#he needs an equal by his side

[maegalkarven]

I keep thinking about how from all of the Dead Three' Chosen, Gortash is the only one offering an alliance, and why is that.

It stirs from their goals, I believe.

Orin's ultimate goal is Bhaal's goal, i.e. the destruction of the world.

What is Ketheric's ultimate goal I know not, but I suspect his ultimate goal has been achieved already - Isobel is alive, and now all what's left for him is to serve Myrkul for the miracle of bringing his daughter back.

Gortash's goal is world domination. And, as we could see in Control the Elder Brain ending, world domination is a...lonely thing.

In the end there is no one but you and your army of thralls. No one to see you shine, no one to bask in your glory.

And if there's no one to see you rule, then are you even ruling?

I think of Jaheira's comment about what "of course Gortash is genuine, he needs someone to bask in his glory".

And this is why he ultimately seeks an alliance with Tav/Durge, this is why he specifically requires his ally to be his equal.

Because, maybe subconsciously, but he knows what the power he seeks is a lonely business. And he wants, no, needs someone to witness his greatness, someone he can share it with, someone who could GET it.

He genuinely plans to share his rule and power with another person because he needs someone - equal to him - to see and acknowledge his success. That's why, ironically, he can be a legit ally if your actions and goals do not contradict his.

This is why it's "our tyranny".

And that's so fucking sad.

#something something power is loneliness #ultimate power doubly so #something something gortash if doesn't know then at least suspects it #he needs an equal by his side #this is why he doesn't try to take the stones from you without genuinely trying to make this 'working together' thing real #this is why his coronation is practically a showing off to durge (esp durge) or tav #witness me see my glory #i am emotional about this rat ass of a tyrant #lord enver gortash #enver gortash #bg3 spoilers #baldurs gate 3

[merrysithmas]

when ppl see this & this, directed by the same person, and think the narrative is "anakin is evil" not "anakin is a steward of the balance, a force demi god, as was foretold on Mortis" 😂

#anakin skywalker #ahsoka #not my gifs #if you havent seen TCW i really feel like stock in your anakin opinion is p low #you need to watch it to get a full picture of his journey and his purpose in the galaxy #he was good and evil #he is quite literally a demi god #he is always and will always be both #his ultimate struggle was wrestling with that and failing it in life bc he couldnt accept it #he was a slave to the destiny the force created him for #he was a slave to the sith #he was a servant of the jedi #he is quintessenially never truly free #he hated and loved the jedi in equal measure #he never loved the sith #he is balanced but OF THE FORCE #he was manipulated by the dark side but he is MADE OF THE FORCE #therefore he will always stand for the force the jedi way and the light #which is why he is a forceghost #star wars #u all know how i get when i put my stanakin shoes on #anyway the ogt and prequels are buddhist allegories and anakin isnt beholden to western concepts of morality in that sense as a character #in a mythic literary epic sense #also obviously he isnt human either #which is a big ring-a-ling

[ingravinoveritas]

| NTAs red carpet 2021 vs. Pride of Britain red carpet, 2023.

#michael sheen #welsh seduction machine #david tennant #soft scottish hipster gigolo #nta awards 2021 #pride of britain 2023 #i just needed to put these two moments side by side #for science #awkward #the difference in Michael is especially noticeable #but AL looks equally uncomfortable #and like she has his hand in a death grip #and in one of the other pics she is recoiling from him #they just do not give 'couple' energy and never have #michael is a talented actor #but he can't hide his true feelings as himself #but i will leave it to my followers to make up their own minds #anna lundberg #discourse

[radarchives]

#obey me nightbringer #solomon #lucifer #one reason more why solomon needs his pact with asmo #he needs at least one equally as delulu person by his side to keep his ego up #everyone else is just mean fr #queuecifer

[blacknidstang]

Actually mak3s me sick how sam & dean BOTH need each other. How sam clings to dean just the same, how he lost his mind when he lost dean and it happened over and over. How even in stupid poorly written late seasons mary, THEIR DAMN MOTHER, tells sam to get some rest and face the reality of losing dean, how much sam got to watch dean die over and over and over and how a comedy episode like Mystery Spot was actually the most honest insight into sam's nightmare of losing dean and how sam himself has his own mind confront him with "you'd do anything to cling to that doomed brother of yours". I don't think there's any part of sam that didnt want to be permanently attached to dean. There's not part of sam that doesnt hold of a piece of dean inside him.

