#what are fictional characters if not mirrors in which one sees themselves

[cerebralisis]

It’s still not clear to me if Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me was titled after Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee, but that is absolutely where my mind went. I wanted to explore the connection, so I read the play over the weekend, and it has some cool parallels.

Parallel 1: The play is full of TTPD buzz words:

“You have a poetic nature.. a Dylan Thomas-y quality that gets me right where I live.”

“I wasn’t the albatross… you didn’t have to take me to get the prize or anything like that.”

“I do not pick flowers in the blink. I have never robbed a hothouse without there is a light from heaven.”

Parallel 2: The movie adaptation stars Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Others have done great analyses of the way Taylor has referenced these two in her work, so I’ll leave that rabbit hole alone and simply say that we know Taylor has read about them (see below) and used them as inspiration - beyond just the one line in Are You Ready For It.

Parallel 3: Most interesting to me, the main themes of the play are about critiquing social conventions and blurring the lines between reality and illusion. The main couple spends the evening telling their guests stories about themselves and sharing information about their lives, but as the night goes on we start to realize that it’s hard to know which of these stories are real and which are made up. We can’t tell what’s fact or fiction, and we eventually learn that they do this because they’re afraid to face their own fears and inadequacies. (I’ll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror). After the play reaches its dramatic climax, Liz Taylor’s character finally resigns herself to let go of all the illusions and falsehoods she’s created and live in the truth, as scary as that is for her.

This line from one of the characters stood out to me: “And the west, encumbered by crippling alliances, and burdened with a morality too rigid to accommodate itself to the swing of events, must… eventually… fall.”

I swear, every single literary reference packed into Taylor’s work is telling us the same story in a million different ways. I think our girl just wants to leave it all behind and be her authentic self.

#friends of dorothea #gaylor #lgbetty #who’s afraid of little old me #ttpd

[charcoaldustonmyfingers]

So apparently most people don’t get only four hours of sleep average. Who knew?

Based on real conversation I had with myself lol. Literally my roommates suggested and medical professionals told me I had insomnia, and I was like “naw, I can sleep sometimes, surely that’s normal!” until I was drawing at 2:00am and it finally sunk in while I was listening to a podcast about it.

Must be nice to be a turtle living rent free in the sewers, able to take 2pm naps whenever and stay up till dawn. I love walking around when it’s dark, but it’s harder to do that in a city rather than on a farm! In the night you can see everything awash in silver from the moon, and the shadows are rich in color, the stars a direct parallel to the fireflies sparkling in the trees. The mist over the early morning fields is also so pretty, especially when the spiderwebs in the grass catch the dew :)

The city holds its own beauty at night. The hushed wind of a lone car as it passes by to places unknown, the shimmer of streetlights on cool pavement, the warm lights of distant windows reminding me that every inch of this place is full of life and people living their own stories.

Alas, sleep is also nice lol

#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt #rottmnt comic #rise mikey #I headcanon the turts as some kinda neurodivergent #what are fictional characters if not mirrors in which one sees themselves #t*cest dni

[tavyliasin]

Villain-Fucker Angst Hours

Good timezone, darlings~ Are you ready to get all up in your feelings? No? Me neither, loves, but here we are regardless so the words are going to flow as they usually do... This is focused on Raphael from Baldur's Gate 3 and his fandom, but the latter section can easily apply to any villain fandom.

Self-Analysis of Devil-Fuckery, Or Why Do I Adore Raphael When He Is Very Obviously Evil: A Short Essay by TavyliaSin (Who Still Cannot Name Anything With Less Than A Full Paragraph) ((NSFW)) (((Game Spoilers)))

The following may discuss heavier topics, but without specifics, so whilst it should be safe for most to read without triggering any difficult memories please be aware of Raphael's entire vibes, the content and context of his story, and I'd also like to mention that this isn't a "woe be us for we are terrible people" piece, it's actually more about:

"There is an inherent kindness and warmth to much of the Raphael fandom, and I think there could be some common threads behind that, pulling us all in closer in a comforting blanket that we wrap around each other to keep out the cold of the world."

So, what in the nine hells am I on about? Well. Raphael-fandom is a wild and wonderful place to be. The rest is in sections, so feel free to skip through to what you feel is relevant to your interests. I am so prone to waffle I should open a restaurant~

Who Are Fans Of Raphael? What Do They Want?

We are feral, unhinged, all sheets to the wind "I want that devil man, carnally, and there is no force in all the planes that could stop me". There's the vanilla to the extreme and every level in between, tops, bottoms, versatiles, Doms, subs, and switches - there are a whole lot of people who would love to get their hands on either (or both) of Raphael's forms, for a simple smooch or something far more spicy~ [edited in] To add on to this, not all of us even desire him in a sexual way, for many it is romantic, soft, or even just the rather pleasant thought of spending an evening with drinks by the hellfire because he would be fascinating company. Aces, Aros, and AroAces may all find themselves well within the devilish corners of fandom too~ which is a whole other essay~ [end edit] So, I see you. I'm one of you. Extremely loud and utterly hingeless in my fan appreciation for Raphael. He's one of my favourites to write about, I seek art of him, and the same goes for his mirrored other half, Haarlep, who I arguably love more despite there being far less content of them in the game.

And the Fandom? The Vibe?

From my experience in the Raphael Fandom areas, we have a very deep and abiding understanding of consent, respect, and treating each other with an absolute and uncompromising kindness. We've had talks about keeping each other safe in fandom, exchanged details of people we have encountered who need to be avoided, even shared details between moderators of different fandom servers to pre-ban people proven to be creeps and/or art thieves. We've also discussed consent, including the issues with it in the game, and how areas of the story can only really be considered dubious at best and could easily be triggering for people. And these discussions have been open, honest, fair, and with the acknowledgement that most of us love these scenes anyway. So there's a sense of care that runs through everything, behind the horny-posting and fan content, behind the endless thirsting after our favourite fictional characters. We have a depth of kindness that warms my sinners soul every time I see it.

What Does This Have To Do With Self-Reflection, Raphael, or Villainy In General?

Well let's look at Raphael. He's a villain, obviously. He's manipulative, devious, and inherently evil by his very nature. He keeps Hope chained in his basement, constantly subjected to endless torture. There's also mention of how Gortash was sold into his service at a young age, clearly not an enjoyable experience given the other details and how things turn out (particularly as Raphael would need Gortash's own plans to fail entirely in order for him to succeed in his own and get that crown). And as fans, we accept that. We don't sit making excuses, or trying to say "well actually Gortash is a little shit and Hope probably deserve it", and we don't shy away from or conveniently ignore those darker sides of him with malicious intent to enable more evil to flourish. What I noticed, when I allowed the thoughts to continue, is that there is a theme here.

If Evil Can Be Loved Then So Can I

That's the core. Of course, darlings, I am not claiming to be a heinous monster. I certainly do not have a laundry list of crimes that would make the devil himself say "Uh, that's a bit much." But I sure as fuck treat myself like I do sometimes. You see, I think a lot of us have that tendency, to judge ourselves far more harshly than anyone else. Our patience, understanding, and forgiveness for others runs deeper than the Mariana Trench, but when it comes to our own flaws? One minor mistake and we think ourselves to be the worst beings ever to disgrace the earth. Thus, the villainy we see reflects how we are treating ourselves. So by loving and accepting all of those things that should be terrible, hated, we are actually learning that no matter how poorly we think of ourselves that we can be worthy of that same love and acceptance. We are extending the affection we are unable to show ourselves to someone we see the worst parts of ourselves amplified within. And that's why villains attract the people with the most kindness. The most forgiveness. Because it takes someone with a truly huge amount of empathy to find love for the embodiment of evil.

Or, IDK, maybe villains are just hot and we're too far down to care.

But wait, before you go!

THERE'S SOMETHING WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT.

All of this is about FICTION. We should never be accepting of the kinds of evil we see in the game irl. We do not owe anyone kindness if they do not show it to us.

What is hot in fiction is not always OK IRL.

Look after yourselves out there, remember that consent is key in all things, and please do try to learn to love yourselves, darlings, you are worthy of it and you should judge yourself by the same standard you judge others. If you are in doubt, if you are worried, if you feel afraid - reach out, talk to someone. There are many who will listen.

Treat yourself as you would treat a friend. You deserve that much.

