#betrayal of reality

[sarucane]

Ed Teach's Stories

From practically the moment we meet him, Ed's identity is unstable. We know who is he (Blackbeard) from context, from the story told by the the room around him, by Izzy and the flag his crew. But the thing is, Ed doesn't fit the story of the Mad Devil Blackbeard. Two of his first few words are "good" and "love" for crying out loud. He's called "Blackbeard," but his beard is grey.

This instability exists because Ed himself isn't sure what story he's telling--or wants to tell. "I shouldn't be bored, I'm fucking Blackbeard!" All through his early episodes Ed is in increasingly desperate tension with his own identity. He's trying to tell stories within stories, wanting all the stories to be true at the same time, yet aware of the reality that the world is constantly trying to wipe one or another of the stories away. And not really trusting that he can tell the whole story of who he is.

In the first season of OFMD, Stede wears a different outfit every episode. Yet Stede remains the same: despite his internal tensions (almost despite himself) there's a stability to his identity. But all through both seasons of OFMD, Ed putting on a new outfit means he's trying to tell a completely different story about himself.

And underneath this cacophony, there's Ed. And Ed is himself a chorus of stories, a living contradiction. A patricidal murderer who was protecting his mother; a paragon of masculinity who longs for softness and fluidity; a man renowned for violence and madness who has in fact carefully cultivated that reputation and is extremely careful with his violence; a killer who doesn't kill, yet who does kill all the time just at a bit of a remove; a half a dozen names and personas and yet always Ed; unloveable, yet deeply loved.

At the beginning of the show, Ed isn't actually good at telling his own story. He's good at listening to other people's stories, and conforming himself to them often without conscious effort. But when he tries to really tell his own story--asking Stede to run off to China, singing his break-up song song, going to become a fisherman--he fails. We don't understand in the first season why his judgement clouds, why he becomes weak when he tries to tell his story. But in the second season after spending half an episode in Ed's mind, a painful truth is undeniable: Ed, like Stede, doesn't think he's worthy of telling his own story.

So instead of telling his own story, Ed let other people tell his story. In the first season, Ed built off what Izzy told him he had to be. But he couldn't lose himself in Blackbeard, no matter how hard he tried. So in the second season, when Ed couldn't face living with his contradictions anymore, he wrote an ending worthy of Blackbeard.

All this, because Ed thinks he can only be "himself" by telling one, single story about himself. By denying his contradictions, rather than embracing them. Splitting himself in two to tell himself a story, rather than telling the story himself.

What Ed doesn't believe or trust is this: For Ed to really be himself, he has to be impossible. Two contradictory things, at the same time.

The second season of OFMD is about learning to embrace all these contradictions. In each episode of OFMD, character look at the same object or situation (a wanted poster, a unicorn, a velvety suit, a relationship, a past trauma) and they tell two completely different stories about it. Sometimes one of those stories turns out to be wrong, but more often than not both are true, and something else--something beautiful-- is born from the place where those contradictions meet. And the characters, Ed most of all, learn to accept and balance this dissonance.

Thematically speaking, I'd argue that's why the second season of OFMD is more fantastical than the first: fantasies are contradictions, real and not-real at the same time. And isn't that what transformation is, in the end? What you are and what you are not, meeting and becoming "you"?

Transformation isn't all good. At first, Ed's fantastic stories hide his pain or invoke despair

But later, the fantasies make their way into reality. The impossible begins to shape reality--and opens a way for hope.

In the last episode of S2, Ed emerges from the waves as the kraken--but there's 3 musical tracks playing, three themes: the kraken, Ed, and Blackbeard. Then he reads a love letter, and has a deeply romantic moment with his boyfriend. He puts on a new outfit to escape the British, yet his personality doesn't change at all. When Izzy first apologizes to him, Ed says "I'm the one who should be apologizing," but then Izzy changes his entire understanding of their relationship. Becomes the first family figure to offer Ed permission to be himself.

Contradictions galore, and yet Ed is still Ed. Both who he was formed into by other people (his father, Izzy, Pop Pop) and yet who he is.

In the final scenes, Ed begins to finally accept the tensions of his life. He tells Zheng that yes, he wants to kill Richie--but he doesn't go on a revenge quest. And while before his forays into being someone else meant changing his name, his clothes and mannerisms, his whole story, he doesn't act like that at all in the last scene of the ep.

