#ah being doomed by the narrative

[quynhorlose]

siblings versus the inevitable

doomed by the narrative (@thisisallthehattersfault) / the hunger games (suzanne collins) / grow as we go (@quynhorlose) / avatar: the last airbender / the tragic beauty of the final agni kai (sagesrain) / crimson rivers (@mayzarbewithyou) / your other half (jovana rikalo) / richard siken

[mammalsofaction]

Something incredibly annoying when dealing with non-pnf stans when discussing with PnF is discussion of Candace being accidentally gaslit by her mother. In that they assume everyone is in on the fact to make Candace feel like she's crazy. NOBODY ELSE is doing that. In fact, nobody BUT Candace seems to understand the whole brunt of the situation.

The backyard gang are not "bullying" Candace or keeping her from telling her mom. In fact, they tell Linda about it themselves MULTIPLE TIMES. They talk about it off handedly a bunch of times too. Theyre just also 10, and Linda thinks it's part of the "games". She thinks theyre being imaginative. Theyre NOT. The backyard gang is NOT lying to her, and they are NOT perpetuating the assumption that Candace is crazy. Linda just doesnt believe them. The backyard gang doesn't KNOW this. THEY ALL THINK LINDA KNOWS.

LAWRENCE is not perpetuating the idea that Candace is crazy. He ALSO thinks Linda knows. HE HAS SEEN the backyard projects a bunch of times, and HE TELLS Linda about them TOO. However, and this is important, he only ever sees the cute, relaxed and sweet projects, and never the potentially dangerous or fatal ones, so he thinks Candace is being anxious and overprotective. Which she is, but that's a separate issue. LAWRENCE is not lying. HE thinks Linda knows.

JEREMY has seen the projects and parties. He talks about them at length, and how cool Phineas and Ferb are! He's never lied. He thinks Linda knows.

STACY has seen the projects and parties. She FREQUENTLY vouches for Candace. But shes Candace's best friend, so of course Linda doesnt believe her.

EVERYBODY EITHER THINKS LINDA ALREADY KNOWS, OR HAVE CLOSE ATTACHMENTS TO CANDACE SO LINDA DOESNT BELIEVE THEM ANYWAY.

Linda isnt doing it on purpose. NOBODY is lying.

DO i think Linda should believe her daughter now and then? And should Lawrence stick up for her more? Of course I do. But it's not malicious. Just....a bit neglectful. But Candace's assumption that everyone is against her is largely perpetuated in her own head and anxieties and miseries. She ISN'T alone. People ARE on her side, and she has more allies than she thinks. There are MULTIPLE episodes where Phineas and Ferb try to bust THEMSELVES (AKA attempt to show Linda their project with her own eyes) when she simply asks them to. A lot of people think she's really cool, and caring, and her brothers think shes unironically, absolutely AWESOME. Which has been the point of many episodes, AS WELL AS Candace against the Universe.

[orcelito]

Constantly worried about mischaracterizing Midvalley & trying to keep in mind what he's like in (manga) canon as I write him

But also he has been subjected to Vash's bullshit for 3 and a half years now (where we are in itnl) & that would be enough to change Anyone

[chaoticallyfluffy]

Introduction + My Shazam Masterlist!

Welcome to my blog! My name is Fluffy!

I am an artist and fan fiction writer who mostly focuses on one fandom at a time. My current obsession is Shazam!

My second blog is @fawcetttweets where I post Tweets from the DC universe, focusing on the daily lives of Fawcett City’s heroes and civilians!

My banner was created by @chocolatebriosh during art fight! The characters are my OCs :)

You can find me on TikTok and Ao3 with the username ChaoticallyFluffy or by using the links!

I tried my best to make it chronological with the oldest on top and the newest on the bottom, so if my early stuff sucks, feel free to skip to the bottom of each section!

In order I have my ficlets, fan art, animatics, and misc (mostly add-ons to other posts or tiny ideas that are too short to put into ficlets)!

The characters involved in the posts will be next to each link! Billy and Captain Marvel will just be called Billy unless they are specifically separate beings in the post.

Masterlist begins under the cut :)

Where'd he go? (Billy, JL)

Curses! (Billy, Mr. Mind, JL)

Identical (Billy, Mary, JL)

Whats in a Last Name? (Billy, JL, Batfam)

Billy Being a Menace (Billy, Bruce Wayne)

Lies and Half Truths (Billy, Danny Phantom, JL)

Ah, a Child (Billy, JL)

Power of Perception (Billy, JL)

Doomed by the Narrative + Wrong Place, Wrong Time (Billy, JL)

The Homeless Boy and Nepo Baby (Billy, Bruce Wayne)

Two Halves, Never Whole (Billy, Jason Blood, Marvel, Etigran)

Blissful Ignorance (Billy, JL)

Blunder + Look at this! (Billy, Marvel, Shazamily,

Billy Batfam (Billy, Batfam)

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What are you, a cop? + Now you see me, now you don't (Billy, JL)

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Learning to Live (Billy, JL)

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'Tis but a scratch! (Billy, JL)

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Marvel Licks Cocaine. Wait, wha- (Billy, JL)

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JL as platonic Soulmates (Billy, JL)

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Dead name, literally (Billy, Gay people)

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No Longer 2 in 1 (Billy, other)

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If your reading this, i still haven't used the stickers. (Billy, Marvel)

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Billy Ratson (Billy, Marvel)

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Gartic phone highlights pt. 1 (many characters!)

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Link to 'Kill him with kindness' fic

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Migraine Posting part whatever (who cares why am I writing this with a migraine this was a horrible idea)

Here’s some of my original content! I don’t really make much of it but I thought I should at least give you the option to see it :)

OC art:

First Date (Valley, Roxy)

[ardafanonarch]

Hi there! This blog is a very cool concept.

If you feel up to it, I'd like to know where the idea of Maedhros as a diplomat and scholar comes from.

In fic he's often portrayed as such in Valinor, serving at Finwë's court, sometimes being close with Fingolfin, bring into linguistics, etc.

Thank you!

Maedhros the Diplomat (with an Addendum on Maedhros the Scholar)

[~3.4k Words]

Ah, Maedhros. A treasure trove of fanon for our first excavation. As this is also our first investigation of characterisation, let’s establish a structure for talking about characters.

There are two ways that we learn what a character is like from The Silmarillion:

The narrator tells us, either: a. with short, pithy statements (someone is “wise” or “steadfast” or “greatest”) b. with longer descriptions

We deduce character from their actions and their relationships to others.

Using this structure, let’s look briefly as what we know about Maedhros.

1a.

Maedhros isn’t “mightiest in skill of word and hand” like his father or “the strongest, the most steadfast, and the most valiant” like Fingolfin. He isn’t even noted as being particularly good at anything like his brothers Maglor “the mighty singer,” Curufin “who inherited most if his father’s skill of hand,” or Celegorm, Amrod, and Amras who were all skilled hunters. He’s not even noteworthy for any negative traits like Caranthir, “the harshest of the brothers and the most quick to anger.”

Despite being one of the story’s protagonists, and certainly the most narratively prominent of the sons of Fëanor, all Maedhros gets in this category is “tall”[1].

1b.

