#in death I reflect on the death of ophelia

[aseacometorest]

I wake early and angry, I eat oatmeal with thyme honey,

I call my sister, I call my mother, I call my other sisters, my brothers,

I worry about my feverish lover, I worry about my siblings, jobless now.

I send an ill-advised e-mail, I don’t send an ill-advised tweet.

I’m alone so I’m lonely. That’s what my sister says.

Time to stay indoors, the doctor says, all the doctors say,

but the open window betrays that not everyone’s voice dies to solitude.

Shut up, shut up! the window slams.

Time to embrace the virtues of boredom, the price of happiness again, after.

The window shows men digging a place for survivors of the future, the rich ones.

It will be a condo tower, glass walls for better envy.

They’ve built the frames, I see, around the holes where doors will someday go.

Capitalism! So full of holes and hope.

If I try to remember what it was like, childhood, a period of kudzu

growth that felt like stasis in the white-glazed room where days upon days my father shut me—

if I try, I see the ceiling, that water stain trailing down

like brown Pre-Raphaelite curls, hair of a drowning girl among reeds,

which later I recognized in a painting of a pale drowning Ophelia.

I love alone, I tell my sister. She says, You just want to.

I agree I want the past.

For a magnolia to bloom on a crowded street, all safe in beauty, for I

still love the world, though it drowns

and dies like that girl, avoidably.

A professor once asked, pleased we wouldn’t know,

Who is really responsible for the death of Ophelia?

The answer, he said, ought to feel like we have arrived together

at a skyscraper’s peak, where the inhuman

view reveals in windows and in streets

the small, sick or potentially sick bodies—each one a new array of questions.

The only possible epiphany is that the ending of a thought is never such.

Together. I liked the word in the professor’s mouth.

But if I am alone, and if I am lonely, and if I am not alone in loneliness, and if the everyone

together suffers, and if this everyone suffers and dies by the unguided motion of matter, and if

also by the motion of craven, murderous men, and if also by the motion of money, and if of course

you were always going to die, Ophelia, and if even so your death remains unforgivable,

then what are the questions I should ask? All I have is sleeplessness and rage,

and that’s no answer, it’s not even a thought, though it might not end till my body does,

perhaps not even then, as I can imagine it going on past my ending, and really—

what more suitable ghost could I leave behind? Since I do love the world.

‘In Quarantine, I Reflect on the Death of Ophelia”by Elisa Gonzalez

[lina-studen]

"something floral": literature student blabbering about the usage of flower symbolism in "nevermore", how it ties to the theme of insanity and a little bit (a lot) about shakespeare.

from lenore's perspective, flowers are closely associated with isolation caused by her trauma and supposed "hysteria". floral pattern wallpaper accompanied her loneliness for days, months, even years. image of the flowers signaled that lenore's position would remain unchanged, that she was stuck, that she would continue to slowly loosing the clarity of her mind.

having torn the wallpaper off the walls, lenore believes that she will never see this image again, but flowers continue to accompanying her. lenore sees them again during her first meeting with annabel lee. and during the last one, too. she may have managed to get out of her lonely room, gain more strength in her legs, find a new friend, but lenore is still trapped. she's the daughter disowned by her parents, a stain on the family reputation that must be hidden forever. the image of flowers doesn't let her forget about it.

similar symbolism is also not alien to annabel lee. episode 66 is interesting in particular, because it directly quotes ophelia's monologue. I'm a big fan of shakespeare, it was he who instilled in me an interest in floral symbolism. a year ago, for a conference on foreign literature, I wrote an article about flower language of "hamlet". it's not available in english, but I'll list down some points that I considered relevant regarding "nevermore".

• rosemary can serve as a keepsake between lovers and also between the dead and the living. it could be seen at both weddings and funerals. in the old days it was also believed to be helpful in mental illnesses treatment.

• pansies, just like violets, symbolize innocence and devotion. ophelia doesn't consider the people around her worthy of violets, since she blames them for the death of her father.

• rue is a symbol of eternal suffering; grieving over her murdered father and the loss of her beloved hamlet, ophelia leaves some of the flowers for herself.

• the image of daisies has a close connection with the concepts of innocence, fidelity and eternal love. in shakespeare's tragedy, this symbol is overshadowed by the fact that in the world around ophelia there's no place for these beautiful things. for "nevermore" the symbol is also not so positive, since the readers are already familiar with daisies. they were on that wallpaper in lenore's room.

it's impossible not to note that annabel lee recites the monologue while in the bath, in the water. ophelia decides not to resist the river flow. her life turned into a tragedy: she was left without a father, her lover has seemingly lost his mind. her own sanity is also called into question. ophelia sings cryptic songs, goes into the field to weave a wreath, gives flowers to other characters. in the eyes of those around them, hamlet and ophelia seem crazy, while being the only sane and honest people among them. there's no place for tender, innocent ophelia in a cruel, deceitful world, so she drowns.

annabel lee also reflects on how both she and lenore are considered madwomen. her meeting with "leo" is accompanied by floral pattern on the annabel's dress. their madness is contextual, they both are perfectly sane, but don't fit into the system that could be leading to real madness with time. "all madwomen die twice. at least twice".

now about the arboretum. it obviously has a lot of flowers, but in my opinion this place is interesting in a different context. lenore and annabel visited the arboretum twice to discuss upcoming plans and such, and there are many parallels, both visual and narrative. not much time has passed since last time, but their situation has changed. they seem to look on their past selves from the upper level, having their conflict more acute now. I'll make a more detailed post about it later.

and now I'll just focus on how the characters in this arboretum full of roses behave as lost and confused as in the phobia-inducing flower labyrinth from earlier episodes. “the closer you get to beautiful flowers, the closer you get to their thorns,” says duke in episode 38. the flower imagery haunting the main characters doesn't let them forget that their sanity is always on a verge of slipping. and once a flower falls from its stem, it cannot be fixed.

p.s. guess which writer’s works I chose for a new article this year?

