#He does not commit Mal Practice

[silverior968]

Comic based on an incredible conversation I had with my dad yesterday

[Image ID: A traditional pencil comic. The first panel has the artist, a teenager with glasses, short, shaggy hair and a hawaii shirt excitedly explaining something with their hands moving. The speech bubble has the text "...and it's gonna be so funny, because my friend is Princess Zelda! So it's like "Princess Zelda and her new bestie - a car!"" The text next to them says "talking about cosplay". The next panel has the artist's dad, a bald man with stubble and a T-shirt, nodding with a speech bubble that says "a car made of flesh". The next panel has the artist grimacing, their hair fluffed up like a cat. The fourth panel is of the artist looking horrified, arms crossed with a speech bubble that reads "DON'T SAY THAT" with emphasis on that. The fifth panel has the dad with the speech bubble "well if he's a human version of a transformer he has to transform!" The sixth panel has the artist looking thoughtful, with the text "hmmmm" next to them. The seventh panel has them shrugging with a speech bubble that reads "Drag Queen?". The 8th panel has the dad smiling, with his eyes closed and arms crossed. His speech bubble reads "His drag name shall be IRON MAIDEN". The 9th panel has the artist saying "I was thinking more oldschool" and the dad's speech bubble, reading "like Miss Daisy?". In the 10th panel the artist has a speech bubble that says "or Dorothy" and the text "he seems like a Wizard of Oz fan" next to a small drawing of Dorothy and Toto. The next panel has the artist looking enlightened, with the speech bubble "Oh I know, medical puns!". The 12th panel has the dad looking thoughtful, with his eyes squinted and a speech bubble reading "Sara Bellum?" The 13th panel has the artist doing jazz hands, smiling, with their speech bubble reading "Mal Practice". The 14th panel has the dad saying "Mel Practice". The 15th panel has the artist looking shocked with a lightbulb next to them. The text above them reads "ENLIGHTENMENT". In the 16th panel the artist is leaning their head on their hands, smiling in a way that makes it seem like they're making an evil plan. The speech bubble reads "VIVI SECTION". The next panel has them with stars in their eyes and jazz hands, exclaiming "DIANNE GNOSIS". The 18th panel has the artist with one finger raised and a speech bubble that says "You know what my drag name would be? SIR JERRY*" and small text next to them reading "*I've had about 12 surgeries". The second to last panel has the artist saying "Oh, Mister Echtomy would also be good". The last panel has them with their head in their hands, with a speech bubble that reads "But would I be a drag king? Or a drag queen?". / End ID]

[gr4yk]

Colonel Flagg, boy do I have a lot to say about you. A man who's so committed to the military and hanging onto that G.I. image for dear life to the point of literal self-harm. A man whose idea of masculinity is claiming you've trained yourself not to smile. A man who, for all intents and purposes, has been consumed by a system that doesn't give a fuck about him.

The reason that I liken him to Frank Burns a lot is that he's just as much of a propaganda-driven man as the former. The main difference in them lies in the fact that while Frank fails at conventional masculinity and lacks the charisma to actually have a G.I. temperament, Flagg is masculine and charismatic. He's a hunk. Which, I would go so far as to argue makes him an even worse case of a man desperate for purpose. When the war's over, Frank's going to be back to his (mal)practice and to the misery of whatever awaits him in civilian life. It's the shittiest sorry-excuse-for-a-life but it's still a Non-Military Thing He Has. Fake and miserable as it is.

But Flagg? Flagg's CIA. He's part of the damn system. He's deep into it. He, in achieving what Frank couldn't, dug a deeper hole of self-repression and denial for himself. He's barely a person anymore. He talks like a cartoon character hopped up on steroids and squints his eyes like an action movie star trying too hard.

In The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan he shows up and does fucking nothing. Yet somehow maintains this illusion of self-importance. He's silly as damn fucking hell, calling himself the wind and jumping out the damn window only to break his leg. But he genuinely doesn't realize it. And, again, unlike Frank, his self-assurance stops him from even registering it when other people point it out. Hawkeye makes fun of him and he's prissy about it but he doesn't look or feel bullied. Without, at the very least, registering the repulsion others seem to have for you ( which though sometimes evades Frank, is actually intrinsic to his character. He knows they don't like him. ), then how are you meant to improve? How are you meant to escape that trap you've shoved yourself into?

And can we take a moment to talk about his self-harm? Even if subconscious, there must be some part of him that is desperate to escape the life he's paved for himself. A reflection of the horrors he, too, sees both during the war and as a result of CIA conduct. Hurting himself for the sake of the army, the CIA and America™ might be the only way to feel worthwhile and alive at the same time. Just getting hurt, in his eyes, is losing. Doing a "mission" without sustaining any injuries? Why, that's just not noteworthy enough for him to get any attention from big strong Uncle Sam. But getting hurt on a mission? Now that's impressive. Now that's his purpose. Now that's what he should live for and, if all else fails, die for. What wonderful mixture of narcissism AND self-hatred must you have in you, Samuel, to feel that way.

I know this post is all over the place but the point of it is to say that in spite of being a complete and total beefcake, Colonel Samuel Flagg might be M*A*S*H's most pathetic character. Or at least the one who's deepest in his own shit. Unlike Frank, whose development demands an internal trigger to work, Flagg's might just be in dire need of an external one first, because internally he's been programmed to crumble.

[catapparently]

Malina and or Kanej HCs pleaseeeeee

My boos I miss them all ty <333

Kanej Headcanons

I'll do Kanej because despite having read the books, I'm honestly not really familiar with Mal's character and therefore not likely to write something accurate.

Also sorry not sorry this is half angst because it's Kanej

First of all, they both think the other deserves someone better/more suited to them;

Inej knows that Kaz needs someone who'd be willing to be with him despite not being able to touch. He needs someone with patience and who wouldn't mind waiting forever for him.

On the other side, Kaz thinks Inej OVERALL deserves someone better than him, someone who would be able to hold her, comfort her, kiss her...

Despite that, if Inej ever gets approached romantically by another man, Kaz will beat him up later, threaten the dude's mother, then frame him for a murder Kaz committed and get him sent to Hellgate, far far away from Inej

Inej doesn't ever worry or get jealous over Kaz speaking to other girls because she knows he wouldn't be interested in a million years

Ok so we all remember when Inej said “I will have you without armor, Kaz Brekker. Or I will not have you at all.” and Kaz didn't budge, basically a silent painful rejection

Inej said that because she 99.99% knew that Kaz wouldn't instantly take off his "armor" for her

She WANTED him to "reject" her because her goal was to go hunt slavers, far far away from Kaz

Sure, they could send letters, but they could never be genuine in the letters lest someone intercepts them and finds out Kaz's weakness

As long as there wasn't an unspoken "rejection" between them, Inej wouldn't feel completely free to leave after the whole Ice court heist and all

Obviously she will still love him, but she needed a way to let go of that attachment enough to go and follow her dreams

Inej thinks about Kaz every single day since she left him

She's always reminded of him in every single thing she does or thinks;

"That's exactly what Kaz would say/do"

Inej goes to visit Kaz in Ketterdam whenever she passes by with her ship

Whenever she leaves again, Kaz sends her off with a pair of gloves or a coat of his

After the events in Rule of Wolves, when Zoya tasks Kaz with finding the heart of St. Feliks (I think that's the name?), Inej was the first person he asked for intel. Since she travels around so much she surely heard something

Of course, when he's going outside of Ketterdam for jobs or other stuff, Inej is the one who takes him on her ship. He wouldn't trust anyone else

Inej once said a few affectionate words in Suli to him and Kaz immediately searched through all of his contacts for someone to translate it for him

Inej once stole a wealthy slaver's fancy watch and brought it back to Kaz;

Not because Kaz needed yet another one but more as a symbol that she was still what Kaz made her.

When Kaz bought her the ship, he made the captain's room look like a better version of her room at the Slat so that she would always have a reminder of him and the Crows

Because her "magic slippers" got burnt while scaling the incinerator in SoC, Kaz got her a nice pair of more practical boots and commissioned yet another Fabrikator to modify the soles and make them excellent for climbing

Kaz made Wylan work on cannon blueprints until they were perfect and had them installed

He basically went all out with that ship

Inej got a little tattoo that said "the Crow" with "The Wraith" under it on her back despite her issue with branding

She didn't get it as a label, she got it as a reminder of who she was

"the Wraith" was everything the Menagerie's Suli lynx wasn't. For Inej, the tattoo was a symbol of her strength

Kaz didn't know

He found that out when one day, she came to visit him and was wearing a backless top;

He'd gotten (stolen) a necklace for her and she asked him to put it on for her;

At first Kaz was really hesitant but he *GASP* took off his gloves, and gently brushed her hair out of the way and that's when he saw the little tattoo

This man FROZE and didn't even realize his UNGLOVED index finger was tracing her bare skin along the lines of the tattoo

When he realized it he quickly stopped and hurriedly clasped the necklace around her neck

He still isn't over his touch aversion, but he's doing better. He still quickly stepped back though, putting some distance in between them

He noticed the faintest flush on Inej's cheeks and that's how he knew she still loved him, he felt relief in knowing so

These days, amongst Kaz's men, the Wraith is a myth. They don't know that Inej is gone, they think she's always there in the shadows, spying and reporting back to Kaz

Only the OGs know the truth

To Kaz, this was a way of forever having a piece of her within the gang

I hope these are to your liking!!! It's hard to write Kanej without angst

[archivestarlyht]

mal is an edgy old man and always dresses well. dark blue accented with gold is his favorite. you’ll never find him looking out of place unless after combat.

sol’rys actually does have some sense of fashion but he usually just dresses for practicality in more muted colors. vain and knows how to dress well but usually hasn’t unless he has an occasion or need to.

fox dresses well and has a nice, neat style. especially if an occasion calls for it he really commits to looking his best. favors dark colors with accents.

lex isn’t really vain, he’s pretty chill. mostly he just wears standard wizard robes, or something he knows he won’t mind if there’s a chance of getting singed. favors shades of dark or midnight blues.

vivi loves dressing nice and wearing shades of purple or black accented with purple or teal. seashell and sea themed accessories make her feel prettiest.

[ratsoh-writes]

*I'm clearly scheming about something even as I'm ranting along with Coffee about his sneak of an older brother*

We're gonna have to get even with him for this! ...I already have a couple ideas in mind.

But come on!! Getting Mal and Lord involved was just low, and for them to commit to the bit that hard?!? Tsk. I want to know what he did to convince them!

*It doesn't take us that long to get back, but the ranting allowed to cool off at least a little bit. (Though, I'm sure once we see Wine's smug face it'll come rushing back... eventually).*

And boy does it come back lol. You guys step out of *wines lol* the car and come face to face with wine and sans leaving the shop. They both look a bit drained but lighter somehow. The second wine lays eyes on you two, the most evil smug smirk grows on his face

Coffee: f*ck you!

Wine: YES YES, HOW DARE I TRICK YOU AFTER YOU FOLLOWED ME AROUND PRACTICALLY ALL WEEK. IM A TERRIBLE EVIL BROTHER:

Sans: uh hey kyra. Thanks for passing on the message

[bllsbailey]

Awesome Win: Fed Judge Bars Lib AZ SoS Adrian Fontes' Disastrous Election Rules, Compares Them to Nukes

In an awesome win for conservatives and election integrity in November's elections, a federal judge has barred liberal Arizona Democrat Secretary of State Adrian Fontes from putting into practice new rules he inserted into the state's official procedures on the state's canvassing process of election results. And the judge did, indeed, compare it to nukes. More on that in a minute.