In this category, Maedhros gets more fully fleshed-out:

[At Lake Mithrim] Maedhros in time was healed; for the fire of life was hot within him, and his strength was of the ancient world, such as those possessed who were nurtured in Valinor. His body recovered from his torment and became hale, but the shadow of his pain was in his heart; and he lived to wield his sword with left hand more deadly than his right had been. The Silmarillion, “Of the Return of the Noldor”

Maedhros did deeds of surpassing valour, and the Orcs fled before his face; for since his torment upon Thangorodrim his spirit burned like a white fire within, and he was as one that returns from the dead. The Silmarillion, “Of the Ruin of Beleriand”

Perhaps one of the most striking descriptions of Maedhros comes from an abandoned alliterative verse poem, The Flight of the Noldoli (=Noldor), published in The Lays of Beleriand and dating to 1925 — about a year before Tolkien first put the “Silmarillion” into a prose format in the annalistic-historical mode of the published text.

... and Maidros tall (the eldest, whose ardour yet more eager burnt than his father’s flame, than Fëanor’s wrath; him fate awaited with fell purpose.) Flight of the Noldoli, lines 123-126

Fire, valour, pain, deadliness, wrath, doom. Taken alone, these passages don’t exactly suggest "diplomat and scholar," yet those qualities are a cornerstone how we often see Maedhros discussed and portrayed by fans. So why?

2.

Maedhros the Diplomat, at least, seems to be based on what he does in canon.

Pausing for a moment, what does it actually mean to be "diplomatic"?

Here’s from Merriam-Webster under diplomatic:

[…]

of, relating to, or concerned with the art and practice of conducting negotiations between nations: of, relating to, or concerned with diplomacy or diplomats.

employing tact and conciliation especially in situations of stress

And for diplomacy:

the art and practice of conducting negotiations between nations

skill in handling affairs without arousing hostility: TACT

It’s worth noting that the first use of the word diplomacy dates to the 18th century (1766) and the concept itself is somewhat anachronistic to the pre-modern world of the “Silmarillion.” However, it’s not difficult to apply the spirit of an “art and practice of negotiations between nations” to First Age Beleriand. We’ll also consider the secondary definition of “tact.”

The Case for Maedhros the Diplomat

Let's look at some times that Maedhros practiced diplomacy and was diplomatic:

1. Waiving his claim to the kingship of the Noldor in favour of Fingolfin:

For Maedhros begged forgiveness for the desertion in Araman; and he waived his claim to kingship over all the Noldor, saying to Fingolfin: ‘If there lay no grievance between us, lord, still the kingship would rightly come to you, the eldest here of the house of Finwë, and not the least wise.’ The Silmarillion, “Of the Return of the Noldor”

Is this an instance of diplomacy? Yes: resolving conflict by removing one’s own claim to a title.

Is it diplomatic? The dialogue seems pretty tactful — demonstrating deference, employing flattery and logic — and is definitely an improvement on Fëanor’s approach to the contested kingship!

2. Brother-wrangling

There are two significant instances of this in the Silmarillion:

resolving conflict

After an argument breaks out between Angrod and Caranthir over Angrod’s authority to act as messenger to Thingol, “Maedhros indeed rebuked Caranthir … But Maedhros restrained his brothers, and they departed from the council…" (“Of the Return of the Noldor”)

Is this an instance of diplomacy? Yes: removing threats to peaceable relations between rulers.

Is it diplomatic? Since we don’t know exactly how Maedhros rebuked Caranthir and restrained his brothers, it’s hard to say how tactfully it was done. Maybe.

removing to the Eastern march

There Maedhros and his brothers kept watch, gathering all such people as would come to them, and they had few dealings with their kinsfolk westward, save at need. It is said indeed that Maedhros himself devised this plan, to lessen the chances of strife, and because he was very willing that the chief peril of assault should fall upon himself. The Silmarillion, “Of the Return of the Noldor”

Is this an instance of diplomacy? Yes: again removing threats to peaceable relations between rulers. Also involves gathering followers. Notably, the strategy seems to have worked for as long as it lasted (that is, until Celegorm and Curufin found themselves in Nargothrond).

Is it diplomatic? Again, unclear how Maedhros executed this plan, but the narrator’s tone here is quite approving so it’s reasonable to assume that it was done tactfully.

3. Remaining on good terms with the other Princes of the Noldor

A few examples of this:

Continuing from the preceding passage, “he remained for his part in friendship with the houses of Fingolfin and Finarfin, and would come among them at times for common counsel.” (“Of the Noldor in Beleriand”)

Is this an instance of diplomacy? Yes.

Is it diplomatic? Yes: extra diplomacy points for taking it upon himself to go to them.

He (with Maglor) attended Mereth Aderthad, the Feast of Reuniting. (“Of the Noldor in Beleriand”)

Is this an instance of diplomacy? Yes, though showing up to the High King’s peace party seems like pretty bare minimum lordly behaviour, not exemplary diplomacy.

Is it diplomatic? We don’t know except through the absence of any evidence to the contrary. Since the Mereth Aderthad was overall a diplomatic success, it’s reasonable to assume Maedhros contributed to that success and stayed on his best behaviour.

He (with Maglor) goes hunting with Finrod. (“Of the Coming of Men into the West”)

Is this an instance of diplomacy? Sure: a leisurely hunting trip with the cousin whose kin you once killed (oops) is a good move.

Is it diplomatic? Again, lacking evidence to the contrary, reasonable to assume Maedhros behaved himself and the trip went off without conflict.

Remaining on good terms in particular with “Fingon, ever the friend of Maedhros” (“Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad”). The anecdote about the history of the Dragon-helm (below), which has it pass from Maedhros to Fingon, additionally attests that these two “often exchanged tokens of friendship.”

Is this an instance of diplomacy? Yes: in particular, the exchange of tokens of friendship between rulers.

Is it diplomatic? Unless we imagine Fingon was himself tactless (which is contradicted by what we’re told about him elsewhere) and their friendship was built around being mutually despicable (see: Celegorm and Curufin), fair to assume this was all done courteously.

4. Making alliances

with the Sindar

We know that many Sindar outside Doriath joined themselves to and followed the princes of the Noldor, presumably including the sons of Fëanor. (The Grey Annals §48 in The History of Middle-earth Vol. 11: The Wars of the Jewels, and elsewhere).

with the Dwarves

In the preparations for the Nirnaeth Arnoediad:

... Maedhros had the help of the Naugrim, both in armed force and in great store of weapons; and the smithies of Nogrod and Belegost were busy in those days. The Silmarillion, “Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad”

Also, from the Narn i hîn Húrin in Unfinished Tales:

[The Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin] was given by Azaghâl to Maedhros, as guerdon for the saving of his life and treasure, when Azaghâl was waylaid by Orcs upon the Dwarf-road in East Beleriand.

Azaghâl then sacrifices himself and his people at the Nirnaeth, making the Fëanorian retreat possible.

with the Easterlings

But Maedhros, knowing the weakness of the Noldor and the Edain, whereas the pits of Angband seemed to hold store inexhaustible and ever-renewed, made alliance with these new-come Men, and gave his friendship to the greatest of their chieftains, Bor and Ulfang. And Morgoth was well content; for this was as he had designed. The sons of Bor were Borlad, Borlach, and Borthand; and they followed Maedhros and Maglor, and cheated the hope of Morgoth, and were faithful. The sons of Ulfang the Black were Ulfast, and Ulwarth, and Uldor the accursed; and they followed Caranthir and swore allegiance to him, and proved faithless. The Silmarillion, “Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad”

the Union of Maedhros

Perhaps Maedhros' most-cited and most famous act of "diplomacy":

Yet Morgoth would destroy them all, one by one, if they could not again unite, and make new league and common council; and he began those counsels for the raising of the fortunes of the Eldar that are called the Union of Maedhros. The Silmarillion, “Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad”

And [Maedhros] gathered together again all his brothers and all the people who would follow them; and the Men of Bor and Ulfang were marshalled and trained for war, and they summoned yet more of their kinsfolk out of the East. Moreover in the west Fingon, ever the friend of Maedhros, took counsel with Himring, and in Hithlum the Noldor and the Men of the house of Hador prepared for war. The Silmarillion, “Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad”

Are these instances of diplomacy? Yes: protecting neighbours, gathering followers, establishing partnerships, forming alliances with other groups of peoples, and organising a major offensive on a common enemy.

