#.narrative

[bitterbelphie]

(( content warning for graphic blood and mild body horror in the form of a gross, dead monster. ))

[A video is posted.]

[Play video?]

---

The video begins with quite a mess- Something almost incomprehensible, there's so much information to take in all at once. There's some chatter going on for directions, to get something that sounds like hot water muddled in the audio. There's footsteps, and vaguely gator-like, wet gurgles. There's two men bickering more clearly over something.

The two men seem to be in what looks like a spill of gel, stuck in place by it somehow. Next to them is a nightmarish lump of flesh, teeth, limbs and eyes that still vaguely seems to be noncommittally in the shape of a dumpster, and one if them seems to be stuck to another hunk of meat in the spill. It's almost dyed entirely in a mess of what looks a lot like ink, or... some sort of dark colored sauce.

"So,"

A voice calls out from behind the camera.

"Belphie found the mimic... But uh,"

"Levi?"

"Levi!"

The men stuck to the ground call out almost in synch, and the camera jolts in surprise. The two talk over each other.

"If you're taking a video of this-"

"Is this really the time? Shouldn't you-"

"I swear, I'll rip your spine out and beat you with it."

"-be helpin' out or somethin'? Gimme a break!"

"Could you relax? We just got here! You think we knew you'd be glued to the ground after being here THREE seconds earlier than the rest of us?"

Levi talks with a bit of a whine in his voice, arguing. It makes Belphie groan, and Mammon's brows angle down. Before he can retort though, Levi's voice takes on a more sincere tone.

"Belphie, are you sure you're okay?"

He doesn't get any closer, doesn't zoom in. It's hard to see details, but the figure that must be Belphie looks pretty rough. Some of his clothes are shredded, and he's clearly exhausted and singed. There's hints of red that look too much like blood here and there on his person, but he's filthy. It isn't the clearest image. He sighs wearily, rolling his head as much as he can to express his exhaustion.

"... Yeah. I'm fine. I'd be more okay if stupid over here wasn't stuck to me and looking at me like that. Can we hurry this up?"

"How was I supposed t' know what the hell was goin' on!"

"If you waited... THREE seconds," Belphie seethes, "Then you would have heard me. And anyway, don't you know ANYTHING about a mimic??? I'd figure you've seen plenty of them with your sticky fingers."

The two begin arguing, and Levi sighs a little. His hand comes up, slender and with nails painted a deep shade of purple, and gestures somewhat helplessly at them.

"Okay, while they're occupied... Belphie, I know you're mad at me now. But later on, I know you're gonna watch this, and you're gonna thank me. Probably because you'll have something to bribe Mammon with when he royally pisses you off or something, but! Um..."

Levi gets audibly stuck before the camera darts down in a blur, a flustered noise coming out of the cameraman.

"N-Nevermind. Listen, just thank me later, huh?! You're welcome!"

"Levi! What are you doing over there? Come help already."

"Ah-- C-Coming! Do you think plain water would work? Maybe I could, uh..."

There's the sound of someone adjusting their hold and running their finger noisily across the mic, and the video cuts.

#.narrative #.vid #{{ part 4 of 4 }}

[titleofpersonage-p01]

#palestine #free palestine #israel #israel is committing genocide #i understand both sides of the argument in the comments #but the fact that this can even be some what believable is concerning in itself #always remember that an “us vs them” narrative is dangerous #we cannot deny that innocent lives are being slaughtered #i just want this war to be over #but thats not something thats going to be easily done

[daincrediblegg]

OK THIS IS NOT A FUCKING DRILL EVERYONE FUCKING REPEAT AFTER ME. THIS IS WHAT YOU WILL DO WHEN YOU WATCH MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL THIS YEAR:

You will navigate to the page on disney plus (and it has to be here. Unless someone has actually uploaded the REAL movie anywhere else you cannot get it elsewhere)

BUT YOU WILL NOT HIT PLAY. You won’t do it. Because it’s NOT THE REAL VERSION OF THE FILM AND DISNEY IS FUCKING LYING TO YOU AS IT ALWAYS DOES

You will scroll down HERE. To EXTRAS instead. You MUST GO HERE. This is non -negotiable

THEN YOU WILL SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THE EXTRAS AND YOU WILL THEN HIT PLAY ON THIS BAD BOY: THE FULL LENGTH VERSION

And you will watch it. And you will thank me for having been so blind and led astray by that stupid fucking mouse. You’re welcome.