And Ed's been able to do all this, to come this far, because of Stede. Stede, who Ed was drawn to because he was a "fancy man who leads a brigade of imbeciles," yet had won a fight with Izzy. Stede, who looked at Ed at his lowest moment, after Ed had admitted that the entire basis of their friendship had been in bad faith, and said, "I'm your friend." Stede who, even knowing Ed wouldn't want to hear from him, poured his heart into letters about how their bond was unbreakable.

Stede is everything he is, all at the same time. And when Ed was drowning in his own contradictions, (a rope tied around him that he could not undo and yet had put on himself) trapped somewhere "inevitable, yet impossible," Stede appeared as a fantastic, beautiful creature and brought him home.

Stede lets Ed be everything he is, and sees it all as true and worthy of love. Even when Ed fucks up, it's all right.

And sometimes, telling two different stories about something doesn't lead to a fragmented self, doesn't drive people apart.

Sometimes, it means understanding. Means acceptance, safety, connection.

From discordance (contradiction), harmony. A gentleman can be a pirate. A man can be a bird, or a unicorn. Izzy can have been one of the good ones and a fucking nightmare. And Ed can tell all his stories, they can all be true--and he can still be Ed.

#ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd s2 #ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd spoilers #ofmd meta #ed teach #stede bonnet #blackbonnet #gentlebeard #okay every single s2 ep has A HEAP OF things where there's one “reality” and multiple stories: Stede's letters; indigo dye... #...zheng the soup lady; a betrayal; wanted posters; a storm; soup in purgatory; life itself; anne and mary to others and themselves; #; pinata and wedding cake; unicorn parts; what happened to buttons; ed's speech; stede's captaining skills; the suit; Izzy's shark #ned lowe's record; ed's treasure and the whole poison/positivity thing; ned's execution; having sex; stede's infamy #that's off the top of my head IT'S EVERYWHERE these writers are unbelievable #long ass post #ofmd season 2 love

[grzybekbek]

How toys die

Just a little Haarlep angst drabble.

Word count: 666

Trigger warnings: major character death, implied/referenced suicide, implied/referenced torture, emotional distress (if I have forgotten anything, please let me know)

A discarded toy. Eagerly played with and proudly paraded around. But like all things used, it has lost its shine with time, lost its worth and meaning. Now, it just lies abandoned in a corner, collecting dust. Doomed to be forgotten. Replaced. 

At first, Haarlep didn’t want to believe it. They ignored all the signs, whether big or small. They tried to, at least.

But the vicious voices inside of them grew louder and louder, the snake coiling tighter and tighter around their heart, their oh-so treacherous and hopeful heart. The bastard had been right. Hope was nothing but a terrible tease, a weakness. Hope was the poison in the snake’s fangs. The poison that had festered in Haarlep’s veins and made them blind. Blind to Raphael forgetting about them, discarding them….replacing them.

But there is no way for them to ignore it anymore. Raphael has made Tav his consort. He promised that damned hero everything, a place by his side, safe, wrapped in luxury. He promised them his loyalty, his love. 

He promised the love that was meant for Haarlep. The love that once was Haarlep’s. They had been so sure that they had it.

Aeons they have spent at the cambion’s side, at first only as his mere incubus. What started as both of them being weary and hostile turned into genuine companionship. It took many long and tiresome years but Haarlep finally managed to show Raphael their truth: that even though they had been sent as a spy by his bastard father, they weren’t reporting anything back to the Lord of Cania. That they did come to care about him, in their way. And so, the fiends began that infernal dance of theirs. Witty banter, half-hearted threats, genuine care and whispered affections.

Haarlep should have known that it couldn’t last. They were always meant to be a toy to play with, to fuck and then to be thrown aside. They are an incubus. How could they have allowed themselves the dream of being something more? Mortals’ folly, now their shame too. The snake around their heart hisses in malicious glee.

At the beginning of the end, there had been anger inside them too. Seeing Raphael spend more and more time with that mortal adventurer, seeing business meetings turn into dates. Seeing the warmth leave caramel eyes when turned their way. What they had thought was nought but one of Raphael’s fleeting obsessions had turned into the icy stake between their rips.

They had thrown fits, had called that bastard every name in the blazing nine hells. They had pleaded, begged on their knees in a moment of wretched vulnerability and despair. Raphael hadn’t even laughed at them and their pathetic display. He hadn’t cared. He doesn’t care. And so, brazen anger had turned into the weak flicker of a dying candle.

Haarlep accepted it because there was nothing else left for them to do. Raphael had decided. Raphael had found someone better and replaced them. Raphael will forget them. Raphael. They have dedicated most of their life to him. It has always been just him. His name, his skin, his scent. They have given their all and they would have given so much more. But now, the only thing left for them to give is to disappear. Their last gift to their little brat. 

