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total-drama-brainrot · 7 months ago

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This Alenoaheather AU is bringing me an unholy amount of serotonin and I love it- I’m still just now discovering it and I wish I knew about it sooner😭😭 But question if I may!

So, by the time Noah gets eliminated, where would you say his relationship lies with Alejandro and Heather? Like, does he leave the competition like, “You both tried to play each other, but I ended up playing the both of you, L” Like does he just think that Alejandro and Heather only romantically like each other, and he was just their attempt at emotionally manipulating one another, or does he at least have an idea that they potentially may feel romantically towards him? Honestly I’m just curious about how his elimination would play out between the three of them-

I'm glad other people are enjoying this AU as much as I am. Me and Perp are slowly spreading our Alenoaheather propaganda and it's working.

It's been established that Noah's elimination in this AU will take place at some point in the early post-merge game, probably either China or the Serengeti (though Niagara Falls might work too. We haven't exactly touched on how each challenge can/will play out since this whole concept has been put on the backburner), which gives his dynamic with Heather and Alejandro time to blossom from the initial double fake dating ploy into something more genuine.

Well before his elimination, Noah's been caught in his double-crossing ways; or to be more accurate triple-crossing, since Noah initially decided to play along with both Heather and Alejandro's schemes with the intention of throwing them both under the bus (or at least reaping all of the benefits for himself). But, by the time his ploy is figured out, the three of them have developed genuine feelings for each other.

As such, Heather and Alejandro are hesitant to have him eliminated; sure Noah somehow managing to pull the wool over their eyes for as long as he did was infuriating, but it was also impressive. Like recognises like, and the two biggest schemers in the game can appreciate when they've been outplayed, aggravating as it is, especially when the person who bested them essentially used their own trickery against them. Also, though the two of them would never admit it, both Heather and Alejandro know that they'd honestly miss Noah's caustic company.

Of course, at this point in the competition Heather and Alejandro are still deep in their "rivalry" phase, so it takes the two of them a very convoluted and overcomplicated conversation to figure out that they both share the same sentiment concerning a certain cynic- since every encounter they have with each other is practically a game of backhanded compliments and dancing around the true meaning of their words. It takes even longer for them to come to an agreement, given how stubborn the both of them can be, but eventually they manage to co-operate.

Which is what leads to The Confrontation, the point in the story where the two fake dating plots merge into Heather and Alejandro putting aside their differences to rule the game together, utilizing Noah as their shared right hand man since he's shown a knack for strategy and subterfuge. After all, why would they want to get rid of the one person on the jet who's able to go toe-to-toe with them in terms of scheming, when they can instead keep him around as an accomplice?

At least, that's the excuse they both use. But the two of them internally can't deny that, even if it was all pretend, Noah wasn't a bad "boyfriend" by any means, and they genuinely enjoy his company. In turn, Noah's accepted that neither Heather nor Alejandro are as insufferable as he initially assumed, and that playing along with their grand plots is actually really fun. (And maybe he also likes the two of them, but Noah would never admit that.)

But there's a a whole cast's worth of people on the jet who the trio also have to consider in their plans; it would be super suspicious of all three of them if the flirting and Aleheather's animosity suddenly ceased. No matter how oblivious the rest of the competitors are, a sudden public change in their dynamic would be the equivalent of waving a huge red flag and screaming "hey, we're in an alliance, vote us out!" Very counterintuitive to their goal of winning the competition.

So the three of them resolve to act as they have been during challenges, and sneak off to the confessional when it's most convenient/feasible to do so, where they can plot and scheme away from the rest of the cast.

This means that, at least to everyone else in the game, Noah's still in this weird grey area where he's actively flirting with both Heather and Alejandro. Or, well, "flirting", since I imagine most of the advances would be initiated by the other party and Noah would play the part of the blushing damsel- or more accurately the begrudging but highly amused recipient, since I just can't conceptualise snarky, stoic Noah being the type to get flustered easily.

I imagine The Confrontation would happen somewhere around London timeline wise (it just feels like the most appropriate place to have a major shift in the plot happen, for obvious reasons), which would give the initial fake dating aspect of the AU time to run it's course without getting stale, and allow the three of them to establish their dynamic as a trio before the merge hits. It'd give Alenoaheather around five or six episodes worth of time to grow closer as a trio (from Greece's Pieces to Niagara Brawls, at least) and have their feelings grow and develop at a natural pace, to the point where they acknowledge that, perhaps, not all of the romantic tension between them is fake.

And then, of course, the Fake Cheating Arc happens. Noah's elimination is the catalyst for this section of the plot, which Perp and myself touched on pretty heavily in one of our reblog chains, and at this point in the story Alenoaheather are in a sort of vague kind-of-dating situation; the three of them know there's feelings there, but they're all more invested in the competition (and their manipulation of such) than trying to figure out what exactly is going on between them. Plus, World Tour takes place in 2010- concepts like polyamory weren't exactly common knowledge back then, so the three of them wouldn't have any basis of comparison for what their dynamic is/would be.

That, and the three of them are all fairly emotionally closed off, so getting them to admit genuine feelings for each other and show vulnerableness to anyone would be like pulling teeth. As it stands, they're fairly content to continue acting as a Trickster Trio, contented to leave whatever's going on between them unlabelled for the time being in favour of focusing their time and energy on winning the million. There's an unspoken understanding between the three of them; what they have is special, inconceptual and indescribable by mere words... which is mostly just an excuse for the three of them not to breach the subject, since they have the collective emotional intelligence of a spork.

That doesn't mean they don't love each other. Because they do, even if some of them (Heather and Alejandro) aren't exactly familiar with concepts like "unconditional love" and "loyalty/compassion for someone besides yourself" and "lowering your emotional walls and being the most genuine version of yourself in front of the people who care about you". It's a steep learning curve, but they're doing their best.

But that's besides the point; at this point in the plot, the trio are essentially a throuple in all but name at the point of Noah's elimination.

That's why his suggestion of playing off of his "cheating" is initially met with hesitance on Aleheather's part- they don't want the one person on the jet (besides each other) they actually care about to risk his reputation, but they also know that it's a strategically sound idea. There's a conflict of interest between their desire to win the competition by any means necessary, and the budding sense of empathy they've both began to develop as a result of their situationship.

Of course, they eventually agree to his plan, and then the whole Cheating Arc plays out as it's been explored previously.

Which means Noah's actual elimination ceremony is a very tense affair.

He's intentionally playing himself up as kind of a scumbag during it, since he wants both Heather and Alejandro to appear as sympathetic as possible to the remaining competitors, so the three of them stage an altercation during that day's challenge where Noah's caught out in his "cheating", and consequently "admits" that he's been playing the two of them and it's all ingenuine on his part, to direct the majority vote against him. It'd kill two birds with one stone that way; Noah gets himself eliminated without having to do much out of the ordinary, since he's already kind of an asshole so all he really has to do is play up that aspect of himself a little and lie about manipulating his partners, meanwhile Heather and Alejandro can reap the benefits of whatever brownie points they gain from being his "victims" by using their own manipulative prowess to adopt the role of the ex-villains, redeemed by their shared heartbreak. Or something equally melodramatic.

Noah doesn't really care about the specifics of it, he'll be long gone before his partners can start playing up their "betrayal and heartbreak", and then soon enough one of them will win the competition. And spoil him rotten with their money.

So, during the actual ceremony, Noah becomes persona non grata. No one wants to sit anywhere near him on the benches, and the remaining cast members form a protective wall between him and a distraught Heather, who sniffles back quiet tears every time her eyes wander too close to the cynic's slouching, impassive frame, and Alejandro who's sat eerily still and taut with disgraced fury, who's fiery green eyes haven't strayed from the burning glare he's shooting towards the bookworm.

Not that Noah's a stranger to receiving glares; the rest of the cast are also shooting him some downright murderous looks. Though he is impressed by his partners' acting abilities. He's also physically biting back pearls of laughter- the gritting of his teeth only serves to make him look unapologetically indignant, and thus more irredeemable in the eyes of their company- because every time Alejandro knows that no one's focus is on him, he sends his cerebral partner a cheeky wink and a smirk. The smug bastard.

Unsurprisingly, the vote is fairly unanimous. Chris doesn't even bother trying to raise suspense or tension by counting the votes, since the result is inevitable. That, and the atmosphere is already so tense and dramatic, the host is revelling in it. Chris even goes so far as complimenting Noah for outshining Duncan's cheating fiasco, showing the audience "what real relationship drama looks like", and maybe even congratulating Noah on almost being as heartless as he is.

