#i would read it again just to catch all the parallels and symbolism

[godhasforsnakenme]

BOOK REVIEW 📖

Last year I kept track of the series & films I watched; this year I've decided to keep track of whatever books I read! So this one is for the month of January – I'll share these sometime after the month is over, or if I read more than one book during the month, I will do their reviews as soon as I finish the book :)

[frangipanilove]

How TBOC 2x5 explain how Beth survived after 5x8 Coda

(And how Ash and Daryl deliver some of the season's finest Beth callbacks and dialogue parallels)

Spoilers for TBOC 2x5 and 2x6 below, beware!

Because this episode hasn’t aired yet, I’m not going to dwell on where we are in the plot, because it’s not terribly important in this context. This is mostly about some very specific Beth callbacks and dialogue parallels from 2x5 and 2x6, and I’ll just jump right into the narrative.

So, Daryl and Carol are out looking for Ash. He’s their pilot and obviously they need him to get home to the US. He was supposed to stay by the plane, but when they return to where it’s hidden, he’s “just gone”. They ask around, and get intel suggesting he might be at Maison Mere. They go there to search for him. They can’t find him immediately, but from a window they can see something that catches their attention:

Daryl remarks “there definitely someone in there”!

An image like this should scream “suspicious” to everyone who’s followed TD for any length of time. While all us TD’ers probably have our own individual theories on how Beth survived, there seem to be consensus around the fact that the trunk of a car would most likely be involved somehow. We’ve also seen from the flashbacks in 5x9 WHAWGO that they at some point were overwhelmed by walkers, so the theory was quickly formed that most likely, they initially meant to bury her, but were overrun by a walker horde, and had to leave her behind to escape the horde and save themselves. They put her in the trunk of a car, or inside the back of a car, with the intention of returning for her when the walker horde had passed. But when they did return, she was “just gone”.

I’ve previously written a bunch of theories around suspicious cars. I personally believe that officer Lichari’s Dodge Magnum could potentially be THE car she was put in, because we’ve had a lot of symbolism around Dodges, and we’ve seen a lot of symbolism around rams, which is the Dodge logo. We actually saw this symbolism at play as recently as in TBOC 2x1, when Carol misspoke and called a car a Dodge, while it definitely was a Ford Mustang (which are also cars steeped in resurrection symbolism, read more here).

Back to TBOC 2x5. Daryl and Carol decide to investigate the suspicious car that is swarmed by walkers. Our first hint of some serious Sirius symbolism ahead, is the dog eating walkers as Daryl comes through a tunnel on his way to the car. Beth’s is a Sirius figure on the show, and Sirius refers to the Dog Star that disappears from the night sky for a while, only to “resurrect” some time later. It’s resurrection symbolism.

Daryl approaches the car, systematically taking out the walkers. Carol is right behind him.

Once they make it inside, they find none other than Ash. Unconscious, but alive. He got knocked out when he hit his head on the car door.

Let me pause here for a minute. If you were tasked with writing a scene where an unconscious Ash in a car specifically were meant to represent Beth after Coda, and he needed some visible evidence of the cause of his unconscious state. Where would you place the head wound? Would you place it exactly where Beth got shot? Yes you probably would, wouldn’t you?

And if you were to further enhance the connection to Beth, would you have him say one of her iconic lines as he woke up? Again, yes, you probably would:

Carol is thrilled to find him alive. She offers a tentative diagnosis, which I believe very well could be the diagnosis Beth would have received after her close but not fatal encounter with a bullet in Coda:

And now they need to get out. They’re stuck in a car, which I’ve often likened to a tomb, because of the resurrection symbolism they’re surrounded by:

We see imagery which we’ve seen in scenes and episodes where there’s a heavy presence of Beth/resurrection symbolism...

…such as here from 5x9 WHAWGO (which I've written about here)

Which is interesting, because WHAWGO also happens to be the episode right after Beth was "killed" and supposedly placed in the trunk of a car. It's the episode where she was last seen, in a hallucination, playing a guitar:

...which again is super interesting, considering how in 2x6, Daryl randomly finds a guitar, in the trunk of a car no less...

I legitimately ugly cried during this scene. Give Norman all the awards! And just to have mentioned it; that guitar is brought home to the US...

Back to Daryl, Carol and Ash in the car/tomb. To be stuck in a tomb sounds ominous, had it not been for the fact that tombs sometimes have an “emergency exit”. Don’t believe me? Take it up with Jesus Christ, he’s the one who made escaping tombs trendy some 2000 years ago. Later, we’ve seen it countless times in TWDU, my favorite is this little sequence from 4x12 Still:

Beth and Daryl hide in a trunk (tomb) for the night while a walker horde passes by. When morning comes we watch Beth open the closed trunk (tomb) from the inside, and climb out, into the daylight. That’s car/tomb symbolism paired with resurrection symbolism, and just like this scene from TBOC 2x5 is a retelling of what happened after Coda, the scene from 4x12 Still foreshadowed what were to happen in Coda.

And luckily, Daryl, Carol and Ash’s car (tomb) has an "emergency exit":

This is also something we’ve seen before, back in 7x12 when Michonne and Rick had a similar type of experience with being stuck in a car(tomb) surrounded by walkers:

Later, Ash perhaps gives us an estimate of approximately how long Beth spent in the trunk of the car, or alternatively, how long it took for TF to return to the car to retrieve her:

And it turns out it’s no coincidence that it is Ash who is given the task of being the Beth proxy in episodes 5 and 6. After he’s been saved from the Coda-esque nightmare in the overrun car, they together prepare to leave France. Ash and Daryl go out in search of some extra spare parts for the plane. They start talking about children. As I’ve already mentioned briefly here, having kids and losing kids is the overarching theme throughout this entire season, and I maintain that this is the season where Daryl becomes a father. It’s a huge, groundbreaking development for him, something which makes the following even more astonishing.

Ash asks what happened to Laurent’s parents:

Daryl knows Ash once lost his son, and offers his condolences. He explains how he was there when Carol lost Sophia, and adds that it’s something he wouldn’t wish upon anyone.

Then the Beth callbacks and dialogue parallels kicks into high gear:

And here we actually have Daryl, in TBOC 2x6, adding to Beth’s commentary from TWD 4x2 Infected:

…which in my opinion is a rather extraordinary thing. Did TPTB actually, in a roundabout way, sneak in a proper Bethyl conversation after all these years? Did Beth speak to Daryl from "beyond the grave", so to speak, and Daryl replied? Did Beth actually “speak” to Daryl as he's in the middle of the emotional process of becoming a father? Of all times to include this type of callback, they do it as Daryl is accepting the responsibilities of fatherhood?

And more importantly, why? Why would TPTB do something like that?

Because they’re preparing for her to return, that’s why.

That’s also why they threw in like 1500 super potent Beth callbacks and dialogue parallels in 2x2, which I wrote about in the Green(e)land post here. And as I mentioned, that was the episode with Daryl’s first ever onscreen kiss! His very first onscreen kiss is accompanied by a wide selection of exquisite Beth callbacks, and now they're out here (sort of) discussing parenthood???

And what's more, people, keep in mind that the Green(e)land storyline was PURE symbolism. It did absolutely nothing to move the plot forward, it was exclusively a tool for sprinkling a bunch of Beth references all over the kissy-episode. And again, we should all ask ourselves why!

(Having said that, I don’t think we should downplay his feelings for Isabelle. I’ll elaborate more in a different post, but I’ll say again that I don’t believe one relationship cancels out another. Love can take different forms between different people. He can love Isabelle in one way and Beth in a different way, and they’re both valid. But that’s for a different day.)

But basically, as I keep saying, TBOC is full of Beth callbacks and dialogue parallels, and like I've shown here, they're not chosen randomly.

[mydarlingbat]

Batman endgame is absolutely amazing. I honestly really got down to reading it again, and i was opened to a lot of new things. I hadn't even noticed. The thing about Batman Arkham City endgame. It's so freaking heartbreaking. Let's skip all of that and get down to business. Let's talk about this first panel.

We're seeing such a wide view here. Batman can't help but be vulnerable in front so many people right now. Right now the crowd doesn't even exist. Harley Quinn slapping him doesn't exist at this moment. Commissioner Gordon screaming his name, inquiring to know what went down in there isn't catching his ears. All he can think about right now is that the Joker's dead, so that's why he walks through those doors, not looking at anyone, just laying the Joker's body gently on the car. There's cops who's happy the clown's dead, but Batman isn't feeling no type of happiness, although he should be, even though he said he should let the Joker die earlier. That's not what he truly wanted. Sure he would be okay with the world being free of The Joker, but not him being free of The Joker right?

What is this? Jim mention he wished he could've killed him himself, and Batman head goes down. No, no, there's no denying it. That's Batman mourning the Joker. Jim even apologizes to Batman, but truly for what? Why can't he have his joy that the Joker is dead? Batman stands there the whole time, trying to grasp the reality, and he doesn't want to. This is also mention in this novel.

The exact words in Batman riddler's gambit novel.

The answer had been right in front of them the entire time, and he'd refuse to see it. The parallels had all been there from the beginning _ the bomb in gotham merchant's bank vault, hunting killer croc, Mr freeze research. The puzzle hadn't been difficult he'd just refuse to solve it. He couldn't admit the Riddler was making a play for the Joker's place in the underworld hierarchy, because to acknowledge that would be admitting that the Joker was gone.

Batman has to try to focus on something else. He has to pretend what he's seeing isn't reality. He wants to be angry at something. He wants to believe this is what the Joker wanted, and maybe it was. Maybe it was, but why are you so angry Bruce? It specify informs us in Batman riddler's gambit novel, that Batman didn't want to believe the Joker was dead, even after the body was burned.

The exact words in Batman / Riddler's gambit novel.

Is it possible the Joker is alive? That would explain the deliberate echoes of previous events. But it was unthinkable. Batman had seen the Joker body. Gordon had watched it burn, and help dispose of the ashes. He was gone. Unless he'd employed a disguise or a body double. No, Batman thought. Not this time. There was too much evidence. They had confirmed it every way possible. Then why am I still clinging to the chance he might have survived. He had fought the joker for years, and came close to to death on more occasion than he could count. He should be joyous it had ended. Yet it seemed as if he had lost someone terribly close. Perhaps he had. That's what Alfred and Robin been hinting at, before the arrival of the package. As bizarre as it seemed, as much as he hated to admit. Batman knew that in some twisted way the Joker was still a part of him. They had defined each other for so long.

This wound presents a deeper meaning. It let's us know that even Alfred knows Batman's sick twisted relationship with the Joker. He doesn't want to acknowledge. The wound gets stitch up by Alfred earlier on, but that same wound wounds up bleeding again. The Joker death will always have a hold on Bruce's heart. Bruce will never truly forget the Joker, and the Joker death will always be a open wound.

Why? Is it symbolic? I think Bruce don't want It to heal. Maybe the artist is letting us know that the wound will never heal. The hidden wounds that no one sees.

You have to understand when the Joker gave Batman another job after he passed. You have to understand this exactly what Batman needed. The thrill of it is visible on his face. Batman looked pleased to finally be solving a case that the Joker left him. This is not an angry face. This is a face of interest. He desires to hear more. He needs this as much as he needs to hide from reality.

However when the Joker mentions his death? Batman face shows a deep sadness, like once again he is face with reality.

Part one.

[sopuu]

I would love to hear your thoughts on the symbolism and game design of omori

This is suchh an old ask im sorry it took me so long to get my thoughts tgt let alone write them down hh everything’s under the cut bc there’s a Lot and tysm for enabling me 🙏🏻

just a heads up I’m not gonna talk much about the characters themselves bc there’s already plenty of analysis out there for them- what I am gonna get to tho is the general game itself and a bit of the music. And bc OMORI is a game that covers heavy topics, please be aware of this before you continue reading!

So ofc I gotta start with the first place omori wakes up in — white space, just a simple rectangle on the floor with the essentials within arm’s reach, no responsibilities and no one to bother you. I LOVE minimalistic stuff like this- something so simple can can make you feel like you’re in both the most peaceful and uncanny place in the world. Also the black bulb being a symbol of repression, opposite of a lit bulb being a symbol of a new idea (thank you fandom wiki for this point) is just 👌🏻. And the fact that omori’s friends are right next door (literally called neighbour’s room) if he ever gets lonely shows how they’ve always been there for him, and in turn how much he depends on them.

