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theriverbeyond · 1 year

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so i was thinking about this post, specifically the comparison between Ianthe/Babs and Silas/Colum. because on the surface, they're both necromancers whose relationship to their cavalier seems wholly consumptive. but: Silas differs from Ianthe on one big, key point -- he refuses to ascend to lyctorhood. he has been indoctrinated since birth to view his cavalier as only a tool for him; Colum was quite literally made for him, the 8th house breeds batteries, but when the chips are down silas refuses. he tried to kill Ianthe for it!! like, he was the only one in the room who thought what Ianthe did was so fucked up that she should die for it.

and this is so fascinating!! because one could potentially interpret the 8th house's treatment of their cavaliers like Mercymorn trying to innoculate her house against the grief that destroyed her for 10,000 years. she loved Cristabel too much, and she never wanted that to happen to anyone else. but the thing is, I don't think it worked. at best, I can see Silas becoming like Augustine "human plex" the First. you are not immune to grief etc.

and i think this is going to be important like, idk. the 8th house is the only dead Canaan House pair that hasn't yet had their arc concluded. and IMO, i think the 9th house wasnt the only house to have their dynamic be challenged by and radically shift due to the events of GtN!! that scene where Silas invites Gideon to "take tea" and then tells Colum to kill her -- Colum refuses, Silas lets Gideon go, and we never see the conclusion of that fight. and of course, despite refusing to wholly consume his soul, when fighting Ianthe Silas falls back on old habits to steamroll Colum's agency, and ends up opening the path for the River Devil that comes and kills them both. I think it is very intentional that this is framed as a consequence of Silas overriding Colum's agency and treating Colum like a tool and not a person, and I think the rest of their arc is going to address this. in HtN, when Silas fled Harrow's bubble, I am convinced that he went to go find Colum's soul.

im very interested to see where their arc leads re: forgiveness, atonement, etc, especially in the context of Gideon's forgiveness of Harrow in the pool scene, Hot Sauce's forgiveness of Nona, and Ortus & Harrow's mutual forgiveness of each other. how do we make it right when it can never be made right, how can we move forward without ever being able to erase what we have done to each other?

#this was originally just a reblog reply but then i was like going off on too many tangents so! new post #silas octakiseron #colum asht #tlt meta #gideon the ninth #im just fascinated by them bc they along w babs are like #like de-emphasized in the narritive in the like 'why do u care abt these losers' kind of way but the things that #they have going on are SO fascinating and i think on some level #our dismissal of babs and silas and colum is very much the result of intentional framing etc #but like!!! the river. what's at the bottom of the river? the stoma #whose house sucks at the stoma like a fat teat? the 8th #what monsters came out of the bottom of the river? the devils #where have we seen the devils? colum and the 9th house.#listen it is all connected #tlt thoughts #trb.txt #we've had one big forgiveness per book #and anyway #8th house makes me go kind of insane

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roserunodays · 5 months

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Kotoko's Connection with the Fairy Tale of Red Riding Hood

So THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A JOKE POST, but I kept looking into it, and now here's a full blown analysis instead lol. I realized that Kotoko has many allusions to the story of Red Riding Hood besides the wolves and her signature red jacket. The themes of familial love, protection, and deception all seem to be reflected in Kotoko's actions and what we know of her past and personal life so far. So this post will detail more of the connections between her and this tale, as well as theorize on certain parts on what her story might reveal in the future!

MAJOR THANKS to my English major himejoshi librarian bunny mutual @lillyviarabbit for proof reading this so that my writing doesn't sound clunky af 🙏

A Quick Aside: The Other Side of this Tale (TW for sexual assault and rape mention)

So...there's another side to the original tale of Red Riding Hood, one that deals with much heavier themes on what the story as a whole is supposed to symbolize. I didn't want to analyze these themes of rape, sexual assault, and analogies of being 'turned' into a woman (such as hoods/veils representing both marriage and bereavement). They are there though, and easy analogies can be made, but that's not the content I want to cover. This is mainly because I just don't think we have enough evidence or hints as of now from Kotoko's past that suggests these parts from the Red Riding Hood story are also in her story. I did not want to speculate on these parts either because I wanted to treat them with respect and sensitivity, rather than simply speculate that they have to do with a fictional character's past when we don't even have any evidence to theorize that they do. So this post will only touch upon the more well known parts of the story instead!

Also I won't be talking about Jacques Roulet and his weird ass story because none of it makes sense to me with how it's related to Kotoko, so I will leave that to someone with a bigger brain to analyze that 💀 and I'll be sticking to analyzing similarities with Perrault's version of the story, though the analysis referenced at the end also includes the Grimm version!

Allusions to Red Riding Hood Herself:

One of the major similarities between Kotoko and Red Riding Hood is — well — the red hooded jacket!

This jacket is the most recognizable part of the fairy tale, and it clearly sticks out in Kotoko's wardrobe as the outfit she wears while she's in her forest world, notably with the wolves she's running with in HARROW.

Appearance wise, Kotoko also seems to fit the bill for how Red has been portrayed throughout various iterations of the story over time.

Red's appearance generally describes a girl with short black hair and a bob that reaches down to be exact.

"Another difference lies in the fact that, in addition to [her hair] being black, Little Red Riding Hood’s hair is generally short, reaching to her chin at most, with a charming bob that frames her face."

The signature hood is also noted, with Kotoko's prisoner uniform being the only one to notably have a hood on it.

"It becomes a powerful indicator of sense. History shows that an object that goes on a woman’s or girl’s head has always been ambivalent, not to say ambiguous. It covers, it conceals, it protects, but it also alludes, adorns and attracts."

Not only does Kotoko's hood uniform reflect her similarity with Red Riding Hood, it also highlights Kotoko's tendency to protect/conceal all the aspects of herself she does not want to reveal to anyone else.

It's clear that Kotoko doesn't trust anyone else in the prison, wanting to conceal as much stuff about her as possible so she can analyze their behavior and how much they change following the time between trial 1 and trial 2. This secretive nature, interpreted by her actions and the hood she wears as a way for Kotoko to protect herself and her fragile self-worth, is also highlighted in Streaming Heart's lyrics.

"Though I seem to say many things, please try and seek out the real me. In the space between truth and lies, hidden away so well."

The Grandmother:

Another major fact that gets overlooked is how Kotoko offhandedly mentions in her family structure that she has a grandmother. As a lot of us already know, the main plot of Little Red Riding Hood is that the girl delivers food to her grandmother, who is sick and lives in a house in the woods. This detail from her interrogation is rather...specific, given that she doesn't even mention having a grandfather, just a grandmother along with her parents and older brother.

One additional piece of evidence that connects to this is the symbolism of her birthday flower, Monstera Deliciosa!

In many Asian cultures, this plant can also symbolize a respect and honoring of the elderly. Interesting, considering that this is the plant Yamanaka picked out for Kotoko.

While we don't exactly know the details between Kotoko and the relationship she has with her grandmother, her birthday flower seems to hint that she has some kind of respect for her, or at least they are most likely on good terms with each other.

"Once upon a time there lived in a certain village a little country girl, the prettiest creature who was ever seen. Her mother was excessively fond of her; and her grandmother doted on her still more. This good woman had a little red riding hood made for her. It suited the girl so extremely well that everybody called her Little Red Riding Hood."

And that is why I wonder: did something happen to Kotoko's grandmother that made her realize how flawed and unfair justice can really be? Well, we know that in the story, the wolf disguises himself as Red's grandmother to try and trick her. But why litter Kotoko with all this wolf symbolism (besides the dog/tool dehumanization she's associated with) if she's supposed to allude to the character of Red Riding Hood?

The Wolf:

There is a major difference when it comes to the Tale of Red Riding Hood and Kotoko’s MV symbolism, which is the wolf’s role in each of their stories.

For Red, the wolf is the enemy. The wolf is one who tricks her from the very beginning, and the one who tries to eat her and her grandmother.

"Grandmother, what big arms you have!" "All the better to hug you with, my dear." "Grandmother, what big legs you have!" "All the better to run with, my child." "Grandmother, what big ears you have!" "All the better to hear with, my child." "Grandmother, what big eyes you have!" "All the better to see with, my child." "Grandmother, what big teeth you have got!" "All the better to eat you up with."

But Kotoko…she’s with the wolf. The wolf is instead her companion it seems, the one who runs and sits beside her when she’s doing her vigilante stuff.

And more importantly, the wolf seems like the one to be enabling her, helping her continue with rescuing the little girl and beating up the child kidnapper. It is the one thing by her side that encourages her to bare her fangs and protect the weak.

People have speculated that this wolf represents a person in Kotoko's life, a vigilante partner she used to have? Her older brother perhaps? Who knows really, but I think we can all agree that this wolf is a person who has influenced Kotoko a lot. It is the one thing that pushes her continue with this, to continue with the cycle of cruelty and violence in her act of handing out her own form of justice. And that brings me to Kotoko's jacket again.

The Red/Pink Jacket:

I want to address the difference between Kotoko's jacket in her forest world, as opposed to it in the real world. In the forest world, we see that the jacket is more of a hot pinkish color.

I'm not sure if this is fully because of the lighting, but the color difference for the jacket is very notable if you compare them side by side. In the real world, the jacket is clearly more red than pink:

So why make this jacket be two different colors in two different places? Well, I'd like to theorize that the answer has to do with this girl that appears for a brief few seconds in HARROW, in the flashback sequence while Kotoko is beating up the child kidnapper dude.

