#epic romantic beautiful tragic
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A Dance Towards the Light
Characters: Malleus Draconia.
Genre: AU, Romantic Fluff, Married life.
Summary: Wherein Malleus’s love for you was like dancing towards the light.
Warnings:
GN!Reader, is half fae half human but not mentioned.
Malleus is sunshine boy. Reader is the brooding/angsty partner, but no mention of angst.
—
Such a peculiar pair of lovers you were, you and Malleus Draconia, an ill-fated match made in heaven.
People mocked you that you wanted a tragedy, always taunting you that you will love him, and love him, and love him until it it kills you and destroys your heart beyond repair.
But they were entirely wrong.
With Malleus, you’ve fallen right into the love you’ve found.
His love was far from tragic. His love was beautiful beyond words, more beautiful than epic romance books and paperback fairytales.
When things ended for you, he was a fresh new start. He was the sun that rose in your life again.
He was everything you dreamed of.
He holds your hands during long walks until the sun sets.
He sits with you on a rooftop at one in the morning, and talks about how strange life is.
He dances with you when the sky is pouring rain.
He sends you lavender-scented love letters when he misses you during the days he can’t spend time with you.
He impresses you with his own composed songs, and serenades you with them late at night.
He writes stories about you, for you are his muse and writing is his favorite form of art.
He celebrates your happiness, respects your boundaries, and loves you greatly in the way you want to be loved.
People labeled your romance as straight out boring, utterly dull, and not worthy to gush about.
But what do they know? They only get a glimpse of the surface, but the depths of your bond was hidden from the prying eyes of repulsive onlookers.
A quiet, gentle, slow burn love was all you dreamed of, and those little moments were all you could ask for.
★ —
It was early Sunday morning when you woke up, sprawled on the wooden floorboards of the solarium.
The solarium was a dreamscape created by Malleus, a secret place where only the two of you had access to. It was a quiet place for you to rest in when the world gets too loud.
Slats of sunlight spilled dazzlingly through the cracks of the ceiling.
The room was drunk on the pleasant scent of lily of the valley, lilac and gardenia, pleasant enough to send a sense of tranquility through your body.
Blinking away the drowsiness, you rolled at your husband’s side, taking your time to marvel at his captivating beauty.
Malleus’s profile appeared so serene in the sunshine, his glorious black hair catching the bright rays, making him look like he was wearing a crown of daylight stars.
“The only thing I’ve been dreaming of is eternal happiness with you. It doesn’t have to be fancy or perfect.” Gazing at him, you hummed to the song that you sang to him on your wedding day. “The only thing I want is you. Don’t worry, l believe. Always, l believe. I won’t forget this moment. In my arms, l believe your smile will never lose its light.”
“Cause your love is so sweet, you are my everything. I’m not just saying this because I’m happy.” A soft sigh escaped your lips as you carried on. “I will never change, I won’t change. I’ll only have eyes for you.”
“You’re the light of my life, you’re the one in my life. Even if I lose everything, I will never regret it.” Malleus cut you off in a voice so entrancing. “And keep loving you with the everlasting love in my heart.”
“Why do you always interrupt me when it comes to that part?” you chortled, quirking a brow at your husband who just woke up.
Or maybe he was awake all along.
“Because that’s my favorite part.” Malleus replied delightfully, his smile caught in the sunlight, an alluring smile that puts you in a dreamy state.
You blushed in return with a bashful smile adorning your face.
“Did you stay up all night writing a book about me again?” you asked when your eyes landed on the pens and the crumpled papers scattered on the floor.
“You know that that’s one of my ways to get rid of the tiredness of my day, right darling?” Malleus raised his hand, blue ink-stained fingers tracing your face with utmost gentleness. “And who else am I going to write about? You’re my one and only muse.”
“What’s the story about this time?” Taking his hand in yours, you kissed the inked smudged spots.
“I wrote about how loving you is truly a magnificent and splendid adventure.”
A shy flutter touched your heart. Even after all those years, your husband still managed to steal your breath away like the first time you met him.
“My dearest king, am I truly worthy of the love you write about?”
You never doubted him, but a little reassurance wouldn’t hurt sometimes.
“Of course.” Malleus pressed a lingering kiss on your forehead, a kiss filled with a love so deep and sincere. “You’re my wonderfully chaotic partner. A beautiful perfectly put together mess. You’re always worth it to me.”
No doubt, even if you were a walking catastrophe, he would still choose you.
Even if the flowers wilt and the roses wither away, his love for you would keep on blooming.
Even if the stars burn out, he would be the light that never fades and he would still love you the same.
You’ve never heard a declaration of love so honest and so sweet, a love that has found a home within your heart and soul.
#🌸hannah’s musings#malleus draconia x reader#malleus x reader#malleus x you#malleus x y/n#malleus draconia x fluff#twst malleus#twst x reader#twisted wonderland x reader#twisted wonderland#twst#twst fanfic#twst fanfiction#twisted wonderland fanfiction#twisted wonderland fanfic#twst x fluff#twst fluff#malleus draconia
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The Dark Crystal Age Of Resistance is a tragically underrated work of art.
If your a fan of fantasy like Lord of the rings, Harry Potter and Star Wars please give The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance a watch.
Its a prequel series to the 80s movie and it's one of the best fantasy shows in recent years and goes back to classic fairytales and mythical storytelling.
Everything is mostly done with practical effects and only uses CGI where it's really necessary. The show also brings back puppetry and even though none of the character's are humans there's more humanity in this show than most media we get today.
The world of thra is a magical and strange place that you find yourself immersed in, with all the creatures and beuaty of the natural world at full display you find yourself encanted by it.
The gelfings are really adorable and you can't help but care about them, the main three protagonists have well flushed out personalities and each one has a interesting journey they go on that lead them to start the resistance and the quest to save there world.
The Skekies are really creepy and make for some pretty great villains. There motivation and interactions are giving just as much time as the heros, they rule thra with cruelty and manipulation, stealing the live force of the planet and the then the gelfing. There some of the most terrifying villains we've gottan in the last few years and I gotta say, I was absolutely horrifying by them.
This show does a lot of things right and one of them is how it writes the female characters. Deet and Brea (the two female leads) are very feminine heroines who are kind, empathetic, intuitive, clever and strong without it being showed in our faeces. Even when the female characters are warriors or soldiers there femininity is not devalued or see as a weakness. We also have more complex characters like Seledon and the gelfing leaders (who are all female) and it's just so nice to have a fantasy show that handels the female reputation so beautifully.
At the same time the male character's are also written with the same amount of care and respect, for example Rian (the main male lead) is a soldier who after finding out the truth about the skekies, is faced with the hard challenge of spreading the truth while dealing with loss and trauma, we see plenty of moments where his aloud to be vulnerable and we see him grow into a strong leader for the resistance.
We also have Hup who even though he is a side character, is a lovable podling who steals every sence he's in. He dreams of becoming a hero and has such a heartwarming friendship with Deet it's hard not to love him and want more of him.
All the relationships between the gelfing feel so intimate and pure, wheater there familial, platonic or romantic the show gives us so many beautifully written relationship and dynamics, that add to the emotional core of the story.
There's also some political drama with the gelfling clans and the skekies as they try to hold on to there power, it's done in a way that both kid's and adults can follow.
The action is surprisingly good for show with only puppets, we have sowrd fights, flying gelfings dropping booms, wild carriage rides and it's really exciting and done well.
There is only 1 season unfortunately but it's still worth the watch, I do have to warn everyone that there is a lot of scary and truely horrifying moments so if your sensitive maybe give this a pass, but there's a balance between the dark and whimsical and there's so many funny and sweet moment's that allow you two catch your breath.
This series is a hidden gem in the world of fantasy and that's a dame shame because it is everything you could whant from a epic fantasy story that we just dont see a lot of anymore.
I like shows like The Witcher and Rings of power but none of those shows have captured my imagination or sense of wonder like the dark crystal aor did. I have so much love for this beautiful, weird, creepy, wonderful, magical puppet show and I wish it got more recognition for the work of art it truly is.
The Dark Crystal Age Of Resistance is pure magic and deserve so much more attention. It's on Netflix so check it out if your looking for some good fantasy.
#the dark crystal#the dark crystal age of resistance#Netflix#jim henson#star wars#lord of the rings#harry potter#jim henson company#fantasy
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Jurko Bohun and romantic Cossack heroes from the writings of Juliusz Słowacki (1809–1849), one from the major figures of the Polish literature
Fragment of an article by Tadeusz Bujnicki (b. 1933), Professor of literary studies from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, specializing himself in the Polish literature from the 19th century, and in particular - in Henryk Sienkiewicz's writings and their reception in the modern Polish culture. In his study he sums up the results of research of various scholars, showing us, to what extent H. Sienkiewicz was inspired by the Romantic tradition and the writings of Juliusz Słowacki (Beniowski, The Silver Dream of Salomea, Żmija):
My imperfect English translation (quotations from the novel "With Fire and Sword" in Jeremiah Curtin translation):
The syncretism in using patterns, typical of Sienkiewicz, often makes it impossible to clearly indicate the sources of his inspiration. Moreover, the writer often brings together a “bundle” of various inspirations in one character. Bohun is undoubtedly such a “synthetic” hero. Researchers noticed in him the features of Sawa (Beniowski, The Silver Dream of Salomea), Semenko (The Silver Dream of Salomea), and Hetman (Żmija). Bohun embodies the Romantic Cossack myth, he is a “fairy-tale” character and a type of “tragic lover” who is separated from his beloved by a social barrier and hostility. He is a steppe knight, a romantic lover and a hero of (epic) songs:
Blind minstrels sang songs of Bohun […] Who he was, whence he had come, was known to no man. This much was certain, — the steppes, the Dnieper, the Cataracts, and Chertomelik, with its labyrinth of narrows, arms, islands, rocks, ravines, and reeds, had been his cradle. From childhood he had lived and communed with that wild world. […] Among nobles he knew how to be a polished cavalier; among Cossacks he was the wildest of Cossacks. In knightly company he was a knight; among robbers, a robber. […] He served the steppes, the whirlwinds, war, love, his own fancy.