#I’m so mad everyone I’m sorry I’m going to make sure EVERYONE sees the proper version of mcc this year or die trying #literally this song is so important to the narrative and the film is so fucking hollow without it #if you grew up with disney’s bullshit version and thought it was good WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE THIS SHIT #please. please watch the REAL version of this film. it means a lot to me ok #the muppet christmas carol #for the love of god please people

[podcastwizard]

because here's the thing here's the thing the question was not "would you be more surprised to run into a fairy or a walrus" the question was "would you be more surprised to find a fairy or a walrus AT YOUR DOOR" and while no, i do not believe in fairies and would be surprised to know they EXIST i would NOT be surprised to find one at my door. HOWEVER, if a WALRUS shows up at my door i have to contend with the fact that a walrus somehow made it to my apartment specifically and knocked on my door for god knows what reason. i would be more surprised to know that a fairy EXISTS, of course, but NOT that they're at my door, do you get me?

#am i reading too much into the question YES #but like someone else said there is narrative precedence for a fairy at your door #SHOULD a fairy exist #like if a fairy shows up at my door i've got bigger problems you know

[ink-the-artist]

Love the contrast between the Americans’ “Apollo” and the Soviets’ “Sputnik.” You got the Americans naming their rocket after a Greek god trying to communicate the grandness and importance of this rocket. And you got the Soviets naming their rocket “fellow traveler.” Like a friend you go on an  adventure with together. This rocket is our little friend lol 

#i think its cute #they took the mars rover approach #humanizing the space craft making it cute making us (me) project emotions onto it #the soviets also used imagery of laika in propaganda a lot #which is pretty fucked up imo #but if i grew up in the soviet union that shit wouldve definetly worked on me lmao #the narrative of a heroic little dog going to space and being honored by the whole country #as cruely wrong as it is its very appealing #the soviets knew what they were doing man they didnt reveal how laika really died until like. the 2000s #bc they knew people really cared about that dog #they liked the narrative around her

[mag200]

one thing about orpheus and eurydice is you guys are all like “i’m different i wouldnt turn to look at her” because you are all familiar with the story of orpheus and eurydice. but orpheus wasnt familiar with the story because he was in it lol.

#anyway. its only really good bc its a tragedy. doomed by the narrative etc. he has to turn around theres no other end. #greek mythology #sorry. this ones in post jail now.

[talaricula]

Things I've seen tumblr memeing about James Somerton doing à la "How did no one see how bigoted he was!" as if those things haven't been a significant part of tumblr culture for over a decade :

Presenting untrue and bordering on conspiratorial versions of (queer or otherwise marginalised) history without any sources

Completely disregarding and disrespecting any expertise on socio-cultural topics/humanities and distrusting academics and historians (incl. acting as if no academics or historians could be queer or marginalised)

Downplaying the role misogyny played in the historical oppression of queer women and concluding that queer men must have been more oppressed than queer women

Bi women are, at best, not as queer as "real" queer ppl, and at worst, simply equivalent to straight women

Despite nominal trans inclusivity, transmasculine ppl are functionally women when convenient (combined with the above, bi transmascs are functionally straight women)

Despite nominal trans inclusivity (bis), shamelessly attacking, threatening and actively endangering any trans woman who questions them or smth they find important (often by unfairly presenting her as violent or as a threat)

Having absolutely fucking wild and reductive takes about ace ppl, the oppression they face and their place in the queer community

Stating that marriage equality is an assimilationist fight while completely ignoring its direct roots in the horrifying consequences of the AIDS crisis for partners of ppl who died of AIDS

Praising western media creators from the past for queer coding even under censure and in the same breath condemning current non western media creators for being homophobic bc their representation isn't explicit enough

Blaming China for all existing homophobic censoring in western media

Assuming all queer media would be better told by western creators and by western standards

