#but also them appearing not in a cover story this time means they're going to show up in the anime againnnn

[chibitorra]

THEY'RE STILL HEREEEEEE!!!

FOR ONE PANEL BUT THEY SHOWED UP AGAIN I'M GONNA CRY!!

(screenshot of a panel for op spoilers under the cut)

[felassan]

David Gaider on Fenris, under a cut for length:

"Fenris. Now, DA2 is a story all on its own but I'm not going to go there other than to sum it up as "we had just over a year and a half to make this". It's why I only wrote one follower, Fenris, and although it'll make his fans mad: I probably shouldn't have. Let me explain. The way we'd approach making the followers is brainstorming a list of concepts covering first the array of gameplay classes (and sub-classes) and then making sure they each have some skin in the game when it came to the story's conflicts - ideally having characters on both sides of the major ones. Why? You can't make a player care about the world, but you can make them care about characters who care about the world. It's the easiest way to provide hooks into a conflict, outside of it knocking on the player's door. Heck, it's probably better than that. Players will burn the world for approval. After that, we'd decide things like romances/sexuality. Then the writers would pick who they'd write. I always let my writers pick first. I figured they do their best work when it's something they're inspired to write... and they got so few chances at ownership, I wanted to give it whenever I could It's why I (reluctantly) let Patrick wrest Cole from my grasp in DAI, a character I'd created in Asunder. It's also why I let Jennifer take Anders in DA2, who I'd started in Awakening. In this instance, it meant I was left with the angry elven warrior character who nobody else appeared to want."

"It should have been my first clue that something was up. The second was how the artists had zero clue what to do with him. The art concepts were all over the place - from mages to crows to... well, even weirder. No matter how hard I tried to explain the idea, the artists simply didn't seem to get it Does this mean he was a bad character? Not exactly. Just an idea that probably deserved some re-examining. You can tell when an idea has a certain spark, and part of that is being easy to communicate. Sadly, there wasn't time for any re-examining even if it'd occurred to me. And it didn't, not yet. If it had, if I had time, maybe I'd have re-booted him as a templar. Someone pro-templar rather than anti-mage, who could give a personal hook into Meredith and give the templars some badly-needed humanity. But this falls into the shoulda-woulda-coulda category. I had a follower to write. Quickly. I struggled, at first. It was hard to get away from "Fenris hates everything, all the time". It felt very one-note, and I didn't know where to take him. My third clue, I guess. I also wasn't sure if I was the right person to write a former slave. I did know that couldn't be the center of his story. I did know trauma, however. How it can eat you up. How the hate and resentment is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies. How it can infect your relationships. Fenris's trauma isn't my trauma, obviously, but here I dipped into a more personal part of myself than I'd ever done before."

"It gave me the center of his story I was missing, but wow was it uncomfortable. In a good way, maybe. I likely wouldn't have, if I hadn't been so desperate. In a way, I think DA2 had some of our best writing *because* of the timeline. It was raw, with little time to sand down the interesting parts. I wouldn't have done the "Fenris doesn't talk to you for three years" thing if I'd known we were going to cut all the reactivity initially planned for the time jumps. When that call was made, I campaigned to cut the jumps to a year, but there was no time for the revisions it'd need. So, um. Awkward. I used to get asked where the name came from, and I... don't remember? Obviously it's derived from Fenrir, but I don't recall why we picked that. Someone pointed at Fenris the Feared from Joe Abercrombie's books... and I did read them, so maybe the name lodged in my head? Wouldn't be the first time. Casting Fenris turned out to be easy. He was the first time I requested a specific VA and got him. (The other times were Merrill and then Solas, my two "I want these specific Welsh actors, please".) Why? OK, if you must know, I'd played a bit of Final Fantasy XII. I heard Balthier. "Yes, that." 😅 And Gideon Emery was a delight, as it turned out. Consummate professional, and that lovely gravel in his voice... good god. Bite the knuckles. There was a struggle to find the voice at the outset where I did my best not to say "just pls do Balthier" but he found Fenris on his own and it was amazing. Overall, Fenris turned out better than he had any right to, considering the rocky start. He had a lot of soul, a vulnerability forged by pain that struck a chord with a lot of players, and I'm glad. Do I regret anything? Probably having him live in a corpse-filled mansion that would never update. That's a hindsight thing, though, as again the cut to reactivity over the time jumps came late. Outside of that, maybe letting the player give him back to Danarius? Poor shock value and a waste of resources because almost nobody took the option. Good evil options are ones that are tempting to take. And the lyrium tattoos. Interesting concept, but they're probably why you'll never see Fenris in a future DA. He requires a custom body, and the tattoos make that expensive. It's why I put Fenris in my 4th DA novel - the cancelled one. Don't fret, though. He died in it, so this way he lives on. 😉"

[source thread]

User: "Wait wait how does he die in [the cancelled novel]??" David Gaider: "Gloriously, after taking up a cause he didn't believe in at first but then made his own, one that allowed him to rediscover what it meant to be elven." [source] David Gaider: "I’m not sorry about the novel cancellation. I’m the one who cancelled it. I am kinda sad we couldn’t make it work, though. Considering it was after I left the DA team, it would have been my final DA hurrah." [source] David Gaider: "From my perspective, it was kind of "well if you're never going to use him again, let me at least give him a proper send off" and the story required a glorious death... but I get that's not the story his biggest fans would want (which is Hawke + Fenris 4ever), so it's just as well." [source]

User: "You all did some incredible work with such a tight deadline" David Gaider: "I'm of the opinion that even if we'd had only another six months to bake, DA2 would be remembered as a classic and not either a flawed gem or underbaked sequel, depending on who you ask." [source]

David Gaider: "Just to clarify the "they're probably why you'll never see Fenris" thing, as it's spawned commentary: 1. It's the reasoning as was explained to me back then. 2. Obviously, if Bio *really* wanted to, they'd find a way around it. But it was a complication that meant he couldn't be included casually." [source]

[mentally-ill-for-bes]

An analysis of Jayvik during season 2 bc what the hell was that

Or rambling about their parallels, character development and what I think is going next.

First, I haven't seen the three last episodes but I saw the spoiler of Viktor and Jayce scene. I'm going to watch the episodes with my friend next Wednesday, so I don't want any of you spoiling me ANYTHING else.

Spoilers below the cut.

That being said, this analysis will be mostly about first eps of season 2 and the scene of arc 2, why does it have sense and why it doesn't mean the ending of their friendship and why in this season they aren't just narrative foils but the force that move each other motivations.

First, 2nd season opening:

It's good to point out that their scenes in the intro are related; in the same way Jinx and Ekko are related, Vi and Cait (and Jinx) and Mel with Ambessa. They all are easily differentiable among them, Mel and Ambessa appear in yellowish tones, Jinx, Cait, Vi and Ekko appear under color lights but the theme bounding Viktor and Jayce is bright light.

When Jayce appears, he's immediately blinded by the light, he turns his face and squints his eyes but does not remove from his place. In contrast, when Viktor appears he's not being blinded by the light, he's not uncomfortable about it, instead, he faces it directly. When the mask is being put in his face, he accepts it, and even it looks like he's emitting the light. If the mask were emitting it, the fabric on Viktor's head would be lighted too; instead, the light is exclusively under the fabric. Viktor is literally shining. He's the light.

And Jayce during his cuts tries to reach the light but finds himself blinded by it; anyway, this doesn't stop him from extending his hand and trying to reach it.

And, at the same time, it's Jayce's hand putting the mask on, we already know why Jayce creates the Herald. But most importantly, putting on the mask means hiding Viktor's face and with it, covering the light.

At the end of the intro, Jayce does touch the light and he no longer sees blinded by it.

Important to notice the intro already makes clear that their stories are tightly intertwined; which isn't surprising since in season 1 it is evident Viktor is a huge motivation and conflict in Jayce's actions.

However, why is it important to notice that the intro makes a correlation between Viktor and being enlightened; first, light has an association with knowledge and wisdom. Second, already knowing the strong associations Viktor has with religious figures this season it is good to point out that Jesus said: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” And as I pointed out before, Jayce is following the light.

When I saw the first act, I was pretty confused about the correlation between the intro and the episodes. Once Viktor is resurrected by Jayce, he isn't associated with light but darkness.

When he wakes up, there is light, but it's clearly different from the one in the intro. Viktor is surrounded by a strange light but his face isn't being illuminated.

Instead, he walks to the light where Jayce is.

It's in front of you, Jayce is at the side of the light while Viktor is at the side of the darkness. But why is he in the darkness when the into associates him with light? Because Viktor isn't the darkness, the Hexcore is. And in this scene what does represent it? The cocoon behind Viktor.

Another good thing to notice is the change in Viktor's eyes, he wears the (probably) same blanket he does in the trailer, but while the trailer emphasizes his yellow eyes. It's clear what's happening here, he's changed and isn't completely Viktor, when he wakes up his eyes are mostly yellow, but there's also this small white part? Blue? I can only describe it as the Hexcore color.

When he cures the little dude, you can even see how the Hexcore color expands on his pupils. He still has a yellow part in them, but they're slowly changing color. But I don't think Viktor is the one changing, I think is the Hexcore the one taking power over him.

But what happens just before he cures him?

THIS

Viktor is bathed in light while the rest of the place is dark.

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Common guys, it was obvious this would end as a cult.

But why is this current change on Viktor and light? Why??? Just two seconds ago he split with Jayce and he was all in the dark, right?

My theory is that while Hexcore takes control and more dominion over him, Viktor finds light because he's helping people and it's like "hey, maybe this isn't that bad," but we already know that ANYTHING related to Hexcore is meant to be a catastrophe. Viktor may excuses its use for helping people while Jayce excuses its use for saving Viktor.

However, compared to how Viktor is showed through the intro I wasn't still convinced his light was about that.

And I mean, the light shown in the trailer for both Viktor and Jayce is white, different from the purple/pink that appears when he cures someone, his eyes are still clearly different. This scene does not represent Viktor but the arcane speaking through him, the purple and pink tones represent the arcane; and most importantly, the pattern its magic has.

Still, everything with that Viktor being the light didn't convinced me.

BECAUSE THAT VIKTOR ISN'T THE LIGHT, THE ONE ABOVE IS.

It's pretty clear, (sorry bad image quality, I got it from an edit and I'M NOT TOUCHING LAST 3 EPISODES IN NETFLIX, I WON'T GET MORE SPOILERS IF I CAN AVOID IT). The Viktor that is bent with the Arcane isn't the lightened Viktor, the one above is. He has yellow eyes (just as in the intro), and he's emitting a soft and pretty divine light. Compared to this:

His eyes aren't as yellow, and his hair is long and has lost color as a result of the arcane. They're evidently different. And I think that at some extent the show wants you to know they are different characters. Yes, his eyes are slightly yellow but let's remember he isn't entirely Viktor, it's also the Arcane.

