#he doesn't control any of it

[ofswordsandpens]

"the Gabe and Sally dynamic in the show is abusive" and "the way they've portrayed Gabe in the show is distinctly different from his book counterpart and fans can criticize that" are two discussions that can coexist

#I understand that this is hard topic to navigate #but me saying that /they've changed Gabe and that's consequently altered the dynamic he has with Sally in way I don't like/ #is NOT me saying I don't think what they've portrayed onscreen is non-abusive #or that I WANT to see him abuse her??? #its just the guy in the show while clearly controlling and abusive (emotionally and financially so far) #...I don't believe he's the guy who's presence was so horrid and disgusting MONSTERS avoided him #I wouldn't call him /Smelly/ #in the book his abuse (all forms) is much more overt #(and just to be painstakingly clear: abuse doesn't have to be overt to be abuse) #but the guy in the show does not have the same presence as the guy in the book #book Gabe is menacing #he growls and he threatens and both Sally and Percy have developed very specific responses to deal with it #I've seen one take saying that people can't recognize the abuse in the show because its not physical (yet?) #but even disregarding the physical abuse entirely #if you compare the book scene and TV show scene of Percy arriving home and he and Sally readying for Montauk #there is a pretty stark difference in tone #and in how both Sally and Percy interact with Gabe #in the book Sally goes out of her way to avoid /provoking/ Gabe and asks Percy to do the same until they can leave for Montauk #and Gabe is just itching for any excuse to keep them home #and imo if Book Sally had said the things that show Sally did to Gabe #Gabe wouldn't have let them gone! #and again im not saying that the show's depiction is nonabusive #or unrealistic #im saying its simply /different/ than the book #and im upset that it doesn't feel like dynamic depicted the book #and no book sally is no simpering wilting flower #but she's also not what they depicted in the show either #pjo adaptation #sally jackson #pjo

[bitchthefuck1]

The thing about Francesca is that it isn't just saying "loving you is worth any punishment," it's saying "a punishment that keeps me with you is no punishment at all." It's not that you can brave a hurricane if it's the cost of loving someone, it's that standing in a hurricane for eternity with the person you love is still an eternity with the person you love, and how could you be happy with anything else?

#it makes me so!!! bc like as much as the first idea is lovely its also very familiar. like 'love is worth any cost' is something you see a #lot in art and that doesn't make it bad obviously but this is just such an interesting way of looking about it esp in context of this being #the most explicitly about the inferno. lovers spend an eternity tossed around in a storm clinging to each other for how they let their #passions control them and hes not just saying that he'd endure that for love hes saying that holding the person you love forever isn't in #any way a punishment and is actually exactly what lovers would want #i feel like im just repeating myself but its so good!!!! #hozier #francesca #unreal unearth

[tomwambsgans]

greg said actually i wanna take YOU out and I'M gonna pay for it

#also it's so cute how he says 'visited' instead of just 'been to' like you can tell he learned how to talk from tv #tomgreg #greg hirsch #which side are you on? #fr why is this part not talked about much beyond the Thor Loves Poptarts-ification of greg loving cpk #tom says my gf is out. so let's go out to dinner. the moment greg understands that it's a serious proposal he's SO excited #and it's clearly NOT for any notion of fine dining. he doesn't ask tom 'where are we going' #no. he wants to go out with TOM!! he has a restaurant in mind that's a treat for him and he's excited to share that with tom #i think he is feeling a tiny bit snubbed at the end by the way tom refuses to let greg have the upper hand #like tom asked him out and greg literally asked him out right back. and rather than be excited tom is like no I'M doing the asking out!! lo #but yknow ultimately tom has his own thing that he already really wanted to share with greg #he IS delighted that greg has unrefined tastes bc it means he gets to treat him. he gets to be the reason for greg's awe #also he just thinks it's cute imo #and greg took to it as much as one can when they've already been more or less forcefed (much like the ortolan he eats lol) #anyway. tom's need to feel in control is his detriment bc greg wanted to treat him to some cajun chicken linguine and then fuck him silly #mine

[somegrumpynerd]

Killer goes stage 3 when Nightmare isn't around, so the boys have to contain and calm him down themselves. Luckily they know what they're doing and make a good team, so nobody gets hurt.

