Tumgik
#i said it's possible we get a similar ending in the books but this doesn't mean i like it (I don't)
acourtofthought · 15 hours
Note
Chaol and Nehemia offering Aelin their weapons is one of the most heartwarming moments of the first book.
Azriel offering Elain his knife (which he has offered no one else in half a millennia, and which also became the cover photo of ACOWAR alongside an image of roses…) is similarly heartwarming.
So what exactly is the point of your post?
I also find it hilarious that you included a screenshot of this quote - the moment between Chaol and Aelin;
“Far inside of her, she found a golden chain that bound them together.”
That sounds like mate language, no? Similar to the “thread” between Elain and Lucien?
And yet Chaol and Aelin weren’t endgame. 🤷‍♀️
You forgot the part where Az only offered Elain TT because the female he canonically loved begged him with tears in her eyes to sit out of battle. You and I both know had he not agreed to doing what Mor asked he would have never given Elain TT.
I don't remember Chaol being in love with any other female during the scene where he offered his sword, do you? Or Chaol in the very next book going on to look at someone other than Celaena with heat and yearning? No, Chaol was loyal to her before they were together and during the time they were together.
You also forgot the part where Az never offered to give Elain any help though she was concerned about not knowing how to use TT versus Chaol who helped train Celaena. Chaol who laid on the ground next to Celaena during her Duel.
The scene with Celaena and Chaol was heartwarming, much more so than the scene with Elain and Az because of everything mentioned above. Chaol and Celaena were by far the superior ship to E/riel. In literally every way.
But you're right. Chaol and Aelin weren't endgame because she had a mate who was always going to be her destiny. My point was that Sarah has two series featuring two similar scenes where a possible male love interest offers a weapon to a female but that doesn't actually mean anything in terms of endgame. Sarah J Maas is a millionaire because of the Fated Mates stories she writes. It just doesn't hit quite as hard to become a rejected mates author so people claiming the TT scene means Az is Elain's forever? I'm going with no.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Despite Aelin initially wanting Dorian in book 1, despite her later calling Chaol her home and him thinking how 4 years (and not just one taste and that would be it like Az wanted with Elain) might not be enough, these men were not her endgame.
Again, my point is that it doesn't matter how special you think the moments for your ship are, mates are always going to fulfill something for these females that no other male love interest can.
The ACOTAR book had a wolf on the cover but it didn't hint at endgame for Feyre, what's your point?
And no, "chain" is not like mate language considering each Archeron's CONFIRMED bond is described as a thread and we know the golden chain connecting Celaena to Chaol was not a mating bond. You're doing my work for me.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Golden chain is pretty romantic though, maybe a nod to how they might have been right for one another in a different life where there was no such things as fae mating bonds. Much more romantic than "he hadn't gotten that far with his planning, certainly not beyond the fantasies he pleasured himself to".
You all get so fixated on your multiple books of buildup while forgetting that Sarah J Maas will take many beautiful moments between two characters and throw them out the window in favor of who she wants to be endgame.
Dorian and Chaol had way more moments with Celaena than Az has had with Elain but in the end, they didn't matter.
Like SJM said, it's not about "want" but is about who the FMC needs to be with in order to have the most growth.
"There is a darkness to the Dread Trove that Elain should not be exposed to".
Tumblr media
71 notes · View notes
hiraya-rawr · 1 year
Text
lover from another nation ~ hcs .
characters !! all the genshin men i could think of rn...
note !! it's been a while since i've written hcs for a lot! aaaah just some thoughts i had today (i had a few culture shocks here and there when i met up with new friends hahahah)
~ m o n d s t a d t ~
grabbing zhongli by the hand to dance and sing in the middle of the square because mondstadters live for the festivities! he quickly learns to freestyle dance along with you, moving with the crowd and cheers and wine. (remember that Tangled scene? yes)
kaveh wasn't sure how to react the day you ordered hard liquor on your first date. sure, your freedom and love for a good drink is one of the things which made him fall for you but wow– are you really gonna down that many glasses on a date? what do you mean you're still sober?
ayato finds himself in love with the way you sing. it doesn't follow the rules of inazuman opera at all; it's much more freeing (much like how his house help sings as he does chores) and you'd tell him stories and the history of your homeland in the form of songs. no mondstadter could ever forget the songs they grew up listening to!
heizou being almost appalled by your rather... robust and reckless nature. you don't have any backup plans whenever a situation goes south, you simply hold his hand, smile, and say "we go where the wind blows!"
~ l i y u e ~
diluc having chopsticks as part of your dining utensils because sometimes, you're more comfortable eating with it (let's not forget often having rice on the table! he must learn the joys of garlic rice with his steak <3)
dainsleif stays by your side as you offer incense and fruits to your ancestors. he whispers quiet prayers, bows when you do, and helps you clean their altars. he finds solace in the familial piety of liyuens– it makes him wish he could honor his ancestors with the same kind of peace as you do.
kazuha getting tongue tied over the language being so similar to inazuman but also so different– why are some of the characters the same? why are the meanings different? there's a bit of miscommunication in the start, but you both find your own ways to understand each other when words fail.
we all know gorou has always wanted to climb the mountains of liyue and you made it possible! meeting him by the docks and touring him around your home nation, you made sure to pick hiking routes with the most scenic spots, even managing to tour him around the jade palace and the floating lone island.
~ i n a z u m a ~
kaeya has no idea how you sit on the floor while being comfortable. you've made him sit with you once while reading a book, after that, his bones ached for days! shaking every time he stood back up!
albedo met you in the irodori festival- he painted you for practice and spark between you started. the long distance was difficult at first, but his long letters always had a little drawing of you and you'd send back the scent of cherry blossoms. klee would also send you letters, asking you to come visit soon!
childe loves a new fighting style; like most sword users in inazuma, you followed the raiden shogun's teachings– swift, efficient, and at one with the sword. he loves how you fight and it's often how you end your dates!
cyno was almost confident that you were playing a prank the day you said you'll make him your specialty and you showed him a platter of raw seafood. it's "sashimi and ngiri" you say, and he waited for you to explain the pun of your joke. it wasn't a joke.
~ s u m e r u ~
thoma is quite used to mondstadters and inazumans, two very different cultures, then he meets you and your sumeru upbringing! you show him how to cook foods that can be eaten with hands, and your menu is often so colorful he can't help but admire it!
itto doesn't really understand the study culture of sumeru, but he totally supports whatever it is you're talking about and tries to add in comments (his comments don't exactly make sense though...)
scaramouche, in his "path of redemption and healing", unwillingly gets involved with you as you show him around the beautiful parts of sumeru! you argue that he needs a different, better outfit with a color scheme that matches his vision. he insists that the hat stays. you tell him he looks like an aranara.
~ s n e z h n a y a ~
al haitham was almost concerned the day you got a heatstroke after being in the desert for no more than a few minutes. snezhnaya has prepared you for harsh weather, but never the heat. soon enough your lover is carrying around heatstroke-first aid packs just for you.
bundling up tighnari's fluffy ears before setting foot in snezhnaya because you just know the cold would practically freeze them off. his tail also gets wrapped and bundled warm in the large coats you wear, protection from the harsh snow. he says he looks like a big lummox.
note !! alright, choose your favorite dynamic! i personally think mondstadters with liyue/inazuma would be interesting maybe because i want to force feed them the joys of rice...
// if i misinterpreted a culture then umm... just know it wasn't intentional and let's consider it a real thing in teyvats culture 🫣😎
commissions || general m.list
taglist !! @absolut-wildflower @boundedbyfate @sadlonelybagel @eissaaaa @ladycoleigh @nejibot @milkypompon @bloodreaper08 @irethepotato @x-zho @roriver @mich-cola @mxsomn @ackrylik @nicebonescomrade @starforecasts @stygianoir @yuminako @eccedentesiast-sapphic @nebulaera @nuttytani @klutzkat @stygianoir14 @shizunxie @bluriie @aestellia @abyislan08
4K notes · View notes
neil-gaiman · 1 year
Note
Mr. Gaiman, I was wondering something. I would never accuse Sir Terry Pratchett of even unintentional plagiarism, perhaps down more to my perception of the man than anything concrete, but I was trying to figure out if there was perhaps a common source that may have inspired two works.
There was an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine that bore some very generalized similarities to the plot of Night Watch, in that a man is thrown back in time to a few days before an extremely important historical riot and ends up replacing one of the key figures in said riot, who died ignominiously beforehand. I have not finished the novel but some people who heard me point out the general similarities have remarked that there are further parallels. Perhaps there are, perhaps there aren't.
I was wondering whether you knew anything about the writing of Night Watch that might shed some light on this. Its publication postdates the premier of the episode by a few years but obviously I have no idea whether its composition did.
I don't have any reason to believe that you would know, other than having known Sir Terry, but I thought I'd ask. Best wishes!
Terry and I used to talk about what he was watching on TV all the time. If you'd found a relationship between an episode of Red Dwarf and a Terry book, I think that we could conclude that Terry had borrowed the idea. I don't ever remember him talking about any Star Treks other than the original series. But that doesn't mean anything. It's quite possible that Terry caught that DS9 episode or part of it and went "But they've missed the point! That's not the interesting bit!" and went off to write his own version. It certainly wouldn't have been the first time that Terry took his irritation with a piece of popular fiction and used it as the grain of sand in the oyster to build a pearl around.
