Dani should Kidnap The Clones.

It's basicly protective custody. Preemptive child services, if you will. NONE of these fuckers out here makin adorable clone baby just cause they want kids!

*kicks down the door to your shady lab* Knock Knock! ITS THE POLICE! *Walker's Shock troopers swarm the place as Dani secures the kids*

Look me in the eyes. You KNOW he'd love an excuse to enforce The Rules on people technically outside his jurisdiction. It's for The Children(tm)! Why, he simply had no CHOICE!

Meanwhile? Dani is shoving all these mal-adjusted Murder Clones into her Lair? Which is? Basicly a Door style Lair she hid inside Danny's Lair for safe keeping. It's shoved behind a vending machine just outside the observatory. And the inside? Goes on for DAYS.

Like national parks and every beautiful beach she ever came across. She smashed together the BEST sights and places she's found in her travels, like a collection. Always adding more. New waterfalls, new noodle shops, new fields of wine grapes. It's... beautiful. Snapshots of every wonderous little thing about Earth, stitched together.

They can't hurt anyone. Can't achieve their "objectives". Are just treated like actual individuals and the children they truely are. Are surrounded by other Clones. So it's NORMAL here. Just? All of it.

But also?

Dani and Dan? Teaming up to make History's Scariest Adoption Agency(TM). Dan runs it. Dan wants to know why EXACTLY you want a kid. Explain yourself to Dan. What are your references? Qualifications. He's doing a home visit to inspect the premises. He BETTER not find any suspicious Labs.

And? It just? Appears out of nowhere. It's powered by Zone Bullshit. One second you're thinking "oh woe is me D:> I will never have a child to fill my lovely home, because of all my Superhero Secrets and also because government bureaucracy!" And the next?

.....wasn't that an out of business taco bell? "Zone Adoptions"?

"....Free Clone Baby?"

Okay that is HIGHLY suspicious and as a hero you are basicly legally obligated to investigate. But now it's bigger on the inside? Fancy waiting room? You are being interrogated? Wait, no, you're supposed to be the one doing the-?

Somehow? You leave with your Clone Son from another Dimension. And a pamphlet. You're scheduled for a home visit in three days. You... you never told them where you live.

Somehow that doesn't seem like it will slow them down.

Did the Fae just Suprise Baby you with a clone baby? Can they DO that? W... what's happening? What days is this? Who ARE YOU PEOPLE?! HUH!?!?

Just? Imagine. IMAGINE. I was gonna say Bruce... but?

Damian.

He finds himself... pondering What Could Have Been. Had his Clones not wanted him dead. Wondering if he could have saved them. If, perhaps, he had found them as infants. Raised them. Could he have given them a good life? Been a good father?

He gets emotional. Fatherly. He's about 14.

Dan's been around Ghosts too long to remember how humans age or how age relates to development. This one TALKS like An Adult. Must be one. Probably just short.

And Damian? Never backs down. The second Dan starts challenging him? His character is flawless and his morals divine. He has never done anything wrong, ever, in his LIFE. Fuck you. And on TOP of that? He not only will be the SINGLE GREATEST FATHER TO EVER FATHER, his home is the most loving and beloved ON THE PLANET!

In entirety of EARTH'S history, no less!

....what are they arguing about?

*is handed a baby and kicked out of Dan's adoption agency*

See you in a few days!

(o.o ) *happy gurgling from the baby* *Damian.exe has stopped working*

Smash cut, after Damian speed runs his stages of grief at his own Dumbass Life Choices, to his rocking back up at the Manor like? Congratulations, Father. I have brought you your first grandson! Do Not ask how I obtained him. It was likely dubiously legal but I will not be returning him. We have bonded.

And just? Annihilating the collective Bats on one go. You did what? You have What?! That is a baby! WHY IS THERE A BABY?! How is there a baby!? WHOS BABY!? *sirens going off and everyone panicking*

Will Damian be allowed to KEEP the Baby? Ha! Hell no. Bruce will. Damian is a child. But it will be a Needlessly Dramatic Bat Cold War Of Dramatic Drama to pry that small cherubic baby from his grip long enough for Bruce to fill out the paperwork.

Child thieving bastard that he is. How dare he. That is Damian's SON! D:<

*happy oblivious baby noises as Alfred feeds him in the background, while the Bats do their Dramatic Custody War*

@hdgnj @babbling-babull @hypewinter @nerdpoe @lolottes @mutable-manifestation

thinking about how pretty much every single show with lesbian representation has been cancelled or ended by the network in the last year. it hurts so fucking much to see shows being cancelled that have a huge fan base or killing off lesbian characters without a second thought. it’s not gay shows that are being canceled, no, it is wlw shows. mlm shows have continued to go on getting praise and renewals where shows like first kill, even though they’re cheesy and shitty, that have lesbian main characters one being a black woman and having a half black cast are cancelled. it had twice the viewing of shows like heartstopper, a show with two white gay men leads, that got renewed in the first few weeks of its release. even with netflix setting first kill up to fail by releasing it at the same time as huge shows like stranger things and umbrella academy, it still was a huge hit and had such a loving fan base.

the wilds with a lesbian main couple and diverse female cast literally centered around the concept of girl power. huge and dedicated fan base. cancelled. killing eve lesbian main characters one of them being sandra fucking oh that explores the dark side of ourselves while giving really good rep. one of the most dedicated fan bases i’ve seen. cancelled. and not just that, what could have so easily been a happy ending for the couple was ripped from us in the last five minutes right after the characters finally admitted feelings after four fucking seasons. one of them is murdered right in front of the other.

i can’t speak much to shows like everything sucks and the society because i haven’t bothered to watch them knowing they get cancelled. i don’t want to get attached to beautifully written and relatable characters for some big rich homophobic network to tell me no, no you can’t have this anymore. that’s happened too many times to me. right as the couple is happy and things are okay, one of them dies in front of the other like clexa, villaneve, dani and jamie from bly manor. some don’t even really get the opportunity to get to that point and others are just left with their relationship unfinished, with things left unsaid. and don’t even get me started on queer baiting.

yeah gay shows in general with good representation are fucking hard to come by but i’m sorry. mlm don’t face the same kind of hardships that wlw do. there’s a reason burying your lesbians became such a well known trope. because lesbians in shows die all of the fucking time for no good reason. i wish companies like netflix, hbo, and prime would stop fucking being cowards and admit the real reason they’re cancelling these shows. it’s not because they’re not being viewed enough or don’t have a strong fan base. it’s because they’re fucking lesbophobic i don’t want to hear anything else about it or any bullshit that it wasn’t a big enough hit. it may be the 21st century but lesbians aren’t magically equal even within the lgbtq community. the only place to get good representation these days is from fan made sources like fan fiction and fan art. made by people who understand how hard it is.

it’s where we get to see what we’ve always wanted to see, the characters we love, loving each other and being happy. we don’t have big writers scratching ideas because it “wouldn’t look good or be good for ratings”. we get a world where villanelle and eve lived happily ever after instead of villanelle dying in front of eves eyes and and floating into the abyss. not some bullshit from laura fucking neal who knows absolutely nothing about the characters we know telling us it’s what they felt was right. glad burying your lesbians feels right to people. but in our fan spaces we get to see villanelle make it out alive, we get to see them have a normal life and watch movies together. we also get to see and express what we feel is right with the fuck ton of queer coding in media. we get to see nancy and robin fall in love, emma and regina confess their feelings for one another, and any of the endless amount of amazing ships that we desire. there is a reason we flock to those spaces, it’s where we feel safe, seen, and where we feel like maybe one day we can have a relationship like that, to be loved like that. but it sometimes doesn’t make up for seeing it all play out endorsed by a company and written by people that actually care about representation and their viewers instead of just money. we all want to be loved and feel accepted and seen but sadly, because of the events of the last year, i’m not gonna hold my fucking breath.

sorry this is a lot, i’m just so fucking pissed

I'm going to take a break from writing for this blog for a while.

