#Three major inspirations for this story include: | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

voluptuarian · 1 month ago

Text

another thing that's weird about adults who make an identity out of reading children's books is what they hold up as representative of the values they find in YA/young reader's fiction. They typically bring up wish fulfillment fantasy, morals and clear cut lessons, adventure stories with mild peril, strong centering on friendship and found family, and stories that make them "feel good" and are extremely light on genuinely challenging themes or ethically dubious situations.

Meanwhile when I was neck-deep in YA as a kid in the 90s and early 2000s this was the kind of stuff I was reading, other kids were reading, and that was winning awards, being highlighted on shelves and recommended by librarians:

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, in which a teenage boy survives a plane crash and is stranded in the Canadian wilderness and forced to survive on his own for months. He is ultimately rescued but is permanently altered by the experience. His navigating the drama of (I believe either currently separating or recently divorced) parents is also a major plot element.

Virtual War by Gloria Skurzynski, where real-life wars have been eradicated and instead are fought virtually, (inspired, if I remember correctly, by the disastrous results of a previous nuclear conflict) by specially chosen champions who are trained in combat strategy from childhood. Throughout, the three child champions are forced to question and push back against what the government has told them is the truth as well as against their own prejudices, including toward one of their own who is considered a "mutant" due to his dwarfism; it also details the grueling hours-long "war" in which the kids watch thousands of little 3D soldiers get blown up and dismembered and leaves them feeling genuine guilt for participating in.

Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George, which focuses on a teenage Inuit girl who is orphaned, forced into marriage and sexually assaulted, then runs away and ends up lost in the Arctic and survives by befriending and living with a pack of wolves.

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, in which the heroine lives with her parents on a failing farm as the Dust Bowl is beginning, accidentally sets her pregnant mother on fire resulting in her mother's lingering death and the death of her baby, and the girl herself being permanently maimed, after which she and her father become estranged and she eventually tries to run away.

Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene, which follows a young Jewish American girl on the WWII homefront who befriends (and falls in love with) a German POW, and when he escapes, hides him in her home for months; eventually the prisoner is caught and killed and the girl is sent to prison after being ostracized from the community and disowned by her parents.

The Ramsey Scallop by Francis Temple, where the heroine, engaged since childhood to her current fiance, is sent on a pilgrimage with him as way of working out his trauma from serving in the crusades. Neither of them feels ready to get married and the fiance is dubious about doing much living at all, but they're able to get to know each other and build trust on the road. It's been ages since I read it but I'm pretty sure there's a scene where a hot single guy who helps patch up an injury she sustained then offers to have sex with her, which she decides to turn down.

Music of the Dolphins by Karen Hesse, where a feral child who has been raised by a pod of dolphins is rescued and taken to a center for rehabilitation. The whole thing follows her progress at understanding to how to be human, and eventually her decision to reject it all and go back to her dolphin family.

The Last Book In the Universe by Rodman Philbrick, whose hero is a teenage orphan living in a purposely abandoned dystopia, ostracized by his community for being epileptic, whose only friends are an old man who is the last literate person in the community and a monosyllabic feral child. The split between the have-nots and the haves, who live in sheltered futuristic cities, and discussion of privilege (one of the main characters is a girl from the cities who comes out to do charity work in the dystopian district) are major themes, and violence is a regular occurrence, including toward the finale when the boy's mentor is murdered by a mob while he watches.

(And of course there's Among the Hidden and its sequels by Margaret Peterson Haddix which I never read, but my sister did, and I know at some point a whole bunch of child characters are massacred by the government because it upset my sister so badly she cried.)

And I couldn't forget The Dear America series, which includes:

character who is finishing high school as the Vietnam War begins and watches her social circle split nastily over the issue, lives through classmates and friends getting drafted, and ends up working at a hospital as volunteer where she is assigned to help disabled veterans

character whose mother (and I think siblings), as well as numerous fellow travelers die while traveling alongside her on the Oregon Trail, and later accidentally poisons to death several of her friends after picking a look-alike plant for their dinner; only one survives, who she eventually marries

character who is kidnapped by a local native tribe and eventually adopted, then marries a fellow captive, only for him and other friends and family to be killed when the tribe is attacked by Europeans, putting her into a total crisis of identity and conflicting loyalties

character who is taken from her tribe to be put in residential school, during which she is forcefully acculturated, severely bullied by another classmate, and a childhood friend of hers is accidentally buried alive

multiple books about immigrants in the 1800 and 1900s which highlighted struggles with poverty, cultural pressures, and prejudice; one of them follows a pro-union factory worker who watches as multiple friends die in the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, and another whose father imports her to America at 13 to marry a coal miner

most of these stories emphasize the young protagonist ending up in situations were they are either on their own, or so alienated from the adults around them that they might as well be. The protagonists have to assume the adult duty of taking care of themselves, but also of thinking for themselves and making their own decisions and judgements about their lives and the world.

they are also going through big changes, often ones created by their parent's decisions, and which they frequently dislike or are straight up Bad for them. This contrasts with later, when the protagonists are able to make decisions for themselves-- often this comes through hardship and abandonment, but ultimately allows them to control their narrative going forward.

the setting and events are often harrowing, deeply unpleasant, and put the protagonist and their friends in danger of victimization by forces around them. Obviously this is exciting for kids to read, but it also allows them to see someone their age on their own, entering into Adult situations and taking on that role. It's also a break from the overtly positive or cartoonishly (but usually un-seriously) bad circumstances that dominate younger kids fiction and an introduction to the idea that life is just terrible most of the time, sometimes massively and unbelievably so. (It's going from the early childhood story of Madeline's thrilling adventures escaping forced labor in a factory, to the older kid's or YA story of seeing the protagonist work at one day after day, getting injured, having friends get sick, and then watching a girl's scalp get ripped off by the machine, something which creates not excitement but genuine horror and sympathy.) These plots also allow adolescents a chance to experience Big Emotions (like the ones they're about to fall head-first into themselves) in a stable, safe way. All of this aims to create a bridge from the juvenile reality to the genuine, adult one. Trite moral lessons are dispensed with in favor of allowing the child to go out and start thinking for themselves. And especially in stories like the Dear America books, it allows a look at things that happened in the past that we have, or should learn from, but also allows for a fuller emotional, ethical, and empathetic development.

often the introduction of sex is part of the story, from initial experiences of attraction (and the resulting self-consciousness, jealousy, etc.) but also sometimes actual sexual experience. Especially in the historical stories, marriage is also frequently part of the story-- either again, as a fantasy introduction to adult experiences, or as a realistic detail separating a child's historical experience from current ones and creating a better understanding of the hardships historical people went through.

and most include some form of rejection of prevailing authority and thought. Instead of blindly "doing what your parents tell you to" these protagonists must do what they think is practical or ethical. The boy in Hatchet cannot wait for an authority figure to guide him, he must figure out how to survive entirely on his own, while the kids in Virtual War are old enough to begin questioning the entire structure they've been raised in, and to develop empathy for figures that structure has deemed outsiders; the heroine of Music of the Dolphins decides the entire experience of being in human society is not for her, and returns to living with animals.

So these books offer harrowing circumstances, protagonists who are isolated literally or through moral or political alignment, and who must learn to live on their own and make decisions for themselves, often in defiance of prevailing attitudes. They usually emphasize finding one's place (even if that place is completely alone and unsupported), fostering understanding and sympathy with others, even with people who are considered "undesirable," who are different, or who have behaved badly to you in the past. And they frequently involve violence, budding sexuality, exploitation and abuse by authority figures/structures, and a heaping helping of death, including the deaths of beloved friends and family members. What is "feel good" and "unchallenging" about that? And like, I can't speak for what YA is bringing to the table now, but these people are overwhelmingly adults, they were reading YA at around the same time I was, I don't think it would be possible for them to have somehow missed the plethora of books with these hallmarks. So where did they get this idea that YA is some land of comfort where no complicated idea can ever reach you? Even Harry Potter is full of them, and we know they read that!

162 notes · View notes

stainedglassvariations · 2 months ago

Text

LADS and Claymores

Inspired by the lovely @heartswithinreach and her amazing imagines. I haven't posted anything on tumblr for YEARS, but I love the boys so much I decided to give it another go!

Inspired by the fact that I am, for the first time in my twenty three years of life, a heavy weapon main in this game. Minor spoilers for some of the main story and yes, no Sylus. I'm trying to be a good girl and not skip ahead so I haven't met him yet :(

Zayne is concerned. Throwing all that weight around everyday applies serious stress on your body, and he wants to make sure you’re taking care of yourself. Are you consuming enough protein, carbs, and water to aid in your muscle recovery? What about your sleep schedule? You are making sure to stretch before and after work, right? You always feel a little dizzy whenever you have dinner together, trying to keep up with his rapid fire questions.

On a softer note, he always offers a massage whenever you come home with him. His evol leaves his hands blessedly cool as he rubs soothing circles in your knots. By the time he finishes, you’re a boneless, half-asleep heap on his bed. They also make up for the foul smelling horse pills he expects you to take with a full glass of cherry juice in the morning.

During combat, he stays clear. He knows his strengths, and they don’t include trying to keep up with your great-sword swinging self. He can, however, freeze the feet of your targets which gives you ample time to wind up a decisive, fatal blow. And… you do look lovely under a shower of ice and Metaflux.

Rafayel is upset. It’s hard to be your knight in shining armor when you’re swinging around a sword as tall as he is! Not that he wants you to be a damsel in distress anymore or anything, but a part of him misses the way you once needed him to come to your rescue. Plus, his flames and dagger are just a piss-poor combo when it comes to your team ups. You spend more energy making sure you don’t end up cleaving your favorite artist in two than you do fighting Wanderers.

Now, outside of fights, it’s a bit of a different story. If you can handle the weight of a claymore then surely holding him in your lap for hours on end is nothing in comparison, right? Oh, and he needs help moving a second wardrobe into his bedroom, you don’t mind do you? While you’re at it, Thomas is having a new frame delivered for his newest portrait so could you please bring that in with you?

You roll your eyes at the majority of his requests, but he always looks so genuinely put out whenever he sees you materialize your sword for combat that you don’t have the heart to say no.

Xavier is confused. What’s wrong with a normal sword, why do you need one that’s almost as big as he is? You honestly don’t have an answer for him outside of “I like the way it feels” and “it’s hard to be scared shitless when you’ve got a big ass sword”.

Really, watching you swing that thing around makes him feel tired. More so than usual he means. You’re not built for prolonged combat, so you go into every fight ready to put down the threat as quickly as humanly possible. He dutifully marches in after you, cleaning up the Wanderers lucky enough to escape your initial slaughter.

It does make it weird for him whenever you ask him to open jars or help lift heavy boxes outside of work, though. Do you really need his help opening this pickle jar or are you just feeling lazy and don’t want to apply the effort? Your silence is telling.

BONUS:

Caleb thinks you’re kidding. He laughs when you tell him that you chose to specialize in two-handed weapons, and then he sees your Hunter’s application. What follows is the most bizarre fight the two of you have ever had.

He asks you if you hit your head on the way to register or if you’re just stupid which immediately puts you on the defensive. When you deny both these things, he proceeds to lecture you on the long term consequences of muscle damage as if that’s the biggest thing you’ll have to worry about when you’re going to be out hunting literal aliens. Surprise, surprise, that makes him even more mad.

In the end, the truth comes: he hates that you’re becoming a Deepspace Hunter. It’s a surprising show of vulnerability that makes your chest go tight and your knees weak. You toe the ground, suddenly too shy to look up at his face, and mumble something about switching over to mid-range pistols before hightailing it out of his room. You don’t, of course, you forget somewhere in the two minutes it takes to wrench open your bedroom door and dive under the covers. The look on his face when he sees you going through some exercises while back home from basic almost, just almost, makes it worth it.

#love and deepspace #zayne love and deepspace #rafayel love and deepspace #xavier love and deepspace #caleb love and deepspace #imagines #x reader #lads x reader #zayne x reader #rafayel x reader #xavier x reader #caleb x reader

181 notes · View notes

estcaligo · 3 months ago

Text

Nobody: Me at 3 AM: Glorious Masquerade represents the confrontation between polytheistic and monotheistic worldviews

Or "The Big Three of Olympus vs One Christian God" in the Glorious Masquerade event

Content Warning: Greek Mythology, religion, Christianity, Glorious Masquerade event spoilers

Note: I talk about things in this post from a researcher's point of view, in a descriptive and comparative manner mostly. Just some observations.

I've already discussed a similar concept before - Idia, Jade, and Sebek representing Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus, the "Big Three" in Greek mythology, the most powerful and important gods of Olympus - during the Harveston event. See the post here.

However, in the Glorious Masquerade, the situation becomes even more peculiar because the SSR characters are dorm leaders - those who are in charge. And then there's Rollo, who is twisted from Frollo.

Note: I will consider all sources of inspiration for Rollo, including the book and the musical, which were confirmed by Yana herself to be inspirations for Rollo.

