#“seen from an unreliable narrator's POV”

[lewyn-martell]

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[linkcharacter]

I find it interesting when people call Jimmy an unreliable narrator. There’s not really any narrating done in the traditional sense, and we don’t even hear a lot of his inner thoughts. Do they mean “narrator” as in our view of the world and characters are shaped by his POV through interactions and visuals, instead of a verbal, descriptive narration?

Please THANK YOU EXACTLY I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT THIS SO BAD ACTUALLY.

My opinion is that people like to shove terms that vaguely fit the story of Mouthwashing anywhere they can, same with describing characters (Curly for example) as "morally grey". Which in my opinion is reductive and doesn't represent who the character is, it's defined enough for people to 'kinda' be on the same page but also vague enough that it doesn't accurately describe the character and blurs the complexity that makes the character interesting.

I wouldn't apply the term "unreliable narrator" to Jimmy. His perspective of what we are allowed to see in game is limited, but we see exactly what happens, just through Jimmy's eyes. Jimmy isn't twisting the narrative for the viewer because he's NOT NARRATING. Mouthwashing is a game with no narration to tell the story. Sure, characters talk about the events, but they're not talking to the player, and an unreliable narrator's purpose from a storytelling point, is to deceive or mislead the viewer. I think trying to shove storytelling terms anywhere it fits doesn't work and just confuses a lot of people. The game itself plays around with the narrative and reveals things and structures the story in ways to manipulate our perception, like allowing only certain small sections of events to be seen, and ordered in a way to play with our thoughts and attention.

Jimmy's perspective and presence change the attitude of characters, but this isn't "unreliable narration", it's the reality of how characters act with Jimmy around. I kinda understand what people mean when they say he's an unreliable narrator, that we shouldn't take Jimmy's POV as the whole truth at face value, but that's not because the 'narrative' is being twisted, we just have to take into account the context of the situation. The players aren't being deceived, they're being required to think about nuances. And even when Jimmy starts having his episodes with hallucinations, it's not to deceive the viewer, it's showing us how JIMMY HIMSELF sees reality, we can very clearly disconnect what is being shown from the context of what is actually going on. The dinner scene, for example, is obviously just has Jimmy tweak out, but we as players can tell that it's not real, there's no misleading happening. And we see how Jimmy talks to others during gameplay, we see Jimmy be abusive to others and be a jerk and perform manipulation, there's no narration to make us believe he's not doing all of these things or to even conceal or twist the truth. Jimmy as a character with his words does manipulate others, but not the viewer. You can say Jimmy is an unreliable narrator within the reality of the game, but he's definitely not if we're talking about meta.

The bizarro sequences are a bit different because there's clearly some meta "showing the viewer symbolisms to have them connect ideas of the story, while not being grounded in reality for the characters in the game" stuff going on, but again, there's no narration nor is there a point to confuse the viewer. The point is to show the themes of the story in an interesting and impactful way that leaves a lot to analyze, you're not being deceived, you just have to think about it and see what the game is trying to show, it's encouraging you to look deeper into the story. Mouthwashing IS NOT a game with a clear-cut clean concrete story with no room for interpretation.

[liberalk1tsch]

This has been an unpopular opinion but i actually think after the books Peeta wouldn’t like Gale not because of jealousy but because he treated Katniss really rough. What do you think?

can’t wait to get cancelled for this one LMAO. warning: if you’re someone who can’t accept criticism of gale, just dni.

i think peeta despises gale, and not because of anything remotely resembling jealousy. HOWEVER. i don’t think he would ever push his feelings toward gale on katniss.

peeta isn’t disrespectful toward her relationship with gale. even when it pains him. he’s made a couple snide comments about their weird dynamic, but he’s never badmouthed gale. ever. even when gale doesn’t pay him the same respect.

peeta’s smart enough to know it’s a sensitive topic. friend breakups suck, even if the reason they end is cos they were turning sour. he’d listen and probably agree with katniss if she brought it up herself and needed to vent, but i highly doubt he’d go out of his way to voice every grievance he’s had with gale unprompted.

internally though? if gale has no haters, peeta mellark is dead.

the last interaction we know of between him and gale is the conversation in tigris’ basement when gale tries to tell peeta that katniss will choose whoever she can’t survive without, which is a) incorrect and b) incredibly reductive of her feelings toward both of them, which is especially cruel coming from the person who’s supposed to be her best friend.

and i never see anyone talk ab that it’s lowkey a jab at peeta too considering gale has previously established a distinct lack of faith in peeta’s survival skills in cf (doesn’t want him to come along into the wilderness when katniss suggests they make a run for it, both bc of jealousy and bc he continually underestimates him (and then proceeds to call him a traitor in mj for doing whatever it takes to survive? bffr guy)).

alas, peeta doesn’t care how gale feels ab him. he never has. but katniss? i don’t need to read peeta’s pov to know this man was utterly baffled at what gale was yapping ab. like. by the end of mj, katniss herself narrates that there’s no sign of the kids they were when they became friends in the woods.

he just doesn’t know her anymore, at least not the person she’s become, and this is when it becomes clear to peeta that he’s been severely overestimating gale’s role in katniss’ life. he only knows what he has seen and what our lovely, unreliable katniss has told him, and she was actively trying not to pit them against each other.

but in the basement, this is the first time peeta hears things unfiltered from gale’s side, the first time he hears how off base he was to assume that there was so much more to their relationship than there is. bc wdym he thinks he has a chance w katniss when he’s not even bothering to factor her feelings into it?

and peeta thought he was the crazy one.

not to mention the fact that of everyone gale saved, he didn’t manage to save a single member of peeta’s family.

and yk what? credit where credit is due — it is thanks to gale that so many people made it out of 12 alive.

but personally, i have my doubts about how hard he tried to get the townies out. the seam and victors village are on opposite sides of town; he would’ve had to go through the town square to get prim and asterid to the meadow. past the bakery. past the justice building. past peeta’s and madge’s families.

knowing full well how important they are to katniss.

delly and her brother are the only townies i can recall from mj, the rest are seam, and he could have easily just plucked them up if they were outside when they ran through the square.

is it a fucked up idea that he might leave them behind in favour of saving seam kids? yes. but that doesn’t make it any less plausible. i wouldn’t be surprised if that same thought has crossed peeta’s mind, especially considering gale isn’t exactly subtle about his disdain for townies.

so yeah. i don’t reckon peeta likes gale at all. but he respects katniss and their history enough to keep that to himself.

i really need to figure out how to shorten these rants of mine lol

[laylaylanii]

Picking Apart Kou’s Character (Analysis)

Through Nene’s pov he’s introduced as a very sweet guy and stuff but the problem here is that Nene’s is an unreliable narrator since she romantices life + Kou speficially treats her a lot nicer.

He is also heavily morally righteous and tries to hear Hanako out even after knowing he murdered someone, saving him from Teru.

Kou also ends up trying to shoulder other people’s problems, and many of his actions are seen as “heroic” or “selfless” BUT sometimes this due to a more ugly part of his character the fandom seems to discard often.

^ To elaborate, I want to bring up this scene since it’s iconic asf

On the surface it’s like: omg wow so brave of him to kill himself for his bf !! However, in the red house arc (which for context shows him his biggest desires) we can see that he just wants mitsuba to rely on him to the point of extreme measures.

This is rooted from his inferiority complex due to being outshined by his older + younger siblings; AND to add on, Hanako straight up tells Kou twice hes unable to do anything. Then to push it further, Teru’s like ur weak lil bro go back to the kitchen during the no.6 fight. Mitsuba dying infront of him 6 times doesn’t help either..

When Mitsuba asks if Kou is okay and needs to talk about his problems, (I forgot which specific chapter..), Kou automatically assumes that Mitsubas just worried about Kou’s reliability because he has such a low self esteem and is used to given up on.

His inability to actually make stuff happen and ppl telling him he can’t do shit make him very eager to try and shoulder other ppls problem in an attempt to have someone depend on him.

So when Mitsuba comes in with nobody (besides tsukasa but he does more harm than help so wtv) who can help him, Kou.. heh.. ig u could say.. JUMPS at this opportunity.