Writing the recent Dany pieces has been something special and personal that I didn't know I needed, but I did.

I poured a lot of my soul into it and was reminded in many ways of why I love writing and creating characters and stories.

At the same time, I've never had as little interaction on a story as I had for this. And I can think of a good amount of reasons for it; it's not a "classic" whump story, Dany isn't a "classic" whumpee and her choices aren't always right or relatable, and most of all this story follows themes that can hit close to home for many people.

However, the second reason why I write is, in fact, for interaction and connection and that hit me hard.

I've caught myself too often thinking about what I might've done "wrong" with this content, or what could be a "better" story in terms of reception on this blog or in this environment.

So I've decided to give myself a break from wanting to write for an audience. Instead I hope to find the time to explore what I myself want to write, get to the core of why Dany's story and character resonates with me so much and where I can go from here to make this emotion into something worth pursuing.

I'm excited to find out where this takes me. Maybe I'll be back with this story or another, maybe even sooner rather than later. We'll see. Until then, take care everyone, and happy whumping!

Raev's Fic Masterlist

Since tumblr can be a little allergic to links, I thought I'd take a second to ramble about all the various little (and not so little) fics I have up on Ao3

Den of Shadows

Jaguar's Midnight: Currently a single chapter of me exploring ideas of a Midnight that is more blatantly BDSM and less human trafficking. Maybe more to come? Who knows

Unpublished Turquoise thing about her time with Daryl (pester me about if it you're interested)

Hawksong/Kiesha'ra

Ties that Bind (ongoing, 30 chps) A queer, polyamorous, Romeo and Juliet with shapeshifters set on a backdrop of the first tentative peace in a thousand year war. Canon's hotter cousin. Not currently explicit but plans to potentially get there

Frayed Knots (ongoing, 20 chps) The place where all the scenes I thought would go in TTB but didn't wind up. Some one offs, some deleted scenes. A mixed bag of spicy adult stuff and just fun character exploration. Iirc spicy chapters are marked as such

Dasi High (abandoned, 4 chps) Highschool AU of Maeve and Kiesha and Co, if their story was on the CW

Forbidden Skies (hiatus, 2 chps) Crossover with Forbidden Game. Julian is a falcon and Jenny and co are avians and serpiente. Basically FB's chars and plot cosplaying as K'r

Forbidden Game

Forbidden Skies, see above

Holy Fire (one off) A sort of song fic where Zach thinks way too hard about Jenny and tries to become a magician

Hearts Desires (ongoing, 2 chps) Still playing with Zach the magician, this one is meant to be a fairly short exploration of magic/runes, Zach's obsession with Jenny, his inability to readjust after the game, and coming out to himself. And tree sex. It's a weird one.

Unpublished pre-canon Jenny thing where she's kind of aware of something (Julian) watching her at night (spicy, pester me about it if you're interested)

Longer descriptions under the cut

Ties that Bind: A queer, polyamorous, Romeo and Juliet with shapeshifters set on a backdrop of the first tentative peace in a thousand year war. Anticipated f/f, m/m, and many other shapes of m/f/m and/or f/m/f, potentially kinky if I ever get it there. Also potentially ace/qpr stuff if I can ever figure out my MC and what is true in this fic vs what belongs in side projects. Canon's hotter cousin with more magic, more setting development, A LOT more romance, and a distant relation to the original in the way that Vaporeon resembles Eevee. It wants to still fit in canon's clothes but really needs to admit its grown too big for that.

This is the big one. I realized revisiting my favorite childhood series that the big epic romance I always remembered was mostly in my head. So I decided to get it out of my head and onto paper. That is... not what happened XD It follows the basic Romeo/Julietness of Hawksong, but I decided to really explore the world and characters and so made a lot of executive decisions bc there actually isn't that much about the world/characters in the original. It's diverged wildly, spiraled out of control into a 30+ chapters novel (lets be honest) and isn't ending any time soon. It's the one I most want to work on so send me asks and encouragement about it so I can get working on it again :P

Basically, Zane and Danica are still deeply dedicated to peace. They think the idea of getting married to achieve it is ridiculous, but they're desperate enough to keep it on the back burner. Dani gets to know Zane (and Adelina) as friends. She explores her relationship with Rei. She struggles with bureaucracy and a well-meaning mother that doesn't always support her in the way she needs. Also there's a bit more magic, a lot more setting, and a bunch of characters I kinda made up to help flesh things out (hello Vasili's made up cousin). Current plans include finishing it with some sort of marriage, but I haven't decided if Zanica is endgame or not (the dynamic currently in the lead in my head is Dani takes Adelina as her Alistair, Zane takes Rei as his Nag, and the four of them all kinda co-rule. We'll see. Everyone is going to kiss everyone else before its done that's for sure)

Frayed Knots (ongoing, 20 chps) The place where all the scenes I thought would go in TTB but didn't wind up. Some one offs, some deleted scenes. A mixed bag of spicy adult stuff and just fun character exploration. Iirc spicy chapters are marked as such Current offerings include: abandoned TTB starts, some BDSM scenes with Z/D/R/A, Dani getting herself off and thinking too hard, an alternative Snakecharm opening from Kel's POV, some Oliza stuff, some Marus/Urban stuff, and some Dasi High stuff. Really, Frayed Knots is a great place to start if you wanna read TTB but are kind of intimidated by its scope. Most FK entries are 1-3 chapters. A sampler platter of my nonsense basically :P

Dasi High (abandoned, 4 chps) Kiesha and Co Highschool AU, basically what if the Dasi was a show on the CW. A fun idea, but not actually my cup of tea. Would probably be more fun to ramble about in discord than actually write

Forbidden Skies (hiatus, 2 chps) Crossover with Forbidden Game. Julian is a falcon and Jenny and co are avians and serpiente. Basically FB's chars and plot cosplaying as K'r. I really loved the idea, but I don't know if it grabbed me enough to make want to wrestle it into submission like I do TTB. With TTB, I don't know the story yet, so I can trick myself into working on it bc I wanna know what happens. With FS, I know what my intended plot will be, so this one would need a lot of outside hype to get me working on it again. But I think it could be really really cool if I did. If this crossover sounds like your cup of tea, pester me for more

Forbidden Game

Forbidden Skies, see above

Holy Fire (one off, post canon what if) A sort of song fic where Zach thinks way too hard about Jenny and tries to become a magician. I have these ideas about Jenny half light faerie, hence Julians obsession with her. In this fic, Zach is trying to learn magic to protect Julian so FB doesn't happen again. He winds up getting the attention of a light faerie, who tasks him with being Jenny's knight until they're ready to come bring her home. Basically, the song Holy Fire by Seeming wouldn't leave me alone one day and this fell out.

Hearts Desires (ongoing, 2 chps, post canon what if) Still playing with Zach the magician, this one is meant to be a fairly short exploration of magic/runes, Zach's obsession with Jenny, his inability to readjust after the game, and coming out to himself. And tree sex. It's a weird one. Basically, I woke up one morning with the ending of it circling around in my head, wrote that, and am now trying to build up the beginning so the ending has anything to jump off of for impact.

Unpublished pre-canon Jenny thing where she's kind of aware of something (Julian) watching her at night (spicy, pester me about it if you're interested) This one I do have plans to publish, I just need to get it (and myself) ready to show to the world. It asks the question "What if Jenny kinda like the idea of feeling watched all the time and deliberately got off for her imagined (or so she thinks) Shadowman?"