Howard Fischer from Capitol Media Services has the scoop on Friday's ruling:

PHOENIX — Calling what Secretary of State Adrian Fontes proposed "utterly without precedent'' and comparing it to a nuclear weapon, a federal judge blocked him from refusing to include a county's vote in the statewide totals if local supervisors fail to certify the election's results. In the ruling late Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Liburdi acknowledged there was at least one attempt in the past by a board of supervisors to delay certification. That action threatened to hold up the formal canvass of all the votes throughout the state and to change the outcomes of some races. But Liburdi said the solution Fontes incorporated in Arizona's Elections Procedures Manual — allowing him to skip over uncertified votes simply to finalize the state results — would unfairly and illegally disenfranchise the voters who had cast their ballots.

The report continues:

Consider, Liburdi said, what would happen if supervisors balked in Maricopa County, the state's most populous, where 2.4 million people vote.  Under the rules Fontes, an elected Democrat, enacted in the manual, he would be permitted to certify the state results without including those votes — meaning the results would be determined by votes only from the other 14 counties.

Judge Liburdi wrote:

"If the right to vote is the right of qualified voters within a state to cast their ballots and have them counted, then the canvass provision imposes the most severe burden: state-sanctioned disenfranchisement. ... "A registered voter in Arizona may perfectly comply with all voting requirements and obligations but nonetheless have her vote excluded based on the mal- or nonfeasance of public officials."

The best part, though, was when Liburdi chastised Fontes for his office's lame excuse for needing the rule; Fontes claimed "the provision was meant largely to spur county supervisors to comply with the law and likely would never be enforced." The judge wasn't having it:

"A nuclear weapon does not become any less dangerous simply because a world leader avows never to unleash it. ... "The canvass provision imposes a nuclear-level burden on voting rights. "It is a weapon in the secretary's arsenal that he has discretion to use should the circumstances present themselves — a weapon that does not become any less threatening simply because the secretary is self-professedly 'committed' to not pulling the trigger.''

And while the judge's ruling does not remove the rule from the procedures, it bars him from leaning on it for 2024:

Strictly speaking, Liburdi's order does not void the provision of the manual. That would take a full-blown trial. But it does preclude Fontes from enforcing or relying on that provision this year.

Read related:

NEW: SCOTUS Allows Arizona Law Requiring Proof of Citizenship in Voter Registration to Take Effect

BREAKING: Ninth Circuit Delivers Decision on Citizenship and Voter Registration in Arizona

According to Ballotopedia, Judge Liburdi was appointed by former President Donald Trump in 2019/

There was a second provision that Liburdi blocked, which appears to be a progressive attempt to thwart election observers

The challengers in the lawsuit, two groups with ties to Republican interests, also convinced Liburdi to bar Fontes from enforcing another provision dealing with speech and actions permitted in and around voting locations. That language would have prohibited "any activity by a person with the intent or effect of threatening, harassing, intimidating, or coercing voters … inside or outside the 75-foot limit at a voting location.''

Liburdi found it was too broad, and likely to burden Arizonans' First Amendment rights, writing in the decision that "there's no problem in general with barring intentional threats, intimidation or coercion," but "[t]he issue, he said, turns on the fact the wording also covers actions that have the effect of doing so, regardless of the intent of the person":

He also noted that, as written, the manual governs actions beyond the 75-foot perimeter in which certain activities are forbidden by statute, such as campaigning or taking pictures. "Thus, speech that a listener finds too loud, too offensive or too insolent — potentially anywhere in Arizona — is prohibited,'' Liburdi wrote. "But it has long been established that speech may not be prohibited because it concerns subjects offending our sensibilities.'' And then there's the fact that the prohibition would be based solely on the reaction of the listener. "Plaintiffs do not have fair notice of what speech is prohibited,'' Liburdi wrote. The provision could be enforced by a poll worker who would have the ability to eject someone from a polling place, even before they cast their ballot, he said. "Moreover, the rule prohibits 'offensive' or 'insulting' speech without defining what categories of speech rise to the requisite level of offense or insult,'' he continued. "Without any limitation, election officials and poll workers have nearly unfettered discretion in categorizing and regulating a voter's speech.'' [emphasis added]

American Encore, "an Arizona-based group run by Sean Noble that bills itself as promoting free enterprise policies," and America First Policy Institute, filed the suit on behalf of an Arizona voter on July 8th "against Arizona’s Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D), Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) and Gover [sic] Katie Hobbs (D) in federal court, challenging two provisions of the state’s 2023 EPM. The case against Hobbs was later dropped."

It's one of several lawsuits striving to uphold election integrity in states across the country:

BREAKING: Pennsylvania Court Ruling a Massive Election Integrity Win on Mail-In Ballots

RNC Battles Election Fraud in Another State, Files Suit on NC Absentee Ballot Policy That Breaks Law

Fontes' office responded to the ruling in a statement:

Fontes press aide Aaron Thacker said the office "will do a deeper dive on the decision and determine what we will do next if we need to do anything at all.''

[thebluestbluewords]

I am in love with this art, it's so gorgeous! As an angst lover and a die hard believer that Jay falls hard and fast for his friends the second he has the beginnings of a crush, I am thinking SO hard about this concept.

I've read one variation on hanahaki that I absolutely loved and want to think about here, where instead of the disease happening because of unrequited feelings of love, it happens because the affected person won't acknowledge/say anything about their feelings. As much as I enjoy the angst potential of unrequited jaylos (and I do think this idea could still play out that way, just bear with me), I also really enjoy the variation where hanahaki disease doesn't require reciprocation or death. 

I'm thinking about Jay as the protector of the group. As the cool one, who's there for the others but doesn't have the first clue how to talk about his own feelings. Thinking back to the D2 "girl talk" scene, Jay is a great guy and a loyal friend, but he's not super....emotionally intelligent. It feels very true to how I'm reading his character for him to develop feelings, and then just never talk about them or mentally acknowledge them, because he doesn't have the time or brain space for feelings! He's busy! He's got swords to swing and classes to take and Chads to bother! 

And okay, maybe he's staying busy because he doesn't know how to deal with these feelings that keep popping up whenever he looks at Carlos and sees him happy, laughing, thriving now that they're off the isle, but whatever. He's a friend, and Jay has a lot of feelings about all of his friends. He's just a great friend kinda guy. 

(Jay does not have these feelings about all of his friends) 

And like, maybe his chest hurts a little more than it should, but that's fine. He's probably just tired. He'll sleep it off. 

(spoiler alert: he does not sleep it off) 

It's a surprise when the first flower petals start. Jay isn't expecting to start hacking out a lung after practice, and he really isn't expecting it when instead of a blob of gross chest mucus, he coughs up a handful of bright yellow flower petals. He's seen a lot of Weird Shit happen, but flowers coming out of his body isn't normal, and reeks of magic bullshittery, so he goes to the best magic person he knows, which is Mal. 

Mal is in the middle of a mental breakdown, because I'm imagining this set in a vague time slightly before the second movie, where she's always one bad day away from snapping and murdering everyone around her and then herself, but she's grateful for a magical distraction. A magical mystery to throw herself into is as good an excuse as any to get out of her ongoing obligations! 

Except...there's nothing about throwing up flowers in her mother's spellbook. 

There's nothing in the library either. There's a restricted collection of magical textbooks and histories in Fairy Godmother's office, but they don't have any way of breaking in there, and they're committed to the whole goodness thing now. No more breaking and entering, even if it is for research. They'll just order the books themselves, off the dark web! It's much more morally defensible to engage in the illegal magical objects trade than it is to break into a teacher's personal book collections. 

Unfortunately, the dark web isn't known for speedy shipping, and Jay's flower petals are starting to come up spotted with blood. He's pretty sure it's because they're tearing his throat on the way up, but the chest pain is a little scary, and he's sick and tired of waking up to the feeling of vines clogging his throat. (this is also where I would put a claustrophobia moment, if I was writing this for real and not just in bullet points). Jay's dad didn't exactly lock him in the closet as a kid, but Jay's been stuck in too many small, dark spaces  while hiding from villains who caught him stealing from them to be fond of the feeling. The flowers don't cut off his light, but they clog his throat, and when he moves too quickly he'd swear that he can feel them ripping free of his lungs. It feels like he's drowning on dry land, and if there's one thing Jay does have an irrational fear of, it's drowning. 

Nobody dies on the isle, but if you drown, the spell will bring you back over and over, and it'll hurt every single time. 

Jay's the protector of the group. The loyal friend who looks out for everybody. But he can't look out for them if he can't breathe, and online shippers don't respond well to Mal's threats of violence and dragonfire on everything they love, so with a full bloody flower in hand, they break into Fairy Godmother's office. 

It's a tense break-in, but they're careful and quiet (one bloody flower coughing fit notwithstanding) and the information they need is coincidentally in the first book they find. (Mal uses a searching spell to find the topic, but she's got her magic under control, and it's fine. It's not like Fairy Godmother would put magical shields on her office that are set to trigger a silent alarm if she senses magic being cast around her collections....no. She'd never do that). 

Hanahaki. It's a magical disease, Mal reads out, that affects those who are in unrequited love. It's characterized by flowers in the lungs, and can be easily resolved by.....oh, okay, maybe she can just cast a localized fire spell to burn the flowers out? A little weed killer shot? They could make Jay laugh in the middle to make sure he aspirates it into his lungs. She's just spitballing here. 

Jay is not amused by these suggestions. He would wrestle her for the book and read it himself, but he can't fucking breathe right now, and the next flower that comes up is whole, and there's more blood than petal visible. 

Okay, Mal says. Okay. You just need to confess your feelings to the person you're in love with, and the flowers will die on their own once you acknowledge that you're in love. 

Ah, says Jay. Yeah. Okay. I'll just die then. 

(and then Carlos and Evie run in because hey, Fairy Godmother is on her way back, and she's moving pretty fast, and does anyone else hear an alarm??) 

They can't run fast enough. Before they're even out the door, Fairy Godmother is there, and her phone is BLARING the magical alert sound, and she's not exactly pleased to see four students ransacking her personal magical reference library, but oh, dear, that's a lot of blood-- 

Jay maybe, possibly can't breathe. And like. The lecture they're getting is cool and all, but he's just gonna cough until he passes out, if that's cool with everyone? Great. Perfect. 

He wakes up in the school nurse's quarters, because they didn't know where else to drag him. The nurse can't do shit, and the others are literally begging him to confess, but Jay Cannot Talk About This, not in front of everyone, and....look, he'll deal with it in the morning. Just one night to sleep it off and gather himself, and then he'll do it. Just. Give him space. 

The girls leave. Carlos can't abandon his roommate to a night alone in the nurse's office, so he's reluctant, and this is it, this is the moment. 

Jay literally has to tell him. 

Or else he's going to die. 

(and maybe it's unrequited, but the confession is the important part, and before Carlos can give him an answer, Jay starts coughing again, and the next flowers that come up are still bloody, but they're not bright and fresh anymore, and the stabbing pain of the vines in his lungs are already fading, and that's it, the answer doesn't matter, because the flowers are dead now and all that's left to do is pass the remaining plant matter and they can both get on with their lives and never talk about it again)

(but they maybe do talk about it again) 

Because maybe they don’t love each other the same way, but they’re still friends, and Jay’s still in love, and they have to make sure the flowers don’t come back— because they can’t come back. There’s no way he’d get the same disease twice. They can just be friends, and Jay can be in love, and it’ll be fine.

They’ll be fine.

(if I want to get REALLY angsty with this, the magical hanahaki is progressive, and the first time it only requires a confession, but if it comes back it requires the feelings to be required, and oh, it’s going to come back.)

One sided Jaylos lives in my head rent free 

[king-of-fae]

7, 8, and 10 for everyone please?

7. Have they committed a crime before? Which one(s)?

Evie: The closest would be harboring a fugitive (the MC), but other than that none!

Ignis: So many... resisting arrest, obstruction of justice, etc. The most entertaining one was stealing a bottle of wine for Vex's birthday (because that's what friends are for)

Vex: Witchcraft, practicing alchemy w/o a license, distribution of alchemical goods, and harboring a fugitive (Ignis)

Azzy: None! He's registered at the Institute, but only under his real name

Mal: Harboring an unregistered mage (Viik)

Viik: Unregistered mage

8. If they were an animal, which one would they be? Which one would they think they’d be?

Evie: All I can imagine is one of those fluffy cats with those big ol' eyes. She'd like to be a grizzly bear.