I think the game does a wonderful job of depicting what escapism is like- Daydreaming of a world full of your own ocs, adventuring through it with your best friends and being the hero of the story where everything goes right for you. But of course this fantasy can’t hold forever as the real world starts to catch up, with stuff like Something appearing in places reminding omori of what happened, red space entrances throughout the story (the ones before the main red space debut as omori sits on the throne), and ofc the moment basil drops the photograph at the start. Side note, I like how Something always disappearing so quickly shows how desperate omori is to repress it, like quickly shoving problems under a rug. Or maybe im reading too much into it and it’s just to add to the creepy factor lol. Also this is one of the games that does mixed media SO well- combining digital 2d art with real life materials like sketching and scanning the animations, clay models for Somethings, real life photos drawn over and filtered etc, it really suits the theme of having to balance the fictional world and the real world if that makes sense. Also the way some scenes deliberately leave in the crumpled paper texture!! Especially for messages about not friends giving up on each other-- its almost like those were thrown away in the trash and picked back up again. Quite the parallel to how sunny locked himself away for four years due to depression and guilt for what he’s done, thinking his friends would never forgive him, then eventually finally coming out of his house and giving himself a chance with reconnecting with them.

Ok here’s where the heavier themes come in so please please stop reading if you’re not comfortable with them! [tw: suicide (or at least implications of it)]

game design time! i absolutely love it when games use the game mechanics themselves to be a part of storytelling- and this game does it with the stab function. I actually got to know this game through watching playthroughs, and at the first forced transition usually people do whatever they can think of to avoid having to press the button, before very reluctantly realising that they don’t have a choice. As the game goes on, players start getting more and more familiar with it, using it to get back to the real world or bc of forced resets and so on. Before long this basically becomes routine and players get so used to it that they don’t even hesitate to press it anymore. After all, nothing bad actually happens, right..? This mechanic gets used so much more in black space, but this time it’s very prominently presented as an escape route, something to get out of stressful situations, something that helps. you might even be relieved to see that option be available to you. And I think that’s terrifying— considering that this is a representation of how.. unpleasant thoughts can go from being unfathomable to something that feels like a natural/normal occurrence. i don’t think I’ve seen any other game that captures this kind of thought process(? there’s probably a better term for this) to the level that OMORI does and im so so glad that the devs are bringing these mental health topics to light.

I’d also love to talk about black space but I think this post does it better than I ever could haha, also black space 2 I love you sm im a sucker for out-of-bounds-but-not-really type of areas (yknow like Undertale’s fun value rooms and test rooms), it’s like hitting the jackpot for easter eggs and subtle lore aughh <3

And I can’t talk about OMORI without talking about the music!! I think we can all agree that Duet KILLS. the high notes as the happiest scenes show on screen………the way the piano is the one that starts the song off and it ends with only the violin……… my emotions man. what if I started crying!!!!! (i did)

Clean Slate is one of my top songs- there’s so much emotion in this and it’s the epitome of acceptance and letting go of guilt while also giving the feeling that you’re in a hospital (ig that’s kinda the point but for such a short song to pinpoint a feeling AND setting so accurately is so grragjgh….)

Other big favs are It Means Everything, Chaos Assembly, Tee-Hee Time, Puddles, Snow Forest and Dear Little Brother :) and actually a lot of others as well but id be listing half the soundtrack and more if I go on

In conclusion OMORI is such a well designed game, I love it and its messages sm it means a lot to me personally, and writing this made me feel like im back in English class again

[space-mermaid-writing]

The witchling and the god [Loki x Witch!Reader] Chapter 22

Summary: The Avengers were looking for someone to help Loki fit in with the team. To become socially acceptable, so to speak. He had been given the choice of sitting in a cell in Asgard or serving some sort of community service probation on Midgard. The Avengers and Shield both felt that as long as Loki was on Earth, he should be under supervision. This is now your job. Why? Because you’re a witch. You’re not sure why this qualifies you, but here you are, giving it a shot. What could possibly go wrong?

Tags: Witch!Reader, Magic, Witches, slow burn, everybody lives in the tower, character development, Loki‘s redemption, Stephen Strange is a friend, Loki and Stephen are frenemies, Tony Stark is a good bro, kids love Loki, Tony has stupid nicknames for everybody, eventual smut

Main Masterlist | Series Masterlist | Read it on AO3 | Previous | Next

Chapter’s Note: Funny enough, I started writing this chapter way before Multiverse of Madness came out. There are some magic parallels of specific spells. Beta by @zaria-04

Chapter 22: Questionable Magic

Suddenly the door is kicked open from the inside and your sister appears in the doorway. She walks bent over, and even under the smoke coming out through the doorway, you see tattoos glowing on her neck. She pulls your brother behind her.

Finally Loki releases you and you hurry to meet her. The Asgardian stays by your side, even slightly faster, and together you lie Gabriel on the grass at a safe distance from the fire. As soon as Elizabeth steps out, she takes a deep breath of fresh air. Her tattoos stop glowing as her body takes in oxygen again.

Gabriel's clothes are torn and burned from the flames and his skin is flaming red. He has several cuts on his body that seem too clean to you to be from the fire. Your gaze falls to his forehead and you take a startled breath. There is a symbol burned in there as if it was made by a hot iron. A cross with two bars.

Witch hunters.

"He's not breathing," your sister whines, who has already knelt beside him to examine him. It pulls you back to the present and reminds you to start working. You hear the sounds from the street getting louder, shifting. And out of the corner of your eye you notice movement, probably the fire department.

"Loki," you address your lover without taking the eyes off your brother. The panic inside you hasn't gone away, but you have hope. There is something you can do. "You have to get the people off our backs. Make sure they don't bother us."

The Asgardian merely nods and disappears from your side. You don't see what he's doing, but you trust him to take care of it.

If one of the paramedics takes care of Gabriel, he would definitely die. As great as modern medicine wants to be, it has its limits. And the doctors would not allow you to help, even if you have the more promising methods. They just don't understand it when you go other ways than theirs.

Besides, Gabriel would be taken to a hospital and put on record there. If the witch hunters wanted to verify later if he was really dead, they would find out for sure and come back for him. It's just too dangerous.

From your bag you pull out a jar of paste that you use to cream all the wounds you see, all the burns and cuts. You open Gabriel's shirt, see the crusted blood on his chest. Your breath catches at the sight, but you force yourself to focus.

"Mama didn’t answer my call," your sister tells you between her mumbled words. She has her hands outstretched over the unconscious body, tending to the internal injuries.

"Of course she didn't," you snort, "She doesn't interfere with things like this. Even when it involves the lives of her own children."

You set the jar aside and cast a spell. The wounds under the cream light up and stop bleeding. The smaller ones are already regenerating, the larger ones would take more time to heal, as would the burns. Time you don't have.

"The lungs are clear," your sister informs you.

Loki reappears at your side. "We'll be undetected for a while." He watches you do what you do, but doesn't dare participate in your work. Different types of magic can interfere in a negative way and your spells would be useless.

You try to find out how bad the damage to his head is, if his brain was damaged under the branding.

"His pulse is weak," your sister says, jaw clenched. "We're losing him."

You shake your head. This can't be happening. "We need more time to stabilize him."

You give your sister a pleading look, and she nods. "You have one minute. Make it work."

As you frantically rummage in your bag for something that can help you, Elizabeth closes her eyes, gathers all her concentration, and mutters a spell. A tattoo on her arm moves down to her hand, becoming a dense black area at her fingertips. The same thing happens on her other side. She clenches her hands into fists and extends each of her index and middle fingers so that they cross in front of her. Then, abruptly, a ring spreads from her, a glowing golden hoop that floats in the air around your small group.

Suddenly, everything around you freezes. No sound can be heard anymore, your ears seem to be packed in cotton. Loki turns his head and notices in awe that time seems to have stopped around you.

You come across a vial that you have almost forgotten about. It is a potion you brewed from the scale Gabriel gave you on the day of the Lunar Convergence. Its effect is uncertain. Mermaid magic is as changeable as the sea itself and actually much better suited for curses. But life can be a curse sometimes. With this, you may have a chance.

"Loki, I need your help: make sure they don't get their hands on us."

The Asgardian is watching the fire in the house. The flames are making very slow movements, and upon closer inspection, even the firefighter who was about to step around the corner a moment ago has not completely frozen. Time is just drawn out like a viscous glue trying to hold it in. At your words, he turns his attention back to you and frowns.

"What do you mean?" he asks, but you don't take the time to answer him.

You uncork the vial and let it float in front of you between your fingers. Then you begin reciting a spell in an ancient language. Your eyes turn pitch black and wind comes up. You barely feel it, all of your concentration is on remembering the right syllables. The slightest deviation would be fatal, both for you and for your brother.

Shadows emerge from the ground, taking on elongated shapes, and Loki realizes in horror that they are arms, wrapping themselves around you and your brother, holding you tight. He understands what kind of spell you are casting and silently scolds you for your carelessness in casting it without any protective circle.

He conjures daggers in his hands and attacks the arms. One cut is enough to dissolve the limbs in a 'poof'. Only unfortunately for a new one to immediately grow out of the ground. They are the spirits of the damned that try to capture you. They always appear within a necromantic spell.

Necromancy is a tricky kind of magic - one of the most efficient healing powers; all about life and death, and the eternal circle of it - but also one of the most dangerous if used carelessly. A single mistake can have enormous consequences, such as leaving out a protective circle. Without it, you are much more vulnerable to the damned.

Loki whirls around, but he's not fast enough to keep all the dark arms under control. They are not subject to time, and can move independently. Again and again they reach for you and Gabriel, slowly pulling you into the ground as if it were quicksand.

The liquid in the vial has begun to glow and you move your fingers unperturbed, muttering the incantation as it floats out.

The darker the shadows become, the stronger the vial glows.

"I can't keep time much longer!" your sister yelps. Her expression is strained and she struggles to keep her fingers crossed. A bead of sweat forms on her forehead.

Loki notices that the movements around you are picking up speed, even though everything still seems to be in slow motion.

You let the liquid float in Gabriel's mouth, hoping it will do its job. The dark aura around you remains. You stare at your brother, but nothing happens. He does not move. Instead, you become aware of the arms grasping you. You shift in your seat and lose your footing, immediately sinking deeper. Loki reaches for you. His dagger magically lights up as he frees you.

Your eyes are back to Gabriel. You reach out and grab the shadows that wrap around him, ripping them away with your bare hands before they can sweep him away and bury him.

"Gabriel!" Your voice rough, as if you'd shouted a lot – maybe you have. You weren't paying attention.

In a last, desperate attempt, you gather magic in your hands and slam them down on his chest as if for CPR. A shockwave emanates from you. Loki struggles to stay on his feet, raising an arm protectively in front of his face.

Then it's all over and time returns to normal. Your sister has fallen backward and let go of time. She's getting up and you're both staring at Gabriel. You have dropped to your knees.

All around you, the noise has returned. The fire is crackling, the paramedics and fire fighters are shouting orders to each other, and you hear the sound of a water canon.

Gabriel begins to cough and moans in pain.

Elizabeth breathes an audible sigh of relief as you whisper a prayer. Loki is the one who remains pragmatic. "We should get out of here," he says, looking at a fire fighter coming your way. With the stopping of time and the shockwave, his cloaking spell had disappeared and now you're sitting here as if on display in the garden, probably making a rather strange impression.

"Healer Josiah?" you ask your sister, and she nods wearily.

The spell just now has cost her great strength and you notice you are also reaching your limit. But you absolutely have to get away from here.

You join hands, taking Loki with you, and mutter a spell.

"Hey you!" the fireman shouts with a furrowed brow. "What are y-…" Then you’re gone.

Josiah's healer's house is in Mexico. It's a small farm with a large garden, a place to go for anyone who needs help. However, patients don't usually just suddenly appear in the entry hallway. Someone jumps to the side, startled, as you arrive out of thin air.

"We need a healer!"

The person - a teenage boy - nods and jumps to action to get someone.

Your hands clutch your brother's body. You're exhausted, the spellcasting has taken a lot of your strength, but you don't want to let him go.

