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Indian style pizza with paneer cheese, spinach, red onion and fresh coriander.

Name: Jerika -- Real name is reserved for long-term partners.

LJ: Jerika25.Livejournal.com

Email: Lazy_Lugs@Hotmail.com

MSN/AIM/YIM: Skype: Ashley.Elsey Yahoo -- SolacexTwilight MSN -- Lazy_lugs@hotmail.com

Timezone: New Zealand

What you RP: High-Fantasy, Fantasy, Modern, Medieval, OC's, World building ( as in building an RP universe together)

Characters you RP: I have a very wide range of Characters in mind for several different RPs Or I'll make up a new one pretty easy going when it comes too characters.

Characters you’re looking to interact with: Someone interesting!! Someone who can play and fit in well with mine. No matter what the setting.

Any specific storyline ideas, or general feelings involved with RPing: No current storylines set in place right now. I am the sort of player that likes to build up a story with someone as we go, like I said world building. if it is say a DnD style RP making up our own adventure monsters and everything that goes with it!

Do you smut?: Yes, I do smut. But there is a catch! It needs to go with a story, personally I wouldn't go jumping into the sack with someone I only just met. So do not expect my characters too either! Smut is so much better in a story when it has character feeling behind it. And there is a reason for it. ( If all you want is smut off the bat do not bother sending me a message. sorry if that sounds hash, but some people do not grasp this. )

Is there anything else you would like to add?: This is where I will tell you about myself. Call me Jerika unless I give you my real name of course :P. 26 year old Female from New Zealand I have been an Avid Rper for 14 years now. My style changes depending on my partner and the story. I started off in MSN, Yahoo and when I found AIM the AIM chatrooms, then onto EYECHAT when MSN closed up. I Rp now and then on Gaiaonline, and many other websites. Pretty easy going and laid back, it takes a lot too annoy me. And I get along with almost everyone. If you wish to RP just let me know :3 I don't bite! can't cause anyone harm by just asking no?

Well thank you for reading my add! And I look forward too finding people soon.

MSN/AIM/YIM: MSN is no longer valid/ kuroinekotwizzle / Will give this out late / I also have skype.
Timezone: GMT + 1

What you RP:
http://itsmehumphrey.webs.com/fandoms
A non-complete list here, anything else just ask.

Characters you RP:
You'll find it in that list, but practically everyone.

Characters you’re looking to interact with: A male canon for my female oc, I will do the same to you.

Any specific storyline ideas, or general feelings involved with RPing:
I have some plots, but I would rather discuss with my roleplay partners when concerning plots. Here are most of my rules: http://itsmehumphrey.webs.com/rules however, the most important rule is: honest throughout the roleplay please, if you're bored, tired or want to change something I need to know. Please do not be a coward or leave me hangin, if you know you do this, don't contact me.

Do you smut?: Yes, but it shouldn't be the center of the story please. I prefer a good, hearty plot with my smut. I also only do hetero smut, I will not write out homosexual sexual scenes; here are the rest of my limits: http://itsmehumphrey.webs.com/limits

Is there anything else you would like to add?: I am usually a very nice person so I hope to find some decent partners. I really want someone who knows what they're doing, know the character they're playing and knows how to mix it up. I will also love someone who is fairly regular in their online time. I roleplay mostly over AIM, Yahoo, and e-mail. And skype. Concerning OCs I have no qualms who you bring or do not bring, but if you're going to include the oc, she has to fit in with the rest of the fandom - it won't do you good to have a ballerina dancer in a supernatural world. I have given you a LOT of information, so those who have read the rules and website, greet me with the phrase: Humphrey Bogart isn't you. If you seem clueless about something, I will suspect you haven't read what I gave you. In that website, you will find a lot of information about me, what I do, who I play and what I expect. Read it diligently and I hope we can be a match!

Tags: iron man, kuroshitsuji, metal gear solid, original, supernatural
Current Location: Wonderland
Current Mood: artistic
Current Music: Man in the Wilderness - Styx

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/UgliestTattoos/~3/10Y_xg-9J2g/4777137664

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http://www.engrish.com/2013/05/please-enjoy-ethnicity/

http://www.engrish.com/?p=14016

We’ll show you how…

Photo courtesy of Collin Rodolitz.
Tanning salon found in Tokyo, Japan. 

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Failbooking/~3/XZNRdbPpkV8/4996214528

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Book #14 – Living Dead in Dallas



Name of the Book (Name of the Series): Living Dead in Dallas (Sookie Stackhouse Novels #2)
Name of the Author: Charlaine Harris
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Romance (‘Romantasy’)
Pages: 291
Date: 22.12.2012 – 24. 12. 2012
Short description: (Taken from the book) Cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse is on a streak of bad luck. First, her coworker is murdered and no one seems to care. Then she’s face-to-face with a beastly creature that gives her a painful and poisonous lashing. Enter the vampires, who graciously suck the poison from her veins (like they didn’t enjoy it). Point is, they saved her life. So when one of the blood-suckers asks for a favor, she complies (...) and one small mistake turns things deadly...

Own Statement:( Read more...Collapse )

Next to review: Pygmalion

Rating: 3/7
(1 – Horrible; 2 – Bad; 3 – Disappointing; 4 – Average / Fine; 5 – Good; 6 – Very Good; 7 – Excellent)
 

Tags: chicklit, fantasy, humor, romance, supernatural, urban fantasy, vampires

I got an email this week letting me know that some korean or chinese person has deposited 0.01 USD to my paypal account... Now I took this as a "aah its probably something trying to get my account details for paypal and ignored it...

But I had to pay for some books using paypal yesterday, so I took a look in there, and there is indeed a deposit for 0.01USD from an address brb2wow@hotmail.com O,o

Reckon this is something to be confused/concerned over, I've rejected the payment, but I'm still quite confused over it O,o

Tags: help

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At J's Crab Shack in Hartford, CT. I'm going to try to eat there more because it's on my way home from work and they always have different specials I want.


Fried lobster tails with coleslaw, hot sauce spiked melted butter, and fries


Grouper in aquarium

Current Mood: happy

#20 Umberto Eco: On Ugliness
I liked it less than 'On beauty'. Partly because I found it (perhaps naturally) repetitive. Partly because I felt that a lot was missing and the discourse was somehow limited.

#21 Jennifer Donnelly: The Tea Rose
A girl and a boy from the London docks dream of having a live together and their own little shop one day. And then everything goes wrong.
I've enjoyed the book. The story was a bit different from the usual 'girl inadvertently gets herself pregnant and ruins everything' plus there was Jack the Ripper. Some turns did seem contrived, but it still made for a nice story. This is supposed to be the first book of the three, and I am planning to try the second one.

#22 Dan Brown: Inferno
Somebody said that reading Dan Brown is like watching a movie. I guess it is true because he describes every detail of the environment, every scene. This time I found it irritating, because the book occasionally read like a tourist city guide for Florence etc. I also understand, that he wants everybody to be on board and that's why there are explanations of things like 'eugenics' and a short biography of St. Lucia there, but occasionally I felt it was just too much. Surely if somebody has never heard of eugenics they may look it up.
Having said that, I still found the book fast-paced and entertaining. A familiar device of telling a story from different points of view, so that the reader keeps guessing who is who, and a couple of surprises in the end.

I'm feeling so out of touch with humanity anymore. There is almost nothing palatable on TV except CSI (Vegas is unacceptable without Grissom, Miami's sexism is showing, and New York doesn't have an anchoring personality like Grissom or Horatio), Mythbusters, and a dwindling supply of documentaries. Oh, and Anthony Bourdain and sometimes Andrew Zimmerman, but watching travel foodie shows gets me annoyed anymore because how the HELL is Bourdain thin as a rake, no seriously what's his exercise regimen, Zimmerman does just as much travelling and he actually looks like he hosts a "yay I eat stuff" show.

