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#yes i know that into the wild isn't a novel
angelsdean · 4 months
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I need people to understand how S&P (standards and practices) works in television and how much influence they have over what gets to stay IN an episode of a show and how the big time network execs are the ones holding the purse strings and making final decisions on a show's content, not the writers / showrunners / creatives involved.
So many creators have shared S&P notes over the years of the wild and nonsensical things networks wanted them to omit / change / forbid. Most famously on tumblr, I've seen it so many times, is the notes from Gravity Falls. But here's a post compiling a bunch of particularly bad ones from various networks too. Do you see the things they're asking to be changed / cut ?
Now imagine, anything you want to get into your show and actually air has to get through S&P and the network execs. A lot of creators have had to resort to underhanded methods. A lot of creators have had to relegate things to subtext and innuendo and scenes that are "open to interpretation" instead of explicit in meaning. Things have had to be coded and symbolized. And they're relying on their audience to be good readers, good at media literacy, to notice and get it. This stuff isn't the ramblings of conspiracy theorists, it's the true practices creatives have had to use to be able to tell diverse stories for ages. The Hays Code is pretty well known, it exists because of censorship. It was a way to symbolize certain things and get past censors.
Queercoding, in particular, has been used for ages in both visual media and literature do signal to queer audiences that yes, this character is one of us, but no, we can't be explicit about it because TPTB won't allow it. It's a wink-wink, nudge-nudge to those in the know. It's the deliberate use of certain queer imagery / clothing / mannerisms / phrases / references to other queer media / subtle glances and lingering touches. Things that offer plausible deniability and can be explained away or go unnoticed by straight audiences to get past those network censors. But that queer viewers WILL (hopefully) pick up on.
Because, unfortunately, still to this day, a lot of antiquated network execs don't think queer narratives are profitable. They don't think they'll appeal to general audiences, because that's what matters, whatever appeals to most of the audience demographic so they can keep watching and keep making the network more money. The networks don't care about telling good stories! Most of them are old white cishet business men, not creatives. They don't care about character arcs and what will make fans happy. They don't care about storytelling. What they care about is profit and they're basing their ideas of what's profitable on what they believe is the predominate target demographic, usually white cis heterosexual audiences.
So, imagine a show that started airing in the early 2000s. Imagine a show where the two main characters are based on two characters from a famous Beat Generation novel, where one of the characters is queer! based on a real like bisexual man! The creator is aware of this, most definitely. And sure, it's 2005, there's no way they were thinking of making that explicit about Dean in the text because it just wouldn't fly back then to have a main character be queer. But! it's made subtext. And there are nods to that queerness placed in the text. Things that are open to interpretation. Things that are drenched in metaphor (looking at you 1x06 Skin "I know I'm a freak" "maybe this thing was born human but was different...hated. Until he learned to become someone else.") Things that are blink-and-you-miss-it and left to plausible deniability (things like seemingly spending an hour in the men's bathroom, or always reacting a little vulnerable and awkward when you're clocked instead of laughing it off and making a homophobic joke abt it)
And then, years later there's a ship! It's popular and at first the writers aren't really seriously thinking about it but they'll throw the fans a bone here and there. Then, some writers do get on the destiel train and start actively writing scenes for them that are suggestive. And only a fraction of what they write actually makes it into the text. So many lines left on the cutting room floor: i love past you. i forgive you i love you. i lost cas and it damn near broke me. spread cas's ashes alone. of course i wanted you to stay. if cas were here. -- etc. Everything cut was not cut by the writers! Why would a writer write something to then sabotage their own story and cut it? No, these are things that didn't make it past the network. Somewhere a note was made maybe "too gay" or "don't feed the shippers" or simply "no destiel."
So, "no destiel." That's pretty clearly the message we got from the CW for years. "No destiel. Destiel will alienate our general audience. Two of our main characters being queer? And in a relationship? No way." So what can the pro-destiel creatives involved do, if the network is saying no? What can the writers do if most of their explicit destiel (or queer dean) lines / moments are getting cut? Relegate things to subtext. Make jokes that straight people can wave off but queer people can read into. Make costuming and set design choices that the hardcore fans who are already looking will notice while the general audience and the out-of-touch network execs won't blink and eye at (I'm looking at you Jerry and your lamps and disappearing second nightstands and your gay flamingo bar!)
And then, when the audience asks, "is destiel real? is this proof of destiel?" what can the creatives do but deny? Yes, it hurts, to be told "No no I don't know what you're talking about. There's no destiel in supernatural" a la "there is no war in Ba Sing Se" but! if the network said "no destiel!" and you and your creative team have been working to keep putting destiel in the subtext of the narrative in a way that will get past censors, you can't just go "Yes, actually, all that subtext and symbolism you're picking up, yea it's because destiel is actually in the narrative."
But, there's a BIG difference between actively putting queer themes and subtext into the narrative and then saying it's not there (but it is! and the audience sees it!) versus NOT putting any queer content into the text but SAYING it is there to entice queer fans to continue watching. The latter, is textbook queerbaiting. The former? Is not. The former is the tactics so many creatives have had to use for years, decades, centuries, to get past censorship and signal to those in the know that yea, characters like you are here, they exist in this story.
Were the spn writers perfect? No, absolutely not. And I don't think every instance of queer content was a secret signal. Some stuff, depending on the writer, might've been a period-typical gay joke. These writers are flawed. But it's no secret that there were pro-destiel writers in the writing room throughout the years, and that efforts were made to make it explicitly canon (the market research!)
So no, the writers weren't ever perfect or a homogeneous entity. But they definitely were fighting an uphill battle constantly for 15 yrs against S&P and network execs with antiquated ideas of what's profitable / appealing.
Spn even called out the networks before, on the show, using a silly example of complaints abt the lighting of the show and how dark the early seasons were. Brightening the later seasons wasn't a creative choice, but a network choice. And if the networks can complain abt and change something as trivial as the lighting of a show, they definitely are having a hand in influencing the content of the show, especially queer content.
Even in s15, (seasons fifteen!!!) Misha has said he worried Castiel's confession would not air. In 2020!!! And Jensen recorded that scene on his personal phone! Why? Sure, for the memories. But also, I do not doubt for a second that part of it was for insurance, should the scene mysteriously disappear completely. We've seen the finale script. We've seen the omitted omitted omitted scenes. We all saw how they hacked the confession scene to bits. The weird cuts and close-ups. That's not the writers doing. That's likely not even the editors (willingly). That's orders from on high. All of the fuckery we saw in s15 reeks of network interference. Writers are not trying to sabotage their own stories, believe me.
Anyways, TLDR: Networks have a lot more power than many think and they get final say in what makes it to air. And for years creative teams have had to find ways to get past network censorship if they want "banned" or "unapproved" "unprofitable" "unwanted" content to make it into the show. That means relying on techniques like symbolism, subtext, and queercoding, and then shutting up about it. Denying its there, saying it's all "open to interpretation" all while they continue to put that open to interpretation content into the show. And that's not queerbaiting, as frustrating as it might be for queer audiences to be told that what they're seeing isn't there, it's still not queerbaiting. Queerbaiting is a marketing technique to draw in queer fans by baiting them with the promise of queer content and then having no queer content in said media. But if you are picking up on queer themes / subtext / symbolism / coding that is in front of your face IN the text, that's not queerbaiting. It's there, covertly, for you, because someone higher up didn't want it to be there explicitly or at all.
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highball66 · 2 months
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Okay so this is gonna sound a bit weird and lazy I guess😩 but I want to find a detailed characterization of Chris (you can decide how much you wanna do that) I know you have done many analysis on them but I can't seem to find them? Idk why so... Can you post of the links of those posts maybe?
Cause it's really hard to find a good character analysis of him and I am really really interested in his character but I would also understand if you don't wanna do such lengthy work😅.
Chris Characterization Breakdown
Lmfao I can't find the posts either, don't worry. Tumblr's search system is horrible and I don't remember enough key words to use the google method, so I'll just sorta re-work things here. Also, sorry this took me a few days to get to, it's been a busy past week, but I finally got the time to finish writing this so I could post it haha.
Team as Family/Found Family
One of the main aspects of his characterization is that he views his team as his family. Since Claire is the only biological family Chris seemingly has (since their parents died before the series began), Chris has formed a sort of found-family for himself, especially with the Burtons, but with other people he works with as well. This is implicit through his various interactions with characters, but outright said in Biohazard: The Stage (yes, RE does have a canon play haha). As such, he cares deeply for those close to them, and is often rather protective of them.