And when he sees Jayce about to kill him, I think he looks surprised.

However.

The terror in his eyes, those aren't Viktor eyes, those are the Arcane's. All the freaky colors and the distortion. You can see how when he opens his eyes, it's Viktor who looks at him. But when he's facing his death, it's the Arcane being terrified.

How much does Arcane understand of emotions? I don't know, dude. But it and Viktor being mixed in a body surely gives it the ability to express something.

You may be thinking I am a little crazy about the eyes. But this is Arcane and the eyes are just important, animators put a lot of effort into emotion and facial expression and this means something.

When he dies, his eyes are both yellow and Arcane's color. They are both dying, yes.

But wtf happened with Jayce.

Well, I'll be back to this moment.

Jayce drinking tea with Heimerdinger and Ekko. His cup of "Man of the Progress" is there, but he did not drink from it.

The cup "Man of Progress" means a lot for Jayce's storytelling, it has his face on it goddammit. But it is also the cup that symbolizes his preference for the council and popularity over Viktor (because Viktor has always been a constant piece of conflict and motivation to act for Jayce). Instead, his drinking from a simple cup, not printed, he's turning back to his roots, being a scientist and stopping seeking greatness.

It also means a lot considering what he said to Viktor: "My place was here in the lab, with you." He gives up politics to be again an inventor and scientist. This scenes are pretty interesting when you consider during season one Jayce's biggest conflict is to be constantly swiping sides because he cannot stick to his true nature and has the need to be approved by everyone, which is by he doesn't use the cup anymore is important. He's rejecting the title to stick to his true self.

I also have to say that I wonder how this decision will affect his relationship with Mel, since she's pretty much the symbol of his political career while Viktor is the symbol of his academic one. Pursuing politics instead of the investigation is shown through their scene having sex while Viktor is heavily sick. Just to clarify: I HAVE NO HATE AGAINST HER, she and Jayce both worry about each other. But their relationship is planted pretty much as a political matter or as a tool for JayVik development. Literally season 2 biggest conflict in Jayce is Viktor and his only conversation with Mel is about he being worried about Viktor.

And well, Mel is her most boring (she still beautiful and interesting af but it's the least interesting part about her) when she's with Jayce. Just by seeing the trailer you can know her biggest conflict is about her mother and the black rose. Her narrative arc is pretty far away from Jayce's and I wonder how they will manage it.

And the wildest scene of the entire season: the Ashes and Blood one.

His hand tries to reach the Hexcore just as his hand tries to reach the light on the trailer. Or even more obvious, a clear parallel to Viktor, who reached his hand in the same way to reach the Hexcore and in consequence, he was consumed by it. Is this foreshadowing that Jayce will be consumed by the Arcane in the same way Viktor was? I'm 100% it is.

In fact, the whole scene is a parallel with Viktor dying and Jayce/Mel scene in season 1. Back then Viktor saw something in the Arcane, a possibility; in this scene, Jayce is seeing something, but we aren't sure what.

No matter what he sees, because he is also being corrupted by the arcane.

Look at the pattern on his wrist. Yes, the crystal is now on his skin but look how it has been disfigured by the arcane. Besides Jayce being corrupted it also means the corruption of his dream. And in consequence, I think that means the lost of an important part of his character: Hope.

The crystal symbolized his dream, yes, but it also symbolized his hope to make the world a better place. In season 1 when he tries jumping off after he has lost the research of his life is meant to be the loss of hope; which Viktor gives back (literally and metaphorically).

Here, he still has the crystal, but it has been corrupted by the arcane, and in consequence: the part that made Jayce a character who truly wanted to make the world a better place is corrupted too.

Focus on the eyes, people. When he looks at Viktor his face is completely changed but his eyes remain the same, brilliantly yellow unlike Viktor's.

And before he prepares his shot, the crystal shines. My first guest is that 100% there's something bigger influencing him. Probably the Arcane.

His weapon is evidently being corrupted by the arcane too.

And he's evidently actively fighting against something, the Arcane probably, since his face acquires its patron. Before I said I considered it was the Arcane who was scared of Jayce, since Viktor's eyes were emptied of any yellow color. But why the Arcane would be surprised if he's also corrupting Jayce.

My best guess is that Jayce is actively fighting against the Arcane and its influence to join it. What do I think? Jayce saw something in the Arcane tempting enough to want to join it but; at the same time, he saw something terrifying enough to decide it was not worth the risk. What do I think? Jayce did want to kill the Arcane, even if it meant killing Viktor too; and what he was fighting it's the Arcane itself trying to stop him.

I said it before, I haven't seen the last 3 episodes so if I'm terribly wrong I'll come back to apologize for my stupidity. But I have seen people confused about Jayce's motivation here and I think I might have a point.

And guys just look how his face changes from range to absolutely mysery-

You cannot say this man happily killed Viktor, he's about to cry.

And then Viktor lets go of that little thing I don't know what is called, but it symbolizes their shared dream.

There's a lot of angst about Viktor letting go of his dream. But I'm here to propose a more interesting question, why was he still clinging to it? In season 1 he makes clear Hexcore must be destroyed and he literally leaves Jayce when he realizes what he has done to keep him alive.

So why his change of mentality? Easy; because as I said before, he can justify the use of Arcane as long as he feels it's helping people.

I think he understands Arcane more than before, he's integrated into it and sees beauty in it. However Jayce also understands the Arcane better than him, but I think instead of finding beauty in it Jayce knows the horrific parts.

Look that the little thing I do not know what is called has a side completely corrupted while the other is briefly corrupted, my bet is that the corrupted side represents Viktor and the slightly corrupted represents Jayce.

So, why letting go of the dream is the right thing to do for Viktor's part and you shouldn't be sad about it? Because it has transformed into something unrecognizable, just as Viktor and Jayce. Letting go of the dream doesn't mean letting go of each other, since the series is clear they are part of each other. Letting go of the dream is letting go of the Arcane so they can keep themselves.

Why are they part of each other?

Easy, Viktor keeps the blanket Jayce gave him (even when he isn't able to feel coldness or warmth).

(BTW, in this scene Viktor stays in the light, and now is Jayce the one in darkness, I'm just saying).

And Jayce's whole outfit is about Viktor.

(Sorry shitty quality, I got it from a clip in Youtube because I'M NOT RISKING MYSELF TO SPOILERS)

His hammer is butterfly-shaped (so interesting both Jayce and Viktor have a scene as kids with the same butterfly and then the Arcane acquired a butterfly shape for a brief moment...); just look at his left leg, his hammer also resembles Viktor's crane and I might be crazy but I see some V's over there.

And also, even if I am crazy and I'm seeing stuff here it's always good to remember THIS:

I'm sorry but what was the need to parallel it so much? Idk why they do it but besides paralleling they also have to make characters close to Jayce to share moles in the same places as Viktor, Ambessa's twink resembles him a lot and has a mole on the cheekbone too, Mel it's harder to see because she has multiple but just as Viktor she has the one on the cheekbone and over the mouth. And, if I remember correctly, Jayce's mom has a mole on the cheekbone too. Every time I think I'm a little crazy about them I remember that and I'm like "nah, I'm totally right about everything." If they parallel this again in season 2 I'm not going to be surprised.

What do I expect from Arc 3? Viktor and Jayce's fight, against the Arcane. I think narratively it would be the ultimate conflict they have to face. They both were irresponsible with stuff they couldn't completely understand and it would be a nice conclusion to their arcs. Jayce has already decided to abandon politics which is a nice development, but he still hasn't faced the consequences of playing with the Arcane and Viktor either. If there's a fight against each other I'd understand where it comes from but their story would feel unconcluded, none of them have faced the consequences of playing with the arcane, not really. They have both faced shitty things but no consequences for fooling with magic and I think the most satisfying conclusion for their story would be to face to face and stop their creation together.

Maybe I'll change my opinion once I see the last episodes, but until that moment I think a fight between Viktor and Jayce would make lost what has been said all the series: The Arcane shouldn't be played with. Maybe they will enemies but their common enemy is the Arcane.

Before that I expect Viktor and Jayce to save each other again; as in season 1 but this time they're mutually saving from the Arcane's influence. At least Viktor to Jayce; since Jayce looks to be the most fucked up mentally, following again all the symbolism of Jayce reaching the light and Viktor being the light.

I wanted to analyze the religious iconography surrounding Viktor too and why even if he's supposed to represent Jesus and Jayce is supposed to represent Iscariot (though I don't think Viktor is always meant to represent Jesus only) neither means a bad thing. Jesus already knew Judas was going to betray him and he did not hate him for that, he loved him till the end (as he did with the rest of humanity). There are some texts (too tired to cite) that imply Jesus asked Judas to betray him and Judas, as a last act of total devotion, obeyed him.

Idk, just tell me if you'd like a religious analysis (probably after I have ended with the last three episodes, till then I do not want a word about what happened in the show).

[teaboot]

Who is your OC that is the most fleshed out? Anything you care to share about them? What is a small detail about them that you rarely think about?

*Asks are sent for fun, no pressure to answer within a certain amount of time or at all.*

YOU TRICKED ME INTO WRITING AGAIN

BÁTARD!

There is an old rotting seat in the middle of the woods where a young man appears to lay dead. His face is pale, his skin is tinted with mildew, his old wool coat is moth-eaten and moldy. A layer of topsoil covers his lap. His hair, slowly greening, has been plucked at by birds.

A long time ago, a man won a single wish, and knowing that wealth was fleeting and power brought danger, wished for incredible knowledge.

The wish granted him understanding of machinery, of magics, of medicine and physics, and insight into endless possibility. So much information that he cannot stop thinking, making connections, processing it all, struggling to grasp it.

Always thinking, he found soon that he could not fall asleep. Medicines helped for a short while, but he was never truly rested, and through desperation or happenstance he found with some horror that he also could not die.

The story is that a point came where he brought upon himself some sort of curse, to sleep, and to dream, and to never be disturbed.

Excepting, of course, under very specific circumstance.

Not everyone can see him, but those who do have affectionately named him "Alexander".

(He is more or less a landmark, like an oddly-shaped rock by the side of the road.)

Nevaeh is The Daedalus. She has no idea what that means. She has never gotten lost, no matter how far she's wandered.

Her bus always arrives at the stop shortly after she does. When she rides her bike, there is never a roadblock or construction in the way. She isn't always on schedule, but even when she's late, she seems to arrive on time.

She loves her parents. She likes to bake. Her sister is a dork, but they get along fine. Life is good- things are normal.

(Things are not normal.)

Jessie's name is not Jessie.

Probably.

Jessie gives different people different names.

Nobody's quite sure if they're human or a fairy of some kind, but they seem to show up everywhere and never seem particularly fazed by what's going on.

