#my interpretation of the story and ending

[witsserviceablesubstitute]

I saw Sam and Dean as these two traumatized kids trying their best who became two traumatized adults trying their best. I never thought their best was good or right. Sometimes they were right, often wrong, but mostly I didn't think that was the point of the story.

To me Supernatural is split into two stories; seasons 1-5 are building up to Sam and Dean rejecting the roles they're forced to play by a cruel cosmic design; seasons 6-15 are them in the aftermath of that rejection, it's what happens after the credits, when you force the characters to continue beyond 𝓉𝒽ℯ ℯ𝓃𝒹. That story is them choosing free will while still falling into the pattern of their predetermined roles, struggling to break free because they love each other and should be allowed to love each other, but needing to be their own people apart from any planned narrative.

As inconsistent as Supernatural could be, I always understood Sam, Dean, and Cas. I understood it's easier for characters like Cas and Dean to take care of others over themselves, and that caring for Jack gave Cas a firmer foundation than him caring for Dean (who doesn't know how to be taken care of). Cas' religious trauma is soothed by caring for someone who can see his care for what it is and has as many existential issues as he does. Dean caring for others, however, and especially for Sam, is part of his trauma. It's what he struggles with. He needs to take care of Sam but doesn't know how to take care of anyone without martyring himself and that's why he keeps getting it wrong— he's selfish in his selflessness.

Sam's trauma is different, he's used to being the one who's taken care of, to the extent that he's adrift when that's not happening and clings to his idealized normalcy most of the times he loses Dean. To me the closest Sam's at to being okay with who he is was at Stanford and only because he didn't know how manipulated the situation was or how similar he is (perceived as being) to the monsters they hunt. My interpretation of Sam's journey is him needing to forge his identity apart from overbearing expectations or his own romanticizations. In leading, in standing behind what he likes and what he wants, in being at peace with himself and living a life truly on his own terms.

Which is why the ending left me feeling bittersweet. In the end Dean and Sam still play out their cosmic roles; biblically codependent brothers, caretaker and cared for. The Winchester trauma cycle keeps cycling. I'm only glad Bobby was the father stand-in and not John in the end because that gave me hope they could break it eventually in team free will 2.0: heaven edition.

[lyricthecat-12]

Archie Sonadow is the most unfairly underrated version of the ship

A while back, I did a poll to decide which was the most underrated version of Sonadow across different media, and since the public has had their say, I'm now going to offer my own take and explain why from Archieverse Pre-SGW version is so good and deserves much more recognition.

The beginning of their relationship is practically the same that in the video games: Shadow is accidentally awakened by Eggman and decides to carry out his creator's revenge against the world for killing Maria. Sonic is mistaken for the black hedgehog and is chased, which leads them both to have a series of confrontations until they reach the ARK Space Colony. There is a curious change here; since in the comic universe, Amy was involved in another separate story while the conflict was taking place, she was absent during these events but, according to Shadow's own words some time later, Sonic made him see the light, interpreting that he made him change her mind and since Rouge fulfilled exactly her same participation by broadcasting Gerald's video, it could be interpreted that in this universe it was Sonic who made Shadow remember Maria and finally pushed him towards the heroic side. Something like what happened years later in the third movie. (STH 98#, STH 124# & SU 2#)

After this, Shadow sacrificed himself and also lost his memory when he hit Mobius. From here the events differ from the games, in this version Shadow falls and is found by Sonic and the Freedom Fighters, showing himself hostile at first due to his confusion, although soon after he ended up allying with them to face a greater threat, the Alien race known as The Xorda who also planned to destroy the world in an act of revenge, which ends up being stopped with Sonic's sacrifice and disappearance that leaves everyone shocked, including the black hedgehog, because it was thought that the blue hedgehog had died saving the world until his eventual return issues later (STH 124 # & 125 #)

It's curious how, despite not remembering it clearly, Shadow during this stage showed a certain appreciation for Sonic, admitting that he is a being different from any other he has ever met. Of course, that didn't prevent them from continuing to have confrontations in their following encounters but over time, Shadow began to gain confidence in Sonic and was willing to collaborate when the situation required it. (STH 146-149# and STH 157-159#)

Meanwhile Sonic, despite their previous battles, never believed Shadow to be evil, even in the brief time where he was working with Eggman for the second time, and was sure that he would eventually do the right thing. And when that happened, Sonic supported him and helped him without hesitation to discover the truth behind his origins. (STH 160# &STH 170-171#)

After this point, Shadow became an increasingly notable ally, occasionally appearing and helping the heroes when needed, over time developing a respect and even appreciation for those who helped him become who he is today, obviously including Sonic between them.

Throughout this continuity, the relationship between the two hedgehogs had a long but natural and well-carried development, going from rivals and occasional allies to gradually forming a bond of companionship where, even if their ideals remain disparate, they have generated a mutual respect for each other and a great synergy in battle. Which is spectacularly represented in the last issue where the two interacted within this continuity, in the Sonic Universe 2#.

And is for all of this that I think Archie Sonadow deserves more love, because I dare say that it is one of the best and most complete versions of their relationship.

[beekeeperspicnic]

Are there any oddball Sherlock Holmes interpretations you have a fondness for? I'm the kind of person that likes the audacity (even if it fails miserably sometimes) and devotion to the canon of such an old work isn't so important to me, so I have a lot of personal examples.

OH BOY DO I

I've always thought if I had to do some kind of podcast or YouTube series, it would be me looking at weird or niche Sherlock Holmes adjacent media because it appeals to me so much.

I think I feel similarly to you, one of the things I love about Sherlock Holmes is how people can pick up the characters and settings and do audacious and wild things with them. I only tend to get grouchy at highly corporate big budget adaptations that try to squeeze the stories into tired formulas (ie Irene Adler needs to be a femme fetale, Holmes is an insufferable genius who is unempathetic and rude to everyone)

I've ended up focusing less on live action here, but I could makemore posts about that!