Bohun is distinguished from the “rude leaders” and “the whole robber herd” by his rich emotionality and the fierceness of extreme emotions. Like Semenko from The Silver Dream of Salomea, being in love with “Laszka”, he can be cruel as a Cossack ataman and gentle in his feelings (Semenko’s words “I have scared the little bird” correspond to Bohun’s behaviour towards Helena in Horpyna’s cottage). They both have similar “leadership” ambitions. Bohun boasting to Helena (“I will […] give you half the Ukraine; for though I am a Cossack, not a noble, I am a bunchuk ataman. Under me are ten thousand men”), repeats Semenko’s words: “I was [...] brought up to be a hetman, not a peasant”. Bohun, despite the cruelty of his actions, the ruthlessness of revenge and savagery, is portrayed in the novel as a harmed person who does not deserve the reader’s condemnation. “The beautiful ataman” arouses sympathy as a tragic lover whose revenge drives him to Khmelnytsky’s camp.
Source: T. Bujnicki, Wpływ Słowackiego na Sienkiewiczowski obraz Ukrainy w Trylogii, [in:] idem, Trylogia w kontekstach, Kraków 2019, p. 141-142.
Another piece of "Bohunologia":
@pomarlisko, let's talk about Juliusz Słowacki;-)))
I don't know, how it is possible, that there was hardly nothing about all these connections between Słowacki and Sienkiewicz on my blog before...
#bohunologia#jurko bohun#ogniem i mieczem#with fire and sword#trylogia#henryk sienkiewicz#juliusz słowacki#romanticism#polish literature#polish heritage#cossack heroes#trylogia sensem życia
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Apologies if I missed it (or if it's shown in the games, I haven't played very far in the series), but any headcanons for Dojima Yayoi?
Of all the female characters in Like a Dragon, I feel like Lady Dojima is the most likely to canonically have a back tattoo. This was a difficult one! I wanted something that reflected Lady Dojima’s elegance, intelligence, and general badassery.
While women are not "officially" allowed to join the yakuza, this doesn't mean there are no women involved in the yakuza. Like Lady Dojima, the wives of bosses act as advisors, helping look after young recruits and even take over families should their husband die or go to jail. They are also just as likely to have irezumi. We are even told that the Dojima family gained most of their power through the respect Lady Dojima garnered.
I did a lot of reading of traditional Kabuki and Bunraku because I thought a literary figure would suit Lady Dojima. I finally settled on Tamaori-hime from the play "Ichinotani Futaba Gunki" ("A Chronicle of the Battle at Ichinotani.") "Ichinotani" is based of the historical epic “Tales of Genji.” It was a bunraku puppet show first, then later adapted into a kabuki play. Tamaori-hime is engaged to the warrior Atsumori, but is separated from him shortly after their marriage as she was traveling with him to the battlefront of the Heike/Genji war. Over there course of the play, numerous jealous suitors attempt to abduct Tamaori-hime, but she stabs and drives off these attempts using her combat prowess. Finally, a man named Hirayama disarms and mortally wounds her. As she bleeds out, hidden behind some rocks, Atsumori is defeated in battle and beheaded. Tamaori-hime dies grasping at her deceased husband's severed head, too blinded by death to see his face and calling Atsumori's name.
Lady Dojima is fiercely faithful to her husband, despite knowing that her loyalty is not reciprocated. Lady Dojima is also romantically pursued by a man she has no interest in, and resists his advances verbally and physically. There was also a sense of irony of pairing a woman who dies tragically next to her heroic beloved with a woman who bitterly survives a horrible man, carrying forward his name and attempting to cement some sort of legacy to the Dojima name.
For a flower I went (relatively) basic with ume plum blossom. The name "Yayoi" is the Japanese name for the month of March, and plum blossoms are one of March's flowers in Japanese flower language. They also represent dignity, nobility, fidelity, beauty, and longevity. Suitable for a very traditional, old-fashioned lady of nobility.
References:
Women in the yakuza
Tamoari-hime
Ume blossoms
#dojima yayoi#ryu ga gotoku#yakuza#yakuza games#rgg#tattoos#irezumi#yakuza 1#yakuza 2#yakuza kiwami#yakuza kiwami 2#head canon#askrggt#dojima
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Skz masterlist
Ot8:
Back Door
you console them through a break up
Twisted Karnival
two birds
primordial
songs i associate them with
speaking your native language in their presence
Tainted Daisies
Stray kids as 90′s boyfriends
Stray Kids Reaction | Uses Your Insecurities Against You
Stray Kids Reaction | You Disappear For A While
shopping with skz
Stray Kids Reaction ¦¦ You Have Acne Scars
Soulmate link
crack texts w/ skz
Stray Kids Reaction || You're A Pianist
Stray Kids Reaction || You’re An Author
you never ask for help
Valentines gifts with Stray Kids
little things that matter
Stray Kids Reaction | Going All Out For Pride Month
skz as romantic tropes
Stray Kids | S/O Coming Out As Pansexual
Scary Movies with Stray Kids
Would I lie to you
the epic highs and lows of jyp-u
Waiting On You
Partner has depression.Hyung line.
almost romantic moments with skz
moments he would kiss you
wiping off their kisses
You Finally Break Down
how they react to a bad day
Oh Sheet
of all things good and evil
how skz react when you call them pretty
When They Miss You
Train To Busan
Prom commitee
Imagines: SKZ members reactions to your silent cry
saying ily for the first time
The 8 tragedies
about love
waiting on you
technical difficulties
waiting for us
Bangchan:
song for you
in this world, it’s just us
when in manila
face the music
lost letters
Yellow Wood
love yourself, as I love you
bullet to the heart
[5:33pm]
Someday
the wedding planner
Maze of Memories
Someday
The one where No One’s ready
Blue Book
Drabble
Wolf Chan headncanon
finding you asleep on the sofa after an argument~
Chan thoughts
Brother’s best friend
saved
Touch the stars
I Will Always Wait
shitty fanfiction
all about you
beautiful liar
Minho:
[11:14 p.m]
dance with me
For the record (player)
Mistletoe Kiss
witch hunter x witch
Blue Hour
the eight stages of falling in love with him
spidey kiss
18:11
And Yet
Unsaid
grocery shopping with minho
Blood & Water
Isn’t it delicate?
Go Higher!
my sunshine
lost journal
Don’t Hate The Player, Hate The Game
Lost on you
first love
heroine’s manual
unnatural love
i love every part of you, lee minho.
by my side
Embers
When he snow clears
Wow
Don’t Let the Letters out
Maybe, I’m Afraid
Roger Rabbit
consort
Sunshine is far away, clouds linger on
5 Star restaurants are a pain
as the world caves in
Yellow paint
trust fall
Meant To Be
A Better Match
pink letter
i like you, loser
insecurities
saudade
day dream
Nets and Bandaids
prompt oneshot
Changbin:
Arcade Date with Changbin
Recipe for Disaster
Lover of Mine
work of art
Crossed
My Favorite Moment
weight on my shoulders
Sugar, Spice and Everything else..?
bring in the loose mistletoe
Late Night Drive
the interview with the exes
lost and found
Hyunjin:
dance to this
sweet like candy
youre my bestfriend
coffee time
transferred
blue
all i know is your name
i fell for you by accident
only fools fall for you
flowers
No Other Way
Maybe it’s not our fault
class president
Behind Closed Doors
[13:07]
deja vu
Shangri-la
his last song
Only for you
In My Dreams
Plough the sea
I don’t remember me before you
Three Words: Bubblegum Brain
secret santa
High society
Never enough
devilish
sun & moon
My Favorite Camera Woman
9:29 AM
Han:
dont shoot me
number neighbour
set up
someones someone
love sketched on skin
Bird Is the Word
apple of my eye
Intimidating
Jisung’s adventures in college.
Welcome, Something Different
In every cosmos
the interview with the exes
An Introverts Dream
Rythm and Rhyme
Poker Night
Into your arms
tight-lipped
Isn’t It Tragic How Far You’ve come
For a long time
Carriwitchet
sunshine
Rule Breaker
Felix:
falling in love
cherry blossom season
not true
Evanescent
knock on wood
so this is love
Happy Death Day
Safe Place
it was my fault
Misfortunes to Blessings
The View
shameless
so not worth it
August
just one yesterday
White Christmas
felix felicis
those who wander
It’s complicated
Something New
never be alone.
freckles and constellations
Golden
Comfort cafe
to spill blood and tears
Bite Me
The Heir and the Library of Secrets
Choking on your alibis
So Not Worth It
crush culture
Seungmin:
truth untold
10:01 AM
Dance with me
Silent Cry
Something to look forward
one was enough
buzzfeed quiz
too late
tomorrows with you
PssT!
