#listen I love him but he did literally write himself out of the narrative | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

river-of-wine · 3 months

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I know I’ve been talking about Molly and Abigail a lot but I love them and people are way too mean to them, and when I see people blaming them for things such as the failure of the bank robbery all I can think is this. Do you really think that the game wants you to dislike Molly and Abigail? These two are portrayed incredibly sympathetically throughout the game, and it could not be made more clear that they are victims.

Abigail was a sex worker at seventeen years old, and she had a baby at eighteen. Her son’s father abandoned her in a gang with an infant to take care of while she was still a teenager, and he has been absent in his son’s life and refusing to accept Jack is even his son for four years. All she wants is for her son to have a better life than she had as an orphan growing up in bars and brothels, she wants John to be responsible for Jack and everybody else does as well, even Dutch of all people tries to tell John he shouldn’t abandon his own son. Literally all she wants if for her family to be safe, and that is not the unreasonable ask that people seem to make it out to be. She is a young woman with a traumatic past who loves her family, and who, in the epilogue, just wants a life with her son and her husband where they won’t be in danger anymore. Abigail is one of the biggest reasons why John ends up changing into a better man, why he goes from the deadbeat he starts the game as to who we later see him become for the better. Do you think that’s how the narrative would portray a traitor? How it would show Abigail to you if she were anything other than a desperate young mother trying to care for the people she loves?

Molly is a young woman in an abusive relationship. She is alone in America with nowhere to go and presumably no means to support or defend herself if she ever did leave Dutch, which is a hard enough thing to do in a relationship like theirs even when you are not an isolated Irish woman in 1899. She is completely alone in the gang, she has no friends and no one will properly listen to her no matter how hard she tries. She is in love and she’s worried about Dutch, she never asks him for more than the bare minimum of, as she says, “respect and affection”. She is not asking to be the only focus of his attention, she is not asking him to focus entirely on her instead of the gang, she just wants to be looked at, to be called by her first name, to not be ignored by a man who supposedly loves her. Molly is driven into depression and paranoia by her isolation from any support in the gang and Dutch’s abuse, and she ends up so desperate for somebody to pay her any attention that she says something she knows will get her shot. She is revealed to be innocent in one of the most important cutscenes in the game, the final plot twist that Micah ratted on the gang, and after this, but there is doubt before. Karen doesn’t believe her, Mary-Beth doesn’t believe her, Arthur himself is what keeps Dutch from shooting her and he doesn’t believe her. In the money ending, Arthur will plead with Dutch, telling him it wasn’t Molly and to kill Micah instead. Do you think that’s how the narrative would portray a traitor? Is that how it would show you a victim of severe abuse who wanted nothing more than to be loved?

Each have their own flaws in addition to this, but that’s because they, like the men that are so highly praised within the fan base for their brilliant writing, are complex characters. They are three dimensional characters with personalities and wants and needs, who make decisions or react in ways we might not understand because they are their own people in their own impossibly difficult situations. Just think about the actual storytelling of the game, because nothing is done accidentally. There is a reason for every narrative choice made because it was all written down and performed with the intention of telling the story properly. There is a reason why no one questions that Molly was innocent after it is revealed and why her arc ends with that cutscene, and it is because she was innocent. There is a reason why John changing his ways for the sake of his family, both because of Jack and because of Abigail, and finally listening to his wife for once is shown as a good thing, and that’s because it is. Have whatever opinions you like about a character, but don’t pretend the game is telling you they are something that they’re not

#red dead redemption 2 #rdr2 #molly o'shea #abigail marston #I’ve probably said this on here before but I’m talking about them again

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electric-friend · 4 months

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listen i know the whole “ed did nothing wrong”/“killing and maiming his his coping mechanism uwu” thing is a super silly joke lol and even i found it funny but it’s kinda just pissing me off.

i just hate that they never really properly resolved ed resorting to violence when he’s upset and that he never really takes accountability for his actions onscreen. and when the side of the fandom that takes no issue at all with the way seeason two was presented makes jokes that show they’re like aware of the vibes they just don’t care bc they hold characters they don’t like and characters they do like to entirely different standards. it’s just annoying lol.

like listen. yeah. ed’s my special little babygirl princess haha i love him. but like. i feel like it’s also ignoring the fact that the violence is actually bad for ed’s mental health and we know this and it’s canonically established.

the same people who make “ed did nothing wrong” jokes literally call people who do the same to izzy bad people. not all of them but like the people aligned with that Side of the fandom.

like first of all we know that canonically though ed’s capable of violence it’s not good for him. that’s a huge part of his character, that he doesn’t want to be Blackbeard. so the jokes ur making leave your favourite character unhappy anyway? and if you’re going to talk like that about ed then why is it a CRIME to do the same about izzy?

i think i’m just kinda annoyed bc people act like if you’re critical of the way the writing failed to give ed a great redemption arc it’s because you’re a racist idiot blind with love for izzy, but in fact, you can remove izzy from the equation entirely and it still sucks because it sucks for ed’s character that his arc was so confusing and we left him in such an uncertain place as a character.

listen, i don’t exactly advertise this bc i feel like people won’t understand, but i’ve been through a lot of trauma, and at times in my life when that’s been a lot fresher for me, i’ve had really serious issues with anger and aggression and lashing out. i think that’s why i connected with izzy and i think it’s why i connected with ed so strongly but also found it so hard to watch the first couple episodes of the second season.

and coming from that place, with that perspective, when i talk about ed being abusive towards izzy and the narrative not being resolved, i am NOT hating on ed and cancelling ed and saying ed is an evil person. what i’m saying is that ofmd s2 took on a really, really complex and serious and intense subject matter, and then the writing failed to carry the weight of that. i love ed, and i feel like his character was let down by us not seeing him clearly express that he’s holding himself accountable for his actions on-screen, or even seeing him healing in relation to his violent impulses that come from his trauma. his killing spree in the finale was really odd in terms of his overall arc and is honestly what threw it all off the most for me. like it’s obvious that scenes regarding ed’s apologies and forgiveness from the crew are supposed to have happened and we maybe just didn’t see all of it, because the season was rushed due to the screen time. but a lot of it is also just poor decisions in the writing and the way ed’s storyline is laid out in the final cut.

to me, saying that ed’s arc was beautiful and perfect and it’s wrong to criticise it or to acknowledge the severity of his mistakes and actions isn’t a form of loving ed. it’s a way of saying you’d rather ed actually not take steps towards healing, just because you want to pretend he didn’t do anything wrong in the first place so you can feel like the better person in the conversation. to me, the people who say ed did no wrong are expressing that they actually don’t love ed.

i mean it’s not that deep, it’s all fictional, but i wish people would look beyond their predisposition to condemning criticism of something they like, and see that there’s a lot of heart, and a lot of really personal experience and real-world context behind the arguments people are making, and that other opinions about the writing in s2 are worth listening to even if they make you uncomfortable at first.

#izzy hands #that’s the only tag i can add without major risk of getting a huge amount of hate #or maybe #ofmd critical #i know this isn’t a super smart meta post or anything but still

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ghostinthegallery · 4 months

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It should be no secret that I adore Oltyx. He's one of my favorite 40k characters. Which is amazing because let's be real, he's an insufferable little shit who spends most of the books consumed by entitlement, paranoia, or both. He's just so damn well written, the elements that make him awful (which also form the starting point for his character arc) don't quite overshadow his redeeming qualities (which prove he is a person worth giving the opportunity to grow).

Those early chapters do some serious heavy lifting, character-wise. Oltyx comes out the gate swinging for "worst protag of the Year award". He's bitter, he's convinced all of his problems are someone else's fault, he is needlessly cruel to his subordinate (ready to kill Neth just because one grot made it to the stairs). A real winner, right here. Except for two things:

1) he doesn't want his soldiers to die. Sure, he justifies this with facts and logic. Attrition will eventually diminish his forces, leaving him unable to defend his shitty planet, and he isn't getting reinforcements anytime soon. But still, he wants to preserve the lives under his command. He wants to create a "new way of war" which is surprisingly sympathetic for someone who acts like a surly teenager (more on THAT later). Bonus that he does not in fact kill Neth

2) his flashback where he sees Djoseras' first lesson to him. Where we see that Oltyx is not exactly a reliable narrator regarding his elder. And if he's wrong about Djoseras, what else is he wrong about? The narrative is doing something here.

That second point is super important. Because there's a huge difference between reading an asshole protag where the author knows they are an asshole vs. where the author doesn't. The former can be incredibly satisfying as you watch someone grow and change. The latter is annoying AF. That flashback (for me) is like a footnote from the author promising "hey, not all is as it seems, bear with me."