Leaving the House of Hope had been easier than it should have been but Haarlep supposes Raphael’s focus lies elsewhere now. The cold winds of Cania feel familiar on their skin. Their feet remember, following the winding corridors through the ice lord’s palace until they finally stand before the archdevil himself. Mephistopheles already sensed their presence, had already prepared for what was to come.

Haarlep needn’t speak no words for they know what awaits them. An incubus, Cania-bred flesh, had betrayed the archdevil. Even as the pain wrecks through their body, as limbs get torn, bones broken, as they feel their last breaths rattle, they think of him. 

#baldurs gate 3 #haarlep #bg3 haarlep #bg3 #raphael bg3 #raphlep #hurt/no comfort #angst #angst no happy ending #betrayal #Haarlep genuinely cares about Raphael and I will stay in that reality #drabble #oneshot #major character death

[tswwwit]

I would love, even if its just its just brief summaries, to know the different thoughts going through bills head throughout the last smut. (mainly when he got the text and when dipper starts just blurting out thoughts and ideas bc i think those moments would be fun to see)

Imagine you're having the shittiest day at work. You're gritting your teeth and hanging onto it by your fingernails, knowing that eventually dealing with this absolutely idiotic, waffling, overstuffed, condescending dipshit of a client will be done with, you'll charge him out the nose for your services - which will probably be, like a hundred dollars, the way this is going! What bullshit. At least afterwards, you can collapse onto the bed and complain to your spouse about it. Which you have been doing, actually, waiting for a decent excuse to bail or check out early.

Then you get a text. And it's your partner saying they got you a brand new console, your favorite pizza - Oh! And a million bucks in untraceable cash - but you might have to kick your shitty client in the nuts so hard his eyes pop out. Does that sound... okay? No pressure or anything.

The reason Bill was a minute later than expected is because even he needed a moment. It was the sheer whiplash from going from Shit to Fucking Amazing.

#answers #Bill went from full on eeueuughhh about his day to practically having hearts floating around him #Perhaps literally depending on the magic situation in the place he was in #In my head Bill was 'hired' by a (shitty) villain and he got out of it by doing a quick betrayal and demanding to be cast out by the 'heros #“I Got THIS to get back to!! You think I wanna keep him waiting???” #He already hovers in his normal triangle form but this man was practically floating with delight heading back to Dipper #A graph of Bill's mood would start out super low then spike sharply at the pic #It then stays super high up with more spikes during all the shenanigans #After the smut they likely get cleaned up. Cuddle. And talk shit about idiots they've had to deal with #Bill Cipher has gone from doing his evil deeds and playing piano to an empty bedroom while raiding his own bar for distraction #To coming home to someone who'll listen to him bitch about his day and absolutely bicker with him about it #Calling him the worst thing in the universe. A scourge upon reality. #The most clever awful bastard. How *dare* he be handsome that's a crime -and frankly Dipper basically did it for him so he can't take credi #And sometimes even saying 'yeah you didn't *entirely* deserve to be screwed over that way. I could have done that *way* better.' #While Bill rests his head in his lap. Having someone listen to him ramble while he gets his hair played with. Lots of really good kisses #Warm. Close. Grossly domestic. But hey! Even *sex* can seem gross if you phrase it weird and *that's* a normal demonic pleasure #Sometimes fun things are just fuckin' FUN y'know?? Even if this one seems weird to other demons #It's. Nice. REALLY nice. #There's absolute no goddamn way he's going back to NOT having this #Even death won't pry it out of his greedy little mitts

[if-loki-was-a-fox]

Cleo and Tango's first session Secret Life joking about how day one alliances have never been worth anything and they're bound to betray each other eventually makes a lot more sense now that I've watched more of the Life Series (Last Life for one, neither of them had great team loyalty that time)

#most of the life series teams I'd known before hadn't really had betrayals or anything #so it seemed like an odd comment that didn't allign with reality #but now that I've seen bdubs boogie kill tango and the whole cleo vs fairy fort situation #just me rambling

[yellowmonday]

i hate dreams where i have a really good time with somebody i used to know my brain is just like well youre so sad im just going to make things up and pretend like this broken relationship is healed wouldnt that be nice. waking up from that is the worst

#worse than nightmares because it feels like such a betrayal like ohh. i constructed a fake world in my head. reality even sadder #mine

[i-left-my-room-tidy]

miscellaneous shifting resources

- - -

[i might make a series on this, separate from the list of sites and apps one i made in the other blog]