I watched ten minutes of Sherlock BBC. Hollywood's Holmes stays firmly on the line between "Holmes" and "unmitigated unbearable asshole". BBC's does not. And then the fanfic assured me that I wasn't missing anything, because they were pretty much retreading the more popular of Sir Doyle's stories.

Anyway, I haven't had a reason to tune in for anything other than "oh I'm downstairs" for years.

Movies are far, far worse. I don't care about spandex sausagefests. I loathe CGI animation. Gross for gross' sake, The Hobbit didn't need that. Romances, ugh. Comedies, double ugh, those always set off my embarrassment squick so hard. Oz, hi, let's talk about Oz. I had to walk out of the theater three times from embarrassment squick before they even went to color. I stood it only until the first glimpse of the Emerald City before I abandoned the movie entirely. That was not Oz. Oz is beautiful, not an oversaturated primary-colored CGI nightmare. The Wizard was a sleaze when he should not have been -- look, if he was really a sleaze like that, he would've had a bevy of oops children, and the wicked witches would've long since killed them all off and figured out the Wizard wasn't powerful enough to stop them long before Dorothy arrived. He wasn't a good man, but he wasn't that kind of not-good. And it was Disney who did the movie. You know what would've been just as good a moneymaker? A series of children's movies using Baum's other thirteen Oz books. But no, Hollywood has to have male leads and sexy love interests, so out fapped The Great And Powerful.

And now Star Trek. I love Star Trek. I'm not as serious a fan as some: I can't stand the cheesiness of TOS, but otherwise for the most part I love it. Later seasons of TNG, most of DS9, Voyager? I never saw the later seasons of Voyager due to illness and lack of cable, but Voyager was my favorite. As with other fans, I agree Enterprise did not exist, nor did the 5th movie. I loved the reboot. And then... the new movie got rumors online that dampened my interest in seeing it, and eventually (yesterday) I read spoilers, and just, no. No. I understand that they did not have to write the movie I wanted to see -- however utterly blind I think they are for not mining the perfectly obvious problems the first nuTrek set up -- but what they did do is enough to ensure I won't even try shelling out $5 for a weekday matinee. (Hint: Who is Benedict Cumberbatch? A decent actor with a role that should never have been done in the first place, much less given to him.)

Do not even talk to me about reality. I don't mean reality tv, I mean the news and talk shows. Maybe most women are perfectly happy with this shit, but me, I happen to be aware that I'm a woman and the indoctrination didn't stick. Pretty much every goddamn minute it's "woman gets attacked" and "woman needs makeover" and "woman isn't good enough", and "poor men" and "poor white men". I nearly threw my water bottle through the tv screen the other morning when the talk show hosts were squealing about the "new sitcom about four single men!", because who the hell needs more of that shit?

Music's a lot of the same. Have you ever paid attention to the lyrics of this stuff? It's all about how hot women are and how men get shafted when a woman tells a controlling bastard to take a hike. Boohoo, you'll throw yourself on a grenade for me, but I wouldn't for you? Well that defeats the purpose now doesn't it, also not a lot of guys are Steve Rogers (protip: chances are you aren't a potential Captain America). Now you're just somebody that I used to know, poor you, I didn't have to cut you off? Not the way I remember it buddy, but how many people are going to remember the chorus, and how many will remember the line about how you kept making me think your screwups and mistreatment were my fault, you textbook abusive bastard? etc. etc.

I'm starting to run dry on fanfic even. Everything is porn. If it's not porn it's a tasteful fade-to-black romance. Can't we have a different flavor of story? A murder or something that does not take a backseat to the romance?

So in conclusion:
- Misogyny. Sick of it. Getting forcefed more every day.
- Retreading stories. No, no, and no. Do I vomit up endless rehashes with the serial numbers scratched off? (This might happen if I keep getting forcefed the misogyny. That is a threat.) I could be making a decent income if I did, but I have some fucking standards . Can a little bit more of the world keep up with me? Please?
- Subtlety. More of it please. Not everything needs to be lens flares, archenemies, and primary colors.

I'm feeling so isolated. I'm not sure I'd want to be more human though, with the general public happily taking this crap forever. :(

Hello again!

Any Fire Emblem fans out there? I would love to take from part 6, 7, 8, or 9/10!

Being that it is fire emblem, I have tons of pairing preferences. Most are m/m, with a few exceptions! I love romance, and I'm very accepting with 18+ themes. 18+ older players please.

Here are some favorites:

FE6: Roy/Wolf, Lilina/Oujay, Dieck/Klein, Lance/Allen

FE7: Hector/Eliwood, Stain/Kent, Dart/Wil, Heath/Legault, Matthew/Leila, Lloyd/Linus/Legault

FE8: Ford/Kyle, Gerik/Anyone (Saleh,Tethys,Marisa), Ephraim/Anyone

FE9/10: Ike/Soren, Ike/Ranulf, Lucia/Elincia, Sothe/Tormod, Kieran/(Oscar,Rhys,Marcia), Boyd/Mist, Kyza/Ranulf, Janaff/Oscar, Tibarn/Reyson, Tibarn/Naesala

There's probably more I'm missing but these are off the top my head! I'm very versatile, so it doesn't matter who you will write. I'm looking forward to Rping with some fans!

Book 95: Smokin' Seventeen (Stephanie Plum #17).
Author: Janet Evanovich , 2011.
Genre: Chick Lit Crime Fiction. Comedy/Drama.
Other Details: Unabridged Audio (Length: 6 hrs, 22 min) Read by Lorelei King.

Dead bodies planted in shallow graves are turning up on the empty construction site of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. Meanwhile Stephanie, Connie, Lula and Vinnie are conducting business wherever they can. Meanwhile Stephanie is under pressure from family and friends to make a choice between long time on/off boyfriend Joe Morelli and security expert Ranger. However, her mother is encouraging her to start dating Dave Brewer, a former High School football star who has just returned to town. Lula is urging her to have a boudoir 'bake-off'. Added to this mix are the usual FTAs including a man with a dancing bear and a senior citizen who thinks he's a vampire.

After a few novels where the focus and main threat was not on Stephanie here she makes up for it as there are three different folk threatening her life for various reasons. All the usual supporting characters are present including the return of Bella, Joe's grandmother, who places one of her infamous Old World curses upon poor Stephanie. The climax of the novel was pure genius.

This was fun and I did see that a few reviewers on Goodreads took exception to the nature of Stephanie's love life. Why can't a single thirty-something woman have more than one lover? I certainly did in those circumstances so why not a fictional character? I suspect it is more to do with the Team Morelli/Team Ranger allegiance for certain fans that demands their favourite wins Stephanie's affections.

I also note with some sadness that I am almost caught up with the series with only two more to go.

Tags: audio book, chicklit, crime fiction

http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2013/05/17/snack-series-frozen-cheesecake-on-a-stick-at-disneylands-downtown-disney/

http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/?p=82775

OK, you guys. Frozen. Cheesecake.

We first told you about this fantastic little Gelato Bars kiosk in Disneyland’s Downtown Disney last year. And, well…you know I can’t resist some good gelato! So I couldn’t wait to hit it up on my recent trip to Disneyland.

When it first appeared, there was a pretty extensive menu of Gelato Bars, consisting of fabulous flavors and garnishes. These days, the gelato bar selection has been pared down to five varieties.

But before you become too sad about that — look at what they’ve added: Frozen Cheesecake! On. A. Stick.

There’s also a selection of Hot Chocolates (complete with hot chocolate on a stick) as well as a Gelato Cookie Sandwich (!) and a Frozen Banana dipped in Ghirardelli Chocolate. A selection of bottled beverages rounds out the menu.

But that’s not all there is to tell you about this spot. As seems to be the standard in Disneyland, there are little “models” of the food selections! I think the “bedazzled” Birthday Cake one is my favorite.

Here are the examples of the cheesecake bars, which are available plain or with a strawberry garnish. The hot chocolate on a stick is represented, too.

Visual aids are also there for the chocolate-covered banana and gelato sandwich.