Let's start with Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes, which I think is summarised really well by this image: it's got this lovely, Warner Bros style fluidly animated Holmes and Watson who are doing their thing.... but also Tom and Jerry are around.

Moriarty is bananas in this but I won't spoil it.

One of my absolute favourite animated Holmeses (is that the plural?!) is from this one single episode of Scooby Doo and Guess Who. I mean look at this guy, isn't he just perfect?

Spoilers for the episode, but it transpires he isn't actually the real Sherlock Holmes so much as someone who has consciously decided to become the fictional character, and I really love how the Mystery gang gradually come to accept him. The little character arc he goes on is about him learning to accept help and companionship, d'aww.

Then there's Sherlock Holmes and the Great Escape . Holmes is a dog who dresses like Edward Elric. Pink Femme Cat Watson is so weirdly on the money. I can't emphasise how much this fruity pink cat embodies the character of Dr John H Watson better than many other adaptations.

And as a final mention I'm so stoked about @fogtown-sleuth-society

It's this amazing and creative fusion of puppetry and digital modelling, Sherblock and Blockson are just delightful. The whole project is just bursting with joyful creativity.

And you can watch it RIGHT NOW! For FREE!

[connorsnothereeither]

So uhm.. for a project I'm doing, what do the brink characters hand writings look like??? I may be fully hand transcribing and binding brink...

And I want to do the letters in their hand writing soooo

Oooh okay sorry it took a me a while to answer this I’ve been thinking about responses

1: HOLY SHIT that’s so cool I would love to see that project come together if you end up posting things anywhere 🥺 I’m working on a revised pdf version (and updating the ao3 version as I go) to print and bind myself, but hand transcribing is so sick omg /gen

2: I’m hoping these descriptors make sense because they do in my brain but describing handwriting is,,, kinda hard haha 😅 (going based on order of appearance of handwriting in the first book)

Jamie’s handwriting is neat and orderly but simple. There’s not a lot of flourishes to it, especially since often they’re transcribing things for Rae, so it’s very much “getting this information down quick but readabe”. I think they’re the kind of person who like,,, isn’t super consistent with their cursive? So there’s some print letters occasionally in the words but mostly cursive.

Rae’s handwriting is thin and scrawling cursive. He was taught elegant, flourishing handwriting, but over the years as writing has become about getting down as many notes and thoughts as possible, it’s become compressed and rushed and frantic. Most of the time it’s readable by others, but not always

Athena’s handwriting is sharp and scratchy and blocky. It’s a rough handwriting, almost. Probably more print than cursive.

I think Easton’s writing, is very solid and matter of fact, in a way. Like very clear, distinct print letters. They are making sure the words are getting across. It’s usually clean and clear but once they’re corrupted it starts to get shaky and rough.

Strawberri’s handwriting is almost like what Rae’s should look like. Curled and elegant swirling cursive. Flowery, even, if you’ll excuse the pun. I think unlike the others who are writing for notes and science and such, Momboo’s writing is much more relaxed and dignified, almost.

I think that’s all the characters who have letters or documents written in Brink?? But let me know if I’ve missed any or if you wanted me to go into other characters, or characters handwriting from the other books!!

And at the end of the day like,,, don’t take this as gospel or something you need to match, necessarily!! If you have a vision for what their handwriting is in your headcanon of the story, that’s just as much canon to you as my thoughts on the matter are to me! That’s the beauty of fan works and headcanons is that you can make it your own!! And especially with something as intricate as transcribing the fic there’s so much of your own feeling put into it, there’s not a wrong way to interpret any of the handwritings or anything like that!! 🫶🫶 /geb

[apoloadonisandnarcissus]

“Leptirica” (1973) inspiration in “Nosferatu” (2024)

Those who insist in victimizing Ellen Hutter or interpreting her as a “victimized character” in “Nosferatu” (2024) don’t know this story was also inspired by the Serbian horror cult classic “Leptirica” (“The She-Butterfly”) (1973).

Who is “Nosferatu” in this adaptation? Orlok or Ellen?

I can’t talk about this without spoilers; “Leptirica” is a film about Serbian villagers at risk of starvation (death) because a vampire keeps killing the guy who takes cares of their windmill (and they can’t grind their cereal to make bread = they will starve to death). The villagers suspect it’s a legendary vampire from Serbian folklore, but, at the end, it’s revealed this vampire is, in fact, the naive and innocent girl who’s the love interest of the lead male character and gets compared to a “she-butterfly” at the beginning of the film.

Like Radojka, Ellen gets compared to a “sylph” (Alchemist air spirit), “fairy” (“her fairy ways”) and her father called his “changeling girl” (European folklore of children kidnapped by fairies or demons and a substitute fairy or demon child is left in its place).

It’s Ellen who raises Orlok from the dead and curses him to become a strigoi (he was dead for centuries until she unleashed him to the world). He’s a monster of her own creation. Yes, she sought “comfort” and “tenderness” and symbolic sexual awakening; but she was also angry at her father because, like she says to Von Franz during their first scene together, he wouldn’t allow her to hang out in the forest anymore and her free nature displeased him. It’s not only her yearning for company or sexuality that awoke Orlok, it was also her anger. Teenage angst is a beast.

In the first scene at the Hardings house, just before the children go to bed, they cry out “There’s a monster in the room!”; “Papa! Papa! Don’t let her feed me to the monster! Stab him!”; “I can hear him breathe under my bed!” Eggers used two children as “foreshadowing devices” in “The VVitch” (2015), too. At this point in the story, Orlok has not yet had access to Ellen, again, so who is this monster in the room Clara and Louise are talking about? The only characters in the room are Anna, Ellen, Thomas and Friedrich. And they say “don’t let her feed us to the monster”, this “her” isn’t Anna, obviously; it’s Ellen.

Ellen is the one who gives or denies Orlok access to places, including to herself.

He gets access to her again because of the locket, not because of the “covenant papers” Thomas signs. A locket that was meant for Orlok since the beginning: it smells of lilacs, and she cuts a strand of her hair in front of windows (symbolic for her connection to Orlok). This is also a reference to “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Brontë (another main inspiration for “Nosferatu”); Heathcliff goes to the chapel to see Catherine’s coffin and puts a strand of his hair inside of her necklace-locket, for her ghost to haunt him. She wants Orlok to haunt her, again.