Emotional
And with that protectiveness can sometimes come Chris letting his own emotions get the better of him. As previously mentioned, Chris cares a lot for those close to him, and as such, he wants to do what he thinks is best for them... although that's not necessarily the "best" option and usually tends to backfire. It's not secret that he's a rather emotional guy, and as they say in Star Wars "emotions cloud judgement" and Chris really exemplifies that I feel. He means well, but usually doesn't separate what he thinks is best for someone from what is best for them.
The most obvious example of this is what happens in Death Island between him and Jill. Chris thinks that trying to force Jill off the mission is the best course of action because he wants to protect her, but he doesn't really consider that Jill has been pretty much isolated for years and that this isn't what she wants. By the end of the film, he seems to have realized the error in his ways, and they fist bump.
Probably the first canonical example of this is that he just... doesn't tell Claire what's going on with Raccoon City. Obviously he wanted to protect her and thought keeping her in the dark would prevent her from getting hurt but well... we all know how that went.
He does a similar thing with Leon in Vendetta too. The movie version seems rather harsh because it cuts out all the more emotional elements from the novel. While they do sorta "bicker" at first, Chris' frustration is due to his projection. In the movie, it's never really explained why Chris is so hell-bent on taking down Arias-- of course Chris is the protagonist, Arias the antagonist, Chris hates bioterrorism, etc., but the namesake for the movie is cut out of the movie itself, which is wild. Cathy and Chris were close friends, and Chris would seemingly often visit her, enough to be close to her kids and bring them gifts (one of which was the RC car we see in the movie). So by the time he finds Leon, he's just had to kill one of his close friends, her children, and pretty much his whole team is dead. Then he finds Leon drunk and hurting in the same way he was in Edonia, and that's part of why he's so upset. He tells Leon what he heard then, and Leon immediately throws that back in his face. But once Chris takes a second to realize that he's letting his emotions get the better of himself, he sits down and tries to comfort Leon, and then Leon opens up about what's going on.
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His emotions also influence a lotttt of his actions in the series. Early on, we're told that before joining STARS, Chris was in the AF, but was seemingly discharged for insubordination due to frequent disagreements with his superiors. The game files described him as "uncompromising," "possessing unwavering dedication," and having a "high level of adaptability," so it's needless to say that Chris is a pretty opinionated person and he's not just going to do something because he was told to. We also know that he's not exactly a big fan of capitalism haha.
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Personality & Interests
He's also canonically messy haha. His desk in the RPD is a mess, and there's even a comment in game made about how his ID being crooked in his wallet reflects his disorganization.
Apart from that, it seems he can play guitar since he has a Les Paul in his office in the RPD. Plus, the "made in heaven" jacket that he has (it's a matching one to Claire's except his is brown), is a reference to Queen's album & song of the same name! That being said, Chris can't read piano sheet music all that well. We also know he's a smoker, which has been shown/referenced a few times in the series. It was cut from the OG releases of RE1 in the English additions, but they did end up showing it in RE8.
Leadership & Moral Code
As shown in pretty much the whole series at this point, Chris is pretty much a natural leader. He's a captain in the BSAA and routinely leads various missions both in the BSAA and in conjunction with other organizations.
But with that leadership, he also puts a lot of pressure on himself and holds himself to a high standard of responsibility. Death Island highlighted this by pointing out how most of the time, Chris loses a lot of his team, which is something Chris is very aware of and blames himself for. Even in situations where there's absolutely nothing he could've done, Chris still blames himself.
But speaking of DI, it also gave us a pretty clear-cut description of his moral code too. Despite what "Tony" said to Claire, Chris assures him that him and Claire are still going to help him because that's just what they do. However... he's not as nice to his enemies. Chris doesn't really hold back that much. Originally in Vendetta, they were going to have him beat Arias to death, but ultimately decided to have him fall through the glass instead. He straight up kills "Mia" casually without even telling Ethan that she wasn't Mia.
One of my favorite consistent traits for Chris is that he's very physically affectionate with those he cares about. Hugging Claire and Jill, letting Jill lay her head on his shoulder, putting his hand on Leon's back to ground him when he was upset, cradling Piers' head when he was trying to convince him everything would be ok, like there's just so many examples of this.
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Miscellaneous
Leon was created to be a foil to Chris, and they very much are foils in a lot of ways. Leon is more flexible, less muscular, and smaller in stature, with the tendency to use his agility and weapons skills more than raw strength while Chris is a bit less agile, far more muscular, and a lot taller and doesn't shy away from hand-to-hand or otherwise close-range combat.
This extends to a lot of other things in the series too with them. Chris is a leader, Leon doesn't do that as much. Chris is pretty unwavering, Leon doesn't have a choice in a lot of matters due to his situation with the government.
The psychology of his character could be a whole essay on it's own since there's so much to unpack there due to RE6. He's also arguably very queercoded, but I made a post on that here!
Overall
He's an emotional guy with a lot of strong opinions about the world who isn't afraid to defy authority if it means he's going to do the right thing. He cares deeply for those around him and is rather affectionate too. Also he's got a lottttt of trauma. There's a lot of nuances and layers to his characterization, which is really cool, but I think this has pretty much covered the main things and a lot of things I think people don't often pay as much attention to.
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Which Classic Novel Should You Read Based on Your Fave Snape Pairing
Snily - Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1847). Let's see, a low class and abused, brooding Byronic leading man? Check. Madly in love with a woman who ends up marrying a snobbish rich man who looks down on our hero? Check. Obsessed with her even decades after her death? Check, check, and check. Oh, and let's not forget that the child the woman has with her husband shares her eyes. Hm, suspicious.
Snames - Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson (1740). So, as a fellow snames fan, let's be honest with ourselves: all of our fics can be boiled down to "I can change him." We want James to be despicable, inhuman, and cruel to Severus, and then we want James to realize how disgusting he is and grovel at Severus's feet, because we are all basic bitches. So basic that one of the earliest novels in the English language is basically this. Pamela originated this trope.
Snirius - Deep Water by Patricia Highsmith (1957). Snirius fans are unafraid of dark, toxic relationships and unhappy endings, and, well, here's a book for you! Deep Water is about as toxic as you can get. It's about a man who murders his wife's lovers.
Snucius - Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw (1913). Alright, alright, so this isn't a novel, this is a play, but fans of this pairing definitely seem to be into the whole sugar daddy/"I can turn this feral street child into an elegant gentleman" kind of vibe, and this is what this play is all about. Audrey Hepburn is fantastic in the film adaptation My Fair Lady (1964).
Snupin - Bear by Marian Engle (1976). You Canadians are probably like, "What the fuck? Is my OTP a joke to you?" The answer is yes, but that's beside the point. Hear me out. The main character is an archivist who is very bad at relationships and kind of shuns society in general. Like our Snape. She ends up in the Canadian wilderness on an assignment going through a dead person's belongings. Also, this dead person kept a pet bear that our heroine now has to take care of. Our heroine begins to yearn for something wild, our pet bear is a literal bear, but also incredibly pathetic and docile just like Lupin. Anyway, the two fuck. Literally, she fucks a bear. THIS BOOK WON THE GOVERNOR GENERAL'S LITERARY AWARD. THAT'S LIKE CANADA'S PULITZER I THINK. None of you werewolf-fuckers should act shocked and dismayed by this. We all know how you really think Sirius's prank should have gone (in which instead of James rescuing Snape, Moony makes sweet sweet love to him).
Sorry, guys, no Snarry or Snamione. I don't really read those pairings so I can't give an accurate recommendation. But if you've got thoughts, add to this!
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galvanizedfriend · 1 month
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Klaroline Fanfiction Masterlist
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It's been a minute since I last updated my masterlist so I decided to go ahead and start a new one. Yokan // ▪ Multi-chapters
. The Wolf Series [I, II, III and Outtakes - Incomplete] When Caroline wakes up shackled, powerless and very far away from Mystic Falls, she knows she's in serious trouble. But when a woman named Sophie Deveraux reveals the reason why she's been kidnapped and taken to New Orleans, she realizes things are far worse than she could've ever imagined.
[The Originals rewriting where Caroline is a witch and gets pregnant with Klaus' child. Seasons 1, 2 and 3 complete, season 4 coming.]
. Vice and Virtue [6/6 - Complete] As the second son of a Duke, Klaus Mikaelson has the means and all the time in the world to indulge in every manner of wild activity with very little respect for the regiment of polite society. That is until his brother decides he's had enough of his vulgar ways and gives him an ultimatum. Caroline Forbes is a young debutante in search of true love and adventure. Except her aunt wishes for her to marry a somber Viscount who's already buried three wives. When their paths cross, they realize they might yet strike a deal that could satisfy their relatives and benefit them both.
[AH Regency!AU inspired by Bridgerton and a dozen other period novels I have been reading lately.]