#like sam wants to be his own person #that doesnt change THIS #if i make any sense #sam's struggle to be seen as a person with his own will & on same footing as dean #doesnt change his need to also BE with dean #he just wanted jt to be equal on both sides #spn #sam winchester #sam&dean #you really cant talk about either of them without mentioning the other and this goes for sam too

[chandralia]

“SO BASICALLY THIS KID GETS HIS POWERS BY SAVING HIS CHILDHOOD FRIEND AND FORMS A COMPLEX RIVALRY WITH HIM DESPITE THEIR BAD HISTORY WHICH LEADS THEM TO CONSTANTLY STRIVE TO OUT-DO EACH OTHER IN THE PRESTIGIOUS HERO SCHOOL BUT THEIR OBSESSION WITH THE OTHER NARRATIVELY COMES OFF AS ROMANTIC SINCE THEIR DYNAMIC HAS AN OVERWHELMING AMOUNT OF PARALLELS TO OTHER CANON COUPLES THROUGHOUT HISTORY AND—“

#resisting the urge to tell people I just met that Hori drew them as Godzilla and Mothra who are canonly the King and Queen of the Monsters #that the tarot cards for vol 33 have bkdk standing in The Lovers position #that Deku’s favorite meal is katsudon.. like KATSUKI’S NAME #and that their eyes are complementary colors #Toga’s words of ‘You wanna be the person you love’ when Ochako is asking ‘what would Deku do?’ #ONLY FOR DEKU TO ASK ‘WHAT WOULD KACCHAN DO?’ and constantly mimic him #that the 2nd User used ‘hokan’ when saying ‘The one who can complete Midoriya Izuku now is…’ THEN BAKUGO APPEARING IN THE SKY LIKE AN ANGEL #those official rings that have quotes from characters saying things to Deku but DEKU’S RINGS are something said to Bakugo only #’You looked like you needed saving’ and ‘I spent my life chasing after you’ #that Deku said ‘I can’t imagine a world in which Kacchan doesn’t exist’ in a light novel #and Deku KNOWING Bakugo had a fever just by how he acted and checked by touching his forehead- #only for Bakugo to angrily check DEKU’S forehead later with ‘You’re burning up too idiot’ IN THE TENT FROM ANOTHER LIGHT NOVEL #AND THE FACT THAT couples in mha LOOK LIKE bkdk… Bakugo’s parents resemble them- Shindo and his GF look identical to them- #Toga and Ochako have the sharp eyes/round eyes thing too !! #the fantasy au ending song was WRITTEN for them as said by LiSA herself #‘I imagined what it would be like if Izuku were singing his honest feelings to Katsuki. This is a song dedicated to Katsuki from Izuku’ #and in all the official art from Hori for that au Deku and Bakugo are wielding the same sword from All Might broken right down the middle #*out of breath* ​there’s a million more but bkdk are always shown side-by-side drawn as equals two halves of the same whole #’win to save save to win’ you know??? #I’ve said this already but this story started with them and it will END with them #bkdk #dkbk #bakudeku #dekubaku #:’)

[franeridan]

also the way mihawk up and leaves the moment shanks shows up like "I agreed to fight whitebeard not akagami" biting my fist very hard Very Hard