What? Why? Who?

3 vs 1. The Big Three of Greek Pantheon vs The One God, who embodies 3 in 1 - the Father, the Son and the Spirit.

The Big Three are the three most powerful gods among the Olympians - Zeus, Poseidon and Hades.

Zeus commands the sky, lightning, kingship and summon any weather conditions.

Poseidon manipulates water, storms and earthquakes.

Hades has dominion over the dead and undead, darkness, earth-related disasters, and metals and jewels.

*By the way, lightning was considered just Zeus throwing a temper tantrum, and what happened when Malleus got angry? Right, he started throwing lightnings left and right.

And now we have Rollo. Twisted from Frollo, who, as we know was a religious man (especially in the book where he is a priest, not a minister).

And despite there being other characters, such as vice-president and the assistant, they aren't "real" or “important” characters like Rollo.

So we can say there is only one (1) main character in this event.

2. 7 Dorm Leaders vs 1 Head of the Council

As is well known, Ancient Greek mythology features many major gods, each controlling different aspects of life (or representing them, or serving as patrons). This makes Ancient Greek religion a polytheistic system - meaning it has multiple gods - akin to the Great Seven and the dorm system at NRC.

The Dorm Leader Council functions much like a small pantheon. Not to mention NRC is located on upper hills, which resembles a mountain (Olympus) if we look at the landscape of the Sage Island.

On the other hand, Christianity only has one God, making it monotheistic religion. There are multiple saints in Christianity, who are patrons of different aspects of life, however it is important to note that these saints do not control - they are more like the intercessors between man and God.

Even the NBC itself is focused on one Villain and has one statue in the yard, not the 7 (the "pantheon" of NRC). And NBC itself doesn't have Dorm system like NRC.

3. Oral vs Written

Greek religious tradition is primarily oral, with legends and stories passed down through generations by word of mouth.

In contrast, Christianity is predominantly a written religion, where the written canon holds great importance.

How is it important here?

Well, in this event specifically the NRC guys spend their time walking around and commenting on things. We learn some of their lore and thoughts on various topics through dialogue. Even Professor Trein reveals his past verbally telling about it. Naturally, it’s a game mechanism. But since we’re talking about such details….

On the other hand, the most important part of Rollo lore is found by the Big Three in written form - Rollo’s diary. It's also noted how Rollo prefers writing above all else. He writes in his diary, sends letters, and drafts invitations. While this may not apply to the NBC in general, since we're focusing on Rollo, this detail is worth considering as well.

4. Our guys vs That One

Another difference between the two religions is that the Greek gods had flaws that made them more similar to humans. They had tempers and they often held grudges. This made the followers of the religion not want to be like them but, instead learn from them and their shortcomings, frequently through fear.

In contrast to the flawed gods of Greek mythology, Jesus is portrayed as a man who is to be aspired to, more so than the Greek portrayal of a god; who the audience learns from (imitating in a way), rather than obeys.

Our NRC boys are someone we know and who we’re familiar with. We know their struggles and fears, their dark past. Even the guys in charge of each dorm - the Dorm Leaders - are not so distant from the regular students. Well, more of less.

Whereas Rollo is described by all the characters we’ve met at NBC (and even from his vignette) as someone who is amazing, excellent, wonderful and so…exemplementry. Rollo, at the same time, distances himself from everyone.

5. Vertical vs Horizontal

A small but interesting observation is that many monotheistic religions, including Christianity, often have a “vertical mindset” - symbolizing a relationship between the human and God.

In Christian cosmology, we often imagine a vertical world structure: Hell at the bottom, the human realm in the middle, and Heaven above.

In this event, we also experience vertical movement when things get serious. Initially, when it's peaceful and fun, we mostly walk around the town (mostly horizontal, not including the lower parts).

However, when the action begins, Rollo first sends us downward into the sewers. From there, we start moving upward. The ascent of the tower is highly symbolic, as we are literally ascending towards the sky where Rollo awaits us (with his “judgment”)

6. Masks

The whole masquerade theme is, of course, a nod to the cartoon and part of the game feature to get the characters to dress up.

But let’s remember that in Ancient Greece, masks played a significant role in theater, particularly in tragedies and comedies (twst features elements of both). In general, it is known that masks represent hidden nature, transformation, and more.

Interestingly, only our NRC squad wears masks and costumes. We even encountered some Royal Sword Academy students, but they were not given costumes (again, a game feature, but still noteworthy).

On the other hand, there's Rollo, who isn't wearing a mask or even a costume. He doesn’t need to. He is who he is, with no need to transform into something else, as he represents the One, in our comparison here.

What's even more interesting is that, despite not wearing a physical mask, Rollo is the one with ulterior motives in this event, and we only learn his true face later on. He metaphorically takes the mask off, even though he never wore one in the literal sense.

7. Catholic Guilt

The last but not least - Rollo's punishment, which, perhaps is the most fitting and cruel outcome for him. Rollo, after being defeated, expects harsh punishment because he is ruthless with himself and assumes others will treat him the same way. He failed and he expects to be punished. However our Big Three surprise him by concealing the truth and allowing others (the NBC mobs were the first to thank him for his bravery at the tower) to believe that Rollo was a hero. This situation forces Rollo into a state of internal torment, where he must live with the guilt of his actions while being praised for something he didn't truly do.

Rollo's punishment is psychological, forcing him to confront his guilt and shame in isolation. They choose leave him one on one with his Sin.

On the contrast, in Ancient Greek mythology punishments were often cruel and involved physical pain. One of the most popular example would be of course the myth about Prometheus, which, by the way involved Zeus.

And the way Big Three dealt with Rollo was truly cruel in its own way.

(from an interesting article about Greek Gods and punishment - here)

Fin

I left out some obvious notes like Malleus having horns, Rollo hating on magic etc.

Naturally, there may be other details I haven’t mentioned, so feel free to add any additional insights!

#the semester has just started but I'm already in the mood #was fighting the urge to add Comedia dell'Arte masks here #twisted wonderland #twst analysis #glorious masquerade #disney twisted wonderland #rollo flamme #malleus draconia #idia shroud #azul ashengrotto #twst spoilers #tw religion

194 notes · View notes

ultimateshixiongfuckertournament · 10 months ago

Text

Canonicals Tournament FINAL

The final is between Luo Binghe from The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System (shizun: Shen Qingqiu) and Mo Ran from The Dumb Husky and His White Cat Shizun (shizun: Chu Wanning)

Propaganda under the cut! (Warning: Propaganda may include spoilers about the characters and their media)

Luo Binghe:

Luo Binghe's shizun Shen Qingqiu caused his sexual awakening and they lived together with Luo Binghe acting similar to a housewife.

Even after being betayed, stabbed, and pushed into the Endless Abyss, Luo Binghe still loved Shen Qingqiu and wanted answers instead of revenge. Instead he had to repeatedly suffer his shizun dying in his arms and assumed abandonment. Which makes him absolutely lose it, made even worse by his evil sword Xin Mo which worsens all of his negative emotions and destroys its hosts, along with additional trauma over the course of the story.

He reused the sword that his shizun sacrificed himself to free him from, cuddles the corpse every night for five years to preserve it, he creates dreams of their happy years together but never made a Shen Qingqiu that would speak to him, he kidnapped and destroyed cultivators' cores so he could feed xin mo and preserve sqq's corpse, he rebuilds their house in his demonic palace, he spent years fixing sqq's destroyed cultivation and trying to revive him, he forces Shen Qingqiu live in that new house, he rescues and repeatedly puts himself in harms way to protect sqq, he tries to destroy the world so Shen Qingqiu can only love him (due to being driven mad by Xin Mo and his believed abandonment by sqq). He tries to kill himself after Shen Qingqiu dies for him again. He would do absolutely ANYTHING for Shen Qingqiu! He's increadibly jealous of everyone Shen Qingqiu gives attention to, including stairsweeps he smiles at. Luo Binghe has sooo much wrong with him and it makes him so lovable. He's so incredibly traumatized, driven by love and desperation for a majority of the story. He loves Shen Qingqiu so much and can't bear to live without him.

After everything? He lets Shen Qingqiu go, wanting him to be happy even if it means sqq won't stay with him. But sqq wanted to stay together! He gets his man! There is in world porn written about them, they have weird kinky sex inspired by the porn, they get married! Luo Binghe cries regularly for sqq, so sqq can dote on him despite his thin face. Luo Binghe is shameless and adores sqq. Lbh got so nervous that he fell flat on his face when proposing! Lbh loves sqq so much and wants him to be happy more than anything else!

More on disciple era:

Luo Binghe's sexual awakening was his shizun tied up and shirtless. He fell in love after Shen Qingqiu got poisoned protecting him. He moved into his shizun's house and handled all of the cooking and cleaning, would regularly fake fall into Shen Qingqiu during training to get hugs. He got a boner from being forcibly cuddled to heal his injuries. And ran to jump into a lake after being spanked for struggling too much during the forced cuddling. Sqq still never noticed lbh's affections.

It took him like 3(three) interactions with nice shizun (transmigrator who replaced his old one) to fall irrevocably in love. baby boy was ready he had mommy issues daddy issues and honestly by that time shizun issues too... luckily his new shizun can fill all those roles and more!

#lbh is THE shizunfucker

#binghe calling him shizun is a kink at some point its definitely him

#vote binghe!!#he wanted to fuck shizun so much that shizun died twice for him

#... i mean. luo binghe is a satire of the shizun fuckers character trope. hes an exageration of it so hes Very It

#luo binghe#again its basically a kink for him as well that puts it on another level

#cmon man#binghe is THE shizun fucker#activily has to be told to not call his husband shizun during sex

#binghe is THE shizunfucker supreme. no competition.

Mo Ran:

*gestures helplessly at the whole damn book*

#Mo 'I died and went into the past after the teacher I hated died in my arms and I dream of him every night' Ran???#of course its him

#vote for Mo ran I’m sorry but he is the emperor shizunfucker of all the shizunfuckers#he is the man the myth the legend#he’s the one you think of immediately when someone says shizunfucker

Extra Propaganda here. There are 3 versions of Mo Ran throughout Erha and every single one of them either wants to or did fuck their Shizun. Even in the darkest timeline when he thought he hated CWN more than anyone he fucked him. This boy is obsessed.

#mo ran 100%#he truly has the shizunfucker mentality

#mo ran#HAS TO WIN#he wants to fuck his Shizun so bad

#but it's gotta be mo ran#the all-time shizunfucker in this world that world and beyond

#luo binghe #mo ran #the scum villain's self saving system #svsss #the dumb husky and his white cat shizun #2ha #shen qingqiu #chu wanning #bingqiu #ranwan

550 notes · View notes

directdogman · 4 months ago

Note

Dogman, how do you write SO WELL!?!? I love all your characters and I need to know what/where you find inspo from...

Ha. Every writer is just someone who apes the creative processes of their inspirations. For video game writing specifically, there's two answers for me.

Toby Fox is always gonna be a huge inspiration for me. I've written plots and characters before and had to abandon ideas after realizing I'd accidentally written part of UT again. Even some of the ideas I used were undeniably inspired by UT in a subconscious way and ofc, I included several explicit references to UT in my last series. Toby's a very clever guy who likely pays very close attention to the art he consumes and tries to figure out how to maximize how much his work connects with his audience. Whatever his process is, it works.

The other answer is a lil funnier: Scott Cawthon, but specifically the legend, not the man. For context: Back in the earlier days of the FNaF fandom, people had a hyper-inflated view of Scott Cawthon's writing skills that largely came from how little of a presence he had back in those days. In the vacuum of Scott actually explaining his own process in detail, people got caught up in his genuinely creative way of hiding exposition in his games using cryptid and (then) unexpected methods, and a narrative formed (one that he's since refuted.)

While he never implied it tmk, fans broadly believed that he constructed these sweeping and complex narratives with tons of cohesive moving parts, with the games essentially acting like the mere tip of his lore iceberg. People even thought he wrote so much that he had whole games worth of lore outlined from the beginning! In the first Dawko interview he gave, he clarified that this wasn't the case and explained roughly what his process was (basically just outlining rough theme ideas + aesthetics for future titles.)

However, that legend made younger-me's mind run wild and any time I wrote a story, it became very difficult for me to not keep writing down ideas while completing the grunt work that followed me finishing my scripts. When I finished DSaF 1, I already had DSaF 2's draft written and by the time 2 was done, I had enough lore for a 3rd game on paper (and a lot more stuff that I didn't use.) By the time three was out, I had pages upon pages of unused concepts/story ideas and more or less just had to decide to call it quits or else I'd be pumping out entries forever!

That's why if you go back to those older games, there's references that directly refer to future plot-points in pretty casual/easy to miss ways. (Like Henry's mention in DSaF 1, Dave being heartless in DSaF 2, Jack being soulless in 1, and even Blackjack being Jack's soul in 2. Most of 3's major plotpoints are implied somewhere in 2 and some of 2's in 1.)