Ignis: Also a cat. He has thought about this very seriously and will not take criticism.

Vex: I know it's cliche, but probably a raven. It's about the aesthetic. They also wouldn't mind being a snake.

Azzy: He'd like to be one of those colorful tropical birds. However, my brain immediately imagines a secretary bird. Long legs and long eyelashes.

Mal: I mean, she can already turn into a dragon (not an actual animal, but I'm sticking with it), and in her own opinion there's nothing that can top that.

Viik: Also a dragon. He can't shapeshift into a dragon, but he wishes he could...

10. What do they fantasize about?

Evie: She really wants to travel the world before she has to go back to her own home. She likes to plan little trips to places she wants to visit.

Ignis: He tries not to think about what-ifs, but he'd like to think that the things he does actually make some kind of difference.

Vex: They think about their Coven often and wish they could go see them in person. They'll never admit it, though.

Azzy: He doesn't actually enjoy travelling that much, so he wants to have a more permanent home again.

Mal: She loves to cook, so when she isn't thinking about work, she's coming up with recipes to try out.

Viik: He actually does want to go to the Institute to learn how to use his magic. He's always wanted to go into the medical field, the healing powers are an added bonus.

[mahvaladara]

All for the oc asks, you choose what oc's though :) Can even be hidden ones from future gens?

1. Is most and least likely to dance in the rain?

Syracusia.

2. Is most likely to fall in love at first sight?

Arlo and Syracusia and Libidel.

3. Has the most nightmares? What about?

Mal. Usually about his past, the things he been through and did, though the most common nightmare is the torture he suffered at the hands of Julian.

Also Chioro, usually he has nightmares about the sacrifices made in his name.

4. Is afraid of the most? What do they fear?

Maeve. She fears her husband and kid's powers and true identity.

5. Will burn water? Would impress Gordon Ramsay?

Arlo will burn water. Maeve and Isagel would impress Gordon Ramsay.

6. Is a huge nerd? What are they into?

Isagel is a huge nerd. 

7. Has practiced kissing their mirror?

Syracusia.

8. Is neurodivergent?

All of them. Mal is the most neurodiveregent though it’s hard to diagnose exactly what he has. Mal does suffer from PTSD though and his brain does not work like normal brains.

9. Is a stoner/would be if pot existed in their world?

Mal, if weed had any effect on him. He does love opium though.

10. Gets way into holidays? How do they celebrate?

Syracusia and Libidel. They go all out.

11. Cries in the shower? What about?

Arlo, about all that happened to him.

12. Goes on rants? What about?

Libidel, Mal and Arlo.

13. Keeps a diary? What do they write about?

Arlo, Mal and Isagel. Arlo writes about everything. Mal writes about things that are important and he wants to remember. Izzy likes to keep lists.

14. Can't handle affection? Gets flustered?

Isagel is bad with affection. They do not like to be touched at all.

15. Takes their shirt off as often as Jacob Black?

Rex.

16. Swears like a sailor? Favorite swears?

Mal.

17. Is a guy that's a babygirl?

Still what?

18. Has suffered way too much? What happened?

Mal. He’s my punching bag. He’s been tortured, killed, decapitated, sawed in half from the crotch up, shot, eletrocuted, drowned, burried alived, shot, raped, sodomized, kicked, beaten, tortured, shot. 

19. Has murdered the most? Kill count?

Mal. He has cannonically commited genocide. After a decade fighting against the Ainlienist Cult in Akloria, when the war came to a standstill and the Ainlienists and the Aklorians were going to write a peace treaty, Mal killed the Ainlienist High Priest and destroyed his City and his people. This is why he is called a monster. Basically he believes a ���peace treaty’ with the Ainlienists is as useful as the White-Gold Concordant between the Empire and the Thalmor, the Ainlienists being the thalmor of Astreia. This peace treaty would have given time for both people to heal and rebuild their armies, but Mal, who had grown enraged with everything, decided to cut the problem at the root and used all of his power to give the Ainlienists what they wanted, and that is “clean the sin of the world with fire”, starting by them.

20. Is basically a cat in a person's body?

Mal, Izzy.

21. Is basically a dog in a person's body?

Syracusia.

22. Watches cartoons as an adult?

Syra.

23. Is a shameless flirt?

Mal.

24. Feels the most regret? About what?

Mal. 

25. Has magical powers? What are they?

Nearly all of them.

26. Is the most dangerous?

Valadara, is litterally the personification of the Universe.

27. Doesn't get along with their family? Why?

Apollo.

28. Wears the most comfortable clothes? Who wears the least comfortable for the sake of fashion?

Syra wears the most comfortable. Mal will wear the most uncomfortable shit if he decides he wants to look “fashion!”.

29. Has tattoos? What are they?

Most of them do.

30. Loves kids and is good with them? Who is the opposite?

Syra, Arlo, and Libby love kids. Izzy is uncomfortable around children. Apollo does not care. Mal loves kids but will throw one out the window if they get on his nerves.

[maldito-arbol]

Let’s talk about zodiacs and TPN Part 1

This is largely inspired by the fact that I talk about the characters’ zodiacs nonstop in the fanfic I’m working on for my tpn witch au, and I’ve been chortling to myself the entire time about how well some of them fit their sign and how some of them just... don’t. I’m going to simply infodump about each character, their sign, element, and some attributes they fit to a t while others don’t make sense. I will also touch on compatibility for all you shippers out there, don’t worryyy. Now this isn’t at all a critique or review of the characters themselves— I know astrology is not the first thing authors consider when choosing character birthdays, if they even do at all, this is simply me rambling about my hyperfixation and projecting onto fictional characters like we all do.

A couple last notes— one character in particular (cough cough Ray) has a different “canon” birthdate from “actual” so I’ll discuss both. Also, while I will be doing surface level research to make sure I’m not talking out of my ass, im not a professional astrologist, I’m simply a witch with an enthusiasm for zodiacs. Well then, without further ado, let’s talk about the kiddos.

Emma

Birthdate: August 22nd

Sign: Leo

Element: Fire

An overview: The funniest thing to me about Emma is that she’s literally the epitome of a Leo. Fire signs are generally very outgoing and energetic—they talk a lot and tend to be the leaders of the packs. Leos in particular are incredibly admirable and truly know their way around a conversation. If I ever wanted to get stuck in an elevator for 48 hours with no wifi or connection to the outside world and only one random stranger to talk to for the entire duration, I would pick a Leo in a heartbeat. Emma is very much the leader-type, she’s someone everyone pauses and listens to when she calls for their attention, and she always prefers to talk her way out of conflict rather than fight—but not in an underhanded manipulative way, no, Leos are very genuine with their feelings and will be upfront about their reasons for their actions.

Take this scene between Emma and Leuvis for example— this to me is about the closest to perfect of a summary of what Leos are like, and how Emma fits her sign beautifully.

She doesn’t want to fight, but she will if she has to—for the good of her friends and the good of humanity. She can stick to her ideals and yet extend a hand to the enemy anyway. This is what makes Leos such a force to be reckoned with in leadership roles.

Compatibility and ships: I know I know, this is the part you’re most excited about. I’m going to attempt to refrain from sharing my opinion on each ship itself, I will simply point out which have the highest compatibility levels. First of all, essentially all signs are most compatible with 1. Other signs of the same element and 2. Their compliment sign, their elemental opposite.

Since Emma is a fire sign, she’s generally compatible with other fire signs (Sagittarius, Aries, and of course Leo) as well as Air signs (Aquarius, Gemini, and Libra). So speaking broadly, she’s compatible of course with Norman as an Aries, as well as Ray IF he truly is an Aquarius. But if we narrow it down a little bit, I should mention that fire signs being fire signs can often clash with each other because both their energies are so high (personal experience lmao), and therefore their elemental opposite, air, are generally the way to go. Usually you’ll find on astrological charts and sites that Leos are most compatible with Geminis and Aquariuses, so Ray again if he is an Aquarius, and then we bring Violet into the picture because she’s a Gemini. (Uh, speaking as a Gemini, Leos are my favorite people to date, and I always seem to crush on them as well. I have a problem. A Leo problem.) I’m so sorry Gilemma shippers but fire and earth signs are like the worst combo, I don’t know how this happened because I love Gilemma with all my heart. The stars simply did not align for us this time

Norman

Birthdate: March 21st

Sign: Aries

Element: Fire

Overview: okay listen. I didn’t believe Norman was an Aries at first because he’s not as high energy as most fire signs, but then the more I thought about it, the more it just makes sense. The most key trait to an Aries is loyalty. They are so incredibly loyal and caring to the people they love that they often neglect themselves in the process. They can be very quick to anger if someone hurts or insults their friend, and are unafraid to start a fight or commit morally gray or even black actions in service of their loved ones. Point is you don’t mess with an Aries’ family or friends. You will get burned.

All the loyalty applies to Norman so incredibly well—the way that his plans and actions revolve entirely around Emma and Ray, and the way that he sacrifices himself for their escape even though he’s terrified of dying. But even more so this loyalty strikes you in the face when he returns as William Minerva, willing and committed to full on genocide all to keep his friends alive and safe. As I’ve said Aries are quick to anger, which seemingly isn’t very present in cool-headed, thoughtful Norman, but then you remember this:

Look at his expression. Even if he doesn’t easily lose his cool, when he does it’s terrifying. So essentially Norman is a much more subtle Aries— he’s not in your face aggressive or full of energy, but he has all the hidden signs. So yeah, I honestly can’t think of any other sign that describes him better. Norman is an Aries.

Compatibility and ships: being a fire sign and all, Norman’s compatibility is actually very similar to Emma’s. He’s compatible with other Fire signs (Sagittarius, Leo, and Aries) as well as Air signs (Libra, Aquarius, and Gemini). Speaking broadly that makes him compatible with Emma and Ray again, but narrowing it down Aries are much better in general with Libras and Leos so congrats Noremma shippers you won.

Ray

“Canon” Birthdate: January 15th

“Actual” Birthdate: February 5th

“Canon” sign: Capricorn

“Actual” sign: Aquarius

“Canon” Element: Earth

“Actual” Element: Air

Overview: alright Ray is a bit of a mixed bag to unpack. Because it’s been stated that Ray’s January 15th birthday is not his actual birthday outside of the source material, then it’s reasonable for me to count both birthdays because people have different ideas of what’s canon and what’s not. Interestingly enough though, Ray does indeed fit well enough into both the Capricorn and Aquarius signs, however I personally believe one shows through him better than the other.

We’ve been talking about fire signs for Emma and Norman so it’s finally time to dive into two other elements! We’ll start with Capricorn then, the Earth sign. The most important thing to remember is that the Earth signs are the most grounded and practical. If you want someone who can give you logical and rational advice, your best bet would be the Earth signs (Air signs are also good at this but this ain’t about them. Although you will notice some overlap in traits between these two, particularly in Capricorns and Aquariuses).

We can already see the ‘practical’ side show through in Ray by the way he hyperfocuses on taking Norman and Emma to escape but insists on leaving the other kids behind. This isn’t to say he doesn’t feel for them, on the contrary, Earth signs are indeed very in tune with their emotions and empathy, but Capricorns really know how to set that part of them aside in favor of the calm and certain route. They like tangible solutions, things they can grasp with the least amount of risk, and they’re very resistant to changes—like giant rocks. This is also noticeable in how Ray gets so very flustered by Norman and Emma’s impulsivity. He clashes with both of them because Earth signs prefer to take things slow while Fire signs just like to make a leap and hope for the best.

Note how Emma says “not that I mind...” meanwhile Ray is out here going “I MIND!!” Which we learn is because of his identity as the spy. He’s got his own plan and a tangible solution to shoot for, and Norman and his impulsivity and Emma going along with it is messing everything up. Thus, he forcibly retakes control of the situation via making a deal with Norman after the traitor is revealed. Very Capricorn stuff.