#the thing about mihawk is that we have always seen him fight only in the first half of the manga #where the scope was smaller and no one had haki and so on #BUT we also know that he's shanks's rival and that shanks considers him his equal #but also that MIHAWK doesn't consider shanks worth his time since he lost an arm #SHANKS #ARGUABLY THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WHOLE MANGA #and he doesn't consider him worth his time!!!!! MIHAWK!!! considers SHANKS!!! BENEATH HIM!!!! #just how fucking strong is mihawk!!!!!!! #JUST!!!!!!! HOW!!!!!!! #but also just how much is he always holding back!!!! is he just playing constantly?? what was he doing in the war anyway!! #he didn't even use haki!!!! he was just there to keep his shichibukai position but what does he need that position for anyway!!! #to just live without being bothered for sure god he's so NGHH #actually he drives me insane #he's there since the beginning of the manga he fights zoro when zoro's but an ant under his boot #but that trips you!!! because he's a god in the middle of children playing pirates so you think he's one of them BUT NO #he is The Strongest Swordsman Worldwide!!! this means that he's stronger than any sword holding character we've seen until now!!!! #and he's just!!! there!!!!! in volume like!!!! ten or something???? #in the middle of the shichibukai luffy goes through when he's just a kid playing??? like he belongs in the weaker side of the manga???? #and then shanks shows up in the war and he's like nah I'm outta here I'm not play fighting my husband for your entertainment #like what??? WHAT??? he really just does things to do things???? #seriously what the fuck is he doing strolling along luffy's course like he isn't an endgame boss who put him in lvl 1 just to lurk #and now he's with crocodile and buggy like luffy didn't do them both in when he had the strength of a particularly annoying chihuahua WHAT #IS DRACULE MIHAWK EVEN DOING!!!

[transsexual-necromutilomaniac]

i have such sick and twisted thoughts about their dymamic

#twd #my art #rickyl #twd art #fanart #daryl dixon #rick grimes #the way both of them are so reliant and devoted to one another #the way they both need each other to stay true to themselves #Daryl's dog like dedication to Rick and how Rick needs Daryl to hold him up when the pressure starts to weigh on him #daryl spending YEARS after the bridge looking for Rick's body.. #Daryl would do anything for his family and do anything for Rick #the way Daryl follows Rick's lead even when he finds it questionable #and the way Rick relies on Daryl to always be by his side.. #oh the dog and master dynamic #but it's so deeper than that too #there is an equal level of dedication and obsession #eugh i fucking love them #sorry I'm so insane over the walking dead and rick and Daryl's relationship

[bellamyblakru]

bro the way merlin’s go-to way to show the people he loves how magic can be beautiful is with fire manipulation,,, im unwell.

#ashley rambles #merlin #bbc merlin #first with freya and the candles #and then arthur with the dragon #both times it ended with death. like how could this kid not associate showing magic equaling dying in his arms. every fucking time he felt #safe enough to show this side they ALL DIE. WILL. HIS DAD. LANCELOT. FREYA. LANCE AGAIN. ARTHUR. THAT ONE DRUID LADY THAT WAS CHILL #also not to mention how ironic it is that fire was his choice when thats the very thing he was taught to fear. everyone he loved also burned #in situations he no doubt blamed himself for. like will died saving arthur and merlin couldnt save him with magic bc of said prince #merlin could only watch as freya died in his arms sobbing that she felt so loved #lance died for him so he didnt sacrifice himself. merlin was more important than anything to lance and he proved it. merlin watched helpless #as lance decided to take his own life and he was powerless to stop him. to tell him goodbye. to tell him he needed him around #i made a post long ago where i said it was ironic fics make merlin afraid of the pyre when he was one of the few not burned in the end #AND ARTHUR. god. a dragon made of flame?? are you kidding?? can u be more symbolic pls. two of them shown in one simple effortless move #fire was probably a comfort to merlin. its real tangible proof of something being created out of nothing. #it burns and it destroys but it also provides a light in the dark. warmth in the cold. #just like magic. just like him. he can hurt others and himself but he also is such a brilliant light to the world. he is sunshine #and butterflies but he is also the storm needed to understand just how lovely the good is #why am i talking bye

[allbuthuman]

i don't get how people who ship dazai with fyodor don't understand that being around fyodor can only harm dazai

yeah it's entertaining to see their 4D chess and all and yeah they're similar in a few ways but fyodor is dazai at his worst. he's similar to the parts of him that he's been trying to act against. why would you want him around someone who only makes it harder for him to stay true to the choice that he still actively tries to make

#and yeah i'm sure there's a part of dazai that at least in the beginning enjoyed having an equal #because in a way it's less lonely for him #but that doesn't mean it's not harmful to his development #like we can see in the latest chapter that he's still trying to adhere to the choice to save people. he's doing it with sigma rn #i'm sure it's still not hard for him to be cruel when he (thinks he) needs to #which can only make me ask further. why would you want him in an environment that encourages that #bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd dazai #bsd fyodor #fyodor dostoyevsky bsd #bsd 105.5 #not directly related to the chapter but ties to the confirmation that dazai still tries to be on the side that saves #and i want him away from fyodor asap #not saying that fyodor is a bad character i just don't want him having that influence

[maegalkarven]

Also there're so many reasons why durge might want to deny Bhaal, aside from general "killing is bad, the god of murder is bad."