And, because I can't make anything serious, bonus from the next day:

#UTDR #UTMV #Killer Sans #Cross Sans #Horror Sans #Dust Sans #My Art #Truce au #Look I cleaned up those sketches! #And added some new ones because I was having fun with them #If you're wondering about what happened #Killer always seems to go for Dust first when he loses control so Dust is the one that gets the knife away from him #After that Horror restrains him since he's the strongest physically #And Cross tries to talk him down since he's had training in the royal guard to stay calm in dangerous situations #Dust stays on alert to blast him if things get out of hand #(Not because he really hates Killer and sees a chance to hurt him #but because Killer had asked him to make sure he doesn't hurt any of them like this. He would never forgive himself) #After Killer calmed down they had a little quiet movie night since everybody was kinda drained #And subsequently forgot to tell Nightmare when he got home (oops) #It's fine he's proud of them and only mostly stressed out by this news

[starry-bi-sky]

I'm having incoherent thoughts about clone danny again from the clone/clone^2 au (when am I not?) but more specifically I'm thinking about his reaction to finding out he's a clone. The standalone clone au digs into that a little more than clone^2, which is more focused on Danny and Damian's relationship. But neither (so far) really get into Danny's issues about finding out he's a clone after 15 years of thinking he wasn't.

Because he resents his parents for not telling him for so long. He resents the way he found out; through a trivial school project rather than a sit-down talk. He resents the fact that, apparently, they had meant to tell him sooner. But forgot. He resents the fact that they never told him because finding out feels like something was stolen from him when it had the chance to not be.

Danny Fenton, just fifteen, cloned not even half a year ago, knows what that personal violation of autonomy feels like. He knows what it's like to be cloned and while he loves Ellie, he does, she's his sister, and in this au his twin. But he is still left with that feeling of unsafety after realizing he'd been cloned. Being cloned is violating. The onset realization that it's so easy to get DNA without the other party noticing, and that what was stopping someone from trying to clone him again?

Followed only after with the rest of the inexplainable mix of feelings of being cloned, the rest of that inner conflict and panic that's an ugly mocktail of emotions that range from horror to fear. Trying to imagine what it's like to be cloned from the cloned party, and I imagine that it leaves you with the feeling of needing to crawl out of your own skin with discomfort.

And then he gets put on the other side of it. Danny Fenton, only fifteen, was cloned not even half a year ago, finding out he is a clone. And reactions, I imagine, can vary from person to person. But to him, it feels like something got stolen from him, like someone took a hole puncher and stuck it right into his chest and stole a chunk of himself from him.

It changes nothing about him and yet it changes everything. It's a betrayal on it's own to just find out he was a clone and they didn't tell him for fifteen years -- it shouldn't mean anything, because he's still Danny, and yet it means everything. It's him, it's him, it's about him. It's his personhood. It's about the fact that a load-bearing rock in his identity just crumbled beneath his feet and now there's a rockslide.

Because then he finds out that they used the wrong DNA. Its like pouring salt in an open wound. He's not even related to his parents or his sister, when for years he thought he was. It's the fact that pieces of his identity that he's been so secure in for so long just got ripped away from him in an instant. Then they tell him -- only through his own horrified prompting -- that the person whose DNA they used -- Bruce Wayne -- didn't even know he existed. That they accidentally used the wrong DNA, then didn't tell the person whose DNA they used.

The betrayal of being lied to for years turns really quickly into horror at his own existence. Something very similar to the horror he felt at being cloned and the skin-crawling discomfort that made him feel like his own skin wasn't really his. And then its not. It's actually not. Nothing but his own name feels like it belongs to him anymore -- not his hair, not his eyes, not his heart or his lungs, nothing feels like his anymore and he didn't know what that felt like until it was gone.

It's a question of Nature Vs. Nurture -- where does the line of "nature" begin and where does the line of "nurture" end? What of him is actually his? What of him is Bruce Wayne's? It's not logical, it's not supposed to be. It's a load-bearing wall on the house of his identity being destroyed and now everything else is caving down in on him. What belongs to Danny, what belongs to Bruce Wayne?