And if you want an image that just completely sums up the Capricorn in Ray, here you go:

On the OTHER hand, if we’re to go off Ray’s “actual” birthdate, which was so lovingly calculated by Tempo, then we get Aquarius Ray, the Air sign. The most important things to note about the air signs is that they’re the thinkers—the farthest from impulsive, they’re the least in tune with their emotions, and they are oh so horribly indecisive. Where Earth signs will be able to give advice that adheres to both logic and emotion, Air signs stick purely to logic. Where Earth signs are able to make calm and rational decisions, Air signs will agonize over options and often find themselves lost, searching perpetually for a solution with no cracks in it. Hello. I’m an Air sign. :’))

I’m gonna come right out and say it. I hate Aquarius men. Aquarius women and enby folks, they’re great. But Aquarius men? I may, as a Gemini, get along with them in surface level casual conversation, but behind every Aquarius man’s back is a Mal waiting to strangle him the moment I am given the opportunity. I’m so sorry Ray my son but you are not an Aquarius okay. Alright. Well, let’s just talk about the parts of him that do fit Aquarius.

So from the very start Ray is obviously a thinker, someone who considers his options very carefully before he makes a decision, and someone who hates making choices based solely on emotion. In fact, he hates expressing emotions at all. Aquariuses are very good at repressing or hiding their emotions behind other emotions (most air signs are). The most common way to do this is to put up a wall of either numbness or full-on rage. We can see both in Ray.

Instead of showing vulnerability in a healthy way, he would rather do that. Ok cool Ray.

Aquariuses can also be very quiet people, and Ray’s pretty dang quiet for most of the series too. They’re the intellectuals you know are intellectuals even though they aren’t up in your face about it. Their reserved nature makes them 10x scarier when they’re genuinely angry, because boy can an Aquarius rage.

The thing about Aquarius Ray for me here is that while Ray does indeed have Aquarius energy, it’s not the Core of Ray. To me he’s so much more of an Earth sign, so therefore I diagnose Ray with Capricorn.

Compatibility and ships: ok this is a mixed bag again. Now if you got Aquarius Ray then of course he’s compatible with other Air signs (Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius) and Fire signs (Leo, Aries, and Sagittarius), which would make him compatible with Norman and Emma for sure, as well as probably Ayshe for you Rayshe shippers because my personal HC is Aquarius Ayshe.

If you’ve got Capricorn Ray, then Capricorns are compatible with other earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) and their compliment water signs (Cancer, Pisces, and Scorpio), though they’re best with Cancers and Tauruses. So yes, Anna is a Taurus, which makes Rayanna a compatible pair. But guess who’s a Cancer. Don. ALL MY RAYDON SHIPPERS GET OUT HERE YOU COWARDS IM CALLING YOUR NAME. YOU WIN THE SHIP GAME.

Gilda

Birthdate: May 13th

Sign: Taurus

Element: Earth

Overview: So again with the practical and grounded Earth signs. Tauruses now, are the most stubborn of them, which can be a little irritating at times, but it’s also a great asset when you consider how reliable they truly are. They’re bulls, which makes them solid and difficult to move, and you can always fall back on them when you’ve leapt too far ahead. Gilda is of course the epitome of reliable, and her stubbornness does show through at times—like when she’s the one person against Emma going out into danger all the time, constantly trying to talk her down into a more practical and certain solution. She’s also the first to attempt to bring Emma to see Ray’s side of the escape plan, which is very earth sign of both of them good job guys.

Compatibility and ships: I know I know I’m still upset Gilemma isn’t compatible astrologically but we can talk about other Gilda ships! Tauruses are most compatible with other earth signs (Capricorn, Virgo, and Taurus) and water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces) which makes her compatible with our other lovely Taurus, Anna! Gilanna shippers unite. But they’re best with Cancers and Scorpios, which means Gildon is is at highest compatibility.

Don

Birthdate: July 4th

Sign: Cancer

Element: Water

Overview: HEY YALL ITS TIME TO TALK ABOUT MY LEAST FAVORITE SIGNS: W A T E R. (I’m sorry my water friends, I’m sure you’re lovely, but as an air sign I am always extremely suspicious of water signs at first meeting because our compatibility is so low it might as well not exist) So the water signs are at the absolute highest emotional level. This can make them extraordinarily kind and nurturing, but it can also make them absolutely unreasonable and destructive. None is this more present than in Cancers, one of the most sensitive signs, but also one of the most empathetic. We can tell very clearly in Don that he wears his emotions on his sleeve—he’s unafraid to cry or show his anger, but he also takes very good care of his younger siblings and shows such an intense concern for them that it can become frightening.

He’s such a good boy 🥺

Compatibility and ships: okay so same drill, Cancers are generally compatible with other Water signs (Scorpio, Pisces, and Cancer) as well as Earth signs (Taurus, Capricorn, and Virgo) though their highest compatibility is with Tauruses and Capricorns. So again. GILDON AND RAYDON SHIPPERS R I S E.

God I’m so sorry if I cause a ship war. I rambled for too long and I’m very tired, so you only get these five characters for now. BUT! That’s why it’s a part 1. If you want more please feel free to harass me in my ask inbox about the characters you want me to overanalyze the signs of. Gemini out!

[mhevarujta]

The Darkling in Rule of Wolves [SPOILERS]

I have seen very different opinions about The Darkling’s arc in Rule of Wolves.

Many haters think that his sacrifice did not make sense for his character, especially since he did not repent.

Many of those who stan a romanticized version of the character have complained that his complexity was taken away and that he was vilified excessively.

So here I am, feeling the need to explain why I believe that he is still a very complex character and that Leigh has written him in a way that further what she’s already established for the character in a beautiful way that we rarely see in the genre.

In fact, I think that Leigh has no anti-Darkling agenda. She wrote him as a villain that is a series of contradictions and who has a great arc of existential crisis; an arc which leads to him fixing some of the damage he’s caused.

Most villains in YA either keep to their villainous goal, or are centuries-old men who, after being set in his ways for so long, conveniently have a rushed redemption arc and a change of beliefs that doesn’t make sense and feels like they have had a change of personality. Leigh managed to tiptoe between the two.

Some Themes That Make It Into  The Darkling’s arc in Rule of Wolves:

 POWER & SAVING THE GRISHA:

As always, we saw that Alina has an influence on him. He allowed himself to be more vulnerable with her because he saw her as his equal. But that influence is about the need of having his power and the life he endured be understood rather than romance. Both of them have experienced the greed that comes with THAT kind of power, but they always had an ideological conflict. Alina did not draw the line on personal sacrifice but she was always trying to help the people. She would sacrifice her life and her powers. He wouldn’t… Or would he?

In Rule of Wolves, Alina poses a question that he thinks he has an answer to: Why does he have to be the savior? What about everything other people have done for his country? His answer is ‘power’. If HE who is special, who has all that power, all that experience, then who is going to make a difference?

There is a contradiction here. This is a man who genuinely cares, but whose idealism is an echo of the caring person he’d once been. It has become hollow.

 The Darkling, by the age of 13, had changed hundreds of names and moved constantly, had been hunted by his own people, betrayed by people he’d tried to help and had to resort to self-harm in order to survive. That was when he promised he’d create a sanctuary for The Grisha.

And then he lived centuries of wars, betrayals and setbacks. He gave and gave until he had enough and went completely off the rails. His people were his aim, but he became so desperate that he crossed every line. He turned from a mentor to a puppetmaster. His was so fixated on the idea of ending the wars that he could not see that he was employing the same methods he was trying to end.

The more he lived, the more he left pieces of himself behind because he could not go on otherwise.

He thought that by ruling, by becoming king and weaponizing the fold, he would end all wars. He still wants to be the savior.

  BEING UNAPOLOGETIC & ‘NOTHING LEFT’

 Even when he dies, Aleksander does not repent, but at the same time he is very much aware of having committed atrocities and even during his last moment with Alina he does not apologize.

After all, that’s what he learned since he was a child. Baghra was his teacher and he was an apt pupil:

 His awareness of having crossed the line is obvious by the fact that he did not want a grave. He knew it’d be desecrated. Even though he was not sorry for trying, he knew that without having achieved his end nothing could begin to excuse what he’d done. He knew how hated he was.

There would be nothing left of him; no physical remnants, no legacy, and only one person to mourn the person he could have been. He leaves the world with this knowledge.

His true name is erased.

Being in his head, we see that, upon his return he is thinking of himself as Aleksander while using a different name (Yuri’s) once more. He is still hiding, and as long as he has to hide, the world is not as he wants it. As long as he’s hiding he can’t leave a legacy behind.

So based on what we know of his actions and of the way he’s loves, I think that

- the Darkling wanting to see Alina and to be understood by her, but being resistant to her morality and crossing her one more time to take his powers back,

- being accustomed to hardship and to biding his time,

-underestimating Nikolai and the triumvirate and seeing them as weak individuals instead of considering them as a strong unit,

- using Yuri’s name but still thinking of himself as Aleksander,

-taking advantage of the Starless to make his dramatic return while saving Ravka and gaining the people’s gratitude and worship,

-wanting Ravka to win and aiding Nikolai when because HE couldn’t win single-handedly and he didn’t want to lose but still thinking that, since the bells had been destroyed, HE was a batter option to lead.

are very much in character.

There are three major things about his arc that readers may consider to be out of character:

a)      The Darkling helping Zoya rise as a queen/

b)      Aleksander choosing to sacrifice himself to stop the blight.

c)       The public revelation of his name.

So let’s examine them one by one.

__________________________________

a)      Aiding the rise of the Dragon Queen.

Aleksander questions both Zoya and Nikolai. He considers them children, one two weak to embrace her powers when she could be among the strongest Grisha who have ever lived and the other too immature to use his political power for anything more than playing pirate. In fact he thinks they are ‘dangerous to him and to his country’.

 During the last battle Aleksander is forced to consider things that he hadn’t before.

One is the question Alina posed to him. Is HE the only one who can save them? The other can be summed up with Mal’s joke: ‘You’re rusty old man’.

 After he snapped and decided that he must rule and that he has to use the Fold, Aleksander pursued his goal single-mindedly. But war changed around him. People moved from swords, to guns, to bombs, but Aleksander’s power was constant, reliable. And then THIS was and Rasmus’ Hajefetla came. The Darkling thought he could give them victory but he HAD his power and couldn’t use it.

But even when everything seems lost, Nikolai fights and is ready to sacrifice everything. Slowly, the Darkling’s view of Nikolai shifts throughout the book.

He sees how Nikolai cares for all his people. How he was strong enough to embrace the monster and to make sacrifices and he helps him. But even then, after the bells are destroyed, he still thinks that he is the best chance his country has and steps back.

But the second miracle does happen. The Darkling had dismissed Zoya as a girl who couldn’t open her heard and embrace her power, but she opens the door. She saves the day both with her strength and with her mercy. She makes the show of power that The Darkling himself made to do and she exceeds his expectations.

And at that moment, Zoya could have been seen as a monster, a witch, all the things that Grisha had been hated for. So The Darkling chooses to give the push the people need; to be the one to break them out of their shock and push them to the direction that suits Ravka before anyone else does: ‘Sankta Zoya’.

And when he makes a stand in her favor when she gets accepted as a queen:

1) Even though I don’t believe he still thought of Zoya as a pawn at this point, I DO believe that he had realized how showing his allegiance might give him a potential opening to call in a favor if he ever needed it.

2) Helping her makes sense because even he would be able to see that a Grisha who has military, political and religious power and who has immeasurable power that could only grow gives Ravka its best chance.

3) He has the opportunity to further Ravka’s political stability while getting rid of the Apparat, whom he despises both because he betrayed him personally and because he is a rat who keeps endangering the Grisha and even Ravka as a whole.