Oh, and all Raphael fans who understand kindness are welcome around me, any hour of the day, I adore our little fandom circles and would gladly collect all of us together. I'm following a lot of you as soon as I find you, like hunting shiny pokemon~

See you in Avernus, my darling Little Mice, may we all find joy in the Cambion's Embrace~

#baldurs gate 3 #raphael #bg3 raphael #villain fucker #personal reflection #analysis of the inner mind by a complete amateur #listen the thoughts get loud then I write them down darlings it happens all the time #love yourself please #you are worth more than you give yourself credit for #and keep loving those villains! it's good for you! #be kind to yourself #and be kind in the community #did this even make sense? well it's there now so tough #DMS are open for fellow fans with excellent taste~

[inbarfink]

There’s something very ironic about the opening shot of (almost) every DHMIS TV Episode being the front door opening. Considering that in general, this show is about the claustrophobia and helplessness of these characters being trapped in their house unless let out by the capricious whims of their teacher - and specifically because of that, from our protagonists’ POV, that front door probably doesn’t exist.

Okay, so, judging from the layout of the house in both the opening and the show itself, the front door should be right here -

behind the kitchen, right next to the mirror and the coat rack (which, you know, it makes sense to have the front door right next to the coat rack). 

But the characters themselves never directly explicitly interact with this location (and they only implicitly interact with it once, which I will get to a bit later). Instead, every time the characters are actually shown going in and out of the house - they use the door on the side of the Dining Room.

And this door might lead outside of the house -

Or it might just lead to the living room.

DHMIS loves to use the conventions of television to create a surrealist and oppressive atmosphere and that is just another example of this. Nonsensical house/apartment layouts are not unheard of in TV Production. You know, filming inside a real house is often a lot less convenient than building disconnected sets and cutting between them when the characters walk through a door - and sometimes flubs or inconsistencies happen or the production just straight-up doesn’t care about it as much as nerds online and whoops now the characters live in a canonical non-Euclidean pocket dimension. But in DHMIS this is not a flub, but an intentional element of unease and horror (and sometimes comedy).

Cause, you know, it’s not just that the trio live in a space that does not make any sense (where is the bedroom anyways? Is it also behind that same dining room door?) - it’s also that their own house is a space they cannot actually fully control or navigate.

They can’t determine whenever this is the living room door or front door. They can’t leave of their own volition, but any random stranger can come inside or force them out.

Just another reminder that is not really their house, as much as they are of the house. And meanwhile the space that should logically be the front door goes totally ignored by the characters - basically on the same logic none of them can see either the staircase or the empty chalkboard space lingering just past the fourth wall of their dining room.

If it is off-screen, it basically doesn’t exist for the characters. Again, this idea of turning a convention of TV Fiction into another part of the Puppets’ Actual Nightmare is a recurring theme in DHMIS.

And on that same note, I want to point out the moment that comes closest to acknowledging the front door, or whatever else lies behind that little nook.

In Episode 2, ‘Death’, during the Memories musical montage, Yellow goes to the coat rack area -

And then he goes outside.

Basically the only time in DHMIS’ TV Series that one of the Puppets has left the house on their own. Not accompanied by a Teacher or following a ‘lesson plan’ (quite the opposite, really). Considering that he was by the coat rack a moment ago - that’s the closest we’ve got to one of the Main Three Guys Around using the front door where it’s supposed to be. 

It’s still all very… ambiguous. You know, and Duck was basically buried in their backyard, it’s not like Yellow was pulling a Transport and actually trying to leave. But I still think there’s something there. Cutting from the little coat-rack-hallway to the outside is suggestive of a certain kind of movement the same way heading towards the kitchen door and then cutting to the outside is. 

And the fact this is Yellow Guy, the Puppet who is at the same time most oblivious but also the closest to being aware of what’s going on -

Is certainly very intriguing...

#don't hug me i'm scared #don't hug me #i'm scared #dhmis #dhmis analysis #dhmis theory #dhmis tv series #dhmis tv show #yellow guy dhmis #dhmis yellow guy #yellow guy don't hug me i'm scared #yellow guy #dont hug me im scared

[saintsenara]

Are Lily and Petunia working class? I feel like they’re coded more like lower middle, with parents who are very class conscious in the way that people who’ve only relatively recently inched their way into respectability can be - Lily and Petunia both have classist insults on the tip of their tongue when they’re done with Snape and that had to be a deliberate invocation of the attitudes inside the Evan’s’ home considering they’ve got basically no other personality traits in common - and who hope their daughters marry up, which they both do. They don’t really seem as kids to speak or act in the way that the few unambiguously working class characters in the books do. She can’t be raised middle middle, because she’s far too obsessed with the performance of it once married to be comfortable that status won’t be taken from her, but her dad was like…a bank clerk. Or a council worker. Not a lawyer, but not a working class factory guy or tradesman either. Cokeworth reads to me as split by the river, with Snape’s condemned Victorian slums in the shadow of the mill and then Lily and Petunia over a bridge in the nicer part of town on one of those endless 1930s estates with a gated playground that are all over the country. Sometimes it’s hard not to read an uncomfortably condescending undertone into JKR’s words about Lily’s goodness that a key part of that goodness in the author’s eyes was her ability to overlook the class disparity with Snape. Would love to hear your thoughts on this because you usually spot much more going on in the text than I do!

(also, what working class family names their first child Petunia???)

so, i certainly think this is a fair reading, anon - which definitely works with snape and petunia and lily's canonical... vibe.

i just prefer the class divergence between the snapes and the evanses to be smaller in real terms - and, therefore, more profound in imagined ones.

by which i mean that i like the tension between the two families to be intra-working-class beef between a "respectable", "aspirational" working-class family and the feckless delinquents it considers beneath them.

this is because it always strikes me that so much about petunia's relationship with snape is based in her fear of the mirror he holds up to her, and the inadequacies she's terrified it will reveal. the main one of these - obviously - is that snape's continued existence reminds her of her desire to be magical [and shocking, bohemian, unconventional etc.], but i also think that snape works well as someone who reminds her that all the affectations of middle-class respectability she puts on are mere fiction. she's just a working-class lass from cokeworth, no better than he is...

[which offers an explanation for her terror as an adult that her solidly middle-class lifestyle will be snatched away from her - this fear is connected specifically to harry's magic; magic is what took lily away from her; lily was introduced to magic by snape. she has escaped him by ascending into the middle-classes, but the frightening, corrupting influence he represents - which threatens to unmask who she really is and where she really comes from - stalks her still...]

i certainly agree that her and lily's parents would be incredibly class-conscious, but i see it as the adult evanses looking to receive recognition which would allow them to distinguish themselves from the lower orders in a way which might help them advance in terms of class status, rather than allowing them to retain a previous ascension up the greasy pole.

and this will obviously have involved the demonisation of members of the working-classes they believe to be letting the side down - petunia clearly being desperate to call snape whatever the seventies version of a "chav" was during their first meeting can definitely be read as having that "it's people like you that give people like me a bad name" flair. and i think that's more potent - and would bother petunia a lot more - if it's something she thinks from within the same social class as snape, rather than [however tenuously] from a bracket above him.

the evanses house and mr evans' job would absolutely play into this intra-class divide. i agree that they probably lived on a housing estate built between the 1930s and 1950s - but i think it's also entirely possible that the estate they live on was council housing. the housing division in cokeworth might be a smaller-scale version of that seen in other post-industrial cities in the north-west, such as liverpool and manchester - policies intended to move families out of unfit victorian stock into new-builds, which came with things like indoor toilets and central heating.

[in reality, these policies rehoused a lucky few in nicer estates within their original communities, displacing many onto estates miles away from where they'd started and leaving others stuck in condemned slum housing.]

i think it's worth noting that - while the perception of someone who lives in council housing has become exceptionally negative since the 1980s, in the 60s it was still considered perfectly respectable to live in council housing which might have looked like this:

[none of which, i imagine, are still in use as council stock...]

certainly, it was considered infinitely more respectable than living in the slums.

the sorts of council tenants who would end up in these houses often had a reputation for their own version of "keeping up appearances" - tidy gardens, community interaction, not behaving in "rough" ways - which is very similar to how this is performed by the middle-classes, but which still has a distinctly working-class flavour - particularly when it comes to the perception of jobs, education, and what one receives from the state.

mr evans could, for example, have a trade and still think of himself [and expect to be perceived in society] as meaningfully more sophisticated than a low-skilled and frequently-unemployed mill-worker, like tobias snape - especially if he was something like a plumber, electrician, or gas-fitter. this would be the case even though both of these jobs can be described as "blue collar".

and i like these really minor distinctions because they play up just how petty the performance of class is in britain - but they also reveal just how thorny and multi-layered it is at the same time. this really vibes with how i see petunia: petty and competitive and obsessed with rules which people outside of her class bracket don't care about [i.e. how marge doesn't give a fuck about the prim middle-class manners the adult petunia will come to pride herself on] and worried about the fragility of her position and very much faking it until she makes it - and also complex and multi-layered and inextricable from the long and complicated history of social class in the twentieth century.

two final points: on the names, i basically think that the fact she's called petunia is a little wink to the camera for the mams and dads in 1997 reading the books at home with their children - "petunia dursley" is absolutely intended to remind you of "hyacinth bucket", the social-climbing protagonist of the bbc sitcom keeping up appearances. that character was also a working-class lass who ascended to the middle, and who went to extraordinary lengths to keep that hidden from the upper-middle-class circles she was desperate to access...

and the main thing which i think "others" the snapes? religion. i am wedded to the idea of tobias as a catholic of northern irish extraction - which would have been accompanied by all sorts of stereotypes about fecklessness [drunkenness, having too many children who can't be paid for, violence] which, when compounded by him living in a slum and being unemployed, would have turned him into someone the evanses would have seen it as entirely appropriate to define themselves against even if they nominally shared a social class.

this would only have got worse as the 1970s began...