Or as I like to call her: PINK SHIRT GIRL ✨

One final thing I wanted to talk about is how this girl relates to Kotoko, the different colors for her same jacket in the MV, and the sole reason why I think she wears a pink shirt. A lot of people have speculated that this girl is a younger version of Kotoko, possibly back when she was a child. Pink for Kotoko seems to emphasize her ideals at their most pure level.

When Kotoko is wearing her jacket when it's pink, she's in her forest world that emphasizes Kotoko's purpose in protecting the weak. She's emotional there, she falters, worn out by the running and desperate to continue going. There is nothing shown in those scenes that shows her childlike ideals being tainted, yet.

But when Kotoko alludes to her self-hatred and the wolf urges her to go on with the attack, HARROW switches back to the real world where the jacket is red. We Kotoko smile after she presumably kills the child kidnapper guy as she declares that she wants to be "drowning in the knowledge that [she] is right", and thus, this seems like we the audience realize this is the moment when Kotoko's ideals begin to become more distorted than how they were presented in the forest world.

We see that she finally gains a satisfaction that everything that she did wasn't for completely nothing, and that she now has the purpose that makes her existence useful. While she does want to protect the weak and give out justice, it is not entirely motivated by altruism, as HARROW points out. When Kotoko's pink jacket becomes red, it seems to signify how her pure, child-like ideals become tainted and much more flawed compared to them initially.

This, along with Kotoko having the wolf as her companion, all seem to point at just how much Kotoko herself has become the very monsters she wanted to destroy. The child-like pink has now become a red stained with blood, or rather a shade of magenta. A mix of red and pink that highlights Kotoko's immature and child-like view of a black and white world, while also noting that Kotoko is not the innocent Little Red Riding Hood she once was anymore—

She is the wolf. She is a Red Riding Hood who has been led on by the wolf's ideals, the prey that has been ensnared and eaten by the wolf at the end of the original Charles Perrault story.

She is the wolf, the monster now.

She is now the sinner she hates so much.

Sources:

https://journals.openedition.org/strenae/6423 This one is the Red Riding Hood clothing analysis!

https://core.ecu.edu/parillek/littleredcinder.pdf "Little Red Riding Hood" Charles Perrault version

https://medium.com/@monsterahelpful/the-symbolism-and-history-behind-the-monstera-leaf-unveiling-its-meaning-11ba828837c2 Monstera Deliciosa symbolism!

https://twitter.com/pug_maniac/status/1735912110423732687 Yamanaka's tweet for Kotoko's birthday flower!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Red_Riding_Hood The Wikipedia page for Little Red Riding Hood! This also contains the heavier themes I was talking about in the beginning, so if you want to find out more, they have a whole section about it here. Trigger Warnings for sexual assault and rape for this Wikipedia page.

https://youtu.be/VrAW8zyoEiY?si=a3p4nb8B1TTza-x_ Translation video for Kotoko's first voice drama, Task.

https://youtu.be/_gTTtS0Fvxk?si=Y1Zwu3XOI_nRHgex HARROW MV

Also I'd love to read more analyses if anyone writes them, especially on topics I avoided, so tag me if you write any!!!

#I swear I love other milgram characters besides Kotoko djfkfdnk #there shouldn't be any deep cover spoilers here so I don't think I'll have to tag for it #you know who else has fairy tale allusions and symbolism? Mahiru Shiina—*shot*#I hope this is something at least 😭 look I just want Kotoko to realize how much she's become a monster by killing her child self in her mv #IS THAT SO MUCH TO ASK FOR—#milgram #kotoko yuzuriha #long post #rose.txt

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theharrowing · 5 months

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Fuck, you're killing me.

Yoongi finds a way to clone himself, so naturally his first instinct is to fuck himself.

🤍 Dollhouse Yoongi x Collateral Yoongi

🤍 word count: ≈ 1,660

🤍 crossover episode between fics, selfcest, sci-fi, slash, nsfw, 18+

🤍 warnings: top yoongi, bottom yoongi - but they switch. sci-fi stuff; smut (selfcest aka self incest; anal sex; teasing; begging; spitting; overstimulation; using spit as lube; rough fingering; absolutely no kissing lol); mention of past infidelity. (grey area of whether this counts as infidelity, but i think Dollhouse Jungkook will just wish he was here to see this all go down & otherwise not care.)

🤍 notes: ngl, this is straight up porn. i really speed into the situation so don't ask any questions ok??? just vibe. the sci-fi stuff is vague and alludes to Dollhouse and i use the word "clone" loosely bc i refuse to make this make logical sense!!! let it go in one eye and out the other and just enjoy the show. i guess there are some slight Dollhouse spoilers but just don't hang on too many "plot" details okay!!! in one eye, out the other!!!

🤍 written for the Harrow’s Holiday Cheer Event, requested by @park-jimin-isnt-real. 🎈 Jay, Jay, Jay. you really chose chaos on the day that you requested this fic, and for that i am grateful. i hope it makes all of your dreams come true!!! i adore you so much!!!

🤍 beta read by @neoneunnajimin

🤍 posted jan. 2024

Of all the marvels of science that the Min family has participated in inventing and experimenting with, this one has to take the cake. It is not enough that his team has found a way to jump their consciousness into other people's bodies temporarily, or even permanently, but now he has somehow managed to actually clone himself.

Only, this clone is…different.

He is clearly not quite the same man staring back at him, and it almost seems as if this man has thoughts and understandings behind those cold, dark eyes. Yoongi half expected him to show up as a clean slate with no individual consciousness or memories.

Whereas Yoongi has recently cut his hair short and maintains an appearance of being much softer than his sharp inner demons, this clone has wild, long hair and eyes that pierce as they take him in—eyes that have clearly seen some shit.

Through the skin surrounding one of his pretty, angry eyes is even a deep gash that begins above his eyebrow and runs through his lid, down to the apple of his cheek. Yoongi leans close to check and see whether that eye is damaged at all from whatever has sliced it, and judging by its clarity and lack of disfiguration—and the way it glares back—he surmises it must not be.

"Who the fuck are you?" the clone grumbles, looking down as his nude body shackled upright to an exam table.

Yoongi grins. "Silly. I'm you!"

The clone sighs and glances around the examination room. "Whatever this is, please get it over with quickly. I have important matters to attend to. I need to get back home."

Now this is curious. Has Yoongi somehow managed to pull an alternate-reality version of himself into this current reality? Surely a simple clone would have no knowledge of any other life it leads…right? Fascinating.

"Tell me," Yoongi drawls, stepping up close to the alternate version of himself. "What is your name?"

The man stares for a moment, then grumbles, "Min Yoongi."

And although Yoongi knows the answer, it still delights him to no end to hear his own name come from the man's mouth.

"Min Yoongi," he parrots, voice nearly identical to the nearly identical stranger's voice. "Tell me…have you ever wanted to fuck yourself?

***

The way alternate Yoongi lays sprawled out on the mattress is heavenly to the point that Yoongi finds he has to pinch himself just to make sure this is not a dream. He is very much awake and very much experiencing reality.

The man shivers while Yoongi runs lube-sticky fingers over his nipples and down the curves of his torso. He huffs quick breaths from his pretty, kiss-swollen lips, eyes screwed closed while he adjusts to the girth of his own cock.

Everything down to tiny moles and knobby joints and the gravelly quality of his guest's voice is identical. Yoongi knows he should not enjoy this so much, but god, how could he help himself?

"You can move now," alternate Yoongi mutters somewhat desperately. "Please."

Yoongi gives him light pinches on his nipples and rolls them between his thumb and index finger. "Say please again," he softly commands.

Alternate Yoongi sighs and trembles as he attempts to create friction by digging his heels into the bed and moving his hips. Ordinarily, Yoongi would scold his bottoms for being so greedy, but he rather likes watching himself squirm.

"Please," his clone finally whimpers. He opens his pretty, angry eyes and does his best to plead with them. Breathtaking. "Please, Yo-Yoongi."

Yoongi grins and leans nice and close, pressing himself deeper into the man's tight, heavenly ass and making him sigh. "Say our name again."

He wonders what it must be like for the poor guy to look up and see himself towering over himself. He wonders whether that Yoongi would be into the idea of fucking him next.

"Yoongi," the pretty man mutters pathetically. "Please."

"You sound so pretty when you beg," Yoongi teases, leaning close enough to flick his tongue over the man's lips.

Alternate Yoongi sighs and jerks his head to the side. "For fucks sake," he grumbles. "Just fuck me already. Please."

"Awe," Yoongi mockingly coos. "Is pretty Yoongi embarrassed by how good his own cock feels?"

The man sighs once more and glares at him. This makes Yoongi laugh.

"No need to be ashamed, pretty Yoongi. I happen to love how tight and warm we feel."

"This is so depraved," the man complains despite grinding his hips down, desperate for movement.

With a hum, Yoongi sits up and says, "But you love it." He rubs his fingertips once more down alternate Yoongi's torso, then grips onto his hips as he adds, "I can tell."

"Please, Yoongi," the man begs as he digs his head into the pillow. "Please fuck me." He whimpers and writhes, and Yoongi cannot bite his tongue, eager to continue teasing the poor guy.