. Pedulum [2/2 - Complete] This is what Klaus Mikaelson knows: death isn't the end for him. From the moment he is brought into the world to his final shuddering breath, Klaus' life is pretty much the same as everyone else's. The difference lies in what happens after he dies: he goes right back to the beginning, a child in London with the memory of dozens of lives lived before. Nothing ever really changes, including the fact that no matter how hard he tries, he can never save Caroline Forbes' life for too long.
[AH/soulmates!AU with a slight magical twist. Technically a one-shot, chapter 2 is just an alternate ending.]
. We'll Always Have New Orleans [3/15 - Incomplete] Caroline wakes up in a world where everything looks exactly the same, only nothing really is. For starters, she's no longer a vampire, and no one else in Mystic Falls has ever heard of witches, vampires or werewolves - no one except for Klaus, who woke up just as human and twice as angry about it. Their search for answers and a way out takes them all the way to New Orleans, and Caroline could never anticipate how much this crazy fake world was about to alter her reality forever.
[Canon-divergence!AU. Set right after TVD 4x18.]
. Speed Dating [3/4 - Incomplete] Klaus is having a bad month, so Caroline decides it's a great idea to drag him along to a round of Speed Dating. Other men in the room do not approve.
AH/AU fluff that was inspired by an episode of House (yes, it is fluff, I promise).
. Gasoline [2/2 - Complete] "He doesn't apologize, of course he doesn't. He doesn't care. He calls everyone love. It's not meant to mean anything. Except it did, once, and it makes Caroline's stomach churn away inside, as she feels Klaus crawling underneath her skin like he never left at all. I've still got you."
AH/Band!AU. Two years after Klaus walked out on his band - on her -, Caroline finds herself in her least favorite place on earth - New Orleans. She really did try to stay away from him, escaping an event just to keep off his radar. He finds her anyway.
. Like It's Christmas Again [2/2 - Complete] As Christmas approaches, Caroline Forbes, a New York-based event planner, is sent to a quaint small town in Virginia to organize their holiday festival. But her plans are momentarily hindered by the presence of Klaus Mikaelson, the Mayor's brother and a grumpy billionaire lacking in any holiday spirit, who's in town to close the sale of his family's manor - the charming estate she was hoping to use as a venue.
[AKA that time when I committed Christmas fic. AU/AH inspired by a Hallmark movie, I kid you not.]
. Spin [5/5 - Complete] Since she was seven years old, Caroline Forbes has been preparing herself to become President of the United States. But before she gets to the Oval Office, she needs to win the election for senior student president at the prestigious Saint Sebastian High - which would be in the bag if only goddamn Klaus Mikaelson hadn't decided to run against her.
[AH/AU lovers-to rivals-to-lovers The Politician!AU where everyone takes school elections way more seriously than they should.]
. How Far I'd Go [2/2 - Complete for now] Set in TVD S6/TO S2. Unable to control Caroline after she turns her humanity off, Stefan reaches out to the only person he can think of for help.
[Slices of moments of Klaus in Mystic Falls while Caroline has her humanity off.] ▪ One-shots
. The Sound of Settling Klaus hates his job at Mikaelson & Sons. He hates wearing a suit. He also hates his brothers constantly butting into his life. Everything will be better once he gets his much desired transfer to the New York branch. Caroline Forbes is the owner of Mystic Café, and when Klaus accidentally wanders into her coffee shop, his whole perspective changes. [AH/Coffee Shop!AU where Klaus is a lawyer. Fluffity Fluff. Lots of Mikaelsons and some Carenzo friendship.] . The Witch Queen Caroline always knew she was different. She was keyed into her own otherness very early on. Strange things happened around the Forbes women. Her mother never really had to spell it out to her, give it a name. Caroline could always sort of feel it, and then at some point the feeling blossomed into comprehension, and comprehension hardened into fact. And with that came an altogether different kind of certainty: this was not a secret she'd be able to keep forever. One day, no matter how hard she tried to hide it, everyone would find out. And when they did, they would come for her.
. Worst Things Have Happened Klaus Mikaelson is a prince with a very dark secret that threatens to destroy his family's legacy. Caroline Forbes is a sorceress whose job is to make sure his secret remains buried. But would it hurt him to put some clothes on? [Royal!AU, with a magical twist.] . The Unexpected Grace of Falling Apart The whole incident was bound to go down as a funny anecdote to be shared among friends, a Oh, you think you've had the worst hook-up ever? Hold my beer kind of story. Provided, of course, that she never had to see him ever and could just wipe him out of her life and memory for good. Given that they live in different time zones, it shouldn't be too much of a hassle.
That is precisely why Caroline is livid when she emerges from the arrivals area at Richmond airport to find Douchebag, in the flesh - sunglasses indoors and all, like the proper jerk that he is - holding up a sign that readsClarisse.
[AH/AU. It's Tyler's wedding weekend and Caroline is back in Mystic Falls for the first time after the most traumatic and depressing year of her life. And it's about to get even worse as she's made to share breathing space with Klaus, The Worst Guy Ever. Except they might have to join forces to save the wedding, and to the discovery that things might not be what the seem. As Caroline teeters on the edge of a breakdown she'd been trying very hard to conceal, an unexpected savior appears to help her through the haze.]
. love, the monster's got me now [Canon compliant. Set in TVD S03E09 Homecoming.]
"Don't run," he says calmly, sounding almost bored, but with a clear warning. "I'm in the mood for a chase. Little spoiler: you can't outrun me." His eyebrows twitch up when he finally turns around to face her, lips curling into an amused grin. "Tyler's girl," he states, gesturing towards the now empty yard. "You missed out on the celebrations, I’m afraid."
[Or: the missing Klaroline scene between "There's your pretty little girlfriend, Caroline" and "There's a whole world out there waiting for you." Klaus and Caroline meet after Homecoming.]
. When It's Gone Suddenly, Caroline hates how nice the bed feels. How soft the pillows are. How smooth and cool and expensive those goddamn sheets are against her skin. She hates the giddiness in her belly, like she's a stupid schoolgirl when she's not allowed to be one anymore. She hates how right the space between Klaus' arms felt, how easily she molded against him. His lips were as full and as soft as they looked, but his hands were gentler and more reverent than they had any right to be, and Caroline hates it. Hates it, hates it, hates it. She hates that it suits her, hates that she wants it, hates that none of it is hers to keep.
[Set after TVD S04E19 Pictures of You. Caroline hears about Klaus' impending departure after a mysterious letter and decides to have some words.] . Wishing Each Sigh Might Be the Last The first time she sees him, Caroline thinks he's an angel.
[Set in 1800s New Orleans. As Caroline lies dying, she prays for God to send help or end her torment and save her soul. She thinks an angel has come for her. But he's no angel at all.] . Feel the Madness Closing In Set in TO S3. Caroline is in New Orleans when Lucien and the Ancestors make a move against the Mikaelson family - and they know exactly who to target in order to get to Klaus. Paranoia sets in, sending him to a very dark place, and Caroline finally learns the price of being loved so profoundly by a monster. . Issues When Klaus' Hollywood career takes a down turn after a nasty divorce and a viral mug shot, his manager decides his life is not yet miserable enough, bringing in a PR company famous for its high-profile damage control cases.
[AH!AU where Klaus is a problematic movie star and Caroline is a PR agent with no time for his BS.] . Urban Legend "I hate myself for saying this, but I have to agree with Little Miss Sunshine," Caroline cuts in. "This is Whitmore. Nothing ever happens here. Least of all a possession that leads to a massacre of slasher movie proportions."
"Thank you, love," Klaus returns brightly. "Very flattering to be validated by you."
"Bite me, Klaus."
"Find me later, after my shift, and we can see to it," comes the shameless rejoinder.
[Or: Caroline tries to navigate life in college having the worst roommate ever, a douchebag who cannot take a hint and a nosy journalist whom she's definitely not attracted to. Never in a million years.]
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celestialwhoree · 19 days
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miss angie your writing is so mmmmmmm yummy. especially the way you write soap.
that being said, i have a request for you !❤️
soap x goth!reader ? i think he'd be a little intimidated but up for the challenge anyways. & turns out reader isn't as scary as he thought (kinda like a certain LT).
if not, that's okay ! just wanting to let you know how much i appreciate your writing !❤️
THANK YOU POOKIE!!💕🎀🥴 I jus wanna squish Johnny's cheeks and tell him I love him💖
Your presence looms like a dark cloud over the corner of the café Johnny normally sits in. As a matter of fact, you're in his seat - the same one he sits in every day for a latte and a slice of carrot cake, the type that reminds him of home. The massive, clothboundbook in your hands taunts him, tells him you're planning to sit in his seat for a whole and makes his jaw tick. Realistically, he knows that his anger is unfounded. He's never seen you before, and it's hardly like there's a sign on the table saying 'reserved for Johnny MacTavish'. He should ask about that.
