I hate shipping unpopular pairings

[linndechir]

Mhm. I want to sign up for asoiaf_exchange (because there can never be too many exchanges, right?), but I have such trouble coming up with prompts that are not about Stannis. Or rather, I can think of prompts that may be interesting, but I know that I'm going to be so very disappointed if someone writes one of those prompts for me and not one of my Stannis prompts. I mean, I'd love to see stuff like that Jon/Aegon AU that keeps going around in my head, or a proper Rhaegar/Lyanna non-con fic (what's up with people romanticising this pairing?), or a sympathetic take on Randyll Tarly, or a fic about the Blackfish's past or his future plans, or about Victarion getting his ass kicked during the Greyjoy rebellion, or about Roose wiggling his way out of the current situation at Winterfell ... Or I want stuff that I know nobody is going to write, like Victarion making Daenerys' dragons turn on her. I don't want to write a prompt that just sound like, "I hate this character, please kill them in an awful way." Even though it would make for an interesting story, in my opinion, it's just kind of a dickish prompt to write. And it's bad enough that all my Stannis prompts include, "please kill Melisandre?"
We're supposed to include at least one popular pairing or character, but the popular pairings or characters either don't interested me at all (Jaime/Brienne, Robb/Jon, Ned/Catelyn, that kind of thing) or there's already so much fic for them that I really don't see why I should waste a fic written just for me on this (I really like SanSan, but I know there will be enough SanSan even without me requesting it). I still have a bit of time to think about this, but in the end it just comes down to me not liking the popular pairings (or at least not being interested enough in them to request fic), to me wanting weird shit that nobody wants to write, and mainly to me wanting to read Stannis fics more than anything else.

And I just saw that one Castle episode in which one guy quotes ASOIAF. "You do not understand, detective. You woke the dragon." He sounded all serious, and there was ominous music in the background. Haha, what a crossover. I love Beckett so much. ^^

Oh, and can anyone explain to me why Chopin only wrote a single piano trio? I love that piano trio so much more than any of his other work. I'm usually not a big fan of Chopin, much of his work is too dreamy for my taste. (Yes, gasp, someone who plays the piano and does not adore Chopin, I know, what a crime.) But that piano trio  ...

Comments

[sternflammenden.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a plan!

It would be hilarious if I got to write your Roose prompt in this one. I want to write it anyway...but you might as well put in your requests because you never know who will volunteer to write/draw. It's a big community.

I almost asked for some Victarion/Euron slash but I figured that no one would want to draw them...

[linndechir.livejournal.com]

So far you seem to be one of the few people who have signed up for other things than, well, the usual, so that might just happen. I guess I'll just sign up putting in a little note that I want some of my prompts more than the others, if it's all the same.
The Roose prompt does fascinate me, though, because I have NO idea how even Roose could wiggle his way out of that, because Stannis is pissed off, and Roose is not just some little lord, but basically the one who ran the show at Winterfell, who married "Arya" to his bastard son ... And what does Roose have to offer to Stannis that would make Stannis spare him? Theon, in Stannis' mind, at least has a value as hostage, but what reason would Stannis have not to chop Roose's head off on the spot?

Draw it, no, but I'd love to read it if it existed. I'd even write it if I thought I could write Euron. Or come up with a scenario that's not just one-sided abuse, which would be rather boring. I find brother/brother slash really fascinating ... except that Robb/Jon bores me. -.- But a really twisted, mutually abusive take on Victarion/Euron would be amazing.

[sternflammenden.livejournal.com]

Yeah...I'm the token Bolton girl, I guess. Oh well.

I can't figure out a believable way for Roose to get by Stannis. Maybe handing over Ramsay? Even then, Stannis is far too hardcore to let him go, considering the threat that he has posed in the past.

Euron seems as though he'd be very difficult to write. I'm rereading parts of AFFC as research for the exchange, and wow, he's tough to figure out.

[linndechir.livejournal.com]

There are worse things to be. :)

Problem is, how could Roose believably convey that it's all Ramsay's fault? It's much harder for a father to sell out his son than for a son to sell out his father. The only way Stannis would put pragmatism over justice is if Roose could offer him something big, something that makes him too valuable to kill. And I really don't see anything Roose could offer him, other than empty promises of allegiance (which mean nothing from a turncloak).

We haven't actually seen much of Euron so far, that's the main problem. We got a few glimpses at him from afar, filtered through how people think of him, but nothing that actually tells us much about who he is. So any fanfic version of Euron would be mostly speculation - but that can be very interesting as well.

[linndechir.livejournal.com]

I just saw that you have excellent taste in music. Kurt Weill and Beethoven, I approve. I don't think there is any composer I love as much as Beethoven. And you're interested in both Tudor England and German history. I always love it when I meet people in fandom and realise that I have other interests in common with them. :)

[sternflammenden.livejournal.com]

Hooray! I am a big, big German music nerd, have been for years. (I used to want to be a music professor). And Tudor England, always a fascination. I'm kind of obsessed with Henry VIII and his wives.

[linndechir.livejournal.com]

When I was really little, I wanted to be a pianist, but I was much too lazy to go through with that, so it just stayed a hobby. Nothing like playing some Beethoven to get your head free.
It's not even Henry himself that I find so interesting, but more certain people around him, mostly Cromwell and Cranmer.

[sternflammenden.livejournal.com]

Oh Cromwell. I adore Cromwell so much, not just historical Cromwell but Man for All Seasons Cromwell.

[linndechir.livejournal.com]

I adore Cromwell in pretty much any version. Well, except the "he's an evil Protestant monster" version. Have you read Wolf Hall?

[sternflammenden.livejournal.com]

I read about half of it and then got too busy to finish - I need to reread/finish because it was such an intriguing take on him, a "sympathetic" Cromwell.
How does he come off in the Tudors series, if you've seen it? I didn't care for the first few episodes so I gave up before he came on the scene.

[linndechir.livejournal.com]

You should definitely give it another try, it's wonderful. I love her style, and I definitely love her take on Cromwell. He's villified far too often.

I think they did a great job on Cromwell in The Tudors. Not so much the historical accuracy, because who cares about that on that show? ;) But James Frain did really well playing Cromwell. I also loved their take on Cranmer, but unfortunately they only got Cranmer's actor for one season and then Cranmer basically disappears. It's infuriating because he's ... important?
So, if you don't expect historical accuracy, their scenes are definitely fun to watch. I may be biased because I love both James Frain and Hans Matheson, but at least they're both really good actors.

[deborahkla.livejournal.com]

Mustn't forget Cromwell/Cranmer...

Also, I agree with you about Chopin. Just a touch too fluffy for me.

[linndechir.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't say fluffy, but I think dreamy fits. Chopin is all soft, and kinda mushy. To me Chopin always sounds like he just didn't dare to be a bit wilder. It's pretty, but it's not much more.

*goes and hides in a corner now*

[deborahkla.livejournal.com]

"all soft, and kinda mushy" = fluffy to me, although I suppose that's not accurate since there's a touch of angst in his work, probably due to his prolonged and torturous relationship withe Georges Sand. To have a demanding lesbianish harpy in men's clothing begging you to be straight for her must have been more than a little disorienting for the poor man and had to have taken its toll. No wonder he escaped into his music!

Oh, get out of that corner. You've nothing to be ashamed of!! XD