Before Orlok arrives at Wisburg, Eggers show us Ellen at the shore, communicating with him. This is her granting him entrance into the city, by sea. Where he will “spread plague” and “death” on the society that ostracizes her because of her nature:

Later she also grants Orlok entrance into the Harding household, by opening the window for him. She knows exactly what she is doing, because she resents Friedrich Harding for tying her up to the bed and bring Dr. Sievers to drug and restrain her, and Anna Harding also dismisses her because she doesn’t believe such a demon exists, let’s forget all about that because Christmas (religion) is more important.

Result: they all got killed by Orlok, and not by coincidence. The Hardings die because Ellen wants them dead, like Clara and Louise foreshadowed. She’s the one who feeds them to the monster, and Friedrich is powerless to stop it.

Orlok having to be invited in is also confirmed by Dr. Sievers, when he, Thomas and Von Franz are waiting for Friedrich Harding to go on their vampire hunt quest. Dr. Sievers suggests they should go to their own houses because Orlok has probably raised from his sarcophagus. Why? Because Orlok can’t enter nor go places without getting invited in (which is a staple of vampire lore), and so they are safe from him if they remain indoors. Von Franz isn’t worried because he knows Orlok will be with Ellen, but this tells us something else: Von Franz also knows Orlok has to be invited in (he was the one who told Sievers this, for sure).

Orlok can only attack those who are in the streets at night. Which connects with Victorian society gender roles of domestic sphere (women) vs. public/social life (men). Eggers also shows us this at the beginning of the film; Thomas and Friedrich are in one room, smoking and drinking (social life), while Ellen and Anna are in another room with the children (domestic life). “Decent” Victorian women can’t go to public places without a chaperone; which is what Friedrich also tells Ellen when she says she’ll go to the office to talk to Herr Knock. Ellen also says she never liked that man (and Orlok targeted him. Coincidence?).

Ellen opens the window of the apartment for him to enter because he didn’t had access to it, he had to be invited in.

This tells us something else: Orlok can’t really kill Thomas himself unless someone invites him into his house, or Thomas randomly happens to be in the streets at night. Unless, Orlok was planning on using Knock for that plan, I don’t know, but this guy was pretty upset with Orlok because he broke their covenant, and he even tells Thomas, Von Franz and Dr. Sievers about Orlok wanting Ellen for his bride (which could ruin his plan). So I’m calling bluff on this one, and even Ellen saying “He’ll kill you if I don’t go to him” now sounds like a lame excuse from her part, with all of this considered. She knows Orlok can’t kill Thomas if he stays inside the house and doesn’t get invited in.

Von Franz is the one who puts “two and two” together because he knows Nosferatu won’t stop until he’s destroyed. He finds the Şolomonari codex of secrets in Herr Knock’s office: a book which, obviously, belongs to Orlok (confirmed Şolomonar by the narrative) and where there are instructions in how a Şolomonar can break free from his Nosferatu curse; which involves a young woman in love with him and her voluntary sacrifice (death). He already figured out the connection between Ellen and Orlok, and he also knows she was the one who summoned him (which was something he was trying to find out since he first examined Ellen and determined she was being haunted by a demon).

The dialogue between Ellen and Von Franz after this scene, during Anna and the children funeral, is very cryptic, as he says: “More will be taken” and she replies: “I know. She was with child.” At first, Von Franz saying this seems like a broader statement, but he just found out Ellen is the one who unleashed Orlok, and she also needs to die for Nosferatu to stop. He also calls her “creature”. And he knows Anna and the children were attacked and killed inside of their home; someone invited Orlok in, and he knows that someone was Ellen. Von Franz actions after this all have the same purpose: Ellen needs to die, and he’ll do and say anything to convince her.

On rewatch, I would even advise my readers to look at Ellen’s reaction during this entire scene, it’s really something.

When they first met, Ellen asks Von Franz: “does evil comes from within us or from beyond?”

He gives her the answer during their final interaction, because he knows who and what Ellen truly is: “We must know evil to be able to destroy it, we must discover it within ourselves. And when we have, we must crucify the evil within us, or there is no salvation.”

To which Ellen answers: “I need no salvation. My entire life I have done no ill but heed my nature.”Which echoes with her scene with Orlok, when he talks about her nature, and she accuses him of being a “villain”, to which he says: “I am an appetite, more nothing more.”

During this scene we see Ellen mask starting to fall: at first she denies her spirit is evil like Orlok’s, but then she basically says she doesn’t need to destroy the evil within her because she has always been true to her own nature. Strange thing to say from a character who kept denying her true self… unless everything that has happened in this story has been according to her own will. Which explains why Lily-Rose Depp said Ellen is the one “calling the shots” here: “I don’t think she’s a victim at all, because she’s kind of calling the shots the entire time.”

This entire story is about Ellen accepting her true nature, after all (“succumb to the darkness”). That’s what Orlok wants (besides the all “break the curse you put on me” plot), and what Von Franz tells her to do, too.

Is Ellen “evil”? It depends how we look at it. According to Victorian Christian society? Yes. Absolutely. She’s as evil as Orlok. And he’s death. Is death evil? Are plagues evil? Is nature evil? In Romanian folklore, where God and the Devil are seen as twin brothers, the notion of “evil” is more complex, too. And this why she finally accepts Orlok covenant of being “one with [him] ever-eternally”, and he confirms to the audience: “our spirits are one”, before consummating what Eggers calls a “wicked sacred marriage” between them.

In “Leptirica”, the “villagers” blame the legendary folklore vampire (Orlok) for their misfortune, when, in fact, it’s Radojka/Ellen who’s behind everything. Every time Orlok attacks a character, Eggers show us “vampire Ellen”, too. This isn’t random, either. She appears innocent and naïve to others, to the point everyone keeps calling her a “child” (even though she’s a grown married woman), but she’s, actually, a very dark character.

