#SPARROW: it's all a bit tragic isn't it?

[pagerunner-j]

Fair warning, this is probably going to be incoherent. I haven't slept much and I am in a mood.

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I have so many criticisms of CR campaign 3, and a fair few about the finale in particular, but here's where I'm drawing a line in the sand. The sort of complaints from people who've put all their energy into clinging onto a pet tragedy, and then whining about how this story "undoes" it, are doing my head in. It's exactly like the complaints about Donna's story in the DW 60th anniversary specials and I hated hearing it then, too. Because a plot that's still willing to grapple with the long-term effects of something tragic, even though the story eventually turns in a different direction, doesn't erase the fact that the tragedy happened. It's just a story that's willing to let its characters change and circumstances soften until eventually, finally, they might find somewhere to put those burdens down. It's a story that's willing to take a breather in the end and be kind.

What in the world is wrong with that?

Seriously, that's the part we're choosing to be up in arms about?

This?

There's a very real point at which I feel like this attitude is a twisted-up mess of some weird sort of sunk-cost fallacy, crossed with grimdark nonsense. Like, to return to DW, Sally Sparrow brooding through life going "sad is happy for deep people" was not supposed to be aspirational. That was self-absorbed drama-queen bullshit from the get-go. Spending all your time wallowing in misery (and especially other people's misery. Fictional misery, even. I mean, how selfish is that? You want all the woe in the world to be melodramatic about, but none of the personal consequences you claim to be All About, because ugh, that might...suck...? Yeah, no kidding) and pretending that that's more real and worthy and smart, and that it gives you a superior perspective to everyone else? It doesn't. It's not a healthy way to live. And insisting that everyone else has to put up with a sad thing forever, too, because you've pinned that much importance and your own self-worth on it, is really just you dumping your own misery on everyone else in order to go on proving your case.

And it is so much worse (warning here from Editor Page: personal rant ahead, because yeah, this is why I'm getting so angry and frustrated) to do that straight at people who've lived through years of very real tragedy, who are desperate for any of that to get lifted and find reasons to keep trudging on, somehow, somehow, wanting some shred of hope fucking anywhere, please, and who really don't need sanctimonious lectures about someone else's own supposedly superior understanding and how I guess people are just shallow and stupid if they aren't willing to wallow in the murk forever while droning on about how that means they know better. Even if they fucking don't. Give it a rest.

...and, um, yeah, that might be me projecting a wee bit. just possibly.

But I'm exhausted with listening to people who maybe need to stop listening to themselves talk for a bit and could use a smack upside the head with the perspective stick once in a while.

The perspective stick I'm holding says this:

The consequences you won't shut up about still happened. And "consequences" doesn't only mean misery and death and that's it forever. As far as I'm concerned, consequences matter a whole lot more if you still have to live with it. That you have to accept that certain things have permanently changed you and you're still bearing the marks, and even if something good comes along, you're still going to have to do the work to figure out how you fit with that, now. But that still doesn't exclude the possibility that better things could come of it. If you can't believe that, what's the point?

Groaning on about how tragedy is forever and it's worthless if it isn't is honestly the easy, lazy, selfish way out. It's collapsing under grief and then insisting that the rest of the world does, too, because otherwise you're feeling called out and invalidated about the fact that you gave in. And personally, especially after spending a good decade absolutely clinging on by my fingernails trying not to do the same, I'm not fucking here for that. Ever.

So yeah. tl;dr: Some of y'all self-absorbed drama queens need to get the fuck over yourselves and try letting some joy back into your lives once in a while.

Rant ends.

*faceplants into a pillow*

[raeloganthesonic06fangirl]

I find the different breeds of QuackerJacks quite interesting, tbh.

I'm quite partial to either the Standards or the Toys. Although, the Marvel Coat Pattern is charming, and the Non-Sporting varieties are rather entertaining and like to show off. They all seem to like junk food, so be careful about what you give them, and they absolutely require a well stocked toy box.

The Sparrow breed is a bit too aggressive, I think. The poor thing has a rotten disposition and really isn't a good choice for the workplace either, since they can't be cooped up in a small environment. It's really tragic when you think about it. It's really sad to see that some people don't really know how to properly care for thier QuackerJacks, and it shows with this one. Really wouldn't recommend this one for your kids.