He's escorted to the Drop of Shame, parachute backpack in tow, but before he can take the plunge he glances back at his audience. A raging sea of hostility greets him, but within the depths of animosity two shining beacons of light greet him. Alejandro and Heather shoot him a fleeting wave, the ghosts of smiles flickering across their features before they continue their flawless acts, but it's enough to reassure Noah that everything will be fine.

(Spoiler alert, things don't end up being fine for Noah.)

Of course this is all just an idea I'm spewing out. Nothing in this AU is set in concrete and it's always open to peer review or change. That's the beauty of public AUs; you can do whatever you want with them!

#is this anything? i just got home from work and sort of typed this out in an exhausted haze #me when i see the word “alenoaheather”: 🏃‍♂️💨#to be fair i did take a break in the middle of writing this to read kijo's newest fic (it's also alenoaheather and it's INCREDIBLE)#uhhhhh #honestly now i kind of want to make an off-shoot of this au where noah really IS that much of a dick--#and IS playing with their feelings and hits the fortnite Take The L dance during his elimination #“L + Ratio + RIP Bozo + I never loved either of you. Peace ✌��#but for this au. yeah. they love each other so much. it's disgusting #i think me and perp touched on it a little but they do have a situationship going on pre-elimination #it's untitled because the 2000s were awful for any relationship that wasn't straight and monogamous #these three are rediscovering polyamory like a group of cavemen reinventing the wheel. it'll take them a while to fully figure out--#but what they've got going on works for the time being!#need to gather The Council and make us all have a brainrot session over this AU at some point #total drama #td alejandro #td heather #td noah #alenoaheather #fake dating au #silly ideas #long post #replies

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motziedapul · 5 months ago

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I had a thought about Wish and why it didn't work that I don't know if others have mentioned.

It was made clear to me after I saw this concept art for Star Boy what this film lacked. It lacked a throughline of DESIRE AND RELATIONSHIPS; not just romantic desire, though the scrapped possibility of "romance" is what made me think about it.

Also, just wanted to say how ironic it is that Star Boy is so reminiscent of Jack Frost from Rise Of The Guardians while Chris Pine, who voiced Jack Frost in ROTG, was the villain (and best part) of this disappointing film.

Despite being ABOUT people's desires and wishes, both Asha and her grandfather's desires are nebulous. "I want to inspire people", "I want more". More what? Inspire them how? Their motivations are pretty unclear, as are their desires. The King even points this out, and he's right to do so.

It wouldn't be so bad for Asha to want her grandfather's wish to be fulfilled if the film could make you feel emotionally invested in him and his motivations. Love for her grandfather and a grave injustice against him and others is a FANTASTIC motivation, which is undermined by the fact that everyone's pretty darn happy in Rosas, and there's no sign to indicate that there's something deeply wrong underneath the surface.

The problem with presenting a society that needs change in a film is that you need to show why it's not working, and yet by all accounts Rosas is a wonderful place to live. SHOW US, DON'T TELL US, WHY THIS IS A GRAVE INJUSTICE. You have to show who's being hurt by showing them being hurt.

It's unfortunate that a movie in the same month dealt with wishes on stars 10000 times better than Wish did, but Puss In Boots The Last Wish did pretty much everything better than Wish did. That being said, they had a blueprint for how to make Wish work, and they didn't even follow it:

Encanto.

I love Encanto. It's not Disney's strongest film, especially plotwise, but what it lacks in plot it makes up for in getting you emotionally invested. The music, the tragedy, the character relationships, they all work. And even Encanto didn't have a romance, but it had suffering, desire, and something was wrong that needed to be fixed, and most importantly, it convinced the audience of that.

In comparison, you have a king taking people's Wishes away because he saw the destructive potential of unfettered desire and greed, all in exchange for peace and happiness - and yet we do not see people suffering from this decision. We see Asha get angry about it before we ever see why she should be angry.

People have already mentioned that Wish lacks camp, so I'm not gonna go into that, but it lacks camp and any Disney animated film that lacks camp is one not worth watching.

In terms of relationships, the only one in the film that has any sort of chemistry or emotional complexity is that of Asha and Magnifico. They literally sing a love song to each other in the movie, which baffles me because it gives you the idea of a budding romance/non romantic but loving relationship between the protagonist and antagonist of this film, only to be followed by a heartwrenching betrayal that justifies Magnifico's descent into darkness. And that would have been a fantastic story (after removing the weird age gap, obviously, though Disney's no stranger to that).

There is no other relationship in Asha's life that seems to mean anything to her, not even her relationship with her grandfather, because the only interactions we see her have with him before deciding what's best for him is 1 single scene where she actively avoids spending time with him and her mother to sneak off.

In Coco, we understand how important Hector as a great grandfather is, because of this scene.

In Encanto, we immediately see how and why Mirabelle loves her family and is proud of them, and yet also how she suffers from their exclusion and isolation of her.

The character who is *described* as caring for others but never shown caring for anybody only ever has a moment with the villainous king, who himself only ever has chemistry with her and his wife.

What's infuriating is that there's a deleted scene that, if combined with another scene showing Asha's childhood and why her grandfather means so much to her, would've made her motivation clear.

There's a deleted scene where her grandfather sings a beautiful song, and her and her mother sit there in emotional silence.

Would've been nice to have it in the film.

The most interesting character in the film is King Magnifico, which is why they had to scrape all the nuance out of him in the second act. Asha is described as selfless but is deeply selfish and self-centred. Her desires are nebulous. Her motivations aren't convincing. The character they try to sell you is one we never see.

A romance may not have been entirely necessary, but Asha having a real relationship and therefore emotional stakes with someone absolutely would have. It would have clarified and justified her desires, her motivations.

What a waste.

P.S. The Animation in Wish is gorgeous, lively, and well-done, but the rendering, lighting and watercolour effects were badly executed. Please make the proper distinction - the characters move beautifully.

P.P.S. Yeah the music's bad. Say what you want about Lin Manuel Miranda but he's at least talented enough and Broadway enough to know how music can synergize with story and character. None of my criticisms about him as a person extends to his musical ability - Moana is my favourite movie, and he did a fantastic job there and on Encanto.

Apologies for the long post, but after seeing so many rants about this film I realized there's still something to touch upon that people haven't fully addressed.

#disney's wish #wish 2023 #thoughts

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firesofdainix · 4 months ago

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spacetime continuum is such a cool concept! how did you even create the idea? and did you expect it to grow this much? Asking because I love it, back when you first started publishing them i checked the fwndom tag every day hoping youd uploaded a new one •-• its still my favorite series of fics in this fandom

Thank you so much for reading my stories! I admit I never quite expected people to love them much less be inspired, but here we are! March me would be so happy hearing this! So, there are three things that made me inspired to write Spacetime Continuum:

1. Broken AU and its impact in the Solarballs community, such as the Earth favoritism and evil Gas Giants

2. Earth's character being watered down to an innocent planet void of nothing wrong, which frustrates me greatly

3. The Ice Giants playing at most two roles in the Solarballs universes I had seen that time: being non existent, or being victims of the gas Giants.

For more information of the origins of this AU, click read more:

I mentioned that one of the biggest reasons I created this universe was because I had yet to see an AU where the Ice Giants are just as bad as the Gas Giants, and that they go with what the Gas Giants have for them without any coercion. Uranus' personality had been the very first thing I started writing and thinking about, hence my second work for Solarballs being about Uranus, when the paint dries. He was funny to flesh out, from being the insecure planet he is today to the prideful, boisterous and hot tempered character he'd been in the Proto Era. Jupiter and Saturn were the next to follow different tweaks of their character in canon, because my goal had been turning them into complicated and morally ambiguous characters. The Ice Giants are in POWER, IN CONTROL of their horrible actions (though you can make a case for Neptune being manipulated by Uranus, but it's clear he had no qualms killing the other giants and wiping out smaller bodies) in my universe, especially during the war for the position of Celestial Monarch.