#dpxdc #dp x dc #danny fenton is not the ghost king #dp x dc crossover #dpxdc crossover #dpdc #clone^2 #danny fenton is a clone #its a combination 'oh my god i've been cloned too i know how violating that feels holy fuck' empathy and also the horror of finding out tha #the things you knew about yourself that you thought were unchanging was all WRONG. #its the fact that tragedy is always one step away from comedy. they're twins for a reason. the humor of finding out you're a clone through #a silly school project and the *horror* of finding out you're a clone from a silly school project instead of a proper conversation #danny goes into his room after he's done talking to his parents and he vomits into the garbage can under his desk. utterly horrified #and he calls sam and tucker crying. it shouldn't change anything he knows this and yet it changes EVERYTHING. he doesn't feel like himself #he doesnt feel like himself any*more.* this might be cause for him to do a closet overhaul. something to make himself feel like he's #in control of himself again. piercings. temporary hair dye. *something* to feel like he's in control. #its no wonder why he never wants to tell bruce wayne he exists because he *knows* how violating that feels and he's *afraid.* #it makes him takinh in damian a little more remarkable bc it undoubtedly made #his identity issues worse. but thats a child and a child who needs help and danny is *kind*

[sunnykeysmash]

#iasip #it's always sunny in philadelphia #always sunny #macdennis #macden #analysis #meta #a beautiful smile to hide the pain... #what if i told you this post was inspired by me listening to SURFACE PRESSURE from encanto and thinking ''it's mac'' #who am i if can't carry it all. if i falter...... #i think if dennis could see mac's hole that hes hidden so well it would humble him. because he thinks mac doesn't care. he does #hes under a lot of pressure all the time. self imposed. to make sure everyone is safe. shouldering it all and pretending to be fine. #to be worthy of their love. to be in control #if they could see each other's holes and realize how similar yet opposite their experiences are... like foils. #hiding their vulnerability from the other #i could talk about this dynamic of taking care of each other for days dont try me #can we talk about also that part in hits theroad where they were talking abt a guy seeming fine then going crazy right before mac says that #can we acknowledge that it was about mac. and he really could snap any moment from the pressure #the more demanding dennis is of his help. the thinner mac is spread. can weeee talk about ittttt #parallels

[mylonelydreaming]

I take issue with this idea of Link just "fucking off" and leaving Zelda completely alone before totk. Not even in just a shipping sort of way either, as close friends and him choosing to remain her knight, that makes zero logical sense? It is completely out of character for him?

Link doesn't ever leave Zelda's side. This is canon. "Fucking off" is just not something he does during peace time when he isn't on a heroic quest and being controlled by the player's whims

That's five times it's stated officially somewhere that he is by her side, and that's only the ones I can immediately recall. Botw's full ending and totk's opening together also show us that. We see them together when the story ends and we see them together when it picks back up in the sequel. At no point is it implied they ever parted.

And can we just remember for a second what happens when he's not there, for even a short amount of time, if she is unable to call upon her abilities and therefore defend herself?:

"Fucking off" is a fantastic way to get her killed. The Yiga worship Ganon, there is nobody they want dead more (besides Link), than the last living member of the royal family. They are also not opposed at all to going into villages. They snuck into Kakariko to assassinate Dorian's wife. We just don't see that reflected in gameplay.

Some people will say "it's just his job" to deny they even have a friendship or growth as characters, but want him to... not do the main part of that? "It's just his job" and "he fucked off to the wilderness" are simply not compatible ideas. Either you think Link is just a completely duty-bound mindless command robot or you think he completely doesn't care anymore about that to the point of endangering the person he's supposed to protect. It can't be both at the same time.

Thankfully, it's implied by the wording of master works, the cutscenes and the jpn version that he wants to protect and support her. That this is what he desires, even when the king is dead and he is immediately given the option to not do so anymore. That he is motivated by wanting to see her happy and safe. I'm pretty sure the only way to get him to stop trying to protect her or following her is death, and he has already proven that twice over.