#asks answered #asenora meta #surprise! it's the class system

[the-crooked-library]

"You and I Have Begun to Blur"

This is eating my brain from inside, so here's the thing: one of my favourite aspects of Hannigram as a ship is their balance - the way they mirror and complete each other, functionally two halves of the same whole; but what is even more fascinating is that, in a literary sense, Hannibal and Will are, in fact, inspired by two opposing aspects of the same man.

It all begins (like many other things) with Lord Byron; specifically, the summer he spent with a group of friends at Villa Diodati in Geneva, and the dare, that each member of the group would write a ghost story - one of which was Dr. Polidori's The Vampyre. This novella, which introduced the vampire legend to Western popular culture, defined its archetypes for centuries to come; and as such, Polidori's Lord Ruthven, who was based on Lord Byron, became a blueprint.

He is dark, foreign, seductive, dangerous, hypnotizing, hedonistic, possessive; his relationship with the main character, Aubrey, is markedly homoerotic - and these qualities endure as the archetype is passed down the generations. From Ruthven, we get Carmilla, Dracula, Lestat - and, indeed, Hannibal Lecter.

From this:

To this:

he is still, recognizably, a Byronic villain. Whether he operates within an overtly supernatural genre, or a psychological thriller, he is still confident, dominant, manipulative, and always representative of forbidden (queer, interracial, extramarital, etc) desire and temptation.

However, The Vampyre was not the only piece written for the same dare, not the only piece that left a legacy within popular horror, and, most importantly for this context, not the only piece that featured a Byronic character. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein introduced a second such archetype into the gothic genre - inspired by her own understanding of Lord Byron; so, while her Victor Frankenstein shares the same dark hair and pallor as Polidori's Ruthven, there is an ocean of differences between the two.

Victor Frankenstein is a Tortured Genius. He is odd and wild, passionate, prone to isolation; a misfit from the start, always lonely despite the few connections he has, and never truly understood. His intellect is both a gift and the source of his ruin, and he is plagued, in equal measure, by both pride and guilt.

In both looks and character, he passes almost unchanged - from this:

To this:

Even centuries later, he is still the smartest man in the room, he is always tormented, and his counterpart is always a Monster. We see him pop up throughout horror media - as poets, composers, detectives - reflected in Edgar Allan Poe's Roderick Usher, Lovecraft's Henry Wilcox, or Spencer Reid of Criminal Minds. Unlike those of Ruthven's lineage, these people are usually either frail or sickly, socially awkward, uncertain of themselves except for a specific area of expertise, and their sanity commonly tends to be in question.

Despite such differences, though, all these characters are Lord Byron's legacy, weaving their way through history - on the page, on the stage, on the screen, it matters not. By the time they meet again in NBC's Hannibal, they are as separate as two entities can be - yet entwined more closely than any other genre would allow.

Frankly, it drives me feral.

There is so much here to unpack - they are a whole, and yet separate, each with his own archetypal history. Does something within Will Graham's bones remember Frankenstein when he stands in the forensic lab, surrounded by corpses?.. On the Doylist level, does that inform the acting - however subconsciously - in any way?.. Does Count Hannibal Lecter have Lord Ruthven's smile - or Lord Byron's?.. Does he know?

How much is reality?

How much is fiction?

How much is lost through interpretation? How much is remembered? How much does anyone ever really Know us, truly, when two of Byron's closest friends saw entirely different people in him?

I don't know. We can never know. What is evident, though, is that Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham are two halves of the same soul - and that this soul aches to be complete.

#hannibal #hannigram #hannibal lecter #will graham #dracula #victor frankenstein #gothic fiction #gothic #gothic literature #literature #history #nbc hannibal #hannibal nbc #hannibal meta #hannibal analysis

[infamous-if]

Amy...you possess an exceptional ability in crafting your narrative tapestries, wielding words with the finesse of a master artist. Your storytelling abilities transcends mere description, your tales breath with life, evoking emotions and thoughts in readers that dance in harmony with your intentions. What sets you apart, however, is your neat hand in sculpting characters that are not just ink and paper, but living, breathing souls. Each character you pen is a universe unto themselves, with intricacies and complexities that mirror the human experience. From their whispered thoughts to the subtleties of their interactions, Your characters resonate with authenticity. They laugh, they weep, they stumble, and they soar, all at your behest. With every stroke of your pen, you beckons readers into a world where they forge unbreakable connections with your creations, blurring the lines between fiction and reality.

I'm so glad that the IF community is able to experience your work ❤

AMELIA <3 funny you sent this just as im writing a patreon Drabble in which Orion asks Rowan what Slutty waist AND man tits why are you a whore (affectionate) means 😭😭😭 (from the Q&A)(iykyk) and I find that juxtaposition with your beautiful words very funny

all jokes aside, thank you so much! what a beautiful comment and such high praise that makes me really happy :,) I think this one ask is better written than anything I've ever done and it's so beautiful I might just frame it on my wall plsjlasnsjs I don't deserve such nice words, but I will take them and use them to motivate me nonetheless so thank you <3

I can't wait to see what more you have to offer <3 and im glad the IF community is able to experience not only you as a writer but as a person :,)

#this is also a thank you to everyone + the anons who motivate me to do what I want with the IF #it really helps <3 #and that Drabble.....lol it's getting long and it's funny #inbox #<3

[golvio]

So I've got...some complicated feelings about this. Some of them more analytical, some of them more personal. I get pretty long-winded when I think out loud about this guy, so I'm putting my thoughts behind a cut.

On the one hand, I definitely noticed that TotK's Ganondorf was more preoccupied with his appearance, not necessarily in a stereotypical "vain villain who never shuts up about how beautiful they are" or a "gym bro who spends more time checking himself out in the mirror than actually working out" sense, but in a "he's very conscious about the image he projects and wants to maintain careful control of how other people see him at all times" way. I'm glad I've got confirmation that I wasn't just seeing things. Also, that TotK discusses how he uses attractiveness to manipulate people, as implied with how he portrayed "Princess Zelda," had some really interesting implications about his life as the Gerudo king and his personality and skills in reading people that Nintendo never followed up on, because god forbid we give this character any recognizable traits that could inspire curiosity about who he is as a person or discussions about gender roles in ways that aren't "He pretends to be a cute little white girl because he's an Evil Degenerate."

On the other hand...it kind of contributes to the way I've been weirded out by how the game itself treated him and how certain fans treat him. The game itself made a lot of effort to dehumanize and un-person this man as a character even while making his human form visually appealing. The fans themselves are celebrating this a validation of their seeing him as a sex symbol, calling him "a bi icon" because both men and women are attracted to him, etc.

Like...there's all this discussion about Ganon's appearance and how sexy people find him, but not much consideration of what *he* might want, or how he feels, or what he's attracted to. I know that's kind of a goofy question to ask about a fictional character who can't really have opinions on things beyond what the writers give him, but...it's just kind of...objectifying?

For example, I don't take any issue with headcanons that Ganon might be bisexual, or at least enjoys the attention he gets from people of any gender, since I've got my own headcanons about him being queer, but I do get weirded out by the assumption that just because both men and women find him attractive that means he *must* reciprocate their desires and be bisexual. It's the same thing that weirds me out about fan art pre-release that portrayed him as this airheaded himbo jock because fans wanted to ogle his sexy body without having to deal with his intelligence, his anger, his negative qualities, or his potential dangerousness.

There's this tendency to objectify him in both the game, whether as a "monster" to slay to prove the player/Link's mettle as a hero, or as a trophy to symbolize Rauru's dominon over the frontier territories of his kingdom. And then there's a tendency to objectify him in fandom, presenting him as a pinup devoid of his original personality, or trying to shape him into a "good Ganondorf" that the fans would actually like to be friends with by sanding off all his sharp edges so they can access his body, which they find beautiful, without having to deal with the parts that might complicate that or that they'd dislike.