Orin betrayed them and it was somewhat from silent approval of Bhaal, so "god betrayed me first" kind of narrative. A desire to get revenge, on Orin AND on Bhaal.

A desire to live. Durge's fate, Durge's Destiny is to literally kill everyone and then themselves. What if they want to live? What if desire to live is stronger than desire to kill?

Alternatively, what if there's someone they don't want to kill? A single person for Durge to care about, a single person they would want to save instead of bloodying father's altar with their blood. A single connection like that is all what it would take.

A desire to break free. Durge can be completely okay with murders, loving murdering people even, reveling in violence. But they're their father's puppet and they could want to break free of it, to have their own will, to have only their voice in their head. To be a master of themselves with no one to kneel to.

The "I'm better than my father" kind of mindset. Durge is made of a flesh of a god, in a sense they ARE god. Bhaal was mortal once. Why would Durge listen to him when they can attempt to overthrow him, to become a new god?

Being compelled to other side. It's not unknown for gods to steal each other's followers/chosen ones. Look at Ketheric, look at Shadowheart. Myrkul is recently chosen-less after the Moonrise Towers. Bane would love to fuck with Bhaal like that. Shar is there. Good gods who would try to redeem Durge or use them against their own father are there. It would be a delightful power move from Selune to offer Durge assistance/ an alliance against Bhaal.

Idk, I just love how multidimensional the defiance of Bhaal can be. I have a lil army of Durges exactly because I can mold them into such different people

#bg3 spoilers #dark urge #the dark urge #bg3 durge #durge #like june is compelled to the other side (selune) while also wanting to live. the desire to live is his main fuel #levi thinks bhaal betrayed him alongside orin AND he believes himself to be equal to bhaal so why would he need his father #when HE can be a god of his own? #also he refused to kill gortash when his father ordered. #ONE person. Why couldn't he have ONE person for himself? He was such a good son #A perfect obedient murder incarnate #He just wanted ONE man for himself #He didn't give a fuck what it was a banite. It was HIS banite. They WORKED together. #Father said Gortash is useful when they just met he said levi should use him #why it's suddenly 'kill bane's chosen'??? #the answer is because levi started to care for gortash way too much for bhaal's liking. bhaal doesn't like when it's not about him it seems

[theres-whump-in-that-nebula]

When British writers come up with an American character’s dialogue and give them the most painfully British things to say with their American accent and inflection and it makes the actor come off as stiff. :P

#The Oxford Murders (2008) #I mean it was a very well-done movie visually (that flowy choreographed camera work in the beginning WOW) #The plot was apparently hard to follow and it’s not just my lack of spoken dialogue comprehension and attention working against me #I always have to check reviews to make sure I’m not the only person having a hard time following a story #because I’ve been trained through life not to trust my own mind due to its faultiness… #Anyway: When Seldom said something like “…only mathematics can be proven. Basic statements like two plus two equals four #are the only things sure in this world” I— 💀 HELP no no no… one of the previous characters you played #would like to kiss this new character of yours on the mouth for what he just said— ashsisksnsksjjsjdjdmsksk #That is until you elaborated on it and then basically took the side of his persecutor… THAT sucked #And I know my speech right now does not come off as naturally as it once did (or is it) I have no idea #if this is my real voice or the absorption’s afterglow causing me to speak in such an uptight manner #but I don’t mind it #but I do mind it #because no matter what combination of words I use it doesn’t sound or feel as if I am the one speaking — I stitch together what I hear #or have I only been conditioned to think the way I speak isn’t natural because nobody in my immediate life speaks like this #Who says stitching together words into a gigantic quilt isn’t natural for me? #But that still leaves me with no soul. I’m Pete the Parrot. Or Bumblebee. #Maybe I shouldn’t speak or write; maybe I need to master visual telepathy #or a language comprised entirely of touch and eye movement #I always feel the need to create languages so I can express myself without falling into cliches and dialects #I want to be free of stereotypes #I’m tired of speaking this language… EXHAUSTED #I speak in predictable patterns and when I think I’m not using a pattern by being unpredictable; the unpredictability becomes a trend

