun said.

HELPLINE —kang taehyun smau ☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ

♡ synopsis: determined to take the pain off the past, y/n wanted nothing more but become the help and comfort that others needed. yet here comes the man with an obnoxiously adorable eye smile, unintentionally ready to sabotage all that she thought was healing— that includes a 24/7 help line and an alternate persona.

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buttercuparry · 1 year

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A youtuber just started season 5 and i just kept thinking i wish they did the plot like in the books with Fake!Arya and all the lords gathering and Theon&Barbarey because I love the book plot so much except for Jeyne suffering like that. But how would you do the plot if you had the chance in the show? Just like Bran that isn’t in season five i had an idea of either Arya‘s plot in bravoos to be shown in the end of season 4 that she starts training.So then in season 5 we have Fake!Arya and then have real Arya back up in season 6 already training like Bran is and ending her plot there.Or have Sansa not be in season 5 but have her in s6, she is still posing as Alayne just how s4 ended , then they learn about Arya being in Winterfell and Jon trying to fight Ramsey so they save them with the Vale army right at the end!?! But then where does Rickon come in and then the succession gets weird. It’s Littlefinger power move to have Alayne be Sansa so then they can be saviors in the last moment if they show up like in the show. So then Sansa can have the north. But having her already be present in the plot like the show with no fake!arya and not have people willing to fight for her name or rickon since he is captured then it makes it easier for Jon to be King. How could they have adapted it with Fake!Arya in a more logical way? My other idea was both jon and sansa reunite in the last episode of season 6 after the battle. and choose Arya to be Queen even tho she isn’t present since they don’t trust each other and they fought for her name. But again rickon is also a problem and it’s not logical too.. How would you adapt it? Sorry for this long ass essay😭

I think there were talks about how GRRM wanted the show to have two more seasons as that would have better executed the endgame but still wouldn't have spoiled the books all together. There could have been both Jeyne and the Arya plot in a season or like you said they could have done it in alternate seasons.

There are a few things in play here, that made the perfect recipe for the disaster that GoT became. First and foremost: Grrm couldn't finish the book while the show was running. Even now we don't have a particular end in sight. So even if D&D truly were dedicated to their craft; there still would have been some struggle points.

But I think this is where you talk to the author. You follow his direction. Of course TV media can never encompass everything a book can; but you can be diligent in your compression and keep it a bit close to the source material. Like you said: we really don't know how to solve the northern plot. Where does Rickon come in? Bran is still alive, so what would that mean for Jon? LF is on a path to destroy the kingdom from the inside: he wants revenge against the world because the nobility thought that his birth made him too inferior to pursue the girl he was head over heels for. He wants the power that his birth denied him and he would do anything to get it. So here we have the Sansa dilemma. And then we have Arya. The Lyanna doppelganger. The one who has an wolf army, and maybe soon would be in possession of a crown. And of course the north has risen in her name. So you see how complex it is; people are rightfully suspecting a Stark succession crisis and maybe a struggle amongst various factions who would want their own preferred candidate to either be the kitn/qitn/lord of winterfell/lady of winterfell.

But the show never ever put this much thought into the material. And herein comes the second point. What D&D did, was that they chose only a few characters to focus on. They relegated other important povs to the role of a minor character. Like for example for Arya they forced her into what they think a "tomboy" should be like. Bran...they didn't even bother to understand who was who in his storyline. The Three Eyed Crow is not a magical designation to be bestowed onto the next poor chap every few generations. It was specifically a Brynden Rivers only thing and Bran was supposed to see that no...this was not him. That he won't just give up his life to rot in a cave. When he says that he is not dead, just broken like winterfell, the readers were meant to relate the strength of House Stark's ancient seat with Bran's own strength. Thereby cementing him as another legitimate heir who can very well carry on the Stark name. I know all the little details of the plot, all of the slow areas cannot be translated when we are watching something. But any little dialogue that relates Bran to Winterfell would have done wonders to Bran's character development. I mean they could give show!Sansa the lines that weren't meant for her and made show! Arya's Braavosi experience filled with more trauma than what she may experience in the books- so I don't see how sticking at least a smidge more to the books could have made it more of a headache 🤷🏽

D&D always played favourites. And because they did, by the end of it all GoT became more and more clownish because in asoiaf- each and every plot is interwoven. I honestly don't know what I would have done if I were the director. But dismissing the importance of magic, dismissing storylines, characters and adding in uneccesary violence just because the fans could figure out the ending can never be an option.

The Northern plot is connected to many, many storylines. When I said that D&d played favourites, I didn't mean to indicate that they did justice to these characters either. One of the main players in the northern plotline is Jon Snow. Jon Snow who haggles like a fishwife. Jon Snow who plots and plans and who is not the wet catman D&D made his show counterpart out to be. They took the line "you know nothing Jon Snow" too literally, not realizing that it is not meant to indicate Jon's naivete but an indication that the more Jon plays a part in politics and has to make dishonorable decisions- he understands what it truly means to kill the boy and be a man. He is not Ned Stark. Honour is a huge driving point in his storyline but he would be dishonourable if it means saving a kid from being burned alive. He would compromise an institution if it means that his sister would be safe. It is he who sends Stannis to the doors of the Northern Houses and rouses them for Ned Stark's daughter. We find here a reference to Ned Stark's legacy that is so so different from Tywin Lannister's. He may be mocked by the Lannister's, by LF. But the northern houses rising is a testament to the legacy that he built. Ned was not perfect, he failed his own nephew and was a hypocrite when it came to Robert; but there must have been something there that made even the mountain clans come down to fight for the daughter of their leige lord. And these values are intrinsically connected to Arya's own. The Northern plot itself is connected to Arya's own theme of a want for home. What makes the whole plot all the more rivetting and fascinating is the thought that this girl who believes that all is lost to her, while still almost subconsciously holding on to her identity- doesn't know that the North is marching to the rhythm of her name. She once fought for her father's men in Harrenhal, now we have her father's men fighting for her.

The Northern plot is important to both Jeyne and Theon. This ask is becoming an essay in itself so I am just going to add a few lines to this. Theon was a hostage of war. Naturally he would have a lot of resentment regarding this. This doubles when he is distinctly made to feel like he could never be a part of the Stark household. And in his revenge, in his lust for power and want of acknowledgement from Balon: he destroys the only home he has known. And it all goes to shit when he unknowingly brings in Ramsay Bolton.

Now after he is tortured, broken, degraded and almost reduced to less than a human being: Theon once again finds the strength in reclaiming his identity because of his want to save Jeyne. Not Sansa Stark, a lady or a princess of the north. But Jeyne Poole an unlucky girl from a minor house. He would gain nothing from saving her- no pardon, no glory. But he still braves the unthinkable. Because fuck Ramsay for breaking them like that. Fuck his sadistic glee at reducing human beings to nothing but broken lumps of flesh and blood.

And he gets this strength after he hears Bran, who reaches out to him through the heart tree.

So you see anon, how everything is somehow connected to everything else in asoiaf. You deliberately snip out one and you risk losing so, so much. And D&D did it again and again. Without consideration. Without thought. I am sorry for not being exactly able to answer, how one could have gone about the northern plot while adapting the series for television. But I hope I could give you at least something.

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