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longeyelashedtragedy · 6 months

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20 Questions for Fic Writers

i was faux-tagged by @prosopopeya ! it was fun reading your answers!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

147...damn

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

434,625

3. What fandoms do you write for?

right now i only write "Men's Football RPF," but occasionally i have the desire to write in my previous fandom, and then never do.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

these are all a song of ice and fire/game of thrones fics from way back in the day

drabbles of ice and fire (does what it says on the tin)

captivated (arya/jaqen AU)

ends and beginnings (arya/jaqen university AU)

egg baby (arya/jaqen, au)

arya saves the day (arya/jaqen, the same university AU)

...as you might have guessed, i was THEE arya/jaqen BNF back then, lol. (if you have familiarity with the characters please note these are all AUs because arya is aged up in order to ship her)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

i try, i really do! comments just get my executive function so snarled up and i wind up forgetting.

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

that's most of them. how am i meant to choose? it's hard for me to get through the end of "i tore off the golden branch" without crying even to this day. "like a song on repeat, nothing has to end" has some nice sad transfer window angst, and as i've said, the ending to "visited upon the sons" really slaps. is it cheating to say mare liberum?--that ending only exists on my notes app, and it's more "tragic" than angsty i guess.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

oh, hmmm. i wanna say... "5.VII." poor dejan, always fearing he'll somehow be alone and unwanted, not good enough, and in that moment at the end of the fic those worries leave him.

“So...that means...these things...These things we do together...” Dejan waits impatiently. No, he’ll be honest with himself. He’s waiting nervously. “We’re just going to have to keep doing them forever, right, brate?” Dejan lets go of the breath he’s been holding and as he does, he feels those wings again, stretching out from his shoulder blades and shaking themselves out and giving him an incredible lightness. He could float away right now with Šime in his arms. They could float away together. “Yes. I guess we will.”

8. Do you get hate on fics?

not really, i think they're so poorly written or strange that they just don't get much notice. i did see some "piquira" people back in the day talk about how my fic "soy loca con mi tigre," where shakira pegs piqué (RIP) with sergio watching them on video chat, was "weird." god, it must be painful to be that boring

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

unfortunately yes. i think it's usually pretty straightforward, but maybe not blunt enough to be grimy-hot. i don't like anything flowery. i wish i could write some m/f from time to time, but i have too many gender issues to feel comfortable writing about an AFAB body in a sexual sense most of the time. i am trying to channel this discomfort into writing a fic where jamie jamie jamie takes franko out clubbing to drown his sorrows and they pick up some Girls it is what it is!

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

i used to with my ex, we had an amazing AU where we crossed over a million different punk/metal/alternative musicians with some other rpf type people. oh, and not to forget--my first ever footyfics were crossovers, lol.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

i sure have! it was shameless as fuck. however, justice was served because my version got more kudos and comments, so i didn't even bother to start shit. as they say, she thought she ate!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

yes, into russian, chinese, and persian. i have enough fics translated into russian on ficbook to have my own Author Page on there--a point of pride, because i love ficbook :)

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

yes, many with said ex! i would love to do a collab again--anyone? hit me up

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

idk? rakidrić, šejan, movren, xhakarteta RIP, JAVEY from AFI, cersei/jaime, aged up!arya/jaqen. am i missing anything?

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

maybe my really long 'ivan rakitić coming of age' fic, where the running plot is "what is he doing to keep himself at barça even tho he's out of favor?" as you can see, it would be very outdated, plus it was never intended for a wide audience

16. What are your writing strengths?

not sure :/ characters' emotions, good use of repetition and parallelism (i like to think !) and good use of rhythm. i also think i write a good ending. my bff said "the way you describe love and loss is unlike anyone else" which i thought was nice!

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

plot, pacing. good porn, being unfiltered (like--my writing feels too repressed lol)

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

it has to make sense so it doesn't feel like tokenization or fetishization and can't be cheesy. the only time i think i was going to include actual multiple lines of dialogue in anther language (spanish), i then changed it so the fic didn't have it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

the first like, true established fandom i wrote for was a song of ice and fire/game of thrones. before that i wrote a lot of bandfic, but mostly for bands and artists who didn't really have any fic or canons. like, 98% of it was private for just me and my ex, but a few of the pieces still exist online here and there.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

i cannot pick favorites. there's so many reasons why something would be a favorite. and i have 147 fics on ao3! plus many things that aren't. plus my unpublished bandfic was some of my best writing. i don't know!

i almost wonder if it's "his return: a story of ghosts" which...i initially wrote as a fic but then changed it up. it was a "magical realism" au based on my undergrad senior thesis, lol. (the most common remark about it in my advanced creative writing seminar was "uh, it sounds like you know what you're talking about.") it's so imperfect, but writing it was SO much fun, and i had a whole soundtrack i listened to as i wrote, and then a few years ago i did a massive edit of it which was even more fun and it's still very imperfect and can't figure out why. i also don't like daniel's name but i named him after 2 ppl i knew at the time and now i can't change it, lol.

OH AND ALSO: granit's first flashback chapter in dangerous AU!

if you write fic, you are tagged, but i definitely tag: @new-berry @protect-daniel-james @fanficburner @purefractals @colorsofmyseason @bsaka7 @arsenalgbt AND ANYONE ELSE I FORGOT please do it if you see it!!!

#fic saga #about me #!!!

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fangirlmedstudentblog · 8 months

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Top 10 Female Characters

Thanks for tagging @solana-ceae was free today for a bit so you caught me at a nice time and it's pretty interesting and also so painful to keep it to 10, because i have probably 10 for each type media i read or watch lol. These are in no particular order and might come back someday to elaborate on some of these choices

if anyone wants to do it consider yourseves tagged

1. Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Elizabeth Bennett, is a character so beloved to me, that even after almost a decade of having read the novel, P&P remains one of my most favourite novels of all time. It was my first romance novel ever and also was my introduction to the works of Jane Austen and romance novels in general. It's also the reason i have such a fondness for regency era romance novels. I love all of her iterations in the myriad of iterations of Pride and Prejudice adaptations we've seen over the years, though i will confess my favourites are the from book (ofc), the 1995 bbc mini series (the better adaptation of P&P novel), the 2005 movie and from the web series, the Lizzie Bennett diaries, a really beautiful awesome web series that is fully available on youtube and i think is a must watch for any fans of P&P.

Elizabeth is such a beautiful vivacious woman, who was courageous, fearless enough to not settle for anything but what she wanted, and a little prideful and she is a wonderful example of how one can be unfairly prejudiced against someone because of an erroneous first impression and also not someone behaving towards you like you expected. And i loved it as a kid, still do almost a decade later, but in a lot different way than i did as a kid.

2. Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series

As much as jkr's comments and my growing age seeing the pitfalls of the harry potter series made me like the actual series a lot less, but Hermione Granger still reigns supreme as my favourite character from the series (followed by Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter and the book version of Ginny Weasley, yes the book version specifically).

Hermione Granger is and will remain one of my biggest inspirations in life. She was the first character i saw that was so like me when i read it as a kid, and she made me feel ok being one of the smart girls. She's smart as heck, empathetic to the plights of others, believes in justice even when she gets made fun of for it, and totally vicious when crossed. Like it wasn't really shown in the movies, but book Hermione was low key unhinged when she was crossed and i love that for her. She's not perfect, and i love that about her.

I really wish we had her perspective on the shenanigans of the series because it would be so fascinating honestly. And honestly if i had to criticize (one) thing about her was her decision to get together with Ron at the end. It was plain and boring and for those who like her with him great for you, i don't.

3. Arya Stark from Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire series

She's so persevering and so determined to attain her goals, i love that for her. She's gone through a lot in her tiny life, but she's never let it beat her down ever, she always stands back up and takes names.

I hated what they did to her character in the last 2 seasons of the show (actually i point blank absolutely detest the last season of Game of thrones period so yeah) but before that i loved what she was doing, and everything.

"What do you say to the god of death? Not Today"

100/10 line. Absolute banger. Very quotable. Very inspiring. Fight me if you think otherwise

4. Fa Mulan, Mulan disney movies

An absolute icon, childhood and adult inspiration to live as i want and to have the strength to do what's right and being yourself no matter what.

Also the 1998 movie has some of my favourite movie songs EVER.

Also Bisexual legend Shang ftw

5. Annalise and Erika, The Princess and the Pauper

Yes some of my favourite characters are from a barbie movie, what about it?

Love them both, 100/10 top barbie movie (along with The 12 Dancing princesses) both provided so many lessons to young me and even now are a source of comfort. Also The Princess and the Pauper has one of the best barbie movie songs, the best villian songs and i have each and every song from this movie memorised.

6. Geet from Jab We Met

She's such a comfort character now, and honestly it's hard for me to explain why i love geet so much in anything less than what is an essay lmao.

Jab We Met is honestly one of bollywood's best rom coms ever. Such a feel good story, a banger soundtrack album and the absolute sparkling chemistry between Shahid and Kareena.

She's such a bright, bubbly, vivacious character, full of life and enthusiasm you can help but be charmed by her and her iconic line "Main apni favourite hun (I am my own favourite)" is such a lovely self love line. Even when things in her life didn't work out the way she wanted it to, she soldiered on, and made the best of her situation. Her romance with aditya is so nice and so balanced man i absolutely love jab we met.

If you haven't watched Jab We Met, this is a sign that you should!! I THINK it's one of those movies even those who don't watch bollywood will enjoy.

7. Kaori Makimura from City Hunter manga and anime

She's also another comfort character whom i relate to and looking back, was also one of my first female crushes in any media lol.

She's so unapologetic to be herself, is sometimes insecure about stuff, some of which that i highly relate to, as a woman who was never into the overtly cutesy femme get up ever since i was a kid. She also grows so much as the series progresses and her partnership with Ryo is so complex and yet so simple at the same time. I love how she appreciates Ryo, the very flawed man he is, knowing he's deeply flawed but loving him anyways. And actually it's manga english translation took SO FUCKING LONG to finish istg it was a slow burn from hell. And even though the romance wasn't shown as much, the love and respect Ryo and Kaori had for each other is one of my favourite things in media.

8. Elle Woods from Legally Blonde

She's such a beautiful character who shows that it's fine to be your feminine self even if the environment around you doesn't like that. Legally Blonde is one of my comfort movies and Elle Woods is absolutely the major reason for it.

She's confident in herself and her feminity, a go getter, really intelligent and also still being kind and empathetic towards others. I really think if I'd seen this movie (and the show suits) when i was younger, there was a high chance i would've been a lawyer instead of a doctor that i am right now lmao. She's such an inspiration.

"What? like it's hard?" Absolutely banger line. This is poetic cinema at its peak.

9. Aria Roscente from The Villianess Turns the Hourglass

One of my favourites in the villianess isekai genre of manhwa. A trailblazer, an icon, an absolute legend and a trendsetter.

Aria is such a strong woman. She's also highly intelligent, but also willing to work hard for her goals. While the plot may seem contrived to give her all the things going right, she also never fails to take advantage of all the opportunities that she sees and i love her for it. (The actual villian in this manhwa is such an icon, many wish to be mielle, but you truly can't be mielle)

Aria is my favourite even if she also does a lot of gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss and she will do it in STYLE and pizazz.

10. Hashimoto from Kieta Hatsukoi

She's the best girl, and honestly she's one of the best parts of Kieta Hatsukoi . She so sweet and encouraging of aoki and she's so cute, absolutely love her.

Honorable mentions:

- Tara Elias/Yeonwoo from I'll Save this Damned Family (manhwa)

- Florentia Lombardi from I Shall Master this Family (manhwa)

- Ink from Bad Buddy (thai series)

- Kate Beckett from Castle (series)

- Fujisaki from Cherry Magic (manga and japanese Live action)

- Kim Yu-Na Semantic Error (more in the korean live action adaptation, but also in the manhwa)

- Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada (movie)

- Donna Sheridan from Mamma Mia 2008 (movie, acted by Meryl Streep)

- Cersei Lannister from Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire series

- Daenyrys Targaryen from Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire series

- Anne Elliot from Persuasion by Jane Austen

#maybe elaborate later #useranndoctalk #also of I've used the same word a lot if times forgive me I'm very sleepy #and now I'm off to sleep #if anyone wants to do it consider yourseves tagged

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nineteensixtieschikadee · 3 years

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Arya Stark & Femininity

This might turn into a mini rant, so bear with me here. A lot of times whenever I watch old GOT clips, (bc I hate myself) and read stuff about Arya on fansites, I realize that there’s been a lot of misconception about her and her character. Particularly about her being a woman. And a lot of times i see this sort of “justification” from her fans that the reason why she’s such a fan-favorite character in the show (and to some extent, the books?) is because Arya is esentially this “bad-ass ninja asassin tomboy who’s out for revenge against those who’ve killed her family.” And some of her fans and especially her anti’s will call her out expressing that “Arya’s only a child who doesn’t like girly things like dresses and boys and doing her hair. She “identifies” herself as a tomboy because she likes “boyish things” like sword play, and playing in the mud, and gore, wrestling, etc. I was scrolling through the Jonrya tag here on Tumblr, this is a comment I found regarding Arya:

The moment I read that I straight up just wanted to rant! Lol! Also, I’m sorry for the formatting, I’m writing this on mobile. :( Anyways, these people who make those claims about Arya, esentially only see her as this small girl who likes fighting and getting dirty. They completely disregard everything else that makes Arya, Arya. Pretty much just limiting her to her sex, understanding that because Arya likes boyish things, she’s NOT ALLOWED to inherit things, like the North, fall in love and get married, have a high position in the hierarchy and in politics. It’s because that these people see her as someone who hates needlework or everything that isn’t Sansa, everyone believes that she hates everything that makes her FEMALE. Everybody here knows that Arya’s my favorite female character in the books, so I just wanna talk about how the general public views her, and how their views tend to go against Arya’s entire character.

People have this view that she is the “exact opposite” of Sansa. And while that’s true in terms of their different characteristics, it doesn’t mean that Arya is against everything that makes Sansa, feminine. Now lemme elaborate here. Sansa is everything that represents “femininity.” Especially in terms of the inspired time period that ASOIAF takes place in. She’s very girly & lady-like, is mannerful, “soft-spoken.” She daydreams about boys and being a princess. She’s graceful and elegant. She knows her place in terms of society, and as a woman. AND YEAH, Arya is the exact opposite of that. Yes, she has this boyish nature. She’s wild and free spirited. Loud also adventerous. But that’s the thing: Arya has a lot of femininity in her. It’s just not the femininity that we’re used to. What society percieves as “normally feminine.”

Arya is not Sansa. And it’s because she doesn’t act like a “lady” that the audience sees her as this girl who “doesn’t want” or most importantly, should not want/get the same treatment as the typical noblewoman in Westeros should recieve. This idea was engraved into people’s heads because of the show, and that’s how we’re supposed to see her. As this cold hearted ninja assasin warrior who happens to be a girl, but doesn’t act like a typical girl. The audience pretty much places her in the “I’m not like other girls” trope. Which is honestly, so wrong to me. Because yeah okay, Arya isn’t like the typical lady. But god, she is far deeper than that, and is a much more complex character.