Anyway, in the Nightlife arc Mitsuba is like “hey can u kill me I’ve given up on being human”, and Kou finally lashes out. Mitsuba is indirectly telling Kou that he gave up on him trying to make his wish come true; AND THEN to make it worse, Mitsuba brings Tsukasa right after up..

Kou gets desperate and forces Mitsuba to stay alive even if he doesn’t want to because both

1) if mitsuba leaves nobody will depend on him and

2) he’s gay for him + misses him after watching him die + can’t bring himself to kill Mitsuba

Yes, he cares a lot for Mitsuba as a person and making his wish come true, but he also just wants to be depended on after being told he’s a let down over and over again.

As I mentioned before, Kou has a trend with diverting his problems from other people and keeping his real feelings in. Nobody expect for nene knows about Mitsubas and Kous relationship, and it literally took Kou like 70 chapters or smthn to give her the basics.

He’s speechless when Akane asks if Mitsuba and him are close because Kou never mentions Mitsuba at all. Teru doesn’t know what’s up with him, and just assumes he “has a goal in mind”. Even when having his big speech defeating Habuko Kou just refers to Mitsuba as “him”.

Okay anyways the point Im trying to get is Kous character is a lot more complex than the fandom passes off !! Yes he can be very sweet and all but there’s other parts to his personality that aren’t so black and white.

[bunnyshideawayy]

i’m tired of the narrative that rhysand is the perfect mate when he literally is no better than tamlin.

i’m tired of people thinking it’s okay that Cassian never, NEVER, truly sticks up for Nesta at any point in the story.

i’m tired of Azriel getting a pass for feeling entitled to Elain but Lucien is a walking devil all for accidentally blurting out she’s his mate during a bad time and trying to respect Elain’s space while still showing her kindness.

i’m tired of Rhysand and the IC getting a pass for their shady behavior, especially when it comes to the pregnancy plot line. they should’ve told her when they knew, no they weren’t keeping it from her “for her health!!!” they were stripping feyre of her autonomy, the same with nesta.

i’m tired of Elain being seen as a child.

i’m tired of everyone vilifying Nesta.

i’m tired of Rhysand and the IC being extended empathy for their past and even current actions but that same forgiveness isn’t given to anyone else. people seem to forget rhysand is supposed to be morally gray, he’s done bad things for the sake of doing bad, he is not the perfect goody-goody in a dark color palette.

i’m tired of people forgetting Feyre (and any other pov characters) is an unreliable narrator.

i’m tired of people acting like Nesta and Feyre aren’t the different sides of the same coin.

i’m tired of people pretending the IC wouldnt have reacted differently had it been feyre to give “x” away in CC3.

im tired of this fandom lacking media literacy!!

[iamasaddie]

tell her to stay away from the light

Clint x f!Reader

summary: 1982, Clint parks at the screening of ‘Poltergeist’ in the local drive-in. Somewhere between ghosts intrusions and seances, he finds a much more appealing thing to look at in the car next to him. warnings: DARK FIC, DO NOT READ IF ARE EASILY TRIGGERED! Clint POV, voyeurism, edging, unreliable narrator (?), not thoroughly edited a/n: this is my too early of a submittion to @pedgito's spring fever challenge ! it was something new for me since it's not straight up porn but i hope y'all will still be able to enjoy it!

The light reflecting from the flickering screen plays ornately on your skin, giving it a cold hue. Clint is used to seeing those colors on those he dealt with. Bluish, purplish, grayish. Lifeless. The shades he knows so well. It is odd to see now, like you are going through the premature postmortem hypostasis while your heart is still pumping hot, thick blood through your veins, and your pupils are dilating with a range of emotions.

Diane Freeling's heart-rending screams are accompanied by the hum of gasps and yelps that come from dozens of different cars. Clint can’t tell what is happening on the screen anymore. All his thoughts are focused on you. So beautiful, so pitifully lonely. No girlfriend, no boyfriend, whose shoulder you can bury your scared face in when fear takes over your body. Instead, you lean back, pressing into the seat of the old Honda as if it can save you.

Clint doesn't take his eyes off your heaving chest. The white tank top clings tightly to the skin, leaving no room for imagination. It's too hot in a cramped car with the windows closed, but as if sensing an external threat, you don't rush to roll down the windows. 

The car parked to your right is packed with a bunch of obnoxiously loud guys. They laugh every time the people on the screen or in the neighboring cars scream in horror. The fear of others is just entertainment for them. Clint had seen dozens of guys like them, pompous dicks in soccer jackets, confident as long as they were in a crowd of equally muscular jerks. However, they squeal louder than a pig on a slaughter when they finally sense the danger themselves. When the only working convolution signals them about a deadly predator, when the instinct of self-preservation screams to run. Clint laughed himself when he heard their screams, their panic, their pleas. He's who they pretended to be.

And although Clint understands perfectly well what you're afraid of, he can't help but snicker arrogantly, because you still don't know where the threat really comes from.

A foggy gradient whitens up the windows in your rustbucket – a consequence of your heavy breathing combined with the usual stuffy and humid southern night. Clint returns his gaze to the stretched canvas where the movie scenes change. He is trying not to miss your movements with a peripheral glance, while not being obvious.

Leaning over the center panel, you reach for the passenger door, and soon the window is down, and a cool air seeps inside the car. The windows in Clint's car were rolled down from the very beginning, and now the last barrier between you has been eliminated. Everything is going according to plan.

For a second, Clint feels your searching gaze on his face, and makes an effort not to turn, not to meet your curious eyes. He concentrates on the film, even though the plot has been lost to him for some time.

After a few moments, you return to your usual position, fragile shoulders pressed into the old upholstery of the driver's seat, eyes darting across the screen from one character to another, lips parted. At the same time, Clint allows himself to return to scrutinizing you. He is pleasantly surprised by the way the movie captures your attention completely. Maybe he'll come back to watch it again, it looks like the story is worth it. But now his evening is coming up with a much more attractive story.

As if you can physically feel his caressing gaze, he smoothly glides it along the column of your neck, descending below, where the neckline of your almost see-through top teases him with a view of your chest, rising and falling to the rhythm of your fear. Your skin is glowing, a thin film of sweat has left its mark on the flawless canvas. Your body, that was so hungry for some freshness, is covered goosebumps as soon as a breath of wind actually invades your car. Following with his eager gaze lower, Clint feels the familiar tension in his groin area just as his eyes land on your taut nipples. No shame, no bra. Clint loves summers in the South.

He imagines how hard your heart is beating. If he looks closely, maybe he'll see how your tits shake with the influence. He could feel how fear makes adrenaline rush through your veins. Cold sweat, slippery and salty, is now accumulating on the back of your neck. Greedily, he sniffs the air, his nostrils flaring, as if trying to completely absorb the smell of your sea.

His hand reaches for his swollen dick, but he doesn't take it out, doesn't even unzip his fly. On the contrary, with a wide palm, he rubs himself slowly, applying the perfect amount of pressure over the rough material. The movement would have made him growl if he wasn't so close to you. But he doesn't want to scare you off, so he just clenches his jaw, not letting even a sigh leave his mouth. 

The caresses over his jeans do not bring any relief. His arousal, unable to spill in the heat of orgasm, courses through his veins, teases, tickles. 

Without taking his eyes off you, he continues to torment his suffering dick. The head was so swollen that any touch felt like torture. He knows that the plain cotton boxers already have the shameful stain of his arousal on them. And it's your fault.

So beautiful, so scared. So lonely. Clint thinks about your skin prickling up with chills, but now because of him. The way your hard nipples would feel against his palms. The way you’d scream when he lets his teeth mercilessly close on the sensitive buds. The weight of your soft breasts would pull them down painfully, but his teeth wouldn’t let go of the delicate skin. In his imagination, tears are spurting from your eyes. Now he regrets that he didn't look at them after all. What color are they? Blue? Are they green? Brown? Maybe black? It didn't matter, red goes with any color equally well.

Involuntarily, and as much as his jeans would allow, his hand begins to tighten around his cock, which has been begging for release. Clint has learned to enjoy this torment caused by you. He'll pay you back in kind later.