But my mind was already made up, and I went for one cheesecake bar. Strawberry, please.

And I know what you’re thinking: “AJ, that’s as hard as a rock and you’re gonna break your teeth.”

I thought so, too; and I was worried. But that wasn’t the case! I was shocked to realize that it wasn’t frozen solid (maybe that has something to do with all of the fat in that cheesecake! ;-D), and it was surprisingly easy to bite into the creamy cheesecake.

The slice was a huge portion, and I was very happy that they hadn’t skipped a thick graham cracker crust.

My take? This was absolutely delicious. One of those things that I don’t truly enjoy enough while I’ve got it, so I have to sit here and crave another one on my next trip to Disneyland!

As for the gelato bars, they will have to wait for another day, but I love this as an option! It’s just different enough to catch my interest. And in a surprising move, the price has actually decreased since the time the cart debuted. No telling if this is a seasonal change, or if it will stay that way. But for now, it’s a pretty cool trend to note!

Are you swooning for a gelato or cheesecake bar? Leave a comment and tell us which one you would pick!

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Orlando Restaurant Picks

• La Luce by Donna Scala - Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek
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Related posts:

1. Snack Series: Disneyland’s Chili Lime Corn on the Cob
2. Snack Series: Frozen Pineapple Bar at Disney Parks
3. Dining in Disneyland: Grilled Cheese on a Stick, Sort Of…

Originally posted by audrey_e at Book 14: The Buddha in the Attic

Tags: japan, post-modern
Current Location: Oak Park, Il
Current Mood: scared

1. As many of you probably know, I think that nearly all online games are an appalling waste of time ... but there's one making the rounds right now that I'm completely addicted to: GeoGuessr. Basically, the site just pulls up a random image from Google Street View, somewhere on the planet, and asks you to guess where the photo was taken. The closer your guess, the more points you get. (My highest score so far: 21,385 points.) Anyone who finds our planet to be an interesting place can't help but be fascinated by this one.
   
   
2. Since my friends list includes a couple of other historians, I thought I'd post this cartoon. Totally struck a chord with me:
   
   

Farstriders Raiding Syndicate is on Farstriders-US. We have both Alliance and Horde 10m teams in various stages of progression.

Right now, we are recruiting for:

Team Stormforge: Sundays 12pm - 4pm Central time. Working in Heroic MV and Normal ToT.
Need:
- Plate Tank
- Plate DPS
- Elemental Shaman

New Unnamed Team: Fridays and Sundays 9pm - 12am Central time. Starting in T14 with plans to enter Throne of Thunder.
Need:
- 1 more Tank
- 3 DPS both melee and ranged
- 3 Healers with offspec dps if possible

We're also looking for people who can fill in on teams, too!

Who to contact for Questions:
Our recruitment officer, Aliis! Craig#1449 or email him at aliis.shaman@yahoo.com

More Info:
Farstriders Raiding Syndicate was created in Burning Crusade during the free server transfers to Farstriders. It serves as a way of bringing raiders from different guilds on the server, together to raid on an established schedule and roster.  A large number of raiders are from The Hellfire Angels and Angelfire Hellions guilds. Farstriders Raiding Syndicate currently hosts four 10m raiding teams, three on the Alliance side and one on the Horde side. Each team has a different schedule and team name: Geriatric Explosion, Ironassus, Pandalaran, Orgriwind, and Stormforge. The only day that has no raids going on, is Thursday. Fridays are old raid achievement nights that people sign up for. The rest of the week, there's a 10m raiding. You can see our teams' progressions on the web site below.

Our web site is http://frs.guildportal.com, and applications are done through this web site. This web site also contains our Application Guidelines and more information for you to look at.

Looking forward to hearing from someone from here!

Tags: guild: recruitment, raiding: 10 mans, realm/server: us, recruitment

Name: Phae (I also sometimes go by Dai)
Contact: Please PM me first, and if we get along or seem like we will, I will give you my email and/or AIM to discuss further details.

What I'm Looking For: Male/Male only. I am really in the mood to play a sarcastic, witty and somewhat hotblooded crossdresser bottom/sub against a Top/Dom. I don't have any particular requirements for the Dom other than he must have a sadistic streak in him, and be capable of dealing pain and rough encounters c: I am not necessarily looking for non-con, though that isn't dealbreaker, either (actually, I usually like noncon or dubcon with the right setting/plot but yeah).

Also a fun little fact: 90% of the time I am the one playing the Top/Dom/Master in an RP. I enjoy it a lot! But sometimes I want to whip out a bottom/sub and play from the other end so... here I am asking for a little indulgence C:

Settings: I like the idea of something more modern for this one. So.. plain old modern, modern-scifi, modern-fantasy, advanced scifi, or anything sort of post-apoc maybe. Original settings only please.

Characters I enjoy: I like multi-faceted, realistic characters. I don't want any gary-stus/stereotypes. A little stereotyping is fine, but make it original too! People aren't perfect, and frankly... 'perfect' characters are fucking boring. So spice things up and give them some flaws/tics/weird habits, etc. And.. men. I won't play with characters who are younger than 16, and even then it's usually pretty fade to black and more like 'this is a scene from character X's past, ok moving on' haha. Sorry, it just makes me uncomfortable. >: Other than that, come at me!

Kink: Because this will be laced heavily with BDSM.... Pretty much I am fine with anything that doesn't involve toilet play or bestiality. If we go with noncon or dubcon, cruel and unusual punishments are perfectly fine! Just don't go permanently maiming my char without discussion first. I really enjoy longterm denial, orgasm control, mindfuckery, sadism/masochism, forced play with a third party, piercings/brands/collaring (forced or consensual), and public acts of obedience. c:

How I Write: I write in present tense 3rd person. I also tend to prefer quality over quantity, and my posts can range anywhere from 1 or 2 sentences to 4 or 5 paragraphs. My average is probably about a paragraph once the intro posts are through, and one or two sentences for intensive dialogue scenes.


Derp. If I left anything out we can cover it if you decide to contact me. And I hope you do! Just keep in mind that bottoming is usually not my speed, so I may work best with someone who enjoys switching, especially if we hit it off really well as I tend to like playing multiple characters in a single setting/verse. :) Hope to talk to some of you soon!

Tags: original

http://winteriscoming.net/2013/05/game-of-owns-comments-letters-and-severed-things/

http://winteriscoming.net/?p=26622

It’s Friday mailbag time on Game of Owns!

Episode 98 – Comments, Letters, and Severed Things

iTunes | Download | RSS

Description: Join the crew of GOO minus Zack at the end of this week as the overflowing bag of mail is given some much needed attention, and catch up is played while revisiting some of your best thoughts from the latest episode of HBO’s Game of Thrones.

 
 

Discussion Topics
The worse dismemberment
More violence on TV
The BLACK text
Treatment of Women
Dany and the American Civil War
Odysseus
Honor and the Small Council
The Reeds
Osha’s “Cat-like” reveal
Stripping Away the Layers
Traveling North of the Wall
Getting together with Boy
iTunes Reviews

Looking to fuck some men stupid. Of course we can add plot to it too but I'd love to play possibly a dom gigolo, or a Brazilian hookup or something along those lines. Blackmail, angst and all those fun things. Would love to rp against a man of power, possibly a governor, actor, millitary man, something along those lines.

Please play masculine men

Plus points if anyone is willing to play a cunt man (ask).

Aim only aim = frenchloafofbread

I use face claims you should too

Today’s Say What? discusses a couple of sayings that, at the root, are all about power and control—wanting it, having it and using it.  Our friends from The Avengers will help us take a look at better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven and power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.

( Read on, gentle reader …Collapse )

Tags: !say what, author:randi2204

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http://winteriscoming.net/2013/05/episode-28-preview-second-sons/

http://winteriscoming.net/?p=26566

“The darkness will devour them all unless I triumph.” -Stannis Baratheon

“King’s Landing hosts a wedding, and Tyrion and Sansa spend the night together. Dany meets the Titan’s Bastard. Davos demands proof from Melisandre. Sam and Gilly meet an older gentleman.”