Here’s the thing, Arya does not reject being a female, and most importantly, she does not reject the typical ideals of what makes a lady feminine. Of course not. In fact, she actively encourages that women be included in all things, especially in things only made for men. She believes that women should not be held back or ignored because of their sex and femininity.

“The Lannister’s are proud,” Jon observed. “You’d think the royal sigil would be sufficient, but no. He makes his mother’s House equal in honor to the king’s.”

“The woman is important too!” Arya protested.

This excerpt is from Arya’s very first chapter in AGOT. It is also my favorite Jonrya moment, lol. And asides from the scene foreshadowing potential plot points for not only Jon & Arya, the scene introduces to us and examines Arya’s perception of society and more specifically, the women in society. In this scene Arya joins Jon in observing Prince Joffrey, talking about the Lannister/Baratheon coat of arms. Jon makes a point that while the Baratheon sigil should be enough to prove that Joffrey is of royalty, the Lannisters (Cersei) are a proud house, married into the royal family. So therefore Joffrey is of house Baratheon AND Lannister. That is why the Lannister sigil stands besides the Baratheons. Because they, specifically Cersei, should be seen as equal to the king.

And while Jon makes this seem like it’s wrong or not needed, Arya disagrees with him. She tells him that the women should not be forgotten, as they should be seen as equal to the men. That the women are just as important as the men, and that it would be of good conduct to not forget that. And with that being said, she never acknowledges that Joffrey’s mother is too lady-like or too feminine to be seen as an equal to the king. Nope. Although she does question later as to why if women cannot fight, why should they have a coat of arms. Though that is hardly the point of her argument.

Another point that makes people believe that Arya is not feminine or does not support femininity, is when she flat out says to Ned that she hates the idea of being a lady.

“Your mother and I have charged her with the impossible task of making you a lady.”

“I don’t want to be a lady,” Arya flared.

Alot of people misinterpret this as Arya not wanting to be a noblewoman, because she only likes to play with swords, and get dirty. Because acting like a lady is stupid and not her. This is simply not true. Arya has no problem with women, or being a lady. She is a lady. A highborn one. What she does have a problem with is that being a lady often means being trapped in the conformities of what society percieves to be the acceptable standard for women in this time period.

All of the acceptable standards is what Sansa is. And she is not like Sansa. She does not believe herself to be a lady like her sister or her mother. When she first reveals her true identity to Gendry in ACOK, he immediately apologizes to her for his behavior and calls her m’lady. :3 Arya unfortunately sees this as a form of mockery and an attack because while Gendry acknowledges that she is a lady, Arya doesn’t act like a typical lady or even look like one. That insecurity of not being a lady like her mother and sister makes her believe that Gendry is using her sex against her. Like a form of irony. But I mean, we all know that’s far from the truth, lol!

And Jon recognizes this too! It’s the reason why they are so close and tightly knit together. Because Jon understands Arya, and sees her insecurity like how she sees his. They are one and the same. Jon sees and understands Arya’s frustrations of sexism viewed in Westeros. He acknowledges that Arya is to become a lady. But he also sees that Arya is not the conventional type of lady wanting to stick to the norms. She is a different type of lady, and to him, that is okay. He may tease her for it once in a while, pointing out all the unfair limitations that women have to go through. But he accepts her for being this unconventional noblewoman, and often encourages her to pursue being different.

“Girls get the arms but not the swords. Bastards get the swords but not the arms. I did not make the rules, little sister.”

Later when Jon and Arya say their goodbyes, Jon gifts Arya with the swords. Needle. This is his way of saying, fuck all them haters, be who you wanna be. Solidifying the idea that he supports her and accepts her for who she is. Kinda like how Tyrion told him to use his identity as armour, Arya should do the same to herself. It’s okay to be different than the rest. Fuck the rules.

It’s not that Arya hates the idea of being a lady. It’s a far cry from that. It’s the sexism that goes along with being the typical lady that infruiates her. Arya loves running around, riding horses, playing with swords, being loud and adventurous. She has a firery temper to her. And just because she likes doing all of that, and is all of that, it doesn’t mean, shouldn’t mean that she isn’t a lady. That she can’t be a lady. All of those things shouldn’t limit her to being viewed as a girl, a highborn lady. She is a woman, and she identifies as one.

“Listen to him, boy.”

“It was the third time he had called her “boy.” “I’m a girl,” Arya objected.

That is why, even though she sees herself as a woman, she often tells herself and other people that she is not a lady. Despite others telling her that she is one. Her insecurity and her frustrations do not allow her to see herself as a lady because she isn’t a “conventional woman.”

But the thing is, even though Arya doesn’t enjoy most of the typical lady-like things, she still has a ton of femininity to her. And people often ignore her more feminine traits in favor of her more “badassery” side, which unfortunately are most often occupied by men. People forget and downright ignore that Arya is really intelligent. She particularly excels in math. It’s one of the few things that she’s better at than Sansa. She loves flowers—like her aunt Lyanna. The very person who she’s said to look and act like the most. And a really important one is that she has motherly instincts. It’s what helps her protect other kids throughout her journey. Her ability to empathize enables her to be more social with outcasts and befriend others without judgement. She is well-mannered and kind to strangers. (An example of this would be when she apologizes to a common woman who lent her a dress to wear, and she accidentally destroys it because she and Gendry were playing by the acorn tree.) She can also cook and clean just like any other woman—or any other person. All of those are feminine traits, and are traits that make her more human. And the show opted to get rid of all that and gave us some cold-hearted, angry, ninja.

The audience perceives that because Arya is this ninja warrior who rejects the common standards of being a lady, it means that she can’t have these other more female traits. Nope. She’s not allowed to have or want more rights and power because that’s not her. She’s a warrior and nothing more. She can’t find love because she has to be this bad-ass independent woman who don’t need no man. That’s not her, that’s her sister. We can’t have Arya be any more female than she already is because she rejects the idea of being female. Leave all that crap to her sister! Sansa’s the princess—and we can’t have Arya being a princess or queen. Arya’s only allowed to carry a sword.

And it’s the audience’s perception of her that goes against everything that Arya is, and everything that she believes in. Because remember, Arya hates the idea that being a lady means being trapped in the societal norms. And it can be said vice versa too. Arya still respects those who want to be more of the conventional type. Arya may not have the more typical feminine traits that make her a lady, but to hell with it! It doesn’t mean that she’s not allowed to have the other things that the more conventional woman would/should have. That goes against all of her views and beliefs. The audience puts Arya at an unfair standard because she doesn’t act like a conventional woman.

It’s the same thing as the audience saying that Jon Snow doesn’t want a title or power, because he’s devoted his life to the Nights Watch and is unselfish. False. Very false. Just like Arya. Arya’s young. She still has time to grow, and no doubt she doesn’t think of all those things now because of other priorities. But she’s slowly getting there. And there is so much foreshadowing of her finding love, becoming a woman gaining power, etc, etc. She’s not there yet, but that’s a part of her growth. Just because she defies the typical female standards, it doesn’t mean she doesn’t want or wont want all those things later.

Like com’on. Everyone knows that Arya is the only legitimate candidate right now to inherit the North. Everyone knows. The Northmen know, the Nights Watch knows, the people in Kings Landing knows. Hell, even the damn wildings know this. And it’s because of this knowledge that formed the majority of the northern plotline in ADWD. People are going to war for her. She is the true key to the North, and that’s why the Boltons lied and said that they have her. It’s why Jon went to war and died for her. I don’t think Arya will truly believe it if/when she finds out that people are fighting for her because she holds the power to the North. Unless Jon’s gonna be the one to tell her himself. The fact that she is being set up to inherit all this power, and yet people deny it and believe that she doesn’t want it because it’s “not her” in regards that she’s not feminine enough, is seriously infuriating.

I mean look at the type of women Arya respects and idolizes. Where do you think she got the name Nymeria from? Nymeria’s name originates from the Princess of Dorne herself, Princess Nymeria of Ny Sar. Princess Nymeria was said be very beautiful, strong-willed, cunning, and full of wisdom. She was a “warrior-queen.” From that alone, her femininity clearly did not matter. She was a woman whose goals were not held back because of her femininity and sex.

Arya does not hate femininity or things that makes women more feminine. She doesn’t truly hate wearing dresses or being a lady. It’s being conformed to the general standards that she hates. It’s her sex being used against her that makes her angry. It’s not being able to be herself that she despises. And thanks to Sansa and her mother’s judgement of her, Arya’s insecurity only heightened. Despite looking exactly like Lyanna, Arya herself believes that she’s not beautiful enough to even be considered a lady. Only Jon and Ned allowed Arya to be Arya. Only they called her beautiful, and only they encouraged her to be who she wanted to be. Arya loves her fellow women. And yeah, she also loves Sansa despite her being such a pain in the ass bitch, lol.

Arya’s character encourages women to just be women. She encourages us the audience to just be ourselves despite all the conformities forced upon us. Her character explores the limitations of sex, gender, and especially the loss of identity. Arya not wanting to be a lady doesn’t actually mean she doesn’t want to be a lady. She doesn’t want to be held back by the standards of being a lady. Her question, her argument is that why should women be limited only to being this or that. Women are far more than meets the typical standard, and if society can’t accept it, then fuck that! Women can be knights and still be a lady. They can be fierce and passionate and emotional and still be a lady. Women can be warriors and still be a lady. Just because there are some women out there who don’t fit the ideal standards of what it means to be lady, it shouldn’t make them feel like less than one.

#Arya Stark #Arya Stark meta #game of thrones #a song of ice and fire #asoiaf #jon snow #Gendry Baratheon #Jonrya #Gendrya #Arya is a feminist #When is TWOW come out?! I miss her!!#Also shes going through puberty in the next book so uh that’ll be interesting hm?#Ya’ll Dany may be going mad in the books too #But I mean Dany and Arya NEED to interact at least 1 pls George give it to me :(#Anti GOT

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musicallisto · 3 years

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hello! i’d love to request a 🍨 for pb and got if possible. i’m she/her; bi; slytherin; september virgo; infp; 4w5. i’m 5’5”, slim build and fair-skinned with dark brown hair and the same colour eyes. as for my personality, i can be quite cold and reserved when i first meet people (which doesn’t really come out online) and i have a hard time trusting anyone new, but i truly love those closest to me. i use sarcasm 90% of the time and love teasing people but my intentions have nothing to do with hurting anyone. i subconsciously use laughter as a defence mechanism and i hate it. i’m lowkey a rebel which is just a nicer word for family disappointment. i have intense mood swings which i cope with by bottling up my emotions. i’d rather listen to people’s problems than talk about my own. despite the cold exterior, i can be soft and kind, and i believe in freedom and equality. i’m ambitious and love learning but not in the way school is trying to force me to - ew. my hobbies include reading books 24/7, writing (much less of the time, but hey, i still get around to it every once in a while) and watching tv shows. i’m also a cinephile and you can trust me with a list of recommendations for your next movie night.

i do hope this is enough; thank you very much fren xx

here’s your vanilla milkshake, Réka, and thank you for your patience! I think you would be amazing with these two incredible women - sansa stark and ada shelby!

You had been Sansa’s friend for as long as you could remember.

Social differences didn’t matter in the North as much as they did in the South, especially because the Lords of Winterfell had always been close to their people.

So despite the fact that she was highborn and proudly bore the name of the Starks, and you were a tanner’s daughter from Winterfell, your friendship with Sansa had never been frowned upon.

Especially since Ned clearly saw how much fun his daughter had with you. You were the only person she could be seen getting a little muddy and mischievous with. You weren’t true troublemakers, of course, especially not since Arya was the point of reference... but you had your moments of mindless fun.

Being best friends with Sansa was effortless; you hadn’t had to warm up to her, because you had always been close confidantes to one another. She understood everything about you, even when you didn’t say a word...

... but during your teenage years, when you both came of age and other townsfolk your age started discussing boys and flings, a pang of desire started to blossom inside of you and course through your veins.

Maybe you wanted more than to simply be Sansa’s best friend, after all.

Maybe there was more to the way you found yourself staring into her deep, blue eyes like they were the only color worthy of attention...

When Sansa announces that she is to leave for King’s Landing and marry Joffrey, you get into a pretty heated argument, the first you’ve had in more than ten years of friendship.

Part of you is reasonably upset that she kept a news so important a secret from you for so long; and another part of you is mortified and furious at the idea of her going to the capital and becoming Queen to the arm of a petty little brute as snotty as Joffrey Baratheon...

... when she could have stayed at Winterfell and, perhaps, one day, have made you Lady right alongside her.

You’d been bottling up your feelings for her for quite a while and didn’t know how to deal with them - terrified of rejection, but also of not acting out on them and lose her to another... and when she told you she would be leaving, it was like both nightmares coming true at once. There was no use anymore in snarky side remarks, and you exploded from sheer frustration and fright.

Obviously, she couldn’t possibly comprehend why you were so mad about her not telling you all about her family business - which was more about political affairs, anyway -, so you couldn’t sort out your disagreement,

and gave each other the cold shoulder for a few days.

Until the last night before her departure for the South with her father, where you snuck into the castle courtyard to say your farewells and bid her well - fearing you would not be able to if front of everyone on the following morning

And when she came down to meet you with a frown on her heavenly face, the words escaped your mouth before you could control them; they had been a long time coming, but at least they were out and you would not have to carry your secret to the tomb.

And she wanted to get mad at you for getting on your high horse and blowing up when you could have just as easily told her the truth...

... but she’s so elated that her feelings are reciprocated

... that even if she’s leaving for a place of appearances and to be auctioned off to the highest bidder, at least she knows there exists someone outside of her family who sincerely loves her and will always care for her

... and that there exists a world in which you love her and she loves you and that she just happens to live in this world

... that she just kissed you underneath the moonlight, desperate to get a taste of the last element of realness and familiarity that she’d keep to memory.

Of course, going to the capital and to Court had always been her biggest dream, but when she held you in her arms, she wasn’t so sure anymore it was worth leaving you behind.

“So you’re still going?”

“I have to.”

“I wish I could go with you.”

“I’ll be back. I promise I’ll do what it takes to return to the North and find you again.”

A Stark always followed through with their promises; that much you knew.

Ada and you are passionate about the same things, namely freedom and equality, which makes it easy for you two to hit it off.

You meet at a communist rally, where you’re instantly impressed by and drawn to her strong voice and stronger convictions. She doesn’t talk excessively, but isn’t unafraid to make her voice heard and opinions known.

From your very first meeting, you get a glimpse of how utterly devoted and dedicated to the cause Ada is, and that is even before recognizing her as a Shelby. Though you should have figured earlier - there aren’t many people, especially not women in Birmingham, who would talk so freely and pit herself against the men.

It makes her all the more attractive to you.

Still, you don’t develop a relationship of any kind until long after you met - but she’s a regular at communist rallies and actions for the party, as are you. You end up crossing paths quite often.