Is it diplomatic? Again, absence to the contrary and general success suggests Maedhros conducted himself tactfully in all of these dealings. One thing: I have seen a tendency in fandom to credit superior leadership and diplomacy on the part of Maedhros and Maglor for the fact that their Easterling allies remain faithful while Caranthir’s do not. Maybe; but bear in mind that’s a deduction, not something the text explicitly states.

I am sure there are other tidbits here and there to support the diplomatic ability of Maedhros, but I think we have enough here to conclude the Maedhros the Diplomat is a fanon characterisation with support it in canon.

The Case against Maedhros the Diplomat

So Maedhros was a diplomat; but was Maedhros an exemplary diplomat, as the prominence of his characterisation as such would suggest, or just an average one? Let us look at some of Maedhros’ diplomatic failings.

1. hubris, attempted deception

Look: we can’t neglect that Maedhros is behind one of the most disastrous failures of diplomacy in the First Age — his attempt to parley with Morgoth that ends up getting him captured.

Though not in the published Silmarillion, in the 1937 Quenta Silmarillion, Fëanor with his dying breath tells his sons “never to treat or parley with their foe.” (§88). (Christopher Tolkien drew from a later text, the Grey Annals (1950s), for the account of the death of Fëanor in the published Silmarillion where this command does not exist.) I cannot help but laugh at the fact that following this exhortation Maedhros immediately turns around and attempts to parley with Morgoth and outwit him.

Perhaps diplomatic relations with Morgoth are impossible, but then why accept the offer to parley at all? And what’s up with trying to beat Morgoth at his own game (deceit)? Honestly, Maedhros. Not your best moment.

We can say that he learned from this, but it does put into question the idea that Maedhros’ diplomatic training and excellence go back to his Valinorean days.

2. disdain of and aloofness towards another ruler

We saw how Maedhros restrained his brothers in the council where Angrod brought news from Thingol, but what about how Maedhros himself behaved at that council?

Cold seemed its welcome to the Noldor, and the sons of Fëanor were angered at the words; but Maedhros laughed, saying: ‘A king is he that can hold his own, or else his title is vain. Thingol does but grant us lands where his power does not run. Indeed Doriath alone would be his realm this day, but for the coming of the Noldor. Therefore in Doriath let him reign, and be glad that he has the sons of Finwë for his neighbours, not the Orcs of Morgoth that we found. Elsewhere it shall go as seems good to us.’ The Silmarillion, “Of the Return of the Noldor”

Fandom loves the line and I can’t disagree that it’s an epic mic drop. But was this really the most diplomatic thing to say? In the Grey Annals, it is said that “the sons of Fëanor were ever unwilling to accept the overlordship of Thingol, and would ask for no leave where they might dwell or might pass.” (§48). (Interestingly, there does seem to have been a point, before word of the kinslaying at Alqualondë was out, that Thingol for his part was at least neutral on them, saying, “Of his sons I hear little to my pleasure; yet they are likely to prove the deadliest foes of our foe” (“Of the Noldor in Beleriand”)). Arriving at a new place and refusing to treat with the person who claims kingship of those lands — and apparently for no other reason besides disdain of that person’s ability as a ruler — doesn’t seem particularly diplomatic.

3. not supporting a superior's initiative

We saw evidence of Maedhros cooperating with the other princes of the Noldor, but that doesn't mean he threw his support behind them at every occasion to do so. When Fingolfin — supposedly, thanks for Maedhros, High King and his superior — tries to rally the Noldor to assault Angband, almost everyone was “little disposed to hearken to Fingolfin, and the sons of Fëanor at that time least of all.” (“Of the Ruin of Beleriand”).

This statement is frustratingly vague so I won’t speculate much besides to suggest that there could be something suspect — and undiplomatic — behind failing to support the initiative of the High King to whom you so graciously ceded your claim.

4. Oath-related diplomatic failures (kinslayings)

The extent to which the oath is to blame for events is a sticky issue and not the subject of this analysis, but since fulfilling the oath is essential to Maedhros’ character, it’s impossible to avoid it entirely.

The narrator of the Silmarillion is actually quite generous towards Maedhros when discussing the role of the oath in his failings, so it’s no surprise that many fans are likewise generous.

For example:

I quoted above the passage about Maedhros taking “the chief peril of assault” upon himself and remaining “for his part in friendship with the houses of Fingolfin and Finarfin,” and it is perhaps the strongest evidence for Maedhros’ diplomatic excellence. It also ends with the ominous words: “Yet he also was bound by the oath, though it slept now for a time.” (“Of the Return of the Noldor”)

And when the concept of the Union of Maedhros is introduced, we are told: “Yet the oath of Fëanor and the evil deeds that it had wrought did injury to the design of Maedhros, and he had less aid than should have been.” (“Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad”).

Both of these passages remind us that the oath — a vow to vengeance — is in the long-term at cross-purposes with cooperation and diplomacy.

This becomes especially evident when a Silmaril ends up in the hands of those who should be allies: other elves.

For Maedhros and his brothers, being constrained by their oath, had before sent to Thingol and reminded him with haughty words of their claim, summoning him to yield the Silmaril, or become their enemy. The Silmarillion, “Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad”

The narrator pins this failure of diplomacy on the oath. But, as Maglor will point out in his final moments with Maedhros, the oath does not state how and when they must fulfill it. Is it a mark of a good diplomat to use “haughty” words in making a request? And what about what follows Thingol’s refusal?

Therefore [Thingol] sent back the messengers with scornful words. Maedhros made no answer, for he had now begun to devise the league and union of the Elves; but Celegorm and Curufin vowed openly to slay Thingol and destroy his people, if they came victorious from war, and the jewel were not surrendered of free will. The Silmarillion, “Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad”

What do you mean, “made no answer”? The narrator explains this away by saying essentially that Maedhros was too busy to bother, but is it the most diplomatic to just… stop communicating with the king who had the Silmaril, and whose support would really be quite nice to have in the upcoming war? And what about Celegorm and Curufin’s decidedly undiplomatic threat? Long gone are the days of effective brother-wrangling, apparently. (So far gone, in fact, that by the time Celegorm carries through on his threat and the sons of Feanor attack Doriath, Maedhros seems to have deferred to Celegorm’s leadership.)

The oath is again blamed for Maedhros’ change of course regarding the Silmaril at the Havens of Sirion. Having initially “withheld his hand”:

… the knowledge of their oath unfulfilled returned to torment [Maedhros] and his brothers, and gathering from their wandering hunting-paths they sent messages to the Havens of friendship and yet of stern demand. The Silmarillion, “Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath”

As with the “haughty words” to Thingol, was “stern demand” the most diplomatic approach? Would better diplomacy have made a difference? Well, maybe. I don’t think the discussion between Maedhros and Maglor was inserted into the narrative without thematic purpose — and one of those purposes is, I think, to reveal the slippery space of conflict between obligation and choice; between that which must be done and how it’s done; between the morality of keeping one’s word and the morality of doing the right thing.