They always seem to be upbeat and unconcerned, but not in an uncaring sort of way- it's more like they just have this unshakeable confidence that everything is always going to end up fine.

Jessie is at the party, holding the host's cat. Nobody knows who invited them. Nobody knows anyone who knows them that well. Jessie offers you a corn chip.

Jessie is at the town hall meeting, sitting in the back row with their feet resting on the chair in front of them. They don't ask questions or interject, but seem interested as they snack on rainbow kettle corn.

Jessie is at the sacrificial ceremony, deep in the bowels of the community rec center. As candles flicker around you and the sound of chanting voices grow closer, they tuck a hard candy into your pocket and tell you not to worry so much.

(Jessie does not untie you from the dias.)

----------

None of these guys are my main character, but they're probably my favorites!!! Thank you so much for asking, I need to get back to work on this! ♡♡♡♡♡ oh, I'm all excited again!!! Aadfgghhfjgdgsggffk ❤

[ckret2]

bouncing off that anon's ask, who would you ship Bill with *outside* of Gravity Falls? Literally any media go ham with it

Invader Zim for exactly one reason: their voices would be sooo annoying together. Imagine it. Imagine the dirty talk. Absolutely atrocious.

This isn't a ship but I think he should hang out with Team Rocket. I mean I guess it could be a ship if you wanna find a way to fit him into the polycule. They've got plenty they can relate to each other on: complicated relationships with parents, being special in your species in a way that makes you a freak/outcast, seeking family via criminal gang, trying to accomplish ONE evil task for like a billion years and somehow no matter how many people you try to manipulate or how clever your cover stories and creative your plans you just canNOT do it...

But mainly I want him to give them terrible advice and horrible help on their criminal ambitions while trying to get them to build him a portal. They waste 50 episodes on 50 different portal-building schemes while Bill gets progressively more irate, and in turn they get equally furious at this annoying talking Ghost-type they can't touch or make go away. Poké balls work on him but he immediately pops back out even madder, which does nothing to help him persuade them that he's not a Pokémon.

Anyway within a month they'd all die for each other. In a very emotional moment when he thinks they're about to be killed and there's nothing he can do about it, he'd tell them they would have made fine Henchmaniacs; and then when they inevitably survive he immediately takes it back.

I think Bill and Unicron would hook up and I think Unicron would make Bill worse. I think he's one of the only beings in existence that could make Bill worse. Bill's got a self-destructive streak a mile wide and Unicron would exacerbate it. They'd break up cordially and then slowly grow to loathe each other more and more in retrospect. Bill would still booty call Unicron when drunk and Unicron would accept.

this isn't necessarily a ship but imagine if bill and getaway teamed up

The Princess in Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer. Bill would promise her a diamond the size of a star and she would build him a portal in less than a week. Bill would compliment her interior decor sensibilities and she might actually compliment his appearance because he's very bright, and that would be enough for them to decide they're besties. They'd get champagne, trash talk their enemies, and bully the plebs like a couple of high school mean girls. They'd make out while completely wasted and deny it when they're sober. Each of them privately thinks the other one is their pet.

Grendel from Grendel. Bill would initially hook up with him expecting him to be the monster equivalent of a party frat boy and then they'd talk philosophy in a dark cave for 18 hours straight and mutually feel like they're not alone for the first time they can remember. They'd make each other worse and then fix each other and then Grendel would die in battle and Bill would get worse again.

I think he could have something with Frankenstein's monster, too—original novel version, not movie version. Similar reasons to Grendel: strong sense of alienation from parents and of isolation from everyone else in the world; feeling of having been created as something totally singular, feeling of having a perspective no one else shares; self-identification as the monster in the narrative of their own life... Plus with the monster Bill's also got "life inevitably culminates in killing my own dad." Bill met him because he was actually trying to get Frank to build him a portal—he's like the first scientist trying to do major projects using electricity—but then ended up more fascinated by the science project than the scientist.

[annawritesblog]

Eyes off you (c.l.)

Summary: Y/n and Charles have been together for 2 years and Charles has a special surprise for her.

A/N: I wrote this a long time ago so if there’s any mistakes in it, feel free to tell me:) Also, English is not my first nor my second language so excuse my spelling and/or grammar errors. I recommend listening to the attached song as it plays in the background later in the story. Enjoy🤍

Charles' P.O.V.

Are you still at home? Came the message from Arthur.

Yes, we're leaving in 15 minutes, come in about 30. I wrote back.

I put my phone in the right pocket of my suit pants, the left being full with the red velvet box. I took a final look in the mirror and after a few quick breaths, Y/n appeared from the bathroom.

"I'm ready." She says and puts a lipgloss in her purse. Her purple dress showing her curves just right, like a princess.

"My God. You look absolutely stunning, chérie." I say and wrap my arms around her waist leaving little kisses in the crook of her neck.

"You don't look bad yourself." Smiles the girl I've been in love with for almost 2 years. "Stop." She warms as I still kiss her neck slowly moving down to her collarbone.

"Can't we just stay home?" I ask, but I realize that that would be the worst idea ever, considering that in less than 30 minutes my brothers will be here. "I mean, no. We should really go, hurry even."

She turns around and furrows her brows. "Everything okay?"

"Everything's wonderful, love." I grab her small hand and guide her out of the penthouse. After locking the door, we take the elevator to the underground parking house. Opening the door for her, she sits in the black Ferrari.

The ride is less than 15 minutes, but it feels so much more than that. She talks about how happy she is that we're going to this birthday party, but I can barely process anything she's saying. "Oh, I left my phone at home."

"Are you serious?" I ask and she nods worriedly. "I can't turn around."

"Why?"

"We're already late, Carlos will kill me if we make it there after Isa." I try to lie, hoping she doesn’t suspect anything.

"Okay, you're gonna have to take pictures then." She lets go easily.

A few minutes later we arrive at the beautiful venue in Monte Carlo. We walk inside, hand in hand and see that almost everybody is there.

"You were right. We really are late." She says and we giggle a little, just the two of us, our little private space.

"Sorry, mate. We're here." I half-hug Carlos, who just shrugs it off saying it's fine.

"Okay, okay. She's coming." Carlos tells us and when his missis arrives we all scream happy birthday to her.

Y/n and I spend a little time talking to Isa, but I excuse myself to another table where some strangers sit. I open the last texts from Arthur, saying that they have arrived about 10 minutes ago. I quickly text some informations, although I explained everything to them yesterday, but I want everything to be perfect, she deserves nothing less.

"Boo." Y/n says behind me, which does scare me. How long has she been staying there? Hopefully not long at all. "What are you doing?"

"Answering some texts from the team." I say and she gives me a dissapointed look. "I know and I am sorry, chérie. That was the first and last, I promise." I put my phone in my pocket and I kiss her hand sweetly. We walk to Carlos' table where he gives me a reassuring look.

"Y/n, come, you have to look at this." Isa grabs her arm and drags her away.

"How are you feeling, man?" The spaniard infront of me asks.

"Nervous."

"You don't have to be, she'll say yes." Carlos comes closer to me.

"What if she won't? Maybe she's not ready yet. We have been together for almost 2 years, that's soon, isn't it?" I go in full panick mode.

"What? It's not too soon, if you're ready, than nothing's too soon." He pats my shoulder. "They're coming." I look behind me and I see Y/n and Isa walking towards our table.

"Look what we found. Chocolate covered fruits, this is the best day of my life." Isa says with a full mouth and my missis just laughs next to her. I wrap my arm around her waist, securing her close to me.

About 2 hour later, after I got a text from my brothers saying they're done with everything, we decided to go home.

"Excuse me, I need to use the restroom." I whisper in Y/n's ear, letting her go from my embrace.

"Okay, I'll be here." I give her a peck on her cheek and walk towards the restrooms.

Kicking the door open with my feet, I rest my hands on the sink trying to catch my breath. I promised my brothers that I would call them before we start heading home. After 2 rings Lorenzo picks it up. "Hey, what's up?"

"We're just leaving. Everything ready?"

"Yes, everything's disgustingly perfect." My little brother yells and drops something.

"What was that?" I ask immediately.

"My phone, fuck."

Lorenzo sighs and says something to him that I don’t hear. "Are you okay?"

"Not really, shitting my pants right now." I sigh.

"You don't need to be scared. She's gonna say yes, I'm sure." My big brother says.

"One hundred percent. Who wouldn't wanna marry you?" Arthur laughs in the phone.

"Thank you?"

"I was trying to lighten the mood." Arthur says and I let out a little laugh.

"Listen. Do you remember the Australian GP? How nervous you were? For days, you couldn't think straight you were that scared and you ended up winning it. Think about this as a race. You're nervous before it, but the outcome will be perfect." Lorenzo says and I can sense that they're both smiling.

"Thanks, both of you. I owe you both."

"You don't owe us anything, this is what siblings are for." Arthur says and we hang up. I go back to the main room and after a few short goodbyes, we get in the car.

"It was so much fun!" Y/n exclaims and I put my hand on her thigh.

"Yes, it was." I agree.

Se turns her head my way as I start my car. "Where's your mind?" She tries to be cool about it, but I know she's worried.

"In Australia." I answer with a smile.

"Oh, really? What kind of mistresses do you have there?" She smirks and I slow down a bit. We can't be home, before they've left. For once I'll keep the speed limit in mind.

"One, only. I spent like a week there with her. She was wow, like she had a blue lingerie set that she wore after I won. That was something, kept me up all night." I smirk smuggly and my hand travels further up her thigh. She lets out a shaky breath and looks at me.

"Do you remember that?"

"I think I'll remember that forever." We stop at a red light. "Where's that set, anyway?"

"You might see it around this weekend." She looks out the window, clearly blushing.

"Then, I'll have to give my best in this race." My hand travels even more north on her, already feeling her warmth. Althought, this is not going anywhere for a little while.

"You better, mister."

"You already know I will."

"Mrs? I'm not married." She says followed by a few giggles. I messed this up.

We spend the rest of the car ride listening to music and talking about the party. By the time I park the car, I'm sure that my brothers are already home.

I take my keys out and try to put it in the keyhole, but it falls to the floor. I pick it up and place it in again, only for it to slip out of my hand again. "Merde." I curse as I pick it up from the floor.

"Okay, babe. What's wrong?" Y/n asks as I can finally open the goddamn door.

"Nothing is wrong, love. I drank too much coffee." By this time I'm sure she doesn't believe a word I'm saying, but I can't just tell her that I'm nervous she'll say no to marrying me. She'll found out soon anyway, I won't blow it at the last meters.

"We really have to stop drinking so much coffee it's not-" Her words are lost. She looks outside our balcony and slowly back to me. "What is this?" She starts walking towards the table full of her favourites.

