#Textual Connections

[bookstattoosandtea]

Cover & Blurb Reveal & Giveaway: Totally Geeked by Becca Jackson

Cover & Blurb Reveal with a Giveaway: Totally Opposed By Becca Jackson Coming October 10th Love In Play Series, Book 3 Alan When you’re crushing on a guy, the last thing you want is to get caught singing their name while naked in the locker room showers. Thankfully, Ryan pretended not to notice. I can play the denial game with the best of them, but I can’t ignore the growing feelings I have for…

[iridescentmirrorsgenshin]

thinking about haikaveh's relationship from the archon quest to a parade of providence being based upon misunderstandings and kaveh actively wanting to avoid confrontation with alhaitham, or disparaging him

and then from a parade of providence onwards, kaveh actively seeking out conversation with alhaitham, feeling comfortable enough to recount his day, drink wine and share snacks together, voluntarily studying together as they had done in the past, calling their shared house a 'home', and going out of his way to search for alhaitham just to tell him about something interesting that happened

their gradual progression has led to them becoming equal companions, and it feels so so deserving - especially with them being perceived as a unit: a unique, exceptional pair (thank you sethos)

[average-hua-cheng-fan]

on hua cheng's morality and self esteem

on my first read of the book, i was actually convinced that hua cheng was this amoral asshole but that's just what he WANTS you to think. hua cheng actually cares a lot about ghost city (founded to combat the injustice of ghost persecution btw), he just downplays his achievements in front of xie lian because he doesn't want to 'trick' him into liking him. he also sees any accomplishments as a direct result of dianxia's influence so it would be wrong to take credit for them. perhaps hundreds of years of playing the part of the terrible calamity skewed his perception of himself even further.

in his introduction in heaven, they say how he would "Sometimes... carry out a massacre in cold blood, and sometimes he would do odd acts of kindness" (page 157, book 1) which makes me wonder what heaven defines as "cold blood." he visibly dislikes the man who bet his daughter's life and mentions killing several tyrants. in creating e'ming, he nearly destroyed himself in order to save those mortals. on the casino in ghost city, "If I don’t control a place like this, then someone else will. I’d rather that person be me." (page 107, book 2.) he has a very strong sense of justice that he hides under 3 million layers of arrogance.

xie lian gets the ability to tell if he is lying early in the book and sees him for who he really is. they're very similar in that they have this drive to do good in the world but think about it and go about it in very different ways. hua cheng even mentions that it doesn't matter how you go about saving the common people, and that xie lian over-complicates what is right and wrong and should do what he wants... but he wouldn't turn that logic on himself :/

anyway

**this is my reading btw if anybody wants to have a discussion im 100% down

[flashhwing]

if you think that Flint is in love with Silver is that really shipping or is that just media literacy

[rubyvroom]

imo the worst legacy of the MCU is the dogged insistence on imposing a strict continuity on everything. Every film that can remotely be tied to another film - if it's a series, what's the timeline and what are the little inconsistencies we can nitpick? Is this a remake or is this remake actually a sequel that's a little over to the left and in either case how can we make this fit alongside the original so that they're all "canon"? What's in canon and what is "erased from canon"? How many references to other films can this baby hold? Etc

Whereas some films are really following a more or less mythological figure (example: Mad Max) in various unconnected adventures and trying to place them all on a timeline with consistent factual details is to me the opposite of fun.

It's like taking all the appearances of James Bond and smushing them together into a continuity where all the movies are the same canon and everything happened - with a lot of fudging and perhaps amnesia you could do that, but why would you? It's a little weird actually? Stop? Turn around, go home and think about what you did?

[vaperarmand]

of course there are a million and one things that go wrong in the "man on fire" fight. it's miscommunication city over there. but truly the real downturn of the fight is when stede starts being mean about ed's fish and admits outright that he only ever complimented it in the first place to make ed feel good about himself. the thing is that it was obvious to the viewer that's what's happening; ed is not a fisherman and he caught one teeny tiny fish after an entire day of fishing. it would probably be obvious to ed too, and were he in a better place in general that wouldn't be a bad thing. because that's what you do in relationships! it was also incredibly charming for stede to be animatedly invested in ed's story regardless of the fact that the fish isn't impressive — he just fucked up severely by throwing that truth back in ed's face.

it's a crux of their relationship in the same way ed's investment in the treasure hunt in "this is happening" is. like, the treasure hunt is silly, the map is not real, the experience is just tramping around in nature all day for nothing, and ed truly dgaf. the main thing lucius tells him is that if he doesn't give into the silly and have a fun time with stede their relationship just straight up will not go anywhere because this is stede showing ed how much he likes him. so ed decides he's going to have a good time for stede. everyone's happy. their romantic relationship builds.