She’s an incredible orator, and is brazen enough not to be intimidated by the stares of every passerby when she must deliver passionate speeches about the progressive radicality of your movement. You realize you make an excellent pair - you’re a skilled writer who can move even the most disbelieving of men with your words, and she can blow life into them like no other.

So you write her speeches and she delivers your ideas to the whole world when you’re too insecure to do it.

And you progressively fall more and more in love with her, with how confident and blunt and daring she is.

She loves how well-read you are, too, and she tells you often the world would be a better place if it were filled with women like you, bright and selfless, not these greedy, idiot men who tear each other apart in pointless wars...

You relate so much to the experience of being perceived as a rebel simply for being a family outcast, it’s another bonding point between the two of you.

You don’t necessarily display a lot of affection when you’re together - partly because your relationship would cause quite the scandal if it came to light, but mostly because it’s just not your type.

You both can be quite swept up by the passion, especially when you're still on the adrenaline high from a chase from the cops or one of those Shelby businesses, which will often culminate in breathless, frenzied kisses in an alleyway...

... but the rest of the time, you’re more about sarcastic comments and a little bit of “tough love”.

Though you are fascinated by the relatively modern invention that is cinema in Birmingham, and on the rare occasion you have time and peace of mind enough to go to the “moving pictures”, Ada will, of course, come with...

... and it will most likely include sneaking into the projectionist’s room, a friend of yours from the party, and making out in there for most of the duration of the film.

800 follower sleepover CLOSED!

#bohemianpages #800sleepover #ship request #peaky blinders #peaky blinders headcanons #ada shelby #ada shelby headcanons #ada shelby x reader #game of thrones #game of thrones imagine #got imagine #game of thrones headcanons #got headcanons #sansa stark #sansa stark headcanons #sansa stark x reader #(i'm in a pretty good mood today; i watered my plant and was like you know what? i should write)#(so i hope you like this!)

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asoiaf-source · 4 years

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Fighting Hate with more Hate. That always works, right?

“Sansa’s fans are so defensive of her because of the rest of the fandom demonize her and hate her for no reason.” - helenakey

So then the answer is to demonize the other women characters for no reason?

Of course there are going to be ‘fans’ that hate on a character for no reason, I’ve seen people post unnecessary and unreasonable hate on many of the characters, not just Sansa, and they can be as annoying, but they are not representative of the entire fandom. Not ALL fans are hating on her, and some are just looking at the character critically. I’m new to the tumblr metas (avoided for a long time due to the toxic reputation), but i’ve been on ASOIAF forums for a long time and there are plenty of Sansa supporters, even if she is still quite a polarizing character due to how people wish to interpret her... but Sansa stans on tumblr take it to the next level!

I’ve never seen this side of her fans before, or at least so much nearly every day, and subsequently the many rebuttals! And how often they like throwing other characters under the bus, often for hypocritical reasons. Like the OP yendany said, they ignore the trauma in other characters or dismiss it as not as bad, when it is often much, much worse. They criticize and attack other female characters to prop up Sansa ‘better’ survival skills, or attribute qualities to her she doesn’t possess (I see this a lot in fanfiction, before I realized the self-insert aspect), or use her age as excuse when all the main characters are young or even younger than her. The line porcelain to ivory to steel... can really apply to any character that has to grow up and face the harsh realities of the world... so it is really hypocritical to think Sansa is special in some way for overcoming her situation, all the characters are going through the same struggle, and many have it much worse. That is where I think so much of the anti-sansa stans come from, the hypocrisy and the tearing down of other just as deserving of sympathy/empathy characters, especially other women characters. It is a weird juxtaposition, that anyone with a reasonable sense of objectivity can pick up on and often do.

I mostly see it done against Arya and Dany, the two more prominent female characters in the books (thus the 2 who draw more focus than #3 Sansa?). The two female characters GRRM is telling a lot of his story through and spending a large amount of the text (right from book 1) to develop their growth as characters and showcase their strengths, intelligence, determination, fortitude, agency, cleverness, resilience and so much more. It’s as if because the other women are not ‘pure’ or see themselves that way and stronger in personality and character that somehow their suffering doesn’t affect them as much because they are tougher and didn’t let anything that happened to them stop them from growing stronger. They aren’t dwelling in victim-hood too long before they pick themselves back up and move forward.

And yet, they cheer when Sansa starts to grow stronger... Sansa’s growth has been much slower, we are moving into book 6 and she is just starting to gain a bit of agency, but she is still heavily under the tutelage of Baelish. We will see how far she gains in the next book and if she will break with Baelish by the end of it and be a fully independent player. But her development isn’t nearly on the same scale as Daenerys and Arya. That isn’t to imply that she isn’t going to be important, but it is clear from the text that she is not one of the main focuses for GRRM, or he would have developed her faster and given her more to do. We will see how much ground he can cover in 1-2 books, but there is only so much he will be able to accomplish and have it be believable, especially with so many POVs and story lines that he needs to develop.

I actually think their attempts to (over) defend her backfire, as so many feel the need to point out the falsehoods and misinterpretations, especially when they are wildly mean-spirited and completely refutable by the text. As I traverse through the ASOIAF metas I often come across fans metas writing rebuttals to other posts, to ‘correct’ their conclusion or ‘facts’. I’ve read so many of these they are starting to get repetitive, I also read some of the Sansa-stan posts they are rebutting and, yeah I can see why so many get upset. If you don’t like it when others tears down or dismisses Sansa, why do you think fans of the other characters wouldn’t comment when you go after their favs, especially so mean-spiritedly.

I don’t think I ever felt so much negativity towards the Sansa character until I had to read so many skewed and biased metas turning her into some kind of saintly YA Disney princess type that is just too good for this cruel world. That kind of character has no place in a series like this. You can’t help but want to point out the wild inaccuracies, and it makes me feel a negativity towards a character I didn’t feel negative to before. And I don’t want to feel negative towards her, she is a Stark and I root for the Starks, especially the kids. I often defended her against those who (I feel) just don’t understand what it is like to be a preteen girl, I relate to a lot of Sansa’s weaknesses and how she feels, especially at that age, and that is her appeal (to me) - the fact that she starts off very weak.

Sansa is weak both physically and mentally, she cares too much about rank, privilege, and what others think about her, her desire to conform, for everything to be proper, and properly in their place. She has the luxury to think that way because she is a rich, pretty, noble girl who ranks at the top of society, of course she sees life as great and never questions it... she is already at the top and winning from birth. This is why (I think) she is so hard on Arya, she messes with her idea of what is proper/good/right. Arya isn’t pretty and doesn’t try to be, she acts more boy than girl, she plays with dirty, smelly, poor children, etc... Those are all an embarrassment to Sansa and go against what a proper lady of her rank should do and care about. Once they head south, all the things Arya gets away with at home will stand out even more and reflect badly on Sansa, by association. So, she criticizes and distances herself even more, because she wants to join the elite glamorous world of the nobility.

The other girls don’t have those weaknesses, that is why they are seen as better able to cope than Sansa does. They grow quicker and stronger faster because they are not as inhibited by what the ‘rules’ are. This isn’t a criticism of Sansa, this is an observation and I think it is the entire point of including a character like her in the story. GRRM could have followed the original outline for her, but he wanted to ‘reform/rescue’ her character and give her (I hope) a better path back to her family and happiness. I think it is GRRMs way to show how young girls should NOT romanticize noble life or being pretty will lead to a ‘perfect’ life. That thinking of yourself as a lady or being a princess/queen isn’t what is important. That marring a ‘title’ (lord/prince) or a handsome face is not enough to lead to happiness. It is what you do with your life, and how you care about others and who cares about you - that is what is important. But some Sansa fans seem to miss that and want her to have all those thing and more... they want it both ways, her to learn all those things, and yet still get all those things... a beautiful princess life clear of the harsh actions to gain it and also a happy family married to the best, more heroic and honorable man - a fairy tale ending. And that is not ASOIAF.

They are reducing her entire arc to becoming a nicer, more pure, and pretty, prize for a man to love, marry and make their queen. If so, GRRM will botch the ending of his series and all the points he *seems* to be making thus far.

A major theme (to me) in Sansa arc is her lack of value in her home and family. Sansa (to me) is like the small town girl who can’t wait to leave her family / Winterfell behind and to move to the big glamorous city (King’s Landing) and become royalty. But once she got there wasn’t able to accumulate with its more complicated and corrupt realities of the court. Even setting the cruelty of Joffrey aside (he is an aberration, not a normal example), how everyone else ostracizes or ignores her (except the hound, and to some extent Tyrion - although he isn’t all that great). The way the Tyrells treat her before and after her wedding is much more representative of how typical court life and nobility behaves normally (I think). Sansa never saw the true value of being surrounded by people who love and care about YOU and whom you can trust and rely upon - until that is all taken from her. She slowly sees how the people at court are corrupt and deceitful under all the beauty and glamor she so aspired to only after being fooled more than once, and (to me) no longer wants any part of it, but is forced to play, thanks to Baelish.

This is a point I find many of her fan miss, they think Sansa is going to learn to play the game, destroy everyone with her cunning and beauty and rise to the top to be queen or a ruler - a path which will ultimately lead to down a very dark and cynical path... but somehow they think Sansa will be different, and her rise will be more like a Disney princess story, one where she will gain power without having to sink low to do it. That is NOT the kind of book GRRM is writing.

”I’ll make them love me.” - another childish statement, you can’t make people love you, you earn love and respect. And Sansa hasn’t done that once the entire series, she hasn’t made a single friend. No one is looking to follow or fight for/beside Sansa, save Baelish, and we all know that plan is doomed to fail, as he isn’t to be trusted or relied upon and wants to use her. I would even question her friendship with Jeyne Poole as it is clear she never saw them as equals, and that is not real friendship... more like Jeyne was a companion/lady-in-waiting type.

The few people who care about her (other than family) either are working on behalf of an oath to Catelyn, or have their own ambitions/sexual desires/pity for her and not necessarily care about her for herself because she was a good and loyal friend to them. Maybe this will change in the next book, but with Baelish keeping close tabs and guiding her, who knows how well she will be able to make any genuine relationships with others given all the secrets she has to keep.

Her only realistic path to leadership is through marriage and that is hardly giving her agency as a heroic rise to a leader of a men... more like sleeping her way to the top. Not something I want for Sansa, and I hope her ‘marriage’ to Tyrion works as plot armor against her being used like that.

Besides GRRM has kinda stressed that ‘real’ leadership comes from understanding people, observation, and experience, and not just from strategics marriage (Margaery, Cersei) or inheritance (Joffrey, Tommen, Cersei - she could prove the point all on her own :). Every leader in the book so far has to make compromises, make hard decisions and even make harsh, sometimes very bad decisions and live with those consequences. None of the characters in the series have escaped this as much as Sansa has, since so much of her story thus far is about her lack of agency, and being a pawn used by others (and to some extent she still is with Baelish). For her to make it to the end w/o doing anything and staying ‘pure’ and that is how she ends up on top, by essentially not taking many large personal risks, allowing others to do all the heavy lifting morally, mentally and physically. If winning means standing on the sidelines watching everyone else do the WORK, and just giving suggestive nudges here and there to have things turn out in your favor so you can just coast to the top (that is the Baelish way)... well, that is kinda the worst message GRRM could leave us with.

If GRRM wants Sansa to become a leader, she will have to get her hands dirty too, she will have to take great personal risks to gain power and accept the consequences good or bad that result, learn from them and move forward... otherwise it defeats one of the main points of his series and turns her into a simplistic cliche version of a character. Every character with a POV has gone through this, it is one of the major themes in ASOIAF, a more realistic, less easy way of looking at how you obtain power and learn by experience and a series of victories and defeats. Thus far Sansa has also avoided examining her actions and how they have affected her, she either never thinks about them, changes the facts to suit her better, or blames others without seeing the part she also played... I’m not blaming her, but her action did contribute to the situation... she never seems to realize this and I feel it is going to eventually hit her hard, she has to mature and grow out of her ‘unreliable narrator’ eventually, and it must lead to something for GRRM to make it such a large part of her narrative of coping with her trauma. I assume he wrote her this way for a reason and is going to do something with it.

I’m looking forward to a darker more realistic Sansa who has more agency and understanding, and I expect her to make her own mistakes and moral compromises (well she already has, but there was some coercion - but it also means she is capable of doing so) just like all the other POVs have had to do. I also look forward to her finally owning up to her past actions and how they also contributed to where she is now. If she can’t take some personal responsibility she will never grow. That is a part of having agency, understanding how your decisions and actions affect you and others.

I wish all the back and forth would stop, cause I’m tired of seeing it in my feeds, but I guess it has been going on for years - the same arguments/rebuttals - so I guess it will continue, even after we get the next book... I think only the completion of the entire series will end some of these arguments, but who knows - after some of the meta I’ve read, there will probably be even more, lol.

Well, I wanted to comment and give my two cents, but it ended up being longer and I guess for me all this is still new and offsetting. I guess I had more to say that I thought, even though I edited A LOT out because I wanted to keep it focused. I’ve just started to dip my toes into this crazy platform, so I’m sure this is just the tip of the toxic metas that I heard can be found here... can’t wait to read the anti-dany metas... that is sure to fill me with a sad rage as well, i know the show did her no favors, sigh....

#topic anti-sansa-stans #topic toxic fandom #topic sansa stark stans

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heyyyharry · 5 years

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Chapter 13: Prenatal Visit

(from the Flatmate Trilogy: Two Hearts, One Home)

…in which Y/N and Harry run into her ex at the doctor’s office.

Warning: Smut. Beware, kids.

Word count: 4.5k

Chapter 12: Daddy Issues - Y/N is locked out of her flat with the wrong Styles.

Wattpad link

Harry thought he was hallucinating.

He might've sobered up a little after a shower, but to be sitting in the same room with his father and his wife and be the one who got left out of the conversation, made him feel like he was still under the influence of alcohol. This wasn't something he would've expected to experience even once in this lifetime. But it was happening right now.

They were talking about her job. Devlin had always looked down on Y/N and her little position in the company, but at the moment, he seemed more than interested in the stories she was telling. He asked her questions and gave her advice, like...a father would.

Who was this man? Harry had assumed that it was the soon-to-happen divorce that had turned Devlin crazy. But then he realized that his father wasn't so different from him. In fact, they were more alike than he was willing to admit. Both couldn't hide their true feelings no matter how hard they tried, and both had grown to love the girl they had claimed to hate.

It was pretty late when they walked Devlin to the front door and said their goodbyes. Before leaving, he gave Y/N a long hug and thanked her for tonight. Then he turned to his son, who was standing awkwardly on one side with his hands in his pockets.

"Come here," Devlin said, and without hesitation, wrapped his arms around Harry. The hug was stiff and bear-like, but it was also heartfelt. It made Harry feel good, so instead of being weirded out by it, he eventually relaxed and placed his hands on his father's back.

To his surprise, his father whispered, "I'm so proud of you."