I wrap my arms around her waist, while she wraps her hands around my neck. "You deserve it. You've been next to me, when I was at my worst, especially nowadays. Thank you, chérie."

I kiss her passionately and she fumbles with my hair.

"You didn't have to do this, Charles. I will always be there for you." She sits on one of the chairs and looks at the beautiful view of the city. I sit in front of her and start the light music from my phone.

"Oh my God. Macarons." She exclaims and pops one of them in her mouth.

"It's from the bakery you like so much." I say and just watch her face light up. I don't know if it's because of the lights or because I'm obsessed with her, but she's glowing. Just as beautiful as she was when I met her on the streets of Monte Carlo two summers ago. Walking up and down confusedly in her white sundress.

"What is it?" She asks looking deeply into my eyes

"I'm just so in love with you." I take her hand and rest it on top of the table. "That simple."

"You're gonna make me cry."

"Don't cry, baby." I lock our fingers together. "Let's dance instead." I guide her to the end of the balcony where there's space for us to dance. I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her as close as I can and rest my forehead on hers. Eyes off you starts playing just in time. Just like I planned it would.

It's our song. It played in the restaurant I took her to on our first date, only knowing each other for 3 days, a few days later when we first kissed and I played it when I asked her to move in with me in Monaco. And now when I propose to her.

"Do you think about the future?" I ask her slowly swaying her to the music.

"I'm only thinking about the future." She giggle then adds: "But yes. Although it's pretty foggy, you are crystal clear." She says sweetly which makes my heart melt. How did I deserve her?

"Same here. You're light as the bright sunshine for me, angel. Always be with you." I lean in closer and whisper in her ear. "This song is gonna play at our wedding."

I can tell she doesn't know where to put this information, but she nods slowly. I step back from her and I can tell that she has realised what's happening. With shaky hands I take the velvet box out of my pocket and get on one knee. She covers her mouth with both of her hands and tears have already filled her eyes. "Chérie. You don't even know what you do to me. For almost two years now, you're the first thing on my mind when I wake up and the last when I fall asleep. I have never even dreamed that I would end up next to someone as perfect as you are." She now covers her whole face with her palms and silent sobs leave her mouth. "Look at me, angel." She looks at me and I can already feel my eyes watering. "No matter what happens, you will always have me, I promise you. I promise to give you everything your heart desires, everything you need. So, my love, will you make me the happiest man ever and marry me?" I open the small box revealing the rare diamond ring.

"Yes, yes. A thousand times yes, Charles." She says and I hug her closely. We only part for the few seconds it takes to put the ring on her finger. Without hesitation, she kisses me and I caress her cheeks with my hands. A few minutes later we pull away and I wipe away tears from her cheeks.

"Don't cry." I say.

"You're crying too. It's allowed." She laughs which makes me too.

"Look at you, already acting like a wife." I pull her close yet again and breath in her scent. My fiancee's scent.

[rutilation]

This opening is replete with symbolism. 

Flower language has been a recent fascination of mine.

Do you want to make my new hyperfixation your problem? If so, then let's take a deep dive into the first opening before the new one airs tomorrow.

Before I start, here are a couple of things to keep in mind.

While the use of flower language in this show mostly lines up with Japanese hanakotoba, there are still a number of flowers here that hold particular significance within Chinese culture, and thus have additional meanings that don't line up with those from Japan.  I’ll be mentioning them alongside the Japanese meanings where I deem it relevant.

The following will contain light spoilers of content from the novels/manga which has not been animated at the time of writing. I'll try to be vague and sparing with it, but there are a few flowers I can't discuss without them.

Past the title card, the opening begins with eight blooming flowers dancing through the frame in rapid succession.  These represent the storylines covered by the first cour of the anime in order of appearance, and each can be found in the episode(s) they signify.  From the top:

Rhododendron: This plant is all over the first two episodes, so I'm going to cover its appearances before delving into its meaning. In episode one, there are two shots of the buds of this plant, one as Lihua gives birth, and then again as the doctor examines her baby. They're finally shown in full bloom as one of her ladies disregards the branch Maomao used to warn of the toxic makeup. In the following episode, Gyokuyou has seemingly taken a liking to the flower that saved her daughter's life, and a few clusters can be seen in a vase during several shots before Maomao uses them as an example of a seemingly innocuous plant that could cause accidental poisoning, and indeed, if you look closely at the background during the scene with the soldiers, you can see what appear to be rhododendron shrubs. There are actually quite a few different possible meanings for the many granular varieties of Rhododendrons/azaleas.  Luckily, the characters said the name of the plant out loud for me: shakunage.  So, this is Rhododendron subg. Hymenanthes.  In hanakotoba it means dignity and majesty, but also, on account of its poison, danger and caution. Those last two meanings clearly line up with its ominous usage in these first episodes, growing and maturing as the babies grew sicker. But in addition to their function as a warning of danger, I think there's a case to be made that they also represent Gyokuyou herself. As I stated earlier, she starts keeping them after the first episode, and Hongniang later starts growing the closely-related azaleas in the jade pavilion as well. As for how its meanings apply to her, Gyokuyou is regal, magnanimous, and never loses her composure (unless it's at Jinshi's expense lol,) but she's also described by Gaoshun as shrewd and cautious, being unwilling to hire any lady she doesn't absolutely trust, and constantly gleaning information to send back to her family. These all fit with the dual meanings of rhododendron. In Chinese culture, rhododendrons and azaleas represent womanhood and passion, as well as home and a desire for homecoming.

Cotton rose: A type of hibiscus, this represents Fuyou, decorating both her person and her chambers in episode 3.  It means 'delicate beauty' and 'graceful lover.' I think these are referring to both her skill in dancing, as well as her affectation of frailty and neuroticism. As far as I could dig up, its unique tendency to change color based on the time of day doesn't have particular bearing on its meaning in either Chinese or Japanese culture, but the story itself uses it as a metaphor for Fuyou hiding her passion, will, and cunning behind a wallflower exterior.

Balloon flower:  In hanakotoba, it represents undying love, sincerity, and grace. These grow in the crystal pavilion, adorn the iconography of Lihua's furniture, and likely inform her blue and violet color scheme. Its last two descriptors gesture towards Lihua's style and personality. She's elegant and staid, but she also takes everything quite seriously, and wears her heart on her sleeve. As for the undying love element, I see that as alluding to her love for her son, her agony at his passing, and her hopes of reclaiming that love again through having another child.

Violet: This one actually tripped me up for the longest time.  The flowers in the opening looked like hostas to me, but no matter how closely I looked at the backgrounds in this show, I couldn’t find anything along those lines.  Eventually though, I caught on that these must be the violets from episode five, even if they’re a different color from those shown in the episode.  And also droopier.  Anyway, violets mean humility, sincerity, and ‘a little bit of happiness.’  In the episode proper, they are crushed underfoot as Maomao narrates about the lengths she had to go to keep herself safe while growing up in the red-light district, illustrating how even the modest aspirations of an ordinary peasant are in perpetual danger in such a cutthroat environment.

Chinese aster: Daisies and asters are my least favorite flowers to identify.  They all look the same.  As such, I’m a little less confident about this one, but I think it’s a Chinese aster.  The leaves and buds look similar, and the context in which it appears in episode six suits its meaning.  As Lishu’s ladies disparage her so-called pickiness, a shot of this flower opens the episode.  While the Chinese aster’s meaning changes based on color, white in particular means ‘please believe me.’ I think that speaks for itself

Toad lily:  This appears twice during episode eight, where Maomao gets drawn into the mystery of an attempted murder during her vacation.  Toad lilies symbolize hidden thoughts and intentions, alluding both to the possible conspiracy on the part of the women of the brothel, and to the fact that Maomao will never really know the truth of the incident, having to content herself with speculation.

Sacred bamboo: This one is easy to miss, because while the plant is in full bloom in the opening, it’s laden with berries in the show proper.  This is Nandina, a.k.a. the sacred bamboo, a mainstay of autumn and winter floral arrangements in both China and Japan.  It’s considered auspicious, symbolizing a reversal of ill fortune into prosperity--the precise opposite of how it’s presented in episode nine of the show.  There, Maomao fiddles with the plant as she contemplates all the instances she’s seen of good fortune being struck down by tragedy, and the prospect of that same sword of Damocles falling upon her head as well, a harbinger of eucatasrophe being used to symbolize straight catastrophe.  Also worth noting is the fact that the plant is very poisonous, so much so that it has a reputation for killing any birds which try to eat its berries; I think that bit of trivia might be the inspiration behind the decision to ironically invert its lucky image.  In addition to its central appearance in episode nine, it can also be seen in Lishu’s chambers in episode ten, mixed in among the vases of white camellias.

Japanese azalea: These mean passion and steadfastness, alluding, in my view, to Fengming’s devotion towards Ah-duo.  Fun fact: did you know that honey made from toxic azaleas, termed ‘mad honey,’ is sometimes manufactured on purpose?  It’s not super legal in most of the world, but apparently it can be used as a psychedelic.

After this, we see a panning shot of seven flowers, with the top four representing the high-ranking concubines, and the bottom three representing the high-ranking courtesans. While the first set of flowers grew from buds and flew across the screen, this set consists of still images. If I were to hazard a guess as to why, I'd say that it's because those previous flowers were conveying the movement of emergent stories, while these upcoming flowers portray the relatively static personality traits of individual characters. I'm going to tackle these in reverse order, as the first three flowers to appear are somewhat tricky to talk about.

Peony: This flower represents Gyokuyou, and in addition to appearing in her non-diegetic floral backgrounds, it also decorates the tapestries of the jade pavilion. In Chinese culture, peonies are one of, if not the most, important flowers. They represent feminine beauty, pride, honor, renown, wealth, prosperity, high-status, opulence, and a nobility of spirit. They are considered to be the king of flowers, and were historically only permitted to be grown by nobility. All of these superlatives are likely alluding towards Gyokuyou's status as the emperor's favorite consort, with the best shot at becoming empress.

Balloon flower: See above.

Lily-of-the-valley: This means purity, chastity, humility, and 'happiness will come again.' While the first three all seem to fit Lishu on their face, I find myself curious about the fourth meaning. I'm only partway through the third novel, but if this indicates that, at some point in the future, Lishu finally catches a break, then I'll certainly be happy to see it.

Dendrobium: In China, orchids in general are associated with elegance, refinement, and good taste, which fits with Maomao's description of the garnet pavilion as being beautiful in a minimalist sort of way. They also represent the virtues of an ideal gentleman-scholar: integrity, humility, temperance, and nobility. Furthermore, they are considered emblematic of spring; it, along with bamboo, chrysanthemum, and plum blossom, represent the four seasons. Returning to Japanese symbolism, the flower associated with Ah-duo seems to specifically be Dendrobium nobile. Nobile in particular means 'honest and to-the-point' in hanakotoba, likely alluding to Ah-duo's candid personality, and the fact that she is on casual terms with the emperor.