Does the oath itself turn an otherwise mild and affable Maedhros into someone haughty and stern? Or are those flaws he already had and which are brought to the fore by the constraint of the oath? Well, examine the evidence for yourself — and allow the imagination to roam.

Final assessment: Maedhros is a good diplomat, certainly compared to his closest kinsmen. But just like Maedhros isn’t the tallest (no, really, he’s not — but that’s another excavation), he’s perhaps also not the best diplomat on the political stage of First Age Beleriand.

[1] If we go beyond the published Silmarillion to the “Shibboleth of Fëanor” (in History of Middle-earth Vol. 12: The Peoples of Middle-earth), we learn that he was a red-head and apparently “well-shaped.” For an author who is notoriously sparse with physical description, Tolkien did seem to have a lot of ideas about what Maedhros looked liked!

Addendum: Maedhros the Scholar

“Diplomat and Scholar” do seem to go hand-in-hand in the fandom’s most popular versions of Maedhros, but I focused on the former for this Ask because there really isn’t much in canon to directly support Maedhros’ skill as a scholar.

The Noldor, as a culture, are loremasters. Fëanor, Maedhros’ father, was one of the most notable of these loremasters, even credited with founding the school of Lambengolmor, Loremasters of Tongues ( in the essay Quendi and Eldar in The History of Middle-earth Vol. 11: The War of the Jewels).

But, when Tolkien gives examples of elven loremasters, who, he says, were also “the greatest kings, princes and warriors,” he names Fëanor, Finrod, the lords of Gondolin, and Orodreth. No mention of Maedhros. And, when discussing which sons of Fëanor took an interest in language, he mentions not the eldest, but Maglor and Curufin. (Both in The Shibboleth of Fëanor.)

So there’s nothing in canon to suggest that Maedhros wasn’t a scholarly type, but it’s not something he’s noted for. His most remarkable trait remains “tall”.

[astromechs]

unpopular opinion but i support kendall roy in everything he does and if he wants to take another shot at his dad i'm with him 😘

kendall LOGAN roy

[aryas-faces]

Westeros, as grrm said, is an absolute monarchy and the definition of it is =a form of monarchy in which the sovereign is the sole source of political power, unconstrained by constitutions, legislatures or other checks on their authority. Not to mention that viserys in the book made a decree where he said that rhaenyra was his heir, so it's litterally write into the law that she is the rightful heir to the throne. if aegon was the rightful ruler, i assure you that grrm "my books are full of characters that made bad things and get repaid with the saim coin like jaime loosing the hand he used to push bran or tywin being killed by the child he neglected and abused" wouldn't kill the greens entirely bloodline (on the throne). aegon himself said in the screen you posted the throne was Rhaenyra's birthright so what's the point of deny it?

and the part where alicent say she fears for the life of her children is the funniest 😂

i fear for my children so let's torment the king's heir, and put the crown on my son (that DID NOT want it) and consequently start a war where i send my teenager children to fight (daeron was litterally 13 and aegon 19) on dragonback!!! everything will go ok, cause rhaenys the conqueror wasn't killed by an arrow even tho she had a big dragon in the conquest of dorne and jaehaerys' oldest son wasn't subject to same fate! what can possible go wrong??

1) The point of the Dance is that they both have a claim. Neither can be considered the Sole heir because Viserys named Rhaenyra heir, but by every law Aegon is heir. That’s one of the reasons the Dance happens. I’m not denying Rhaenyra is Heir, I’m saying Aegon is also Heir and that’s how we got in this mess

2) The Greens are not the villains. Both sides have good and bad people on it. George said he likes that people argue and debate who are the heroes and who are the villains when it comes to the Dance because neither side is totally in the right and neither side is totally in the wrong

3) If Rhaenyra wasn’t meant to be looked at as villainous, George wouldn’t write that Aegon’s victory is bittersweet in the Princess and the Queen

This is not the writing of someone who is a villain. What happens to Aegon is a tragedy, George treats it and writes it as such. And “narrative punishment” doesn’t really work here because Aegon was doomed from the start and like I said, he is written as a walking tragedy. If you want to talk about “narrative punishment” talk about Rhaenyra getting eaten by Sunfyre and how what comes next for House Targaryen through her bloodline is near total extinction

4) Ah yes. Fearing for your family’s life is SO funny! Also, she didn’t torment Rhaenyra. The book says there was tension between them, not that Alicent was terrible to her. And no, calling bastards bastards isn’t torment. Alicent is no saint, but she was never evil like you all make her out to be. She put the crown on Aegon’s head because she thought that would save from him from Rhaenyra and Daemon’s wrath if they were to be crowned, as she says, and than is one of the people who helps write peace terms. We, as the audience, know how misguided this is, but Alicent thought she protecting her children

[yuri-is-online]

tragedy anon back again w u guess it!!! More tragedy!!! Im thinking rn of a Yuu who was always going to die in the end. Like being sent back to their world is the equivalent to a death sentence, and they can't stay in TWST because time always loops and they feel like shit for trapping everyone in a moment when they could all be living their lives if not for them.

Yuu who has always been doomed from the start.... Like maybe yuu has been framed for a crime back in their prev world and when they do come back their execution will commence or maybe it's the apocalypse and when they do come back it's truly only a matter of time when they die. Thinking of the TWST boys who goes to visit them only to find nobody..... But traces of them.... Though I feel like the first scenario is more brutal, imagine you go visit your friend and not only are they dead but they were sentenced to death for a crime you know damn well they did not commit and everyone else is rejoicing.

Rejoicing that they're gone. Rejoicing at the fact that they all had KILLED them. Did Yuu know this was going to happen? If they did why had they not told them?! (they will never know, no one ever will because no one ever asked when they were alive if they were alright and they sure as hell will never get an answer because Yuu is dead and they are gone. Forever. )

:3

Ah tragedy annon, my Billy Shakes if you will, this made me THINK think. Doomed (hehe dyuumed) by the narrative is such a sexy trope. "If you were dead at the end of the story you were dead since the beginning" my beloved.

The main thing that made me think is that in country's that have the death penalty there's typically a lengthy appeals process + a ban on sentencing minors to it, even if they were charged as an adult, that makes it hard for me to see that being Yuu’s situation. That being said I agree that would be an awful, awful thing to come see. I could see someone like Malleus, who hates seeing other people happy when he isn't and is prone to causing storm with his magic, going full Netflix Castlevania and starting an apocalypse in Yuu's world while bringing their body home to be laid in state in Briar Valley. It's his right as King of the Abyss after all. Someone like Riddle might try proving your innocence, thinking about how restoring your good name is all he can do while the Octatrio extract their own kind of justice.

The apocalypse Yuu scenarios are ones I like but haven't played around with much just because post apocalyptic settings aren't my jam but! I could see there being a lot of anger at this Yuu for not telling them their situation. Of course now that the boys are older, they can reflect on their behavior and know why Yuu said nothing. But it's easier to blame Yuu at first than accept that they're grieving. It would take them a long time to work through that I think.

My personal preference for scenarios like these involve Yuu being mortally injured before coming to Twisted Wonderland, either in an accident or an attack, that results in their death when they return. I've also played around with terminal illness that's temporarily cured by going to Twisted Wonderland (my own health issues have made me like that less :/) that Yuu isn't recovered from when they return. Either way Yuu is dead when their friends finally figure out a way to get to their world and they have no way of being there for them. And they have no one to blame but themselves... unless.