DT is much the same. By the time I finished writing it, I had fairly detailed drafts for arcs for each of the characters, some early material ended up getting completely recontextualized (and even modified in small ways to not conflict with the wider ideas I came up with.)

I get really into writing my stories/characters and I always wonder exactly how things ended up where they are, what characters think about but don't say, etc etc. This is why I have an obscene amount of Crown lore that I have very little to do with rn (since he impacted the whole world so deeply.)

This extra stuff also includes plenty of sequel material ideas, though I didn't think I'd even get a chance to use them since DT performed pretty meagerly before the big release and I was expecting to have to move onto something new. Though it turned out that Scott didn't actually write his games this way (by his own admission), it's the correct answer for what my core writing inspiration for writing game narratives is.

Hope this helps!

177 notes · View notes

teapartyprincess4two · 10 months ago

Note

heyy <3 I am absolutely in LOVE with your writing. I was wondering if you had ever written a 5+1 fic? I noticed that you like to write really lengthy fics with slow build ups which would be perfect for 5+1 style fics!!

I have a request if you would accept it ^^

5 times y/n denies having a crush on Matt (she's just oblivious to her feelings) and 1 time she didn't (when she finally realises)

or it could be the other way round and you could write in Matt's pov. whichever one is easier for you! (or u don't have to do this at all and just write a completely different 5+1 fic based on your own idea. I'm sure it will turn out perfect!)

In Denial- M. Sturniolo

pairing: PopularStudent!reader x Student!Matt

classification: angst, fluff

warnings: slight angst, rejection, jealousy, use of y/n, slight cursing, childhood memories/flashbacks/setting, VERY VERY VERY slow build up, characters are in high school for a majority of the story

inspiration: request^^

summary: It’s hard to admit when you’re in love, especially when the person you love is so different from you. But, as they say, opposites attract.

—

“Are you guys inviting any friends from school?” The triplet’s mom, Marylou, asks as she mindlessly prepares the vegetables for her soup. Nick, Matt, and Chris were buzzing with excitement as they sat around the kitchen table with crafting supplies sprawled everywhere. The three of them were working towards creating invitations for their 10th birthday party. Ten was a big number because they’d finally be in the double digits so they had to make sure everything was just right. Most of the invitations were illegible and their mom would definitely have to redo them, but as long as it kept them occupied while she cooked she was happy.

“I’m going to invite Jackie,” Nick responds as he digs through his pen pouch for the perfect shade of purple. Most of Nick’s invitations had so many random doodles on them that you could barely see any of the words. “Oh Jackie’s nice,” Marylou murmurs, only half listening as she continues stirring away at the soup on the stove. She had to make sure it wouldn’t boil over.

“I like Carlos better so I’m inviting him,” Chris chimed in, his tongue poking out in concentration as he decorated his invitations with random scraps of craft paper. Chris’s invitations were covered in so much glue that every time he picked something up it stuck completely to his hand. “That’s so mean, Chris!” Nick responds in a whiny voice which puts a smirk on Chris’s face. Chris actually liked Jackie too because she was a good friend and sometimes she did his homework for him, but he also liked annoying his brother. The two were about to break out into an argument, but were swiftly checked by a stern look from their mother.

Matt was too immersed in creating the perfect invitation for you to care about the conversation surrounding him. He worked diligently to ensure that it was legible and nicely decorated, ensuring to include doodles of things he knew you liked. Once the other two calmed down, Marylou turned towards Matt and asked, “Who are you inviting, honey?” Truth be told, Matt was inviting a lot of people from his class, but he really only cared if you showed up. If it was only you and him at this birthday party he’d be the happiest ten year old on Earth.

“Probably just Jason,” Matt replies nonchalantly with a shrug of his shoulders. This answer seems to satisfy his mom because she doesn’t ask any further questions and immediately returns to the pot on the stove. Nick and Chris, on the other hand, hear this and immediately jump at the opportunity to expose his crush for you to their mom. “He’s probably inviting y/n,” Chris snickers as he pokes Matt’s sides teasingly, his sticky fingers gripping Matt’s t-shirt in the process.

“No I’m not, Chris. Shut up,” Matt replies as he pushes his brother’s hands away from him aggressively. This was his favorite shirt and Chris was getting his gross glue hands all over it. Nick laughs at this, making kissy faces towards Matt to annoy him. “Matt and y/n sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” Chris and Nick sing loudly, both of them working hard towards pushing Matt past his breaking point. At this point Matt’s face is burning hot and red from embarrassment.

You were a new student in their class who moved to Boston from out of state. For whatever reason you were placed in their class and seated right next to Matt, the only available seat left in the entire classroom. From that moment on Matt’s been absolutely obsessed with you, but he didn’t need his mom to know that.

“Who’s y/n?” Marylou asks, true curiosity in her voice. She was now facing the three boys, providing them with her full attention and turning the stove off for safe measure. “Oh just Matt’s GIRLFRIEND!” Chris screams, once again poking at Matt’s sides. “I love y/n soooo much. She smells soooo good and has the prettiest smile,” Nick quotes as he gazes dramatically into the distance and pretends to swoon. Their mom is amused with their antics, but is mostly curious to learn more about the girl who has her most timid son so ‘in love.’

“I never said that, you idiot!” Matt retaliates, pushing Chris off of him and standing up abruptly from the kitchen table to make his way towards Nick and push him too. The table shook in the process causing some of the markers to roll onto the floor. Matt was beginning to get genuinely upset from the pure embarrassment that he felt. “Then why do you guys always play alone at recess!” Chris rebuttals, feeling as if he had just won the greatest argument of his life.

“Just admit you like her, Matty!” Nick chimes in, throwing his nickname in there to further push his buttons. Matt is furious at his brothers, but he doesn’t understand why if everything they’re saying was true. He did have a crush on you, you did smell good and you did have a pretty smile.

“Boys that’s enough!” Marylou steps in to Matt’s defense, earning both Nick and Chris a smack upside the head. Nick and Chris yelp in pain, rubbing their heads to alleviate some of the pain. “You guys are so annoying!” Matt says one last time before grabbing his invitations and storming off to their shared room.

The kitchen is silent after that, both Nick and Chris realizing that they had taken it too far. Marylou is more than displeased with the outcome of her sons’ teasing, but she understood that it came with the territory of having triplets. “You two need to apologize,” she says sternly, giving both Nick and Chris a disapproving look. The two boys didn’t understand why they had to apologize, they were just telling the truth plus everyone in your class knew about Matt’s crush on you.

“But he called me an idiot…” Nick grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and slumping in his seat. This earned them both another smack upside the head.

—

Matt didn’t end up handing you the invitation himself, too embarrassed to be caught alone with you again by his brothers. Instead he instructed Nick to do it because over the course of your time in Boston, you and Nick had become very close. Matt was a bit jealous of this, but he never showed it.

“Why don’t you just give it to her?” Nick asked, continuing his walk towards the playground. Their class was currently at recess and there was only 15 minutes left, if Nick wanted to have a turn on the swings he couldn’t slow down now, not even for Matt’s sake. “Because you’re her friend!” Matt replied as he followed closely behind Nick, his feet pushing against the wood chips of the playground as he struggled to keep up.

“You’re her friend too! Plus you sit right next to her!” Nick was not backing down, especially because he did not like doing favors. His pace didn’t slow either, he needed to get at least 5 minutes on the swing before he was ready to go back to class. “Just do it please,” Matt pleaded, fully expecting his brother to deny his request and force him to give you the invitation himself. Nick’s mind lit up with an idea, he’d only agree to give you the invitation if Matt agreed to push him on the swing, “Ugh! Fine, but you have to push me.”

“I’m not pushing you, Nick,” Matt responded matter of factly. Matt didn’t want to spend his last 15 minutes of freedom pushing Nick on the swings, he wanted to rush back to Chris on the field as quick as possible so he could race him. “Okay, that’s fine. You can give her the invitation yourself then,” Nick said as he finally arrived to the swing set, taking a seat on the warm plastic.

Matt looked between Nick and the field, desperately trying to figure out if this was worth not beating Chris in a race. “Your choice, Matt,” Nick’s voice was taunting, almost like he was telling Matt that if he didn’t do this one thing his entire life would be ruined. Matt sighed, deciding that if you didn’t get this invitation his life would, in fact, be ruined. So, he decided that he’d just have to race Chris another day and he stood behind Nick, pushing him reluctantly.

Nick ended up giving you the invitation later that day, pretending like it was his idea to invite you. When you realized it was your first invitation to a party in Boston you couldn’t contain your excitement. Nick felt like your first true friend here and you couldn’t wait to see your friendship blossom. Nick, of course, was excited for you to come too, but no one was more excited than Matt.

“I gave your girlfriend the invitation by the way,” Nick commented to Matt as they walked home from school. Matt perked up at this, becoming excited at the prospect of you coming to their house. “Not my girlfriend,” he responded in a feign tone of annoyance that completely contrasted the excitement he felt bubbling inside.

“Whatever you say,” Nick huffed, shrugging his shoulders and pulling his backpack up by the straps. Nick picked up his pace to catch up with Chris who was already down the street. When Nick’s back was fully towards him, Matt couldn’t help but smile. He really couldn’t wait to turn 10.

—

10 came and went and before they knew it, the triplets were 14 and nearing the end of middle school. The friendships they made in elementary didn’t seem as important anymore, only a few friends remaining a part of their immediate friend group. You were one of those friends seeing as you and Nick only became closer over the years.

You spent countless nights texting and talking over the phone with Nick gossiping about people in your grade and fangirling over the latest teen heartthrob. One of the solidifying moments in your friendship was when Nick came out to you as gay. It was a moment that bonded you two and you’ve been inseparable since. Because you two are so close, you would often go over to their house to work on homework, study, or just to hang out.

“Mom, can y/n come over today?” Nick asks his mom, praying that she’ll just say yes so he can rush up to his room and text you to come over. “Sure,” Marylou replies nonchalantly. You were always over and she had become accustomed to your presence. She liked that you were respectful and you seemed to be a good influence on her kids.

Nick immediately rushed upstairs to relay the news to you over text, but bumped into Matt on the way to his room. “Watch it, dumbass,” Matt huffed, stumbling backwards a bit from the force in which Nick ran into him. “Sorry,” Nick apologized quickly, moving past Matt to continue the walk to his room. From the way Nick was acting Matt knew that you were probably coming over, he always got super excited when you were coming over.

Matt turned on his heel, following Nick into his room just to make sure his suspicions were correct. “Why are you so excited?” Matt asks, leaning on the door frame as he watches Nick type away on his phone. “None of your business,” Nick replies, laying on his bed as he continues to text you.

The both of you are going over your plans for the night in excruciating detail, discussing every thing beforehand so that you wouldn’t waste time once you arrived. “Is y/n coming over?” Matt asks again, a part of him knows the answer but he’s still itching to know. “Wouldn’t you like to know,” this time it’s Chris who speaks as he enters the room and sits in Nick’s desk chair.

Chris always had the tendency to show up out of nowhere, especially in moments when he could potentially annoy his brothers. It was like his brother senses tingled every time the perfect opportunity to bully his brothers appeared. A smirk is already plastered on Chris’s face because he knows that Matt’s crush on you has only grown over the years. “Whatever,” Matt replies already annoyed with Chris, waving his brother off and pushing himself off the door frame. He leaves the room and returns back downstairs to do whatever he was planning to do in the first place.

As he makes his way downstairs, Nick calls out to him from his room in a sing-song tone, “Y/n is coming Matt!” This immediately puts a smile Matt’s face. Even if we wasn’t going to spend one on one time with you, he was content with the fact that you'd be in his house.

"He's totally in love with her," Chris snickers, twirling around in Nick's desk chair. Nick hated the thought of Matt being in love with you, his bestfriend. "That's so gross," Nick replies, but even he knew it was true.

—

When you finally arrived to their house 20 minutes later, Nick was already outside waiting for you. “Bye mom!” You said, hopping off the car and waving goodbye to your mom as you ran up to Nick. He was sitting on the front porch, patiently awaiting your arrival. You two had so much planned for the night and if you played your cards right you might even be able to have a sleepover!

“Hurry, y/n! Time is ticking!” Nick called out as he watched you quicken your pace to make your way to the front porch. You were carrying a large tote bag filled to the brim with magazines, crafting supplies, board games, and a pair of pajamas in case you were allowed to stay the night. “I’m hurrying!” You replied, adjusting your heavy tote bag against your shoulder

Finally you two made your way inside, where Matt and Chris were playing video games on the living room. Chris was locked into the game, but Matt was only half immersed in the game on the screen. He was waiting for you to walk through the front door so he could greet you in the most casual, cool way possible.

“Hi guys!” You greeted, offering the two boys a small wave before rushing upstairs to Nick’s room. “Hey y/n,” Chris replied casually, too occupied with his game to fully acknowledge you. Chris was used to you always being at their house, so he didn’t get excited anymore when Nick announced you were coming over. “Hi y/n!” Matt greets you, sounding a little too excited causing his voice to crack slightly.