Within a short time several people appear, alarmed by the boy and the noise in the entrance hallway. They see your group, see the unconscious Gabriel, the burns, and using a spell to preserve his sensitive skin, they take him away. Loki hands lie on yours to make you let your brother go. You're so wiped out that you didn't even realize you had your fingers clawed into his shirt. You want to get up to follow the healers, but your legs give way under you and you would have fallen if Loki hadn't caught you with his strong arms.

Concerned, another healer steps up to take care of you, but you shake your head.

"I'm fine, just tired. She was in the burning house." You point to your sister, who also looks worn out. She is still sitting on the floorboard where you arrived.

You are overcome with a sense of relief that you are here – at a safe place - and that you are being relieved of your responsibilities. It is now out of your hands. You allow yourself to close your eyes for a moment and lean your head against Loki's chest. Only very briefly.

Someone says something, but you don't listen.

Only when Loki slides his other arm under your knees and you realize you're being carried, you blink up at him questioningly. "We're getting a room," he explains, "You can rest there."

"'m fine," you mumble, but close your eyes again and drift back to sleep.

___________________________________

Me: writing about necromancy magic and black hands trying to drag them into hell because it's a cool theme Multiverse of Madness: Hey, can I copy your homework? (that scene in the movie was so badass and creepy! loved it)

Tag List: @lokisgoodgirl @lokixryss @itsybitchylittlewitchy @yokshi-unbeliebubble @fictional-hooman @elennair @all-envy-suyu @purplekitten30 @elisadmaggiore @nothing2113 @baebeepeach @ceo-of-stfu @moonlightreader649 @ronipiamka @fluffybunnyu @ninjarose23 @ozymdias @huntress-artemiss @thedistractedagglomeration @rosaline-black @sofi786 @moonlightreader649 @paetonnn @eldriidd @r4inlov3r @eleniblue @eleniblue @maeisonline @marvel-love24 @sinsandguilt @kalinaselennespeaks @ohtellmelove @eleniblue @msrawog @hyojin-2579 @just-someone11 @marygoddessofmischief @fall-myriad

If you wanna be added/removed or if there are any problems with your tag dm me, comment or send a raven

[beaconfeels]

Sometimes I wonder if people realize how snobby they sound when they act like people not being able to read into the deeper meanings of shows or books are just being deliberately obtuse or unintelligent. First of all, it’s ableist. Some people literally do not have the IQ to process things that way, and they shouldn’t feel ashamed of whatever way they can and do enjoy their fandom.

Second of all, it feels to me like you’re assuming everyone has had access to the kind of education where you’re taught those things. (And that you had the ability to learn in a traditional class environment) Personally, I had one year of public school, and the rest of my schooling was extremely lackluster. I never had a single class in my life where we read through a book and were taught how to look for symbolism, tropes, or any of the other things that people seem to know about when they’re talking about media. I didn’t go to college either, another thing that’s not terribly uncommon, so the only way I would have learned all that stuff was by studying it by myself.

Now, you might say, ‘That’s how I learned it!” You might be super smart and super motivated because you’re interested in it, but again, it’s kind of ignoring the different ways that people’s brains work, and also their life circumstances. I’m chronically ill, neurodivergent, and have a heck load of trauma. I’ve spent most of my adult life just trying to freaking survive, and when I’m in survival mode, I shut down. I end up only doing the things that are easy for my brain to process in my downtime because I’m so damn tired just trying to get through the basics of adult life.

I’m FINALLY at a place in my life where I have enough safety and time to be able to focus and learn things on my own, and I still end up often using the brain space that I do have to learn things that actually give me a shot at creating a better life for myself, ya know? Skills that I might be able to turn into a way to make money. This is not to say you might not have the exact same circumstances as me and you’ve self-educated yourself about a lot of shit. Good for you. That’s the way your brain lets you do things, and you should feel lucky.

Anyway, just know that viewing intelligence through a single type of lens has its roots in classism, racism, and ableism, and maybe just think about that the next time you’re writing a post about this kind of stuff. Honestly, I LOVE the people who actually talk about the symbolism and other things they catch in TV shows and books etc, because that’s been a really nice way for me to gain a little education about it in a way that’s fun and interesting. There’s a real difference between someone doing a post where they talk through something they loved in their fave show or book and point out all the parallels and color choices and what that means, versus someone basically saying, “I mean DUH. You’d think they haven’t even watched the show. OBVIOUSLY the red balloon represents his hopes for the future.” That kind of energy is not useful.

[howtotrainyouragents]

Agent H's Book Reactions

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Revolution is rising in the districts of Panem as Katniss and Peeta are selected again for the Hunger Games Quarter Quell

-Unfair, that only Gale calls Katniss Catnip. I, too, would like to call her Catnip

-It's really fun reading the love triangle through the lens of what each boy represents (Gale: rage and rebellion, Peeta: hope and peace) because it so beautifully serves Katniss' emotions and journey. She chooses Gale when she decides to join the rebellion instead of running. She holds on to Peeta in the Capitol/Games. etc. Genius character technique, Collins

-I completely understand why Collins wrote it this way, but I wish that the victory tour had been longer. Like it goes by in pretty much two pages. I was looking forward to them going to each district, because it would help us get to know each district better and see the rebellions first hand. And I think it could've raised some tensions if while on tour, District 12 was being cracked down on and Gale got in trouble, and there'd be nothing Katniss could do. It parallels watching the Games and emphasizes the hopelessness and violence the Capitol is trying to inflict

-Between the victory tour and the Quell announcement, I was really bored. It was important plot set up and I really appreciate how these books dedicate time to Katniss's trauma and emotional well-being. But it dragged on a bit too long for me.

-I really appreciate the posts that point how Rue is the true start of the rebellion, but I don't want to mistake that for the impression that her death matters more than her life. She was a young Black girl, she deserved to live :(

-At first I was like, ugh, this Games feels different than the first. But, duh that's the point!! The first part of this book is about the districts uprising. The second part of the book is the microcosm of the districts, the victors uprising. The Games feel different because it truly is the districts against the Capitol instead of each other

-They say that once the gong rings, the solidarity that the victors showed during the interviews will be gone. But then they're wrong!! Katniss and all work in a team, and they rebel against the Games by showing compassion and solidarity. It's the victors working together to rescue Katniss. It's Peeta consoling the dying victor. It's Katniss taking the time to clean and soothe Beetee and Wiress. It's joking around with Finnick. It's Finnick having Johanna's back. That's the revolution!!

-I like the first book's arena more for how it was so realistic, but I can appreciate just how batshit traumatizing this book's arena is. Who tf thinks of raining blood??? Also I like the set up of the District 12 electric fence to the arena's forcefield. And how them destroying the force field is the literal AND metaphorical destroying the games for good

-Really sometime I should sit down with this series and just connect all the different parallels and symbolisms and set ups

-Peeta continues to be the best and my favorite

-"If it weren't for the baby"- PEETA MELLARK IS THAT BITCH. I LOVE HIM

-Unsurprisingly, I am down bad for Johanna. I want her to step on me

-*Me @me*: You cannot adopt another gorgeous, witty, secretly tragic boy. *Me, sighing, knowing this will not end well, but putting Finnick Odair in my pocket anyway*

-I know it was for the escape plan, but it was so cute how Finnick was obsessively counting the bread each time

-I couldn't tell if Finnick knew the truth on the baby thing, but I thought it was adorable that he seemed to so earnestly believe Katniss' lies, e.g., the baby, hearing the forcefield

-The whole hearing the force field thing is so funny because it has no significance to the plot, it's just Katniss overthinking things again and then having to keep up the lie

-I love Katniss and Peeta so much. They're so ride-or-die for each other before ever having real feelings (on Katniss's part at least) involved. Like the foundation of the relationship is just pure human empathy and friendship in the face of unimaginable circumstances. God damn

-I also really love how as much as Peeta gives Katniss hope, she also gives him hope. She saves him in the games. She makes life in District 12 worth living. It's not just one-sided, they save each other. Couples who mutually inspire each other to live=Top Tier

-I got confused on the ending, but why wasn't Peeta at the tree with Beetee? Finnick went after Johanna and Katniss after they realized the wire was cut. So I can get that Peeta would've wanted to go after them too, but Beetee would've insisted that he stayed put, right? Do they ever explain this?

-See, the rebellion rescuing Katniss feels less like plot armor to me than I think other books would've made it feel, mainly I think because Finnick and Johanna were still down to kill Katniss if it came to it and District 13 is very much also just using her in their Games

-Ohhh, the ending with Haymitch hurts so much. Because Peeta says that he lied to one of them about which one he'll keep alive. And we, like Katniss, know that he lied to Peeta because he agreed that it's Peeta's turn to live. But as much as he loves Peeta, turns out he lied to Katniss and us. The betrayal is real T^T

-The movie gives a cleaner explanation on why Katniss and Peeta can't know about the rescue plan

-Because I rewatched the movie immediately after finishing the book, Strokes of genius from the movie: 1) The little girl saying she wants to volunteer like Katniss (scariest moment of the movie) 2) The graffiti "the odds were never in our favor" 3) The shot of Johanna and Finnick leaning on the tree as they decide on Beetee's plan

-While rewatching, I saw a comment that was like "I can see how these books are beginning to reflect now in our real time." And I was like, hmm, yeah, like obvs we're not having children killing each other in an arena anytime soon (though we seem to be okay with children dying from gun violence and police brutality *side-eye*), but the series' themes of media, propaganda, and violence are very much in play now

-I think Hunger Games should absolutely be taught in dystopian fic sections of literature classes alongside things like 1984 and Brave New World (admittedly, Hunger Games was a little too disturbing for me as a young teen, but then again Brave New World was a little disturbing to me as a young teen SO)

[twdmusicboxmystery]

More of the Twin or Duality Theory with Isabel/Leah/Beth

@twdmusicboxmystery

So, I woke up with something of a new theory in my head. Let's say, just for kicks, that Daryl does end up having a relationship with Isabelle. I'm not any more convinced that's going to happen than either of you are, but humor me. If he does, CLEARLY it's just going to be another Leah. Not something long term or soulmate like.

So, I was thinking about how we always said Leah was both a mirror opposite and a parallel to Beth. And then there's this idea of Isabelle being Beth's symbolic "twin."

We've also talked about how the Leah storyline was originally going to play out much differently (we think) but CoVid changed everything and they had to shuffle things around, right? I remember saying once that I thought originally they would air the Leah storyline AFTER revealing Beth, and that would have changed the whole feel of it. Daryl would have been having this slightly toxic relationship with Leah, while fans already knew Beth was out there. But obviously it didn't play out that way.

So, I was thinking that maybe originally Leah was going to be Beth's symbolic, functional twin, but when everything happened, things got pushed back and rearranged, etc., they scrapped that idea, at least in its first iteration. Obviously, Leah still had a million shades of Beth in her (and Carol too) but she became more of a forerunner than a side-by-side symbolic twin.

See, one thing I always thought and know I said a few times is that I think we're going to need to see Beth and her symbolic twin at the same time. In all the other dualities, they've been on screen together. Lizzie and Mica. Carol and Alpha. Rick and the Gov. Glenn and Nicholas. More recently, Max and Shira.

So, it just never made sense to me that if Leah was Beth's twin, she would die before Beth was even revealed. But again, now I'm wondering if originally the plan was to have them play out together, but that got scrapped bc of Covid, and now they've created Isabelle to take on the role of Beth's dualistic other half.

All I'm saying is that, if so, it would make sense for the question of romance to be there. It doesn't mean Daryl has to take her up on it--I agree that doing another exact storyline like Leah's feels really redundant--but she might offer it to him.

And given what happened with Leah, he might even be thinking that he screwed that up, so maybe he should give this woman a shot, but something about it still just won't feel right to him. Because, you know, Beth. Anyway, that's pretty much it. I still think, no matter how it all plays out, that it's leading to Beth. Just some thoughts I woke up with this morning. ;D

@wdway

It certainly could go that way. I see your logic in this scenario. For myself though I have come more and more to believe that Leah at least in FM was more about Daryl and Carol. He has such mixed up feelings about Carol and Beth. These two women that he loves in different ways.