[itspileofgoodthings]

A Jonathan Byers Meta

I’ve been thinking so much about Jonathan Byers and I have some thoughts (again). (Feel free to reblog if you want but please be nice if you do so!) Jonathan is a person whose core trait, one of them at least, is that he responds so strongly to context and specifically to the kind of context he understands and wants, a trait of many oldest siblings I think. And in that context he can be so many things he is not necessarily in every area of his life. So much of that forward moving momentum he has in the first couple episodes of the show where he’s doing so much so powerfully is caused by it being a context he understands and has chosen to embrace and live out to the fullest- the context of him being the most responsible/capable member of the family. He loves Joyce and Will; he hates Lonny and is going to keep him away from his family at all costs; he considers himself the one in charge. And there is a softness and strength to that that feels absolutely luminous, that feels like nothing can shake it. And so as the show goes on and the lens widens to include more characters and perspectives it feels like Jonathan loses power/feels a little lost/drifts out of the center of the story. And for a long time I considered that a failure of the writers. They paid attention to him at the beginning, I thought, but then dropped him and that wasn’t his fault. But I rewatched Stranger things (seasons 1 and 2) this past spring and actually the thing I saw that surprised me is it makes sense on a character level that he loses that central ground and power so to speak because he is put into a context he no longer really understands or just as importantly doesn’t really want to be in. And yeah I’m talking about his dynamic with Nancy. His dynamic with Nancy in those first few seasons confused me the most and for the longest time because it began so powerfully and then felt like it veered off course. I loved it so much, shipped it so completely, and then lost interest as the show goes. And again I blamed that on the writers (in a way I still kind of do because they’re clumsy but more on that in a minute.) But I think there’s more going on on a character level.

The first beats of Nancy and Jonathan’s story feel so powerful because it’s actually part of that same context of compelling power in which we first meet Jonathan (and if you’re me fall in love with him fast). Will is missing and Nancy steps in to not exactly his place in Jonathan’s family but the position he occupied--and that’s because a) she is trying to solve a problem that is connected with Will’s disappearance, b) she needs help while doing so. Jonathan responds to that context effortlessly and powerfully. He joins forces with her and without any question or hesitation takes care of her physically when she’s in danger. It’s surprising and it’s moving and it feels at first like just an extension of that quiet competence and force of personality we witnessed in the first couple episodes but this time in a romantic context. But actually, it still isn’t romantic with him. It isn’t for him for a long time. Basically until the writers force his hand. And that’s because ---and this SHOCKED me when I rewatched the first two seasons a month ago, almost to the point of anger and quitting the show forever--the show never actually succeeds in establishing that he likes Nancy as a person! It’s clear that the writers intend the audience to pick up on that subtext (or I think it’s clear that that’s what they want) but they bungle it badly if so. The actual basic cues that would tell us Jonathan has a crush on Nancy and have us buy it as a believable emotional experience are missing. There isn’t a scene or even a moment where in any way Jonathan expresses any kind of romantic interest in Nancy at the beginning of the show. It’s not part of the establishing his character. His reasons for taking pictures at the party are muddled from the perspective the show is trying to force and it doesn’t work because all Jonathan has done is be vaguely polite to Nancy at school, caught her eye (quite frankly ACCIDENTALLY that one time), and disappeared down the hallway at the speed of light every time she turns around. She was far more intrigued than he was. The show gives us that moment with tears in his eyes where we’re supposed to believe (I think?????) that he’s so upset she’s with Steve but it’s incongruous and feels so weird and jarring you kind of have to throw it out. Because the show hasn’t done any work of telling us why that would be the case at all. No pining gaze! No mention! No conversation! The conversation they have in the hallway doesn’t communicate longing on his part, only a desire to be away from the cool kids. There isn’t even a time where someone else teases him about his crush on Nancy, the easiest way to introduce the fact of one character liking another. It’s not much of a stretch to believe that he hasn’t really thought about Nancy romantically at all. In fact it’s honestly a stretch to think he does. And there other reasons for his being there that make more sense--though I do think it’s bungled from a writing perspective. He misses Will, he’s out looking for Will, photography is his passion (lol), he doesn’t like the cool kids, he stumbles on their party “eh might as well take a picture and be the cool outside observer that he is.”