When Chris hears this he immediately pauses the game to look at Matt. “Hi y/n!” Chris mimicked Matt’s voice crack, exaggerating it so every syllable contained a higher octave than the last. Matt pushed Chris slightly by the shoulder, unpausing the game to avoid diving deeper into this topic, “Shut up, let’s just play.”

Chris wasn’t having it though, he quickly pauses the game again before saying, “just admit you like her, bro.” It was so much easier said than done, if he admitted his feelings for you there was always the possibility that you didn’t feel the same way or that you’d find it weird, or both. “I don’t like her,” Matt grumbles, unpausing the game once again.

Chris doesn’t miss a beat, quickly pausing the game for the third time since you had arrived. “You do like her!” Chris teases, poking his brother’s side like he always does when he wants to annoy him. Matt wasn’t annoyed anymore, but he was upset. “I DONT LIKE HER, YOU IDIOT! I COULD NEVER LIKE HER!” He shouts, shoving Chris off of him and standing up from his seat. He storms off into his room, forgetting completely about the game and that his sudden outburst could probably be heard by you.

“Geez, what a sore loser,” Chris mumbles, unpausing the game and continuing the onscreen quest. Unbeknownst to them, you were going downstairs to grab a snack and had heard the whole thing. Your heart shattered at Matt’s words. You had never thought about Matt in that way before, but for some reason when you heard him say he could NEVER like you it hurt worse that anything you’d ever felt.

You didn’t even descend all the way downstairs for your snack, instead you returned to Nick’s room and informed him that you weren’t up for a sleepover anymore.

—

Before the four of you knew it, you were freshmen in high school and although you all became a part of different friend groups, you still remained close. Everyone in your school grew to love you, causing you to become really popular really fast. Both you and Nick were friends with everyone including freshmen and upperclassmen. Plus you joined as many extracurriculars and clubs as possible which opened the door to many new friendships.

“No we can’t hang out that day, we have art club,” you told Nick, as the both of you worked hard to schedule a time and date to hang out outside of school. You were both currently in the library enjoying the down time study hall granted you. “What about Wednesday?” He asks, flipping through his school planner to try and find an available date for the two of you.

“Nope. NHS meeting,” you reply, pointing to the Wednesday in question where ‘NHS MEETING 4:45PM’ was highlighted in bright yellow on the top of the page. “Oh right. What about Friday?” Nick asks again, hoping that you two will finally be able to hang out. Ever since entering high school it was like you guys never had time to just be friends because you were both too busy with your after school activities to hang out.

“Friday might work, I just have to work concessions during 8th period. You can meet me there after class?” You say, examining your planner thoroughly to make sure you weren’t misinforming him. “Okay, I’ll walk over there and then we can meet Matt and Chris in the parking lot,” he informs you, gathering his things to shove them back into his backpack. You do the same thing before replying, “I thought your mom would pick us up?”

The bell rings, signifying that the period was over and it was time to walk to your next class. You both stand from the table, slinging your backpacks over your shoulders before making your way out of the library. “She was, but Matt’s getting his learners permit,” he replies, pushing the library door open for you to walk through before following closely behind. You hum in response before offering Nick a side hug and parting ways, both of you heading to your next class.

On your way to class you catch sight of Matt and Chris, they’re leaned against their lockers having a conversation. Matt’s back is to you so Chris is the only one who notices you. “Y/n!” Chris shouts excitedly through the hall, ushering you over to them with his hands. You light up with a smile, hurriedly making your way over to your friends.

“What class do you have next?” Chris asks once you’re close enough to where he doesn’t have to shout. Matt is avoiding eye contact with his head hung low, he didn’t even greet you and you were standing right next to him. You tried not to let it bother you.

“I have math,” you reply, offering Chris a quick hug. It was normal for you to hug your friends, especially friends that you knew for so long, but you were never able to get to that point with Matt. He always got super awkward about it, so after a while you just stopped hugging him altogether. “Oh cool! I think my class is next to yours,” Chris replies, looking expectantly at his brother who was still looking at the floor. All Chris wanted to do was shake his brother by the shoulders and yell at him to at least acknowledge you.

“We can walk together?” You ask Chris hesitantly, not wanting him to feel forced to leave his previous conversation with Matt. The bell was about to ring soon anyways so he quickly dismisses himself from Matt before joining you on your walk to class. Matt’s about to do the same thing, but he’s stopped by his old friend Jason.

“Chris stole your girl, huh?” Jason jokes, slinging an arm over Matt’s shoulder as the both of them watch you and Chris disappear down the hallway and into the crowd of students. “She’s not my girl,” Matt huffs, shrugging Jason’s arm off his shoulder aggressively. “Well she’s gonna be someone’s girl soon if you don’t step up,” Jason replies, only half joking.

You were one of the prettiest girls in school and every boy was dying at a chance with you, Matt knew this and it made his blood boil. He couldn’t bear the thought of you being someone else’s ‘girl,’ but you were so popular now that he didn’t know where he fit in with you. Jason’s comment bothered him more than he’d like to admit, but he waved him off and made his way to class.

After school Nick waited for you at the concession stand just like he promised. Since you knew he was going to be waiting for you, you snuck a frito pie for him. You even got two sodas, one for you and one for Chris, and a pack of Matt’s favorite candy. “For you, sir,” you greeted Nick in a posh accent, handing him the Frito Pie as you two started walking towards the parking lot where Chris and Matt were. “Why thank you,” he replied, doing the same posh accent as you before stirring the frito pie so that the chili and cheese were evenly coating the frito chips.

You two made light conversation as you weaved your way through the cars of the parking lot in search of Chris and Matt. The both of you said goodbye to friends as you passed them, hugging a few of them and wishing them a good weekend. Matt was watching you from his car, leaned against the trunk. Chris was standing next to him mindlessly scrolling on his phone.

“Bye Jason, have a good weekend,” you called out, waving goodbye to your friend as you and Nick continued to make your way towards the car. This made Matt’s jaw clench as he recalled what Jason had said to him earlier, ‘she’s gonna be someone’s girl soon if you don’t step up.’ Matt wondered if that was Jason’s way of saying that he was going to make a move on you if Matt didn’t do it first.

When you and Nick finally approached the car you immediately handed both Matt and Chris the snack you brought for them. “What’s this for?” Matt asks, gingerly taking the candy from you. He noticed it was his favorite and thought that maybe you chose it on purpose, but he decided it must’ve been a coincidence. “Just to be nice and for giving me a ride,” you smiled at him, handing Chris his soda in the process.

Matt was about to thank you, but Chris interrupted him by cracking his soda open and immediately chugging it. This was followed by loud burps which made the rest of you laugh. “You’re welcome, by the way,” you say sarcastically towards Matt and Chris. Chris ignores you, walking towards the passenger seat to join Nick who’s already waiting in the car. “Thank you,” Matt says shyly, a blush creeping onto his face.

Matt turns to join his brothers in the car as you say, “you’d think you have a crush on me with the way you’re blushing.” He stops dead in his tracks, going stiff as a board. Had he been caught? Was he that obvious? “Jeez, Matt I’m kidding,” you chuckle jokingly, patting his back to ease his nerves. He shies away from you, not wanting to go into a state of shock from your mere touch.

You notice the way he avoids you and it breaks your heart. Was he really this repulsed by you? The only words ringing through your mind were the ones you heard that day in middle school, ‘I COULD NEVER LIKE HER.’

“Ease up, Matt. I was joking,” this time you say it seriously and decide to just get in the car. “Oh, yeah sorry,” Matt felt like an idiot, but so did you.

—

High school was a blur for you, filled with countless memories and so many new friendships. You were now in your senior year and busier than ever as you juggled school, a social life and work. You, Nick and Chris remained close and over time you warmed up to Matt again, deciding to put his comments and actions towards you in the past.

Prom was just around the corner and after that was graduation. The four of you were excited, but didn’t know what direction life would take you in. You’re currently sitting with Chris, Nick, and Matt at lunch discussing all the plans you have for the remainder of your senior year.

“Who are you going to prom with, Y/n?” Nick asks as he pops a fry in his mouth and wiggles his eyebrows at you teasingly. You scoff and roll your eyes in response. So many boys had asked you to prom at this point that you were debating on not even going at all, but Nick insisted on you being there. “Probably just you guys,” you replied, shrugging your shoulders. Chris and Matt were listening intently to the conversation, Chris was waiting for the perfect moment to interject.

“So boring,” Nick says dramatically, he felt like you had to take advantage of the wide range of options you had. You could pick any boy to go to prom with and here you were choosing to go with a group of friends. Matt, on the other hand, was relieved with your answer, happy that no one would get to claim you as their prom date. Maybe by the time prom finally rolled around he’d grow the courage to ask you to be his date and finally admit his feelings for you.

“I heard Jason say he might ask you,” Chris mentions casually, stealing a fry from Nick’s tray and popping it in his mouth. Nick slaps his hand away and shoots him a glare. You scrunch your face in disgust at the idea of going to prom with Jason. Sure he was cute and nice, but he was a football player and he was known for leading girls on, plus he’s had at least 8 girlfriends since freshman year. Matt’s also disgusted by the idea because he can’t imagine you going to prom with anyone other than him, especially not Jason.

“I thought he was dating Katrina,” Matt chimes in, attempting to shake the thought of you and Jason out of his mind. What if you did end up going with him to prom? What if Jason ends up pulling something weird? What if he tried kissing you?!? Matt’s mind was racing and he felt himself growing more and more upset at the idea.

“Apparently they broke up,” Chris shrugs, trying to steal yet another fry off Nick’s tray. “Oh yeah, Katrina told me about it yesterday in 3rd period. She seems sad,” Nick informs you all, only confirming the promposal rumor Chris had just dropped on you guys. “Poor girl,” you mumbled, picking mindlessly at the food in front of you. If Jason asked you to prom you’d feel almost obligated to say yes considering he was one of your oldest friends and he’d surely make a spectacle of it.

There was only one person you wanted to go to prom with, but he was too oblivious to realize it. “There’s only one person I would go to prom with,” you say quietly, your gaze landing on Matt and staying there for a little too long. He doesn’t notice though, too caught up in your words to look up. ‘Does she want to go to prom with Jason?’ he thought, the anger bubbling up inside him like a volcano about to erupt.

Suddenly he felt overwhelmed by the situation, grabbing his tray and standing from the lunch table abruptly. The rest of you stared in shock at his sudden actions, wondering what had gotten into him. He was always the type to evacuate a situation as soon as it became too much for him to handle. “Um, I have to get to class,” he grumbled, walking away and throwing his tray away in a nearby trash can aggressively.

“Geez what’s his problem,” Nick scoffs dramatically as he watches his brother disappear out of the cafeteria. “He’s just a nerd,” Chris responds with a chuckle, not putting too much importance in Matt’s actions. Instead he used this moment to sneak as many of Nick’s fries as possible. You sat there in silence, a wave of sadness washing over your body as you realized lunch was nowhere near over.

Prom was getting closer and unfortunately for Matt, Jason ended up asking you to be his date before he could muster up the courage to. Jason’s sentiment was very sweet; he decorated a huge poster, held a bouquet of flowers, and even had a speaker playing some sappy love song. Because he’d made such a big scene of his promposal you felt obligated to say yes. The whole school was watching, many of the students commenting on how you were going to be the power couple of the year.

Matt was in the crowd and had seen the whole thing, he was horrified, angry, and jealous. He actually wanted to ask you that day, he didn’t know how he’d do it, but he knew he’d do it. Matt had even bought you a rose to accompany his promposal. He felt slightly pathetic as he stood there holding his singular rose, watching as Jason held an entire bouquet for you. Chris, who was standing next to Matt, offered him a sympathetic smile and a pat on the back. Nothing would make Matt feel better. “Sorry bro,” Chris says sympathetically, offering Matt yet another sad smile. “Whatever, not like I like her anyways,” Matt grumbles, at this point it was like he was trying to convince himself.

—

“Are you excited?!” Nick asks, waiting for you to appear from inside the dressing room. You’re currently trying prom dresses on at the mall, trying to find the perfect dress. You check yourself out in the mirror, smoothing the dress out and adjusting the straps slightly before replying, “eh kinda.”

“What?! How are you only KINDA excited?! You’re going to prom with Jason!” He exclaims, sitting forward in his seat as if you could see him through the dressing room curtains. You were excited to go to prom and if you would’ve had it your way you would’ve just gone with a group of friends, seeing as Matt never asked you. But being pressured into doing things you don’t want to do comes with the territory of being popular.

“He’s just Jason,” you shrug, finally opening the curtain and doing a silly, dramatic pose for Nick. “What do you think?” You ask, twirling so he can get a full look at the dress. You could always trust Nick to be honest with you, especially when it came to fashion. “It’s cute, but it’s the wrong color,” he replies, you nod in agreement and retreat back into the dressing room to try on a different dress.