"Look at you, squirming under me, all flushed and pretty looking. Can’t even take a little teasing, can you?"

A deep, frustrated groan works its way from deep in the man's throat, but before he can voice anything more, Yoongi pulls his hips back and snaps them forward.

The sound that leaves alternate Yoongi's throat is pornographic and raspy—water crashing against a rocky shoreline. Despite having fucked his own body using someone else's as a host before, this feels different in a way that he struggles to comprehend.

Yoongi wastes no time setting a pace that punches the breath from the pretty man's lungs and has him begging to let him cum. If alternate Yoongi is as sensitive as he is, then it is no wonder he is an absolute fucking mess.

He holds onto the man's hips and pounds into him, doing his best to stave off the urge to bust for as long as possible and admiring the beauty before him. He now fully understands why his last conquest was so desperate to have him—to the point of destroying his own marriage. Poor bastard never stood a chance.

"Please," alternate Yoongi begs, gripping tightly to the pillow with his hands raised over his head while his long hair fans out and clings to his face from sweat.

Yoongi leans forward and collects enough saliva in his mouth to drop a sizable amount down onto the shaft of the man's cock. This makes him gasp and jolt, and Yoongi begins to gather even more spit, too amused not to do it again.

"Please, please," alternate Yoongi begs, voice broken and perfectly accentuating the firm, rhythmic slap of skin against skin. He even clenches his walls in what Yoongi imagines to be a desperate plea to urge him to do what he wants.

Yoongi is close, and he decides he may as well give in. He wants to watch himself come completely undone beneath him.

"Alright, alright," he says, lifting a hand from the man's hip to reach for his neglected cock. "I'll give my pretty Yoongi what he needs. I can't hold on much longer, anyway."

He grips onto alternate Yoongi's spit-slick cock and tugs, causing every muscle in the poor man's body to seemingly clench and shake.

"Fuck," alternate Yoongi rasps, body bowing from the bed. "Feels good. Please don't stop."

Yoongi feels hypnotized as he watches his hand stroke the man's length—as he watches his nearly identical match quake and sob the closer he gets. As the man's cock begins to pulsate, Yoongi feels himself climb closer and closer to the precipice of bliss.

With a desperate, broken sob, alternate Yoongi cums, shooting his release onto his chest while Yoongi continues to stroke him and fuck him nice and deep. The man's ass clenches tightly, squeezing and releasing in a rhythm not too unlike that of Yoongi's thrusts, and he absolutely fucking loses it.

"Shit," Yoongi spits, releasing the man's dick so he can anchor both hands against the mattress for stability. Alternate Yoongi continues to moan and squeeze, clearly drifting from pleasure to overstimulation, and the sight, sound, and feeling makes Yoongi's head spin.

"Fuck, you're killing me," he whispers hoarsely through clenched teeth as his own orgasm rushes over him. "I'm gonna cum, pretty Yoongi."

Yoongi's hips stutter and still, and he practically falls forward, emptying himself into a nearly identical version of himself who continues to babble incoherently and tremble.

This is what worship should feel like, Yoongi is certain of it. He racks his brain for anything that has come close to being this depraved and incredible—this absolutely fucking euphoric—and he finds he cannot top this experience. This is nirvana.

Yoongi collapses onto himself, burying his face into his guest's neck. His skin, his sweat, his hair, everything smells familiar, and Yoongi does his best not to slip into a state of sleep and comfort.

"Gimme a breather," Yoongi mutters through gasping breaths. "Then you can fuck me and I'll send you home."

Alternate Yoongi scoffs but does not seem too eager to get away.

"You've gotta be kidding me," he grumbles.

"Once in a lifetime opportunity," Yoongi says to sweeten the deal, grinning despite likely not being seen.

Silence hangs, then alternate Yoongi shifts, sliding out from underneath Yoongi and forcing Yoongi to roll onto his back with large, firm hands pressing against his shoulders.

"Alright," the man says, "but I'm going to be fucking rough. You seem like a sick little bastard who likes pain, so I am going to make it hurt."

Yoongi's heart soars, and he smiles widely at the pretty, nearly identical man with long hair and a curious scar. "Make me cry, Yoongi."

Alternate Yoongi towers over him and spreads his legs roughly, then spits onto his fingers and begins prodding at his rim. Yoongi moans unabashedly, instantly slipping into overwhelming pleasure-pain as the man roughly begins to finger him.

How the fuck will he explain this one to Jeongguk when he returns home?

WOW WHOO. that was a wild one. DID YOU HAVE FUN?!?!?! i miss Dollhouse Yoongi a lot! it's fun getting into his head just a little. and, of course, our hot mafia boss Yoongi really does love to beg, doesn't he??? .😈😈😈

COMMENTS AND REBLOGS ARE THE LIFEBLOOD IF THIS HELLSITE AND LIKES ARE SUPER APPRECIATED TOO!!! THANK YOU FOR READING, I LOVE YOU!!!

tag list: @codeinebelle @dasexydevitt13 @fluffybuns69 @giriiboyy @idkjustlovingbts @itsmina29 @mgthecat @moonleeai @m1sss1mp @spookyminyunki 🤍 want to be tagged in everything i write? or just my member x member content? send me a message!

🎈 check out more drabbles from the Harrow’s Holiday Cheer Event!

#yoongi smut #yoongi selfcest #yoongi x yoongi #fic: fuck you're killing me #fic: dollhouse #fic: collateral

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bengiyo · 3 months

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She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat 2 Eps 9-12 Stray Thoughts

Last time, Nomoto and her new online friend had a watch party and discussed the nature of asexuality and homosexuality coexisting, and Nomoto shared about being in love with Kasuga; I'm a big fan of Yako. The ladies managed to connect more with Nagumo, and we learned she has an eating disorder where she can't eat in front of strangers. However, she did make donuts with them and took some home. Kasuga also managed to sever ties with her father after thinking about it and talking with other women. She asked if Nomoto would support her, and of course she did. I will never stop thinking about the Chosen Family scene.

Episode 9

Yes, Yako, coach her. We cannot let them exit this season without talking through their feelings for each other.

I have never identified with a character more than Yako. I would also enjoy my food and wine while watching my friend sweat over the crush.

Yako backstory! It really is hard in your teens when you are deeply out of alignment with other queers about sex.

The power went out and Kasuga immediately went to check on Nomoto. You love to see it.

NOMOTO IS WEARING ONE OF KASUGA'S SWEATERS, AND KASUGA JUST PULLED LINT FROM HER HAIR. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

Thank you, Nagumo! It would be awkward as hell to sit in this zone of lesbian love and not know what stage we were on!

We have verbal confirmation that Kasuga likes Nomoto! Nagumo, you are our champion! You have to get these two to the next level!!

Currently dwelling on Kasuga not lying when asked directly about her feelings. There's a difference between being out and letting people in, and I like that Kasuga told her truth to Nagumo.

Episode 10

Their project manager is at least being upfront with them that they're being asked to rebuild the entire app.

Sorry, Kasuga, but it's not often we escape compulsory heterosexuality and still have a positive interaction in a sales environment like this.

Nagumo, I love you. You have finally given us a reason to have Kasuga voice her thoughts aloud.

This show really said plainly that the presumption of heteronormativity hurts and upsets people who don't fit that mold.

I really love this show detailing how harrowing pining is when you don't know if the other person is queer and the relationship you've built means so much to you.

Episode 11

Episode 21, you aired on Valentine's Day. Please don't let me down.

This former Valentine's Day and White Day gifting tradition sounds tedious as hell.

I didn't expect Kasuga's family troubles to end with that one phone call, and here goes the aunt downplaying Kasuga's feelings and bulldozing over her expressed boundaries.

Okay, Mikami! Way to come through for my girls!!

I wanna have hotpot so bad right now.

I'm so nervous about these chocolates!!

Damn, this cake looks good. I like putting the whipped cream on the side.

Kasuga picked out different chocolates! I'm so proud of her!

Now, Kasuga, why would you go and crush me like that on Valentine's Day? I know why you need to move, but goddamn.

Episode 12

Invoices for raising her? Vile.

Queers apologizing for being selfish when they confess will never not make me cry.

I'm sorry I got a bit testy at the dramatic cliffhanger, Kasuga. You came through for me exactly the way I hoped. Y'all should definitely find a bigger place together and stay in touch with Nagumo.

"I am very delighted and also taken aback." She's like me and I love her.

Aww that was so beautiful, and she's still crying.

I'm so glad she told Sayama immediately. We stay winning.

Man, I just watched I Only Want to See You, and I'm feeling the same difficulty in the transition from friendship to romance in the relationship.

Yes, ladies, thank you for talking through telling others and reaffirming that this is definitely a romance. Let's make sure no one, especially the audience, misunderstands.

I love how Nomoto bursts into tears when she swoons.

Oh snap the whole squad is going to meet Yako next week!!!

We did it, y'all! We got to see them confess their feelings and start dating. I'm so looking forward to seeing their relationship grow and mature, and I'm actually looking forward to the move and the attendant drama that brings. I hope Nagumo doesn't end up thinking that asking about their relationship somehow cost her the relationship she's been building with them. This was an excellent week of episodes.

Big thanks to @furritsubs for making this possible.

#Ben watches #tsukuritai onna to tabetai onna #she loves to cook and she loves to eat #Japanese GL #gl series

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raayllum · 10 months

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by the end of s5, what do you think separates claudia and callum (if anything) from being a villain vs a hero?

