#it doesnt hold up

[bulkhummus]

What I think is particularly heart breaking about this episode, is that Esteban is immortalizing a memory that Cecil doesn’t get to experience. Esteban knows about his grandfather, because he has heard the story several times before according to Abby, in fact they all just heard it. Cecil is experiencing, second hand, remnants of a memory that slides off of him. It refuses to stick.

There is something so poetic to me about Cecil being a reporter, a journalist, an observer, and doing everything to piece together a story from literal scraps of his own life, only to find its already been written for him. The story has already been told. Cecil doesn’t listen to stories, he tells them. I can think of nothing more infuriating than a story being told and not having a satisfying ending, or an ending that makes sense. Nothing within the story justified the ending. And yet we have seen it before throughout the show.

I am reminded of the episode It Doesn’t Hold Up, where Cecil watches the last few minutes of his comfort film Cat Ballou, changed and different. He has seen the same movie over and over and over again, and now the ending is different. In the drawing Esteban drew in 245, there is a shovel stuck into the dirt, and there is a boy climbing into a tree. In the ending of Cat Ballou, there is a man digging into the base of the tree. Just like in the episode It Sticks With You, when Abby, Cecil and their mother journey into the woods, and Cecil climbs into a tree over and over and over again until he can no longer remember the outing with his husband and son. Just like in Cassettes, when a young Cecil’s story is cut short, in an ending that Cecil refuses to listen to, immortalized on tape.

Just like in Liminal Spaces, when Cecil enters a space that is neither here nor there and is haunted by someone who tells him that he wants Cecil to remember. The very face that Cecil saw in Cat Ballou in It Doesn’t Hold Up. In fact, he tells Cecil he has no choice, before once again, he is pulled from the story.

Cecil’s whole life is one long interrupted narrative. It’s as if he is an old cassette that isn’t rewound all the way before pulled out of the slot and put back on a shelf. The next person to listen to the tape, unknowing, doesn’t realize where they’re starting off is not the beginning. There are things missing. Cecil has gotten so good at forgetting (and justifiably so) — has forgotten how to stop. He’s recording over the same tape over and over again until the tape inside is no longer coherent. I’m thinking, of the sound of a cassette being rewound, and how it could sound very much like how Cecil is often describing owl sounds.

So, how disquieting, to have your own family stare back at you, privy to information about yourself that you do not get to have. Cecil is there, quite literally, to construct a story for his town, but who is there to construct a story for him? A man you used to hate? A sister you aren’t sure you even like? A husband who you have forgotten before? Children who see and hear more than you realize? The listener?

No. Instead he will sit until dawn comes, and be made a fool out of trying to create a story, maybe even a better one, out of scraps of memories.

#my baby girl is in denial okay and thats ok #i think its normal and healthy and good #im having so many thoughts my nbrain is moving a mile a minute #and like this was NOT coherent bc theres so much i want to talk anout but #damn how fucking sad this episode was im onsessed #i lvoe when cecils going through it #it doesnt hold up #Casette #It Sticks with You #Bedtime Story #cat ballou #liminal spaces #go to the mirror #wtnv #welcome to night vale #cecil palmer #wtnv spoilers

[crumb-crumblet-s-crumbington]

#ethan winters #mia winters #mithan #resident evil #resident evil fanart #rebhfun #resident evil 7 #re7 #bunny and kittayy... #forgive mia she doesnt know how to hold bunnies #shes googling it rn though #bunny ethan chews up mias wires whenver shes about to email the connections for another job and kills her computer 😭

[cyanide-sippy-cup]

I think my favorite thing about Fionna and Cake has to be how unapologetically queer it is. In every corner, whether it be a cameo appearance from the gay couple,

a quick visual cue/reference to the pilot,

a questionable line from Brian David Gilbert of all people,

[img: Winter King (on the right) saying "Don't think it hasn't occurred to me!" This is in response to Cake suggesting he kiss Simon (left)]

or actually being integral to the primary or secondary plot.

Seeing such a casual yet important and beautiful inclusion of queerness in this show fills me with such indescribable joy. Without even trying, without even stepping away from it's own story, it's making a statement.

Without going out of its way, it's teaching genuine stories while saying "We are here, we have a place, we have a history, and we're here to stay."