Regarding the final three flowers, the show itself doesn't explicitly tie any one of them to a particular courtesan--their flowers only appear as a group in episode twelve. But, by contemplating their meanings, and with some help from the characters' wiki pages, we can make some educated guesses.

Yulan Magnolia: This one, I'm guessing, represents Joka. On one hand, I'm kind of dumping her with this because the other two flowers just seem to fit the other two courtesans better, but its attributes nonetheless seem to accord what we know of her character--which admittedly isn't very much. In hanakotoba the yulan magnolia means nobility, sublimity and a love of nature. In China, its pretty similar: purity, nobility, dignity. It's also worth noting that they're commonly planted around Buddhist temples in China, and have been for many centuries, granting them an air of spiritual profundity. Joka is said to be aloof and cold, which is part of her appeal as a courtesan. While chrysanthemums and plum blossoms have a warmer aspect to their meanings, the loftiness of magnolia hews more closely to her characterization. Then there's the matter of her name, which is apparently a stage name. It translates to 'Lady Ka' (or 'Hua,' if you want to go with the Mandarin pronunciation.) Now, the 'ka' in her name is written as 華, and in the story, that character is only permitted to be used by the emperor and his family. So, for her to use it, even as a stage name, is a pretty bold pretense to nobility.

Chrysanthemum: In Japan, chrysanthemums are associated with nobility and the imperial family. In China, they are associated with longevity, endurance, and vitality, on account of their long-lasting blooms that persist late into autumn. I think this is most likely to be Pairin's flower. She's one of the few courtesans who's in her line of work because she wants to be, and is flourishing in an environment where others are desperate and debt-ridden. That covers 'vitality,' and Lihaku can attest to her endurance, if you know what I mean... Moving on, its mentioned in the novels that she's actually in her thirties, but still looks quite young, again harkening to the chrysanthemum's persistence.

As far as symbolism is concerned, chrysanthemums do seem to fit her character better than magnolias. But, something that gives me pause is her name, which means 'white bell,' on account of yulan magnolias being white and having a bell-like shape. I still think it's most likely that the chrysanthemum, and not the magnolia, belongs to her, but it was too notable a coincidence to not at least mention.

Plum Blossom: We can safely assume this one refers to Meimei, as her name is written with the character for plum. As plum trees are among the earliest to bloom each year, and will even bloom while snow still covers their branches, both China and Japan associate them with resilience, hope, inner-strength, and renewal. We don't know much about Meimei either, but my impression of her is that she seems to be the nicest and most even-keeled of Maomao's sisters.

Following this parade of showy flowers, we finally glimpse the emblem of our protagonist, Oxalis corniculata, the creeping wood sorrel, downcast and huddled amidst the underbrush of a forest. Whereas the other flowers we've seen thus far are primarily ornamental (even if some are also edible/medicinal,) wood sorrel is herbaceous and weedy, and is unlikely to grace any vases, wreaths, or arrangements. If it were spotted in a noble's garden, it would likely be uprooted, but to the peasant who finds it growing in a ditch, it's a tasty snack.

In hanakotoba, wood sorrel means joy, 'shining heart,' and 'a mother's love.' All three descriptors, I believe, are relevant to Maomao's character. Despite her flat affect, Maomao has a strong passion and sense of joie de vivre driving her through life. Those further along in either the novels or the manga will recognize 'a mother's love' as (somewhat ironically) gesturing towards her complicated relationship with her mother. As for 'shining heart,' I think that will become apparent as we go further through the opening.

But, before we do that, I'd like to take a moment to examine the moments when wood sorrel appears in the show itself. Thus far, by my recollection, it has appeared in episodes one, three, and twelve. The opening shot of the first episode is of a wood sorrel, informing the viewer in no uncertain terms that this is Maomao's flower, (in case the opening was too subtle.) In the third episode, several wood sorrels dot the field where Fuyou sits with her lover, symbolizing how Maomao has aided and protected them. In episode twelve, a single wood sorrel is tucked inside a lavish bouquet of her sister's flowers, a visual gag paralleling them fussing and fawning over her.

Returning to the opening, Maomao is shown contemplating a subtle glow in her closed hands while a reflected, sunlit version of herself glances back at her. Then, as all the previous flowers fall away, as Maomao casts the light up into the air, its glow illuminating her face, the wood sorrel finally stands upright, and blooms in full.

Now is a good time to mention a relevant characteristic of creeping wood sorrel: it only blooms in direct sunlight. When crowded by other plants, it curls in on itself, closing both its flower and leaves. This serves as a clear metaphor for Maomao's personality; under most circumstances, she seeks to be invisible and unobtrusive, but when she's in her element, she commands attention and respect.

Following this, we have her magical girl-esque transformation sequence, with her outstretched hands forming the shape of a blooming flower as she dances through a whirl of yellow wood sorrel petals. She then bows down in imitation of the flower, taking the light back into her chest (there's that shining heart I mentioned earlier,) as she dissolves into the stoic, unassuming version of herself once more, closing out the opening. (Jinshi who?)

I'd like to end this analysis with an observation. While the real wood sorrel exists at the perpetual mercy of outside forces, Maomao is not merely reacting to a light source that exists beyond her control. The light exists within her, and she chooses when it will shine down for all to see, and when she will hide it away in the depths of her heart. To those who've gotten this far, thank you so much for reading.

[jerzwriter]

Thank you to @kyra75 for this request from @choicesprompts Flufftober event - prompt: Secret Admirer for Tobias x Casey. It was a lot of fun to write this sweet little story. I'm writing a "sort of" follow-up to this for @snoopdogcone's last prompt request, too! I hope you enjoy it!

Book: Open Heart (Post Series Timeline) Pairing: Tobias Carrick x Casey MacTavish (F!MC) Featuring: Ethan Ramsey Rating: General Words: 1,300 Summary: Casey's got a secret admirer, and Tobias is determined to find out who it is.

A/N: Also participating in @choicesmonthlychallenge Flufftober - Prompts: Warm hugs, handwritten letters.

It started small: a few handwritten notes left on Casey’s desk that eventually progressed to a series of little gifts. First was a tiny stuffed unicorn with huge blue eyes, “Just like yours!” the accompanying note read. The next day, it was a bag of Geysers candy with a big bow and a tiny card that read, “Roses are red, Violets are blue, these candies are sweet, just like you!”   

Casey smiled as she picked it up. Assuming they were from a grateful patient, the lovely gestures made her smile, but Tobias’s antennas were up. “Case, these aren’t thank-you gifts; a patient would let you know who they were from,” he pointed out with a grin. “Someone’s got herself a secret admirer!”

“A secret admirer?” Casey chortled. “Tobias! Be serious. Everyone at Edenbrook knows I’m with you.” She sauntered over to him, straightening the lapels on his labcoat with a little grin. “And while you’re a very secure man and not the jealous type... you can also be a little... unhinged, darling. So, don't worry. No one here is messing with me.”

“Unhinged,” he chuckled, pulling her in for a warm embrace, his voice dropping low. “Only when I’m under the covers with you.”

Ethan walked into the office and let out a groan laced with disgust. “Someday, the two of you won’t work here, and I won’t have to greet each day with a spell of nausea.”

“Maybe?” Casey smiled, “but you would miss us!”

He put on his glasses and turned to her with a blank stare. “Maybe?”

“Hey,” Tobias asked. “What do you make of these gifts Casey’s receiving? You think someone’s got a little crush?”

“It's possible,” Ethan shrugged. “But Casey’s already shown she has questionable taste in suitors when she fell for you... so, I think you’re safe, Carrick.”

Tobias scoffed. “Safe?” he shook his head, glancing at himself in the mirror. “Of course I’m safe! I mean, look at me... and this isn’t even with my abs exposed....”

“Shall I get you the Pepto Bismol?” Casey whispered to Ethan.

“It would be appreciated,” he replied.

“I’m just saying... it's not that I'm jealous. But if someone’s got a crush on my girl. I think we should figure out who it is so the poor fool understands that they don’t have a chance.”

"You think it's Ron from Radiology, don't you," Ethan smirked.

"Mmh, Ron is kind of hot," Casey teased.

Tobias turned to them both, unamused. "Don't you worry, I'll get to the bottom of this!"

But the days kept coming, and the gifts kept coming with them. When a heart-shaped lollipop appeared on her desk, Tobias had enough... he was going to get to the bottom of this. “Alright, this is getting serious. Someone out there has a full-blown crush on you, and it’s time we investigate.”

Casey rolled her eyes. “They’re sweet gestures, babe, but it’s just someone being nice. You’re reading too much into it.”

“You know you’re beautiful, you’re brilliant, and I’m so glad you’re mine... but you’re a little naïve, dear. No one is doing all these things because they're being nice!”  

“Are you getting jealous, love?”

“No!” He insisted. “It’s not jealousy, but someone is leaving gifts for my girl. It’s about time they get the memo that she’s taken. It’s an act of kindness, really. Let them know they should move on to someone else, where they might stand a chance.”

“Yes, dear,” Casey chuckled as Tobias set off to find answers.

He passed Casey’s office frequently that day, enlisting some buddies to also serve as spies. But as the day was dwindling to an end, he was beginning to feel defeated when fate smiled upon him.

He was just finishing his rounds when he spotted Connor, a young patient of Casey’s, marching toward her office with a bouquet of flowers in hand. Casey had taken a liking to the boy, often stopping by his room after her shift to help him with homework or play a video game or two. A smile tugged on Tobias’s lips as he saw the light in the little boy's eyes.

“Hey, buddy!” Tobias smiled, mussing up Connor’s sandy blonde hair. “Are those flowers for Dr. MacTavish?”

Connor nodded with a smile despite his embarrassment. “Yeah…Dr. Casey is so nice, and, um, she’s really pretty, too. And she knows all about baseball and lets me play her playlist during my checkups.”

Tobias chuckled, crouching down to Connor’s level. “I don’t blame you, kiddo. Dr. Casey’s pretty awesome.”

Connor looked over his shoulder, then looked around again to ensure no one could hear him. “Do you know if she’s married?” he whispered.

Tobias’s eyes went wide. “Married? No. I don’t think she’s married. But I do know she’s loved the little gifts you’ve left her. She should be here any moment now. Why don't you deliver this one to her yourself? I’m sure she’d love that.”

“Do you think so?” Connor asked, his eyes wide.

“I do,” Tobias nodded. “Why don’t you sit here and wait.”

Tobias walked to the nurses’ station, pretending to review a folder, but his eyes never lost sight of the adorable little boy sitting on a chair outside of Casey's office.

Connor bit his lip nervously but still managed a smile when he saw Casey approaching her office. Tobias looked on as Connor timidly handed her the flowers, his cheeks turning red.

