#he only invests into one of a kind

[brookheimer]

just love hearing kieran culkin talk about succession/roman because he always talks about, like, the process of it and it’s so interesting — the scenes that are kept, the scenes that are taken out, the choices writers made he didn’t agree with, the choices he made that the writers (originally) didn’t agree with…. always really hammers in not only how collaborative the show is in that input from the actors is taken very seriously but also just how much culkin cares about roman like as a character? which i mean ya know all actors do. but culkin always talks about being a fan of the show first and an actor in it second and i think that’s such a huge thing. like, the way he cares about roman isn’t just as the actor playing him, it’s as a fan of the show — he’s approaching it not just from, like, a This Is My Job angle but also from the perspective of a fan who is just genuinely invested in the character of roman and would feel frustrated if they saw him do something that didn’t feel in-line with his character! kc would hate tumblr just like he hates all social media but he would indeed kill it on here

#i specifically love it bc that’s the exact way i am as an actor. i’m not a bitch to directors bc ultimately it is their project but if my #character does something that just feels unlike them then i say something #which maybe feels obvious but idk in my experience i’m usually one of the only actors to kind of approach it from that kind of angle idk #and to each their own!!! i just get invested in my roles and it feels like a betrayal when i’m made to do something they wouldn’t do like i #just feels Wrong #and i’ve never really heard any professional tv etc actor openly talk ab doing the same thing #like it’s always just oh the directors/writers are great they give lots of lee way but i do what they say etc etc etc but kc’s answers r so #interesting and just really emphasize how like. invested he is in roman. in the same way so many of us losers are #idk not working this well i’m tired #succession #kieran culkin #and also like. how he openly admits when he was making the wrong choice and realized it eventually and it played better doing #it a different way! idk. i just feel like i never see actors talking this candidly about how episodes are actually MADE #like you never hear about the arguments offscreen about what a character should or should not do #but it's so fucking interesting like i could listen to him talk about it all day and night!!!! i wanna know more!!!

[anxiously-sidequesting]

To me personally malistaire is the funniest and most pathetic villain wizard101 has ever had AND I MEAN THAT SINCERELY!!! Between doomed children who have been manipulated, groomed, and isolated into becoming products of their environments, someone scorned who has been punished unfairly by having your biological heart torn out your chest and turning your children and all of reality against you to satiate their own ego, a nonhuman entity so powerful and so clueless they unintentionally threaten the lives of everyone around them, Malistaire FELL DOWN BRO. Like yeah you're bitchless now. You and me both. Get in line. Everyone in this room is bitchless. We are ALL living that ✨💅🏾💃🕺 Single Life™. You are a middle-aged man. Cope

#this post is lighthearted btw JELAJWODJTU i aint actually mad #but like...... malistaire as a villain is kinda mid though im sorry. IM SORRY ill take the L opinion if i have to #its one thing if he lost his wife to unfair systematic negligence or thru someone else's doings or smth but. no she just got sick bro 😐 #HWMSNFLEKSDIDOA EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE I WILL GIVW A BAD OPINION AND THIS IS ONE OF THEM. i cant be right ALL the time /j #like if i dont focus on malistaire's motives and just his ACTIONS he seems super metal #but then he does ALLLLL of that heinous shit because his wife died. like thats absolutely very sad but damn get a grip #(fandom starts breaking in my windows and drags me out into the street) IM SORRY IM SORRY LOOK ITS JUST NOT MY CUP OF TEA #ive never been invested in those Mr. Freeze types of villains where a person they love dies due to normal circumstances- #and they go fucking BERSERK. they LOSE IT. they go like “well okay fuck the entire world i guess nothing matters” and then kill people #LIKE IF IT'S DONE IN A CERTAIN WAY I CAN BE INVESTED but more often than not to me? its just kind of funny #like “okay damn there was only ONE person keeping you from being a national criminal? okay” #and you know what? thats a mood actually. thats a mood #without my cat i probanly would have become the president by now #for some reason its a little diff for me if its like a child you lost and idk why #like if malistaire lost a kid instead of his wife id probably be more inclined to feel bad and thats terribly fucked up JSLSJSJSJ #you know what its also bias because in some shape or form i relate to all the other villains. morganthe and duncan especially #whereas in malitsaire's case i have never been married. which i mean doesnt stop me from tryna be more synpathetic i guess but im just not #ONCE AGAIN FEEL VERY BAD FOR HIM AND SULVIA. like losing someone to sickness or any reason really is a serious thing #but in terms of a fictional setting with fictional characters where one of them decides to commit genocide over it? 🧍 like okay boo u do u #i will gladly give up my mantle for the “most reasonable opinions” guy in the fandom foe this one. i deserve it #wizard101 #w101 #wiz101 #text posts #malistaire drake