The next day he comes in earlier, hoping that maybe, you won't be there in his seat, maybe you'll have taken your stompy boots and Oscar Wilde novel and fucked off somewhere else. No such luck. He's too pissed off to order his carrot cake, to sit in another spot, far from the door and closer to the crowded center of the café. He's too pissed of to smile at the lovely waitress that always makes sure to give him an extra sugar packet with his coffee or packs an extra slice of cake into a to go bag. You have well and truly pissed him off.
Who do you think you are? In your dark eyeliner and chipped black nail polish, with your black clothes and fancy books.
A week comes and goes, and each day is the same. On Sunday, however, Johnny gets there first. He lets out a triumphant huff as he plops down in his seat, orders his cake and coffee before letting his mind drift. A meek voice snaps him from his reverie. Of course it's you, probably come to gob off at him about how he's sitting in your seat and how you want it back. But then why are you speaking so softly? It's almost as though you're nervous.
"I'm really sorry to interrupt." You mumble, looking down at the worn leather of your shoes. "Would you mind if I sat with you? I've been working on a project for my art portfolio - taking pictures here every day for a month to see what changes." The sight of a small, clearly vintage camera makes the balloon of anger deflate in his chest.
"Oh, right. Aye." He nods slowly, a little bashful, as though you'd somehow seen through his flesh and bone to the simmering, unfounded hate for you dwelling in his heart. "Thanks!" You chirp sweetly, suddenly far less nervous as you drop your satchel on the floor at your feet.
"So," He chirps up, clearly trying to diffuse the awkwardness between you. "I - uh - I like yer shoes. They're very cool." "Thank you." Is accompanied by a blush burning across your cheeks, bottom lip pulled between your teeth at the compliment. "I like your hair." "Ah, thank ye. I grew it myself."
Johnny's heart jumps in surprise at the sound of the bright laugh he manages to elicit from you with his B grade pun. It's nice, hearing someone laugh at something he has to say.
"So, are ye in art school or..?" The Scotsman keeps up the comfortable chatter between you, the sound of your two forks clinking against the china plate, in which your shared piece of carrot cake resides, is background noise for your conversation. "I was. I'm actually applying for a teaching position at the moment - hence the portfolio."
You two chat for far longer than you mean, and soon his phone is blowing up with messages from Simon (who he definitely needs to introduce you to) asking where he is and if he's coming to the gym or not.
"Same time tomorrow, yeah?" "Same time tomorrow, Johnny."
。 ゚ ꒰ঌ ✦໒꒱ ༘*.゚
I hope this was ok! I've got like no experience with any kind of goth subcultures because I'm a little corquette croquette croquet bitch 😔 n e hoo
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incarnadinedreams · 2 months
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Hot Take Time #2309209 (edit: actually this isn't a hot take it's lukewarm at best. it's a room temperature take) but I really don't understand the argument "mo dao and gui dao are different and therefore everything WWX does is completely fine!"
Like, yes, it's a difference that plays into the public discourse vs. real truth themes of the novel to a degree, and I of course absolutely appreciate all the explanations and meta around the nuances and differences. But like. What he actually does with it is... still not good whether it's mo dao or gui dao? And there are many very significant reasons that gui dao is still not great? (Which I won't get into here because there are other people far more qualified with cultural/genre knowledge who have written about it way better than I ever could anyway)
Like y'know. The several hundred people he tortured to death, the thousands of desecrated graves, the mini-harem of pet zombie girls he kept after the war for purely entertainment purposes...? Like, those behaviors aren't inherent to the method (well, except the method sort of uniquely facilitating the keeping of pet ghosts), but they're not... good...? (Note: 'morally good' is completely different than 'fun & sexy, having a great time torture-bonding with shidi, etc'.)
I just cannot agree that keeping a little harem of pet ghost girls nor anything that happened with the Wens is being "gentle with the dead, empathetic and respectful". Even WWX thinks his past self was kinda cringe with it and went way too far!
I do think there's meant to be a significant amount of ambiguity about what elements of his downward spiral are caused by the corrosive nature of his method vs. the trauma of the Burial Mounds and his own, internal, homebrewed mental crisis. The alcoholism, rapidly shifting moods, anger and inability to control his temper, before and after the war. How much of it is Wei Wuxian and how much of it is the impact of the resentful energy he's using, and the use/proximity of the Yin Hu Fu?
I do think there's a reason why there's just as much brutality carried out by characters using orthodox cultivation methods. But in the end, his behavior was a problem, and the novel hints that the methods were impacting his mental state, and it was overlooked because of his usefulness to the war effort, but it did significantly damage his credibility leading up to the parts where he is in the right, which is also part of the point of the story. And you know. The subject of Jiang Cheng's whole 'the flower that blooms alone' monologue in the cave.
Anyway. 'He's using gui dao not mo dao and there's a difference' is super not the same thing as 'Wei Wuxian is morally justified in every action'?
Anyway this book is a lot more fun to me when you approach it from 'look what absolutely insane things these boys will do when they go absolutely feral for each other, it's so cool' with a side of 'look how fucked up he is now, that's hot' and not, like, trying to somehow figure out how to make pet ghost girls into a moral ideal.
So much of the story, for me, is about what desperate, wild lengths a person will go to for survival and revenge when pushed, and then what do you do after? When the danger is past and the revenge is done, what then? How do you come back from that?
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britishguy-on-the-tv · 7 months
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SUBMISSIONS ARE CLOSED!
Welcome the Fictional Russians Rumble!
Emphasis on FICTIONAL.
Rules:
No bringing up Putin, the war with Ukrain or even communism and the genocides of native populations in Siberia under the stalinian regime. We all know about it, we're here to have fun and make our blorbos fight to the death. Don't bring up real-world horrors, politics, political personnalities etc in my bracket.
Only fictional characters who are canonically russians, or, for exemptions: characters who are half-russian/were born in Russia but left, characters who are from the USSR but whose country of birth is not precised, and characters who are no longer russians for whatever reason but who's russian heritage is mentionned in the source material. Russian-coded in fantasy? Nah.
Yes Goncharov counts. Go wild. I'll be very disappointed in this website and in humanity if the most submitted character isn't a Goncharov girly (gender neutral)
No, your friend's OC doesn't count. Unless your friend's story made it to the big or small screen or in the bookshops. Self-published materials don't count, sorry. Webcomic/webnovels and webseries that are made professionally or semi-professionally do count though. Just... use your judgement on this one.
Even lesser-known characters can make it in! Don't not submit because "yeah but they're just in one graphic novel story/in one episode of that old series... no one knows about them" i'll take many a-1-submission characters
Tagging for reach:
@fictionalcanadianshowdown, @bestoldmovieevertournament, @4thwallbreakersshowdown, @lawfulevil-tourney, @crown-and-scarf-tournament, @namedafterflowerstournament, @actually-insane-blorbo-bracket, @sleepygirlbracket
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mikami · 1 month
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Why do you like Light (as a character) more than L? I’m just an L’s fan who consideres Light to be pretty boring and I wanna know what makes people think he is better (as a character) than L? Please say what you want about L I just wanna hear your opinion
Mhm, I think it kind of boils down to me valuing internal conflict more than an interesting surface personality?
Light is not particularly quirky or 'interesting' when seen from the outside - he performs the ideal model teenager, and hardly deviates from that. But I always love characters who have a flat surface personality and yet eat themselves up inside in order to maintain the image of themselves that they have built.
I love negotiating the 'self' as a performance. I love characters who cause all their own problems in their head because they just can't help twisting themselves into knots over their self-image.
I just like characters who eat themselves up from the inside out, entirely because they can't get out of their own head.
Light is a masterclass at having a self-image that is turned self-destructive through the story, and I am eating it up.
LOVE TO SEE A MAN GET WORSE.
L meanwhile is a pretty static character - which isn't a bad thing! L knows exactly who he is, what he wants and prioritizes, and chases after his whims with reckless abandon and no regrets. This makes him a fantastic foil for Light. His straightforward selfishness moves the story forward exactly how it needs to, and it's very entertaining to watch others play off him. In a way, L being so entirely certain of himself makes everyone else really confront their own priorities.
But that just doesn't make L interesting to me - he has a quirky personality and a wild backstory, but he doesn't actually face a lot of internal conflict in the story. His problems boil down to 'am I right or wrong?' on a purely fact-based level, rather than him being challenged at the core of who he is.
So he's just not my character type.
(Disclaimer: yes, I know the anime and movies and novels all add a bunch of angst to L, but I don't think it's good or interesting angst so I vastly prefer his manga characterization.)
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endollvors · 4 months
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Mal Autonomy Manifesto
She's doing Very bad, for the record.