I don't know why everyone was tripping about Far Cry 6 being "bad." this is my new, favorite game currently that I've played. it's the decolonization, female-power fantasy I've always wanted.

and Dani is one of the most relatable female character I've ever played. finally, I can play a character who sings to the radio while driving and cusses at other drivers. she's just like me fr!

More recently, the dominant fandom narrative that’s been cropping up is the idea that ASOIAF isn’t a nihilist story but is instead a rather romantic story at its core. Or better yet, fans have come to accept that while it takes a more realistic approach to medieval fantasy, ASOIAF is essentially a tale about earned romanticism.

In the same story with Roose Bolton and Tywin Lannister, we have Davos Seaworth and Ned Stark and Brienne. The same story with dangerous ice elves who ride the waves of winter to threaten humanity with death and enslavement has characters like Bran Stark whose soul in animal form is called Summer (the opposite of winter) and Daenerys Targaryen who is the mother of dragons (representing heat and passion and life) and a liberator of slaves. So the idea that even in the face of evil and darkness, goodness and light still exist and will eventually prevail, right?

Ok. 

So tell me why people then use death and tragedy to define Jon Snow and his story even though he’s morally closer to Brienne, Ned, and Davos, and shares the same magical destiny as Bran and Dany? Why do people keep ascribing tragic endings to him and say he has the most probability to die (where are these statistics coming from)? Or they say that because he dies at the end of ADWD, then he’ll also die at the end of the story?

Jon’s death and resurrection (which happens during winter, mind you) is the idea of life everlasting. Even in death, life will continue to persevere. Jon’s great destiny is to fight the Others. It’s why GRRM made him the main POV in that magical war. His arc has always been related to the greater conflict that is coming. So Jon’s death and return to life is also going to be related to that conflict, right? 

See as the Others come riding the winds of winter, death follows. Of course this will affect the world. People may die and the land and its fertility might die as well, but ever persevering is the dream for spring. The dream that after a period of death and darkness and winter, life and light and spring will be restored. Jon, the main POV in the fight against the Others so far, is the embodiment of that. 

The next book is called The Winds of Winter and we can expect death and devastation to follow, but we can also expect new life to emerge. That new life is Jon Snow’s resurrection. He will be reborn and will gain new life in spite of winter. Jon’s rebirth in this book is a mirror of the life that will eventually be restored to the land after winter. Jon is literally a dream for spring and it’s actually quite poignant that these words are only ever said in his POV.

And, Jon’s mythological parallels are usually about life after a period of death. Usually there is death and sacrifice but then there is the promise of everlasting life that comes after. Jon is connected to spring and fertility and rebirth! 

He is the Corn King, a fertility god who dies and is reborn to bring about the rejuvenation of the land (spring). He is Persephone whose descent into the underworld is accompanied by winter, but whose ascent back to the world of the living brings about the spring. Other mythical parallels like Osiris are presented as gods of fertility who are connected to the promise of life after death. Not to mention the obvious messianic undertones that are everywhere in his story; a savior who dies in the place of his people and is reborn to ensure that they too see life after death. It goes on and on but a majority of the mythological influences in Jon’s story have to do with the concept of fertility and vegetation; NOT death.

So as I see it, the struggle between life and death is personified with Jon Snow. Jon’s death at the end of ADWD coincides with winter arriving in Westeros. But then he won’t stay dead because he will be brought back to life; though we’re not sure how it will happen, only that Jon will have a chance at rebirth. 

And Jon will be reborn during winter. Isn’t the idea then that even in the face of death, life prevails? That’s why it’s so thematically relevant that as the cold sweeps through Westeros, a bastard boy is brought back to life near the lands of winter so he can then beat back death. It’s what makes Jon the King of Winter. Not that he represents death but rather that he conquers it.

It’s thematically meaningful for Jon, one of the main heroes of the story, to actually wrestle with death and come out on top. So him dying again at the end of the story or having a tragic end, what’s the point of that? How does that track with the current thematic elements in the story? Yes, this is even if he is to die in an act of self-sacrifice. Jon has already done that at the end of ADWD. What will a second death show that hasn’t been done with the first one? What new understanding will we gain of the character?

I don’t understand why this fandom goes out of its way to deny Jon the romanticism that they ascribe to other characters, even though GRRM puts him at the heart of that struggle between life and death. It’s so vital that out of all the prophesied heroes in the story, Jon is the one who literally tastes death but ultimately defeats it through resurrection. Eventually, that has to mean something to the larger themes presented in the story.

So the point is not that Jon died. The point is that he died but did not stay that way. He lived. The boy lived. So stop using death to define Jon’s story!

Ok. I’m gonna talk about VR-LA a sec:

Just. Listen. The sheer joy I feel at the Knowing the crew has of VR-LA. How he’s so clearly autistic (or something similar) and it isn’t easy, it isn’t the kind of thing that only affects him once in a while, it’s day in day out every day, it’s down to his gears. It’s a different way of looking at the world, of living, of loving. How he experiences and expresses feelings and emotions so powerfully and so differently than everyone else in the show. How that’s not shown as ‘normal for him, but unusual for everyone else, so we make do,’ so much as it’s shown as ‘the ideal. of course VR-LA does X or says Y, that’s what he’d do! Why would it be better for him to have done otherwise?’ How the rest of the crew adore him, and he adores them, and they don’t even blink when accommodating him because it doesn’t even register as unusual accommodation. Everyone has a different way of looking at the world. Everyone gets accommodated. Why would we treat him differently? As someone with (undiagnosed, I’m working on it, trustworthy doctors are hard to find, but I have however been peer reviewed many times XD) autism, I assume the rest of the crew are just as relatable as he is. I assume the ways they feel and act are just as real. But I see myself in everything VR-LA does, and it really puts into perspective how most people in my life view love, and emotions, and friendship. VR-LA screws up. He does stupid stuff because he isn’t seeing things the way other people do and that gets people hurt or it hurts their feelings. He’s rude or blunt or uncompromising, he ignores or downright trods over good sense when it comes to diplomacy, and every single time he does I’m right there with him, not seeing the consequences until they’re right up in his face. But not once, in the entire show, does anyone make VR-LA the character or Noir the actor feel bad for who VR-LA is or who Noir has made him to be. When he apologizes, he mentions specific mistakes and he is forgiven for those mistakes. He does not apologize for ‘being bad at X general thing (like empathy)’ and nobody makes comments like that. He is aware of his own shortcomings but does not feel shame for them in the sense of ‘what I am is broken’, nor does he feel he is obligated to change what he is so he’s no longer bad at those things. He’s growing and getting better, yes, but he isn’t changing who he is, and nobody wants him to. Finbar and Kyana don’t even really consider pushing their brand of affection on him in situations where it’s unwelcome: conversely, VR-LA steps up and makes efforts to accommodate them when he’s trying to show affection. He makes Finbar the necklace. He takes time to talk to Dani while she’s working. AND. Nobody ever doubts VR-LA loves them??!! Despite the fact that he doesn’t do the typical verbal or physical affirmations of such??? He loves and is loved with a passion and never once does the crew think it isn’t enough because it’s not the right flavor. And that’s Shocking to me. It’s fascinating. I can barely conceive of that, and I certainly couldn’t before this last year or so of listening to the podcast and building solid friendships outside my childhood sphere. I love my family, and they love me, but there is now and will always be a disconnect between the way I naturally show love and they ways they are willing to accept love. That’s ok. I’m more than willing to take the extra step because I love them, and they are learning. But this is an entirely different ballpark. Rolling with difficulty is incredible, but this is the part that I think truly makes it one of my all time favorite stories. The crew Knows VR-LA, and loves him for what he is, the way they know he will understand. It’s viewed the same way two nt people are viewed, making concessions and adjustments for one another. Neither party is more to blame for what they are, and that’s just really really nice to see.😊

Author's notes for Sick aka I ramble about my complex Disability Feelings

When you're sick, especially given the dominance of the medical model of disability, it's easy to view your body as a separate adversary, and this scenario takes it to the extreme of completely removing yourself from your body. I've talked before on this blog about my complicated feelings on magic disability cures - I don't like them in fiction; I'd like one myself in real life - and this is me contemplating 'what if'?