[moe-broey]

Seer's Snare team (they're lost.)

#fire emblem #I LOST MY. I LOST MY FUCKINGB MAROON COLORED PENCIL I ALWAYS USE FOR ALFONSE‼️‼️‼️‼️ #unbelievable. #i did have this all sketched/colored final stages amd then. category 9 lost my colored pencil incident #i was SO UPSET HAHAHAHA #anyways w all the fuckinh blondes i collect it is fun to see how i can differentiate them #celine. celine i love you. i even love your bigass outrageous dress. i EVEN love the funky lacey details. #BUT DEAR FUCKING LORD‼️‼️‼️ GIRL WHY ARE YOU SO DRESS‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ #fe alfonse #fe celine #fe takumi #fe xane #also xane was kind of useless. btw. i'm not even sure why he's one of my most heavily built/invested units #AND he excelled the last seer's snare. no fuckinh clue what happened there esp cause like. #i'm not reading all that. (all the info about like. the specific seers snare seal enemies get) #if i had to guess maybe the issue is in there. #celine is FANTASTIC for seers snare though next time i'm considering not even bringing a healer #literally only having xane heal just to give him something to do. just along for the ride. #my art

[hazeism]

I also want to talk about Daneel's 5d gender : ) (ft. some misc Baley in Trantor considerations that aren't worth explaining here)

#the last three are vaguely based on something i've written (the blue one is a direct scene really but I don't know if it'll ever crystallize #into a finished fic because it's kind of really involved but I did really like the scene. I'm trying though) #anyway i've seen so little of the TV show and while it's fun I'm not super invested though there are some elements I'm interested in #but mostly I was mad about David Goyer's monopoly on Daneel gender politics. they should let me do it. I'd be so good at Daneel gender poli #Eto Demerzel #my Demerzel is here also because I thought they'd be funny. if they interacted. Daneel pluralization is literally normal #TVzel would be the only person who could interrogate bookzel as the shrine (to Elijah ofc) that he really is lmfao. so obvious. #Asimov Chronology #this doesn't really correspond to any of the books particularly #R. Daneel Olivaw #doodle #queue #visual #those are all the indexing tags this needs I think #oh yes #Elijah Baley #my design for him changes every day don't look too hard okay

[raytorosaurus]

also as a random side note am i really seeing people acting like founding and running an nft business is anywhere on the same level as some bitcoin investment skdkfjdjsnd c'mon now

#'don't get too emotionally invested' goes both ways like. people with different life experiences do different things that we disagree with! #i just feel like some things are worthy of a 'jeez that's disappointing what an idiot' and it can be largely left at that idk #just weird seeing multiple people on twitter calling ray 'the most/only problematic one in mcr bc of bitcoin' #when in 2020 people went way too far in the opposite direction acting like he was some kind of leftst icon KDKDFKD #anyway goodnite :/

[perpetuallyfive]

I thought fully catching up to One Piece would make me feel a little less obsessed, but it's somehow made it worse. I know I'm over a quarter of a century late, but oh man do I have it bad now.

Why does a part of me want to start a reread?