#also we finally got GAY MEN in an animated show!! #it doesnt sound like a lot but i promise you that basically never happens #also hold up I just looked it up DONALD GLOVER HAS BEEN DOING THE VOICE FOR MARSHALL THIS WHOLE TIME??? #PUCK IT UP GIRL #adventure time #bubbline #marceline #marceline the vampire queen #princess bubblegum #bonnibel bubblegum #marceline and bonnibel #fionna and cake #fionna campbell #marshall lee #gary prince #marshall lee and gary #gumlee #cake the cat #winter king #winter king fionna and cake #it's crazy that we went from Finn in a kissing contest to this

[artgletic]

hopelessly romantic over the concept of information

#the ancient is a design i made up for someone that srs could talk to #just wanted to explore a robots love thru computation and physicality 😇 #and how the extent of this is deranged when not literally a supercomputer #how would the ancient even hold wnough pearls to contain the entirety of their structure 😭 #srs rain world #seven red suns #iterator rain world #rain world iterator #rain world #why did i pick srs? nsh too busy fucking around lttm doesnt really care for the ancients and 5p isnt capable of love. hope this helps💛

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

he is just. so shaped. so so so So shaped.

#im Attempting some new tactics #it doesnt really show! but i am! #starting to fuck around w/ watercolor brushes... #holding him up like a little bee and saying I Just Think He's Neat! #< i jest! i think much much more about him #that i cannot share without devolving into an incoherent mess! #so. i just think he's neat :]c #scribble salad #welcome home #welcome home puppet show #frank frankly #im also trying... to do... (dramatic thunderclap) BACKGROUNDS #i know i know. very scary. they're still very messy #but... i like objects? i like Things? i like to look at a page and see put together clutter! #maximalism babey! #which is deadly when you're an artist methinks. but. whats one more agony added onto the rest! #it will be a while until i figure out how to Accomplish that put-together clutter.... #im still bad at colors! im trying to swim before i can walk! Yikes!

[lollytea]

Moment of appreciation for the completely head empty expression before they realize they've been snatched midair by the cutie they have a crush on and then the moment where it all clicks.

#toh spoilers #huntlow #they hold each other so funny i love them #''hope this doesnt awaken anything in me'' #willow getting picked up is my favourite #shes having a MOMENT

[crestomancer-art]

cornered in the elevator 🫣

#nier automata #nier 9s #nier 2b #2b x 9s #2b9s #9s2b #this has probably been done 100 times but now its my turn #2B is the queen of repressed emotions and i long for the day when she doesnt have to hold back anymore #leggy up #kabedon #i finished the game now and i have so many feelings!!!

[hiphopcherrrypop]

save me bottle blond bass player

#bottle blond bass player.. save me... #scott pilgrim takes off #scott pilgrim fanart #spto #todd ingram #lisa miller #maybe they r cousins to me.. #see im thinking and im liking how im thinking #something something lisa wanting to start a band bc she thinks todd is cool for being in a band #timeline wise that doesnt make senseee but idc i ignore that for now! #maybey he just plays bass and she thinks thats cool and awesome #something something todd wanting to act bc he thinks lisa is cool for being on tv #she is booked and busy in hollywood thats why she didnt show up obviii...... #and spoiler alert for coming soon art when i have more time/motivation... lisa + roxie yuri #that one summer pool party art fuels me THEY R HOLDING HANDS 😋😋 a little #but i just realize it gets funnier now bc im imagining roxie being like 'MEET MY NEW GF (¬‿¬)!' #and todd is like 'UR DATING MY COUSIN?!!' #so saddd lisa didnt appear but also it makes sense given no scott 90% of the show #she couldve still ran into kim and made out with her or whatever happned in the comics idk #scott pilgrim vs the world #spvtw #lisa miller i love yuuoooouu #my beautiful angel #her and todd both my princesses #idk how them-being-related hc never crossed my mind til now!

[topicaltropic]

Senior year sillies w/ terry & taylor. The T team

#dndads #dungeons and daddies #i like to think linc & normal end up moving away in the middle of junior yr both for different reasons #linc takes it pretty well given the fact that these kids are magical and can basically see eachother whenever they will it #also hes chill w/ just regular video chatting & txting anyways #normal is like a whirlwind hes crying shitting himself while also relieved in a way while also holding this as another thing against his dad #especially since lark doesnt move w them

[shrimplovercat]

little baby legs over here

#shes holding her back up higher she doesnt look this odd usually LOL #animals #my pets #sagua

[redrobin-detective]

There's some inherent tragic horror in the fact that Simon canonically doesn't remember much of what he did as Ice King, just 'dreamlike impressions'. I imagine he remembers people, certain significant moments but otherwise it's kind of a blur. Simon is over a thousand years old but he barely remembers any of it. Not to mention the non-magical human brain isn't built to contain so much memory so any attempts to recall could be dangerous for him.