I do not like being sick. It is painful, time-consuming, expensive, and frequently embarrassing. I wish it had not happened to me. But being disabled is now a major part of my identity and experience - it's probably the first label I would list when thinking about the different facets that impact my life. Being disabled has made me more aware of disability justice issues and changed the way I relate to and rely on other people. In some ways that sucks - it's progressively taken over what I eat, where I work, where I live (which I also take to the extreme in this story with ambiguously literal possession) - but in other ways, I think the disability community often has a much better worldview than mainstream America. I'm glad I've become more aware of some of those perspectives and issues. And because disability has shaped so much of my life for the past... six? years, for good and for ill, it's hard for me to conceive of what my life would be like without it. How would I think about myself? What would I do? This is my new normal, like it or not. I don't remember what it's like to make a fist painlessly.

An added wrinkle is that autoimmunity is my body Trying Its Best. I make a lot of jokes about my body trying to kill me because that's how it shakes out (please, little guys in my blood, stop eating my bones) but autoimmunity is a trauma response. My body got clobbered by so many outside poisons that it can't recognize what a real threat is anymore. It's trying to protect me and doing a terrible job. It's another place where you can look at your body as an external adversary versus a system that your mind is also a part of. But also no matter how you look at it, I am still sick.

There's also some stuff in the piece about the helplessness that comes from being sick which (surprise!) I also have mixed feelings about. Because it sucks not having control over your body! I want to be supervising that shit. But also... I don't know how common this is, but there is a weird kind of comfort in being tucked in bed with someone else taking care of me. I even find going into surgery oddly relaxing because for a while my life will be someone else's problem.

At the same time I also worry that I'm using disability as an excuse. Am I begging off attending something because I really am tired or worried about exposure/overwork or do I just not want to go?

Finally we have Aro Angst because that's always on my mind. And it's extra on my mind in the context of disability because what if I get to the point where I can't take care of myself anymore? I don't have a romantic partner to help me or to provide health insurance if I can't work. I live near my parents and have passed up job opportunities that would take me further away. Most specifically for this story, even I find myself sometimes falling into the trap of assuming the ultimate endstate of closeness/intimacy would be romantic/sexual bc of cultural conditioning. It's annoying! So the character (Dani, I named her Danielle in a reference to the Daniel/the cooler Daniel meme) is still seeking the community, care, and closeness she experienced as part of the disabled community, and the messier weirder intimacy of feeling connected to her own body, but she's struggling with interpreting that through cultural norms of amatonormativity. Sometimes 'I want to be inside you/I want you inside me' is, shockingly, not a sex thing. Hence, toxic nonhorny clone makeouts. I guess???

Side note: I've mentioned this wrt pieces I've written with aromanticism that follow a similar pattern of taking something I am at least not too consciously dramatic about and making the MC a pathetic wet cat about it. I guess they are serving the purpose of Everyman in a medieval morality play here. They are crash test dummies I am flinging at walls to count the cracks. Not great character writing but that's not what this is about rn.

About the faceless men

It seems to me that the fandom often sees the FM as glorified mercenaries, but they are first and foremost a religious order. Of course they will have their interests, but I believe most of their contracts are accepted or not depending on how they relate to their theology.

Let me explain: let's look at the story of the Waif, regardless of whether it is the truth or not, it can tell us a lot about the type of payment that is requested by the order.

Her stepmother wants the Waif dead so that her child can inherit. So the stepmother goes to the FMs and they ask for her child as payment. She refuses. The Waif's father finds out what his wife has done and so he goes to the FMs. The father gives his daughter to HoBaW (along with money) in exchange for the death of his wife.

The reason his sacrifice is accepted and the stepmother's is not is that the exchange of life and death must be of equal value. They don't kill your stepdaughter if you're not willing to pay with your child's life. It is not a simple monetary exchange, it is a religious sacrifice. In this case a death in exchange for a life of service (valar morghulis, valar dohaeris).

The story of the second FM is similar. He wanted his master's death and paid for it by sacrificing his own life at the service of the Many-Faced-God.

Even the one between Jaqen and Arya is a balanced exchange, not mercenary: three lives for three lives.

Then there are cases in which we don't know what the sacrifice/payment required was, such as that of the insurance man.

There is also the case of Euron, which is not confirmed. The theory says that Euron gave a dragon egg for King Balon's death. This is a very high price: Mormont claims that the sale of Dany's eggs could make her a wealthy woman for the rest of her life. If this happened it means that the faceless men demanded one of the most precious things that Euron possessed as payment. Maybe even forcing him to change his plans if he intended to try to hatch the egg.

The only character who refers to FMs in monetary terms is Baelish. He argues that hiring a faceless man costs twice as much as an entire mercenary army, and that's the price for a merchant's death, who knows what they might ask for Daenerys Targaryen's life.

But this is not true, we know that there is no similar tariff, the 'price' is always different and must be negotiated with the FMs. And it seems that they always tend to ask for the maximum that the client is able to offer.

It may be that Baelish has a somewhat distorted idea of how FM works. He is the only Westrosi who seems to be familiar with them, probably because his family is from Braavos. But by now they have lived on the Westeros for more than three generations so it is possible that the cultural context surrounding the HoBaW is lost on Petyr.

Do you agree with this view or you are more on the expensive hitmen train? Are there any examples from the FM mission in the books that can tell us more about their philosophy?

Here are some cool lore videos that were made as special content for the show. They are only semi-canonical, but they are interesting, I recommend them:

The Facelessmen narrated by Tycho Nestoris

The Many-Faced-God narrated by Jaqen H'ghar

Some reactors just finished the red wedding and they were devastated because like who do they root for?! Jon isn’t a stark really and they were like hopes on Arya as in being a leader and fighting and leading armies and stuff,getting revenge and winning against lannisters since they are always winning. And it just reminded me again on how everyone probably was rooting for Arya to get even and get the revenge and be in power later on regardless what because she is the only Stark they were rooting for and jOn for any sort of win. And how the show just practically tried to gaslight us that sansa is the one stark that we were rooting for and hope for revenge and power because she is the starkest stark. the writers really did everything for the dudebros to love sansa. her being anti dany and being neDs dAuGhteR to speak up against the ViLLainS and for the north bc jon is dumb and pussy stricken and arya doesn’t give a fck and bran is just there.. like the absolute fuckery and clownery.

What's funny is that even from the beginning they were showing their favoritism towards Sansa, and yet Arya was always the more popular character. There was only so much they could change and while they were sticking to the books, Arya has always had a more proactive arc that was rooted in her identity as a Stark. It just made more sense that she would be the one more heavily involved in the North, which was proven with how much they had to change things to have that switch to Sansa. They didn't find her book arc interesting enough (which is something her stans also think) so they just lifted one related to other characters and then couldn't even do that right! At most it increased sympathy to her character because of what she went through but it took a wrecking ball to existing plot lines and characterizations.

And you can really tell who the Key Five are just by watching the show. Arya, Dany, Jon, Tyrion, and Bran were all reduced to flat, one-dimensional characters to make room for Saint Sansa and it was ultimately the downfall of the show. D&D thought that their personal preferences were more important then anything else. The plot lines didn't make any sense, the characters were inconsistent, and there was barely anything going on because they didn't have the skill to handle complex story lines and characters.

Why people still think, or want, the books to follow the show I'll never know. Fans of the actual story are (im)patiently waiting for the books to be finished so we can see the actual ending.

