#his story was my favorite part of that book

[ordinaryschmuck]

With Gooseworx all but confirming that the Jax being an AI thing is bullshit, I personally want to talk about an interesting part about Jax that a lot of theorists used as "evidence" that validates the theory:

Jax's fourth wall breaks are a common topic brought up amongst the "Jax is an NPC" theory. After all, Caine broke the fourth wall in the pilot, knowing full well that the world of The Amazing Digital Circus isn't real and is talking to some unseen viewer as he introduces the Circus Crew.

There's also this bit of official art surrounding Jax's pin:

Where everyone else is inside their room, Jax is outside as pieces of the circus fall apart around him and all of reality to crash. Certainly lends itself to this idea that Jax knows he's not a real person and that his presence could cause great disruption to this world. And he doesn't care because none of it is real. Might as well have fun and cause chaos in a world that doesn't exist.

And I'll admit, all of this seems like valid claims for how the theory could be true. I saw it all and thought that it surely COULD be possible...but there are some things that stop me from being convinced.

Firstly, Caine breaking the fourth wall in the pilot doesn't really seem like an AI talking to the audience. It looks more like an AI programmed to talk to a player as a game boots up. What we saw in the opening could be more like a morning routine that he has to do at least once a day. Plus, we've yet to see any other NPC talk to the audience like Jax has. He explicitly called out the viewers in episode three, knowing full well he's being watched by SOMEONE. Or, at the very least, acting like he is. What do I mean by that? Well, to explain, I'd like to use one of my favorite fourth wall breakers as an example:

Deadpool, in most adaptations, knows fully well that he's a fictional character. He'll talk to the readers/viewers, move the camera around, and constantly talk shit to the writers/studio for occasionally screwing him over. It's all in good (Sometimes bloody) fun...but there's a canonical reason for this. It's not like She-Hulk where the fourth wall breaks are a way to tell HER stories HER way. You see, Deadpool...is just fucking insane.

No, really, that's the reason. Due to the trauma of gaining his powers, Deadpool's mind breaks and he's led to believe that he MUST be a fictional character. In comics, he actually gets voices in his head that makes him think he must be some comic book superhero, and the movies implied that something similar happened given how he never broke the fourth wall ONCE before getting his powers. This means him breaking the fourth wall could be seen as a coping mechanism. After all, it's better to believe you're a fictional character designed to entertain some invisible audience than believe that all of the shitty things that happened to you and people close to you is just a cruel joke from the universe.

Sound familiar?

Going back to the pilot, remember how Pomni's first instinct was to say that the Circus was all just a dream? To her, it's better to live in a lie that everything around her isn't real than to accept the reality that she's stuck in digital purgatory. Jax very well could be going through something similar, but unlike Pomni who seemed to just accept her reality, Jax never did. The trauma of being stuck in the Circus had led to his mind breaking just like Pomni's, Kinger's, and anyone else's. It's just that, for him, he thinks he's coping with it better because he discovered the secret that no one else did: None of this is real.

They're not actually people trapped in some hellscape while an AI unintentionally tortures them. They're all just fictional characters whose tragedies and silly antics are used to entertain viewers. I mean, it's either that or they're real people forever trapped in the circus with the closest thing to death being a full, psychotic break as they give up their sanity because they no longer want to exist in this hell anymore...But that possibly can't be true. Because if that IS true, then Jax has to face that he's a real person stuck in a real, awful situation that he can't joke his way out of. So, it's best to think nothing is real and nothing they do matter. So, might as well have fun with it.

Going back to the pin...

I don't think this is damning evidence about Jax being an NPC. Actually, it perfectly captures who he is as a character. He knows the circus isn't real. He even thinks HE isn't real. So instead of grappling with that, Jax lets himself believe that if nothing is real than nothing he does matters. He can break things, ruin lives, and assist in torturing the others in the circus. It's what he thinks will make the show more entertaining, even though all he's really entertaining is himself so his mind doesn't break more than it does.

Now, could the same apply if he's an NPC? Well...maybe. Gumigoo definitely proves how far someone could fall when they're told their world is fake. He was about ready to give up on life because he didn't think he had one. If Jax was an NPC, I could see him having a similar break, but going in the far opposite direction where, instead of giving up on life, he chooses to live the way HE wants it. Instead of being some one-off NPC for a lame adventure, he could go off on adventures of his own and ruin the lives of others now that his is thoroughly ruined.