[9.58am]
Anti-Romantic
It Just Is
But I Am Your Confidant
Three Heartbreaks & a Rose
They Don’t Know We Know
Modern Day Persephone
[8.50]
Warm Feelings...
I Choose You
operation: get the crush
itinerant
lie to me
definetely twice
Jeongin:
Roses are Red
1cdat
u r my favorite everything
Jeongin Dating Headcanons
Star lost
I wish the world would stay as it is
hbd
Countdown to love
[19:10]
11:11
[11:01]
Comfort
blush
i’m crazy just like you
Sunshine and Roses
soul sanctum
Stray kids au
in his embrace
Fate
I Can Be Your Superhero
Not What I Expected
Beautiful Nights
art of intimacy
Two Steps Away
Traditions
beyond the horizon
before sunset
Looks can be Deceiving
First Rule Of Kpop
ideals of love
Having a crush on the shy one in class
Remembering The Good Times
Spa Night
don’t overthink it
I Won’t Be Gone Anymore
feet dangling in the snow
Day 25
[17:54PM]
all seasons come to one
007
Wonderland
Wet Cement
i like u
Step forward
For The Future
Rainy Day
Rendezvous
the picture
yang jeongin as your boyfriend
Podravska Moslavina
long way home
grocery fun
you’re worthy, you know
Fighter
Coffee date
First Impressions
[1:27]
memories of past
come home to my heart
As the Snow Fell
[4:16pm]
090
exes confront each other
amusement park with jeongin
Lovely Evenings
House
Soulmate AU
Good Enough
Not a Trick
[20:56]
Fox, wolf, close enough, right?
2:13 am
Thanks to the Potions
that’s not even ramen
Flower Shop Boy
Tim McGraw
marie
Cat’s fault
The Matchmaker’s Match
Speaking in Tongues
A Bunch of (Oxy)morons
Disneyland AU
Scrawny
10:00 am
icicles
floral kisses
silver rose
for fox sake
confession
camp w/ jeongin
Ink stains
crush culture
you & me, ultra pro max besties
Dandelions
Souls
A pair of cupids!
Give Love a Try
Like-Like
Chaos & Quiet
jeongin + college bf
Did you just ask me out on live stream?
ugly crier
Deshita
Garden Song
we are not soulmates!
identity crisis
Pushover
Smile, For it Suits You
desert rose
of coffee and numbers
[16:57PM]
Flower Boy
little crimson puffs
pretty boy
Real life beauty
10:37pm
one good movie kiss
Stupid presentation
Bloomed
Taking a nap while I.N is on vlive
Fairytale
8:12PM
Someday
24 to 25
Get off the plane
Youngblood
mixtape:on track
warm?freezing.
Quick flirt
love language
Forgotten keys
score a goal
Feel free to send me fic recs wether it’s your own or others! No smut though please.
#skz#stray kids fanfic#stray kids#stray kids angst#stray kids imagine#stray kids lee know#stray kids bang chan#stray kids changbin#stray kids hyunjin#stray kids han#stray kids felix#stray kids seungmin#stray kids jeongin#stray kids fluff
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My waking up thoughts were about cracking why David Lean isn't a film bro favourite or doesn't have Hitchcock-like glamourous status.
The most famous films of his, Lawrence of Arabia and Bridge over River Kwai, are war epics that feature no female characters. These films are great, they make you think, they are easy to love, they are grandiose and beautiful.
When you go further though, you get to Doctor Zhivago, a film about a man who was ready to live a happy life, but got stuck in the wheels of revolution and was destroyed by it. It's not an easy story to summarise or even understand. I've read the book and it was hard for me to pinpoint its meaning, the film helped with that, but it's a lot of work. It's marketed as a love story, but it's not one. It's not a hero's journey either, the protagonist is too passive, he's almost like a child. And that's the point. It's a story of innocence destroyed by the world. Not a very marketable thing.
Then, all of his later films are centered on women. Which is a film bro no-no and as for people who like stories about women, they were lost back at Lawrence of Arabia. And his films about women aren't glamourous romances either.
Summertime is about an older woman going to Venice and finding a short and unserious love affair there. Where was the Hays code looking.
Ryan's Daughter is a tragic story of a village girl who fell in love with her teacher and got to live that unhealthy fantasy to the fullest.
A Passage to India is about a frustrated English woman coming to India full of expectations of something romantic happening to her, never getting what she wanted and then accusing an Indian man of assaulting her just because she was bored.
Yeah, those aren't very mainstream sounding films, except for Summertime that stars Katharine Hepburn.
Too unconventional to be liked, I guess.
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niuhou for ship opinions?
Aroace Sun Wukong truther though I am, in all honesty anon the niuhou ship is one of my favorites in the jttw fandom <3.
It's true that in Xiyouji itself we don't get a super in-depth amount of space dedicated to the details of their relationship when they were sworn brothers, but there is a real sense that they genuinely liked AND respected each other. And that's a feeling that's really increased when we see their reunion later on during the journey, when even with an absence of over 500 years and a lot of reasons for antagonism for the both of them (the Demon Bull King wants to eat Tang Sanzang & otherwise hinder Sun Wukong's journey, Sun Wukong played a major role in getting Red Boy captured by the Bodhisattva Guanyin & caused Princess Iron Fan a lot of physical pain), both spend quite a few pages dancing around whether they're going to attack the other because of their former strong bond until things irrevocably crumble. Wu Cheng'en even dedicates an entire poem to how tragic this break-up is (and how epic the resulting fight was lol).
But probably best of all for me is that this is one of those ships where both characters really get to shine through as their own individual people with rich stories. When you look at other ships involving the Monkey King (especially the tons of movies with a SWK romance) it tends to be the case where the romantic partner in question seems to revolve their entire life and personality around old Monkey in one way or another, usually with a heavy dose of "being eternally patient & forgiving no matter how much shit he gives them" and also ending with the fate of them dying so that he can be sad/having to Learn a Lesson. So yeah said "romantic partners" often feel more like hollow shells or desperate obsessives than full people.
Which to put it academically sucks major balls.
With Niuhou, however, that's not the case at all! Obviously a good chunk of Xiyouji is dedicated to Sun Wukong's character and his multitude of complexities and development, but even in the few chapters we see him the Demon Bull King really stands out as one of the yaoguai kings who had a very active life after the Mt. Huaguoshan war with heaven, doing everything from gathering wealth, allies, power, and friends to getting married and having a child that he very much loves to then having a falling out with Princess Iron Fan because he took on a concubine with Princess Jade Countenance. He's also described as being just as powerful as the Monkey King (while also being stockier), and his rage really is something that can shake the Heavens! It all makes for a very involved part of the journey, ranging from Sun Wukong and numerous gods having to go to battle against a colossal Niu Mowang to the Demon Bull King calling time-out on a preliminary fight because he wanted to go party with some of his dragon friends.
And as a final bonus this is also one of those rare ships involving the Monkey King where he's actually very obviously invested in maintaining it, from being his active and ambitious social self as a warlord to trying every which way to get what he needs from the Demon Bull King to continue the journey while still maintaining his bond with Niu Mowang. And while it does end in tragedy, you do have the delight of thee Monkey King approaching the situation like "PLEASE bestie my beautiful princess with a disorder PLEASE remember what we mean to each other!!!" And then the Demon Bull King being like "me remembering that is the only reason why I haven't killed you where you stand."
#xiyouji#jttw#journey to the west#sun wukong#monkey king#demon bull king#niu mowang#niuhou#for never was there a story of more woe#than that of this fuckin bull and monkey#anyway#main point being that it's nice to see a swk ship where both of them get to be assholes with layers lol#anon answered
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1883 sure left me a crying mess after watching that season finale. Of the three 'Yellowstone' shows, 1883 has become my favorite. I've enjoyed the storytelling and pace of the show.
Elsa and Sam, thank you for taking me along with your beautiful love story! It was short, tragic but it was epic!
As an Indigenous viewer, I was happy to see not only an Indigenous lead but a romantic lead.
I loved that Sam let Elsa be. In a time when women were restricted every which way, Elsa got to be the wild, strong woman she wanted to be. Sam was not going to hold her back or expect her to be confirmed to wife duties. Elsa found someone that was going to ride beside her and show her the mountains.
I'm so sad they didn't get their happy ever after but I'm happy they were reunited.
(Still crying from the last episode! 😭😭😭)
“There is a moment where your dreams and your memories merge together and form a perfect world. That is heaven. And each heaven is unique. It is the world of you. The land is filled with all you hold dear. And the sky is your imagination.
“My heaven is filled with good horses, open plains, wild cattle, and a man who loves me. It is always sunrise in my world. And there are no storms. I am the only lightning. I know death now. I’ve seen it. It had no fangs. It smiled at me. And it was beautiful.”
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I can be wrong but I don't think there will be jonerys if Jonsa going to be happen. It will be absurd for Jon and Sansa to have feelings towards each other and tried to deal with those feelings with other external issues only for him to fall for Dany too. Already Jon and Sansa suffered enough and still had to deal with things. Shouldn't they get some respite instead being dragged into some kind of love triangle? Jonerys bring nothing in story and to their characters besides unnecessary suffering
I happen to agree.