“Second Sons” was written by David Benioff & D.B. Weiss, and directed by Michelle MacLaren, who also directed last week’s episode. It features the introductions of Ed Skrein as Daario Naharis, Mark Killeen as Mero, and Ramon Tikaram as Prendahl.

Ours is the Fury: This looks like an exciting week for several characters with a confrontation for Sam, Gendry in a tough spot, and a major event in King’s Landing with tensions running high.

http://awkwardstockphotos.com/post/50674897752

I did not know that anteaters could do that... I want to see pictures of the baby Archie!





GREENWICH, Conn. (AP) — An anteater has given birth at a Connecticut conservation center, prompting officials there to wonder how the mother conceived.

Tags: animals

This Saturday's movie will be Steven Spielberg's latest historical biopic, Lincoln, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, and, again, everyone according to IMDB, since we didn't watch it last week.

( IMDB teaserCollapse )

Date: Saturday, May 11th
Time: 7pm (doors open at 6:30pm for socializing)
Where: My place

If you can, please RSVP so I can know whether or not to expect you. If you want to do dinner in some sort of potluck or other fashion, please also let me know.
 

Tags: movie nite

http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=971

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Hi!

My MC is male, early thirties, and moderately fit. In the story, he's being unknowingly dosed by another character.

My question is what could be a possible cause for psychosis? He's bought a new apartment, and ever since he's lived there he's been hearing voices, feeling cold (which I think I'll have that due to the fact that the A. C. isn't working) and he begins to feel some paranoia. I want him to become convinced that his place is haunted by ghosts.

I read some people's experiences on drug-forums, and I was thinking either pure meth, amphetamines or LSD, but I don't how effective that would be. While I'm alright with a some side effects, I don't want him to realise that there's a completely unsupernatural reason that he's hearing things until further on in the story. Plus, I've read that substance psychosis normally happens to chronic users or after one large dose. Is there something milder?

I've googled substance psychosis, psychosis causes, auditory hallucinations, drugs that cause psychosis.

Tags: ~medicine: drugs

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Name: Nikki

LJ: Starship221b (Email: Starship221b@live.co.uk)

Characters you RP: Spock (Preferably reboot, but TOS also), (BBC) Sherlock Holmes, Castiel, Michonne.

Characters you’re looking to RP with: I *need* a Kirk, John Watson, Dean Winchester, Andrea (I will glomp you if you RP this with me).

Do you smut?: I do indeed (smut is not a prerequisite, but I do still ask that you be at least 18)

Is there anything else you would like to add?: m/m and f/f are my preference, including gender bends, I'll consider het pairings provided I play the male character.

Usually I'm not a fan of AU's, crossovers or OC's, but you might be able to convince me :)

I have a degree in English Literature, so one would hope that I make at least an adequate RP partner, and I have a fair bit of experience under my belt; primarily via IM. However, heed my warning, I've done relatively little writing for American fandoms so I might slip in Britishisms by accident. Feel free to tell me off.

Tags: sherlock holmes, star trek, supernatural, the walking dead

http://winteriscoming.net/2013/05/looking-forward-ep-28-and-the-want-ads/

http://winteriscoming.net/?p=26607

Oz of Thrones:  Hola from your Unsullied leader, Grey Oz Worm, coming to you from an undisclosed location where there are many bikini-clad women, shirtless men, plentiful adult beverages, and hopefully some epic music from a plethora of bands (ten points to whomever can guess my locale).  In fact, as you read this, I am probably standing in the middle of a bunch of twenty-somethings jumping up and down and raging, or whatever they call it.  They likely think that I am too old for this shit, which is probably accurate.  But I would submit to you that no one else where I am has a walking cane that doubles as a beer holder, and that comes in handy.

The Theon Rule:  Please make note that the Theon rule is in effect for this post.  If you are unaware of this rule, it simply states that no one, not even myself, can speak his name the rest of the post or in the comment section.  Doing so will demerit you ten points.  On Monday’s Newbie Recap, WiC contributor Ours is the Fury had to step in and squash some spoilers as well as some speculation that could lead to spoilers.  Let’s not do that to him this weekend.

Instead let’s try and put this situation with aforementioned character to bed for a bit:  The Sullied know what happens in the end.  The Unsullied have no clue.  A lot of viewers-only may have a theory on who is torturing said character based on visual and spoken clues.  Some may not, and there is a fine line between spoilers and speculation that could lead to spoilers.  With that being said, let’s not beat the dead kracken anymore and instead hope for resolution, which is likely the only thing that will stop the  _______ theories.  If you feel the uncontrollable urge to talk about Minus Penis, then answer this question……

Why do I feel sorry for Jaime and all that he has endured this season, and I have little to no remorse for that other tortured guy whose name I mustn’t speak?  And does anyone else share the same sentiments or am I just a heartless Jon Snow?

Westerosi Want-Ads/ King’s Landing Klassifieds

If Westeros was real, would it have a newspaper?  And if it had a newspaper, wouldn’t it include a classified section?  If so, here is what might be currently listed:

Auctions

• The Hand of the Kingslayer:  Looking for a piece of Westeros history to hang on your wall, or to put in a shelf box for all your friends to see?  Look no more.  The Hand of the Kingslayer is an actual hand, autographed (although you can’t read it since he was right-handed) by Jaime Lannister himself.  Auctions start at one copper each (but it will cost you 60 coppers per one copper bid) on kingquibids .com.

Foreclosures

• Notice of Foreclosure, default having been made in the indebtedness secured by the Iron Bank of Brothers executed by Kraznys, a single, slave trading, potty mouth man (deceased and grilled to perfection), for the property located on the coast of Essos, most recently referred to as “Astapor”.  Notice is hereby given that property (and what is left of the city) will be sold at public outcry, to the highest bidder for gold, in front of the Slavehouse at Yunkai, so long as there are no Dragons on a Couch blocking the entryway to the city.

Free To A Good Home

• A Hound:  This wonderful guard dog has been trained by the best and is ideal for protection of castle and property.  Lacking in social skills, this Hound is not necessarily a suitable companion by any means, and his loyalty is somewhat marginal.  He does not like to be petted, or warm cozy fires.  On the upside, he is a veteran of protecting a King and Ladies, but only if he likes them.  He is known for killing young boys, and kidnapping young girls.  OK…. more negatives than positives.  But what do you expect for free?

Wanted

• Personal Hodor:  Woman looking to purchase or trade for a personal Hodor, or a big, burly man of the same type.  This includes doing chores and heavy lifting; carrying a woman from place to place; being allowed to snuggle up against the big teddy bear since winter is coming, and  most importantly can speak only one word and is incapable of arguing with a woman who is always right.  My dream man!  Please apply in person!

Employment Opportunities

• Wedding Planner:  Seeking a qualified applicant who is organized and willing to travel and work weekends.  Currently five area weddings planned with potentially more to come.  Must be friendly, outgoing, and willing to work with brides and grooms who may not necessarily want to be locked in matrimony.  Benefits include flea-bottom pay, paid travel via mule, and meeting Lords and Ladies you would otherwise only dream about meeting.  Risks include, but are not limited to, losing your head.
• Fire Starter/Fire Maintainer:  Lonely, cold couple with infant seeks experienced fire starter/ fire maintainer for long walk to the Wall.  Benefits include getting to hold a baby, staring at dragon glass, and hearing an overweight Crow sing.
• Moving Target:  Entry-level position available as living/moving target for King Joffrey and his new, extremely accurate crossbow.  Benefits include excellent pay, getting to meet the King and the eventual Queen, access to a Maester, and quick promotion……. If you survive.
• Brothel Employee:  LITTLEFINGER SAYS COME WORK FOR ME, AND CLIMB THE LADDA!!!  New opening! Brothel employee needed to start immediately to replace recently deceased employee (Don’t ask).  Send a Raven Resume to Lord Baelish, aka Littlefinger, and get ready to climb!