Oh, there's plenty that differentiates them! This may not be as articulate as I want it to be as I've spent most of the past 3+ years pointing out / trying to convince people of Callum's similarities to Claudia and Viren (which S5 finally cinched for me, beautifully) than having to describe their differences, but I'll do my best!

Callum very much has both the best and worst of Viren and Claudia when it comes to dark magic, where he kind of borrows from each of them in distinct ways to be the most.... reasonable 'dark mage' in a lot of ways, due to 1) his views on dark magic and 2) his motivations for using it. So let's dig into it.

1) Views on dark magic

Unlike Claudia, to Callum dark magic isn't something frivolous (hi dark magic pancakes) or something to aspire after. He's far more like Viren (and even then I don't think Callum would ever consider dark magic "brilliant and clever" even if it is very much practical) in terms of seeing dark magic solely as a last resort since, as I've laid out before, Callum knows it's wrong. That it's a dangerous, slippery slope, for him in particular. Callum is also just willing to do something he Knows is wrong and see it to fruition anyway.

(Now, this also plays into the series' theme of how it's always Easier to play into / perpetuate the Cycle than it is to take the harder path of breaking it, but post for another day.)

Claudia has come closer to this viewpoint in some ways in S4 (crying as she explains what she had to do to bring Viren back) but ultimately, she doesn't think/see/know Aaravos is 'evil'. She doesn't think she's doing anything Wrong But Justified because she doesn't see anything wrong with what she's doing in the first place ("Humans were born with nothing, but we still found a way to do amazing things. That's what dark magic is really all about" / "The elves and the dragons did nothing. They judged us. They pitied us" / "All through history dragons have had the power while humans lived in fear. Well times are changing"). Callum is not that, at all, hence the guilt (even if I think more of it stems now in S4/S5 from what he knows dark magic allows - Aaravos' possession that then in turn also puts his immediate loved ones in danger).

Therefore, Callum's views on dark magic are far more akin to Viren's - powerful, dangerous, a necessity that chips away at you and you alone if you do it right, if you can successfully spare other people. Viren's comfort with dark magic goes further than that, and Callum's comfort with it is lesser than that, but they are more similar I think in their views of dark magic than either of their views are to Claudia's.

Like, regardless, Callum fundamentally disagrees with dark magic - he doesn't like or want to hurt innocent people/creatures if he can help it (again, big difference between him and other two mages, even if there are definitely areas where who Callum views as 'innocent' could be improved). It's a Last Resort, but it's a Resort. His aversion, those reservations, those lines, those morals? They exist (which is a distinction) but ultimately do not matter when Ezran or Rayla are threatened.

Which is, I suppose, as good a time as any to talk about

2) Motivations

Viren's hierarchy is the 1) the world (which his family is a part of), 2) himself, usually (because he believes he is uniquely positioned to be able to help the world & make the right choices) and 3) his family. We see this hierarchy play out pretty succinctly in 1x02-1x03 with Harrow, almost beat for beat. As Viren says there (and in S5) Harrow is his family and means everything to him... but Viren is not willing to reveal or relinquish the dragon egg in hopes of stopping the assassination, because he would rather have himself or Harrow die rather than put a weapon into Xadia's hands. This is also why he's willing to warp Soren into a cinder beast in 3x07. Not only is he personally pretty far gone at that point, but he is willing to sacrifice his family (gaslighting Soren to keep Claudia tethered in 3x03, for example + "I would've asked you to choose the egg over my own life, if it came to it"). In some ways, S5 is showing that he lost that part of himself and is now reclaiming it, making it true in ways it hasn't always been. Love is what made him Lose Himself but also how he ultimately Found Himself again (which bodes very well for Callum's S6 arc, but anyway...)

Alternatively... Callum says "I value those close to me more than Anyone or Anything" (Tales of Xadia bio) and he unequivocally means it.

Callum loves Harrow dearly, but he still knows the safest place for Ezran in 1x03 is to get the fuck away from the castle, so he goes. He breaks the primal stone after watching Rayla and Ezran mutually cry and console each other as Rayla blames herself for Zym's imminent death. As discussed, he'll do dark magic in 2x07 even though he knows it's wrong because it's Rayla's life on the line. He'll jump off the mountain for her. He'll threaten and demand answers from Soren before and after learning that Ez could be in danger, and run right into a trap. He'll do literally everything he did in 5x08 for Rayla, as we know.

In this way, he is very similar to Claudia, who would likewise Do Anything for her family and always mean it, particularly her father (after all, Soren 'walked out' on her, not the other way around; she was still trying to keep them all together). It is worth noting now, though, that Viren has now circled back, so arguably all three of them are sharing in this Motivation, and prime for Aaravos' manipulation if Viren still has a further role to play (although his curtain may have closed lmao). After all:

But yeah, Callum and Claudia are two characters who have always had a steady flow of parallels and a particularly brutal slant toward each other (because their selective loyalty is not and never has been to each other) and the easiest way to have an audience still remain sympathetic to an antagonist is to draw parallels between them and a protagonist, so...

Obviously in TDP there are 'good' guys and 'bad' guys but I don't think the series is that interested in a pure black-white good vs evil dichotomy. Almost every antagonist character is still sympathetic, developed, interesting, and we can understand where they're coming from. The protagonists make plenty of mistakes and have plenty of their own biases and contradictions; it's what makes them interesting too! People aren't necessarily Villains or Heroes so much as they are people stuck in cycles of grief and violence, and the series being an exploration of how and where and why they do or don't (or can't) break those cycles. At least, that's what I find is most useful from a meta perspective.

I think ultimately what differentiates Callum and Claudia in my head is, as mentioned, the different ways they view dark magic even if they have exceedingly similar motivations for using it, as well as Callum striking me more as the type to fight so hard to save his loved ones while they're still alive, but not quite as inclined to go as far as Claudia did and follow through on a resurrection spell the way she did. He's better at emotionally processing (although it's a low bar to clear for her) and better at letting things go, and more respectful of his loved ones' wants (most of the time). If Ez and Rayla both died in tragic/traumatic ways, I think that could (understandably) really warp him to something close to Claudia, but so long as one lived, I think they could keep him from going off the rails.

Claudia left the train station a Long time ago.

More metas that may be of interest (written before S4 and S5):

How Viren and Callum stack up flaws wise (S1-S4, screencap S5 update)

How Callum's initial view of Zym differs from Ez and Rayla (S1-S3)

Callum's morality (S1-S4)

TDP's Perpetual Trolley Problem, or How the Show Frames / Deals with Sacrifice and Exchange (S1-S4)

The Interlocking of the Cycle's Wheel with Viren, Claudia, Callum, and Rayla (S1-S4)

#victoriahuske #pawns #callum x claudia #it was just red #tdp callum #snake boi callum #dark magic #tdp #the dragon prince #thanks for asking #requests #analysis series #analysis #parallels #something something Knowledge as a Burden but that's a post for another day #tdp meta #i spent too long on this / got distracted for an hour like halfway through

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wakebymoonsleepbysun · 10 months

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I hide my light Behind a cloak of night Beneath a red scarf And a chapeau

Another AU loosely inspired by Monster in Paris. Which I think if you're fans of DJ you should probably check out. Even if you don't end up enjoying the movie itself I think most DJ fans would find the monster himself charming. A flea made giant (9ish ft tall) and given a gift for music through silly sciencey hijinks. His name in Francoeur and he's a delight, especially if you already enjoy mute but musical giant bug dudes.

This AU would not follow the story of the movie very closely, beyond the fact that DJ is mute, musical, and was formerly an ordinary spider. The meeting between Y/N and DJ would probably play out similarly. Which is what is happening in this picture. After a harrowing evening trying to navigate the world at his new size, being screamed at, chased, and having trash tossed at him, he collapses in an alleyway behind Y/N's home and is found by Y/N. At first, they don't react much better than anyone else, but seeing how sad and defeated DJ seems, they bring him inside.

Eventually Y/N will be the one to gift him his signature headphones (and probably a different hat) when they discover he has a particular talent for techno and electro music.

#fnaf djmm #fnaf dj music man #dj music man #dj music man x y/n #dj music man x reader #dj mm #my art #dj mip au

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ghostintheheadset · 2 months

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So I picked up a short story anthology recently, which I don't normally do, and I thought it'd be fun to go through and do little reviews of each piece. I've always been a longform fiction girlie and it couldn't hurt to look a little closer and see what makes shorter fiction work.

The anthology is Someone in Time, containing stories about time travel romance, here's the 4 that I read today:

1: Roadside Attraction, by Alix Harrow

The Time Travel: A strange rock in the woods that sends you to some random time and place in the past, then eventually back to the present. Or not.

The Romance: Floyd, a young man recently broken up with, and Edmund, the groundskeeper.

I think this was a good choice to have as the first piece, because as far as time travel stories go, it's pretty straightforward. "Young man goes out into the world seeking adventure, and is still left wanting, because he doesn't realize that what he's looking for is right in front of him", but with time travel. Notably, his adventures in the past are largely glossed over, most of them being described in a sentence or less, which is to the benefit of the piece's theming. Floyd's characterized as a man looking for adventure and never finding what he needs, so those adventures being summed up as "two hours he spent swearing and almost dying", "he made out with a pirate", "he spent a week hungry" adds to that vibe.