However, Gooseworx makes a good point: "...a lot of people come up with theories based on how unexpected they'd be, and not because they make sense or align with the show's themes."

If Jax is an NPC, it would harm the overall message of the show. That there's meaning to be found in a stagnant life, and you find that meaning with people close to you who make that life worth living. Jax represents a sort of foil to that idea, with his way of coping with the madness being pure chaos and breaking others. It's his coping mechanism, and it works because it shows how human Jax really is. They're ALL human and they have human desires and wants, with the Circus pretty much stripping that away and leaving them...as they are now. They're emotionally broken, their sanity is decreasing, and some of them are losing all sense of self. By making Jax an NPC, it would definitely be surprising, but it would take away from that idea. It no longer makes him a human facing his own tragedy but instead an AI that's just as broken as Gummigoo. More than that, it gives the others an easy out. All the crew has to do is tell Caine that Jax is an NPC and POOF! No more annoyance. So making him someone who HAS to stay with the others and they're forever forced to deal with him also adds more to THEIR tragedy and torture.

Jax being an NPC is an interesting theory, but I don't think it's one that SHOULD be true. To me, it's more fascinating watching Jax treat the world around him as meaningless knowing he's a human instead of a rogue NPC breaking everything. And Gooseworx made it clear how they feel about it. Now, could it potentially be a mislead to get fans off the trail? Genuinely...I don't think so. That sounded very "I don't like this idea so it's not gonna happen" type of response. Still, we won't know until the show wraps up. Anything can happen, but don't get your hopes up if a character who does bad things to people that don't deserve it is more human than you think.

[icarusredwings]

A date with Death.

Slightly nsfw.

The moon is out. The only thing about this specific moon is that it's a full moon. The Blood moon to be specific.

They came every march. And every march you could count on Wade Wilson to be busy that night.

Currently, he was sitting at the top of a sky scraper, kicking his feet over the edge with earbuds in.

Next to him was a sweet little spread, an expensive wine, two glasses, a couple of sodas, a bag of burger and fries, and a box with a small heart-shaped cake inside it, strawberries lining the top.

In his hands was a large bouquet of dark colored roses, burgandy, black, and reds (of course). He knew the moment he gave them to their recipient, they would die instantly, but he knew so would he. And he was okay with that.

Starting to hum, he pulled up the sleeve of his jacket, glancing at his hello kitty watch. 5 til 3.

Any moment now, he thought, glancing at the things next to him, moving the glasses over to be closer to the cake, wanting it to look perfect.

Look, if anything, he was a lover. A lover who just happened to love fighting and love kiling. But that didn't make him any less of a hopeless romantic, especially for dark harked ladies that thought he was funny.

Sure, Wade had a lot of lovers. Never being able to pin himself to just one. He spent more time with some than others, but it didn't mean he loved them any less. Even if it was only a couple of minutes a week or, in this case, an hour a year. A singular, annual date.

No, it wasn't merely enough for him, not enough for her either, but he enjoyed their little time together. How she held him and replied to his quips with further jokes that turned him into a puppy, head over heels.

It's not his fault his heart was so big. Honestly. But he knew that even if everyone left him, she would still come each March to see him.

"Welp.." He whispers, wrapping up his Ipod, laying it neatly next to the sodas as he stood up.

Turning on the heel of his good shoes (cheap half off dressage from the thrift, slightly tight, but perfect for dancing) he held the roses near his chest, like a corpse he leaned back, letting himslef fall.

This had to be one of his favorite parts. The cool wind on his back, the freshly ironed jeans and button-up flapping in the wind, the soft sherpa lined denim feeling like laying in a bed of sheep.

"Oh my darling.. Must you always take a swan dive off a 50 story building?"

He smiles, opening his eyes to see that he was back up on that roof, the dark robbed woman rubbing her hand on his arm.

"How else am I supposed to get your attention, sugar?"

She giggles, glancing over the side with an inquisitive hum. "Hhm.. always such a lovely color of red for me."

"Of course. Anything for my boney muffin." He takes her hand, kissing it softly.