Fandom as a whole seems to have a blind spot when it comes to the objectification of masculine characters, particularly because it's like, "Oh, BOYS can't be objectified! Only pretty (white) ladies can get objectified!" Nevermind that objectification is a phenomenon that's super commonly done to nonwhite men in tandem with the more overt and violent dehumanization that comes with racism, especially men with darker skin. And there doesn't seem to be much of an interest in exploring what that might mean for Ganondorf as a character, whether just as discussing double-consciousnesses and exploiting expectations to manipulate people, or to explore how being treated like a piece of meat or a pretty ornament who exists only for other people's pleasure can really warp a person.

I guess...this is something I've been thinking about since playing Slay the Princess, which asks a lot of questions about objectification, how people's complexity can be dismissed and ignored when they're shoved into the Love Interest archetype, and how being limited in this way in the eyes of others can seriously hurt and warp someone even if it's being done in the "nicest," most paternalistic and "benevolent" way possible. It presents the core relationship as being a fundamentally unequal power balance; no matter how fearsome and terrifying the imprisoned party becomes, she is always at your mercy, she lives and dies based on the choices you make, and the "nicer" routes are potentially just her saying what she knows you want to hear and auditioning for your sympathy because like it or not you're her warden. It also forces you to ask yourself what makes you come to love somebody, and to consider the possibility of loving somebody while also acknowledging their thorny, messy, contradictory, and dangerous parts. I wish I could see more works considering this for Ganon, as opposed to regurgitating tired old "Destroy This Mad Brute" tropes or turning him into a "safe," palatable, easy-to-digest love interest.

#loz thoughts #ganondorf #racism mention tw

[nitrochiralfan]

The Visual Symbolism of the True Route: Mirror symbolism

There's a lot of visual symbolism in the true route but one of the prominent symbols that stands out the most is the use of mirrors. It was talked about before in a post on Tumblr by someone but here I wanted to elaborate on it 

This post will primarily focus on the original Japanese version of the game, not the Jast localization. Since it did the game dirty I wanted to go over the true context by looking at the Japanese version.

This post will cover the true route to those who haven’t played the game; a spoiler warning is now in effect.

Mirror 

First, before we begin I want to talk about Mirrors in general and how they are used. The main purpose of mirrors is to show your appearance.

In a fictional sense, the mirror is used as a literary device to show your true self, mirrors show the reflection of ourselves and reflect our flaws and imperfections, the worst parts of ourselves we don’t like to look at. the mirror can reflect all the terrible aspects we don’t like about ourselves. 

Literature uses this to highlight the similarities in characters which is used to reflect the theme “Equals” in Towa and Fujieda.

Towa and Maya

Going over mirror symbolism in the route the first ones to discuss are Towa and Maya.

Without a doubt Towa looks exactly like his mother, Towa got most of his appearance from Maya he's the spitting image of his mother many characters point out the resemblance and their claims are not unfounded if you put Towa and Maya together it's like looking at a mirror but it is not limited by their appearances. 

Maya runs a store called Euphoria, the name that Towa would later take to use as his artist name. The store is a cabinet club for the wealthy but in reality, it is an establishment meant to fulfill the most twisted desires of man this is similar to what Towa does in his euphoria art sessions. 

There is a scene in the opening song of Slow Damage when Towa smiles, when you compare the smile that Towa gives it resembles the one that Maya gave, Towa's smile looks like Maya when she was smiling. This is made to point out how much Maya influences Towa’s actions which is seen in the game.

When Towa’s resemblance to Maya in the Fujieda route is pointed out Towa shatters the mirror in his room because he is disgusted that he looks like the monster who ruined his life he attempts to hurt himself to scar his face to further reduce the resemblance it shows just how much this Towa fears Maya once he begins to remember her. Towa is afraid and hates his mother even hates the idea of inheriting her appearance because it is associated with his abuser. Towa sees himself as a copy of Maya not only because of his appearance but how his euphoria art sessions are similar to what Maya did.

The CG where Towa impersonates Maya to trick Sakaki mirrors that scene of Towa standing in front of the mirror even the position Towa in the CG is similar to the CG of Towa standing in front of the mirror. This points out that all along Sakaki only ever saw Maya in Towa, not himself this led to him being fooled and to his death.

Towa is viewed as a mirror to Maya by certain people including Maya herself no matter how much Maya can claim she loves her son the truth is Maya views Towa as a version of herself instead of his person she treats Towa as a doll, a toy, not a person that she molds and uses like clay, and is angry that he didn’t conform to her image.  

Towa breaking the mirror is a metaphor and a foreshadowing of Towa tricking Sakaki and remaining himself in the good ending and that Towa isn’t Maya but himself. They may resemble each other as mother and son but Maya and Towa themselves are not similar which would get to our next part 

Towa and Fujieda

I pointed out in a post that when you put both Towa and Fujieda together they reflect each other like a mirror. Their appearances serve as parallels reflecting off each other like a mirror. 

Writing-wise they are similar to each other there are many parallels between Towa and Fujeida both had been abused by their parents resulting in the scars on their bodies, Fujieda's scars came from the abuse he received from his parents, and Towa's scars are made by his customers through his mother's euphoria sessions the abuse caused them to led them to lives of sexual debauchery as a result. Both of them hate their parents and cut off anything that is associated with them.

They both carry scars metaphorically and literally, a metaphor that they have the same pain and trauma. 

There was something about the way Fujieda is first introduced to Towa in the game through the routes; his appearances mirror Towa’s state in the routes a post pointed this out before. Fujieda being an enigmatic person in the game to Towa and the audience is parallel to how Towa's past is a mystery to the audience.

There is the visual symbolism of the CGS in the route to analyze, this is seen in the placement of the characters Towa and Fujieda in the CG, in the route has them facing each other like standing in front of a mirror correlating to the mirror symbolism. 

For the significance of those CGs:

This happened when both Fujieda and Towa escaped from being shot by the yakuza as they fled from the Takasato group away from the rain Towa and Fujieda fled to his condo and they went into his apartment and changed clothes Fujieda was apprehensive about changing in front of Towa than Towa provokes him in a childish rage Fujieda undresses than after what Towa saw catches him off guard Fujieda had scars littered across his upper torso mirrors how Towa own body appeared. it is the moment when Towa realizes that maybe they aren't so different This scene shows that Fujieda has more than meets the eye

There is visual symbolism sprinkled throughout this CG,

It shows us Fujieda’s back with his entire torso littered with scars Fujieda has his back turned only focusing on Towa’s reactions, it doesn’t show Fujieda's face primarily only focusing on Towa’s expressions. The placement in the CG is both characters facing each other. Both Towa and Fujieda are half naked with scared bodies much like looking at the mirror. 

In another scene in the game when Fujieda attacks Towa, Fujieda overcome with sorrow after learning the truth, lashes out at Towa believing that Towa is just as culpable as Maya he is furious that he had no idea that Towa’s a victim of Maya despite Towa being her son. Fujieda is finding a tangible way of getting revenge for Mei. This mirrors how Towa attacked Fujieda in their first meeting in the playground when he is overcome with his PTSD symptoms from remembering the past.

After they visited the ruins of euphoria the trip to the store changed their mindsets leading to this cg the next cg balances hope and despair. 

Here Towa is draped in despair after he recovers his memories from the ruins of euphoria he sees no reason to live anymore the pain of what happened to him destroys him from learning the truth about his past He is overcome with survivor's guilt and despair and felt his life isn’t worth living any longer when an innocent life like Mei’s died for his sake. 

While Fujieda stands in hope.

Fujieda talks down Towa from a suicide attempt he doesn’t say simple platitudes about how life will get better or that Towa has so much to live for he acknowledges the pain this information causes him. But Towa’s life is still valuable just as Mei's life was valuable. this is coming from a personal place about Fujieda, Fujieda dealt with suicidal thoughts and hopes to die once his mission to find Mei's fate is complete he didn’t start the route with the confidence to live despite the pain.

Fujieda went through the same thing Towa went through at the beginning of the route. Fujieda is the only person who understands Towa at that moment. visual representation of this during the suicide confrontation reflects off of each other Fujieda is Towa in this scene this further emphasizes that Fujieda is Towa's mirror After their visit Fujieda realizes that Towa was just as hurt as he was and seems to regret his actions he now knows that Towa is a victim of abuse. Towa’s pain is acknowledged. 