Looking Forward Ep. 28

How about some closure to one of the following:

Arya:  If anyone deserves to be in good place right now, it’s our little warrior princess.  Arya has been through the ringer:  lost her father, taken away from her sister, unable to find her brothers, and has been split from Pie and Gendry among other things.  Seeing her reunited with Rob and Cat would be a nice, temporary break from the inconsistencies in her life.  But now she is with the Hound, and who knows what he may have in store for her.

Bran to the Wall?:  It seems as if our Stark buddy and his brother have been traveling to the Wall for a while, and making very little progress.  I am not sure where this story line is going, but it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if we got there and moved forward with it.  Jojen also intrigues me, and a little more screen time involving him with some meaningful movement would be much appreciated.

That Greyjoy Guy:  Shall we say anymore about Minus Penis?  Let’s not, and hope that the reveal and other answers are given……. Soon.

A Wedding:  With five on the schedule, let’s get one out of the way.  I am not naïve enough to believe that all five will actually take place, but getting one done would be a good move if for no other reason than not having to speculate on all of them during the offseason.

Other Notables:  In the preview,  Tyrion looks pissed.  It would appear as if Tyrion and Joffrey have some type of disagreement, and Paw Paw is coming to step in.  That scene alone looks fantastic.

Will Dany free the slaves of Yunkai?  Probably.  But I imagine it will come at a cost.  And will it be worth it?

What is about to transpire with Gendry and the Red Woman?  Blood? Sex? Magic?  Shadow Baby #2?

Will Rob find out what Bolton has done with Jaime?  And what will be his reaction?

What is about to happen with Sam, and is there more to his story line than we expect?  A man can hope so.

And finally, will we see Lysa Arryn before the season is over?  Please, by the grace of the Seven, make it happen.

What are you looking for closure to before the end of the season?  Remember, a man and many of his army are Unsullied, so please for the love of the Seven, NO SPOILERS!!!!

Hasta Luego!  A man is off with Ozzette to take in some tunes from bands, most of which I have never heard of, and to consume copious amounts of ale.  Wherever you are this weekend, I hope you and yours have a great one.  A man will see you Monday for the Newbie Recap of Episode 28 before GoT goes on Spring Break.   Whatever is in your future this weekend, a man wishes you peace in your realm.  -Oz

Friday morning, I did my usual weight session with Mitsui-san. He added more weight to my one-armed rows. Yay, that means I'm getting stronger? I struggled. x_x But did it! :D

I usually go to work after that, but Katsumura-san is in the Philippines to corner Nori-P (Michinori Tanaka, who has a title match!) so I'm the back up teacher in these cases. I don't wanna train after my physical training session, so I figured I'd just instruct everyone else.

But only Arai-san came!
X_X; So I had to train. He wanted to do striking sparring, so I was trying to warm up. I could barely move. -_-; He knew I did some weights, so I think he felt bad about me training with him. I had the worst sparring session of my entire LIFE. After the first round ended, I thought, "This is not going to work. I'll get injured. I'll just apologize tell him to do grappling...."

No. No way. What kind of fighter quits in training? Unless injured or in pain? You aren't always going to be your best in the ring. You can't always do what you want to do.

DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO, AND DO IT WELL.

I forced myself to do another round and, although it still sucked, it sucked less. I got hit because I had like zero head movement and went straight in and out, hahaha, but I did a few techniques I was thinking about, and got in a few hits of my own. I'm glad I didn't quit. Then another guy showed up and the two men sparred, so I felt better about that, that Arai-san got some more training.

Every day is a fight.

Sooooooo exhausted. We did some grappling and my body was just not working, but did really well against that guy. I could tell he was really trying to catch me with stuff, and he defended hard, so I couldn't get him, but almost got a choke.

Dragged self to work. Worked. "It's okay, only 5 lessons today," I thought. Thank goodness. I get to go home early, at 7:45 instead of 9:30. Thanks, Boss. Half way through shift, my boss comes in and says, "Can you work two extra lessons tonight? Another teacher is sick."
I said, "Uhhh...." and thought about everything he's ever done for me. Like the above. If I weren't so dead, I'd be able to go to training.
"Yes, of course," I said. Otherwise, he would probably stay. But I'm sure he had his own plans already made. Would I force him to cancel them because I was tired?

x_x; No motivation for work whatsoever yesterday. But I couldn't go and do poor quality work. that wouldn't be fair to the customers, and the company paying me for my services. It made me think. So many people don't like their jobs. I happen to like mine. But I have pride. I want to do everything I do perfectly. We can't always be perfect, though, but if we aim for perfection, then it will probably turn out at least one notch below - high quality. If you aim for "just being acceptable," it might turn out 'less than acceptable' which is 'unacceptable.'

ganbarou
("do your best" in Japanese.)

Current Mood: exhausted

From the Corner Cafe at Tunxis Community College in Farmington, CT.

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: M83 - My Tears Are Becoming a Sea

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/UgliestTattoos/~3/Jw17yvWRR_Q/4781611264

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http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2013/05/17/coming-soon-personalized-glasses-at-la-cava-del-tequila-in-epcots-mexico-pavilion/

http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/?p=82804

We’ve got a fun update for you tequila fans out there!

Nestled inside the pyramid at the Mexico Pavilion in Epcot, La Cava del Tequila is one of our favorite hang-outs in Walt Disney World.

This place is well known for awesome margaritas, a relaxing atmosphere, and my very favorite queso in all the land!

And it looks like more unique fun may be on the horizon at La Cava.

This tweet from the uber-popular Epcot bar hints at a new merchandise option…

Check it out!

Me personally? I’d rather have my personalized margarita glass, but maybe we can make this do double duty.

We’ve emailed for more info and will keep you updated on what we find out…

What do you think about purchasing a personalized glass at La Cava?

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• La Luce by Donna Scala - Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek
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Related posts:

1. Friday Happy Hour: New Margaritas at La Cava del Tequila in Epcot
2. Menu Updates at Epcot’s La Cava del Tequila
3. La Cava del Tequila Appetizer Menu Update

Book 93: The Terracotta Dog (Inspector Montalbano #2).
Author: Andrea Camilleri, 1996. Translated from the Italian by Stephen Sartarelli, 2004.
Genre: Mystery. Thriller. Police Procedural.
Other Details: Paperback. 343 pages.

'The Terracotta Dog' opens with a mysterious tête-à-tête with a Mafioso, some inexplicably abandoned loot from a supermarket heist, and some dying words that lead Inspector Montalbano to a secret grotto in a mountain cave where two young lovers dead fifty years and still embracing are watched over by a life-size terracotta dog. Montalbano’s passion to solve this old crime takes him, heedless of personal danger, on a journey through the island’s past and into a family’s dark heart amid the horrors of World War II. - synopsis from UK publisher's website.

I finally got around to picking up the second in this popular series of police procedurals based in Sciliy and enough time has passed between my viewing of its its TV adaptation for me to be a little fuzzy on the details of the plot. Also, as often happens there was more detail here than in its 2 hour TV film.

Again this proved a warm and quirky adventure for Inspector Montalbano and his associates that was a delight to read from start to finish. I've already ordered Book 3.

Book 94: An Unhallowed Grave (Welsey Peterson #3).
Author: Kate Ellis, 1999.
Genre: Crime Fiction. Police Procedural. Archaeology.
Other Details: Paperback. 240 pages.

When the body of Pauline Brent is found hanging from a yew tree in a local graveyard, DS Wesley Peterson immediately suspects foul play. Then history provides him with a clue. Wesley's archaeologist friend, Neil Watson, has excavated a corpse at his nearby dig - a young woman who, local legend has it, had been publicly hanged from the very same tree before being buried on unhallowed ground five centuries ago. Wesley is forced to consider the possibility that the killer knows the tree's dark history. Has Pauline also been 'executed' rather than murdered - and, if so, for what crime? To catch a dangerous killer Wesley has to discover as much as he can about the victim. But Pauline appears to have been a woman with few friends, no relatives and a past she has carefully tried to hide... - synopsis from UK publisher's website.