Remember, though, Person Goes Back In Time and Finds That They Are Mistaken For Someone They Think Is Important is very much a standard trope in SF. I think the first time I encountered it was Michael Moorcock's Behold the Man. What's important about Night Watch is that Vimes is becoming the person who inspired Vimes, and that we get to see how the events of the Glorious 25th of May shaped the people we have known as adult, finished versions of themselves into those people.
As a general rule though, it's wisest to read the whole book before diving off after questions about the plot, otherwise you might look a bit silly if the book goes somewhere else.
2K notes · View notes
Text
Why Katara's Lines Come Off As Rejecting In EIP
Like I said in a previous EIP meta, this will be a doylist meta and an isolated look into the scene and the second half of book 3. So first things first, what are Katara's lines and body language?
Tumblr media
As soon as A\ang brings up the kiss, she turns away, and just says she doesn't know.
Tumblr media
When he asks her why doesn't she know, she seems slightly irritutated for a second, gives him a perfectly reasonable explanation, but doesn't hold eye contect for too long before drifting off.
Tumblr media
A\ang keeps pushing, so she puts an end to this. This time she stays faced to him to say she is confused, signifying she's more comftable now that his questioning has ended.
Tumblr media
Now it is clear as day that A\ang violated her boundries and she is pissed off.
Her lines and body language tell us two things I wish to break down:
Katara is very uncomftable talking about the possibility of a future romance and can't commit to an answer.
The reason she gives is that she is because she's confused.
2. Katara States That She is Confused
Let's try to take her at face value here. She's genuinely confused about her relationship with A\ang. Do you know what is the first role of storytelling? Show don't tell. If the writers wanted to show us that Katara trurly is confused, we should be seeing Katara grapple with that.
It wouldn't break the "Will They Won't They" tension, if anything, it'd amplify it. We can see this in action all the way back in season one, where Katara also is confused and considers if A\ang is a possible partner.
Tumblr media
So, is that what we see? Small moment/moments of Katara looking at A\ang, being confused and considering him as an option? No, we do not. Instead, what we get from Katara, is...
Tumblr media
We are told that Katara is confused, but what we're shown is Katara completely ignoring the source of her supposed confusion. What we're shown is not confusion, it's denial.
This is a sharp contrast to how well the writers made sure to remind us that Katara is still angry at Zuko over the course of these very episodes. From her threatening him when he first joins, to a mean spirited comment (at 0:21), there was a clear effort to keep up the tension, to make sure you know that Katara hasn't forgiven Zuko yet, until said tension is resolved. Meanwhile with Katara and A\ang what we see is the show, and by extension Katara, in denial to the whole event.
1. Katara is Uncomftable and Unable to Commit
If she is in denial and A\ang is making her face reality, would her behavior in the scene be compatible with that? Would she keep on avoiding the topic? Could her words register that way based on who she is? To know that, we could ask: does she have a history of shielding A\ang from reality?
Tumblr media Tumblr media
(If the scene was revealed to be her shielding him), this isn't to say that Katara would consciously shield him the way she does here, she could've genuinely thought she was confused. There would be many ways to interpret the scene. However, it is in character for her to want to keep the peace to protect him from being hurt. Therefore, her lines in EIP could easily register to be of a similar fashion.
The show continuously refused to show Katara being confused, showing us nothing but denial. When she is faced with the reality, she refuses to commit when having a history of trying to shield A\ang for as long as she can. And this is why Katara's lines in EIP come off as rejecting.
232 notes · View notes
Note
what's the one harry potter pairing u like that u mentioned in the tags of your hinny post?
Anonymous: Can I ask who that minor character you ship with Harry is? For some absurd reason my mind jumped to Stan Shunpike lol but it's probably not him.... Or is it?
Okay, so this is kind of a funny story. Like, my pipeline through hp pairings was a weird one. Like, I used to read a lot of Harry pairings, still do on occasion (some make more sense than others). None of them were ones I would point at and say: "that should've happened in the books"
One day, I was innocently writing a fic (canon divergence of GoF), and it was just for me, for funnsies, never posted it anywhere and not planning to. And I planned to pair Harry with someone there (honestly, I don't remember who because I didn't write the plan down) but when writing, Harry ended up with a different character. And it was so strange to me because that never happened.
Like, how do you write a ship accidentally?
But I did. I wrote Harry into a ship by accident. So I went back to the books to try and figure out why the hell would my subconscious decide that's the way to go.
I'll also preface it by all this being my subjective opinion and I do read other Harry ships in fics, this one just quickly became my favorite to write (and the only one I write). Also, I don't actually think this is a pairing that should've happened in the books, it's place is in fic and that's where I like it.
So, the character I accidentally shipped with Harry is... *drumroll*
Stan Shunpike!
Not really, it's:
Theodore Nott
Now, you might look at the name and go: "Who the fuck is that?"
And you'll be correct. Theo has 0 speaking lines in the entire book series. His name appears twice. He, himself, as a person, only appeared on page, like, 3 times in the background. The scene that gives the most information about him is other characters talking about him. He isn't even present.
That being said, I'm very good at extrapolating a lot of information from very little evidence. So allow me, to walk you through who is Theodore Nott and why I ship him with Harry.
Basic Information
So, let's start with the most basic overview before I pull out the quotes and go any deeper.
We know Theo is a Slytherin student in Harry's year. So he likely shares a dorm with Draco, Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle.
Theo's father is both at the graveyard at the end of GoF and in the Department of Mysteries at the end of OotP, so we know he is a Death Eater. We also know Thoe's father was one of the first and closest Death Eaters to Voldemort, who waited for him during his interview with Dumbledore in 1967:
“Then if I were to go to the Hog’s Head tonight, I would not find a group of them — Nott, Rosier, Mulciber, Dolohov — awaiting your return? Devoted friends indeed...”
(HBP, page 444)
We also know the Nott family is "as pure-blooded as the Malfoys" according to JKR in an interview. We also know Theo's great-grandfather (maybe? the family relation isn't clear), Cantankerus Nott, is suspected to be the one who wrote the Pure-Blood Dictionary, the book that coined the term "Sacred 28" and made that list (which the Nott family are on).
The name Nott is potentially to be derived from the name Nótt, which is the personification of the night in Norse Mythology. So it has been theorized the Nott family have a Nordic origin. Possible, but it doesn't really matter for this post.
What does, is that he comes from a dark, Death Eater, blood-purist family similar to the Malfoys. Even so, Theo never took the Dark Mark and never joined Voldemort in the books.
Now, that we have the basic information out of the way, let's look at Theodore as a person.
All the details I could gather from the books
Alright, now we get to the fun part. That is, me going through all the relevant scenes that mention Theodore Nott and actually creating a character psychoanalysis out of basically nothing.
So, the quotes aren't organized in a particular order. I'm just going to explain Theo and then explain why all this makes me ship him with Harry.
“Well, I pity Slughorn’s taste. Maybe he’s going a bit senile. Shame, my father always said he was a good wizard in his day. My father used to be a bit of a favorite of his. Slughorn probably hasn’t heard I’m on the train, or —” “I wouldn’t bank on an invitation,” said Zabini. “He asked me about Nott’s father when I first arrived. They used to be old friends, apparently, but when he heard he’d been caught at the Ministry he didn’t look happy, and Nott didn’t get an invitation, did he? I don’t think Slughorn’s interested in Death Eaters.” Malfoy looked angry, but forced out a singularly humorless laugh.
(HBP, page 150)
This is a part of the conversation between Draco, Pansy, and Blaise, Harry overhears when he is hiding in their compartment at the beginning of HBP. I have a few things to note regarding this scene.
Firstly, throughout this conversation, Pansy, Blaise, and Draco all call each other by their first name. This shows closeness, they are all friendly and familiar enough to use their first names with each other. Theo, though, is referred to as "Nott" by all three in the compartment.
He doesn't actually sit in their compartment which is in itself a sign about how he isn't really friendly with Draco's group. Considering the group is most of his year from his house, Theo is likely very lonely, and it will be apparent from other scenes I bring up later.
Secondly, Theo's father is in Azkaban. We know Draco is bothered about his own father's predicament. He mentions it to Harry and bothers him over it, Theo doesn't though. Theo doesn't seem to be bothered by Harry or his father's incarceration.
The only conclusion I can draw from this is that the relationship between Theo and his father is not a good one.
(I know some fics like to have Lucius be abusive towards Draco, for some reason. But the books really don't back this up. Lucius loves Draco and Draco adores his father)
Theo, though, Theo seems to be the one with a very strained relationship with his father. Strained enough that he isn't bothered the man is in Azkaban. What I'm saying is that Theo's father likely abuses or mistreats him in some capacity.
If anything more was needed to complete Harry’s happiness, it was Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle’s reactions. He saw them with their heads together later that afternoon in the library, together with a weedy-looking boy Hermione whispered was called Theodore Nott. They looked around at Harry as he browsed the shelves for the book he needed on Partial Vanishment, and Goyle cracked his knuckles threateningly and Malfoy whispered something undoubtedly malevolent to Crabbe. Harry knew perfectly well why they were acting like this: He had named all of their fathers as Death Eaters
(OotP, page 583)
This is a scene at the end of OotP after Draco, Crabbe, Goyle and Theo's fathers were caught at the ministry and sent to Azkaban because they are Death Eaters. There are a few important notes about this scene.