His arc is, as an extent of this, very predictable. He spends months traveling to different time periods looking for some grand destiny, and at the end of the story, he'll realize "oh actually, I'm gay for the groundskeeper that's always here to greet me when I come home, and living in the present is all I need, actually." I don't find that to the story's detriment, though, it is a romance- it doesn't matter if you figure out the destination early.

I'm not handing out stars or rating these out of ten or anything. I liked it.

2: The Past Life Reconstruction Service, by Zen Cho

The Time Travel: A service that lets people experience half-hour snippets of past lives.

The Romance: Rui, a washed-up film director, and Yiu Leung, his ex and soulmate.

I may be a little guilty of "rating" this higher than I maybe should, simply because I like the concept of past lives in fiction a lot. Rui looks into the past five times, and each time he recognizes Yiu Leung as an important person to him, rubbing salt in the wound of their recent breakup. Soulmates can be a little hit-or-miss for me, so I appreciate that Rui doesn't try to make amends with Yiu Leung just because their soulmates, but because he sees how important Yiu Leung has been in his past lives, and the repeated encounters make him realize "oh, I fucked this up bad and I want to make amends".

Much like Roadside Attraction, the time travel functions as less of a plot element and more of a narrative tool to help the main character learn the lesson they need to learn. Plotwise there wasn't too too much going on, we learn about the fight between Rui and Yiu Leung that caused them to breakup, and Rui encounters him at the end and makes the effort to get back together. Big chunks of the text are spent in past lives, but fortunately, I found them pretty interesting. It starts with the good old "angst-filled wartime setting", but then moves on to "Rui and Yiu Leung are both women married to the same nobleman carrying out and illicit romance", and later, "Rui is a cow and Yiu Leung is a fly who won't leave him alone". Honestly that one bit is kinda carrying for me, it was very short but I'm going to be thinking about that one for a while.

3: First Aid, by Seanan McGuire

The Time Travel: An early 22nd century agency that sends people back in time to better study overlooked aspects of various time periods, to then send their observations back the long way. Operatives spend years learning about the time period they're going to live in, getting reconstructive surgery to better learn the part, and as they can't be compensated the agency instead provides for one person of their choosing for life.

The Romance: Taylor, a researcher going back to the past, and Marianne, a woman from the 90s she falls in love with.

"Hey ghost, why'd you spend so much more time describing the time travel here" because that's what reading the story's like. Marianne isn't introduced until 2/3rds of the way through the story, and so much more time is spent on explaining the circumstances and purposes of Taylor going back in time. And it's not that these things aren't interesting, but it leads to the story being so unbalanced that the romance feels barely there in comparison. If the story had opened on Taylor landing in the past, and meeting Marianne soon after, and her backstory had been explored through comparisons between her past future life and her present past life, that could've led for so much more time for Taylor and Marianne's relationship to develop.

The best way I can summarize it is that First Aid so badly wants to be a novella at least, and can't properly fold itself into the constraints of a short story. The funny twist near the end is that Taylor's supposed to go to the 1500s, and instead lands at a ren faire in 1996 with no way home. In a longer story, the repercussions of this could be properly explored, but instead, we have Taylor internally panicking about both the immediate and long-term repercussions, but the former are skipped over and the story ends before the latter can become relevant. For the purposes of the short, this didn't need to happen- if Taylor landed in the 1500s and met a woman there, the overall plot would be unchanged, and there'd be much more time for her relationship with Marianne to feel like a relationship.

4. I Remember Satellites, by Sarah Gailey

The Time Travel: A time travel agent goes to the past on a lifelong mission to alter the course of history by marrying a prince and keeping him from the throne.

The Romance: Violet, a time agent, and Dani, another agent sent on an overlapping mission.

First point, why was this immediately after First Aid lmao, if you have two "woman working for a time travel org goes back in time to spend the rest of her life there and falls in love with another woman there" stories, space them out a bit!

Of the four I read so far, I think this one did the best job of integrating time travel, making it deeply necessary to the plot and character arcs without it overstepping. Violet, leaving to spend the rest of her life with a man who sucks, struggles with having to forget her life in the future and being forgotten by the people she knew. She and Dani aren't supposed to be in the same place at the same time, interacting with other agents on missions is expressly forbidden due to the likelihood of operatives breaking character when they're not completely immersed, but naturally she holds on to Dani both as a lover and as the only tangible reminder of the life she used to live.

As such, the story takes two routes towards being a forbidden romance- which is to its benefit, because as Violet points out, it's not as if her bosses can punish her when she's already on a mission that's going take up the rest of her life. While that is initially a compelling reason for Dani, I as a reader was more open to Violet's perspective, but the fact that she was married to a shitty prince helped keep the appeal of a forbidden romance going despite that. While I'm not expecting a full capital-R Romance from short stories like these, this was the closest to it in the collection so far, and I felt Dani played a larger role in the story than most of the other love interests (though Edmund is also a contender!). I'd say this is my favorite in the anthology so far, though there's certainly plenty more to go.

#book reviews #books #romance review #time travel #queer lit #Someone in Time

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harrowing-of-hell · 8 months

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it is 4am and i have consumed alcohol and i'm having tlt thoughts but they will probably not be coherent and this will be a very stream of consciousness post you have been warned

ok so to be very honest i was baffled that people read griddlehark as like, explicitly romantic whenever i first was browsing the tlt tag

like they were very obvs homoerotic and like i will directly quote tazmuir here and say there were "elements of a love story there" but i was not getting the same vibes that apparently everyone else was??

and maybe this is the difference between reading GTN in 2019 and then having to wait a year for HTN, because to me that allows a lot of time for your mind to sit and think on things and speculate

meanwhile i read GTN and HTN back to back. from my notes i finished GTN sept 14, 2022 (and i started reading it like, at MOST a week before that) and then i started HTN on sept 22 and finished it four days later (rip to people who say HTN was hard to read couldn't have been me. saw that it was in second person and nutted on the spot literally my favorite POV. guess im just built different. anyways)

so like, very obviously little down time between reading those 2 books so not a lot of time to really sit and think on it given that this is TLT we're talking about

but even now having read NTN and it now being a full year later since starting the series i still... don't get it

rather, i do not get it trying to read their relationship from the way that most people in the fandom seem to be reading it.

the pool scene and like, the drastic shift that it caused in harrow and gideon's relationship made very little sense to me and seemed kinda out of nowhere until i started thinking about it in this way; harrow and gideon do not love each other for who the other person is but rather what that person might mean for them.

to me gideon is vrry obviously someone who craves purpose after being treated like shit and generally just viewed as someone as disposable. so it makes sense to me that her goal was to escape the ninth and go join the cohort (so she can go be disposable but With Purpose).

but when they got to Canaan house....

bro cytherea groomed her SO FUCKING HARD. it's actually kinda fucking funny in a fucked up way because cytherea was like "noo gideon don't let anyone treat u like this" while gideon was getting her life force succed out of her but LITERALLY every one of cytherea's interactions with gideon just... reinforced and instilled the idea of cavalierhood in gideon

so much so that by the end of GTN gideon was like "no harrow YOU'RE the one who doesn't understand what a necro and cav are supposed to mean to each other." brainwashed. absolutely brainwashed.

ofc being surrounded by other necro/cav pairs who were Properly fulfilling their social roles influenced her as well, but cytherea had such a big part to play in it.

so naturally gideon's Search For Purpose shifts from being disposable-but-with-purpose in the cohort to being disposable-but-with-purpose as a cavalier.

so for gideon a relationship with harrow as her cavalier might mean a chance at having a Purpose, and this is why gideon loves her

meanwhile for harrow... the girl is 200 dead children and has been suicidal about that shit from day one. so here is one of the children that was supposed to die for her, but didn't, and fought her every single day of their lives, and it's this child that's offering her forgiveness???? like bro ofc she's gonna take that it's literally the salvation she's been looking for that even God, as we learn in HTN, can't offer her.

so naturally when the answer to lyctorhood is "ok now kill her and vore her soul <3" harrow would be like FUCK no. harrow has only now really beginning to think of gideon as a person and not a slave, as someone who is OF the Ninth house and not just beholden to it. so whyy would she ever kill her at this point.

and we KNOW this means so much to harrow because, thinking she's on the brink of death, she just straight up asks gideon if she's really forgiven her.

this is why i think they love each other and also i think this adds up with where they are now in the series. their reasons for loving the other person are completely at odds!!! so even with their now "Repaired" relationship it is still hopelessly fractured!!!

and tbh i do think griddlehark at this point is more, but not at all completely, one-sided than most people think because like, i think (or at least i hope??) harrowhark is slowly snapping out of this line of thinking and is realizing that's Not a healthy way to view gideon (idk i may be wrong) while gideon is DOUBLING DOWN SO HARD on being a cavalier. like that is her Purpose now it is her Identity!!! she needs to be someone's cavalier, and if she can't be harrow's then she'll try to be her father's.

not a fucking word out of her mouth when alecto kisses harrow but when alecto pledges herself to harrow?? she called the soul of the earth A SLUT!! absolutely insane.

anyways that's it that's all i had to say. i hope harrow and alecto fuck nasty in ATN <3

im not tagging this as anything tlt related but this will prob still some how show up in tags anyways because tumblr is stupid and broken

#vixen.txt

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cdyssey · 1 month

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The Big Bang Rewatch Thoughts:

The way Moffat plays with time travel in this episode is SO much fun to me. Watching the Doctor zip back-and-forth in time to set the pieces for the future, and then getting to see the moments where he realize that he has to do that in the first place, is so clever. It makes time feel fluid and complicated—possible to be rewritten.