#reading those first few hundred chapters that introduce characters so fast i couldn't be bothered to remember them all #only for them to become SO IMPORTANT and meaningful to me later #getting emotionally attached to the entire dumb world #something about the tenderness and care oda puts into the world building #like obviously all writers are working with original creations but the way even his minor background characters #often turn out to have a whole backstory you learn about hundreds of chapters later #is so great #supposedly he's been working on this world since he was a kid right and inventing and investing in all of these characters #and it really is the feel of someone sharing all their most beloved ocs with you #and you don't even realize that this or that character IS one of those truly beloved ones for a while #it's patience but it's also so much LOVE #letting them exist like they're real and not just devices used in the narrative #revealing them slowly over time - over the span of YEARS - instead of making them all throw aways #i guess he's kind of actually a genius #one piece

[nerdynikki94]

Honestly? Did I want more from DTAMHD? Yes, I did. I wanted something signifying actual progression for Dennis' character (even just a crumb of genuine growth) , and I sincerely don't think we got that. However... we did get a fascinating insight into the process of his mind. Dennis' level of self-denial is so ironic and profound. He can't acknowledge the inevitability that he's middle-aged.

(I swear this episode honestly has given me an alt hc, that the show is based in his mind; because logistically, a man of his lifestyle and malnourishment could not commit the feats he is constantly sailing through. TGGB & DTAMHD... back-to-back? What happened to his hand? Did he even sprain it? Or is he just the most dramatic brat in the gang - clearly the latter.)

It is important to note that he didn’t fix the actual problem. He momentarily masked the symptoms, but ignore long-term help with blood pressure medicine is not going to fix the issue, nor is it going to protect him from fucking keeling over in a stressful situation (when he's not in a contained and quiet Doctor's exam room) and his blood pressure spikes.

I'm honestly a little jaded at this point (16 Fucking Seasons of crumbs, y'all), but if one were to continue 'trusting the structure' this episode conveyed a lot.

The B Plot: The pressure cooker. The metaphor parallels the building pressure Dennis quick-tempered bouts of rage. So, to toss out a little 'cat-in-the-wall' conjecture here: The pressure cooker is Dennis, but we all saw him eat that bloody diamond in the end and we all heard Mac's speech about coal turning into diamonds under massive pressure. Dennis' experience is a theory of pressure, he daydreams it all in the span of a minute or so. He's roleplaying with hypothetical obstacles. There's no risk. Maybe Dennis, isn't the pressure cooker, but the coal.

If I were to try and take anything hopeful out of this episode, it would be the way the narrative is showing us that this episode acknowledged that Dennis isn't ready yet. It's not his turn to break. It's going to take real, substantial pressure to get that diamond.

It was a hell of a misdirect (and honestly a little bit of a slap in the face), but if these characters live in the real world, where people are bound by the laws of mortality, then Dennis should have his time.

Genuinely, who fucking knows?

I'm not hating on the episode. We all know this is the trashy dick joke sitcom. I just thought that if Mac & Charlie could have moments of genuine heartbreak, culminating in deep catharsis, that maybe Dennis could have that too.... but no.

Can't wait to see the sunny dudebros miss the point & proclaim Dennis Reynolds - SA victim, traumatized individual with an emotionally tumultuous personality disorder - the new Andrew Tate.

I'm sorry, but yeah. I'm a little miffed. It was all a dream, and everything goes Dennis' way. Y'all I'm fucking tired. This was a great episode for Glenn, but a fucking frustrating episode for Dennis. I may have wanted a little macden, but all I cared about was seeing Dennis face the limitations of his mortality, to see that he's failing his body and his brain. He didn't have to actually take the medicine (I wouldn't expect him to), but Goddammit, everything seems to work out in his delusional favor. So, of course he's going to continue being delusional, and probably only change for the worse.

I'll say it: I wanted a broken Dennis, and we did not get that. He didn't even crack, the unbearble and apparently now canonical Golden God. That episode's title was intended to tease sunnyblr.

Excuse the plethora of tags. I just kept getting more irritated.