They can't coexist without destroying the point of either.
Whatever controversy and tension you create with introducing Jonsa as a fake!incest romance, you entirely undercut by adding Jonerys, the genuine aunt-nephew Targcest romance, on top of it.
Narratively, it erases the tension of the former (Incest? No big deal, old hat, been there done that.) alongside the deeper emotional significance for Jon. Since all that sister-incest drama apparently isn't remotely captivating enough to hold his attention and keep him from becoming enamored of a dragonriding invader, one that it turns out he is also related to.
What, apart from the deepest satire, is enabled by such a heaping of bait and switch incest?
Even if you place the parentage reveal very late (erasing all chance at Aegon drama for Jon) and turn it into a surprise accidental incest switch, you're left with a wishy-washy hero who basically goes "Awww, shucks, now I'm related to HER? Guess I can shag the redhead now, because we're only cousins, lol. Surely she won't care I was in love with the Targ queen until three minutes ago and only choose her now that the other one is off-limits. I am, after all, the ultimate and only worthy prize. Aww, CRAP, my platinum forbidden love is now charring a town! Is it my fault?"
Even any iteration of a sexual political!Jon storyline would suddenly place an embarrassing emphasis on Jon as an irresistible man prize no woman can resist, who is "forced to" have sex with the hot dragon queen to save the world and then fall into the patient and forgiving arms of the long-suffering maiden (who would never emasculate him with something as unpleasant as sexual competition, that's strictly for girls to endure)... apparently. Maybe with a "tragic" delay-by-exile to make it look a little less like he gets to have his cake and eat it too. A dream of spring, indeed. "Jon, your ten years are up. Sansa is ready to give you everything you ever wanted now after spending ten years waiting for you after your epic romance with your aunt. You were so very brave."
It erases the significance of the political messaging by making philosophical differences secondary to sexual attraction, and it really hurts the dignity of the female characters involved, Sansa and Dany both, by reducing their "peak" romance to a competition. It erases the concept and importance of fidelity and loyalty, if betraying one's love is either easily done in earnest, or handled like the rational and necessary choice by a true hero. Fidelity is a luxury that women can't ask of men unless they don't want to save the world!
Considering the level of importance GRRM has placed on romantic imagery specifically with Sansa, I find it sincerely improbable that he would reduce her to a reward prop for Jon, a clean and dignified maiden wife and mother-to-his-children as a treat, after suffering so terribly in yet another sexually charged relationship with dangerous and beautiful woman. (Yawn.) The love story she has been waiting for is going to have to be worth the wait? No?
Sansa's perspective on this would be pretty bleak, otherwise. What's the point of jonsa from her perspective? What's so great about Jon's love if he would just give it to a violent invader? What's supposed to be compelling about this romance for Sansa if it's just another disappointment because Jon's best political trick is sleeping with the beautiful enemy? Is pain the lesson here? Is jealousy and humiliation the price to pay for the crime of... what exactly? And what's the price Jon pays for loving Sansa, then? A little bit of feeling guilty for ten minutes before/after sleeping with his hot aunt? Really? That's love? That's romance? That's the future of House Stark? Sansa has no better option anywhere? Jon is literally the best possible guy, so she has to settle for that hot mess?
And what about Dany, who seems to spend her story arc essentially swinging from murder to falling for the wrong guy, rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat. Girl just thinks with her hormones, apparently. Compelling stuff. At least she gets to make Jon feel a little conflicted, I suppose. A lot of build-up in Essos for that, but anything to serve his story arc.
I don't buy it.
I don't buy it from Jon's perspective, I don't buy it from Dany's perspective, I don't buy it from Sansa's and I don't buy it from GRRM's.
I have never read a proposed storyline for Jonerys that would rival the intrigue of them being allowed to be platonic enemies. The dignity of letting their politics and personalities, not their genitals, take center stage.
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The soundtrack for season 2 is unbelievable. I thought nothing could beat season 1 music, but Natalie Holt did it again. I’m in awe. I can't wait for Vol.2.
I’m not a musician, I don’t really distinguish different instruments apart from general terms, but for myself I summarised that strings mainly belong to Loki and Sylvie, the theremin to TVA and Mobius, chorus/voices to HWR and Victor Timely. And again, it comes in three.
Burden of Wisdom
This is the first track for season 2 and it actually starts with the same whispery voices that can be heard in He Who Remains, which is the last track for season 1! I recommend listening to both in chronological order. The contrast between them, the character and gravity they convey. Ugh!
Theremin, chorus and strings are intertwined in a heartbeat-like sound. In this track you can actually hear a bit of the TVA theme but performed on Loki’s strings, as if he's accepted his fate paved for him and Sylvie by HWR. It does sound like a burden.
One Shot
It’s complex music with a lot of drama, hope and despair but also a happy ending. And it is a complicated sequence when Loki time slips to the future, is pruned and gets back to the present. The harp and chorus sound almost asgardian. It’s very stringy, and there are Sylvie’s strings this time too, and an epic, heroic build-up and Loki’s iconic fanfares when he is pulled from the time and soft lands on Mobius. To me personally this is very Sylkius somehow
Temporal Loom
It is the hard of the TVA, so the music sounds like a heartbeat, slightly irregular, quickening by the end. The whispers, and then the epic chorus. You can clearly see a small fragile man on the gangway against this monstrous merciless machine.
Zaniac
This is a banger. 70s disco beat, something from a James Bond movie. But if you listen closely, you can hear strings from Loki Green Theme in the background. They sound ominous but not loud enough for Brad to take it seriously just like he underestimates his opponents just a moment later. Loki’s strings and TVA’s theremin make pretty damn good combo, I love it I love it I love it so much.
Delivery
Such hopeful, pensive music. You know the history was altered that very moment and can’t be undone, this boy will change everything for better or for worse. In the end, the ultimate power in the universe are books in right (or wrong) hands. Chorus is there and is very prominent, not a whisper but almost angelic choir.
Time to Go
I looooove how this one starts so non-HWRy! Very playful, funny and slightly chaotic which suits Victor’s luminary persona that he puts on to hide his vulnerable soft self. It also has Loki’s iconic fanfares, performed by a woodwind this time. It doesn’t match with Loki’s appearance like in One Shot, but still is a really nice touch. And then it’s calm, pensive and somehow lonely. And that’s how Victor is, really.
O. B.
OB’s theme sounds like something from the future. His main notes are simple, optimistic tones arranged with electronic background. It stands out from all other TVA personnel related music. Just like him: a genius unstoppable engineer, alone in his department who won’t hold a grudge for this, always busy, always happy to see his colleagues and work in a team
Your Girl
Hauntingly beautiful and tragically romantic, but with undertones of static, Jaws and a villain theme from a horror movie.
I don’t wanna stop but I will because I feel like I’m starting to repeat myself and don’t have enough words to describe music. No, no, okay, one more
Tricks
The thrill of the chase. Brad's personality aside, it's terrifying to be chased by someone you can neither outrun nor outtrick. Makes you think what would happen if Loki suddenly changed his mind and turned into a full mode villain. Q&A has a similar vibe but with far more dark undertone.
okay I really need to stop here
All I wanna say is, Natalie Holt knows how to convey the essence of a character through music
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Journey Across the Disneyverse: Second Day
In honor of the 100th anniversary of the Walt Disney Animation Studios, I'm rewatching some of my favorite films from the studio.
This were the ones that I watched today.
1 - Peter Pan (1953)
I will say something that will revogue my status as Disney nerd and Disney adult: this film is very weak.
Mary Blair artwork is still beautiful and amazing, and the animation is very well done. Neverland is a delight to the eyes.
But I feel like it lacks heart, it lacks a genuine emotional connection. Something is missing here.
The thing that gets on my nerves is that it lacks a proper ending. On Disney+ they had a deleted ending, and it feels so much more like an actual resolution that this movie's ending.
Wendy gets to say farewell to Peter, she and her brothers get to choose to grow up, while Peter and the lost boys get to choose Neverland. Wendy also is in better terms with Tinkerbell. Peter and Wendy also had an amazing romantic tension.
All of this would make the movie so much better.
2 - Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Disney reached storytelling maturity with this one. This is the ultimate fairy tale movie.
They transformed an already iconic fairy tale in an action-packed epic love story.
Despite giving name to the film, Aurora isn't the protagonist. She is a living McGuffing that drives the plot.
The real protagonists are the three good fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Meriwether, who deserve much more recognition from Disney itself and from fans. It's amazing how they are the main responsible for the movie passing the Bechdel test, even though some still decry the movie as sexist.
3 - The Little Mermaid (1989)
Blessed be Howard Ashman.
This film modernized the Disney formula with amazing effects.
It's definitely not the somber, tragic love story from the original Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, but it manages to create its own thing, a colorful and vibrant coming-of-age, romantic comedy.
I hate how the same people who decry past Disney heroines for being so bland and super perfect, crap on Ariel only because she acts like a genuine flawed, curious teenage girl.
4 - Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Blessed be Howard Ashman again.
What I loved most about this film is that it flips the original message of the fairy tale on its head.
A thing must be lovable first before it's loved. Love must be earned. You can't act like a beast and still force people to look past your obvious toxic flaws.