"Wade Wilson, you flirt."

"My middle name. How was your trip, pumpkin?"

"Mmh... decent. Such a tease you are. You know that?"

"Obviously. Oh! These are for you. Put them on my grave when I finally get one, willya?" He coes.

She accepts the flowers, barley getting a hold on them before they wilted, drying up. Dying.

"They're beautiful.. but.. erm.. Who's that?" She questions, glancing behind them to a dark figure practically clinging to the roof top exist door.

"Oh, that's just Wolvie. He's fine, got him a number 5 meal and a soda. He's scared of heights." Wade grins, giving him a lazy wave but Logan didn't take his claws out of the metal door to wave back, the other hand holding a burger but he did tip his head. "Ma'am."

"Yeah, he should be at the end of your book somewhere. Slipepry one. Just like me."

"Mmh.. Logan Howlett...Wait I thought I've already taken him?"

"You did! He's a different one. The best one." He smiles towards the man, putting his head agisnt her shoulder.

"The man with many names.... Yes, he should be."

"Huh?"

"He should be scared of heights. I've been trying to catch him since the early 1900s. Slippery indeed...Finally caught him a few years back." She doesn't bat another.. well... dosn't move her skull away from him.

Becoming a bit nervous, Wade intertwined their hands. "Y-yeah he uh... he was curious. So.. you dont have to worry about him, though. Oh! Look! The ambulance finally showed up. Sheesh, tough break, fellas. You're too late!" He shouts at them.

"I see.." she turns back to Wade, grinning. "Don't worry.. I won't take him from you just yet.. he IS the one you were talking about last time, Yes?"

Now, Wade wasn't blind. Death was a jealous woman. Possesive of what was hers. Though Wade wasn't hers. Not quite yet. Not for.. awhile.

It's why she was so intrigued with him. So infatuated. She's never met a human that has wanted to die so much in all these centuries. So badly wishing he could crawl into her arms and let her pet his head for thousands of years as eternity went by.

He nods, blushing a bit. "Y-yeah.."

"Mmh.. quite a looker is he not?"

"Oh he so is. And he acts all tough but really hes a bit softy."

"I bet he's not soft everywhere-" She says, cassually, making Wade cough out a chuckle.

"Oh- my- god! My lady's a freak!" He laughs, still kicking his feet some as he grunts. "Not wrong tho.."

"I bet not." He watches as she looks over the small moonlight picnic he laid out for them. "Wade.. what is all this?"

"It's for our date! I made a cake and everything- well actually Wolvie helped me make it but I cut up the strawberries!"

"You did? Aww, you must be tired from such hard work. But my love..you know I can't eat." She says, frowning, not wanting to rain on his small parade.

"Oh I thought about that already. So I can eat it and then you can taste it. Fun right?"

Her black heart swells, running her hand up to behind his ear, holding his jaw. "You're too sweet."

Wade closes his eyes, leaning into hold, her thumb running over his cheek.

"Hopefully, his icing is as sweet as the cake." She whispers as he gasps, genuienly becoming giggling. "Sttaapph! You're so bad!"

"The baddest?"

Somehow, Wade knew she was giving him those eyes. The kind that suggested something.

"Oooh, the baddest. You know it, babe. Good thing I love me a bad bitch huh? Actually, It's a good thing you like funny losers. Guess in the lucky one."

"Wade.." She says, "you're not that funny."

"Ouch!!" He exclaims, hand drimatically going over his heart, shifting to fall into her lap. "You've wounded me!!" He whined, sticking out his tongue, pretending to be dead.

She laughs through her nose, holding his head in her thighs, petting over his head as she grabs his hand, rubbing over his bumpy skin.

"You're pretty hot tho.." she mutters, bringing the hand to her breast with a teasing smile.

Opening his eyes, he looks up to her with a big shit eating grin. "Oh, you flatter me! And apology accepted." Sitting up he brings the hand to her neck, starting to kiss up her jaw, little pecks.

"You really mean that? Me being pretty hot? And which is it? Am I pretty or am I hot? Cause I think you're gorgeous-"

"Wade."

"I mean, truly, deeply the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. And I don't just mean your killer rack either-"

"Wade."