Oltyx's hints of compassion are the incentive.to.give him a chance. Which is then further cemented when we enter the tomb and get to see Oltyx's affection for Yenekh, the first character we see Oltyx caring about. Proof that he has relationships that matter. He doesn't actually hate everyone and everything. And as the narrative continues, we peel back the layers to see what Oltyx actually is.

While I reading those opening pages, I joked to my spouse that Oltyx sounded like a teenager who listens to too much emo music. Turns out that was not actually a joke, that was the entire character. As we get more of his interactions and flashbacks, we are shown someone trapped in perpetual adolescence. Who had the compassion beaten out of him by war, trauma, and neglect (or literally sliced out of him, fuck Hemiun). The more you see of Oltyx the more heartbreaking he becomes. Not because he isn't terrible (he is) but because he didn't have to be. Yet it is so understandable why he is. The lessons he was taught even by the people that loved him (life has no value, compassion is a weakness, lies will come from those closest to you) twisted a kind soul into a conflicted mess. It excuses nothing but explains everything.

But despite ALL OF THAT Oltyx still tries to do the right thing. He tries to save the dynasty that exiled him, he tries to fight beside the brother he taught himself to hate, he tries to resist the madness that he thinks will make him a monster. He literally has the mind of an eighteen year old, trapped in a metal body that is slowly destroying what little sanity he has left. That's a lot!

Crowley had a fine line to walk writing Oltyx, making him sympathetic but not dulling the impact of his darker traits. For my money he did it brilliantly. Oltyx is my precious son who has done everything wrong and I love him.

#necrons #wh40k #Oltyx #twice dead king #yes he is a little shit but considering that he is also perfect and precious and must be protected at all costs #what angsty music is oltyx listening to?#evanescence was my middle school go to #i think he'd appreciate MCR #he had a lot of time to fill tho #needs more music recs

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lesbianalanwake · 6 months

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Scratch is still a distinct entity from Alan. I think the Dark Presence has just found too good of a host and has itself gotten stuck - it tries to use Alan to escape, tries to leap into Casey, but Alan is able to draw it back in, and its temporary escape is colored by Alan's life and perspective, its own will wrenched into a different form by Alan's, even more pronounced than the fight over the narrative was in the first game.

It tries to escape, and Alan reels it back it. Alan tries to escape, and the Dark Presence reels him back in. Ad infinitum.

The entity called Scratch is Alan and the Dark Presence both, where they collide and get lost in and overwhelm each other. He's not just Alan's "dark side" - I think that's too literal and simplistic an interpretation, after Control very much established that beings and forces exist beyond us and beyond our reality, and when these games tend to put layers upon layers into any one thing.

I was struck by just how much of himself Alan has retained in the second game, despite everything. Even as he and the Dark Presence draw closer and closer together, taking on the appearance of the other, there's a stark difference between them still. And that difference illuminates (hah) the thread of similarity between them that has bound them together so tightly - the sheer, visceral desperation to escape, which the Dark Presence has been trying to do before Alan, before Zane, before Jagger.

The first game implies that the Dark Presence has existed for an unknown amount of time and has been trapped within the Dark Place for a very long time. Maybe it wasn't always a rageful, hateful being - isolation in the dark will do funny things to one's head, and desperation will do a number on you. (Which we see in Alan. Which is mirrored in Scratch, in the Dark Presence.)

The slidescape from which Hedron, Polaris, and the Hiss come, that Jesse calls "Hand," is desolate and empty, nothing but red sand and five pillars that Darling describes as being like outstretched fingers. I think Dark-Presence-as-Jagger is just one of those fingers reaching up from the lake, a crude imitation wearing a long-gone face to pull at the strings of Zane's grief. I think Scratch in American Nightmare is another one of those fingers, living darkness once again trying to breach reality but never quite managing to break the surface, an exaggerated parody wearing dark rumors made flesh for a skinsuit. And Scratch in AW2 is all of those fingers, the Dark Presence wearing Alan like a glove, only to find that when it breaches the surface at last, it can't take that glove off anymore.

The "Drowning" video in the Writer's Journey is one of the most brutal things to listen to in the game, and one of the clearest representations of the game as a whole, despite how incoherent it is. Thanks to some lovely voice work by Matthew Porretta, you can hear the switch from Alan to Scratch. You can hear them mirroring each other, and you can hear where the Dark Presence sounds just as despairing as Alan, even though the last several lines of the monologue don't actually leave Scratch's perspective. When it takes over, it's speaking to Alan, speaking from his perspective, speaking from it's own perspective, and Alan is speaking through it, all at once, and it gradually gets more unhinged and incoherent and despairing. I will highlight it with some thematic coloring.

I'm lost. I'm lost in the dark. Drowning. I'm drowning. I'm drowning. No way out. There's no way out. Sinking deeper. Deeper and deeper. This is hell. I'm in hell. I died. I wish I was dead. Let me die. I just want to sleep. Please let me sleep. I'm so tired. I just want to go home. I've written so much. I write and I write. There's nothing left. It's all gone. I don't know how to write. All the words are gone. There's no more words. Where did they go? Did I eat the words? I don't recognize these words anymore. Are the words moving? This is familiar. Why is this familiar? I've been here before. Have I said this before? I've read this somewhere. Where am I? Who am I? Alan Wake? Wake? That's a strange name. A. Wake. That sounds like a character's name. Did I write the name up, did I make that name up? I don't want to be a character. I don't want to be in this story. Just write me out of this story. Ram these words down your throat. Make you choke on these words. I know the words. Secret words. You can't take the words. I eat the words. These are my words! Stop using the words! The words! Cult of the Word! This isn't your story. It never was your story. The story is a monster. The story will eat you alive. The darkness is coming! The darkness inside. This is my story! You're in my story! Get out of my story! You are a character in my story! You can't stop the story. This story will go on forever. There's no escape! You will never escape! You will drown here. You're stuck in a loop. You don't have a clue. You're lost. You lost the plot. I'll show you.

The Dark Presence is stuck. It's been stuck, been drowning, for a very long time, and now it's irrevocably tied itself to Alan. It can't get away from him, anymore than he can get away from it.

The end of the loop that we play through is a recognition of that, so perhaps later steps in the spiral will be steps to reintegrate Alan with pieces of himself that have gotten scattered - the pieces in Scratch, the pieces in whatever the hell "Zane" is. Maybe even steps to reintegrate the Dark Presence with its own lost pieces - the pieces in Scratch, the pieces scattered within and corrupting the Dark Place, the pieces in the light? I don't think either of them will be able to truly breach the surface and escape a neverending death by drowning without that.

While playing AW2, part of my brain became fully convinced that the "dark" and the "light" used to be a whole being that shattered and split at some point, and the "fight" alluded to in the first game and in American Nightmare was simply failed reintegration, over and over again. Because we see the Dark Presence splinter (into itself and Jagger and and Scratch and Alan), and we see the light / the "Bright Presence" splinter into almost nothing of itself anymore ("until nothing remains," into Zane and Alan), and we see that there's still a unity in that fracturing and dissolving (Alan and Scratch and "Zane" all having the same face).

We see that there's a light in Alice now - a photographer capturing light on a canvas, delivering a light switch through a shoebox, speaking cryptically across videos and phone lines. She's slipped into the role that light plays in the story, that Zane used to play, illuminating and guiding Alan up and down a spiraling path.

So maybe reintegration and unification is waiting somewhere down the road - Scratch and Alan, Alan and Alice, the memories and pieces of self that Alan and Alice have lost in the darkness, the "Dark" and "Bright" Presence, the dark and the light, constantly circling and never quite reaching each other until at last the branching spiral path reaches its end.

#so here's how the dark presence can be rehabilitated -sam lake as alex casey comes out from behind a curtain and shoots me dead-#anyway. finally managed to write something a bit coherent #alan wake 2 #f: alan wake #remedy posting #*posts

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kindlingkeen · 25 days

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Hi! I absolutely adore your Asymmetrical Warfare series on AO3 (it’s got me back on a competent Jason Todd kick, which, there’s honestly too little of so if you have any recs pls fire away)!

I did have a curiosity that I hope you don’t mind answering though: are there specific reason why you’re not a Tim fan? And does that extend to other members of the batfam as well?

Hi, anon! I’m so glad you’re enjoying Asymmetrical Warfare (competent Jason ftw!). 🙌

Re: Tim. I should probably be more conscientious with my wording around Tim. A lot of what I say in ao3 comments or here tends toward facetious, and tone doesn’t really come across well online.