they're both relationship turning points, one that succeeds and one that fails, and they're both from the same source (which is the source of all their relationship conflict): stede thinks that ed needs adventure and that he, as ed's friend and partner, should be the rugged adventurer type to keep ed's interest. meanwhile, ed just wants to chill out forever.

i also think it's significant that as a father, man of whimsy, etc stede has always probably been more naturally good at responding to bids for connection — he's just the first to turn it around and throw it back when his feelings get hurt. but ed, whose character arc has in many ways been about opening himself up to whimsy, had to learn to respond positively in First Serious Gay Relationship 101 (taught by Lucius Spriggs). but it's very clearly a meaningful perk of being in a relationship to him, so to have such a new and good thing ripped away from him is literally thee fatal blow of the whole thing. he says "if you're not taking my fishing seriously, fine" and then walks away for good. my man was right ...... it is everything about fishing!!!!

[commandercoriandersalamander]

two dudes... sitting in a hot tub stone wolf... souls mingled into one complete being but they're not gay

[cinnabarlab]

thinking about (un)beheading at the apotheosis of a characters journey

[thedupshadove]

Horatio and Ophelia are never confirmed as being in a scene together, and do not share so much as a single line of dialogue.

[zhuoyichenpretty]

Today I am thinking about how hilariously and artfully FoF has continued to equivocate on the nature of ZYC's feelings towards WX

[bookstattoosandtea]

Cover & Blurb Reveal & Giveaway: Totally Geeked by Becca Jackson

Cover Reveal & Giveaway: Totally Geeked By Becca Jackson Coming May 29th Love In Play Series, Book 2 Harrison’s love life is a parade of fun, flirty encounters thanks to every dating app you can imagine, but nothing sticks. Finally, sick of the endless cycle of Friday night hookups, he hits uninstall on the apps and challenges the universe to show him that he deserves someone better. What he…

[specialagentartemis]

Annie Moriondo's "Odysseus" may have been written for The Pasithea Powder but Consider: it is the ultimate post-canon Lovelace song.

I have never made an animatic or a lyricstuck but if I did, this is how it would go:

(For @podcastgirlsweek, WIP Wednesday.) (This is Wolf 359 spoilers, big ones, I mean it)

Should have told you I got back last night

Closeup: A shot of a cell phone in hand. Whatever was the popular model in 2009. There’s a text timestamped 2009: “—and I get to show off by telling them my big sister is an astronaut! Good luck!!”

There were no seats empty on my flight

Full shot: Lovelace, duffel bag over her shoulder and cell phone in hand, exiting the airplane into the terminal. The screen indicates arrival from Canaveral to JFK airport.

Atmosphere conditions kept delaying

Lovelace, walking outside, blinking and squinting at the sunlight. Right. She keeps forgetting that Earth has weather.

Over there I lived beside the sea Now I’m just one more evacuee

A double panel; Lovelace in her space suit, floating on a tether in space, looking down at the blue star below; and Lovelace now, hailing a cab outside the airport. She doesn’t have a suitcase, just her duffel bag.

So at least for now that means I’m staying

Close up: Lovelace puts her pitiful amount of stuff in the taxi.

When the men untied Odysseus from the mast He said not so fast Let me hear the encore

Lovelace leans against the window of the taxi; outside the window is a painted wall mural of Odysseus, tied to the mast, wide-eyed, his ship surrounded by sirens. On his midnight watch they noticed the strangest thing He began to sing

The mural art style now shows a night scene: Odysseus leaning on the railing of the ship, looking longingly out over the water, singing. The crew looks on from a distance.

He never did that before

Lovelace blinks hard, then looks forward again.

Found my key still underneath the rock

Closeup: Lovelace’s hand removing a key from under a rock.

Only now it won’t fit in the lock

Closeup: Lovelace’s hand, trying to fit the key in the lock. It won’t go in.

Had to leave or else I’d try to pick it

Full shot: Lovelace looks over at a neighbor, glaring suspiciously at her from the next window over. Lovelace turns away.

Took a walk downtown to waste an hour

Wide shot: Lovelace, walking down the streets of New York. All the ads visible are for things that didn’t exist in 2009 when she left Earth. The Empire State Building is visible in the background.

Wound up on the observation tower Cause I had exact change for a ticket

Lovelace, on the observation deck of the Empire State Building, looking down at the city.

Also did you know how stupid expensive the Empire State Building observation deck is. I didn’t till right now. What the hell.

When the men untied Odysseus from the mast

Lovelace, lying on the floor, hole in her head, dead.

He said not so fast

Same shot, but Lovelace's eyes have snapped open. They are glowing blue.

Let me hear the encore

Lovelace sits up; the gunshot wound in her forehead closes up.

On his midnight watch they noticed the strangest thing

Lovelace, later, staring out at the blue star below; her reflection in the window stares back at her.