“Also, he’s not ‘just’ Jason. He’s quite literally the star quarterback AND the hottest guy in school,” Nick says, using his fingers to do air quotes around ‘just.’ You pull another dress on, zipping it up haphazardly before opening the curtain once again and walking out of the dressing room.

You motion towards the dress, silently asking Nick what his opinion about it is. “Too short,” he says, earning a groan from you. You trudge back into the dressing room, closing the curtain dramatically in the process. “What’s the real reason you don’t want to go to prom with Jason?” Nick asks because he’s almost certain there’s an underlying secret reason he doesn’t know about.

You sigh, jumping as you struggle to pull on the last dress. “I was hoping someone else would ask me,” you admit, being completely vulnerable and honest with your best friend. This was news to Nick, as far as he knew you weren’t interested in anyone at school. “WHAT?! Who is it?!?! Do I know him?!” He asks excitedly, wanting nothing more than for you to spill the beans and tell him who you were secretly crushing on.

“Yeah, you know him,” you respond, adjusting the strap on the dress you were currently trying on. Finally you fix it and take one last look in the mirror before opening the curtain and showing Nick the dress. His mouth goes agape, this was the perfect dress for you. “Girl, that’s the one,” he says, taking in all the small details of the dress and how they complemented you perfectly.

“You really think?” You ask, looking at yourself in the dressing room mirror again just to make sure he’s not lying. It did look good on you and the color was really nice. “Yes! Now tell me who your crush is!” He’s quick to dismiss you, too eager to find out who you’re crushing on. This causes you to roll your eyes, but he’s being so loud that you have to hold back your laughter as you hold onto him and shush him. “Nick you’re so loud!” You whisper through laughter, trying to keep your own voice down so you don’t get kicked out.

“Don’t shush me, woman!” He replies dramatically, earning you both a couple of stares from the surrounding customers. You continue laughing, going back into the dressing room to change so you can take the dress to the front counter and pay.

As you do this, Nick is on the other side of the curtain trying to guess who your crush is. He begins listing the names of all of boys in your class. He lists every person he can think of before giving up. “You’re never gonna guess it,” you say in a sing song tone as you exit the dressing room, dress in hand.

“The only people I didn’t say are Chris and Matt,” he scoffs, he feels almost 100% sure that you’d never have a crush on either of his brothers. You don’t say anything, instead walking in front of him so he can’t see the blush forming on your face. “Oh my god! You like one of my brothers!” He exclaims in realization, somewhat grossed out at the thought of it.

“Never said that,” you reply, reaching the cashier and plopping the dress on the counter. The cashier cashes you out, placing the dress in a bag for you. “You never denied it,” he replies. As long as he didn’t guess which brother you’d be fine.

Nick is thinking long and hard, trying to figure out which of his brothers you have a crush on. ‘It can’t be Chris,’ he thought. You and Chris had always been close, but never close enough to raise any suspicion of a crush. Plus Chris was always doing weird gross stuff around you that he only ever did around Nick and Matt. ‘Maybe it’s Matt,’ Nick’s so deep in thought that he doesn’t realize that you guys are now in the food court. You and Matt always had a slightly awkward relationship, but Matt did have a crush on you since forever so maybe you returned the feelings.

“It’s Matt,” Nick states simply, both of you now waiting in line for Chinese food. You go stiff, how had he guessed it so fast? It was a 50/50 chance and he guess correct on the first try. He watched you and noticed your change in body language, realizing that he was right. “It’s Matt!” He exclaims, he feels like he just won the grand prize on a game show.

“Quiet down!” You whisper shout, looking around the food court to ensure that no one from school was lurking around. If word got out that you had a crush on Matt it would travel around the school like wildfire, especially if you were going to prom with someone else. “So I’m right?!” He’s still yelling, he can’t help it he’s excited and also grossed out. Nick’s going through so many emotions right now thinking about his best friend and his brother having secret feelings for each other.

“Yes, now shut up,” you grumble, moving forward in the line. “That’s so cute! But also so disgusting,” he comments with a chuckle and a fake gag, earning an eye roll from you.

—

Finally it was the long awaited day of prom. You took an extra hour on your hair and makeup than usual and your mom steamed all the wrinkles out of your dress. Everything had to be perfect because once you walked into that venue with Jason all eyes would be on you.

Jason picked you up an hour before the event started, walking you to his car carefully and politely. This drive to the venue felt so impersonal and awkward that you kind of wished you had rejected his promposal. If you were with your friends you wouldn’t feel this way.

The two of you walked into the venue hand in hand and even if you were nervous, you held your head high in confidence. You greeted so many people on the way in that it felt like you were on the red carpet and everyone wanted your attention. The two of you made your way to a table and situated yourselves before the real party began.

As soon as the dancing started Jason disappeared somewhere with his friends, but you didn’t mind because it gave you time to look for your friends too. You must’ve lapped around that building 10 times before giving up, you couldn’t find a single person worth talking to that wasn’t already busy or just plain missing. Nick was nowhere to be found, Chris was dancing with his date and you didn’t even know if Matt was here or not.

You made your way back to your table, slumping in your seat a little. You felt so alone. From the corner of your eye you noticed Jason making his way towards you, you silently hoped he’d at least ask you to dance so you wouldn’t be so bored. What he actually says catches you by surprise, “Hey, Katrina asked me to dance. Is that okay?” You were taken aback, was he really asking his prom date if he could dance with his ex?

“Katrina? As in your ex Katrina?” You asked, bewilderment evident on your face and in your voice. He doesn’t say anything, instead he just nods and walks away in whatever direction Katrina is. You sit there in shock, had you just been ditched at prom? “Fuck this,” you whisper to yourself as you grab your purse and walk out of the venue.

You felt like you couldn’t breathe, how had this become your prom night? As you make your way out of the venue you feel all eyes on you and the tears begin to brim at your eyes. Finally you’re outside and you sit on a nearby bench, not noticing that Matt was already sitting there. As soon as you feel like no one is watching, you let the tears flow.

Matt recognizes your sniffles and immediately looks up from the ground to find you sitting next to him crying. He was out here to avoid seeing you with Jason. “Y/n?” He asks softly, leaning forward to check if it was actually you or not. You jump at the sound of your name and work to wipe your tears away as quickly as possible. The last thing you needed was people knowing you were crying at prom.

You lift your gaze slowly to see who had caught you crying only to find Matt. He’s offering you a small, sad smile and opens his arms to engulf you in a hug. You don’t second guess it, you just fall into his arms and let the tears flow again. Finally, after such a lonely night, you’re in the arms of someone familiar.

“It’s okay,” he whispers repeatedly into your hair as he rubs your back in an attempt to calm you down. Usually Matt wouldn’t allow himself to be this close with you, he always let his nerves get the best of him before he could get too comfortable. His soothing seems to work because your breathing steadies and you pull away from him with one last sniffle.

“Sorry,” you whisper, wiping away the stray tears. Your makeup was definitely messed up at this point, but you tried not to dwell on that thought too long. “It’s okay,” he repeats for what seems like the 100th time that night before asking you what happened.

You explain the whole situation to him, taking him through the emotional rollercoaster you had just been on. By the end of your story, he’s so mad. How could Jason toss you to the side so easily? “You deserve better than that,” he says, both in an attempt to make you feel better and to reassure himself that he would never treat you that way. You hum in response, not sure what to respond to such a vague statement. I mean, it seemed like the typical thing to say in a situation like this.

“I would never do that to you,” Matt says, but it comes out as an almost inaudible whisper. If you two weren’t sitting so close you would have missed it, but you still have to be sure that he actually said that. “What?” You ask, now it’s your turn to lean forward and look at his face. You’re trying to read his expression so you can figure out what he meant by that.

“I would never do that to you,” he repeats it louder this time. His tone is firm and confident because for the first time since he was ten years old he isn’t doubting his feelings for you. “Matt, what are you saying?” you ask, still unsure if he’s aware of what he’s saying right now. Maybe someone spiked the punch and he was drunk right now because the Matt you knew would never be so bold.

Seeing you cry was his last straw, his push to finally tell you how in love with you he was, “I’m saying that I would never do that to you. I would never mistreat you, I would love you and take care of you for forever if I could.” When you hear this, the butterflies in your stomach begin going crazy and if you don’t ground yourself now you might just throw up from excitement. Just when you think he’s done, he continues, “Y/n, I’ve loved you since we were ten years old when you walked into that classroom and sat next to me. I’ve just been too in denial to admit it until now.”

You don’t respond because you’re still registering everything and it’s driving Matt crazy. Had he just messed everything up? “You don’t have to say anything,” he attempts to backtrack, his mind racing with the thought of you being disgusted with his confession. He wishes he could read your mind and control time because if you didn’t feel the same way he could just rewind time and take it all back. Fortunately for him, you were internally jumping for joy.

He’s about to stand up and walk away like he always does when a situation becomes too uncomfortable, but he’s stopped by your hand on his shoulder. “I wish you would’ve said something sooner,” you say with a slight chuckle, the world’s biggest and brightest smile plastered on your face. Matt lets out a sigh of relief, immediately taking you face in his hands and doing the unthinkable.

His lips are on yours before he can stop himself, but, to his surprise, you kiss him back almost immediately. In that moment you felt every cliche take over your body; fireworks, sparks, butterflies, everything.

“I’ve loved you too,” you whisper when you two finally break away. This was the beginning of something beautiful.

—

MASTERLIST

A/n: thank you for this request, it was so much fun to write! I hope it was what you were looking for & that you enjoy!!! Also, because you asked for a 5 in 1, I made this much longer than expected haha. I’m working on a few other stories/ requests, but if you guys are looking for something in particular feel free to ask! K byeee

- L.A.M.B 👼🏻💗

292 notes · View notes

the-cybersmith · 3 months ago

Text

That's a foolish Philistine point, and you either don't understand TV Tropes, or you don't understand art. Also, unblock me, you coward.

In case the image isn't readable, here's the text, by tumblr user Txttletale, I apologise for the foul language and poor grammar, but in her defence she is Foreign:

absolute dumbest shit on tvtropes is how if a trope isnt in a fucking thing theyll still put it on the things page and be like, Averted. Downplayed. Inverted. youll be readimng the tvtropes page for tom and jerry and itll be like Violence Is Not An Option: Inverted. Actually Tom and Jerry always hit each other with mallets and other household weaponry. She Is Not My Girlfriend: Downplayed. Nobody even suggests that Tom is Jerry’s girlfriend, so there’s no need to deny it. Everybody Has Lots Of Sex: Averted. Nobody has sex in Tom & Jerry.

This is wrongheaded, for two major reasons:

TV Tropes is not a fiction summary site. It's not "Wikipedia but only for media". It's fundamentally a collaborative attempt to document and analyse TROPES. Tropes are patterns that occur in media, and media can be, in some sense, analysed as sequences of symbols.

The absence of a symbol is itself a symbol.

The things that an Author DOESN'T include in a story can often be as important as the things an Author DOES include in a story.

If we would expect to see a specific trope, and that trope isn't there, then the non-presence of the trope may be relevant to analysis.

For example, let's consider things we might expect to see in War Films.

Triumphant moments of violence: in a war film, we might expect to see our protagonist defeating enemies, and this to be portrayed triumphantly, in a way that inspires awe and excitement and joy.

Celebrations/Honours: In a War film, we might expect to see our protagonists honoured, either through extensive praise, or by actual formal military decoration.

Now let's look at a film that shows neither of these: 1917.

The protagonist, William Schofield, kills three enemies throughout the film, two soldiers and a pilot. None of these moments are shown to be triumphant. None of them bring us any joy. What does this say about the film? What might we analyse about the film, and about the war it depicts?

The protagonist, William Schofield, is not honoured or decorated. He completes his mission, and the most he receives is the acknowledgement of a job well done, not by the General who assigned him his orders, or by the Colonel to whom they pertained, but by a nameless adjutant to the Colonel. Schofeld is not celebrated. He is not treated as a hero. What does this say about industrialised combat? What does this say about the dehumanising nature of Trench Warfare?

Whatever it says, we can analyse it only by what we DO NOT SEE.

For an even starker example, let's look at Star Wars.

The Skywalker Saga consists of nine films. In all but one of them, the final shot of the film is extremely formulaic, there is a closing shutter transition to the credits on a scene depicting a living member of the Skywalker family, who has also been a major factor in the plot, seen in multiple prior scenes.

The sole exception to this is Episode VIII, The Last Jedi. It closes on a character who had only appeared very briefly in the film prior to that. A character whose name we were not told. A character of no significant family. A character distinguished, not by great heroic deeds or a magnificent destiny, but by the simple choice to help a stranger.

WHAT MIGHT THAT FACT MEAN? WHAT MIGHT THIS SIGNIFICANT OMISSION, THIS NON-PATTERN, THIS AVERTED TROPE, MEAN?

Well, we can only begin to answer that question once we have asked it. And to ask it, we actually do have to look at the place where the patterns are not.