Sorry if I'm spouting stuff unwanted in your ask box. But I had a deep brain thinky moment and I thought "at least with reader inserts we admit we're inserting ourselves into the story". A lot of "shippers" seem to ship because they've projected onto a certain character, and they themselves want to be with another character (who often gets watered down to a very attractive slab of meat with little to no will and/or personality of their own). So of course, prime example is Jon with his choose your own poison girlboss, but I've seen it in some other areas. Of course there are some genuine attempts at investigating chemistry between characters out there, but it's often the most viciously toxic ships/shipping communities that I notice this sort of self insertion. Of course I could be assuming things and/or judgemental but it's just a theory I built up after years of observing.

No, you are right on the money. (Rest under a read more because gods be good have my opinions on shipping and shippers in fandom gotten me some anon hate before)

It's why certain shippers tend to be very aggressive in their defences, because they have seen so much of themselves in a character they feel like you are judging them for a real relationship they are in. Refusing to see character flaws as a fundemantal aspect of who that person is, beacuse they don't want to relate to someone like that, so they invent a vision of this person that they have to defend beacuse they won't admit they related to a bad person.

It's a slippery slope to project so heavily onto a character in a ship you like. Beacuse you end up refusing to see them as dynamic people who are more complicated then their relationship and that relationship ends updefining them as a character. Example, I ship Brienne and Jaime but I also don't look at either of them as someone I relate to on a personal level. I'm also fascinated with both of their separate stories and greatly and think those separate journeys are what makes their intertwining moments so intriguing. But if I were projecting myself onto Brienne, then I would end up acting as if she was always perfect and her entire story revolves around a starry eyed Jaime who only lives for that relationship now.

Jon has such a bad treatment by his shippers, beacuse so often he winds up being that slab of meat for the other party. I know some people have joked "well about time its a mans turn" but the point is no one should be given the arm candy treatment by fans. Man or woman. Jon is such a footnote in Jonerys dialouge beacuse ultimetly he serves her at her beck and call with little agency. Because Dany is the one they see themselves as and thus molding Jon into their perfect partner means serving the worst aspects of a girlboss character, meaning stripping the complex agency of their romantic male interests. Same with Ygritte, people see her aggresiveness and sass and think oh my god shes me, and totally ignore the actual text on the page/proof on screen that Jon's time with her isn't happy or romantic. But they want to see themeslves in Ygritte's spitfire personality so badly that they refuse to see Jon as anything but a willing puppet for her enjoyment, beacuse they want the advantage of being her and having him.

Honestly most Jon ships have this problem, and it's partially why I don't ship him with anyone, and i actually ship very few characters with anyone. My time in the Pedro fandom I was infamous for disliking popular ships and a lot of it then too was seeing people projecting onto the female to a point where their interpretation of the character was just not what was on screen.

Casually shipping is fine, again I love a good analysis post about Jaime and Brienne, but like you said. At least with reader inserts, I'm telling you it's you. I'm telling you it's me. You know the reader acts that way beacuse it's who they are and it's not forcing them to be something their not just to force that character to be relatable to you in particular.

Jonsa, Jonerys, Jonrya and Jongritte suffer from this problem greatly, and during my time in the pedro fandom Mando and Omera, and Joel and Tess also were major sufferers of this problem. The male becomes meat for the superior female character beacuse you want it to be you and it being you forces you to turn this person into someone they aren't and this it strips the other party of their agency.

The males now only exist to be relatable arm candy, as opposed to reader inserts which do the work to find a way to make the reader fit into the existing world around them organically.

At least I'm being honest. I write Jon Snow x Reader fics cus I want to fuck Jon Snow, I'm not pretending like I just really like Dany and thats why I ship it. No, they're a terrible couple, but at least I'm honest about my self shipping. I don't have to lie about my intentions.

We've reached a point in our lives where nostalgic bait is at an all-time high. From the thousands of reboots; remakes; and sequels to beloved cult classics from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s, it is shameful how many of these we have, all varying in terms of quality and almost always with the intent to pocket money off of us peons.

What can I say? We were desperate for anything because we hardly ever got anything back then.

Even the darling favorite of many a fandom back in the mid-2000s, Avatar: The Last Airbender, was hurting for merch back in the days. And Danny Phantom's was practically non-existent. It is astonishing this comic exists, but not at all surprising because now, Nickelodeon knows to cash in on the products that fans have carried a torch for decades later.

I'm sounding really cynical here, I know. And while Ol' Nicky is seeing dollar signs, it is worth noting A Glitch in Time was clearly made with the most utmost love and respect for the show. Gabriela Epstein gave so much of a damn crafting this near 200-page behemoth, covering almost 90% of the hanging plot points the show never got the time to answer and simultaneously wiping off the backwards series finale that left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouth.

Like altogether, this comic explored Danny's story and what his purpose is post-"PP", Vlad's redemption arc, Pariah King's artifacts (and why Vlad was collecting them), and Dark Danny's return, all while working around a plausible narrative that retooled "PP" using time manipulation and newfound lore. And it's amazing how seamless it flows.

This comic isn't just incredible, it's a miracle.

And in spite of all that, the author still had the balls to leave some of the dangling plot threads and character arcs unfinished for a potential sequel hook, as if they knew this comic would sell enough to justify one.

Well, as of this writing, this motherfucker is still the #1 top seller in Amazon's all-age for graphic novels. Fool on me to rely purely on that hell site's sale counts to accurately know how well it did, but I imagine that's pretty damn good. If you had told me years ago anything DP-related beyond lame ass Box Lunch shirts would officially come out of the woodwork, I would have laughed. That the possibility of a second comic book seem plausible would be chuckly-worthy, but now... damn, I think it genuinely could happen.

And I hope it does, because A Glitch in Time still finishes with a couple of snags left to untangle.

The first major incident is the controversial matter of a one Miss Danielle Phantom. Now that Vlad has been given a second chance to raise a child, and do it right this time, what does that mean for Danny's clone? How will she feel knowing Vlad has changed? Or that he has a son? Would he have been a better father by the time she flies back to Amity Park? What has this kid been up to in the few years since "PP?" How would Danielle feel when she reunites with a Vlad that looks to be genuinely trying? Distrustful on his true intention? Angry that this man had the gull to change? Jealous that Dark Danny had Vlad's unconditional love when his fatherly affection is all Danielle ever wanted?

Dani is never mentioned at any point in the comic, with any hints that she still exists the Danny clones lingering in Vlad's secret base. I understand why she wouldn't be relevant for this comic. Dark Danny, for one, is such a huge entity that an entire spotlight dedicated to him and him alone would be worthy of a full graphic novel. But Dani's existence, her dilemma as a lone wanderer with only a distant relationship with Danny, and the unresolved tension between her and Vlad means her story is worthy of a full comic, too.

Now that Vlad is on the path of redemption with promises to be a better person and a father, his relationship with Danielle is going to invite a lot of questions, conflicts, and hurt feelings before it presumably and hopefully treads into happier paths. And Danny is likely gonna be stuck playing the awkward monkey-in-the-middle family member in all this. But damn, the setup is there.

The other Big Huge Plot left is Valerie.

In her last major role prior to this comic, Valerie was confronted with a moral dilemma: will she take the life of a human if said human is a half-ghost? Danny, in desperation, had to confess to Valerie that Dani is a half-ghost, meaning Valerie would have the blood of an actual mortal on her hands should she kill her.

And mind, this was the best Danny could do. We've seen that ghosts in DP are their own species with their own (dead) lives and free will. I'm not sure if Valerie has killed any ghosts or if she's just thermos'ed them back into the Ghost Zone, but her unscrupulous and, by the end of the show, downright brutal nature, seem to imply if she hadn't already murdered any ghosts, then she's more than willing to should the issue arise.