“Connor! Are these for me?” Casey beamed.

Connor couldn't muster up words, but his face lit up with joy as he nodded. Casey sat on the chair next to Connor and squeezed his little hand. “Are you the one who has been leaving me all the sweet notes and treats?”

The boy just nodded again.

“Well, I have to thank you. You’ve made me smile so many times this week. Thank you for that, Connor. You made me feel very special."

The boy looked up and caught Tobias watching. He smiled and gave the boy a quick thumbs-up.

“Well, you’ve made me smile, too, Dr. Casey. Do you think we could play video games later?”

Casey gave him a little squeeze. “You better believe we will! In fact, why don’t I bring some of the Geysers you gave me? We can share them!”

“Can we?” he said, eyes wide with excitement.

“Of course!”

The boy jumped off Casey’s lap and rushed to his room, his heart pounding with pride as he gave Tobias a high five along the way.

Casey’s heart was full of warmth as she locked eyes with Tobias, gesturing toward her office. As soon as the door was closed, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “So, you solved the mystery, Sherlock. Looks like my admirer is an adorable young man, after all!”

“Yep,” Tobias grinned. “I like him! The kids got great taste. But I don’t have to worry, do I?”

Casey playfully mulled it over before kissing her boyfriend’s cheek. “Luckily for you, younger men aren’t my thing. I like more into old men, like you.”

“Old man,” he growled, pulling Casey flush against him as his lips fell to her neck, leaving a not-so-tender kiss behind. “I’ll show you, old man!”

Casey giggled as she playfully pushed him away. “Well, if I have any other secret admirers, I know who to turn to. But for now, maybe let’s let my pint-sized Romeo keep his little crush.”

“Deal,” Tobias laughed. “But I'm watching him! I mean, the kids got game. If I take him under my wing, he could be a master by the time he's in high school.”

“T,” Casey laughed. “Leave him be! He’s doing just fine on his own, and, besides, the world can only handle one Tobias Carrick.”

“You've got a point,” Tobias grinned. “But if Connor ever needs a pep talk, I’m going to have his back!”

@choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics

[aster-blogging-dracula]

Ok so today's entry is definitely gonna be important for the analysis on how the topic of sexuality (which is one among MANY topics that this novel covers) is explored throughout the story and throughout the concept of vampirism in it.

I wanted to note these things down for myself cause this is a topic that really boils my blood when seeing academic analysis of it but I want to read the full text carefully through Dracula Daily and make a proper personal opinion of it before reading anything else (academia.edu PLEASE stop emailing me things I will crush my head on the wall). (For now, my overall opinion on this topic is that academics focus way too much on making a metaphor out of everything when a lot of things in this story make more sense when analyzed as parallelism, or as a literal part of the plot with no further meaning...)

Anyways. This is the first time in the story when a scene of (almost) vampire feeding is narrated, and the scene that makes Johnathan go "this is it, nowhere is safe". So this kind of settles a first impression on what being preyed upon by a vampire feels like (at the same time it could also serve as reference for when vampire feeding feels WAY differently from today, and therefore can be interpreted differently). We have:

The feeling of seduction of some sorts(EDIT: I should point out that vampire seduction by this time was already, from The Vampyre to Carmilla, along with several folklore, a well established trope). Is Johnathan's initial fear out of an unconscious feeling that they're vampires? Because of their sudden appearance in the otherwise empty room? Because he loathes being disloyal to Mina? Could be a mix, we will never know. But it's interesting to ask oneself these things.

I'm not going to expand on why the description of how the girl approaches Johnathan's neck is erotic, just go read it. I listened to the Re:Dracula entry today and aw lawd that's... The academics win on this one that does sound like a sexual thing good god.

It also sounds quite monstrous tho. The licking of the teeth, the red tongue, is similar to how the wolves were described on may 5th (and later, Dracula's gesture towards the other girls is compared to the one he used with the wolves, This is actually the first direct association between wolves and vampires as a similar being I think)

Dracula's "I too can love" speech and him undressing Johnathan is a whole topic for a different post which I do Not Have The Energy To Make (and that someone out there will probably do better than me today)

Lastly, we have Johnathan's dread at the end. That's a lot of dread wow, even worse than Dracula. Now, of course, a big part of this is due to them being VAMPIRES. WHO WILL KILL HIM. Because this is a vampire story. But it also leads us to other questions. Could this dread also be a dread of the desire he felt? Because of loyalty to Mina or because of the dominant stance the vampiresses took (which was Inappropriate in victoriam standards)?. These are the questions academics usually explore. There's also the less "This symbolizes That" approach which takes the fact that vampires=dreadful because of plot reasons, and draws the conclusion that making such a dreadful creature have a sexual attitude, said attitude is demonized. Additionally, in the Dracula Daily fandom, there are also people noticing how his dread is akin to the feelings of an SA victim. (Which leads us to the question of How Did Bram Know That?)

In any case. One thing is clear. They're vampires. They want his blood. Poor boy has been sleep deprived, questioning his sanity, and being manipulated by his employer for more than a week now. His employer who has just saved him from getting eaten. That's a shock. That's a big fucking shock alright.

[elsaqueenofstress]

the daisy jones and the six series changing the interviews to be 20 years later instead of closer to 40 years feels like such a weird, superficially aesthetic choice, where they get to keep the young, attractive actors (how did none of them age a day except graham??) instead of committing to the fact that these people are only able to reflect on these events because there's so much distance from them and they have perspective now (though it also means that memories are contradictory, contributing to the lack of reliability). it also does a massive disservice to camila, who instead of getting to live a long, happy life with her husband who stated that he always loved her and would always choose her, is basically turned into the second coming of the mother from how i met your mother – a pit stop to give the main, important man some kids to tell a story to before dying so he can be with his real soulmate before they're too old for it to be sexy

i feel like too many people (mainly daisybilly shippers) are conflating the "unreliable narrator" aspect of the book with "oh, no one told the truth about anything so we can make up our own completely different story and have it be canon!" instead of understanding that while there were probably times that the interviewees lied, a lot of what jumbles up their memories is the time that has passed, the weed that was smoked, and their personal feelings toward certain events (why you get daisy and billy gushing over the aurora cover that highlights only them while everyone else talks about how much the shoot sucked) (oh and the fact that reviews are mentioning that the rest of the band rarely appears in scenes w/o daisy or billy?? meaning that the series did what the characters in the book were constantly complaining about and relegated them to backup?? i must laugh to keep from crying) (also if they weren't even going to focus on everyone, why the fuck didn't they keep pete?)

[sillypiratelife]

Funny / dramatic moments between fake prince!Zoro and his equally fake royal advisor!Robin:

She doesn't advise him for shit.

What actually happens is that Robin sits to read under the shade of some pretty tree while Zoro trains (shirt on to cover his scars) nearby and they discuss their thoughts on what could be going on in the kingdom.

From afar everyone thinks they are gossiping (typical of young royals), but everyone who's near enough to listen is incredibly impressed and intimidated.

This is the trip where Robin realized that Zoro barely knows how to read and decided to do something about it.

Aka Robin learns a lot about swordsmanship from the books she picked for Zoro and Zoro includes reading in his training regimen.

Zoro baits at least half a dozen people into asking Robin for "a hand". She responds by making a third hand appear out of nowhere. Every. Single. Time.

Robin is fascinated by the amount of lies that Ussop can tell about his fake childhood as the Prince's best friend. She has the memorized just in case, but it's still entertaining to see Ussop struggle.

And also very entertaining to tease Zoro with those stories. Peak royal advisor behavior.

Robin and Zoro are absolutely bullying those old men. They pass judgemental looks during their (meant as practice) court sessions that have the (very very real) captain of the royal holding his laughter.

EKRJKFJDKDK RESTING BITCH FACES not really but those people swear the smirk and relaxed behavior means Zoro and Robin are planning to murder them. No one knows if they are being sarcastic.

When they finally leave the King laments long and loud that his court sessions will never be as funny as they were with Robin and Zoro around.

They're like three different times when Robin covers Zoro with something-turned-blanket while he naps, including one time when Zoro raised his cape and invited Robin to rest her head on his shoulder and take a nap with him.

Robin is the first to notice that a) the captain of the royal guard is the real prince and b) the dude has a crush on Zoro.

She's also the only person who notices that Zoro is in love with Sanji and that Sanji is starting to realize he's not jealous of Zoro for getting to play prince, but uncomfortable at how much it makes Sanji see a different side of Zoro that he might like. A lot.

Which means that every comment she makes is undecipherable to Zoro, but means to help him realize his, uh, situation.

The local cook thinks that Robin and Zoro are together and that Chopper is their son.

Zoro chokes on wine and Robin laughs when they hear the old cook calling someone a homewrecker in the middle of dinner.

Sanji and the real prince go red in a second, which is funny on its own right.

When the fire breaks out in the castle, Zoro is the one that saved the book Robin said she really needed for her research. The way he captured the culprit was by jumping from the library window and landing on the guy.

There's a moment when they almost go on demon mode after they find the basement full of chained children in the abandoned castle. It's only almost because the children awoke when they approached and both acted all light to not scare them.

The kids get eldest daughter!Robin and oldest brother!Zoro instead. They end up with their white suits all covered in mud + blood, but there's definitely something to see them walk in through the main gates carrying so many children, soft expressions and relief on their faces.

The glint they have on their eyes when Zoro asks about the story of that castle is enough to send the castle personnel on their knees. It's only when it's revealed that the king of that particular "castle" died a few weeks ago that Zoro and Robin turn back and everyone breathes again.

Somehow they develop a kinda dry(?) sense of humor that they share mostly with smirks and the most mysterious comments ever.

Robin takes on calling Zoro "your highness" from time to time.

Zoro takes on cleaning and sharpening Robin's knife from them on.

[magpie-come-east]

Morgott for the character ask meme!

favorite thing about them

What drew me to him in the first place is how much I related to his character. When I was a religious teen I hated myself so much. I hated my appearance. I hated being a woman. I was in a constant loop of thinking of myself as this terrible waste of space that couldn't get anything right. Just damned to fuck up my entire life and then die and go to hell. Morgott isn't quite so pathetic as I was at 16-17 lol, but I saw a lot of my struggles in him. He believes he is born cursed, that no matter what he does he will be rejected by the Erdtree- an aspect of his religion and God- when he dies. He is misguided at best and vile at worst, but I completely understand why he is the way his is.

Also,

He's gorgeous

least favorite thing about them

The giant scabby looking red bump on his head is kinda gross : (

He doesn't return Mohg's calls enough : (

I wish he had more voice lines : (

I mean, maybe this is a cop-out, but there's pretty much nothing I dislike about Morgott. I love his lore, his fights, his stunning good looks (sans red bump). He's a remarkably fascinating character that has tragic and heroic aspects to him while also being a flawed and a worthy antagonist.

favorite line

"Have it writ upon thy meager grave: Felled by King Morgott, Last of all Kings." (A stone-cold reveal? Sexy voice acting? He hates the player so much it makes him look stupid hot?)