[firstfullmoon]

Elisa Gonzalez, from “In Quarantine, I Reflect on the Death of Ophelia”

[havingapoemwithyou]

in quarantine, i reflect on the death of ophelia by Elisa Gonzalez

[wyfy-meltdown]

It is literally foreshadowed in her name Kyoko is bound to suicide with Sayaka as sakura's are heavily associated with kamikazes. Besides aforementioned timeline; In Portable, during the scheduled downfall of Sayaka, and eventual death at Homura's hands, Kyoko has a breakdown switching between laughing, crying, until eventually screaming in pain as she turns to Ophelia, saying she was stupid to think she could save Sayaka. Ophelia's labyrinth literally has little fish floating around, it's so clearly underwater, it's so clearly tied to Sayaka, there are staves with musical notes coming out of the ground of the labyrinth. And as if that isn't enough, the music playing is relatively similar to Symposium Magarum, at the very least a part of it, altered, slower, on a different instrument - it's there however if you listen close. Kyoko is so tied to Sayaka in her mind that even if in series they weren't on the best of terms, it affects her in death. Her feelings are obvious once stirred through enough, it's Sayaka that refuses any aid, or a chance at another way. There IS, another way, that through Kyoko, however Sayaka's ideation of a magical girl is heavily tied to Mami's image (not Mami herself, but how she presented, lacking the vulnerability she shared with Madoka) who is in complete contrast to Kyoko. The full "you die a hero or live long enough become a villain". No matter how much she runs away from it however, I feel that in Rebellion Sayaka embraces both sides (and creating the doppel system by proxy). On another note, and parallel, Sayaka chose to "give her life away", becoming a magical girl meant suicide to her in the end and, the argument with Madoka in the rain may had still lingered in the back of her mind, so Kyoko choosing suicide to keep her company mirrored that and maybe, just maybe, she felt understood through it. It was the ultimate sacrifice Sayaka made for love and association could be made to believe that Kyoko's suicide is also her confession. The magnet metaphor is due the blue/red but also you need to hold them in a certain way for them stick (as the same ends will push one another away, the same they did under the same condition) and when they do, they're insepparable.

Thank you for the opportunity to ramble ^^

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS!!!

I've never been able to play/watch play throughs of the portable games, so I lack a lot of context when it comes to events and information presented in it.

Kyoko has a strange mild obsession with Sayaka and saving Sayaka, which almost reminds me of Homura and Madoka's relationship.

I feel the warped (not in the toxic sense, just unconventional sense) ideas that Kyoko has about expressing her love to Sayaka reflects her past and the wish she made for her father. To Kyoko, love means absolute devotion and sacrifice. In Japan, there's a myth that two lovers who commit suicide together are reborn as twins and/or reborn as the same person. Kyoko truly does see kamikazeing herself into Oktavia as a way for her to fully express the feeling of "I love you and I swear I won't leave you alone or abandon you for someone else".

While I believe Kyoko originally intended to warn Sayaka about wishing for others (sorta how Mami did), and pitied her because the circumstances of Sayaka's wish were so similar to her own, she fell fast and hard.

They're both so similar and yet oppositionally different. They're both so, so, deeply and desperately lonely and Kyoko sees this and sees a way for the two of them to overcome their loneliness together. But Sayaka has such a strong idea of "a good magical girl" and "a good person" she won't allow herself to connect with anyone else, especially not Kyoko, who she views as "evil" (I believe Mami played a part in this view).

They could've had a happy ending and saved eachother if only Sayaka wasn't so stubborn and Kyoko could take a gentler approach. The very direct "full-force love" style they both have, with the added "inability to properly confess without use of secretive acts of devotion" is why we got the ending we did.

I know you're asking anonymously, but I'm pretty sure I know who you are based off the expansion from a previous reblog/post lol. Thank you so much for ranting like this!!! I'm so happy you expanded on the previous ideas!!!

[lunearcher]

I spent a lot of time thinking about the flowers on these covers....

Columbine

In Hamlet, Ophelia says, “There is fennel for you and columbines” the latter referring to folly. So I think it suited Sergey-Snake very well. 

Columbine is a resilient flower that can grow in a variety of adverse conditions, just like the rise of Russia's youngest billionaire. So, they are also symbols of resistance and perseverance. 

The meaning of the columbine flower is also associated with taking risks as if it could say “nothing risked, nothing gained”. A characteristic that combines well with the character's reckless side.

In tarot, Columbine is linked to The Fool. The best-known image of this card is a careless young man with his about to fall off a cliff, he has a little dog by his side. This dog serves as his protector, warning him not to make mistakes (Hi, Oleg!).

Lily White

White lilies symbolize purity and rebirth and are often chosen for weddings and funerals. 

It is also said in medicine to help relieve headache and is given to people who have suffered loss.

In the synopsis of this edition it is said that Oleg needs to reflect on his role and leaves to search for his identity. I think it fits well with this idea of ​​rebirth. In addition to all the connection and "death" of the connection with Sergey in this process. Or perhaps it even refers to the "near-death" process that Oleg faces after Black Bird's five shots: the Oleg we know in The Game dies and this gives him new meaning.

The greatest arcana with Lilies in the Tarot is the Magician. The flowers are at the bottom of the card. 

In a positive aspect, the Magician represents resourcefulness, power and inspired action. Negatively, it can mean poor planning and untapped talents. I feel like it fits well with his development.

[vacant--body]

stay with me pt 2

<azriel shadowsinger x OFC>

warnings: mentions of trauma, physical harm, violence and gore(ish)

part one, part three, part four, part five

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Ophelia was only slightly hung over the next morning, thankfully. She was up early, earlier than normal. To be honest, she hadn’t slept at all. That moment she had shared with Azriel kept replaying in her head. Her thoughts kept tossing between she should have stayed and she should have pushed him off sooner. She had let it get too far and it didn’t go far enough.

She stared at her naked reflection in the full length body mirror. Ugly scars littered her body. Fae healing rarely left scars, but when they were severe enough they stayed. Madja had tried telling her that it was the scars of the mind that kept the scars of the body from healing, but she brushed her off.

The ones that had seen her naked had tried to ask, but when she felt their thoughts lingering too long, she was already out the door. Ophelia didn’t feel like sharing her traumas with strangers anyway.

As her eyes tracked up her body, they landed on the already fading purple and yellow marks that Azriel had left on her. These…these weren’t ugly. These were beautiful, these were made from him. Carefully, the pads of her fingers grazed one and instantly felt a rush of heat pool between her legs.

Gasping, she turned away from herself, shame dampening the rush of desire that took over her entire body. She was so stupid, so stupid that for a second she actually let herself believe that she could have someone. She had felt alive with Azriel holding her so close. It was like breathing the first breath of fresh air after being held under water too long.

Shoving those thoughts out of her head, Ophelia dressed herself. A simple black turtleneck with matching black pants. The turtleneck was the only clothing that would cover the marks Azriel had left. She didn’t need her busy body friends asking questions, if Cassian hadn’t already told everyone.

Rhys?

A moment later, she got a reply.

Phia? You’re up early.