The War had already been an integral part of the story, and it was mentioned in my first, now non-canon fic "Mars, god of war" along with hypothetical planets Antichton and Phaeton, plus their relationships with Venus and Mars. But during that, I didn't know what the war had been about, all I know is that Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune were all allies (to also combat the common fanon that Uranus is afraid of Jupiter) and their enemies are Saturn and Planet X. The character of Hades was born, and this drove me to write and flesh out the aforementioned Uranus fic linked earlier, with the earliest mentions of Jupiter accidentally killing Hades, and the animosity between Saturn and Jupiter/Uranus. I didn't expect myself to see the romantic tension between Jupiter and Uranus until now, so that was my fault LMAO

Since this is a series, and not a multi chapter fic, I didn't have to commit to a linear narrative and begin writing one shots about my universe, expanding the characters and the world revolving around the planets. My third fic I've uploaded was about Titan, aka "Saturn's moons hanging by a thread," and the two fics after it about the moons and how the elder Moons were affected by the war. It was an excuse to give the readers more details and clues about what happened before I immediately hit them with the Truth, which is why Saturn merely admonished his moons' actions against Titan in "moon eater." To set up Clues about WHY Jupiter killed Hades in the first place, but making it clear that the story Saturn told IS NOT the whole thing, as we see in "history is a story told by the winners of the fight," there were other factors at play, along with Uranus's ambitious motives (it'll be seen in a fic I'm uploading tonight!) it exposes Jupiter's mental stability and Hades's abuse towards his own older brother that drove him to kill him, even accidentally. And you have to take note this fic was written AFTER plot heavy and clue filled fics such as "after the battle," where Jupiter is written as a megalomaniac that finally got what he wanted; "you didn't know?" Where we are seeing the new personality of Jupiter, and the Ganymede fic, where Jupiter's actions are INEXCUSABLE and shitty. It's fun to see readers puzzling over what the hell happened in the last billion years.

However, since the series is built upon ideas that have taken a long time to consider and new ideas keep popping up, there are times when older fics contradict my new ones, such as changing Earth and Tierra from being the same person to different entities. But I hopefully usually keep my ideas and message consistent. I love having the creativity and using a show about talking planets as my muse and a sandbox for the different kinds of characters and themes which usually play out in the story. I know broken AU gets a whole lot of flack for being the main reason why Earth, Jupiter and Saturn's characters became damaged, but honestly I saw it as an opportunity. A way to integrate the "evil" gas Giants into my AU.

My goal is to keep everyone consistent, well-rounded, and having a defining set of goals and characteristics, including those who are used to drive the story or a character forward, such as Hades, Vulcan, Theia, Antichton and Phaeton, who already have SOME established depth to them other than being the partners of existing planets. I mean... Have you guys READ Antichton in "the consequences of our actions"? He was a bastard, as well-meaning POS who thought he was doing the best. And Hades, aka the planet I created to give Jupiter a character arc, only serving as a plot device? He STILL continues to haunt the narrative. He continues to make Jupiter uncomfortable at the mere mention of him. His murder is seen as Jupiter's power play and not retaliation. That's where I've been going.

Writing the characters who are alive with complex characteristics is something I enjoyed. I enjoyed writing Earth being an unapologetic, arrogant, insensitive asshole who gets on the nerves of other rocky planets. I enjoy writing Saturn as an unrepentant, vain, and self-centered planet who can't apologize without sounding like he forced it. I love writing Sun and how his favoritism, his greenhorn nature when he's been given his system led to the downfall of the solar system and cast permanent wounds to his Giants. And I enjoy writing Planet X, Tyche, Nemesis and Iris, who are up to no good.

The main themes or lessons in my series are as follows:

1. There is more sides to a story than what is given.

2. No one is right. No one is wrong. It all depends on what you're fighting for and the beliefs you have.

3. You need to learn responsibility. You are a born leader, use your talent to the utmost power. Don't play favorites, and discipline them when they go too far.

4. Revenge is a fickle thing: will it make you feel satisfied, or will it just fill your empty heart with negativity?

5. Immortality is sacred. One wrong move against those you love the most and you'll be dead.

6. Favoritism kills.

And a whole lot more I'm not getting into because they'd be spoilers, or they're not fully fleshed out as ideas yet! Thank you for enjoying spacetime continuum, and I hope to upload something about it soon! (Tonight lmao). I... Didn't think thisd get long but IT DID

#chel babbles #solarballs #chel answers #spacetime continuum au #holy shit i wrote an entire essay 😭#but ive been WAITING for someone to ask me this question!!!

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aftokrator-official · 7 months ago

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some Thoughts on chapter 13 now that i've finished:

I LOVE HOEDERER.... i already did but like. Really enjoyable to get his POV in this event and see more of his inner thoughts and motivations. I'm fond of characters who are so tired and worn down and jaded, but manage to hold onto some scrap of hope regardless, even against their own better judgment. A lot like Mlynar in that way, tbh.

regrettably this chapter sold me on hoederines a little. i'm CONFLICTED because i love wines so much, dammit. (and manhoe, but there's not as much of a conflict with my headcanons there.) But their relationship is so good regardless of whether you read it as romantic or platonic.

speaking of, Ines was a delight in this chapter. Love her role as the resident non-Sarkaz Sarkaz who is completely unaffected by whatever arcane bullshit is getting to Hoederer and W in any given moment, so she can yell at them to snap out of it and save all of their lives lmao. I love her deep loyalty and care for them that she expresses in everything but words. ugh ugh i love her

the little subplot with Vendela and the Sarkaz commander who tried to keep her safe was sweet and sad, I wish he'd gotten a unique sprite at least. I kind of want to see her meet Flamebringer now and her reaction to the friendship between him and Perfumer... I feel like there's some parallels there.

We're starting to see some payoff to the buildup with Siege in this arc, and I'm so glad! I've never really understood the hate her arc gets - I know it's partly that I'm biased, she was my first 6* so I'm rather fond of her, and I just really like the whole concept of the Glasgow Gang. And I think it doesn't help that ch12 was (imo) the weakest part of act 2 so far. But also, it was always really clear to me that we've been just... laying the groundwork with her up til now, I didn't really expect her to have big moments or turning points yet? Idk. i kind of want to write a whole post about her arc and my thoughts on it at some point. BUT, I really liked her in ch13, seeing her start to really come into her own and how all the events of act 2 up until now have shaped her decisions.

I'M REALLY SAD ABOUT GUARD ACTUALLY??? :( Tbh I have not really cared much about New!Reunion until this chapter, except for Talulah, but I'm finally getting invested. And Talulah's confrontation with Eblana was AMAZING. I've always seen her as a foil to Talulah - while Talulah started down her path with good intentions and ideals, Dublinn seems to have been like late-stage Reunion from the very start, because Eblana has always cared more about seeking power than about the oppression of the people around her. SO FUCKING SATISFYING to see Talulah, of all people, calling her out on that, and protecting Reunion from her. I really hope we get more of these two in future, and also more Reed in main story please please pleeeaseee.

This chapter was wonderfully cohesive with the themes of tradition and bloodlines vs forging a new path. Siege, Delphine and Horn, all beginning to break away from their inherited roles in Victoria's hegemony and fight on their own terms instead. The Kazdel flashbacks, the spacetime feranmut, and Hoederer's POV - a character who wants to see a better future for Kazdel, while still remembering and learning from its past. Nine, Guard and Talulah dealing with what Reunion means as a symbol, and figuring out what it should become. Shining and Nightingale, confronting the Confessarii and their own past. Even Vendela, having to let go of the life and traditions she'd grown up in, the townspeople clinging to familiarity and the hope that things would go back to normal to the point that it was literally going to kill them. The confrontation with the Sanguinarch was such a great culmination of all of this, with his fixation on blood purity and the glorious lost past of the Teekaz. And he's defeated by several people who all soundly reject his vision of what the Sarkaz "should" be - Amiya, the outblood King; Logos, who does have a "pure" bloodline by the Sanguinarch's standards but refuses to be defined by the role he inherited; Hoederer and W, two of the mixed-race "commoner" Sarkaz he's so contemptuous of (and Hoederer specifically rejecting the idea that the Sarkaz's destiny must always be soaked in blood); Ines, who isn't a Sarkaz at all, except she is, because her family is Sarkaz, and she's always going to be one of them. It was! So fucking good!

#arknights #i need to properly write up my thoughts on act 2 in general at some point but.#CH13 WAS REALLY GOOD

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treblrebl · 1 year ago

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Charting the Course of B&B Part 2 - The Journey

Continuing the rather ridiculous effort to graphically summarize the B&B relationship trajectory, this instalment focuses on the agonizing journey between feelings realization, and relationship initiation, viz. Seasons 5 and 6.

Note: The Y-axis follows a simple 0-100 progression. The categories at each milestone are plotted relative to each other against a range of 0 to 100 points. Entirely subjective.