#what i take from the episode is further insight to the lengths of Dennis' repression which adds to my fic #iasip s16 #i will say this: i can't dislike this episode solely because of how phenomenal glennjamin's performance was. #I'd say I'm retracting the title of macden 'truther'. I'm still a stan. but this ep made me realize dennis is too coddled by the narrative #with TGGB he's constantly winning. even the game he doesn't stay to watch the end of. his body performing near miracles. wtf #the real reason I'm seriously bothered is the sunny dudebros. they already idolize dennis #this ep has only made it worse because the obvious point of Dennis' actual delusions will go right over their heads. #anybody with a grounded sense of reality can tell you that dennis did not solve a problem #he dreamt up a scenario in some kind of toxic meditation session. he's getting older. and his denial is metastasizing #Dennis' denial isn't sustainable. I'm kind of cutting off my investment in that regard. he's a fucking mess & he's currently being idolized #dennis reynolds #definitely not my favorite episode. not bc of lack of macden. a little bc Den needs limitations. mainly bc 'it was all a dream' is cheap #ranting.excuse me for wanting 1 of my fave characts actually have his poor health.self-destructive coping mechanism/trauma acknowledged #can't believe i was actually afraid i wouldn't be able to write because too much might happen in DTAMHD...! 🤣 #it should've all happened. but instead ended w/him getting charges pressed when he tried to break into ceo's home #ngl. this one hurt. I'm ready for Mac to give up on Dennis. i just wish this fucking show would let him. #excuse me while i go bawl like a baby watching MFHP. because I'm heartbroken that Dennis' BPD makes him push Mac away. #let's just say that realization has been bogging me down in my personal life the last couple of days. & this bummed me out. #Robert McElhenney. I'm outside the studio screaming at you to just let Mac move on & actually meet someone! #I'm not saying he deserves a relationship. but fuck... after 40 yrs of repression can he at least have a fling & fall out of love w/Den? #Dennis won't ever let him meet someone. & he'll never treat Mac like he actually cares about him.bc his own vulnerability terrifies him.😭

[stephantom]

From Richard Burton’s diary, September 23, 1980:

I only knew by chance that [Peter O’Toole] had taken such a terrible hammering – a front-page hammering – from the British critics for his performance in Macbeth. I knew only because Onllwyn Brace came to supervise my narration in the documentary film about Welsh rugby football. ‘Your pal O'Toole,’ he said, ‘has been murdered by the English critics.’ ‘For what?’ asked I. ‘For Macbeth,’ said he. I phoned Peter that night as soon as the hours were right and managed to catch him before he'd left the Old Vic. I said, ‘a couple of boys from the BBC were over today to record my voice and they told me you've had a bit of stick from the critics.’ ‘Yes.’ ‘How are the houses?’ I asked. ‘Packed.’ ‘Then remember this my boy,’ I said (he is 4 years younger), ‘you are the most original actor to come out of Britain since the war and fuck the critics.’ ‘Thank you.’ ‘Think of every four letter obscenity, six, eight ten and twelve letter expletives and ram it right up their envious arses in which,’ I said, paraphrasing Robert Atkins, ‘I'm sure there is ample room.‘ ‘Thank you.’ ‘Good night Peter. Don't give in and I love you.’ ‘I won't and it's mutual.’ ‘Good night again.’ ‘Good night Richard and thank you.’

That was the extent of our conversation but my fury at the critics took me through the night – another sleepless one – and I thought of all the things I should have said to Peter and didn't and thought I should write him a letter and didn't and prayed to God I hadn't sounded like a false sympathizer secretly rejoicing in his critical debacle. But no, I comforted myself, he knows I too have been through the fire and understand.

#richard burton #peter o'toole #richard burton’s diary #it’s just so sweet?? lmao #I have now perused a good chunk of Burton’s diary (it’s online) and this is one of only 3 days he talks about o’toole but it’s so kind #also: richard was almost 8 years older not 4 lol #maybe it’s a typo or a misprint or maybe richard forgot or never knew peter’s actual age lol #as someone who become invested in their friendship for no reason except their on screen chemistry in one movie… #this was almost like an unbelievable thing to read #and I know #they were very much just two guys. who were in many ways assholes. but I like their stories. so. what can I say. #peter and richard

[vulpinesaint]

absolutely unreasonable over this coworker that i rlly like rn. thank god i don't like men or i would have fucking Lost it by now! as it is i don't even know what has me so dkfjghsdf about him i'm just sitting there with my head in my hands going "he's so normal about trans people..."