And because the writers didn’t give us a clear and unambiguous liking of Nancy from Jonathan as a starting point everything that comes after between them, even romantically or romantically-adjacent in that first season, hits differently once you watch it patiently and closely. It becomes clear that all of Jonathan’s care-taking of her is response not to her as a person he is romantically interested in, but response to context, to being the responsible one, the helper. He gets out her sleeping bag and puts it on the floor because he’s really not thinking with any part of his brain about how he’s in the room of the girl he likes. Because he’s not! He’s there as a larger part of the context the show established for him in the first couple episodes--his family, his role as caretaker. And of course that doesn’t mean that Jonathan couldn’t fall in love with her later just because the story never actually established that he liked her romantically when it thinks it does. Of course that could come later, come OUT of their interactions. but .... it doesn’t. It never really comes through. The most powerful part of their story together is the first part because it’s the only time in their relationship where Jonathan is moving with that characteristic firm decision making and competence. He’s very powerful when he’s saving her life. But everything else feels flat. And part of that is because he’s not a person who changes easily or very much at all. There are things about him that feel powerful and real and RIGHT and then there are things that just feel like him doing what the writers want him to do and those aren’t the same. Everything having to do with Nancy romantically feels like the second thing, like something the writers are making them do. The show even has to use Murray to get their romance actually jump-started because these aren’t really characters electrically drawn together. And so some of the stuff he says, the romantic stuff--it’s easy to handwave. And/or to find other reasons. And no this doesn’t have anything to do with shipping bias, though my shipping has been influenced by paying close attention to his behavior and actions. Because despite the power of Charlie Heaton in a gray sweater backlit by the red light of the darkroom with his hair falling over his face, nothing about it hits the way a Jonathan emotion should hit. And it should hit! The right stuff does! He’s brilliantly and truthfully acted and he’s layered and the right Jonathan moments SING. He’s not really a talker, not fundamentally, he doesn’t show his heart that way but in actions and only some of his actions with Nancy, the ones that really are just part of the context he’s comfortable with, really ring true. The point that I’m trying to get at is that when you look at those first few episodes really closely, emotionally there are only really three things that are actually--in character and in truth-- established about Jonathan’s heart. 

They are. One- he loves Will. Will is his person, his world, the center. The one he’s always going to protect first, think about first. Will tells us he doesn’t have friends and Jonathan protests it but that probably came from somewhere. His favorite person in the WORLD is Will. The context of Will’s disappearance highlights that so clearly of course but I think we’d see it even without that. The second thing is that he loves Joyce but he doesn’t particularly trust her judgment, considering himself more of an authority on what this family needs than she does. This establishes a distinguishing quality in him, a pickiness and choosiness and prickliness that is essential. He won’t love blindly and he certainly won’t let just anyone in. (When he says he doesn’t like people we should maybe perhaps believe him and not pass him off as a secret softie.) Joyce is part of his inner circle (I love their relationship a lot actually) but he is not uncritical even of her. This is someone who likes to keep people out because this is someone who doesn’t have endless patience for people and the way they do things. He wants things HIS WAY. His way is domestic and so is the context- he’s frying an egg and it feels so homey and good you want to say he’s a softie and a cinnamon roll- but it comes out of a character who knows what he wants. And the third thing, hilariously enough, is that he hates Steve! Somehow the Duffer brothers DO establish this in a far more convincing way than they establish him liking Nancy. He tells Nancy “he doesn’t like most people” and this is true but Steve is a little bit of an exception in a worse way, as the leader of the popular kids. He’s the figurehead for all that Jonathan dislikes and despises and wants to keep out of his inner circle. The fight that Jonathan and Nancy have in the woods feels far more about his disdain for the cool kids than it does about him really liking her and wanting to rescue her from that. The nerd lecturing the girl who wants to be cool and telling her she’s better than that is a stupid trope and one far less romantic than it thinks it is but because the show has established, intentionally or not, that Jonathan doesn’t really care about Nancy romantically all that comes through in a truthful way is that he doesn’t like popular kids. That emotion, that dislike and almost disdain that lives at Jonathan’s core, is expressed far more authentically than any warmth towards Nancy and it’s so telling that it’s that dislike that collides with the other strongest feeling of his life, loving Will, and leads him to half-killing Steve in the street. The warmest Jonathan ever acts towards Nancy is the warmth of context and the warmth of Will (in his absence) and when those reasons fall away you’re left with something curiously cold. And Jonathan, when he loves, is not a cold person. He’s not a chill person. And so watching him do things like give Will Nancy’s gift to him (a hilarious moment), make Nancy leave out the window (actually very dark and strange considering that Joyce knows they’re sleeping together), literally forget Nancy exists when Will comes back and it’s him and Joyce and Will again, ---you can try to tell yourself that that’s just how he loves. But it isn’t. Because we know his warmth in his hatred and in his loves. And for Nancy it really is just kind of “ehhh.” It’s indifference. 