He used all the influence he had left.

b)      EXISTENTIAL CRISIS AND SELF-SACRIFICE

Throughout Rule of Wolves, The Darkling goes through an existential crisis. He is trying to remain the same, to keep to his old practices, but by the end of the book he understands that the world has changed and he has to change in some way too. He does not have a complete change of heart. People are mostly set in their personality by their adulthood and a tiger easily changing its striped after centuries would be completely unrealistic. Neither are his crimes glossed over. But the reasons he sacrifices himself are woven throughout the story.

-A theme throughout the story is that we started in Shadow And Bone from ‘the age of Grisha power is coming to an end’ and went to ‘the age of Saints is upon us’. What is the main difference between Grisha and Saints? It’s faith. It’s the way the ‘saints’ are accepted and worshipped for their power and sacrifice. The Darkling wants to be loved. He wants for his sacrifices to be recognized.

In a single scene we see both his inability to adjust to the world he finds himself in and his need for his efforts to be recognized. Because he DID give his life for Ravka. He did so, from his perspective, when he was killed during the Civil War, but he also did by not having really had peace or REALLY lived his life since he was a child.

In the main trilogy he was bitter about the Otkazats’ya easily turning on Grisha. He was bitter about how Grisha were treated by the rulers of Ravka. The Grisha had to bow but the Saints are the ones that people bowed to. Faith is the only thing that may allow them to stop hiding. So he wants to be a Saint. He didn’t manage to earn it in battle, so he must find another way.

The Darkling approaches The Starless, but even as he tries to have more rally behind him he is disappointed in his new following. During his first POV chapter he says that he will “teach the world awe”. But it’s made clear that his is not enough for him. His followers BELIEVE but their belief is hollow. They are afraid of who he truly is, they barely believe in everything he stood for. They are awed, easily manageable, but they do not care about the Grisha. They do not care about Ravka the way he does. They do not see him when he’s right in front of them, making him want to scream that he is there, that he exists, and when one glimpses behind Yuri’s mask he sees ‘evil’.

What he wants is devotion because of what he’s tried to do, not blind faith. He feels unseen; faded. Moreover, he still hides while he thought he didn’t have to. Initially he thinks that he can finally choose to be himself and to reclaim his true name: ‘The oldest of them: Aleksander. He had no reason to hide his strangeness anymore. Saints were meant to live forever.’ But he falls into old patterns. He is ‘Yuri’; he is in hiding once more.

-The Darkling DOES NOT LOVE HIS POWER in itself. He loves the strength it gives him, the feeling of being special, but he does not enjoy the darkness, despite embracing the color black or having previously chosen dark rooms for himself.

“He wanted to be out of the darkness, back beneath the watery winter sun.”

“He only wished that it wasn’t winter. He wanted to turn his face

to the sun and feel it warm him. The cold frightened him now. It felt like

death, like the long silence of not being, without sense of time or place, only

the understanding that he must hold on, that someday, there would be an end

to the terrible stillness. He’d been a long time in the dark.”

Even in his previous life, he was mesmerized by the beauty of the world.

And now he has to face THE BLIGHT: A consequence to him coming back, which, based on the fact that it expanded THE MOMENT he used his power to kill one of his followers, is connected to him growing stronger and using his power. This power, which is similar to the Fold, is independent of him and untamed in the world and creates wastelands, ruining the country that he tried to save. In fact, it is compared to a vampire; to a creature that needs blood to be sustained. It destroys all the things that Aleksander dehumanized himself to fight for and all the things he found beautiful in the world.

Even when it doesn’t touch HIM, he doesn’t know why; if it’s because this plague recognizes something in him, or if he’s so ruined that it doesn’t have a taste for him. And both scenarios show an alienation from his power. His feelings of being whole because of his power have being tainted by something he had never experienced before.

And how could he, who represents the lack of stars, the darkness, be valued and not just feared? 

For the Starless Saint to become the people’s salvation the darkness that spreads across the land must be defeated by his own power of darkness, 

In the original trilogy the theme of the Darkling falling into servitude of his own power was touched upon. 

In RoW it was furthered. And Aleksander has made his decision:

Never again a servant; not even to his own power. 

 WITH THE DARKLING’S SACRIFICE:

1)      He saves Ravka and allows back into the world and into the fold all the colors and the light that he used to love about it. But more importantly, At some point he mentions that “human life is worth preserving. But human lives? They come and go like so much chaff, never tipping the scales.” By holding back the Blight he ensures that human life is preserved.

2) His arc of existential crisis is resolved because he finds purpose, which he lacked after seeing that he was not enough to win the war and to create by himself the world he had craved) and saves his country in a way that only HE could, even if that wasn’t ruling. The vision Aleksander, the forgotten boy, had is aided in a way that serves the vanity of The Darkling, the eternal being he became.

3) Leigh brings full circle the theme of balance. “You were meant to be my balance”, he had told Alina. But THAT assumption was SO wrong and presumptuous. It was entitled. But finally he makes a sacrifice to be his own balance and to control what he unleashed. He caused pain and he endures pain. He was responsible for the Fold and for the Blight and he counterbalances the distraction they brought to the land and stops them from threatening Ravka.

_________

c)       ‘MY NAME IS ALEKSANDER MOROZOVA’.

Some say that The Darkling publically revealing his name was out of character; probably because the only revealed it to Alina and did not want others to know it.  

So let’s have a throwback to what we know. 

As ‘The Starless’, the Darkling is the only unnamed saint other than the Saint of the Book, who has no memory. The theme of a name being essential to memory is constant throughout Aleksander’s arc

‘A boy’s name given up; almost forgotten.’

“It’s my own name I’m afraid of forgetting.”

In Ruin and Rising, The Darkling dying nameless serves a purpose. Alina gives him the kindness for not giving people a name to extol. He entrusted it to her and she does not betray that trust.

What I find interesting is that, in The Demon in the Wood, Baghra tells him:

He had given his name to Alina who, in a twisted way, was the closest person to his heart at that point, because he considered it his equal and in his twisted way.

To become a saint, to be worshipped, to save Ravka, to not be forgotten he has to share this piece of his heart; of himself. He has to let people read it. He considered Zoya weak because she was afraid of her heard but she was strong enough to ‘open the door’.

After living the way he did and making the choices he made, his heart can never open the same way as hers did, but this is as close as his character could come to it without Leigh glossing over all he’s done.

[popatochisssp]

Are any of the new guys ok with being child free? (I keep having to explain to my fam how I'm NOT EVER going to have kids) And I'd like some solidarity from fictional skeletons.

Broadly speaking, I think all of them would be okay with that! In general, all the boys’ idea of the future is uncertain and something they need to work out with their s/o, so that informs the perspective a lot.

I truly don’t think ‘no kids’ or ‘yes kids’ would be an explicit deal-breaker for any of them, but in terms of where their thoughts naturally fall about the topic:

Pre-discussion/negotiation, it’s probably a no: Sky (Underswap Sans), Paps (Underswap Papyrus), Mal (Swapfell Sans), Rus (Swapfell Papyrus), Ash (Undergloom Sans), Brick (Horrorfell Sans), Merc (Horrorswap Sans), Pitch (Horrorswapfell Sans)

Genuinely neutral or undecided: Sans (Undertale), Pyre (Underfell Papyrus), Papy (Horrortale Papyrus), King (Horrorfell Papyrus), Ell (Horrorswap Papyrus), Sunny (Gastertale Sans), Aster (Gastertale Papyrus)

Pre-discussion/negotiation, it’s probably a yes: Papyrus (Undertale), Jasper (Underfell Sans), Slate (Horrortale Sans), Yrus (Undergloom Papyrus), Nemo (Horrorswapfell Papyrus)

But like I said... they’re flexible, because your relationship and the future they want to have with you doesn’t work without... well, you!

If you’re a ‘definitely no kids’ person and you see your skeleton in the ‘yes’ category, that doesn’t mean you’re doomed-- it just means a couple conversations about it to convey your thoughts...and depending on the level of gungho for having kids he is (most aren’t married to it), maybe agreeing to a compromise where you adopt an animal or two and be dog/cat/iguana/whatever-the-hell parents.

Same goes for a ‘yes i want kids’ person who sees their skeleton of choice in the ‘no’ section, that’s just where they are before talking it all out with you. Some time and a few conversations to understand where everybody’s coming from and how to move forward, they’re willing to negotiate.

Kids or no kids, neither is a deal-breaker, it’s all fine and you can work it out together!

Y’know what, while I’m at it, here’s just the basic thought processes of all of them, just to give a little peek into their skulls on the matter...

Sans (Undertale): Kids are fun, doesn’t have any particularly strong desire to have one of his own, but he raised his kid brother for awhile and he knows it’s something he can do, if it’s what you want.

Papyrus (Undertale): Kids are great and he’d be a great parent, he just knows it! You’d be a great parent, too! ...But if that’s not what you want to do, then that’s okay. There’s plenty of other great things for you to do together in life!

Sky (Underswap Sans): Kids are wonderful, but raising his little brother solo after their dad disappeared... That was hard and he definitely wasn’t ready for the responsibility. It was a humbling experience and he refuses to commit to having kids of his own until he’s sure it’s something he sincerely, passionately wants.

Paps (Underswap Papyrus): Feels awkward around kids, as a rule, and also kind of thinks of himself as a (mostly contained, at least) disaster of a skeleton. Is he ready for the responsibility of being in charge of a brand new being’s growth and development??? Not sure! Not sure at all!

Jasper (Underfell Sans): He likes kids alright... thinks about maybe having some of his own someday, the idea of a family is nice, in his head... but he definitely isn’t sure about the reality. Worries about if he’d be a good enough parent, or if his kids (if he were to have them) would resent him or just not like him. It’s a nice idea, but nothing’s set in stone for him.

Pyre (Underfell Papyrus): Honestly never thought about it. Part of him fully expected to die Underground in some battle or other, or excepting that, he wouldn’t find a partner who’d want to be with him long-term, much less long enough that he could make a family with them. He’s not...explicitly opposed to it, but he also hasn’t given it a lot of thought at all. He’ll need time to sort out his feelings, whatever his partner’s opinions on potential kids are.

Mal (Swapfell Sans): Terrified, petrified to have kids of his own. Being around them is...fine, but... He’s got a lot of issues tied up with his...parent... and having to be a pseudo-parent to his own brother at a very young age, it’s made him worry about repeating patterns and failing, hurting, damaging, or otherwise doing his own children a disservice, if he were to have them-- even as a grown and well-situated adult. If kids are something his partner really wants, they’ve got those insecurities to talk about with him for sure.

Rus (Swapfell Papyrus): He’s actually really good with kids, he relates to them well and always just talks to them like people, so of course they love him. But having his own... That, he’s not sure about. He’s definitely a little bit of a disaster, and still working on a lot of Adult Life Skills, and the thought of being in charge of a whole entire brand new person is more than a little scary. Not sure if he’s ready for that step--or if he’ll ever be!

Slate (Horrortale Sans): Loves kids, and loves the idea of a big family. He’s had more than enough death, life is very appealing to him and a full house honestly sounds wonderful. ...But he does have some memory issues, a dash of narcolepsy, and some hard, dissociative days that make him worry he might not be a very good parent. He’d do his best to do right by his kids if he ends up having them, of course he would, but if that’s just not in the cards for him, that wouldn’t be the end of the world. He’s the one who’d definitely want to bring in some furbabies if two-legged babies aren’t on the table, and he’d still be a very, very happy man!

Papy (Horrortale Papyrus): He likes kids, but doesn’t have many strong feelings on having his own. He’d be alright either way his partner wanted to go-- as long as the two of them are together and safe and happy, he’s got everything he needs.

Ash (Undergloom Sans): Kids are fun, but honestly...oof. He’s got a chronic fatigue thing going on and keeping up with a kid for more than an hour or two at a time... he’s not sure he could hack it. Maybe he could, but that’s really something to think about before just diving in, y’know?