The first, Hermione knows Theo, while Harry and Ron don't really. This means she likely knows him from the classes she takes and Harry and Ron don't — Arithmancy and/or Ancient Runes.
The second, he is sitting with other Death Eater children, but I don't think it's by choice. I mentioned in the previous quote how he isn't close to Draco and his crew. He sits with them here mostly because he doesn't have another choice. Theo doesn't seem to really have any friends, so he sits with the closest people he has to friends — kids he has known since he was young because their fathers were in the same circle.
The other note about this is that Crabbe, Goyle, and Draco are all mentioned as being threatening and malicious towards Harry because they don't like that their fathers are in Azkaban. Theo, though, Theo doesn't threaten Harry, he isn't part of their whisperings. As I mentioned above, he's likely happy his father is in Azkaban.
A pair of blank, white, shining eyes were growing larger through the gloom and a moment later the dragonish face, neck, and then skeletal body of a great, black, winged horse emerged from the darkness. It looked around at the class for a few seconds, swishing its long black tail, then bowed its head and began to tear flesh from the dead cow with its pointed fangs. A great wave of relief broke over Harry. Here at last was proof that he had not imagined these creatures, that they were real: Hagrid knew about them too. He looked eagerly at Ron, but Ron was still staring around into the trees and after a few seconds he whispered, “Why doesn’t Hagrid call again?” Most of the rest of the class were wearing expressions as confused and nervously expectant as Ron’s and were still gazing everywhere but at the horse standing feet from them. There were only two other people who seemed to be able to see them: a stringy Slytherin boy standing just behind Goyle was watching the horse eating with an expression of great distaste on his face, and Neville, whose eyes were following the swishing progress of the long black tail.
(OotP, page 445)
“The only people who can see thestrals,” she said, “are people who have seen death.”
(OotP, page 446)
The stringy Slytherin boy mentioned here is Theo. This scene proves that:
He takes Care of Magical Creatures
He saw someone die
Let's explore the second one for a moment. The fact Theo can see Thestrals means he watched someone die and was old enough to comprehend what he was seeing. We also know Theo's mother is dead. So it's likely the person he watched die was his mother.
I also want to draw attention to Theo's distaste towards Thestrals. He could likely see them carrying the carriages every year since 2nd year, it's not his first time seeing them. But it doesn't stop his displeasure with their sight from showing. Which says something about him. It means he likely recalls his mother and her death whenever he looks at the Thestrals. and these are memories Theo rather not experience.
We don't know how his mother died, but I'd hazard a guess it wasn't natural. After all, wizards have long life spans, they are more durable to illness and injury, and don't usually die from accidents unless very extreme or magical. And there was no epidemic of dragonpox (a disease that does tend to kill wizards) in the time since 1980 and the books. So, she was more likely killed at some point between 1985(ish) and 1991.
“No, I don’t think so, sir. I’m Muggle-born, you see.” Harry saw Malfoy lean close to Nott and whisper something; both of them sniggered, but Slughorn showed no dismay; on the contrary, he beamed and looked from Hermione to Harry, who was sitting next to her.
(HBP, pages 185-186)
First, Theo is an O student in potions since he is in the potions NEWT class, and was probably meant to be there even if Snape was the teacher.
Second, again, Theo doesn't really have friends. He sits next to Draco as the only other Slytherin in the class. Also, they share the circumstances of being sons of Death Eaters currently in Azkaban. Although both of them seem to deal with it quite differently.
Third, Theo joins Draco in making fun of Hermione's blood status, but he does not initiate it. Considering the environment he was raised in and is in, it makes sense he would make fun of it. Whether he's a blood-purist or not, he would want to keep his image considering he doesn't have many allies. Hanging out with Draco is survival, not friendship. They aren't even on a first-name basis with each other.
“Amortentia doesn’t really create love, of course. It is impossible to manufacture or imitate love. No, this will simply cause a powerful infatuation or obsession. It is probably the most dangerous and powerful potion in this room — oh yes,” he said, nodding gravely at Malfoy and Nott, both of whom were smirking skeptically. “When you have seen as much of life as I have, you will not underestimate the power of obsessive love. . . .
(HBP, page 186)
The final quote I have about Theo is from the same potions class as above. Both he and Draco are portrayed here as underestimating amortentia and its potential damage. It makes sense for their upbringing in the Wizarding World, which has no real laws or regulations regarding love potions that are seen as harmless fun more often than not.
I'll add Theo likely didn't witness a healthy romantic relationship. Considering his father is a Death Eater who is likely abusive and may or may not have killed his mother. With this as his reference to a marriage, it's clear why he'd look down on love and love potions.
Why I think Theo and Harry have potential
Okay, so now that we know who Theodore Nott is, let's talk about why I ship him with Harry.
I think Harry, in general, would get along best with a clever partner with the ability to be ruthless (Slytherins or Ron fall into this category). Because Harry isn't some golden savior; he casts unforgivables, and is very willing to poison Umbridge or Crocio Snape if he could get away with it. He needs a partner that won't be horrified by these thoughts.
Also, Theo literally never speaks on page. Even when spoken to, his reactions are silent. I think this quiet and no need to talk, the ability to be comfortable in silence, is something that would be comfortable for Harry. Harry in the books finds himself annoyed with Ron and Hermione's constant banter on occasion, so I think it fits well.
Theo would also be comfortable around Harry without a need to play a certain part. Because Harry wouldn't care about that. He would honestly rather Theo forgo the pure-blood Slytherin act.
I feel like Harry and Theo, have a good potential to understand each other. Theo lost his mother and likely experiences abuse from his father. It makes them very likely to trauma bond over their crap life and shared experience. Two out of three only ones who could see the Thestrals in the entire class.
The other thing I feel they could connect over is being lonely. Harry spent all his childhood until Hogwarts basically being on his own. Theo stayed on his own. Draco at least has his parents, he has other students he's closer to, not that he shares everything with them, but he has some support network. Theo has none. And this is something Harry knows well.
Theo, I think, wouldn't expect anything specific from Harry. He doesn't even interact with him, not to mock him, and not to idolize him, he doesn't care at all. And we know how much Harry appreciates being thought of as Harry and not as the Boy-Who-Lived. Theo would allow Harry to be himself without some mold he wants him to fit in.
The fact Theo never becomes a Death Eater, even though he was in Draco's year and his father was a Death Eater before Lucius (and in better standing than Lucius with Voldemort) is so interesting. It's somewhat surprising Theo wasn't marked. It means he didn't want to be. It means that Theo Nott didn't want to torture and kill muggleborns or blood traitors, or anyone really. And he didn't want to swear his allegiance to Voldemort. This is just a fascinating fact to me and something I enjoy considering. What life experience made him come to that conclusion? Was it just his dislike of his father that pushed him away? Could he have been another Sirius Black (Gryffindor in a Slytherin family) under slightly different circumstances? I mean, Voldemort likely wouldn't force him to become a Death Eater, but would his father? I don't know what at all went down there, but I like that potential story.
We also know he wasn't part of Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad, even though some minor Slytherins were mentioned to be part of it. He just seems to be an actually decent guy (I don't care what Cursed Child says about him, I know he's there but I avoided almost anything to do with Cursed Child so I barely know the plot).
Finally, this is a character Harry doesn't have as much drama to get over with. Yes, sometimes I want to read overcoming drama between characters before it becomes a romance, but sometimes I want something chiller than that. And Theo is a really chill, safe, Slytherin option for Harry.
75 notes · View notes
thegreymoon · 1 month
Text
Mo Ran is so gay it isn't even funny.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Now, this is just my opinion and I realise other people have their own interpretations, but this whole episode is super telling to me of just how unreliable his narration is about having tons and tons of sex with people of both genders in his previous lifetime. He's just so... oblivious. None of this reads as a man with a lot of previous experience with many different people. He did not pick up on her flirting with him at all. Sure, he did have a lot of insane sex in his past life, but as the book unfolds, it becomes very clear that most of that sex was with Chu Wanning. At best, there were only a handful of other people he was involved with, and one was a prostitute he was paying, while the other was his wife whose relationship with him was also transactional.
I know people argue that he is bisexual because he married Song Qiutong, but when we actually get her POV on their marriage, it turns out that they had unenjoyable sex only a handful of times, at least one of which was him taking her from behind and very much imagining that it was Chu Wanning in her place. There are plenty of gay men who end up married to straight women (and vice versa) for whatever reasons and none of this makes them any less gay. He also identifies as a 'cut-sleeve' himself at one point, so he doesn't seem at all confused about his sexual attraction to men. Later on, when we finally get his unaltered POV on his life in the brothel, it comes out that he considered the girls there as sisters at best, never as sexual partners. The only other named sexual partner is Rong Jiu, who is male, and I can buy that there were possibly other people who looked like Shi Mei that he was with under the influence of the cursed love spell, but there was never any real attraction there, which is why some argue that he is attracted only to Chu Wanning and would still be attracted to him regardless of gender.
But I think that this is also not true. He definitely was obsessed with Chu Wanning from an early age, which makes it hard to see what his preferences would have been if Chu Wanning wasn't in the picture, but that chapter when he finally realises his feelings also reveals that he does have a type, which he never dared to think about before because he thought he was unworthy of having a choice. However, Chu Wanning fits this type to a tee, so it's easy to run away with the idea that he is shizunsexual and that Mo Ran's attraction begins and ends with him.