In the end I feel that in s11 by the time Leah tried to kill Maggie she was much more of a ruthless Carol figure. I think the good he saw in Leah was always him wanting to see Beth in her but she really wasn't Beth or completely Carol but he saw the best and the worst of the two women.

And maybe that is what I'm leaning towards after reading what you wrote. Leah represented the combination of Carol and Beth but ended up being more about Carol maybe Isabelle will be more about Beth. It makes more sense in my head than the way I explained it.

I got the DVD for s11 yesterday. One of the reasons prefer watching the DVD is because my control system for when I'm watching it on AMC+ or now on Netflix has like a two second delay in stopping when I hit the button which drives me crazy. I can't move frame by frame like I used to.

I'm going through and catching some things and I was looking at the little running what I have always called the Beth blur and in this season there's 3 images. A main largest a second smaller and now a third image across the bottom. That's the shot above. When I read what you wrote, @twdmusicboxmystery, it made me wonder if this could possibly stand for the three, Beth, Leah and Isabelle. I don't know just random thoughts.

Another thought is that if that's true about the 3 then that gives us a rule of 3. Just as I believe Daryl will lose Beth a third time to complete the rule of 3. More random thoughts.

@galadrieljones:

Interesting for sure. I know back when 11a originally aired, I wondered if Beth would show up and kill Leah, like how Alice wins the chess game in Through the Looking Glass. She takes the Red Queen, which wakes the Red King, and the game ends, and she wakes up. I wouldn’t be surprised if they shared screentime because of the “twinning” thing.

Here’s a slight variation I was thinking of, given what we know about Isabelle. She is a nun. Or, she’s something like that. We see her wearing a habit in one of the leaked photos, and a light colored hood in some photos Norman has posted from filming.

If she is indeed a nun, this could be building toward a madonna-whore duality of women. Whore is a strong word, but that’s just the name of the trope. Leah fulfills the “whore” aspect, as she checks a lot of boxes here. Independent (in an antisocial manner), selfish, mean, mercenary. There’s also that hint of sexuality between them. She tries to separate him from his family. She is violent. She follows a cult leader, and is therefore susceptible to idolatry.

Meanwhile, Isabelle is a nun. That’s much of what we know about her, other than her appearance: blond hair, blue eyes. She’s pretty in a very “clean” and clear way. We see her nursing Daryl back to health in her habit. She is the Madonna, or the pure aspect of femininity. This could suggest she is asexual, or that there is no sexuality between them. It’s pure, platonic, untainted. She will be independent but in a self-assured way, self-motivated kind of way, not anti-social. Unlike Leah, who is a mercenary, and morally dubious/indifferent/loyal only to herself, Isabelle will be unflinchingly loyal to a cause, to God, to something greater than herself.

Remember Daryl in Rendition, when he tells Pope that he only believes “in himself” now, and how Pope tells him that’s too bad. Daryl’s been supremely messed up by Leah. So Isabelle will balance the scales that have been tipped in Daryl’s psychology, by Leah.

Leah may have soured Daryl on women, or strangers, the prospect of “good people,” which Beth introduces him to in season 4. Isabelle will restore his faith in people, and in women (the divine feminine), which will open him up, make him amenable to romance once again.

I don’t believe they’ll have a romantic relationship, not if she’s a nun. But she genuinely looks a little like Beth, and this will remind him of Beth, and of the more loving, nurturing parts of humanity that Beth represents in his psychology. These parts may have been buried away a little after seeing his ex-girlfriend trying to kill Beth’s sister, forcing him to kill her.

I also had this thought. If Daryl is gravely injured, or unconscious, and he wakes up to Isabelle leaning over him. The way she looks, he might at first hallucinate that he’s seeing Beth, dressed as a nun, hence the strained look on his face in the leaked photo, like he’s afraid. I even wondered if maybe the habit was a hallucination. Maybe she’s wearing a hood, and he hallucinates that he’s seeing a habit. But there’s nothing to suggest that, other than the fact that Daryl has hallucinated before.

In either case, the last time he thought he saw Beth, it was Leah in Rendition. She was in all black, wearing a terrifying mask. Now, we have another Beth look-alike, not in a creepy mask, but in a habit. So we have weight on both sides of the scale now: the mercenary and the nun.

Ideally, then, Beth would be a sort of balance between them. She’s a warrior, but she’s not indifferent. She’s loyal, but she’s not a nun. She’s sexual, but not a whore. She can be a romantic partner but also just, a partner, a best friend, a confidant. She sees the best in people, but when she sees a wolf in her flock, she will not hesitate to kill it.

I think this goes back to the yin and yang theory, that every force has an equal but opposing force necessary to balance the scales. Leah is dark, Isabelle is light. Beth is the yin and yang of them both.

@twdmusicboxmystery

I love all our theories, Gals!

@galadrieljones

Me too!! Here’s hoping we get some actual info soon!

[sinkableruby]

OUGI STAY DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY WOO

yay ok so basically i have a lot of thoughts about this fic and i kinda crafted it painstakingly so im gonna point out some stuff i like about it wee (btw go read it if you havent already) (oh but like. so spoilers. soooo spoilers. of course.) (wrote this awhile ago but i just wrote that analysis post so i feel i might as well just post it now. might do a part 2 with some other misc stuff too)

the leaves - this was funny because, i wanted to have like a recurring symbol throughout the fic, and i kinda felt like writing some prose for it, even as i figured it would annoy some readers and not really fit ougi (well, that much, ougi is pretty flexible). however it would be very fitting for ougi if she used it to break the fourth wall immediately, and so it sort of became a joke in that sense. but what that paragraph says still stands! the symbol is still very real... to be blunt: ougi is the leaf. woah crazy to be less blunt: araragi's symbol throughout the series is the tree. the gi in his name means tree for fucks sake (this is also why i put that footnote in there!). ougi is not a tree, but she's not separate from it either. she's a branch-off from it, hence she is the leaf. and she needs to seek comfort from the cold uh oh! i'll get into this more later

on moving on - ougi fails to get araragi to do so. of course, it had to happen this way, because that's the whole impetus of zoku owarimonogatari, and i wanted this fic to be something you could insert into canon without really disrupting much of anything. but that's not the only reason she fails. she reflects on it, wondering if her approach was wrong, or if maybe staying over made him more attached, but i have my own theory on why: ougi couldn't convince araragi to move on because she had also not moved on. we see araragi in zoku not feeling ready to leave behind his high school self, holding regrets for what happened. ougi is just as full of this regret, regret she couldn't find somewhere to call her own. and she is holding on to the past just as much as he is! she's struggling to find a new paradigm for the whole fic! she keeps catching herself before she criticizes araragi too hard! she's putting off thinking about what the hell she's going to do next with her life! she's just as not ready to move on as he is! they are mirrors of each other because of course they are!

place to stay - well, the fic is called ougi stay so i should talk about this. i will just mention that it is canonical that ougi's regret in zoku owari is not having found a home. it's super glossed over because nisioisin is allergic to delving into ougi's character for some reason, so i wanted to expand it a little with this fic. anyway, the araragi residence is warm and welcoming and lively and happy, which, in a moment à la sodachi, only serves to remind ougi how much of an outsider she is. "it's not actually her home," she says at the beginning, and she keeps reiterating that she's a "guest" at their house. so when she's exhausted all her thoughts about her problems, little doubts start to creep in, and then she's stuck feeling bad about how she has no home again, oops. and then in a moment of cruel universal irony, she is given a "home" in the form of the mysterious classroom she ambiguously created. and trapped there. alone. for like longer than a full day. nisioisin why did you do this actually this was pretty mean. really mean actually what the fuck i guess it is fitting for ougi who is a User of Irony™, and also because, if you will notice, ougi is detached from ougi's narration. THIS WAS VERY INTENTIONAL AND I LIKE IT A LOT. it kind of parallels ougi's detachment from their self. quotes from zoku owarimonogatari here: [ougi to araragi] "Well, you foolishly saved me from being absorbed by the darkness, didn't you? "My uncle supported that decision, but it's not like the specialists were unanimously on board. "There's probably plenty of notables who think it would have been best if something as dangerous as me had disappeared. "I'm one of them, incidentally. "But this time, I functioned as your failsafe. "It proved that there was value in you keeping me alive." i'm sure this way of viewing yourself is not problematic in the slightest and will have no consequences down the line but yea there's a kind of detachment in how ougi talks about themself. "there are notables who think i should have disappeared. by the way i am one of those people" is what they say, not, "i think i should have disappeared." they're viewing themself from the point of view of a specialist here, not from the point of view of... themself. and yeah sure its their job but holy shit ougi. are you ok??????? i think there was already value in you being alive just by you being alive but you know. you could also say this is ougi's perspective as an oddity, which can be very function-oriented, or rather they have to be because there's a big asshole black hole that will swallow them up if they're not. but ougi has a self now (i mean didn't she always) and is safe, at least for the time being, and so should not still be thinking like this in my opinion!!!!!!!! or have been thinking it at all in the first place :( so yeah that's the point behind the detached narration. it's the "but that's not in character for me, so i won't do it" and the general fourth wall breaking. a kind of ironic detachment to parallel ougi's detachment from her self, and how that detachment is kind of not good for her! (and i mean, doesn't it just kind of fit for ougi to narrate like this. i mean how else would she do it, really.) there's a really interesting line in onimonogatari episode 4's audio commentary, with nadeko and ougi. in the scene at the end of the episode where ougi shows up, ougis like ok feel free to switch back to the main commentary now and nadekos like ! but! but look it's the scene! it's the scene! and ougis like huh? wym? 'me? (literally says たしが？instead of わたしが？) and then says i'm not the kind of character who gets embarrassed or excited when i appear on screen. i end up seeing myself as someone else. perhaps self detachment is something you can expect to learn when your existence is originally defined as inherently tied to someone else's. but that's probably, not, necessarily, a good, thing! and it shouldn't stay like that forever, at the very least. that leads us into the next point. we go from self-detachment into...

beddy bye - eepy ougi.... guys did you notice that right after ougi tells araragi that sleep means changing she falls asleep despite saying she can't. did you notice. did you ougi understands she can build a self through experience but then disregards it because she can keep working either way and technically doesn't Need it. this is the opposite of character development :)! because for ougi to say what she says in zoku i can't imagine she would have been able to come to any healthy conclusions about herself the main thing she's been doing that i'm critiquing is disregarding herself, detaching from herself, not taking care of herself, basically. but for just a moment, she sees herself (araragi) cold and shivering and shes like. ok fuck it just one time is fine. and she gets comfort from him too, in the form of warmth, and the sound of life. (it's also important that araragi is asleep because it centers her more. he's technically not doing anything, and its more of a soliloquy for ougi-- her comforting herself, if only by a technicality) one of my favorite things about these two is that you can really notice how similar they are. araragi's got his insane self-sacrificial bent the whole series, and nearly cops to it again in ougi dark. ougi in ougi dark is doing some insane self sacrifice kind of thing! hey! it's almost like these two are the same person... and it applies here too. these two are silly and take care of themselves easier when it's done through the proxy of their doppelgangers. well, it works for now. ougi makes the first step of reaching out to herself, even if it is a very very small step. and just that tiniest act of checking up on herself, just the smallest teeniest act and experience of self-comfort makes her realize oh i am so fucking tired actually. it's no coincidence that her taking care of herself comes in the form of sleep-- sleep is change. she's changing. there's still hope for her, she has the ability to learn to take care of herself better. like, she really really really needs to sleep. to rest. has she even rested in the six months since she was born? she's always fucking rushing everywhere, on the grind, girlbossing, etc, yes haha, but like seriously. she's neglecting this very basic thing. people can't just work nonstop for 6 months and be fine. i mean hell last night she almost fucking died. and was very scared, actually. and had an emotional outburst, for the first time in her life, got so mad she couldnt even do her smiley ougi thing. got so mad and hurt that she, despite all her eloquence and composure, actually stuttered, actually broke her cheery monotone and let the raw hurt into her voice. and then got saved and had no idea wtf was going on and everything was just a tumultuous mess. so she's got that on top of those 6 months, and god that would fucking drain you! you almost DIED. FOREVER. not going to hell. you almost DIED.

my favorite line of the fic is "The magnitude of six months, bearing down on me." because yeah. god. just the sheer force. the weight. the scale. how far it reaches, the extent. of everything. it just hits you. six months. six fucking months do you know how long that is??? i cannot stress this enough. six months and the only six months you've ever known. six months and that would have been the end of your whole life. six months!!!!!!!!!!! i wouldn't be able to move under that weight either girl i woulda just blacked out and i wouldnt be surprised if this was not just a "holy fuck i'm so tired" moment but also a "holy fuck i'm alive. i didn't die" kind of moment. because ougi is just kind of pondering it vaguely and distantly in especially the beginning of the fic, but idk if it's quite hit her at that point yet yk. but yeah. the moment is a radical shift for ougi not because it's instant change, it's not like instantly ougi gets better. that's not how it works. but ougi does START to get better here. and that kind of hope is what ougi and ougi's arc is about, to me. you help others come to terms with their lives. bad things happen, people fall to darkness, but they survive, they find a way, they figure it out. you don't disappear, you aren't erased; you get to be you. you get to live.