Harry instantly pulled away, looking slightly puzzled as he questioned, "for what?"

"For everything you've achieved..ever since...ever since you were a little boy," the man said, squeezing his shoulders. "Forgive me for waiting this long to say it...But I-I've always been proud of you."

Harry knew for someone like Devlin, saying those words wasn't easy at all. His mother had told him that his father had struggled so much to be able to say 'I love you' to her for the first time. But after that, he couldn't go through a day without saying it. So maybe after tonight, Harry would get to hear those words more often.

"Thanks, dad," he said at last. "Take care, okay?"

"You too. All three of you." With a smile, his father walked to the lift.

Now that he was gone, Y/N couldn't contain her laughter anymore. The look on her husband's face cracked her up as he leaned heavily against the doorframe and heaved the longest sigh of relief. "What the fuck? Did you cast a spell on my dad?!"

"What can I say? I'm just very good at dealing with the Styles men."

"Oh, really?"

"Really."

Swiftly, he pulled her into the flat, kicked the door shut, and pinned her against it. Her laughter turned to a moan when he sucked at her neck and dug his fingers into her hips. His voice was so gruff it sent shivers down her spine. "You're my little enchanter, yeah? Making everyone love you. Making me love you, and now my grumpy father. God, you're incredible."

Pulling his head up, she kissed him softly and smacked her lips together afterward. "You taste like a whole bar."

"Sorry. Drank a bit much." He gave her a silly grin and leaned in again, only to have her stop him with a hand on his chest.

"Brush your teeth first. I don't wanna throw up in your mouth."

"Oh, right." An airy laugh rumbled in his chest. Sometimes it slipped his mind that she couldn't stand certain smells now. "If my breath smells bad—" His pupils dilated as he pressed his forehead against hers. "I can kiss your other lips."

Y/N smirked at the playful grin he was wearing and draped her arms around his neck. "You must learn to be careful with your words when the baby finally grows ears."

"It's weird."

"A baby growing ears isn't weird, Harry!"

"No, I mean calling our baby 'the baby' is weird." He snorted. "You know, we have this rule in my company that we should refer to each other by names rather than what that person is. Like, I don't refer to my assistant as 'my assistant'. I would call her Marie, because it's more intimate."

"But we don't even know the gender of our baby."

He nodded and pressed one kiss to a corner of her mouth. "We can come up with a list of names first."

"Good idea!" Y/N exclaimed, suddenly enthusiastic. "I'll go get my notebook and a pen!"

"Wait!" Harry attempted to grab her, but she had skillfully swerved around him and ran straight to their bedroom. "Hey!" he shouted, throwing his arms in the air. "No more kissing then?!"

On Sunday that same week, Y/N had a prenatal check up. But instead of visiting the same doctor, she'd asked Harry to drive her to this new one his father had suggested. He was a friend of Devlin's and pretty well-known, so although he was more expensive than the previous doctor, the couple didn't mind spending a bit more on what was best for their baby.

"I feel guilty though," said Y/N as she turned from the car window to look at her husband. He had his eyes on the road and a smirk on his face for what she'd just said.

"And why is that?"

"We've been going to Dr. Smith since the beginning. I just feel bad for switching to another." She let go of a breath. "And the new doctor is costly—"

"I told you not to worry about money," he interrupted her, frowning. "We're taking you to the best doctor we know and that is that. It wouldn't matter if it costed an arm and a leg."

"I would never cut off my limbs for doctor visits," she joked, and he nodded to agree.

"Me either. We could just sacrifice Niall."

The way he said it with a straight face made her giggle. "I love us. Only we would think that joke was funny."

"I was so desperate for someone to appreciate my sense of humor that I married the first one I found. Too late for a divorce now!" He faked a sob and wiped off his nonexistent tears. Immediately, she smacked him on the arm and told him to keep both hands on the steering wheel.

"Okay—" Harry cleared his throat and his dimple appeared. "This morning, I was taking a shower when I came up with some new baby names. Thought you might like them."

"Wait a sec!" She quickly held up a finger, pulled out her phone and opened the note app. "Okay, go."

"Sofina, Jade, Joy, Maya, Rayne—"

"Slow down, H!"

"Arya...Daenerys...Sansa..."

"Hold up! Why are these all girl names and three of them are from Game of Thrones?" She stopped typing and chuckled as he gave her a shrug.

"Because I'm still not over Game of Thrones. Aaaand...I'm already mentally prepared to have a baby girl."

"Really? What if it's a boy? Will you be disappointed?"

"Of course not!" He shook his head. "It's just easier for me to come up with girl names. Hmm...Alec sounds cool for a boy, yeah?"

"Oooh, yes! And Isaac too!"

"Nah!"

"What's wrong with Isaac?"

"I don't know. I just don't like it."

The way he puckered up his lips made her laugh. "Why? Did an Isaac steal your girl in another life?"

With a lopsided grin, Harry only rolled his eyes and went on, "Ryder sounds good?"

"Oh yeah, maybe Ryker, too? How about Asher?"

"Lachlan."

"Aryan, Roman!"

"Wooo, we are on fire baby!" He suddenly hit the horn and she hit him again for doing that on purpose. By the time they arrived, they had got a long list of options for their baby names, but there wasn't one they liked more than the others, so they decided to save the discussion for when they got home.

An intern welcomed them at the door and took them to a waiting room. She explained that the doctor would show up later than usual due to personal reasons. Pre-pregnant Y/N wouldn't mind being told to wait, but pregnant Y/N couldn't stand even the slightest inconvenience. She didn't say anything, yet the way she huffed, crossed her arms and puckered up her lips like an angry little girl, let Harry know that it was now his job to keep her entertained and distracted before she got grumpy.

"So he's Dr. Dante, right? Dante could be a great first name too," Harry said as he intertwined their fingers and brought her hand to his lips, kissing the knuckles.

She gave him a nod, resting her head on his shoulder. "I used to know someone whose last name was Dante."

"Yeah?"

"Yup, I already told you. He was my—" Y/N couldn't even say the last word because her mouth got stuck and her eyes popped out. The doctor, who had paused before he even walked into the room, had the same reaction when he saw her. They both recognized each other from the very first glance, leaving Harry the only one without an idea of what was going on. He shifted his questioning eyes back and forth between the two of them, while trying to figure out what he'd missed in the previous second.

Y/N suddenly let go of his hand and rose from the couch. At the same time, the doctor marched toward them, looking overly elated. No need for a proper introduction, he pulled her into a strong hug that sent Harry right out of his seat. He was fuming, almost breaking them off, but the way his wife reacted had him confused. She returned the hug and pulled away to give the stranger a once-over.

"You haven't changed one bit!" she said, making him smile.

The son of a bitch has dimples! Harry thought to himself. I have dimples, too! She loves my dimples!

"I hope that's a good thing," said the doctor as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his white coat. Yes, keep those hands to yourself, the voice inside Harry's head commented again. And this time, when that irritating smile reappeared, he could no longer stay silent.

He cleared his throat a bit too loud, giving his wife the cue for including him in the conversation. She intuitively reached for his hand, but instead of letting her hold it, he locked one arm around her waist and pulled her close to his side.

"Are you doctor Dante?" he inquired, staring the man down.

With the same annoying grin, the doctor told him, "yeah, I am. But I'm just here to substitute for my brother, the other Dr. Dante. He's out of town this week. But don't worry, I guarantee that Y/N's in good hands."

IS SHE THOUGH, dimple guy?!

"So...you two know each other?" Harry rose an eyebrow at his wife, who seemed pretty chill about the awkward encounter.

"I've already told you about Noah, baby," she said with a hand on his chest. "Noah and I used to date."

"Oh..." Harry said with a cool smile. But that wasn't his 'that's great to know' smile, it was more like 'what the fuck is going on and why the fuck is this happening right now?'. He had never been subtle with this kind of stuff, so not only did Y/N realize how awkward this was for him, Noah quickly caught on too.

"I don't wanna waste your time, so shall we proceed?" Noah said and told them to come with him.

Y/N was about to follow, but Harry pulled her back as soon as the doctor had left the waiting room. "That's the Noah you told me about?" he whispered. "The guy who broke up with you before your first year of college? The one before me?"

"Yeah. I've told you everything about him."

"Didn't tell me he was going to be a doctor, and...he had dimples."

She snorted, her eyes squinted. "Dimples? Baby, you have dimples too."

"Yeah, but—" He pouted petulantly. "Don't worry. It's fine."

That lie couldn't have been more obvious.

Cupping his cheeks, Y/N leaned in and nudged his nose with her own. "My husband's a CEO," she said. "That's much hotter than some doctor. But if you feel uncomfortable with him examining me, we can just go back to Dr. Smith."

"No. I'm fine, baby. Let's go."

"Are you sure?" She held back his wrist when he turned away. "Like...really sure?"

He pressed his lips into a smile, giving her a firm nod and kissing her cheek. "I'm a grown man," he said. "These things don't bother me."

The problem was, they did bother him. He might be a grown man, but when it came to her, he was always the nineteen-year-old when they first fell in love. He got jealous, all the fucking time. Since they found out she was pregnant, he had gotten even more possessive and protective of her. But now wasn't the time to be petty. He wasn't here for him, he was here for her and the baby. This could be just like the other checkups they had done with Dr. Smith. Or so he told himself.

"I don't believe you," his wife cautioned as she lifted an eyebrow. "But...if you said you were sure—"

"Totally, I'm totally sure," he blurted without giving himself time to think. "Come on, darling. Let's do this...so we can leave."

"So..." Niall trailed off with a sigh as his eyes traveled back to Harry, who was lying on his stomach on the couch, face in the pillow and Treasure on his back. "How long has he been like this?"

"A couple of hours now. Ever since we got back." Y/N shrugged as she joined her two friends at the kitchen table. "He's usually passive-aggressive when he's jealous. Now that I'm pregnant, he's just...passive."

"Can I poke him with a stick to see if he's alive?"

"No, Layla, you cannot poke my husband with a stick." Y/N rolled her eyes. "He can't stay like that forever though. Treasure would pee on him again."

Layla turned around to check on Harry. He was still lying in the same position but now Treasure was sitting on his head.

"He's overreacting." She chuckled.

"No, he's not!" Niall eagerly chimed in. "I wouldn't want my wife's ex to 'examine' her vagina. Even if he was a doctor."

"He did the same thing any doctor would! With gloves!"

"Gloves or no gloves, he's still your ex, Y/N."

"Honestly, if I had an ex who was a doctor, I would've married him instead."

"Heeeeeey!"

Layla cackled as she grabbed Niall's pouty face and kissed it to apologize.

The couple stayed for another hour and then they had to leave, but Y/N didn't think Harry noticed that they were gone. He hadn't even moved since the last time she looked.

"Okay, that's it. Give daddy back to mummy," said Y/N as she shooed the cat off Harry's back and pulled him up by the arm. He groaned, but letting her do whatever she pleased. She spread his legs and got on her knees between them, scooting closer and pressing him down on his back so she was lying on top of him. She brushed his hair out of his face with her fingers, smiling as he held her cheek, gazing up with hooded eyelids.

"What will it take for you to get over this?" she asked, trying not to laugh at how adorably grumpy he was.

"Get over what? I'm fine."

"Oh, are you?" She arched an eyebrow when he confirmed with a nod. "So you're not upset that my ex saw my—"

"No," he blurted, not wanting her to say the word, which made it even more funny.

"It's fine if you're upset though. It's...kinda hot."

His eyebrows furrowed as he zeroed in on her fingers toying with the button of his shirt. If all these years being with her hadn't taught him how to read her body language, her seductive tone would've already given her away. She found it funny that he was jealous and didn't want to be a pain in the ass and admit it, but at the same time, it turned her on. For the first couple of weeks being pregnant, she would've felt ashamed of her random horny moments, but now she had come to accept it and make the best out of it.

Words weren't much needed when she unbuckled his belt and tugged down his pants and boxers in a flash. He gasped, his erection sprung out, red and heavy, demanding attention. It was slightly embarrassing how fast he'd got hard without her touching or kissing him. But, God, just the idea of her would turn him on. Who the fuck was Noah? He couldn't even remember what the man looked like now that his mind was empty and he was watching her brushing her hair out of her pretty face and twisting it into a bun.

When she tapped him on the knee, he reflexively bent his legs, making it easier for her to sit inbetween them. Her hands rested on his thighs, her hair fell into her face and over his legs, and he was mesmerized. He could spend another twenty years with her and he would still get this flustered every time they got intimate. He wanted her so much. Always wanted her.

Her hands were small, wrapped around him, making him tense and "baby, please, ah," was all he could get out. He felt almost relieved when she finally put her mouth on him. The warmth and dampness made him shiver, suck in air and exhale shakily. "Yeah, that's it," he said. "Yes, Y/N, so good."

Her lips wrapped firmly around the head, sucking him in. His toes curled and he could only see white light behind his eyelids. "More," he begged, mouth falling open, gasping. "S-suck me, baby." He could feel his throat going uncomfortably dry as his voice went hoarse but the way he hit the back of her throat made him feel like he was in heaven. He subconsciously reached down, touching her cheek to feel himself inside. His mind was blown. She was enthusiastic and there was something so hot about that, or maybe just that it was her. He stroked her hair and left his hand on the back of her head as he thrust gently, unable to stop himself. He propped his upper body up on the other elbow, completely mesmerized by the way his cock disappeared in and out of her mouth.

His thighs started to shake, stomach clenching as his breaths came out unsteady. "Gonna come," he warned. Y/N acknowledged him with a quiet hum, but only sucked harder, cupping his balls with her other hand and rolling them gently.

He came hard. So hard that he didn't even realize he had a handful of her hair in his grip and was chanting her name. His wife pulled back, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand before flashing him a smile. And he had to drag her up and kissed her passionately.

"God, you taste like cum," he joked, groaning as she giggled against his lips.

"Rude." She pulled away to graze his bottom lip with her thumb. He looked absolutely fucked out, still catching his breath. "Still upset?"

Harry only muttered "fuck" before combing her hair out of her face and tucking the strands behind her ear. Forgetting her question, he asked, almost terrified, "does swallowing cum harm the baby?"

"No." She snorted at how pale his face had become. "In fact, sperm consumption could benefit pregnancy."

"You sound like a Google search result."

"It was a Google search result."

"You googled 'does swallowing my husband's cum harm the baby?'" Harry chortled with an eyebrow raised.

Biting her lip, Y/N shook her head. "Layla sent it to me, actually."

"Of course she did." Harry rolled his eyes at the response, partially relieved that him getting his dick sucked didn't affect his baby's life. Otherwise, he would've been the worst dad in the history, without even officially being a dad.

Several days later, Harry had long forgotten the awkward encounter with Y/N's ex. Y/N was glad that the busier her husband was, the more his memory resembled that of a goldfish. He had too many important things in mind to stay bitter about the ex she would never meet again.

Well, at least not again for the third time...