"Did you do your hair for me? Goddess, forgive me for saying this, but damn, How are you so fine? Half of you is literally bone and Id still fuck ya until your hip needs replaced, What do you think? Right here on the roof? Hm?"

Pushing the food over, he starts to run his fingers down her side, getting to the point where her waist used to be. "Fuck, babe how are you so tiny down here? You know what, We'll fix that. Lemme pump a baby in ya-"

"Wade!" This time, It came from about 30 feet away, behind them.

"Wha!?"

"Let her speak! Damn!"

"oh..." Honestly, he had forgotten entirely that Logan was even here. He was so quiet..

"I tried to warn you, darling.."

"Well, I'm not sorry! He knew what he was getting into when he came here.. I can't believe I even let him come.. cockblocked on my own date.." he mutters, obviously frustrated as he agressivly popped open the wine bottle, starting to pour.

Seeing how upset he got only made her smile, pulling his waist closer, her hand dipping to 'accidently' brush up against him.

"Why would I thought that was a good-" for a second he stopped talking, leaning his head back into her boobs with a big smirk. "Oh but IM the tease?"

"Shh. Your cock dosn't seem very blocked to me."

A small squeal came from him as he handed a glass to her after swirling it a couple of times.

"A nosotros mi carino." He says, rolling his r all fancy like, leaning on her still with such comfortably.

The smiles, smirking lovingly. "A la esperanza de que te rompas el cuello mi amor~" She coes back, raising her glass to his until it made a CLNK noise, dumping it into her mouth.

Wade does the same, chugging the glass only to sit up, crawling to the edge as he coughs, spitting it out. "Oh, that's HORRIBLE! Jesus! White woman drink that shit? Why? I mean- I get it- after having to watch 5 hours of a pathetic excuse for a soccor game, I'd drink that too."

Death giggles, watching Wade refill their glasses.

[famoussharkhairdoknight]

Under the Liverpool Stars~Trent Alexander Arnold

It was a cool evening in Liverpool. The streetlights reflected off the wet pavement, creating a magical atmosphere. You were sitting in a cozy bar, lost in your thoughts, reading a book while sipping a warm cup of tea, when a deep, slightly hesitant voice pulled you from your reverie.

"Excuse me... is this seat taken?"

You looked up and found yourself face to face with Trent Alexander-Arnold. For a moment, you were taken aback, but quickly composed yourself.

"Oh, no, it's free. Please, go ahead."

He smiled, placed his coffee on the table, and sat down. He seemed relaxed, wearing a casual coat and a beanie that tried to hide his identity, but it didn't quite work. After a brief silence, he noticed your book.

"You're reading Pride and Prejudice? It's one of my sister's favorites. She always tells me I should read it, but I’ve never gotten around to it."

"Really? It’s a classic. Maybe you should listen to her, she has excellent taste."

He laughed, a warm, genuine sound that seemed to fill the space around you.

"You might convince me to read it... if you give me a good reason."

You tilted your head, studying him. "Well, if you like a good love story with sharp dialogue and complex characters, this is perfect. But what kind of books do you usually read?"

He scratched his head, a little embarrassed. "Honestly, I don’t read much. I spend most of my time training or playing. But I like stories that teach me something. Like biographies or self-help books."

The conversation flowed naturally, and Trent was curious, kind, and surprisingly humble. He didn’t talk much about football unless you brought it up, and he seemed more interested in learning about you—what you liked to do, your dreams, your hobbies.

After an hour, he said, "You know, I wasn’t expecting to have such a nice conversation tonight. It’s rare to meet someone to talk to so... authentically."

You smiled, a little shy. "It’s been nice for me too. It’s not every day you meet a... famous footballer in an ordinary bar."

He laughed again, but his tone grew more serious. "Listen, can I ask you something? Would you like to meet again? Maybe next time I could take you to a special place. Not just any bar."

Your heart skipped a beat. You weren’t sure what to expect from this meeting, but there was something about him that made you feel at ease.

"I’d like that."

---

Weeks passed, and you and Trent began to see each other regularly. He took you to beautiful spots around Liverpool, introduced you to some of his friends, and even brought you into his family circle, where they welcomed you warmly. One evening, as you walked along the Mersey, he stopped and looked at you with an intensity that made your breath catch.