Which is not to say there aren’t things about Tim that bug me. For example—canon Tim, there are more than few instances of him being downright shitty to Jay’s memory. Case in point, from Batman #456, Tim imagines Jason’s ghost giving him a pep talk about becoming a hero and Jason says he killed himself because he didn’t listen to Batman.

Ah, no sir, the responsible party was the psychopathic clown with a crowbar and some explosives, not the 15 year old trying to save his newly discovered biological mother.

But is this really Tim the character’s fault? Or is it dc’s fault for creating a narrative that brutally murdered a child and then spent decades trashing his memory and blatantly victim-blaming him for it?

It’s really more fanon depictions of Tim that I have a problem with. In particular, the tendency to project Jason’s trauma onto Tim. Trying to spin the white boy who came from an affluent two-parent household as somehow more neglected than the kid whose parents are dead/incarcerated and was literally homeless is just ??? Jason’s backstory touches on so many important societal issues (the gutting of the social safety net, the industrial prison complex, the opioid epidemic, the criminalization of poverty, the stigmatization of sex work), and this approach sweeps all of that under the rug.

It also really gets my goat how many fics masquerade as being about Jason, but are actually just a vehicle for Tim time. These stories tend to dramatize Tim’s character, whether it’s woobie, touch-starved little Timmy who needs constant reassurance and protection, or smarter than everyone ever, can not be out thought or out fought, is actually a CEO while he should be in high school Tim. My problem with this type of narrative is usually two-fold. 1) It dumbs down Jason’s characterization (which should be so rich and complex) to ridiculously oversimplified motivations and actions. And 2) it turns Tim into a caricature of himself, instead of a compelling character with a balance of strengths and weaknesses and a normal amount of teenaged self-esteem.

It probably doesn’t sound like it from this blog post, but I do really try hard in life not to yuck other people’s yum. Just because I don’t care for how Tim is portrayed, it doesn’t make it inherently bad or wrong. And all of this aside, I’ve read plenty of fics where I enjoyed Tim just fine. For example, I love how @bonerot19 writes Tim in their Something in the Static series. And Tim and Jay’s dynamic in WFA is often amusing.

So, yeah, bottom line. Tim is … fine. I’m just not a fan, per se. I try to at least write him fairly in Asymmetrical Warfare, with both the realistic shortcoming of a teenage boy and the awesomeness of Robin. He’s never going to get the same amount of page time as the rest of the crew is, though.

Re: the rest of the batfam. I mean, I often want to bop Bruce on the nose. Especially canon Bruce who beats up his kids and is completely unrepentant about it. But, honestly, that’s not my Bruce. My Bruce, who I love and love to hate in turn, would never do that. (Compartmentalization, the key to happy fic reading and writing.)

I love Babs and Dick. I want to be besties with Steph, but in reality she’s way too cool for me. Duke and Cass I’m less familiar with, but have no problems with. Damian is growing on me, and if dc would just give up the game and admit that Dami and Jay met in the LoA and are actually super special murder brothers at heart, that would be great. Selina is a queen and someday I will write that Selina + Jay and Dami meet in the LoA fic I’ve been dreaming about.

Re: competent Jason fic recs. One of my favorites is butcherbird, fly away home by e_va @e-vasong. Bonus rec, the same author put out a new fic recently, another way to make it to ten, and it not only features competent Jason, it’s Jason & Tim, and I like Tim in it.

Thanks so much for the ask, anon! Really great questions. Kudos if you made it through the whole post. 💙

#keen converses #fic rec #tim drake #jason todd #my fic #asymmetrical warfare #batfam thoughts #character thoughts

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hrlx23 · 4 months

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I watched salt burn today, and it wasn’t even that bad; people are being so dramatic. My English nerd came out tho, cuz I could write a 5 page essay on the symbolism and metaphorical aspects of that movie. The bathtub scene, the vampire scene, and the grave scene all have such a deeper meaning to them THAT NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT.

⚠️SPOILERS⚠️

To sum this up and because I don’t wanna type so much lemme just do bullet points:

‼️it’s 3am and I am exhausted so if this makes no sense I apologize in advanced‼️

- the puppet thing was a literal symbol and connection to Oliver. HE WAS A PUPPET MASTER, HE WAS CONTROLLING THE WHOLE NARRATIVE. At the end when he’s dancing and the puppet thing is there with the rocks on top, each rock is representing a puppet that he controlled that he basically created.

-Oliver was an English major. HE WAS A WRITER AND READER. Being a writer and a puppet master are one of the same. He was writing his own story; his own narrative. He was controlling everything to go just as he planned it.

- to connect to the previous point: the bathtub, vampire, and grave scenes; the three main grotesque scenes of the movie. NOW THIS IS PROBABLY ME REACHING BUT LISTEN. Oliver was a writer he was creating a story one where he himself came out on top. Every story needs a beginning, middle, and end. I believe Oliver saw his body (not himself but his body iykwim) as the physical book. Consuming the cummy bath water I think could be interpreted as him consuming the beginning of life; we all know he gets off on the idea of holding life and death in his hands so to consume these aspects of his story they became sexual in a sense. The vampire scene: he was consuming life; blood is life and by consuming that directly from a living person he was consuming the middle of his story. NOW THE GRAVE SCENE: Death; he was consuming the end of his story; everything ends in death so by fucking the grave of the man who started him on his path he was ending the story in a sense. Obviously we know that wasn’t the end because more people died BUT THE SCENES HAPPENED IN ORDER AND THEY WERE THE MOST SEXUAL SCENE CONTAINING OLIVER HIMSELF.

-to connect to the puppet point: when he kills the mom (forgot her name) and she’s dead, he is trying to keep her arms up to hug him but they keep falling and he keeps trying to put them back. This was a literal scene of him acting as a puppet master, controlling the actions of a physical form physically. If that makes sense.

-the movie started with Oliver telling the story of how he may have been in love with Felix, you don’t know who he’s talking to until the end when you find out he’s basically admitting everything he did to the mother right before he kills her. He got away with everything. He’s a narcissist and he’s pretentious (as all artists are you have to be if you’re creating something because you’re creating it for others) he WANTS someone to know what he did. He WANTS the credit for his success. So by telling the mom everything beginning to end, he’s telling his story. In doing so he admits everything.

-him dancing naked: I don’t think this was meant as something sexual. I think this scene was meant to represent the freedom Oliver felt. He got everything he wanted. He achieved his goal. To further this point he looks longingly and almost admirably at the puppet box thing with the rocks on it. That was (to him) the representation of his story, of his success; it’s like when a writer finally finishes a story or an artist finally finishes a piece of art they’ve been working on for years; he’s feeling that euphoric freedom and accomplishment and it’s represented by him dancing naked in his prize; the house.

-Yes, he was sexual, and the movie in general was a sexual thing. However, I think that was to show his all consuming nature of his plan. Being one with his story.

-Smth I wish they went into detail about: his home life; why was he the way he was? Was he just born that way? Or did something traumatic happen to him for him to become what he did?

-do I think he was in love with Felix? No. I don’t think he can feel or understand the emotion of love. I think he had an obsession with Felix because he was the start of his story, he was the one that led Oliver to everything he was to achieve.

-it’s 3 am and I can’t think of anything else but I will add if I think of smth else cuz I’m definitely leaving things out 😩

#saltburn #salt burn #amazon prime video #movie review #movie analysis #movie breakdown #jacob elordi #English nerd #movie metaphor #symbolism #saltburn review #salt burn review

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cutesyscreenname · 2 months

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The Last Great American Dynasty: Chapter 1

This Was The Very First Page

Series summary:

Addiction, deadlines, a nasty divorce. In an effort to shed your skin and find yourself again, you pack up and move to a historic seaside home across the country. It's all a blur, you're hurting and spinning your wheels in a big house all alone. Until Frankie shows up on your doorstep.

Pairing: Frankie Catfish Morales x AFAB Reader

Rating: 18+ MDNI

Word Count: 1709

Warnings: allusions to former drug use, mention of divorce, not too much to warn of yet we just getting started bby

Notes: I hope we all have a marvelous time and I don't ruin everything 💀 I've been gone for a long ass time, taking baby steps getting back into things.

Also much thanks to @pr0ximamidnight for helping flesh this out (aka letting me rant at her until it came together) and @mydailyhyperfixations, @joelsgreys, and @mylostloversbookmarks for also listening to me ramble 😂 lub u 🩵💙

Chapter One Playlist 🎶📻⚓🌊⛵🎶

This was the very first page

Not where the story line ends

My thoughts will echo your name

Until I see you again

It feels pretentious to drive across the country like this when you don't have to. In fact it was a struggle to do so - insisting and arguing with everyone that you wanted, no - needed to. You could feel the eyes rolling behind your back, hear the sarcastic thoughts unspoken.