It was a regular Thursday. She had just got off work and decided to stop by the grocery store on her way home to get some eggs. She was always prepared to run into acquaintances in this store, but certainly didn't expect to see her "substitute doctor" here. It was weird that she'd gone through a couple of years without hearing from him, and now she couldn't stop running into him!

"What are you doing here?" she asked, mentally rolling her eyes at her own question. He's not in a grocery store to get a facial massage, dumbass!

Still, Noah didn't mind the silly question as he happily said, "I'm getting some vegetables for dinner. You?"

"Eggs." She lifted the basket to show him, as if he needed proof, but they just laughed it off and fell back to silence. She thought it'd be weird to stand silently in line at the cashier counter, so she decided to speak, "how long will you be in town?"

"Just for this week to visit my brother's family."

"Oh, the doctor?"

"Yeah, the other doctor." He broke into a smile. Harry has prettier dimples, sorry, she randomly thought, not knowing why she did, but she didn't have time to question herself when he continued, "sorry I couldn't chat with you the other day. Wanted to ask how you'd been but your husband didn't seem to like me."

"No, he liked you! He was just...having a bad day." As if. "What about you? Are you married?"

"Nope, I'm not as lucky as you." He adjusted his glasses and pushed his dark hair back. "Haven't been in a serious relationship for so long though. Guess it's just me and my commitment issues."

"Well, it's not something you can just rush into. It takes a lot of time and effort," she answered, but then noticed the cryptic smile he was wearing. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, no! It's just—" He sucked in a breath. "I'm so glad you don't hate me."

That sentence took her by surprise. Her jaw dropped as her eyes bulged out. "Why would I hate you?"

"Well...I moved away and broke up with you through a text. That was such a dick move."

"It was a long time ago." To be honest, I forgot that you existed... "But...now that I think about it. If it hadn't happened, I might not have met Harry. So maybe we were meant to end that way."

Noah didn't comment, only nodding his head to agree. "So..." he inhaled, his lips curved into a smile. "How did you two meet?"

"We were flatmates in college." She beamed. "But it's actually a very long story. I could just write three books about it."

"That's very sweet," he said. "I'm so happy for you."

"Thank you."

"Have you two picked out names for the baby? I mean, a lot of parents have already got a few options by now."

Y/N glanced at the ceiling as she groaned in frustration. "We're making a list actually. It's so hard because we want unique names but at the same time don't want them to sound too weird. Um...any suggestions?"

Tapping a finger on his lips, Noah thought for a moment. "My brother's daughter's name is Astria. I've never heard that one before."

"Asteria is such a pretty name."

"No, Astria."

"Pardon?"

"Astria, not Asteria." He gave her a smile. "But you're right, Asteria is a pretty name. Did you just come up with that?"

"No. Asteria is actually a Titaness in Greek mythology. She—" And then she paused, her eyes lit up. "That's it! Asteria!"

Noah was dumbfounded when she took the eggs from the cashier, paid the money and dashed right out of the store. She would probably never meet him again, but thanks to him, now she'd got the answer she'd been searching for.

"Baby, baby! I've got it!" Y/N stumbled into the room and threw herself onto Harry, almost knocking him off their bed.

"Why are you so happy about eggs?" He chuckled, holding her by the arms so she would stop bouncing.

"No! I've found a great name for our baby girl!" She didn't even wait for him to ask. "Asteria! I can't believe I forgot! But...but I used to be so obsessed with Greek Mythology when I was fourteen. And...and Asteria is the Titan goddess of nocturnal oracles and falling stars! Remember in my vow I said we were made of stardust? Our baby girl would be the goddess of falling stars!"

What she received was the opposite of her excitement. He was just gawking at her, no reaction or even a comment, and her smile dropped as she pulled away to sit on her legs. "You hate it?"

"No!" He chuckled, squeezing his eyes shut as he pinched his temple and took both of her hands, bringing them to his chest. "I love it! God, I love it so much and I-I love you and...I just...I was just thinking about how I really loved you. And Asteria, too. We'll name out baby Asteria, okay?"

"Wait!" She giggled as he started showering her face with tender kisses. "We still need a boy name!"

"Jasper," he said immediately. "Let's name him Jasper." Without waiting for a 'why', he hurriedly added, "so I spent the entire afternoon ignoring calls and emails just to google for more names. Then I came across Jasper, which means 'Treasure Keeper'." His eyes twinkled and he squeezed her hands. "Get it? Because—"

"Our non-human daughter is Treasure."

"Our non-human daughter is Treasure!"

He looked so proud of his little discovery, and Y/N's heart suddenly felt so full. She looked into his eyes, biting her lip as she whispered, "Ria and Jas," to get used to the sound of those names on her lips. "I love that."

"Yeah?" He raised both eyebrows. "Not because you want to make me happy?"

"Not at all! Jasper is a great name!" she said and kissed him softly. "But God, I'm so in love with you, baby. You could've suggested a stupid name like Cheesecake and I would've said yes like a fool."

"You know what?" He broke the kiss, peering intensely at her as if he was going to make a serious statement. "Let's name our baby Cheesecake."

"Harry, no!"

#flatmate!harry #harry styles writing #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfics #harry styles fanfictions #harry styles imagine #harry styles imagines #harry styles fluff #harry styles smut #ceo!harry #husband!harry

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lightninginabottle0613 · 4 years

Text

some post-ttlr reflections 🚌💛

typing this from beyond the grave, as you all have killed me/are continuing to kill me with your sweet comments on this epilogue. what are you all doing, why are you all perfect angels. why was my “””epilogue””” the longest goddamn chapter of this story. i have so many questions and not a single answer.

if you are at all interested in some deeply personal ramblings and feelings (tw: depression and mental health and all of that), those are below the cut. i was honestly just looking for a place to dump them all, so i could properly process this whole experience that completely turned my life upside down in a matter of months. but if i learned anything from writing this story, it’s that maybe some people can relate to what i’m feeling! so they’re there - if that’s something that floats your boat.

if not (and you will not offend me, seriously, it’s long lol), then please please please just know one thing - i love every single person who read this story. i can’t believe it’s over and i’m going to miss the fuck out of it, but i’m so happy that i could write something worthy of consumption for a fandom/pairing that is so close to my heart. i sort of felt the whole time like i wished i had waited until it was finished to start posting, instead of updating after i was done each chapter, but looking back - i’m so glad i didn’t. this story was so heavy in so many ways, and every comment and private message made me want to keep writing. so much about this felt like a shared experience and a collaborative effort, even as the author, so i just want to say thank you to anyone who showed it even the slightest amount of attention. i can’t wait to keep writing both for and among such incredible people.

(also, i would be remiss if i didn’t say a special thank u/i love u to @yanak324 and @harrenhollaback. for the emotional support and for gifting me with friendships i never expected when i joined this community. i owe you both more than i can say.)

ok hey! i’ll get right to it - 2019 was the worst year of my life, and i very nearly didn’t survive it.

i’ve struggled with depression for about ten years, to varying degrees. it runs deep in my family, in pretty much every person on my mother’s side, and i didn’t learn that until about four years into my own mental health journey. my entire life, a lot was expected of me - not a super uncommon thing for an eldest child, i think. but as a result of a lot of repression from other people in my family of their own mental illnesses, i was confused by a lot of the heaviness i was feeling, and i thought i needed to handle it the same way, because that was the only example i had.

a lot of my progress was stunted after that, but i did start trying to make some changes when i turned 18. even so, i was doing a lot of the work on my own and in silence, and i still made a lot of decisions based on what i thought i should do, instead of giving myself the space and time to figure out what i actually wanted to do. i think my main focus for so long was just on not feeling sad anymore - because i was still so in the dark about the complexities of depression, and i had no idea how much work it actually takes to undo a lifetime of destructive behaviors and negative thought patterns.

my life was pretty nonstop from 18-24. for six years i dealt with one crisis after another. i was forced to react to all of them in real time, but i wasn’t able to thoroughly process any of them, and it wasn’t until may of 2019 that i realized just how brutal and damaging that pace was. that month was the first time that my life was even remotely calm for the first time in six years, and once my mind had a second to breathe, i realized just how numb it was.

i really, really did not want to be here anymore. i was so far down in the pit (something i’ve been calling it for about five years), that i could barely breathe. i can remember one specific saturday that month where i sat on the floor of my apartment for three hours in silence and didn’t eat a single thing until 6:00 that night. even now as i type this, i’m curbing the urge to call myself dramatic (ha), but i don’t know how else to describe it - other than saying that i quite literally could not function.

as suuuuper dumb and cheesy as this probably sounds, this was all concurrent with the last season of game of thrones and my subsequent discovery of the character of arya (i hadn’t consumed any asoiaf content prior to last year). i was so fascinated by her - i know so many arguments can be made that show!arya was not really her by the end of it, but trust and believe that i have read everything about book!arya that i can get my hands on. i had never seen so much of myself in a character before - both book and show - and i found such a comfort in watching her navigate childhood and deal with trauma and learn how to be vulnerable.

i couldn’t tell you the first fic i found or even how i stumbled across ao3 to begin with. but i can tell you that - not unlike probably anyone reading this, lol - i think i tore through like five stories a day for the entire summer. you know that post that’s like ‘all i did this summer was read fanfiction and cry’ ? hello. LITrully all i did. reading so many different authors’ takes on a character that i connected with so deeply and how she leaned into love/grew from pain/strengthened her convictions was a catharsis i’d never experienced before.

i had a massive upheaval in my personal life toward the end of august that resulted in my living out of a hotel room for five days, and one of those days i blinked and had 6K words of a gendrya fic written. it contained zero of the angst and pain i was feeling, and i still have no idea which deep recess of my brain it came from. it was light and silly, and i had no intention to continue beyond that, honestly. and then the literal first comment i ever got was from someone that said ‘please don’t let this be a one-shot,’ and i suddenly realized i was doing something so harmful (something that’s been a habit of mine for so, so long, but one that fic-writing has forced me to break) - i had found something that i genuinely enjoyed, but i was talking myself out of pursuing it, because my own insecurities were telling me it wouldn’t be worth it.

ttlr was supposed to be similarly light. i’d seen a post on a really long prompt list that was written by someone whose parents actually met in the same way that gendry and arya meet in the story, and i thought it was hilarious and serendipitous and perfect for their canon storyline, which is very much a pseudo-road trip in a way. i wanted arya to have struggles with depression and self-worth, because that’s true to my interpretation of her character, and i knew i wanted to sort of explore her conflicts with catelyn as a bit of a side plot, but nothing could have prepared me for how heavy the story became. the basic gendrya plot remained the same, but the rest of the story strayed so far from the outline i planned out, in the best way.

i really hate to call it self-insertion, because i think that sort of cheapens the messages i started to try to send with each chapter, but almost every non-gendrya detail in the story is something that’s happened to me. 99% of arya’s conversation with catelyn in chapter 10 came from verbatim text messages between my mom and me, that i had to scroll back to in order to reference. i struggled so much with how to characterize ned, because i think he’s sort of difficult to get right since a lot of his canon characterization is learned through memories that other people have of him, but in this story, he is my dad. all of arya’s introspections and bad habits are mine, her conversations with her therapist are mine (adapted accordingly), and her attitude toward romantic love is mine. i do my best to keep a journal, but writing this story all but replaced that for me, for months.

so EVEN AS i slowly started to adjust to what this story was turning into for me personally, absolutely nothing could have prepared me for how it resonated with other people. depression is like a tailored suit. on the outside, it looks like any other suit for any other person, and it has a lot of the same surface-level features. but beyond that, it preys on your specific insecurities and traumas, and no one person’s experience is exactly the same as someone else’s - obviously, because no two people are exactly the same. so when i started getting comments and messages from people saying they felt seen and understood, and that my depiction of mental illness was like a punch in the gut/made them cry/was so true that it was at times hard to read, i knew that there was a reason that my brain wanted me to write this story, beyond my need for my own healing.

one of the best comments i got was from someone who said that in the future, if they ever met someone who said they didn’t understand depression, they were going to show them ttlr. i cried for like half an hour after i read that (like the choking, sobbing kind), because all i ever want to do is educate myself and other people on this really hard stuff, and make people feel like they have the right tools to be empathetic. i know that the story ended on a hopeful note - because there is always hope but it’s also a fiction story (and i would never write an un-hopeful ending for gendrya…miss me with that) - but i also really hoped to convey the idea that she still has work to do.

because i am so far from done, myself. i’m still living in the city i moved to when i thought that all i needed was physical space from my problems, and i’m finally (sort of) at a place where i can take the time i need to figure out where i’m meant to be next. i’m in my last semester of grad school, studying something that i recently learned i hate, because i picked it thinking it was the logical decision, and now it would be stupid to drop out. and i really did have that text conversation with my mother, but that was about nine months ago, and i currently haven’t spoken to her since new year’s day.

i’m also in therapy, and i’m slowly starting to reach back out to some of the people i love, who i’ve shut myself off from for the past eight months. i’m at a job that i kind of hate in a lot of ways, but it also allows me to have one-on-one time with people and help them develop, and that’s super fulfilling. and i have a real hobby now that i previously hadn’t done since before i was a teenager. that’s thanks in large part to arya, but it really comes down to this community of people.

i am fully aware that i’m on the younger side of the people in this fandom, and the last thing i want to do is come off as preachy. but while i have big plans to continue writing for these characters and treating them with the care they deserve, i also do really want to continue to be someone that can make people feel a little bit less alone (through the stories i tell, and beyond that). the entire journey of this story for me was a lesson in how to say what i feel in an unapologetic way, treat even the darkest and saddest parts of myself with the same amount of love that i do the happy parts, and hopefully create a space where people feel like they can do the same thing.

i read something once that said that a member of a family who actively chooses their own healing will go through a period where they become the enemy, because they’ve disrupted the family system. i don’t know that this is true all the time, but i think it’s a really eye-opening way to think about a lot of situations where people find themselves isolated even more for prioritizing their own recovery. it was certainly the case for me, anyway. again, i know that i’m young and i have a lot of life left to live, but (at the risk of sounding ….. dramatic) i have that life to live because i’m making that prioritization. if ttlr, and any other story i write, can serve as the reminder for at least one person that healing is a choice we make and a long road to travel - and based on the comments i’ve gotten, it sounds like it has - then there’s nothing more that i could ask for.

this story is my entire heart and soul. i worried every step of the way about whether i was doing justice to the characters, but i mostly just loved having an outlet for such tough stuff. i’m excited to write more, but i don’t know that anything will ever mean as much to me as this has. so thank you to every person that gave it the time of day (or night lol). writing it genuinely changed my life.

(also as an additional resource, i’m sharing this podcast interview with none other than the hero of winterfell herself. i watched this when it first came out, and i’ve watched it probably 50 times since. if you’ve made it this far in this post - first of all, omg. but also if anything i said struck a chord and you haven’t seen this, it’s a must-watch. she hits the nail on the head perfectly, and she puts so much into words that i was never able to before.)

my messages are always open. i am always free to talk about anything and everything mental health. if you’re struggling, just know that i’m with you and i love you. 💛

#gendrya #arya stark #personal #tw: depression

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georginadymova · 5 years

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Theonsa Fic Recs

I made this post on my private blog for my friends a couple days ago but I just rec these to another shipper and they haven’t read some so decide to be brave and make it public for all those who are missing out on some beautiful fics :) This is my first time making a page like this sorry that it’s messy!