Fujieda knew that Towa reminded him of himself and deep down knew that this was the very reason why it caused him to repel from Towa due to how similar they are. He reflected all the aspects of Fujieda that he tried to bury deep inside of himself. The reason he doesn’t think Towa reminded Fujieda of himself before is that it would be like admitting that his existence is just as miserable as Towa’s.

This scene is where Fujieda finally acknowledges their similarities to each other. in the way they are each other's mirror, Towa is Fujieda’s mirror just as Fujieda acts as Towa's mirror

Afterward, In the bathroom, Fujieda and Towa face each other parallels both scenes of Towa standing in front of the mirror shower referencing the rain as a callback to the apartment after they got the rain when Towa first saw Fujieda's scars. Towa requests to see Fujieda's scars wishing to take solace in the sight then to this beautiful CG

Fujieda and Towa are facing each other naked in the shower covered in scars standing in front of each other this is like looking in a mirror. This shows solidarity and comfort in their similarity 

Next to the sex scene. The sex scene is an accumulation of their feelings. Towa feels comfortable being touched by Fujieda. he is overwhelmed to be touched by someone similar to him. In the sex scene, Towa touches Fujieda’s scars Fujieda and Towa understand their pain and trauma. This is about Towa making sure that their pain, trauma, and experiences are on their bodies. It alone was enough if they both understood. 

Yeah, he has Taku and Rei but he never finds someone to whom he can relate or even acknowledge his pain. Fujieda understands what Towa has been through in the way Taku and Rei don't. Towa has someone to whom he can relate, and pushes himself to better himself that is why Fujieda is around to help Towa process his trauma to heal from it.

They are similar to each other, yet different, so they're equal.

#slow damage #fujieda ryo #towa slow damage #ryo fujieda #fujitowa #towa #maya slow damage #my meta

[littleeyesofpallas]

So there is a certain character type that I cannot for the life of me pin down a word for... It's yakuza adjacent, but often not explicitly part of the actual gangs. a kind of shady businessman, but not the overly clean and corporate type. sort of a scammer or a conartist or grifter, but not as small time as that sort of makes it sound? I want to say it's a look associated with loan sharks, but I can't quite substantiate that.... I swear it's a thing you see in the context of Japanese crime fiction all the time, especially set in the 80s or 90s, yet I can't really point to any characters that really fit the bill off the top of my head, as they're almost always background characters. Somehow the only one I can think to pinpoint is that one random villain-of-the-week in Kill la Kill?

The persona itself actually has a shocking amount in common with, like, the classic American used car dealer, especially on the east coast either around the New York/New Jersey tristate or down in like Miami, usually with a hefty bit of Italian or Jewish racism mixed in... The style though, the gold chains, the tacky superficial try-hard glitz and the pushy rough around the edges attitude, very self-made and informally educated businessman, surprisingly successful but still not really a "big" success, and just like this Japanese counterpart I'm thinking of, almost always technically in business with local organized crime without ever being "part of the family."

Like it's such a cliche that it's literally cartoonish, and it's funny how almost perfectly beat for beat the US and Japanese counterparts mirror eachother, except that the Japanese character type, as far as I can recall, isn't associated with used car dealerships,

anyway point is... That's what Marechiyo and his dad are supposed to look like. That and a bit of yakuza/delinquent in the case of his dad when he was younger. Notably his dad straight up has a punch perm in the present day, which was The quintessential yakuza look in the 80s. And his younger version seems to also have a perm but also a regent style pompadour that's a little more youthful delinquent aligned than outright criminal, and again a look that has become so cliche as to become cartoonish to the point of being a costume you can buy in a store.

Although whatever the hell Marechiyo has going on in the new hell arc, i cannot identify.

But it's interesting that it's a different kind of yakuza look than what Iba has going on. His dark shades, the tight perm, the laborer's bellywarmer, his zanpakutou being a tanto sticking out of it, the overall posture with the one shoulder out of his kimono, even that his sword is alternatively either a Yakuza style tanto tucked into a chest wrap, or a seemingly normal katana but without a crossguard is to evoke the classic yakuza image of using a shirasaya --a plain white wood sheathe with matching handle and no crossguard or wrap-- rather than a more traditional katana. And of course his dog-like loyalty to Komamura are all iconic stoic Yakuza romanticism. The hardboiled, honor bound, manly man ideal of the folklore-like reputation of the yakuza. The thing you'd see in countless old movies or pulp thriller style seinen manga, sometimes even published by yakuza family magazines themselves.

His mother also plays into this, even in her barely existent appearance in the MASKED databook, as she's a pretty distinct play into a very particular matronly character type generally typifying either a proprietress of a traditional inn or a yakuza boss's wife --both drawing from traditional roles of a head of manor or estate.

I dunno where i was going with any of this. But between these character types and Kensei's biker gang thing, I think it's funny how much of Soul Society's classically japanese vibe is just organized crime. Also i don't know what to make of the idea that the Shihouin have endorsed the Omaeda family like this over the years, especially when they're role among the royale houses seems to be to safeguard various treasures and relics. Between that and apparently being at least two generations of heads of a division of the secret police, it's hard to imagine the Omaeda were just independently wealthy unrelated to all that.

#bleach #bleach meta #marechiyo omaeda #tetsuzaemon iba

[darkangel1791]

Because many of you answered in the poll that I should keep the disclaimer with the fic for the sake of historical preservation, I thought you might like to see this. It's about when Anne Rice Fanfic was taken off off the net.

In 2000, when the cease and desist letters were sent out by Anne Rice's lawyers, we were ordered to remove all fanfiction based on her characters from the internet immediately or we would be sued. A lot of pretty terrible things had already happened to some fanfic authors, so we all took them down. Where our sites used to be, many of us put this image.

It linked to a site which said this-

***********************

WHERE CAN I READ FANFICTION BASED ON ANNE RICE'S BOOKS?

Nowhere. You can't. On April 7, 2000 Anne Rice had the following message to say on her webpage:

"I do not allow fan fiction.

The characters are copyrighted. It upsets me terribly to even think about fan fiction with my characters. I advise my readers to write your own original stories with your own characters.

It is absolutely essential that you respect my wishes."

This statement was then followed up by attacks on Anne Rice fanfic authors. The attacks consisted of, amongst other things, e-mailed threats regarding not only the writing of fanfiction but any writing that any fanfic author attempted to engage in (regardless of who owned the copyright), attacks on businesses that the fanfic authors owned and weeks of harassing personal letters sent to fanfic author's e-mail addresses and guestbooks. Personal information about fanfic authors was also dug up by Anne Rice employees and used as part of the harassment. Suffice it to say, Anne Rice made her displeasure clear.

SO WHAT HAPPENED?

Unable to defend themselves against these attacks, the fanfic authors responded by going into hiding.

BUT DOESN'T ANNE RICE HAVE THE LEGAL RIGHT TO TELL THEM TO STOP? WHY DIDN'T THEY JUST STOP WRITING AND LEAVE IT AT THAT?

Yes she does. However this was not an issue of Anne Rice asking the fanfic writers to stop. If that had been the case there would have been no problem. The problem was that she was not asking or even telling, she was using the excuse of fanfic to cyber-stalk and harass the fanfic authors, even after said authors removed the illegal fanfic from their sites. Not having the money or legal resources to defend themselves against this, hiding was the only option left.

COULDN'T THE FANFIC AUTHORS JUST TRY BEING NICE TO ANNE? MAYBE SHE WOULD HAVE AGREED IF THEY HAD ASKED POLITELY.

The fanfic authors were nice to Anne. When Anne Rice fanfiction started Anne's publisher was aware of it (even going so far as to link Anne's offical Random House website to many of the fanfic-oriented sites) and quietly let it be known that there was a "don't ask, don't tell" policy in effect regarding it - as long as the fanfic authors didn't shove the fanfic in Anne's face, The Powers That Be could pretend that it didn't exist. In addition to this the early fanfic authors spent months researching the legalities surrounding fanfic and asking questions of other fandoms to see how they respected copyright law in their fanfic writing. This knowledge was then used to create a disclaimer system to make sure it was understood that at no time did the fanfic authors intend to infringe upon Anne's legal rights.

This system of mutual respect lasted for approximately five years. After five years Anne Rice abruptly changed her mind and let the fanfic authors know it by way of her lawyers. Fanfiction is now considered unacceptable by Anne.

WHAT ABOUT DISCLAIMERS? DON'T THOSE WORK IN OTHER FANDOMS?