She rolled her eyes at the invisible response. She did not have the energy to bicker with him this morning.

Could you come get me? I have some things I’d like to go over with you.

Can’t you have Cass or Az? I’m currently…indisposed.

Gagging to herself, she took a deep breath and pressed him harder.

Cassian has training with the priestesses, I don’t want to bother him.

Okay? What about Az?

Rhys!

Fine, fine. I’ll be there soon.

You better not smell like sex.

She could have sworn she heard laughter as Rhysand slammed the walls of his mind shut. She loved Rhys like a brother and now Feyre as a sister. When he came back from Under the Mountain rambling about how he had found his mate, she couldn’t have been happier. He deserved it, after all.

The day Rhys welcomed Ophelia into his court with open arms was both fuzzy and crystal clear in her mind. Her and Mor had found each other, both on the brink of death on the edges of the Autumn Courts forest. When she had thought they would both succumb to their wounds…there he was.

Azriel.

His shadows had swirled around them and it felt strange, but comforting. He held them both as they silently sobbed before winnowing back to Velaris.

But unlike Mor, Ophelia couldn’t remember a single thing before that moment. Rhys had tried, Madja had tried. But it was just blank. Sometimes she would get flashes, a warm sun, the smell of smoke, burnt oranges and brown, the bright flash of a knife as it flayed her skin open. But the only thing she did remember was her name.

Ophelia.

In those first few days, she said it to herself silently and allowed like a prayer. She had no idea who she was or where she came from, but she did have that. And nobody could take it from her.

It took her years to fully recover, and that was only physically. Mentally was another story. But there were more important things she had to deal with, so she pushed it down. Some days it felt like it would all come bubbling to the surface, her skin remembering the feeling of what it felt like to be shredded to bits, but her mind having no memory of it. It was its own brand of personal torture. Those days she took sleeping drafts and stayed in bed, not wanting her friends to see the madness that was brewing behind her eyes.

I’m here, where are you?

The sound of Rhys' voice jarred her from her thoughts, and Ophelia realized she had been pacing.

Come to my balcony, please.

I will if you tell me what’s wrong.

She didn’t reply, instead grabbing her bag and pulling it over her shoulders, and secured her daggers to her thighs. A moment later she heard the flapping of wings and the sound of boots thudding on her balcony.

Coming out, she squinted her eyes at Rhys. “You smell like sex.” She said, scrunching up her nose.

“Thank you.” Rhys smiled as he gathered her up in his arms. He didn’t speak again until they were almost to the River House.

“Care to tell me what’s wrong?”

“Not particularly.” Ophelia grumbled.

“I’m guessing it has to do something with Az?”

Ophelia jolted, whipping her head towards him. “How-”

“Cassian may have mentioned something last night about how he had caught you two, and you ran off and now Azriel is, well, I don’t know what Azriel is right now.”

Ophelia was silent for a moment longer.

“Did he do something-”

“No! Mother Rhys, no!” Ophelia gasped, shocked he would even think like that. “It’s me. I can’t-can’t-”

“Hey, it’s okay.” He reassured her, as they touched down on the flat rooftop. “Trust me I understand, it’s just that I don’t think Az does.”

She took several steps away from him, distancing herself. Like she always does when someone got too close.

“Nothing he did was anything I didn’t want.” She told him, looking him in his violet eyes. Crossing her arms, she waited for some kind of scolding. She knew she hurt Azriel, and she also knew the boys were very protective of each other.

“I still think you should talk to him. Explain yourself instead of hiding.”

Sighing, she leaned her head back, looking up at the morning sky. “Enough about me, that’s not why I’m here.”

“I know, and the answer is already yes.”

Leaning in, she kissed her brother on the cheek. “I’ll be back soon, three days tops.”

Then, she winnowed. One moment she was in Velaris, her High Lord standing before her. The next, she was standing in a quiet forest, the burnt orange and red leaves swaying in the crisp breeze.

Ophelia always thought the Autumn Court was beautiful. There was just something about how the air permanently smelled like apples and the way the fallen leaves crunched underneath her boots. But the people here? She hated them more than anything.

Normally, it was Azriel and her that came on these missions. Scouting out Beron and his Court seemed like a full time job, lately. There were constant meetings being held inside his castle, troops moving about on the Spring Courts border.

It seemed like Beron had taken a page from the Human Queens book and completely warded his castle, Azriels shadows couldn’t even get it. So they were out here every couple of days, looking for the weak points.

But now, she couldn’t work with Azriel. Not without risking talking about what happened between them, what had changed. Mother, why weren’t males content with being only friends? But had they only just been friends? Az was softer to her than most, kinder and sweeter. He was one of the only ones that would check on her when she was having those types of days. She thought it was because of his own trauma, that he understood. But was it only just that?

The hairs on the back of Ophelia's neck prickled suddenly. Crouching low, she took stock of her surroundings. The landscape around her was empty, mostly forest and a couple farms. There wasn’t a lot in this part of the court. But that feeling lingered, almost like she was being watched.

A branch snapped behind her and she whirled, sending her dagger flying. She knew she hit her mark when someone whale in pain. Ophelia began to rapidly prepare her energy to winnow, but she wasn’t fast enough.

An arrow embedded itself deep into her shoulder, coming out the other end and pinning her against a nearby tree. Screaming internally, she tried to winnow again. But her powers just disappeared inside her. One moment they were there, beneath the surface of her skin, and then they were gone.

Fucking ash arrows.

“Look at this!” Someone laughed, off in the distance. “A whore from the Court of Nightmares!”

A small group of soldiers materialized out of the shadows of the trees. All had bows, and all were trained on her. Ophelia snarled, but her fight was draining. Too quickly it was draining. She didn’t recognize the males, except one. It was one of Eris’s brothers. As he drew closer, she saw that he held her dagger, which dripped with blood. He crouched down in front of her, a twisted grin spread across his face.

“You’re coming with me.” He snarled, before plunging the dagger into Ophelia's leg.

The burning world of gold and brown and red, all faded to black.

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taglist- @marvelouslovely-barnes

[just-an-enby-lemon]

DnD Night at Arkham

[They started it on Arkham as a form of group therapy and kept it after they scaped but on a special room on the Iceberg Lounge. Catwoman and Penguin entered later (via Harley and Riddler insidtence respectivaly) and Joker was banned because he kept geting Nat 20s in all his rolls]

.

Riddler: You rescue the hostage. He is a simple human lumberjack. He offers you wood as a payment.

Poison Ivvy: Is the wood ethically sourced?