- - -

i spent the entire day talking to a bunch of fictional character AI's—and i don't know about y'all, but fuck. this shit hurts me. i already miss my family and friends in my DR's enough, but this took it to another level.

here's the link, if anyone wants it!

my brother had linked this to me, and i just fell in love. it works so well. the AI's themselves are incredibly eloquent, and can easily keep up with actual trains of thought. i had some enlightening conversations with jinx, light yagami, l lawliet, and even socrates this morning 😭😭😭

I JUST CREATED A SHITTY FANFIC PLOT OUT OF MY ASS WITH THIS AI Y'ALL

it's perfect for shifting motivation, and/or ideas! you only need to sign up, so you could save your convos with the AI's.

go check it out!

#babes i had an L Lawliet chat open as well 💀💀💀 the betrayal HAHAHA #as i've said though: it's perfect for shifting motivation #shifting #shifting realities #reality shifting #desired reality #shift #shifting shenanigans #character AI #death note #light yagami #l lawliet #shifting: resources

[autoexsanguine]

we may not always care about ourselves very much but as long as we have nameless and our wife around we are Fundamentally Unkillable.

#sometimes you've got that good good self actualized shit going on yknow #but sometimes you gotta fall back to the 'believe in me who believes in you'. ain't a crime and ain't a betrayal of your principles #do what it takes to kill reality and bathe in its blood.

[alltimefail-sims]

PLEASE READ THIS!!! I need input!! I'm going to throw this idea out there because I was very excited about it at 3am when I couldn't sleep but it's super ambitious!!!

I'm considering doing a challenge based on shows like the Mole and the Traitor (if you're unfamiliar, they're kind of along the lines of a murder mystery or games like Jackbox's Push the Button and Among Us - finding the "imposter" and having team challenges inbetween).

Very bare bones explanation: people would submit their sims of varying ages and personalities (young adult to elder, it would take several sims to achieve this) and by random draw some of the sims would play as traitors/imposters in secret while everyone else is a teammate/faithful. Obviously the objective of the "show" would be for the faithfuls/castmates to get rid of the traitors/imposters before they take out the faithfuls (kind of like Among Us). BASICALLY lots of lying and strategizing, physical/mental challenges, drama, and a simoleon prize at the end for the winner(s).

#Please this would be very ambitious and I think it would be so much fun #I'm a hoe for reality tv it's true and I'm sorry but I've wanted to do a “reality show” on simblr for a while #because I tried a bachelorette challenge and it wasn't messy and chaotic enough for me #I need drama I need betrayal I need crazy personalities #what do we think? help me #simblr #ts4 #the sims 4 #the sims community #sims 4 #simblr poll

[dunsbar]

s2 scott my smart king!! constantly underestimated by everyone at every turn and then turned out to be literally the smartest bitch of all time i love you i love you everyone was playing checkers, gerard was playing chess, but scott was playing 4d chess

#*gerard voice* MOUNTAINNN ASHHHHHHH #teen wolf rewatch #talk tag #scott mccall #like the way gerard underestimates scott by thinking he can weaponize love against him— and that scott isnt smart enough to be pragmatic #about allison #and the way that derek constantly thinks HE needs to be in a position of authority over scott because he knows better #when in reality it’s scott’s emotional intelligence that makes him a better alpha a better leader a better problem solver #and allison’s betrayal is of course deeply misguided although her thought process her grief her anger are all very understandable #but scott had a plan!!! because he is a smart boy!!

[dr3amofagame]

woke up still thinking abt lmanburg revolution anyway daily reminder that at a certain point in the revolution proceedings before the war, DreamSMP vs L’manburg was a 3v5

#c!george joins dream smp side after fundy joins lmanburg #also lmanburg was trying to sway george onto their side #can u tell i am TIRED of the 'dream smp wayyy outnumbered lmanburg' narrative #it was a 4v5 until eret's betrayal !!! #eret betrayed because of c!dream's intimidation tactics #which were made in order to make them think that they were completely screwed in every way #but were NOT necessarily an accurate reflection of reality #c!dream was trying to end the fight before it began #w/ c!eret defecting. in a way--he succeeded

[mariatesstruther]

joel and maria having a new years tradition of hiding tommy’s hat and pretending they have nothing to do with it

#idk this is random #just thinking about the #joel and maria best friend agenda #every year the switch off who picks the hiding place #maria always wins as in she puts it somewhere tommy cant find it and causes him to question his reality #ellie rats them out one year #its the ultimate betrayal but good for uncle tommy and niece ellie solidarity