#he's a like. fr nerd guy which i don't know if i have a value judgment for but! it gets me points cause i can pull out nerd shit too #thought he was Significantly older than me but he is only four years older than me and not the estimated six. so it's not that bad #once i'm twenty in like three months it really will not be that weird for me to be friends with people in their twenties. #YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS. HE'S NOT NERDY HE'S GEEKY. DIFFERENT VIBE BUT DEFINITELY MORE LIKE ME #like. ordered a working spiderman mask online but also likes my alt radio station. y'know #and he wants to be my friend too!!! we talk nd have similar senses of humor #and he says hi + bye to me every time he sees me AND says my name every time which i think is a like. positive sign #when people take the time to say 'hi [name]!' i think that's a like. 'i'm invested in being friendly with you' thing #AND AGAIN!!! HEAD IN MY HANDS!!!! HE'S SO NORMAL ABOUT TRANS PEOPLE!!!!!! #went 'wow. it's the ignorance' when one of the kids asked about my dead name (kid obviously did not know what being trans entailed) #and when i went 'i mean adults ask me that too' he went 'what??? fr??? people are so uneducated :/' like a little disgusted ab it #which. dude. what a fucking world. so normal about trans people that like. not being normal about trans people is a foreign concept #not EVEN transphobia just not being educated on what's decent to ask a trans person!!! NOBODY knows that stuff!!!! #except for skye my best friend skye apparently. this dude is so fucking normal about trans people #laughs at my jokes about being trans!!! consistently!!!!! is rlly cool about it!!!!!!! #made a joke about using my dual citizenship to go check on the girls who were taking a really long time in the bathroom #and he found it as funny as i did and like. that's a kind of joke u'd usually have to share with other trans/queer people... idk... #would also make that joke with my coworker who is gay. but he's also really chill about me being trans haha #anywayyyyyy i don't know if he's queer or anything (strikes me as straight) but it's. god. world-changing #AND HE HAS A GIRLFRIEND. WHO HE TALKS ABOUT A NORMAL AMOUNT. VERY POSITIVE THING #so i don't have to worry about things being weird at all :D #and he knows for sure i'm 19 and is chill about it. which. i was the only one making that a big deal but it's a relief all the same haha #asked how old i was (talking about graduating from college in a year nd a half) and gave me a FIST BUMP when i told him. #A FIST BUMP. WHO DOES THAT. #straight people. that's who. guys who are just guys. #guys who make me go 'oh so i DO want guy friends who are my friends in a 'we're both guys' way. those other guys just suck' #which i don't really want but ALSO. he's normal about trans people! so he recognizes me as a guy no matter what i look/sound like!! #my like. supervisor's supervisor made a joke about him being childish and like. girl. #idc frankly that's skye my best friend skye you can't tell me shit about him we listened to the radio while driving the kids to the beach #valentine notes

[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

[theheadlessgroom]

@beatingheart-bride

"I, uh...I'd love to go to California," Randall smiled, having been particularly intrigued by her account of the Golden State-even from this small recollection, he found himself a little excited at the thought of visiting. He never was a big fan of the cold, and so a warm state full of lush greenery and beautiful sights sounded right up his alley.

"I wouldn't mind visiting Los Angeles, seeing the Walk of Fame in real life," he continued shyly. "Getting to tour the Hollywood backlots, maybe even see how movies are made...it sounds so exciting to me. I'd love to go to some of the film museums, and get to see the costumes and props up close..."

Maybe it was because of where he worked, but Randall had an affinity for great costumes-they said "clothes make the man", and that certainly applied to any number of characters on the silver screen, their outfits making them just as memorable as the actors who donned them. He had tried to study them as best he could in his film magazines, but to see them up close and personal? That would be even better.

"I mean, to see Scarlett O'Hara's gowns from Gone With The Wind, or Holly Golightly's dress from Breakfast at Tiffany's," he grinned a little at the thought. "That would be a thrill in its own right, but...to see something like the Red Death costume from Phantom of the Opera, or Dracula's cape? Oh...that would be incredible!"

