#variations of a theme

[threewavylines]

Variations of a Theme

Featuring: The Dramatic Entrance

[greenhikingboots]

Isn't it odd how cat and Sansa both were raised with boys who wanted to marry them?

Theon Petyr

Sorry it took me a few days to reply. In my head, I did already 5 times and more eloquently than I'm probably about to do now. So. This makes me think of great posts I've seen about George taking themes/concepts and using them in different ways over and over again. Think of all the versions of hidden identities or how most of the Stark kids have dark mentor figures in their lives. I'm really intrigued by that stuff in the books because I get so engrossed in each version that it takes someone else's great post to make me step back and go, "Oh yeah! That IS the same theme/concept if you really boil it down to the core." Buuuut. I think it's important to acknowledge the different versions here. It's too simplistic to say that with both Petyr/Cat and Theon/Sansa we have unrequited love or something like that (not that you DID say that in your chat. Bear with me a second.) For starters, Petyr's interest in Cat is a lot stronger than Theon's in Sansa. Petyr goes as far as to challenge Brandon to a duel, for example. And while we don't get a Petyr POV, it seems like in his own twisted, selfish way, he believes he truly cared for. It's only later in life, when Cat's gone, that Petyr's actions with Lysa and Sansa suggest he's thinking about claims and birthrights. Alternatively, we do get Theon's POV, and when he thinks of Sansa, he thinks directly about strengthening his claim over Winterfell by marrying her. And when he thinks of being younger and thinking Ned might marry him to Sansa, he calls it a child's fancy. Maybe this is too much of a leap, but it reads almost like a fleeting thought, which is definitely different than Petyr's fixation on Cat. So with the differences out of the way, what's the theme/concept (if not unrequited love or something along those lines)? Well, I know there's plenty to be critical of George about, but I do think he's writing some feminist themes... intentionally? And I think with Petyr/Cat and Theon/Sansa, he's writing about men who feel entitled to the women they desire. (Maybe they feel entitled partly because they were raised together and they think proximity makes them special - to speak more directly to your message). Anyway. I guess my point is I like to think of these relationship dynamics in context of George's other writing patterns and how they solidify his world building. Westeros is a tough place for most, and for the ladies, one of the things that makes it tough is entitled dude bros. Petyr and Theon are just two of many.

[threewavylines]

Variations of a Theme

Featuring: The Shrubbery Entrance

[cactusflowersalongtheroad]

“… some of the moments we cling to most are the futures we never let happen.” — Alice Miller, Saving.

[dreamsdesiresachieves-blog]

Neon Fountains

  These are little fountains glowing with neon lights from underneath giving them beautiful variations of colours. I took the pictures at Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester during Christmas. Altogether, I took 233 pictures using panorama features on my iPhone. 😀😀 I was struck by their beauty. These are a few of them. In response to Weekly Photo Challenge: Variations on a Theme Copyrights ©…

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[afragmentcastadrift]

It is a challenge to complacency when you refuse to let the final word, the closure to any argument, be "that's how it's always been" - and when you ask instead, the words in edgewise, riving the conversation open, "so what will we do to change that?"

[afragmentcastadrift]

To say it's just a game is dismissive - a way to negate the impact and weight of it, the significance of all its varying degrees. And perhaps it's the medium that makes it so prone to judgement - relatively new, not as vested in society and culture as the printed word, the floodlight performance, the silver-now-technicolor screen. Yet it carries pieces of all those - overlapping swatches of dialogue and form, expression and scenery. Broken down to its base element, perhaps it is a set of numbers, yet to lean back and see the enormity of it, all the layers combined and compressed - it is a world in and of itself.

We're creatures constantly seeking, are we not? A good story, a hearty laugh, a sense of familiarity, a kernel of courage - we look for these things in our world, but often we find them in others. But intangibility does not invalidate, for just as we find hope and inspiration, excitement and poignancy, in literature or theater, so do these exist on-screen - downloaded and pixelated, the condensed microcosm. 

It's not reality, no. But it doesn't have to be that specific reflection to mean something. We find our humanity in the strangest of places. We find our sense of community in having discovered those shades and echoes, and the others who have followed journeyed in the search. 

It is a game, and for some it is idle distraction, for others the subject of intense study. Recreation and sometimes, unexpectedly, salvation.

[totorororo]

Bitching financials things. Variations of the usual.

--

I'm wondering why I didn't go find another job over the break...

I calculated my combined pay of the library and tenrens per month. This is assuming that I have a really shitty average pay in tips of $60/night. [More on that below] What I mean is, the combined pay of this will allow me to pay rent, utilities, groceries, and 1 meal out a week. No extra.

My schedule is better this semester, but I end after 5 everyday. I would try and shift my schedule around but i can't do it because I'm in the middle of switching my major. But yeah, shifts at tenrens start at 445. I'm only able to work Friday nights or the weekend. I'm only willing to work Friday night or Saturday morning though, since I'll probably be at cp anyways for frisbee. Problem is, Saturdays are busy as fuck and I'd be the only waitress there, and I'm not sure if I could handle that tbh. Zero memory skills here.

I'll probably go for Saturday mornings though. I'll join up with frisbee people after my shift.

In any case, last semester, my average for Friday nights [2 waitresses=split tips] was a measly $60-70 per night. It was a huge disappointment, considering that I was making $80-100+ on average by myself on weeknights. I need that average of $80 at least, if I want to save anything at all.

Obviously, it's a bit late to find a new job now and I probably won't have time to train for a new place 2 weeks into the semester. If I don't find a better job/actual internship in the summer, someone needs to give me a slap into reality.

Back to Elementary.

By the way, just a question to anyone. If you don't have a job, where do you get your money from? Do your parents give you a monthly allowance? Do you do commissions/odd jobs? Do you just ask for an amount and it's given? You had a past job that literally made bank?

I don't think I understand what free money is anymore. I haven't received chinese new year money in years because we're too fucking in debt and I don't see any relatives often enough for them to shower us with anything. Any money I do get goes straight to school, bills, or my diminishing savings.

My mom said, if you ever need help, remember you can always rely on your parents. I know i could with my mom, but my dad? No. He called me the other day and was distressing over how he forgot about Helen's school bills and needed to figure out how to pay for it, and I said just forget it, I already borrowed extra loans to pay for her. Ma already paid them anyways, and she said she'd only take 2k of the 3k the school was going to give back to me [that I'm going to have to pay back in the future anyways]. I appreciate that, she understands how much I keep stressing over these matters because I have a independence complex. My dad would never do that. He wouldn't think my troubles are big enough to override his problems. He doesn't support us anymore. Sure he's the guy that makes money to pay house bills and all, but everything that's related to me personally, is funded by me, or by the school. If I didn't like going home on weekends, I would literally be completely independent from him. Fine, maybe there's gas for the car, but that's because they don't let me learn how to use gas points and do it myself.

I've said enough this is going nowhere. Fuck proofreading.