Tom and Jerry, for example: it portrays many of the ugly, unsavoury aspects of the world. Domestic Violence, animal abuse, predation, and (YMMV) racial stereotyping are all depicted.

Yet, sexuality is not. That wicked blot upon the world is absent, even when so many other grotesqueries are featured.

The aversion of "Everybody Has Lots Of Sex" is something we might reasonably include in our analysis, particularly when many other examples of American Animation that were contemporary with Tom and Jerry DO feature sexual themes.

Could somebody please let Txttletale know about this? She has me blocked for some reason, but I want her to see this.

#truth #principle #fiction #history

91 notes · View notes

csolarstorm · 2 months ago

Text

The Circle of Arceus Doesn't Need Modern Legendaries

(Source: Centro Leaks)

That's right, it's time for me to post a theory about this.

A lot of people are pointing out that this diagram is obsolete simply because there's been five more regions of legendaries since it was made and it's been...almost 20 years. I think that's only partly true. It actually holds up surprisingly well in modern Pokemon.

GameFreak definitely tried to get away from the whole "legendaries are gods" thing after Gen IV, mostly because where do you go after Arceus? So you don't get a lot of newer legendaries involved in the creation of the Pokemon world.

Plus, GameFreak used to have these random moments where they worried about continuity. Why do we need incense to evolve the Baby Pokemon from Sinnoh? You think players are going to complain that Munchlax should've hatched in Johto? Well, you might be right...but still.

That might be why a lot of newer legendaries have an alibi that explains why they weren't in the Pokemon World when it was created. Many of them were either in Space, or "Ultra" Space:

The Orignal Dragon of Unova

The Cosmog Line

Necrozma

Eternatus

By the way, some professor really should look into the reason so many incredibly dangerous space dragons are just dropping into the Pokemon world.

Then there's legendaries that are strong in the context of their story, and some are even worshiped, but they're more like regional gods and myths.

The Swords of Justice

The Tapus

The Legendary Heroes

Kubfu Line

Calyrex and His Steeds

The Paradox Duo

The Treasures of Ruin

Ogerpon

Most modern mythicals unfortunately fall hard into this category, to the point that some are literally just a monkey, Zarude. Actually, there's no need to list the others. You get the idea.

But who does fit the circle?

That leaves the Aura Trio, the Forces of Nature, and...Terapagos. In my opinion, these legendaries would be right at home in the circle. The Aura Trio deals in life and death, which is pretty major.

That Yggdrasil inspiration would make the Aura Trio right at home on the tree of life from the beta origin story. You know, that "giant tree of life" that Rayquaza, Groudon, and Kyogre broke apart, that turned into the sky, earth, and ocean?

The three gathered in a circle and prayed, and the seed sprouted. The sprout quickly grew, and became the giant tree of life. However, the tree continued to grow, soon filling the entire world, and no one was able to move.

(...) RAYQUAZA wrapped its body around the tree of life. GROUDON and KYOGRE slammed their bodies into the tree of life. Eventually, the tree fell and broke into three pieces.

REI, AI, and HAI prayed, saddened that the tree would rot away like this. Then, the pieces of the broken tree would transform into the sky, earth, and ocean. RAYQUAZA became the pillar that holds the sky.

(Source: Centro Leaks)

Yeah, now I'm thinking the Aura Trio are more of a second try at this whole tree of life thing at GameFreak. Because the whole "Rayquaza wrapped its body around the tree" gives me major Yggdrasil vibes. Surprise Pokemon theorists, Nidhogg isn't Zygarde...it's Rayquaza!

Rayquaza did Ragnarok!

But some people think the Aura Trio are aliens who came to earth on the meteor that the Anistar City Moondial was made from, so that would explain why the Aura Trio aren't in the circle. After all, the Unovan Original Dragon came from a meteor just one generation earlier.

There's also the alleged "original story" rumor for XY that claimed that XY was originally about aliens. The Teraleak probably has something to say about that. So the jury's out about the Aura Trio - they could belong in the circle, but they might be aliens.

(Wait, the rumor was that the alien plot was cut for time? As in, it would have been included (and maybe made less "weird") if they didn't rush? So is THAT was what in Southern Kalos...)

Or maybe my theory is wrong. Deoxys is on the outer layer of the circle after all. Maybe Arceus doesn't discriminate against aliens, they just have to stay on the outer layer. It's not that much of a difference either way - there's plenty of room on the outer layer with the other mythicals. I'm talking about the head honchos really.

The Forces of Nature probably belong on the circle, if we're being honest. They kind of clash with the Legendary Birds' role in the mythos as "weather" gods, but they should be on there.

Lastly...Terapagos is an enigma when it comes to this whole post. It might be more powerful than Eternatus, since "tera" is more power than "giga", right? It's so much power it can literally warp a Pokemon's type. Like Arceus, or genetic engineering.

And Terapagos isn't an alien like Eternatus, at least there's no evidence of it. It's been stuck underground, but it used to live on land. I would say it's just a really, really powerful Pokemon that isn't technically godly, but it's literally based on the World Turtle, another creation myth.

It's in the same boat as the Aura Trio, only it's not an alien. Except, it is responsible for the "Stellar" type, as in stars. And there is this Pokedex entry:

An old expedition journal describes the sight of this Pokémon buried in the depths of the earth as resembling a planet floating in space.

Who says that planet is Earth? What if that's its homeworld?

Terapagos doesn't just borrow inspiration from the world, but the idea of worlds itself, or the philosophical idea of "turtles all the way down". Not only does it depict a world, but a world on a world. A world on a world on a -

I don't know how to end this. Are all my Teraleak theories going to be this long? I hope not. Happy Teraleak! Enjoy the leak!

---

Edit: Changed the name of the title. It used to be called "Newer Legendaries Just Aren't in Arceus' Personal Circle".

All pics other than the Arceus circle are from Bulbapedia. It's easier that way.

#Pokemon #teraleak #gamefreak #legendary Pokemon #legendaries #Arceus #arceus circle #Pokebible #Origin of the Pokemon World #Zygarde #Terapagos #GameFreak leak #gaming #video games #beta Pokemon #Pokemon theory #beta content #Pokemon teraleak #Pokemon beta content

97 notes · View notes

literaryvein-reblogs · 2 months ago

Text

Writing Notes: Fashion History

for your next poem/story (pt. 2/2)

1950s

The 1950s were a time of large cultural and social change, which was reflected in the world of fashion. The Korean War began in 1950, followed by the introduction of the color TV in 1951. And in 1954, the modern civil rights movement began.

As the suburbs became popular, family and domesticity for women became a prominent force in society. Additionally, teenagers became fashion consumers and market leaders for the first time.

Due to technological advances, new fibers such as polyester, triacetate, and spandex are introduced.

The prominent trend of the time was femininity, as shown by the prominence of Christian Dior's "New Look". Shape was emphasized by full swing skirts or narrow pencil skirts, as well as fitted bodices and a small waistline achieved with the help of petticoats and girdles. Elegant accessories and jewelry such as hats and pearls were popular at the time, and high heels were ubiquitous. Other trends included Peter Pan collars, tapered or capri pants, and the introduction of the bikini.

1960s

The Beatles led the music and fashion “British Invasion,” influencing teenagers with their Mod aesthetic.

The Civil Rights movement led to the popularity of ethnic and African-inspired garments such as dashikis and caftans.

The 1960s were marked by eclecticism, both in fashion and society. A plethora of styles were fashionable at one time, ranging from space age fashions using vinyl and synthetics, to bold prints, colors, and disposable paper dresses inspired by Pop Art.

Mod fashion appeared on the London scene, with fashion designer Mary Quant as the “high priestess” of the style, and Twiggy as its supermodel.

Boutiques, a 1960s creation, began offering designer ready-to-wear collections, while easy-care fabrics were increasingly used by the general public.

Longer hemlines were dominant with maxi skirts and granny dresses, while hot pants and mini skirts were adopted by the younger market. These shorter hemlines popularized the use of pantyhose for modesty. As the decade progressed, chemise dresses that typified the dominant straight A-line silhouette became popular. Turtleneck blouses and sweaters were common, and sleeves were usually three-quarter length. Sleeveless tops were worn after the mid 1960s.

Jacqueline Kennedy became a major fashion icon, famous for her sophisticated style, pillbox hats, and pearls. Overall, hats in general experienced a decline in use, due to the popularity of high bouffant hairstyles.

Knee high go-go boots were popular, patent was often used, and low-heeled, square-toed shoes were common.

Popular accessories included headbands, bold jewelry, and matching shoes and handbags.

1970s

During the 1970s, the eclecticism of the previous decade continued, and influences from subcultures dominated fashion.

The Vietnam War ended in 1973, and the first Earth Day was celebrated in 1974.

The hippie subculture emphasized environmental awareness and social acceptance, translating into the popularity of natural fibers and earth tones, loose garments, blue jeans, and ethnic influences in dress.

Peasant blouses and skirts and psychedelic prints were popular, as well as historic revival styles.

In the late 1970s, music styles such as glam rock, disco, and punk influenced fashion and resulted in flashy, often shocking styles.

For the most part, clothing was loose and unstructured compared to previous decades. Skirts came in a variety of lengths — mini, midi, or maxi — although the mini and maxi were the most popular.

Unisex styles in clothing became a trend and were perpetuated by Diane Keaton’s character in the 1977 film, Annie Hall.

Trousers and blue jeans were worn by women more than ever before. Designer jeans arrived on the market, resulting in the birth of “licensing” for non-fashion products. Polyester was the other preferred textile for trousers.

1980s

With the rise of new media such as MTV, the 80s fashion landscape began to shift rapidly.

The televised wedding of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer caused a fashion frenzy, with "Lady Di's" elegant hats, tailored suits, and evening dresses making her a global style icon.

The 1980s were known as the "Me" Generation, with an emphasis on logos and designer labels.

The decade also saw the rise of yuppie (young urban professionals) culture, and the introduction of the fitness craze.

In the world of high fashion, postmodernism and avant-garde fashion were vastly influential. With the introduction of yuppie culture, business attire and "power-dressing" with items like shoulder pads was a popular trend.

In light of the fitness craze, leg warmers, tights, and leotards were widely worn, and women accessorized with big hair, flashy costume jewelry, and bright heels.

In terms of undergarments, Madonna and Jean-Paul Gaultier inspired an underwear-as-outerwear trend alongside the popularity of Calvin Klein.

1990s

The 1990s reflected subcultures such as punk, goth, and grunge in fashion.

Hip-hop music became popular and as a result, urban fashion was popularized.

Unlike previous decades, the 1990s was notable for a more relaxed and casual look, as well as the introduction of technology such as cell-phones and pagers.

With the rise of globalization & technology, the fashion cycle began to speed up.

1990s style was often considered "anti-fashion," with purposefully clashing or contradictory aesthetics.

Black, minimalist styles were popular, as well as vintage and 1970s style.

Many younger people sported crop tops, cargo pants, and blue jeans, and athletic wear in daily life. In terms of shoes, high heels, wedges, sandals, platforms, and sneakers were all widely worn.

More Notes: On Fashion ⚜ More: Writing Notes & References

#writing notes #fashion #fashion history #writeblr #studyblr #spilled ink #dark academia #writing reference #light academia #creative writing #writing inspo #writing ideas #writing inspiration #literature #writers on tumblr #writing prompt #poetry #poets on tumblr #writing resources

91 notes · View notes

ominoose · 9 months ago

Text

𝐎𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐚𝐜 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫'𝐬 𝐀𝐬 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬

Characters: Steven Grant, Nathan Bateman, Llewyn Davis, Jake Lockley, Blue Jones Summary: Oscar Characters characters teaching subjects at school. Warnings: None WC: 1.7k

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁 - 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆

His natural passion and accidental ability to hyper-fixate on things means he can teach all the required topics with ridiculous detail, but we all know which subject he dominates best.

The vast majority of the students adore him. Mr Grant’s lessons are always fun, he lets the class make posters (that include all nine members of the Ennead), do Kahoot quizzes, create live re-enactments of historical events. Even when he’s just talking off a power point, his voice, mannerisms and tendency to act things out has the children engrossed and giggling.

The classroom walls are absolutely littered with posters, some bought and some done by students. There's inspiring quotes, positivity kittens and Egyptian puns.

Not only is he a good teacher, but a good mentor. Being autistic himself, he notices any neurodivergent or “othered” kids and makes it a point to find what they’re passionate about and working it into their curriculum. If someones struggling he’ll arrange one-on-one time, asking them what they’re strengths are not just to help figure out how to work with them, but to remind them they have strengths.

While most students do love him, the few troublemakers know he’s not the strictest and thus will absolutely take the piss. Feigning ignorance and struggles as an excuse to why they missed a deadline or didn’t do the homework. Steven, the optimist he is, is always happy to give second, third and fourth chances. It does take that long for him to realise they’re not genuine, and yet he’ll still try, convincing himself that he’ll be able to turn them straight with the magic of friendship.

𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗕𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻 - 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲

It would be like finding a needle in a haystack trying to find a single student in the many years Nathan had been teaching that didn’t, at least at one point, absolutely despise him. Mr Bateman was far from the friendliest, lax teacher to his students, bordering on a bit of an asshole really. He had an absolute zero tolerance policy for time wasting, messing around and not giving 100%. All students were expected to keep up, get the work done on time and spend time studying and completing exercises at home. If you didn’t do that, you weren’t trying hard enough.

The common conception of a hard-ass wasn’t ill fitting, but it wasn’t without reason. Mr Bateman was a hard-ass because he wanted his students to grasp every opportunity at their disposal and stretch their potential. Some people were born smarter, some learned quicker from a young age but every single person could better themselves regardless of whether they started at Level 10 or Level 0.

It also shouldn’t be said that he wanted students that simply obeyed. It was a story passed down to students about the time a student, in a fit of frustration and defiance to the teacher that always pushed them, completely disregarded the set code structure and wrote their own entirely new one that completed the aim function. While everyone would expect them to be given weeks worth of detention and a reaming, but Mr Bateman simply smiled, said well done and moved on with the lesson. Apparently the kid managed to get a full paid scholarship into top university, but that was just hearsay. Rumour has it his middle name is Hamlet too, snickering students will whisper.

Besides his rigid teaching style, not much is known about him. The classroom is minimalist, only a coffee flask and a pot of three black ballpoints sit on his desk. The walls are sparse beyond a handful of posters about common coding knowledge.

𝗟𝗹𝗲𝘄𝘆𝗻 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗶𝘀 - 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰

The beginning of every new school year followed the same routine. Kids would hear their music teacher was a published artist, get insanely excited, go to class then realise published was not synonymous with success and wither with disappointment. Mr Davis gave up caring years ago, at least he finally had a steady gig, albeit at the cost of his soul.

Classes were average. Sometimes students were treated to his natural singing voice, something that always sparked smiles and attention from the kids, but usually lessons were Llewyn bearing through kids bashing piano keys and drum pads as he wandered around and did his best to tutor them through it.

To kids that were required to take the class, it was alright. Mr Davis wasn’t a hard ass, although it did drain his soul to see kids blind to the brilliance and potential of music. His homework mostly consisted of practicing at home or listening to different genres. To kids that genuinely enjoyed music, it was bliss. Mr Davis was no dream mentor for sure, he was quite stubborn about what he thought “good music” sounded like, but when he sat with someone he could share the passion with, the kid would feel like an equal.

The classroom was always open to kids that wanted time to practice, he knew what an escape music could be, and would never hesitate to sit and work out a song or even add his guitar to whatever a student was playing.

The room was a riot on a good day. All sorts of instruments littered and surrounded the desks, posters of musicians and notes and the different types of brass instruments lined the walls and there was always something playing in the background. A basket of fruit and cereal bars was always sat fully stocked next to the door, with a “Help Yourself” sign stuck to it. No one knew why, and no one ever thought to question it.

𝗝𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗹𝗲𝘆 - 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵

Spanish was always a full class, no matter what year or whether the students actually cared about Spanish. Students either swooned over him or wanted to be his friend. Mr Lockley knew, although had no clue why, but who cares as long as he was able to spread some Spanish around. The point is, Mr Lockley had no enemies at school.

Like a typical Spanish teacher, the register was taken in Spanish, if you wanted to ask to go to the toilet it had to be Spanish and if you wanted to pass notes in class they had better be in Spanish. He wasn’t the most forgiving, the man expected homework to be in on time and god help you if it was google translate. Mr Lockley would call you out, make you re-do it in his class at lunch or give detention to repeat offenders.

If students had been doing reasonably well he’d bring in some traditional Latin American foods for students to try, turn on a Spanish movie or even treat them to a little story about his past. Remember the Chef in Ratatouille that killed a guy with one thumb? That's the type of nonsense he talked about, albeit a bit more kid friendly. Most of the stories were embellished tales of him saving a grannies purse from being stolen, but some students always wondered about that hardened, broody looking teacher.

Mr Lockley prefers to keep his help to class time, long past learning his lesson about the very obvious students that came to him giggling and blushing behind their hands. On a rare occasion however, he will accept a student that comes knocking, overly apologetic and pleading for just a little help on their assignment, especially if the student is a quiet one. His lunch is set aside and he gestures for the student to take a seat before going over it with them, helping them with pronunciation, never shaming them or getting annoyed if they make a basic mistake. At the end he’ll even teach them how to say shit in Spanish, if they can keep it a little secret.

The classroom has posters of different Latin American countries, verbs and nouns, the different gendered terms. His desk was a little cluttered, a ‘Mejor Profesor’ mug, papers half marked and some drawings done by students hung nearby.

��𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗝𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 - 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆

No one's favourite teacher but everyone knew him and had something to say. If a student had him later in the day they’d need to pray the morning classes were well behaved or pray they knew someone in said classes that could give a heads up on his moods. It didn’t matter either way, you could walk in one him sucking on his lower lip and glaring the entire class down and walk away with him smiling and patting backs. It was every student for themselves in that class. The only consistency was the white lab coat he wore.

There were obvious favourites, usually people who found a good balance of kissing his ass but not too overtly, asking for help while still expressing basic knowledge. If you asked too many questions, he would openly sigh or ignore you for someone else. If you gave an answer he thought was stupid, he wouldn’t hide the hands raking over his face in annoyance. If you were quiet and kept to yourself, you’d skirt by okay until one day in the middle of a lesson he calls your name with a faux chirp, predatory smile and ask a question. Answer correctly and you can rest assured he'll (probably) leave you alone for the next few lessons, answer wrong and enjoy doing exam questions as practice.

Detention for even a hint of a Breaking Bad reference. Openly hated a student named Jessie. Weirdly, students notice it's not the chemistry part that annoys him, it's the inaccurate portrayal of drug transactions and the costs. No one has dared ask why he knows so much about that.

Mr Jones’ door is usually locked at lunch and after class, he'll blatantly ignore any student that knocks and continue eating. On the stray chance a rare student manages to find him outside the class and has the balls to stop him, with his trademark sigh he'll begrudgingly set up a day and time to help them. It'll be a one-on-one session filled with eyerolls and being talked down to, but you'll get lots of extra knowledge and he'll even throw some of his old textbooks at you for free. Weirdly, he won't bother you in class anymore, just giving you a little smile out the corner of his eye.

The classroom has old periodic table posters from the teacher that retired years before him, and classroom rules about remembering to wear goggles or you'll go blind. The only thing on his desk besides several piles of paper is teacher mugs with variations of chemistry puns he pretends to hate.

#steven grant #nathan bateman #llewyn davis #jake lockley #blue jones #omiwrites

226 notes · View notes

lurkingshan · 5 months ago

Text

Japanese QL Corner

Another fantastic week to be a JQL fan. The first three of these are on Gaga, and I highly recommend jumping into the weekly watch!

Takara's Treasure

This show is exactly the low stress vibe I need for a Sunday evening. My child Taishin continues to be cute as a button, and Takara is clearly charmed, if still a bit wary. I was very into all the cute content this episode with the marbles and the glass earrings. Honestly, this show doesn't inspire much deep thought because it's just so straightforward and pleasant, and I am digging that.

I Hear the Sunspot

After getting Kohei’s backstory last week, this week we got to see a bit more of what makes Taichi tick and remember that below his sunshine exterior is a deeper well of feelings, and not all of them happy. This is the guy who opened the show by punching someone, and today we learned one source of his inner turmoil: parental rejection. My favorite scene in the episode was the one where he confessed this wound to an unwitting Kohei, who, when he realized Taichi was saying things to him he couldn’t hear, demanded Taichi keep his commitment to always communicate with him clearly. I loved this bit of nuance and how it tied back to Taichi's lecture of the girl earlier, because even though there was clearly no malicious intent here, Taichi knew Kohei couldn’t hear him and tried to take advantage of that to avoid vulnerability. He’s not perfect, and I loved that Kohei felt safe to call him on that. A fantastic scene and I am loving this.

Ayaka is in Love with Hiroko

The hilarity continues as Hiroko bends herself into pretzels to find ways to interpret Ayaka's love confessions as anything other than what they clearly are. Ayaka continues to escalate with some help from Kumi and her otome gaming tips, but Hiroko latches onto her friendly relationship with Yuya to continue believing she's straight. Speaking of, I love that Yuya is just a good coworker with no ulterior motives. A lot of dramas would make him a rival or a villain, but here he is a decent guy, and I appreciate it and the way he and Risa are clearly picking up on Ayaka's feelings and keeping it to themselves. Highlights of this ep include the escalating group massage and Ayaka's chaotic attempts to cook for her beloved, and I am dying to know what misunderstanding in the past damaged Hiroko so much. I just love every character in this story and I'm having a great time.

Bonus: Zettai BL 3

The Bs are back to L again, and it is every bit as fun as I expected. Mobu continues to be a treasure and a delight, and at this point, methinks the lady doth protest too much about not wanting his own love story. I was delighted with the way his story went after last season's cliffhanger, and also pretty excited to see this show kick up the heat levels on all the background mini bls. There were so many highlights of this new season that I don't want to list in detail because I just want you to go watch. It's an incredibly pleasant way to spend a couple hours! Major shoutout to @ikeoji-subs for creating English subs so all of us international fans could watch and enjoy; the last of the episodes was posted last night, so go ahead and dive in!

Tagging @bengiyo for anime update.

#japanese ql corner #takara no vidro #takara's treasure #i hear the sunspot #hidamari ga kikoeru #ayaka is in love with hiroko #zettai bl 3 #japanese bl #japanese gl #shan shouts into the void

132 notes · View notes

ineffable-endearments · 8 months ago

Text

The Crow Road by Iain Banks

I finished The Crow Road and had a little time to think about it. I'll put my thoughts under a Keep Reading in case anyone is trying to avoid spoilers.

As I speculated before, I think it's likely that The Crow Road is more related to Good Omens in philosophy than in plot. I mean, it's not that the plots necessarily have nothing in common, and we could be very surprised in the end of course, but now that I've read the whole book, its philosophical commonalities with GO are both apparent and kind of inspiring. Also, if I were a writer, I'd be more interested in dropping hints about what themes are important than telegraphing my whole plot ahead of time.

So here, I will describe the book and point out themes that I believe may reappear in Good Omens 3.

This is a long post. If you read it, make a cup of [beverage of choice].

Update on 4/20/2024: I made a second post: The Crow Road and Good Omens: Further-Out Thoughts

Below are mentions of suicide, death/murder, and sexual acts.

The Crow Road centers around a character named Prentice McHoan, a university student in Scotland who starts to sort out his complicated relationship with his complicated family as he explores the mystery of his uncle Rory's disappearance. Although the book is mostly from Prentice's perspective, the narration jumps around in time with the McHoan family. There are quite a lot of important characters to keep track of; the bare-bones summary I put below doesn't even include some of the important ones. I wanted to make the summary even shorter and simpler than this, but the truth is that this book is not short or simple, and if I made the summary any simpler, it might be downright misleading.

There are at least three major cultural aspects of The Crow Road that I am inexperienced with: the overall culture in the 1950s-1980s (I was born in 1988, so of course wasn't here for the relevant decades), the international experience of the Gulf War (again, born in 1988), and the history and culture of Scotland itself (I'm USAmerican with only reading as a source). As a result, I'm sure there are important dimensions to the book that I've missed. If someone has a different perspective taking some of these things into account, I'd love to know about it.

Also, keep in mind, there is a great deal of descriptive writing in this book. There are a lot of pages about the geography of Scotland, and about Prentice as a kid, and about Prentice's father and uncles hanging out together in their youth, and about various family incidents, and about Prentice spending time with his brothers and friends. At first, these passages seem to just make things more confusing, and in my head, I accused them of being "filler." But they definitely serve a purpose. They're a way of showing and not telling the characters' attitudes and relationships to each other. More importantly, because we get to actually live these experiences with the characters, they are what give all the plot points below their deeper emotional impacts. In other words, the everyday experiences give the plot its deeper meaning. They resonate with one of the core themes in the novel: that our experiences in life, rather than any supposed existence after death, are what matters.

The Crow Road's story is like this:

Prentice is rather directionless in life, and he seems to have trouble investing any energy in his own future as he moons over his unrequited feelings for an idealized young woman named Verity. Soon, Verity ends up in a romance with Prentice's brother, Lewis, and Prentice feels that Lewis "stole" her from him. Prentice has also become estranged from his father, Kenneth, over spirituality. Prentice believes there has to be something more after death because he feels it would be incredibly unfair if people didn't get anything other than this one life; Kenneth is not only a passionate atheist, but is offended by the notion of an afterlife.

Prentice's uncle Hamish, Kenneth's brother, has always been religious, although his religion involves a number of bizarre and offbeat ideas of his own, with inspiration from more traditional Christian notions. Prentice is not really sure about this ideology, but he's willing to talk to Hamish about it and even participates during Hamish's prayers, whereas Kenneth is openly scornful of Hamish's beliefs. Hamish interprets this as Prentice being on "his side."