I get weepy at so many moments in "the Big Bang," but especially at the Lone Centurion keeps Amy safe for two thousand fucking years segment of the episode. goddamn, seeing that kind of devotion changes a brain chemistry.

And really, how the entire episode is about all the unassailable love between this core cast of characters. Rory and Amy. Amy and Eleven. Eleven and River. Hell, even River and the TARDIS—I've always been made tender by the notion that the TARDIS puts River in a time loop to save her. That's her daughter right there!!!!

ANOTHER MOMENT THAT CHANGES THE BRAIN CHEMISTRY. A devastated and ruthless River making a Dalek beg for mercy!!!!! ahhheojsdoijfoisjfoiejiojoisoi!!!!!!! she's so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and I am!!!!!!!!

God, Eleven and River's dynamic in "The Pandorica Opens" / "the Big Bang" is a delight all around. The Doctor is finally starting to relax around her and openly flirt—pet names, nose boops, trusting that she'll arrive at his line of thinking when it comes to saving the day. They're having their first dates at the end of the entire universe.

And so that makes it all the more harrowing when River understands that these tentative moments are still early ones, and that the Doctor doesn't know her well enough at what they both think is his end. GOD.

I always lose it a little when Future!Eleven returns to "Flesh and Stone" to talk to Amy. the way that this sequence was so meticulously planned out is really a marvel to behold from a directorial and writing level.

jesus christ, Matt Smith is magnificent. Him tenderly putting Amelia to bed and gently talking to her as their history turns into a mere fairytale right before his eyes is nothing short of stunning. As young as he is, he absolutely sells the fact that he's a 900+ year old alien who has seen so much and traveled for so long. And in his devastated face, you absolutely know that every heartbreak he's ever had—including the one unfurling in front of him—is as fresh as the first.

I gasp every time river walks past her parents' wedding reception even though I know it's coming. oh, she's serving!!!!!

Amy's realization that there's someone missing is so beautifully done all around. One of my favorite moments is her seeing a random bowtie and suspenders in the crowd, and it helping to jolt her memory.

"Raggedy Man, I remember you, and you're late for my wedding!" WEEPS, SOBS, ETC.!!

JSIOJDOSOI, yeah, he's Rory Pond.

"Did you dance? Well, you always dance at weddings, don't you?" oh, god, I'm so unwell about river song sioaoioijsiojios.

The euphoria that the episode ends on is spectacular—the Doctor, Amy, and Rory flying away in their blue box of a home together to solve another mystery. What a trio. What a family.

I enjoyed this rewatch so much. S5 is stellar in a thousand different ways, and this finale took it home with... well... an absolute bang. ;w;

#maggie blogs #s: doctor who #eleventh doctor #amy pond #river song #rory williams #I didn't realize that I had so many thoughts about this episode jaiosjiof

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gideonisms · 2 years

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since we are a week from nona here are my top predictions. Now I don't have "evidence" for these so much as Vibes. With that in mind:

*alecto in harrow's body, harrow in alecto's body, gideon back in gideon body by end of book

*gr*ddlehark kiss but in the most convoluted angsty possible way before they are parted once again by circumstance

*ianthe makes suggestive comments to john who nopes out of there to the dream bubble where he meets with harrow

*coronabeth badtwin moment

*nona has to sacrifice her identity to become someone she was before, we all cry

*camilla palamedes tragic choice

*Anastasia/Alecto scraps

*mercy/augustine Actual failed marriage pre-necromancy

*john hot professor moment (vindication for me specifically when everyone who isn't a lesbian or a Good People Enjoyer follows me into my toxic waste thirst zone)

*some kid Nona knows becomes a zombie

*3 shakespeare refs this time

*between 5 and 10 bible refs

*yeah I'm still on my nona is alecto bullshit. I don't buy gideon, harrow, or any combo because both of them are intense in ways that Nona is not & I don't think you could go back far enough in their memories to make either one of them easygoing but who am I to say

*fuck it. pyrrha/camilla give camilla a sexy summer fling let's see how complicated we can make this polycule

*aiglamene with a steel chair

*nona not affected by resurrection beast, thinks it's cool & potentially a friend

*tamsyn picks a new character to convince me to like better (babs?? silas??? some new horrible teen I have trouble getting invested in but grow to appreciate by the end?)

and finally

*I don't cry at the expected moment but at a totally different moment that hits me out of nowhere

#nona the ninth #nona the ninth spoilers #ig?#for the shorter preview which i'm using to make some of these guesses which are in all honesty just crack #like this is just me amusing myself #also dni if you've read the arc we're a week from what i consider fair game for spoilers #honestly i'm not a huge cryer for books i tend to just get unexplainable emotions that are the same as drinking too much caffeine #but both prev books did make me cry a little. in h*n it was the one scene where she goes to the planet & she's away from the horrible lyctor #situation & she has the little monologue about bugs & trees & how her heart is an empty burrow but it's okay now that she's alone #in g*n it was gideon comforting harrow after her *own* death. moments that simply.#anyway i hope nona makes me full on sob. stuff rarely does but i need some quality angst okay!! i need my heart stomped on

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griseldagimpel · 8 months

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John Gaius Headcanons: Perfect Lyctorhood Edition

Headcanons about John Gaius and Perfect Lyctorhood under the cut, as some of them reference "The Unwanted Guest".

To start, why didn't John want his friends to have perfect Lyctorhood? Here's what we have from his conversation at the end of Nona the Ninth:

[John] looked at [Harrow], squinting his eyes against the white and merciless sun. "God must be able to touch all of creation," he said. "I don't-" "You said it yourself. I can't die if [Alecto]'s alive; she can't die if I'm alive. Why would you let something like that run around, Harrow?" Why would you let someone go - away from you - untouchable - two people? I couldn't - I loved them too much - I saw the face of Earth and choked the life out of it and ate it whole. Oh, I knew I was on the clock for the Resurrection Beasts. I pretended she was the only one, but I knew the others were coming. I needed my loved ones to be something I could touch...needed them to be my hands...my fingers." "But-" "There can be no forgiveness for those who walked away," he said. "Just as there can be no forgiveness for me - even though I rip the very fingers from my hands...throw them into the jaws of the monsters who hunt me...as I run from them across the universe, end to end. Something will satisfy them eventually, but nothing satisfies me. Nothing."

Okay, so what does that all mean? Well, my headcanon - and this is just a headcanon, so it could be wrong - is that John didn't object to his friends having Perfect Lyctorhood in and of itself; he objected to having to explain the process to them as that would mean having to explain how his Perfect Lyctorhood was obtained. And he's afraid that his friends will leave him if he did that. Especially if they have a soul-bonded Perfect Lyctorhood best friend who allows them to stay eternally young, meaning that they no longer rely on John for that.

Everyone knows, to some degree, that John destroyed the solar system and then recreated it anew. But everyone in the Empire treats it the way a lot of Christians treat Noah and the Flood Myth. It's just a thing they accept without question. It happened a long time ago. It doesn't mean anything emotionally to them.

But John explaining his Perfect Lyctorhood with Alecto in detail, so that his friends can replicate it, would involve coming clean about him fucking up and causing the Apocalypse. And he's convinced that they won't forgive him if he does that.

So he doesn't tell them that he himself is a Lyctor. He doesn't tell them not to do Perfect Lyctorhood, but he doesn't tell them it's a thing, either. He lets them misunderstand the process.

But then Anastasia and Samael crack it. And they invite John to watch.

Alright, here's how John describes it:

"I was the only one [Anastasia] allowed to watch her attempt. She'd learned the trick was to do the Eightfold slower - more methodically - and it was still more accident than design. But it's not as simple as her getting it right, and me stopping her. She panicked midway though. She hadn't got [Samael's] soul inside her all the way - if she had, Samael dying would have killed her too...They were both in danger. I killed him for her benefit, and she knew that at the time."

This is followed by this exchange between Augustine and John:

"Is that the truth, or the truth you tell yourself?" asked Augustine. "What is the difference?" said God.

So obviously we're supposed to scrutinize John's account. So what's not true?

Well, I think maybe John wasn't thrilled about Anastasia and Samael figuring it out. Even if I'm right about John not objecting to Perfect Lyctorhood in and of itself (just having to be the one to explain it) Anastasia and Samael went last. If they'd actually achieved Perfect Lyctorhood, that's going to make things super awkward with all the Lyctors who out and out killed their Cavaliers, you know? It also establishes that Perfect Lyctorhood is possible, and thus brings everyone one step closer to figuring out that John and Alecto have Perfect Lyctorhood.

And, based on how Nona the Ninth depicts them, John and Alecto would do things like get hungry at the same time. His friends had to have noticed that. But they didn't know that Perfect Lyctorhood was possible, and John's so much more powerful that a regular Lyctor (because Alecto's a god-planet, not a regular human) that they wouldn't immediately go to 'John and Alecto have Perfect Lyctorhood'. But Anastasia and Samael having Perfect Lyctorhood creates a case study. How long until they put it together then?