Season 5: Keyword - 'Devotion'

The season where everything changes. This is where Booth has his blinders forcibly yanked off, and where Brennan can no longer compartmentalize the depth of her feelings. Through all the tenderness, the pining and the utter devastation which the two of them go through this season, one thing remains constant. They are absolutely devoted to each other's happiness over anything else, including their own.

I have changed the parameters for this season's graph to mirror the changes in the B&B dynamic itself. Attraction and trust already reached their peak. Feelings on the other hand have deepened into serious romantic love. With that however, come the opposing forces of hope and fear. And that's what the chart below depicts.

Representation:

Milestones considered:

S5-E1: "He sees the truth of you, and is dazzled by it." - Booth can finally acknowledge to himself that he loves Brennan. There's hope for a new beginning, tempered by the very real fear that the surgery and coma have changed Booth somehow. The 'attagirl' backtracking is frustrating, but at that point, the right thing to do.

S5-E5: "What goes on between us, should just be ours." - Iconic for a reason. This is Booth firmly creating a space which is just for the two of them. This is a possible pivot point - where I believe if either of them had the courage to declare, they would have started a romance much earlier.

S5-E7: "I can't think of anything I wouldn't do to help Booth." Self-explanatory. Nobody notices the little things about Booth the way Brennan does. At this point Booth has patience, and hope. His marksmanship test at the end is another possible pivot point.

S5-E8: "He's big and strong, but he needs someone." - Ah, Hank. Cutting to the heart of the matter. I believe this is the point at which Brennan begins to truly fear the depth of her feelings for Booth, and how far she will go for him.

S5-E12: "I will never forget what you did for him." - Case in point, how far Brennan is willing to go for him. And vice-versa - single-handedly breaking into a lab under Secret Service lockdown isn't something Booth does every day.

S5-E16: "I don't have your kind of open heart!" - Where all our hearts shattered. However, contrary to popular theory, I don't believe this is where Booth gave up.

S5-E19: "Then, in ignorance, I await my own surprise. Although the odds of it involving a commitment to another person are remote." - As much as I hate the trope of using jealousy to make a character recognize her feelings, I think this is where Brennan realizes the fact that the reality of Booth moving on is very different to the concept of it. Even here, I don't think Booth had lost hope. Brennan is more interested in his dates with Catherine than he is.

S5-E21: "Maybe I've lost my advantage because of all the people I'm involved with now." - Ouch. THIS is the beginning of Booth giving up on Brennan. Till now despite the rejection, Booth hasn't once stepped back in his devotion to Brennan. He ignored his heartbreak to give her the prom dance she wanted, he used his witch wishes for her happiness, in whatever form that may take, and he let go of his own trauma to help her get justice. But Brennan is pulling away, she says she can't deal with the deaths and murders any more. Her fear is at it's apex, and she can't see clearly. But to Booth, it looks like an ending.

S5-E22: "No, things have to change." - Yep, that's Booth's hope in a tailspin. Brennan needs a pause, a break, some distance to evaluate her mental state. But she can't communicate it the way she wants to, and Booth is too close to the issue to be able to see things from the right perspective. What she saw as an opportunity for a pause, he sees as her signal telling him he must move on. Crossed signals leads to a year and half of torment.

Season 6: Keyword - 'Inner Demons'

The BIG, notorious, controversial one. You either love this season or despise it. I love it. The character arcs for both of them are spectacular. They both face their worst demons and hit rock bottom, yet manage to climb their way out. Plus, in contrast to their usual dynamic, here Brennan is the one who is a rock to Booth through her own turmoil.

Almost every single episode in this season has a milestone. So much so that I have to use 2 graphs to chart out the course of this season. The first graph uses love, emotional distance and internal torment as parameters, whereas for the second graph we return to hope and fear, with the addition of anger.

It has to be noted that I have plotted each parameter as a composite of Booth's and Brennan's, even though at many points they are at absolute opposite ends of the scale.

Representation (A):

Milestones considered:

S6-E1: The return. Booth is distant, Brennan feels displaced. She's at a much healthier mental space now, but I don't think she had yet found the courage to name what she feels for Booth. But the man in question has moved on. Or so we are led to think.

S6-E2: Enter Hannah. The magnitude of Hannah's decision to CHOOSE him over everything else to someone with Booth's history is a separate post in itself. Suffice to say, Hannah coming to DC changed things drastically. The emotional chasm between B&B widens.

S6-E3: "Booth will give himself to you completely." - Ouch. Brennan speaks from experience. But Hannah is moving in, and there's no space for Brennan.

S6-E5: "So basically, you just saved my life." - They're Booth and Brennan. Distance is slowly being erased. The wall that Booth erected in Afghanistan between him and his feelings for Brennan receives a solid blow thanks to what she did for Hannah.

S6-E7: "But you agree that love is an idiot?" - Oh Brennan. Who are you trying to convince?

S6-E8: "Parker thought I was cool when I did the cannonball into the pool. Do you remember that?" - Bren, you're breaking my heart.

S6-E9: God.

S6-E11: Gravedigger gets shot, all Brennan can think about is Booth. The shell, her smile. Booth's protective wall beginning to disintegrate.

S6-E12: "There's only one person you love the most." - Oh Booth. I don't envy you.

Representation (B):

Milestones considered:

S6-E13: "The evidence says that there's something wrong here." - Booth's anger is frightening, but most of it is directed towards himself. Whatever hope he regained in Afghanistan, he's lost it. He's afraid that love just isn't on the cards for him. Brennan however, is the one holding out hope this time.

S6-E14: " Happy Valentine's Day Massacre, Booth". - The first ray of sunlight from beyond the dark, forbidding clouds.

S6-E15: "I just don't like the idea that my partner thinks that me and Jacob Broadsky are in any way alike." - One step forward, two steps back. Booth's internal struggle with his past and his mentor's turn to the dark side are doing nothing to help dampen his ever present anger. Brennan stands strong in the face of it.

S6-E16: "A time may come when you are no longer angry, and I am strong enough. Maybe then we could try and be together."

S6-E18: "Just because you can explain something doesn't mean its explicable. Like us. We don't make any sense at all."

S6-E20: "I never told you how much it meant that you stayed with me."

S6-E22: Doesn't need any further elaborating except that the fear now is losing each other without having had each other.

S6-E23: "I'm pregnant. You're the father."

#bones tv #bonestv #booth x brennan #seeley booth #temperance brennan #why am i doing this #oh god this is long as hell

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visgrapplinghooks · 1 year ago

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friendlinghood: a proposal

skip to "terminology" if you don't want the long explanation

QPRs are really difficult to talk about because of the way the modern queer community has kinda framed it as like "dating but without romantic attraction"

when that's not entirely true

I mean, you COULD say that's a kind of QPR but it'd be a mistake to frame all of it that way. this is in large part to internet misinformation and shit as well as amatonormativity from which a lot of relationship discourse is framed against

queerplatonicism, from my pov refers to what is essentially the natural byproduct of queer and neurodivergent people having close friends

the queer community has been aware for a while that its members would have close friendships that in some way violated traditional social norms for behavior outside romantic relationships or family, etc.

when you sit outside the neurotypical and patriarchal norm, the conventional social understanding of what relationships are kinda breaks down for you

you display levels of closeness and intimacy and affection that are "inappropriate" for neurotypical and patriarchal society. in most cases they're not formal relationships, but natural evolutions of friendships between queer and neurodivergent folks

cishet people actually do have variants on this like the concept of "blood brothers" where two men who love each other basically make a pact to always have each other's backs and be their support and they do the whole movie thing where they mix blood to bind them together (it's a very cinematic thing, but the point is it exists in the popular consciousness)

"romance" and "friendship" each refer to a set of social norms and expectations. there's like a whole narrative constructed around those concepts and people internalize and have their own versions of them

a lot of people probably have friends they want to fuck or kiss or cuddle or declare their undying affection for but it'd just be "weird" within the social boundaries of acceptability and so people pigeonhole their relationships into either friend or romantic partner.

queerplatonicism (from my pov) is essentially accepting or practicing relationships which are neither platonic or romantic or even strictly familial. many queer people have them with other queer people they're close to. if you know queer folks then you probably know what I'm talking about - the friends they have that they're not dating but seem intensely attached and close to. they usually have weird names for each other that go beyond friendship like they'll jokingly call each other wives and husbands and siblings and partners... but it doesn't feel quite entirely joking. they'll express a lot of physical affection in the casual way you might typically ascribe to romantic partners. they'll prioritize time with those people as much as any romantic partner they may have etc.

straight and cis people and neurotypical people obviously experience them to some extent, it's just that patriarchy was built around cishet neurotypicals in particular, so it tends to cling to their mindsets more strongly, and once you're already outside of the "bounds of normalcy" by being queer, ND, etc. then it's a lot easier to feel like it's okay for you to be in relationships that aren't "normal".

because like the idea of loving someone with your entire fucking being... it's so tied up in these cultural ideas on how to behave about those feelings and it never made sense to me, because if you just let yourself feel those emotions you start to realize there are people in your life that maybe you love so much more than friends. but "more than friends" is so washed up in romance that you force those feelings down and think "this is fine, I'm happy with being just friends, what else can we be?"

maybe I don't want to have sex or hold hands on a ferris wheel or get. married or kiss or any of that. maybe I just want to exist in the same room as that person know that that person is in my life and know that person cares about me just as much as I do them.

terminology

I've started to use the term "friendling" in my day to day life, now. the term is a portmanteau of "friend" and "sibling" and "loveling" (the english cognate of the German word "lieblings" which can mean "favorite", but is also a term of endearment).

to me, it's probably the most accurate way to describe the Everything All At Once feelings that are simultaneously your weird friends that are your found family and also "romantic" but twisted beyond recognition where the term stops meaning anything.

