#how's it affect the actual narrative

[lunar-years]

It's interesting that when Keeley is telling Ted about the implications of that photo of him and her leaking to The Sun, she says "Jamie is going to go mental" but it's not followed up with "he's going to think i cheated on him" or "he's going to break up with me" or "it's going to ruin our relationship" it's instead followed up by, "there's going to be photographers all over us!" And later when she's talking to Rebecca it's, "My god, Jamie would've been so pissed off with reporters poking around in our love life." There's something to be said for like, she never once expresses doubt that Jamie won't hear her out on the truth or believe what she tells him. The major focus of her concern is just keeping their business out of the press. Their relationship in season one is far from perfect but there's a lot of implicit trust between them.

#i also think this also has implications on the Bex of it all. #like...i don't think any of keeley's anger stems from thinking Jamie cheated on her. #instead it comes from Jamie breaking their mutual trust #he made a stupid decision without consulting her and was only worried about how it would affect HIS image #meanwhile him bringing bex could have easily made it to the press and painted the narrative that he's a cheater and keeley's the victim #she has the courtesy to respect and protect jamie's image in their publicity but he doesn't show the same courtesy for him #obvs rebecca is clearly warning keeley under the assumption that Jamie is cheating on her #but not only do i think we as the audience are supposed to get that isn't what's actually happening #i also think KEELEY gets right away that that isn't what's actually happening #it doesn't make her any less angry but it does change the shape of her anger #anyway #jamiekeeley #ted lasso #keeley jones #jamie tartt

[grishaverse-chaos]

hmmm something about dominik haunting the narrative in king of scars. everything nikolai does is at least a little bit for him. he learns about the life of average ravkan people by meeting dominik's family. he starts gaining influence in politics just so he can improve dominik's life. and then he promises dominik that he won't let ravka break him.

that promise fucking haunts him. it follows him wherever he goes. it's the driving force behind everything he does, every step he takes to heal the centuries-old wounds in ravka. it's what drives him to do better, be better.

dominik is always there, in the back of his mind: this country gets you in the end. always pushing him to do more, because he couldn't save dominik and so he has to save ravka (for dominik) (because he promised) (because he loved him)

#my spicy hot take is that nikolai's relationship with dominik actually affects the narrative of the duology more than - #- his relationship with zoya does #you could argue that *none* of the events of the duology would have happened without dominik's influence #and honestly zoyalai as a relationship doesn't really affect the narrative/plotline all that much #which is One of the problems i have with it being endgame #anyway yes i am writing an angsty nikolai backstory fic why do you ask? #it's mostly about how he reinvents himself at every minor inconvenience (but also how incredibly fucked up his childhood was) #and if i have the energy it might turn into a rewrite of the ending of rule of wolves #bc him giving up the throne just plays into that pattern of running away #so honestly i think it's not a great ending in terms of his arc and character development #this may just be a me thing idk but i just feel like he doesn't actually get that much development in the duology #bc there's this idea of him as being Perfect and Invulnerable and Not Affected By His Trauma #which. is not the case. #it's all very dear reader (taylor swift) imo #ANYWAY #mayhem.txt #mayhem grishaverse originals #nikolai lantsov #shadow and bone #king of scars #grishaverse

[ricegay]

i do not have the time or energy to engage w people who think the handmaiden is a male gaze film we’ve been having this same conversation for like 8 yearssss they simply do not have any media literacy skills or reading comprehension skills

if you can’t tell the difference between a male gaze film and a film examining the male gaze and its’ effect on lesbians just because there are explicit scenes showing lesbian love/sex/pleasure then like... just go back to watching gay media that is pg and made for teens and/or straight ppl and sanitised to hell and back

#like... you do know that lesbians have sex right?... and there's not necessarily anything wrong w showing that in media? #+ the sex scenes actually have narrative purpose! #they're supposed to make you think about how the male gaze affects lesbians and our desires and how we escape it #the handmaiden #⭐