#((it was a wonderfully appropriate name for him; he was our little vampire!)) #((and oof; i'm sorry you didn't enjoy the movie-the one movie you go to turns out to be one you don't enjoy)) #((nor did you have any investment in because you hadn't read the book when you were a kid!)) #((had your ex read it; and that's why you went?)) #((it sounds like such a surreal experience; reminds me of being the only one watching the second 'goosebumps' movie)) #((in the theater-i thought a gal who had a couple of little kids in tow would be seeing it too)) #((but she took them into the 2018 'halloween' instead-now THAT was a surreal sight!)) #((still; if you can hit up a mcmenamins; i recommend doing so; the food is really excellent)) #((and the restaurants; hotels; and theaters are always very beautiful and dreamy!)) #((it was kind of the perfect place to see 'wonka'; that was the last movie i went to see; on christmas eve no less!)) #((it wasn't the best movie i'd ever seen but i still had fun; especially at the grand lodge!)) #((also: sorry this is so late!)) #outofhatboxes #beatingheart-bride #V:Dark Shadows

[langernameohnebedeutung]

*Then the Spirit led Jesus up into the wilderness so that the devil might tempt him. After Jesus had fasted for 40 days and forty nights, he was starving.

Matthew 4:1-2

aka: Blaine + 😈

#izombie #fandom #1) Liv telling Ravi 'what does he have to do...' means so much to me you don't even get it. Ravi I love you #he's such a 'human's rights are for the worst of us not just the best of us' kind of guy #2) for context the third one on the right was at least as much about Liv promising she would stop talking about Peyton and Blaine #as about Peyton and Blaine. But considering the whole fake amnesia thing it was pretty prophetic all things considered #3) I really thing it's interesting that with Angus (and maybe also Blaine's grandfather) being so invested in ancient Greek stuff #Blaine either doesn't know much about it or acts like he doesn't (since it's usually Angus bringing that stuff up it does make sense) #but he does know niche bible stuff like the 40 days in the wilderness reference. Which is pretty specific. #especially since his family doesn't seem religious before Angus went full on religious nut in season 4 #in fact season 4 confirms that he also used to be very disinterested in all things faith and Bader tried to get him to go to church #and then you realise SHE's a religious hardliner and Blaine's whole hate for the bible while still being able to quote stuff from it ::)) #and his seeming lack of familiarity with the stuff his father is obsessed with. all takes on a whole different interpretation. #also 4) Major you're tunnel brothers with Blaine too. Pretty sure the only central male character on the show who dodged that is Clive

[starsandthorn]

read through all of neuvillette's stories on the wiki and. what do you MEAN people were right about him giving furina her vision

#personal stuff #delete later #KIND OF. sort of. #man i love getting vision and celestia lore like AUGH. gnaws on it forever #but yea really interesting to me. neuvillette has the power and authority that the hydro throne had #so he can portion off bits of his power and hand them out in the form of visions like the heavens did #the WORDING is really interesting to me though. like specifically talking about the Heavens and the Seven Archons #like this implies that the Thrones in celestia are responsible for handing out visions instead of the individual gods #which we already knew from ei's voiceline about electro visions not getting handed out. what was up with that btw #CANNOT wait for snezhnaya where we find out what the hell a gnosis actually is and does and why the fatui's collecting them #if they seemingly have no influence on an archon's authority or seat in celestia and only act as a connection to the heavens #like the hydro throne is gone. it's super gone. but the hydro gnosis is still. around. and apparently performing whatever task gnoses do #for arlecchino to still. want it. #also all of the archons being so flippant about their gnoses. do they know they're made from some dead guy's corpse do you think #venti didn't fight back when his was being taken zhongli and nahida traded theirs and ei literally just didn't care #god. REALLY interesting. also the line near the end of his ''vision'' story abt vision holders is so fucking ominous #''and when one so gifted completed their duty...the gift the gods would receive in return would be more abundant still'' #HUH. EXCUSE ME. #like. allogenes as investments for elemental power? is that what we're getting at? #still wondering what the hell happened to vennessa. can we get some information on what ascending to celestia means. please