Yrus (Undergloom Papyrus): Very good with children! They’re so curious and bright and he loves that about them! He’s got a lot of nurturing, caretaker tendencies built right into his personality, so he’s a natural at looking after and corralling them. He’s easily flustered and moves slow in his romantic relationships, though, so there’s a long timeline before the ‘should we have kids’ talk is even on the table, plenty of chances to share thoughts and work out a gameplan, whether that’s yea or nay. If yea, wonderful! If nay, he’d probably be just as happy babysitting friends’ kids and being Cool Uncle Papyrus as having any of his own.

Brick (Horrorfell Sans): It’s... a nice thought. But he definitely doesn’t trust himself enough to feel totally comfortable having kids of his own. He barely trusts himself in Polite Society some days, and he’d just be too worried about not being in control and hurting or scaring a little one, especially a little one of his own. He doesn’t think he’d ever be able to forgive himself if he made his own kid afraid of him. Plus memory issues, nightmares, (depending on his fluency at the time) a language barrier... So ‘no kids’ is...probably preferable, but if it’s something you really want... maybe start with an animal or two first? The ol’ practice-baby pet, see how it goes kinda deal, and move forward from there.

King (Horrorfell Papyrus): Like his counterpart, never really thought about it much...but when he does, he decides he could go either way on it. If you’re not interested in kids, fine, that’s more time for just the two of you. If you are, well... he was literally a monarch that ruled over all of monsterkind, for a time--surely, he could manage to be a passingly decent parent, with you as his partner in the endeavor. He’ll take his cues from you as to whether it’s a yes or a no.

Merc (Horrorswap Sans): His feelings haven’t really changed from pre-Famine. In fact, he’s probably more hesitant now, after so viscerally confronting the consequences of his own hasty decisions and having to face his own fallibility the way he did. The thought of being responsible for a whole small life is very nerve-wracking--especially if said proposed life is to be biologically his, because he really doesn’t know what the DT in his system (pre or post-integration) will pass on to theoretical next-of-kin, if anything at all. Maybe not a ‘never,’ but not a vigorous, enthusiastic ‘yes’ either, lots to think about...and maybe tests to run...

Ell (Horrorswap Papyrus): A couple years ago, he’d have been a little more in the ‘no’ camp, but now... He’s been through a lot. He’s struggling sometimes still, at least emotionally, but he made it, so y’know... maybe he’s capable of handling more than he thought he was. Still not a solid ‘yes’--he’s aware of his lack of filter and its tendency to cause hurt feelings, and he does like his peace and quiet, which kids are very much not conducive to, as a rule, so he’d have to put in some work and make some sacrifices-- but he’s no longer wholly a ‘no’ either. Depending on your own thoughts, there’s plenty of room to negotiate.

Pitch (Horrorswapfell Sans): Kids are fine, he can handle them well enough, and even the thought of having his own doesn’t stress him out so much as it once did--he’s changed a lot, and been through a lot, taking a second crack at parenthood from a new perspective wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world--but he’s also not particularly interested in it. He likes his leisure time and his luxuries, and much as he’s sure he could find room in that to accommodate a child...he doesn’t see much of a reason to. He could be convinced, if it’s something that you really want, but he’d also stay childfree without a second thought to the matter.

Nemo (Horrorswapfell Papyrus): Good with kids, like his counterpart, but also a little more capable and confident in himself and his ability to get things done. So... having a kid might be a little intimidating for him, but he generally feels like he could probably figure it out... and a kid might be a nice outlet for some of his caretaking urges, and extra motivation to keep fighting his phobia, to make sure their childhood is good and doesn’t suffer from them having a dad who’s scared to go outside. He definitely likes the idea of someone to look after and to be better for, but if that’s not for you, he wouldn’t force the issue. Would maybe want a furbaby though, instead, probably special needs that not everybody could/would be able to take care of (like Dizzy!) to fill that niche.

Sunny (Gastertale Sans): Kids are really cool and fun to hang out with--crazy little people, no filter, just running around, saying things, living life--they’re awesome, but he’s not totally sold on the idea of having his own. He does a lot of aimless life-living himself, and he feels like maybe that’s not the best thing for a kid. He doesn’t really have a career, he does things without a lot of planning, he goes places spontaneously, and... maybe that’s fun and exciting for a kid to be raised around, or maybe it’s unstable and harmful. He’s not really sure which and he probably doesn’t want to bring a kid into the mix until he knows. With a partner who’s a ‘yes’ on children and can help him co-parent and all that, sure, he’d probably be willing to give it a go. With one who’s a ‘no,’ that’s fine too, it’s a nonissue!

Aster (Gastertale Papyrus): A little weird and stiff around kids, never totally sure how he’s supposed to talk to them or what he’s meant to say (especially when it comes to those things you’re supposed to lie to kids about, he’s very bad at that!!!), but he has nothing against children in general. As far as the idea of having his own... Well, if his partner wants to have kids, it wouldn’t be a no-- he’d just have to do a lot of research on the subject first, to feel more comfortable and to hopefully prepare, mentally, as much as one can ever prepare for this. After that, he’d be open to discuss and negotiate the matter with his partner from there, to sort out the logistics. With a partner who doesn’t want kids, though, he’d almost certainly never even bring it up on his own and honestly probably thinks of ‘childfree’ as the expected default rather than something quirky, nontraditional, or a deal-breaker.

[oscopelabs]

Christopher Nolan: The Man Who Wasn’t There by Daniel Carlson

1.

So, we’ll start with the fact that all movies are make-believe. It’s a bunch of actors on a set, wearing costumes and standing with props picked out by hordes of people you’ll never see, under the guidance of a director, saying things that have been written down for them while doing their best to say these things so that it sounds like they’re just now thinking of them. We all know this—saying it feels incredibly stupid, like pointing out that water is wet—but it’s still worth noting. There is, for example, no such person as Luke Skywalker. Never has been, never will be. He was invented by a baby boomer from Modesto. He is not real.

And we know this, and that’s part of the fun. We know that Luke Skywalker isn’t real but is being portrayed by an actor (another boomer from the Bay Area, come to think of it), and that none of the things we’re seeing are real. But we give ourselves over to the collective fiction for the greater experience of becoming involved in a story. This is one of the most amazing things that we do as humans. We know—deep down, in our bones, without-a-doubt know—that the thing we’re watching is fiction, but we enter a state of suspended reality where we imagine the story to be real, and we allow ourselves to be moved by it. We’ve been doing this since we developed language. The people telling these stories know this and bring the same level of commitment and imagination and assurance that we do as viewers, too. The storyteller knows that the story isn’t real, but for lack of a better way to get a handle on it, it feels real. So, to continue with the example, we’re excited when Luke Skywalker blows up the Death Star because he helped the good guys win. For us viewers, in this state of mutually reinforced agreement, that “happened.” It’s not real, but it’s “real”—that is, it’s real within the established boundaries of the invented world that we’ve all agreed to sit and look at for a couple of hours. Every viewer knows this, and every filmmaker acts on it, too. Except:

Christopher Nolan does not do this.

2.

There’s no one single owner or maker of any movie, and anyone who tells you different has their hand in your pocket. But there’s an argument to be made that when somebody both writes and directs the movie, it’s a bit easier to locate a sense of personhood in the final product. (This is all really rough math, too, and should not be used in court.) Christopher Nolan has directed 11 films to date, and while his style can be found in all of them, his self is more present in the ones where he had a hand in the shaping of the story—and crucially, not just that, but in the construction of the fictional world. Take away the superhero trilogy, the remake of a Norwegian thriller, the adaptation of a novel, and the historical drama, and Nolan’s directed five films that can reasonably be attributed to his own creative universe: Following (1998), Memento (2000), Inception (2010), Interstellar (2014), and Tenet (2020). These movies all involve themes that Nolan seems to enjoy working with no matter the source material, including identity, memory, and how easily reality can be called into question when two people refuse to concede that they had very different experiences of the same event. Basically, he makes movies about how perception shapes existence. How he does this, though, is unlike pretty much everybody else.

Take Inception. After a decade spent going from hotshot new talent to household name (thanks to directing the two highest-grossing Batman movies ever made, as well as the first superhero movie to earn an Oscar for acting), he had the credit line to make something big and flashy that was also weird and personal. So we got an action movie that, when first announced in the Hollywood trades, was described as being set within “the architecture of the mind.” Although this at first seemed to be a phrase that only a publicist could love, it turned out to be the best way to describe the film. This is a film, after all, about a group of elite agents who use special technology to enter someone’s subconscious dream-state and then manipulate that person’s memories and emotions. The second half of the film sees team leader Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and the rest of the squad actually descend through multiple nested subconsciouses to achieve their goal, even as they’re chased every step of the way by representations of Mal (Marion Cotillard), Dom’s late wife, who committed suicide after spending too much time in another’s subconscious and lost the ability to discern whether she was really alive or still in the dream-world.

I say “representations” because that’s what they are: Mal is long dead, but Dom still feels enormous guilt over his complicity in her actions, and that guilt shows up looking like Mal, whose villainous actions (the representation’s actions, that is) are just more signs of Dom not being able to come to grips with his own past. It’s his own brain making these things up and attacking itself, and it chases his entire crew down three successive layers of dream worlds. You get caught up in the movie’s world as a viewer, and you go along because Nolan is pretty good at making exciting movies that feel like theme-park rides. You accept that Dom and everybody else refer to Mal as Mal and not, say, Dom. Dom even addresses her (“her”) when her projection shows up, speaking to her as if she’s a separate being with her own will and desires and not a puppet that he’s pretending not to know he’s controlling. It’s only later that you realize that the movie is in some ways just a big-budget rendition of what it would look like to really, really want to avoid therapy.

Which is what makes Nolan different from other filmmakers:

None of this is actually happening.

Again, yes, it’s happening in the sense that we see things on screen—explosions, chases, a fight scene in a rotating hallway that’s still some of the best practical-effects work in modern action movies—but within the universe of the film, none of what’s going on is taking place in the real world. It’s all unfolding in the subconsciouses of Dom’s teammates. In the movie’s real world, they’re all asleep on a luxury jet. They’re “doing” things that have an outcome on the plot, but Nolan sets more than half the movie inside dreams. It’s a movie about reality where we spend less time in reality than in fantasy. Half the movie is pretend.

For Nolan, filmmaking is about using a dazzling array of techniques to create a visual spectacle that distracts the viewer from the fact that the real and true story is happening somewhere else: in the fringes we can’t quite see, in the things we forget to remember, or even in the realm of pure speculation.

3.

Memento arrived like (and with) a gunshot. It seemed to come out of nowhere and leave people struggling to describe it, and they usually wound up saying something like “it goes backward, but also forward at the same time, except some parts are actually really backward, like in reverse, so it’s maybe a circle?” Written by Christopher Nolan from an idea originally shared with him by his brother, Jonathan (who eventually turned it into a very different short story titled “Memento Mori”), the film follows a man named Leonard (Guy Pearce) who has anterograde amnesia and can’t form new memories, so every few minutes he sort of just resets and has to figure out where he is, what he’s doing there, and so on. He’s on the hunt for the man who attacked him and his wife, leaving his wife dead and Leonard in his present condition, which you can imagine does not make the gathering and synthesis of clues easy.

What’s more, Nolan puts the viewer in Leonard’s shoes by breaking the film’s linear timeline into two halves—call them A and B—and then alternating between them, with the added disorientation coming from the fact that one of those timeline halves plays out backward, with each successive scene showing what happened before the one you previously saw. So, if you numbered all the scenes in each timeline in chronological order, they’d look something like this when arranged in the final film: Scene A1, Scene B22, Scene A2, Scene B21, Scene A3, Scene B20, etc. You get why it messed with people’s heads.