Shout out to "Whose hand graspeth thy leash, I wonder?" It's a cut line but it's Ummph

brOTP

Morgott and Mohg. The literal brothers of all time.

The importance and closeness of twin relationships is prevalent throughout the game. You cannot tell me Morgott and Mohg weren't once so, so close. They are amazing foils, too! Both of them exemplifying the extremes they were driven to by their upbringing. Neither have experienced good and healthy love, thus they search for it in unfortunate places. Both of them grew believing they were monsters, and both behave differently in consequence- with Morgott clinging to servitude and humility and suppression and with Mohg embracing everything being a monster entails. I love it.

I think they still care for one another a lot. Their ideologies just strain their bond.

OTP

Morgott x Tarnished or Morgott x Oleg

Please read Oleg's ash description if you haven't. That man was murdering for Morgott for the love of the game.

nOTP

Morgott x Mohg (romantic)

They're just better as brothers.

random headcanon

I have... many headcanons.

Morgott hates Rykard because he envies Carian siblings for being welcomed into Marika's lineage while he was rejected as her 'firstborn' (shhhh Messmer shhhh). Rykard also figured out he was Omen before the war and offered Morgott amnesty and allyship. Morgott was so offended he resented Rykard forever for it.

Morgott hired Oleg to help him secure his throne in the early days of his power. After all, he was an unheard-of Demigod that showed up out of nowhere to make himself King. He probably faced a lot of pushback. Oleg was there to kill the dissenters! (And kiss Morgott)

Morgott used the mimic veil to appear human to Leyndell. His cover story for his sudden appearance was that he was exiled with Godfrey to the Badlands as a young child. When Godwyn died Queen Marika called him back to the Lands Between, having earned his Grace. Thus, he took the moniker Grace-Given. (Ironically, this would make King Morgott semi-Tarnished in his own story).

Morgott was friends with Godrick before he took to grafting. Godrick was weak in body despite being a member of the Golden Lineage, and Morgott felt some kinship with Godrick's struggles with self-image and his lackluster presence as a scion of Marika.

unpopular opinion

I find it a little disappointing that in most fics where he is a central, vital character he ends up as the mere consort to the Tarnished Elden Lord. I know SOTE told us irrevocably that Godhood is not good at all for mortal vessels. But I kinda wish Morgott was allowed to be Elden Lord or a God more often. I find it cathartic when a person so spurned by the church and God of their faith is made into something holy and powerful.

Also, I think Morgott was the eldest child of the Golden Lineage, and that Godwyn never really knew him.

Morgott is definitely not a virgin.

song I associate with them

Take me to War by The Crane Wives! Dreams Wash Away by Joe Wong!

Forsaken by Savant!

Monster and Arms Unfolding by Dodie!

Torture by Les Friction!

Cirice by Ghost!

Favorite Picture

My commissioned piece for my fic Gilded Apotheosis. The art is by bora-in-tamriel

@barrowlands567

@bad-as-me (since you asked this too!)

[tikiki05]

You know what's funny to me? There are Spider-Gwen/Ghost-Spider fans who use variant art comic book covers of Miles and Gwen to taunt fans who don't like Ghostflower. They genuinely believe that those variant comic covers show that Marvel prefers Miles and Gwen together over Miles with anyone else. But they don't seem to realize that most if not all of the Ghostflower cover variants are RETAILER EXCLUSIVES made and paid for/commissioned usually by Unknown Comics, 616 Comics or Big Time Collectibles, they are NOT FORMAL comic cover variants put out by Marvel, which is why they appear no where in Marvel's marketing.

Unknown Comics, 616 Comics, Big Time Collectibles and others create and pay for their own comic cover variants with different art from popular artists. Unknown Comics, 616 Comics, Big Time Collectibles do not have have the highest reputations. They commission art based on fads as cash grabs to take advantage of people who think the covers are official or valuable, and to meet niche interests of their customer bases. Gwen Stacy as both regular Gwen Stacy and Spider-Gwen Stacy is a character that some fans regularly sexualize along with Felicia/Black Cat and MJ. Big Time Collectibles has a whole mature covers section, and Unknown has done borderline fetish content and will often do two different versions of the same cover with Gwen for both Miles and Peter content, earlier this year they even did a variant cover that had Gwen wearing Peter's suit and one where she wore Miles's suit. Neither were formal Marvel covers. Sometimes there will be an official variant cover from Marvel of Miles doing something and one of the stores will pay the same artist from the official Marvel variant to make a complimentary cover that has Gwen in the same art style or area. These stores will also commission different modern takes on well known popular official Marvel covers.

When Marvel has done official variant covers with Miles and Gwen, they have usually been done based around promotion of spiderverse. One exception was when a couple months ago they had them in disco gear together to promote both the upcoming Dazzler (a musician) comic and raise awareness for Gwen who had a new comic released.

What is extra special crazy though and what has led to this post is Ghostflower fanatics will use select retailer exclusives, aka overpriced commissioned fan art, to justify being absolute weirdos over Miles's canon girlfriends, especially Starling, who they're super duper pressed over because she is the definite love interest for comic Miles (side note - Spider-Gwen Stacy fans really seem to hate Black women and Black women characters and have said some absolutely wild things about both, which makes sense given the racist reaction to Miles. If Miles had to deal with racism as a character of course there will be people who are not going to want to see Black woman characters flourish and this is a main reason why I can't stand online Spider-Gwen fans or the Ghostflower ship, the racism from them is gross. It might seem like they aren't racist because they "like" Miles but they only see Miles as a means to an end for Spider-Gwen to get clout, that's it. They treat Miles like he's a secondary character in his story, hate characters like Spiderbyte and celebrate any ship Miles is in that doesn't involve Black women. They make any excuse for their hatred of Black women characters, claiming that it's because a character isn't "well written or developed", but then will love actually poorly written potential nonblack love interests).

Ghostflower shippers have convinced themselves that RETAILER EXCLUSIVES are evidence that Marvel considers Starling as just a placeholder until BTSV releases, and then Gwen will take her place in the comics as Miles's official love interest and Starling will be killed off or kicked out. They brag that Marvel knows that the real money lies with Ghostflower and that's why Marvel keeps making Ghostflower variants, but this is dumb as hell because again, most of the Ghostflower variants are not even official variants released by Marvel. They blatantly ignore that Starling has been on a bunch of official Marvel covers for Miles's comics as well as official Marvel comic variant covers, which is better than being on a bunch of borderline and outright fan fetish content for informal retailer exclusives. And they definitely ignore that Gwen has not appeared in or been talked about in Miles's comics before OR AFTER 2016, which is when Sitting in a Tree happened, yet Spider-Gwen Stacy fans act as if she's his main love interest. And this level of delulu is reason #2 why I am not a fan of Ghostflower and most Ghostflower people.

Ho, ly, crap! This was utterly fascinating to read! Thank you so freaking much for sending this in! I really know nothing when it comes to the comics, so this really clears up a lot for me!

I’ve definitely seen some of the comic covers you mentioned here, mainly via pinterest, and it definitely confused me.

Granted, I haven’t been in a whole lot of other fandoms, but I can’t recall a time I ever heard about a ship specifically having this horrid and this racist of a fan base, it’s insane! Especially when as I’ve talked about before, spider-verse Gwen and Miles aren’t even narratively properly set up for a romance! Slow burn where?? And even if they were, they’re just such a bland pairing to me, like I’m sorry 😭 I am so sick of seeing punk girls paired with average casual kinda guys, especially when Chris Miller and Phil Lord have BEEN DOING THIS in their projects! ie, Lego Movie and Clone High. Hell, Clone High is literally a parody of teen drama and love stories, and Joan and Abe literally do it better than Gwen and Miles! In my opinion. They put a chick in it and make her lame and gay :/

Thanks again for the ask and the insight/knowledge! I hope you have a beautiful day on this fine Miguel O’Hara birthday <3

[phoenixwatchesmovies]

Dracula Season Watch Party: The Lost Boys (1987)

After moving to a new town, two brothers discover that the area is a haven for vampires. - Dir. Joel Schumacher

Let's get one thing straight: this movie isn't. Stick a pin in that because we'll get back to that in due time.

In that case, though, WHERE DO I START? This is a fucking great movie and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise. (I didn't say you have to like it. Quality is objective and personal taste is not. Go forth with that nugget of wisdom.)

Starting at the beginning, then, we get one of the best movie themes ever written (as evidenced by the amount of covers that exist), some of my favorite establishing shots ever filmed, and the character entrance that made me say out loud, "OH SHIT 👀"

YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN. As the top comment on the video says, "you know it's awesome when you click just to watch the opening."

The entire movie is like that, TBH. It's almost as quotable as The Princess Bride Thee Greatest Movie Ever Made, and is matched only by The Shining for scenes I'll just watch on their own because I love them that much. Like this one, for instance, that I'm linking because I'm going to bring it up again later:

^^ the music, the camera, the lighting, the transition from the headlights to the lighthouse... It's so good...

Other great music moments include the "People Are Strange" montage of slice-of-life style clips of folks going about their day in Santa Carla intercut with all the posters of missing people hung up around the boardwalk, "I Still Believe" featuring Tim Cappello, Tina Turner's former saxophone player, "Walk This Way" as the boys close in on the surfers on the beach, and ENDLESS uses of "Cry Little Sister."

Brief moment to talk about the Emerson family dynamic. Script, performances, and direction all work together in all the best ways so you never doubt how much they care about each other, or how far they'll go for each other. You can argue for family being one of the core themes of the story, whether it's the one you're born into or the one you're...well, born in a sense, into. Either way, it's about the bonds you make, be it for a lifetime or an eternity.

Grandpa gets his own bullet for being such an icon, and for having the absolute #1 best last line of a movie in history. We waited an hour and a half for the punchline of a joke we didn't even notice we were being told. 🫡

Suppose I'll move onto the Frog brothers. Their antics are where most of the comedy comes from, and if there's one thing I have a problem with in this movie, it's the way the two halves don't quite fit together. Michael and David and Co. work on their own as an edgy, stylish, coming-of-age story. Sam and the Frog brothers are the most obvious giveaway that the original concept was something a bit more similar to The Goonies. And it's probably because I like the vampires a lot more, but the kids just aren't that interesting. They're funny and necessary, but I'm not as invested in what they're doing.