[wardowrites]

He didn’t know how to feel about the fact that Louis seemed to react more upon hearing his cat’s name being mentioned than he had when he’d seen Wardo again. Or maybe he did know how to feel but wasn’t quite ready to allow his chest to fucking cave in like it wanted to if the pressing ache beneath his collar bone was anything to go by.

Louis sounded surprised that Wardo had kept the cat, having probably assumed he’d passed it onto someone else or even just set him loose one day. It would be unfair to blame him for that (although Wardo would try) for two reasons. One being that Wardo and Ulysses had famously never gotten along when they lived under the same roof as Louis. The second reason was that, for a few days after he’d returned from Lowell, he’d honestly considered just getting rid of the damn thing. He didn’t want to have to come home every day and find Louis’ fucking cat waiting for him, a constant reminder of what he’d lost.

But then Ulysses had sat outside Louis’ closed bedroom door, scratching at the wood and mewling pathetically, not understanding where the man had gone. Wardo hadn’t had the heart to send him away after that.

Still, he hadn’t quite managed to detach Louis and Ulysses from each other, their identities messily entangled in the weeks that followed. Wardo had kept Ulysses in the apartment but had cursed out the feline and thrown angry words towards the ceiling when the stupid thing got underfoot and annoyed him. As if he could redirect all the anger and hurt he felt towards Louis to the man’s cat. Ivy had been the one to slap him upside the head and told him to cut it out, that it wasn’t Ulysses’ fault that his owner had abandoned him. He’d been a little nicer to the cat after that, but the way Ulysses trailed around the apartment, making himself at home amongst Wardo’s belongings still got under his skin.

Then, there had been the time where he’d left the kitchen window open and Ulysses had scarpered off, whizzing down the fire escape before Wardo could catch him. He’d agonised over trying to find him, like if he managed to track Ulysses down then it would magically fix everything he’d convinced himself he’d ruined between him and Louis.

Eventually, Ulysses had returned, dirt matting his fur and the stench of the city sticking to him and Wardo, who was a fanatic when it came to literary themes and parallels and symbolism, had been stupid enough to think that Louis might follow soon after. He never had.

He was here now though, and so Wardo could look him in the eye and tell him, “Yeah, I’ve got him. Wasn’t going to just shut the door on his face, was I?”

At last, the flash of satisfaction he’d been waiting for, brief as it was, hummed under his skin like electricity. He lifted his head a little higher, feeling taller.

Refusing to bow to the self-pitying bullshit Louis was spouting about Wardo not wanting to see him - because, really, what had given him that idea? - he couldn’t help but scoff when Louis actually requested that Wardo read his book. Because of course the universe couldn’t just push Louis Denver back into his path. They had to throw published author Louis Denver his way. He thought of his own half-filled notebooks back in his apartment and how they would never see the light of day, never mind the inside of a publishing house. It looked like everything really had worked out for Louis.

His lips twisted into a smile and he waved a hand.

“S’alright. I don’t need to burn paper to keep a fire goin’ anymore. Keep your book, it can be someone else’s kindling,” he said, venom coating his words and showing his true anger for the first time since Louis had had the audacity to tell him hey, Wardo.

At the mere mention of his cat, Louis blanched. Named after James Joyce's modernist epic, Louis had adopted the ball of white fluff when he was a mere baby. In contrast to whatever pseudo-masculine, Captain of the football team, heterosexual persona Louis had tried to push during his college years, anyone who saw him with his cat knew he was a big fucking softy. The kitten had lived with Louis and Wardo throughout their last year of college, and had quickly become part of the furniture. Sure, Ulysses was mean and had a tendency to bite, but he was Louis' baby.

When he left for Lowell, Louis hadn't expected that was the last time he'd see his cat again. Louis had spent many a night curled up in his childhood bedroom, posters peeling on the walls, his legs hanging off the end of his single bed. He'd cried for his irreversibly fucked relationship, cried for the young man he'd been before his older brother had sunk his claws into him, and in his weakest and most pathetic moments, he cried for his cat. It hurt too much to think about what had happened to Ulysses, or where he'd ended up. To find out would be to contact Wardo again, and Louis didn't think he could un-slam the door he'd slammed in his face.

"You've got my cat?" Louis asked, hand dropping from where it had previously been scratching behind Capote's ear.

He couldn't even bring himself to be upset at the way Wardo had brushed him off. A tiny kernel of hope unfurled in Louis' chest. He'd kept his fucking cat. Louis didnt' know what that meant, but it had to mean something. Chekov didn't just leave all his guns lying around for no goddamn reason, did he?

"Look, it's clear you don't want to talk to me. I'm sure I deserve that." he winced, wishing he'd chosen his words more carefully. "And I'm sure Ivy can fill you in on all the sordid details later."

His teeth dug into his bottom lip, blurting out the rest of his sentence before his courage failed him, "Just make sure she gives you the book, alright? My one pitiful request."

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

I always appreciate the nuance and insight you bring to Beatles conversations. And I'm wondering if you can help me find some empathy for George? I feel like I'm just too much of an older sibling for his complaints about how his songs were treated to register as anything other than ridiculous. (Although I'm not the oldest in my family, so I do have some younger sibling experience of my own.) Every time I read about him complaining about how he was treated I'm forcibly reminded of my baby sister, when she was about 7, throwing temper tantrums at the dinner table because she insisted on waiting for complete silence before beginning to tell a story, despite us being a family of six and complete silence being a literal impossibility. Except he's in a professional environment. I have a whole rant about the parallels in this analogy, but seeing him for once acknowledge that he wouldn't have started writing if it wasn't for John and Paul has briefly opened my heart to him and I'm trying to take advantage of it. Getting into that rant would slam it shut again, so I will resist the temptation.

I don't know, maybe I'm wasting both our time sending this ask and my willingness to change my mind about George will be gone by the time you even see it. Or maybe my older sibling perspective just means that I fundamentally can't understand his complaint. But I always feel bad when I know my take on someone lacks the kind of empathy I'd want someone to have for me. So I'm asking for what help you can offer in this probably small window of time. (I do feel bad for him about the Northern Songs' shares set-up thing, that was bullshit, but I'm also pretty sure that John and Paul weren't really to blame for that.)

Thanks!

Hi anon! Okay, I actually am a younger sibling, though I wouldn't call my experience all that comparable to George's in that sense.

Here's my opinion of what happened: John and Paul started writing together as teenagers and also very consciously decided for it to be their thing; there's a quote floating around from Paul where he admits to asking John to specifically not include George in it. I don't know enough about their early dynamics to tell you whether this would specifically have hurt George (I don't recall him ever complaining about how they were with him that early on, though) but it did set up a dynamic where songwriting was a trademark John And Paul Thing, which would have made it daunting for George to start writing and show his work to them.

John and Paul wrote together from very early on but they actually didn't start introducing their self-written songs into their band set-lists until quite a bit later, some time in Hamburg I think. This means they had time to build up their writing abilities until they felt confident enough to perform them. Also consider they, from the start, packaged themselves as a songwriting team.

I'm talking about J+P instead of George right now, because I think understanding the way they worked informs how George felt in the studio. According to him, Don't Bother Me was the first song he ever wrote! This means he was technically about 6 years behind J+P, with regards to songwriting experience, and had no opportunity to test out performing one of his own songs before they took it to the studio. My point being, the circumstances led to George probably being very shy and uncertain whenever he presented his songs to the band and George Martin. Plus, him being alone, he didn't have a confidante to encourage him or give him necessary feedback who could also, both symbolically and quite literally, "sign off" on any finished song he wanted to present.

And I think it was this initial lack of confidence, as well as the catching up George still needed to do in terms of honing his craft, which led to everyone in the studio neglecting him as a songwriter. This in turn made George lose more confidence, commencing a cycle of him showing very little assertiveness and even downplaying his own songs, which probably made everyone else assume he wasn't that serious about writing in the first place and thus offer little encouragement.

Eventually, this led to George altogether losing interest in the band as a creative outlet. He says so much in the Davies bio (so around 1967), something along the lines of "the Beatles is my job; my passion is my faith and Indian music"; all of this, while Paul is getting hugely interested in song arrangement and recording techniques. I think it makes sense that J+P interpreted George's withdrawal in a way that led them to further show only moderate interest in George's songs.

Now, add on top of that that George was initially let into the band because he was deemed the best guitarist out of the three of them. But if Paul is now micromanaging George's solos (something both John and Paul had typically been very shy about in live contexts), to the point of taking over for him, this would be another great knock on his confidence because the very thing that initially made him an invaluable member is being taken away from him. Additionally, Paul especially was increasingly working on arrangements that didn't really have a spot for George (and also, notably, were more tedious for Ringo to record, though he wasn't fully left out as much). And add to that that all their music tastes were beginning to diverge, leading to George playing less music he actively enjoyed; but there wasn't an equal trade-off where the others played just as many things he had written in styles, which he enjoyed more.

What I'm saying is I think it makes sense for George to look back on all of this with resentment and an unshakeable feeling that if someone had vouched for his songs from the beginning – like Brian and George Martin had done for John and Paul – he would not have been led down a path that made him question his own talent and arguably cost him years of interesting work he could have produced. I think befriending Bob Dylan, who seemed to truly understand how to cultivate George's talent, made him realize all of this, which is why you see this delayed anger. It's perfectly normal to reassess the past and with a gained perspective feel differently about it, but it's true that it can be a bit of a non-starter, in terms of conflict resolution if not handled tactfully. What happened, happened, and no amount of self-reflection can change that.

Simultaneously, as George acknowledged, simply being in proximity to Lennon-McCartney ultimately inspired him and helped him as a songwriter, which you can see in how he did in fact catch up to them within a few years.

That all being said, it's fine to think he overly blamed John and Paul for a situation that was in the end everyone's fault in some capacity and that he perhaps took too much pleasure in talking shit about them (and especially Paul) after the band broke up.

But I really don't think it's fair to frame George as simply throwing a tantrum. I think he correctly perceived a fundamental difference in treatment but perhaps failed to see the non-malicious circumstances and communication issues that contributed to this difference.

[darkcircles4lyfe]

Death to All Might, Rebirth to Yagi Toshinori

So about All Might. I’ve been extremely wary of talking about what could happen to him because straight up saying “I don’t think he’s gonna die” is asking the universe to spite me. Plus it also feels like a room full of people turning to stare at me as if I said the Sun isn’t a star. Man has death flags everywhere, I know. 

But, okay, *Bill Nye voice* consider the following:

Mr. Yagi here, if he overheard everything, just received the final nail in the coffin on his career. His time as the symbol of peace is not only over, it was in fact partially responsible for the current state of things, since he once did so much on his own that his absence now makes heroes and civilians alike ill-prepared to cope. I think it was very apt for that one guy to be wearing an All Might shirt--he was acting as a mouthpiece for the latent societal problems embedded in All Might’s legacy. 

We know already that he’s been feeling useless. I love this scene and although I’m not gonna talk about it right this second, remember what Aizawa says about just “being here” being enough:

And we know from conversations with Inko that Toshinori is also reframed his purpose around looking after Izuku. But in the end, Izuku rejected his help, and it was his classmates instead who were able to save him. Now the very progress of humanity is rejecting him too. You may me wondering how on Earth I don’t see the logical conclusion of all this being his death. Hold on. It actually has a lot to do with the fact that we’re all expecting it. Nighteye himself saw it, and despite any contrary convictions anyone might have, the plot doesn’t seem to be veering away from that end. All Might Is Gonna Die, says absolutely everything. 