"You know, since I met you, everything feels different. Football has always been my life, but with you... it’s like there’s more. Something bigger."

He took your hand, his touch warm against the cool breeze.

"I don’t know what you think, but I want to see where this takes us. I really want you to be part of my life."

Your heart melted. Looking into his eyes, you found nothing but sincerity and affection.

"I want that too, Trent. I want to be here, with you."

And so, under the stars of Liverpool, your love story began to take shape—a unique combination of two different worlds that had crossed paths by chance but were destined to intertwine.

[adamnablelittledevil]

Only Blood Communion and Interview With the Vampire to go now. I'll make more elaborated posts about my thoughts once I'm done with everything, but here are some of my opinions:

TVA is absolutely my favorite (I've said it before and will say it again: the most purifying cry I had in my life, it destroyed and restored me in the best possible way), TVL, TQOTD and Prince Lestat are also on my top 4, though I don't know where to place the latter on my personal ranking. The others are sort of tied and the order changes according to specific aspects. Like, Blood and Gold covers a lot of eras and places of the world, has multiple interesting characters, so it's fun in the sense there's a lot of stuff to see, even if I'm not a Marius's fan and he isn't the best narrator imo. On the other hand, something like Merrick is more packed, just her, Louis and David (and some Lestat), but I just love her as a character and the whole story of her family. I can't really choose.

Memnoch would be the last because it was the one I struggled with (tho I loved Armand on it), I thought the concept was great and I could've loved it with a more active, intense and eventful execution. Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis is second-to-last because most of the plot was dumb to me, the part that made sense was solved in an unconvincing way, I had to do a lot of suspending disbelief even for a supernatural/sci-fi story... But it was nice to have so many characters I love reunited, even if some didn't have lines, it's nice to know they're around and I enjoy the vampires having sort of a healthy little community.

Favorite character is definitely Armand, then Lestat, then Pandora, Maharet, Mekare, Flavius, Merrick, Bianca, Gabrielle, Mona, Benji, Avicus and Petronia (they didn't appear much and did awful brutal stuff, yes, but having an intersex/gender-fluid character was great and they had so much baggage I could empathize with them). Most after Armand and Lestat are tied. I don't know if I'd call Benedict a fave, but I'm somewhat attached to him (and I KNOW about those spoilers). I LOVE Vittorio and Ursula too and I hope they can appear in some shape or form on the show. I don't looooove Antoine, but he's alright to me. He just seems to be a poor/broke dude who wants to live, have friends and dedicate his existence to his hyperfixations and I can relate because same lol. I get him.

Favorite pairings (either as an OTP or brotp): Lesmand (👑👑👑), Pandora and Flavius (👑👑), Maharet and Mekare (👑, they just don't get more crowns because they don't appear as much as I wanted 😔), Armand and Benji and Sybelle (as duos and a trio), Armand and Riccardo, Armand and Bianca (pretty much Armand and everyone that isn't Marius lol), Lestat and Mona (their childish siblings-coded beef entertains me), Maharet and Jesse and Vittorio and Ursula (👑👑). I wish I had seen more of some characters/dynamics, tho.

MAYBE I could tolerate Marius and even love Magnus (he seems to have a sad and interesting story) if all I'd seen of them had been the content of the last trilogy, but given the previous books, I'm not sure I can enjoy Anne's decisions. I have a lot of mixed feelings about Magnus apologizing and Marius's behavior not even being seen as something to apologize for in the first place, but that's for another post.

Some of the books I would've been able to read and love with or without the show, some I only read to get information, but I'm mostly glad I'm equipped with so much of the lore now. That's not to say there aren't problematic things even for the genre that I need to compartmentalize and ignore (to some extent and not completely) for my enjoyment, because there is a lot of that, but it hasn't been a waste of time. And I'm glad I know what can happen in the future, make silly little fancasts and have events to look forward to seeing on the series. Obviously, opinions can change with the next books, when I re-read the novels or even with conversations and discussions... And that makes me excited as well.