Who does she think she is, Kerouac?

Truthfully you just wanted the white noise of wind, pavement, and your Spotify playlist of guilty pleasure pop songs, too occupied by operating a motor vehicle to check the deluge of emails and texts that had been pouring in for months.

A Tale of Two Addicts

Best Selling Author Loses Control of Her Own Narrative

Authoring Her Own Disaster: Detox and Divorce

How could you blame them when the headlines practically wrote themselves?

“So let me get this straight. Not only am I not getting new pages, you’re putting this project on hold to move to the east coast so you can - what? - live out some whimsical seaside fantasy?”

You sat in your office chair, surrounded by stacks of cardboard boxes, pen hovering above the signature line of your divorce papers like a memoir you don’t want to take ownership of as your editor sighs at you over speakerphone.

“I’m doing what they told me to do in therapy, Miles. I’m changing the scenery, starting over. It’s difficult to write any pages for you if I’m too catatonically depressed to get out of bed. Take it as good news, a strategic move. Literally.”

The house has a history. That’s the reason you’d chosen it, frankly. You’d discussed the listings with your realtor over the phone, clicking through the pictures as they recounted the amenities and specs of each property.

“And then there’s the Harkness house…”

If her goal was to intrigue you she’d accomplished it tenfold, having you on the hook for every sordid detail as she regaled you with the story of a widowed heiress making a splash of scandal through the coastal town with her extravagance. She leaned into the impropriety of it all, trying to sell you with gossip, but all you heard was the story of a woman who had reclaimed her life after losing love. Perhaps the house held that energy in its foundation. Maybe if she did it there, so could you.

Pulling up the winding driveway you almost feel a page turn, a fresh start. Then the moving van crunches gravel behind you and your phone pings with a missed call from your lawyer, breaking the spell of your daydream.

It’s been a long day already, an endless stream of delays and snafus. Missing parts and tedious tinkering with finicky engines has left Frankie a mess of sweat, grease, and frustration. The sigh of a long day finally finished whistles out as he climbs the stairs to the office, ready to hand in a few leaves of paperwork and drag himself home when the sound of muffled conversation gives him pause.

“She’s ruining everything, we’ve all but flown in the film crew and we hardly have half a film without that house in it!”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Ray, she could be perfectly cooperative. We don’t know-”

“It’s for fucking NETFLIX, Tim. I won’t be made to look foolish by some scandalous, self important, Hollywood-”

“And you won’t. Let’s just give her the packet, for all we know we could have signed papers come Monday morning.”

That’s all Frankie hears before the desire to get out of there steers his body back toward the stairs. I can turn these in on Monday, not worth the hassle...

Before his steel toe can touch the second step, though, the door swings open and a booming voice sounds behind him.

“Ah! Mr. Morales! Good timing, son. You pass the Harkness house on your way out of here, don’t you?”

The question is moot, the offices and hangar located along the coast such that there’s practically no choice but to pass the seaside estate if you want to reach the town and its modest sprawl of surrounding neighborhoods.

“I do, sir.”

“Then it’s meant to be. I’m sure you’ve heard that it’s newly occupied and we have a…welcome packet of sorts…for the new owner but the courier’s service is closed. Would you mind dropping this off on your way home?”

Tim, the more even keeled of the two executives that frequent these offices, hands over a manilla envelope without waiting for an answer, traces of engine grease still clinging to Frankie's skin leaving faint fingerprints on the hefty packet. The man cuts in again before Frankie can open his mouth to speak.

“Is the jet ready for takeoff in the morning? We’re expected in New York by eleven.”

Frankie studies the name on the envelope for a long moment before looking up to meet the impatient gaze of the man in front of him.

“Ah, yeah- Yes, sir. She’s ready for takeoff. Pilot’s ready for you anytime after eight, should you decide to leave earlier.”

He only receives a slight nod before both men push past him and he’s left alone outside the office door, eyes drawn back to the neatly printed label with your name on it. Why does it sound so familiar?

Lost in a daze of curiousity, Frankie’ feet carry him down the stairs, through the hangar, and out to his truck. He’s so distracted by the strange feeling in his gut that he starts his drive with his steel toes still on and the work orders still stacked along with the mystery packet in his passenger seat.

It's been a week and you're still staring at, discovering, stumbling over boxes.

How the hell does one person accumulate this much stuff?, you think as you sit on the sofa and nurse the soon-to-be bruise on your shin from the cardboard cube you'd just rammed into rounding the corner into the living room. The house in LA had seemed so desolate when Trevor had moved out and now you sit surrounded by a sea of what now feels like junk.

Even in this vast expanse of square footage and seaside it seems the walls might close in on you at any moment.

Thoughts manifesting into reality, you begin to feel too hot seemingly from nowhere. Pulling at the collar of your worn t-shirt, you go to crack open the nearest window when a blue pickup truck rounds the bend and pulls up to your gate. Before you can take too long to squint and guess at who the hell would be at your gate on a Friday evening, the driver presses the call button and your phone begins to ring.

“Hello?”

The phone crackles lightly and a deep, dulcet voice answers you.

“Yes, ah- I've got a delivery here. Is this the new owner?”

From the window you can see the figure in the truck cab lift an envelope to read it and he confirms your name.

“Yeah, that's me. I'll buzz you in.”

“Thanks.”

You hang up and press the button to let him through, watching as he winds up the drive and stops in front of the house.

Had you forgotten to sign something? He asked about being the homeowner, so it can't be another addendum to Trevor's many demands attached to the divorce. Your confusion and curiosity gives way to a flustered state when you open the door.

The first things you notice are the rich brown orbs looking back at you, brows, lids, and laugh lines working to form a frame of sincere apology, like he knows it's unorthodox for him to be standing on your front step at this hour. The rest of him is just as entrancing - plush lips beneath a gorgeous nose, a broad frame just as soft as it is strong, and a rueful smile that has your cheeks flushing as he adjusts his Standard Oil cap to lend you a peak of soft brown curls.

“Hi there,” he interrupts your stupor and you wonder just how long you've been staring.

“I'm here to deliver this. It's from the Standard Oil offices, ah…courier service is closed and it's pretty important I guess.” He holds the envelope out for you to take, his free hand rubbing the back of his neck in what seems like a nervous habit. You can see the faint grease marks on his fingertips, a matching set of smears on the paper in his hand.

“Oh, um. Thanks. Any idea what it's for?” You take the packet from him, eyeing it curiously. It's simply addressed to you with no further indicators on the outside.

“Something about the property I suppose, not really clear on the details. Lot of history in this house, ya know?”

“So I'm told.” You smile softly, toying with the metal fastener, more intrigued by the messenger than the message at this moment.

After a brief silence he shakes his head, seeming to come back to the present, and you wonder where his mind had drifted to. “Anyway, I'll leave you to it. Sorry for the interruption.”

“Not at all. Thanks again.” You wiggle the packet lightly in your hand.

He cracks another smile and you're certain his eyes roam over you before he mutters a goodnight and turns to go back to his truck. You stay stagnant for a while, watching as he gets into the cab and pulls out of the gate, and a few long moments after that as well.

Finally closing the door, you pad into the kitchen and pour a glass of wine to sip while you open your mystery packet. As you set it on the island countertop a few stray sheets slip out from beneath the envelope. Picking them up, you notice they don't seem to have anything to do with you or the house. In fact they look like order sheets of some kind, a list of mechanical sounding items listed with costs and quantities scribbled next to them.

Next to a black smudge to match your packet and the stranger's fingertips is a carefully printed name on a line marked ‘authorized by’. You read the name aloud and your stomach flutters at the way it somehow feels familiar to say.

“Fransisco Morales…”

More to come soon, let me know in the comments or my inbox if you want to be tagged for the next chapter 😬

#last great american dynasty #frankie x reader #francisco morales #marry me frankie #frankie catfish morales #she had a marvelous time ruining everything

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emmalovesfitzloved · 5 months

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Last question, who are your fav downwolders and why?

Ahh… well it has to be….

The one….

The only….

💫Magnus Bane! 🥂

(Art credit: @cassandrajean )

Queue the music!

Now. Reasons reasons reasons. Where to begin.

I took my time thinking about this question bc there are quite a few downworlders I have an affinity to. But the showdown where it was REALLY hard to pick one or the other was the battle of the warlocks…

Tessa or Magnus.