And so we have Val in A Glitch in Time, still doing her ghost hunting thing (her father hasn't been seen since season two, is he okay with her doing this or is she hunting ghosts regardless of any concerns he might have), a job I'm sure she's positively thriving in now that Amity Park is gung-ho for some ghostbustin'.

Indeed, though she's not as prominent as the main trio and Vlad, Valerie gets enough time in the spotlight to meet Dark Danny. In a particularly brilliant callback, she gets a couple of one-on-one battles with Dark Danny, with both the tone and even color scheme echoing so much of what her alternate, older counterpart has countered with Dark Danny from that timeline.

And I'm sure Dark Danny is just thrilled at the deja vu.

The damning part is how Valerie reacts when she realizes Dark Danny is, well, Danny.

Keep in mind, this is post-"Phantom Planet." This is post-Valerie has known Danny Phantom is Fenton. She says this after knowing the town's hero was a fellow student she once liked and dated, and whom she nearly gave up her ghost hunting career for.

Yeah.

This has implication.

Valerie's first reaction to meeting a future Dark Danny is to straight up tell him, "you're evil." Is that how she felt about Danny Fenton after "Phantom Planet?" Did she feel betrayed that the boy she fell for was secretly half-ghost? Did she feel manipulated into saving Dani? Given the exceptional story Gabriela Epstein has expertly crafted, this one piece of dialogue cannot, under any circumstances, be accidental.

Valerie saying this straight up to Danny fuckin' Fenton after everything that has transpired is one of the biggest bomb drops in A Glitch in Time.

The end of the comic implies she remembers the old timeline, meaning she's still aware of Fenton as Phantom. The tragedy of her character is that Valerie has always been strictly one-minded in her goal. Her downright hatred for ghosts and the absolute destruction of Amity Park before Clockwork fixed everything means in her eyes, she has justifiable cause to kill Danny Fenton. The current Danny Fenton. After all, if he is capable of turning into Dark Danny, then why shouldn't she get rid of him before it's too late?

Valerie is also intricately connected to Dani through "D-Stabilized", meaning there could be a way to tie all of these into another Big Damn Comic Book down the line. And while I had problems with how Valerie's dialogue was written in that episode (sounding deviously supervillainy as oppose to her feeling like her actions are justified), having her as the central villain in the next book sounds about right.

I've always been opposed to the idea of Valerie being an outright baddie (as oppose to a just being a dangerous obstacle), but the potential dynamic and high stakes tension for her to be the biggest obstacle to Danny, Dani, and Vlad (since she also knows what the latter is, too) in her pursuit to kill all ghosts and protect her home has nuances and character exploration that I think Gabriela Epstein is more than capable of dissecting.

Whatever the outcome may be, should another DP graphic novel come to light, I, for once in so many, many, many years, look forward to it.

ASOIAF fans seem to think that magic is antithetical to progress (day 73848 of wondering why these people read a fantasy series when they hate magic) but as we see, Essos is 10x more magical and is far more technologically advanced than Westeros. Braavos is the wealthiest and most advanced city in Planetos and it still retains a strong relationship with magic, and though it’s not perfect or ideal in any sense, it’s an abolitionist, ethnically diverse republic that has social mobility, religious freedom, and working hospitals.

Magic is also the reason Bran and Daenerys are able to have hope in life again and find some semblance of freedom after two excruciating and life-altering, traumatizing experiences. Magic is the reason Bran is able to fight to survive in a cruel world that kills off children and disabled people. Magic is the reason Daenerys is able to fight to survive in a patriarchal world where her only options would’ve been the Dosh Khaleen or being resold and re-enslaved.

ASOIAF fans really read Bran and Daenerys experiencing the worst things a child can experience and going thru sequence of a traumatic experience that awakens their magic (rather than debilitating their magic as a traditional fantasy narrative would) and feeling that beautiful and liberating sensation of flight, and conclude that magic is evil ??? GRRM explicitly called them “his most magical characters” but the fandom want me to believe that he hates magic, lmao.

I'll never get why some fans always link magic to negative developments. Magic can lead to both positive and negative outcomes based on who is welding it. For example, Martin wrote Melisandre giving birth to shadow assassins but he also wrote Dany liberating slaves with the help of her magical children (the dragons).

It's obvious to me that the author doesn't consider magic automatically something evil otherwise he wouldn't make both Dany and the Stark kids have strong bonds with magical animals. Neither would he explore the powers the characters develop through these bondings (skinchanging, dragonrider bond etc).

I wonder the same thing with you: why do they bother to read a fantasy book when they have anything magic related? Wouldn't a medieval historical novel be more to their taste if they only enjoy the political side of asoiaf?

Mythological parallels: Bael the Bard

One of the ways in which GRRM gives us hints or foreshadowing for Jon and Arya is by crafting mythological stories in the world of Planetos. Further, to try and normalize romantic love between close half-siblings/first cousins and other relatives in the fantasy world he created, GRRM also adds in in-world historical parallels with Naerys and Aemon the Dragonknight or Alysanne and Jaehaerys - which GRRM called ‘one of the great Targaryen love stories’. However, one of the strongest pieces of foreshadowing for Jonrya is the story of Bael the Bard.

Bael the Bard aka the King-Beyond-the-Wall is only brought up in Jon Snow’s POV chapters. No other character. This mythology is therefore specifically related to and has to do with Jon Snow as a character and no other. Bael the Bard is intricately woven into his POV over several books, connecting certain characters, themes and houses.

Ygritte first mentions the bard while prisoner of Jon Snow and the other Crows.

"Who was your mother?"

"Some woman. Most of them are." Someone had said that to him once. He did not remember who.

She smiled again, a flash of white teeth. "And she never sung you the song o' the winter rose?"

"I never knew my mother. Or any such song." - Jon, ACoK

This is delicious foreshadowing considering R+L= J, Lyanna’s love of Winter Roses, the story of Rhaegar kidnapping/stealing Lyanna and Lyanna’s son Jon Snow being equated to a blue Winter Rose in Dany’s vision at the House of the Undying.

Ygritte then goes on tell the story behind the song.

"That's all in where you're standing too," Ygritte said. "The Stark in Winterfell wanted Bael's head, but never could take him, and the taste o' failure galled him. One day in his bitterness he called Bael a craven who preyed only on the weak. When word o' that got back, Bael vowed to teach the lord a lesson. So he scaled the Wall, skipped down the kingsroad, and walked into Winterfell one winter's night with harp in hand, naming himself Sygerrik of Skagos. Sygerrik means 'deceiver' in the Old Tongue, that the First Men spoke, and the giants still speak it."

"North or south, singers always find a ready welcome, so Bael ate at Lord Stark's own table, and played for the lord in his high seat until half the night was gone. The old songs he played, and new ones he'd made himself, and he played and sang so well that when he was done, the lord offered to let him name his own reward. 'All I ask is a flower,' Bael answered, 'the fairest flower that blooms in the gardens o' Winterfell.'

"Now as it happened the winter roses had only then come into bloom, and no flower is so rare nor precious. So the Stark sent to his glass gardens and commanded that the most beautiful o' the winter roses be plucked for the singer's payment. And so it was done. But when morning came, the singer had vanished... and so had Lord Brandon's maiden daughter. Her bed they found empty, but for the pale blue rose that Bael had left on the pillow where her head had lain." - Jon, ACoK

Despite the Stark maiden later being found hidden in the crypts with the bard’s baby, the song of the winter rose is basically about Bael the Bard stealing a Stark maiden from Winterfell, right from under everyone’s nose. Later, Ygritte equates Bael the Bard stealing the Stark maiden to Jon stealing her.

She ran her fingers lightly across his stomach. “I feared you’d do the same once. Fly back to the Wall. You never knew what t’ do after you stole me.”