Unless...

Maybe they could re-set time again?

[simpingforstardew]

muse

pairing: sdv elliot x reader

synopsis: elliot is struggling with severe writers block; if only he had a muse...

note: a while ago i talked about having a derivative idea for an elliot x reader fic; here is that fic !! the premise is completely unoriginal, but i'll leave the references at the end of the fic to avoid spoilers hehe

warnings: i don't even know for this one gang, wholesome w/ an ending that could be read as spooky? let's call it a doomed romance !! tw/ relationships that are doomed by the narrative !!

word count: 1.5k

Adronitis

A heart so damaged; tender; sore—

You ever-blooming sycamore,

Through hunger pangs; my deliriousness,

I mourn my mortal catoptric tristesse.

With starving dreams, your warmth I crave—

I worship you, I must embrave,

Indulge me, lay your fear ahind.

Our sanctuary; your piece of mind.

My amorous famine demands more […more what?],

So I feast on your smile […] petrichor.

i am just writing this right niw so it

looks lije i am being pro ductive oh Yoba

andnow leahs comin g over this

is alll shit im jist going to star t overrr

“How’s the writing going, El’?” Leah peers down at Elliot with a smile, wiping the sweat from her brow. “We’ve been at it for a while without a break, you know?”

“Oh, Leah! It’s going splendidly, and yes, it seems we have…” Elliot coughs, avoiding eye contact while tearing the paper from his typewriter. “Why don’t we call it for today then?”

“Without showing me what you’ve done? C’mon,” she whines, “What do you have?”

Elliot and Leah had decided, sometime early last Spring, to meet in Cindersnap forest every Wednesday to work on their current projects. ‘Parallel play for artists,’ Penny once called it when walking Jas back to Marnie’s ranch. For Leah, this weekly rendezvous has (so far) allowed her to complete 2 clay sculptures, 3 wood sculptures, 23 drawings, and 8 paintings; for Elliot, the last few months has allowed him to create…

“Nothing,” Elliot sighs, packing his typewriter’s case with a frown. “I have, somehow, written nothing! I mean, I wanted to craft a Petrarchan sonnet, inspired by Poe’s romantic, yet macabre sensibilities. I ended up with trash I couldn’t even make hendecasyllabic. It’s embarrassingly Shakespearian and—”

“Whoa, whoa, buddy, that’s okay. That’s fine. I’m not sure what any of that means, but…” Leah scrunches her freckled nose, hoping to find the right words to calm Elliot down, “It seems like you’re expecting perfection from a first draft. Maybe we should call it for today, and you could revisit your poem tomorrow?”

“Yes, you are right,” the authors scowl softens; after a moment of meditation—feeling the summer breeze tangle in his hair—he looks towards Leah with a smile. “I will see you next week, Miss Faraday.”

Elliot didn’t return to his typewriter until later that week, deciding instead to bask in the sun’s warmth on the beach. The author sits on the pier with a contented sigh, the rhythmic sound of waves crashing against the shore providing a soothing backdrop to his afternoon reverie.

Even still, despite the Elysium that he has found himself in, Elliot cannot shake his frustrations; his linguistic discouragement plagued his every thought.

“Ahoy there, my boy! Perfect weather for fishing don’t ya reckon?” Willy smiles, closing the front door to the Fish Shop behind him. Elliot

“Ah, hello Mr. Tucker,” Elliot waves as the fisherman sits beside him, attaching a small blue tackle onto an impressively shiny rod, “I suppose it is, although I fear I don’t have my fishing gear with me today.”

“What’d I tell you about calling me that? No need to be so formal, son,” Willy chuckles, casting a line into the vast depths of the saltwater, “Say, aren’t ya usually off in town around this time? Feel like I never see you this early on a Wednesday.”

Elliot still had to adjust to the predictive routine of a small town, and the horrifying consequences of straying from said routine: becoming the topic of mid-afternoon gossip.

“Yes, well, I um—,” Elliot sighs, looking into the deep blue below as if the ocean concealed the antidote to writers block, “I have been, writing with Leah every Wednesday and… actually can I ask for some advice?”

“O’ Course ya can, my boy.” Willy nods.

“I have been… struggling lately,” The taller man slumps as he runs a hand through his auburn hair, his voice heavy with uncertainty, “I feel as if I have lost my spark, my… capacité artistique. I cannot, for the life of me, write anything of quality! I just… I feel broken, Mr. William.”

Willy takes a moment to think, slowly breathing in the salty air, “Hmm, I see your problem, lad— but it’s important to know yer not broken. Aye, nothin’ about ya is broken.”

A fish tugs at Willy’s fishing line: desperately; hopelessly.

“It’s like if yer pal Willy couldn’t fish anymore… I’d sooner swallow a sea urchin than lose my ability to do what I love,” Willy pulls the rod towards him, putting up a fight with whatever poor creature is on the other end of the line, “but sometimes it’s tricky doing what ya love 24/7, son! You got to remind yerself to take breaks, and…”

The creature is hurled out of the ocean, flapping helplessly as the fisherman releases it from his tackle. Willy holds the freshly-caught octopus up to Elliot.

“Remind yerself why ya love it!” Willy chuckles, before mumbling to himself about throwing his newest catch in a tank lest he ‘gets inked’.

As Elliot sits in contemplative silence, the ocean offering solace: the rushing winds, the distant cry of seagulls, even the smell of salty air. Over the last year and a half, he has grown to love it all.

As he rises to his feet, Elliot considers his friends’ advice. He certainly didn’t want to remain in this slump forever; so he needs to find a reminder of why he loves writing; a source of reinvigorating inspiration.

He needs to find a muse.

A muse in a village with a population of 27.

‘Well,’ Elliot thinks, slamming his cabin’s door shut behind him as he slides onto his desk chair. He sets up his Olympia SM 9 for the second time today. ‘If I can’t find my muse in life, I will simply create my muse in art.’

For a moment, the black page loaded into the typewriter stares back at Elliot, mockingly. Then, as suddenly as the crash of thunder that bellows from above, the author began to write.

Elliot bursts into the Fish Shop, his manuscript clutched tightly in hand, a triumphant gleam in his eye. “Willy, my friend, you’re incredible!” he cheered, his excitement palpable. “I truly could not have done this without your support.”

Willy grins, offering a sincere thumbs-up. “Glad to hear it, lad! So what was your reminder, eh? What got you back on track?”

Elliot coughs, a flush creeping up his freckled cheeks. “Well, you see… I made it up.”

Willy arches an eyebrow, bemused,“Ya made up yer reminder for why you love writing? Now, son…”

“No, no,” Elliot hastens to explain, “My love for writing is genuine. But my muse, my darling muse, is not.”

“I’m not following, my boy.”

“I have spent all night crafting the narrative of a completely fabricated person, it’s all here,” Elliot elaborates, “They’re genuinely kind, talented and hard-working, despite never being appreciated. They have the most charming mole on their neck, and they’re delightfully witty! After their grandfather passed away, they—”

“Son,” Willy interrupted gently, his tone tinged with amusement, “Yer a peculiar one, ya know that? How is this going to help with yer writing?”

“It does sound ridiculous, but dedicating my sonnets to this idealised character… thinking of them as I work on my novel… It has been phenomenally motivating!” Elliot laughs, re-reading through the pages before stopping in his tracks, “Oh, I do apologise old friend, I barged into your shop like a man possessed.”