tl,dr; the show thinks that it’s telling a convincing love triangle for sure. But because they don’t establish liking Nancy as a person as part of his character early enough and because he isn’t a character whose fundamental traits change or change easily they don’t actually build a convincing enough romance. It’s because Jonathan is a person who responds to context, even the wrong one, and because Nancy has her own journey and insecurities to work through (a different meta) they stay together for a long time. But it isn’t satisfying and it doesn’t work because it doesn’t actually strike deep enough in Jonathan’s heart. It’s not a context he really wants at his core. If he falls in love it’ll have to be with someone he wants to allow right into the very center of his life and heart and right now he’s not interested in anyone being in that place except his family. And so because he’s kind of stuck in this situation (of his own choosing, I’m not absolving him of that) because Jonathan likes routine and to keep doing the same things and is not self-motivated in the most powerful way to be able to get out of this romance—-he drifts to the edges and stops really doing anything interesting at all. He starts doing pot, won’t go visit Nancy on her spring break etc. He’s not really the boyfriend he could be in any way because I think fundamentally he doesn’t want to be. And the show may put other words in his mouth about this, I kNOW that the show doesn’t completely agree with everything I’ve written here. But it seems to me the only true way to read him in light of what he actually does and how different it is when he’s acting with his whole heart and when he’s not. 

#jonathan byers #stranger things #thanks for coming to my ted talk #don't know if i should tag this as j/ncy? don't want to clutter the tag #anyway i think charlie heaton knows this and is playing it that way #for reasons unknown #though i always kind of think one of the actors in a love triangle always knows when it isn't really them and withdraws their character #jonathan through charlie heaton's portrayal is not fighting for nancy #as emma said once he simply won't finish the emotional beats that would sell it #he could have had a pining gaze in the car at the end of season 1 but he didn't want to #he could have watched nancy and steve make out with jealous longing but actually he leaves at the speed of light #and it's not HURT that makes him do so. he's just gone #jonathan hates high school and also steve. is indifferent to nancy but will use her for his purposes. and loves will #i'm telling you it is the absolute a) funniest b) tRUEST reading of his character #anyway love triangle stuff always works like this. you simply can't keep three people in a romantic space and expect them all #to be equally invested #it's not going to happen. the magic of storytelling won't actually let it. there is no 'both sides' in love triangles #because romance is a two-way street #one of the three doesn't want to be there! #actually steve is the only one who genuinely loves here. nancy is on a girlboss journey and needs to UNCOVER her love for steve #which right now is just a liking that is very right but hasn't examined #anyway very funny that jonathan would hate steve #very right that steve actually has romance at his center and core #he has no family!!! no context!!!! not even really any friends!!!!!!!! #romance is the lifeline back to goodness for steve. family is that for jonathan but because it's his first context #it's easy to lose and take for granted which is what he HAS done which is why he hasn't really grown. #i love jonathan he needs to get his shit together in season 5. come save will idiot!!!! he needs you #ANYWAY THANKS FOR READING