For years a disclaimer was used in front of all Anne Rice fanfics which mirrored the disclaimers successfully used by other fandoms, namely one which pointed out that the fanfic in question was a "non-profit, amateur effort not intended to infringe on the rights of Anne Rice or any other copyright holder." While this disclaimer has worked well in other fandoms, Anne Rice considers it unacceptable. According to Christine Cuddy, Anne's lawyer "Even when done on a non-profit and/or amateur basis, such use of [Anne's] characters without Ms. Rice's permission constitutes copyright infringement."

DID SOMEBODY TRY MAKING MONEY USING ANNE RICE FANFICTION? WAS THAT WHAT CAUSED THE PROBLEM?

No. At no time did any fanfic author make money using Anne Rice fanfiction in any way, non-profit or otherwise. The only times that money changed hands were when fanfic authors and fans bought Anne's own books.

WHAT IF I WANT TO WRITE ANNE RICE FANFICTION?

Are you sure? Know what you're getting into. The threat of personal harassment is very real. Anne Rice does not want you writing fanfiction and she has the money to make you stop. Do you really want to try this?

WHAT IF I HAVE ALREADY WRITTEN A STORY AND WANT TO SHARE IT WITH OTHERS?

Don't. Not if you truly want to obey Anne's wishes. That's really all that needs to be said there. However, if you absolutely have to write a fanfic story and have to show it to somebody else via the Internet (which is, again, a violation of Anne's wishes) then doing the following may be of help. Bear in mind that this is not being offered to you as a guarantee or as any kind of legal advice. You could do all of this and still get sued. These are simply suggestions which may help you avoid being harassed:

Do not put the story up on a webpage. Share the story with others in e-mail, such as on a private mailing list.

Do not attach your real name to the story. Use a pen name instead.

Do not use the e-mail address provided by your ISP when sending out the story. Instead create an anonymous account for yourself with Hotmail, Yahoo or any other web-based provider and do not include your actual name and address when filling out the forms for that account.

If you have to put the story up on a web page do not use the webpage that came with your ISP account. Get a webpage from a free server such as Geocities, NBCI or Angelfire.

If you have put the story on a webpage do not link to the story from elsewhere on your website.

If you have put the story on a webpage do not submit that webpage to any search engines, webrings, link exchanges or other public forum.

Do not attach any personal information to the story, your email or your website in any way. This includes your real name, the name of your ISP, your home address, where you go to school/work or anything else that could be used to trace the story back to you. Likewise do not include any information about whether or not you are or were in the ARVLFC, as it is possible for them to trace your personal information through there as well.

Obviously at no time should you show or send the story to Anne herself or anyone who works for her.

Again doing all of the above is a violation of Anne's wishes. If you are writing fanfiction based on Anne Rice's books then you are disobeying her orders. Period.

I'M NOT A FANFIC AUTHOR BUT I DO ENJOY READING IT. IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO?

Given the sheer volume of Anne Rice fanfiction that has been written (and, as the above question shows, that people are perhaps continuing to write) it is obviously false to say that all Anne Rice based fanfic has disappeared off of the world wide web. Undoubtedly some of it still exists out there in some form or another. If you manage to find some there's nobody out there who can stop you from reading it and enjoying it. However at no time should you take what stories you find and put them up on your own webpage or even link to the webpages that you find without that author's permission. Making Anne Rice fanfiction available from your website via copying or linking to the story will get you into trouble - not just from Anne but from the author as well. Don't do it.

HOW DO I FIND THE STORIES THAT ARE STILL OUT THERE?

We don't know. And we certainly couldn't tell you if we did.

QUOTES OF NOTE

"I suppose the character is public ground. If you're willing to bring it into people's houses every week, the [fans] are entitled to certain liberties, where ever their imagination is carried by those characters."

--Paul Gross, aka Ben Fraser and Executive Producer of Due South, quoted in the Toronto Globe & Mail, Augst 8, 1998

"I am flattered and grateful for this outpouring of support, admiration and recognition. I am moved to tears actually at how my performance has moved so many others. The websites are magnificent. All the photos, artwork, chats, fiction and videos are really great. I honestly never thought I would create such a stir but I feel absolutely blessed that I have."

--Scott Cohen, aka "Wolf" from The 10th Kingdom in a letter to http://www.wolfpackclub.8m.com/letter.html. Spring 2000.

"I've read some of it... I find it very flattering that people love the characters that much."

- J.K. Rowling on Harry Potter fanfiction that can be found via the Internet. Fall 2000

*****************

I believe this was posted on October 4th, 2000, which is Louis' birthday, and also Anne's.

I believe I know who wrote it, but I am not positive, and even 23 years later, I am not going to expose them to any possible danger. It may be improbable, but never impossible.

So this is our history. This is what happened. And do please remember that J.K. Rowling was thought to be a perfectly decent person in the year 2000.

This isn't meant to spread any animosity now. It is just a look at history. I don't see how it belongs in AO3, but I want to put it somewhere before the Wayback Machine drops it.

ARVLFC = Anne Rice Vampire Lestat Fan Club

In 2012, Anne Rice kind of said fanfic of her characters was okay, but in 2014 she took it back.

With her death, I should think that only Christopher Rice would have the legal right, and possibly the money, to pursue this again, but so far he seems uninterested.

You may also want to read this article.

A Deep Dive into the Anne Rice Fanfiction Debacle by August T.

#anne rice #vampire chronicles #Anne Rice Fandom History #vampchron history #croatoan fanfic #where has Anne Rice fanfiction gone?

[liauditore]

cleo/martyn for shipping bingo?

original

when i say criminally underrated i mean CRIMINALLY underrated ok. unhinged rambling under the cut

like every fictional character and real person in the world is marina and the diamonds oh no coded but these two are literally this song so much im gonna throw up

One track mind, one track heart If I fail, I'll fall apart Maybe it is all a test 'Cause, I feel like I'm the worst So I always act like I'm the best

they mirror each other so perfectly. they're both deeply insecure people who desperately want to be strong for themselves and those around them, but they dig their own graves doing that by refusing to be vulnerable and only pushing people close to them away.

in my mind they both see the worst parts of themselves in the other person because they're so similar internally, despite having wildly different personalities.

I know exactly what I want and who I want to be I know exactly why I walk and talk like a machine I'm now becoming my own self-fulfilled prophecy Oh! Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no, oh!

they both have an ego and a malice that gets them antagonized by the rest of the server which is 100% their fault, and they both pretend they don't care when really both of them yearn for someone, Anyone to see how much they're hurting (but they'd never admit to it).

You type out your bias on me it’s all nitpicks and paying no mind to be so sadistic They pin on the thorns make her maleficent In bloom the rose made a perfect fit He drowns out the crowd that throws a burdened fit They blow up the sound regardless to admit They’re stabbing a knife and quote without a wit “Bet it’s no strife, no it’s just the tip”

(^telecaster b-boy lyrics cus that song changed my life but also it reminds me of them)

Just.. that one clip of Cleo admitting she's a rubbish fighter and saying that she would only drag Martyn down to which Martyn immediately responds that he doesn't care and thinks she's great company. Or any number of the times Martyn offers some dumb surface-level act of servitude towards Cleo because he doesn't know how to just be vulnerable and admit he wants some form of acknowledgement.

They keep testing the waters with eachother but one always backs out when it starts getting too real. They both just want love but their egos won't let them admit it.

Cleo has this magical ability to divorce men she's never dated and I love her for it.

OFC all this aside they're also just both so losercore and dumb and divorced and martyn being The Most Pathetic Man Ever with trying to court cleo is hilarious to watch and also bdubs ships them and I agree with everything bdubs says.

also uh i think ren should join them in the middle idk

#asks #ask games #trafficshipping #zombiewood #when i said ESSAY i meant ESSAY #also both of them are asuka this makes sense in my head #shaking them shaking them shaking them #theres a salvageable relationship in there somewhere i can sense it

[desultory-novice]

You said the Mechalor/Crowned Marx AU wouldn't have much impact, but could you not extend the format to some other villains? Taranza hunting down Star Dream to try bring Sectonia to her senses, only to make things worse. Susie, trapped and contorted by the Dimension Mirror, now just trying to find her father after her accident.

This is the first ask Mechalor Anon sent me, btw!

I'm half putting this up for interested readers, because it was a fun read, but also for Anon themselves, as I included some fresh commentary on their ideas as well!!

...

>Not much impact

You know, I sometimes forget how popular my little AU ideas can get! (Hmm. Can I claim the title "CEO of Kirby AUs?" Is that one taken?)

ATM these asks ended up leading to the formation of the Permadeath Swap, which I'm working on the second half right now, but there's a lot good here too I don't want to leave on the table!