With that said, we do get confirmation later on that he does find other men attractive, in particular, Jiang Xi. It's just that he never has the space or the inclination to do anything about it because of his preoccupation with Chu Wanning. In the extras, when Mo Ran misunderstands Xue Men's relationship with Jiang Xi and thinks they are having a love affair, in his unfiltered Taxian-jun state, he is full of approval because he personally finds these powerful, beautiful, prickly, emotionally unavailable older men to be the height of attractiveness. If Chu Wanning hadn't been in the picture, Mo Ran would have definitely been attracted to Jiang Xi or someone similar. Even Ye Wangxi, whom he also fixates on, fits this type (except for the older man bit because I understood her to be only a few years older than Mo Ran). The fact that she turns out to be a woman also cannot be used as an argument for Mo Ran's bisexuality because she very much presents as a man throughout the book (but whether or not she actually identifies as one is debatable).
In short, Mo Ran does have a type of man he is attracted to and it is definitely men that he likes, regardless of his few dubious and very unsatisfying dalliances with women. While Chu Wanning definitely fits this type of ideal man, there are other men out there whom Mo Ran finds attractive too, it's just that he is too unhinged about Chu Wanning to actually do anything about it. Also, I very much doubt that Mo Ran was nearly as promiscuous as he makes himself out to be because he reads as very oblivious when it comes to sexual relationships in general. Even with Chu Wanning, who was right there and about to pass away from sheer horniness that he couldn't even begin to disguise, Mo Ran was still going, "Shizun is so pure and virtuous!" 🙄
(I'm not going to get into the whole Shi Mei situation and how badly he misread him every step of the way too, but that is because his brain was so badly mangled by him that he really stood no chance on that front until it was entirely too late.)
82 notes · View notes
thevelaryons · 6 months
Note
Wait, what do you mean Laenor and Addam are "possibly implied to have the same sexuality"?
So this idea is based off GRRM's tendency to repeat/recycle certain themes for characters from the same family. Seriously, just look at any Westerosi family we get extensive details about and you'll see that GRRM employs this writing method quite often.
As I was saying in this post, Corlys' children are juxtaposed against each other: Addam to Laenor and Alyn to Laena. Fire & Blood makes it evident enough that Laenor is a gay man and with how he shares other parallels with Addam, the nature of their sexuality might be something they also have in common. Now obviously take this with a grain of salt because Fire & Blood tends to be ambiguous in how it presents information. I know there are people in fandom who consider Laenor to be bisexual though I personally (as a bisexual person) don't see it. I've always interpreted him as a gay man. We're given plenty of relevant information concerning Laenor's relationships to other men to reach this conclusion (he's described as preferring the company of exclusively men over women and the overall depiction of his relationships with Joffrey & Qarl all emphasize his homosexuality).
As for Addam, the text does present his "interactions" (using that term loosely) with other male characters in a certain light that leaves room for interpretation.
This moment with Benji having Addam's body taken to Raventree Hall (instead of returning him to Driftmark 😒):
At moonrise the riverlords abandoned the field to the carrion crows, fading back into the hills. One of them, the boy Ben Blackwood, carried with him the broken body of Ser Addam Velaryon, found dead beside his dragon. His bones would rest at Raventree Hall for eight years.
mirrors a similar moment with Loras & Renly, a gay couple:
“I buried him with mine own hands, in a place he showed me once when I was a squire at Storm’s End. No one shall ever find him there to disturb his rest.”
And it's not until 8 years after Addam's death that Benji actually returns his body back to Alyn who seems to have discovered the whereabouts of his brother's body at last. Now I doubt Benji just forgot he was keeping Addam's body back home. At the end of the war, he spent some time around Corlys, years later he and Alyn were together in the Vale, and even after that, they went on their road trip to King's Landing together. But it's not until some more years have passed that Benji finally returns Addam's body to his family. I just find his behaviour suspicious tbh. How do you forget you're keeping someone's dead body at home when you're spending considerable time around that person's family members?? All those chances Benji had to mention that Addam's body is with house Blackwood and he doesn't say anything until 8 years later when Alyn seems to have found out this information and gotten his brother's bones back. Putting aside my personal fave headcanon of Addam actually surviving Tumbleton and residing at the Isle of Faces for those 8 years, Benji's behaviour presents a parallel to that of Loras who buried his lover, Renly, and refused to divulge that information to anyone.
Then there is also the "mating dance" of Addam's dragon Seasmoke with Tessarion, ridden by another male, Daeron Targaryen:
One such said afterward that the flight of Tessarion and Seasmoke seemed more mating dance than battle. Perhaps it was.
Also this passage:
Who can know the heart of a dragon? Was it simple bloodlust that drove the Blue Queen to attack? Did the she-dragon come to help one of the combatants? If so, which? Some will claim that the bond between a dragon and dragonrider runs so deep that the beast shares his master’s loves and hates. But who was the ally here, and who the enemy? Does a riderless dragon know friend from foe?
The books do emphasize the close ties dragonriders have to their dragons (eg. when a dragonrider is hurt their dragon expresses the pain). Even such things as dragons mating with other dragons is only presented in 2 other instances:
Silverwing and Vermithor oft coiled about one another in the fields south of Tumbleton.
Rhaenyra’s dragon Syrax laid several clutches of eggs, doubtless the result of matings with Caraxes.
In all of these instances, the dragons are bonded to riders who are linked together (whether platonic or romantic): Jaehaerys & Alysanne were a married couple, Hugh & Ulf are also presented as a united front every step of the way in the books, Daemon & Rhaenyra are another married couple. So going off that pattern, Addam & Daeron's dragons having a mating dance would suggest a link between them too, either as allies or lovers. Since Addam torched Daeron's entire camp, I very much doubt they were allies. Though the lovers angle doesn't really work in this scenario either. The more likelier interpretation would be that of ex-lovers who knew each other before the war, hence the quote about the dragon sharing the rider's loves and hates.
Going back to my above linked post which you were inquiring about, Addam & Laenor having the same sexuality and yet being different in how they approach their positions as Corlys' heirs does present an interesting dichotomy. Because Laenor, due to his sexuality, does not fulfill the expected duty required of someone in his position (which btw I don't hold against him; I think Laenor exerting autonomy over his own life despite the closeted society he lived in is a great character detail). Meanwhile, Addam is described as "duty bound", so in this interpretation of him being attracted to men, despite his sexuality, he would be someone who always puts family expectations over his own wishes. That would primarily be due to his background as an illegitimate child but it does serve to contrast him once again with Laenor who grew up as his father's trueborn son.
104 notes · View notes
shawol-lisa-lee9 · 24 days
Text
TSC has been in my greedy hands for almost 48 hours now, and I managed to read it two and a half times already.
So many things to say about it, so little words I have to be able to do that. So, first of all
1) "Neil is such an unreliable narrator" not true, but can we talk about how Jean is just as much as "unreliable", but in a very different way? In the first three books we had a boy who cared so little about anything that wasn't exy (or Andrew) that he just didn't know/notice/cared enough to even acknowledge important things. In TSC we have a boy who knows SO LITTLE about anything in the World after being isolated for such a long time, that he sees everything through a distorted lens, and even when facts are right in front of him he just doesn't get it. They are not unreliable, they were forcefully taught to focus on things different than the whole picture.
2) Jean to me is so much a mixture of kevandreil it hurts me. He went through so much and yet gained so little it hurts. He has the same desperate will to live as Neil, the same "do what you want to me but keep X out of this" as Andrew (+ a lot of traumas), he has so many mental issues only Kevin can understand and a similar attitude. This not to say he's not "original", he's a very different person from the original trio, but he just... Has all of it. He combines other's main visible issues in one single person and it just hurts to see how much he's hurting but still wants and needs to carry on.
3) Neil X Jean scene at the end hits too hard on my heart. I do not presume to know exactly what my Goddess Nora was attempting to do with that, but my mind has found multiple possibilities on why Neil did what he did, and after all the times I read AFTG (which now amount to at least 35 rereads in a span of 3 years) only one has managed to grab my heart and never leave it. So, the main ones:
- As Jean thinks, Neil took care of Grayson because he is valuable in Ichirou's eyes, so Neil felt the need to protect Jean.
- Neil is aware of what Jean went through and is human enough to care for him, now that he knows he's not just a dick, and is willing to make sure Jean feels safe.
- Neil, being the person he is and having seen what Drake did to Andrew's mind, is not going to let Grayson do the same to anyone, especially someone he knows. As someone said here on Tumblr, "Neil is not gonna let a rapist alive if he can".
As I've come to understand the characters, for the first one, not even Neil is that cold that would just care about a person if they are valuable enough to him. In the second hypothesis, Neil is not the type of guy to just care that much about someone outside the foxes lot, but it's still a realistic idea, considering what Jean did for him in TRK. Third scenario, the most realistic and authentic one to me, he's not willing to let anyone get away with forcing themselves on another, even less if it's someone he knows and can do something about it. Which is also the reason why I'm obsessed with this scene and I would pay gold to see it in Neil's pov even when I know it's not possible.
4) Last point for this useless rant, CAN WE TALK ABOUT WYMACK? I swear to god that man is my absolute nightmare (in a good way), I just can't get over how much of a saint he is with those idiotic children he cares for + Jean. I just love him so much. He is rude and raw and can't be truly nice to save his life, but he cares, he cares about them with all his soul and he's not going to leave them alone when they need a helping hand the most.