I'm just throwing this word and explanation out there for anyone who feels like me and wants to use it too. not exclusive to queer people or neurodivergence or anything, I just think it's often easier to be cognisant of those feelings when you are queer and neurodivergent.

that being said, I do NOT want this to be folded into another "attraction label". this is, as far as I can tell, not a unique form of attraction but quite literally the opposite. it's an abstraction of the core impulses of attraction that ALL humans experience without the labels or social structures built around it. I do not want the language that I've spent so long trying to find for my experiences losing all of its value and being reapporpriated into the amatonormative, allonormative, and cisheteropatriarchal framework.

"friendlinghood" - is what I see as an attribute of relationships and the extent to which they deviate from socially conventional definitions of a relationship.

"friendlingship" - used grammatically like friendship. referring to any complex relationship acategorically.

"friendling" - used grammatically similar to friend. referring to those involved in any complex relationship acategorically.

all of this shit is nebulous and doesn't really mean anything beyond what meaning you choose to give it. I think any relationship can have some amount of friendlinghood and I don't think there's a clear line between friendlingship and friendship or romance or family, because it's not a type of relationship in the first place. it's just silly words I made that helped me.

language and labels

so the biggest problem with terminology like this is you can end up creating labels. my point was to create personal terms for myself and my relationships because that's what helped me personally process my own feelings.

that's not to say everyone needs or benefits from them. you can just vibe and do whatever you want and many people are happy with that.

I don't think words like this being codified and standardized really helps anyone. it's unavoidable that we as humans like articulating feelings, but the entire point of my interactions with friendlinghood is about certain things defying labels and language. language in this sense is just a tool, it's a hammer for a nail. it's not embodying the concept itself, it's just useful shorthand.

I will still freely refer to friendlings as close friends, best friends, found family, and other words. as long as I know the intention behind it is all that matters. I just needed that initial bit of language to articulate the feelings before the other words felt right to me.

#romance #relationships #healthy relationships #friendship #neurodivergence #actually neurodivergent #actually autistic #lgbtqplus #lgbtq community #lgbtqia #aromantic #aromanticism #acespec #aspec pride #asexuality #aroace #queerplatonic #queerplatonic relationships #queer

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avelera · 2 years ago

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Random warm-up thoughts as I dive into writing this weekend (ayooo!) but as much as I am a firm believer in bisexual Hob supremacy, the OG fan of it being absolutely inextricable from his essential identity, this man fucks and he fucks regardless of gender...

(And here's where we get into some lengthy Giving Sanctuary Behind-the-Scenes!)

... when I write him in a historical context like Giving Sanctuary I do write him as coming from a time when marriage was simply understood as being between men and women.

Let me explain! (And by doing so, let's also explore what marriage meant historically for much of Hob's life, what divorce meant, and why male friendships really were like that in such a way as to make it very hard for Dream and Hob to parse if the other is interested in them romantically as well.)

To clarify, I don't mean "marriage between a man and a woman" just in some conservative, reductive way. Throughout history, many het* couples didn't bother to get married formally, officially before a priest or whatever in Europe, particularly if they were peasants like Hob, because marriage was a formal affair, more of a business transaction, all about the sharing of property. Marriage wasn't necessarily even romantic or aligned with romance as we'd imagine today. This is a sweeping generalization that's not true across all the periods Hob has lived through, even by 1689, but I just want to make clear where I'm coming from for the next part.

Hob certainly had other life partners before Eleanor, in my mind, but Eleanor was the first person he married with the intention of founding a dynasty, so to speak, sharing property, and having official descendants, as part of his grand plan to sort of pin himself to this world and immortality by having his many times over great-grandchildren by Eleanor to look after over the years.

Hob in Giving Sanctuary still thinks of a relationship between a man and a woman as being... not more legitimate by any means, but as being more formal, having more privileges in terms of recognition by society, and this is not me trying to be a pedantic jerk or make Hob homophobic, far from it. He has had deep, abiding love affairs with men for long stretches of time (obviously for Hob, not a lifetime), relationships he'd see as just as emotionally legitimate as his marriage to Eleanor. Relationships he was probably even open about with his inner circle as being sworn to one another and exclusive. But that wasn't marriage in the historical sense of his time and place pre-1689. That's not the binding of two houses, that's not confirmed by wider society at large, which Hob so hungered to be a part of in the 1500s. Hob would never be against the idea of being married to a man, formally, but it's so far outside his context in the 1600s that the thought doesn't even occur to him as something that might be available to him, especially with regards to Dream, or occur to Hob that Dream might consider it as an option with Hob.

(For the record, Dream is part of a supernatural world that would absolutely see marriage between two men* as totally legitimate, but Hob does not know that and it would blow his mind to learn that Dream is metaphorically doodling the seating charts for their grand eldritch wedding as we speak.)

Which brings me, first, to Calliope and Hob's borderline masochistic insistence that she be the one to go to Dream when he's grieving, to patch things up and maybe get back together and forgive each other. Keep in mind, Hob also lives in an era where divorce was practically unheard of except for annulments due to lack of consummation or because of adultery, along with a few other very rare and very expensive exceptions. Divorces were quite hard to achieve. To Dream, when he says Calliope is his former wife he means it in the modern sense of they are divorced, something that was legal and regularly practiced in say, Ancient Rome, so Dream is very familiar with the concept. Hob, less so.

So one very subtle miscommunication happening when discussing Calliope is that when Dream says "former wife" he means it in a very final sense of "legally" divorced, separated, no longer a family unit. Hob, however is hearing something more along the lines of "separated" - they had a child together so non-consummation is clearly not present. She was a wife, not a partner, she was a goddess so it was a binding of houses, a contract. To Hob's ears, he's hearing that Calliope and Dream no longer live together but that doesn't preclude Calliope moving back in down the line and simply resuming the marriage where it left off, particularly since she does not mention having remarried or found another partner since then.

And furthermore, this woman/goddess is the mother of Dream's (deceased) son! She has precedent over Hob as Dream's lover. If she shows the least interest, or if Dream did, Hob would bow out in a heartbeat (a brokenhearted one, of course). Because that concept of man/woman* marriage being somehow more legitimate, more open, more accepted, more formal applies here. He could still, in theory, be Dream's lover on the side if that were to happen, not that he dares hope for that, but if Calliope returned, the agreement to tend one another might even be in jeopardy, because the whole "helpmate" thing is built into the concept of marriage.

One reason for Hob's obsessive insistence on being Dream's friend and being sworn to tend him is that it keeps the door open to staying by Dream's side, albeit in a more limited capacity than now, is if this estranged wife ever decided to return. He could still at least have a claim to some fraction of Dream's time as his friend if that were to happen. Calliope really did need to insist that she has zero interest in ever returning to Dream, yes, that many times over and then force the issue by refusing to go to Dream's side to comfort him before Hob really understood that this marriage has been truly over for the past 2000+ years and not just temporarily suspended.

Now, speaking of Hob's claim to being Dream's friend, another perhaps subtle, almost invisible element of this story that is hard to comment on within it because it would be as natural to Hob (our POV) character as breathing and therefore not something he'd mentally comment on, is historical male bonding.