>Taranza + Star Dream

Ohoho... the fact that Taranza might seek out a DIFFERENT cursed Ancient Artifact to try to undo what the previous cursed Ancient Artifact he got did is so broken in a very delightful way! (And I hate to say it, but it feels very in character for Taranza ^^; )

And that Susie story...feels very much like what may have happened to Parallel Susie! Although, given how she no longer has the hair accessory her father gave her, I think it didn't end so well...

>Permanent changes for Taranza...

Is it sad the first thing that came to mind is "Sectonia actually does real permanent damage to him?" Like...physical abuse? Maybe, since she's losing her mind due to Star Dream eating up her memories and the last traces of "Joronia", she sees Taranza and tries to erm, force HIM to evolve to become more "like her." Doing things like destroying four of his hands, breaking his mandible/horns and blinding him in all but two of his eyes. Like, at this point, she can't even recognize / remember what caused the changes in herself so she just thinks that by breaking him she's helping him to "evolve." Of course, he never seems to "get there" so she just keeps going...

Oooh, god, wouldn't that would be awful...? The other awful thing of course is that by this point, Taranza might just accept all the horrible things she's doing to him with a smile because he wants them to be the same too (inside, he knows this is wrong, but he can't speak up about it because it means accepting how BAD things have gotten.)

Keep smiling, Taranza. Joronia used to say your smile was beautiful. If you stop smiling...what body part will she take next?

-

PS: I actually forgot while writing this that she wouldn’t be her BEE self because it would just be the star and not the mirror (so much for god reading comprehension…) but uh… just go with it. >.<

(Btw, I’m reminded just how dark this AU can get. I don’t know what it is about the BossSwap that brings out the worst in me….!)

>Max's Eternal Search

Something I really like about the thing with Max is that when Star Dream began messing with him, became obsessed with money - to the point that it was the only thing he thought about. Everything he has is expensive. Everything in framed in terms of how much ludicrous amounts of money it costs in his own fictional currency. ("Company store" indeed.) Everything is covered in gold + gemstones. Greed incarnate. But...

...This Max would probably become obsessed with looking through the mirror instead. If he stops looking for even a moment, he might miss catching a rare trace of Susanna. And so he uses his technology to expand the mirror's reach and makes sure EVERYTHING he owns is absolutely covered in mirrors/mirror-dimension feeds. (Take THAT, Versailles!) You can't see his eyes, as they're always covered in visors projecting the mirror. He doesn't even LOOK at you when he's talking down to you because he is still looking for Susanna...

>Daroach + Hyness Swap

"None of these are great?"

WHAT?! I love this idea?! A Daroach + Hyness swap?! This is going on the to-draw list for sure! And by draw, I mean I now need to see the Mage Sisters dressed up as a pack of 1920s-esque lady thieves! The Jamba cult in a wacky heist story is too good.

No, really, this one is galaxy-brained! Multiverse-brained, even!

Plus, Squidward I mean Hyness and Dark Nebula just...they'd be so cute together?! (...Don't look at me that way... >.> ) Also, Dark Hyness would probably look like some kind of skrunkly cthuhlu (Nebula's arms sticking out from under his hood/veil) and that's just great?!

Fun fact: It is not a Squeak who steals Kirby's cake but WADDLE DEE (the traitor!!) And yet, I can totally see Flamberge in the role of starting things off this time. 

Zan: "Is everyone ready?" 

Berge: "Hold on, I gotta finish this."

"...Berge? Where did you get that?" 

"Huh? I grabbed it along the way. Figured you'd start complaining if I made us stop to eat in the middle of the mission! Smart, huh?" 

"Are you telling me...you found a slice of cake...just lying on the side of the road?" 

"No way! That'd be silly, Zan!" 

"I'm trying to ask, who did you take it FROM?" 

"Dunno. Didn't ask their name! Haha!"

"...BERGE...!"

-

My weak attempts at writing the sisters aside, you're right about Daroach and the Squeaks being quite easy to fit into this plot. After all, Daroach already expressed interest in the Jamba Heart! Given it's probably close to the galaxy's "largest jewel" in size, he might already have his heart set on stealing it! Perhaps he finds it but it has lost its glow. (The Heart Spears are still restraining Void Termina, after all.)

He uses what little magic he has to try and restore the gem's sheen, but just as it does, the Jamba Heart splinters and cracks. So he sends Spinni, Storo, and Doc out to gather the missing pieces, breaking up the cohesion of the close-as-family group as he stays behind to make sure... it's, you know, that it's safe... All the while, the Heart takes up more and more of Daroach's thoughts...

Also seeing the Squeaks all dressed in black... Yeah, I like this swap...!

>Various Elfilis Swaps

I think the funniest thing about swapping the two geminis and Zero/Zero 2 is that you would either have Gooey playing the role of your "Elfilin" figure... or Dark Matter Blade!!

And something about the perpetually friendless, socially awkward Blade attempting to assist or (...god...) give commentary on what's going on is just very fun to imagine.

Let's ignore the fact that Dark Matter would almost certainly play the role of brainwashed Dedede in that situation and just go with it!

Lastly, while I really, really, really like the Daroach + Hyness swap (it's probably my favorite just because I'm still having the time of my life imagining the super serious Hyness and the Sisters in the madcap "Wacky Races" plotline that is Squeak Squad) but I like this possibility too! Especially if you have it so it's an unexpected consequence of the botched summoning. (Although it WAS secretly effective! This is just what happens when you touch the mind of a dimensional rift opening psychic from across time!)

#Kirby #Crowned Marx + Clockwork Mechalor #Taranza #Hyness #Daroach #Three Mage Sisters #Max Profitt Haltmann #Dess Sketch #Dess Ramblings #Dess Concepts #CW: Mild Horror #CW: Fictional Abuse #CW: Limb Loss #CW: Bandages

[pumpkinstrawbrew]

𝕐𝕠𝕦'𝕝𝕝 𝕓𝕖 𝕒 𝕗𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕜

𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕀'𝕝𝕝 𝕜𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕒𝕟𝕪… ⋭

…

(so, where to begin? i guess from the simple fact, that i wanted to do smth fun with this clean-cut parallel. at first, i wanted to make some quick edits, but then, i decided what the heck. i might just re-draw it! *or sort of re-draw it anyways*

the shippy stuff is shippy, but really it was hard not to be all like *insert dicaprio pointing meme* when i was reading the venom comic, and flash just pulled a batman on me. beat jack up, n’ then instead of killing him, like he wanted to, he spared him. took him in his arms all gently-like n’ carried his sorry ass into the dawn. like man, it just hit the cords within me! i was all like oohhh, it's like in one of my most fav scarecrow issues! i wasn't expecting this from the comic, even less so from flash, who always had a bit of bipolar resolute, when it came to jack. 'he wanna kill him, he wanna kill him not'. that sort of thing. yet, this moment kind of shown, that he prob will always find a reason to talk himself out of putting him down.

that's aside, another part of why i love those stories, is that both issues felt personal. both, jon n’ jack had personal grudges, both batman and flash were struggling with personal darkness within them. both overcame it, n' literally had to beat up their personal walking-talking nightmare *flash even refers to jack as that later on*. like, it was pretty great, honestly. all that emotional baggage, uncanny kinships with their own twisted mirror, which resulted in them actually feeling sympathy for scarecrow n' jack. giving them a small speech, that they couldn’t hear *bc unconscious*, sort of implying that maybe ‘they’re not beyond help’. it's almost bitter-sweet. even if most people would argue, that both jon n’ jack are way-way too far gone at that point. even if 'solution' sounds too unrealistic to be true. still, if someone like batman believes in you, then maybe, just maybe there is a chance. n’ if someone like flash spares your life, even though, he’s nothing like bruce *he actually killed people before*, then perhaps, there is smth beyond projection, which made him do it. 

all 4 characters are very different, n’ thb the context in everyone’s motivations n’ struggles are very different too, but i love how bruce n’ flash came to the same conclusion. took the same route with their respective twinky ghoul. showing mercy is noble, n’ it’s pretty sweet tbh. one of my fav tropes in fiction is when the hero/protagonist shows kindness/empathy toward their villain *who in most cases doesn’t ‘deserve it*. that whole cop out thing about 'evil should be punished by death' in fiction really takes away the romantism n' bendiness of fiction as whole tbh. esp with heroes. they supposed to be able to do 'impossible', including 'forgive the unforgiving'. this is why i prob will always advocate for the ‘no kill’ rule for super-heroes. i mean, it makes you have moments like those. smth that is actually emotional n’ also shows the cracks in heroes themselves, bc usually they can only truly relate to their rogues, someone who is usually designed to be a warped up reflection of hero’s own weaknesses, struggles or traumas. n’ while i always see jack o’lantern as spiderman’s villain *he’s one of oldies, a classic villain after all*, i suppose, that this version of jack was tailored for flash’s venom specifically, n’ i *unexpectedly* i loved it. daddy's issues run deep in this one for both of them. meanwhile, bruce be out there lecturing jon's school bullies, after he nearly killed them. what a man lol.