Imagine how terrible it is to be told a story of yourself acting strange and manic and pathetic and terrible and there's no internal context for it. It may as well have happened to someone else in a dream but its the personality and actions most people know you by. Simon hears an outrageous story of Ice King and who knows if it's real or not? He barely knows who the man was.

#adventure time #simon petrikov #I initially started this post for humor in that people could just say WHATEVER about IK and Simon couldn't refute it #but then I realized the inherent horror of it #to be known as a man you don't remember being #people holding you accountable for actions you dont recall doing #no wonder hes so mixed up about ice king #hes expected to take ownership of a person he doesnt know

[trustypaladin]

"Happy Birthday, Arthur..."

Malevoversary 2024 | Saturday Prompt

#malevolent #malevolent podcast #malevolent fanart #arthur lester #malevoversary2024 #malevoversary #malevoversary day 5 #happy birthday #happy birthday arthur lester! #lets be honest this man doesnt experience actual happy birthdays #john is trying to console him tho #holding up the lighter like it is a little candle for him to blow #so sad </3 #TrustyPaladin

[trobeds]

i know the hunger games isnt about romance i know it isnt a love story but. theres just something so beautiful in the way peeta is the personification of what it means to heal and he /is/ the dandelion and the bread and the hope that things can be better even if they wont be fixed. even if the nightmares dont stop he will still hold her. wake her up and tell her shes alive. shes safe. and when its over and done and theres no more saving or protecting or trying their absolute hardest to die if it means keeping the other alive, the horrors dont stop. but katniss will still find that comfort in peetas arms.

#and peeta Goes Through It too but hes there!!!!!!!! hes always there and hes kind and artistic and peaceful and good and everything that #the games could never destroy (the hijacking couldve but he found his way back. he still wonders whats real sometimes but he knows. he know #who he is. a painter a baker and a boy who loves. she reminds him of that love too) #anyways :( katniss longs for peetas arms and nobodys been this gentle with her since her father died and she stopped letting her mother #hold her. and peeta does #something about the way he holds her so so gently with so much love and care despite all the destruction and how peeta counteracts the fire #in katniss. the one that tells her she needs to protect and defend and prioritize keeping her family alive and keep her guard up. but hes #there to comfort her and hold her and protect her and those r all the things katniss doesnt get the privilege of thinking about because she #always thinking about who she needs to protect #its so personal to me. god i am Not okay rn #i have a rehearsal before school tmr and i am sooooo sleepy but. insane thoughts can never wait #everlark #katniss everdeen #peeta mellark #peeniss #< the real ship name #the hunger games #thg #late night thoughts & all that jazz #🫀

[nellasbookplanet]

Okay but I'm going a bit insane about the growing disconnect of "maybe we're meant to harness it"/"maybe we're meant to fight it". They both thought they were on the same page when they said it, when actually they were on polar opposite ends of the same spectrum. Imogen meant "I never plan to give in to this power even if part of me wants to, I will continue fighting it, but it’s a comfort knowing there’s someone who understands the temptation and who I know won't judge and will still love me and understand if I ultimately fail and give in". Meanwhile to Laudna it meant "I've been in this struggle for longer than I can remember and I don’t know if I can do it much longer. I don’t know if I want to. I don’t know if I even should, or if giving in would be better for all of us because I'm a lost cause. You understand this about me and won't judge as I inevitably am doomed by the narrative, and you won't demand of me that I fight an inherent part of myself, even if it’s destroying me". And Imogen is finally catching on to this disconnect, is realizing that to Laudna their connection isn’t just understanding but an excuse, not too different from Lilliana. And, desperate of losing Laudna to power just like she did her mother, she says, 'if you let me go, I'm gone', meanwhile Laudna is going 'all I can do for you is die and let you go to lift you up' and both of them are going 'why are you so upset about this. i love you'.