#zelink #tears of the kingdom #link #totk #botw #totk link #botw link #loz #tloz #I wasn't going to publish this post originally but #just had to vent #We play as Link either A) after he woke up after the apocalypse with no memory #or B) after the upheaval when shit hits the fan and Zelda has already been transported to the past #both scenarios where he is literally forced into a survival situation and can't be with her due to the plot #Why apply when we control him to the peaceful off-screen times in-between. #it just doesn't make any sense

[mamawasatesttube]

i do genuinely think an adult, fully-realized kon would be able to defeat superman in a fight. not just saying that bc he's my fav or whatever but because like. ttk is so op. telekinetic power with the range and raw strength to destroy every single gun in LA, and the finesse of control to not destroy anything else? that alone is a huge force to be reckoned with. add kryptonian abilities on top of that and you've got a fucking powerhouse. like um devs? op tbh pls nerf (except don't, because i find that sooooo tasty.)

because to clark, i think this is a good thing! it isn't quite so lonely when he's got a little brother/son/they really can't label it but they're family, who understands the alienation. the burden of having so much power. the fear of what your own hands can do. he sees in kon a kindred spirit, although it also saddens him that kon has to feel this burden too.

but kon?

oh, kon is terrified of himself.

#guy who has mind control and ''i was made as a weapon'' trauma realizes he can't even rely on the fact that superman could always stop him #he doesn't handle that well #it's tragic for him that he's so scared of himself bc *i* find his insane op-ness so fun cool and sexy. #also it should go without saying but like raw strength isn't everything in a fight and clark has more experience etc #like i don't think it's any sort of OOH WELL THERE'S A DEFINITIVE POWER RANKING anyway #but i think that adult fully realized kon does stand a very real chance of being able to beat clark in a fight #and that that fact scares the shit out of him #bc superman? that's his idol he shouldn't be able to ever touch him #clark is proud of him (what dadbrothercousin doesn't love to see his sonbrotherwhatever grow and even surpass him in his eyes?) #meanwhile kon is about to have a nervous breakdown #it's fun. not for him but for me <3 #kon #clark #rimi talks

[copper-skulls]

i think grillby should have an entire collection of photos in his bar actually. one of them is definitely with fuku

#genderqueer fire elementals save me. genderqueer fire elementals give me strehgt to write more emails #'i won't finish this one today' ME WHEN I LIE #fanart #digital art #krita #undertale #fuku fire #grillby #razzmatazz related drawings #i need to write more razzmatazz... grillby: doesn't really have a good relationship with his bio family bcs they're controlling but what he #DOES have? adopted a niece. she's his niece now. they're not related in any way. he'd move mountains for her

[thehollowwriter]

I've witnessed first hand how fucking awful an overly controlling and manipulatuve mother can be.

It destroys your mental health. It makes you question your own worth and intelligence. It makes you unsure of who or what to believe. It makes you terrified of others perceiving you in anything but a positive light. And that's just mentally.

When people say Riddle's backstory was "tame" I want to strangle them because no, no it fucking wasn't. Just because she (supposedly) isn't beating him doesn't mean he has a "less bad" or "less tragic" childhood.

#quinn quips #riddle rosehearts #heartslabyul #twisted wonderland #riddle's mom is so abusive and terrible #just because she isn't said to harm riddle physically through hitting or whatnot doesn't mean his past is tame #she was literally starving him #she stunted his growth bc of how controlling she was of his diet #she destroyed riddle as a person and ruined any chances he had of interact with the outside world normalcy #*normally #i well tell you right fucking now if he somehow never overblotted he would have been fired from whatever job he ended up in bc of his- #behaviour #she is so damaging to his wellbeing #for those wondering my mom is similar to this to my sister just not over what she eats or her grades or her job

[ridaine]

Like Father Like Daughter

#dnd #dungeons and dragons art #dnd art #dnd oc #drow #half elf #Freyja #evantide #Alrith #tfw to avenge your father's stolen freedom you sell your soul #and end up accidentally repeating what he did #The difference is Freyja wholeheartedly believes she's in control #Hence why I drew her grasping the barb as it spears her hand #and that she has the chains wrapped around her other arm #Basically she sold her soul to avenge the ones who hurt her father #which is the opposite of what he would have wanted #All he ever wanted was his daughter to grow up and live a normal peaceful life #but he's blissfully unaware she's following in his footsteps #She doesn't actually have any freedom but she's so convinced she does because she chose part of it #She chose to sell her soul and will keep selling parts of herself for power #it's getting a little nervewracking #worried about the things my own pc is gonna do

[starsha-stardust]

Magnifico simps who act like he was a good guy who only became evil after using the book concern me. He was a piece of shh long before then.