Certainly a novel that I'd class as a solid police procedural with the added twist of having the historical case that is being excavated reflecting events of the current day. It's a winning formula though I don't know if it will seem so if the series continues in the same vein. I mean after all how many digs can Wesley's friend Neil undertake locally that just happen to reflect elements of a modern murder case? We shall see as I am quite addicted now.

I think also I'm less bothered if I read these in order as apart from a little movement in Wesley's rather fraught relationship with his wife Pam there isn't that much that might spoil if I jump ahead a book due to its unavailability in the library system as Ellis doesn't tend to make references to the outcome of earlier cases.

Tags: crime fiction, murder mystery, police drama, translation

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http://winteriscoming.net/2013/05/episode-27-the-bear-and-the-maiden-fair-analysis/

http://winteriscoming.net/?p=26587

Meditations on Adaptation and Dramatic Pacing in a Lovesick Thrones

By Tyler Davis

“The Bear and the Maiden Fair” has proven controversial. From the cacophony of competing voices sounding forth from the halls of internet fandom, refrains like “too slow” or “too exploitative” have dominated. I think the generally strong episode has a few weaknesses, but these overused statements don’t indicate why. I once made the argument that Thrones is novelized television, and not a televised novel (or series of novels). If this is true, it’s worth understanding how HBO’s juggernaut is positioned in the context of television dramas historically, what makes it unique, and how the adaptation challenges it faces modify our appreciation of the episode, its constituent scenes, and its thematic statements.

With origins in radio, serialized television has a history extending back to the cliffhanger-heavy series of old: narrative glue serving as the link to the following week’s episode would be generously smothered just before the running time expired, and the next episode would pick up where this one left off. And so it went each week – a string of episodes hanging together through ceaseless, sticky forward momentum. Presently, soap operas are the most popular form of this brand of “pure” serialization, and what they lack in character depth, they make up for in narrative movement. Characters in these stories tend to be sufficiently reactive to changing plot dynamics, but are unlikely to grow in psychologically meaningful ways, rarely stepping beyond the constraints of audience expectation. The dastardly character will always wind up doing dastardly things (though he may take a detour or two), and the innocent “good girl” will remain so – at least at heart. When drastic changes do occur, they tend to be externally motivated – someone has planted a bomb, someone has been kidnapped, someone has been possessed by a demon, someone has decided to become an astronaut, and so forth.

This method of storytelling can be contrasted with more straightforward episodic television where arcs are contained within individual episodes; with episodic television, cross-episode arcs are rare pleasures generally reserved for end-of-season specials or inter-seasonal fan service. Extended viewership isn’t necessarily rewarded. The audience is initially given a context, characters are introduced, and subsequent enjoyment comes not so much from understanding how characters develop and change, but rather through how our familiarity with their personalities allows us to comfortably experience how they react to a variety of separable situations within their environment over an arbitrary and typically undefined period of time in their lives. This is, after all, the very essence of situational comedy–the sitcom. George might be getting married but he’ll never be changed by it, and Kramer is nothing without his trademark sliding entrances (just give him a doorway and he’ll show you the magic). The same principle holds true for episodic dramas that depend on the standard cast of police investigators or emergency room surgeons. In most episodic television, character development is secondary to routinized character expression.

From the halcyon days of three-channel black and white Pleasantville-brand programming until the recent explosion of reality shows, we’ve been tuning into serialized or episodic television in one form or another. But where soap operatic serialization has always felt like rearranging preexisting character pieces to more melodramatically produce sparks within a perpetually speeding plot, and where episodic television has always felt like an elaborate game of Mad Libs starring beloved, yet static characters, hybrid series really paved the way for shows like Thrones. Consider a series like The X-Files: gradually developing, overarching narrative threads persisted despite more localized episodic resolutions being handed out each episode. But it wasn’t until HBO’s achievements with series like The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, and The Wire that deeply serialized, truly novelistic television came to prominence. HBO’s subscription-based revenue model afforded it the opportunity to take these dramatic risks. Traditional episodic television is factory-made ripe for syndication (and repeat viewings), and the low production costs of soap-television make it readily producible if not repeatedly viewable. It took the promise of “It’s not TV, it’s HBO” to achieve something more demanding.

Involved story arcs typically prohibit new audience members from joining midway through the show’s lifespan, and they reduce the intelligibility of individual episodes selected at random. But in an environment where revenue wasn’t completely dependent on the number of viewers tuning in during each initial airing, things could and did change. When viewers watched The Sopranos, they were routinely enriched by their explorations of a psychologically complex Tony Soprano who visibly evolved, reacted, and acted due to plausible variables in his experience. These viewers were confronting a show with a working internal memory. Tony didn’t just change over time, but from episode to episode. Six Feet Under applied this depth to an entire family, and The Wire brought it to an entire, internally complex city. Thrones is doing it to a brand new world.

As with novels, these shows began to explore themes and employ motifs, but they remained filmic, playing to the strengths of a visual medium (consider The Wire’s stunning use of montage). But unlike its peers, with their broad arcs that may have been outlined in advance but rarely mapped out in detail, Thrones is an adaptation of novels. The hyper-complex source material determines the basic scope of the story, and honoring this story’s spirit is a noted creative goal. So it’s specifically in the process of adaptation that the greatest challenges must be faced: consider that each episode must be independently interesting (with smaller, self-contained resolutions, satisfying beats, and miniature arcs), must work within the context of a seasonal arc (which must reward the audience in a significant way), must work within the context of an interseasonal arc (where seasons themselves represent broad swaths of change taking place between the boundaries of an overarching story), must honor the complexities of Martin’s writing, and must succeed in visual terms. There’s no mathematical approach to this kind of work, and the difficulty is in balancing the countless spinning plates.

Given this monumental task, I’d like to consider the principle of exchange which should guide every adaptation choice. One controversial scene among book fans was the House of the Undying portrayal in season two. In the novels, this chapter is a rich tapestry of vision, magic, and fear conveyed in evocative prose. Characters living and dead, past and present appear before Dany’s eyes as she traverses the many rooms of the ancient structure, the entire experience mutating into a web of prophecy which links disparate facets of the story together. Five novels into the series, many of Dany’s visions still haven’t been realized or explained.

In Thrones, Benioff and Weiss elected to streamline the experience: Dany encounters the Iron Throne incongruously dusted in snow, she finds herself at the Wall, and she has a final encounter with her beloved Khal Drogo. Lacking the hallucinatory intensity of the novel’s chapter, this encounter works in the show because it draws upon visual motifs the audience is familiar with. We know the throne room of the Red Keep – we’ve spent time there! – but we also know that something is amiss if it’s torn apart and chilled by frost. Is this prophetic? We know that Dany has never been to the Wall–but we have. Perhaps her destiny involves this frozen place which seems so far removed from the heat of her experience? And we know that Khal Drogo once represented a real dream that Dany took for herself over the course of season one–a dream she had to sacrifice in order to become the Mother of Dragons. In this final temptation, will she stay or will she let her love go in order to pursue her destiny?

What we lose in the Thrones version of these events is a wealth of detailed prophecy in exchange for broad, suggestive strokes which immediately resonate in visual terms. We give up an overwhelming level of information density for a moment of real characterization that’s instantly relevant to Dany’s position in the story. I contend that changes like this should be praised, and not condemned because they fail to mirror the books. A strong adaptation choice takes into account the sensitivities which must be tended to in the context of a television series; the new audience Thrones has captured would be able to do very little with splendors of wizards and cloth dragons at this point in the tale. Instead, they’re given something they can digest and interpret presently. While the prophetic material drawn from the chapter may or may not make it into Thrones at a later point, it’s less essential that events unfold precisely as they do in Martin’s chronology, and more essential that the moments we encounter are effective without sacrificing the spirit of their source.