At the end, Nosferatu is defeated because both Ellen and Orlok physically die… but who is Nosferatu, truly?

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hi :) Before I ask my question I just wanted to say that I love how you characterize the twst boys in your writing and always take the effort of digging deep into these extremely (sometimes almost mind blowingly) complicated characters.  

So I am one of those people who loves making and seeing art of the twst boys genderbent. As I sometimes do admittedly lament twisted wonderlands lack of female cast members at times (though I do understand that having an all male cast is part of the games genre!) 

Anyway I was just wondering if the twst cast members were girls, would that in any way change the character development and dynamic of Epel and Vil in book 5? Because a large part of Epel's character development centres around his narrow, traditional ideas of gender roles and his internal need to feel “tough and manly”. Then Vil teaches him that femininity does not necessarily mean weakness and blah blah we know the story. Long story short, if Epel was a girl would that change her views on strength in any way? Would she feel the same need to be super tough and manly like her male counterpart? Would this change rewrite Epel's character arc entirely? Just wanted to know what you think. 

Hello and thank you for the compliment ^^ I work hard on my posts but especially on the analysis ones so I'm always really happy to see such positive reception to those efforts!

I love seeing Twst genderbend AUs too :DD My favorite interpretations have to be by tribbutribby (aka bunnyshadeow), who has made a few zines (Twisted Bimboland) with that theme in mind. I love how they don't just draw "the Twst boys, but with boobs"; they thought through every character and how they would actually be as a woman, from the designs to the personalities. For example, their fem!Leona has short hair because female lions don't have manes and their fem!Jamil is described as a cool onee-san type, which totally fits with what we know about Jamil. I also love that they actually have a variety in body types! Fem!Riddle is short and flat, fem!Floyd is tall and lanky, fem! Azul is more plump, fem!Jack has thunder thighs, etc. Highly recommend their works, CANNOT RECOMMEND THEIR WORKS ENOUGH!!!

If NRC were an all-girls school, I think the conflict between Epel and Vil in book 5 would have to be considerably rewritten. We could still explore gender identity and expression, but it would have to be framed differently because of Epel and Vil, the main players, being women and not men. I guess it would still be possible to have Epel have outdated views on gender roles (tradwife!Epel?????????), but it doesn't make much sense since... Epel's technically at an elite school instead of preparing to be a wife or something. That might also lead to a very stereotypical message with Vil coming in and telling Epel "actually, you can girlboss too".

It might be interesting to see an interpretation in which Epel is forced to live by gender roles, but then she tries to rebel against it + disparages femininity by being a tomboy?? And then the lesson Vil ends up instilling in her is that femininity shouldn't be underestimated, it can be a strength too. That would be similar to the original message imparted onto Epel, and I think it would be more nuanced and less predictable than the girl power version.

[cloudinthesky444]

At this point, it’s clear that Sauron is in love with Galadriel, and he knows it’s not one-sided. In the show, the feelings and interactions between the protagonists (specifically Sauron and Galadriel) are portrayed metaphorically, and it’s obvious that the directors do this on purpose to avoid angering the lorebros who seem to get upset at the idea of shipping Sauron and Galadriel and call the show an insult to Tolkien 😱😱

But anyway, that’s not what I wanted to talk about. When you watch the show and see the interactions between Sauron and Galadriel, you find yourself wondering, in the midst of all this chaos, why it seems to work so well and yet always ends up falling apart. If it’s not Sauron who ruins it, then it’s Galadriel. You know what I mean? The answer is that they attract and repel each other, and if there weren’t so many feelings and suppressed anger involved—stemming not just from past events in their lives (like Galadriel’s grief over her brother’s death or Adar’s betrayal of Sauron, which we know truly hurt him)—these past emotions mixed with their current ones create a brutal phenomenon of confusion. On one hand, Sauron doesn’t understand why Galadriel constantly rejects him. He says things like, “I see you; I know what you desire,” because he does know—but he doesn’t get why, despite their similarities, Galadriel keeps pushing him away. In the show, this is framed as a logical decision, with Galadriel rejecting him because Sauron sees her as a mere tool. And yes, in part, that’s true, but it’s also not the whole story. For me, the Sauron in the show and his desire to “use” Galadriel comes from the same trust and companionship I explained in a previous post. Sauron’s thought process about Galadriel is: “Nothing is free. You used me to achieve your redemption, so why can’t I use you now?” This extremist mindset, combined with his attachment and devotion to Galadriel, ends up manifesting in a VERY toxic way. And yes, maybe Sauron manipulates Galadriel and always feels the need to do so, but unlike his other victims, he shows a “human” side with her. Most of the times he acts passive or even affectionate in Season 2, it’s because he wants something. He can’t help but associate his surroundings with Galadriel and with people in general—he doesn’t like being touched, and when he does it voluntarily, you can tell how fake it is and that he’s only doing it because it’s the most convenient moment. This behavior, in my interpretation, breaks with Galadriel. With her, he lets his guard down, which we see in the fight scene where Galadriel attacks him, and he looks genuinely surprised (I even made a meme of that scene, LOL).

Then he tells her, “My desire is not to harm you,” and he’s right—he doesn’t want to hurt Galadriel. He dodges her blows for a long time, and that’s not like him. He’s usually ruthless and enjoys killing his victims when they least expect it 💩🙏🏼

Anyway, he dodged Galadriel’s strikes and turned a deaf ear until she brought up a topic she should’ve never touched: Sauron’s feelings. And well, that wasn’t a good idea, because her rejection drove the man back into satanism 💀

In the end, something they both share is self-deception. This self-deception is very persistent in Sauron and opportunistically manifests in Galadriel. But unlike him, she eventually accepts the consequences of her decisions, while Sauron doesn’t care at all.This same self-deception is what’s leading young Galadriel to ruin. Her inability to acknowledge the feelings and desires she once had for Halbrand surfaced when she realized he was Sauron, mixing with past emotions and events (her brother’s death and her hatred for Sauron). These two things combined altered Galadriel’s mental state, leaving her just as affected as Sauron and, as a result, expressing her hatred by trying to impale him with a sword. The reason for this? She no longer saw Halbrand in him. To her, he was now a completely different person in both body and soul. That’s why she doesn’t hesitate to attack him.