As a result, we spend most of the movie pretty confused, just like Leonard, whose suppositions about what might or might not take place next begin to substitute for our own understanding of the film. It’s not until the end that we find out the shoe already dropped, and that Leonard killed the original attacker some time ago and has since been led on a series of goose chases by his cop friend, Teddy (Joe Pantoliano), who’s planting fake clues to get Leonard to take out other criminals. In other words, we realize that the story we thought was happening was pretend, and the real story was happening all around us, in the margins, memories, and imaginations of the characters. The most honest moment in the movie is the scene where Leonard hires a sex worker to wait several minutes in the bathroom while he gets in bed, then make a noise with the door to wake him, at which point his amnesia has kicked in again and he briefly thinks that the noise is being made by his wife. He’s wrong, of course, but this is the only time in the movie that we actually know he’s wrong. It’s the only time we truly know what’s real and what isn’t.

Yet you can’t talk about Memento without talking about Following, Nolan’s first feature. Although the film’s production was so extremely low-budget you’d think they were lying—the cast and crew all had day jobs and could only film on the weekends, so the thing took a year to make—Nolan’s willingness to dwell completely in a make-believe world that the viewer never knows about is already evident. It’s about a bored young writer who starts following strangers through the city for kicks, only for one of those strangers to catch him in the act and confront him. The stranger introduces himself as Cobb—I kindly submit here that it is not a coincidence that this is also Leonardo DiCaprio’s character’s name in Inception, but you already knew that—and reveals himself to be a burglar, spooked by the tail but willing to take on an apprentice. Cobb trains the writer to be a burglar, only for the situation to ultimately wind up implicating the writer himself in a complex blackmail plot. You see, the writer didn’t latch onto Cobb in a crowd; Cobb lured him in. The whole movie has been Cobb’s story all along, with the writer as a patsy who doesn’t understand the truth until the final frame. None of what we saw mattered, and everything that actually happened happened off-screen just before or just after we came in on a given scene. It’s like realizing the movie you’re watching turned out to be just deleted scenes from something else. You can’t say Nolan didn’t show his hand from the start.

4.

That same general concept—that the movie we’re watching is actually the knock-on effect of a movie we’ll only glimpse, or maybe never even see—underpins Nolan’s latest movies, Interstellar and Tenet, too. Interstellar has some concepts that are iffy even for Nolan (it makes total sense for someone to do something for another out of love, but somewhat less sense that that love somehow reshapes the physical universe), but it’s still a big, bold approach to exploring how time and perception shape our actions. As the film follows its core group of astronauts while they search for potentially habitable new worlds, they encounter strange visions and experiences that turn out to be their handiwork from the future reflected back at them. Sure, it raises the paradoxical question of whether they had a first mission before this that failed, so now their future selves are intervening to make the second one (which feels like the first one to the astronauts the whole time) successful, and all sorts of other stuff that your sophomore-year roommate would like to talk with you about in great detail. But so much of what we see isn’t the stuff that happens, or that winds up being important. There’s the great scene where the astronauts land on a planet near a black hole, which is wreaking havoc on how time passes on the planet. A minor disaster delays their departure for the main ship still in orbit, but when the landing team returns, they find that more than 20 years have “passed” since they left, with the one remaining team member on the ship having spent more than two decades waiting for them to return. It’s a moment of genuine horror, and it underscores the fact that what we thought was the one true reality was just the perspective of a handful of characters we happened to follow for a few minutes. There were whole things happening that changed the plot and story and direction of everything that would follow, and we never saw them; we didn’t even know we’d missed them.

Tenet is, of course, the latest and most recursive exploration yet of Nolan’s obsession with showing us a story that turns out to be mostly fake. It is almost perversely hard to even begin to explain the film (Google “Tenet timeline infographic” and have fun). One way to think about it is to imagine if the two timeline halves from Memento somehow existed at the same time, with people moving both forward and backward through time while inhabiting the same location. Basically, some scientists figured out how to “invert” the basic entropy of objects, so that they exist backward: you hold out your hand and the ball on the ground leaps up into it, because you’ve dropped it in the future, so now you can pick it up, etc. … Look, it doesn’t get easier to understand.

The upshot is, though, that we spend the film following the Protagonist (that’s his name), a CIA agent played by John David Washington, as he’s tasked with tracking down the source of the inverted stuff to figure out what’s unfolding in the future and why it’s suddenly started to make itself known in the present. He gets marginally closer to understanding the truth by the end of the film, but because this is a Nolan film that is maybe more expressly about the nature of reality than anything he’s ever done, his journey doesn’t so much take him forward as it does in a large circle. Because, and stop me if you’ve heard this, the true story of Tenet is taking place outside the Protagonist’s actions and knowledge, alongside him but invisible, often steered by people who themselves are moving “backward” through time and thus have already met the Protagonist in the future and are old friends with him by the time he meets them in his youth. Even more brain-liquefying, some of these people have been working under the orders of the Protagonist himself—the future version, that is—because his past self has already achieved the victories that allowed him to send the future people backward through time to meet his younger self so they’d achieve the victories that allow him to etc., etc., etc.

With Tenet, Nolan didn’t just make a movie that challenged perception, like Memento, or that dwelt in fiction, like Inception. He made a movie that can only be understood (to whatever degree true understanding is possible) by rewatching the movie itself, over and over, as the multiple timelines and harrowingly complex bits of cause and effect come into some kind of focus. The whole movie itself isn’t happening, in a sense, but is just the ramifications of something else, the echoes of a shout whose origin we’re straining to pinpoint. It both is and isn’t.

5.

Christopher Nolan is a talented director of action-driven suspense thrillers. He’s canny at controlling the audience’s emotions, and he knows how to put on a dazzling show. Plus he’s fantastic at picking when to deploy non-computer-generated effects for maximum impact. But you could say that about a lot of other directors, too. What sets Nolan apart from the rest, and what makes him a director to keep watching and returning to, is the teasing way his movies wind up being just deceptive enough to fool you into thinking that you know what’s going on, then just harsh enough to disabuse you of that notion. Looking at what seems to drive him, I don’t think Tenet is his best movie-movie, but it’s his most-Nolan movie. It’s almost a culmination of his continuing efforts to tell stories where what you see and what actually happens are two different things. It’s not that he makes puzzles to solve. There is no solving these movies. Rather, it’s that he sculpts these delicate artifacts that only let you see two dimensions at a time, never all three, no matter how you twist your head. Craning back and forth, you can almost see the whole thing, but not quite. Some part of it will always have to exist in your memory. And that’s where Christopher Nolan likes to be.

[bored-storyteller]

Okay, I humbly apologize. I had a bad time - and unfortunately it's not over 😩- but here's the second part with three other leaders. I know I know I know! Malleus is missing! I'll try to post Mal today too- tomorrow, it depends on where you are - I promise.

Please I know you love him so much but love me anyway 🥺

14- Dorm leaders x down!s/o pt.2

Kalim Al-Asim

· Kalim is magical and exhausting at the same time. Yes, s/o love him from the bottom of their hearts, but dealing with him in times of stress is exhausting.

· The young nobleman does not really know the stress, at least, for what s/o can see, and this leads him to overcome any worries. It's not that he doesn't want to see other people's problems, it's just that he can't think of them.

· S/o as the days go by they feel worse and worse. The head often hurts and tiredness brings them into a state of almost half asleep. If Kalim saw this he would be very worried about them, but their presence for him is a fact. He is convinced that if something went wrong s/o would tell him, right?

· But no. How could they say no to his requests? That is, actually there is not even time to refuse.

·  Jamil is worried. He sees what is going on and tries to marginalize the problems. S/o should rest, they could ask him for help - as if he wasn't already doing everything in the dormitory-. But s/o know that the vice leader is already very busy, burdening him with their study problems and their worries is not the case.

Having to deal with Kalim really means having almost never breath. Even his affection can sometimes be a problem.

Yes, s/o certainly love him, but three days before the start of the test session, the thing more than making them happy is shaking them.

They have studied practically nothing and really feel their strength failing. While everyone is studying carefully, they are struggling to finish their homework for the next day.

The nights for s/o are now nothing more than a staring at the ceiling in desperate search for information that does not exist in their head. And the lessons are so heavy in the morning that their hope of getting through the year is almost zero.

Sometimes the idea of dropping out of school even went through their mind. They would certainly be freer.

Right now, s/o they are hiding in the bedroom, surrounded by study books.

It doesn't matter how much they read and reread those words, their overfull mind wanders over their fears, not making them memorize anything.

There is no way they can overcome this. They curl up on the bed, clutching their knees to their chests and doing everything they can to keep from crying.

Suddenly the door swings open. Kalim comes in with his cheer, filling the room with his happy voice.

It seems that he is excited about something, but s/o can’t help but look at him with wide eyes without understanding.

His exclamations echo in their heads as if it were empty, breaking the delicate crystal walls.

"Stop!" They cry when even the last fragile column of their sanity is brought down.

"Stop!" They repeat, bringing their hands to their faces and collapsing supine on the bed.

"Stop it! I can't take it any more! If I continue like this I will go crazy!"

The arms cover the face wet with tears. They are not really shouting at Kalim.

He stops suddenly, a little frightened by that reaction.

What happened? Where did he go wrong this time?

When the silence weighs too much, they still speak: "I ... I need to get out of here, I... don't want to be in this school anymore. "

Kalim listens in silence for a few moments to their sobs, then slowly, shyly, sits beside them on the bed.

"No ..." he murmurs, "I will help you, whatever your problem is." His voice is that of an injured child, but his arms raise s/o to his chest, to hold them against him and protect them.

"Everything will pass, I promise you. But I can't be without you."

The fingers pass slowly through the hair of s/o while his crimson eyes scan the books around them.

Kalim's arms hold them desperately. Right, how could they leave him alone? In short, who would help Jamil then?

That thought makes them smile, and while s/o get up seated they give to the boy a simple and light "ok", and then they resume the study with a quieter mind.

Kalim no longer talks, but neither does he leave, he simply remains close to them a little to comfort them, a little for the fear that they will move away from him, until he ends up falling asleep on their lap.

Vil Schoenheit

· Here, another guy who made stress his life. Some type of stress. Obviously, he must meet expectations.

· This also applies to those around him, or rather, to those who are close to his heart. If he demands so much from someone, it means that he cares about them. In a sense, even his insult when it is constructive is flattering.

· But for an already stressed s/o, dealing with him is extremely anxiety-provoking. You have to be perfect, everything has to be in order, and for an already fragile mind, well, the step to break is not far away.

· Still, he bears a great deal of stress on his shoulders without showing it, but he doesn't notice that others can sometimes be overwhelmed, and his manners aren't exactly delicate when it comes to appearances.

·  S/o are almost afraid of him every time his eyes meet them. What will he say? What's wrong with them?

Yes, they know how important the smile is, but they can't do it. In the library they leaf through the book they hold in their hands with empty and dull eyes.

They don't have to look good, on the other hand disappointment for themselves keeps them up all night.

There is no way they can get through this period, not for how they are.

They sigh, placing the book on the shelves and giving up. They fold their arms on the table as they sit, and there they hide their tired faces.

S/o  would like to go into hibernation, everything would be easier. No commitment, no judging eye ...

"S/o, my dear." The firm voice of the Poemfiore leader makes itself heard. It is firm, severe even if placid.

What's up now? Oh sure. They are not sitting upright with their backs. Hair is probably a mess and their eyes have been ruined for days. They already know to suck, there is no need for him to say it. They already hate each other, and there is no need for him to see how ugly their sticky face is with tears.

S/o do not move, as if he were not there, they remain closed inside themselves, in such a state of surrender that not even Vil can grasp immediately. But he understands that something is wrong. It never happened that they ignored him.

 “S/o.” the name is repeated again, but this time it is accompanied by the delicate hand of the leader who touches the hair of s/o.

As soon as the fingertips touch the head, as if they were of fire, s/o spring back, scared as if they had a ferocious beast in front of them.

Vil stares at those eyes so full of fear. Afraid of him.

In their dark circles he sees all the suffering of those days, all the dozing sadness. And in that situation of desolation, they feared him as if he were their enemy, the one who wants to harm them.

"No… Please..."