Riddler: He is a human lumberjack in a medieval scenario I don't think he even knows what ethically sourced wood is.

Poison Ivvy: I cast poison spray on his face. How dare he hurt the trees!

Riddler: Let me roll... You know what, no, he is a normal middle aged lumberjack. He just dies.

Penguin: NO! I wanted that wood! I could have sold it!!

Catwoman: Didn't he had some important information? Pam?!

Poison Ivvy: Well he should had ethically sourced his wood!

Penguin: Edward bring him back right now!

Riddler: I can't just bring him back! Pamela killed him. You should have tried to stop her. Do not blame me, I'm just the DM. By the way your next encounter are his wife and kids.

-

Scarecrow: I cast fear!

Riddler: *rolls dice multiple times* The soldiers fail their test. They are terrifield.

Scarecrow: Good. What are they seeing? What is their fear reaction? How is their heart rate?

Riddler: That's it! Every single time you cast fear you force me to do a ridiculously long description of their reactions no one else cares about. *the other Rogues agree* Please stop.

Scarecrow: People react to fear differently and afraid of different things, Edward, and is my mission to study it.

Riddler: They all see a monster and run.

Scarecrow: That's unrealistic. Not a single one paralyzes? No one screams? They all have the same monster as their biggest fears? Did they had a similar traumatic experience? But even so it wouldn't explain they all having the same reaction. Honestly, that's truly not how real people act.

Riddler: They aren't REAL, Crane. They are FAKE PEOPLE I just MADE UP. They act in any way I want.

Scarecrow: Oh so they are a reflection of your fear of losing control!

Riddler: You keep that and you're out.

Scarecrow: So if I just described their fears and reactions would it make you anxious because you lost control over your "fake people".

Riddler: Anyway is Two-Face's turn. Also Crane you characther is poisoned. He acidentaly steped in a poisonous plant while trying to analyse the soldiers fears.

Scarecrow: That's not fair.

Riddler: Two-Face?

.

Harley: Can I cast a illusion spell to pretend to be his dead wife?

Riddler: I'm interresed. Make your roll.

Mr. Freeze: Don't do that. It's too cruel, this poor man deserves better.

Two-Face: He separated our group in different torment chambers and he is trying to kill us!

Mr. Freeze: But his dead wife! He clearly loves her still and loves her soo much.

Catwoman: I think that's the point...

Riddler: It's up to Harley.

Harley: Does he has a dead daughter?

Riddler: Does he?

Harley: *rolls* NAT 20!

Riddler: He does. He loved her even more than his wife.

Harley: I pretend to be his dead daugther.

Mr. Freeze: See way less cruel.

.

Riddler: *starts giggling*

Two-Face: ugh.

Harley: oh no.

Penguin: Is another puzzle maze isn't it?

Catwoman: Please don't be another puzzle maze.

Riddler: Is not a puzzle maze!

*everyone celebrates*

Riddler: You guys see yourselfs trapped in a beutifull, amazing, perfectly done... death trap! : )

*everyone boos*

.

MadHatter: Can I kiddnap his kid, Dormouse?

Riddler: You can?????!

Catwoman: Why? Why do you want to kiddnap the royal's guard kid?

MadHatter: She has a Cheshire cat.

Scarecrow: Is not a Cheshire Cat is just a cat called Cheshire.

MadHatter: Same thing, March Hare.

Harley: Kiddnap the cat!

MadHatter: But than she'll be alone. If I take booth of them, they will be together as Alice and the Cheshire Cat. She'll be ny daugther and we will be a Woonderland family.

Poison Ivvy: Her name is Ophelia.

MadHatter: If I succeed in kidnapping her can I change her name, Dormouse?

Riddler: I supose?

Two-Face: Don't fucking encourage him, Nygma!

.

Two-Face: I attack the sphinx with my sword of shadows. *rolls the dice* Dammit Nat 1.

Riddler: Your paladin tries to attack the sphinxs, his sword does no damage. The sphinxs smiles cruely. How dare you try to solve matters of the mind with muscles??? YOU TRULY ARE ALL BRAWL AND NO BRAINS! YOU ARE THROWED AGAINST THE WALL. YOUR HP DROPS TO ONE. NOW YOUR ONLY CHANCE IS TO SOLVE THE IMPOSSIBLE RIDDLE. HOW DARE YOUR MORAL PALADIN OF JUSTICE THINK HE COULD JUST PUNCH ME AWAY? YOU HAVE NO CHANCE DARK NIGHT! NO CHANCE AT ALL AHAHAHA. TODAY IS THE END OF BATMAN AHAHAHAHA *everyone looks at Riddler* *he blushes* i mean ... is harley's turn...

.

Two-Face: I steal his sword. I finally have two swords!

Harley: But both need two hands to use.

Two-Face: Perfection.

[clonerightsagenda]

Zigzagging the prompt a bit but I want to talk about Olivia Breckenridge today.

The first time I listened to Arden season 2, I was very worried about Olivia, considering this is a Hamlet retelling and she's one (sneakily two) of the characters who do not make it out alive. Luckily, Liv dodges the narrative's attempts to doom her. But recently I've been thinking about the 'transition killed my beautiful cis child' rhetoric and how Ophelia dies and trying to put those in conversation, especially regarding Liv's relationship with Dana.

In the show, most of Liv's acquaintances accept her identity. We learn that Paul briefly kicked her out but then changed his mind and supports her. Claude and Trudy never trip up on her pronouns, iirc. The only person to deadname her is Dana.

Ophelia gets dealt a rough hand in Hamlet. Her first appearances are her brother and father policing her sexuality because she's a woman, then everyone assuming it's her fault Hamlet's gone mad, then Hamlet being cruel to her while again targeting her gender and sexuality. She's destabilized by her father's death and dies offscreen, with Gertrude telling everyone that she fell into water and was dragged down, unresisting, by her waterlogged gown.

So, Ophelia is hassled from all angles over whether she's being the right kind of woman, and then the physical trappings of womanhood drag her to her death. The gravediggers assume she killed herself, although accident and murder are also on the table. Can we see Liv's transition as a reclamation of Ophelia's fate - an assertion of her kind of femininity, even if some people would mourn it as an act of self-destruction?

