001; video

[reek]

Who: Theon Greyjoy
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: He'll be moping around the SS Paisley if you really need him
When: Current

[ The young man that sits before the camera is clearly both agitated and frustrated. Don't ask him about how he's settling in; the look on his face tells the story well enough. Not only did he have a terrible first day, but he spent nearly an hour working out what this strange device's actual purpose was.

To make up for lost time, his message is short and to the point, heavily punctuated by his angry tone: ]

Who do I speak to about an under-qualified captain?

[ This is a declaration of war. ]

Comments

[theshabbiestofmen]

Mm, no.

[So, so unimpressed-- but his left hand goes to his pocket, brushing against his wand. He's not stupid, thank you.]

If you're going to be like this, you're not going to be very popular.

[reek]

[ Why do people with sticks keep coming at him what's the deal?

Finally, he gives a short, butter bark of laughter. He hasn't been especially popular with anyone lately. It isn't news. ]

Is popularity what I'm meant to be striving toward?

[theshabbiestofmen]

Likability, perhaps. Unless you'd like to be the one we're all continuously annoyed by? Possible. It's certainly the direction you're headed towards. But it doesn't sound like a happy life.

[reek]

[ Although perfectly capable of being charming, true likability is not something Theon has ever managed to perfect. If anything, the cold treatment he received in Winterfell only made it harder for him. ]

I don't need the approval of you or your captain in order to be happy.

[ Spoken with another chuckle, but he clearly is not happy. He doesn't even turn to speak to Remus. He gazes out the window instead, where his grim expression can be somewhat masked. ]

It is better to be a great many things than to be liked.

[theshabbiestofmen]

[WELL. Remus' eyebrows raise in clear judgement, but he merely shrugs and stretches his legs out.]

Suit yourself. Just try not to be a bully about it and I suppose you can do as you like.

[reek]

She was the one who kicked me.

[ At last it come out. That kick only came after Theon's shove, but to be fair, he was suffering a bit of culture shock. The confetti was just a smidge too much.

It was a fun welcome for no one. ]

[theshabbiestofmen]

Well.

[His expression melts into something somewhat sympathetic, at least.]

She's very . . . spirited. And brash. And it's not easy, I know, coming from home to here.

i hate you because im actually starting to understand andrew garfield remus w the muttonchop icons

[reek]

She is stubborn and disrespectful. And unpleasant to be around.

[ He doesn't even realize he just described himself as well. ]

And I was already far from home before I came here.

[ He can't seem to settle on which place he wants to call home, but he forces himself to believe that Pyke was his true home, no matter how much he wants to say that it was Winterfell. ]

HEH HEH HEH

[theshabbiestofmen]

[He might not realize it, but Remus certainly does. FORTUNATELY, he's far nicer than Theon, so he doesn't mention it.]

How so?

[He asks it mildly-- curious, but not overbearing.]

only the chops icons tho

[reek]

[ Well, Remus is sharper than Theon is as well. And less burdened by stupid decisions. ]

I come from a place called Pyke. It's one of eight islands that my father holds lordship over. Kingship now, I suppose. By our own laws.

[ He sounds slightly less confident as he describes this. He was gone from the Iron Islands for so long. His family's laws and customs, no matter what he managed to dredge up from the trenches of his childhood memories, had come across as almost completely alien to him. ]

I was thousands of leagues away from Pyke. In a place called Winterfell. My home for ten years. [ He hesitates. ] But not my true home.

you need to photoshop chops onto all my icons for me

[theshabbiestofmen]

[He thinks of Fenrir's camp, of living there for a month, of the mud and the rain and the constant harassment, but most of all the loneliness. He thinks of his years at Hogwarts, about how miserable they would have been if he hadn't had James and Sirius and Peter.]

It sounds lonely.

i SHOULD then i would be completely won over

[reek]

[ Truth be told, Robb is the only true friend Theon has ever known. That's what happens when you're kept as incentive for your father's good behavior.

But what's worse? Everyone knowing who and what you are, or not being known at all among those who are meant to be your own people? Winterfell had been lonely, but Pyke had been lonelier.

Theon only shrugs. ]

Depends on your definitionn of the word. I was never alone.

[theshabbiestofmen]

It's not, but--

[He shrugs. He recognizes a deflection when he sees it, and he's not about to press.]

What is Winterfell like?

[reek]

[ He seems to struggle with that question. Likely burnt to its bones now, he thinks, but certainly one of the Stark children will bring that to light eventually. No need to slander himself so soon. ]

No colder than Pyke. Less sea, more woods. Fewer drownings, more beheadings.

[ Again, he shrugs. ]

Ruled by the Starks. [ Well, probably not anymore. ] Some of them are here, within this fleet.

[theshabbiestofmen]

I know Sansa-- and her brothers, though I know them far less.

[He doesn't even know about Jon Snow.]

Did you know them at all, or--? I'm afraid my world is very different; we don't have fiefs, anything like that.

[reek]

Robb and Bran.

[ And Jon Snow, but he won't mention Jon right now. He's always been so jealous of Jon, and he doesn't need to bring that into the mix just yet.

He tilts his head slightly, eyebrows furrowed as he tries to decide how to respond. The truth, perhaps, since Remus is at least listening to him. ]

I was raised alongside them.

[ And I betrayed them. ]

Not as a brother. I was their father's ward. Incentive to keep my own father from rebelling. If he started an uprising, I would be the one who was beheaded.

[ Finally, he turns with a grim smile on his face. ]

Do things not work like that in your world?

[theshabbiestofmen]

No.

[Quietly, and there's clear sympathy in his gaze.]

There are other ways people ensure loyalty. Not quite so bluntly.

[Not that they're any better-- but then again, no one gets beheaded.]

[reek]

I thought not.

[ Theon has grow numb to seeing the beheadings, but never to the knowledge that one day he may be the one with his head upon the block. He shrugs, still smiling that grim smile. ]

It makes sense. The Starks value honor and loyalty. Rebellion against the king is not honorable or loyal. The easiest way to handle it is by cutting off the problem at the head.

[ He laughs, grim and dark to match his smile. ]

Or the head of the problem's heir. If not by beheading, how does your world handle such things?

[theshabbiestofmen]

Well. Rebellion against our government usually results in imprisonment. Our worst criminals are given the Dementor's Kiss-- that is to say, their souls are sucked out.

[reek]

[ Theon visibly cringes. He doesn't know what a Dementor is, but he doesn't want to think about what it must feel like to lose your soul. It's hard enough to stomach seeing the life drain from a man being offered to the Drowned God. ]

I think I prefer beheading. At least it's quick.

[theshabbiestofmen]

And you die afterwards.

[That's the true horror of the Dementor's Kiss, after all-- that you continue on once it's done. Remus shivers once and then shakes his head, banishing the thought.]

In any case: at least we don't have to worry about either here. Just boredom, and the effects of it.