It had been months since Elliot had felt such a fervent desire to write; his unbridled excitement was contagious; a smirk spreads across Willy’s face, crinkling the corners of his dark green eyes.

“If it were anyone else instead of you, I’d be furious, lad,” Willy chuckles, reaching into his mini fridge, “‘Ere, I whipped up too many crab cakes last night, and I know they’re yer favourite— consider it a gift.”

As Elliot arrives back at his cabin, writing snacks in tow, the muffled playing of his piano greets him. He chuckles softly, before preparing to shoo Harvey out of his home so he could resume his day of writing.

“Sincerest apologies, I—,”

“Oh! Honey, you’re back so soon.” Turning away from the piano, your eyes catch Elliot’s with a familiar warmth. You admire the way your boyfriend’s hair always forms delicate waves when exposed to the sea spray.

The author was struck speechless, his heart pounding as he stared at you with more focus than you have ever been subject to.

It couldn’t be real. And yet there you are. You. The muse Elliot had crafted— who's entire life was written mere hours prior on the pages that were now strewn about the floor— was standing before him in flesh and blood.

Every flawless detail exactly as he had imagined.

“Elliot, darling, are you okay?” Your smile becomes wry; nervous as to why your lover was acting so peculiar, his pale skin was now a ghastly white. “Would you like me to pour some wine? We can—”

Before your suggestion was made, Elliot was gone; the door slamming shut behind him.

note #2: okay if you didn't catch it, my inspiration was the 1960 episode of the Twilight Zone: 'A World of His Own', and (more relevantly) the 2012 psychological horror romcom Ruby Sparks !! if you check out either that episode or movie, pleasepleaseplease lmk what you think <33

[ideasarestuckinmyhead]

|•♡•♡{Welcome pick your man!}♡•♡•|

|•♡•♡•♡•♡•♡•♡•♡{Number 20}♡•♡•♡•♡•♡•♡•♡•|

Incorrect Quotes:

Consequences always find you

Creepypasta

{♡} requested

- HC's of Seth with a autistic reader who really loves Creepypasta

And now I have a cracked skull.

{♡} requested

- Story of listener getting badly injured while protecting Seth during Bittersweet CH.3 (I'm going to move the story around so it can fit)

Glory hole fun.

{♡} requested

- NSFW story of Bottom Seth. Who doesn't like a good glory hole?

Papi

{♡} ask

- Honestly not my cup of tea BUT imagining his face is nice

Vampire x Werewolf

{♡} ask

- Idea of W! Seth having a V! Listener

Can he shake that?!

{♡} personal

- Throw it in a circle- *is shot*

My eyes will always be on you

{♡} requested

- Story of Charlie with an obsessive listener, who stalks him every now and then (kinda made it a bit angsty)

New video

{♡} ask

- My thoughts on the new yandere Charlie video from today 10/10

So cheesy

{♡} personal

- I'll love you till it wilts (chat is this rizz?)

Incorrect Quotes:

Just. For. You.

A bad trip

{♡} ask

- Words would break him

Spicy food

{♡} personal

- HC for him

RIP the monitor

{♡} personal

- Raging will have consequences.

Incorrect Quotes:

TOO OLD 4 U

What a catastrophe

{♡} requested

- Story of Rook turning into a cat and Auron acts like he doesn't know.

I kind of like it here.

{♡} requested

- Story of Hunter Listener going back to V! Auron mansion

Pranking went too far.

{♡} requested

- Story of Camp Counselor AU where Alphonse pranks Rook too much and makes them cry

Cuddling

{♡} ask

- Cute fic idea cuddling during a storm

Put this mf in a musical

{♡} ask

- So doomed by the narrative and you just want him happy fr

Angst material

{♡} ask

- ah yes, angst for Rook

Incorrect Quotes:

Let me spoil you dammit-

Love between a Prince and Servant

{♡} requested

- HC's of a AU of Lucien and Angel but Angel is a servant for him in Hell.

Silly meter

{♡} ask

- He's so silly

I'm called a soul sucker for a reason.

{♡} requested

- NSFW Short story of Bottom! Jack, we suck his soul dry. RIP him trying to focus on studying, we got dick on the mind.

It's for art I swear-

{♡} requested

- Short story of Sugarboo fussing over their boy's posing and giving them kisses 'for the art'

Ride off into the sunset with me.

{♡} requested

- Short story of Sugarboo getting a bike and riding with the boy's.

Saga's after saga's

{♡} requested

- Introducing Alphonse, Auron, Finn and Charlie to epic the musical.

Beyonce Riff

{♡} requested

- HC's of Alphonse, Seth and Auron reacting to their listener doing the Beyonce riff.

Childhood Horizons Camp Counselor AU

{♡} requested

- Jack x Casper/Buddy x Charlie but as my Mootie's AU.

My Inumimi lover

{♡} requested

- HC's with Charlie, Jack and Auron for a dog version of a Neko. (which apparently is called a Inumimi?)

Dirty jokes.

{♡} requested

- HC's of telling Jack, Faust and Finn "your face is so pretty I could sit on it" jokingly

Splatoon!

{♡} requested

- PT2 HC's of the boy's playing Splatoon w Listener, this time with Finn, Jack, Charlie, and Faust

Tipsy love

{♡} requested

- Story of Sugarboo coming back from a night out and being all lovey dovey with their boys

You're related?

{♡} requested

- Story of Auron finding out Charlie and Rook are related. Bonus Casper!

Another ship name

{♡} ask

- This is cute ngl

FNF

{♡} ask

- Idea's from mootie

FNAF Au?

{♡} ask

- The way I'd be fucking devastated

The baker is scarier than the butcher

{♡} ask

- This literally is the town's slogan and I 100% support it

Grocery store love.

{♡} personal

- Yes, it's a Derek fic where he got a redemption arc

Honk honk

{♡} personal

- Squeeze the titties

More questions

{♡} personal

- What does Casper know?

Alice of Human Sacrifice

{♡} personal

- My thoughts of the yv boys being this song

TwitterPT65 PT66 PT67 PT68 PT69 PT70 PT71

Incorrect Quotes:

FUCKING PLEASE-...I mean, cool

We can share!

two reactions to the rain

Sick

[equalseleventhirds]

well instead of going to bed at a normal time like a normal person, i made a very basic bare-bones canva pdf of my fun new ttrpg supplement, you already know how this story ends, aka 'so, you're doomed by the narrative,' aka 'my blorbo my blorbo and me my blorbo,' aka 'algie read a few too many villainess isekai manga probably but we deal'

it's system agnostic (but best suited for gmed games of dramatic adventure probably, particularly with a resolution mechanic u can have a bonus/minus of some sort on), loosely based on trophy dark, and entails being Normal People suddenly reborn in the bodies of characters in a book they love. ah. well. doomed characters in a book they love.

grab it free now when it is 1:30 in the mornign for me and i've just thrown it up on google drive, and not in a few days when i've cleaned it up enough to post it on itchio for like, a dollar or whatever to help me pay for this poison ivy thing i got going on.

[superanonymousthethird]

I was thinking of Sylvanas and her narrative and I remembered that scene in War Crimes where she breaks down and thinks how foolish it was of her to believe she can love and how her pain from trying to feel that was a warning that in the end she "[...] would be left alone. Again, and always"

And I thought when reading that, well that's terrible, surely something good will happen to her right? Surely something good happens and makes her feel that trusting and loving and hoping aren't mistakes and wanting them doesn't make her weak and being undead doesn't change how worthy she is of them!..