This is just the highlights of D2, because if I did everything we'd be here forever.
The movie starts with Ways to be Wicked which is canonically a stress daydream Mal's having after being cornered against a statue by a large group of adult press who are actively breaking the law by being there. And they refuse to leave the premises until an authority figure makes them.
Then she's immediately grabbed by the wrist and dragged away for a dress fitting by Evie. We'll get into the fitting in a second but Dark shout out to this moment in the movie Novelization
"Yeah," said Mal, nodding. In a way, she was strangely relieved. More time to rest, she thought. Keeping up this act is exhausting. [...] Evie grabbed Mal's arm and spun her around. Mal cried out in surprise. "If we don't do a fitting for your ball gown right this minute, you'll be dancing in your bathrobe," Evie told Mal. "Bye, Ben," She added as she deftly dragged Mal away. There goes my nap.
At the fitting, the appointment intended to make sure a garment actually, you know, fits, Mal says that the dress it too tight, that she can't Breathe in it. Evie dismisses this concern out of hand. She can breathe after Cotillion.
The secret to fitting in, the book that Evie(veteran of 15 years of fucked up princess training) disparages her for using magic to read is about Courtly Etiquette by the way.
Mal broaches the subject of wanting some of the freedom the Isle provided. "Don't you ever miss running wild and breaking all the rules?" I miss being in charge of my schedule and Evie says "No, We're Auradon girls now." and drags her around the room. "We can be whatever we want to be here." She says. Interesting then, how little what Mal wants matters.
Mal tries to get to class and is stopped by Jane, who immediately launches into a barrage of questions she is uninterested in and unprepared to answer. She attempts to leave, stating both that she is busy, on a time crunch to get to her classes, and that she trusts Jane to pick what's best. Jane ignores this, grabs her arm again, and keeps her there until she answers, regardless of the cost to Mal.
Mal learns that there are aspects to attending Cotillion with Ben that she was unaware of. These are serious, affect her life in the long term, and Everyone knew but her. She's visibly surprised and upset. She asks if her whole life has been planned out in front of her without her say so. Signs point to yes.
Ben interrupts her at her locker. She says she doesn't have time. She has to get to class. Seriously, she's going to be late. Ben grabs her by the arm, "No, come this way." And drags her over to give her his present.
Mal is chased into the boys dorm by a barrage of reporters. They are still trespassing. They are inside the building. Love that. She's clearly visibly stressed, Carlos calms her like a spooked horse and she has an outburst. She says that people are following her everywhere, that there's so much she can't say for proprieties sake. She asks, "Don't you ever miss screaming at people and just making them run away from you?" I miss setting boundaries. Carlos says of course not, do you have the magical gummy that I asked for? Mal asks if he's really committed to telling the truth because she can't be honest without fearing being literally deported. She then shares, halfway to hyperventilating that, at this point, its not particularly unappealing. At least this all would stop, right? Carlos ignores this.
(Denouement, I'm not gonna defend the everything about this but know that I interpret the Spell thing as her trying to undo her mistake, literally turn back the clock so it never happened and isn't considering that she's mind wiping him. This is what she does when she does something wrong. Late to class etc. Like, it's still fucked but you know comprehensible. Adding that he frames her using magic as taking the easy way, like she hasn't looked 40 seconds from curling up in a ball and shivering like a hypothermic kitten all day, and that's with the magic.)
Mal leaves. She packs a bag and writes a letter and goes to the Isle under her own power. Ben follows her, convinced that the fight is the only reason that she would do this, and that he can track her down and talk to her and that everything will be fixed. The others help him do this.
So, he shows up, she physically recoils from him, cries, asks him multiple times to leave her alone, to go back to Auradon without her. he says this. Which is my number one least favorite Ben line of all time. "The people love you, I love you, don't you love me?"
I'm just gonna mention here that Mal never actually agrees on screen to go back to Auradon, she just gets in the car after Ben calls for her.
Ben asks if she wants to cancel Cotillion. She doesn't answer the question.
Girl talk is a mess of a scene. It will be it's own post bc it makes me INsane. But the relevant bit is that she describes her problem as the pressure to be perfect, to be something completely different than she's been her whole life up to now, and under constant scrutiny to maintain an act that exhausts her. Everybody else in the circle reassures her that Ben loves her, Not actually the problem she mentioned but ok, and tell her to attend Cotillion no matter what.
Evie tells her to go if she’s up for it, immediately after saying she’s going to take the some of her extremely limited time that afternoon to alter her dress. Jay told her to go, to try one more time as a condition of the relief they had already denied her.
When she arrives at Cotillion, Evie asks how she's doing and Mal says she feels like she's gonna throw up Evie says, "That's ok, That's fine. We're all here for you."
On the way out the door, Mal is grabbed again, stopped by the Former King and Queen, so they can apologize, and offer their explanations, immediately.
Jane and Lumiere block off the top of the staircase to prevent Mal from being able to escape before they can show her something.
Like. ok. Ben loves her, so what?
It can’t save her. If she could have been saved it wouldn’t have gotten to that point. She wouldn’t have run away, been followed, been emotionally blackmailed, been brought back, been told to go to Cotillion anyway. She wouldn’t be Engaged to be Engaged to be Engaged.
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therealvinelle · 10 months
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If you were kicked out of the cullens.. would you join the Denali? Or is eating people by yourself preferable to an eternity with Eleazar and being expected to woohoo unwilling humans
(Anon is referring to this post.)
My thoughts on the Denali.
No. God, no. I'd rather be on my own if them's the ropes.
Presumably, I wander around trying to improve my control, wanting someone to talk to and feeling miserable on my own but refusing to resort to the Denali and too proud to come crawling back to the Cullens. Knowing I likely wouldn't survive an encounter in the wild, I make a point to keep my distance from other vampires as well. Can't join the Volturi, I've spent too much time contemplating Aro's love life and relationship with his dead sister for that.
(Regarding the Cullens: it's not that I'm too proud. However, if things with them got to the point where they kicked me out, then... going back isn't going to be an option. Getting kicked out by them, having Carlisle give up on me and tell me to fuck off, would mean something so extreme happened that going back isn't an option and there would be no point in trying.)
A few years go by, I write a fuckton of fanfiction, watch every anime known to man, and my control gets better but my loneliness gets worse. Eventually I trust myself enough to enter human spaces, dropping by the library to read books or visiting a clothes store so I can wear actual clothes that fit.
And here's the trouble: I really am hopelessly lonely.
Humans fear me, yes, but I do exchange words with some from time to time, even for something so little as asking where to find my size in shoes.
These tidbits are the only social interaction I've had for years. (Animals, after all, flee at the very sight of me.)
I begin to feel strongly about these interactions. If it's the same librarian I ask about Christie novels every time I visit that particular library, I mourn when he has found the book I wanted because now the conversation is over. Just as I mourn the end of every other interaction I have, because exchanging words about the weather with someone who's instinctively afraid of me can't make a person less lonely.
But I increase my exposure to humans, because without that I have nothing. And if I have nothing, my resolve not to kill humans will crumble.
It gets worse, and however much I try to stop myself I start thinking of the humans I speak to as potential vampire companions. Not even just the humans I speak to, but humans who look particularly kind, or interesting, or- anything, really.
After all, isn't Carlisle perfectly happy being a vampire? Weren't Emmett, Esme, and Bella? Wouldn't I be, if I wasn't so damn lonely?
Being a vampire, doesn't have to be a bad thing at all, not if you're fit for it. And you will be free of age, disease, financial problems, free of everything.
There are humans, I know, who would prefer life as a vampire.
And if I can find one of these, ascertain to the best of my ability that vampirism would suit them, that they would follow my diet as well and stay with me...
That last bit is crucial, but the most difficult one. It requires, after all, that the human be one that likes me, that will choose to stay with me (all of these conditions do) and who will accept vampirism when it is offered, but I won't know what their choice is before I present it. At which point, the Volturi law would dictate they turn or die.
It's a catch-22, and there'd be no way to know for sure about a person anyway, plus I would be turning someone with the expectation they could fix my life. Obviously I'm being a bit silly, time to get off this train of thought and back to normal. Ahah. Ahahaha. (Me trying and failing to be casual about this).
I do not get back to normal.
Instead, what I do is... start vetting people, for lack of a better term. I start analysing everything they say and wondering to myself, how seriously did he mean it when he said he dreads his thirtieth? Did she say she's tired of everything because she's tired of everything, or was she just saying it?
I get lonelier.
I imagine it all comes to a head when I find a viable candidate.
Someone will inevitably seem like that perfect person, someone that I really like and would love to talk to all the time, someone who is moral and principled enough that I trust they would want to follow the diet, someone who doesn't have kids, no partner, perhaps not a lot of family or friends at all tying them to this life.