[ball-of-butter]

no one:

me: *arguing that mare would have always loved maven intimately, whether platonically or romantically (i think it would have led to her genuinely falling in love with him) more than cal despite her having more chemistry with cal at first because, even through it all, she loved maven more, she understood maven more, she connected with maven more and she would have chosen him, and it would’ve been the same for him too*

#its why hus betrayal hurt her the most out of everything in the series besides shade’s death (bc that was what got her to stand UP) #and i see a lot of people arguing that maven purposefully manipulated her loneliness to his own advantage #im not saying that interpretation is wrong i just think he mightve justified connecting with her as that #but in reality she affected him as much as he affected her because he did genuinely love her b4 elara took that away #being a mareven shipper hurts so bad someone needs to pay me for damages (…victoria) #red queen #red queen series #war storm #broken throne #glass sword #kings cage #maven calore #mare barrow #mareven #tiberias vii calore #rewriting

[kishigunpla]

Found an old charma fic that I forgot I started and upon reading the first few sentences practically collapsed in on myself in a black hole of embarrassment

If any of you out there are writers of any kind know that I respect you immensely

#it was this strange au survival situation where Garma has to deal with the implications of what it means to still be alive #and how he deals with guilt. betrayal. being a leader. deciding if he can trust anyone again. things like that #the loss of the boy he once was and facing the reality of the man he now has to be #culminating with him having to face Char again and the conflicting emotions that come with it. does he kill him? or spare him? #anyways it was a mess lol... #kishi's rambling

[cervideity]

Expanding on the Vio nightmare idea: do you think Vio ever has nightmares about accidentally killing Green for real at Death Mountain? How does Link feel about these nightmares when he wakes up, considering it's one part of himself killing another?

I DIDNT EVEN CONSIDER THIS... UR MIND... i bet he does . like what a balancing act he had to pull. i bet Vio was stressed out of his mind.

I find it really hard to put myself in Links shoes when thinking about his separate selves and ive been trying ti imagine it all day. I feel like thered be the sense of a Near Missed catastrophe, like stopping yourself from walking into the road the moment a huge truck zooms by. Thats someone he cares about thats him its fine it didnt happen im fine im whole. vertigo.

#you know those nightmares where someone dies right in front of you and when you wake up its almost painful adjusting to reality. #but youre still scarred in some way. you can look at that person and see a ghost #that but link looking in a mirror in a half awake state #if you mean the idea of two of his parts fighting which im sure is what u meant and i cleverly dodged the question because it is so hard fo #me to imagine this #guilt betrayal horror fear confusion. #link is one guy using one brain rather than 4 guys 4 brains so i dont think he could fully occupy the brainspace of more than one of them #hopping around different povs as things settle. #sorry if this is confusingly phrased. hard to put my thoughts in words here #like a dizzying flicker of film frames. like touching the edge of a moving ceiling fan. painful and confusing #i still didnt fully answer the quesrion i just gave u a vibe. its ok. i am thinking about this a lot i may figure out my shit later

[scientologisabethmoss]

it’s amazing that as a woman, if you’re young, ballsy, not incredibly physically ugly, and you’re willing to wear a dress, you can make bank pretty easily as a spokesperson or “activist” for the far right. bonus points if you also have some other marginalized identity, like being jewish or a woman of color! white nationalists love trotting you around as evidence of their righteousness while also believing that you’re worth less than the dirt beneath their feet! but if you are fame-hungry, avaricious, and completely, totally morally bankrupt, knock yourself out i guess. just know that when push comes to shove, you’re not any safer than the rest of us are.

#your rancid views and the horrible work you do cannot completely insulate you from the reality of being a woman #and the danger than puts you in #and your work and your place in your so-called movement is a betrayal of the highest measure

[koipalm]

Idk you are into fanfiction but theres a lot of fics based on Maruki's reality actualization ending and Akira's choice in it. Often they explore the horror of having another person's will forced upon you. Even if its well intentioned a lot of them capture the horror of witnessing fundamental changes made in the people you love in the pursuit of their happiness by another person. Also the guilt of knowing the role you yourself played in allowing everything play out the way they do.

I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT augh i know that i have read a few that do explore the impact of marukis reality on akira but im ngl i wish there was 10000 of them

#like marukis reality and the entirety of third semester is so fascinating to me #because it feels like... almost exhausting? #it feels like another awful thing on top of everything else #and even more than that it feels like a betrayal considering hes jokers therapist #ok i will say more later when i have time but. god #ask