#He was a controlling narcissist with a savior complex #That scene with Asha at the ceremony was psychologically sadistic #Him being paranoid or manic doesn't erase that #I love that he had layers to him #But he was not a good guy at any point in the actual movie #Wish #Wish Disney #Wish 2023 #king magnifico #Disney villain #Wish movie

[brittlebutch]

actually it's kind of funny how people will say Alex's fatal flaw is that he 'doesn't ask for help' and that it's his determination to handle things on his own that leads to his deterioration and eventual death when his whole introduction to the present-day timeline was a very literal cry for help that simply went ignored

#N posts stuff #like even if you think alex was lying throughout the entirety of season 2 and he was waiting from the Moment jay showed up #JUST to kill him (Which again i don't think makes much sense when he could have killed Tim & Jay immediately instead of #breaking Tim's leg. anyway) EVEN IF alex spent that whole time lying it doesn't actually change the fact that he would have at least #been Pretending to Ask For Help and if he wasn't lying then he was Literally Asking For Help and it doesn't Actually matter #what intention Alex had because the text is Ambiguous about Alex's honesty during season two; what isn't ambiguous is the way #other characters (specifically Jay) respond to him; like yeah - S2 Brian/Tim were never in one million years going to help Alex with shit #so sort of any argument that brings up Tim as someone who asks for/offers help is borderline meaningless in this era of the series #Jay had the 'opportunity' to help Alex (and i'll get back to that in a sec) but DIDN'T - Jay wasn't Interested in actually offering Alex #'help' bc Jay is ultimately curious about Answers and 'Offering Help' and 'Getting Answers' are two Wildly conflicting goals #Jay thinks Alex has answers and when Alex doesn't Offer these 'Answers' to Jay on a silver platter Jay gets pissed off and paranoid #and starts Stalking Alex bc he thinks it's 'Suspicious' that Alex won't give him the Answers (that Alex probably doesn't Actually have) #ANYWAY. ultimately this post is about how it's absurd when people argue #that individual character choices could have made a difference in the way this series played out - specifically wrt Alex #because EVERYONE in this WHOLE series are being affected by influences outside of their control ; including Brian Tim and Jay #so it's silly when people are like 'if ALEX had just made a different choice For Himself this could have all been avoided' WRONG. #bc Ultimately there's not really a way to 'help' someone else out of this situation - Tim tried and failed Repeatedly #the comics proved he even failed with Jessica - like MH isn't a horror situation where you can kill the big bad #'getting help' is a meaningless argument - what would successfully helping or getting help even look like? anyway. #the sub argument of this post is that Alex's biggest 'sin' is that he doesn't perform emotions the way other people want him to #like Alex is a character with a kind of flat affect - instead of LOOKING scared or grieved he LOOKS bored or angry #and everyone judges him based on that - so Alex is 'Suspicious' he's 'Lying' he's 'Guilty' but all of these deductions are predicated #on the belief that Alex isn't reacting to his circumstances the way a 'Normal' person would - so it MUST all be an act and so he's guilty #so everyone treats him like he's guilty until the end of season two when he's like 'Fuck it FINE i'll be guilty then' and so it goes #not a self-fulfilled prophecy but being Cornered Into a prophecy and then Blamed for it - SAD. anyway

[aleksanderscult]

my favorite interpretation of him is as a man who WANTS that companionship and love but. He’s been burned so many times before, falling in love with people he outlived due to war and his slower aging. So he can’t allow himself to be hurt like that again. Deep inside his little black heart he would love to be equals with Alina but unfortunately years of trauma and pain have left him entirely unable to exist in a relationship that doesn’t have a power imbalance in his favor. He doesn’t know how to let go of his want for power even in his relationships anymore. And now that he needs Alina for his Grand Schemes, well he definitely can’t fall in love with her without potentially fucking up his plan, right? He needs her to do many very specific things and he can’t be blinded by Real Emotion that might make him change his mind so instead he keeps her at arms length while making her THINK her feelings are requited and he pulls her strings to get her to do what he needs so that his centuries of living will have paid off. And deep deep down the man he used to be yearns to have built something real with her, to have companionship who won’t die in the blink of an eye, someone who understands this Otherness he experiences, an equal. If only the man he’d become could stand to let go of the reins in any relationship for more than like. Thirty seconds. Lol

⚠️TW!: sexual abuse and sexual assault! mentioned at some point⚠️

Yup. You get it, anon!