This shocks Sauron because he believes she still sees him the same way, but she doesn’t. He’s like, “Why did you do that, bestie? It’s me!!” This stops briefly when she sees an image of Halbrand. She immediately calms down, lowers her sword, and becomes passive—but then realizes the truth and attacks him again.

And well, you know, it’s sad.

The two are so similar, but they can’t understand each other when they face off. It’s terrible when two people deceive themselves—it always ends in destruction. Maybe in another reality, things could have been different, but I doubt it. They met at difficult times in their lives, which later manifested in pain and suffering, causing them frustration and confusion. But I believe this is simply part of destiny, and everything happens for a reason. This whole confrontation only serves to forge the Sauron and Galadriel we see in the future. By the time this is over, I’ll be devastated.

[clownstillwritesfanfic]

Let’s talk about the foreshadowing of Klaus and Allison’s relationship in the tarot scene in Season 4 of The Umbrella Academy.

I’m not an expert, I don’t even own my own deck. But I went through a phase where I watched a lot of tarot readings and I do have some books on how to read tarot.

Klaus has the Rider-Waite deck which is the most popular tarot deck. Anyone that does tarot probably has their own copy. It’s just very iconic.

The first card Klaus pulls is The Lovers, which causes him to joke about not being laid.

This is actually excellent foreshadowing. At this point, he still hasn’t taken the marigold.

The Lovers is a very powerful card. It’s telling him he will face temptation of some sort soon or it can be about existing relationships. The relationship does not have to be romantic or sexual. This can be shown directly after he is given the marigold. Allison gives him the marigold to save his life because she loves him. But this ultimately strains their relationship due to his trust being broken.

This causes him to revert back to his old ways with drugs. The temptation is back. His first love. And the drugs cause him to end up being prostituted out and subsequently, getting laid.

The second card he pulls is The Tower. And his reaction is interesting because…this is NOT the kind of card you’d like to see.

The Tower doesn’t directly mean loss of self control on its own, but when paired with The Lovers, it can very much be interpreted that way.

The Tower is actually a scary card to pull sometimes. It represents danger, sudden change, and destruction, among other things. Now it’s not always bad. But it’s not a card you’d be happy to see in most readings.

Him being so nonchalant while pulling that card is kinda crazy to me. Especially when he’s so freaked out about safety. The Tower is basically a huge warning sign that shit is gonna get rough.

Tarot can be read in multiple ways, it’s personal to each person. But they way I’m reading this is that this is also foreshadowing the chaos and destruction the Cleanse will bring. He’s doing this while he’s in the van while the others look for Jennifer.

The Tower also can represent higher learning and liberation, something the Keepers believe the Cleanse will bring.

Now obviously Klaus isn’t doing a general reading, he’s doing a personal reading. So for him, The Tower mixed with The Lovers could be a form of loss of control, especially since he won’t be able to consent to having the marigold forced back in him by someone he trusts and loves. He lost control of that.

The third card he pulls is actually wrong.

This is not Death. This is the Ten of Swords.

Despite its name, Death is not actually representative of actual death. It actually means the end of something. What’s interesting about Death is that it can have different meanings depending on who you are. For example, a man pulling this card could represent the loss of a benefactor. Who’s Klaus’ benefactor? Allison. She lets him stay in her house rent free, eat her food, bubble wrap everything, because she loves him and wants him to stay sober.

However…he didn’t actually pull Death. My guess is they didn’t do their homework well enough and thought that because the card doesn’t have the name of it on it like The Lovers or The Tower did and they saw the picture of a man stabbed to death, they just assumed this was the Death card.

Despite that, the Ten of Swords plays perfectly into this. This card represents betrayal. Pulling this card signifies somebody will betray you very soon or you already have been.

And who betrays Klaus? Allison.

On their own these cards are damning. But together it tells a story. Someone Klaus loves will betray him and send him on a path of self destruction and this will forever ruin his relationship with them.

Allison betrays his trust and gives him the marigold to save his life due to love. This causes him to feel betrayed and that’s why he crashes out on her and everyone else and why he ends up going back to drugs and ends up being pimped out to pay back an old debt.

But wait…this also foreshadows something else that happens later in the season.

Who else gets stabbed in the back and betrayed by a lover? Who else has their whole life destroyed only hours before they end up being erased to save the world?

But he’s not the only one…

While season 4 may have been disappointing…the foreshadowing was clever.

[sitp-recs]

hi liv!!! do you have any recs for fics where draco is actually doing the *work* of reinventing himself? feel free to interpret as loosely as you'd like, none of your recs have ever led me astray lol

Hi anon! Thank you for trusting my recs 💜 this might be one of my favourite asks, putting this list together I’ve realized how much I love this trope. I think you might also enjoy this list with successful Draco in the Muggle world. Happy readings!

Too hard to be lived without by harryromper (T, 3k)

Or, in which Draco manages to find some peace until Harry comes barrelling back into his life.

Limits of Earth and Sky by RenVeree (E, 4k)

Again and again, Draco Malfoy returns to the public eye only to attempt the most challenging broomriding feats Wizarding Society has to offer. Again and again, Harry Potter watches him do it and wonders why.

Stories in E Minor by huldrejenta (E, 9k)

Draco has found his place in the Muggle world. He's got his music, he's got his neighbours and he is content. Until a certain someone from the past enters his life again.

Rebuilding Draco Malfoy by khasael (E, 11k)

Draco wants to do something to get his life back on track, but no-one seems to be taking him seriously – until he finds himself in an Auror training session led by Harry Potter.

The Year of Non-Magical Thinking by whiskyandwildflowers (E, 13k)

"I don't know what I'm going to do, Potter. I'll think of something. So will you. But this is my journey to self-actualization," Draco managed to smirk. "You can fuck off and get your own."