[neolxzr]

you do see my point though, I was saying that yes a piece of media can have a character imply they are queer, but it’s frustrating when they won’t explicitly confirm such, because of (in the case of… checks app store purchase statistics…. A multi million dollar game franchise!) the need to market to as many people as possible. Shumika will never be “canon” because some people just don’t like shumika and won’t spend money on the game if shu and mika are in a relationship, whether or not that’s because they like the ship or the characters or are genuinely homophobic or whatnot. If the writing team cared about telling a love story, they would tell a love story, not go “well maybe they’re in love, it’s up to viewer interpretation!” like this works, sometimes it adds to the meaning of the work, but enstars really doesn’t have an excuse for their constant “this character might have feelings for this other character, but we’ll never have them say it out loud!” except the fact it makes them a lot of money, since they can market to people who like a character being the way they want that character to be, whether that’s with that character being in love with another in game character or self-shipping or whatever else. Outside of shipping, this is why some characters like Shinobu haven’t changed despite wanting to change (he continuously talks about how he wants to be more mature and taken seriously but his cards continue to make him look small and cute because his fans like that about him and god forbid we change anything!) I just think enstars should not be your first thought when someone asks you about a good piece of queer media because they’re doing just about the same job as large cast games with characters of the same gender (minus Arashi) who continue to have characters go “we’ll do all these things to imply we could be in love, but we’ll never have our characters actually date! teehee!”

i can understand being frustrated about your ships not being "confirmed", but the obsession with what is "canon" and "not canon" is just straight up not a very interesting discussion to have. what happyele's or the writers' agenda is is not of particular importance to me. one of the first things they teach you in classes about media analysis is that once a work is out there, the intentions of the creator no longer matter. the only thing that matters in your analysis is your own thoughts and the way you interpret a text.

if we were having a conversation about how much the creator of something sucks, then sure, talk about that all you want, but i am specifically referring to discussions about the piece of media and these characters and their relationships and their growth and the themes of the work etc. those things are removed from whether or not the company writes the way they do because of profit motives or whatever. companies make money, that's just what to expect. if you want art that is free of profit motives, read something by an independent creator.

even so, it feels strange to place enstars into the bucket of "stuff that should be gayer but the bad company that makes it wont let it be" because the characters ARE so very openly queer. there are so many instances in it where characters pour their heart out to each other or offer themselves to another character in beautiful and poetic ways, and i think it's wrong to claim it doesn't count because they didn't confirm their relationship status at the end of it. if you ask me, there is absolutely no way to interpret enstars in a way completely free of queerness. there is so much explicitly queer text that ignoring it is just plain incorrect. but, if homophobic people like this game and choose to look the other way at all of the gay shit, again, that is not my problem.

why is canonization the only thing that matters? is a shitty BL with awful writing better and more worthwhile than enstars as a queer narrative because the characters had explicit gay sex on screen? are poorly written gay characters in the background of other media with nothing going on more worth talking about than shumika or wataei or rinniki or whoever else just because they say the words 'i'm gay' out loud?

queerness is so much more than all of that. it is so much more than labels and it is so much more than relationships that are easy to understand. it is so much more than the extremely narrow view of it that the internet has concocted about it over the last few years, where you’re only allowed to talk about queerness if you yourself are openly queer and out of the closet, and even then you’re only allowed to make art that makes for “good representation.” that is just so incredibly limiting. i would rather tons of companies who are trying to profit off fujoshis make vaguely gay media with unconfirmed romances and relationships that aren't easily defined by labels than have less queer art in the world.

more queer art means more queer people who will find something to really connect to. more queer art means telling more queer stories. why should who is allowed to write lgbtq media be limited? why should the kind of media people are allowed to make be limited?

its fine to criticize happyelements if youre unsatisfied with the way they do things, im not always 100% in love with everything they do either. i wouldn't even consider enstars to be the worlds' best example of a queer piece of media. but no one is forcing you to like or engage with it or give the company money if you're unhappy with how they write and market their game. they don't owe anyone explicit confirmation that any of their characters are dating, and it doesn't even matter if they do provide that confirmation or not.

regardless of who made it or for what reason, queer stories are worth talking about, "canon" or not.

#cryn answers #anon #enstars #listen i dont want to be mean to you anon but this is very much just an extended version of the first ask you sent me #i will leave anon on but im not going to make another post like this ive more than said my piece already #also sorry i guess for not getting into the shinobu character growth part of this ask? #it was just. so far off from the topic of conversation #this isnt even getting into the cultural differences between the west and japan and how that affects the way companies make things #but again thats a different conversation #anyway #fun fact me and my girlfriend started talking more partially because of shumika #so if that doesnt make them a good queer narrative idk what does man!! #they certainly resonate with lesbians somehow!!! #if anyone actually read this far hi!! you are so strong #media analysis

[aro-culture-is]

Aro culture is being sick of "They aren't dating anyone so they must be gay/a lesbian!"