It’s occurring to me that I have previous experience with this kind of plotline that probably little to no one else in this fandom shares, being that I’ve read a certain book series in which the main character is told in no uncertain terms that he will die (no, I’m not talking about hp). The series in question is T*e Und*rland Chronicl*s (censoring so it doesn’t get put in their side of tumblr) and I’m sorry but I’m about to go on a shameless tangent about it and spoil the ending for you.

So in this series there is a prophecy in every book, each one having something to do with war and conflict, and so far all of them have been right. In the last book [mc] finds out that it’s prophesied that he will be killed. Lots of the things in the prophecies are convoluted and metaphorical, but no, this one literally says “when the [mc’s title] has been killed.” He spends the whole book coming to terms with this, and he gives into it, only to find himself waking up in the hospital instead. “Wow, plot twist. /s” you may be thinking, and yeah sure, the mc in a kids book survived, big shocker. But it doesn't end there. After the war, there are peace talks, but they escalate until the two sides are on the verge of declaring war again. And [mc], bless him, has just been caught in the middle of all of this the entire time. He’s sick as shit of fighting, of watching the suffering and death of people he cares about. He draws his sword against both of them angrily, gives a speech saying he won’t take a side, and then promptly breaks his sword across his knee: “There. [mc’s title in the prophecies] is dead. I killed him.” He’s giving a huge middle finger to everyone there, to the man who wrote the prophecies, to the entire fucked up culture of it all. And so something that was taken literally turns out to be metaphorical. That is, if you still believe in the prophecies at all.

Hopefully you’re catching my drift here. What I’m saying is, even though this other series has nothing to do with bnha, it goes to show sometimes it’s the most absolute certainties that are red herrings, and a “death” can consequently be a symbolic one. In All Might’s case, it could be the death of hero society and a rejection of his own past. In other words, character development for Toshinori himself that reflects on the way the world is changing, too. Also there’s the fact that the mc from that other series I’m trying not to name has an honorary title, and I’m imagining that role he occupied “dying” could correspond to something that amounts to, “All Might is dead. I (Yagi Toshinori) killed him.” 

And here’s another thing: we also have to ask ourselves what good a dead Toshinori is to Izuku, narratively speaking. Yes, Izuku has spent his whole life idolizing even the more toxic parts of All Might, and his idealized vision of his hero does need to “die.” But how about Toshinori as a father figure?  Izuku regretting that his last interaction with Toshinori was to reject his help may drive home the fact that he shouldn’t go off on his own, but at this point it’s kinda redundant. If anything it would negate some of the progress that was just made because it’d make him extra paranoid about losing other people too. To be honest, the whole “Uncle Ben” trope, the mentor/father figure who dies and gives the mc a reason to do better, is so tired. Experiencing the death of a loved one really doesn’t deserve to be romanticized like that. I might as well admit that I’m speaking from experience, and let me tell you, losing someone you love suddenly, when you weren’t around, and with unfinished business--it makes you paranoid as hell that it will happen again. It literally gives me nightmares. Y’all, I cannot stress enough that trauma does not equal character development. Granted, just because I know this doesn’t mean Horikoshi does, but in general he does seem to lead his characters toward healing.

Okay, back to the present. Toshinori is turning away from UA. He likely feels useless and rejected. We can infer that what happens next will involve Stain, and we have a couple of extra clues to go with it: Stain considers All Might a true hero, and has stated that he would let All Might kill him. And since Horikoshi loves his parallels, we also have this fight between Endeavor and this random villain who admires him so much that he wants to die by Endeavor’s hand:

This suggests a confrontation in which Stain challenges All Might to live up to himself as he once was, so that as a hero he can vanquish Stain and symbolically overcome society's perversion of that role. But based on what All Might has learned about the system he upheld, Stain is wrong. All Might is not a “true hero” in the sense that the societal issues Stain witnessed exist not in spite of All Might, but (in part) because of him, because he took too much of the responsibility for himself.

Stain probably had no idea about the personal cost of All Might’s lonely burden until after the fact. Maybe he’s seeing it now. So then perhaps the confrontation would be more about Stain claiming he’s just as fake as the rest. Either way, Toshinori has the opportunity to denounce himself and be rid of “All Might,”  to stop living in his own shadow. Nighteye’s vision has been defied before, and I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the combination of society shifting + Toshinori’s own conviction is enough to do it again and work fate in his favor.

He is not All Might. He is Yagi Toshinori: quirkless, worn down, and directionless except for his dedication to Izuku. If he survives his interaction with Stain, he can resolve his imperfect mentorship by confessing about his shortcomings and simply supporting Izuku as a part of his family, not as his teacher (as Aizawa said, just “being there”). And that’s how you really get character development, for both of them. I mean, shit, imagine Toshinori straight up telling Izuku to stop calling him All Might.

[strangerthings4theories]

The Lifeguard And The Rip Current: Our First BIG HINT That Billy Is Alive

IMPORTANT: If you haven’t read my post “The First Rule of Analyzing Stranger Things: The Upside Down Is Symbolized By Water,” please read it before you continue. Thanks!

Billy has just come fresh from the water, beaming with pride. “Did you see that?” he brags to his mom. “That wave was at least seven feet!” When she says they have to leave, he begs for ten more minutes. Reluctantly, she agrees.

As he grabs his surfboard and runs back to the water, his mom calls, "Billy?”

He pauses. Instinctively, we feel that whatever she says next is significant.

“Watch out for rip currents!" she finishes. 

"I know!" he answers cheerfully.

Then he hurries to the water, gets on his board, and swims away. 

Weird exchange, isn’t it? 

Everything in film has meaning. To tell a story using film, you can only use sight and sound. That means sets (especially location shoots, like a beach), costumes, dialogue, etc., are all chosen deliberately. If chosen well, they will clarify the story instead of muddying the waters. In other words, if Billy's mom goes out of her way to mention rip currents, you better sit up and pay attention.

Okay, so what does it mean? Why did the writers include this moment?

To find the answer, we must define what a rip current is.

The graphic says, “Rip currents are powerful currents of water moving away from shore. They can sweep even the strongest swimmer out to sea.”

Interesting. So they’re currents of water with a violent pull. Dare I say it, they could even sweep your feet out from under you.

Now where have we seen that in Stranger Things? (Skip to 1:30 in the video below.)

Yep. I’m saying what you think I’m saying.

When Billy catches the railing, the floor in front of him even looks like water. Study the screenshot below carefully--

See what I mean? The floor is ocean blue, and the dust patterns look like ripples. This is a purposeful design choice with an undeniable meaning.

The Upside Down is the ocean. The Mind Flayer and His servants are the rip current.

This revelation puts a whole new spin on victims of the Upside Down. Not only can we describe them as drowning victims; we can also say they drowned because a rip current swept them out to sea. 

Alright then! Keep the metaphor going. Suppose a rip current swept you out to sea. What would increase your chances of survival?

You’re a strong swimmer, and you've learned how to handle rip currents. You know to stay calm and swim parallel to shore until you’ve escaped the current’s pull.

A lifeguard saw you and is coming to rescue you.

A lifeguard.

A lifeguard.

Okay. Let’s take it slow... BREATHE... and unpack what this means.

If any victim of the Upside Down can escape it on his own, it’s Billy.  In fact, the Duffers have already foreshadowed that he will.

1) Billy knows how to deal with rip currents. What does he say when his mom warns him on the beach? “I know!” He doesn’t even sound worried. He sounds cheerful and confident, like escaping rip currents is second nature to him.

And that makes perfect sense. He grew up beside the ocean. He’s probably known about rip currents since he was old enough to swim.

We can’t say that for someone like Barb. She’s probably lived in Hawkins her entire life - as far away from the ocean as you can get. We don’t even see her swim in the Harringtons’ pool in S1. Does she know how? We never find out.

2) Like I mentioned above, Billy is a lifeguard. A lifeguard’s job is to save others from drowning. In the symbolic structure of Stranger Things, where ‘drowning’ means ‘dying in the Upside Down,’ that translates to: Billy will save others from the Upside Down.

3) Billy is so good at swimming that he teaches others how. When he’s flirting with Karen in S3, we find out he gives swimming lessons at the pool. It’s his side job in addition to being a lifeguard. In the symbolic structure of Stranger Things, that translates to: Billy will not only save others from the Upside Down; he will also teach them how to save themselves.

4) Billy is a surfer. He’s learned how to ride the waves... and symbolically tame them. Even when he falls in the water, it’s nothing to be afraid of. He just gets back on his surfboard and tries again.

No other character understands water like Billy. We could even say water is his element. It’s so central to his being that the Duffers chose to represent his mind as a beach.

The message is clear--

Billy will ultimately survive his encounter with the Upside Down. In future seasons, he will even tame it.

»»————-　✼　————-««

P.S. The strategy for escaping rip currents foreshadows how Billy will ‘return to shore’: “Swim out of the current in a direction parallel to the shoreline.”

More on that soon~~

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed, Episode 26, part two

(Masterpost) (Other Canary Stuff)

Warning! Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Content note: This episode has a lot of lightning, but this post does not have lightning flashes--I’m using mostly stills for those parts, or I’ve snipped out the unfriendly frames before giffing.

Qing-Jie

Having successfully ruined Jin Guangshan’s party plan to get the Yin Tiger seal, Wei Wuxian dashes off to tell Wen Qing where her brother is. She hops up to hit the road with him, but then sorta-faints because she’s starving. In a rare moment of tenderness between these two, he catches her and gently sits her down again. 

Normally they’re busy out-toughing each other, both before and after this moment, but right now Wen Qing is openly vulnerable. Wei Wuxian responds to that, predictably, with all of his kindness and with his usual slew of unwise, impossible-to-keep promises.

As she eats the bread he’s brought her--a parallel to an important piece of bread in his early life--he says they have to believe in Wen Ning’s survival. Cut to: Wen Ning, not surviving. 

I mean, yes, yes, he’s only mostly dead, but he’s never going to be fully alive again, so.  

24 Hour Party People

Back at the party, Jin Guangyao, deliberately, I think, goes to offer his pops a drink while his pops is still super furious and looking for someone to take it out on. The servant lady is like, better you than me, pal, and helps JGY get his drink ready. Pops, predictably, knocks the drink onto Jin Guangyao.

(more behind the cut)

Lan Xichen is standing by with a hanky and a face full of worry. Lan Xichen is so Lanny that he thinks JGY needs to go change clothes after getting clear alcohol spilled on him, rather than just letting it evaporate and smelling pleasantly of booze for the rest of the evening like a normal party guest. 

JGY launches into a criticism of Wei Wuxian, which Lan Wangji listens to very carefully, frowning. Lan Xichen, Nie Huasang and Jiang Cheng listen as well, and don’t speak up. 

A Clear Conscience

Then Lan Wangji *literally* steps out of his brother’s shadow, and speaks in defense of Wei Wuxian. This right here is Lan Wangji’s turning point, as far as I’m concerned. Xichen is gazing at JGY, totally on board with JGY’s spin of the situation, and his shadow falls away from Lan Wangji’s face as LWJ steps forward.

Lan Wangji says, isn’t what WWX said true? JGY puts on his customer service smile and says that the truth isn’t something you’re supposed to go around saying out loud. 

I’d like to say this is what’s wrong with cultivator society but this is really a universal human thing; every society has rules about upsetting the social order, and they are very frequently at odds with basic compassion and morality. 

Nie Huaisang and Jiang Cheng stay silent but Lan Xichen goes and throws Wei Wuxian under the bus carriage, saying his character has changed. 

Lan Wangji nods decisively at this, and bows to Lan Xichen, silently asking permission to follow Wei Wuxian. Lan Xichen grants permission, telling Lan Wangji to do his best. Lan Xichen probably thinks he and Lan Wangji are in agreement, in this moment, but that nod of Lan Wangji’s was nothing of the kind.

That nod was Lan Wangji agreeing with himself; he is going to try to bring Wei Wuxian back but he is also going to listen to him.  Meanwhile Lan Xichen is tying himself in knots to appease Jin Guangyao. The divergence between the brothers will just grow, from this point onwards.