Haunt me, baby by chancellor_valdez

Sansa sees ghosts. It started when she was nine, after she almost drowned in a duck pond. She went in normal, and came out seeing people that definitely weren’t there. But she gets used to it. She learns to live with it. Then Theon dies. And he won’t leave her the fuck alone.

intro to knots (or, alternatively, the psychology of growing up) by pentaghastly

Theon Greyjoy has spent the majority of his life thinking about things that aren’t.

Home. His family. Shit like that.

(That's the thing about Sansa Stark.

She very much is.)

i hate your guts 'cause I'm loving every minute of it by jolie_unfiltrd

Theon slid into the passenger seat and immediately unplugged her phone, sliding the sync cord into his headphone jack. “Okay Sans, I made two playlists: songs Robb would cry to, and songs Jon would masturbate to. Which one do you want? To be honest, they’re mostly the same but - ”

Sansa’s eyes slid heavenward as she tuned him out completely, adding a new resolution to her list: #6. Don’t kill Theon.

OR Sansa & Theon take a twelve-hour road-trip together for spring break. Some drama, lots of arguments over who should be the DJ, and definitely some unresolved sexual tension. I mean, it's basically what powers the car.

cooperative escapism in unfamiliar relations by pentaghastly

She’s covered in flour and chocolate when Theon Greyjoy storms through the front door of her bakery and back into her life.

(Not that he’d ever really been part of her life, honestly.

Theon was Robb’s. Theon was Jon’s. Theon was the older boy that all of Sansa’s high school friends had swooned over, with his crooked grin and his inky-black hair and that charming way he –

He was never hers.) -

(I know I already link one of their story but bakery AU are my weakness)

and into the night by Lydia_Martin_trash

Sansa looks for Theon before the battle for the dawn begins. (Set in between 8x02-8x03)

Ghosts by Shyspyder

Theon had longed to see Sansa from the moment he left. (Set before and after the beautiful ‘I want to fight for Winterfell Lady Sansa...if you’ll have me.’ scene in 8x02)

like stupid people do by kattyshack

Theon didn’t mean to set off some sort of text chain of divine intervention, but that’s what you get when all your mates think they know what’s good for your mess of a love life — even if it takes them a hot second to figure out who it is you fancy in the first place.

decide on me, decide on us by TheSushiMonster

Something’s different.

She’s different too.

Finally she answers, with the truth buried so deep she doesn’t recognize it until it leaves her lips: “I don’t want to stay here.”

Theon grins - so familiar, so much like before - and Sansa can’t help but return it.

“You wanna take a road trip?”

my love had been frozen but you painted me golden by everdeenwayland

It becomes a common thing between the two of them —the pick-up lines— and she smiles every time. He thinks he’ll get tired of it, eventually.

Spoiler: He does not.

Or alternatively, how Theon Greyjoy fell in love with Sansa Stark.

you know i love you; did i ever tell you? by kattyshack

Stark family shenanigans, booze-fueled matchmaking, and not-so-clever distractions at the latest bougie Westerosi shindig, told entirely in text messages. (I did it again!! It’s worth it trust me!)

If We Never Try (We'll Never Know) by anniebibananie (alindy)

"Out of all the unfortunate things to happen in Sansa’s life, she thought the most might just be the fact that somehow in the four years since she’d seen him Theon Greyjoy got hot."

And somehow that lead to him becoming her fake boyfriend? Sansa wasn't all that sure how it happened, either.

first comes love by truthbealiar

THEON: Is it normal to feel like I’m going to have a fucking heart attack every time I think about telling Sansa how I’m so fucking in love with her? YARA: typing… YARA: typing… YARA: typing… THEON: Answer me, coward

Theon and Sansa are coerced onto a couples cruise. Things do not go as Arya planned.

All the gorgeous drabbles by https://leopoldfitz.tumblr.com/ https://joygreys.tumblr.com/ https://anniebibananie.tumblr.com

I linked the profile for authors who wrote more than one Theonsa fic if you love one no doubt you’d like the rest of their works.

Lastly please leave a comment if you enjoy these fics for the author. They create such amazing stories with fantastic plot, perfect characterization, AND decided to share them to the rest of our fandom?? The least we can do is tell them how much we love it. :))

#theonsa #theon greyjoy #sansa stark #sansa x theon

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frazzledsoul · 4 years

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So I kind of wanted to follow up with my comments yesterday about hardcore ASOIAF fans and their contention that Jon Snow's life has no meaning.

Out of all of the crazy factions in GoT/ASOIAF fandom, I have had the worst problems with the ASOIAF Jonsa/Jon Snow side. They have actively discouraged me from reading further into ASOIAF than a few chapters into ACOK.

I got into a dust-up with several of those fans on here a few months ago for contending that I preferred Show!Jon to Book!Jon as they described him: a ruthless, elitist, Machiavellian character who only pretended to like the Wildings and never loved Ygritte and was a better person than Show!Jon because of those characteristics. I stated that I didn't want to read further about Book!Jon if he was like that and that Show!Jon certainly did not feel that way about Ygritte/The Wildings. I was then told that Book!Jon and Show!Jon were exactly the same character despite Book!Jon being superior (wha?) and I was too stupid to like either of them or to read the books.

I filled in the time I spent not reading ASOIAF by devouring everything in the Jonmund tag. However, I am kind of terrified at this point to get further into ASOIAF because of the culture that has grown up around Book!Jon. I don't at all trust what GRRM will do to him.

There definitely is an elitist mindset to some of these types of fans: Jon must end up in some sort of royal/exalted position or at least on the Wall because he must continue to serve Westeros. Certainly he shouldn't choose to associate himself with those dirty, ugly, trash that call themselves the Free Folk. And since they won't entertain the notion of him leaving the Wall, he must be completely miserable there, doomed forever to suffer for his crimes alone in a place that he hates.

I can't speak for how Book!Jon will view the situation, but none of this bears any connection whatsoever to what happened to Jon in the show.

I've stated many times that I won't deal with Wall Truthers (aka people who believe Jon goes back to the wall). If you needed for Jon to change his clothes while still at the Wall, be explicitly told he was not in the Night's Watch anymore and was a free man, and for him to openly declare he was not coming back after he left with the Wildings in order to believe it, I can't help you. That wasn't the situation Bran and Tyrion set up and Jon really couldn't leave under those terms. This was a quiet desertion or perhaps a release from his vows (hence Jon looking back at the gates one final time and then smiling to himself) once Jon left.

However, let's play Devil's Advocate and assume that Jon stays in the Watch. Is this really such a horrible fate for him?

When Jon is saying goodbye to his siblings to depart for the Wall, he looks happier and more relaxed than he has since the feast in 8.04. He is smiling. He's looking forward to Arya visiting him! He doesn't seem devastated at all.

When he actually gets to the Wall, Tormund is waiting for him. The Free Folk welcome him and are delighted to see him. He jubilantly reunites with Ghost. The Night's Watch open the gates for them to leave, and Jon smiles to himself after he looks back and leads them into the wilderness.

None of any of that seems to indicate that he is miserable. Quite the contrary. Even if Jon goes back, his primary job would be to trade with the Wildings and help them get settled in their communities. He'd still have Ghost. He'd still get to take plenty of naps. He would get to range beyond the Wall like he wanted to do when he first got there. It is not half as terrible as many of Jon's "fans" want it to be.

Now, I don't think any of that happened. I think that look back to the gates was significant, and Jon knew once he rode behind them that he wasn't going back. He'll be allowed to quietly desert and as long as he stays in exile, no one is going to care very much. He'll fade into Wildling society, free of courts and worldly politics and have the life that Show!Jon expressly stated he wanted.

He'll have friends, his dog, Tormund, the chance for leadership if he wants. It's a great life.

(and yes, Wall Truthers, I'm sure that interview you read with the crafts services lady or the assistant key grip stating that Jon goes back to the Wall is just awesome, but in the end I do trust Kit's opinion on what happened a lot more as well as what I saw as the credits rolled and I don't think when the script said that Jon would lead the Wildings that they just meant on a field trip)

The problem I have here is that even though I can imagine ADOS ending this way with Val by Jon's side instead of Tormund (it is likely this plot point came from GRRM) I know that ASOIAF fans will hate it because of the screeching they've already done. Jon didn't become King, he wasn't the one to vanquish the Others, he ended up with a happy life amongst the friends who appreciated him?!? What a load of crap, right? He might as well stay dead. In fact, many of them now hope he does stay dead. His role in this fandom is to be battered over between Jonerys and Jonsa and Aragorn!Jon stans, with little credence given to his own desires and opinions.

Meanwhile, I'm sitting here wondering what was so wrong with giving Jon Snow exactly what he wanted in life.

I know ASOIAF should be finished but won't be. I know that Jaime/Brienne fans in particular need a better resolution to their storyline. But it also pains me that Jon's best moments in seasons 5 and 6 belonged to that daughter-sacrificing religious fanatic Stannis, and it really chafes at me that he's going to take back Winterfell instead of Jon and Sansa. I don't see the book giving Jon a better ending even if GRRM gets around to it. Maybe it's just as well that he doesn't.

#i just want my bean to be happy #and even if they didn't give us the jonmund sex scene we deserved #he at least got what he wanted #jon snow #asoiaf #lol that rant was long coming #anyone claiming jon needs to stay dead can eff off

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ashleyfanfic · 5 years

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Y'all done made me get my laptop out so I can type this and not on my phone. That’s how damn tired I am of it.

I am a Dany fan(Stan). But let me be clear in saying that I am also a Jon Snow fan(Stan). You people out here spewing your hate on one or the other are getting on my last fucking nerve because you’re all missing the fucking point of Jon and Dany’s entire arc!

Dany’s Arc since coming to the North She’s having to contend with a people who didn’t sign up to be her people. Their king, the man they named king, named her his queen. Now, not one of them have asked why he did this, but you can tell they’re looking at him and her and made assumptions that it’s just because they’re together. But like Jon had to do when he was at Dragonstone, maybe it would make a little too much sense for them to ask why he’s so devoted to her. So, her arc is first coming to a place she doesn’t necessarily want to be, fighting a war she hadn’t intended on fighting, beside the man she loves. That’s all hard going for her. I think ep 3 will add some more layers onto this. Jon’s Arc since coming to the North Trying to logically reason with illogical people about bending the knee. Even his own sisters have doubts about why he did what he did and don’t actually ask as much as accuse him of being disloyal to his family or forgetting who he was. Then Sam drops the truth on him, not in a way that would have softened the blow for his best friend, the man who had always protected him but drops it in such a way it’s a gut punch and meant to drive a wedge between Jon and Daenerys.

I know people take issue with Dany’s reaction to what Jon said to her, but wouldn’t you? I mean, you just got told that the man you love is a long lost relative and people will say he has a better claim simply because he’s a man? And then these same people turn around and chastise the fact that Jon will tell her he doesn’t want it and that makes him a bad person because he’s stepping away from it because of her? He loves her, you dope. He also doesn’t want to be a king, has never wanted to be a king, and if you don’t understand that, then you don’t fucking understand Jon Snow. He took positions of power because they named him or he was the best person. If he steps aside it’s because he believes in Daenerys.

I don’t give a shit about your “A man steps in front of a woman to take her place even though she’s been working for it her whole life”. Correction, she’s been working for it since she decided she wasn’t just going to be a pet for Drogo and actively started taking on the role of Khaleesi. Jon didn’t know the opportunity was even out there.

But even if he did, what are you implying? That Jon has done nothing? Jon joined the Night’s Watch and became a steward to the Lord Commander and saved his fucking life from a wight. That’s how he got Longclaw. Then he goes beyond the wall with his brothers and gets captured by Wildlings and kills one of his own men in order to ingratiate himself with those people. In doing so, he learns that they aren’t as horrible as he thought. They were people who had the misfortune of being born on the wrong side of the wall and were trying to survive. Some are bloodthirsty cannibals, but your more rational Wildlings, like Ygritte and Tormund, don’t like that group. He still gets back to the Wall and helps his brothers fortify Castle Black and fights against them. It’s because of Jon that they win that battle. He executes Janos Slynt for not following order (and good thing Janos didn’t have any family that would have made him sympathetic to the group). Then we have him go save the Wildlings, fight the Army of the Dead, and watch in horror as all those killed were resurrected as dead. He was killed for this. Those people he saved, the Wildlings, came to fight and protect Jon even in death. He fought to win back Winterfell even knowing that the odds were against them. And he went south to meet with a potential enemy/ally because he saw they needed help. Jon didn’t know he was a prince. No one thought to tell him that before he went to the Wall, but I wouldn’t say he’s done nothing to deserve the crown.

And then there’s Dany, and the ole girl had a shit time of it as well. Her own family member sold her to a warlord for his army. Said family member was abusive and her husband raped her repeatedly. Even to the point where sitting in the saddle was painful. Her husband died, her baby died, all because of decisions she made. Those events made her even less trusting in others than she was previously. But she hatched Dragons in the fire. She made it through the Red Waste, the exact opposite environment that Jon Snow was living in. Her people were slaughtered so the dragons could be taken. She survived that and managed, through her own wits and not informing any of her advisors as to her plan, to acquire the Unsullied army who chose to follow her after she freed them. She takes Yunkai and Meereen and even marries a man she despises and reopens the fighting pits because she’s looking to make the people happy. She didn’t sail to Westeros when she was able. She stayed to try to make the lives of the freed slaves better. She learned the pitfalls of ruling and how hard it was. You know what she did learn? You can’t make everybody happy. She took the Dothraki, not with her dragons, but with her own plans. Everyone proclaims she’s nothing without her dragons, yet she managed to kill all the khals and took the Khalasar with fire and a well-placed lock on the door. She finally settles the issue with the Masters (by showing her ultimate power). She sails to Westeros and because she abandons her plans in favor of Tyrion’s plan, clever men, she loses all of her allies. She’s spitting mad when she learns about Highgarden but turns to someone who isn’t in her counsel and asks what he would do. Because Dany has proven that she will listen. She defeated the Lannister army coming back from Highgarden.