And then BtS and BfA and Shadowlands come and Sylvanas is turned into a complete monster, rejected by Alleria, gets her connection with Forsaken severed as well, gets used and deceived by the guy responsible for the Lich King (whom she still trusted because thought them similar), has her only romantic interest killed, gets called a monster by a pre-trauma version of *herself*, and then sent to atone in the Maw, being alone (without any humanoid capable of speech) in there for what's been at least 5 years. Like what the fuck :/

I also love how like books have stuff like Sylvanas hearing her friends calling her monster (when she was just freed from Arthas) or Vereesa saying she's not her beloved sister.

And Sylvanas thinks "perhaps they're right" and "I am... and I am not" and absolutely nothing fucking happens to tell her that they're not right and it's not okay to think that, no, quite the opposite, she's just "evolved" into becoming people she hated most: mostly Arthas, plus with a Garrosh-like plot in BfA :/

Speaking of her own perception of herself, in the book after the ambush on Arthas she has these doubts: "She was still Sylvanas. Wasn't she?"

It makes me ultra sad because while in Edge of Night we get stuff like her concluding "no she was the same, in death as in life", but the way BfA went, it led to "I believe Sylvanas Windrunner is well and truly lost" and the added Shadowlands soul shard thing went into "I died trying to stop that monster only to wake up haunted by the one with my face"...

That makes the answer for the question of "she was still Sylvanas, wasn't she?" be "nope you're not, Arthas made you into a monster and you're doomed to grow into his own image".

It makes Lor'themar going "She is gone and truth be told I am glad for it. Let's remember her as she was, that was *our* Sylvanas not the monster wearing her face" right, it makes Vereesa's "You're not she who was my beloved sister" be correct, it makes Alleria's "You're a twisted mockery of my sister" correct and I *hate that*, because all that bullshit came *before* Teldrassil, but after Teldrassil her haters can now go "See they were right she was always evil :) real Sylvanas was killed by Arthas", and in universe characters also cannot be blamed because ew why should they treat such a monster better?

And then it's Sylvanas who needs to apologize and atone and seek amends and feel regrets but nothing is required of her family and friends from high elf days.

Ah, in the same theme, I also love the book having a moment of her thinking:

Do we get something about her still being herself and others having no right to treat her the way they did and... ah ye of course not it's completely true Banshee Queen is something separate and evil and here, have the Ranger General put back in, because clearly Arthas' actions mutilated her so thoroughly there was no trace of her old seft left to be saved, and OF COURSE, only after *that* do her ex friends and family express a feeling of "Aw I'd wish to spend more time with her it's the first time I see Sylvanas may be back"

The way her sisters are written I wonder if they even love Sylvanas at all.

They seem to only like that idealized version of her when she was alive that they remember. Why would they wish to speak to that MONSTER that replaced her in undeath?

Ask her how it feels to be undead? What exactly happened in Quel'thalas and how it felt to be under Arthas? Ask why did she join the Horde? Ask how she came to lead the Forsaken? Ask what she did after Arthas died? Ooof no that would be so tough to say, that would be a SAD talk, they'll have to listen to this horrible nasty angry banshee trauma dumping on them, and they just want their sweet noble SISTER back, who doesn't have such burdens :) How good it is the magic soul shit fulfilled their wish :)

Also bruh what does that even mean for Sylvanas herself?

What the fuck was she supposed to do to make them see her as their sister BEFORE the soul mending shit???

Somehow turn off her red eye glow? Stop being angry? (aka calm down and not feel a burning hatred for being brutalized by a manchild of a knight, rejected by everyone and failing to take revenge on him :/).

Kneel before them and say she's a horrible elf being and deserves everything bad happening to her?.. (Their reunions happened before Teldrassil, where most of her crimes were out of a desperate desire to survive in a hostile world)

Forget her silly trauma and simply behave like she did pre death? (Easier said than done)

These bitches did nothing to help Sylvanas heal and now that she's magically restored (and I don't even think it's even healed, she's just now plagued with guilt about doing everything she did), they do wanna talk to her. Yay.

Hm maybe The War Within has it better? Alright-

"Lost my sister to myself" Jesus fuck.

That's what you have to say about your sister who got murdered, raised, tortured, enslaved, forced to participate in the genocide of your species, then rejected by friends, family and Alliance?

Yeah the fact she killed herself after being denied closure against her abuser and after being sent to suffer in hell fell under the influence of a guy who said he understands her and they're similar and showed her that even afterlives aren't fair is TOTALLY just on her!

Yep totally just Sylvanas losing herself to herself and not the fact none of you assholes extended a hand and tried to ask her how she felt at any point of her miserable unlife.

[rayclubs]

The thing about the Chimera Ant arc is, people call it the most heartbreaking and dark but more named protagonists die in Yorkshin. Gon is hurt badly but recovers afterwards, Knov is traumatized but lives with it, a bunch of people are injured but they all survive. Even Kaito lives. Sure, a whole bunch of ants die, but there was hardly a different outcome to be expected. I'm sure nobody was waiting for Leor or Cheetu to learn kindness. Hell, even if they did, they're not, like, the Phantom Troupe level of endearing, they're practically side characters.

Netero dies, and I'm sure someone was emotionally attached to him, but I know I wasn't. It's sad, yeah, but it's cool to watch too, and he goes out with a bang (ha!), so it can be counted as a triumphant moment.

The royal guards die, but, again, was there really any other outcome for them? I was half-expecting Youpi to gain self-awareness and fuck off into the sunset but ah well, it's not as though I was rooting for him. Pitou was doomed from the start, and Pouf, well, I want to put Pouf through the meat grinder, wings and all.

I think the Chimera Arc goes hard not because it's dark and gritty but because it's a masterful lesson in suspense. I'm only slightly exaggerating when I tell you I was shitting my goddamn pants when Knuckle went to punch Youpi and nearly #gotkilled, or every time Meleoron ran out of air, or when Knov snuck into the palace, or when Palm saw Pitou's En, or when Shoot was fighting, or when Youpi told Knuckle to remove Hakoware (dunno what the thing itself is called in English, it's PPS in the Russian subs so I call it Pipis. Anyway) or when I thought Morel was going to fucking die for some reason?

Like, okay, I first watched HxH years ago, when I was a kid, and while I remembered a decent amount of things, I sure didn't remember everything. So when I started the Chimera Ant arc on rewatch, I remembered two things about Morel: I loved him and he fucking died??? I don't know where I got that from, I watched it through and through, Alluka's arc and all, yet I was convinced he was doomed. There was maybe an inkling of suspicion in my mind because I couldn't remember why I loved him so much, but then the Colt and Reina scene happened and I was like. Oh. Ohhh. So my memory IS right on this. Fast-forward to his fight with Leor and I'm screaming at my screen thinking this is it, I remember this, this is where he dies, I'm like 99% sure. And what do you know? Bitch made it out unscathed. Holy shit.

Anyhow, the Chimera Ant arc goes hard because the author understands plot armor and deliberately endears to the audience a cast of characters who aren't wearing it. You don't fear for Killua's life because Killua has plot armor, you know he's not gonna die, it's the rules. You know who isn't immune to being repatriated to the Underworld? Fucking nearly everyone else.