And this, I think, is where the most recent episode stumbled–not because the vast majority of its scenes weren’t good, or even that it’s “bad scenes” were poorly crafted, but because these lesser scenes are not establishing themselves as contextually meaningful within the broader arcs currently in play. Even when they’re adaptations of events which weren’t explicitly described in the novels, they feel too literal.

To put it plainly, Theon and Bran are the odd ducklings of season three, and people have been kept guessing for too long in either storyline. This has everything to do with the demands of Martin’s story, and very little to do with the acting or writing on display in the scenes themselves. The arcs may very well pay off by the season’s close or when the show is viewed in its entirety; let’s not forget that Benioff and Weiss have admitted that the optimal viewing experience will be a marathon from start to finish. But we don’t have that luxury yet, and as a result the scenes feel more burdensome than they should; we need more from both, while the running time of either feels unearned.

Considering Theon first, I have to underscore something that many of you already know: this material was never present in the novels. It was implied, of course, but only through recollection and brief snippets of dialogue. And yet a show’s production is besieged on all sides by such considerations as actor contracts, limited audience memory, and unbroken character continuity. We’re seeing something happen to Theon which may well reap dividends, but this payoff cannot outpace the story broadly writ. As such, Theon’s arc – which achieved its richest season three moment in his regretful confession three episodes ago – seems destined to remain idling in torture gear until the plot bondage allows it to move again. What’s problematic about this has everything to do with what made Theon’s confession interesting: it conveyed the stakes of Theon’s arc in Theon’s own words. But we’ve now lost any window into Theon’s interiority, and are merely watching him break from an external vantage.

Of course, this week’s scene is undoubtedly effective at showing Theon broken by his captor (as opposed to just almost utterly broken, as we saw last week, or just mostly broken, like the week before), and I actually applaud its use of nudity toward this end. It’s a harrowing, gut-wrenching depiction. The show often comes under fire by detractors claiming that it mindlessly seeks to meet an unspecified “nudity quota” or that it otherwise resembles “softcore pornography” (one must wonder if these people have actually seen softcore pornography), but there was very little in the way of titillation here, and I’d argue that the show uses nudity more creatively – and toward a wider variety of ends – than most of its peers. The women sent to undo Theon’s britches were aiming to undo the man; in Theon’s reduction to a shaky bundle of sexual drive even while in a state of abject fear, he’s rendered little more than an animal completely beyond even personal control.

So when the unnamed torturer reappears blowing his horn, it’s a viscerally disgusting moment made worse by the complicity of the women forcing Theon’s body to physically remember a different world and time (before the promise of a “happy ending” is permanently removed). There’s little argument to be had: what happens to Theon is awful. But there is no cathartic release because Theon seems out of time and out of place–floating on the periphery of the show’s naturally webbing narrative. What happens to Theon seems consequential only to Theon, but there’s less of Theon remaining with each passing week.

Far be it for me to make specific writing recommendations, but I can’t help but feel as if one of the torture sequences would have been better served by characterizing Theon in his present state as opposed to teaching us more about the boy torturing him. Some visual device – even just the power of juxtaposition – which would draw clearly, and with vicious finality, everything Theon has lost. Imagine a moment of respite while Theon hangs alone in the dungeon: establish a shot where the camera slowly tracks in on him suspended from his torture device, lit by flickering torch, and alternate between this shot and intercuts of brief moments – in the present – of what he has touched and lost: his room in the smoldering ruins of Winterfell, Balon looking out over the ocean, and so on. It’s quite a challenge to make a character being psychologically destroyed seem internally present in one torture sequence after another, but it’s the responsibility of the creators to ensure that Theon remains an object of pathos. I have confidence that they can.

Bran also feels removed from everything “that matters”. Within the scope of season three, what once was an intriguing introduction of two new characters has now become a somewhat mystifying exercise in cryptic information doled out in tiny increments. It’s not that Bran, Jojen, Meera, Osha and company are intrinsically uninteresting – quite the contrary – but that their story feels severed from the events unfolding elsewhere and sapped of interdependent consequence as a result. Bran’s story seems to suffer more than Theon’s, because what time we have had with him has been occupied with tensions over rabbit skinning or monologues – well-acted monologues – reminding us of the threat to the far north. Moreover, Bran didn’t have Theon’s tremendous season two arc to descend from, so his season three adventures feel even thinner.

If there’s a saving grace, it’s that Bran – with his visions – seems uniquely suited to being capable of connection with other plot lines in lieu of physical contact with them. But this seems to be a missed opportunity, because the one character who has an active prophetic link – a kind of walking, talking House of the Undying episode on autopilot – so rarely experiences anything which might elucidate the show’s underlying myths, or mystically draw parallels between events happening around the world. With Jojen’s help, Bran has the opportunity to be the show’s orphic guide. If his character is going to continue a much broader, more slowly moving arc than others, that’s more than okay. But it’s quickly becoming essential that he also serve some secondary purpose, even if only as a source of cleverly veiled exposition to develop our understanding of the show’s big picture.

I want to reiterate that neither of these storylines are necessarily failures, because a show like this is capable of redefining what came before by recontextualizing information in later episodes. Many people were upset by Arya’s lack of badassery in season two, but I felt that a direct adaptation of her escape from Harrenhal wouldn’t have worked on screen, and that her ferocious qualities should be more gradually developed. Similarly, Jon’s intelligence and self-confidence have been slow to return from season two’s somewhat bumbling passivity, but I think this is necessary in order to shape his arc to fit the demands of the show. It’s often the case that audiences will complain about a detail not being present only to find it addressed by the showrunners in a creative way episodes later. All of this and more may be in store for both Bran and Theon, but as of right now, they’re problematically detached from the narrative body for the reasons given.

Generally speaking, I take issue with the claims that “nothing happened” or that the episode was merely filler. Consider that not long ago we watched the Night’s Watch mutiny, Jaime lose his hand, the Hound fight a flaming sword-wielding Beric, Dany sack a city and win her army, and more. Thrones is not without big moments, and season three is filled with them. As such, I have zero complaints about an episode which slows down the pace and dramatically raises the stakes by highlighting character relationships as they sail into tumultuous seas. This usually works, because there’s a recurring trend where these big moments result in dramatic resetting. Dany arrives in Astapor, her momentum builds, and – shock and awe – she makes her move. Now Dany travels to Yunkai, her momentum builds, and – you get the idea. Dramatic weight is earned through characterization taking place during scenes of forward momentum, and then this currency is spent in a moments of catharsis which clear the stage for the next forward thrust. The character is more richly developed with each successive instance of dramatic resetting, so the stakes never feel stagnant.

Thrones succeeds admirably when employing this method of storytelling in the majority of its character arcs, as it’s an alternate solution to the lack of episodic climaxes; rather than try to shoehorn a thrilling or deeply personal moment for each character each episode, the showrunners attempt to give each character a few at natural moments throughout the season. But it’s precisely because Theon and Bran feel so removed that they’re unable to spend the currency they’ve accrued. This is almost definitely because they’re building up to even greater adventures, explorations and moments of resolution, but none of this is immediately obvious to the audience.

To return to my earlier explanation of why I felt the House of the Undying interpretation worked on-screen: you might say that Bran and Theon have storylines which are currently playing out the same way cryptic prophecy would have played out had the House of the Undying scene been a direct adaptation: all build-up, and no satisfying integration driving the story to a new expressive phase in the short term. Theon is actually losing his character (given his perpetual state of agony), and we’re learning little about how Bran feels or reacts to the newfound powers he’s discovering, to say nothing of how those powers sit within the world’s mythological backdrop (why they exist, what they mean, why some people have them and others don’t). Could either story have been adapted differently – as the House of the Undying scene was – to avoid these issues? I’m not sure. But these storytelling difficulties aren’t present elsewhere; the episode’s thematic focus on how love and friendship influence the fraught cast of characters was successful because the other storylines have been spending themselves to great effect, and at wiser intervals.