My favorite interpretation of him is as a man who WANTS that companionship and love but he’s been burned so many times before, falling in love with people he outlived due to war and his slower aging. So he can’t allow himself to be hurt like that again.

I completely agree to all of this!

What antis seem unable to understand is that the Darkling is human most of all. Not a villain, not a hero, not a Grisha but a human being with human emotions and needs. In fact, I find him the most human character in the Grisha trilogy. We all want love and companionship. None of us likes the feeling of loneliness (it's one thing to want to be alone and another to be lonely) and the Darkling is no different in this aspect. He wants to love and be loved. He wants someone to keep him company forever, to not abandon him because of betrayal, death, age or mortality. He doesn't want to be alone. For centuries he suffered from it and was desperate to find someone to fill this void. Alina was this person. She ticked (most of) the boxes for him.

(just a small pause to say that we can also see evidence of his desire to feel and live human things in RoW:

(He might considered otkazat'sya beneath him, but the feeling of humanity was something surprisingly pleasant for him. And he seeked Alina out to feel this way again. Even though he denied it:)

(A part of him wanted something simple. Peace and calm and a girl that loved him and he loved her at his side.)

If I could describe the Darkling's need for someone to join him and be with him, for Alina to come to him and love him, I would use this passage from the book "City of Heavenly Fire":

“Imagine if you were the last Shadowhunter left on earth (in this case let's use the term "the last Grisha of your kind"), imagine if all your family and friends were dead, imagine if there were no one left who even believed in what you were. Imagine if you were on the earth in a billion, billion years, after the sun had scorched away all the life, and you were crying out from inside yourself for just one single living creature to still draw breath alongside you, but there was nothing, only rivers of fire and ashes. Imagine being that lonely. And then imagine there was only one way to fix it. Then imagine what you would do to make that thing happen.”

THIS is how I imagine the Darkling's desperation to gain Alina. His last hope for love and companionship.

He has been hurt hundreds of times in the past. The lovers he had, the people he fell in love were dying in front of his eyes from their mortality. Others couldn't understand his powers, couldn't fathom him as a person (because I bet almost all, if not all, his lovers were otkazat'sya). So at some point, he just gave up. Gave up on love and stopped having relationships. He wouldn't be hurt again, he wouldn't allow it.

Deep inside his little black heart he would love to be equals with Alina but unfortunately years of trauma and pain have left him entirely unable to exist in a relationship that doesn’t have a power imbalance in his favor. He doesn’t know how to let go of his want for power even in his relationships anymore.

"his little black heart" that sounded so cute 🥺🫶😭

And, yes, I agree that deep inside (veeery deeply though) he wanted to be equals with Alina because on one hand it seemed right to him, logically and strategically (she had the power of light, he had the power of darkness. They were both immortal and she had a strong spirit). But years had already passed where he had the control in all things. Okay, not all. He couldn't stop Kings and Queens from making stupid or unspeakable things (and yes I'm alluding Genya's sexual assault from the King here). But he had a habit that he couldn't break. "Old habits die hard" fits here. He couldn't put aside his need for domination and just say "Yeah sure do whatever you want in this relationship, Alina! Peace and love!🥰✌️". No, he would still want to have the upper hand in their relationship and their rule.

And now that he needs Alina for his Grand Schemes, well he definitely can’t fall in love with her without potentially fucking up his plan, right? He needs her to do many very specific things and he can’t be blinded by Real Emotion that might make him change his mind so instead he keeps her at arms length while making her THINK her feelings are requited and he pulls her strings to get her to do what he needs so that his centuries of living will have paid off.