Still, John didn't shut Anastasia and Samael down from the get-go. We know he didn't because we see Anastasia's skeleton moving around at the end of Nona the Ninth. The process really was interrupted halfway.

And I do think John could have shut it down at the get go. Look, the biggest religion in the world currently has as one of its tenets that it was wrong for humans to learn the difference between good and evil. And most Christians just accept that as given! And that's a religion with no proof of the divine! John's standing there, powering the sun and resurrecting the dead. I do think he could have just outright forbidden something and had them listen, at least long enough for him to come up with a more permanent solution. (Read: he wipes Anastasia and Samael's knowledge of Perfect Lyctorhood. No murder necessary! Just memory-wipe your friends a bit more!)

Alright, so John let's Anastasia and Samael proceed. Now, what does doing it slower look like?

Well, Standard Lyctorhood involves the Cavalier getting stabbed. And Perfect Lyctorhood involves souls getting moved around. And Anastasia and Samael want to do this slowly.

I'm kinda thinking that Perfect Lyctorhood is excruciating. So my headcanon is that Anastasia and Samael were prepared for this, but John wasn't. I think it's John who panicked.

And that's why Anastasia understood afterward. Not because John killed Samael to save her, but because she saw he was genuinely freaked out.

So that's my headcanon currently.

(I've got an alternative headcanon that Alecto was involved somehow, and that this relates to Alecto swearing an oath to Anastasia, Anastasia being sealed in the Tomb with her, and Alecto telling Harrow she is sorry about Samael, but I haven't quite hashed it out. Because I don't think it's the case that it's going to be 'Oh, actually everything was Alecto's fault." But I don't have a good working headcanon yet.)

#the locked tomb #meta #john gaius #the unwanted guest spoilers

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animehouse-moe · 1 year

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Trigun Stampede Episode 5: The Blessing Child

It's great. It's great, alright. It's basically a guarantee at this point for each Trigun Stampede episode to be great. And a lot of the time what makes them great does overlap, but I feel like there's a good few things I'd like to discuss/show off from this episode. Starting with this really interesting and cool piece of direction.

I think there's a lot of similar "odd" style in this episode, so to speak. Yeah, there's lots of action scenes where the camera and characters are flying around and it looks cool, but overall it's an episode that takes a more... discomforting, style. It focuses a lot on static camera angles to sell the character acting, and in some places build more suspense. It doesn't really move around a great deal outside of a few cases, so the episode itself feels rather different in that sense. Take this clip. Roro talking to his mother about religious stuff, overall a slow scene that builds tension, and uses a curtain to hide his mother to separate her beliefs from how Roro sees her. It makes for a harrowing scene that shows Roro's fear and gives a body to the invisible wall between him and his mother.

Really, this episode ended up all about religion, and I'm here for it. They did a great job connecting the dots and continuing to provide more and more hints as to what the future holds, both through larger and more pertinent moments like Roro in this episode, but also in smaller pieces that slowly compound each other over the episodes.

Take, for example, how Knives' faction makes use of religion. As a way to control people, to bend them to something. It becomes a facet of not just their life, but their existence. It might be a little excessive to say so I'll keep it to insinuation, but Roro in this scene is very reminiscent of something.

The same can go for Wolfwood and his weapon of course. It's easy to connect the dots, but at least they gave the answer to his connection in a somewhat subtle manner. More than that though I really like how much they're putting into the symbolism of his cross. How it symbolizes the sins that he carries and that he must use it to kill, further increasing the weight of the weapon upon his shoulders.

It works really great and they waste no time in making use of it in regards to Vash. Wolfwood quickly reminds Vash of his weakness, and how in attempting to preserve everything he ends up losing anyways. It's a great dynamic that sells Vash's personality early on, and how he might need to or want to change.

Changing topics though, the general worldbuilding of this episode was really great. I think my favorite throwaway detail is that we see Roro use some sort of regenerative capsules on his body at around the midway point, and then towards the end we get to see Wolfwood use a vial of it as well. They don't explain it, they don't really say anything, but the direction and character acting speak incredibly loud. Wolfwood recognizes the capsules Roro uses and it's what spurs him on to kill Roro so he can peacefully pass on. Of course, not before using the same concoction to heal himself though.

So not only is Studio Orange showing off with their visual work on Trigun Stampede, they're flexing their capabilities as writers as well. It makes for such a great series to watch, and easily one of my favorites from this season for sure.

#trigun #trigun stampede #vash the stampede #nicholas wolfwood #trigun wolfwood #anime original #anime review #anime recommendation #anime and manga #anime #3d anime

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dynared · 2 months

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Oh boy do I agree with your assessment that Skybound is able to execute its concepts much better than Earthspark! Despite Skybound technically being another G1 continuity, it feels fresh and original and fun, and DWJ has managed to take something old and turn it into something new, an area in which Earthspark failed somewhat. I mean, I respect what they tried to do, but due to so much being told rather than shown (ie, that one moment where Hashtag asked JB if Megatron’s harrowing story of redemption wasn’t the most beautiful thing he had ever heard? really felt like we were being told to like Megatron rather than simply shown a likeable Megatron, compared to those scenes with OP and the deer, OP saving Spike and a bunch of others with the Matrix, and him bonding with Sparkplug. It just feels more organic, ya know? And it lets the viewer form their own opinions without trying to constantly nudge them into thinking a certain way) made watching it very frustrating, and it felt like the writers were trying to tell us what to think about certain characters, and overall just not letting the story breathe and take shape on its own

Maybe it's just the differences between the mediums (namely the issue of budget for a CG show that reuses assets to save money), or maybe it's the quality and styles of the writers (Robert Kirkman and Daniel Warren Johnson are comic writers, first and foremost), but Skybound, throughout all of the Energon Universe, not just Transformers, has been very good at visual storytelling. Seeing reactions to events, having expressions and scenes tell the story in a way that if just described in the text would fall flat on its face, which in turn creates a richer world. Even in a book like the most recent issue of Cobra Commander, where the main battle is a battle of wits and words, the expressions, the surroundings, and the visuals create something that worlds alone, dialogue alone could not convey.

"Show, don't tell" is a basic tenant of writing, one that every writing teacher worth their salt will preach to their students. However, I can only blame so much of that difference on the medium. While Earthspark will never have the visual spectacle of the Skybound comics (there's a reason I want them animated by Studio Trigger) a lot of it is the writers themselves, who really want to beat the morals and messages of the story into your skull without any care for subtlety or nuance, especially Mae Catt, whose rejected script for a Drift episode had him married to Ratchet and debating a spiritual vs. pragmatic viewpoint with all the subtlety of a brick (and considering how badly Nightshade went over to the point the show got put on blast on Fox News, it's no wonder it was turned down and Catt was apparently let go for Season 2).

I'd forgive even that under the idea that it's a show for a much younger audience than the Energon Universe is for, but then you run into the issue of treating kids like morons, which kids hate. Even Marc Summers (host of Double Dare) pointed out on Quiet on the Set that the attraction of Nickelodeon to kids was that it didn't try to educate, talk down to, or preach to kids (which probably explains why he appeared so horrified at Dan Schneider's antics, but that's another story). Although noting that handicap that it's for kids goes back to a more obvious question, why would kids be invested in what's essentially a pseudo-sequel to a cartoon that ended its initial run of episodes in 1988, before some of their parents were even born? The franchise is literally 40 years old this year, and it's been 35 years since the last initial run of episodes aired, re-cut with a kid talking to a cardboard Powermaster Optimus Prime (while Japan was watching Star Saber battle Deathsaurus and his Decepticon forces). Why would kids connect to something they didn't see, aren't shown, and generally are only told in speeches why they should care about it? Skybound took the time to introduce everyone, in contrast, and make you care, even if you've been apathetic to the Robots in Disguise after years of poorly selling IDW comics that were only for a very specific subsection of a hardcore fan, and gave us reasons to care about the cast outside of the cast telling us why we should care.

Maybe Season 2 (which is going to air somewhere, Hasbro seems to have Paramount obligated to do so) will improve these issues, but I seriously doubt it. I just want Earthspark to finish at this point so we can get something else, even if, in a best-case scenario, an Energon Universe adaptation will take years to be feasible. At least Transformers One seems to be getting good feedback from test screenings.

#transformers #transformers earthspark #skybound #transformers skybound #tf skybound #energon universe #earthspark

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mrsreginagold · 1 month

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Fic: Why Don't We Rely On Chemistry?

Fandom: Ready or Not x Saw VI (Crossover)

Pairing: William Easton x Grace Le Domas (Willace)

Rating: R

Spoilers: Takes place at the end of Saw VI, but in an AU where William lives, and after the events of Ready or Not. While it arguably messes with timelines, Grace has been working at Umbrella for around a month, and as a new hire in administrative would not have been targeted the same way as those who have been part of his team for longer.

Summary: Grace is unprepared for William’s sudden arrive at her apartment but lets him in regardless.

Author’s note: Every now and then, a crack pairing that forms seemingly out of nowhere becomes important enough to write. In this case – there were three different concepts that demanded attention, so I decided to tackle them all in between other projects. Dedicated, with affection, to @eternal-learner whose interest in the idea of the pairing finally got me to think about it clearly.

The Song That Inspired This

Why Don’t We Rely on Chemistry?