[gothamcityneedsme]

always sort of a weird moment when the most ic line is a flirt option lmao

#shitpost #when like. my character isn't motivated to flirt per say but. #like. meh. that was the best option though. #100% ic so. i guess he flirted with this guy #also tbh i LOVE rass so im not even mad. my character is liking him more than i was expecting too #he respects him and does find him funny etc. #tavon is great at professionalism but it usually takes more for him to genuinely like someone. He likes Rass and his brother tbh #unlike me. tavon actually does like many mandalorians he meets. Rass Jekaiah and Torian are all pretty high on his list #he likes shae as well but recently has had more of a contentious relationship with her #because she doesn't like that he doesn't always follow her orders... and that he sees her as an equal #and so does she. but it's complicated because they're fellow faction leaders and they're on the same side but like #have different ideas on how some things need to be done. ie. tavon refused to just watch her die because someone was cheating on the duel #the issue is that tavon doesn't give a shit about mandalorian honor so like. any time that is a main motivator #he just gets a bunch of mandos turning on him. lol #its really fun #but as a side note #ME. the player who is not fond of mandalorians (i do find the story interesting though) #but i do genuinely like Rass #Jekiah is also good but i wouldn't say i like him the same way. Mandalorians in positions of power are always going to be iffy to me #because they're in a place to dismantle the harmful systems of their culture #and they uh. largely. don't. #this is why Canderous is the only mandalorian i truly support. #but even with him i have complicated opinions. lol

[someonefantastic]

y’all have no idea just how often I think about Cordelia telling Angelus “I think about this happening every single day” in Eternity because yes she was bluffing and making stuff up for most of her speech to Angelus but also all lies are built upon a kernel of truth and I fully believe that is hers. I mean this is a girl who lived through Angelus’ reign of terror, who watched him torment her friends, mess with Buffy, kill Jenny Calendar, torture Giles, put Willow in the hospital, and attempt to plunge the world into hell. Not to mention the very real and terrifying moment when he looked at everyone she was with, saw the slayer and her two closest friends, and chose to go after her instead. He tackled her to the ground, essentially giving her a real up close and personal experience with and look at Angelus and it so very clearly effected her

Cordelia has very real trauma when it comes to Angelus and that’s something that is alluded to in lots of episodes of ATS and BTVS judging by how often she brings up the curse and/or Angel turning evil, but it’s also something that becomes particularly apparent in Eternity specifically when Cordelia is faced up against the very real possibility of Angelus returning and then later when he does, for the most part, return. She snaps at Wesley when she’s worrying about Angel spending the night with Rebecca Lowell and he tells her not to worry about the curse and tells him “Hey, you weren’t around the last time Angel went mental. I, on the other hand, was on the first wave of the clean-up crew. - He knows perfect happiness, he goes evil. So don’t tell me not to worry.” She shows up to Rebecca Lowell’s place to see Angel and is armed with the most massive cross. And most significantly, she’s genuinely terrified when Angelus does show up. While later on her fight or flight instincts kick in and she manages to distract Angelus long enough to take him down (in such an epic way might I add) that doesn’t change the very real instances before that where she is shaking or near tears or even how she whimpers when Angelus calls her name. At the end of the day she is downright terrified of Angelus because she knows almost first hand what he’s capable of and it’s effected her in so intrinsically that I do not doubt for a second that she thinks about Angel turning every single day or that she keeps a stake stashed in her desk or a cross in her bag

#ats #cordelia chase #angelus #meta #skipps speaks #its also such an interesting dichotomy between her very real trauma in regards to angelus and her equally real desire to help angel #like she recognizes that angel is good and hes trying and she doesnt hold his past against him but shes also ready to take him down if #needed or is there ready to remind him that he should be careful in regards to his soul (which side note this whole thing has some #interesting repercussions particularly in s3 but thats a completely different post) #which frankly her being like that is *exactly* what angel looks for in his friends but also it sucks that she has to have all this trauma #in regards to him (and also in general)

[rockandrolldisgrace]

abt the micheal sheen situation

#btw hes dated sarah silverman before so im not surprised #some people really defend him like 💀 girl hes 54 he does not need defending. he knows better to take time and educate himself #he just doesnt want to #what a fucking dick #ohh 'he stands up for innocent lives' bullshit. who doesnt? its time to choose a side. wishing for peace is the bare fucking minimum #being neutral equals being complicit #even in his original tweet he talked in depth abt how sorry he feels for the isrealis and then half assedly mentioned Palestinians. ??? #is the bar so fucking low?? #yeah sure we should keep standards for celebrities whatever sorry for my standard being not supporting and not being neutral abt a GENOCIDE