Belle is under no obligation to love the Beast. She isn't at any moment forced to look past his toxic behavior. It's the Beast who has to improve himself in order to gain her affection. He is the one who has to change.
True love is liberating, and not trapping. Beast might be the one who trapped Belle in his castle, but it's only when he gives her freedom and autonomy that Belle reciprocates his affection.
I love how the filmmakers confirmed over the years that if the curse weren't broken, Beast would go full Queen Elinor from Pixar Brave, and become a full beast. All the castle staff would become fully inanimated and die. Yet, Beast still puts Belle's wellbeing over his, letting her go, knowing full well that this would kill him and everyone on the castle.
Because true love is selfless, not selfish.
I also love how this film dials down the creepiness of the fairy tale by adding hundred of sidekicks on Beast's Castle.
If Belle were to be completely alone with the Beast, then we would have the child-friendly version of that scifi movie with Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence. But if Belle has actual people to make her company, people who often go completely against their master's orders, then things are less Stockholm-ism.
@ariel-seagull-wings @tamisdava2 @thealmightyemprex @the-gentile-folklorist @princesssarisa @angelixgutz @mask131 @thelittlehansy @natache @the-blue-fairie
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TILL THE END OF THE MOON
He's so beautiful and tragic and she's so beautiful and heroic. This has too work out, right?
As usual, spoiler-free above the cut, spoilers below.
General Rating: 8/10
Fight Choreo: 8/10
Cinematography and CGI: 8.9/10
Acting: 8.9/10
Costume: 8/10
Scene/Setting: 10/10
Heartbreak Meter: 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔/10
It's the end of the world, ok? What's worse than the end? Li Susu is the only one left of her family and sect, and they risk everything to send her back in time to stop the evil and unstoppable Tantai Jin. As much as she hates him for slaughtering everyone and everything she knows and loves, it turns out his past life? Sad. We have no time to feel bad for him- Li SuSu, now in the body of the frankly awful daughter of mortal General Li and wife to Tantai Jin, must figure out how to keep this man from becoming a monster.
Luo Lun Xi (Leo Luo) does a fantastic job as the male lead, showing the complicated feelings of the character and his evolution quite seamlessly. While I can no longer trust Bai Lu bc every drama I watch with her makes me want to snap my own neck by the end, she does a decent job with the character, though she fails to sell us on Bai Lu really falling in love most of the time. We get glimmers and hints, never a sure thing until we are quite deep in the story and it is the bigger gestures of the writing rather than the acting that sells the love between them. Deng Wei, who you may recognize as the angel baby Tushan Jing from Lost You Forever, is...there? But mostly forgettable in this role, unlike in other roles I've seen him in. Chen Du Ling makes a deep impression as through the timelines we get to see her be soft, sweet, cunning, manipulative, and foolishly evil (and her acting SELLS IT.)
This drama was a well-written and entertaining little ride, with its biggest strength lying in the way their romance is developed and maintained. It goes a bit flat in the middle where it feels it has to explain itself a bit too much, but it's wide ride.
So did it break my heart? Of course it did.
Let me be frank- I was upset with the ending. While it made sense, it did not give the emotional payoff I needed for the events we were put through. The writing was strongest when making you feel bad for Tantai Jin and and showing him grow under the warmth of Li Susu's kindness. You want good things for him. The show goes out of its way to tell us that he can be good if given the chance. When he becomes the ruler of his country, he immediately starts stripping away the unfair laws his brother put in place and works toward making the country better. When he has the chance to take revenge on his awful little wife, he remembers the kindness Li Susu showed him (after she took over his evil little wife, but he doesn't learn that til later) and is good to her.
It was hard to sell me on Susu loving him until after they were separated and Susu returned to her timeline. The longing she was shown to feel, the impact he had on her was what really sold it. But I cannot emphasize enough that the writing had to do that, not Bai Lu. She was so...stiff? One note? She had me convinced that this was just a mission for her bc she failed to show me any real emotion or affection for this man.
These characters were not "destined to be together"- they fought long and hard to love each other and in the end, they put the needs of the universe before their love.
NO! I don't want them to.
3 different lifetimes. THREE in which they fall in love and it ends in disaster- only in the final one does it not end in disaster for everyone else. I understand that it needed to happen, hence the masterful writing, but ffs let me have a happy ending.
I am a hopeless romantic, first and foremost, and so if you bill me a romance, I need a romance with a happy ending. Sell it to me as an epic or a tragedy and I'm prepared, but sell me a romance and I'm waiting for them to be happy.
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Currently obsessed with the song Evermore from Beauty and the Beast!! The chorus is so emotive musically and the lyrics are also so epically tragically romantic and tear me open
NOW I KNOW SHE’LL NEVER LEAVE MEEEE EVEN AS SHE RUNS AWAYYYY SHE WILL STILL TORMENT ME CALM ME HURT ME MOVE ME COME WHAT MAY
NOW I KNOW SHE’LL NEVER LEAVE ME EVEN AS SHE FADES FROM VIEW SHE WILL STILL INSPIRE ME BE A PART OF EVERYTHING I DO
WASTING IN MY LONELY TOWERRRR
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For the 4 favorite ships, maybe you can detect a pattern meme: except I'm doing 7 for better sample size 😉
1. MSR, the Original "ship" and an eternal fave
2. Frendeavour, which manages to be age gap, detective partners, mentor/mentee, friends to enemies to friends multiple times with romantic subtext, pseudo brothers and pseudo father/son all at the same time. Also Roger Allam is there.
3. Sam/Jack. Another classic, I wouldn't say Baby's First Ship (which is Crusher/Picard and that one is a little too much a part of my childhood to read fic about) but it's definitely one of the first! Ever since seeing the s2 ender/s3 opener one afternoon scifi channel marathon in the late 90s, Sam/Jack made a home in my fandom brain and never left 💜. They're one of the sweetest, most supportive and respectful relationships, in ways that still surprise me given the genre. And the pining! The beautiful, obvious years of pining! Not to mention that the fandom established so many of the beloved scifi shipping fic tropes ;)
4. RomanGerri. It's romantic. It's asexual. It's pure kink. It's deeply sentimental between people terrified of sincerity. They're kindred spirits. They fight like cats and dogs. They love each other
5. Janeway/Paris. I could do a whole dissertation here but this is one of those you get it or you don't ships. Suffice it to say that this pairing is extremely dear to my heart, and gives me all kinds of Elizabeth I and Robin Dudley feelings the way I wanted to but never did from J/C. A lot of it has to do with their shared background and the way there are surface differences in their approach to life and Starfleet but not that deep down they're extremely similar. Different symptoms of the same disease, I used to say about Kate and Tom and their fathers. But they make each other happier which is v important to me.
6. Mirandy. Not my first femslash ship but one that stuck with me for a very long time. I don't talk about it much because it ended up being. A little on the nose for my overall emotional well-being. Similar to Hacks in that way. I love it a lot but it's too personal so I don't talk about it much.
7. Soulbates/Norma x Norman. Let's call this rent lowering gunshots, okay? No hard feelings if you're not into following someone who's into the epic momson ship of 2013, but it is genuinely one of my favorite tragic ships ever since watching Bates about 18 months ago. I was into it enough to let my fandom group at the time jettison me because I wouldn't stop liking it lol. It's horrifying, yes, they love each other in appalling ways shaped by desperation, trauma and familiarity. Enmeshed so far it became a part of Normans foundational being. But there was real equal love amongst the dependency and the tragedy was as fascinating as it was inevitable.
I guess my theme is uh. Older Women, huh 💀😇
I wasn't tagged but I saw this meme several times on my dashboard, so I felt like joining in. And coincidentally giving some newer followers a primer on my taste 😉😆. So if you reading want to share your ship, consider yourself tagged! And feel free to tag me if you like 😊
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Sansan Meta - Beauty & The Beast
(Obscenely long wall of text ahead, you have been warned)
Tale As Old As Time
George R.R. Martin is a fan of the classics. He is influenced by authors like Tolkien, and by the stories told in different mythologies and fairy tales - so much so that, during his time working in TV productions, he was one of the writers of a modern version of Beauty And The Beast. There are many references to this particular tale in A Song Of Ice And Fire, and there is a character that fits the role of the Beauty perfectly: Sansa Stark the girl who spent the vast majority of her story being held hostage, and that is so beautiful that pretty much every boy and man of story lusts after her, even though she's yet to turn 14 in the books. She is also a hopeless romantic and dreamer, and wants her prince and epic love.
He's No Prince Charming
Sansa has quite a list of potential suitors/love interests, and they're all wrong for her in one way or another... more often than not, they're all wrong for her in MANY ways, including morality, age, power imbalance due to status, and even incompatible sexuality. For the sake of simplicity, I'll stick to the ones that, so far, are the most important for her story and development as a character.