Prentice has a few opportunities to go back and talk to his father, and is begged to do so by his mom, Mary, with whom his relationship is still good. Mary doesn't want either of the men to give up their inner ideas about the universe; she just wants them to agree to disagree and move on as a family. Prentice says he will visit, but he just keeps putting it off and off and off.

Prentice acquires a folder containing some of his missing uncle Rory's notes in the process of hooking up with Rory's former girlfriend, Janice Rae, who seems to have taken a shine to Prentice because he reminds her of Rory. Using the contents of the folder, Prentice wants to piece together the great literary work that Rory left unfinished, which Rory titled Crow Road; however, it becomes apparent that Rory didn't turn his concepts into anything substantial and only had a bunch of disconnected notes and ideas. He hadn't even decided whether Crow Road would be a novel, a play, or something else. The few bits of Rory's poetry for Crow Road read are bleak and depressing.

Prentice also spends a lot of time with a young woman named Ash. They've been good friends since childhood and seem to have a somewhat flirtatious dynamic now, but they aren't in a romantic relationship; mostly, they drink and hang out together. Ash tells Prentice bluntly to get his life back on track when she finds out he's failing at school, avoiding his family, and engaging in shoplifting. She is a voice of reason, and when Prentice insists to her that he's just a failure, she reminds him that actually, he's just a kid.

Prentice's efforts to figure out Rory's story or location stagnate, and he continues to fail at school and avoid his father. He then receives word that Kenneth was killed while debating faith with Hamish. In fact, Kenneth dies after a fall from a church lightning rod, which he was climbing in an act of defiance against Hamish's philosophy when it was struck by lightning; Hamish is convinced that Kenneth had incurred God's wrath. Ash is there for support when Prentice finds out about the death.

With Ash's help, Prentice returns to his hometown again to help manage Kenneth's affairs. Prentice speaks with a very shaken Hamish, who is handling Kenneth's death with extreme drama and making it all about his own feelings. Hamish tells Prentice that Kenneth was jealous that Prentice shared more in common with Hamish's faith than with Kenneth's lack of faith. However, this isn't really true, and as he contemplates his father's death, Prentice begins to internalize one of the last things Hamish reported that Kenneth had argued: "All the gods are false. Faith itself is idolatry."

As the chapters go on, Prentice is compelled by some of the meaningful items related to Rory that he discovers in his father's belongings. He gains a renewed sense of purpose trying to solve the mystery of where Rory went and what happened to him. Among the interesting items are an ancient computer disk of Rory's that Prentice can't access with any equipment he can find; Ash uses her connections in the US and Canada to find a computer expert who can finally open the files on it. This takes quite a while, since the disk has to be mailed and Ash's connection is investigating the disk only in his free time.

Prentice also discovers that his feelings for Verity have changed. He no longer feels angry with Lewis for "stealing her." At first, Prentice's narration describes this as his feelings "cooling" as a result of the trauma of losing his father, but interestingly, this soon means Prentice gets to know Verity as a sister-in-law without getting caught up in jealous romantic feelings. Verity gets along well with the family, and Prentice is actually happy to discover that she and Lewis have a baby on the way. Prentice's relationship with Lewis improves greatly as well, partly because he is no longer jealous and partly because he realizes he does not want to lose Lewis, too.

Ash's connection who was looking at Rory's computer disk comes through and sends the printed contents of the files to Prentice. The files reveal to him that Rory likely knew Prentice's uncle, Fergus, murdered his wife by unbuckling her seat belt and crashing their car. Rory had written out a fictional version of events and considered using it in Crow Road. I'm not clear on exactly how certain Rory was about Fergus's crime, or whether Rory would have intentionally reported Ferg, or whether Rory even had enough proof to publicly accuse Ferg of murder, but people would likely have connected the dots in Rory's work and become suspicious of Ferg. For this reason, Prentice believes Ferg murdered Rory as well.

Prentice confronts Ferg. He doesn't get a confession and leaves Ferg's home with no concrete proof of anything; Ferg denies it all. But Prentice is soon physically assaulted in the night, and it seems Ferg was almost certainly the culprit, because he hadn't been home that same night, and he had injuries (probably from being fought off) the next day. A day or two later, Ferg's body is found unconscious in the cockpit of a plane, which crashes into the ocean. It's uncertain whether this was a suicide, but Prentice suspects it was. Rory's body is then soon recovered from the bottom of a waterway near Prentice's home, where Ferg had sunk it years ago.

As the mysteries are solved, Prentice realizes his feelings for Ash are romantic love. However, it's too late, he thinks, because Ash is about to take a job in Canada, where she may or may not stay. Prentice also hesitates to approach her because he's embarrassed about his previous behavior, venting all his angst about Verity and his father. He isn't sure she would even want to be in a relationship with him after that. But the very night before Ash leaves, she kisses Prentice on the cheek, which leads to a deeper kiss. They finally connect, have sex, and confess their mutual feelings. Ash still goes to her job in Canada, but says she'll come back when Prentice is done with his studies that summer.

The relationship's future is somewhat uncertain because something could come up while Ash is in Canada, but Prentice is hopeful. The book ends with Prentice getting ready to graduate with his grades on track as a history scholar, fully renouncing his belief in an afterlife while he acknowledges the inherent importance of our experiences in our lives now, and enjoying his time with Lewis and Verity and his other family members.

What's the point of all these hundreds of pages?

Well, look at all of the above; there's definitely more than one point. But the main point I took away is that we get this one life, with our loved ones in this world here and now, and this is where we make our meanings. There is no other meaning, but that doesn't mean there's no meaning at all. It means the meaning is here.

It's not death that gives life its meaning. It's the things we do while alive that give life its deeper meaning.

The Crow Road is described (on Wikipedia) as a Bildungsroman, a story focusing on the moral and philosophical growth and change of its main character as they transition from childhood to adulthood ("coming-of-age novel" is a similar term that is interchangeable, but more vague and not necessarily focused on morality/philosophy). And, indeed, all of the plots ultimately tie into Prentice's changed philosophy.

After his argument with Kenneth, Prentice feels childish and humiliated, and as a result, he refuses to go back home, which leads to a spiral of shame and depression. Kenneth dies and Prentice realizes it's too late to repair the relationship, which also leads him to realize it's what we do in life that matters, and that therefore, his father's argument was correct after all.

At the end of the novel, Prentice outright describes his new philosophy. However, I can't recall one specific passage where Prentice describes the process of how he changed his mind (if anyone else can remember something I missed, do let me know). There is, however, a moment when his narration indicates that Hamish seems less disturbed by his own part in the incident that led to Kenneth's death and more disturbed by the notion that his beliefs might actually be true: there might actually be an angry, vengeful God. In other words, Hamish's philosophy is selfish at its core.

My interpretation is that when his father died, Prentice realized three things: how utterly self-serving Hamish's devout faith is, how Kenneth's untimely death proves the importance of working things out now rather than in an imaginary afterlife, and how much profound meaning Kenneth had left behind despite having no faith at all. After these realizations, a determined belief in an afterlife no longer makes our lives here more profound like Prentice once thought it did.

Also, it's worth noting that this incident changes Prentice's idea of partnership, too. He loses interest in this distant, idealized woman he's been after. In love as in the rest of life, Prentice lets go of his ideals, and in doing so, he makes room for true meaning, both in a sincere familial, platonic connection with Verity and a sincere intimate, romantic connection with Ash.

But what about the sex scene?!

Yes, indeed, at the tail end of the story, Prentice and Ash have sex and admit they want to be in a relationship together. Prentice's narration describes them sleeping together and having intercourse not just once, but many times, including some slow and relaxed couplings during which they flex the muscles in their private parts to spell out "I.L.Y." and "I.L.Y.T." to each other in Morse code. This is relevant because earlier, they had been surprised and delighted to discover that they both knew Morse code; it isn't a detail that came from nowhere.

I didn't get the impression that this scene was trying to be especially titillating to the reader. It was mostly just a list of stuff the characters did together. I felt the point was that they were still anxious about being emotionally honest, a little desperate to convey their feelings without having to speak them out loud, and awkward in a way that made it obvious that their primary concern was the feelings, not the sexual performance. They cared about each other, but they weren't trying to be impressive or put on a show; contrast this with previous scenes where Prentice would act like a clown in front of Ash to diffuse his own anxiety. I've always thought that being able to have awkward sex and still enjoy it is a good sign.

Okay, so what does this all have to do with Good Omens?

Here's where I have to get especially interpretive. I'm doing my best, but of course, not everyone reading this will have the same perspective on Good Omens, the Final Fifteen especially. I believe similar themes are going to resonate between The Crow Road and Good Omens regardless of our particular interpretations of the characters' behavior and motivations, but I suppose it could hit differently for some people.

The TL;DR: I see similar themes between The Crow Road and Good Omens in:

The importance of mortal life on Earth

Meaning (or purpose) as something that we create as we live, not something that is handed to us by a supreme being

Sincere connection and love/passion (for people, causes, arts, life's work, etc) as a type of meaning/purpose

Relationships as reflections of philosophy

The dual nature of humanity

Life on Earth as the important part of existence is a core theme in Good Omens, and has been since the very beginning. We all already know Adam chose to preserve the world as it already is because he figured this out, and we all already know Aziraphale and Crowley have been shaped for the better by their experiences on Earth. But Good Omens isn't done with this theme by a long shot. I think this is the most important thematic commonality Good Omens will have with The Crow Road. Closely related is the notion that we create our meanings as we live, rather than having them handed to us. Isn't this, in a way, what Aziraphale struggles with in A Companion to Owls? He's been given this meaning, this identity, that doesn't fit him. But does he have anything else to be? Not yet.

Partnerships as a parallel to the characters' philosophical development also resonates as a commonality that The Crow Road may have with Good Omens. Prentice's obsession with Verity goes away when he starts to embrace the importance of life on Earth and makes room for his sincere relationship with Ash. Note their names: "Verity" is truth, an ideal Prentice's father instills in him; "Ashley" means "dweller in the ash tree meadow" in Anglo-Saxon, according to Wikipedia, and "ash" is one of the things people return to after death. Prentice literally trades his high ideals for life on Earth. We see in Aziraphale a similar tug-o'-war between Heaven's distant ideals and Crowley's Earthly pleasures, so I can see a similar process potentially playing out for him.

I don't particularly recall a ton of thematic exploration of free will in The Crow Road. However, there is a glimmer of something there: Prentice feels excessively controlled by Kenneth's desire to pass down his beliefs, and part of the reason Prentice is so resistant to change is simply his frustration with feeling censored and not being taken seriously. As the reader, I do get the feeling that while Prentice is immature, Kenneth made major mistakes in handling their conflict, too. And Kenneth's mistakes come from trying to dictate Prentice's thoughts. There is likely some crossover with Good Omens in the sense that I'm pretty sure both stories are going to take the position that people need to be allowed to make mistakes, and to do things that one perceives as mistakes, without getting written off as "stupid" or "bad" or otherwise "unworthy."

Suffice it to say that the human characters in Good Omens will also certainly play into these themes, but it's hard to write about them when we don't know much about them except that one of them is almost certainly the reincarnation of Jesus. This also makes me suspect perhaps the human cast will be 100% entirely all-new, or mostly new, symbolic of how Aziraphale and Crowley have immersed themselves in the ever-evolving, ever-changing world of life on Earth. Alternatively, if we encounter human characters again from Season 1 or 2, perhaps the ways they've grown and changed will be highlighted. For example, even in real-world time, Adam and Warlock have already, as of the time I'm writing this, gone through at least one entire life stage (from 11 in 2019 to 16 in 2024). They'll be legal adults in a couple of years, and if there's a significant time skip, they could be much older. If characters from Season 1 do reappear and themes from The Crow Road are prominent, I would expect either some key scenes highlighting contrasts and changes from their younger selves or for stagnation and growth to be a central part of their plot.

The more I write, the more I just interpret everything in circles. Hopefully this post has at least given you a decent idea of what The Crow Road is like and how it may relate to Good Omens.

I'll end this post with a quotation that feels relevant:

Telling us straight or through his stories, my father taught us that there was, generally, a fire at the core of things, and that change was the only constant, and that we – like everybody else – were both the most important people in the universe, and utterly without significance, depending, and that individuals mattered before their institutions, and that people were people, much the same everywhere, and when they appeared to do things that were stupid or evil, often you hadn’t been told the whole story, but that sometimes people did behave badly, usually because some idea had taken hold of them and given them an excuse to regard other people as expendable (or bad), and that was part of who we were too, as a species, and it wasn’t always possible to know that you were right and they were wrong, but the important thing was to keep trying to find out, and always to face the truth. Because truth mattered. Iain Banks, The Crow Road

#good omens #the crow road #good omens book club #go3 speculation #s3 speculation #good omens 2 spoilers #go s2 spoilers

159 notes · View notes