I've already memorised their routine, I know when they get off work, when they're alone, when no one would notice if they were snatched away in the dead of night.
I even have a long period of telling myself I'm not actually going to do this, ahaha, there are so many reasons not to after all. Heavy, convincing reasons such as "I shouldn't" and "but it's wrong, Vinelle. Dirty and bad and wrong".
These reasons become flimsier every time I tell them to myself.
In the end, I man myself up in a split second decision, and I go for it.
I have no doubt this goes terribly for me. Perhaps my companion stays with me and perhaps they even do the diet, but I took their humanity away so they could fix me, and that can never be the start of a healthy or happy relationship.
In the end I come crawling to Carlisle, "I went a little funny in the head out there in the desert, sir."
"Nonsense!" Carlisle says, "you didn't lose control once!"
Carlisle is truly proud of me, I exceeded his every expectation.
But there is still the question of the other Cullens hating my guts after whatever set of circumstances led to me being kicked out in the first place, and now that I've proven I won't kill people if I'm let on my own there's even less reason they should have to be stuck with me.
A vote is held, I lose the vote.
I end up wandering the world on my own again, and I eventually lose my companion as they either die or leave me. Vampire Vinelle goes a little more funny in the head this time.
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Text
After all the amnesia talk, this little idea wouldn't leave me alone. 
There she was, cackling, enjoying the fight, with wild abandon. And while not on the same side, she was also in no way attacking him or the firelights.
Where had she been? After the last time…, he shook it from him.
The boy's distracted, so much so that one of those too chunky dressed enforcers was about to take him down. Now, that would be a loss, she decided as something pulled her to him.
A single bullet, lightning fast, ends the fight. It leaves them standing across from one another on an empty roof.
“Hey there, handsome, was a good fight, right? Taking down those too stuffy Pilties, think they have the run of it here, huh? Also, really cool board, can I see it? How does it work, oohhh can I look inside it?”
“Jinx…” it comes out a bit hesitant, a bit broken. He's on his guard even as relief fills him.
“Ooohh you know my name, my reputation precedes me” That makes her happy for some reason.
He's confused for a moment. Why was she acting like she didn't know who he was? As he looks at her willing her to acknowledge him, there's no recognition in her eyes, and for all the chaos she revelled in, her eyes were light, unburdened and so very different from the last time he'd seen her.
Realisation was sinking in and with his eyes stung with rising tears.  
The pretty boy in front of her isn't looking too hot, no, he looks terribly sad. 
“Hey, you need a hug? hugs always make me feel better, not that I get them much, but they do.”
What was it about this boy that made her ramble so?
Suddenly, she was wrapped in strong arms, warmth envelops her, and the scent of something like wood and cinnamon and motor oil filled her nose, and she's dizzy for a moment. 
It was the best hug ever her rather stumped mind provided her, even if she could feel tears in the crook of her neck. She lets him sink into her. Seemed like he needed it, and maybe she did, too.
His grip relaxes slowly, the strange relief washing over him even as the realisation her memories are gone properly hits. She also feels a bit too slight, and he worried.
She's not protesting at how long he's been holding on. No, she thinks she would be mad if it ended too soon. This person didn't want to hurt her, and he smelled nice.
Eventually, he pulls away, and she feels utterly bereft and pouts. He doesn't move away entirely, though. He runs his hands down over her arms to her hands and holds them. 
Wet warm brown eyes look at her, and she thinks she'd happily drown in them. 
“Are you happy?” he asks her suddenly, and what a question to ask. Why wouldn't she be? 
“Yes?” 
“That's good” it's an odd feeling to have your heart break and soar at the same time. She's forgotten him, but to see her so unburded, he'd take it. 
He raises her hands to his lips and leaves a soft kiss, like in those saccharine sweet novels she found and would never admit to reading or enjoying. A giddy blush rises to her cheeks. This was a good development. 
But why does he look like he wants to cry again? 
He lets her go and suddenly everything is entirely too cold and some niggling feeling at the back of her mind. Did he know her before?
She's pulled from her thoughts at the soft hum of the hoverboard starting up. He's going to leave, this wonderful feeling of a person is going to leave.
He can't stay. He needs to be somewhere safe, somewhere to work through all the feelings where he won't be tempted to turn around and wrap her back in his arms. He flies off and desperately tries not to look back. Before he's out of earshot, though:
“If you need another hug, come find me handsome!” (and what he didn't hear, “please”)
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mobius-m-mobius · 4 months
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I finally actually watched that Loki s1 bts clip where Owen quotes the first line of Two Gentlemen of Verona and. WHAT DO YOU MEAN he doesn't have any particular connection the play he 'just' took a Shakespeare class in college. He's so clearly trying to laugh it off like it's not very impressive but that's sure not working on me Owen, I can barely remember which classes I took let alone verbatim quotes from plays I'm not even that into WHAT
Everything about this ask, yes!!! 💕
Thank you anon because that's something I've been going on about for years ever since the s1 Assembled ep dropped lol, the fact that Tom just casually mentions Owen knows most of Hamlet BY HEART is wild but of course he shrugs it off as usual insisting it isn't true before dropping that line from Two Gentlemen of Verona verbatim?? Like okay tell me more about what you don't know then 😳
He has very possibly the most literary mind I've ever experienced and it actually drives me a little crazy that somehow isn't a more well known or acknowledged fact about him. After the first season of Loki ended I thought I'd just be going through his many films I hadn't gotten a chance to watch yet but instead got just as captivated with interviews where he was detailing his home libraries, referencing lines from even the most obscure novels or scenes at the drop of a hat and falling even more in love with how that's clearly shaped his sense of humor and delivery.
It's also why I wish he didn't laugh off the idea that he himself could've played Hamlet, which he likely did since as we've noticed he's quick to downplay his skills and talent, but also because that's how most of the general public would react if the same question was presented?? And he isn't especially comfortable on live stages so theater probably isn't a medium he's considered in any serious fashion but for me at least it's far more fascinating to see the take an actor more well known for comedy would give a dramatic role of any kind and I don't doubt he'd be incredible at any he set his mind to 🥰
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highball66 · 10 days
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Do you think Capcom's way of storytelling is (or was to say after remakes hehe) a bit... Messy? Lol idk. There's details that are important to fully understand for things that happens both for action/story and for characters (which is also important to understand the story etc) and important to wrap your head around, but they're just feeling sooo scattered around. Thanks there is wikifandom that helps getting some parts together in my head. And also had I not discovered your blog I wouldn't get Leon's character that in depth... Something his character deserves to get
As someone who studies media academically, I have a few issues with RE's storytelling. Before I get into this, I want to clarify that I really do like the games and this isn't me just shitting on them. Rather, this is my personal issues with the franchise and the way things are presented and/or portrayed.
Ignoring the problematic aspects like their refusal to represent queer people (Yes, there are 4 canonically queer characters but only 2 of them are part of the main continuity and it was mainly sub-textual and later confirmed by interviews. They literally named a character after DADT, I wish I could say I was making that up) and the way the women constantly get sidelined-- because both of those subjects could be a post on their own-- I think they half-ass a lot of things, but I think they've gotten significantly better.
My main complaint is that very important information is never given the significance it should have-- big things happen and then they're never expanded upon. For example, Leon kills the president in 6 and is wanted for assassinating him, but there's no consequences for that. Hunnigan fakes their deaths so they can continue their mission and then they cut to everything being alright by the end. And it's frustrating because you'd think Leon being declared KIA after being suspected of murdering the president would've been a pretty fucking big deal, especially when he returns to the US alive and would subsequently have to prove his innocence, but there's no mention of this again apart from Leon talking about how it awkward it was to interact with the new president in Vendetta-- but only in the VD novel.
This extends to other aspects of the characters too like Leon having been kidnapped by the government and forced into this life. We do get to see a clip of his interrogation from DSC, but DSC isn't canon to the main storyline now and we get one little mention of it in 4R and that's it. Like hello?! Leon got kidnapped, interrogated, and threatened into this life and we only ever hear about it in passing in game files on occasion.
Furthermore, with the movies, I'm really tired of important things getting scrapped from the films and put in the novelizations instead, specifically because the novelization, while canon, are only available in Japanese. I can't even begin to explain how wild it was to track down the novels and translate them only to realize critical information from the movies had just been... entirely left out. The motorcycle chase from VD is a good example-- Leon wasn't recklessly "killing families" while fighting the zombie dogs like how it comes off in the movie. The people in those cars were Arias' men who he was intentionally trying to kill/get out of the way. Yet no one would know that unless they read the book... which was only ever released in Japan. (I was able to find copies of the VD and Damnation novels to translate them, but still.)