But the same can be said for Jon which is why I don’t think EITHER of them will take it. Love is the death of duty. Jon and Dany love one another. Yes, fam, she loves him. He loves her. They have been beating us over the head with it over two years. They love one another. Yeah, they’re adding in drama, but they kind of have to. People would bitch, moan, and complain if there wasn’t some drama around this revelation. But let’s go back to how he tells hers: They’re alone. He’s been avoiding her and she’s finally had enough and seeks him out. She finds him in the crypts and doesn’t approach him any further until he smiles at her and nods. She wraps her arms around him, he holds her hands as he stares at Lyanna’s statue. She asks who they’re looking at and he only says “Lyanna Stark”. She then starts speaking about her brother Rhaegar and how he was good and decent, loved to sing and gave money to orphans, and he raped her. She couldn’t wrap her mind around that. Jon tells her that he didn’t. They were in love. It’s not meant to hurt her, but I believe he was hoping that by telling her that, it was meant to soften some of what she believed about her brother, a brother she clearly loves even though she never met him. The look on her face is heartbreak and disbelief. She knows this changes everything. Because it’s not what either of them thinks their claim is, it’s what other people will think. They’ll push her aside for the male heir. And speaking of a male heir, Jon is the last of the Targaryens. The only one who can carry on the line. Dany has a habit of thinking of the long term, and she sees what’s going to happen. He’ll have to marry someone else, he’ll have to for their house to survive. And then people will really support his claim for the Iron Throne.

But here’s how I think this plays out. I said above that I don’t think either of them will sit the throne, and I don’t. I think the world is going to change with this battle in ep3 and possibly ep5. I don’t really think there will be a throne to sit. Davos has already offered up the easiest solution: marry them. But Dany will be against this because she doesn’t believe she’ll be able to have children. She’ll make him go away because of this belief. I don’t believe Jon will ever do this willingly. He loves her. The throne means nothing to him, but belonging to a family does, and right now, Dany is his family. Sansa and Arya have already put themselves at odds against him because of how he feels for her. So he’s possibly going to fight Dany on this. I think we’ll get some trickery that will make them both realize how stupid they are for each other. Dany will have Jon’s baby, and I think this goes back to Emilia’s comment about how the end fucked her up. Think of it from her perspective. What has been Dany’s goal for the entire series, almost? To take the Iron Throne. She might have even expected Dany to die. But does anyone expect her to give up the throne to live out a peaceful life with the man she loves and her child(ren)? No. Dany wants to break the wheel that her ancestor Aegon built. What better way than to dissolve the monarchy? So, let’s say the last vision we see of Dany is that of a mother to an actual child, Jon at her side, with their dragons, living somewhere far away from Westeros. That would cause some people to be irate, but others to go, yeah, that’s what’s best for these two people who have done nothing but suffer.

#jonerys #jon x dany #jon x daenerys #jon snow x daenerys targaryen #got spoilers

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katlyn1948 · 5 years

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Late Night Conversation (Part 15 of “The Family Of Storm’s End” series)

Late Night Conversation

Katlyn1948

Summary:

Arya and Gendry discuss their daughters interests

Notes:

So I plan on adding a second part to this one where we learn about the conversation that Bella has earlier in the day...asleep this series is Canon (unfortunately) but that’s okay also we will learn who JJ is (any hints?) anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Work Text:

Arya had no idea how to be a mother when the birth of her first came. She no more than ten and nine and felt somewhat as a child herself. It had been ages since she could remember her mother caring for young Ricard and now she was expected to do the same. Of course, she had Gendry and he loved their child to pieces, but that did not mean they knew what they were doing.

As time passed and they had more children to raise, the task became easier. She had learned from her previous mistakes, took those lessons and applied them to her younger pups. Although she had learned that each child was different to raise, she had expected that there was some common ground when it came to raising the troupe. That was until her eldest began to linger around the company of broodishly handsome men.

Arya had not thought about the time when Bella’s mind would start to wonder to the curiosities of what laid beneath the tunics of men and, frankly, the idea of her daughter thinking of such thoughts terrified her. She had only ever loved one man in such an intimate way, that Arya felt as if she was unequipped to explain certain situations to her daughter. Of course, she educated young Bella on how babes were made and even warned her about giving her maidenhead to someone, she did not trust or love, but Bella was a teenaged girl whose emotions were far too extreme to handle.

Arya knew how it felt to feel those types of emotions and if Bella was anything like her mother, than she was sure to worry.

Of course, now she had to tell her lord husband of her revelation and Arya was sure that the Baratheon fury would make its self known.

As usual, she decided to break the new while in bed, bundled under his embrace with the light summer breeze sweeping through their open foyer. She knew that if she pleasured him before letting off big news, that the fury may be suppressed, but this was their eldest daughter and Gendry had always been fiercely protective of her.

“Gendry?” Arya asked lazily as she laid on his bare chest. Their recent throes of passion had worn out the pair, encouraging Arya to bring up the sensitive topic.

“Hmm?” Was his tired response.

“We may have to deal with Bella’s ever growing curiosity.” Her comment was cryptic and she hoped he would understand her underlying purpose, but this was Gendry and things often took him a few moments to fully understand.

He shifted slightly under her, causing Arya to prop herself up on her elbows, “How do you mean?”

There was true concern on his face and she hated that she would cause him more displeasure, “It seems that our Bella has certain curiosities when it comes to the young men around the castle.”

This riled the lord and he sat up swiftly, resting his back against the head board, “I beg your pardon?”

“Oh do not look so surprised, darling. She is a young woman of ten and six. We knew that sooner or later this would happen. Albeit, I was hoping for later.” Arya joked. She glanced at his face, and Gendry was finding this less than amusing.

“Arya, I’m not ready for that! This is our daughter we are conversing about! I mean look who her parents are!” He gasped with concern.

Arya gave him a half hearted smile. She understood his concern, but it was their job to properly educate their daughter without the prospect of embarrassing her.

She rose her place and straddled him, giving him a quick peck oh the lips as reassurance, “If it makes you feel any better, her choice of infatuation comes from a good family.”

Gendry scoffed, “Really? And who would that be?”

A sly smile creeped onto her face, “JJ Tarth.”

Gendry’s eyes widened as he quickly pulled Arya from his lap. “That cocky bastard! She likes him?! Seven fucking hells!” He rose from their bed and poured a large goblet of ale, downing it in one single breath. This conversation had progressively gotten worse and Gendry hated the uneasy feeling that he had in the pit of his stomach.

Arya rose after him, draping the light cloths around her naked form. She embraced her husband from behind and rested her chin square on his back, “Oh you stubborn bull. Come back to bed and come the morning light, we can discuss the ever so interesting conversation between our daughter and the ‘cocky bastard’ that I happened to over hear just this morning.”

Gendry groaned, “I don’t think I can wait until morning.” He turned in her arms and gave her a small kiss atop her head.

“If you wish to have more evenings like the one we just had, then you will wait.” She breathed into his chest.

He let out a grunted moan, “Fine, you win.”

“I always win.”

#arya stark #gendrya #got #gendry baratheon #gendry waters #arya/gendry #gendry x arya #gendry/arya #original house baratheon children #pillow talk #mention of sex

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hamliet · 5 years

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Three Queens: Dany, Sansa, & Cersei

The moment three of your top four characters are pitted against each other in a fandom war or a canon war. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Sansa’s been my favorite since season 1, and then we have Jon, Dany, and Cersei. Dany’s arc is pretty much exactly hitting the same beats as Jon’s arc, but in a yin/yang type way so that they are likely intended to meet in the middle. But I’ve talked about Jonerys before and now I want to discuss Sansa and Dany’s foiling, as well as Cersei’s and Dany’s, and what it may mean for Dany’s endgame in particular (Sansa will be fine, Cersei will die, that seems pretty narratively certain to me).

Sansa and Dany are both raised with stories and dreams: Sansa for love and being a queen, Dany for being a queen in another sense. She and Viserys were on the run her entire childhood from assassins, facing the scorn from people who would have loved them a few years ago (which is exactly where Sansa’s arc will take her after her father is executed). The same person is involved in both of these: Jaime Lannister, as the show showed us in the confrontation in episode 2.

Sansa always wanted marriage to a handsome man; however, when she’s granted a betrothal and then a marriage, it turns into hell--but through that hell, she learns to be a good ruler. Everyone comments on how well respected Lady Sansa is--wise and brave. She’s foiled with Tyrion in this aspect, in that she’s called the “smartest person I ever met” by Arya, and she tells her former husband in name, Tyrion, in the same episode, “you used to be the cleverest person I ever met.” Tyrion used to be a good hand of the king; now, he’s making pretty poor judgment advising Dany because he’s facing the same issue as Dany: power or love, but more on that another time.

But Sansa has made her choices. She chose her dream (not power, but a romantic fantasy) in the first season and went to Cersei after Ned told her they would be leaving, thereby leading to her father getting caught. Now she’s chosen her family and has come into her own. She has grown up, in other words, and she didn’t grow up when she married Ramsay Bolton or escaped, but when she decided to write that letter to the Knights of the Vale, when she stood up for herself, when she decided to do what she could for the good of her family (Jon & co) instead of just what she wanted (to kick Littlefinger to the curb).

Sansa is an adult right now, having crossed that hurdle of coming of age in the story. Dany (and Jon and Arya) are still trying to find out what growing up means for them, despite Dany (and Jon) being technically older than Sansa.

For Dany, as she says, Viserys always told her about a throne, and she’s been fixated on that through all she’s been through each and every season. Therefore it’s worth asking whether this was what Dany wanted, or whether it’s a coping mechanism to cope with exactly what she tells Jon she’s been through in season 7:

I have been sold like a broodmare. I’ve been chained and betrayed, raped and defiled. Do you know what kept me standing through all those years in exile? Faith. Not in any gods, not in myths and legends, in myself. In Daenerys Targaryen.

It’s easier to survive these horrors if you keep a dream waiting for you, irl and in the show. Dany hoping for a future in which she has everything that was stripped from her before her birth is completely understandable and normal. But, it’s not much different than Sansa’s romantic fantasies: it’s a child’s dream.

The story is asking Dany if she wants to grow up, if what she wants is the love that made her happy, or the power fantasies her brother imbued her with when he couldn’t even handle it himself. I’ve talked about the dead literally rising and coming for them all and it’s symbolism before, and it’s asking Dany if she wants to be controlled by the dreams and wheels of the dead, or if she wants to make her own life. Because Dany’s caught between the desire to rule--control--and the desire to set people free (freeing slaves). Does she want to continue the Targaryen dynasty, or does she want to break the wheel, because she can’t do both. Is she making her own fate, or does her blood control her fate? She doesn’t want to be a cruel man like her father, as she tells Yara in season 6, but if she rules, then she has to take responsibility for the good and the bad in the Targaryen dynasty. Which she tried to do in regards to Rhaegar last episode, but... well.

The show is setting up a choice for Dany, as Sam outlined in the first episode to Jon: the throne, or Jon (love). Her dream has just been rocked; her faith in herself, her belief that there was a greater destiny guiding her because of her bloodline. Because it wasn’t even true. She is not the rightful heir to the throne; Jon is. But Jon doesn’t even want the throne, though he would probably support her if she is pregnant and won the throne, so the issue with the reveal, for Dany, is not that Jon is now a rival: it’s that everything she fought for and believed in is not true.

Not only that, but she’s seen that the North desperately wants its freedom after being horribly treated by the Lannisters, the Starks abused and murdered cruelly. Dany, who has always supported freedom for people, is going to have to ask herself what that means for a kingdom.

And it’s telling Dany was there for Sansa and Theon’s reunion. Like with Dany and Jorah, Sansa forgave Theon a terrible crime. Dany listens to Jorah now as her unofficial advisor, but I’ll be shocked if Jorah survives the battle next episode (’I’ll see you later’ is basically fiction’s most obvious death flag) and find it likely she’s going to lose that too. After Jorah, the only one she really has is Jon (she and Tyrion don’t seem close on a personal level), and her dragons (for now...)

Like with Sansa, Dany’s entire life has been losing people she loves. Is the throne really worth it, if it means giving up the one person who matters most to her, who chose her not because of her crown but knelt to her crown because he loves her? With her faith in herself likely rocked and with the death flags for Jorah, she can either sink into grasping the throne at the cost of Jon, or she can grasp Jon and they can try to figure out how to swim together--without a throne weighing them down.

The reason I don’t see the Mad Queen option as likely is for a few reasons, but let’s discuss one: we already have a mad queen. Two would be... a bit much.

Cersei in the books and in the show perpetually fears being usurped by a younger, more beautiful queen. She at first thinks it’s Sansa, and then Margery, and now I’d say it’s clearly Daenerys. As such, Cersei has always been positioned as a foil not just for Sansa, but for Dany. She’s what Dany could become, if she chooses the throne and power over her loved ones. Because Cersei has always done precisely that. She couldn’t conceive of a life without power, and when Ned literally gave her the chance to escape with her life and her children, she refused, because she wanted power too.

Cersei’s desire for power really comes down to a matter of control; we even see it in how she loves her children. As Tyrion said, that’s her one redeeming quality, and yet, she desperately tries to maintain her power over her children.

Its root is, like Sansa and like Dany, Cersei had no choices growing up. As she tells Sansa during the Battle of Blackwater, she was raised to be sold to the highest bidder for her father’s power, whereas Jaime was given a sword.

When we were young, Jaime and I, we looked so much alike even our father couldn’t tell us apart. l could never understand why they treated us differently. Jaime was taught to fight with sword and lance and mace, and l was taught to smile and sing and please. He was heir to Casterly Rock, and l was sold to some stranger like a horse to be ridden whenever he desired

Because she has no control, now she compensates by being smothering. The conflict with Margery never had to happen but for the fact that Cersei hated that she would not be in control of her son’s choices anymore, and she’d given up on Tommen before he killed himself after she killed the woman he loved.

Cersei lost three children. Dany has three “children” in her dragons; honestly I’d be surprised if she doesn’t lose all of them by the end/if they aren’t the cost for love. Because Dany lost one of her children--Viserion--already not out of trying to keep dragons small and chained up (though she made that mistake at the same time Cersei did, but for far less petty reasons) --but by using them to do what dragons do: fly, and save the man she loves. As Tyrion warned her, going to save Jon north of the wall was a foolish decision especially if she wants the throne; Dany went anyways because when push comes to shove, she chooses love over power. There’s a pattern of just this in Dany’s arc whereas there is not in Cersei’s; I have no reason to think it would change.

For Dany and Jon... Jon clung to his principles and lost Ygritte last time, and Dany recently echoed Ygritte’s line about just staying out there forever, away from everyone. If they want to break the cycles that the wheel of power establishes in Westeros, and the cycles in their own lives, they need to choose to ditch that throne. That’s the ending I’m seeing built up for her now, especially given the foreshadowing about a human child between her and Jon last season, but we shall see.

#daenerys targaryen #sansa stark #Cersei Lannister #jonerys #jon snow #got meta #got #game of thrones #got theory

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geraltcirilla · 5 years

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I saw your post about Sansa smirking at the "commoners are dogs" joke and I couldn't believe it so I went back and rewatched the dragon pit scene and she really did that. Why do you think the D&D did that? This upsets me.

Sansa smiling at a joke at the expense of commoners really highlights how absolutely wrong that entire Dragon Pit scene is. It’s another example of D&D trying to insert humor into a scene where it’s just not appropriate, and at the expense of characterization.