On the one hand, I love Tessa So much (wrote a piece on why you can find here hehe) and I truly think she is a timeless character (well before she became literally timeless ie. immortal) and her influence throughout the shadowhunter world is iconic, relevant and enduring.

(Art credit: @giannyfili )

However… her choices and inner narrative became a bit clumsy dealt with and a bit inconsistent unlike Magnus’s, as the shadowhunter novels went on. Of course, characters are allowed to change, grow, develop at any age, but her character felt slightly manipulated in the writing? All for the sake of peddling the plot. Not to get TOO into the whole herongraystairs touchy topic but I do think as I’ve grown up and done over a handful of rereads I do spot the slight manipulation that started then, which kind of set a precedence in her character throughout. I adore Jem but he as well was felt a bit clumsily. Topic for another time.

Meanwhile Magnus, while through his own self discoveries and through his own immortalities feels more cleaner in plot. He’s necessary, vibrant, witty and is that character that you ALWAYS look forward to reading. He is That character that just lights up a room and you wait with baited breath on what he’s going to say next. His air of lightness that he brings into every interaction makes you be able to read and listen to him all day long. With long promises made of laughter, sage advice, experience, history and adventure.

“I've got a stele we can use. Who wants to do me?""A regrettable choice of words," muttered Magnus (City of Ashes).

And because of this, when he is being serious, his words strike you when you least expect it and leave you stunned.

“You endure what is unbearable, and you bear it. That is All” (Clockwork Princess).

His bisexuality was handled wonderfully, and was truly one of the first stories I think our generation read where the sexual identity wasn’t about coming out but already at the stage of acceptance and fun loving. He remains respectful and doesn’t want Alec to rush out of the closet but rather does the best thing- inspire Alec to be the best version of himself in life which is finite. That’s the best thing a partner can really do for you.

However he isn’t a Mary Sue bc in every series he stars in the reader sees his vulnerabilities in pure daylight. And also has a plot line that challenges his Yodha immortal dogmas. Will being one weakness of his in TID, Camille and how she mistreated him and being alone in a very sad world. I don’t think these topics were explored nearly as well with Tessa.

“You left me. You made a pet out of me, and then you left me. If love were food, I would have starved on the bones you gave me” (City of Fallen Angels).

And of course, his relationship and development with Alec is my top 3 relationships in all the shadowhunter world. It felt natural, wonderful, sizzling, exciting and steadfast. Didn’t feel too young or naive like I sometimes feel when reading Clace, but new enough to feel like the honeymoon will never end. And I think in part it’s because of Magnus bringing out the best in people, and how Alec chose him. Of all the people Magnus helps out, he actually doesn’t really ask much in return. But for once Alec did a double take on him and let Magnus take the reins of where their relationship will lead them. With great readership payoff 🥹💍

“You could give me the past,“ he said a little sadly. “But Alec is my future” (City of Fallen Angels).

(Art credit: kasirose)

In fact, he has SO much to offer we got standalones, his own mini series with his partner and constant features in further novellas stories. There is no other character in the Shadowhunter chronicles who has been that centre stage as him. And he deserves all of it.

Favourite Swiftie songs that r HIS:

• BEJEWELED

• Begin Again

• Welcome to New York

• You’re in Love

• Karma

• You’re Not Sorry

• Ours

• I Know Places

• You’re on Your Kid

• Castles Crumbling

• The Last Great American Dynasty

• The 1

• Hoax

So yeah the superlative for the best Downworlder has to go to the delightfully and wonderfully written…

Magnus Bane <3

(Art credit: kasirose)

So yeah! I hope the answer makes up for the wait @imabitchforjemcarstairs ILY! And thank you so much for the lovely ask!

P.s. if any artist doesnt want to be affiliated, kindly DM me and I’ll remove your lovely art and mention from the post :))

#bejeweled magnus #magnus bane #shadowhunters essay #TSC #TES #cassandra clare #TDA #TLH #Malec #TID #ask #iamabitchforjemcarstairs

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thelordofgifs · 7 months

Note

Putting this in an ask because comments have a word limit :D

I LOVE the two conversations with Lúthien and Turgon at the start of part 30 of TFS. It’s clear what Maedhros is *trying* to do - make things better for two people he loves before he leaves, to assuage the guilt of leaving - but what makes it great is that Lúthien and Turgon are both trying to tell him the same thing, and he is not listening. It is not HIMSELF that is a danger, it is the Oath, and he is unable or unwilling to recognize that he can be free of it, which is why he doesn’t get what he’s looking for from either of them.

The Lúthien one really stands out because Maglor doesn’t *seem* particularly tormented by the Oath; Maedhros seems to be projecting his own preoccupations upon Maglor. To the extent that Maglor still seems concerned about the Oath, it’s mostly on Maedhros’ own behalf.

It’s just…the way he’s willing to walk straight into Sauron’s grasp rather than grapple with the realizations that are in front of him!

It’s fantastic characterization.

Thank you so much! Part 30 had a very clear structure in my mind: Maedhros talks to Lúthien about Maglor, he talks to Turgon about Fingon, he talks to Fingon, he talks to Maglor – and he does, I think, feel in some way as though he’s setting his affairs in order before he leaves. (He does not have any expectation at this stage of ever seeing Fingon or Maglor again, also.)

There was a post going around a while ago about how some stories are tragedies because “it didn’t HAVE to end this way” and some stories are tragedies because “it was always GOING to end this way”. What about, I asked myself the other day, walking home from work in the rain, a tragedy that isn’t inevitable – but its protagonist thinks it is? Because I really did want part 30 to feel like a tragedy in one act; and Maedhros, who both canonically and in tfs is almost defined by this utter inability to recognise the shape of the narrative he is caught in, was naturally the central figure of it. I do think this is one of the saddest instalments of the entire fic. It was very hard, emotionally, to write.

So, yes, Maedhros doesn’t listen. He’s too convinced that There Is Only One Way The Story Goes, and convinced also that he is the main character of it: “You do rather think everything is about you, don’t you?” says Turgon, and Maedhros’ immediate internal response, which he decides not to say aloud, is Well it is. And he’s been proven right about Sauron lurking in Dorthonion, and proven right that going public with his relationship with Fingon after centuries of secrecy is a bad idea, which only reinforces his belief that he is right about literally everything. This is… not true, to say the least.

As for the Oath: Maedhros’ current thoughts on it are, in a large part, driven by his conversation with Maglor in part 28, just before the battle.

“When it is won,” he says again, “we might try, perhaps, to rid ourselves of our shackles for good.”

Maedhros stills. “What do you mean by that?”

“You know what I mean, Nelyo,” Maglor says quietly. “The Oath. I do not know if we can free ourselves of it, but I know we must try.”

Maedhros gives him a long, thoughtful look. “Is that what you want?” he asks.

“More than anything,” says Maglor. “Oh, Nelyo, I am tired of being bound. Aren’t you?” He thinks of Menegroth and struggling with all his will against the Oath’s compulsion; and he thinks of Lúthien, who told him he need not regret forever.

Maedhros’ hand goes to the stump of his right wrist. He says nothing.

“I am beginning to believe it possible, at least,” says Maglor.

“All right,” Maedhros murmurs. He sounds resigned more than anything else, although in his eyes is the distant, calculating look Maglor usually associates with his brother the strategist, poring over war-maps and diplomatic correspondence.

Maglor: I want to be free of the Oath

Maedhros: clearly what he is saying is that we need to go after the other two Silmarils and although I do not yet know how to do that or particularly want to do it my precious baby brother must have anything his heart desires

(Also, incidentally, the precise thought that went through Maedhros' head when Maglor asked him if he was tired of being bound was, verbatim, Káno, I am always bound.)

So although Maglor isn't tormented by the Oath exactly, he has been spending a lot of time this arc quietly thinking about it (in fact, he's been thinking about it pretty much the entire fic). And, as Lúthien says, there is a lot that Maglor understands and Maedhros doesn't: namely, that they can be free of the Oath, and that there's a distinction between that and fulfilling it. More on this in the next arc, probably. But Maedhros has fully failed to grasp any of this, even though Lúthien basically spells it out for him when she asks him if Thingol's Silmaril is really what he wants. So instead he goes off and makes what one might reasonably call a Bad Decision.

He's so stupid. He breaks my heart.

#asks #warrioreowynofrohan #the fairest stars #tfs spoilers #maedhros #thank you for the lovely ask!! I have a lot of thoughts

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klutzyroses · 2 years

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I have thought of a this for a bit now and I so much hope you will like my idea, like how the mansion residents, above all the writers, will react with a MC who loves to write, especially romantic things ? Thank you Have a wonderful day :D

I hope you're ready for the fluffiness! And I hope you have a wonderful day as well!💖

IkeVamp HCs: Romantic Writer SO

How do they react to an s/o who loves to write romance?