Nothing against people headcanoning characters as gay or lesbian (I'm arospec ace and gay) but like. Aromanticism exists too.

(This was brought on by seeing a slide in a PowerPoint in my English Lit lesson today (13th March), I didn't see it fully since the teacher was just skipping over it quickly to check some other context stuff but it said something about how in the book we're studying, Jekyll and Hyde, none of the major characters are in romantic relationships and therefore it's possible that they could be gay. I might bring up that they could also be aro when my teacher brings it up?)

.

#aro culture is #aro #aromantic #actually aro #actually aromantic #ask #mod phoenix #also like... contextually how can that be interpreted through the historical/cultural lens of the era? #how might a romantic/sexual relationship have affected the story? #like ngl i also HATE the way that there's an assumption that if a person has dated someone of [some gender] they MUST be attracted to them #like even if the major characters were in a romo/sexual relationship: #does that actually mean they are exclusively attracted to that gender? is it not possible that - for example - they're a- or m-spec? #or even: what if they aren't romo/sexually attracted to them? what if we are meant to interpret that attraction as misunderstood? #or as forced upon them by a narrative?

[jennycalendar]

i think more people should give women a tragic backstory and a dead husband fridged for the sake of her character growth. this is why i am really into the way they handled nate in leverage redemption btw

#like i AM AWARE they had to do it for reasons of offscreen unpleasantness #but i also think it is just so phenomenally healing to me #to see a narrative take a female character i love so much #and go Let’s Kill Her Husband And Meticulously Dissect How Her Grief Affects Her And The Way She Engages With Family #nate as SOPHIE’S tragic backstory does actually slap. #miscellany

[maeo-png]

did demo witness heavy kicking cheavys ass? did he tell medic? does medic know that heavy broke a man’s spine because of his death and that heavy was willing to accept dying too as long as it was after cheavy died?

#i KNOW that we talk about Medic’s death being the only one that heavy narratively is actually affected by #but HOW MUCH he’s affected is important too #he wanted to make that man BLEED and SUFFER in the DIRT for what he did #tf2 #heavymedic #red oktoberfest #team fortress 2 #by god do i think medic would do the same #as much as he could #idk about him picking up cheavy and breaking him over his knee #medic is buff but not that buff #he’d use some form of torture that he’d invented himself idk

[obstinaterixatrix]

I really like romances that highlights a complex relationship with desire. what’s that one quote. found it, it’s the siken quote that goes “the enormity of my desire disgusts me” and “there’s only one thing I want, don’t make me say it” LOVE that. it’s so fun. denial and repression and self-loathing! some of my favorite ingredients for a romance.

#time to talk the romos #it can show up in any narrative in many ways #but the way in romance it pulls another person into the process #is SOOOOO fun for me #with romance being character-focused and with the plot tied to emotional/relationship development #(when it’s done well) you get to see it in both an individual and systemic context #how it manifests in solitude and its impact on relationship patterns #how it’s masked or displayed #whether the character is aware or unaware #whether the character is trying to break these patterns or are furiously clinging to them #fight or flight lol #anyway that’s why I just ended up rotating that one single father bl in my head for so long #I feel like writing-wise I’m kind of lukewarm on it? but themes-wise it grabbed me by the throat and shook me like a rattle #the love interest’s whole thing is how at his core he wants affection but has only gotten it through dysfunctional means #because what he’s wanted has always been dismissed or rejected or minimalized for the sake of someone else #well yknow he’s an orphan and was taken in by his maternal uncle so there’s always been resentment if he does better than the ‘actual’ son #so the pattern is #starting from his cousin and his cousin’s girlfriend #is seeing affection and going ‘I want that’ and ‘stealing’ another person’s partner #and then instantly being disinterested because if it’s so easily ‘stolen’ it’s not the affection he actually wants #and since it continues outside of that context of. well essentially revenge #it just continues into solely experiencing unfulfilling relationships #so when the love interest recognizes his own interest in the main character #he’s trying to continue his cycle of ‘surely if I sleep with this person I’ll lose interest’ except by this point *that’s* the self-delusion #he’s found a person that he connects with and with whom he wants a genuine relationship #and it’s devastating to him!!!!!! #lmao I love it

[asgardian--angels]