[robogenko]

All those horny Jester X King posts got to my head and I made another Fable AU and OC. Even though technically Jesters would have probably well fallen out of fashion by the events of Fable 3, it's fantasy so.. I'll do what I want haha. It was originally just meant to be horny and fun when I came up with the character and foist him on King Logan, but nothing is ever that simple with that man. It didn't take long for things to turn bitter sweet and.... I've yet to get to the horny bits e.e Oh well.

Anyway, here's Lute. They discarded their name and pronouns when they became a performer. Picking up their new handle based on their most prominent skill. Their services were 'gifted' to Sparrow and their family a couple years before Logan became King, so they were all fairly young when Lute came around. Lute themself was similar in age to Logan when they began performing for the Hero family. They loved playing and singing for the young siblings and got along very well with the whole family.

They also develop a crush on Logan that they know is impossible. They keep it to themself for years, knowing that performing for him, and joking with him, and being a confidant is the closest that he'll ever be allowed to be. So he does everything he can to retain his position, constantly expanding their skills and training their body for acrobatic performances in addition to his musical and witty talents, as well as becoming well-versed in affairs of state. Spending all his spare time becoming irreplaceable to the newly crowned monarch.

On Logan's end, he and the jester became fast friends due to their similarity in age and that they both enjoy music. Lute "coincidentally" knew how to play all of Logan's favorite songs, and they actively encouraged him to sing or play along. Spending time playing together and joking around. There may have also been some clandestine 'fooling around'. Alas, youth is the same no matter where you go. However, as it became clear he would likely have to take on the responsibilities of ruler sooner, rather than later, the ever dutiful eldest son began to pull away from Lute in an effort to appear more mature, and began spending more time in burying himself in his studies and physical training.

Lute stays faithful and loyal to Logan throughout his reign. Even after Logan's encounter with the Crawler in Aurora changed him so dramatically. The changes only seem to embolden Lute in trying to take even better care of him. Placing themself as often as possible as someone who can be turned to in even the darkest night.

That's about all I have for them now. Hopefully I'll draw some more of these two, cause I find the dynamic really interesting (and desperately tragic). Oh! Also, they didn't start drawing the teardrop in their make up until after Logan came back from Aurora. That's a fun tidbit.

And in case the writing isn't legible on those two with lyrics here's what they say:

"When you laugh, I forget that it's about me. But it's alright, Yeah 'cause being your punchline still is something..."

"And I remember every song, You used to sing along, but I forgot you changed at all"

[human-barbarien]

I've been thinking about what each of the season 2 daddies would be like if they got infected with the sauce. Idk if you have to be in love with the doodler in order to get sauced but I'm going to assume you don't and you can just be overwhelmed by it's existence.

Terry Jr.: His ark has a lot to do with found family and being kind to people even though you don't know their story, and after getting continuously rejected by scary I think finding his own "children" would be very important to him. So I think that his saucy behavior would be taking in a bunch of rabid little creatures, that everybody else would try to exterminate, and declaring them his "found family", maybe he gets bit by a snake, but like god damn Steve Irmin!! Calms the snake, grabs its head and gets its jaws off of his flesh without hurting the little guy. I imagine him coming out of the sewers, covered in slash and bite marks from the animals he's helped, With a little critter army willing to fight for their step dad.

Grant: I feel like Grant would be a brutal, ravenous killing machine. At first glance it seems like a really shallow trope, BUT the adrenaline he feels when he kills people is the thing has fears most about himself. I think it makes sense for the thing he fears the most to take control of him, especially considering his anxiety. I think that would also be reflected by how he sees the doodler, he says the doodler is like a rabid dog that needs to be put down, I think he sees himself the same way. Also if he had a hunter archetype, it would also reflect the hunting story Daryl told him during the super boul. Basically I imagine him as the T-800 with catholic guilt.

Sparrow: I saw someone talk about how sparrow always tries to copy Henry's kindness but dosent know how to truly love so it's just shallow and ingenuine. I think this would result in a saucy sparrow going to great lengths to get people to love him the same way his dad did. I think he would do that by making a cult that worships him, similar to his grandpa.