After being horrible to her for several acts, Hamlet jumps into Ophelia's grave and insists he loves her more than her brother did. As I said before, Dana is the one who deadnames Olivia. She's stuck not only in the past but her own recreation of it - insisting their marriage was a happy one, pretending her relationship with her father was great and everyone loved him, trying to get Liv to remarry her like that can fix everything that went wrong. It's somewhat ambiguous how much Dana deadnaming Liv reflects her view of Liv's gender (does she really still see her as her husband? was it calculated to hurt because she understands the truth?), but she's in the graveyard talking to bones either way, because she refuses to recognize Liv now. (When prompted, Dana can't even answer basic questions about her life.)

Liv can't quite escape Dana's orbit, but she does survive. By 'killing' her past self and recasting herself out of Dana's story, she's able to inhabit her own. So there's some toxic yuri for today.

As much as this relationship sucks and I'm glad Liv got out, "To a Nunnery" always makes me feel things, and a piece of podcast art beyond my skillset that I nonetheless fantasize about a lot is Dana and Olivia together by the fire at the end of high school, Dana with her guitar, and the sparks rising up to the future where Olivia's standing staring at the burning house. Take my hand; let's go watch the fire. It sure didn't turn out the way we hoped when we were young.

[d4rksplash]

JACK STAUBER'S OPAL BUT IT'S OPHELIA HAMLET

DO YOU SEE MY VISION IS THIS ANYTHING (this is partially inspired by @rudymentari's Frostpaw project lol) (TW for mentions of abuse, toxic family relationships and MEGA CRINGE bc I got a bit too silly mapping this out)

We begin with Ophelia in this idealized version of Elsinore where Laertes, Hamlet and Polonius are all happy and nice but THEN WE SEE THE RIVER

Ophelia's told not to pay attention to it but that night she sees some distorted figure crying there

She starts heading over, coming to the balcony of the throne room where she encounters... LAERTES!!!

Easy to Breathe in this context revolves around his dependence on her as an emotional crutch, someone who makes it "easier to breathe" in his stifling life as Polonius' son. He abandons her to go to France ("on TV") and be with the "idea salesmen" and "singing girls," leaving her all alone.

Throughout this segment, we see her simultaneously feeling jealous of Laertes' new "friends" (they just want to steal his soul, not like her, he needs her) and beginning to realize that maaaaybe they were unhealthily close???

Laertes fails to recognize her as Ophelia, chasing her into the throne room before falling off the balcony (we can see him laying there twitching in the background of some shots in the next segment)

She's discovered by HAMLET YAY MAN OF THE HOUR woo fuckin hoo

GOD I cannot put into words how much the "small growing thing" monologue fits his victim complex and casual disregard for Ophelia's humanity like HOLY SHIT THAT'S HIM

Mirror Man focuses on how he makes Ophelia feel responsible for never "turning him down," ensuring he's not "living his nightmare." He only really sees her as a mirror to view himself through-- if she doesn't like him, who will?!

He hypes himself up to her, trying to keep her interested; failing that, he proceeds to outright attack her in a blind rage

He calms himself down, only for Laertes to wake back up and attack him! Laertes continues pursuing Ophelia while Hamlet is left on the ground just like in his death scene, whimpering pitifully

She breaks through one of the mirrors, walking down a long pathway where she encounters POLONIUS

He keeps fading in and out, leading her further down the path like a Will o' the Wisp. He looks wistfully back at the palace, seeming like he's about to admit to regretting something or another, before pushing the feeling aside and talking about how he's the only other person who can understand surviving, not living, just like she does.

Virtuous Cycle shows Polonius and Ophelia's messy, codependent relationship. Polonius resents the fact that Ophelia requires extra care, and can never quite fit in, but being there for her makes him feel whole, like he's doing something good for once in his life. Likewise, Ophelia can't stand Polonius' controlling nature, but feels like she needs his approval and guidance to function.

The scene with the phone dialing 911 and the broken bottle is replaced with a shot of a bunch of thick bars in front of a small, red, abstract shape. As it cuts to Ophelia's distorted, screaming face, we're supposed to realize that it's her view of her dad's body being taken away

Polonius' voice echoes in her mind, telling her she's just as powerless as him as hands burst out of the darkness, trying to drag her back into the castle

After she escapes them, she comes to the river

I'm torn on whether the replacement for Billboard!Opal is Ophelia's reflection, showing her how she appears in part 2 of the mad scene or Ophelia's mom (as she appears in that one photo on Polonius' nightstand) bc like

While the former makes more sense in the context of the original short the latter would imply that this is a cycle where Elsinore just keeps driving people to madness; this cost Ophelia a mother and the only way she can feel her unconditional love is by joining her in death

Laertes, Hamlet and Polonius start crawling out of the bushes, and Ophelia climbs up the willow tree to escape them

Whichever of the two entities I decide on quietly approaches, pulling her into the water as she screams

How I'd deal with the reprise of We See You, Opal depends on which entity I go with

Option 1: Ophelia's spirit approaches Elsinore with Polonius in tow, ready to collect the souls of Hamlet and Laertes. At first, it looks like she's happily guiding them to Heaven, but as the scene changes and she glitches into her alternate form (the one seen at the river), it becomes clear that she's pulling them downwards, grinning wickedly as they stare at her with panicked expressions.

Option 2: The entire thing is sung by Ophelia's mother as she drags her daughter further into the depths. Ophelia struggles against her at first, but then closes her eyes and embraces her mother. Maybe it eventually fades back to Elsinore, where (ONE OF MY FIFTH HOUR OCS LOL GOTTA REVEAL THEM) is looking up at some group of authority figures, indicating that the cycle is gonna begin again.

[clem-l-orange]

my long essay about why Babel is such an interesting ark and deserves to be explored more

(Prefacing this by saying I read the books in French, so if I make any mistakes I apologize, French is also my first language so I may make some mistakes)

SPOILERS FOR BOOKS 3 & 4 AHEAD!!!!

We are introduced to the Ark of Babel in book 3 of La Passe Miroir when Ophelia escapes Anima to find Thorn, and chooses to go to Babel after following some clues to his location.

Babel is a “cosmopolitan ark”, where many different cultures mix due to the high rate of immigration. However, there is a divide in between the “Sons of Pollux” (Babelians descended from Pollux, who have Babelian powers) and the “Godchildren of Helen” (I apologize for the poor translation please correct me), who are either powerless and native to Babel, or not native to Babel at all. From the first chapters in Babel, we can see that these two social groups are segregated with dress codes, and there is even a time when Ambrose, the son of Lazarus, a wealthy and influential Powerless man, gets insults hurled at him for his background. In book 4, “A Storm of Echoes”, recent immigrants as well as political opposers are rounded up and sent to their deaths/deported from the Ark, . There is also a clear segregation within the city of Babel between Powerless people and others, with a majoritarily Powerless neighborhood being referred to as “The Powerless Quarters” (I may have translated wrong). This neighborhood is considered the “slum” of Babel, and is clearly described as a poorly maintained, badly policed and dangerous place to live.