O Come, All Ye Faithful by @toomuchplor (E, 20k)

In which Draco finds faith in the church, and Harry finds faith in Draco.

We Might Be Too Old for a Bildungsroman by @wellhalesbells (T, 21k)

Harry finds something he’s been looking for since the war’s end. Admittedly, the packaging’s a bit odder than he expected.

Faint Indirections by ignatiustrout (T, 30k)

Draco Malfoy is the last person Harry expects to turn up in Boston, Massachussetts. But now he's here, and he won't stop requesting books from the library where Harry works.

Open For Repairs by @drarrytrash (M, 35k)

After the war, Draco works at a tv repair shop and Harry breaks things.

Heal Thyself by astolat (T, 47k)

"Are you going for the course?" Lovegood asked. "You have the NEWTs.” “What course?” Draco said, then, “No, don’t be ridiculous,” when he realized she meant the notice pinned up on the board he’d been staring at: Applicants To The Introductory Mediwizard Course For The Coming Term Shall Present Themselves In The Chief Mediwizard’s Office By August 24th.

(We'll Call This Fixer-Upper) Home by @phdmama (E, 52k)

Draco Malfoy hasn’t set foot on English soil in ten years. After the war, he fled to America, where he found himself in a community, and healed himself through following his heart into music. He’s now the lead singer and songwriter for an internationally known band, who have come back to headline the Wiltshire Music Festival.

Truth to Materials by lately, @toomuchplor (E, 55k)

In which Harry learns to appreciate art and other pleasures of the flesh.

Modern Love by @tackytigerfic (E, 61k)

Harry Potter, of all people, knows that life isn’t always fair. And no one gets to be happy all of the time. But surely there’s something more—something better—than a rubbish Ministry job, and a lonely old house, and that feeling that everyone out there is doing a better job of living than Harry is.

The Liars Department by @dorthyanndrarry (T, 103k)

This is a story about Harry meeting up with Draco Malfoy four years after the war. And a story about Harry, well, not hating his job per say, but it's not like he has much to compare it to and it seemed fine. His whole life seemed fine.

What We Pretend We Can't See by gyzym (M, 131k)

Seven years out from the war, Harry learns the hard truth of old history: it’s never quite as far behind you as you thought.

[dailyanarchistposts]

Collision

We are anarchists not by Bakunin or the CNT, but by our grandmothers. —Julieta Paredes

I began thinking about this text in Toronto, where my 93 year old grandmother lives on the seventh floor of a high-rise apartment overlooking Highway 401.[15] Standing at the floor-to-ceiling windows in her kitchen, the horizon is swallowed by twelve lanes of concrete and an endless river of traffic, equal parts terrifying and hypnotic. How many gruesome stories are written into this one landscape? The concrete road tells the story of the colonization of Turtle Island, the commuter traffic tells the story of mass domestication under the rhythms of capitalism, the billowing smog tells a story of the future that’s almost too frightening to believe. Drinking tea quietly, my grandmother is clearly unfazed by this ominous procession — it is the world she now knows and accepts. In a previous chapter of her life she confronted and survived a very different infrastructure of death: as a young adult, the bunkers, factories, and crematorium of Auschwitz defined nearly a year of her life. Her experiences of the Nazi holocaust sit close with me as I look out over this glowing ribbon of death and wrestle with the ideas of nihilism.

To what extent do I remain attached to this society that I despise?

What would it mean to sever those attachments?

If this were Nazi Germany expanding out before me, how would I live my life?

What if I were in my grandmother’s position in 1943?

What does it mean to resist against such a catastrophically extensive and overwhelming system?

This collision of anarcho-nihilism and concentration camp resistance came about primarily as a coincidence of literary indulgences. At the same time as I pored my way through Bæden, a queer-nihilist journal (still one of the best nihilist text I’ve encountered), I also stumbled upon my first memoir of resistance from the Warsaw Ghetto. As so often happens, connections began to jump off the page, and it seemed ideal to pursue these two subjects simultaneously. Since then, I have found that they speak poignantly to one another, and when held together seem to create a stereoscopic depth that has helped me to grapple with the weight of both topics simultaneously.

I’ll admit from the outset that I have low ambitions for this project. My intention is not to comprehensively explain, reinvent, or critique nihilism or anarchism more generally. Rather, I want to feel out these ideas and see how far they can take me. Like the authors of the nihilist journal Attentat, I am interested in finding “tools, not answers, with an emphasis on building.”[16] Similarly, I have no aspirations to shed new light on the Nazi holocaust, or offer any startling new interpretations — despite all of my research, the subject still feels somewhat untouchable: an end to a conversation rather than a beginning. If nothing else, I would like to unearth some stories of resistance that do not often get told, and in doing so, to bring the holocaust into the realm of anarchist thought in a meaningful way so that at least we have something to say about it. I hope to open the doors to other anarchists who have a personal connection to these histories, or who share an interest, so that we might incorporate them into our lives in productive ways.

At heart, this book is about tapping into the instinctual rebelliousness that resides underneath of every organization, affinity group, project, and action that we participate in; that reflexive spirit of resistance rooted in the basic existential understanding that recalcitrance is simply a more meaningful and joyous form of existence than docility. Too often our insurrectionary urges get bogged down in ideological costume, rhetorical mandate, and hobbyist paradigms. We channel our energies into dubious conduits of prefabricated dogma and inevitably burn out or become listless at the very mention of Revolution.[17] Forms of resistance rooted in social obligations and lifestyle choices all too often fade into lives of despondency, alienation, boredom, or material comfort. It speaks to the very nature of our domestication that we only choose resistance so long as it feels like something we can win.

That’s where nihilism enters the picture. I am interested in the sort of resistance we pursue, not because we necessarily believe it will produce desired changes or lead us into a brighter future, but because it is the most meaningful response to this world we can imagine. Because we simply can’t stomach the idea of being passive in the face of a system this brutal, regardless of how far we may be from our dreams. Nihilism urges anarchists to embrace our feelings of cynicism around radical milieus, our feelings of boredom with prescribed methods of resistance, our feelings of hopelessness in the current landscape of domination, and to engage in forms of revolt that cultivate immediate joy and moments of liberation.