As soon as you start fidgeting, he freezes. Only his cock is pulsing helplessly in the captivity of his pants. Your hands reach for your head, gathering up your unruly hair, trying to peel off each strand from your sweaty temples and neck. That neck. Clint bites his lip, the familiar iron taste hitting his tongue. Such a thin, fragile neck. He is sure that one hand is enough for him to wrap around it almost completely. His thick fingers will be too rough compared to your delicate skin, even if he does everything more gently than usual. There's nothing to do about it, swans like you always have breakable little necks. 

Will you gasp for air, kick him, scream for help? Will you beg? Clint's gaze returns to your face, as if trying to find an answer, but in vain. Will you ask for more? Moan with pleasure? Squirm with desire? You will. Just like all those who came before you.

Lost in his thoughts, Clint himself flinches when the drive-in descends into darkness for a couple of moments. His eyes lazily trail across the noisy field of cars until they stop on the screen. The film had come to an end, as the opening credits indicated. 

With diligence, he unclenches his fist, which was lying like a sledgehammer on his left thigh, and removes his right hand from his groin. The loss of pressure and heat almost makes him whine like a beaten dog. Steadying his breathing, he raises his palms and wraps them around the leather of the steering wheel. 

All that remains is to wait, and he does. He waits for the cars to slowly start leaving the site; he waits for you to start your car. To his delight, he notices that you're not in a hurry. Apparently, you wanted to let that group of noticeably intoxicated guys from the car on your right side go ahead. By the time your Honda makes the pitiful sound of the engine starting, the field is almost empty. Clint pretends that his car won't start. An act that he has performed dozens of times, the one that would with a standing ovation if he played it out in front of an audience. Everything is going right as he directed it, and here you are, throwing a pitying glance in his direction and pursing your bitten lips. Gotcha.

“Do you need any help?” You lean towards the window, which is still open, trying to shout over the noise of the engine. Clint just shakes his head in fake annoyance.

“Don't worry,” he rubs his eyebrow where an old scar cuts through the short hairs that are starting to turn gray. The sound of his sad laugh is frankly unnatural, but, unexpecting, you don't notice anything. “The damned thing breaks all the time, maybe it's easier to just leave it on the side of the road and walk.”

You shrug, clearly not knowing what to say to that. Clint can see the cogs turning in your head. 

“Maybe,” as if doubting your own decision, you paused for a second. Clint pulls the key out of the ignition and slams on the steering wheel, hoping that the little scene won't scare off a trusting lamb like you. “Maybe I can give you a lift to the station? You can still catch a bus.” 

He doesn't miss the way your gaze appraisingly runs over the part of his body that you can see. You're evaluating whether you can handle him if he turns out to be a psychopath. And now it’s Clint's turn to shrink, try to make himself smaller, even though it's impossible with his stature.

“Are you sure?” He adds embarrassment to his voice, a slight tremor, a question. “I wouldn't want to inconvenience you. I understand what it looks like: a creepy old man in a broken-down rust bucket abuses the kindness of a young girl. Just what they write in those scary newspaper stories.”

You laugh, your shoulders relax, and he finally gets out of the car, having previously closed the windows of the Toyota he rented a couple of hours ago. Clint pulls down his shirt, covering his still painfully hard cock. Black jeans are always a good solution.

“It's okay, I'm passing through the station anyway. Besides, you don't look creepy or old at all.” You push the passenger door open, inviting Clint to climb inside.

“You haven't heard my knees pop yet.” 

You laugh again, twisting the steering wheel. Clint takes the last look at the screen. The credits stopped flashing with the names of the actors and the characters they played. The movie was over, but his evening has just begun.

tag list: @toxicanonymity @milla-frenchy @aurorawritestoescape @evolnoomym @pascalispretty @imaswellkid @joelemillersgirl @laurrrra @kyloispunk @codenamekitten please LEAVE A COMMENT AND REBLOG <3

[writers-potion]

this is a little hyper specific lmao but i was wondering if you have any advice on writing a pov character being mysterious? tyyy

Writing A Mysterious POV Character

Thanks for the question!

Here are some characteristics that I think makes a POV character "mysterious"

The reader is not meant to understand everything the POV character says, describes or alludes to.

The POV character actively holds off information from the readers either because (1) it's hard for them to talk about it or (2) they don't think it's important, somehow.

They reconstruct the narrative in the way they perceive it, not following the chronological order of events and often providing piecemeal information that only (if ever) comes together at the end.

The POV character simply has a wholly different perspective that a human reader will have difficulties understanding (i.e. story told from an animal or alien's POV)

I think the best way to portray this is to provide examples, which I think qualify as mysterious narrators. Note that not all mysterious narrators are unreliable narrators, although they could be. Here are the selected narrators and a few extracts for illustration purposes, divided by loosely defined subcategories (there can be overlaps!):

Incomprehensive Jargon & Allusions

Given that you can do this without boring or genuinely pissing off the reader, using lots of jargon, making allusions to things your target audience will probably not know to create atmosphere can be effective.

I recommend having a strong thematic core to justify all that jargon and reference, though.

Richard Papen from <The Secret History> by Donna Tartt

The characters talk and make references to Greek/the Classics. Arguably, it is not "incomprehensible", but the entire book is tirelessly full of them and unless you are a scholar in a related field, very unlikely to know all the Greek/ancient works being referenced all the time.

by M.L.Rio

Interesting style where the characters talk and even think in Shakespeare. They literally quote lines from Shakespeare to talk to each other. Not as difficult to follow as <The Secret History>, given that these are q famous plays (Hamlet, Macbeth, etc.) but it certainly adds well to the mystery at the heart of the book's plot.

---

Witholding Information

Have your narrator subtely refer to a large event in their past (a murder, a traumatic memory, etc) but never telling the reader upfront, making them only make implied guesses.

The only reservation I would have for this option is to not annoy the reader by letting them know the narrator has information, but is somehow not telling them. It would help to have a clear reason for them to not talk about it: e.g. they haven't accepted the past themselves, they're too scared to talk about it, etc.

by Eliza Clark

In here, the narrator has killed someone in the past - a fact that only becomes kind of clear at the end. Even then, the murder is never referenced because this narrator has some serious mental issues, but when you look back with this knowledge at the end of the book, her behavior starts making more sense.

---

Reconstructing the Narrative

Don't go in chronological order. Use time skips, or invent a new system for the narrator to arrange their memories and thus, retell the story. This gives the narrator power over the narrative because they've seen the whole thing play out, but the readers are getting bits and pieces, trying to get the puzzle pieces to fall together.

Other options:

POV character has amnesia

POV character has dementia

Using narrative interruptions that are in a completely different style (can work for 3rd person, look at Olivie Blake's work referenced below)

Olivie Black's <Alone With You in the Ether>

Using screenplay-like interruptions to the narrative that limits the reader's access to the characters' minds. Also creates interesting tone.

Kim Youngha's <Diary of the Murderer>

[I don't have pictures for this because I only have the Korean version....but really worth mentioning]

Here, the narrator has dementia and cannot fully remember the murders he has committed in the past. He is also an unreliable narrator who can only remember things in bits and pieces - thus the typical chronological order is interrupted.

---

"Non-Human" Perspectives

Give yourself a narrator that is not human, or is "dehumanized" in some way (lack of emotion, inability to relate to others, etc.) to view the entire world from a perspective not often experienced by the average human.

Death as a narrator from <The Book Thief> by Marcus Zusak.

Zusak inserts these little "pronouncements" or "interruptions" to the narrative and the calm but transcending tone constantly raises questions.

---

Do note that the overall tone of the novel contributes significantly to how the narrator comes across to the readers. Many of the works above also deal with "reality vs. unreality" as a theme, which is augmented by the use of a mysterious narrator that prompts the reader to challenge

Hope this helps, Happy writing :)

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* . ───

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💎Before you ask, check out my masterpost part 1 and part 2 

[luciaintheskyainthi]

First off, just, you and your writing is amazing. Like chef's kiss 💋 amazing. Everytime a new chapter of ECM updates I read the chapter twice by itself, read the previous chapter and the new chapter, and then start the whole fic over from the beginning so I can absorb the words into my soul.