Lark: same post I mentioned with sparrow ( I wish I could find it otherwise I would link it) compared lark and norms reaction to the doodler, and how lark saw a little kid who just wanted to be loved, just like him, and therefore needed to be killed. Assuming that a sauced lark wouldn't pursue killing the doodler, I think he would be on a mission of self discipline and punishment. I think he would find as many creative ways to punish himself physically and emotionally to cope with the fact that he summoned the doodler. Perhaps even forming a cult of people obsessed with punishing themselves and the people around them.

Lark and Sparrow: I like the idea of them both forming cults in their sauces states because of all the occult history in their family. I also think it would be tragic if henrys parenting, in attempt to get them far away from the occult, results in them both being prime subjects to start their own cults. And if that were to happen I think their cults should be rivel. It would be so tragic to see their undying love for each other turn into undying hate.

Nick: I literally have no idea lol. His character really made the rounds in season 1 with the time travel and the demon transformation. And I feel like everything we know from season 2 isn't enough for me to come up with something meaningful. Maybe if the other dad's get sauced the kids could find Nicky for help?

Thanks for reading!!! If you have any other ideas, especially for Nicky, please lmk!!! I'd love to know what y'all think. If you agree and wanna add on. Or even better if you disagree and think you have a better idea TELL ME!! I WANNA KNOW!! lol

[babacontainsmultitudes]

OMG YESSS GO OFFFF

Yeah not to respond to your long post with a long post but

😅 Maybe I should preface this by saying that I've been sippin' on vodka so I am writing this a bit drunk, but if you'll humor me,

Firstly, yes, Sparrow is soooo underrated! I lowkey feel like all the hate he gets played into me becoming as obsessed with him as I am over the course of season 2?

But even still, I can honestly pinpoint the exact point at which I became ridiculously concerned with Sparrow's wellbeing, and that was THIS FUCKING MOMENT

In fucking Retail Therapy. I guess it probably wasn't what most people were focused on during this part but oh my god did this little moment hit me like a truck.

It's just- uuuggghh no there's too much to say about this to be able to do so in my current state but wow if the rest of season 1 from this point forward doesn't just SUCK for Sparrow. Literally like all of it is him trying so hard to cheer up his brother and mediate between him and Henry and for what?? For nothing to get better? For Lark to stab Henry??? Not to mention all the little moments of Sparrow being denied his father's love and attention not because Henry didn't love Sparrow to death but because Henry had no choice but to focus on Lark.

And I actually love Lark so much even if I don't talk about him nearly as much, but fuck if he isn't the anchor that's been drowning Sparrow slowly for the past 20 or so years.

AND THE BETRAYAL. The betrayal. Okay yeah the alcohol is hitting me now lmao It's wild to me that after all this time we still don't know for sure whether or not Sparrow knew of Lark's plan before he stabbed Henry, but the implications are fucked and tragic either way. Either he knew, but like Lark he didn't understand the true consequences of carrying out the plan and now he carries the same guilt (or at least a comparable one) with him, surely for the rest of his life- OR, or, he *didn't* know- and that scenario is actually kinda worse I think? Cause like- that Lark- that *Lark* would *use* him that way, *betray* him that way and specifically take advantage of the fact that Sparrow wanted more than anything to reconcile Lark and Henry's relationship and of course accordingly would be thrilled at the prospect of Lark apologizing to Henry and that DESPITE THAT, despite all of that, he still blames himself for the end of the world. Am I making any sense??

Sparrow is marked by betrayal, actually. So is Lark but that's a different post. Lark's betrayal in the aforementioned stabbing incident (depending on the circumstances ig), but also in sleeping with Rebecca. And Rebecca betrayed him here too obviously!

And I see all these posts I love about how Hero is probably Lark's kid- but what I don't see is discussion of the implications for Sparrow. Do you think at 19 years old (if my math is right? Assumed 12 in S1, +25 years into S2, -18 for Hero's age??) Sparrow was ready to have a baby? It's one thing if that was his own doing. But if Hero was/is Lark's? Oh my fucking god. Sparrow's life has changed forever, he's somehow been more stripped of his childhood than he already was, and Lark can't. even. own. up. to. it!!! And it's such a testament to their relationship because Sparrow is *SO* used to holding himself accountable for Lark's shit

And maybe, in a more subtle way, Henry betrayed Sparrow too. I hate giving Henry a hard time because I love him so much, and he tried so hard, and he deserves the world- but I do think he failed his kids. I think in failing to discipline Lark and Sparrow he enabled- well enabled both of them but especially Lark, and in doing so forced the responsibility of accounting for Lark's actions onto Sparrow. Not that Sparrow can bring himself to punish Lark either, but he can spend a lifetime trying to reunite Lark and his father, and he can spend a lifetime living with Lark's mistakes if it means saving him from being completely alone.