Which brings us back to the Lost Boys themselves. The name is a deliberate reference to Peter Pan, and that's where the tragedy of the whole thing comes in. Screenwriter James Jeremias, after reading Interview With The Vampire and the character Claudia in particular, ran with the idea that the reason Peter and his gang never grow up is because they're vampires (which came first, this movie, or the theory that Peter and Co. are the souls of dead children?). You can see that influence throughout the story, and apparently David and the boys were meant to contrast with Michael in the way they represent adolescence, given they're eternal teenagers.

Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut I don't get that very much. I'm sure it's there, but in terms of x vs y, the vampires and the Frog brothers have always stood out more to me. Compare the two kids trying so hard to appear grown up (Edgar even puts on a deep voice that fools no one) and the four kids who will literally never grow up.

I also called this a tragedy, at least as far as the boys are concerned. What else could it be, being a horror movie, but you watch scenes like the bike ride and it's fun and exciting and you understand what Schumacher is going for. They're alive and living in the moment, free in the way only kids seem to be. As you learn what they are, you realize that, for them, at least, this freedom is forever. Life will always be one big party going from one thrill to the next. The tag line is literally "never grow old, never die." And only one of those is true by the end of the movie. The gut punch about David's death (aside from the fact that he dies at all, what can I say, I'm obsessed with him) is that he doesn't go out like the others do, with blood and melting flesh and explosions. He just...dies, as that child choir kicks in one last time, and you see him for what he always was--a dead kid.

In conversation with tragedy is the theme of monsterhood as a whole. When Michael is faced with the reality of what his new friends are and what he himself is becoming, David has this to say: "You'll never grow old, Michael, and you'll never die. But you must feed." Spoken after the vampires have slaughtered half a dozen beach bums, we have the cost of immortality underlined for us. We've also seen Michael struggle against his new nature when he nearly attacked his own brother earlier in the movie, and it's not like he chose to go after Sam because he's evil. It's instinct. Hunger. A matter of survival. We see him alternatively warning Sam to stay away from him and pleading for help to stop what's happening to him because he doesn't want to become a monster, a killer like David. And that's what makes David and the rest of the boys the antagonists, because their survival depends on killing and feeding on other people, but that's all they're doing, is surviving according to their nature. That's the tragedy of monsterhood.

Along with the realization that someone had to have done that to these kids. Someone chose to make them what they are, and that's the real evil of the story.

And speaking of Max, I appreciate the fake-out approach to revealing him as the real Big Bad. It's very Scream, where you were pretty sure it was Billy the whole time but there was that one scene that threw a temporary wrench in your theory. But Star's line about Max being a secret David was protecting comes out of nowhere in a way that feels like there was a bit more context for it initially, but it never made the final cut.

Which leads me to my other gripe. The pacing and timeline don't seem to be in obvious cooperation. Again, it feels like more was there at one point, but transitional scenes were left out, so it's hard to tell how much time passes between the Emersons moving to Santa Carla and the final showdown. Things could either happen very quickly in which case the escalation is on a level with Romeo and Juliet, or it's more spaced out and the space isn't apparent. And I'm leaning towards the "spaced out" approach.

Now. Allow me a few more indulgent moments, because we gotta talk about David.

Look at him.

LOOK AGAIN.

Istg, he stepped around the bend of that merry-go-round and I said, out loud, with words, "oh shit." I had a crisis for days afterward due to the gender envy. I STILL don't know if I want him or if I want to be him. (I'm too fond of my hair as it is to even think about whether or not I'm brave enough for a bleached mullet, so at least I don't really have to think too hard about the answer.) All this to say, can you really blame Michael? One look at this guy and I didn't know what kind of egg joke I wanted to make, so I'm not surprised our boy Mike was trying so hard to fit into this group.

(Yes, you're correct, I'm circling back to my opening statement.)

You can read this as straight up, pun slightly intended, guys being dudes and Michael just wanting to be accepted by the local cool kids. Makes sense, really. They are cool. He's the new kid in town, and that folds right into the usual coming of age narrative with finding your place in the world along with discovering your own identity, etc etc. But if that's the case, then why all the long, frequent, intense eye contact?

@verified-villain-fxcker gets it. 🥂

Look, I'm sure if you tried hard enough to find a heterosexual explanation for the homoerotic tension I'm seeing, you could. But you're on this site, browsing the tag for this movie, so do you really want to? I've got a whole thesis statement on how Schumacher being a gay man/identity influencing one's art/motorcycle clubs being part of queer culture rattling around somewhere in my head, but to keep mostly on topic, I'm sticking with this: part of the coming of age story is discovering your identity, which includes your sexuality. Therefore, it's hardly a stretch to say this is a movie about gay awakening as much as anything else and that Michael Emerson is a disaster bisexual. Of course I'm not the first person to see it that way, but Pride Month is almost over. What else was I going to end on?

He's queer, your honor. Happy Pride. 🏳️‍🌈

[i-heart-hxh]

Hey there! I just found these preview pages from volume 38, though I'm not sure what they say and if they're legit. Wondering if you've seen them as well?

These first pages usually show the characters that are going to be in the volume. What stood out to me is that Gon is there as well! Now, from a quick translation from the internet, it basically says that he's unable to see aura and he's on a homecoming (?) trip. Then on the bottom there is a synopsis on what has happened so far in the manga. Does this mean we'll see Gon in the upcoming chapters? I'm trying to not get my hopes up but...

What do you think?

Hi!

So, you may already know this, but I want to make it clear first that Volume 38 will only contain chapters that have already been released (391-400)--so Gon definitely won't be appearing in the chapters collected in Volume 38. These are the chapters we got back in the end of 2022, before Togashi went on the hiatus that will be ending in October. Typically the previous 10 chapters are only collected into a volume and released around the same time more chapters are about to come out, so that's why this volume is only being released now.

Also, Gon has been listed in the character summary page throughout the Succession War arc as far as I recall, so, it's nice that he's still included but it unfortunately isn't a change from previous volumes, where he also never appeared.

While Gon being on the cover was a welcome surprise that I'm very happy about, I don't think either it or the character introduction page are strong signs of his impending return. However, Togashi clearly doesn't want us to forget about him, and is reminding us that he's still one of the main characters of the series, so I think it's a great sign for the series going back to him over the longer term!!

HxH is very unpredictable, so Gon could technically return at any time, whenever Togashi deems the story has come to that point. However, with how many characters and plot points are being juggled in Succession War, I personally am not anticipating his return particularly soon. We could get a cameo or small scene or something, but I don't think there's a lot of space to go back into his character arc quite yet. I think we may still need to wait a while before he's part of the story again, but I do think it's coming at some point--perhaps at the end of this arc, or when the story does a major shift.

Gon does have ties to the Dark Continent, with Ging and his presumed ancester Don Freecss being both being connected to it, and Killua does as well, via Nanika, so I think when the Dark Continent itself becomes more prominent in the series, it's possible we'll see them return to the story. But as usual, it's hard to predict what Togashi has up his sleeve. I am confident we'll see them again, though, and all the focus Togashi has put on especially Gon this year (with all his tweets of art of him, this cover, etc.), I'm sure Gon will be back when the time is right!

Thanks for asking!

[mdhwrites]

Not sure if this ask got lost but, do you find it weird how Sasha and Marcy never interact much one on one without Anne? Especially with how they don't address Sasha was also a bad friend to Marcy. We only really see them address Sasha being a bad friend to Anne, but never addressing how she also didn't treat Marcy any better. Plus not getting a sense of what Sasha and Marcy's friendship is like without Anne.

This is the story of Anne and of Amphibia so no, it's not strange to ignore Marcy and Sasha like this.

I'm sorry but that really is the long and short of it. Sasha and Marcy are used to reflect, contrast and challenge Anne far more than they actually exist to have their own stories. Sasha's arc contrasts Anne's arc and challenges her and Marcy dedicates almost literally all of her screentime to narrative purposes besides herself, including her first two episode segments being entirely for Anne to talk about her feelings about Marcy and how they play into herself. Mind you... This is not a bad thing. There is not much to get out of showing Sasha and Marcy's relationship in Anne's story and the elements of a narrative should play into telling that narrative, rather than feel useless or like they're meandering and going nowhere. This is also why we get such a thorough exploration of Wartwood because its society, and how it will contrast with Earth, are deeply important to the themes and overall story of the show. Far more than Marcy or Sasha.

What makes good writing good though is how well you can cover up what is narrative utility. How natural your story feels as it goes from beat to beat. Everything in a story is a narrative device after all. A great example of this? The sleepover with Marcy isn't about Anne and Marcy. It's actually much more about both the negative and positive impacts that Sasha has had on Anne as a person. Emulating Sasha causes her to break the rules and do things she shouldn't but also gives her confidence in the face of danger and bravery she wouldn't have otherwise but that she needs to internalize as her own. It's not super apparent though because it comes across as just two friends having to make due with the loss of the leader of their group. It's natural but it's serving a point.

Now yes, Amphibia was willing to expand on characters like Marcy with how she gets two episode segments in Wartwood expanding her (though one is really much more about Maddie) and feature little Anne but A: one actually does give us a lot of insight as to Anne's impact on her community and what her being the 'Heart' means to these people and B: it's still allowing a new supporting character to interact with the rest of Anne's supporting cast, which is good and fun and allows us new angles on the potential changes going on.

But Marcy interacting with Anne's primary antagonist? There's not as much useful there. We get all we need by the three of them being together but there's just never a good time for it. Part of this is because there's not really a dynamic between Marcy and Anne either. I've said it before but Anne and Sasha have such an incredible, perfect dynamic that it makes Marcy feel vestigial and the show itself acknowledges this. For a character who neither Anne or Sasha have actually a strong bond with... What's the point of really stressing that? That's part of why Anne spends a lot of the S1 finale with Sasha but then Anne's focus is almost always elsewhere than Marcy during her episodes with her, either because she's too in her own head or focused elsewhere. The closest we ever get is her first appearance and even then, it's much more to show that Anne doesn't know Marcy, especially not this Marcy which just kind of highlights the weakness of their relationship.

So no, I don't find it weird, especially since I will continue to state that Sasha and Marcy are not main characters. Amphibia itself, the Plantars and Anne are. What point does showing just Sasha and Marcy's relationship do for the story then? For me, I don't think enough to make it so it shouldn't just be relegated to fanfiction.

There's a reason Marcy never showed up until almost halfway through the show after all and I think people need to learn to understand that. See you next tale.

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Before anyone even tries btw: No, the time with the Plantars isn't wasted time. Each one connects to essentially a different portion of what is being decided about Amphibia in general from its past, present and future and not always as cut and dry as one would think, such as Polly reflecting Amphibia's warlike past, or Hop Pop's dreams being important to the question of what a transcendent Amphibia in the future looks like. They are also the primary ones to challenge Anne and help her grow as a person and expand her worldview. They are critically important and I could an entire blog about that though really, it shouldn't be surprising. The show is called Amphibia, not St. James.

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