...prayer circle for izzy hands

#ofmd #ofmd s2 spoilers #i'm actually getting nervous for jenkins et al for tomorrow bc if they do kill off izzy i fear there will be a riot lmao #i'm so on the fence #because part of me is like 'djenks would never do that - he loves izzy's character and no one perma-dies on this show' #and narratively it would be strange (though not completely out of the realm of possibility) for him to die after this whole arc #and surely the whole team is aware that folks would be furious #(me personally i'm down with whatever happens so long as it fits the story but i know a lot of folks would be legit upset) #but i cannot shake those images from the bts of person-who's-definitely-con lying on the deck as ed puts a coat over him #and then the funeral and grave on the beach #THAT ALL BEING SAID i'm holding onto that one reviewer on twitter who saw the finale already #and said they have as much faith if not more in jenkins and co after the finale #i do find it hard to believe they'd really sacrifice izzy like that #even though i can imagine at least one scenario that would make it plausible but it would still be kinda shitty #I just... mmmm.....i really dont know how this will go #and im afraid to be around fandom when or if it does lol #ultimately my greatest fear is that if they do kill him or another beloved character off it affects our renewal chances #like no matter what happens yall gotta campaign hard

[nightswatchdisbandmentera]

Might be a hot take but a major character’s death is really only as good as the weight and the treatment that the narrative gives it. Sure, any author has the ability to write death as they see fit. But whether the consumer (of any given form of media) is actually able to emotionally connect and resonate with the departure of someone who has occupied a good chunk of narrative space very heavily depends on how it’s treated within the story. If it’s a major character, the narrative needs enough built-in breathing space. As in, the consumer doesn’t have to fill in the blanks as to how the death impacted the plot or the remaining characters. Let the narrative do that for them, and that would actually allow the consumer to better react and relate to that major death (sadness, anger, joy, etc). Allow the rest of the characters (who were impacted by the deceased) to react to their parting. Let them engage with the death in a manner that helps justify the character’s inclusion in the narrative to begin with. Make it clear how the character’s life and (especially) their death relate to the larger themes of the story. Because most consumers aren’t stupid. We don’t want our hands held at every waking moment, but we also don’t want our investment in a story to be insulted just for the sake of a cheap shock. Give us time to breathe and grieve. And respect that we have put in a lot of emotional investment in a story and its characters, and we deserve to have that acknowledged.

#recent developments in a very popular ip have forced me to think about how creators treat the deaths of major or main characters #and the discourse of ~ohh we don’t need to see every single thing~ has got me thinking #like sure we don’t need to be spoon fed everything but consumers have varying emotional investments depending on the characters #a side character it’s passable if we don’t get any fanfare but a MAIN??? #we’ve invested so much into their journey and the themes in their arcs and how they affect the world around them #is it too bad to want that to be actually acknowledged by & within the narrative? #so that whole thing got me to think about main characters whose deaths were well done in fiction #ned stark imo is a really good one because the immediate payoff of his death is the start of the wot5k and long term effect was #that the stark kids now had to fill in their father’s shoes and rise and become leaders in their own right and while we still have twow an #ados we can also tell as shown in adwd that the long term effect of Ned’s legacy is that house stark will be preserved even when it’s on th #brink of extinction #so that’s a well done imo because we also see throughout 4 books just how much his death meant to the kids #his death hurts because we see how his kids are hurting - jon arya sansa bran are GOING THROUGH IT AND IT HURTS! #I’d argue MCU did a pretty good job of showing tony’s everlasting legacy after his death and they did that through Peter who was the proteg #we can love and grieve for tony though peter whom we love and have come to relate to so Tony’s death has a lot of narrative weight #and how it’s handled is satisfying even though we’re hurt that he’s gone #same with sirius and dumbledore in HP - sirius’ especially hits sooo hard because Harry goes absolutely apeshit in ootp and then has to #pick up the pieces in hbp + dumbledore’s life and death is given quite a good amount of narrative space for both harry and the reader #the recent developments in jjk have me worried that a certain someone’s departure won’t be given the narrative weight it deserves #and part of that is gege’s pacing being wonky because oops it’s another big fight that will take god knows how many chapters idk #I’ll wait and see but as of right now….i feel like fan complaints about it shouldn’t be brushed aside because they’re super valid 😕 #asoiaf #harry potter #jujutsu kaisen #mcu #marvel #comics #manga

[priscirat]

so true about Shizuku. do u think l/n fell for each other quickly or did it take time

took time ☝️

#ask #personally v big fan of the love takes time and work narrative especially in the context of ln where they had to Relearn to love each other #and themselves. they left each other when they weren't at their best and came back together while #being affected by that separation + their individual circumstances #how do u make that not happen again how do you rebuild that relationship that won't be the same as before etc etc #so i think my actual answer is. they fell in love a second time #anon