Much of why it's not obvious to Hob (or Dream) how they feel romantically for one another is because both are from a context of a pre-Puritanical, pre-20th c. homophobia mindset as far as male closeness. Men historically embraced, held hands (yes, sometimes to show they were together so they wouldn't be seen as easy targets for mugging, a practice still common in parts of the world today!), shared a bed together, and spoke of one another in effusive, indeed quite romantic terms. Just look at some old epics where men swear themselves to their comrades in arms, the fact that Achilles/Patroclus was considered debatably platonic relationship at various points of history, not just because commentators were being dense but because loving your male friend so much that you wanted to die without him was just kind of something guys said in many warrior cultures. Many aggressively (by today's standards so * needed) heterosexual, macho, warrior type men thought it was effeminate to love their wives too much and not prefer their male friends and not as sexual or romantic partners necessarily.

My point is, when Hob says things like how wearing Dream's colors would just make the outer appearance match the inner heart, he's speaking in the way men talked about their close friends or even their superiors, a beloved liege lord, back then. He doesn't think he's saying anything particularly romantic, and indeed, for his context he isn't saying anything particularly romantic! Even sharing a bed or cuddling for warmth wouldn't necessarily be seen as explicitly romantic or sexual. Men were just more demonstrably close to one another in many eras he lived through.

Hob has not, to this point, outed himself as in love with Dream at all despite all the (by modern standards) romantic stuff he's said or all the times they've cuddled or touched one another. Everything they've done could be seen as just them being very close, but nothing has been romantic or sexual in any way that would necessarily be questionable for that time. And that assumption of Hob's, that all the affection they've shown to one another is plausibly platonic, is doing a lot of heavy lifting right now, combined with his own insecurities after 80 years of suffering and privation, for how and why he doesn't see anything that has happened between him and Dream as being the greenlight to make his also romantic and sexual interest known.

Dream is just bad at emotions and expressing himself, which is why he's been too dumb to use his words and ask for what he wants yet, lol. But! He is also aware of this effusive male friendship culture (Shakespeare's works are littered with it!) so he too has not seen any behavior that he would take as the greenlight to make overtures or declare his romantic interest clearly enough for Hob to not feel he's misinterpreting based on his own desires.

But we'll get there ;)

#giving sanctuary #1689 fic #giving sanctuary bts

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hyperactivewhore · 1 year ago

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there's something very juvenile and shallow about klaroline, in my opinion. part of it is because the narrative has never really focused on them unless its for fanservice. klayley, for example, have had ups and downs. they have worked together and worked against each other. they have made concessions for each other, they have killed for each other, and they have made choices for each other. their dynamic feels a bit more adult despite their immaturity at times, and of course part of that comes from their shared responsibility and their shared desire to put hope above themselves. it is through their circumstances that they regard each other differently and begin to treat each other like equals, which i find interesting. personally, klaroline just feels a bit stuck in the teen drama pit, which is why i do not find it nearly as compelling.

I also think it's because Caroline herself is a teenager. Yes, a vampire, but also a girl who's frozen at seventeen and will never grow up out of it, similar to Rebekah.

I'm not sure if it's been said in canon, but in tvd it's pretty clear that vampires are more or less mentally frozen with their physical age when they die. I don't know if that made sense, so: you die being twenty-two = you'll always be twenty-two mentally and emotionally, no matter how much you live as a vampire.

A clear example of that is Klaus, who died when he was twenty-one/twenty-two and despite having a thousand years, he clearly doesn't act like it. Or Rebekah, who in canon died being seventeen: she was clearly an insecure and neurotic teenager in tvd, until they made her act mature and feminist in The Originals (don't come at me for the last part, trying to steal a girl's boyfriend wasn't very feminist of her).

But back to the point, definitely. There was a lack of power between their relationship which Klaus always took advantage of, and Caroline did act like she couldn't stand his sight yet she didn't hesitate before accepting his attention or his gifts imo. I believe is because they weren't supposed to be romantically interwined at first, so the writers clearly didn't know how to handle them and they tried to make look romantic every time Klaus threatened her and snapped whenever she said something he didn't like.

Which failed, and yet fans bought it with their whole "Klaus is the only one who always put Caroline first." He didn't imo and that's final.

And Joseph and Kat, the actress of Bonnie, wanted their characters to have a romantic relationship yet Pl*c said a big no because she's a racist piece of shit. So with the way the writers jumped at the opportunity to not give us the romance between the black witch and the hybrid and instead had him "fall" for the baby vampire is disgusting. Klaus x Bonnie would have been a thousand of times better than any of his other relationships.

And now, going to klayley, I personally don't ship them anymore even though I did once. I agree about how they were more mature than klaroline, but the whole point of their dynamic is that they wouldn't have spared the other a glance if not for Hope. Hayley hated sleeping with him, as pointed out for their daughter in s5, but didn't regret it considering it brought her her hope (no pun intended lmao, or perhaps yes). Still, seeing the development in their relationship was quite beautiful despite everything: they loved each other as family, and one of the few things they agreed on was that Hope was their number one priority.

The whole conception about how Hope was made is strange though, hybrid and female werewolf = magic and most powerful baby as cliché as Renaissance from Twilight, that is three species without any logical explanation other than "we don't want any black witch (especially Bonnie Bennett) to be the most powerful" and "Klaus is a hybrid so he can procreate, despite the fact that he had been killed before having his werewolf side locked, therefore he couldn't get any woman pregnant".

I honestly love Hope, but her whole character revolves around being the most powerful and being the daughter of Klaus Mikaelson who is traumatized after her daddy and mommy died.

But going back to the point, definitely. Personally, I don't ship anyone with Klaus because I believe that to be seriously in a relationship with him, you must be as screwed up as him. It's the reason I don't believe Camille or Caroline could have been with him for a long time, and honestly he doesn't deserve either of those girls (I do though, give him to me.)

Either way, klamille and klaroline have problems of their own, but the fact that they resemble so much the sister he's always been obssesed with??? And the way Rebekah went for Marcel, the person that the show always said was the most like Klaus???

#klaus mikaelson #caroline forbes #camille o'conell #klaroline #klamille #rebekah mikaelson #marcel gerard #hope mikaelson #bonnie bennett #klonnie #marbekah #the originals #the vampire diaries #tvd #to

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rachthepoet · 5 months ago

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Keep Driving Analysis

Oh my, oh my. Keep Driving renders domesticity with vague tableaus, from the mundane to the utterly surreal, counting off on his fingers a new twist on the grocery list. Ahem, well, to me anyhow. It tacks together a collage, one representative of a dreamy relationship. Romantic, but showing simultaneous unsteadiness. It's a masterclass in delicate deception and extended metaphor, one of those songs I'd personally pull to illustrate just how beautiful Harry has a hold on his art lyrically and musically.

Maybe I'm a bit biased, I'll be so frank, due to the utilization of the stream-of-consciousness poetic style. The intentional lack of organization is such a willful move on the artist's part. A bold and unusual form to be brought into song lyrics due to how off-putting it can come off to the listener, but Harry takes that possibility into ownership and uses it to strengthen his work. The inclination to seek solace while in perpetual motion. Impeccably, may I add.

Here's a deep dive (or should I dare to say drive?) into Harry Styles' Keep Driving, from a poet.

Harry S. & Paul M. 🚗

Something that hit me on the first listen, and persistent in all the listens to follow, is the striking similarity between this song of Harry's and Paul McCartney's Junk. The Beatles and Paul himself have been ingrained in my livelihood since I was small, on car rides with my mother who took my conversion to Beatles fan very seriously. So, maybe it's too natural for me to find any association between the two, but I promise there's a direction to my madness. First, for context's sake, let's talk about McCartney's song, Junk.

Junk is a contemplative piece delving into themes of materialism, nostalgia, and the passage of time. The way I hear this song, it stands against the concept of "letting material things go" with a focus on keeping close to the heart old material things that hold the sentiments — but, parallel, it also opposes consumerism and frowns upon just how fast the economy wants people to live their lives. There's this encompassing of the transient nature of life itself, with a rattling list of items becoming metaphors. Acknowledging, though, the tendency for once-cherished items to turn forgotten & obsolete.

Keep Driving could be illustrating something similar, I suppose. Well, not suppose, I believe it, actually. The constant change of scenery in the song, very reminiscent of McCartney's, can illustrate this transient nature, and even a haunting sense of impermanence lingering underfoot. The narrator and subject drive a faulty car, passing memories and new technologies along the way. "Something old and something new", as Paul himself would say, and does so in Junk. Despite all this change, one thing is blatantly stated as permanent: I will always love you, a favorite part of the song for my hopeless romantic heart. Anywho. Despite the faults in the engine and the brake — all a metaphor, of course — this sense of adoration and devotion courses through his veins for his companion. And there's confidence that'll never change for him, despite the transient nature around them. Or, even, the transient nature that has seeped into their own dynamic, closing in. I find it quite romantic, this proclamation of love in the midst of it all, but I better save my yapping on that for now.