[eclipsejynx]

i head cannon that he named himself "Midnight" (who is also an OC in a book i'm writing).

he went with it to kinda go with the matching thing he has with Dream, and I feel like both before and after the corruption, he liked the color "midnight blue" because it was a reference to the night sky in his favorite book. he always liked the stars and the sky because of how fascinating it was just an endless void full of stuff that some people didn't even know existed. The name "Midnight" stayed like a nickname for himself, though. Like a name he uses for personal use only instead of telling people. It's similar to a trans name. "Nightmare" is like his dead name, and "Midnight" is his new name, but he's surrounded by "transphobic people" (aka the village), so he has to keep it to himself. I try to make my Nightmare trans-coded because it fits him well in my opinion.

This has two ways it can go after the corruption, depending on how you see Nightmare:

A. Nightmare is the same person, before and after the corruption

After the corruption, he went back to Nightmare as his name because it matched the whole "evil" thing he had going on. I also head cannon that Nightmare forgot most of his previous life after the corruption due to his head and spine being injured very badly to the point that he gained memory loss, leg problems, and very bad mental illnesses (inspired HEAVILY by @signanothername and @mikimakiboo). Focusing on the memory loss, he forgot fragments of his past, including his fake name. He does get his memory back after a few couple decades. They slowly come back in quick flashes that he has to piece together. After he finds his "new name", he usually disregards it. After using Nightmare for a few more decades, it feels wrong to go by Midnight. He often uses Midnight to refer to his past, naive self instead, not wanting to be linked back to his past.

B. Nightmare and the corruption are two separate entities

Going with the more canon! Similar to how some people name them "Passive" or "Night" for original Nightmare and "Corrupted" for the corruption (obviously), "Midnight" refers to the past, dead version, and "Nightmare" is for the new, corrupted version of him. Dream doesn't figure out about this until a few decades after he's broken out of stone. I'm still figuring out the lore, but I want him to find out about it though the gods. This part was inspired by @ancha-aus, so please check them out!

The gods include everyone from a universe called [ REDACTED ]. There's a whole system, but basically, it's a "category" that all the gods fall under. It's like an area where only gods are allowed, so they can all live in harmony (most of the time) to discuss it. If you're familiar with Greek Mythology, it's like Mount Olympus in a way. Except it's a new universe entirely. There, they can take care of a specified place.

Anyways, Dream found out about the place through Reaper, who sensed the unbalance after Nightmare's first clash with Dream. This unbalanced actually signaled all of the gods! So Dream was taken to the new universe and met all of the gods. These gods gave assistance to Dream, especially with how disoriented he was with meeting other gods. There are books with everyone's story in it, written carefully to make sure the story goes perfectly.

Dreamtale was in a special case due to the story being infected by corruption. This corruption is similar to the goop Nightmare has. Dream later realizes all of his past was a lie. The villagers, Nim, everything.

In that book, it also mentions Nightmare's preferred name, "Midnight". Because of this, Dream always uses the term "Midnight" to refer to his actual brother. Because of this, the Star Sanses didn't realize that Nightmare was his brother because of the fake name.

-----

geez I yapped WAY too much

anyways, credits! (in case you read past)

@signanothername - please notice me I love your rants and your au and head canons are beautiful <3 I would love your feedback, but no pressure!

@mikimakiboo - I love your writing! It's incredible! You're so talented! don't forget to take breaks though. hope I did your disability head canons Justice!

@ancha-aus - I literally inhale your writing it's an unhealthy addiction lol- stay determined!^^

I wonder if passive ever wanted to rename himself (before the apple incident)

Like, Nim legit named them ‘dream’ and ‘bad-dream’. Not only the favoritism (using that loosely cause. nim. Just in general) but the fact he’s been demonized from the start by his own name. Having his twin brother who’s the golden child and loved be the ‘good’ version while he has to be the bad one? That had to hurt, on top of everything else.

His bullies probably used that fact too. “Oh you’re the bad one, it’s literally your name” kind of bs

But then what would he name himself?

Maybe after a character in a book? someone he looked up to/didn’t treat him as badly? maybe even after a plant since he was in nature all the time

Idk. just thinking about the fact passive might have wanted to be named something else, but then when he died and was corrupted Nightmare took on the name as a defining part of himself. It’s his name, it’s what he is so it has to be who he is

And if he was ever reformed/fixed/stopped being evil, would he change it then? Shed the name in order to feel less like the monster he’d been?