And we see this refusal to let anything be significant happen over and over in the franchise. Leon's depressed, suicidal, and struggling with addiction but magically fine in the next installment with no acknowledgement of what happened before and it's not even explicitly stated that he's suicidal unless you read the book. Chris goes missing for 6 months and somehow no one could find him, we don't even know if people like Claire or Leon knew he was missing, and then we find out he's got PTA and PTSD from a fucking TBI, but he's... magically ok after RE6 and the fact that he would've realistically been disabled nor the fact that he has PTSD is never mentioned again. It's the same thing with Jill in DI too. She literally gets abducted and experimented on but it's practically water under the bridge come DI and she doesn't even have the scar she's supposed to have.
But, ignoring DI, I think it's something they've gotten better about, specifically with the remakes. Leon looks visibly traumatized in the remake-- just look at the dark circles under his eyes-- and it's pretty clear through the brief flashbacks and the way he talks about things that RC very obviously effected him. With regard to mental health, I feel like they definitely represent it the best with Leon, but it's still pretty much a background element for every other character which is very unfortunate.
For sake of not writing a whole dissertation, I'll stop here, but yeah. I think RE's a bit messy but I think it's something they've gotten better at over the years, and I hope they continue to approve on all fronts.
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icemankazansky · 2 years
Note
Hey, I want to ask what are your favorite IceMav stories? On Ao3, tumblr or whatever side you read fics. ☺️
You have no idea what you've just summoned.
Come sit by me.
You have asked for my favorite Icemav stories, which means that this list is going to leave off some truly excellent Icemav, because for the most part my favorites, the ones I read over and over again, are more lighthearted and sexy and have happy endings.
These stories are all Top Gun, and they're all Icemav, so I've only listed the rating by each title.
In no specific order:
by @boasamishipper :
Since she began creating for Top Gun in 2019, Boa has become a fixture of the fandom, an important voice that is capable of both the fluffiest fluff and the most heart-rending angst. She writes mostly Icemav, but she has branched out more than a lot of people from the pre-TGM era, and written more pairings and more characters than any other TG writer I know personally. This list might look a little odd to some people more familiar with her work, because she has written some amazing, novel-length AUs and crossovers and plotty, heavy stuff, but again, these are my favorite stories, and I like her Icemav when they're soft.
Word on the Street (Teen) Sharon looks down at her wedding ring and says a prayer for the handsome Navy pilot that’s heading their way. He’s got no idea what he’s in for. / Or, Iceman and Maverick versus the Real Housewives of Fallon, Nevada.
This is an outsider POV story in which Ice and Maverick scandalize (and titillate) the suburbs of Fallon, completely on accident. It's funny, it's sweet, and the payoff at the end is so satisfying.
let's talk about sex, baby (let's talk about you and me) (Teen) This is a college AU for the prompt: I keep coming in to take condoms from the health services desk because I think you’re cute and I’m pretty sure you must think my sex life is wild.
In which Pete Mitchell, over the course of a semester of college, continually fails to ask Tom Kazansky to go out with him. This one is light and funny and kind of innocent and hopeful in a way, because they're young and they have crushes, and nothing is more important than that ... except maybe that organic chemistry final.
when i see your face (General) In which Maverick Mitchell wakes up from surgery, high on painkillers, and hits on his husband.
This is everything I want for modern Icemav. They're married, they're so sweet together, and they love each other so, so much. Drugged Maverick is hilarious, long-suffering Ice is gentle and totally smitten; this is comfort food in text form.
'cause the cat's the only cat (who knows where it's at) (Teen) “So you mean to tell me,” Ice says, “that my alien cat is having alien kittens?”
I love Boa's Top Gun/MCU crossovers. I think they're incredibly well done, they are respectful to both canons, and they're innovative and clever. I like the Captain Marvel series the best, I think, and while I reread a lot of those stories, this one has to be my favorite. Chewie the Flerken has kittens, and it totally ruins everyone's life until it doesn't. Sweet, sooooooo funny, unexpectedly warm.
it's centrifugal motion, it's perpetual bliss (Mature) Kiss prompts from Tumblr.
There was a fic meme of kiss prompts going around a couple years ago, and this isn't so much one, unified fic as it is 10 vignettes of important kisses. They range from sweet to passionate to bittersweet, and they show the best of Iceman and Maverick together as a couple. I love, love, love these little peeks into the like Ice and Mav built together.
by @susiecarter :
I'm going to be honest with you: In 2020, @susiecarter wrote me a story for Id Pro Quo, which is an annual ficswap in which you request a pairing and up to 20 freeform tags that are meant to satisfy your id. These are guilty pleasure, don't judge me I'm having an amazing time right now stories, and she absolutely blew my damn mind, and then she did it twice more. So, yes, these stories were all written with my exact specifications in mind, but that doesn't mean they aren't all fucking amazing, because they are. As a writer, @susiecarter is so pithy and sharp and very, very well-balanced, and her prose is visceral and tangible and, occasionally, unexpectedly tender and lyrical. All three of these stories are blistering hot with perfect characterization, great sex that does not shy away from honest emotion and real intimacy, and her use of plane metaphors is spot on without ever being cliche or cheesy.
fire in the sky tonight (Explicit) Graduation from TOPGUN was one thing. It was great, no question, but it was just the warm-up. You hadn't made it, really made it, until you got hitched.
This is a canon-compliant (mostly) arranged marriage fic in which Iceman and Maverick consummate their nuptials just a couple hours after the dogfight for the Layton. It is stupid hot. Maverick is nervous and a virgin but still not wanting to give Iceman an inch, and Ice is cool and deadly, smolderingly competent, and he takes care of Maverick while also taking him the fuck apart. Plus, maybe they actually love each other? So good.
A Shared Cup (Mature) It was only a training exercise. It was only supposed to be a training exercise.
Ice and Maverick fuck up and end up telepathically linked. DEEP deep. Then what happens is they end up learning each other from the inside out, and while the brass is trying to figure out how the hell to fix this MASSIVE error, Maverick is just trying to hide from Ice that maybe his feelings on the matter, and his feelings about Ice, have changed. This is a gorgeous study of both characters, and the payoff at the end is totally earned.
and gamble for the sun (Mature) It's like this: Maverick and the Iceman make bets, sometimes.
This story is kind of like sitting in a pot of water. First everything is still, and you're just floating there, and then you notice that the water is beginning to warm up, and before you know it, it's boiling around you, and you might burn up and you might drown and it doesn't really matter which one. For me, more than anything, the small details in this story are incredibly sexy and incredibly intimate, and the ending is surprising but perfect and handled perfectly, and it's just gorgeous, the prose and the heat and the emotions, how they're all there and all balanced so perfectly. It's a killer.
by chemm80:
What You Don't Know (Explicit) Maverick finds Iceman handcuffed to his bed. He has a hard time getting over it.
ME TOO. I first read this fic when it came out 10 years ago, and it's still one I go back to. Maverick and Ice are still really figuring out how to be around each other as just colleagues and friends when Maverick sees something he was never meant to see, and it sends him into a tailspin. Things get complicated, and it's handled beautifully, with Maverick especially pushing through the quagmire of his emotions to get to the truth, and Ice vulnerable in more ways than one. Plus, hot. Did I mention it's really hot?
by DeeEffGee
Drugs (Teen) “Ice, you have to take the pain meds. Every six hours-”
Maverick is stuck doctoring Ice, and Ice hates it for a different reason than Maverick first imagined. Maverick and Ice are both sharp together here, the push-and-push-back kind of banter and dares as in the film, until they both surprise themselves, and then ... they are, like, 25% nicer.
by Pink_and_Velvet
You took a fall, then you landed soft. (Teen) Iceman comes up with a game, to prevent Maverick’s downward spiral and also, get him naked.
Ice doesn't like seeing Maverick torture himself, so he does something about it. A nice study of both characters in the wake of Goose's death, and also games that involve forfeiting clothing are always a good thing.
The Prom King (Teen) A high school AU in which Iceman and Maverick are seniors with prom around the corner, and some unresolved feelings to deal with.
This is a really cute first time fic where Ice is one of the cool kids and Maverick isn't quite sure what to do with him. (But he figures it out.) Like a teen romcom, but Icemav.
by @genderfluidsodapopcurtis :
A Kiss on the Inside of the Wrist (General) There are parts of Ice’s body that Maverick only ever sees from up close.
This one is short, but very sweet. I love lazy, sleepy Icemav.
by @victimofthemusic :
Bri excels at writing extremely sexy fic that also completely expresses how stupid in love the characters are for each other. Her characterization is sharp and distinctive, and she has no problem bouncing from completely lovesick to desperately horny to lightly teasing in the same page. She's also writing a lot for Top Gun: Maverick and its new characters, so if you're interested in that, take a look at her AO3 profile.
you're trying hard not to show it, but baby i know it (Teen) Ice wants to know who Maverick was before he became Maverick. He wants to know Pete Mitchell, too, because they’re two parts of the same whole and Ice wants to love that part, too. Because Pete Mitchell was worth loving just as much Maverick Mitchell was worth loving. And God, does Ice love him.