Lan Wangji leaves to go follow his boyfriend conscience, while Jiang Cheng continues to silently listen to the commentary of others, and gets so mad he crushes a wine cup.

It Was A Dark and Stormy Night.

Wen Qing and Wei Wuxian arrive at the prison camp, and the first person they encounter is Granny, with a defaced Wen Banner in her hand and Wen Yuan on her back. 

Whenever I read a meta or a fic that talks about how the juniors are so sweet partly because they are “untouched by the war” I want to point to this moment. A-Yuan endures an absolute truckload of war trauma by the time he’s four years old, and while Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji both deserve a lot of credit for saving him at great risk to themselves, Granny and Uncle Four are the first heroes of A-Yuan’s story. His kind, mellow personality has a lot in common with theirs. 

This is followed by an eternity of Wen Qing running around asking if anyone’s seen her brother. Eventually Wei Wuxian gets tired of this and gathers the guards together, threatening them with Chenqing. 

He doesn’t need to play it; just holding it up has every Jin dude instantly kneeling and scared. 

The guards send him and Wen Qing go to a giant field of corpses, where Wen Qing runs around checking to see if any of them is her brother. Wei Wuxian starts off kind of detached and angry, but eventually snaps out of it, tucks away his flute and starts helping her to search. 

Wen Qing finds Wen Ning, mostly-dead with a lure flag speared into his belly. Wei Wuxian grimly takes in the situation from across the field of corpses. 

When he arrives at Wen Qing’s side he sees this talisman in Wen Ning’s hand. 

This is the talisman that Wei Wuxian made for Wen Ning back in Gusu summer school, before the war. It’s the one that Wen Ning was wearing at his waist when they met up after the massacre of Lotus Pier. It’s supposed to literally protect Wen Ning from having his spiritual consciousness snatched, as well as being a symbol of Wei Wuxian’s sense of responsibility for, and affection for, Wen Ning. 

Wei Wuxian, understandably, loses his shit at this point. Less understandably, he is about to decide that the best way to express his sorrow and rage is to re-animate the corpse of his friend, right in front of the corpse’s sister. Like, seriously, dude. Dude. 

Ghost General

This super-questionable decision leads to one of the most badass sequences in the show, which is unfortunately chock full of lightning flashes, so not everyone can watch it. Wei Wuxian and his flute and swirls of resentful energy come marching out of the darkness of the corpse field, back to the guards. 

The guards have decided to slaughter all of the prisoners and then run away, which would be a good plan except they should really have skipped right to the running away part of things. When Wei Wuxian accuses them of killing the prisoner in the corpse field, they claim that the Wens have a habit of falling off of a hill and dying. Wei Wuxian can relate. 

At this point Wei Wuxian summons up Wen Ning 2.0, ultra badass edition, who comes flying through the air with his odd, straight-armed fighting stance and cool solid-black eyes and rock-and-roll hair. 

Soundtrack: *Four Sticks*

Wen Ning proceeds to whale on the guards and scare the shit out of his relatives.

Then Wen Qing shows up and begs Wei Wuxian to stop. She explains that Wen Ning is only mostly dead. Like, if he was fully dead would she be okay with this? 

Wei Wuxian tries to reel Wen Ning in and realizes that he is not actually in control of Wen Ning. Ok, see, right from the first day of Wen Ning 2.0, WWX is aware that his control is iffy. Why does he think he’s going to be able to control him later? 

Anyway, this is where we learn Wen Ning’s grown-up name is Wen Qionglin. Wei Wuxian yells this name, and Wen Ning looks up like a cat hearing the “food noise,” and then proceeds to get control of himself. 

This is such a nice symbolic moment, that will be replayed later in the temple, when Wen Ning saves Jin Ling from Baxia. 

Wen Ning has a remote-code-execution OS vulnerability throughout the story; his soul is at risk of being stolen, and he is magically controlled by Wei Wuxian, Xue Yang, Su She, and Baxia.  Meanwhile Wen Qing, Wei Wuxian, and random kids on the street mostly treat him as a child, despite his clear adult capabilities. Wen Ning’s journey in The Untamed is at least partly about asserting his full adulthood, and his ability to overcome magical control is directly connected to that journey.  

After getting Wen Ning to chill, Wei Wuxian calls the floating resentful energy back into his own body, which looks about as comfortable as swallowing a burp. 

On the plus side, apparently resentful energy keeps your hair dry even when it’s raining.

Wei Wuxian should take a page from the guards’ book and slaughter all the Jin witnesses to this situation, but he decides to be the better person and let them live. They go running off down the road, where they encounter Lan Wangji and give him the 411, saying that Wei Wuxian resurrected dead people.

Meanwhile Wei Wuxian collects Wen Qing--half-fainted, again, in an echo of the start of their journey--and collects the Dafan Mountain Wen group, who are hiding, wisely. When they see Wen Ning, Uncle Four and some others start to freak out, but Wei Wuxian tells them that fierce corpses are cool, and they all grab horses and mount up.

Where Are You Going?

Lan Wangji is waiting for them, nonconfrontationally indulging in some visual poetry while he waits. 

In a show where every prop is exquisitely, carefully designed to enhance our understanding character, his Gusu-toned umbrella reveals surprising red and yellow threads woven in, right above his eye line as he looks at Wei Wuxian. 

Wei Wuxian speaks first, saying “you came to stop me?” Lan Wangji doesn’t answer, but asks him where he’s going. Then Lan Wangji warns him that he’s about to abandon orthodoxy forever, if he follows through. 

Wei Wuxian challenges this idea of orthodoxy, asking if Lan Wangji remembers the promise they made together, back in Gusu. It’s worth noting that they both appear to think of it as a co-promise, even though Lan Wangji didn’t speak aloud at the time. 

The conversation will continue in the next episode, because what’s better than a rainy romantic cliffhanger?

Soundtrack: Four Sticks by Led Zeppelin

[fragilevixenfic]

My AO3 Fanfiction Links (Current)

“I’ve never really thought about making a “Master List” of my own work but I figured, now is the time to do so. If any of the links are incorrect just let me know. I fix. 

Adding in a “keep reading” tab because the list is starting to get long and intense.

Each fic is categorized and easily referenced. I’ll update as I go.

X Files

Series

Into The Shadows

XII (COMPLETE): A serial killer targets victims and leaves behind symbols of his affection -- but who is his intended target and what will it take to discover the truth? (This has a lot of trigger warnings)

Dance In The Dark (ONGOING Chapters 12/? Posted **UPDATED):  With the continuing murder trial of Miles, Mulder, Scully, and Max are confronted by the VCU with a case that seems to be mimicking the pattern by their, now infamous, psychopath on trial.

Echoes and Whispers

Parallel (COMPLETE):  The aftermath of the three little words that Mulder says to Scully in his hospital bed after being rescued from the Queen Anne as it re-appeared in the Bermuda Triangle...and the strange connection that Scully starts to feel to a memory that Scully couldn't possibly have.

Only The Night (ONGOING):  Mulder and Scully begin their undercover assignment as an engaged couple with the assistance of Skinner at the University of Maryland to catch a serial rapist, putting their newly formed physical bond to the test in this sequel to “Parallel”.

Casefics

Falling Away (COMPLETE):  Kersh’s assignment partially splits the team as Scully goes undercover under the watchful eye of Mulder as they both assist on an operation with SWAT and FBI personnel. (A gift for Greta)

Veritas se revēlet (COMPLETE):  (The title is roughly translated to let the truth be revealed in Latin) An impromptu wild goose chase leads Mulder and Scully to the drifts of a winter-locked Tonopah, Nevada—where a little more than the embodiment of Mulder’s imagination takes shape between the walls of the Mizpah Hotel in the dead of winter. (A gift for @monikafilefan)

She Walks at Night (COMPLETE):  Mulder’s knack for getting himself and Scully into sticky situations leads them to the heart of NOLA at the tail end of Hurricane season after barely surviving a Floridian storm—to investigate a rumor of a notable Voodoo Queen and missing girls trying to bring her back. (A gift for @starbuck09256)

Intrigues in the Dark (COMPLETE):   A string of suicides leads Mulder and Scully to a sleepy, coastal town in Oregon for the second time—on their return to The X File—as tensions run high and nothing is as it seems. (A gift for @admiralty-xfd)

By Light, Unseen (COMPLETE):   A series of re-opened cold case murders with one link…they’d been drained of every drop of blood and wore the same, haunting stare toward the sky with their lips aghast as if they were still screaming. (A gift for @serahsanguine)

Post-Series

A House is Not a Home (COMPLETE):  The mere thought of raising a newborn in a world full of horrors has every part of Scully’s emotional irrationality over firing on a chilly, winter evening. Mulder wants nothing more than to show her that not everything is gray and grim. (for @danceswithcybermen)

Remember the Reason (COMPLETE):  Post Series (Part 1 of the “Little Redhead Series”). Mulder and Scully already knew that life with a newborn would be difficult but the first Christmas with their two-month-old daughter throws every curveball…some worse than others, some more humorous. (For @underworldobsessed)

Confectioners Sugar & Snow Drifts (COMPLETE):  Post Series (Part 2 of the “Little Redhead Series”). Mulder spends the morning bonding with Eliana by having a Christmas baking session while Scully is out shopping for gifts. Messes, mayhem, and a healthy dose of laughter ensue. No moment is ever dull as the snow falls outside.

The Easter Bunny was a Fox (COMPLETE):  Post Series (Part 3 of the “Little Redhead” Series). Scully has to pick up Bill, Tara, and a couple of surprise family from the airport, leaving Mulder alone with their 6-year-old daughter, Eliana, on Easter Morning. All she has for him are curiosities as Easter’s non-Christian ideology unfolds before her eyes…creating the most unique bonding opportunity for a father and his daughter. (For Flicked_Switch)

Angst/UST/RST

Caught in the Rain (COMPLETE):  A dark, rainy night leads Mulder and Scully to a hole in the wall bar where glasses of Scotch and unresolved tension is re-visited.

Or We Can Burn (COMPLETE):  Post Never Again - expansion and continuation of the aftermath surrounding what Scully has been hiding from Mulder.

It Lingers (COMPLETE):  The aftermath of trauma and the lingering effects of Mulder’s risky attempt to recover the truth about Samantha’s abduction leads to a revelation from Scully about her own coping mechanisms and flashes into a past she doesn’t fully remember...and the path to which they lead thereafter. (For @red2007)

Fluff/Humor

Nervous Laughter (COMPLETE):  It’s been two full days since their tender, albeit brief, moment at the stroke of midnight and Mulder decides to be brave and methodical by inviting Scully over for a little movie and popcorn night for a film that has stayed locked in his mind as her favorite—The Exorcist. (This is a gift for @rationalcashew)

Lamplight & Shooting Stars (COMPLETE):  It’s Spring-time in DC and spontaneous, mutually taken vacation time has become a personal mission of Mulder’s to surprise Scully with so much more than an escape from their norm—and the unseasonable, uncomfortable city heat. (For @underworldobsessed)

Into the Nightlife (ONGOING):  A little paid vacation time never hurt anyone, right? (Not giving anything away this time)

Smut

Insomniac (COMPLETE):  Another lonely, sleepless night, another dingy motel, and another town that isn’t home for Mulder…but, something changed, with the last gasp of the air conditioner as his partner, and best friend, chooses to walk through the adjoining door. (Expanded writing exercise)

Vultus in Speculo (COMPLETE):  The last of the paperwork on the Strickland case has been finalized and filed and Scully goes off for a drink at a known FBI watering hole. Mulder is invited but doesn’t show up until after Scully is halfway through a drink—giving him an opening to inquire about a whole lot more than her flirtations with the Sheriff in the booth of a rooftop bar. (written for @msrheadcanon

Phosphorescence (COMPLETE):  Still reeling from their experience in North Carolina, Mulder and Scully take a much-needed excursion to the coast of Oregon, where a flicker of light becomes more than a curiosity in the middle of the night. (Written for @anniexami)

The Darker Side of Love (COMPLETE): Mulder does not want to talk but he does not want Scully to leave, either. (This is for the MSR fanzine vol 3)

Ficlets/Drabbles/Short Prompt Collection

Affirmations and Protestations: “Fluff and Angst” Prompts (ONGOING):  