[jewlshardz]

aini as a game makes me SOOOO mad because it was SO CLOSE to being perfect

#like listen boy. #all the gameolay stuff and the somniums are so much better than aitsf #it had interesting themes that built up on the last games #it had some really good setup for character exploration #esp with mizuki aiba and ryuki now that date’s gone #the new characters are almost if not just as compelling as the the first games (… if the game actually focused more on them) #had one (1) really good plot that felt interconnected like how the first game did it #but man #they fucked it up bad #the entire timeline twist is useless and only really serves the purpose of having a twist #with the entire narrative bending over backwards to fit this twist #2 borderline pedophillic relationship!! #2 missed opportunities of characters (lien and kizuna) #absolutely no interesting exploration of character dynamics EVEN WHEN THE STPRY WAS BEGGING FOR IT #and instead having the characters TELL who they’re close to and how that affects them instead of SHOWING IT #the cast is completely flooded with characters from the original game that didn’t need to be here #date. #and despite EVERY CHARACTER from the first game being here the ONLY one who actually benefits is amame #with every other returning character either downgrading or staying exactly the same #and a really bad mix of fast pacing + too many idea + none of them being explored properly #that makes it feel like the game has nothing going on and too much going on at the same time #uchikoshiposting #aini #aini spoilers

[musical-chick-13]

The THING is. When people (I am including myself in this) try to talk about how "Why is there overall less of an emphasis on women's stories and female characters and f/f shipping, especially when according to the stats we see being shared, fandom is significantly populated by queer women, hmm this seems a bit strange," there's ALMOST ALWAYS this assumption that it comes from a place of gender essentialism or purity culture or hating every single man for existing or something. ARE there some people who mean that? Yeah, there are going to be people like that in EVERY group of people who try to talk about anything. But when people complain about this, it's most generally because WE EXPERIENCE STRUCTURAL MISOGYNY IRL, AND NOW WE ARE EXPERIENCING THE SAME SOCIAL EFFECTS WITHIN SOMETHING THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE "FUN." THAT IS THE PROBLEM.

And this goes for when people try to talk about racism in fandom spaces as well. And ableism. And transphobia. And any other form of prejudice you can think of. Is talking about this in one (1) context that is not directly political going to forever eliminate bigotry? No. Obviously not. But the thing about systemic bias and prejudice is that IT IS PRESENT AT EVERY LEVEL, EVEN THE "FUN" ONES.

#THERE IS NUANCE IN THIS CONVERSATION #fandom misogyny #misogyny in fandom #like...honestly I don't think the Main Problem re: ignoring stories about women or the women in stories is Fetshizing MLM™ actually. #I mean there's some of that that goes on. there's some of that that goes on in regard to characters of color or trans narratives or f/f #media too. there are people who dehumanize people through over-sexualization in EVERY context unfortunately. HOWEVER. I AM #wondering how much of that assumption comes from an attempt to explain the disparity between the focus on queer men #& queer women. personally I think a lot more of it is related to misogyny than we think it is but I'm not omniscient I'm just evaluating #things in accordance to dialogue I've observed and my own personal life experience which is ADMITTEDLY IMPERFECT AND INCOMPLETE #(you have NO IDEA how much shit I've gotten over the years simply for being a woman and no other reason.) #(and if it wasn't for being a woman it was for being disabled) #(and there's a particular intersection of THOSE things I feel like there could be more discussion about too) #and the thing about 'fandom isn't activism' is about how IT SHOULDN'T BE A SUBSTITUTE FOR REAL-WORLD EFFORTS. #it's about how YOU CANNOT ACTUALLY HARM FICTIONAL CHARACTERS BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT REAL. #it doesn't mean 'we never examine personal bias at all because this is a hobby'. I played soccer as a hobby once. I danced as a hobby once. #the sports and dance worlds are still affected by bias and prejudice and that should be discussed and evaluated accordingly #fandom is still MADE UP OF real people. and the people who create and/or act in the pieces of media that spawn fandoms #ARE ALSO real people. looking at the effects ON THOSE /REAL PEOPLE/ is still important in understanding structural prejudice and #oppression. (and...lbr. how many actresses and poc have gotten harassment and threats just for playing a character. for having the #audacity to exist in a popular piece of media as a woman or poc. because. the number is. distressingly high.) #(I myself have been the target of shitty forms of harassment just for DRESSING UP AS AN UNPOPULAR FEMALE CHARACTER AT A CONVENTION) #it might be one thing if all of this NEVER translated into how people viewed and affected real life people. if it ALWAYS stayed within the #context of playing around with fictional characters BUT IT RARELY DOES! IF EVER!!! #anyway I say nothing new but I saw something that made me angry. and until people Get It™ I am going to keep screaming about it #y'all knew what you signed up for :) #you know what I'm not even going to tag this with my general conversation tag for this phenomenon because I think people need to #see this occasionally