Lyric Pull Apart 🚗

[VERSE 1] Black-and-white film camera Yellow sunglasses Ash tray, swimming pool Hot wax, jump off the roof

The scenery has been set into motion, utilizing that writing technique I tried to sneak into your head before. Yes, stream-of-consciousness. Here, we're given a hint into the structure of the song lyrically: the verses will be chronicling and reminisicing on memories shared between the couple, while the chorus will be a constant that the song circles back to, a stark contrast between fantasy/nostalgia vs. reality. With this importance of the structure, each verse and further sections will be kept intact visually, like above. Okay, shall we get on with it?

Black-and-white film camera: This as the opening lyric is something so genius to me, as I'm accompanied by the visual of the clicking noses of an old camera before you go to watch back memories you've captured. Which, I believe, sets the tone for the rest of the verse — and then for the second verse and bridge to come — in terms of the whole piece's structure solidified. This also gives us a look into the two characters in our narrative I believe. The film camera leans into nostalgia, as both of them tend to lean heavily into memories. This feels like a bit of foreshadowing to the core conflict, the tendency to trick oneself into hiding in the pleasures of what has been instead of focusing on what is now.

Yellow sunglasses: I think there are two ways one could go with interpretations of this detail. Well, three, if you could that it could just be the color of the frame of the sunglasses he's noticed they always wear. So, yeah, correct that to three. The first perspective ties back to my ramble regarding memories and nostalgia. In films, yellow is used as a memory haze coloring, which further amplifies the conceptualization of memories being remembered.

The second perspective is how it very well could be a nod to the common cliche, seeing the world through rose-colored glasses. Yellow is a color commonly associated with happiness and buoyancy. The suggestion here, I think, could be that his vision of the relationship is more optimistic than realistic, and doesn't necessarily want to face how tings might be falling apart, even though there's already a small concern. That can so quickly turn into a big concern.

Both perspectives can coexist, and, truly, they help flesh out each other. And both are applicable to the core themes of the song, so, really, all of these thoughts can be true and working in cohesion.

Ash tray, swimming pool / Hot wax, jump off the roof: Bringing in the rest of the verse, and looking at the first verse altogether. To the listener, everything seems like a mishmash of words with no correlation to each other. But not to the two of them, and that integrates the smallest detail, but has the biggest implications attached. These are moments, summarizations, associations connected back to the speaker and his partner. Therefore, they're uninterpretable by anybody else. It radiates a sense of established intimacy, which, when we bring in the rift, it now holds so much more emphasis. A harder hit, because we get the taste of sweetness before the punch of the sour.

[1ST CHORUS] A small concern with how the engine sounds We held darkness in withheld clouds I would ask, "Should we just keep driving?"

He snaps back to the current day, the reality vs. the fantasy, thrown out of the yellow haze of nostalgia, face-to-face with the issue with the two of them, the quote-en-quote "engine" in this extending metaphor. The vehicle is symbolic of their relationship, therefore the engine is representative of the health of their bond. This is the metaphor one has to remember in order to envelop oneself in the true beauty of the song.

A small concern with how the engine sounds: The chord played in companionship with this line is a shock to the ear, pulling the listener out of the laidback groove. It amplifies the shift of the speaker, the reality vs. the fantasy. This is our first implication in the lyrics that something is off, something is in trouble. But the interest in the details is low — he aches to continue wading into the impressions left in his head, the memories he doesn't want to abandon to face reality, whether it's the relationship with this other or something that extends beyond.

A sprite of concern saying, "The engine's making a funny noise that could impact the car's health" evolves, then, to a sprite of concern saying, "There's this issue between us that could impact the relationship's health". At its very best, it will only make for a minor bump in the road. At its very worst, the damage will be far beyond repair.

We held darkness in withheld clouds: This is a bit of a juxtaposition here, but that in no way negates its value in extending the listener's understanding. It's a beautiful and poignant phrase and is one of my favorite lines ever penned at his hand. We've solidified that the speaker is aware of the troubling turbulence, now taking the form of rain clouds. He knew that storms were brewing under their noses, but decided to keep moving along in hopes they would go. He repressed them. Because he didn't just say clouds, but rather coupled it with the term withheld — to keep something back and not share it. And, a little detail in this line I find interesting is the use of past tense. We held darkness in withheld clouds, with the past tense informing that they were no longer in the situation. But he could be looking back with a tinge of regret, in this inner conflict with himself. Trying to work out if he should stick in his ways, in his unhealthy coping tactics, to continue his emotional coasting.

I would ask, "Should we just keep driving?": Is it avoidance? Is it acceptance? Complacency? Apathy? All of it? I'm partial to the last one. He knows something isn't quite right in the engine, but chose those yellow sunglasses of optimistic haze anyway. He wants to ignore the negative parts of their relationship like an inexperienced driver wants to ignore a weird engine sound they don't want to deal with. This common feeling that maybe things will be okay if they wait it out enough. But, still accompanied with I would ask, which I feels like has an undertone of uncertainty of his choice a bit, in the way the chorus ends.

All three of these lines working together makes the chorus intriguing and draws one in, even if kept in such a small package. There's an acknowledgment, concern, then avoidance masked as acceptance. It's such a great chorus, can you tell I love this chorus?

[VERSE 2] Maple syrup, coffee Pancakes for two Hash brown, egg yolk I will always love you

Full disclosure, this verse makes me blush and giggle whenever I hear it. His voice is the softest he has sounded in this piece, which makes sense because it's the softest moment in the song. It's so fairytale-esque and dreamy in the ear. Also, the simplicity of it is saccharine sweet, a beautiful love letter to domesticity that rocks juxtaposition in comparison to the first verse. A constant routine he's reciting because it means so much to him.

Maple syrup, coffee: What's on the table in mornings spent together...

Pancakes for two / Hash brown, egg yolk: Sharing breakfast and sleepy, still-waking-up conversations...

I will always love you: Breakfast, breakfast, and suddenly, a love declaration. It's arguably the most blatant he's been in a romantic song, not hidden behind flowery language or poetry. Though, it does have a poetic flow and intention, but I'll get into that soon. Anywho, through the verses we see him chronicling memories held onto, all the sweetness before the turbulence set in. The memories of mornings spent together in the sickeningly sweet domestic atmosphere, and those are the kind of things he wants to grasp onto as they hit these rough patches. But this line is a stark outlier and disrupts the flow a bit, demandin your attention to be drawn to it, and I believe strongly that it's all in smart design. A full senence of his feelings rather than the expection to continue chronicling what's tangibly in front of him.

In breaking the pattern, it feels like he just couldn't hold it in any longer, that those three little words had to come out then and there. Here are our memories [through the black-and-white film camera], and I loved you all during them. Let's keep driving, I love you still, love you now. Here's our favorite breakfast to have together, remember that? I want to love you for so long.

Before we move past this though, gotta poetry geek out for a moment. This verse is the only one of the song to follow a meter — 4/6, with four syllables in the first and third lines and six syllables in the second and fourth lines — and a rhyme — ABCB — which in turn creates a stable feel and flow to it. Though it's not a concrete rule, often, this is something used very purposeful in poetry and leans more coincidental when it comes to songwriting. But, no matter the medium, whenever a singular section of a piece is set to break the pattern of the rest, it draws attention, and that's more than likely intentional on the artist's part. And I don't underestimate Harry ever. So, I will be proceeding on with the assumption that it wasn't just coincidental.

With this understanding, the second verse becomes even sweeter as it implies stability, which means a lot in a verse that reads as a love letter/romanticization to the domestic life. Saying that those things will always remain stable, even with the metaphorical engine problems and the pent-up darkness in their withheld clouds. Among all, these are our constants I'll keep drawing us back to. The breakfast we like to share, and the fact that "I will always love you". The use of the word always adds a prominent subtext of confidence, even if it's through yellow colored sunglasses.

[2ND CHORUS] A small concern with how the engine sounds We held darkness in withheld clouds I would ask, "Should we just keep driving?" Should we just keep driving?

There's not much difference between this second chorus and the first rendition, except one thing. The repetition of the core conflict of the piece, and I find this significant because of the order of the song up until now. In the first verse, he thought about their exciting memories, ones that embodied fun but also fleeting. When facing the inner conflict the first time around in the first chorus, there's this admittance of a problem at hand, a reflection of how it was handled before, and then this wondering if the two should keep repressing the issue. The question still lingers as he's asking it, with an uncertainty of it being the next step to be taken, though it's presented as a substantial one.