Another dystopian aspect of Babel that we learn in the first few chapters is the extreme censorship of words relating to violence, war, crime… etc. The “Index” suppresses the use of these words, going as far as punishing those who say the words, even in non-violent contexts. This goes as far as branding murders and clearly voluntary deaths as “accidents”. The suppression of the words in the Index leads to misinformation in journals, and even book burning in what is supposed to be the oldest library on the arch, the Memorial. There are many parallels to be drawn from instances in history where books were burnt to stop the spread of information, but I love how this book spins it to make this censorship “in advocacy for peace”. Books about war are cleansed from libraries, collections of ancient artifacts as well. The “Master Censurer” at the memorial even goes as far as burning any book that Professor Wolf, the Memorial’s resident expert on “Prehistoric Wars” goes near. Babel is a dystopia under a blanket of pacifism.

We later learn about the “Observatory of Deviations”, which concept resembles a mental asylum/psych ward/home for the troubled??? All we learn about this place from the third book is that it is very secretive and treats it’s patients like property, which is even more enforced in the fourth book, when we see firsthand what happens in the Observatory, and when we learn that certain patients get branded with tattoos against their will. Blaise, a friend Ophelia made on Babel, describes the place to her, and makes a point that if you go there, you are the property of the workers, you cannot leave, and no information about your progress is ever disclosed to you. They are more interested in your “deviation” than your “personal preferences”. After reading about Ophelia’s own experiences at the Observatory, it became clear that the place was meant to be an allegory for some abusive psychiatric asylum, that the “deviants” were meant to represent neurodivergent and physically disabled people. Later in book 4, it is revealed that Lazarus is the master of this operation. When I heard this, my brain did a double take and I circled back to the part where Lazarus was described as a “father figure” to Blaise. The fact that Lazarus used his patients and their trust for his own personal gain (in this case for ��scientific discovery”) I feel really reflects into real life in other situations.

Unemployment and the replacement of people by AI is also addressed in books 3 and 4, as automatons take up most of the manual labor on Babel, leaving Powerless people no jobs to support them. When visiting the Powerless Quarters with Octavio in book 3, Ophelia runs in to the Fearless and Almost Blameless, who proceeds to shame Octavio and tell him that, by walking around in his Forerunners uniform, he is humiliating those around him who have no future. Since almost all of the jobs that do not require powers are taken by automatons or people with power and influence, it seems like the poorer Powerless people have no future. In book 4, when Lady Septima announces that those with no familial or contractual tie to Babel are to be deported to their old Arks, there is an uprising that leads to violence, where the Unemployed people of Babel demand Octavio hire them in the place of his automaton. This truly mirrors our world today, as many jobs are in danger of being taken by AI or automation.

There are also other issues on Babel that mirror real world issues, with topics such as homophobia being brought up as side plots. I could literally write a whole other essay about the parallels and differences between Ophelia and Thorn vs. Blaise and Wolf, but that’s for another day.

Feel free to correct me if I got a translation wrong or if you agree/disagree with one of my points.

also a side note: Native Babelians are clearly supposed to look South Asian, right? Because sometimes I see fanart where some of the Babelian characters are considerably pale and it kind of weirds me out but this may be a misconception.

[practically-an-x-man]

TST once again!

What's your approach to writing villains?

Thank you so much!!

Talk Shop Tuesday

So... fewer of my stories than you'd think actually have true character villains - at least characters that I've created. Most of the stories I write either focus on situational conflict or villains that already existed in canon, with maybe a few side-characters created as tertiary villains for a particular scene. That leaves the list of original, overarching-villain characters... pretty limited. Here they are:

Trevor Sly - Smoke and Mirrors. A mutant who takes form as a cloud of smoke, able to possess human hosts against their will. His daughter is afflicted with the same mutation, and he's driven himself to obsession trying to find a fitting host for her.

Odin Black & The Coroner - Desert Song. A duo of largely-unknown supervillains known for murdering people across the globe with a synthesized chemical weapon, taking one unique body part from each, and leaving the bodies.

Naga - Nom De Guerre. The leader of the crew behind AJ's assassin work, who sees AJ as a pseudo-daughter figure and feels possessive of her as she pulls away

Charybdis - Catch and Release. Ophelia's multiversal variant, pushed into a vengeful madness by feeling like Ophelia has "broken the rules" of her life and escaped the death that was destined for her

Of course, I have a few more villain plots where I'd sort of co-opted an existing villain into my plot idea (ex. using Trask, an existing X-Men villain, as a villain in Symphony in Silver, but with my own "clones" plot), and I've thrown in plenty of smaller villains across my fics (ex. Puppeteer in A Love Once New), but those above are the only principal villains I've really written about.

Now, as for my approach, I feel like the best villains are the ones that reflect the heroes. They need a strong motivation anyway, if they're going to be a really compelling character, but it just adds such a layer of depth if their motivation is in some way related to the hero's.

Trevor's motivation as a villain is to protect his daughter by choosing a worthy host to keep her alive - Madison's motivation as a hero is to protect her adoptive sisters, who are being targeted by Trevor's hunt for a host. They're both incredibly protective, driven people, they share a lot of the same motivations for what they do, and that makes them both much more interesting characters. Madison knows that she's only a few steps away from Trevor, and if her sisters were in danger like that, she'd do exactly the same thing if it meant protecting them - but she's still going to stop Trevor, because he's the threat to her family now. There's a level of understanding between them, and it only makes the conflict richer.

Now, they're not always direct comparisons like that, but there's usually some reflection of the hero's personality or internal struggles in the villain. Quinn's struggles with body image are reflected in the Coroner's methodical claiming of body parts. Charybdis' obsession with the order of the multiverse is tied to the main Ophelia's obsession with the idea that science is a route for everything - she grows fixated on designing tech to crack back into the multiverse, while Charybdis grows fixated on Ophelia herself. Naga is a slightly older villain of mine and may not have as many sophisticated themes as the others, but she still reflects AJ's struggles with trust and belonging.