Now, I was curious. I have a few interconnected questions if its ok? (I have very limited knowledge of DC Universe so if I get this wrong I apologize) From what I understand there is a collar in DCU similar to the Marvel Universe that can turn off a metas power? And if so, through all the different dimensions and rewrites Peter's body went thru, would you say that if one was put on Peter he would be ok because in this universe his body never had Asthma or needed glasses or would it do nothing, or would he automatically be needing an inhaler, glasses, and feel kitten weak?

How likely would it be that Batman is the one to put the collar on him, either out of suspicion or because he thinks Peter dangerous (he comes into a situation out of context) and if this was the case would Peter would have a bad reaction?

If none of this makes sense I do apologize. But it was something that had been rocking around in my brain for a bit.

thank-you so much! I'm glad you've enjoyed it so far!!!

While I can't remember if I've come across the collars in the comics (they might have been featured in the Rebirth RHATO?), I've seen them in both the animated suicide squad and Young Justice. And I actually think they'd have a greater success on Peter than the collars in the Marvel comics (not sure if they've been used on Peter before????) since he's a mutate not a mutant (therefore no x-gene).

In regards to how they'd effect Peter, I don't think he'd revert to pre-bite Peter with the asthma etc (even before the Gotham re-write) because the bite itself led to a full physiological re-write of Peter's body. Meaning he'd be de-powered but be effectively a non-powered human. He'd certainly feel weak as a baby though, since he's so used to that strength, but otherwise no.

In regards to Batman putting a collar on Peter, the odds of that are pretty much non-existent. I know in the story hasn't been especially sympathetic towards Bruce/Batman, but I'd like to note that each of these instances have been told from Jason's perspective. Like Peter, he is far from an objective narrator and his past experiences with Bruce/Batman have shaped the way he views Batman/Bruce. Jason's POV represents reality as much as Peter's POV represents reality (which is to say, not faithfully - but they're not deliberately unreliable, either).

I've said before, in both notes and my interim chapter, that Batman is not anti-meta. He's also not anti-Jason. Unfortunately, Jason's both unwilling and unable to realise this (because! Past Actions! Have Consequences Bruce!). Likewise, most instances of Jason fearing Bruce will chase Peter away come not from an expectation that Bruce will deliberately chase Peter away, but that Peter will run if Bruce sticks his nose into things that are currently in a very delicate balance (flight risk princess anyone??).

But just because we haven't seen much from Bruce doesn't mean he's not been working behind the scenes. He's wary of Spider-Man because he's affiliated with the Red Hood (and because he's such a fresh face on the scene), but that doesn't mean he's about to discount the stories he's heard from actual people who've actually interacted with him (Cass's judgement of Spider-Man for instance went a long way). If Batman was anti-Spider-Man, he would have chased right after them after Pyg.

Despite the negative portrayal of Bruce so far, I've no interest in engaging in any kind of character bashing/assassination of Bruce/Batman. I think that like his children (Jason included), he's a flawed character whom the narrative (of the comics that is) has a tendency to portray as being the one to always be in the right because Batman=Good+Right sells.

*coughs* anyway, I'm going to sheepishly step back from the soapbox I was about to climb up on. Long and short of it is, the only reason Bruce (or anyone) would use the collar on Peter is if Peter went out of control. ✌️

Thank-you for your questions!!! I love seeing how people have been thinking about the world of ECM!

[daretolovemyrambling]

ARCANE: unreliable narrators (Silco and Vander focused) PART 1

I haven't really been in this tag/fandom before the season 2 finale, but can we talk about how both Vander and Silco are unreliable narrators? Especially when it comes to their flashback scenes?

I don't get why i've seen so many take the flashbacks we got in the show at face value. The show makes clear time and time again that when we get a flashback from the point of view of a single character, they are an unreliable narrator.

some examples of other characters:

on the left: biased/not the reality (character's memory/pov) vs on the right: unbiased/reality (our, the viewers, pov)

I'm going to use video clips and transcripts of the memories because I can't just gif like 5 minutes of scenes. Since you can only have one video per post, I will have to post this in several parts.

Let's start with Warwick's memories from 2x5:

We see that the memory of Warwick in episode 2x5 is all over the place, memories from the past 15-20 years come flooding back in bits and pieces. 

In the first moment of this scene we see Warwick running through the mines, then we see Singed who has experimented on him, we see the Monkey Toy aggressively banging it's cymbals against each other, then we see a younger looking Silco about to swing something at an enforcer, for a split second the Monkey's face replaces Silco's, we see that it was a bottle bomb and set that enforcer on fire.

I think this represents Silco's almost obsessive nature when it came to their fight for Zaun's freedom, the Monkey overwhelms you with it's loud noise the same way Silco likely overwhelmed Vander with his ruthless actions.

the next scene, Silco looks horrified at Vander and we cut to Vander drowning Silco, then back to the moment Vander (and likely Silco) discover Felicia's lifeless body. 

We see a moment of Vander punching an enforcer with his gauntlets from 1x1, cut to the Monkey's face again, then we see Warwick's perspective of the prison fight with the enforcers in 2x4 (we see him choke one of them out with his claws) and slashing several more of them brutally.

Finally, we cut back to the mines were he hallucinates a toddler-aged Powder crying her little eyes out (it looks like something that actually happened. I think this might be a moment shortly after he takes in the girls. Powder looks like she just woke up from a nightmare, her body language is shy and scared). He softly wipes the tears away with his left hand (same hand he used to choke Silco and an enforcer just a few moments earlier) 

Powder's face turns into Jinx and then pre-teen Powder and we follow Powder's lifeless gaze to Felicia dancing at the Jukebox, before finally, Vander images a Silco shortly after the murder attempt, this Silco is still dripping wet from the lake (and he uses his signature glass) but smiles at Vander invitingly (likely a moment that actually happend but was warped by the many nightmares Vander likely had about what he did).

The idea that Silco escalated the Bridge Riot and thus caused the death of many Zaunites, including Felicia and Connol, is definitely supported by this short memory, but it's *not* the only way you can read the scene. Vander's memories are evidently completely scrambled, he is remembering the worst moments of his life all at once.

It's just as valid to say that Silco was not there during the Bridge Scene in season 1 episode 1 as to say that he was!

That is what makes unreliable narrators so interesting, we can make assumptions to what happend, but if we don't get an unbiased view at a scene, we don't know for sure if it happend the way the narrator imagined it.

Examples where we have unbiased flashbacks would be flashbacks like Mel's childhood in 1x8 and the Bar scene with Felicia in 2x5. In these scenes we don't follow the pov of one character, of course information is still omitted from us to an extend, but we can make our own assumption instead of seeing the biased/narrow pov of a single character.

[andreal831]

Do you see Klaus as an unreliable narrator in TO?

1000% yes.

He's a textbook narcissist so we have to remember everything he says comes from a place of being unable to look outside himself or to empathize with others. Which makes the entire narration of TO unreliable.

One example I can think of is when Elijah and Klaus are talking about Tatia (Elijah is also an unreliable narrator because he centers everything on Klaus. In my opinion due to guilt). We hear, and in TO see, how much Elijah cares for Tatia. But not really Klaus. We hear him and Elijah say Klaus loved Tatia, however, in the scenes in TO, Klaus essentially assaults Tatia by kissing her without even being concerned if she wants him to. Even when she pulls away from him, he just moves on. This isn't the actions of someone who is in love. And then when we see Tatia and Elijah interact, there is clearly some history. They have an ongoing flirtation. Yet, when Elijah and Klaus tell the story, it essentially focuses on their brotherly bond and less on Tatia. We don't hear how devastated Elijah was from her death, but how loving Tatia nearly broke their bond apart. Even when Elijah learns he was responsible for Tatia's death, instead of allowing him to feel that pain and grieve, he has to apologize to Klaus (and also deal with Klaus murdering his own father). Klaus doesn't react the way he did when he learned of what Elijah did to Aurora because he truly didn't care about Tatia. But he continues to push the narrative to center Elijah's past love interest around himself.

We see him do the same with Stefan in TVD, to the point where a large majority of the fandom believes Stefan and Klaus were romantically invovled despite being explicitly told that Rebekah and Stefan were invovled at the time. I'm not saying yes or no to either, but pointing out how the narrative impacts the viewers.