Suitors: Arthur, Dazai, Jean, William

Arthur

The mystery writer very early on noticed the lovely Y/N seemed to have a little hobby she was rather reserved about.

He would somewhat prod at her teasingly about what she was doing when he wasn't around and would always be met with flustered responses of "nothing in particular".

Which he knew was not true. The detective in him has definitely been piqued due to her secrecy, but part of him just wanted to know a bit more about the woman he loves. He just genuinely wants to know.

So, with much observation and detective work, the mystery writer soon uncovers his darling's love of writing.

Writing what? He didn't know. So what else could he do than ask her directly. So he did.

While the girl hesitated at first, she relented and told him she often wrote romantic poetry and short stories in her little notebook. When asked if he could read them, she very timidly handed over her notebook, only asking that he read it in his own time.

And when he does...he is blown away.

Within the first few paragraphs, his heart began to melt at the affabrous literature before his sapphire eyes, speaking tales of passionate love and reverie blossoming from a clearly dreamy and wistful heart. It quite literally leaves him speechless by the time he is done.

When he is able to put it down, he immediately seeks out his tender worded angel and he twirls her once, reveling in her surprised gasp before simply gushing about what a gift she has. He is almost offended she kept this from him. He kisses each blessed finger that had written such divine words, silently hoping she will continue to write and maybe they can work together sometime.

Dazai

Being a writer himself, he was a master at wording and especially had a talent for weaving tales off the top of his head.

And as a writer, he is naturally observant, thus he was keenly aware of his sweetheart holding a little secret passion to herself.

A little passion held in a pretty little notebook kept close to her heart.

He of course was curious enough to ask about it and received a timid and vague answer that it was just a book of "meaningless babble that wouldn't interest him".

Somehow he had trouble believing that.

So it was when he was with her in the library one night that he asked her to read her "meaningless babble" to him. He asks in such a gentle, persuasive tone that the maiden couldn't refuse him. Which led to her being held in his lap while she read a short story she had written most recently.

As he listened to symphony of tender words, soft expressions of undying love and compassion echoing through the voice of his beloved, his heart ached, his golden eyes softened with warmth.

He never knew she was just a gifted amorist, able to spin such beautiful narratives, that could touch the heart so deeply and had he been a more expressive man, he might even been moved to tears.

He is so taken by it that when she finishes, he gently turns her head to meet her in a heartmelting kiss before whispering praise and sweet nothings to her.

It wouldn't be unusual to see the couple collaborate from then on, weaving breathtaking tales of love together.

Jean

When learning to read from his beloved, he noted she often taught him from very sweet and romantic books, centering mostly around poetry and anecdotes of passion and love in all sorts of settings.

He was not the most adept at understanding the concept, but he could feel his heart stir as the beautifully woven words danced forth into the air like a lover's waltz.

Romance is not his forte per se, but he never complains. He figures, this was just her preferred genre and didn't question it. He was just grateful to be taught.

However as he began to learn to write and learn to differentiate handwriting, he started to notice a strong similarity between the handwriting of the books his love read to him and the handwriting of his beloved herself.

He pushes the curiosity away for quite some time, feeling as though he was making assumptions until he couldn't help but voice the question one day whilst she was reading to him.

The response he got was Y/N looking away sheepishly, clearing her throat as she awkwardly admitted that she was the author of all those romance stories and poems, from her vivid, fairytale imagination, transferred to her quill onto paper.

To say the soldier was taken aback is an understatement.

He hadn't guessed that his mademoiselle was a writer at all. But he supposed it made sense in the end.

He wonders now if the amorous content was a window into her own desires and wants, which later leads to him becoming just a little more affectionate towards her. From holding her hand, to cuddling her sweetly, anything to make her feel as loved as possible.

William

This was William. William Shakespeare. If anyone knew about writing scenes of love, whether intense, sweet, passionate, sensual or all of the above, he could do it, seamlessly, without batting an eye.

Which would likely explain why Y/N wouldn't be too much in a hurry to show him her little hobby.

Likely, she feared that it would only pale in comparison to the Bard of Avon's prowess.

So it was almost purely by chance that when he had his love staying in his abode, he had come up behind her to find her deeply absorbed in scribbling something in a notebook, so distracted by it that she didn't even realise he was there.

Taking this opportunity, he reads over her shoulder to see what was taking up her attention.

And to say he was impressed...would be putting it lightly. What fanciful wording! Such poetry!

He could quite literally feel the passion between the characters and the deep love they had for one another.

He never knew his love possessed such a talent for romance, he couldn't help but feel just a little offended she didn't tell him.

To pay her back, he recreates one of the scenes in her writing and surprises her by holding her face in his hands, staring into her luminous eyes as he murmured words of love, much like the male protagonist in her story splaying tender kisses upon her cheek.

The lovely maiden was most flustered indeed.

🌸

#ikemen vampire #ikevamp #ikevamp dazai #ikemen vampire headcanons #ikemen vampire scenarios #ikevamp jean #ikevamp arthur #ikevamp william

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greywindys · 1 year

Note

I think I can see your line of thinking, but I'm interested to hear why you think the album is about Murdoc more than it is about 2Doc this time.

Yeah, of course! I want to precede this answer by saying that this is all my fanon interpretation. The inferences I make use canon to support them, but Ed didn't seem to write anything like this into the actual CI story. I'm always open to new perspectives though. What really guided how I listened to CI was this quote, from this interview with Damon:

"It's very easy to suffer from delusions of grandeur in a culture like today's. The messiah complex is very real today, and it's evidently powered by social media. History teaches us how things end for false prophets, the madness that comes with any movement with one of them at the center."

Overall, CI isn't exactly saying anything new. I can name, off the top of my head, quite a few pieces of media that commentate on the same topic, in almost the exact same way. But the concept is, overall, consistent throughout the album, and I feel like I can hear a narrative. I don't like to conjecture too much about Jamie or Damon's artistic viewpoint, I'm not that kind of fan, but the songs seem to show a speaker getting pulled into a belief system, a vice, a ~cult (it's vague) and going through the motions of being a believer(Oil, Silent Running), to being a leader leading others down their same self-destructive path and being consumed by their own Messiah complex (Tarantula), to eventually coming out of it in the end, possibly (Skinny Ape, Possession Island). At the very least, there's an evolution from being the one controlled to the one who abuses their power (or tries to, at least). IRL, this could be Damon grappling with his own "Messiah" role, bestowed upon him by fans.

So why, if Damon is "2D", am I not saying this is about 2D?

The short answer: because none of that has anything to do with 2D. The narrative in the album, imo, is a lot more consistent with the cycle Murdoc's character has been stuck in consistently throughout Gorillaz' entire run. Murdoc is the one who sought out fame, love, recognition, etc, and constantly gets derailed by vice after vice, only to fight through it, but fall into old patterns again not long after. How many times have we played the "is he better this phase or not?" game? Who "suffers from delusions of grandeur'? Who had the Messiah complex this phase? Who has been both hurt by the world, and hurt the ones close to him? Murdoc. The album, to me, plays like an outside narration of Murdoc's journey this phase, and on a wider scale, the cyclical pattern of his life (and the band's).

Murdoc has often been used as the main character to voice the controversial opinions, to carry out the problematic decisions, essentially move the plot along at the expense of his own reputation among the fanbase. So it makes sense for me to think about each CI song in connection to each step of his ongoing, unhealthy patterns (one of which could be his relationship with 2D, hence where we can get the 2Doc reading). "Moonflower" is less of a real character to me than she is a representation of Murdoc's various vices and insecurities. And of course they unite in the end. He's either freeing himself of them, or welcoming them back to him so he can start down the wrong path all over again. Which leads me to my next question...

I'm still going back and forth about the ending of the album. Is it optimistic? Is it depressing? Is the message that we're trapped in our own addictions to social media, belonging, acceptance etc, but hey, at least we're trapped together? Are we Murdoc? Lmao, but I'm also also being somewhat serious.