Yup. He didn't want to fall in love with her. Just to manipulate her. But the problem is that we don't choose when to fall in love and who. It just happens. And that fucked him up emotionally.

1) Because he hadn't felt that emotion in years.

2) Because it wasn't part of his plans, just like you said.

He literally panicked and didn't know what to do and he certainly didn't know how to express it in a healthy manner.

Alina's constant rejection and rebellion against him (+ her love for Mal and her choosing only him) made him go feral and do impulsive things. Made him fuck up his well-thought-out plans. So, in the end, he really is a person that sometimes let his emotions rule his mind unwillingly.

About him making her think that her emotions are requited, it's a complicated matter. In R&R he confirmed that he seduced her (if you call that seduction) as part of his manipulation.

But I think he also played himself back then at S&B. He tried to appease her worries at that time and in S&B it seemed genuine. Honestly, for me, it still does. But, according to him (and Bardugo) he did it to feel more bound to him, more loyal.

BUT! I think that in the meantime he played himself and caught feelings.

Like "He he I'm gonna make her feel good for herself 😈......shit.....now I feel something for her. FUCK!!"

But he would never admit that to Alina. Not in a verbal way anyway. Because when he gave her his name it was a type of love confession (GIVING HER HIS HEART, HELLO??).

I kinda agree that he wanted to make her feel that her feelings were requited but he also must have been like "but let's not tell her that I also caught feelings👀👀".

He wanted to fulfill his plans, yes. But he also fell in love with her in the process and everything went DOWNHILL FOR HIM.

And deep deep down the man he used to be yearns to have built something real with her, to have companionship who won’t die in the blink of an eye, someone who understands this Otherness he experiences, an equal. If only the man he’d become could stand to let go of the reins in any relationship for more than like. Thirty seconds. Lol

Hard agree to all of this too.

Just like I said, he didn't know how to live a life without controlling it and everyone in it.

#personally i find the Darkling more controlling than manipulative #he sucks at manipulating people #but controlling? Boy yes. He hates feeling that he doesn't have the control in any situation. Like a fish out of water #I also don't understand how some people shy away from the perception of the Darkling craving love and company #it's NORMAL. He's human. everyone wants love (unless you're Voldemort or something) #anon asks #the darkling #pro darkling #aleksander morozova #pro aleksander morozova #darklina #pro darklina #alina starkov #alarkling #pro alarkling #grishaverse #grishaverse trilogy #shadow and bone

[wilsonpussyindulgence]

just read an interview where emerald fennell says saltburn is "gothic" and like..........no, it's not. it simply Is Not That.

you can't have a man fuck a grave and be like "ooh just like wuthering heights! this is gothic" because guillermo del toro and i are both going to fight you

#like......come on. saltburn spoilers ahead. #horror of love doesn't work because the narrative never decides if he did all this for Felix or for Saltburn #if he killed felix With His Hands in the Heat of the Moment maybe you have an argument. but not with poison in a preplanned murder #if the love was for saltburn then we should have gotten another gothic theme - the house as a character #the house as a character doesn't work because it simply isn't #i don't think we ever learned the actual layout of the house and it never was The Other in any scene #the walls aren't even the colors of his eyes!!! #horror of grief doesn't work because he's never out of control #he doesn't kill the others because he's out of his mind with grief. he was Always Gonna Do That. #and also your protagonist isn't an anti-hero because there is literally no point that you're rooting for him #ms fennell please tell me what you think gothic means #anyway what saltburn needed was - more homoeroticism more blood and more of him being a little sex freak #that probably still wouldn't have made it Gothic but it would have been an improved film

[muninnhuginn]

just generally musing to myself what makes thematic and plot sense for the link clink ending after reading some other people's takes the past few days. no real conclusions here, just some thoughts tied together with a string.