In the second verse, we're also in a reminiscence stage, but this time with memories embodying the heart and a sense of routine, in turn, stability. Remembering love and domesticity in its wholesome glory, and a sense of permanence in its final line. Then, we're back to where we are currently, with the second rendition of the chorus, the inner conflict is revisited, and the core question is repeated without the I would ask preceding it. Which gives off a sense that he's made up his mind. He wishes to keep emotionally coasting with his partner, to pick the optimistic view, having remembered the constant feeling of love by the end of the second verse.

[BRIDGE] Passports in foot wells Kiss her and don't tells Wine glass, puff pass Tea with cyborgs Riot America Science and edibles Life hacks going viral in the bathroom Cocaine, side boob Choke her with a sea view Toothache, bad move Just act normal Moka pot Monday It's all good Hey, you

I call this the everything but the kitchen sink bridge. But, seriously, this bridge works so well in its chaos, and I'll explain. After the second verse, the natural assumption would be for the song to increase its intimacy and domesticity. But, rather, this bridge veers in the opposite direction, becoming less intimate, less domestic. This is all a part of their relationship, assumed, but it's not as specific to them as earlier in the song. And as we lose that intimacy, the grasp on the nostalgia over reality as they mesh into one another, the song's feel changes.

The writing style hasn't changed, but the intensity has. The music behind his voice swells, adding an underlying sense of urgency, trepidation, and apprehension when your focus goes to the instruments alone. Almost akin to a foot pressing on the gas, pushing the car engine too far, almost to the teetering line of complete engine failure. The chaotic nature of the bridge embodies the chaotic moments of the relationship. And, when the focus shifts to the chaos, the reality in opposition to the yellow-hazed memories he's been planting himself in, their bond suffers as felt in the rise of intensity of the instrumentals.

The bridge is significantly longer than the two verses before and is split into two chunks where he's allowed to take a breath. But, in no moment before the end does he stop to beg the question. He doesn't communicate as all this chaos finally rises to the surface, making it hard to ignore. I see this bridge as a moment of emotional release, as a result of the repression before, and it's only when everything is about to hit its peak that he leans back on how he's gotten through it before. Though unhealthy, he finally brings up the question again. The second he does, things return to the status quo -- the music mellows down to the same childlike glockenspiel, a laid-back sway the characters and listeners both fall back to. We have chosen the yellow sunglasses again, as the influx of chaos is too intense to face. We keep on driving, even if it's just a repression. We'll keep on emotional coasting.

[OUTRO] Should we just keep driving? Should we just keep driving? (Ooh) Should we just keep driving?

More repetition is added to the core conflict, to the core question, and the assumed conclusion is given: the choice is to keep on driving, to keep basking in the beauty of our bond instead of looking into the beasts, which will get us stuck in a rut I'm afraid we won't be able to find our way out of. By the outro, the question becomes superficial and redundant because he knows the answer, even before the question leaves his lips. He knows the cycle he's stuck in, the coping through delicate deception. He's stopped trying to bring up that the engine sounds a little off, but rather desperately tries to keep his quickening voice soft, creating a yellow haze in hopes that he won't have to face the chaos again.

I have an inkling this is one of those songs people either love or hate, but, if you couldn't tell by just how much I've been gushing, I love it so very much! It's a song that admits that life can be shitty at times, and that includes the relationships that were once filled with sugar-coated memories, but there's always a sense of permanence that gives the push to keep you driving. Finding the calm in the chaos but almost being chaos together, even in the darkest times. Though poetic, we aren't hiding behind poetry or prose or flowery language, but bringing in the rawness, the realness, the existing and beautiful, even at times our choices can vary into the bad. It's the shortest song on the album, but I don't think it needs to be longer, and think the more condensed feeling only aids. And, speaking from experience, Keep Driving is a whole Kodak memory-maker opportunity when screaming the song in the car. Windows down!

Thank you for reading, you're absolutely incredible! If there are any songs you'd like me to make an analysis of, please send your request to my inbox! along with any questions or insights you might have yourself!

#harry styles lyrics #harry styles lyric analysis #harry's house album #harry's house #keep driving #keep driving analysis #harry's house album analysis #lyric analysis #harry styles #keep driving lyric analysis #my posts #my analysis #opinion #commentary #discussion #theory #music #this song is so cute #I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU such a cutie pie

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yanderes-galore · 1 year ago

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Romantic Yan! Mauga x gn!reader concept

I'D LOVE TO. He comes out on my birthday so this is a bit special for me/hj. Hope you enjoy my take on him! Here's me pouring general thoughts down ^^ (Love you for your Overwatch requests, istg).

If it sounds like I'm self-indulgent, I probably am, my bad.

Yandere! Mauga Concept

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Manipulation, Abuse of power, Kidnapping, Murder/Death, Threats, Intimidation, Violence, Possessive, Restraints, Dehumanization mentioned, Sadism, Forced relationship.

I feel like there's a lot of scary things about Mauga.

First of all, he's huge.

He's been augmented from a near death experience to be huge and powerful.

His name even means "mountain".

Then there's the fact he takes joy in doing what he does... literal murder for Talon.

He even is oddly chipper/chill with his language.

Even when threatening others he sounds so... excited? Friendly?

He seems so nice to be around... but he's still a murderer.

He'd act the same with you.

Mauga calls everyone "friend".

If he met you he'd immediately be overly friendly.

He'd call you friendly terms, like "friend", "buddy", and "pal".

But if he felt flirty he'd probably call you by some sort of nickname.

I'm not sure what he'd call you exactly but maybe "Teuila"? It's the national flower of Samoa (from what I saw)

He could also call you the classic nicknames such as "babe", "baby", "dear", "doll", etc.

It's just "Teuila" seems more unique to him.

Mauga is another one who likes the size difference between you.

It serves as a good way to intimidate you and he likes it.

Mauga is a sadistic sociopath who doesn't appear affected by the crimes he commits.

In fact he depicts himself as "carefree".

Mauga could be the type to slaughter innocents then look at you with a big grin.

He doesn't mind if you fear him.

He'd part of Talon... he loves the fear.

He knows he's a bad person and doesn't mind.

His apathy towards the life of others is what makes him terrifying.

He only really cares about you, his little Teuila.

If I'm correct, Mauga canonically has sharp teeth.

Which means he would certainly bite you.

He may also like to hold/manhandle you a bit.

He likes the power and size he has over you.

Oh, fighting him a bit?

How do you like being pinned to a wall?

In his obsession he is naturally rough.

Mauga likes to have everyone know you're his.

No one should touch you unless they want a Talon agent breathing down their neck.

You could be a civilian or a fellow member of Talon.

Doesn't matter to him.

He plans to keep you all the same.

Would take you to bars when he could find them.

He sees it as a way to bond, probably.

Mauga could isolate you, yet showing you off can be quite exciting.

A silent challenge for others to take what's his... so he can have an excuse to break their bones, most likely.

He isn't one for "messing with your mind" manipulation.

More like... brute force.

He doesn't want to intentionally hurt you.

It's mostly just enough to show his mark on you, not to break anything.

He knows you're fragile.

If you tried to escape this mountain of a man... good luck.

He found Baptiste with ease when he left Talon.

He can find you.

He'll hunt you down and pick you from wherever you plan on staying.

He deserves to have you in his eyes.

You may cry or scream, but any hit against hist chest just makes him chuckle.

Your hits tickle him... he finds it adorable.

His "Cage Fight" ability implies chains.

This is just being clever, but imagine as punishment he chains you to him?

Now you can't run... he'll just drag you.

If anything you begin to look like a pet to members of Talon.

But they allow it.

They don't need Mauga becoming a problem.

Obviously he is quite possessive.

Loves your touch, your warmth, in a weird way your smell.

He may mark you but tries to treat you as delicately as a flower.

Like the nickname he affectionately calls you....

Mauga doesn't care if you miss your family when he drags you back to him.

He feels things would be better if you forget them.

He may end up doing something bad if you don't... wouldn't want that now, would we?

Overall, Mauga is a powerful and possessive man.

He is unfazed by what he does to obtain you... even when it includes others losing their lives for helping you leave him.

Mauga loves the challenge... even finds it exciting.

#yandere overwatch #yandere mauga #yandere overwatch mauga #yandere mauga malosi #yandere maugaloa malosi

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