When I write, I tend to use a trick I learned from theatre: everyone needs a motivation. The main characters, the side characters, the villains, it doesn't matter. Everyone has their own life, nobody lives their life just to play out the role in someone else's story, so things are going to feel pretty flat if everyone just plays along to the main character's plot all the time. That's not to say characters can't just help out or be interested in the main character, but they shouldn't just act like NPCs to cue the main crew along. This is definitely something I use for villains - remember, most of them wouldn't know they're villains, they'd think their actions are justified. And even if they know their actions are villainous, they're going to have some reason that convinces them those actions are worth it.

Anyway, this is getting long... short answer is, I try to think about how they can act as an external reflection of a protagonist's internal struggle, and I try to keep their motivations and reasons in mind because they aren't aware they're playing the villain.

[embersofhope-if]

i remember a while ago seeing someone share what paintings they felt fit their character and i kinda want to do it too

so enjoy😋

Ash Fairchild:

Ophelia

"This work shows the death of Ophelia, a scene from Shakespeare's play Hamlet. Traumatised when Hamlet breaks off their betrothal and accidentally kills her father, she allows herself to fall into a stream and drown."

Aurel Weaver:

Orpheus Leading Eurydice from the Underworld

"In this painting, the fabled musician Orpheus--who beguiled the Greek gods to allow him to retrieve his beloved wife, who had been fatally bitten by a snake--leads her tenderly from the underworld."

Creon Levesque:

The Fallen Angel

"...the artist tweaked the earlier study in order to allow the fallen angel to stare out from behind his arm, rather than looking directly downwards. He even adds a tear, symbolising beautifully the pain of being cast out. The folded arms with hands clenched continues this mood, and also shows him shielding himself in despair, but also shame at what has happened."

Clio Levesque:

Magdalene with Two Flames

"The painting depicts Mary Magdalene, a companion of Christ, who exchanged her previous worldly lifestyle for a life of penance and contemplation. She is shown, illuminated by a candle, sitting in a meditative pose in front of a mirror. The light from the candle and its reflection create a strong chiaroscuro effect, with the subject's brightly lit face and breast contrasting with the darkness of the rest of the composition. Both the candle and the human skull she is holding are metaphors for the fragility of life and her discarded jewellery for the meaningless value of worldly possessions and for her atonement."

Mc Vesper:

Christina's World

"...a masterful exploration and depiction of Christina's own inner world, just like the title suggests. In the painting, as in life, Christina moves toward her ancestral property despite her difficulties, thus depicting her hard-working character."

Soren Vesper:

Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

"It depicts the grief-stricken Russian tsar Ivan the Terrible cradling his dying son, the Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich, shortly after the elder Ivan had dealt a fatal blow to his son's head in a fit of anger. The painting portrays the anguish and remorse on the face of the elder Ivan and the gentleness of the dying Tsarevich, forgiving his father with his tears."

[mercyisms]

wld love for u to expand on your thoughts about asian jewish mercymorn?? my beloved hater girl

(:<<<< i was delighted to receive this ask and rolled it around in my brain for days and days, even though the real answer is "i'm silly and i like to have fun." to preamble: very, very generally, i think it can useful to have fun with white characters in works written by white novelists. i think it can be a lot of fun, too, to see a fancreator re-interpret a work into a culture they know a lot about and bring out different textures or tensions. but i also think it’s fun to reconsider specific characters (sometimes especially the ambiguously raced ones) and tease out tensions that might feel interesting or ones that somebody without cultural context may have overlooked. i like resisting the idea that whiteness is the default or a neutral default.

though! on the flip side and despite routinely joking that augustine being canonically blonde is a hate crime against me somehow, i also recognize that, for example, augustine’s whiteness (or presentation towards whiteness) seems intentional and is doing work in the text. (when i joke about john always having one six foot plus blonde around, it’s funny! but it’s also reflecting something the text is engaging with with regards to race.) so, anyway, that man can stay white. but to speak, at last, to our beloved hater girl. i think the first thing that opened the door for me is one of the initial descriptions we get of mercymorn.

The face beneath the icy parti-coloured hood was a prim, virginal oval; much in shape and feature like the shape of a saint’s face in a portrait, or a death mask. The nose and jaw and forehead were all carven and serene, and therefore had the same indifferent dullness of a well-formed statue.

i am fairly certain tamsyn is consciously trying to evoke one of the infinitely funny and also very beautiful medieval paintings or sculptures of the virgin mary (etc.) (divine conception: difficult mode, am I right, lads?). but for me, the refrain of mercy’s oval face is a great example of a descriptor that isn’t exclusive to whiteness. very practically, when i started looking for references to make humble sketches of mercymorn, i first turned to michelle dockery (expressive eyebrows! a face that can be cold and severe but then melts into heartbreaking, childish expression!) and then more and more to (an aged down!) kim seo hyung. (for the record, when i make stabs at augustine, i am usually drawing on a richard ii era fiona shaw, with dashes of young peter capaldi and perennially ancient jeremy irons. recently, my go-to for cytherea has been ophelia-era—of course—helena bonham carter.) but it’s rooted in more than just me dicking around in procreate. the idea of an asian mercymorn became more compelling to me when i considered how that would change the texture of her character. to try and be as brief as possible, there, as you may well be v familiar with yourself, are longstanding stereotypes of (largely east and south, but it all gets homogenized) asian immigrants being depicted as cold and unfeeling robots, as excelling only at rote memorization and lacking critical thinking or social skills, as being dangerous or suspicious or obnoxious over-achievers, and as, depending on the day, being too sexy or utterly sexless. (i am not claiming any of these are unique to the very broad category of ‘asian,’ just setting the table.) and i think mercymorn becomes really compelling reinterpretation and rebuke to expectations if she is asian. because she is so many of those things: overachieving med school graduate; someone who (though she seems to have excelled at the magicky part) gift comes from stubborn, rote memorization; someone deeply repressed; someone who is told and believes herself to be unfeeling and inhuman (”Every time you’ve said that I did not understand the human heart, that I was unfeeling, that I only knew worship without adoration”)—but is also a disaster of emotions, despite it all, and is driven by incredibly messy emotions and whose skills (the memorization, the drive to overachieve, even the repression) come from this vast and terrifying well of emotions that even she can’t really look at head-on. before mercymorn, i don’t know that i had seen these tropes reworked in exactly this way or thought to rethink these stereotypes in this way, and so that’s some of what mercymorn-as-asian does for me. (obviously caveat that i’m very strongly drawing from a north american context and i totally confess to not knowing what stereotypes are present in new zealand! but anecdotally through friends in australia and england, these stereotypes certainly seem present throughout the globe, and i would not be surprised if they were also present in nz. but just recognizing that!) i also, personally, find this a lot more satisfying than just going off tamsyn’s canon sheet and being like, yeah, got it, isaac is the one canonical east asian. that’s nice! that’s lovely! but it doesn’t really do anything for me or the narrative. i’m not upset about it! but the lyctors, those who lived pre-ressurection and lived closest to john and carry some of their biases with them, are people who have been shaped by a society where race is very present. vs. the younger 10,000 years out gen who ostensibly (though of course they are in a text written here and now) live in a “post-racial” society, at least from what we see within the house system. (i mean, i say this, but then i also feel like... have u met east asian christian converts. there is some eighth house energy there is all i will say. so, again, i just like to have fun.) re: the jewish thing, i am a hater girl myself and cannot like catholics have anything not ever (hashtag joking, tbc) and a) would love for a foot in and b) as myself and others have pointed out, mercymorn would love to kvetch, she’d be so good at it, she understands it implicitly and she deserves to have a community to kvetch with and c) as i think the inciting post for this ask pointed out she’d be so good at saying ‘oy vey’ and d) idk i just think it’s even funnier if a lapsed jewish woman and a nun walk into a bar and then kiss. in general, i also feel a vested interest in opening the door for mixed race readings of characters and one’s that, again, reinterpret or add to the texture of that character’s presence in text and are done in a thoughtful, fun, interesting way. i could possibly say more but i think this is enough for right now!! maybe!!! sorry this took me so long!! uhh but that’s a taste into my thought process, anyway, for how i like to interpret and reinterpret les lyctores and specifically best beloved hater mercymorn m. nolastname i love u. it is (obviously!) not the definitive or only interpretation, but is the one that currently speaks deepest to my soul. but i do love to see all kinds of interpretations and reinterpretations of our beloved necro-cast.