I kind of wish coach Rhemann was like him, but at the same time I don't because a) if he was he would probably be at PSU, and b) I want him to be a completely different kind of dad to his boys and girls. (but I'm still going to cry on all of his scenes because that man is just too much for me (and for Jean), understanding but not pushing, being respectful of boundaries and "This was the belligerent stare of a man who’d haul Lucas out of there by force if Jean indicated he didn’t want to be alone with him.". )
So, yeah. I'm probably going to read it a third time tonight.
43 notes · View notes
markantonys · 23 days
Note
I came across a Twitter thread that said the set up for the docks when it comes to the Warder bond between Lan and Moiraine was handled much better in the books cause in the show they feel like the mechanics of the Warder bond was too vague/not explained well in the show that they weren't able to connect with Moiraine and Lan's emotional conflict in s2 because of it. And I am a bit confused cause honestly I don't think the books explain how the Warder bond works at all from what I remember. Just making a lot of wild claims about how everything about the books are better and how the show is fumbling when they haven't even read half the series yet (show first to book reader). Just this trend to shit talk every choice the show makes when you don't even know the full complete story is wild to me
haters: the show hasn't done enough to explain how the bond works
all the screentime across 2 seasons the show has dedicated to showing how the bond works which the haters kept complaining was a waste of time better spent on rand having swordfights:
Tumblr media
like literally what do they want lmao some people will never be satisfied!
but the mention of the "mechanics" of the bond is interesting to me because i think we may be hitting upon 2 different types of viewers here: the minority of lore enthusiasts who need to understand every single detail about how things work or else they will be upset and lose immersion, and the majority of audiences who are content with a general understanding of how things work and don't get hung up on details, or will at most go "hmmm i'm not sure if this makes sense, but it's a cool story beat so i'm happy to shrug and move on".
the former category were going "but what weaves is moiraine doing now? did they actually unbond and now she's remaking it from scratch? i thought the bond was only masked? this is such a plothole, it doesn't make sense, i can't concentrate on anything else about the scene" during the 2x08 moiraine & lan beach scene, and the latter category were thinking "what a beautiful and emotionally satisfying moment of seeing them come back together!" and that's it. and probably similar for the rest of the season. if somebody felt unable to connect with the emotional aspects of that storyline, i would bet it's because they felt too unclear about the mechanics of the state of the bond and couldn't let go of that confusion enough to sink into the emotional aspects. (which is really more of a personal thing; my show-only mom was definitely keyed into the emotional aspects of this storyline and didn't get bothered about some mechanics being left vague. in fact, i think she would've just gotten confused if they'd tried to explain the mechanics in more detail djkfjg bless her.)
undeniably, the show does not explain magic mechanics in as much depth as the books do. but that is because it's banking on the very fair assumption that the majority of audiences don't need to have this level of detail in order to enjoy and understand the story (and may get more confused than they need to be if they ARE given this level of detail). i'll admit that s2 was a bit muddled on What Exactly Is Going On with moiraine and lan's bond, and i found myself a bit confused by the mechanics at times, but that never impeded my appreciation or understanding of the emotional aspects of the storyline because i'm someone who is happy to shrug and move on if the mechanics of how something is functioning in a fantasy story aren't making total sense to me.
also, moiraine & lan at the docks won't happen until the end of s3 and it's very very possible we might learn even more about bond mechanics earlier in s3 via elayne and birgitte (who will be good candidates for explaining some New Bond Basics that it wouldn't make sense for moiraine and lan to talk about since they've had theirs for 20 years), so like..........maybe they should just Watch And Find Out.
it's also very interesting that this is coming from someone in the show-to-book pipeline because i honestly would not be surprised if a lot of their base knowledge for how warder bonds works was absorbed..........from the show. and they just don't realize it. granted, if they started with new spring it might be different because i'm assuming new spring goes into a lot of depth about how warder bonds work (though i don't know for sure, i haven't read it). but if they only read EOTW-TFOH, they sure as shit are not gonna have gotten much info about bonds *from the books* because we barely spend any time with characters who are part of a bond during those books. we get, what, maybe a couple chapters total of moiraine or lan pov and then start diving into it a tiny bit more in TFOH with elayne and birgitte, but it's really not that much from what i can remember - and i can't remember very well, because i went into the books already having a very solid understanding of the concept of the bond thanks to all the work s1 put into showing it. i do not remember learning anything significant about the bond in the first 5 books that i didn't already know from s1.
it's also so strange to me in general to see people start with the show, then go to the books, and then start hating on the show because as a show-to-book pipeline person myself, all going to the books did was make me go "wow thank fuck for the show, it will fix X, it will fix Y, it's already fixed Z" basically constantly. it made me 10000x more grateful for and appreciative of the show and the way it's choosing to tell the story!
42 notes · View notes
verycharismaticdragon · 6 months
Note
Do you know why everyone and their mother keeps saying that Sheb Qingqiu's secluded cultivation lasts for a year or 3??? Last I checked, wasn't he only in the cave for several months??
...I haven't seen a fic use that timeframe in quite a while - am I the delusional one??
Having intensively cultivated for several months, he could freely control his spiritual energy and had risen one level above his original cultivation base.
... nope, still as I remembered from the official book, page 85 in my copy. Even my old Exiled Rebels translation puts it as, "several months." Last I checked, 12 (or 36) months is far too many to simply be considered "several", so what am I missing? It just- throws off the timeline so badly and greatly increases the amount of time poor Binghe is stuck in the woodshed, for what?
Okay, so the 3 years thing comes from the donghua, no need to look further. It's one of those things that directly go against canon but have stuck in people's minds, similar to 'the washerwoman was the one to pull baby Binghe out of the river' and 'Shen Qingqiu fainted dramatically several times early on in his transmigration'.
Then, I don't believe I have seen 1 year myself, but if I had to guess, it may come from the fact that Binghe is 14yo prior to SQQ entering seclusion and 15 once he leaves. That said, an entire year makes zero sense considering what we know of the timeline.
Which is where I confess that I tore out some hair over the length of SQQ's seclusion when constructing the timeline for Transmigrator Time Traveler, because for me 'several' months means 3 to 5, but given all the facts, SQQ's seclusion had to last somewhere between 6 and 10 instead. (I went with 9 in the end, for the fic, cause I've read that 9 is a significant number for spiritual practices cultivation is based on? the source was a little vague so i don't know how true that is, but I needed a number.)
Nevermind, to the aforementioned facts. MXTX confirmed the date of the first chapter publication - Sept.21 - to be the date of SQQ's transmigration. (Small note: I'll be using modern months, even though SV's world uses lunar calendar, because it's easier to gauge weather and stuff. For characters in the novel, they might see those as different months/seasons, but that doesn't really affect our purpose here.) Luo Binghe’s 15th birthday - which Shen Qingqiu missed in seclusion - is in winter ('coldest day' which I after some research came to hc as jan6, though that's not particularly relevant, because...) Demon invasion happened on a 'hot day' (SQQ mentions it in relation to how SHL is dressed) - which puts it in May at the earliest, August at the latest. So these are the 'borders' we are working with.
Now, to my actual calculations. We know SQQ spent some time on the Peak after transmigration, before the Skinner mission that led to him going to seclusion. So I'm gonna say that happened in October at the earliest, December if you stretch it (though I feel like his tatas would freeze off if the Skinner left him half-undressed in December...) - but definitely not later, cause Binghe’s birthday has to happen off-screen. So if we take the longest possible time frame, October to August, we get 10 months. The slimmest possible window - December to May - gives us 5 months, but between the aforementioned boob hypothermia issue and the fact that May is a bit of a stretch for the 'hot day', I think that 6 months is the shortest you can go.
Which, again, doesn't align with my understanding of what should be described as 'several' months, but what can you do... tbh, im not sure MXTX thought all that hard about the timeline, which is understandable as a writer - but as a fan, frustrating
So yeah - definitely less than a year (and absolutely not 3, donghua), though the math gets fuzzier after that.
59 notes · View notes
Text
On Euron and Daenerys
Something I don't think I'll ever get over is the absolutely devastating effect Game of Thrones had on how Euron Greyjoy is perceived by the fandom. In the show, because they were allergic to magic for some reason, they totally took away the supernatural elements from Euron. This left them with a villain with no motivation so they created the dumb fucking man we got in the show. A man who wants power and is apparently planning on marrying a queen to get it, end of story.
People for some reason decide to project Euron's characterization from the show onto his books counterpart. In the books, Euron wants to bring about the apocalypse, that's his goal, that's why he's collecting Valyrian artifacts, why he wants a dragon, and why he wants control of the iron fleet. And yet, people believe that Euron will end the books in much the same position as the show, except this time he'll be allied with and possibly even married to Daenerys. This makes no sense for both characters.
First of all, Dany would never marry Euron. Ever. He's a psychopathic misogynist who wants to destroy everything she holds dear. Even by Dany anti standards this doesn't make sense, after all, how can their "mad queen" become the supreme tyrant of Westeros if Westeros is gone? Also Euron has very little political power in the grand scheme of Westeros, sure the iron fleet is powerful, but a marriage alliance with the ironborn is far from the most advantageous match. Dany marrying Euron makes no sense for her character, even the extremely wrong interpretation of Dany antis.