He began to sing He never did that before

Close-up: Lovelace's hand, reaching out to touch the glass. Are her fingertips glowing blue, or is that just the starlight?

There’s the park where you did tai chi every morning There’s the street where I got let off with a warning There’s the church where I was late to your first wedding

Three panels, mid-shot of Lovelace walking, by a park, by a street, by a church: each one has ghostly forms, of her brother doing tai chi while a younger Lovelace sprawls on a bench and teases him, a sheepish teen Lovelace who has clearly just run a stop sign, a Lovelace in her 20s running to the church.

She doesn't look at any of them.

There’s everything that I’ve been missing

Lovelace, from the back. She knocks on a door.

Or dreading

The door opens to show her brother: his face first nonchalant, then confused, then shocked.

Don’t have much to show for seven years

Mid-shot on the duffel bag. Lovelace and her brothers’ faces are out of shot, but the acting is all with the hands.

Dirty clothes and dockside souvenirs

Close up shot on Lovelace’s hands unzipping the duffel bag. Poorly folded clothes, some Florida tchochkes, and dogtags can be seen.

All the rest is somewhere in the rubble

A shot of the Hephaestus falling into the star.

Here’s some wine that customs didn’t find

Lovelace's hands pull a wine bottle from under the clothes. How did customs manage to not find this? IDK Goddard privileges.

Have a glass before I change my mind

Mid-shot: Lovelace is determinedly looking down at the wine and not at her brother, who is still kind of staring at her in awe/shock

While you’re at it, I could use a double

Lovelace looks down at the wineglass clutched in both hands.

When the men untied Odysseus from the mast

Jacobi and Eiffel look down on Lovelace (the camera POV): Jacobi looks wary/skeptical/worried, Eiffel looks wide-eyed and confused.

He said not so fast Let me hear the encore

Lovelace sits up abruptly. She's in the med bay on the Urania.

On his midnight watch they noticed the strangest thing He began to sing

Lovelace, arms hugging her chest, looks out as the Hephaestus falls into the star.

Steering close to the shore

Lovelace turns and walks away. Cut to exterior shot; the Urania launches into sublight travel.

When the men untied Odysseus from the mast

Shot from Behind; Lovelace looks out the window to see Earth below.

He said not so fast Let me hear the encore

Lovelace turns around and looks plaintively, pleadingly, at someone behind her (the camera POV). She looks anxious, not happy.

On his midnight watch they noticed the strangest thing

Minkowski walks up to stand beside her. Her expression is sympathetic. (Minkowski is clearly the one she was looking at.)

He began to sing

Lovelace looks from Minkowski back down out the window.

He never did that before 

From the cool lights of the Urania, we cut back to the warm light of Lovelace's brother's house. Shot-reverse-shot, Lovelace looks up at him; he's looking back at her, hopeful; a wide shot of the two of them, sitting at a kitchen table, facing each other.

Fade out.

[essektheylyss]

One of my favorite hobbies is opening the Genius annotations of lyrics I'm checking purely to roast the absolutely ATROCIOUS "analysis" some people throw up with full confidence on that site, oh my god.

[t4tpumpkinduo]

CEE SCHLATT. don't speak to me 🤚

[h2o2-and-baking-soda]

ignore how i'm like a whole patch late but is this an enkanomiya reference 🤨🤨

[gfwooyo]

what do you think of all the 911 negativity? i was so excited about this whole plot but the negativity is kinda bringing me down a little:c

i'm sorry its been getting to u :( i haven't gone into the tag and luckily i haven't seen that much on my dash but when i do honestly i just roll my eyes and keep scrolling bc it all seems so ridiculous. i like staying in my happy bubble and just screaming and throwing up with my best friend bc we could not be more on track for buddie <3

i'm glad ryan's getting to do some lighter stuff this season bc he's been wanting it and i'm thinking s8 he'll get heavier stuff again (hopefully reckoning with his childhood and catholic guilt and sexuality) and i really truly could not care less about the ppl who don't like his storyline rn bc i've been talking abt eddie having trauma from his catholic upbringing for YEARS so this is a massive win for me personally (as a fellow repressed queer latine raised catholic in texas). and marisol well. she's there. but the writers aren't investing any time in making us care about her so i'm not worried abt her sticking around and if all she serves as is a plot device for eddie to confront his religious trauma then i'll deal with having to see them together bc SOMETHING had to be the catalyst u know

tommy's a cool guy and he's sweet and buck likes him so i'm happy he's here while buck finds his sea legs but im not terribly attached and i still believe he's leading directly to canon buddie

and there's a lot of negativity at hypothetical scenarios that could hypothetically happen in the future too it's like. can y'all just unclench and have fun 😭 personally i find it more enjoyable to hope and possibly be let down than expecting terrible things constantly

u just gotta curate your space online, avoid the negative people, and surround yourself with other excited people bc it really is contagious 🫶