I can already hear the counter arguments about how it was 2D who "literally fell for the cult," but the thing is, the narrative doesn't fault 2D for that. 2D also never had a Messiah complex, or got sucked into fame the way Murdoc did, and continues to do. All of 2D's flaws have all but been erased these last two phases. Talk about his children he doesn't pay child support for, his addiction to painkillers, his homewrecking, and whatever else, but the fact is that none of those things are acknowledged by the current canon anymore, and the current writers don't treat them as relevant. They might as well not exist, because the writers want him to be 100% "pure." The narrative doesn't portray his relationship with the rival cult as his fault either, it's Murdoc and Moonflower's fault for manipulating him (Moonflower) or being mean pushing him away (Murdoc). As he's currently being written, he doesn't have the range to be the main character on this album, imo. To be frank, there's little to nothing of substance there anymore (part of the reason I don't really respect what his character has become, despite liking him in the past).

I'm actually a little bit irked about the story we got versus the actual substance of the album. Though I typically defend Ed, I feel like he interpreted the concept very literally and gave us a simplified version of Damon's vision. It was a cute story, but compared to the album, it's kind of basic, imo. I think it also illustrates the overall lack of communication between the art, music and writing pieces. You can tell there wasn't a lot of cohesion until late in the phases development, and the cartoon band side of it missed out on a lot.

#asks.#Anonymous #long post sdkald

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churro-lord · 2 years

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Hihi i'm 🎛 anon over on your eridan blog i'm curious how do you feel about eridan rarepairs like erikar 👀 personally i am very Normal about these two [also i like having quad vacillation with those two switching between flushed and pale. love these two]

Yes yes yes yes YES

Absolutely up there as a favorite ship, hell I’d say it was one of the first Eridan ships I REALLY got into

Eridan and Karkat just *work* and I absolutely agree with the flushed/pale vacillation 100%

It’s why it pisses me off when Andrew in his book commentary tries to claim the two don’t like each other like 🤨 you’re telling me you’re gonna write these two being chummy with one another, and literally out here being on record as being gossip buddies and helping each other out (or at least TRYING on Eridan’s part because yes it is absolutely a mutual want to help each other as he’s tried offering help out to him BEFORE)

You can’t sit here Hussie and tell me there wasn’t any fucking care between the two

1. He’s shown to talk more personally to Karkat than FEFERI of all people, one who he’s shown to hold up higher than anyone else and who was his god damn MOIRAIL

2. The way Karkat responds to Eridan’s plea for help with Feferi…you can’t tell me he doesn’t care by that tone of voice (also going as far as calling him a bro and stuff)

3. You know, Eridan who’s often portrayed as self centered by the narrative offering to talk things out with a Karkat who so clearly in distress over what the hell Eridan did during murderstuck

4. How Eridan is reprimanding Gamzee for not being of any help not only to himself, but to Karkat

Listen I’ll tell you now there’s some fruity behavior going on over there and I’ll die on that hill!!

You can probably find like a singular piece of old outdated Erikar art on my page but I haven’t drawn them in forever and I really really fucking should because they are my BLORBOS and I think they deserve to be happy as a god damn TREAT

#Homestuck #eridan ampora #karkat vantas #erikar #reblog

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lunarbun87 · 7 months

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Ofmd season 2 Finale rant (BIG Spoilers and big feelings)

I don't think I'd go so far to damn the writing of the show or even be mad at the writers. I understand there were some budget cuts and it's understandable that things didn't feel right/felt rushed because of that. But emotionally, to me (who is a mentality ill softy), Izzy's death hit so so so bad. I identified so closely with this character and the direction they were going with him seemed to invite viewers to get attached (which may have been the point but that's kinda cheap). As this season went on, I was thrilled to see that stupid asshole be happy! The idea that even if you're a nightmare, even if you've been a bad friend or partner, you can change, you may not 'deserve' love and care but there will still be those who will love and care for you, and it's your responsibility to rise to the occasion and be a better man for them, for your family, for your community, for your crew, that everyone can find self-love and acceptance for being their true self. I was so invested in this narrative that the final episode hit me out of nowhere hard. Izzy dies, telling his closest friend to let him die, that Ed doesn't need him, he's sorry for all he did, etc. I get that this is good for Ed's character development but in that moment, it hit like a suicide note to me, like dead ass things I've thought or said during a really suicidal moment (and it especially hits that way because of everything he's lived through, and all the near death experiences everyone has survived, it's like he chose to die). And everyone is just staring at him, no reactions, Ed is upset but honestly kinda calm for someone losing his very long term friend. Like I understand they had a really challenging and toxic relationship, but like that's a man who was devoted to you for a long time, a man whose taking the full responsibility for his part in things and has been growing, a man who you literally disabled but is still apologizing to you on his deathbed!!! Just the underwhelming reaction from every character hit so fucking bad, like a real 'no one will mourn you' or 'so anyway' moment. And then everyone is happy, there's a wedding, Ed and Stede get their Inn, celebration all around. The juxtaposition of these two scenes almost feels like we're celebrating Izzy's death, which felt super icky as someone who thought he was really bonding with the crew, it felt like he was still unloved, uncared for, still an outcast. I mean maybe I'm just a crazy little Izzy stan but I was really thinking they were gonna maybe give him a love interest or maybe when he sees that Ed is no longer Blackbeard, he realizes he needs to find himself, that he should live his life in devotion to himself instead of a capitan. Idk, I just felt there were so many ways you could take his character, but now I just feel so very bleak and pessimistic about it all. Like (and I know this is my silly haha bpd hell brain speaking) seeing no one deeply mourn for a character you see yourself in and everyone just move on really triggered me, like more than I expected, it felt like I was seeing validation for all my worst thoughts. I know this wasn't the writers intention, I don't blame them for this interpretation, but it just sat so poorly. Cause if this is how they're going to do him, if everyone is just gonna shrug and move on, then maybe Izzy's mistrust and defenses were valid, Izzy thought no one cared about him and it felt like (in death) that was true. It throws into question all the healing, if he still dies focused on Ed, and convinced no one needs him. Thank you for listening to my emotional take 🤙 Again no hate to the creators or people who loved the finale, this is just how it hit me.

#ofmd #izzy hands #ofmd spoilers #ofmd season 2 #ofmd season finale #edward teach #I like the rest of the episode tho #Izzy's speach was really great #stede and eds reunion was great #I just didn't expect to be kicked in the balls like that #suicide mention #bpd mention #i know I took this a little too personally #but that's my comfort character man!#it's hard to create that distance suddenly #I'll be better tomorrow probably #might delete later when I'm feeling better #the fnaf movie better not throw me any curve balls like this!

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sangcreole · 1 year

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Hi! I am asking this to you, the mun, cause you're the only Louis expert I know. How do you think Louis viewed Lestat saving his life at the end of Merrick? What do you think he thought about his new body and new powers? Did he think Lestat condemned him to darkness yet again? Was he grateful that he didn't die?

ANON WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE ME CRY

listen I'll be honest, it's been like 4 years since I read merrick start to finish, so this is a part of canon I'm actually not an expert on! On this blog, I don't count Merrick as canon, so I don't write post-suicide Louis. I'm still so butthurt about the whole thing and kinda erased it from my memory so please know my grasp on this era of canon is skewed and obscured by my love for louis LMAO

I think, ultimately, Louis IS relieved at his salvation for two reasons. The first being that Louis was literally not in his right mind when he ended his life. I know he had planned to end it before Merrick cast her spell on him, however his suicide note is so egregiously out of character, I refuse to believe it was Louis himself who wrote it. If Louis were ending his life on his own terms, I honest to god don't think he'd be able to do it without saying goodbye to Lestat (and Armand honestly!!). Or at least write more than two goddamn sentences in his fucking suicide note. But ANYWAY my own saltiness aside, I do think that part of him being thankful for being brought back has to be informed by the fact that he didn't even die on his own terms in the first place y'know?

In terms of him being saved by Lestat.......look, it's something I'll never not be devastated by, okay? For so long, Louis was defined by his weakness, and he embraced it not only because it allowed him to cling to the last dying embers of his humanity, but also because his weakness was what would allow him to eventually die, which he sees as a gift. He says himself: "the ability to die is key," and so on the one hand I think one of his greatest motivators for rejecting the ancient blood was simply that he was too scared to go on forever, he wanted to cling to his exit strategy.

The thing that breaks my fucking heart about Lestat’s decision to save Louis though is that he only does it because he genuinely believes Louis would want to be saved. He begs Merrick and David to listen to his thoughts because if Louis doesn’t want to be revived, Lestat is aware that bringing him back might result in absolute catastrophe. So even if we don’t know whether Louis wanted to be saved or not, we do know that Lestat was acting with his best intentions, that he wouldn’t have done it unless he 100% believed it was what Louis wanted. Ultimately, like most things that happen in these books, a thread can be traced back to the essential question of do we, the audience, trust Lestat and his judgment?