#laudna #imogen temult #critical role #cr3 #laudna truly is a FASCINATING character #she's happy and living every moment bc she's already accepted she's a lost cause #she's been neither fighting it nor embracing it for 30 years and now she has an excuse to embrace it #bc embracing it means protecting imogen. even if it also means giving in to temptation and letting imogen ultimately lose her #which is okay to laudna bc LOST CAUSE. She’s happy and living every moment with imogen now but can’t imagine a future for them together #she thinks imogen will go in to greatness after laudna has given up everything to help get her there #bc if laudna doesn’t give up everything and tries to fight imogen will help her #and imogen helping her will mean laudna holding imogen back #she doesnt see that in destroying herself shes destroying part of imogen bc she sees no value in her own life bc of living on borrowed time #I'm going insane about them!! #southern gothic #imodna #nella talks cr

[b4kuch1n]

simulated earth (it does not matter)

transcript

#sherlock and co #sherlock & co #podlock #comic #sherlock holmes #john watson #victor trevor #ft. archie (in like three panels lmao) #need to figure out a podlock specific tag for these guys so this doesnt clutter up the main sh tags #bc ohhh boy. I anticipate being insane abt s&co for a While #this comic def a Hot minute post-gloria scott #what is this about exactly? you ask. haha well (there's sunlight bouncing off a window and when u look back Im already gone) #listen I caught up to everything right before gloria scott and holy Shit that case knocked me on my ass #as a chronic adhd (and thus serious memory problems) haver.... (holds sherlock tenderly) #I have not listened to SOLI yet btw I will tomorrow. I wanted to finish this before catching up #Im obsessed with them. Im such an easy idiot lmao Im a sherlock holmes adaptation enthusiast before Im a human #gloria scott.... the way it muses on the limit of the genre same as the red headed league.... what about the victims? #what about the victims. what about the victims. what part of the pain does the process of investigation cure #victor's like. he's between jobs he's between boyfriends he's living with his dad whose caretaker he just became. who does he have #and sherlock holmes is about the truth but john's been about the solution so far. I just. I really like this john watson lmao #listen the way he complains and then refuses to shoot the underlings in red headed league. based. I love him #I can fix him (radicalize him against punitive justice) #(I am refraining from talking abt sherlock in the tags here bc I Will run out of tags before Im done) #(mariana is not here but I care her too!! she will be here more often in the future I swear I fuckign swear......) #(''I'm in a co-op that's sponsoring my visa. also I just witnessed two actual dead bodies like a month ago'' you mean everything to me) #screams. I got attached SO fast this show is targeting me specifically. my broke millenials suffering in london show #I have like a number of sketches too be prepared. theyre gonna show up soon. until then #have a good day lads. be there! be there. #edit: this comic is finished and assembled in full before I listened to the solitary cyclist part one. this has been an update #I have now listened to SOLI part one. I must hit john watson with a hammer

[puppyeared]

fake ep idea + doodles

#i was thinking abt how funny it would be if there was a shiftythrifting blog equivalent in lmk. and half the stuff on there is #submitted by wukong. so i thought a yard sale ep would be funny lol #basically the hoard becomes problem one way or another and wukong figures the best way to get rid of his junk is thru ebay #somehow ends up selling world ending artifacts to random megapolis citizens so mk mei and redson have to scramble to find em #purposely meant to mirror the weekly shenanigans s1-2 style eps that are really goofy (dumpling ep noodles ep etc) #but it gets darker and darker because MK is not fucking ok after that whole thing with the scroll and some unchecked identity crisis #for me id want him to kind of. freak tf out because they have to find MULTIPLE chaos inducing items that could end the world while trying t #be sillygoofy and funny about it. so hes trying to mask his panic with “ohhh guys its just like the good ol days ^_^ remember that ^_^” #ESPECIALLY after that whole thing with the ink scroll. also mei doesnt buy any of it and is worried for him the whole time #as for the B plot it could be monkey king also trying to be very relaxed abt selling 4000 years worth of stuff and tang getting all huffy #like “these are priceless artifacts that could help us learn so much about the past!! wtf man!!!” #and maybe it reveals smth like wukong not wanting to hold on anymore bc his past weighs him down. and theyre all reminders #i think azure mentioned that wukong is sentimental (idk if that was genuine or lying to mk) so that could be touched on to #so basically. the theme would be some sort of conversation abt nostalgia. i think. im not a writer so its very fuzzy in my head #if anyone wants to add on or include their own spin on it feel free. also included undercut redson as a treat somewhere in there #myart #lego monkie kid #monkie kid #lmk red son #lmk mei #lmk MK #lmk xiaotian #lmk xiaojiao #lmk sun wukong #lmk swk #doodles #lmk tang #lmk pigsy #lmk traffic light trio #yard sale ep