 Chapter 1 - "You Weren't Supposed to Hear That" - prompt #5, 61, 77

Chapter 2 - "Shout!" - prompt #19, 61 (From Valerie)

Chapter 3 - "Litost" - prompt #1, 85, 97 (From Monika)

Chapter 4 - "Ad Infinitum" - prompt #42 (From Minuete)

Chapter 5 - "Brick" - prompt - After Scully calls Mulder in the ep Emily, she asks him to bring her some things from home. Her journal falls to the floor and Mulder sees some things written about him that she has never allowed him to know. (from Monika)

Chapter 6 - "I'd rather be oblivious" - prompt #46 (from Annie)

Criminal Minds

Angst/UST/RST

Dulce Periculum (COMPLETE):  Maxine and Spencer have continued seeing each other, in spite of the interference brought to the surface by Cat Adams. Spencer continues to work closely with the BAU after it nearly dismantled, with signature members scattering to the winds, leaving behind only a few, including himself, to keep working on their caseload. After a long, intense case, Spencer returns home to a little more than a can of worms. (A gift for an anonymous prompter)

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Angst/UST/RST

Chasing your Silhouette (COMPLETE):  They’d learned each other’s quirks and intricacies on the job—but when did it become over the line? When did physicality become a detriment to them once they’ve taken off their shields? When did they realize the line in the sand no longer existed? (This is meant to take place a couple weeks after “Zebras” – had to assume a timeline, I don’t remember actual dates)

Paternity Redux - Time Just Stopped (COMPLETE):  Her strength has always been immeasurable—but sometimes, something has to give and a string breaks. Nothing will ever be the same.“I’m trying my best, that is enough.” - UnknownThis is part of a challenge, to right a series of wrongs in an episode that has perpetrated many a discussion of “What Could Have Been”. WriterKC, Liv.Einziger, JustAnotherBookWorm78, MrsWellRested, EORocks, AlexisDawn, ChriskaPeach, and I have stepped up to the plate to do just that.

Oblivion (ONGOING 9/? Chapters posted ***UPDATED***):   The undercover operation in Oregon takes an unexpected, unpleasant turn for Olivia Benson as an injury turns her life, and career, upside-down leaving her with pieces of her memory scattered in the wind.

Humor

Unlock the Door (TENTATIVELY COMPLETE 2/2):   Olivia returns home from a celebratory series of shots with Kim Greylek and lets Elliot Stabler hear a little more than she ever intended to in the aftermath.

Series

Polaroids and Promises (COMPLETE):   The Special Victims Unit has undergone an enormous amount of changes in the past six months, to the point that they are drastically undermanned—until a transfer from the 13th precinct brings new life, and a little chaos, to the team. Will her addition prove to be a permanent shift or a flash in the pan?

Discarded Dignity (COMPLETE):   Elora continues to gain much-needed confidence as a member of the Special Victims Unit but an arrival booked for trespassing, assaulting an officer, and disorderly throws her progress into chaos as her past jumps to the surface. Will she be able to look beyond the misstep to solve one of the most convoluted cases she’s faced? 

Contract Corruption (ONGOING 10/?):   Dickie Stabler and Justin Andrisani are in over their heads--and the members of SVU and the Organized Crime task force must come together in order to set things right.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit/Organized Crime Crossover

Series

Words of love, words of lies, words of loss

Age of Regret (COMPLETE):  Elliot Stabler has never been good with words but ten years and a double on the rocks in a lonely room will make a man pour his heart out…in any way that he can.

Infidelis (COMPLETE): Elliot had been haunted by too many ghosts; expectations, fantasies, and a promise that he knew should never be kept. It was time to lay them all to rest. “I do not regret you…I regret what you did to me.” - Unknown

[pikahlua]

Predicting the rest of the MHA series generally a.k.a. answering 14 asks in one go

The sheer volume of asks I’ve received in the last week asking about my predictions for future chapters, especially regarding Izuku and Katsuki’s future interactions since chapter 322 came out, has been honestly astounding.

So let me give y’all a blueprint for my answers, and then you can go search for your own question below the cut.

Premise: Everything since the war arc has been parallel to the events of the series until now.

The latest arc is full of parallels to prior moments in the series.

The war arc is just Katsuki Bakugou Origin all over again.

The goal to save Shigaraki visually parallels elements of the mission to rescue the kidnapped Katsuki from the Kamino arc as well as the symbolic imagery in their childhood like the bug-catching and the pond.

Shouto’s goal to save Dabi resembles elements of his sports festival match against Izuku.

There’s that whole resemblance between Katsuki and the second OFA user.

The conversation Izuku and All Might have with Inko in the hospital is a continuation of their post-Kamino parent-teacher conference.

Endeavor’s late arrival to save Deku due to the weather was foreshadowed in the Endeavor Agency arc.

Izuku leaving All Might resembles both his encounter with All Might in chapter 1 and the rescue of Katsuki in the Kamino arc.

Chapter 318 resembles the sludge villain incident of chapter 1.

Chapter 319 calls back to Deku vs Kacchan Part 0.

Everyone’s attempts to reach Izuku in chapters 320-322 reference prior events, such as Mineta’s admiration of Izuku’s spirit during the USJ arc.

Katsuki’s chapter 322 apology calls back to the Endeavor Agency arc as well as key moments in Deku vs Kacchan, Part 2 (and potentially calls forward to more future events.)

Ochako’s trial foreshadowed at the end of chapter 322 calls back to the sports festival, the Overhaul arc, and the Joint Training arc.

Basically, it’s like the last few chapters have been an accelerated summary of the rest of the MHA story that came before it. We just got a crash course in everything from chapter 1 through the Kamino arc (and maybe even a bit more).

You wanna know what happens next? I imagine all you have to do is look backward.

We’ll probably get one last school-centric arc, though the light-heartedness of it is questionable at best

Deku vs Kacchan 3 comes after that

Then the final arc (read as: something like the Overhaul arc)

There could be more mini-arcs in there than those, but given what we generally know about how much of the story is left, those seem like the gimme arcs that remain.

Okay, anons, come get yours.

It would be the best-case scenario for Ochako’s character arc to go in that direction. I don’t think she’ll be taking on this task alone, however. That’s just a little too unbelievable. I think she’ll have help...

We got a few callbacks to the Stain arc, but I don’t know how much that’ll come back. The important parts remaining are Stain’s admiration of All Might now coming face-to-face with what All Might has become in retirement. I think Stain had such a big influence on society that it’s very likely he’ll be useful again in this regard. All Might and Stain both are marked as charismatic figures that shaped society into what it had become and is currently becoming.

If they are in the car together, they could be on their way to UA. They could end up backing up Ochako as she tries to talk down the mob. Hell, Hawks could even be in the car with them. We could have a tag-team effort in getting the mob on the side of the heroes again.

Or maybe Ochako and Hawks fly everyone back into UA campus over the mob lol.

Or even better: maybe the upcoming potential school-centric arc challenges the mob to live as the heroes do. Maybe they will get a taste of the UA curriculum and develop an appreciation for what the student heroes go through. Maybe we’ll get Literally Everyone vs. Izuku or Class 1-A. That’d be...something.

Hell yeah, REALLY soon, if my skeletal theory holds up. I mean, Horikoshi wouldn’t just mention them and never deliver on that. We even got the hint after the remedial course that the schools were talking about linking up for future joint training.

Shit, Shishikura meeting Stain re: the above answer?  H e l l   y e a h.

Never say never, my friend.

There are so many ways in which it can still happen.

The reason it couldn’t happen here, why I didn’t want it to happen here, is because it’s the wrong location.

Don’t get me wrong: Kamino is close. Most of the major developmental moments between these two happen in urban landscapes (the exception being the forest/pond in their childhood). Even the final exam took place at Ground Beta.

At the very least, there has to be a road with painted lines.

(What’s that? Did I just imply something about the Endeavor Agency arc’s ending? I don’t know what you’re talking about.)

Katsuki got tons of time to think post-Kamino. Hell, he even had a day to consider Izuku’s sudden quirk manifestation before their first combat training against each other. It only makes sense that Izuku will get his time to process before the true Deku vs Kacchan, Part 3 confrontation.

There are so many things such a confrontation could be about. Can Katsuki hold his own against Izuku, thus earning him a spot fighting alongside him as a team? Will Katsuki have even properly healed by this point? Will this be a contest of strength, or perhaps something else entirely? I love a good subversion, and an anticlimactic joke thrown in there for laughs? Horikoshi uses this trope in some of my favorite ways.

Oh, you read my mind.

If Deku vs Kacchan, Part 3 is played straight, then Izuku has to prove he’s made OFA his own in order to defeat Katsuki.

I’ll just say this: How can Izuku possibly make the case that he’s made OFA his own if he hasn’t unlocked the Second’s quirk yet?

Shit, who has been at the center of just about every one of OFA’s quirk awakenings in the first place?

Motherfuckin’ Katsuki Bakugou.

DvK1 (in flashback):

DvK2:

It’ll be DvK3 for sure.

Either that or rescuing an exhausted, limb-shattered Izuku at the very, very end, lol.

Katsuki has a tendency to be unconscious in the nurse’s office lol.

Though honestly: WHERE IS RECOVERY GIRL? WHY IS KATSUKI STILL INJURED?

I kinda like the idea that maybe he refused treatment until he could apologize to Izuku, actually.

Nah, like, that would go over well in fanfic, but Horikoshi doesn’t waste time. He clearly tries to get out of the slow scenes quickly, or at least his editors push him to do so. These two idiots? They talk best with their fists and high-capacity lungs. We gettin’ DvK3 for that one.

@reaperhart

Again, I don’t think Katsuki necessarily needs a power-up.

He was still injured during Kamino. That’s why he couldn’t handle the speed that Iida’s body could take. And Katsuki has defeated All Might before, albeit with help (although honestly not THAT much as Izuku was pretty half-hearted in his participation).

And honestly, Katsuki could go into this as a team leader with class 1-A vs Izuku and I’d still count it. I still say class 1-A is Katsuki’s One For All.

But even by himself, if you give him time to heal? I think we’ve got a really exciting match on our hands.

It already kind of had been. I do think there are still things to resolve though. I have said before that their relationship is appealing for how it changes literally every time we see them. There are still some feelings they need to air, particularly on Izuku’s side. Ultimately, the trajectory of their relationship is toward an easier friendship, probably a strong teamwork/nakama dynamic being the safest assumption. Are we at the full resolution yet? God I hope not. Their drama is much too fun.

In Japan, switching the name you call someone is kind of a big deal. It’s a huge acknowledgement in the shift of a dynamic. I think the use of “Deku” and “Kacchan” as nicknames has been a narrative symbol of how both of them are still stuck in the past when it comes to each other, how their relationship is still developmentally young. Katsuki saying “Izuku” symbolizes maturity. Izuku saying “Katsuki” could mean the same. However, it doesn’t have to go in that direction either. I’d be fine either way.

If they’re on the battlefield, Katsuki is almost certain to call him “Deku” because that’s his hero name. That’s who he is on missions. So at least we can look forward to that.

Plus, “Deku” could come to mean something a little different between them anyways.

He kind of already had one? Maybe a death scare on Izuku’s part would be more realistic. On Katsuki’s end though? Seems...repetitive after chapter 285.

I think there’s plenty of potential for dramatic angst on the battlefield between these two that doesn’t rely on Katsuki having a near-death experience, especially since that would undermine his point that he can fight alongside Izuku.

Heck, DvK3 could have a twist ending, say, with a kidnapping or two? An invasion, perhaps? The possibilities there are pretty much endless.

(I won’t take you to task on suggesting Katsuki has a villain counterpart he needs to defeat, though).

(The theory you’re referencing.)

I actually know very little about Spider-Man, or most of the things Horikoshi references, to be honest. But I mean...I’ve seen the imagery, and I’ve heard people talk. I hope people will point out to me any parallels they see should they happen. :)

You have said nothing with which I disagree.

Not that I think it will necessarily happen that way, but those things are definitely on my short list of high possibilities.

The most important meta I hope I can write soon I vaguely alluded to at the end of this post as well as earlier in this response post, and that’s how the Overhaul arc could come back in a big way for the finale of the MHA story.

It’s all there.