First we have Joffrey Baratheon and Loras Tyrel. They both fit into the traditional idea of what a girl like Sansa would want, the first being a literal prince, who Sansa is engaged to for quite a while, and the later being a handsome knight that she fantasizes about despite already being promised to another. She falls for both of them pretty hard - not in the sense of truly feeling love for them, but rather experiencing very intense crushes based on the idea of them, and on a shallow "connection." Once Joffrey shows his true colors, revealing himself to be a sadistic monster, Sansa's affection turns into hate. His appearance suffers no transformation and he is a monster mentally, not physically, but after Ned's death Sansa full on asks herself how she could have ever found him (physically) attractive, and due to the truth about his parentage, he is considered an abomination to their society. Sansa is still not completely over Loras (she fantasizes about him and is still very infatuated in the third book, and thinks of kissing him in the fourth) but not only is he a member of the King's Guard, meaning he cannot take a wife, he is also not interested in women, meaning there's zero possibility of them ever getting together - and they'd both be ridiculed if they did. Loras is not the Beast, or the transformed, redeemed prince. He is Beauty's idea of the prince.
Secondly, we have Tyrion Lannister, "the Imp" and Petyr Baelish, "Littlefinger". Both are much older men, who are very rich, very smart, and feel entitled to have Sansa - the first due to an inferiority complex and deep trauma brought on by being a dwarf in a deeply ableist society and for the tragic circumstances regarding his first marriage, and the later due to a life-long obsession with Sansa's mother, Catelyn Stark, who was "stolen" from him by Brandon and Ned Stark. Tyrion's physical appearance leads to many people calling him a monster, but instead of it being a punishment for his cruelty, he becomes cruel after a life of mental abuse, trauma, and manipulation, as well as his drinking problem. Petyr also doesn't fit the role of the cruel man who was cursed to look like a monster, since he is a monster that looks like a completely ordinary, harmless man. Sansa is not interested in either of them, but is forced to marry Tyrion (who is, at first, a far more humane character than Baelish, and their marriage is seen as a big joke by everyone), and is then rescued/kidnaped by Petyr.
Finally, we have Sandor Clegane. He is much older than her, his family doesn't have any real status, power, or money. He worked for the Lannisters, is a deeply traumatized man who is very prone to violence, was horribly disfigured, and is so dehumanized by everyone, including himself, that he is known as a dog - as The Hound, a loyal animal that shows no mercy to anyone he is ordered to attack. He is by far the one that has the least in common with Sansa's ideal lover. Yet he still ended up becoming the man Sansa compares everyone around her to, and despite him being a walking disaster of a person, she always seems to conclude that he is the superior option. And Martin clearly agrees, so much so that he constantly has him say the Beast's line of "I'm no ser."
So, we have the Beauty and we have the Beast. But how does their story play out in this version, and how can we even be sure we found the right Beast?
Be Our Guest
Right from the start, Martin is changing the formula. Instead of being a traveler that is imprisoned by the Beast after entering his home without permission/stealing something and is later freed by his self-sacrificing daughter, Ned Stark is a man that would have never left his home if it wasn't for the insistence of others and his fear that his friend was in danger, and Sansa comes with him willingly. She sees it all as the beginning of her song, of her epic romance, a dream that has come true. She has a prince and knight, and they will surely defeat and slay all the evil monsters of the realm, protecting the innocent and being seen as heroes. She finds that one or two people are not what they seem, like Sandor Clegane who despite being far from a good man is still much better than his brother, Gregor, who is as wicked as any traitor despite being a knight, but overall, everything is just like in the stories, just like in the songs.
Once she finally realizes what her situation truly is, it will be too late for her to save herself - or her father, who she will have accidentally sold out to his enemies. And while Sansa will beg for mercy for her father, Ned is the one who is going to make a sacrifice for her, admiting to a treason he did not commit and being ready to spend the rest of life away from the people he loves, only to then be killed anyway because, unlike the Beast, his captors (who would then have his daughter as their prisoner) did not stay true to their word. On top of that, her grief will not be seen as proof of her immense love for Ned or of what a kind heart she has, but rather as evidence that, in this version of the story, Beauty is a traitor.
"Take Me Instead"
Joffrey and Sansa's "romance" is a cruel alternative version of Beauty and the Beast, that seems to begin at the end and work its way back to the start. Sansa is happy and in love with her handsome prince, but he turns into a monster that holds her hostage and shows her father no mercy despite her pleas and of the promise he made her. The only thing that stayed the same was the Beauty finding herself in a situation in which her captor is replacing the company of her family - Joffrey is the one who gives her away to her husband on her wedding day.
Speaking of her husband, Tyrion also "doesn't play his part right." Not only does he never hold anyone of her family hostage, he offers Sansa to choose another husband for herself, younger and taller, but just as much of a Lannister, just as much of a captor. Sansa decides not to risk it and sticks with Tyrion, but she never really warms up to him enough for a romance to bloom, or for him to truly replace the presence of her family. Tyrion also develops a bond with Jon Snow and shows kindness to Bran, but he does because he feels a connection with them, not with Sansa. On top of all of that, he was held hostage by Catelyn and was denied guest rights by Robb at Winterfell.
The one that "fits" the traditional formula the most, at first glance, is Littlefinger. Sansa is replacing her mother as the object of his obsession, and he also makes her take her aunt Lysa's role as his co-conspirator after he murders her. But he goes a step further, seeing Sansa as his daughter and wanting to replace Ned (whose death he plotted) as a father figure in her mind, making his sexual advances towards her even more disturbing. The problem is that their "connection" is completely one-sided, since even though she tries to "be his daughter in her heart" and addresses him as father even when they're alone (because he told her to, not because she felt he deserved that title), she doesn't seem to want to be with him, in any way. She full on thinks to herself that, while Petyr treats her well enough, Littlefinger is no friend of hers and is not to be trusted.
As for Sandor, he also does a bit of a reversal of the tale, asking Sansa to leave with him to Winterfell, is turned down, lets her go - and then kidnaps her younger sister, who he will develop a platonic bond with, but there will still be quite a lot of bad blood between him and Arya.
The thing he does right, however, is "replacing" her family in a much more natural way than all the others, and it starts before they even have any kind of meaningful connection. When Ilyn Payne scares her, she bumps into Sandor and mistakes him for Ned. When Sansa's dire wolf is killed, King Robbert says Ned should give her a dog, and during the battle of Blackwater she runs to her room, wishes that Lady was with her, and then realizes Sandor is hiding there as well. In the fourth book she once again wishes for her dire wolf to be with her, but instead finds a blind dog on her bed and refers to him as a "Sad old hound", and it all happens right after she dreams of Sandor on her marriage bed, replacing Tyrion on their wedding night. After Stannis fails to take King's Landing, she dares to hope, despite knowing it's practically impossible, that the man who stopped him is her brother Robb and that he is there to rescue her. When she's at the Veil, she is saved from an attempted rape, and despite knowing he simply could not be there, her first thought is that her savior is Sandor. That last one shows that Sansa has come to see him in a much more positive light than one could expect considering Sandor's typical behavior.
"You Should Learn To Control Your Temper"
Sandor Clegane is a violent man. He drinks too much, his trauma makes him lash out, he has anger issues, he's almost completely cynical and bitter (almost), he is impatient, rude, and can often be a huge jerk. Even though his "transformation" into a Beast (physically) was not a punishment for his awful personality, said personality did come to exist, just like it happened with Tyrion. He is Joffrey's dog and kills an innocent boy because Cersei told him to. He threatened to kill Sansa twice, both on the first big scene together, and then again at their farewell during the battle of Blackwater - the later involving him actually having a knife at her throat. In the third book, when he is "mortally wounded", he says that he should have fucked her bloody and killed her instead of leaving her for Tyrion.
But here's the catch of that last scene: Sandor says all of that to Arya, not just hoping that it will make her kill him and put him out of his misery, but because he feels he deserves to die. He lists all of his sins with tears in his eyes. He admits his lust for a girl he knows is way too young for him, admits he was inappropriate and even violent towards her, and brings up how he always let Joffrey's other guards beat up Sansa, just standing there in his white cloak (a symbol of honor, used by those who were supposed to protect the innocent) - the same cloak that he tore and threw to the ground, stained with his enemies' blood, on the night he tried to offer her his protection, but ended up almost killing her due to a PTSD episode (combined with excessive drinking). He was also in tears at that moment. Sansa's kindness, and his failure to properly repay her for it, brought him to tears twice.
Sandor is, to put it mildly, a terrible person, and there is no one in the whole world who hates him for it more than Sandor himself.
There is, however, one person who, despite being well aware of his monstruous side, still cares for him. Sansa Stark herself. She wished he was around to protect her right before the Blackwater incident, and while it was happening she sang him a song about mercy, brought a hand to his face to comfort him while he cried (I'll never forgive Martin for not making it clear if she's touching his scars or not) and then not only chose to wrap his cloak around herself for a second time (we'll get to the first time later) but also kept it her chest with her summer dresses. She even wonders if she should have left with him, despite how unstable he was at that night and of how dangerous it would have been for both of them since she was far easier to recognize than him or Arya. The guy did a ton of bad things, but he clearly got some stuff right as well - but how exactly did he gain so much sympathy from Sansa?
There's Something Sweet, And Almost Kind
When I first read the books, I did not expect kindness to be a word that I'd ever associate with either Sansa or Sandor based on their initial behavior. Sansa was snobish and even a little cruel at times, and Sandor fucking murdered a child. I was fully prepared to hate both of these characters forever. Yet by the end of the first book I liked both of them (and their dynamic), and by the end of second one they were my favorite characters in the series - and my favorite pairing as well.