We also see this with how little emphasis the show puts on anyone that is not directly related to Klaus. Klaus is not the sole narrator of the show, but we can safely say it revolves around him. So characters like Aya, Celeste, Gia, Emil, etc. Their flashbacks are quick and just serve to explain how they know the Mikaelsons. Whereas, Klaus' love interest in the past, Aurora, gets exposition and depth through flashbacks.

The narration is told in a way that continues to victimize Klaus and brush aside his crimes. For example, when he lets Cami into his head to "scare her" and show her what a beast he is. He could show her endless slaughters, and that's just in the past year. He could show himself sacrificing a teenage girl or killing Jenna, stabbing his siblings, killing his mother, etc. But instead he shows himself turning for the first time and his family chaining him up to suppress his werewolf side. He doesn't even show the plethora of village people he just murdered which even scared Elijah. He only shows her what will create sympathy for him. We see this throughout their "talks." Even Cami calls him out on it multiple times for phrasing the story in a way that undermines how his siblings were feeling.

Contrast this to how Elijah's story is told. We already talked about Tatia and a lot of his exes. They are either explained very quickly and then moved on without allowing him/the audience time to grieve, or he they are handled through Klaus' POV so that their death's are justified/excused. But more than that, simply how his backstory is told, or Kol for that matter, is done in a less sympathetic light than Klaus.

We don't really see Elijah feed from people or murder without cause. That is up until the show decided to introduce the Red Door. This entire storyline is used to retcon Elijah as "the worse brother." But lets be honest, they've all killed so many people, why is Elijah killing seen as worse? Because they make it scary and bloody and it scares even the main characters. Whereas Klaus' trial is made to be humorous. The audience is supposed to laugh at Klaus forcing a girl to watch her mother burn alive because she was coughing too much. Even Klaus killing main characters like Carol are made to be humorous. They make Kol seem like this unhinged killer, but Klaus is the one who goes off and kills with him. When Kol does it, it's out of control. When Klaus does it, it's funny so their lives don't matter.

We see this with how the show treats Rebekah and her suitors. Rebekah is seen as naive because she keeps falling for the wrong people who take advantage of her. But Klaus is seen as compelling when he allows Caroline to manipulate him, to the point that it gets his brother killed. Or Aurora manipulate him to the point that it gets Rebekah kidnaped. Or Genevieve manipulate him to the point it gets Hayley killed and almost Hope. But when Klaus is manipulated, it's because he cares too much and the women took advantage of him. When it happens to Rebekah, it's because she's stupid and needs Klaus to make her decisions.

We see it in how Cami's transition is told. Cami is struggling throughout Season 3 but all Klaus sees is himself. To the point that when Cami snaps at him for pushing too far, the next scene is him killing a random art critic, essentially implying that it was her fault. She shouldn't have prioritized her own emotions and snapped at a grown man because he can't be responsible for his own actions.

TO thrives on Klaus being an unreliable narrator because it allows his misdeeds to be pushed to the back of the audience's mind and his victimization brought to the front. Even how he speaks about himself is unreliable. Initially, he blames Mikael for making him a monster. But then he learns his mother made him weak and blames her. But then he later blames Elijah for what he did to Aurora a year later. And throughout the show he blames all of his siblings for "abandoning" him when we never see a moment of them attempting to abandon him. Yes, I'm sure all of these things contributed, but the main point is that at no point does he blame himself. He never once takes accountability for his actions and no one ever makes him. Elijah and Rebekah attempt to several times, and lord knows Cami tried, but they are seen as unsympathetic in those moments through Klaus' eyes.

Thanks for the ask! I answered this one so quickly because I don't think I've talked about this individually and it is so fascinating to me. Let me know if you agree or disagree <3

[stepmarchen]

Ludovika vs Shuri, a facial comparison breakdown

While it's obvious that Ludovika and Shuri have their similarities, as pointed out by various members of the ASM cast, let's break down some of their differences, shall we?

But before we do, let's address a few things!

ORKA takes design seriously! We can't just chalk up slight differences to "one-off mistakes." As you can see below, she did a study on her OWN designs, micro detailing down to the curve of each character's eyebrows. But to be fair, we will only be using art from recent chapters, as ORKA's style has evolved since the early chapters.

Another reason why we will be only using recent chapters is to avoid differences that may be as a result of Shuri being several years younger than Ludovika. I will also try my best to take this into account as we go.

First things first, let's get the obvious differences out of the way. Ludovika has a lavender hair, parted down the middle and golden eyes. Meanwhile. Shuri has light pink hair parted to the side with green eyes. So you might be thinking, if not for the color differences, they would look exactly the same!

But that's not the case! In some instances, seen from Max or Johannes' POV, Ludovika and Shuri almost seem 1:1. However! We must take into account that given their history with her, they are unreliable narrators, and may show a warped perspective on their memories of both girls.

So why don't we remove all the color! Here we have Ludovika on the left and Shuri on the right down below.

Since we don't have a 1:1 shot, here's the two in similar lighting situations with similar expressions and another with a similar angle.

Here are all the points of differences I noticed below!

Ludovika's long arched brows vs Shuri's downward sloping brows with no arch

Ludovika's long, straight, and slightly wider nose vs Shuri's small pointed, upturned nose

Ludovika's narrow and long face with a distinctly V shaped chin vs Shuri's fuller cheeks and shorter face

Ludovika's full lips, distinctly her full bottom lip but also the way the middle of her upper lips under her philtrum has more volume, often highlighted with a tint on pink (that may be makeup) vs Shuri's thinner, almost pointed lips (almost in an elfy way)

Ludovika's narrower eyes that sit higher on her face as a result of her brow to tip of nose ratio being greater than the top and bottom thirds of her face vs Shuri's larger eyes and 1:1:1 proportioned face (though this may change with age)

It's so fascinating how ORKA illustrates the two to look so similar, yet different. Noticing these small details really shines in on the fact that the two are TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PEOPLE.

We've seen so many members of the cast chasing old ghosts that we're forced to compare and contrast Ludovika and Shuri. In reality, it seems like there are more differences than we initially thought, right?

[barnesafterglow]

night shift

summary: your growing fame becomes too much for bucky

pairing: actor!bucky barnes x singer!reader

word count: 2k

warnings: fame au, dual pov, unreliable narrators, idk how the grammys work (clearly), angst angst angst, steve is a good friend, bucky is Going Thru It, if you think this is joe + taylor coded you're prob right, directly inspired by night shift by lucy dacus

a/n: yearly fic, dedicated to new lovers

masterlist - i no longer have a tag list but you can follow @theafterglowlibrary to get updates! 🤍

You shoved him off of you, heart racing, breaths coming fast. You had said Bucky’s name, had whispered it in your most intimate moment, and now you needed to leave.

You said nothing else, gathering up your clothes and pulling them on as quickly as you could.

“Wha-”

The door slammed behind you, cold winter winds whipping around you as you realized you’d left your jacket on the hook by the door. It was your favorite, but one you were okay sacrificing as long as you didn’t have to face your embarrassment anymore.

Huffing a breath you could see in front of your face, you called an Uber - at least you had remembered your phone - and paced anxiously a block away from his building, hoping and praying he wouldn’t follow you out.

The entire ride home your mind spiraled until you turned off your phone, terrified this would make headlines already and, let’s be honest, no one would be surprised if it did. You hated that was the life you lived. As if your breakup with Bucky hadn’t already been tabloid fodder for weeks now, the public speculating every detail and warping every comment and photo posted. You had taken to keeping off social media altogether in the time since, trying to disguise your outings as much as possible and take back alleys to recordings and friends’ houses.

Your biggest supporter through all of this, surprisingly, had been Steve - Bucky’s best friend. He hadn’t been your friend first, sure, but he had become like a brother to you nonetheless, and he knew the situation better than anyone. You knew he still talked to Bucky just the same and, while that stung a little, you couldn’t fault him for being there for his childhood best friend too.

Which is how you ended up outside his apartment the very next morning, clad in your typical-as-of-late attire of a hoodie and a hat and sunglasses. It was also how you came face to face with Bucky for the first time since that fateful night.