A prayer comes out of their fragile lips as if he is ready to kill them. He's not sure if they're clear-headed... no, they seem to be in another world. A dark and lonely world.

Vil's white fingers caress s/o's chin. They do not retreat, but tremble as if they were blades.

"I won't hurt you. I'm just worried about you."

His words are clear, as always, but a little sweeter than usual. He patiently sits in front of them, without losing contact.

"You can tell me what troubles you."

Finally the gaze of s/o meets the beautiful eyes of the boy. Eyes so beautiful, admired, and at this moment sincere.

S/o they bend down again, resting their forehead on Vil's hand while holding it with theirs. There they cry, for once without the weight of the angry gaze, but only surrounded by affection, while Vil gently caresses their head.

Idia Shroud

·  Ok, how to say, this guy is made of stress.

· Idia fears the social relationship, people stress him, what is not his room and his computer stresses him. He is not an easy person to manage.

· S/o are practically elected. They are fortunate to be admitted to his. In short, they can remain curled up on his bed without him saying anything.

· Usually are s/o who take care of him, who try to support him and calm him down, but sometimes of course they are the ones who need support ... but well, Idia practically doesn't exist.

· It is not his fault, but even if he cares about s/o in a way that even he did not believe possible, he is not good at social relationships. Very often he will limit himself and stay next to them, still connected to the internet. They don't mind, usually.

But this time the boy's body isn't even close to them. He is far away, in the darkness of the room, illuminated only by the screens. Yes, they are not even totally sure that he is aware of their presence.

Ortho, to their disappointment, is not present.

S/o don't need to be there, but for some time now they have felt a lump in their throat that they can't swallow. They have failed a test, and there is no way to recover it, or so they believe.

The truth is that they are nothingness.

They have to study, but loneliness echoes in their head. Nobody wants them.

So they slipped from the leader of Ignihyde to find comfort. It would have been fine even if he had been silently beside them, but no, he was elsewhere. They had seen an excited light in his eyes when they arrived. Maybe chat with someone online? Of course, those friends are better than them.

A failure, a weight, that's s/o.

Small tears wet the already dimly lit page.

In the darkness in which they find themselves, they sink into the anxiety and fear that they have been holding inside for weeks.

That horrible feeling of emptiness that causes the brain to tilt.

Idia does not notice the sobs. S/o are hidden, curled up into a ball on the boy's bed. Nothing makes sense to them anymore. More they cry, more they lose consciousness of their surroundings, and everything disappears.

Idia is too caught up in his game. He does not really notice that s/o are not well.

Only when he turns enthusiastically to communicate something to them does he hear them.

Sobs are louder now, but they don't know it.

Heart breaks in Idia. How long have they been crying? Two hours will have passed since they arrived. Why didn't they speak?

Oh God, it's his fault ... he sucks with people so badly, and he always ends up hurting them.

Maybe they came to him because somehow they believed he made them feel good, didn't they?

He gets up from his chair, unsure of what to do. Embarrassed he approaches them.

God, they seem so fragile. Will he break them if he touches them?

Slowly, as if he were dealing with a kitten, he places his sweatshirt on them, and then, a little scared, he sits next to them.

They seem lost, s/o don't react.

Idia feels the butterflies in his stomach from agitation. Suddenly, it seems to him that the figure of s/o is fading away in the dark of the room. It's scary.

Shyly he stretches his arms around the small figure and carefully pulls them into his chest.

He feels their sobs freeze for a moment, almost frightened, and then finally the muscles relax, while they abandon themselves to him.

"Sorry, I'm a delusion..." They murmur, clinging to him.

So is this what they think?

"No ... you ... I ... find you beautiful ..."

He speaks shyly. He's not exactly that these words are what they need, but that's what he really thinks.

His cheek is warm against their head. Maybe he's blushing.

How can they not smile at this?

[ratsoh-writes]

Okay I have this request I just thought of it and I think it's cute but feel free to ignore it if you didn't wanna do it- how would the guys react to a shy crush who's sometimes speak their mother language with their sibling/friend the boys and they always seem to get blushy randomly while glancing at the skeletons- they later know from one of their friends that speak the same language that the crush was gushing about how cute the boys are and just generally crushing so hard and just doesn't want the boys to know- how would they react? Would they confront the crush about it?

(side note the friend just got tired of watching the crush just simp so hard while Literally doing NO MOVES because of how shy they are- it's just painful to watch)

Sans: he pretends that this information doesn’t affect him at all, but on the inside sans is practically shouting for joy. He had a suspicion that you liked him back but this just confirmed it. Sans will start testing the waters by openly flirting with you

Papyrus: he’s so happy and excited!!! Now he has to plan the perfect confession. No point in waiting, especially since he knows you like him too! He’s going to memorize a few phrases so he can confess in your mother tongue

Star: he’s nosy, and the giggling and staring was really bugging him. Now that star knows why, he’s going to want some payback before he confesses his feelings. Each time he catches you speaking your second language with your friend, he’ll be SUPER flirty and will claim that he finds bilingual people attractive. The goal is to fluster your as much as possible

Honey: chances are, he probably already knew. Honey is a translator and is very good at picking up languages. But he’s also a big weenie and will just get flustered each time he hears you talking about him. He’s too embarrassed to admit he knows what you’re saying

Red: sure he’s happy to hear it and all, but red won’t act on it. He’ll flirt with people if they start it, but red only commits if someone straight up tells him they like him. He’s too much of a wimp to confess himself

Edge: this pleases him. Your friend has done well. Edge is very happy to finally know that his feelings are returned. He ups the flirting and romantic gestures while he plans how he’s going to ask you on that first date

Mal: mal is a little sadist who likes to see his loved ones suffer, so you bet he’s going to do his best to learn your language. And when he does, he’ll reply to your gushing with a cheeky “YOU’RE RIGHT or I KNOW” he can’t wait to see you squirm

Cash: so cash has a bit of a dilemma right now. On one hand, he’s super stoked that you like him back and just wants to start dating, but on the other hand, he could use this. There is so much teasing material here. In the end, you luck out because romantic cash has won the battle against little sh*t cash. A confession isn’t far away

Oak: when he hears that you like him, he’ll realize that he really like you back. The next time you see oak, he’ll ask you on a date. Oak doesn’t mess around

Willow: willow also has a dilemma. You like him back! But do you really deserve a guy like him? It takes a long while for willow to work up the courage, but eventually he’ll ask you what you feel about him. If you’re honest in your interest, then he’ll shyly ask you on a date

[finitevoid]

Favourite headcanons for Jayvie? Favourite AU ideas for Rotten OT4? Rant about Marlos!! What kind of dates do you think Jal would go on? ♥♥

yesssss yes YESSS

favorite hcs for jayvie:

so a lot of people like to have evie be like, super involved in auradon politics and going to balls in fancy dresses and endearing the royals to her and then by extension the vks and like. mmm jay should go with her. like okay. jayvie in matching outfits being all beautiful and charming and endearing the auradonians to them... manipulating the royals into thinking that they’re nice, upstanding young people and just not mentioning all th e Crimes they used to commit... its perfection ajd I’ve wanted to write a fic about this for like. AGES

but also okay jay definitely models evies clothes for her and when she gets bigger and does things like have a business Instagram she’s always dressing him up in her clothes and doing his hair and taking pictures of him and like forcing everyone to look at her boyfriend :). she does it to mal and carlos too but they like don’t like they’re picture taken v much whereas jay lives for the attention like the king that he is so he’s ALWAYS happy to model for her

favorite au ideas for rotten ot4:

oh man oh MAN. okay uuuh lightning round

-way back I had this idea for a set of one shots where i retold the heroes’ stories but this time w the rotten 4 as the protagonists ie Snow White retold except evie is the princess and 101 dalmations retold except carlos is the protagonist etc and it never went anywhere but man I loved that idea

-I remember thinking of a heist movie au where evie and jay would dress up and be all fancy to Infiltrate The Enemy meanwhile carlos and mal would sit in the van. like carlos was the one Hacking The Mainframe and shit whereas mal would come in guns blazing if shit went sideways for jay and evie

-im a sucker for normal modern day highschool aus where like the 4 get sent to Auradon Boarding School and are like. H.

-urban fantasy starring djinn!jay, faerie!mal, witch!evie and of course, our favorite Normal Human Dude, carlos

-I had this one scifi au I concepted where jal were your classic space mercanaries, carlos was an escaped convict for space infractions and evie was the princess of a planet that she abandoned bc Grimhilde. I need to revisit that one

marlos:

marlos. marlos. hnmtnrjewjakak i love them okay. like. the kabedon. we ALWAYS talk about the kabedon but let’s talk about the implications of the kabedon. mal is sitting there, fantasizing about what is, by every means, her ideal life. she’s trying to actively escape how she feels like she’s on the fresh layer of hell by fantasizing about her and rotten four starting shit and pranking people and causing mischief. and the first the FIRST thing she imagines is carlos in a funky ass leather jacket walking up to her and getting all up in her face slamming the lockers behind her head. dare I say horny? LISTENN. she is dating the king. and she’s sitting around like. imagining carlos pulling pranks with her. effervescent. ben needs to watch out. carlos doesn’t even have to do anything and she’s like fantasizing about him. fucking hilarious

(insert obligatory carlos is being mr-steal-your-girl joke here)

but like let’s talk let’s DISCUSS their actual dynamic shall we. so in d1 we can actually see a lot of them interacting but in like, subtle ways. mal is the leader of the gang, as we all know right so when carlos is scared or nervous he looks to mal for support, and in the second scene of d1 when maleficent is practically throwing mal around the room theres this Look between carlos and mal where they look at each other, terrified, and then carlos ducks behind his mother to avoid maleficent. and, of course, a moment in d1 that makes me go utterly batshit is when fairy godmother does like jazz hands when they exit the limo and mals first reaction is to shield carlos and jay with her arms. protective mal. PROTECTIVE MAL

but listen. my all time fav scene with them (other than girltalk obvs) is right before mal gives him the truth gummy in d2. she’s freaking out and hides out in the boys room when carlos is in it, read: she feels safe there. 2. when she’s romanticizing the isle, carlos is having absolutely none. of. it. nobody else really challenges the way she’s thinking like carlos is. carlos is like, reminding her that the isle was painful and traumatic for him, and for her, and she sort of wilts under that logic. (and even the part later on with the gummy holds a special place in my heart because when chad comes like waltzing in and mal is just sort of standing there looking annoyed and carlos is like. get out of my room chad. is peak marlos they’re so salty okay!) (also the fact that chad doesn’t question mals presence in carlos and jays room at all? lmfao? like I know you know we all know that boys and girls can hang out and have it not be romantic but chads an insufferable straight man so I find it amusing that he didn’t point that out)

dates jal would go on:

one of my weaknesses for the rotten ot4 is definitely all of them going to jay’s tourney games so DEFINITELY that and and oh my god I am WEAK for mal wearing jay’s jersey on game day tbh but but I loooove the idea of mal playing tourney too? thanks to @fuck-you-i-am-spiderman it’s all your fault. so them practicing together like YES (and evie and carlos wearing their jerseys on game day but shh shh that’s rotten ot4 we’re talking about JAL)

mal isnt super romantic or anything but jay definitely is and he’ll do shit like get her flowers just to make her blush and be like. you shithead this is stupid flowers are stupid. and jay’s like awww but i love u:( I’m just showing my affection babe. and she’s like SHOW IT LESS STUPID. but she secretly likes the romantic shit when it’s not tooooo extreme it makes her feel loved and thought of:)

but I wouldn’t say their dates are like ur average going to a restaurant type thing maaaaybe seeing a movie together but I think it’s more likely to be like. mal’s like jay come with me into the woods I’m looking for an herb evie needs for her potions. and jay’s like ok let’s go and then they end up racing through the forest and wrestling on the ground for a while (and then making out probably lol) before they go back. and then as soon as they’re in vicinity to anyone else mal pretends like she’s above playfighting like jay and carlos do. but jay knows.