From the moment Sandor tells her about how his brother disfigured him and she tries to comfort him, I knew they were both more complex than I first thought, and that there was no way George R.R. Martin had that scene happen "for no reason" or just cheap exposition about Sandor. In Martin's own words, "there's something there."
That one, simple gesture, that one person treating him as something other than a monster meant a lot to Sandor, to the point that tried his best to show Sansa the same kindness she continued to show him. He tried to help her avoid Joffrey's wrath many times, the fact he touches Sansa in a surprisingly gentle way is brought up many times, and he actually found the courage to scream "enough" when she was getting beat up and having her clothes thorn in public, and the second he was able to, he gave her his cloak so she could cover herself up - meaning he did NOT just stand there and let it happen as he said he did; he simply didn't have the power and influence to get the king to stop doing as he pleased.
There was one person who did, though: Tyrion Lannister. Despite their less than ideal behavior, both men saved Sansa from Joffrey many times, and she is grateful - but Sandor is undoubtably the one she has more affection for, because while Tyrion helped her when things were already bad, Sandor was the one trying to help her prevent things from escalating to that point. His advices weren't always the best, but he bothered to put on the effort of offering said advice and, of all of her suitors, he was the only one Sansa had an actual emotional bond with. There's a reason why Martin had Sansa wrapped in Sandor's cloak (a marriage tradition) twice, but refusing to kneel so Tyrion can put his cloak on her during their wedding. She is rejecting the symbol of Tyrion's protection and romantic advances, while accepting Sandor's.
If anything, Tyrion and Sansa's marriage seems to be a subversion of Beauty And The Beast, because although she has no ill will towards him, Sansa clearly has no desire to ever see him again. She doesn't want him in her life, and she definitively doesn't want him to be her husband. Considering Tyrion forgot about her the second he found out the truth about Tysha - aka the woman who actually was moved enough by his kindness to fall in love with him despite their society having labeled him as a monster - it is very clear that compassion alone isn't enough to build a friendship, let alone a romance.
True As It Can Be
The South is a viper pit, especially King's Landing. Pretty much everyone is plotting something against someone, and using somebody else as a pawn in their game. That is true of almost all of Sansa's suitors.
Joffrey had no real interest in her besides torturing her, only ever treated her minimally well at the beginning of the story because he was obligated to (and even then his true personality would come up every now and again), lied to her about his plans to be merciful to Ned to give her false hope before having her watch his execution, and then only continued being engaged to her because his mother said he had to.
Tyrion wanted her for her beauty and because marrying her meant the North was his. He is usually pretty nice to her, but he is still a Lannister, and he put himself and his own family (that he doesn't even like) over her and the other Starks because even though he is kind enough not to be her enemy, he is still an ally of her captors. He doesn't let her in, meaning she never gets to know him on a deeper level - she knows nothing about how much he was looked down on by everyone, or about how badly his own family hurt him every single day of his life, and she doesn't know the "true" story of his first marriage. Yet Tyrion is unhappy that she won't open up to him, and also gropes her ont heir wedding night despite her and despite knowing that she was forced into this marriage, is upset by her basically saying there's no way she's ever going to want to have sex with him, because even though he feels genuinely sorry for her, his "right" as her husband and her "duties" as his wife matter more to him than her actual wants and needs - both of which include not being married to him.
Petyr is by far the worse of her suitors when it comes to being truthful. He helps Cersei manipulate her into writing the letters to her family telling them to bend the knee to Joffrey, gives Joffrey the idea to kill Ned, pays Dontos to pretend to be her ally and make her (indirectly) involved in the king's death, kidnaps her, lies to her saying Catelyn used to be his lover before marrying Ned, gets her involved in another murder (Lysa's), and then pretty much forces her to play a part on his weird daughter/lover fantasy that is a freudian nightmare that lasts 24/7.
None of them was ever truly, 100% honest with her. None but Sandor. He is attracted to her, yes, but he knows better than to try anything with a noble woman (especially one that is engaged to the king - to king Joffrey), and Sansa is likely not the first nor the last pretty lady to ever catch his eye, so that is not the reason he gets close to her. His "ambitions" begin and end with a roof over his head, getting enough money for some food, lots of wine, and maybe fucking a whore every now and again, so he definitively has no interest in the North.
He is drawn to her for her personality, her kindness, and because he recognizes the unfairness of her situation. He is completely honest, including about his highly inappropriate attraction to her, his violent tendencies, and that he thinks all of her beliefs are wrong. She even knows of his biggest secret/trauma, because he told her about it (or rather blurted it out at a completely inappropriate time, in a very deranged way). He put all his cards on the table from the very beginning, and he constantly reminds her to keep her eyes open so she won't be fooled by anyone. He might not be the most polite and pleasant person to talk to, but he is the only one Sansa knows isn't lying to her since he quite obviously has no ulterior motives.
Hell, Sandor even goes as far as lying for her to spare her from being punished by Joffrey at the beginning of the second book. He claims to be the king's dog, and says "A hound will die for you, but never lie to you", but the person he never lied to, and almost died for, was Sansa. And on top of that, their dynamic starts with him trying to open her eyes and make her see that world isn't like in the songs and in the sheltered reality of Winterfell. Sandor is the one person in her life that never hid anything from her.
That means that he is also the only one she is honest with. Tyrion, her husband and the kindest of her suitors (at least until he goes off the deep end after he finds out the truth about Tysha) is not someone she trusts in the slightest, and he falls for her lie that she is going to the god's wood to pray - a lie that Sandor sees right through immediately and that was the one time Sansa lied to him. Her entire "relationship" with Joffrey is based on the lie that she is loyal to him despite his cruelty, and Littlefinger full on says that she is not supposed to say anything that could ruin his completely one-sided, semi-incestuous fantasy.
Sandor, as usual, is set apart from everyone else in her mind and seen as preferable. I cannot blame her one bit. Yet despite this, I also can't blame her for not leaving with him when she had the chance.
Neither One Prepared
Sansa and Sandor's situation in A Clash Of Kings can be summerized as "Right person, wrong time." No scene is better proof of that than their interaction during/after the battle of the Blackwater - which ironically enough is a favorite of most fans of the pairing, myself included.
During what can only be described as a PTSD episode, Sandor turns his back on the Lannisters, on the king, and goes to Sansa. There is A LOT of marriage symbolism in that scene (Sandor swearing to protect her, Sansa wrapping his cloak around herself, the two of them are in bed together, Sandor almost kisses her, and there's blood stains on white clothing). He offers to take her back to Winterfell, swears no one would ever hurt her again because they're all afraid of him, and wants a (literal) song from her. He also very clearly wants to have sex with her, and, due to his fragile mental state, snapped and almost killed her when he felt rejected.
Now, let me get one thing out of the way: I don't believe Sandor wanted to rape her. He is a violent, unstable man, and like all the male characters in the story he is sexist, but he is no Gregor Clegane or even a Robert Baratheon. He doesn't think he is entitled to sex, and when he wants it, he pays for it. He made inappropriate comments towards Sansa a few times, but he chastised himself for it and of all Sansa's "suitors" he is the only one (excluding Loras for obvious reasons) who never touched her against her will (even Sweet Robin kisses her without consent). When he found about her being forced to marry Tyrion, he was glad that she managed to flee him, and when the men talking to him brought her beauty, he made sure to bring up her kindness. After Sansa has her flowering and everyone is basically acting like that means she's an adult, he is the one who says that while she is starting to look like a woman she is still a little bird. His attraction to her is creepy and Sandor is well aware of it - that's why he refuses to act on it.
And while in a previous interaction he said he'd have a "song" from her, with it being an euphemism for sex, he did that while scoffing at the notion of Sansa literally singing to him, by saying the song about Florian and Jonquil is about a fool and his cunt, and rejecting her offer. But on that moment, even though he is literally on her bed, Sandor explictly brings up that same song he rejected by name. He wants sex, but that's not all that he wanted, and when he held the knife to her throat and said "sing for your life", without touching her in a sexual way and not getting mad when she did start singing it proves he was being very literal and NOT threatening to rape her.
That being said, everything the Hound did on that scene is still completely unnacceptable. He was in her room, in her bed, without her knowledge or permission. He scared her because he was visibly out of his fucking mind. His idea of keeping her safe was risking her life by wanting to bring her along in a dangerous journey without any kind of plan. He wanted sex with a 12-year-old. He almost killed her. All of that is why, once he comes to his senses, Sandor cries, backs off, and leaves his stained white cloak behind as a symbol of his disgrace and shame - had Sansa not chosen to wrap herself in it and even keep it, this scene could have been read as her rejecting the possibility of a future romance between them, just like she did by not kneeling to Tyrion on their wedding day.
The Blackwater scene is brilliant and incredibly important because, while it shows the chemistry and potential for this pairing, it also highlights why they were not supposed to be together at that point:
1 - Even if the Hound can control himself 90% of the time, and Sansa is able to easily calm him down whenever he does go beserk, it is still unfair to place such a responsibility on her, and constantly being scared of her partner, even he never physically hurts her, would completely wreck her mental health.
2 - Sandor's misery will only get worse if he doesn't find some way of dealing with his trauma.
3 - While Sansa likes Sandor, and would later realize she's attracted to him, she's still a child. She might grow to love Sandor someday, but at that moment, the kind of romance she wanted and was ready for involved sweet words, love songs, a dashing young knight giving a beautiful young maiden a rose after he wins a tourney and maybe a kiss or two, not sex with a man twice her age who is drunk as dog, in the middle of a panic attack, wounded, and covered in puke and blood from the men he killed.