“I didn’t come to sit here and watch you stare at your feet, James.” You stood from his couch, starting to seethe with pent up anger from your gradually failing relationship, all to end up here. What did he want? To absolve his guilt and shake hands and everything would be fine?

No. You had been the victim of his petty remarks and anxious jealousy for so long. You wouldn’t let him think he deserved your time when he didn’t respect the person you had become. 

Your anger flashed back to the week before, the last time you had been seen out in public together as he was breaking up with you at your favorite coffee shop, where he had paid for your drink and you gave him a hesitant kiss, even though you knew it was inevitably coming. He had led you to a table in the corner and proceeded to tell you that he was sorry but he couldn’t do this anymore, it was too much for him - you were too much for him. Okay. That’s all you said was “okay” before you pushed out of the chair and walked around the city until the sun went down.

By the time you got home that night, the headlines were already speculating your breakup, though neither of you had yet to shed a single tear.

-

Bucky blinked as you shuffled on Steve’s doorstep, eyes wide and contemplating the quickest escape. He didn’t blame you.

He had admittedly not handled your breakup the best; in fact, he regretted it almost immediately at the stricken look on your face, clearly not expecting it. He didn’t blame you for that, either, seeing as it had slipped out in a moment of panic.

You had gained a lot of fame over the course of your relationship, even more than him, and he didn’t quite know how to cope with it. And so the words had poured out, unable to be taken back, and here you were, weeks later, still at odds.

He thought every night of how to make it up to you. Public displays weren’t your thing and you had blocked his number the night of your big fight, so that was out of the question, and he didn’t fancy showing up to your house only to have the door slammed in his face either.

But now, now maybe that you were here on the most neutral ground you could stand on, maybe he could keep his foot out of his mouth and apologize. Words stirred in his hindsight, unable to string together a coherent sentence as your face morphed through the stages of grief in record time. Then, just as he was about to speak, Steve placed a hand on his shoulder and gently guided him back into the house. Relief flooded your face as you drifted out of his sight, and he realized this probably wasn’t going to be as easy to take back as he thought.

“Buck,” Steve said as the two of them turned around the corner. “You need to leave.”

Bucky felt his face do something awful, a mixture of confusion and guilt, but he decided to keep his mouth shut. He simply nodded and kept his head down as he shrugged on his jacket and passed by you in the doorway.

He could hear the soft sound of your sobs as the front door clicked shut.

-

Songwriting could be as easy as breathing and as hard as climbing a mountain. Right now, the words flooded out of you like a tap of water.

And so did the tears, staining your notebook paper and smearing ink, but still in your heart you knew you would never forget these lyrics - these words that so painstakingly came from your soul and laid it bare.

As you finished the last verse, you took a deep breath, sucked up the tears, and called Natasha. 

-

“Steve, I need to talk to her,” Bucky whined over a beer in a rundown bar in Brooklyn.

“No, you don’t.”

“I can fix it, I know I can.”

“I don’t think you can, Buck.” Steve ran a hand through his hair, a deep sigh leaving his lips. “She’s trying to move on. Don’t ruin that for her.”

“But-”

“No.”

Bucky mimicked Steve’s sigh and leaned back in his chair. It had been increasingly hard to justify his decision to end things with you. He didn’t know what he was thinking and he regretted every moment of it since then. 

“Do you think she misses me?” Bucky looked so hopeful, but he could see the sorrow in Steve’s eyes.

“I don’t know.”

-

The Grammys, the fucking Grammys, and you were performing. You were nominated for a couple, and the Academy had asked you to sing - preferably a new song - in honor of that.

Natasha wrapped you in a hug, twirled you around, and announced you were going out to celebrate. You hesitantly said yes, knowing the press would be everywhere and there was always the possibility of seeing Bucky.

But fuck him. This was your moment.

Which is how you ended up at your favorite dive bar in Brooklyn. Your first mistake.

It was your favorite because Bucky had taken you there so many times. But you couldn’t think of another place you would celebrate than the place where so much inspiration and so many lyrics had come from.

You didn’t scan the room as you walked in with your hand clutching Nat’s, the rest of your small circle of friends following close behind. Your second mistake.

Walking straight to the bar, you didn’t notice Bucky in the far corner, watching your every move. It wasn’t until you were a few drinks in, feeling the celebration kick in, that you spotted him.

At first, you intended to ignore him. This was your time, your night, your moment. He didn’t get the spoil that.

That is, until you went to the bathroom and he trailed you into the dimly lit hallway.

“Baby,” he whispered, his voice a harsh rasp of beer and no sleep. “I’ve missed you.”

Your heart stopped beating in your chest.

You weren’t prepared to see him tonight, not that you ever were these days. But tonight of all nights, the one that should have been carefree and fun and a glittery memory for years to come, was smeared with anger and heartbreak as you spun to face him.

“What the fuck,” you snapped as his fingers grazed your bare arm. Immediately you felt bad, seeing the hurt on his face, and your expression softened. “Sorry.”

“I-it’s okay.” The catch in his voice broke your heart, your own watery eyes matching his. For just a moment.

It took you too long to come to your senses - this was the man who had shattered your heart without a second thought - but he was already so close to you. His body only inches from your own, his hot breath fanning your face, and goddamnit you missed him. You missed him so much that your heart broke all over again.

Your mind cycled through a thousand different thoughts all at once: get away, come closer, touch me, keep your hands off. You couldn’t decide what you wanted in the moment.

You were so, so angry, and yet you couldn’t stop yourself from reaching out to him. His hands settled on your waist as the lights overhead flickered. Your hand pressed gently to his cheek, completely of its own volition. Suddenly, you were tracing the planes of the face you had once known so well. He looked older now, like your time apart had aged him, yet his was still as handsome as the day you had first laid eyes on him.

His eyes locked with yours, and neither of you said a word - not him to ask, not you to stop him - as he leaned in to kiss you.

-

It should have felt like a victory - it did feel like a victory - but there was something else there. Something dark and twisted and Bucky couldn’t figure out if it was coming from you or him.

The kiss could have lasted moments or a lifetime, he didn’t really know. All he knew was one second you were holding him close to you and the next you were shoving him off.

“Fuck fuck fuck,” your voice came out in a whisper, like you didn’t want to draw attention from the steadily growing crowd of the bar. He supposed you didn’t.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” You nodded at his words, your fingers pressed to your lips like you could still feel him there. “I’ll just go.”

You nodded again, your eyes vacant, and he made his way back to the main room of the bar. He looked back in time to see you slump against the wall, and he knew that you were thinking of a way to erase any trace of him on you.

-

The stage lights came on, you strummed your guitar and started to sing.

The first time I tasted somebody else’s spit, I had a coughing fit.

You let the lyrics you poured your heart into spill out across the stage. Still, somehow - in the crowd of hundreds of faces - you spotted Bucky.

This time, it didn’t make your heart clench. Didn’t make you shed a tear or run away.

No. This time, it empowered you. Let him hear the lyrics he inspired. Let him feel that pain of your words and feel the hole in your heart where he had broken it. Where you were now healing.

-

Bucky watched as you sang, and you were mesmerizing. He could feel the echoes of hurt in your words, the hole in your heart he had put there. He knew, despite the last time he saw you, that there was no making up. There was no fixing what was well beyond broken. No chance for him.

In five years I hope the songs feel like covers,

Dedicated to new lovers.

[voidspiraling]

Im talking abt the newest IvanTill merch

I realized I am tooo impatient to wait for a better picture lol

I’ve also decided to talk abt the MiziSua merch and HyunaLuka merch as well just for comparison. I think these were in a pop up store in I thinkkkk Shanghai??? I just saw them in twitter.

Let’s start with the girlies!!!!

Here we see the message LoveHate with Rest in Peace at the bottom in a heart. The heart itself reminds me of a tombstone. Mizi and Sua are in their Round 1 outfits with Sua wearing small angel wings likely because she is dead.

I want to draw attention to their poses, Mizi is curled up in a ball with her hair in front of her face. She also has mascara running down her eyes due to her crying. Sua is standing and bending down to look at her, we can’t see her face.