HxH is also very good at making the protagonist not the protagonist. Gon really shines during the Hunter Exam or the Greed Island arcs, but the main character of the Yorkshin arc is Kurapika, and the main character of Alluka's arc is Killua, and the main character of the Chimera Ant arc is... Well, there's a discussion to be had about this, but I think it's Knuckle. He has that anime protag rizz, y'know? He has a rival-slash-foil in Shoot, he has a mentor figure in Morel, his ability is treated as a trump card for the longest time, he stays on the battlefield nearly untill the end, he's the protag, and, very notably, he's a protag who is NOT wearing plot armor. That's why the arc hits hard. That's why everybody thinks it's the darkest. It's a narrative trick.

[silviakundera]

"Fine. Xiu is unlucky. He was born to implicate people."

"Don't worry. If God sees I'm not a good person, he'll allow me to live a long life."

@dangermousie got me watching Eternal Brotherhood for the RIDE & DIE FRIENDSHIP and the historical drama flamboyant, incorrigible, badass main character of it all

boyyyyy that main character is indeed an entertaining motherfucker. This is kinda like if you took Yu Shisan from A Journey to Love and put him in a blender with the scheming protagonist of The Ingenious One. Then made that dude a general who is secretly v good at: (a) his job and (b) pretending to be a hapless scoundrel.

I didn't get his whole chaotic neutral vibes at first but by the second episode I was in love with him.

I hear tell this was a 40 episode drama that was streamlined into 24 and you can feel it - no extra filler, just Stuff Happening all the time.

Everyone is just constantly plotting and faking it 24/7. And the good guys are pretending to be Very Ok™ while screaming inside.

Very attractive cdrama. Pretty people, nice sets, great cinematography - they didn't have a huge budget and that's being handled with creativity. It doesn't look cheap at all. It's a small thing, but the way they try to use natural light makes things feel more real and middle-ages-y.

The death flags are everywhere. They're here for a good time, not a long time 👌

Despite knowing better, I'm shipping main character disaster man with his childhood sweetheart, because she's also shameless & during 7 years of exile instead of letters he has just been occasionally sending her momentos of traumatic events he's experienced. No communication but here, I bestow you horse hair. Another year, a feather. Ah, today a dead scorpion! And dear reader, she accepts and stores them all. Romance is not a main plot but please doomed narrative, just let them both live 🙏.

[skitskatdacat63]

Hey, do you remember that really homoerotic scene from Skyfall? No? That's okay, here's a Vettonso version of it :)

- explanation & w/o text:

Hi hello, finally my weird psychosexual relationship with Casino Royale has come to fruition. Yeah this is directly based off a scene from Skyfall, but I def envision the vibe as being more like Casino Royale hehe. I can't believe I made that inspo board for this AU almost 4 weeks ago, and then ended up drawing a four panel "comic" about it. Ahhhh proud of myself, a bit, a tad. I think this took 20+ hours across the span of a week? God. Anyways I digress! The AU!!

First of all, their Bond song would be "My Way of Life" by Frank Sinatra. It's so toxic, codependent and obsessive, I'm in love with it. And it really suits Fernando and his motivations and outlook in this AU. Basically, MI6(in the context of James Bond) in this AU is an analog for Ferrari. It picks theses guys up, tells them that they're Ferrari MI6's most special boy, chews them up, and then spits them out when they're finished extracting all their talent and skill and life force.

Much like with Ferrari, Seb in this AU replaces Fernando after Fernando loses favor and becomes undesirable. Now Seb is the new golden boy, and Fernando has turned to a life of crime! Fernando resents Seb for this of course, but also becomes obsessed with him and the idea of him , and how they are connected. It's weird to watch someone else basically go down your exact same path and unknowingly make all the same mistakes(buying into the mysticism of it all too much, being overly cocky, having naive beliefs and goals, etc.) He is caught between wanting to doom Seb even more but also wanting to "save" him, by corrupting him and convincing him to work together.

Basically: He's both a Bond girl and Bond villain.

Fernando is in such a weird place in this AU. I think he's just very dramatic. Seb is just casually living his best 007(005?) life, and Nando is watching him with binoculars, whispering to himself: "DOESN'T HE UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE NARRATIVE FOILS!?" Yeah he hates Seb, but like the song lyrics say, their lives and dreams are inherently tied up together. He would feel lost without Seb, because Seb basically, unknowingly, destroyed and then took over his life. Maybe he'll feel satisifed if he manipulates Seb into going down the exact same path a bit better.

About the drawings themselves. Still can't believe this scene is a real thing that actually happened, insane to me. But in this AU, after the events of these drawings, Fernando definitely kicked all his henchman out of the room, and fucked Seb in the chair. And then against the wall. And then on the floor. Hey man, Seb is already looking mighty delicious with his unbuttoned attire and being tied up.

I think the general plot would be that Fernando keeps trying to seduce him to the dark side, and Seb keeps making him think it worked, only to escape at the end of the encounter. Leading Fernando to just come up with increasingly more violent and kinky traps. Seb goes along with it(read: enjoys it), leaving Fernando satisifed, only to somehow escape and wink and make kissy faces at Fernando in the process. (Fernando smoking cigarette in bed: "How do I make him stay. Sigh.")

I like to think though that Fernando does win in the end, by realizing, ah wait shit I do need to actually explain my motivations to Seb. And Seb is so worn down by his job, not Fernando, and how he's being treated, that he listens, really actually listens, and realizes Fernando does really have valid reasons. And then they become evil crime husbands yayyyy. Wow you thought this was a espionage AU? Well it is, but just not the outcome you'd expect.

[buffyspeak]

i know it’s been said, but what’s so tragic about prim is that she really was always completely doomed by the narrative. because whether katniss survived the games or not, her taking prim’s place still only protected her for one year. she was twelve. everyone’s eligible for the games until the age of eighteen. prim’s name was drawn, but she wasn’t a victor, which i assume means she would be fair game to make a tribute down the line. imagine a world where katniss died during the 74th games and prim had to take out tesserae to help feed herself and her mother. her chances of being reaped again become increasingly likely then. not to mention, while i’m a full advocate that prim’s name being drawn during the first games was not planned by anyone and just a really unfortunate and unlikely but fully possible stroke of bad luck - i do believe it’s implied numerous times that there have been instances of the reapings being rigged. the third quarter quell is bascially proof of that. and it’s not hard to imagine that after the publicity of katniss volunteering for her, the capital would consider it really good storytelling for prim to be reaped. as johanna said, the capital citizens adored prim, so maybe they would have waited a few years until prim was older and seemed to have somewhat more of a chance, but i still fully believe they would do it. the capital has favorites, but they also get bored. their adoration is not unconditional or permanent. hell, in a world where katniss lived but the revolution didn’t happen, they’d probably wait for katniss to age out of the games before reaping prim. they might even wait a few years after that - until prim was sixteen, the same age katniss was during her games. because of the symbolism of it all. there would be a whole special montage on the Caesar Flickerman Show. then vs now. katniss volunteering for her sister and prim screaming out for her. katniss on her victory tour, prim’s interviews during the 74th games. prim’s name getting drawn, capital fans oohing and ahing as they watch the little girl they remember “ “ “ all grown up “ “ “ and being prepared for the slaughter. katniss being too old to save her this time and crying out for her in a tragic parallel to the 74th reaping. a sister she could save until she couldn’t. the capital let her save her sister once, but the whole point of the games is to exert power over the districts. you want rebellion? you want the way things were before? we’ll show you what violence and war look like, wrapped up in a neat little package. we can take your children to do it. we’re going to take your children to do it. you can’t stop us. and what better way to show that message and exert that control than to once again reap the poor little girl the whole of panem thought katniss saved?

the story was never going to end any other way. revolution or not.