Only out queer ppl get to tell queer stories

Heavily criticising almost all queer media created by women or ppl they see as such (see above points about trans ppl) or involving/starring a significant amount of women for any perceived or real amount of "problematicness", but fawning over and praising and negating criticism of queer media created by and starring mostly or even functionally exclusively men (even when it could be argued that, you know, not involving/seriously sidelining women is a pretty clear example of misogyny which should probably be considered "problematic")

And I'm probably forgetting stuff or there's stuff I have internalised myself and don't recognise as an issue

Like idk but I feel like the takeaway from Hbomberguy and Toddintheshadow's videos should maybe be "be aware of such patterns in your communities bc they definitely exist" and not "this guy is uniquely awful" and I feel like a lot of the discussion I've seen surrounding this has been severely failing at that. Most ppl who've spent any significant amount of time on tumblr prob either have internalised at least one of those thought patterns, have had to de-internalise them, or have had to be extremely vigilant to not internalise them (which is done by, you know, seeking out other sources, which also seemed like an important takeaway from the videos)

#Also I'm saying this as someone who actually watched quite a few of Somerton's videos #And noticed those patterns and stopped watching bc I recognised them from here #and had already learned to unlearn them after being so exposed to them here #And tbh I think anyone who hasn't had the luck or made the conscious choice to seek out ppl who pushed against those narratives #Would absolutely have fallen for this man's bullshit. Like let's not kid ourselves we see takes like this every day on this hellsite #2014 me would have. For sure. #This is next to the plagiarism issue which as Harris points out is an Internet wide issue and this includes tumblr #James Somerton #hbomberguy #todd in the shadows #This brought to you by a conversation with my wife yesterday #So many ppl on here don't deserve to meme or be this self absolvingly critical of this man #The call is coming from inside the house #The man has a tumblr it would legit not surprise me if some of the things he supposedly made up himself he did actually get from somewhere #And that somewhere was a tumblr post

[just-some-guy-joust]

some people are taking "doomed" to mean "dead". this is actually a misconception! you can be doomed even if you don't die! it's sometimes worse if you don't die!

#doomed by the narrative showdown

[judas-redeemed]

yes yes characters doomed by the narrative always slap BUT what about characters saved by the narrative? characters who have already given up hope and don't know they have a happy ending? characters who believe they are a lost cause, characters who feel irredeemable, characters who think there's nothing left for them, but the narrative does provide a way out? what about the characters who don't expect anything good, who don't even remember how to wish for it anymore, who get the things they need anyway? what about the characters who actively run from being saved getting saved in a way they can't stop or control. what about being saved by the narrative!!!

#this is inspired by joy from eeaao #but feel free to blorbo it up #judas talks #doomed by the narrative #saved by the narrative #fate #narrative #on writing #on healing #on hope

[iverna]

In case anyone actually cares about this issue, some good news: 227 migrants were rescued off the Canary Islands and 294 migrants were rescued off the coast of Italy yesterday/today.

It was in the news.

Haven't seen anyone talking about it on here for some reason so I thought I'd share!

#i know i know #it doesn't fit the narrative #but hey #it happened #snark for ts

[utilitycaster]

"why should I get invested in shows if they'll just get canceled" I was deeply invested in Heroes (2006) and it was not canceled, it just got really terrible. I also got really invested in the sandwich I had a few weeks ago despite it only lasting like 15 minutes. You must embrace the ephemeral. You must be willing to love things that may not love you back, that might betray you, or that may die an untimely death. As the great philosopher Mr. Mitchell Lee Hedberg said "I'm not gonna stop doing something because of what happens at the end."

#now granted he did die of a drug overdose but you know. one can take the good lessons #anyway. point being i understand being deeply frustrated with the state of the tv and film. #but also we can admit that for every gem canceled there's like three real duds too #idk if you want something that's guaranteed to have a bunch of seasons and you know the ending for go watch shows from the 70s #the number of adults on this site who lack the emotional wherewithal to watch an ongoing narrative is. yikes. #queue

[bitterbelphie]

(( content warning for blood, violence, and mild body horror in the form of a gross monster. ))

---

You're making a mess.