David (I begrudgingly admit) also makes some good points when he and Lestat are debating whether or not to revive him— ultimately, Louis had been looking to die for a long while, and the Claudia Debacle had given him enough nerve, but having "survived" one day in the sun, that nerve is probably gone. We'll never know what Louis was actually thinking in that moment, but I do think David is right on this one. I'm sure it was an intentional narrative choice, the way this sort of mirrors Louis' first turning, when he was still human and wanted to die but didn't have the courage, and relied on Lestat to give him a new life. He wanted to die and, having tasted death, wanted once more to live.

Once Louis is revived, he does thank Lestat and David and Merrick, but honestly I think the most telling passage is when he describes his new senses— the way he can hear far away music and feel mortals on the street— and he describes it as "sweet and welcoming" and to me this moment just makes my heart ACHE because it reminds me of when Louis was a young fledgling in awe of the simplest things like the light of the moon or the buttons on Lestat's jacket LOL! While it's clear Louis is overwhelmed by the power upgrade, there is also this renewed sense of wonder and jubilance, and he admits that he finally feels a part of something.

TL;DR— even though I fucking abhor this part of canon and refuse to write about it, I do think Louis is grateful for the chance to live again, and I think a case could be made for the way he approaches his new powers with curiosity rather than horror.

#i'm upsetti spaghetti lmfao!!!!!!!#this book hurt my feelings and i'm STILL mad about it!!!!#*【 ❛How pathetic it is to describe these things which can't truly be described. ❜ 】 ➤ Meta

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smokeybrand · 2 years

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Smokey brand Reviews: Hello There

I feel like i write too much about this show but, as a fan of Star Wars and, more precisely, Vader, the discourse around this show frustrates the sh*t out of me. Episode six is in the can and a second season has been announced, which i think is a very interesting place to go. However, all I've heard out of the fandom is that this isn’t a Kenobi show, that it’s the Reva/Leia Comedy hour or some sh*t. What the f*ck were you all watching? Obviously, Disney needs to find a way to tell a goddamn Star Wars story without including little cherubim or whatever but i think this works for Kenobi. It establishes a per-exisitng relationship between he and Leia one fraught with actual danger do, of course, she’d come to him about the Death Star plans but I'm getting ahead of myself. I’ve written pretty substantially about the problems with this show but, as it’s finally over, i think i can properly review it as an entire experience.

The Great

The Vader content is solid. Anytime he was on the screen, my inner child squeed with joy. Vader is the reason i got into Star Wars and, to this day, almost fifty years since it was released in theaters and probably thirty-five since i first saw Star Wars, Darth Vader is still my favorite character. Indeed, all of my favorites are somewhat Vader adjacent. Plus, i love that they put Hayden in the suit. Dude deserves to finally get his shine after being hamstrung by that awful, awful, Lucas dialogue.

That final clash between Kenobi ad Vader was everything i imagined it to be. Kenobi still used the style had had in Revenge, which makes sense because i figured he’d switch after his training with Qui-Gon. However, Vader was a brutal as i would expect him to be at that point in his life. But it was that slash which took half his helmet off and you could see Anakin under the mask of Vader and Kenobi’s reaction to it. That sh*t was heavy. When Aksoka did it in Revels, i had a much more visceral reaction because Tano is my second favorite character and i loved the relationship Snips and Skyguy had but this one was still heavy as sh*t. Seeing Hayden under the helmet in full on Sith mode, scarred and burned, heaving just to breath, and Obi-Wan just broken at the sight’ My goodness. Solid Star Wars content.

I’ve been hearing how this clash cheapens their final confrontation in Hope but i disagree. The final battle they had mirrored (or rhymed if you listen to Lucas) the training clash the two Jedi has in that flashback. At that time, Kenobi was still the master and Anakin the student. Anakin, as Vader, lost to Kenobi once again. If they never cross paths again, which they should never do from here on out, then that statement holds true. Kenobi manipulated Anakin this entire show because he knew his Padawan so well.

Say what you will about the writing of this show or the focus of the narrative, but Ewan McGegor nailed this performance. I rather enjoyed the arc of the despondent Jedi, finding his way back to the force. I never thought this was a neutering of the character or whatever. Kenobi had just lost everything, literally everything. His friends. His home. His hope. He thought he killed his brother and, as penance, decided to exile himself to Tatooine under the pretext of “protecting” Luke but Kenobi simply didn’t have the strength to do so. Not in the force, but of the soul. This show wasn’t the “Last Jedification” of Kenobi but a natural, logical, progression of a man who had hit rock bottom and McGregor conveyed that perfectly.

The Good

I rather enjoyed the overall arc. Like, the story in general terms, is wildly compelling. I touched on this above but i love the idea that Oi-Wan was so f*cking broken after Revenge that he effectively cut himself off from the force. It took looking after and protecting Vader’s OTHER kid, for him to find his way back to the Force and i dig that. I love redemption arcs, almost as much as i love tragic fall arcs, so this was right my alley.

I think little Leia was a substantial edition to the Star Wars lore. I’ve heard people saying she’s too precocious or she’s too smart for a ten year old but, let’s be honest, so was young Anakin in Menace you just didn’t notice because Jake Lloyd was real bad at his job and Vivien Lyra Blair was not. Blair was really good considering her age and the pedigree of actors with which she had to share the screen. Of course Leia is wise beyond her years. She has a latent, strong, connection to the force, just like Luke. Why wouldn’t she be able to feel people out the way she does or solve diplomatic issues like her ma?

Seeing the Inquisitors in live action was pretty dope. I dope like all of their designs, the Grand Inquisitors is just terrible, but it was still awesome seeing them in flesh and blood.

Obi-Wan Kenobi feels like a Star Wars story. This show fits right into the space between Hope and Revenge perfectly. I get that this isn’t the OP Kenobi show everyone wanted but, to me, it definitely feels organic to the plot trajectory left over from Revenge. More than that, if you take the final clash with maul into account, of course this show is necessary in order to show us how Kenobi got there from his manic clash with Anakin last we saw him. I don’t get the hate for this show, outside of Reva.

I actually read somewhere that all of these side characters are what taught Ben to be Obi-Wan again. Leia taught him how to love, Haja taught him how to trust, Roken taught him how to lead, Reva taught him the patience to teach, i forget what Tala taught him but my point is, i can see all of that. When you take into account how passive Obi-Wan was in the first episode, to how goddamn present he was at the end, you have to give this narrative it’s props. I agree that the execution was a bit hard to penetrate for someone just looking for Obi-Wan to lightsaber his way across the galaxy, but Star Wars had become so much more than that.

The Bad

I will freely admit that there needed to be more Kenobi/Leia in this show. I enjoyed what we got and bought into why Leia would be so trusting of Kenobi in Hope after seeing their adventure in this, but this wasn’t a Kenobi “show” per say. This was more a Kenboi arc, a Vader cameo, a Leia origin story, and a backdoor Reva pilot. That last bit is a whole ass problem that I'll get into next, don’t worry, but i agree that this should have been more Kenobi-centric to a point. What we got was good but it just wasn’t enough.

Reva is the worst. I anted to reserve judgment until the very end but this character is trash water. Racist hate and petulant man-child gripes aside, Reva sucks in this show, which is a shame, because on paper, she could have been dope. A lot of this, i think, falls on the direction of Deborah Chow but moreso on how Moses Ingram decided to lay her. I have no idea what else Ingram has been in but, based on this one performance, she doesn’t appear to have the instinct in order to be a really good actor.

Boy, the writing sure did fall off a cliff after episode three, didn't it? The Vader stuff is on point, true to the obsessive character he'd become after Revenge and i liked the arc they had Ben follow but everything else? Bruh. Why was Ice Cube jr. even a thing? How do you waste Nanjiani like that? What was even the point of Tala?

The Verdict

Overall, this show is a mixed bag. There is a lot to like and some great plot points but they are muddled in with incomplete characters, weird pacing, f*cking Reva, and questionable lore breaks. That said, even with all it's failings, Obi-Wan Kenobi is still the third best Star Wars thing Disney has made so far. All of that Vader content was fantastic and letting Hayden actually be the Dark Lord of the Sith was brilliant. Ewan McGregor killed every scene he was in and i rather liked his redemption arc as a whole. Ultimately, i think Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi is a fun Star Wars experience and deserves a bit more credit that it’s getting at the moment. This show is objectively the fourth best thing Disney Star Wars has produced, so far, and deserves to be recognized as such. If your curious, i got the ranking as follows: Visions > Rogue One > Mando > Kenobi. Everything else is just noise. Here’s hoping they do a better job with Ahsoka.

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