Marriage has been a season-wide theme, dominating the narrative in both King’s Landing and Riverrun; the past two episodes have been exceptional at depicting how characters navigate unions they’ve claimed for themselves, or which others expect of them. What I most liked about Robb’s scene this week was its effectiveness in letting his blunder of a decision to marry Talisa feel purposeful. In another instance of tasteful nudity (there’s little problem in a young, loving couple remaining visible to one another), the marriage not only changed the stakes of the game by introducing the possibility of a son and heir, but also by gently and convincingly reminding us that these characters are actually in love. Love is a force which demands to be taken on its own terms. Many of the Robb-Talisa interactions have been decidedly less intimate, whereas this softly-lit scene offered a convincing depiction why the King in the North broke his promise to Walder Frey, further humanizing Robb and Talisa and underlining Robb’s youth.

(An aside: this is the second time I’ve mentioned nudity in this write-up, and I must admit that I’ve had very little problem with its use in the show thus far (both as compared to the novels, and as compared to competing shows on premium cable). At some point – if I have time – I’d love to ass-ess every bare-assed scene Thrones has provided thus far. Suffice it to say that my view is most similar to the one Matt Zoller Seitz offered in “In Defense of HBO’s ‘Unnecessary’ Nudity”.)

But if Bronn’s warning to Tyrion – “you waste time trying to get people to love you, you’ll end up the most popular dead guy in town” – may not apply directly to Robb and the new life he’s helped create, the consequences of that love are more immediately felt by people like Edmure, forced to atone for his nephew’s sin. As the consort travels through rain en route to the The Twins, where Edmure is to be married off, we’re reminded that Robb’s love cannot exist in a vacuum. Robb is obligated to be a king first and foremost. So if it’s true that his love feels more plausible than ever when it’s nursed within the protective confines of his tent, it’s also true that the consequences of his love for others are no less real or persistent if he chooses to ignore them for an evening. Nor does it change the fact that leaving the war “for one night” is exactly what Robb cannot afford to do, as turning aside for one night is what led him to all this dark and all this rain in the first place.

Love threatens to exact a similar cost elsewhere, as Jon and Ygritte stave off what feels like doomed irreconcilability while traversing a complex landscape of competing affiliations south of the wall. If their moment atop the wall was an answer offered in response to Littlefinger’s dismissal of human bonding as mere illusion, the balance holding it aloft has seemingly tipped: we’re now privy to gloomy chidings from Orell, and moments of consternation as Jon warns that the Wildlings will not succeed. History backs him up, but this dour business really puts a damper on Ygritte’s flame-kissed attitude.

Ygritte’s response that if they die, they die – but first they’ll live – seems to restate the terms of their relationship rather unambiguously, but it’s hard to shake the sense that more difficult decisions await them both. Ygritte knows who Jon Snow really is, rendering Orell’s warnings redundant. But she also seems to know who she really is, and that’s a big part of the problem. Being a wildling–being free–is the only real way their relationship can exist. The freedom the relationship depends upon is more essential than the affiliations themselves; choosing the black isn’t just choosing a worldview–it’s also choosing loyalty – honor – duty in place of love. Littlefinger would see this as swapping one illusion for another, and Ygritte would see this as swapping something real for an illusion.

Elsewhere, difficult decisions are finally catching up with characters who must’ve first anticipated them long ago. Tyrion and Shae appear to have reached a breaking point, but it’s hard to imagine either of them being unaware that this was a looming possibility: Shae, for all of her faults, is a worldly, wise character, and she knew that Tyrion could not legitimize their relationship regardless of the intensity of his ardor. Similarly, Tyrion knows that he’s nothing outside his position as the least-loved Lannister, and that the world beyond Westeros would have him juggling to entertain audiences–nothing more than an especially handsome oddity. Shae seems to project her self-resentment onto Tyrion; never before, as far as we know, has she allowed herself to be taken in by someone’s sincere protestations of love, and now she’s suffering for it. It’s easier to blame Tyrion for the realization of a fate she already knew might come, and that neither of them can change.

Margaery’s talk with Sansa is deeply relevant to Tyrion’s talk with Shae because it underscores the extent to which all characters involved in this triangle are condemned to dissatisfaction on account of their personal hopes being constrained by external obligations. Despite the fact that Tyrion is a healthier match for Sansa than Joffrey ever was, at the end of the day he’s still a dwarf. And despite everything that has happened to her, there’s still a part of Sansa that cannot help but cling to the idea that her knight in painted armor – her Loras – is waiting for her. Tyrion is no such knight, but he’s a kind man who would do her no harm while actively protecting her from the forces seeking to manipulate her. Under the circumstances, Sansa would prefer to hold onto her hope.

Tyrion’s illusion is that Shae could love and share him while being condemned to a lesser, illegitimate position. Shae’s illusion is that love would ever be enough to extricate herself from the position in which she’s remained on Tyrion’s behalf, and that Tyrion would sacrifice his identity for their shared freedom. Sansa’s illusion is that aspirations of true love are still worth one’s concern when confronted with life and death; perhaps those aspirations make life worth living to a bird in a cage. Love that’s compatible with self-direction is what each of these characters wish for, and love (or a lack of it) is also what prevents each of them from pursuing their destinies while contending with the cards they’ve been dealt.

Relationships can be seen as lenses through which values are made clear; how we protect or abandon our bonds when they’re strained is one of the truest revelations of character we can undergo. For this reason, the episode’s most striking pairing involved characters not in deep love, but deep respect. The rehabilitation of Jaime’s character on Thrones has been nothing if not astounding, and much of it has come from lessons about his past offered to Brienne. What we know about Jaime is that he, perhaps more than any other, is the character who has been most significantly motivated by love. Even Ned favored honor over his romantic bond. Jaime has never been with a woman other than Cersei; he’s directed his life on her account. He has, self-loathing at a fever pitch, pushed Bran Stark out of a window to cover up the crime which would undo his family if it came to light.

But behind all of this, he was once the knight who tried to do the right thing by saving King’s Landing, honor be damned. And somewhere along the line – somewhere in the midst of all the hatred he encountered since that fated day – Jaime began to believe that he really was a bad, bad man. Until Brienne came along. One of the most powerful moments of the season, Brienne’s “Goodbye, Ser Jaime” – uttered as if it would be the last thing she told him – was a direct refusal of the man Jaime has allowed himself to become, and a full embrace of the man he once aspired to be. Jaime’s return to Harrenhal to save Brienne secures his redemption for the audience in dramatically visible terms; Brienne has upset Jaime’s entire worldview, and the trust she offers him is immediately validated. But the even greater moment occurred during their private goodbye, when he promised he’d honor Brienne’s duty to Catelyn by returning Arya and Sansa to the Starks. He isn’t just Jaime – he’s Ser Jaime. He can choose to be something other than what he’s known to be.

If the episode makes one truth clear, it’s that every one of its characters has, outside of the dictates of the game, some personal ideal they wish to see satisfied. Robb never wanted to be King in the North, and the joy on his face when he learns that he might be father to a little prince or princess reveals his quiet hopes. In a different world, we can imagine him inheriting Winterfell after Ned dies of old age, his sons trained by Jory in the courtyard, as Catelyn, her hair white, watches on. When Tyrion offers Shae his golden chain, we know that there’s no part of him that doesn’t love her–indeed, everything he’s doing which she finds insulting is, to him, an ugly necessity which will allow him to remain beside her in some fashion, which is better than not at all. And we know that Shae truly does wish the man she loves could have left with her, so that she might be free to direct her own life without being trapped by the limitations of her lot. Jaime desperately wants to be seen as someone capable of good, and Brienne wants to know that her honor isn’t one lonely flame in a black world. There’s a part of Jon who would shut it all out if only he could–opening his eyes to find a world without crows or wildlings, but only his love. Ygritte’s affirmation is the most important response of all: all that matters is the living part. In a world suffused with choking rules, obligations, and the perpetual threat of death, it’s not what people are forced to undergo, but what they want, that defines them.