Jon sat up. “Ygritte, I never stole you.”

“Aye, you did. You jumped down the mountain and killed Orell, and afore I could get my axe you had a knife at my throat. I thought you’d have me then, or kill me, or maybe both, but you never did. And when I told you the tale o’ Bael the Bard and how he plucked the rose o’ Winterfell, I thought you’d know to pluck me then for certain, but you didn’t. You know nothing, Jon Snow.” She gave him a shy smile. “You might be learning some, though.” - Jon, ASoS

Two things to note here, in terms of parallels and connections.

Jon Snow keeps comparing Ygritte, the woman he is attracted towards and ends up loving, to Arya.

Her shaggy mop of red hair stuck out in all directions. She looked plump as she crouched there, but most of that was layers of fur and wool and leather. Underneath all that she could be as skinny as Arya. - Jon, ACoK

Jon could see fear and fire in her eyes. Blood ran down her white throat from where the point of his dirk had pricked her. One thrust and it’s done, he told himself. He was so close he could smell onion on her breath. She is no older than I am. Something about her made him think of Arya, though they looked nothing at all alike - Jon, ACoK

She wasn't wed and her weapon of choice was a short curved bow of horn and weirwood, but "spearwife" fit her all the same. She reminded him a little of his sister Arya, though Arya was younger and probably skinnier. It was hard to tell how plump or thin Ygritte might be, with all the furs and skins she wore. - Jon, ASoS

"If you kill a man, and never mean t', he's just as dead," Ygritte said stubbornly. Jon had never met anyone so stubborn, except maybe for his little sister Arya. Is she still my sister? he wondered. Was she ever? - Jon, ASoS

Ygritte punched his arm. “You know nothing, Jon Snow. I’m half a fish, I’ll have you know.” - Jon, ASoS

Jon used to say that she swam like a fish, but even a fish might have trouble in this river. - Arya, ASoS

And then there’s all the parallels that GRRM crafts between Arya and Lyanna Stark [Too many to highlight in this essay]. From Ned Stark telling Arya that she looked like and reminded him of the sister he dearly loved to Bran seeing a vision of Lyanna and Benjen playing and mistaking Lyanna for Arya, there are so many Lyanna-Arya parallels littered through-out the books. It’s clear that the author is connecting these two characters as literary mirrors for a narrative reason.

However, GRRM does more than just give us the Ygritte and Lyanna parallels to Arya Stark. He pretty much gives us Bael the Bard 2.0 with Mance Raydar or ‘Abel’ [An anagram of Bael] trying to steal a Stark maiden ‘Arya Stark’ for Jon Snow.

He lays the foundation for this tale right from when Jon Snow meets with Mance Raydar and it’s Jon who compares him to Bael the Bard.

He laughed. “I know every bawdy song that’s ever been made, north or south of the Wall. So there you are. The night your father feasted Robert, I sat in the back of his hall on a bench with the other freeriders, listening to Orland of Oldtown play the high harp and sing of dead kings beneath the sea. I betook of your lord father’s meat and mead, had a look at Kingslayer and Imp .. . and made passing note of Lord Eddard’s children and the wolf pups that ran at their heels.”

“Bael the Bard,” said Jon, remembering the tale that Ygritte had told him in the Frostfangs, the night he’d almost killed her.

“Would that I were. I will not deny that Bael’s exploit inspired mine own . . . but I did not steal either of your sisters that I recall. Bael wrote his own songs, and lived them. I only sing the songs that better men have made. More mead?” - Jon, ASoS

The way GRRM lays the ground work here - ‘but I didn’t steal either of your sisters’ and then in ADwD we get ‘Abel’ trying to ‘steal’ Jon’s ‘sister Arya’ from Winterfell and ends up helping fake Arya to escape.

Jon Snow sends the King Beyond the Wall, Mance Raydar to go steal a Stark maiden, Arya Stark. Mance Raydar uses an anagram of Bael the Bard and goes as Abel the Bard. Remember, Bael the Bard was also King Beyond the Wall. Mance eats at the Bolton’s table and sings at the wedding and the feast.

The musicians began to play again, and the bard Abel began to sing “Two Hearts That Beat as One.” - The Prince of Winterfell, ADwD

Up near the dais, Abel was plucking at his lute and singing “Fair Maids of Summer.” He calls himself a bard. - The Prince of Winterfell, ADwD

Lord Bolton commanded Abel to play for them as they ate. The bard sang “Iron Lances,” then “The Winter Maid.” When Barbrey Dustin asked for something more cheerful, he gave them “The Queen Took Off Her Sandal, the King Took Off His Crown,” and “The Bear and the Maiden Fair.” - The Ghost in Winterfell, ADwD

Not so long as there was food and drink within, willing women and warm fires. As he left the hall, Abel was singing “The Maids That Bloom in Spring.” - The Ghost in Winterfell, ADwD

He turned his head, his pale cold eyes searching the hall until they found the bard Abel beside Theon. “Singer,” he called, “come sing us something soothing.”

Abel bowed. “If it please your lordship.” Lute in hand, he sauntered to the dais, hopping nimbly over a corpse or two, and seated himself cross-legged on the high table. As he began to play—a sad, soft song that Theon Greyjoy did not recognize—Ser Hosteen, Ser Aenys, and their fellow Freys turned away to lead their horses from the hall. Rowan grasped Theon’s arm. “The bath. It must be now.” - Theon, ADwD

It’s very possible that the sad song ‘Abel’ was playing here was the ‘Song of the Winter Rose’ considering that Theon had never heard it before and hence does not recognize and name it [Jon Snow had never heard it before and Old Nan had not told them the story]. And it’s possible that the ‘Song of the Winter Rose’ or the song about Bael the Bard is what acts as a signal for the spearwives to attempt to get ‘Arya’ out of Winterfell.

And then to connect and tie these stories together, the house that puts an end to Bael the Bard’s son is none other than house Bolton!

Thirty years later, when Bael was King-beyond-the-wall and led the free folk south, it was young Lord Stark who met him at the Frozen Ford... and killed him, for Bael would not harm his own son when they met sword to sword."

"So the son slew the father instead," said Jon.

"Aye," she said, "but the gods hate kinslayers, even when they kill unknowing. When Lord Stark returned from the battle and his mother saw Bael's head upon his spear, she threw herself from a tower in her grief. Her son did not long outlive her. One o' his lords peeled the skin off him and wore him for a cloak." - Jon, ACoK

Which brings us back to Jon Snow’s feud with Ramsay Bolton over Arya Stark and the infamous Pink Letter

Bastard,

Your false king is dead, bastard. He and all his host were smashed in seven days of battle. I have his magic sword. Tell his red whore.

Your false king's friends are dead. Their heads upon the walls of Winterfell. Come see them, bastard. Your false king lied, and so did you. You told the world you burned the King-Beyond-the-Wall. Instead you sent him to Winterfell to steal my bride from me.

I will have my bride back. If you want Mance Rayder back, come and get him. I have him in a cage for all the north to see, proof of your lies. The cage is cold, but I have made him a warm cloak from the skins of the six whores who came with him to Winterfell.

I want my bride back. I want the false king's queen. I want his daughter and his red witch. I want this wildling princess. I want his little prince, the wildling babe. And I want my Reek. Send them to me, bastard, and I will not trouble you or your black crows. Keep them from me, and I will cut out your bastard's heart and eat it.

Ramsay Bolton, Trueborn Lord of Winterfell

Jon Snow is accused of stealing Arya Stark by using a King Beyond the Wall Mance Raydar. It’s very possibly that Jon Snow is legitimized via Robb’s decree as Jon Stark and we are going to see a Battle of legitimized Bastards and Stark Vs Bolton. And this time around the tale ends with Lord Stark prevailing over Lord Bolton.