[psalacanthea]

thanks for not leaving me over my Interview with the Vampire madness, btw. I've been waiting a very long time for this, u have no idea.

I will only dedicate one day a week to going crazy over it

[heir-of-the-chair]

Lowkey hyperfixating now and I’ve come to the devastating conclusion that Jacob the main character of Water For Elephants… doesn’t really have a character arc

[giddlygoat]

my brother can make me laugh without moving at all. he can make me laugh on command, just by existing, and there is no physical tell or indication that it is about to happen. it’s like he can will me to laugh and i will. of course we’re not telepathic, but we do speak in unison sometimes. we improvise like no one’s business. we could fool anyone into believing we are psychically linked. when i try to explain it, i sound silly saying it out loud, but i really CAN tell what he’s thinking. we exchange so much information just with a look. he can make me cry laughing and he doesn’t even have to move

[fragilefirstchance]

I actually have thoughts about this! I think Ford is a specific type of character.

First of all: Let's talk about fanon!

Something I think that a lot of us forget when we're doing fan analysis is just how caricaturized all blorbos are in canon. This is true of any work of media: the characters aren't real people, they're figments who only exist as we see them on-screen.

Fanon is kind of like those AI image sharpeners that take a blurred photo and make it look like a person's face: yeah, technically that is an accurate way you can interpret the blur, but there are hundreds of faces that would be just as accurate, and not only are they all very different from each other, they don't even agree on the most basic and obvious traits. The same blurry headshot could be a scowling white woman with a square jaw or a smiling black man with sharp features. In a similar way, when we see a character become stressed because they just saw a mouse in a cage, we could say they're scared of mice, or morally opposed to pets, or that they have cage-based trauma - any option that works is plausible.

I think that there are characters who are good characters, characters who are uniquely good subjects for fanon, and a ven diagram between the two. For example, a lot of kids' shows from the nineties are bad, but they managed to produce a really fun and rich fandom. Meanwhile, some really beautiful and culturally important stories don't leave a lot of room for fan works because they've already said what they need to say. I think the absolute best works for fandom are the ones that are objectively good stories, but have really simplified characters: Undertale might be the best example of this, because every single character suggests a rich and beautiful personality while only being on screen for a relatively short time.

So that leads me to part two: Ford!

I think Ford fills a particular fandom niche that was empty for a lot of us.

He's extremely traumatized, and the more we learn about him, the more traumatized he is. He's kind of pushing the limits of what's acceptable from a kids' show, to be honest.

He canonically has a lot of difficulty making friends; this is partly because he's quirky and seemingly neurodivergent, but partly because he has poor social skills. He's not a cartoony, Eeyore-style "has trouble making friends but we love him anyway" character, either; there are tangible, in-story examples of him failing to make friends.

He behaves badly sometimes. This is actually my favorite trait of his - anyone who reads my fanfiction knows how much I love giving people with real flaws a chance to find love and be treated with respect. Most characters have a flaw to overcome, but in his worst moments, Ford actually lashes out and hurts others in a tangible way and not just a child-friendly way. Showrunners don't always like to show that sort of thing.

It is very, very easy to read some severe mental health symptoms into his behavior. Bill is a literal character, but he's also a pretty good metaphor: you can use him to explain hallucinations, dissociative fugues, sudden mood swings, manic episodes, severe depression, paranoia - the list goes on and on.

(That last one is really important. There's a pretty damn big difference between a good metaphor for mental illness and a thoughtful portrayal of that mental illness in a story. It's kind of like how many of us were so starved for queer representation growing up that we read queer metaphors into everything. Well, there still isn't good mental illness representation in most media, so we'll take the metaphors we can get. Ford is a really good metaphor even as he's presented, and there are a lot of holes in his narrative where personality disorder symptoms, manic episodes, delusions, etc. can slot in easily.)

None of those traits make a good Disney character. They only really work because he spends so little time on-screen; the books were only possible because of Gravity Falls's massive commercial success. So, he's a very rare example of a character who's from a light-hearted, positive, optimistic show aimed at children, but who has all of the template features necessary for us to read him as deeply broken in some ways that aren't sanitized or socially acceptable.

So, there are dozens and dozens of Ford AUs in which we project very specific experiences, traumas, and symptom sets into this one man.