It also makes no sense for Euron's character. Yes, he sent Victarion to try to broker a marriage pact, but this is influenced by a fundamental misunderstanding of who Dany is. Both Victarion and Euron are operating with the misogynistic idea that Dany could be easily controlled by a man. Euron has a history of sexually exploiting people for his gain, Falia Flowers for example. Dany has been around men who employ similar methods before, she wouldn't fall for any of his tricks and could easily get rid of him. So, once Euron actually knows about Dany as a person rather than a far off legend, he would know that killing her is his only option. Therefore, he wouldn't bother pursuing a marriage pact. Also it could be said he's using the marriage pact as a way to get the dragon binder close to the dragons, instead of actually pursuing it, which is why he sent Victarion, who hates Euron. But I'm not going to go into that theory lol.
All this to say, the way the show chose to protray Euron Greyjoy has caused the fandom to develop a very warped perception of the character. Euron is not seeking regular power, he doesn't want to rule Westeros, he wants to destroy it. On top of that, the deliberate misinterpretation of Dany's character leads to the prevalence of the Dany x Euron theory. They will not get married, they will not be allies, Dany will be key in defeating the Others, and Euron will die having failed his goal.
57 notes · View notes
esther-dot · 4 months
Note
While I agree with Ary@ killing Dany, what I don't understand why Jon will take her blame and get punished while she will end up her own adventure? Why would narrative punished Jon for Ary@ actions? Why would even killing Dany be considered as crime? While I know show ending is similar to books but Jon taking Ary@ blame and punished is not narratively good. Its worse than show. Also it will plot armour for Ary@.
I'm not convinced Arya kills Dany, but if she does, I agree with you. Jon taking the blame wouldn't work for me. Others have speculated that Arya tries to poison Dany, and my supposition is that she does, Dany doesn't die, Jon goes on to kill her. That way, it wouldn't be Jon taking the blame for Arya a la Lady being killed in the place of her losing a hand or Nymeria being killed, but it is reminiscent of the Trident incident in a way, with Arya striking the first blow in a fight to protect someone, and someone else jumping in to protect her.
I expect there will be a lot of connections to AGOT in the endgame so a reference, rather than a full redux works for me. Bran is endgame king, and the first chapter of AGOT is Ned teaching him about justice. We have the kingslayer attempting to kill him in AGOT which is another clue. I believe Martin when he says he knew the endgame way back when, so I’m guessing, many answers are there from the beginning. I recently wrote this about how Jon killing Dany fits in with AGOT Ned:
I think Jon is more likely to be the one to successfully kill her, and in a way that calls to mind Ned's opinion on it, See her tears, hear her last words. That would allow Martin to make sure we see it as just/moral, bring home the Targ v Targ issue, and it shades Ned's decisions and values in a very interesting way. After s8 fans said Ned was wrong to fight against killing Dany in s1, but Martin thinks he was right to object to killing children, so for the two Targ children he was protecting in AGOT (Dany and Jon) to come face to face and one kill the other prevents the conclusion that Ned was wrong. It was the same mercy, the same refusal to see the child of an enemy as an enemy, that saved the boy who will in turn save Westeros. IMO, it's a way to uphold the belief in mercy. I tend to think it’s also Martin’s way of addressing one his questions about his beloved LOTR (what about orc babies etc). (link)
I haven't developed more thoughts on that, but that's where I am at the moment. I talked about some possible foreshadowing with "the dead man's revenge" as well.
Another reason why I object to Arya being the killer is that she is currently operating outside of Ned’s teachings about justice, so I don’t think her killing Dany fits within that initial, crucial theme. It being hard to do the act is an essential part of the struggle with mercy/justice. Someone like Jon on the other hand would provide an opportunity for Martin to wrap up his convo in a thoughtful, albeit complex, way.
Why would even killing Dany be considered as crime?
This is another reason to suspect it will be Jon. Dany will have invaded and burned KL and made a nuisance of herself, I can't imagine how the public would view killing her as a bad thing unless it were someone killing her in socially condemned context ie kinslaying, oathbreaking etc.
I mentioned the other day, Jaime has a horrible rep, but then we find out what Aerys was planning which is a layer of complexity for his characterization, and we also find out that he was ordered to kill his dad so then that's another wrinkle. He goes from without honor, to something admirable, to a blend of several motivations, to something human. I expect Dany's death to involve as many layers. It makes the sense to me that her death involves oathbreaking/betrayal, that doing the right thing marks the killer as a man without honor by some, and that he has a personal motivation as well. The only way to have any layers with the killing of Dany (when it will be so clearly right/necessary after she burns KL) is if it's Jon. 🤷🏻‍♀️
Of course, in all fairness, if people really don’t give a fuck when Dany is taken out (and we know Bran will be king so whatever happens, the Starks end up on power and with a good rep), it’s possible Arya kills her with no repercussions, maybe because, no one knows she did it. If that happens, it could be that Arya’s actions allow Jon to get the family and home he’s always wanted which is certainly, a much happier, more desirable ending for many of us. No plot armor, just a nice little culmination of her training.
But I need to reiterate, it seems increasingly unlikely we will ever get ADOS (shush, we are getting TWOW!), none of us will ever be proven right or wrong, so we don’t need to stress about different thoughts on the endgame. We each kinda get to choose our own ending (within reason!) 😅
50 notes · View notes
satansaidnottoday · 17 days
Text
Tumblr media
A surprise meeting.
Info: Human AU, Lucifer's Mc, GN!Mc.
Summary: Satan and Lucifer want to make you an offer. Happens after this.
Warnings: none.
Tumblr media
The sun wasn't fully out yet, barely rearing its head on the horizon. The streets were painted in soft orange light, and the morning frost was slowly melting. You already had quite a few customers sitting down. The café wasn't very popular, but it had a dedicated and slowly growing fan base. If you kept it up, you might not go bankrupt by the end of the year. 
You went outside to place the chalkboard sign that listed your breakfast deals, taking a moment to look at the sunrise. From the corner of your eye, you saw a familiar pair turn at the corner.
You leaned over the sign as they approached. "Ah, my favorite customers!"
"Good morning, Mc," the brothers said at the same time. 
It made you smile. Of all the siblings, they were the most similar. If it wasn't for the blonde hair and green eyes, Satan would be identical to Lucifer. They had to be related.
"What can I get started on for you?" You asked, opening the door for them.
"A ragdoll, please," the blond answered first this time. He walked over to the table nearest to the window. You found that weird; he'd usually sit near the play area. 
"A black coffee for me, please," Lucifer said. He waited by your side for a few seconds and then leaned closer to whisper. "Make his decaffeinated, please." 
"You got it." You lean closer still and whisper back.
He chuckles, which is the most you've managed to get from him. You count it as a victory and go back behind the counter to make their drinks. Black coffee is pretty straightforward, but sculpting the little foam cat on top of the ragdoll (which is just a dry cappuccino) takes quite some time. Still, you try to get it as perfect as possible.
When you made your way back to their table, Lucifer had it half covered in important-looking papers. You were especially careful when placing their orders down.
"Working from home today?" You ask him.
He groans and takes a sip of coffee before answering. 
"I simply never leave work." 
"Well, that can't be healthy," you scolded him. Pretending you were not running on four hours of sleep and half a stale catcake.
"You're one to talk," Satan teases, finally putting down his book to look at your foam art. 
You shush him with a fake stern look. He doesn't pay much attention, too preoccupied with getting the right angle on a shot of his book next to the coffee. The teenager had made his lair at your café ever since you let him in that first night. Some days he would arrive in the morning with a book and stay until you closed, holed up with a blanket in the play area. Your regulars all knew him, probably better than they knew you. Now that he had started to go to school again, you wouldn't see him as much in the morning. Still, he came in every afternoon to do homework.
Sometimes he would arrive in the middle of the night, and you would let him in without a word. He found his way to the cats and stayed there until he calmed down. Of course you would shoot Lucifer a text, so he didn't worry. He was a weird kid, but he was good. You'd much rather he crash at your place than run off somewhere else, and Lucifer agreed on that.
"So you guys are having a little date?" You asked them with a mocking tone.
"We're having a meeting, actually." Lucifer piled all the papers together, lining them up in front of him. 
"Interesting, with who?" You leaned on the table as you spoke. 
"You." Satan smiled up at you.
You pointed at your face with a lifted eyebrow. They both nodded in response.
"Well, I wasn't informed." You straighten up, patting down your apron. "I didn't even iron my clothes today."
"Take a seat, please. We have much to discuss." Satan signaled to one of the empty chairs by his side. He was obviously trying to sound more adult, but his voice was still in that awkward phase. Right in between a squeaky toy and a truck engine.
You looked around to make sure no one needed your help before sitting down. Moving the chair to the end of the table so you could face both of them. 
"Satan has presented a pretty convincing case to me, so I come as his representative." Lucifer took out his glasses and looked at you.
You stayed silent, waiting for whatever they had in store for you.
"Running a coffee shop is plenty of work as is; I've seen how early you wake up just to do the baking," Satan started. "And on top of that, you have to take care of an entire animal refuge."
"It's five cats."
"That's a lot to take care of when you're also running around taking orders and making coffee," he reported, quick on his feet. "You surely wouldn't say no to a helping hand, right?" 