It’s the last thing Grace Le Domas expects – her boss leaning against her doorframe: bloody, disheveled, and looking as though he’s been through hell and back at least twice – but she would be lying if it also wasn’t a relief to see him.

Things with the estate she’d inherited had gotten complicated, as it was only a few months after her horrific ordeal on the night of her wedding. In fact, she had just ended a tense phone-call with her lawyers. Honestly, a distraction was exactly what she needed.

“Will,” she reached out quickly to catch William Easton’s tall, lean body right as his legs gave out beneath him. “My god, what happened?”

“Jigsaw,” he gasped, the gravel in his voice revealing the pain he was in.

Grace’s eyebrows furrowed. “Isn’t he supposed to be dead?”

Somehow, her employer manages a brief laugh while she hoists him up, draping one of his arms over her shoulder so she can cart him inside her apartment properly.

“Apparently even the dead can exact revenge.” He remarked as she charted a path through her messy living room.

Admittedly, it doesn’t take too much to guide him into the small bathroom at the end of the hall. While she has a tinier frame than he does, she is also strong enough to carry him entirely if need called for it. Luckily – that doesn’t appear to be the case.

She lets him recline against the counter, flipping on the light switch so she can see things more clearly. “Take off your shirt and tell me what happened.”

Again, he laughs, though there’s a wounded hiss and he inhales sharply right after. “You’re being so bossy. Do you get that from watching me all day?”

She finishes rummaging in her medicine cabinet, turning just in time to see him struggling with the buttons. The sarcastic retort she’d prepared dies on her tongue and her gaze softens.

Grace crosses over to William and takes over, popping each button on his blood-stained shirt open in rapid succession. “Please tell me, as best as you can.”

He takes another shaky breath before doing so, while she gingerly pushes the ruined garment off his shoulders.

He leaves nothing out in his retelling of the harrowing encounter in the abandoned zoo, but what might be the most alarming part of all is how haunted he is about not being able to do more.

In ordinary circumstances, she might ogle his surprisingly defined torso a bit, but she is more consumed with tending to his injuries while he relays his story.

She winces in sympathy when he is unable to keep a whimper at bay while she cleans the puncture wounds on his hands – wiping the blood away as gently as possible despite the sting of the rubbing alcohol. “I’m so sorry, I’m almost done,” she mutters. “Then I’ll stitch up that gash on your side.”

“Don’t apologize,” he shakes his head, dark brown strands of hair coming loose from where he had smoothed them back earlier. “You’re rather adept at this, actually. Did you have any medical training?”

“On myself you could say,” she holds up her own hand, where scar tissue is visible right on the center of her palm.

He blinks, concern crossing his handsome features. “How?”

“A fucking kid shot through my hand, that’s how. And then I impaled it again on a nail.”

“Grace…how much about your past have you told me?”

A rueful smile tugged at her lips. “Well to be fair, I was only recently hired.”

“True, but now I’m doubly curious,” he turns when she instructs him, so she has a better angle at which to sew in the stitches.

In a way, it’s a great release to finally share her own story, and she’s certain William appreciates being able to take his mind off his own for a while.

What she isn’t counting on is the tears that have sprung to her eyes by the time she’s completed her work, and when she peers up at him, the emotion reflected back in his sea-colored gaze nearly takes her breath away.

Gingerly, he frames her face between his damaged hands. “What happened wasn’t your fault.”

“You need to tell yourself that too,” she half sobs.

The next thing she knows, she is cradled in his arms, flush against his solid chest, and listening to the steady beat of his heart while he soothes her with kind words.

“This isn’t hurting you?” she risks a nuzzle.

“You’re worth the pain,” he rests his chin against the top of her head. “If there’s something I’m grateful for, it’s that you weren’t with my team long enough to get dragged into that game with me. I don’t know what I would have done if I couldn’t have saved you.”

“If there’s something I’m great at: it’s surviving,” Grace admits, tilting her head back so she can look at him again.

Her heart skips when he smiles genuinely for the first time that night, and then he raises a hand to trace along her cheek before whispering, “I don’t doubt it.”

Whether she moves or he does is beside the point – in the next moment, their mouths are colliding in an ardent kiss.

She parts her lips eagerly in invitation, delighted when he takes it, and his tongue delves with practiced precision.

She hooks her index fingers into his belt loops, tugging him forward as she steps backward to lead him to the shower.

They separate for air and for Grace to shuck her tee shirt over her head.

There is no mistaking the lust in William’s gaze the second he gets a glimpse of her in the black lace bra she has on underneath, those eyes of his trailing slowly over her.

She makes a show of removing the undergarment – and then she is standing there, half-naked and hoping that he won’t let reason cloud his judgement.

He hesitates for a split second before throwing caution to the wind.

She’s in his arms again in a heartbeat, elation coursing through her entire body as she blindly reaches for the faucet to start the hot water. “You sure?” she mumbles, fumbling with the rest of his clothes.

“I need to feel something that isn’t pain,” he responds, assisting her until they’re both completely nude and stepping under the refreshing, warm spray.

If he weren’t recovering, she’s certain that he would be lifting her up and pinning her against the wall. Instead, she straddles him on the tub floor and takes initiative.

They’re careful after joining together, moving in a deliberately paced rhythm so as not to aggravate his injuries. The water cascades over them while they exchange loving kisses, and a symmetry builds.

It’s been some time since she’s connected with another in this way. She relishes in how good it feels – as though he’s been made for her because he fits so perfectly.

His name falls from her lips like a mantra as they pick up speed, and she cards her fingers through his damp hair while looking deeply into his eyes. He braves gripping her hips more tightly, and she can’t deny that she likes witnessing a hint of dominance, especially when it adds to his allure.

“Grace…” his already low register is akin to an inhuman growl, and she shivers before kissing him again, encouraging the movement of their entangled forms until there is nothing left but the pleasure they share.

“For the record, this was probably the worst idea, and I should have immediately taken you to a hospital,” Grace confesses not long after. Her hands are preoccupied with stroking through the hair on his chest while they lie in her bed, twined with each other and the sheets, recuperating.

William’s quiet laugh rumbles against her cheek. “You gave me some painkillers and food. I should be fine till tomorrow morning,” he sighs and sweeps his fingers tiredly through her unbound, blond waves.

She lifts her head from where it’s pillowed comfortably and purses her lips. “One hint of a fever and I’m dragging you there completely naked.”

“That’ll be a sight,” he grins, yanking her close for a sweet kiss that she happily returns.

He’s right. Being responsible can wait till the morning.

The End

#william easton x grace le domas #willace #mine #mrsreginagold #peter outerbridge #will x grace #fanfiction #crack pairing ftw?#honestly i don't know but i think i just created a ship tag #so bear with me

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clacing · 5 months

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Do you think Harrow would ever hit Homura levels of "girl who is just fine, everyone else is the problem"? Or do you think she's surpassed Homura in that area?

From what I've seen of the TLT fandom, Harrow seems to be almost universally loved, so I wonder if she'll do something that ppl will say is too messed up and start writing posts about how she's actually the devil. I think if that happened it would make me like her more than, or at least as much as, Homura.

THAT'S A REALLY GOOD QUESTION 'cause I've said repeatedly that Homura and Harrow are the same character but I never considered that Harrow doesn't really have an equivalent to Homura's "becoming the devil". She might still get one since she's literally going to be in hell for the first part of ATN but I honestly think it's too late in the game for her to do something that's actually unforgivable. The rift between Gideon and Harrow is already as large as you could make it because of Harrow choosing to forget about Gideon and even that is only a Wraith Arc Homura level of offense. With only one book left I don't think there's time for the rift to grow even deeper and for it to have a satisfactory resolution. She might do something terrible against John at the very end I guess but that'll be far from shocking unless she like, blows up a planet in the process or something (as I am writing this I just realized Harrow actually already blew up several planets so actually that won't cut it)

Even if Harrow were to pull an actual Rebellion, it would be framed and received differently, if only because I trust a target audience of mostly sapphics won't jump to "She's a horrible person and literally the devil" the moment she makes a morally ambiguous decision. I mean, look at Ianthe. She's absolutely awful and everyone loves her for it. Gay people are starved for complex characters like that and I'm sure if Harrow just went fucking apeshit everyone would love her even more.

Homura on the other hand is in a show targeted to adult men who have no idea what it's like to be a teen lesbian and can only spout misogyny and homophobia out of their ass. I also think a lot of the criticism coming from queer people is simply due to Rebellion coming out at a time when everyone still criticized morally ambiguous queer representation because of how few gay characters were actually around back then, and so everyone was understandably up in arms at Homura becoming the devil because of her feelings for Madoka. I love Rebellion to death and think it's the best movie ever made but I know if I'd watched it back then I also would have hated it, and people who first watched it in 2013 probably still can't shake off their first impression of it even though times have changed. But queer representation is definitely at a point where we can want something more than perfectly sanitized stories and it says a lot that people will usually be much more receptive to Homura if they watch Rebellion now

So yeah I honestly don't think Harrow will ever beat Homura on that front. Maybe she'll do something bad but in a series where everyone does bad stuff and in the context of what Harrow has already done I honestly think barely anyone will even blink. The reason Homura's actions are still debated today is that no one saw it coming and so everything felt so much more shocking because of how abrupt it was

#homura akemi #harrowhark nonagesimus #madoka magica #locked tomb

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