How many Ford AUs out there are reflections of our own insecurities, traumas, and just general unresolved issues? Is that, like, his whole purpose in the wider multiverse of alternate Gravity Falls characters? 'Cause I KNOW it isn't just me

[mabelmidnight-takeover]

do people even understand that if benedict asks sophie to be his wife right away instead of his mistress there will be no plot? no growing from benedict's part? sophie doesn't want an illegitimate child and that's why she denies being his mistress. with benedict proposing to her from the get-go, what story would we have? sophie would probably never grow closer to the bridgertons in the same way she did while working for them, the whole set up of benedict giving up his privileges wouldnt exist. benedict asking sophie to be his mistress was never the problem, but him insisting and being inconsiderate to her while continuing to do so was.

[pigeonclaw]

It's so funny how, unprompted, so many posts on my for you tab alternate between text posts saying "Nightheart is the best WC character I love him" and "Nightheart sucks, he's the worst, I want him dead." Idk what I did to make tumblr think Nightheart discourse is my hobby but I do find it a little entertaining.

[mermaidsirennikita]

my message to any series writer, whether you're writing a TV series, a book series, a movie series, I don't care

before you continue a series you ended previously

ask yourself:

do I actually have a substantive reason to continue this, or am I just reviving characters who had their definitive endings already

[katerinaaqu]

No they are not I am afraid. The only primarily plot that stayed the same is Odysseus wants to go home and the names of the creatures he encounters. All the other main plots are changed; Polyphemus, Circe, Skylla, Sirens, Charybdis, Telemacheia everything. That is an objective truth. Now if people like the changes or not is of course up to everyone's guess and taste. However just using the names of the main stops he had is not "primarily plot points are exactly the same". Not even the order of his adventures is the same (see Charybdis). SOME plot points are the same and even those were changed. If you keep like 5-10% of the story and change all the rest is not an adaptation is an original story that was inspired by something else. At least that is what I believe and what I see so far (especially the final parts he released). But okay sure I mean if he didn't even follow the same direction as the Odyssey then what would be the point? I find it interesting that we often say "phew at least he is going in the same direction!" Like...that is the bare minimum... (and as I said in the past it saddens me because he has proven in the two first sagas that he can make it happen, take liberties and be accurate to the sources, in that case more specifically Iliou Persis) and he IS very talented and passionate with his project which again saddens me even more with how my favorite book was treated in this (again plot-wise only)

If we speak that still counts as an "adaptation" or "retelling" because it still follows the story in the same direction then in my opinion the bar for what is "adapting material" is set way too low (but again that is my opinion. It is fine if someone disagrees)

I completely disagree that it couldn't. In fact it was on its way to be in the first two sagas. It is absolutely possible to happen. I think is the mentality of modern adaptations of "oh is impossible to make it as accurate as possible so not even trying to". And yet we have amazing movies and series like Ulysses (1950s) or even better L'Odyssea (1964) that followed like 90% of the plot and kept the characters according to book and took liberties either out of choice or out of budget. We also have the Prince of Egypt which took liberties to make the musical and yet it was incredibly well thought and researched material so no I completely disagree with the notion that "it is impossible" but I respect your opinion.

I know which is why stuff like that annoy me at best and infuriate me at worst because there is already plenty of misinformation there is no need to add more. Now for crosstagging like I said never claimed that one has bad intentions or not. I only said it is starting to get bizarre that every time you wanna Google "the Odyssey" you now need to specify it is the REAL thing and not some adaptation or fanfiction. (And I say that as a retelling/fanfiction writer myself!)

You realize that a fandom has gone off the rails or that it has REALLY taken over when you see "Epic the Musical" tagged under images of Achilles and Patroclus! Like...how are two characters who were both dead by the taking of Troy, yet alone by Odyssey who do not appear not even as a mention for the Underworld as they were in the Odyssey, relatable to this?!

Sorry! XD

[dbphantom]

maybe i should have gone into practical effects instead of computer science...

[sarlias]

I love Hyacinthe

[stravagatefaster]

I randomly thought about Sandro today. How lonely he was. How he just wanted a family. How he saw Davide's murder and then named his dog after him despite not knowing his name. How he found belonging in the end.