But that's not a secret, is it? He says it himself when he's disguised himself as Lark

Henry can't punish Lark. Henry can't punish Lark, so Lark keeps hurting himself, and Sparrow is caught in a perpetual state of trying his best to fix him.

Oh that's another thing- I've seen people interpret this scene as like, "Sparrow was okay with Lark dying on the throne" or what have you. I disagree! I really disagree! I think Sparrow absolutely fucking hates that it's come to this, blames both himself and Henry for it, but ultimately understands that Lark is going to sit on the throne either way- and gets why he has to. He understands that for Lark there's no other option- understands that Lark's guilt runs so deep that he would gladly die if it meant undoing even a fraction of what he's done.

Hence,

But most of all Sparrow was betrayed because he was taught to love. He was taught to love, and every time he loves someone, whether it's Lark, or Henry, or Rebecca, or Normal, it's never enough. It's never enough, and no one ever thinks to love him back.

i have too many thoughts about Sparrow Oak-Garcia that I am barley containing as is.

[line-of-fire]

The important thing to realize about the Sparrow verse, that I honestly didn't realize was critical until just now, is the fact that Red's hope is not lost here. Far from it, in fact.

She's angry, she's driven by her fury at what was done to her, what she had been asked to do. She became disillusioned, sure, bitter over the war machine she had been a willing cog in for the entirety of her adult life. But here's the thing.

If it was just anger, she would have stopped at Pearson. But she didn't, she kept going. And it's because she's driven by her hope just as much as her bitter anger and need for revenge. She fiercely believes that she can still make a positive change, that she has a chance to ensure that it is safe for her to eventually return home.

Now, is this hope tainted and delusional considering the fact that the longer she does this work, the bigger target she puts on herself for the government to kill her? Yes, absolutely, but she refuses to give up hope because at this point? It's the only thing that's managed to keep her going.

She's not an optimist by nature, not anymore; she's a cautious optimist because she has to be. She needs to believe things can still get better, that she can make a positive change despite everything that's happened, and I think it's safe to say that's a common fatal flaw between verses.

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Tag dump for the two new additions to the roster (really just need to make an entire new tag post tbh)

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Huge Sparrow vibes ngl. Cannot understate this.

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Mugshot

just a picrew i did rq for Sparrow, aka what happens when you take DFW!Pixie and let her have a villain arc. As a treat.

[line-of-fire]

Sparrow

Verse description below the cut; blog typical warnings apply.

So, point of divergence this time? Her capture in 2017. Early on in her capture, she actually manages to connect the dots between what happened and realizes two things. 1) Pearson isn't who he pretended to be and couldn't give a rat's ass about her/her safety and 2) nobody was coming for her.

A grim realization to make in a situation like that.

It lets a lot of resentment and anger towards Pearson over what she correctly identifies as betrayal build up early on. And it does trigger a fundamental change in her by the time she manages to escape and is given medical treatment by some locals.

She ends up tracking Pearson down after learning she was marked as KIA, killing him and leaving the body at the US embassy ((she still isn't sure why she did that. Maybe some part of her was against withholding closure from a family, even the family of a man such as Pearson)).

She manages to set up a new identity in Germany as well as a presence in the world of... legally gray operations under the callsign 'Sparrow' as a strictly independent agent. While she does take contracts to support herself on a mission by mission basis with other PMCs, her primary focus is one against the United States 'war machine' and the politicians supporting it.

It doesn't take long for her to develop a reputation as 'Sparrow' and a warrant put out for her capture/arrest by the US government because of her actions.

The one upside to this variation of a post-2017 timeline is that her family does know that she's alive, and that Arnold doesn't end up killed like in the DFW verse. But Sparrow is still unbelievably fucked up as a result of the experiences and the past few years living outside of the law on the run.