And that’s where the Nazi holocaust becomes particularly interesting.

Concentration camp resistance challenges nihilism to consider just how bleak it is willing to get. The resistance of those in the Lagers[18] who were deprived of every vestige of hope, every morsel of inspiration, and every shred of comfort, poses rich questions about how much hopelessness we are willing to wade through for a chance to fight back. It reminds us that resistance is not just about getting results, but about our reflexive reactions to oppressive situations. Whether we succeed in overthrowing our oppressors and bringing about a brighter future can only be secondary to the visceral need to rebel against the shitty conditions of our lives.

Both topics — anarcho-nihilism and concentration camp resistance — challenge anarchists to realize a spirit of resistance that can endure horrific conditions, that can weather the storms of absolute futility, and that can still muster an exuberant desire to rebel.

[armoricaroyalty]

fashion and world-building for royal simblr

my friends are sick and tired of listening to me ranting and raving about how fashion can be used to convey information about your characters and setting. instead, i bring my rants to you, the general public.

disclaimer that I'm (obviously) not mandating that everyone have an answer to every single one of these questions or that your story is bad if you don't think this much about your sims' wardrobes. my own personal answer to half of these questions is "I dunno, I never thought about it" and/or "I dunno, I'm not interested in that"

don't treat this list like homework, consider it a series of suggestions and prompts that might spark something interesting for your story :)

Does your royal family have a dress code? Are there codified internal rules for how your royals are expected to dress, or is it an unspoken set of expectations?

If your royals have a dress code, who sets it? How is it enforced? Does it ever change?

Are any of your royals considered style icons? What impact does their wardrobe have on trends within your country?

Are your royals expected to dress modestly? How do they define 'modest?'

Do your royals wear trendy clothes or are they expected to dress conservatively or in an old-fashioned way?

Are your royals allowed to be experimental or "alt" in the way they dress?

Are your royals expected to dress in a gender-conforming way?

How much autonomy do your royals have in deciding what to wear?

How do your royals pay for their wardrobes? If their clothes are paid for with public money, how does the general public feel about that?

Do your royals have their clothes custom-made? Do they wear designer clothes? Do they shop at normal stores and wear "accessible" brands?

How do your royals use clothes to signal class status? Do they practice conspicuous consumption, or do they dress in an understated way to signal that they're above wealth?

Do your royals have relationships with the designers of their clothes? Do they have any favorites? Do they borrow clothes from designers? Attend fashion shows? Accept "freebies?"

Do your royals ever re-wear outfits? Is this normal for them, or do re-wears drive commentary? What do they do with all the clothes they'll never re-wear?

How much jewelry does your royal family own? When do they wear it? Are there any rules (formal or informal) about colored stones?

Are there any non-jewelry garments that have been passed down by the royal family? (i.e., a bridal veil, a Christening gown)

Does your country have folk costumes or traditional dress? Who wears traditional clothes and on what occasions?

What kinds of textiles are produced in your country?

How do royal children dress? Are there any clothing that children have to "graduate" into? (for example: British princes have traditionally worn shorts and knee socks during official appearances until they're 9 or 10, when they begin wearing longer pants.)

Are there any differences between how your royals dress while on duty and how they dress in their private lives?

What do your royals wear for special occasions like weddings and funerals?

What kinds of political messages do your royals send through their clothes? Are they expected to wear clothes from designers from their own country? When they travel overseas, do they wear designers from their host country?

Clothes and fashion are a huge part of how royals are understood and interpreted, historically and in the present. It's almost impossible to discuss the French Revolution without touching on Marie Antoinette's wigs and gowns. On the opposite end of the spectrum, modern royal women often wear a mix of expensive and affordable pieces in order to be seen as relatable to the average woman and because they know what happened to Marie Antoinette.

So go forth! Incorporate fashion into your story! Make worldbuilding posts with all the lore! Write up individual histories of your royals' fashion evolutions! Do all of this and then tag me so I can read it 😤

[nordicfiord]

Do you have any other dynamics between the voices that you like,besides Cold and Contrarian?

Love your art,by the way,especially Contrarian!I love how soft and puffy he looks!

Ohhh, thanks for the question! And thanks for the kind words!! Have another Contrarian – he is pretty sure his friendship with anyone would be good!

it also would consist of bullying half the time but if everyone is content that it can lead to some of the best friendships out there!

And now… IT’S RUMBLING TIME!!

tldr: I am semi-interested in most dynamics, but am currently obsessed with just one. Crossovers and AUs make dynamics more fun for me to think about because of backgrounds.

So! Voices, huh? What a wild bunch.

I love those little guys. I love that mostly here at the stp fandom we are just interpreting them through our own lenses of understanding – through our own perspectives. It is very fitting, and it allows all of us to view these dynamics in many, many different situations.

Honestly, my brain is a mess. It is a giant cauldron, where everything at once is boiling and twisting and turning. That’s why everything is mixing up into lots of crossovers and weird ideas. 

Can I say that I like voices dynamics in canon? Sure! I like that one Adv-Fury route with Stubborn and Contrarian having the “I may not have a brain, gentlemen, but I have an idea” moment. I like that Hero tried to stand up for us in Cage and Paranoid helped Skeptic to insist on his solution by “physically” restraining him?? What a power move. Pretty much every interaction between voices is something interesting to think about, honestly.

But, uhh…

My brain just chose two random clowns and said “Them. I wanna rotate them.”

Honestly I don’t even know why he (my brain) did it. Maybe he just projected my favourite dynamic (clown and clown enabler). But I like other dynamics too??? Why not them???

Genuinely don’t know.

BUT!

Remember I talked about AUs, crossovers and stuff? Those are bigger dollhouses for my brain. There he can assign some dynamics to characters and watch them unfold.

Examples? Sure!