now, the comic panels themselves. just for better visualisation.

i didn’t include the first bit in my lil art thingy above, but i love how not only the venom mirrors batman in actions, but also how they’re even facing opposite sides, playing around with nearly opposite color pallets in each fight too. caters to the mood, but also it just looks nice side by side tbh. the blue/black/grey for batman, and orange/dark brown/yellow for venom. a dark knight / soldier n' maskless halloween villain. this prob the only point, where they connect narratively n' thematically, but it's a major one.

anyho', i didn't had a hardcore goal to re-draw those scenes to a t, just make it recognizable for the most part. but it was fun! also gave me an execuse to stare at those comic panels some more.

as for the song, it popped out inside my head kinda randomly. but it fits them, i think. even the tune itself adds to it. somewhat sad n’ slow. but the meaning of it, not fully hopeless. at least, they will always have someone there for them. after all, guys like jon n’ jack will always come back, seeking ‘their hero’, hungry for punishment or other things. n’ for someone as crippled as bruce or flash, it might not be the worst thing, really. usually, the hero is stuck in the same miserable 'unchanging', unwinnable situation as their villains are. be it outside forces, fate or sickness, that keeps them bond. it's still better to try and make the best of it, right?)

#batman comic #venom comics #bruce wayne #jonathan crane #flash thompson #jack o' lantern #dc & marvel #scarebat #flashjack #brew draws

[my-mt-heart]

Les Caryl

Not wishful thinking. Not a ruse. Carol is coming back, and I’m grateful. Mainly, to Melissa McBride for everything she’s given us over the years and for everything she’s willing to give us in order to keep telling Carol’s story. It’s easy to see how much of her heart and soul has gone into this character, and I never want to take that for granted. We all have different reasons for loving Carol, but I think a lot of us draw inspiration from watching an underdog like her turn into the hero everybody needs. It’s been nice to see that mirrored in our fight over the past year to remind AMC how imperative she is to TWDU’s success. 

Whether you participated in blitzes, sent letters, spammed AMC’s/TWD’s social media accounts, or just kept Carol in the conversation on your own terms, you persevered just like she did and now you’re reaping the rewards just like she better will. It just goes to show that when people come together to support a female lead with as much talent and grace as Melissa, that and a little bit of hope can make a huge impact. 

For anyone who didn’t have hope or didn’t want to set themselves up for more disappointment, that’s more than fair. Maybe yesterday’s confirmation will give you something to look forward to again. Nothing is ever guaranteed, but if you find comfort in these characters, it’s perfectly okay to let yourself feel that too. Love what you love.

I know there are some who wanted Melissa to just walk away and leave Norman/AMC in the dust, but unlike Carol, she isn’t a fictional character. We aren’t entitled to her relationships with other people, so we just have to trust she knows how to navigate them on her own. Like I mentioned earlier, landing new roles comes with its own set of challenges regardless of one’s reputation or talent. Casting is a meat market and options for actresses over 35 are limited, especially when execs want to factor in their hair color (because how can they appeal to men 18-49 if they have gray hair 🙄) or their social media presence (because if they’re not active on Twitter, what audience will they bring 😑) All of this is to say, it’s perfectly reasonable for Melissa to choose another path, and no, it doesn’t mean she’s gritting her teeth while she does it. I’m comfortable believing she’s happy to co-lead Caryl’s show. I mean, you saw that smile, right?

I realize that at the end of the day, we’re all just trying to do right by someone we admire, which is tricky from our vantage point because it’s so easy to treat her like she belongs to us, and we have to keep reminding ourselves that she does not. I can’t speak for anyone else, but for me, the intention of campaigning in Melissa’s name was to leave the door open for her to come back on her own terms. If she’s getting everything she wants, if she’s being treated with the respect she deserves, then that’s a win in my book. If this whole ordeal motivates AMC to create a better work environment for all their female talent/employees going forward, even better. 

I know this isn’t news, but I’m still going to hold off on watching the show until Carol comes back and if that sounds biased, let me stop you right there. Let’s put aside the BTS fuckery for a second. Let’s ignore the fact that Carol and Melissa are the ones who got the short end of the stick and need my support the most right now. Not only does S1 sound unappealing to me, it actually hurts too much to think about the ways Daryl’s character has been used for personal gain rather than story integrity, which pretty much guarantees a retcon no matter how long it lasts or how drastic it is. His growth over the past 12 years was some of the best I’ve seen on any show let alone TWD, and I want to preserve the version of him I was drawn to in the first place, the version three out of four showrunners actually took the time to nurture. This version. If it’s all just a marketing ploy, trying to target Carylers’ biggest fears to relieve them later, well, I can’t support that either. Caryl fans have been put through enough over the years, especially in the last season, and I think it’s wrong to try to manipulate them into settling (and paying) for less than what they really wanted. 

Do I think we can still get something worthwhile in S2? Yes. I just don’t want to risk torturing myself to get there. Anyone who’s read my blog for a long time knows I would generally give the show the benefit of the doubt because I assumed the payoff would come sooner or later. Needless to say, it didn’t. I know why it didn’t and I hope those issues have been properly dealt with, but if I want to maintain that Caryl/Carol are important for viewership, then I need to watch and subscribe for Caryl/Carol. If I want Melissa to get the pay hike she deserves, then I need to tune in when she’s on my screen, not before. I do trust her judgement for what it’s worth, and I want to look forward to S2 provided there are no irreparable damages beforehand and TPTB put their audience first, meaning they deliver on the promises they made.

The biggest promise, UNAMBIGUOUS CANON, is crucial for story integrity, character growth, and representation. It shouldn’t be a huge undertaking when the chemistry can practically write itself. Daryl and Carol never have nor ever will need gimmicks to keep me invested. 

While we wait for Caryl to reunite, I hope the fandom can start to heal and get back to spreading endless love for one of the greatest ships on television. I’ll never stop mourning the loss of the spinoff we were supposed to have, and part of me still hopes we can get it back someday. But I’ll hope for the best on the show we’re getting right now. Caryl deserve it, Melissa deserves it, and the fans deserve it. 

#caryl #caryl spinoff #carol peletier #melissa mcbride #mcreedus #darylneedscarol

[holycatsandrabbits]

It's weird writing prompt time!

Today: Mirrors: For now we see through a glass, darkly

As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing creepier than mirrors.

The movies know this well, and today we’re going to do a little reflection on the topic (haha) by looking at some favorite superstitions and legends involving mirrors. (And yes, I mean Bloody Mary.) But did you know studies show you really can see weird stuff in mirrors? Here's a good way:

The Psychomanteum

A psychomanteum is a tiny room with dim lighting and a mirror. A subject sits in a chair and gazes into the mirror, and, well— stuff happens. No, really. Dr. Raymond Moody used a psychomanteum in grief therapy, and it gave some people relief via visions of their departed loved ones. It's called the strange-face-in-the-mirror illusion. Why does this work? Why do people caution against looking into a mirror by candlelight? Why do we see Bloody Mary or ghosts or beloved family members in mirrors? When you gaze at a fixed point, the brain stops paying attention to your peripheral vision. And then it starts filling in that space with what it’s focusing on: a human face. In a study under these conditions, people saw relatives, strangers, animals, and monstrous creatures, some scary and some benign. It depends on whether you’re primed to see beloved family members or evil witches. So yes, you really might see Bloody Mary if you look hard enough.

Check out the blog post for the whole story, and some reflective writing prompts, such as:

Let me first say that the psychomanteum did provide comfort for people, so I want to keep sight of that. But as far as fiction, horror prompts for the psychomanteum practically write themselves, even before I say that Dr. Moody based it on the Necromanteion of Acheron, which is a place the ancient Greeks went to speak with the dead. (This is called necromancy.) So yes, let’s put a character all alone in a room with dim lighting and a mirror and see what happens. Maybe it’s a happy meeting. Maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s that old trope of demons disguising themselves as benign people, or perhaps as a double of yourself (after all, you’re the one in the mirror to start with). Or maybe the whole room is a portal— if you cross over into another psychomanteum, try to remember which side is your own!

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#Dannye writes #writing inspiration #writing prompts #writing #writers on tumblr #writeblr #writeblogging #writing community #Weird Wednesday blog #blogging #scifi prompt #fantasy prompt #horror prompt #mirrors #bloody mary #psychomanteum