To me Mizi looks like a little kid peeking up at Sua. While Sua looks almost playful leaning down to look at her. I think this shows the power balance between Mizi and Sua. Mizi feels small and helpless without her, meanwhile Sua feels more carefree now that she’s “free” in a sense from living. She’s happy that her plan worked out and is seemingly content with the outcome of Round 1. Mizi sees Sua as her god and I think this artwork shows the consequence of that. Worshipping someone as a god is in my opinion not very healthy and will end in sadness. And we can see that as Mizi is curled up into herself, because her sole source of warmth is gone. She has no one to cling to because she focused her entire life to Sua and no one else. She’s friendly and has friends, but she’s never opened up in a meaningful way with anyone but Sua, she essentially put all her eggs in one basket. And now that Sua is gone Mizi is totally alone. However I think that because we can see Mizi’s eyes it represents Mizi picking herself back up. She’s curled up and self soothing herself but she seems contemplative.

The love and hate here is interesting bc I wasn’t sure if they could ever really hate each other. Did Sua hate that Mizi was so ignorant? But kept her that way bc it was her only salvation? Did Mizi hate Sua for lying to her? But also loved it bc she realized it also protected her? It’s very interesting to me. MiziSua is actually the pairing I understood the least bc I felt like most of the interaction I saw of them were through Mizi’s idealistic POV.

Next let’s talk abt the hyuna and Luka picture.

Here we see Luka on his knees clinging to Hyuna’s leg with his eyes closed. He has a flushed face and appears to be happy. Hyuna is standing with her back towards us, she’s holding a gun in her right hand and Luka’s hair in her left hand. Holding something with your left is seen as holding something that’s less significant than what’s in your right hand according to the Bible. The left has also been used to symbolize negativity and misunderstandings. This is all just speculation however.

What I think is important is that it looks like Luka is clinging to a false hope. He’s literally clinging to her cold metal leg, not even Hyuna herself. Meanwhile Hyuna looks like she’s ready to leave and doesn’t even face Luka except to push his hair out of his eyes. I think this is her way of saying “I’m not going to be with you anymore you have to stand on your own.” With Luka closing his eyes trying to deny his reality. I think Luka is a hypocrite and an unreliable narrator but I’ll find the brain power to talk abt it another time. This seems to be another god worship relationship. Just like the MiziSua picture Luka is worshipping Hyuna as his god. Luka and Mizi are actually pretty similar they’re both almost child like around the one they love.

Mizi in all-in seems more adult like and Luka during the rounds was antagonistic and menacing. But around their “god” they act childishly and hopelessly in love. I think they’re meant to reflect one another and it shows in how similar their relationships are.

This is my speculation but I think they both loved each other romantically but also hate each other viciously. Hyuna’s was already explained in her final moments comic where she states that this is her revenge dying in front of Luka. But I think Luka also holds some hate for Hyuna as well. I remember the artbook where he rates his relationship with her at 70%. To my knowledge this is supposed to be objective but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Luka being an unreliable narrator and putting her at 70% when it should actually be 100%.

The reason why I think Luka hates her is bc she “left” him. Luka has grown up in an extremely abusive environment where his only salvation was Hyuna. He loves her but also resents her for leaving him. Honestly after watching Weige I still don’t understand this manchild. But him clinging to her metal leg makes me wonder if he ever really liked Hyuna at all. Did he fall in love with her bc she’s Hyuna or is it bc she was just the first person that was nice to him? It’s hard to tell but it’s clear from this picture that they are on two completely different wave lengths.

Now to talk abt my favorite pairing IvanTill!!!!

There is a clear difference between this picture and the other two pictures. Mainly how intertwined IvanTill are. In the other pictures the deceased character is standing above the living one. But here Ivan and Till clutching at each other. Till is holding onto Ivan’s pants meanwhile Ivan is literally pulling at Till’s shirt. Almost like he’s trying to pull Till even closer to him. Another interesting point is that they’re both kneeling (no Ivan isn’t sitting in Till’s lap) I take this to mean that they both bring the other to their knees. They’re each other’s weakness. Neither Ivan nor Till puts the other on a pedestal.

IvanTill has always stood out to me because of how conflict driven they are but also how they’re the only pairing on equal footing. Mizi was sheltered by Sua, and Luka worships Hyuna. This is to both of their detriment bc Mizi believes a false narrative and ends up walking towards her own doom. And Luka doesn’t even flinch when a gun is at his head bc Hyuna is in front of him. The consequence is then that their one and only dies in front of them and now they have navigate reality without them.

With Ivan and Till it’s different. Ivan loved Till even at his lowest and Till loved Ivan even at his lowest. Till saw Ivan before he went through “image” training and he accepted Ivan for his true self. Even though he complains abt Ivan it’s clear from his actions, the fact that he was willing to let Ivan kill him, that he cares a lot for him. And for Ivan he saw past Till’s anger exterior and saw a sensitive boy who’s passionate.

He cares a lot abt Till and his passions. Both Till and Ivan have something that is unique abt them, and it’s that uniqueness that the other falls in love with. I’m basing this off the free content but I’m sure the paid content goes more into depth for each pairing. But from what I’ve seen so far IvanTill is the easiest for me to understand. Till likes it when Ivan is weird, he doesn’t bat an eye when Ivan touches him or invades his personal space.

This is from another Merch thing the blind box figures. But on Till’s post it says “Drink me up with the eyes you look at me.” And idk abt u but that sounds like Till giving Ivan permission to stare at him. And Ivan likes Till despite him being incomprehensible. Even though Till ran back to captivity, basically throwing away his chance at freedom, Ivan still loves him. Enough to want to protect him even if only for a little longer.

Now let’s talk abt the hate aspect bc oh boy do they hate each other. From Till consciously blocking Ivan from memory and Ivan being insensitive to Till. From the audiences perspective it’s clear as day to see the love they have for each other (if you have obsessive eyes like mine) but imagine the guy you like pretending you don’t even exist. To the point that even if you act mean to him he won’t react to you. Now imagine what it’s like for the guy you like to constantly pick fights with you while he acts so polite to everyone else.

They’re special to each other but bc of their hate they act immaturely. This is what drives the misunderstanding.

But even so they both can’t help but cling to one another.

Looking at each other face to face for probably the first time in a while. And even tho Till is in color to represent that he’s “alive” he looks so monochromatic he looks “dead” like Ivan. Is Till alive who knows? But in this picture he looks like he’s being enveloped by Ivan symbolizing that he’ll meet Ivan’s fate.

Another thing I wanted to point out is that Sua and Hyuna were planning on dying for their other half. But in Ivan’s final moments he said he doesn’t understand why he did what he did. Of the three of them, Ivan wanted to be alive with Till and him sacrificing himself was a last resort. Even in death he tries to get closer to Till. The hand pulling at Till’s shirt looks aggressive and desperate. But the hand around Till’s waist and Ivan’s head resting against Till’s looks so soft and loving. Like Luka Ivan didn’t know how to love properly, but unlike Luka Ivan knew that Till wasn’t a god or his savior. He knew that if he stayed with Till he’d be miserable, he’s literally his Black Sorrow. But even so he still stays with Till bc of his love for him. Bc Till is only human and Ivan was the only person who could comfort him.

Till may fantasize that it’s Mizi who protects him, but the reality is that Ivan has been the one protecting him. Likewise Ivan may think he means nothing to Till, but Till has always cared abt Ivan to the point where his death led to Till’s loss in round 7.

Another thing I wanted to point out is just how physical IvanTill are. They have the Kiss Scene✨ the comic where Ivan has +19 thoughts while standing behind Till, their fights and Ivan putting his hands around Till’s waist and chest whenever he can. In this artwork too, they’re literally glued together. I don’t mean to say physical intimacy is the ultimate proof of love, or that it makes IvanTill better bc they are more physical with each other. But I do think that this physical closeness, this attraction is very romantic, and shows how deeply they care for one another in a way the other pairings don’t show.

Again Mizi literally monologues abt how Sua is her god. Luka has Hyuna’s wanted posters up like she’s his idol instead of his childhood friend. (I thought it was funny that during the IvanTill clematis the monologue was more comedic. Almost like they’re both aware how silly it is to treat a human as a god.)