[wdxghosty]

OC L<3RE

(I didn't spell check this. nor did i word count this) I got bored so Ima drop some OC lore, or multiverse lore i honestly started this when i was in fifth grade and it just expands. she the supreme version of that OC you bring with you throughout every fandom. (tramatic anime backstory time activated)

Ophelia has rencarnated multiple times under a plethera of differnt names, and bodies, but it hadn't always been like that. They didn't have an easy childhood, or teenagehood, they had dreams of being one of the brightest stars in the sky, one to rival the sun itself. But sadly before that were possibel they died.

But when they woke up, their whole life felt like a dream and a new one started on a new world.

over and over again they would die before they reached a certain age, then they would wake up again. this cycel continued for hundreds of lifetimes before someone realized what was going on. the laws of the world work differently in every one, and the one who managed to somewhat control the cycel just so happened to live in a world that could be completly controled by those powerful enough. They somehow managed to open gates into the other worlds they've lived in. Sure it takes some time but they untimatly always remember, and they always had the thing that helped them traverse the multiverse.

Ophelia is an aspiring fashion designer, and learned how to sew when she was a kid to make all of her complex ass designs. she would make videos, and would post stuff online to popularize her brand. the first 2 years her motivation was on overdrive and she would pump out ontent like a machine, but by years 6 things weren't going the way she wanted and she decied to just stop. six months after she gave up one of her followers with a incredibly werid username decied to dm her asking what happened, she did leave without a notice so it kinda makes sence they would ask.

She explained why she stopped posting, and after weeks of begging and her love her dress making compelled her weak will to continue posting. Over time she became friends with the guy that gave her the motivation to keep on sewing aka Donnnie, by year 8 she finally saw his face and she passed out when she saw him for the first time, but she started using him as a reference for her reptilian oc's.

year 9 things were working out for her, and she finnaly started selling her stuff, so when she graduated she moved to new york to go to fashion school there. When she got there she started getting werid dreams of other worlds, she wanted to ignore them, but she started passing out frequently, and illusions replacing all the peopel and places around her with others made her start to pay attention to them.

But she started to remeber what she was when she took a bath and saw someone elses reflection in the water, and her black eyes started glowing in ultra-violet. (yes she has glowing purpel eyes let me live my Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way dreams) The thing that made is so all the different versions of her could travel through portals was their eyes, someothing that stayed with them through every reincarnation.

She decieds she want to find out about all of her lives, and for every lifetime she remebers whatever power or skill that they gained in that lifetime she also learned. But the more she would learn about herself, the less she knew about herself, and the relationship between her and donnine got rocky. (CyberxStich is a painfull slowburn) Don and Ophei did like eachother, but she had to give him the 2012 april treatment because if they started dating then her death would just be more painful for him.

Donnie would take her to the hidden city, and sure she was a human but no body really seemed to care so she would come down by herself all the time. and one of these times she met big mama. Big mama saw potential in her and decied to rent her out a shop near the battel nexus, and her dreams finnally became a reality, she had people working for her, a succesful business in the hidden city, and she was her bosses favorite. She did find the fact that Big mama was so trusting, and nice with her, suspicious but she didn't want to question it when everything was going right for her.

Then she while she was exploring her last life she met herself. The only other version of her left alive, she could give her the awnsers to everything. she didn't get them but she did find out why she's been so succesful as of late. This is one of her passive powers that emmit without her wanting it to or needing it to, that's basically a charisma boost, it's the power the other version of her was born with, and the one she was gifted. The realization that nothing she's done has every been becasue she was good, but becasue she somehow just maxed out a stat broke her, and she decied to vent to one person she knew probably wouldn't understand, but someone who could just listen.

Donnie was freaked the fuck out when she told him everything, and he thought she was joking but after seeing a snake pop out of a dissapearing tatoo, he decied to believe. But him comforting her turned into him trying to stop her immortality.

I have nothing else i keep on changing my mind on what would happen<3

[nauticascore2blog]

Blog 8

"Ophelia." By John Everett Mills, 1852

"Ophelia," painted by John Everett Millais between 1851 and 1852, is an iconic and essential piece of art. It depicts the tragic death of Ophelia from Shakespeare's Hamlet.  I didn't know much about Shakespeare's Hamlet or its significance initially, but I discovered it is a renowned play. Millais vividly paints Ophelia's lifeless body floating down a stream, surrounded by the lush nature that envelops her. The vibrant colors and intense realism capture the viewer's attention, making the scene beautiful and sorrowful. The dreamy, hazy quality is achieved through the delicate brushstrokes, adding a layer of ethereal beauty. Without prior knowledge of the painting, one might not immediately grasp the depth of its tragedy. Yet, knowing the context, the piece resonates deeply, reflecting Ophelia's tragic fate and the poetic beauty of her surroundings. This combination of visual allure and emotional depth makes "Ophelia" a masterpiece