[killajust]

binghe's fandom is very committed

#not me tho id sell him to satan for one corn chip at this point #i REALLY need to reread sv to rekindle whatever affection i have for him kfjskjf #i always say the only one i care about is the one in my head and like #i wish it werent true but the more time i spend outside the source #and inside the fandom w everyone's takes n shit the less i like him #this makes me sad. i wanna go back #unfortunately tho i think they are correct and im in the wrong here #i very much do not belong in this fandom fkjgsfjk #i love all mxtx's characters equally! (2 seconds later) i don't care for binghe #but i want to. so maybe id better give him another chance when the time comes #he wont ever have any kind of grip on me like song lan does (has 2 lines and is dead the whole fucking time) #but i'm not asking for that either #like i WOULD like him probably if he didnt have the ONE trait i cannot stand #which is the one thing everyone loves him for #and which sadly defines his entire character #so ALAS! #all i want for him is the ability to form meaningful bonds with more than one person #but since everyone is so invested in his obsession with that saultry little binch in the bottom lsft #i am alone in this probably. nobody cares if he has 0 friends #all he needs is his guy. #its not for me it doesnt tickle my brain good #im on a roll today i just need to get this OUT somewhere safe or i will go literally insane #so much shit has been bubbling up in me is2g #the reason lwj is number one mxtx ML champion for me is bc he actually gives a fuck about people outside of wwx #even xue yang shows a little more goddamn social instinct #<- cannot go two seconds without mentioning xue yang #nah but real. the thing that stuck out to me for sv was the like. i guess reveal #like 'your mother did love you' kind of deal w/e that was memory is fuzzy #and that meaning something. #that + him kinda waiting on the outskirts for sqq to come to him had me thinking maybe there was room for development

[ananas-pineapple-thing]

u know i’m not sure if it’s because i read the series pretty young but i never got into percabeth even though i like their characters and enjoyed the narrative of them growing up and getting together !🫣 i think it works for the story but i don’t have any strong feelings abt it

#the shark is 2 soften the blow. in fact the shark is saying this not me he is speaking thru me. i am merely a vessel #i do not have a single pjo ship. the characters get together and i go ah. that makes sense <3 #actually wait sometimes i say no <3 hashtag free leo from rr and hazel too #also. i will die on the hill that jason/leo works better than their canon ships #apparently i do have opinions 😳 #i do think percabeth is super cute but i think reading it back when romance in books kind of annoyed me made me not get the hype #like if i had the patience to reread the first series now i would probably be a lot more into it #i think i was more invested in the trio than in their individual relationships with each other #grover percy and annabeth was soooo cuuuute i miss them #also seeing people hate rachel for being a girl with a crush made me super annoyed! she’s just existing omg 😭 #i kinda made me :/ at the percabeth shippers for a bit #annabeth was so rude in that situation and she was supposed to be! she’s growing up and trying 2 be her best self but she has flaws too #she has a lot of flaws and that makes her interesting but not Correct #tbh percabeth was the only option story wise but i don’t think rachel/percy is an extremely offensive concept #i do recognize that the way her character was treated is a product of That Time when it was cooler to hate girls 🥲 #i hope she’ll get a lot more love in the new show and people will acknowledge her as more than a home wrecker or whatever #🎵​that one sabrina carpenter song i watched in target🎵 #(all because i liked a boy or smth?) #yo that song looks so funny because her background dancers are almost all woc #which is good great excellent But idk it looks hilarious when these girls are kicking and bullying the cute white blonde girl 😭😭 #obviously i feel for her but the visual of it is unintentionally hilarious #if you read my tags you may be entitled to financial compensation #i talked enough on tumblr for today byeee

[themostop]

WHAT THE HECK IS ICEDEVIMON’S VOICE!?!?!? WHY DOES HE SOUND LIKE HES DOING A TERRIBLE CHRISTOPHER WALKENS IMPRESSION!?!!? I’m laughing so much. I cannot take this dude seriously. What the heck is this show

#digimon frontier #ice ice baby #icedevimon #btw in case anyone was wondering #I only started making these because I wasn’t enjoying the show #and this made it more fun for me #but then the show actually started getting good so I started wanting to actually just watch the show #but I just had to make another one for this #(honestly this whole arc has been kind of underwhelming considering they’re fighting who I supposedly the big bad. #still I’m invested at this point and the parts before this arc were good. #knowing Digimon they’re probably gunna pull something where Cherubimon isn’t the real bad guy #and he’s really just consumed by the power of darkness and then they’ll have to fight like the concept of betrayal or something. #but that’s why I love this franchise so I’m here for it #it’s just a shame that there probably won’t be anything better than Tamers #)