The message is very clear: if these two are to ever be together, in any way, Sandor can't be the Hound anymore. That side of him has to die. Luckly, Martin already took care of that for us.
"Kill The Beast"
Sandor went through a horrible trauma when he was disfigured by his own brother, and in many ways he made it worse by trying to "cope" with it by becoming (almost) completely cynical, fully accepting violence as normal and even enjoyable, and by drinking a lot. A LOT. Sandor's main survival tactic, and the thing that is slowly killing him, is his refusal deal with his emotions, or accept that he has them, out of fear of being hurt again.
In many ways, his interactions with Sansa have a lot in common with the typical romance in which an immature boy likes a girl and has no idea how to desmontrate it properly - when Sweet Robin kisses her, she explicitly compares said kiss to her false-memory of kissing Sandor, and when Arya sees him crying after being burned during his fight with Berric, she says he looks like a little boy. Even some of his cruel/rude comments can be seen as a deliberate attempt to shock people, piss them off, and keep them far away from him.
But the Hound isn't just a reflection of his immaturity. He is, above all, a manifestation of Sandor's rage and pain, pushes him to lash out against the whole world, and makes him a very dangerous... that's why George straight up made him go through the ASOIAF equivalent of therapy and rehab.
After having Sansa pray for him, hearing her sing about mercy, and confessing his sins to Arya, the hound "dies" slowly and agonizingly, being found by the Elder Brother - who somehow knew a whole lot about Sandor's life despite finding him almost dead, and said "The Hound is dead, Sandor Clegane is at rest" highliting a separation between the two. And then, on the Quiet Island, there is now the gravedigger, a huge man who just happens to have a lame leg, like Sandor, and has his horse, who is as temperamental as it's owner.
The Beast is no more. Now there is only the man. But will the Beauty accept him?
Tune As Old As Song
To the shock of no one with a minimally functioning brain, songs are very important in this book series, which is literally called A Song Of Ice And Fire and in which the author is constanly showing us songs that thematically fit with a character's story, and that even foreshadow things that will happen. Since Beauty and The Beast is Martin's favorite story, it makes sense that the characters representing that tale get not one, not two, but three different songs about their relationship and hinting at their future romance with all the subtlety of a brick to the face.
The first one is the Mother's hymn, a song about mercy in wartime, representing Beauty's kindness to the Beast as well as him freed of the curse. This song is the most obvious since it's sung by Sansa herself to Sandor on the Blackwater scene, the verses of "Soothe the wrath, tame the fury, teach us all a kinder way" fitting perfectly with her pray for him before the battle, telling the Mother to save him if she could and to gentle the rage inside of him.
The second is The Bear And The Maiden Fair, a song about sex/rape involving a beautiful, delicate young girl, and a "bear" (an older, beastial man). We see it come up while Sansa is talking to Ollena and Magery Tyrell... and fantasizing about Loras. While she doesn't imagine full on sex with him, she sees herself feeling him up underneath his cloack - which is a great sign since it shows she's starting to see sex as something she could want and enjoy instead of enduring. It is important to note that, while he is the object of lust in this fantasy, Loras doesn't fit the role of bear at all. If only Sansa had a potential love interest that is compared to an animal, be a bear, a wolf, or a dog all the time...
The third and last is one that, despite being mentioned constantly, we still don't have the lyrics to: the song of Florian and Jonquil. "A fool and his cunt" as the hound so kindly put it for us.
The fool who became a knight out of love for a woman. Sansa offers to sing this song to Sandor, and he later demands it. Dontos (who is an agent of Littlefinger) explicitly compares his situation with Sansa to this song... right before she runs into Sandor and he warns her about all the liars that surround her (once again, Sandor is naturally taking on a role that Petyr wants to forcefully insert himself into).
Considering how often the song is mentioned, we're definitively going to get it, and it will probably be when Sansa and Sandor are ready to actually be romantically involved with each other. There is a bit of an awkward situation since, despite noticeably maturing, Sansa is still very young, and will stay too young for Sandor since Martin will no longer add in a five year time jump, meaning she won't be an adult once they're reuinited - but at the very least we're already seeing Sansa's interest in Sandor developing, as well as her understanding of the world, and especially love and sex, maturing so they'll be on a more equal footing.
There May Be Something There That Wasn't There Before
"The Unkiss" is one of those things us Sansan shippers talk about over and over again, and for good reason. It is, in George's own words, Sansa correcting the events of her last interaction with Sandor, adding to their bittersweet goodbye a kiss that never happened.
Sansa "remembers" that moment a few times, but there is one specific scene that makes it very clear why Martin added it there: when Sansa is asked if she knows what happens between a man and a woman on the wedding night. Now, remember Sansa IS married. To Tyrion. Yet is Sandor she is thinking of when they are getting married, when they kissed, and she even dreams of him turning into Sandor - and during that dream she also finally understands what Sandor meant when he said he'd have a song from her, whether she sang it willingly or not.
Sansa has, unfortunately, experienced A LOT of unwanted advances from many men, and yet whenever she thinks of sex she pictures either Loras or Sandor (and like I said before, only one of these two is really an option). It's her transition from childhood to her teenage years and eventually to adulthood. The Knight Of Flowers is a nice dream, a young girls fantasy that she has not yet moved on from. Sandor is rough and often unpleasant, but he is real. He is the man she will love in the future.
We even have Cersei say that Sansa would be "Singing to the stranger, begging for his kiss" (REAL subtle there, Martin) and while she obviously meant it as Sansa begging for death, come on! Who is the guy constantly associated with death, who has a horse named after the God of death, said "knights are for killing", and that Sansa has already promissed a song to? I believe the subtext is rapidly becoming text here.
So Sansa is becoming/realizing she is romantically and sexually attracted to Sandor, he is obviously interested in her, and the Hound is dead. Everything is working as it should... but they're in completely different places. How do we know that they will ever be reunited and that this won't be just a bittersweet "What could have been"?
Ever Just The Same, Ever A Surprise
In one of Sansa's chapters in A Storm Of Swords, she is having a meal with Littlefinger, her uncle by marriage, and he offers her a pomegranate. This happens after he has stolen her for himself, and, in the words of Ned Stark, winter is coming. Anyone who knows even a little bit about Greek myths can the similarities between that situation, and the story of Hades and Persephone. The god of death taking his niece to his realm (volutarely or against her will depending of which version of the myth we're dealing with), and once she eats part of a pomegrante, she has to spend at least three months with him each year - the winter months.
Considering the seasons last YEARS in the world of Westeros, this could easily be a symbol of how Sansa will be trapped with Peter for a long time... if it wasn't for the fact that she refused to eat the fruit. Martin was also kind enough to describe Littlefinger openly shown with his hands dirty with what looks like blood on that same scene, indicating not only that Sansa will escape him, but also that his downfall is right around the corner.
There's one more story that also shows that there's just no way Peter will be able to keep Sansa around for much longer - his own life story.
Littlefinger was completely obsessed with Catelyn and did all he could to make her his wife, but lost her both to Brandon and Eddard Stark, two northerners, all the same. He has now shifted his focus to her daughter, who is very simmilar to her, and who as I've already shown you, is clearly much more interested in Sandor Clegane - a man with dark hair and grey eyes, and who tried to be Sansa's night in shining armor not too long ago.
So there we have it. All the pieces are falling into the place and the future events are set up. We just need to see them playing out now (oh Martin, forget the Targaryens for just a few months and at least give us the sixth book already, will ya?)
#sansan meta#book sansa#book sandor#sansan#sansa stark#sandor clegane#beauty and the beast#sansa meta#sandor meta#the hound and the little bird#sandor x sansa#i'll stop shipping it when martin stops shipping it
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Can you Hear Me?
Upon the shelves of dusty books,
In a dimly lit room, sits a sad soul
With eyes of sorrow and a heart that looks
For love that has left and taken its toll
In this dark academia aesthetic,
Where love and sadness intertwine
The pages of her life, so poetic
Tainted with a love that's no longer mine
A rose, wilted and forgotten
Lies upon the pages of her book
Tears stain the ink, so rotten
As she reads the words he once took
Whispers of love, now turned to dust
As she clutches the memories of the past
The sadness, it consumes her, it must
For she knows their love will never last
In this epic tale of love and pain
She wanders through the halls of her mind
A dark romance, a tragic refrain
Of a love that was one of a kind
The style of Edgar Allan Poe
Lingers in her every verse
A complex web of words that flow
As she tells the story of her curse
The tone, so romantic yet so bleak
As she reminisces of their time
With every word, her heart does speak
Of a love that was once so sublime
But now, in this sad and lonely place
She finds solace in the darkness
For in this aesthetic, she can embrace
The beauty of their love, regardless
And though the sadness may never fade
And the pain may never subside
She'll keep writing, in this dark cascade
For her love will forever reside
So here in her dark academia
She tells a tale of love and woe
A narrative of a love that's lost in the tedium
Of a sad, romantic, dark aesthetic show.
#dark acadamia aesthetic#dark aesthetic#dark art#art academia#dark academia#dark poetry#dark romance#dark romanticism#original poem#sad poem
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