"I'm not hiring help right now, sorry." You pulled the idea out from the roots before it could grow anymore. "I don't have the money for it, and even if I did, I wouldn't hire a fourteen-year-old." 
"You're right, he can't work here," Lucifer said, handing you a paper sheet. "But he can volunteer." 
"What is this?" You asked while scanning the paper. 
"A non-profit volunteer work declaration." He stated. "You're registered as a nonprofit, right?"
"Technically, but only the cat part. The rest is registered as a retail front." You tried to make sense of all the legal juggling you had to do in order to get the place opened. 
"If you fill in your organization's information, I can file that for you and get Satan registered as a volunteer for your cat refuge." He said, handing over another paper. "And if you could sing and date this, I can bring it to school in order to excuse him from PE." 
"Why would cleaning litter boxes get him out of PE?" You asked, baffled.
"Any volunteer work counts!" Satan jumped in, sounding pretty excited about the idea. "And I already spend the whole day here; I might as well help out."
"So? What do you say?" Lucifer asked, and they both looked at you expectantly.
"Sure," you said without thinking. You made quick work of filling out and signing all the paperwork.
They both looked at you, surprised.
"I thought it would be harder to convince you," Lucifer said with a stunned expression. 
"Don't be silly," you teased, standing up to go back to work. "I could never say no to free child labor." 
Tumblr media
Thank you for reading ❤️
46 notes · View notes
buffyfan145 · 4 months
Text
I wanted to make another post about some of the possible massive season 2 leaks for "Rings of Power" as I've gotten so many more thoughts about it and need to get them out. 😀 Also I'm hoping this does happen now as my mind has been thinking on this and how much it makes sense to me that I'm going to be sad if it doesn't. LOL
So if anyone didn't see The One Ring Net posted a tons of leaks last week and I've posted another post all about that. But the ones that got to me obviously was the reveal that they're going to give Sauron/Halbrand a son that Adar killed. This was before s1 happened and the form Adar knew (played by Gavi). This would add so much complexity to Sauron/Halbrand/Mairon as him having a child is huge and showing he actually is capable of love despite being a villain. Some of my favorite villains in other shows/movies/books do have families and sometimes the only people they love are their children and partner, so adding this to Sauron would just be a plus for me. It also would prove that he does have feelings for Galadriel and is capable of loving her. We all know he was good in the beginning and like Melian is a Maiar so it's totally possible for him to become a father and fall in love with an elf.
Then it makes me wonder who is playing this boy. Is it someone already announced or is it just someone in one episodes explaining this backstory? Then what is his name and like another fan pointed out could Sauron choosing the name Halbrand actually be honoring his son if the name is similar? Also if he's part Maiar does that mean after Adar killed him the son went to Valinor? That would also explain why Sauron/Halbrand was thinking of just living on his own and even contemplated trying to get redemption as maybe he thought he'd be able to reunite with his son at some point.
Then this all brings me again to Celebrian and if it's possible the show really could make her be Sauron's daughter. Weirdly enough one of the leaks said that Sauron/Halbrand is actually pretending to be Celeborn and that's who really reunites with Galadriel. So we have that possibility and that Galadriel gets pregnant that way, but personally I would prefer if it happens after she finds out it's Sauron/Halbrand and we do have another leak that she gets captured by Adar and then have to make a choice in the season finale and possibly decides to stay with Sauron/Halbrand setting up season 3.
All along I figured Celebrian will be born in season 3 so they could even make it to where Galadriel and Sauron/Halbrand did decide to try to make it work as a couple and she changes her mind to be his queen. We know season 4 supposedly is Sauron/Halbrand going back to Numenor from Charlie's interviews, so I've been wondering what the s3 story for them is and it could be this. Once Galadriel finds out he had a son that died it actually would bond them more as then that connection between them in s1 was real and they both experienced such deep loss of family. Then if she has Celebrian but in the end they're doomed anyway and she eventually leaves him and takes their daughter to Lothlorien.
This would also explain why Sauron never attacked Lothlorien or Rivendell and why Dul Guldur was right next door if his ex-wife and daughter are living there. The real Celeborn would likely be back by this point and Galadriel restarts her marriage with him and he helps raise Celebrian as her step-father similar to some of our fics, including my own "Building a Mystery". Plus there was a version of Galadriel escaping thanks to the dwarves with little Celebrian but she also had a son named Amroth that Tolkien later decided to delete. Now makes me wonder if this is where the writers got the idea to give Sauron a son too.
Then it makes me think too when Celelbrian goes to Valinor if she turns out to be Sauron/Halbrand's daughter that she actually reunites and meets her older brother that's been in Valinor since Adar killed him. That way too besides Galadriel's other family and Melian and Yavanna/Aule, Celebrian would have family there. And then when Galadriel finally goes back to Valinor at the end of LOTR she also meets Sauron/Halbrand's son and promises Sauron/Halbrand that she'll be with their children even though he can't be with them.
It just weirdly works for me and makes sense in a way I never expected. I know a lot of the purists/die-hard LOTR probably would hate these changes but I think it just adds to it and that's not just me being a Haladriel shipper. I now see their relationship as a tragic romance and it just fits with that. But also I'm really forgiving in a lot of my other fandoms for huge changes like this if it makes sense. It just a lot of the LOTR aren't since there hasn't been that many adaptations like those of public domain things like Jane Austen's books and all the "Sherlock Holmes" stories to name two. So we'll see what happens but I'm all for this.
34 notes · View notes
x-liv25-jamieswife · 4 days
Text
people's reaction to max's death head canons
the person who requested the xander death head canons requested i do this for all of the other characters so here is max. this one is gonna be shorter bc we didn't see much of max and her interactions with the other brothers but i still wanted to make it cause i love her (also, because its shorter, it takes less time (which is smth i didn't have today)).
avery: obviously would be devastated. she just lost the person who knows her best. i think she'd read her favorite books just to feel closer to her. she'd remember all of the times she ranted about those books and she didn't really listen to her. she'd regret not being there for her as much as she could've been. i think she'd also become lost. max has been there for her since she was a child. she was the only person there for her for nearly her entire life. losing that person, i think, would make her close herself off to other people. i think she'd send money to max's parents. she'd feel guilty for absolutely no reason and would send them money to help them through their grief. i think being in spotlight a lot would also affect her bc she'd have to put up this facade all the time. it would emotionally drain her and i think she'd consider ending her life. she'd get through it with jamie's help but it would be hard.
libby: i mentioned this in my libby's death hcs, but i think they got really close over the years. max and avery have known each other since childhood and i hc that, bc of this, max and her spent a lot of time together. libby would take them out on little outings whenever she could. i think she'd react the same way max reacted to her death. she'd go to all of the places she brought them to just to feel closer to her. she'd constantly be baking her favorite cupcakes and eating them while watching max's favorite rom-com or smth. i feel like she'd also try to be there for max's parents in some way? obviously they don't know each other that well, but i feel like she'd volunteer to sort of be their therapist. she'd let them talk to her about their grief and stuff.
xander: she's his girlfriend so of course he'd be crushed. i feel like max is one of the only people who actually gets him. they're so similar in the best ways possible and compliment each other (anyways, im ranting). i feel like the joy he felt in the lab creating things would disappear. his love for scones would disappear bc it would remind him of max. basically, everything he loves would become something painful for him. i feel like he wouldn't get out of bed. when xander loves someone, he really truly loves them (tobias, his brothers, etc). he'd do anything for them, and he gets attached over time. he'd try to tell everyone he's fine, and he'd be really convincing but everyone would know. they'd try to make him feel better by buying him supplies for his experiments but nothing would work. he'd just be numb. he'd be a shell of himself. he'd only talk to avery bc she would get it. they were both close to her. they'd cry in each other arms. he'd also be the one to help clean out her room and he'd keep her fav books.
jamie: he'd be sad and would definitely grieve but he wouldn't be incapacitated like avery. he'd try to help avery with her grief but would find that to be the hardest part. seeing her lose herself would physically pain him. some things would remind him of max. he'd see a book of hers or her favorite color and he'd think about her. he'd also visit her grave quite often cause he doesn't like the idea of the afterlife and thinks it would be lonely. also i think all of this depends on how long he's known her. his grief would obviously be worse if he'd known her for 10 years vs 2 when she died.
grayson: he wouldn't be all that affected by it (depends on when she died though. same thing i said about jamie applies here). he'd definitely be in touch with her parents making sure they're ok bc he cares about people a lot. he'd try to be there for xander and avery. hed book appointments with therapists for them that theyd never attend. hed visit her grave once in a while to make sure its clean bc he'd hate it if his grave was dirty.
nash: the worst part about losing max would be 'losing' xander and avery. it also obviously depends on how long he's known max. i think that if she were to die later in life, her death would affect him more. she'd sort of become a little sister to him bc of how much she reminds him of xander. he wouldn't leave the house anymore bc he wouldnt want to leave xander and avery alone. hed be attending to him and avery every second of the day.
ended up being longer than i thought it would be but still shorter. hope you enjoyed <3. i apologize for any spelling mistakes.
20 notes · View notes
ghostflowerhotpotch · 10 months
Text
Possible Birthday Months for Miles and Gwen (Theory.)
Okay, as far as I am aware, there are no definitive birthdays for Miles or Gwen in the movies; not sure if there are in the comics, but considering the differences, there is no warranty they would have stayed anyways.