Till doesn’t like Ivan bc he’s a good student with a nice smile or bc he’s a good singer. And Ivan doesn’t like Till because he’s his savior or god. Ivan is awkward and two faced when it comes to other people. Till is reckless and self-destructive. They are into each other not bc of what the other person does for them. Till doesn’t validate Ivan and Ivan doesn’t validate Till. But still they are drawn to each other because it’s the messiness of the other person that they like.

It has to be love to think that Till, despite his stupidity and one track mind is a precious person. It has to be love to think that Ivan, despite his bluntness and weirdness is like family. It has to be love to be so happy just quietly spending time together.

Again not trying to say the other ships aren’t good or real just bc I don’t understand them. They’re interesting as well and I liked the exploration of each parings relationship in the series. I just thought it was interesting how different IvanTill is compared to the other characters. I think that’s bc of how conflict driven they are, I feel like that’s where u see a characters true motivations and thoughts.

Anyways Love and Hate suits IvanTill the best methinks, and I really like this art of them. Till angry and looking for answers and Ivan looking somber that he can’t provide any. They’re embracing and stealing each other’s warmth despite the awful situation. And their heads against each other is too wholesome!!! Imagine if they actually communicated when they were alive they would’ve been married with 5 kids already lol

[daisukitoo]

I am 15% of the way through Harrow the Ninth. There are no plot spoilers below.

"Second person, past tense" is a really weird choice for a novel's narration, and I will be disappointed if this does not pay off mightily.

Most pieces I see in second person POV are short stories. The goal is to establish intimacy and immediacy, and they are most commonly in the present tense. The notion is that the action is happening to you, right now, and you are finding out about it as you the reader go through the story. Occasionally you see such a story in the future tense, suggesting someone is prophesying to you.

Second person, past tense is someone telling you your own history. This is kind of weird. One assumes a Memento story with an amnesia premise, or similarly Merlin living backwards in time. The second person here raises the question of who is telling you the story. The past tense raise the question of why you need someone to tell you your own story.

That our protagonist is explicitly and demonstrably insane gives us a lot of "why," although the particular "why" depends on the "who." The most obvious "who" is that Harrow is telling herself her own story. We have already seen Harrow telling herself her own story within this story, so adding another layer of recursion seems obvious and later adding multiple seems fun.

But here we reach a fork that we cannot resolve this early in the book. Is Harrow in a moment of lucidity telling herself what she should already know? Is Harrow in a moment of insanity hallucinating a new history? Is Harrow just lying to herself because the ending of Gideon the Ninth was too painful?

Harrow the Ninth is sometimes described as gaslighting the reader about Gideon the Ninth. Someone is not telling the truth about something here. One character seems to have noticed, but it is hard to be sure when our narrator is unreliable and may be hallucinating and/or lying.

Gideon was a somewhat unreliable narrator not in the sense that she lied (except perhaps about her emotions, except perhaps mostly to herself) but in that she was not paying attention, like the meme post in circulation about a movie showing the start of World War I from the perspective of a pet pigeon. You can probably identify all the important plot points of Gideon the Ninth by how boring Gideon finds them.

Harrow is more classically unreliable. She has a skewed perspective, and within that perspective she hallucinates, and on top of those hallucinations she will deceive herself and others. This early in the book, we already have many examples of Harrow seeing things that aren't there. She tends to realize within a page or two that she is hallucinating. The big news at some point should be that those little hallucinations were within the context of a larger hallucination and/or lie.

And now I need to go finish the book so I can check my Tumblr notifications without worrying about spoilers in the notes.

[ilikepjo24]

On Octavian and his powers...

This is your daily reminder that just because Hazel made Octavian out to be a con-man doesn't mean that he's actually faking. If the transition from PJO to HoO should have taught us something is that first person narrating is subjective and therefore unreliable.

Leo looks goofy and happy from everyone else's pov, but insecure and sad from his own. Percy looks dominative and dangerous from other people's pov, but sassy and unserious from his own and Annabeth's. Clarisse and Nico were heavily disliked and seen as mindlessly violent and annoying from Percy's pov during PJO, but were much more likable when described from the pov of a character that was their friend.

With this method, Rick has shown us time and time again that first person pov is unreliable and the feelings a character had for another will affect the way they think of them. Hazel heavily dislikes Octavian because he basically admitted to knowing her secret and was blackmailing her with it, so obviously Hazel wouldn't want to acknowledge it if Octavian had very real, objectively useful capabilities. That doesn't mean the augur is faking his auguries.

Finally, a con-man wouldn't be able to know such a well kept secret (being brought back from the dead) when most others don't know or view it as a rumor. A con-man wouldn't be able to change the weather just above his temple only for no other reason but dramatic effect. And a con-man wouldn't be able to fool Reyna and her greyhounds that can literally tell when someone's lying and are trained to attack liars.

Octavian can foresee the future with his auguries. He's not faking. He would have been caught by now if he was, because Reyna wouldn't just give such power away to people without first checking that they are actually meant to have it. There's no way she didn't make Octavian declare his abilities as an augur infront of her dogs to be sure he's not lying, so how about we stop with the unreasonable hatred towards the very real augur?

[homicidal-sheep]

I will defend Eurylochus to my dying breath because what the fuck yall, he is not the malicious monster people are making him out to be?? Like these characters are so morally grey its not even funny.

I love Ody with all my heart but the man did fuck up. He is human, and a plaything of the Gods, which is a very dangerous position to be in at the best of times.

I've seen people saying Eury has no moral high ground on the Scylla thing because he wanted to leave all the men at Circe's. Now firstly, I highly doubt a simple scouting mission would include all the men (see Cyclops saga, when only a fraction went). So they would be running to save what men remained, not ditching the entire army. Secondly, what exactly did you want them to do when facing Circe? They didn't know Hermes was there. All they knew was there was a magic lady who could turn people into pigs. So what, were they gonna ask really really nicely? Somehow I highly doubt that would work. Without the Gods intervention, I just don't see them winning. Eury was cutting their losses because from his POV, there was quite literally nothing they could do for the men. Best case scenario they snuck the men/pigs out and, idk, kept them as pets??

As for the wind bag, yeah it was a really dumb decision. But Ody is the one who decided not to trust his men, especially Eury. Ody has already given up on the crew, and they likely feel that distrust. Why should they put their blind faith in a man who refuses to clue them in? Why should they believe that he has whats best for them in their hearts? Ody's own guilt caused him to embrace an ideology that got a bunch of them killed. (remember when he said the only one who's lines he hasn't crossed were his own?) And we can see some of this growing resentment in Perimedes cut song. We as viewers have context the men simply do not.

Sidenote, people say Eury would have gotten them lotus'd. Yeah maybe. or maybe Ody would have recognized the fruit before they ate it, like he did with Polites. We cannot know.

The other point I keep seeing, that I find absolutely baffling is "well they deserved to die for mutinying, they should have listened to their king and captain" I'm sorry when did we all become monarchists. Kings and captains can absolutely make bad decisions? We should not blindly trust authority?? Yeah Eury kept questioning the captain. He was second in command and the voice of the crew, not only is he voicing their discontent, I'd argue that a good king should have someone who is willing to disagree with them. While Ody is right, that in the middle of a dire situation isn't great, and it would have been better to address those issues in private, they are very legitimate worries. If your captain has admitted he would burn the world to see his son and wife, I think being a little worried is absolutely fair.

The Gods keep appearing and helping Ody but they are also incredibly dangerous beings who constantly play with the lives of mortals.

On to the cow thing. Ya it was fucking dumb. But I can understand why. The man is fucking tired. They don't see a way out and at that point, starving to death slowly, so desperately afraid, probably sounded like a terrifying fate. Better to get it over with.

And he still cares! Ody is his literal brother in law. They bandaged his wounds when they could have idk, sacrificed him to Posideon or something. What Ody did to them was 100% betrayal and I understand why they mutinied, with what information they had. For petes sake he kept singing "I need to get home", I, not we.

Again, I love Ody, but good lord, the man is the definition of an unreliable narrator. Let them all be complicated, tragic characters without labeling them as cookie cutter good guys and bad guys.