Another example would be the “Gendry’s whinging” joke of 7x06 where Gendry was rightfully angry at being sold as a blood sacrifice and Sandor says he’s whinging, ad the audience is meant to laugh at Gendry’s expense. Now Sandor was in-character when he said that cruel and vile thing, but Gendry was not in character for 1. Complaining at all (he is the silent brooding type) and 2. Not absolutely destroying Sandor for going at him like that. And Beric and Thoros were out of character for laughing along at the joke and not at all being sympathetic to selling an innocent boy to be murdered by a witch for money, when they’re supposed to be two of the more morally superior characters of the story.

So back to the Dragon Pit scene, that “commoners are dogs” joke pisses me off more than anything. Not simply because in the context of Westeros you or I would be those commoners, not simply because it’s laughing at the concept of democracy, not simply because it was just so out of place and cringe-inducing, but because it incited a chain-reaction of inappropriate reactions that isolated us from characters we’ve loved for years.

Sansa - Actually smirked at the joke. Now I don’t think Sansa would have actually supported a democratic election but to laugh at that joke was totally out of character. She doesn’t think of commoners as dogs or lessers. And even if she did (she doesn’t) she’d never laugh at such a crass joke. Sansa has always been about courtesies and dignity. It’s totally rude and undignified to laugh not only at the expense of commoners but at the expense of Sam, who was right there to witness it.

Arya - Didn’t react at all. This is weird because Arya’s trademark is to shout out her opinions and drag authority if she sees an injustice being done. Arya is one of the few characters I believe WOULD be for a democratic election. The fact she didn’t jump to Sam’s defense, or at least insult her uncle is weird. Yes, Arya has learned to hold her tongue, but only in situations where keeping quiet would save her life. Arya is in a safe environment, if there was any place she could voice her opinion this would be the place.

Gendry - Didn’t react at all. Also out of character considering he WAS that “dog commoner” just 2 months ago (I’m guessing the timeline here). This is the same man who said “We’re not really people to you, are we? Just a million different ways to get what you want.” Gendry is supposed to be a Lord for the people, if he’s not what was the point of Lording him? Just to wrap up his plot? You could argue he didn’t want to rock the boat because he was recently Lorded and not comfortable voicing an opinion yet (which is a weak argument and speaks poorly of his character, implying he’s too scared to drag Edmure Tully), but the director (D&D) didn’t even bother showing his expression after the comment, not a frown or sigh or anything.

Yara - Audibly laughed, which is fucking WEIRD since the Iron Islands are one of the few kingdoms that actually do elections for the Salt King.

I hated the characterization for the Dragon Pit scene. Everyone acted like they didn’t want to be there and didn’t care who would be their King, didn’t care that Daenerys Targaryen was dead, didn’t care that Jon Snow was locked up, didn’t care that half a million people were slaughtered and King’s Landing is a pile of rubble… they just didn’t care about anything, at all. I could go on and on but, it was a bad scene in a bad episode for a bad season.

#got negativity #got wank #ask #anon #Anonymous

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tomakeitbeautifultolive · 5 years

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Saw your N+A=D meta on the internet and posts about it, first time hearing about it but i love it already! I am more of a R+A=D or R+L=D tbh, but i am sold on this one too!

OoOoOoohh, anon! Well, first - fucking thank you! Everyone ‘round here hates this theory with a burning passion lmfao. And I'll point you to mine and @ktwrites’ website here, where you can find a much more in-depth look at the theory.

But allow me to sway you away from Rhaegar and towards Ned.

First of all - Jon and Dany’s ages:

“No, Jon was not born ‘more than 1 year’ before Dany… probably closer to eight or nine months or thereabouts.”

This would make it physically impossible for Lyanna to have given birth to her, and likely Rhaegar. Of course, you could disregard the man, himself - but we’re going to go ahead and believe the author, here.

Now, curiously… exactly 8-9 months before Dany is born, we can place Ned at Starfall.

And, really, the crux of this theory is that someone who knew Dany’s parents from birth and watched them grow - does not compare her looks to either one, but instead, to Ashara, with whom she shares a rare eye color with. Daenerys has violet eyes. Rhaegar? Indigo.

Further, Dany’s mysterious memories involving lemon trees tie her childhood to Dorne, if we’re to take the context clues that Dorne is where lemons come from:

“Lemons. And where would we get lemons? Does this look like Dorne to you, you freckled fool?”

So, if you can accept then, that Ashara is Dany’s mother, and that Dany is 8-9 months younger than then you have to rule out Rhaegar. He was already dead.

Keep in mind that while Ashara had dark hair, the Daynes also possess more classically Valyrian looks. Gerold and Ned Dayne have pale blonde/silver hair and purple or blue/purple eyes. Also remember that unlike Robert Baratheon, Ned’s seed is not strong. All of his children look Tully, save for Arya.

There is no hint of any relationship whatsoever between Rhaegar and Ashara. Even Ned has thoughts that seem to confirm he was not the type to mess around:

“For the first time in years, he found himself remembering Rhaegar Targaryen. He wondered if Rhaegar had frequented brothels; somehow he thought not.”

Considering that Lyanna took to him so quickly, it’s safe to say he was rather different from her intended betrothed, Robert Baratheon. We have quotes to tell us that Rhaegar loved both of his wives.

And we have many, many quotes that suggest Ned and Ashara not only had physical encounters, but that they were in love. Rumors exist from Dorne to King’s Landing to the North of their affair. Catelyn mentioning Ashara Dayne to Ned made him more furious than she had ever seen him before. Why? She would’ve been the perfect scapegoat for Jon’s mother! And if she’s just a red herring for Jon’s mother, why do we get a mention of Ashara all the way over in Essos, well after most readers have already figured out who Jon’s real mother is?

There is simply no proof of Ashara having been with any man other than Ned, and several quotes from several different people popping up in several different storylines about Ned and Ashara. Yet no one believes it. Why?

I really, truly, deeply do understand this repulsion to any theory suggesting Daenerys might not be Targaryen… because I used to have it, too. But I have my own repulsion.

If Jon was rumored to be born of rape, but actually born of love - why shouldn’t Dany be?

And also:

If Jon has a secret identity and past, why does no one care about Dany’s mysterious lemon tree memories that don’t add up?

These two are mirrors of one another, are they not?

Ice and Fire. The Dragon and the Wolf.

Right now we’ve got Fire and Fire and two Dragons.

Also bear in mind that Jon seems so much like a Stark. And while he does have Stark blood, he’s a Targaryen. If he’s a Stark, then his 'siblings’ are fucking Tullys. I don’t make the rules!

Yet Dany seems so blatantly Targaryen, doesn’t she? I mean, it’s undeniable! She hatched dragons! She’s fireproof! The blood of the dragon!

And yet - no Targaryen for over a hundred years have managed to hatch one. Also, if Targaryens had to use magical rituals and blood sacrifice to hatch dragons, we’d have heard about it somewhere, right?

Jon, also a Targaryen, burns his hand in book/season 1. Aerion Targaryen drank wildfire and certainly did not live. Aegon V and Duncan Targaryen perished in flames.

Dany’s 'dragony’ temper is not unlike the 'wolf’s blood’ that possessed Brandon and Lyanna Stark.

“But it’s cruel to take Rhaella away from her!”

If Rhaella, with a very long history of fertility issues, is not actually her mother, then no, it’s not cruel. She’d also have a band of living siblings. True family.

Further, Daenerys skinchanged a horse! (And possibly, even Ghost, upon opening her third eye, the same way Bran could touch Ghost upon opening his).

“A daring she had never known filled Daenerys then, and she gave the filly her head.”

If the fallen direwolf represents Ned Stark - why then, does it have six pups?

Jon is not his child.

Why, when Jon proclaims Ghost must’ve wandered off, does Ned bother to correct him?

“He must have crawled away from the others,” Jon said.

“Or been driven away,” their father said, looking at the sixth pup. His fur was white, where the rest of the litter was grey. His eyes were as red as the blood of the ragged man who had died that morning.

It’s a white wolf. A bastard wolf. Jon is not actually a bastard! Ghost is a wolf that everyone already associates with Daenerys in some way. Jon even comments that Val (who looks an awful lot like Daenerys) looks as though she and Ghost belong together. Meanwhile, Daenerys possesses a black dragon… one that curiously got stabbed in ADWD… just like another black dragon up at the Wall.

In this theory, Dany and Jon both live because they switched lives. Robert would’ve killed Dany for looking suspiciously Targaryen, and Viserys would’ve killed Jon for being male.

Everyone complains that Ned is boring. Too honorable. If GRRM loves to write the human heart in conflict with itself, what could be better than giving up your own bastard because you made a promise to raise your sister’s child?

“He would do whatever was right,” he said … ringingly, to make up for his hesitation. “No matter what.”

“Then Lord Eddard is a man in ten thousand. Most of us are not so strong.”

Was Ned truly a man in ten thousand? Or might he have inadvertently dishonored the woman he loved for duty’s sake - squaring off with her brother at the Tower of Joy?

What is a better story, here: Two Targaryens coming together to claim their throne? Or a bastard girl with no claim to anything conquering the damned world because she believes in herself?

You tell me.

Cripples, bastards, and broken things.

But who’s the bastard?

Anyway, for anyone who bothered to read my nonsense and is interested at all, I’ll plug our website again. Thanks for the ask, anon!

#answered #dayne heiress #n+a=d #remove aerys from daenerys and you get ned!#lmfao @ my queue popping out dany and ghost fanart just as I post this

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stormbornspawn · 5 years

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Season 8 Game of Thrones predictions

These predictions are entirely my opinion. Would love to hear thoughts, but please be kind in the comments. Just because I don’t support a theory or storyline is not a reason to attack. Adult, civil discussion is always welcome. I am operating under the assumption that Friki’s information is legit and that Tyrion will be a part of some kind of betrayal.

Arya Stark - 90% survival rate - she fights until the end and will possibly help The Hound take out the Mountain - he is still on her list. The only way I can see her dying is in some kind of surprise attack, but she is supposedly present in the DP according to Friki’s info.

Sansa Stark - 80% survival rate - i don’t foresee her picking up a sword, but she will be instrumental in the battle of Winterfell in preparing the common folk, being ready to retreat with a certain signal, getting people out through the crypt tunnels, and exacting the retreat plans. Beyond her getting people out safely and retreating south - The Vale, maybe, I can see her being important in the politics of things and possibly uncovering information about Tyrion’s betrayal. The only way I can see her dying is if Cersei gets hold of her or she falls during the WF battle. Again - she is supposed to be present at the DP as well.

Bran - 90% survival rate - he will be instrumental in tracking the Night King’s movements and will be fiercely protected. He will also find out how to defeat the NK, whether that is how to forge Lightbringer (no Jon will not stab Dany), or something they have to do at the Altar of Winter, I don’t know. If he does fall, it will be as a sacrifice to the NK to save humanity - but he’s supposedly present at the DP.

Jon Snow (Aegon Targaryen) - 50/50 survival rate - he’ll be in the thick of things until the end, but may fall trying to save his family. I lean towards safe because he’s carrying huge plot armor having died once already. He’s legendary status whether he lives or dies. I am liking the theory of him giving himself up to Cersei and double crossing her with the Golden Company. She thinks she’s won, but they end up declaring for the Targs because they offer them back their lands and titles.

Daenerys Targaryen - 50/50 survival rate - she has baby plot armor and I really can’t see her dying in childbirth. What a horrible ending for her. It would be 100% bitter giving her a child and then she can never be a mother to him/her. Not okay and I really don’t see this happening as I believe that BoatSexBaby’s info is correct in that the baby is endgame. If she dies it will be post-birth by sacrificing herself to save the realm or to save Jon. There’s also a possibility that she is killed by someone she trusts or they attempt to kill her. She will also hold Legendary status whether alive or dead.

Jon/Dany relationship - there will be some initial tumult, but they will stay together and fight together no matter what because they promised each other and they are people who take their oaths seriously. I think the romance part will cool off some after the parent reveal as they stand in limbo with their relationship, but after the baby reveal, none of it will matter - they are the last Targaryens and it’s no coincidence that they found each other and fell in love - it’s a fate/destiny thing. I know the incest freaks some people out, but this is not a 2019 modern setting. It’s meant to be like a medieval society and those types of relationships were typical to retain lands and grow houses. So, if that bothers you - sorry, but it’s not going to matter in the long run. And if you really want to get technical, take a look into the British monarchy - loads and loads of incest and that’s real life, folks.

Tyrion Lannister - i believe Friki’s info to be true and with that assumption, Tyrion will 100% die. The only question is if Dany or Jon will pass the sentence. I think this is the big shock that is going to leave the fandom numb, shocked, and in need of therapy. If Dany passes the sentence, which I think she will, that will further divide the fandom especially those who already see Dany in a negative light. She’s my fave, but she’s not perfect. I welcome civil discussion o that point, but won’t tolerate blatant Dany hate (or any hate of a character really). I believe his betrayal will stem from the want to protect Cersei’s unborn child and he will set something in motion that rests on her having the baby - which we all know isn’t happening. It will blow up in his face. Some may think he was correct and the rest will think he deserves to die - this is what will fuck people up.

Jaime Lannister - 100% dead. He has to fulfill his redemption arc, so I think he will die saving either the Stark girls or Dany. Sorry.

Cersei Lannister - 100% dead - no question. It’s only how she dies that is a mystery. I like the theory that she kills herself with poison so that nobody can have the satisfaction of killing her. She’s going out on her own terms. She will fuck some shit up though. She will not go quietly into the night. :)

Mountain & Hound - dead

Brienne - 90% survival rate - she will mourn for Jaime, and no, I don’t think they will hook up - they might admit their feelings, but I don’t see that happening on screen - she will serve the Starks for the rest of her life. If she does die, it will be protecting Arya or Sansa

Gendry - 100% survival - restores House Baratheon through legitimization. Not sure if he and Arya will take things to the next level.

Pod - dead

Bronn - dead and likely complicit in Tyrion’s betrayal somehow

Davos - 100% survival rate - I will have it no other way. He’s supposedly present at the DP.

Qyburn - dead

Robin Arryn - 100% alive - present at DP and probably won’t see much more of him beyond a few scenes

Tormund - dead fighting the White Walkers

Beric - dead but not before resurrecting someone, maybe Dany or Arya - restitution for him selling Gendry to Mel

Melisandre - dead fighting the NK

Varys - dead - possibly part of the betrayal

Missandei - 100% lives - ride or die

Greyworm - 50/50 - alive because he’s a badass mother fucker; dead because it’s war and shit happens

Jorah - 100% dead - saving Dany or Jon

Ghost - 100% dead - don’t even talk to me

Rheagal - 100% dead - for real, say nothing

Drogon - 50/50 - I will lose my shit

Jon and Dany’s kid - 100% happening and surviving

I think the birth of the baby will happen concurrently with the trial. In essence, the rebirth of a great house and the death of another.

I think the iron throne will be gone and the it will be a parliamentary type government where each realm holds its autonomy but agree to certain inalienable conditions.

#game of thrones #daenerys targaryen #jon snow #jon x dany #jon x daenerys #season 8 #predictions

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