It's caused quite the scene, the both of you going at it. Both of you are cheap, you've learned- You've gotten bitten and clawed, and had your own fireball eaten and launched back at you. Which really sucked, because you intended that to HURT. And this freak of magical craftsmanship hasn't gone unscathed certainly... There's a clear mark on who here is stronger, and it's undeniably you, but strength can't be everything. It's slippery, and it's not afraid to run and use it's environment. It's clever. You've almost hurt yourself just as much as it has by being reckless... But the splatters of it's own thick, acrid blood along the warpath the two of you have caused are testament to your own ability to adapt.

Your burns throb. It's not a big deal, nothing you won't heal from without issue- But in the moment, it makes you terribly impatient. Makes you frustrated, makes you want to pop out more of this freak's stupid eyeballs and shove them down it's own throat. Your eyes are wild. It sees it- It knows, and you know. You have to be careful- Have to mind that it probably knows hexes too. You have to behave, even if it hurts, and you hate it. And you want it to be over, so you can lay down. Sleep.

Your relief, you think, as it springs at you again and belches some terrible wave of insects at you, is that you know it's hurting too. You see the way some of it's artificial muscles struggle to maneuver it crisply anymore. It's movements are haggard, sloppy- You're gaining an upper hand every time you push it, and it knows. It's getting desperate.

The insects are nothing. You're not stupid enough to go launching a fireball- Or any spell- into it's mouth again, but freezing the bugs with an incantment and a puff of breath is baby stuff. You take the moment to counteract, try to spin and incapacitate it further, try to get it good with the spurs and the end of your tail- A good injury from your spurs, and hopefully the venom you have specifically for these situations will make it regret ever causing so many problems, more than it has to already.

You see the motion so clearly, see the window...

And so when you hear your voice being shouted, and it distracts you just enough, you don't see it coming when the mimic takes its chance to dredge up some of its desperation reserves. How fast it twists around, and before you know it, it LAUNCHES its tongue at you and hits you with enough force square in the chest to knock the wind out of you. The thing about it is, instead of knocking you away, you stick to it with a disgusting slop of a sound. You feel the surge of gel-esque saliva splatter over you, feel the muscle of its slashed tongue wrap partially around you.

Distantly, you hear another voice shriek your name, but you can't focus on that twice. You're already trying to get the stars out of your vision, and lifting an arm up to brace the top of it's jaw from clamping down on you, except... Wait. Arm, singular? You try to move your other, but you're stuck like a bug on fly paper against whatever it is this monstrosity hocked up to trap you.

You're making a noise of protest, of disgust, and- Admittedly, you're not the most confident. You're this close to the grizzled jaws of a creature that almost certainly has it in mind you're just small enough to be dessert, next to the last guy it just ate, and the only thing keeping that from happening is that if it wants to bite you now, it'll have to bite its tongue, too. You can't think twice about it, though, because as soon as you're gearing up to shout for a little help, a familiar voice taunts out.

"Oi! Get that outta yer mouth, huh?!"

Your heart about leaps out of your throat as the sound of a lance zips through the air, crackling and alive with an energy only possible from very few people. It skewers the mimic, clamping its jaws shut and causing it to, indeed, bite through its tongue in a spectacular mess.

You, with the tongue, fall wetly to the ground. You can feel the warmth of the blood of the thing pooling, pouring rapidly from both ends of the sever... But you're so sticky, you stick to the ground. Mammon's boots click to the ground as he lands from his flight, you can hear him hurrying to you.

"Belphie, are you al-"

"No, don't-"

Mammon's too slow for your warning. He crouches to your side before you can finish telling him, trying to grab you and lift you up... And finds himself stuck to you, like you're stuck to the disembodied tongue, and the ground.

"Wh-- Eh?!! Hey, what's-"

"You moron."

You are so... Relieved to see Mammon. To hear some of your other brothers beginning to catch up, to hear Winter calling to them that you've been found.