I've seen arguments that what needs to happen is that Lu Guang needs to accept Cheng Xiaoshi's fate and move on without regrets. This idea that the past has to remain as-is and you have to move on is a thread that the show has played with quite a few times. It's written into the very rules underlying the dives. The most obvious instance being the earthquake arc, where Cheng Xiaoshi was unable to save Chen Xiao's mum, but he *was* able to deliver the messages and thereby help CX gain closure. It's laid out by Lu Guang that it *was* worth it to deliver the words, and Cheng Xiaoshi takes this conclusion with him when he confronts Emma. (Of course, the fact this lesson was given by *Lu Guang* casts a different shade over the whole affair. I don't think it can be entirely discarded, given LG even admits he's going against his own rules, but it reads more like something he's trying and failing to convince himself of.)

So, the past has to stay as it is. We see a few different approaches to this idea in s2 - of people refusing to move on and trying to change the past. Qian Jin wants to force his wife "not to cheat"; he wants to alter her behaviour because she didn't act as he wanted. Li Tianchen wanted to change how *he* acted back then, even if indirectly, because he sees himself as his mother's killer, and thinks this is the point at which his tragedy was locked into place. They both thought their 'tragedies' were down to a single event. It's not that simple.

Lu Guang wants to personally protect Cheng Xiaoshi by controlling all scenarios. Not exactly taking his will, but limiting his choices. There's probably a whole post to be made on how QJ/LTC/LG each approach the agency of the ones they want to protect, but that's not for now.

Anyway, Li Tianchen as the foil to Lu Guang. At the end of s2, he has in theory let go of Li Tianxi but in practice he's just burying himself deeper by following Liu Xiao. Trying to entirely shun the past so he can believe that he still has some element of control. Both LTC and LG are at the extreme ends of clinging on vs letting go and that means the correct answer has to lie somewhere in the middle. Not shunning the past, but accepting it, and using that resolve to move forward.

So, Liu Xiao. We don't have much on him but what we do have is his belief that uncertainties should become certainties. He's deterministic and set explicitly as the counter to Lu Guang, whose own aim is to change events rather than lock them into place. They both want to *control* all aspects, but for differing reasons. In fate vs free will, it makes sense that our protagonist is on the side of free will, but it's interesting that he's presented himself so much as the opposite previously. He and CXS haven't exactly switched places, but to the audience, they've definitely taken on traits of the other.

Liu Xiao's whole spiel about how all options will eventually lead to the same outcomes, with him set *against* Lu Guang, very much seems like it's a setup for a "defeat fate" type plotline though. It's hammered in that there is no escape, no other option. Are we expected to accept this? It doesn't seem so. It's something I'm struggling to reconcile somewhat with the earlier messages about accepting the past, but maybe that's not quite it. Maybe it's about control vs freedom?

Trust fall. Every dive with LG and CXS is an act of mutual trust where they need to act in tandem. Dives go astray when one party acts without the other. For CXS, this is about him acting against LG's instructions (texting Emma's parents, staying in the earthquake dive). For LG, this is about him withholding info because he doesn't trust how CXS will react.

Lu Guang needs to put his trust in CXS before his withholding of information creates an unresolvable rift. He needs to stop trying to control CXS in order to keep him safe. We saw how that spun out for Li Tianchen and Li Tianxi. LG needs to put the choice into Cheng Xiaoshi's hands and let him decide his own fate. It reminds me of how Cheng Xiaoshi laid everything out for Emma and let her decide whether to live. It was only outside interference that prevented her, but she did make the choice to survive. And she did it by remembering those small moments. By accepting that tragedy happens but there are still people that make it worth it.

For LG and CXS, they need to mutually trust each other and that's how they'll find their way through.

#also something about how nodes are always framed as yes/no this happens or it doesn't #when in reality they're the culmination of numerous decisions to get to any one place. #and so it'd be neat to see any 'fixes' take that into account though idk how deeply it'll go into that. #link click #link click spoilers #shiguang daili ren spoilers #also also. noodle ladies. I have thoughts on their resolution + how it ties into the 'there is no single answer' bc the rift wasn't actuall #about the secret ingredient. the secret ingredient was more a representation of yu xia forgetting their history. #but that's stuff still locked in my other drafts ig #edit: but also it's like. if you try to save/fix someone by controlling them that universally doesn't work out. #noodle lesbians and emma (pre-interference) were able to work things out because there was communication not control. #chen xiao communicated his wishes and that's how he got his closure. xss and dong yi's whole story was about communicating #and how the lack of it was actively inhibiting them