This is more like a fun way to justify a headcanon, chances are the writers haven't thought really hard on dates because is not really, necessary in many cases. And giving exact dates sometimes makes things more complicated too.
Regardless, the idea pop into my head once I realized I had connected enough clues to MAYBE get the months down, and I think that's fun.
So let's go!
Tumblr media
Yes, this is where we start.
Again, we don't have hard evidence when anything of this is happening (including if it works like in our world since by being another dimension, anything is possible,) but if we go with the assumption that the writers intend to work things similarly like in our dimension, let's examine this.
Tumblr media
Now, let's reflect on this, when a prestigious school like this would be hosting a lottery or test to let people in? Probably at one point early in the scholar year, or if anything, at the beginning of the semester.
I believe is around January, primarily because you see multiple shots with snow.
Tumblr media
Now, we really don't know how long has been since Miles entered the school vs when he was bitten, especially since there is no snow when he has his first day. However, and I will admit I don't have hard evidence, it doesn't feel like it has been too long? maybe a few days perhaps, but it feels like it couldn't have been happening for more than a couple of weeks.
Another thing I consider is that from what I had investigated, tends to be light snow in December and not many days; so it could be plausible since is beginning of January, there hasn't been any heavy snowfall, which could explain why so many trees still had autumn leaves.
Another reason I don't think this is in September, and again no hard evidence; is that it doesn't give the impression this is the first day of school for everyone else. They all seem to chill, we don't see the teacher introduce themselves or the classroom at any moment.
Now, with the idea that this is January, how old is Miles? As I can see in the Into Spider-verse Art book, 13 yeards old.
Tumblr media
In Across the spiderverse however, we heard this from Miles.
Tumblr media
Now, how much time has passed between movies? Luckily, we have an answer for that in across too!
Tumblr media
Considering it has been a year and four months, this would mean the events of this movie are happening around May; this would make sense, since Miles using this Jacket seems to be pretty normal, and we have another dude in the background with one as well.
Tumblr media
So maybe, early May we could see? Since other guests are not using any sweaters or similar, I don't think it could be very close to June.
So that gives us Between January and May, which is close enough, right?
Luckily, determining Gwen's also helps determine Miles'!
Now Enter, Gwen.
The first nugget of Information comes from Into the Spider-verse, close to the end.
Tumblr media
Okay, so we know there is at least 15 months of difference, or 1 year and three months.
Now, during Across the Spiderverse, we have a brief moment when we see different days of the same moment, that is the Stacys and the Parkers having a meal together.
This sequence is obviously quick, and I needed to pause A LOT at half speed to catch this stuff; I couldn't catch every frame obviously, and it would be definitely too many images.
That being said, from what I saw in my reruns, this seemed to be at least in the span of a year (meaning not repeated moments like Christmas or birthdays.) And since I don't think each moment means every single day is depicted in the span of those moments, I can say there is a chronological sense on the images (type of clothing is more summer/winter/etc appropriate, holidays, etc.)
I noticed that the depiction of Gwen's birthday has very few images with more summer-type clothes (short sleeves for example,) and was after many frames when the characters were using light, but long-sleeved clothing.
Tumblr media
In comparison, I felt after this birthday scene, has more frames with more summer or light clothes, until we land on a more remarkable Autumn holiday, this looks like Halloween if you ask me.
Tumblr media
(I love how goofy George and Peter look, Do you guys think Gwen has a costume, or has she just decided to dress like whatever she wants? If is a costume, it definitely feels like a closet type. Aka you use your regular clothes to get a costume)
Considering Peter is using two layers (Even if light) during Gwen's birthday, I am inclined to believe this is around May, since I could believe this is late spring/early summer (especially with the beautiful clear blue sky behind Gwen) while not being the worst in terms of temperature yet.
So, with the idea that Gwen's Birthday is around May. This would mean Miles' birthday could land around February.
Headcanons: Exact dates.
Now, a lot of this is already in hazy territory, but for the exact days there is really no way for me to tell, so now this is fully just my own headcanons.
While I don't think Miles is truly an anomaly, I thought it would be funny if he was born on February 29, considering is a day that only happens every four years. I think Miles could also spin some jokes around it.
With that idea in mind, and going on with the idea that Gwen's birthday is in June, I thought it could be funny if they also shared the same number of day, with Gwen's birthday being May 29. Yes, there is no reason for them to have exactly 15 months of difference, but I like the idea of them having that cute coincidence.
End notes
Again, this is all a fun thought experiment, there is really no concrete evidence, and I don't think the directors or the writers had truly tried to think too hard on these details since there is no necessity.
I saw that there is a wiki that claims that ATSV takes place in April, however, it didn't really lead me to any reliable sources, so until I have some hard evidence, I will keep this intact.
Hope you guys liked this ramble!
EDIT: In Reference to this ask
Tumblr media
Thanks for your notes! I have some things to point.
I actually knew about the Decembruary detail! I watched the ITSV video from CinemaWins.
Actually, what Jeff says is that Miles needs to give it at least 2 weeks, not that he has been there for that long.
Tumblr media
The week reference is interesting! Thanks.
Huh, I didn't notice that detail previously.
Tumblr media
Now, with these details out of the way, what we can say?
I was right on the money about the creators not paying too much attention to dates. My original theory was that they avoided putting anything too concrete to don't run into timeline problems. Is good to keep in mind that both the test (Miles could have easily put the wrong year too, considering he put Decembruary;) and the Security Camera are all little details that aren't really relevant to the plot; like this isn't an "if we don't do this before X date the world ends."
I consider Miles Saying "And for the past year and four months" heavier proof of the time passed that what the security camera and the test had written on aren't as valuable as that. After all, if this ITSV happened on December 2018 but ATSV was on July 2023, that would mean it has been over almost 5 years for them, which has obviously not been the case.
So with the pieces of this new puzzle, what do we end up with?
New Dates
If we weigh the test Miles failed on Purpose vs the Security Camera, I think believing the Security camera makes more sense. Miles putting 2018 on a test that already says Decembruary can easily be chalked to him wanting to mess up even more.
If it has been a year and four months since he became Spiderman, and in July in ATSV, this would mean that Into the Spiderverse is happening around March.
This would mean Miles having this birthday fall between March and July, and Gwen's possible Birthday months to move from June to October.
If we continue to go with my theory of the outfits they use in the movie can count as a measurement of time, I would say March and June are very likely.
Headcanon dates for the new timeline
While I may or may not go with these dates in future stories (Which I will explain my reasoning later for those who like my fic writing.) I thought it would be fun to give some new headcanons to these dates.
Since the anomaly situation hasn't been done, my alternative number for Miles would be 24. Why 24? Because the number 42 plays a big role in his life (is the number which he won the "lottery," his spider is from that dimension, and is seen around in ITSV a lot too.) And since 42 can't be a date, 24 it is.
For Gwen, I thought it would be fun that since her universe is 65, and the month of June seems like a good lead, her birthday could be June 5 (since 06/05) I know this means there isn't an example of 15 months of difference between them, however, I think everybody goes more with the month than the exact day for these things.
I have a cousin who is roughly, 20 days older than me, but we always said "a month" while mentioned in passing because why bother with semantics.
Will I ignore this in my writing? Probably
Now, this next section is mostly there for those who like my writing, since usually, the headcanons I have here tend to translate into my works.
I will probably go with my original dates.
Here is my situation; I could believe Miles is in school in July because of the alternative universe (it seems traditionally it ends in June.) I could believe they use fluffy jackets in July because, in Miles' universe, July is colder than our own; heck I was joking with my partner that Miles probably didn't have coronavirus in his universe and the reactions to other spideys who dealt with that,
What I can't deal with, is Miles starting school in March.
While students can move to other schools all year around, the fact that the lottery part is mentioned as well as the test, makes me think this has to be at a reasonable timeline for the school year. After all, why they would host a lottery for a student when the school year ends in four months? Why Rio and Jeff would try to make Miles change school if nothing prompt them to?
Granted, this could be explained with the school year working differently, maybe they start in January, and is still early enough to do this, or start in March.
However, I disqualified the December bit (which I also discard because NO ONE HAS A STUDENT START CLASSES JUST BEFORE WINTER BREAK UNLESS THEY ARE MOVING OR SOMETHING SIMILAR.) I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to put imagine it was in December just because.
Again, this is not an important detail. Gwen's dad is different between ITSV and ATSV, as well as the fact that the situation and Peter's look are different.
(You could make the case it looks like this because Miles is imagining everything instead of being a faithful adaption. However, I firmly believe they didn't put too much time into it or stick with those concepts because it wasn't necessary. Also, this will mean Peter B maybe wasn't eating pizza instead of pushups, and I will NOT give up that.)
Why not have a different way the calendar works? Too many details to keep track of, and fics are supposed to be fun; I will not try to bend backward my writing to adhere to the canon if is not enjoyable.
Is not the only time I do this, Noir should be around 19 because of comics and stuff, but if you think I will give up the idea that Noir is in his 40s, you are dead wrong.
This part will be edited into the original post (since people don't tend to reblog reblogs, I prefer people will have the chance to see the corrections.) And queue for tomorrow so more people can see it.
Also, I made a mistake in my original post, I said Gwen's Birthday would be in June, when in reality it should May, sorry for the confusion!
If you read all the way, thank you for your patience! I know this is long.
131 notes · View notes