So, to conclude, the story of Bael the Bard appears only in Jon’s chapters and is therefore specifically put in there to add to Jon Snow’s story. Bael the Bard connects Jon Snow to the Freefolk via Ygritte and Mance Raydar, to his mother Lyanna Stark, to his cousin Arya Stark. We see a version of the ‘Song of the Winter Rose’ play out in ADwD with Jon Snow sending a King Beyond the Wall to steal a Stark Maiden from Winterfell right from under everyone’s nose

“Bring her home, Mance. You owe me this one little girl. ” - Jon, ADwD

And maybe this time the story in the song will have a happier ending.

girl why dont you change your username to some dany related 😐 some of us arya stans dont hate but neither stan dany and just followed you because of arya

Because Arya is and always will be my favorite character in ASoIaF books.

The first character I talk about when people ask me if ASoIaF is a good book.

The character I search the most on Tumblr seeking for more content.

Because she's the character I relate the most throughout the saga.

The character I am the most excited to see the ending of her journey on a Dream of Spring.

Because I love Arya's symbolism.

Because I love Arya's connection with animals. Especially her connection with Nymeria.

Because of her relationships with Jon and Bram and Rickon and Ned and even Cat will always have a place in my heart.

Me liking, admiring and loving Dany wont change that.

And fyi, I can like and enjoy more than one character on a book series and I'm allowed to share content that is not only Arya related on my blog. Furthermore, I'm not obligated to choose between neither Arya nor Dany since I like both of them.

+ I really like my url. It has been like this for five years and will stay that way (to finish this ask, since I can remember I have always been open to point out that I loved Daenerys as a character. If you followed me that long, u should know that. It is on the bio) .

The Theon poll was so interesting. I was just curious if you’ve ever seen any of the show? I couldn’t remember if you said you read the books first and then watched the show or if you’ve never seen the show at all. If you have, did you watch the whole thing? Was there anything you liked about it or thought the show portrayed well?

It's kind of you to show interest anon and I don't hold anything against you but oh god this was such a struggle and I ended giving up because I can't talk about the show without wanting to hurt people but also the longer I think about it, the less apologetic I want to be. I want to be allowed to tell everyone how much I despise it but I know I would get in trouble for that and I'm so tired of it. The more I think about it, the more depressed I get and the more hateful I become. I think it makes me depressed because fandom proved I'm not allowed to be hateful and angry, although I know I have the right to be.

"Was there anything you liked about it or thought the show portrayed well?"

I actively forget the show exists until someone mentions it, but I filled two journals with show thoughts (they were abundantly negative), so here are the few things I marked down as positives.

I’ve always been a fan of Ramin Djawadi's work and used to play some of his pieces so that was the highlight of the show for me. “Winds of Winter” and some other themes used for Dany give me goosebumps and so does “Light of the Seven”. There was a time I could play that one on the violin and piano.

“Watching your vicious bastard die gave me more relief than a thousand lying whores.” (I didn't even have to google that sentence. I heard it once and it became engraved to my brain)

Lena Headey and most of the casting for the Lannisters. I hated what they did to Tyrion's character later on and also how they made Cersei less unhinged but I think both of them had the range to play the characters properly had they been given decent scripts.

There was this thing they did with Sansa's hair that I thought was interesting. Her style changed and assimilated to whoever she was learning from/trying to emulate. A nice and fitting touch.

Up to Season 6 (I think. Not fully sure), I liked most of the costuming for Cersei. The red dress with the golden metal corset shaped armour...gay gay homosexual gay.

Florence + the Machine's adaptation of "Jenny of Oldstones".

The adaptation of "The Rains of Castamere"

Dubrovnik and Peñiscola as two of the most important filming locations were such a smart choice! I had been to both of the cities in the past and it was so fun to spot which places they filmed in. They really made the best out of such small and rather niche places and I applaud how much they played with perspective in order to make us ignore the constant use of the same set spaces.

I really liked Isaac Hempstead Wright's acting during Season 2. It felt very similar to this despair and impotence that ACOK Bran feels and my heart ached for him.

Season 6 episode 10 made absolutely no fucking sense but it was the most entertaining one and I think seeing Cersei blow up the sept was the happiest experience I had with that show. What an icon she was, burning all her enemies to the ground...would have made me even happier if her actions had consequences but I still cherished the moment on itself.

I hated everything related to the Greyjoys and the writing team threw every possible interesting plot and dynamic for them out of the window, but there was a scene somewhere in Season 2, when Theon returns to the Iron Islands in which Balon Greyjoy is given a more deeply and hurtful characterisation. Theon accuses him of "giving him away, like a dog he didn't want anymore" and the camera stays at Balon's expression of pain and desolateness. I really dislike most of the fandom's characterisation for Balon. This however, was interesting.

Michelle Fairley's last scream and her following lifelessness during the red wedding was hunting. I am #anti Robb Stark(/j) and I didn't like Richard Madden as Robb so I didn't feel a lot during that scene until she started to shine. Amazing actress.

Season 1, episode 10 (I think), a scene in which we see Catelyn and Robb react to Ned's death. Michele Fairley does this thing where she starts leaning against trees and breaths heavily in order to not let herself cry and Robb is hacking a tree with his sword before his mother hugs him as he sobs "I'll kill them all". I don't like Richard Madden but I loved that scene. The composition and setting was so atmospheric and the musical score was very emotional, love those strings. I rewatched the scene right now to make sure my thoughts were the same and, yes 15-year-old-me, I full-heartedly agree!

The animated shorts were a hesitant and reluctant source of joy for me. @/hell-heron has made use of them in gifs and I think they are lovely to look at.

That's about it

"I was just curious if you’ve ever seen any of the show? I couldn’t remember if you said you read the books first and then watched the show or if you’ve never seen the show at all. If you have, did you watch the whole thing?"

I watched till half of season 2 after spending three years analysing the books without any show influence or imagery, didn't like it, got called a slur and was told to go back to the plantation by show people because I didn't like the whitewashing, finished watching it in 2019 against my will, really hated it.

The concrete things that made the show a source of anger and sadness instead of allowing it only to be uninteresting for me, asides from Stark goggles and overall me hating show!Theon and show!Dany (two of my favourite characters), listed from most to least personally upsetting:

Missandei of Naath (Sexualization, pseudo-maturity and imposed adulthood of black Girls)

Jeyne-Sansa switcherroo (Not doomed by the narrative, just ditched and other unimportant, unsatisfactory, insufficient girls (Jeyne W, Penny, Kyra, Pretty Pia, etc.))

"Dark" "Dark eyes" "Dark hair" "Dark vs Fair" (Whitewashing under the pretence of ambiguity á la fanon!Rue from the Hunger Games)

The philosophical stance of the narrative (Nihilism vs. Optimistic Existentialism vs. Embracing the absurd & The Myth of Sisyphus; conclusion: ABSOLUTELY NOTHING)

Ableism (Wex Pyke, Ilyn Payne and my other fellow (selective) mutes, constant jokes on the expense of mutilated people that the watchers were meant to laugh at, the dismissal of Tysha, Bran's not-sense-making impotence/infertility and the connotations of lovelessness for disabled people, Tyrion making fun of a supposedly mentally disabled cousin just for the lols)

Renly, Loras, Jon Connington, Satin and "Olyvar" (???) (Home of phobia)

Sansa Stark (Destroying a character to marketise a YA Heroine)

Daenerys Targaryen (Slowburn character assassination)

The even stronger orientalist tropes in Dorne (Girlbossing your way through character massacre)

Robb Stark (Simplifying the text and creating a male oc)

Arya Stark & Brienne of Tarth (Contraproductive and unresolved internalised misogyny)