#.narrative #{{ part 3 of 4 }} #{{ cannot express. it has been so long since ive Written JFJSJF }} #{{ but it is written. it is written }}

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

not "i ship these characters" or "i want them to bond platonically" but a secret 3rd thing (I want them to be forced to interact by the Narrative bc they would HATE that)

#who needs romance when i can watch two narrative foils painfully tolerate each other's existence #bonus points if they are forced to Work Together To Solve A Problem #and they end up working surprisingly well together! #they make a surprisingly effective team! #they even confide some backstory with each other & bond a bit & understand each other better #and when it's all over they shake hands & amicably agree that they still cannot fucking stand each other #'this was an interesting sidequest & I'm glad we got to experience it. #but all things considered i genuinely never want to see your face again' #Enemies to Chained-Up-In-An-Abandoned-Bathroom-Together #to Enemies #two stray cats forced to share a cat carrier for a trip to the vet

[kermit-coded]

there's something so incredibly gut wrenching about luke's "i know you didn't want to be a halfblood" mirroring percy's "i didn't want to be a halfblood" monologue because luke has always been a dark mirror of percy, what percy could become but never would because at the end of the day percy's fatal flaw means that no matter how disillusioned he became with the gods, he would never betray his friends like luke did. that is their fundamental and crucial difference.

#narrative foils make me ILL #pjo #pjo series #pjo tv show #pjo spoilers #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson spoilers #percy jackson #soda speaks #luke castellan #pjo disney+

[quasi-normalcy]

I think that what's brilliant about The Far Side is how it can imply an entire narrative with only a single panel. It's sequential art without the sequence. Like this one

There's the obvious implication of what's going to happen in the future (there's going to be a hunt), but it also stretches into the past: what circumstances in the anthropology of this group of cavemen must have happened to establish a tradition of dancing with Woolly Mammoths? Why does it, in spite of it's obvious absurdity, feel kind of right that there should be a dance before the cavemen and the mammoths engage in mortal combat? The reluctant fearful expression on the caveman at the bottom; is this his first hunt? Are those his elders trying to reassure him? Does the one mammoth actually seem to fancy him? What about the one looking fearfully back at his friends? How does he feel that the others aren't there to reassure him? One of the mammoths in the upper right looks just as fearful as the cavemen; why? etc.

And all of this is purely evoked. There's only simple line-drawing and two sentences of text, but you see it and it reminds you of other sorts of narratives you've seen or experienced, and your brain constructs a whole temporal sequence; and any possible answer you could get to above the questions would never be as satisfying as what your brain fills in.

I could write an entire essay about this.

#the far side #gary larson #art #comics #narrative closure

[lungthief]

listen. i know it's not 2014 anymore and i know it's just a throwaway line and that the russo brothers didnt intend for marvel action blockbuster captain america the winter soldier to become the tragic gay love story that never was but man. having steve say "it's kind of hard to find someone with shared life experience" in a conversation about romantic relationships right before the bucky reveal is so cruel. it's not just about steve and bucky obviously having the shared experience of being "out of time," it's the fact that they've both been stripped of their humanity in opposite directions. steve is a legend, he is an american hero and a national icon before he is a human being the same way that bucky is a weapon and a killing machine before he is a human being. steve knows that anyone who falls in love with him in the 21st century fell in love with captain america first, and that's just not him. but then the one person who knew him first and knew him best and loved him (not captain america, that little guy from brooklyn) so much he died for it is alive, impossibly. and it's a miracle because he's back and it's horrific because he's back under the worst possible circumstances. but to steve, the winter soldier is worth tearing the world apart for because he's always been bucky first. they find each other and suddenly they're human again. and maybe, despite it all, being "out of time" becomes a blessing, because in this century they'd finally be allowed to love each other the way they've always wanted to. like real people do.

like. no. the captain america trilogy isn't about two queer men traumatized and alienated by war and modern life rediscovering and reclaiming their humanity through their love for each other. but. i mean. it couldve been

#like you get why all the fics about those two are insane right. the narrative is just so goddamn compelling #and thats not even getting into the whole thing abt the serum curing steve of every ailment except his love for bucky #which makes him realize it was never an ailment to begin with (despite the commonly held beliefs about homosexuality in the 1940s) #and bucky being *electroshocked* again and again into forgetting steve #like howd you make your gay ass movie that gay and not realize it. its kinda impressive #sorry for the ridiculous stucky retrospective its 4am and i rewatched the winter soldier recently #its not that deep. its not its not its not . but if it was anything other than what it is it could have been. and thats the worst part #shut up riley #marvel #stucky