This is beautiful characterization of both Ice and Maverick, and it's sweet and sexy and heartbreaking and hopeful all at once. Beautiful, fulfilling, so satisfying.
the further on the edge, the hotter the intensity (Explicit) Five times Maverick and Ice have sex in places they totally weren't planning to.
This is so, so sexy, but more than that, it's a beautiful picture of Maverick and Ice's love story. The sex is scorching, but it's definitely not just sex. There's always an exploration of the emotional component of their relationship, even when Ice is getting fucked over Maverick's desk, and the relationship progresses in a way that will twist your heart but ultimately leave you feeling soft and warm.
by weshes:
Fire or Clear (Mature) It takes Ice and Maverick about ten years and a divorce to figure it out, but eventually they do.
This story has so much packed into it. The characterization is so sharp, and the way Ice and Maverick interact and move around each other after knowing each other for so long is comfortable, familiar, but with an undercurrent of simmering heat building to a boil. The sex is hot, and the dialogue is fantastic, all around well done.
by @guiltyfandomtrashwonderland :
She was made in a lab to destroy me. Nat writes some of the most in-depth, well-researched, layered fanfiction I've ever read. She sees the characters differently than I do, but it's in a way that intrigues me, and I love the way she writes them individually and as a couple. Her stories are so funny and so much fun without sacrificing emotion and vulnerability and the difficult realities the characters sometimes face.
A Chance Engagement (Explicit) In which Maverick sells ass, Ice buys some, and both of them end up with far more than they bargained for.
I cannot tell you how deeply, deeply satisfying it is to read BDSM written by people who actually know what they're talking about. This story, which takes place during the TOPGUN contest that is the focus of the first film, is funny and sexy and complex. It is at turns euphoric and hilarious and tense and devastating. It's a beautiful look at how Iceman and Maverick come together in this universe, and it's satisfying on so many levels.
Stormclouds in a Pale Sky (Explicit) Thirty years later, some people still didn’t get it.
This is a sequel to A Chance Engagement set in the TGM timeline. Thirty years later, Ice and Maverick are still together, still stupid in love, and still sharing a thriving, if slightly unconventional, sex life. This is sexy and fun and less painful, emotionally, than the first story, but it's got deep, true, long-term love and some bittersweet moments reflecting on growing older and the things it changes and the things it takes away ... and the things it can never change. Gorgeous.
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Thoughts on Rollo's Backstory
By now everyone's very confident in the theory that Rollo has a younger brother whom he lost to magic, which fuels his desire to rid the world of magic.
There are strong implications to this. First one is that Yana Toboso herself recommended via a tweet to watch the Hunchback of Notre Dame play. The play follows the original novel more closely, in that (a) Esmeralda dies, and (b) Frollo actually has a younger brother named Jehan whom he saw as "corrupt". In the play version of Bells of Notre Dame, Jehan "grew more wild and defied and defiled all the laws of Notre Dame". Frollo even tried to bring him back and say that he'll "heal" his brother.
On the subject of corruption, we know by now that Overblot is a manifestation of this. Mages who overblot from what we've seen used up too much of their magic and succumbed to their negative feelings. The black ink also kind of seals in the corruption imagery too. 😅
What also adds to this theory is Idia's reaction after reading Rollo's diary. While Azul and Malleus weren't as shaken, Idia is silent. Azul even had to remind Idia that Rollo is their enemy no matter what, and since this event seems to assume chapter 6 had passed (based on Epel's UM), Azul already knows about Idia's traumas with Ortho's death.
Finally, when it cuts to Rollo saying, "All of Twisted Wonderland will be rid of magic. No one will have to go through what 'that person' did.", he refers to 'that person' as 'aitsu'. Aitsu is a very informal way of referring to someone, and it can be rude. It makes sense to refer to a sibling as aitsu due to its casual nature.
Also adding here that with that, there is no specific gender that Rollo alluded to here. No, it's not confirmed that whoever he is referring to is a boy yet.
Now with all that being said, I want to challenge this theory for a bit. 😋
What if the person Rollo is referring to is not a younger brother, but someone else who cared for him?
Rollo is not just ctrl c + v Frollo. He has similarities to Quasimodo, one of them being that he's the one who takes care of the gargoyles in the school (as mentioned by the talking gargoyle in the latest update).
With that being said, Esmeralda was the first person to ever be kind to Quasimodo. She saved him from being mocked in the Festival of Fools, and she touched his face without being disgusted by him. He started being fond of her because of that.
Esmeralda is also from a people who was scorned. Like Jehan, Frollo perceived her as "corrupt". But an additional thing is that Esmeralda was accused of witchcraft and sorcery (she did do the handkerchief trick).
Now in the play, aside from Frollo having a younger brother, another big difference between the movie and the play is that Esmeralda dies. Jehan was only expelled from Notre Dame, but Esmeralda perishes at the end.
Even the evidences that support Rollo having a younger brother can also support this idea.
Idia did go silent from reading Rollo's diary, yes. But it can be argued that he sympathizes greatly with the tragedy of losing a loved one to Overblot in general. His sympathy would be much greater if it's a younger brother, that's true. Still, I think he can relate to the scenario of losing someone he cared about to overblot regardless.
As for the aitsu part, it's possible that 'that person' Rollo is referring to is someone he's just very close to that isn't necessarily a sibling. After all, Azul has referred to the twins as 'aitsura'.
I think that Rollo having a younger brother that he lost makes a lot of sense and I wouldn't be surprised if that's the direction the story is going to. But I think there's also a possibility that it could be someone else that he was close to.
Regardless of whoever he lost, I do think that Rollo had been excluded and isolated at some point in his life. Maybe he was scorned for being a mage. That person whom he lost was probably the one person in his life that cared for him, and when they left, that definitely shook him horribly. Solidified his belief that magic is bad because it took away the person he cared.
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gurugirl · 2 months
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Do you think there will ever be a time where Priestrry and his Pet use a safe word? Or where they need a break from their dynamic to just be a couple not participating in kink?
I imagine that we don't see their day-to-day often as I write the check-ins so they probably don't always play everytime they're together. I think they'd wind up doing normal couple things (out of public view) because it's not always possible to be having that dynamic 24/7 (probably exhausting to be honest).
I think, though, that it is Harry's default to be dominant and Y/n's to be bratty and submissive, but even with that, they'd still leave out the whips and chains and cage and gags most of the time. But he's still going to be dominant with her as their norm and she'll be pushing his buttons and teasing him like the bratty sub she is to her core.
As for a safe word... maybe I can write something where a safe word is used while they're playing extra hard (I'm gonna go with they do have a safe word even tho I don't think I ever wrote about it). I just don't love having that incorporated often because they are very in tune with one another and they are in a very stable (apart from the whole secrecy thing) relationship with lots of trust. And also, Harry asks her and checks in with her a lot along the way while they're playing even when he knows her limits he still checks. When someone needs to use a safeword sometimes it means that one person has taken something to far, has missed a cue because they aren't paying enough attention, or they are too new in a relationship to understand their partner's limits.
I'm not saying that safe words or the use of the traffic light system isn't used in healthy established relationships because they definitely are, it's just not THAT common to pop out "Red!" while in the middle of doing some kind of scene that you and your partner have done before and usually enjoy.
As wild and kinky as some people can get... most of the time they're doing the same kind of kinky shit they always do with their partner - their tried and true favorites. Kinky couples aren't always exploring harder and harder limits with each other because they (like even not-so-kinky couples) get into a routine of what they like.
I think it's good to have something in place for any relationship - a kill switch if you will (which is essentially what the safe word or saying RED is), but most people aren't just going to be using them super often as long as there's good communication. The dom will check in - maybe they will ask "what's your color?" as a way to check or maybe they'll just say outright "look at me. are you okay still?" (which is more of what priestrry would do). I think too, most good doms will see it before even the sub does and will stop a scene without their sub even needing to say anything.
I'm not against using safe words in fic but when someone uses their word that stops the entire scene. It's game over immediately and on to soothing and reassurance and lots of care and then communicating what went wrong so that it never happens again - because safe words are used when something goes wrong. Which I don't love writing about. That's a personal preference really. Even in my mind... if someone gets to yellow - the scene stops so there can be a discussion about what's going on and how to prevent it from getting to red.
But yes! The priest and his pet definitely have a safe word but I don't think they've really needed it so far :)
oh my god sorry this turned into a full fucking novel 🙈
xoxo
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