[datastate]

still so frustrated that it's because it took so long doing the video production part of my kai analysis that a lot of my revelations were rendered redundant but it's fine. it's okay. i was right. it's just that now everyone else has had it handed to them on a silver platter instead of reading between the lines like i did incessantly for the months before the miniepisode.

#it's killed a lot of my motivation to make such videos. i must admit. #jestersvaguely #i could still try to make it but augh. it's like nankidai didn't even put kai in the limelight he put him under a stadium light #too much. too much! where's the subtlety where's the tact. i loved it so much more before it was just explicitly written. sorry. #what else are people meant to dig into or engage with characters with if you're just completely clearing ANY curiosity #i don't know. i should still make it. it'd require so much rewriting though because i was specifically drawing from ranger's existence #and now there's a whole miniepisode detailing the complications of the satous dynamic and it's like well now i have to analyze that #but it doesn't even add much more than what was already implied & extrapolated from. #which i already had. i already had all of this speculation written down and dug into and now i have to rid the entire section of speculatio #it's so much less. impressive i guess. it just feels so plain and basic and it's like 'well yes we all saw that play out in the miniepisode #and it's like NO IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE MINIEPISODE HOW MANY OF YOU WOULD'VE JUST REDUCED HIM TO ABUSIVE OLD MAN #AND COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN THE FACT HE LOVED RANGER. RANGER - INCAPABLE OF AFFECTION - SAID GASHU 'S AFFECTIONS WERE HIS #AND FROM RANGER. COMPARABLE TO A SON. KAI'S EXISTENCE & GASHU'S REACTION THEREAFTER ... AHHHHHHH #i don't know. more than anything i'm just upset at my own inaction because now it's like. this is the one thing that we didn't need to wait #on for analysis. now i need to wait for asunaro to be explained before i can do proper kai analysis and it's so frustrating and saddening #i don't know. i just hate that i can't do any actual kai analysis now because he's my favorite #there's the whole 'what do the satous mean for sara & the narrative' but that was meant to be part of the larger thing #not the focus of the video. the focus of the video was discussing everything with kai #and now it's like. well the entire cover's been blown off unceremoniously and it's #ah. it's frustrating. it's so frustrating. nankidai's storytelling is so sloppy i really don't know what draws me to it at all

[h-i-raeth]

wipgame: Barb Lives Side A (Alive) [i'm barely on the periphery of ST but i know that this was Unjust]

From this

“Let them think I’m dead. They were never going to give my parents a body to bury anyway.”

“But your parents--”

“Are never going to believe that I just ran away after all once they get a good look at me. What the fuck am I supposed to tell them?” And she gestures to the scars left over from her time in the upside down, the pattern of shallow stab wounds like a bed of nails wrapping around her right forearm, the discoloration from burns on her hands. “That I got mauled by a mountain lion? That’s believable.”

“So you just want them to grieve you even though you’re not dead?”

“Yeah, Nance! Yeah, I fucking do. I want them to grieve and move on with their lives and skip town and not get involved with this bullshit.”

#wip wednesday #no tag for this fic yet #part of the point of this fic + Trapped is like. The idea of how messy it would be for Barb to have been alive #but assumed dead + have her death still affect the narrative (particularly the social dynamics of post-s1 through to the finale of s2) #while also like. having survived and having messy feelings about not having been saved and having had the worst days of her life happen #partially because her best friend wanted to fuck a boy and not listen to her advice #like a dead girl can't forgive really but she can't condemn either. sort of thing. #the other point of this AU is that I want Barb + Will to interact #the rest of the point of these AUs is to be extremely self indulgent #anyway this scene in particular is about the fact that by the time Nancy learns that Barb isn't actually dead #she's already sent the 'chemical leak' story to the press #in order to be able to tell Barb's parents that she's dead and get them some closure #no easy peacetime girl here to be found