Skeptic being “the mom friend”. Originally it went from the need to have anyone that could control ContraColdChaos. But when I thought about putting voices in my old Steven Universe AU (I will talk about it here I swear it is just too much to unpack….), it all just made so much more sense. Because there Skeptic was the one responsible for revolution and leaving their home world, ended up on an unknown planet with some very troubled teammates (traumatised disabled leader, “I-died-so-many-times-I-can’t-be-stable” general, repeated killer of said general, army refugee and a high-quality spy) and he HAD to take responsibility and make sure nobody dies. Also that created a very interesting dynamic with Hero, because Hero is basically a young abused ruler who doesn’t believe he has any autonomy… and here Skeptic is, his subordinate, who literally is making all the decisions. Like, it’s clear that Skeptic cares and wants the best for Hero… but he is pretty much adding to a family emotional neglect.

And there’s more. Opportunist feeling like he owes Smitten for saving his life. Cold and Skeptic trying to process that they’ve killed and revived the very same person. Smitten being this person and trying to live a normal life with his murderer and resurrector in the same home.

I guess I just… Can’t operate inside of the canon universe with the little outside influence there is?

Maybe in my head-universe, when TLQ left, he left the voices a big fun playground, where they can put various masks and play many, many different stories. They need something to occupy their “forever” too, after all.

Anyway thanks if you’ve read this far!! I appreciate it, really. Sorry if it’s not uhh… organized? Like I said, my mind really is a mess, haha.

Have a nice day everyday!~

[frodothefair]

You know what's interesting?

I may have posted about this before, but the literal number one piece of feedback I get about The Flowers of Mordor is "I was skeptical about the premise, but now I'm sold!"

Which is great. It means something good about my writing - that I've been able to tell the story in a convincing way, that the characters acted in believable ways, and won the reader's hearts.

What I still don't understand, however, is why the premise seems to go SO much against the grain.

After all, I can't be the only person who wishes Frodo could have healed in the Shire. I can't be the only person who wants to ship themselves with Frodo. (Let's face it, canon/OC is sometimes, though not always, a vehicle for self-shipping, and that's totally fine! Fandom is all about wish fulfillment, and I am all for it.) In the end, I can't be the only person to wish Frodo could have found his happy ending with someone else besides Sam-maybe-eventually-in-Valinor. (Yes, sharing Sam or a poly arrangement is an option, and so is Rosie-as-a-beard, and so is erasing Rosie, but none of those approaches have felt satisfying to me, and again, I can't be the only one who holds this opinion).

Yes, I get that Frodo/FOC is not canon, but canon/OC rarely ever is. (And yes, I know I've made a fuss before about how Marigold is not an OC, but she is quite similar to an OC: she is mentioned briefly in canon, but all of her character development in FOM is my own).

Also, there are many non-canon premises that people absolutely go wild for, such as Boromir lives, or Thorin lives, or even Boromir and Theodred, so why exactly is it so difficult to see Frodo with an OC? It's been done with almost every other character, even ones who have canonical partners.

I mean, yes, to begin with, Frodo is positioned in canon as a confirmed bachelor, and Samfro is a very popular ship. But at the same time, Sam and Frodo are written and portrayed ambiguously enough that there is room for interpretation. They could be lovers, there could be unrequited pining, it could be one-sided on either of their parts, or they could be good friends. All of those things are possible. And similarly, Frodo could be a confirmed bachelor for a number of reasons: perhaps he is asexual or gay, or he is too much of an oddball, or he had a relationship that didn't work out, or it's the Ring's doing, or he senses he will someday follow in Bilbo's footsteps and is reluctant to put down roots. All of those things are possible.

So I have to wonder: maybe Frodo/OC or Frodo/someone besides Sam is not the most common ship, but why exactly is it such a hard sell? I just don't see it.

In fact, Flowers of Mordor is in part written for much-younger me, who first encountered the books and movies and genuinely wondered whether things could have been different if Frodo had found a nice hobbit lass to love.

Granted, at that age I was probably too young to understand the import of Frodo's burden, and the scars it left behind. Today, I understand that the ending was tragic but necessary, but a part of that hopeless romantic remains: I wish it could have been different. I wish Frodo could have found love. I wish that love could have conquered all. And as I said before, isn't fanfiction all about wish fulfillment?

[peliginspeaks]

This made me think - it's been a while since I played the Ambition, but yeah, the player does earn a measure of respect from Veils through their single-minded insistence on killing it. I almost wonder if the image of the hunter shifts in its mind to someone it could possibly recruit, directly or indirectly, which is. Fascinating. Once defeated, it does seem to almost be tempting you to leave a part of it alive, especially the more political and "human" aspects of it. Surface Veils could be useful to you, and it knows this. It now sees you as potentially someone of a cruelty and relentlessness nearing its own.

I think it's another powerful commentary on authority, that it tries to live on through you once you've proven yourself violent enough to kill it. The monster is the role Veils plays just as much as it is the individual - probably even more, and the ending hands you that role, no matter what path you pick. There is no ending that does not leave either an aspect of Veils or its responsibilities whispering in your ear. I'm personally of the opinion that the narrative hands you that burden as a way of putting the story and its conclusions fully into the player's hands, a reminder that the monster is only dead if you keep killing it with every decision after that, rather than a definite "if you kill a monster you become one" (which is another common interpretation that's always bugged me)

More OC stuff + your tags on Rory under the cut

This is SUPER INTERESTING and I'm very pleased to learn it. Usually it irks me a bit the idea that killing the Vake automatically turns you into it in some way, but the way you've done this with Rory is not automatic and meshes super well with who she is as well as the themes of the story. It sounds like where they started is where they ended motivation-wise, in a way - killing for the sake of killing, like you said - except now with the benefit of an inherited empire of structure behind it. It's empowering in a way (which I can see Rory longing for) and decentralizes the power of the Masters which is always good, but Veils definitely lives on as a concept as long as its momentum is carried forward in that way.

In a way, this is also why I very intentionally didn't go with any of those themes for Hallowrove post-BaL. For them it was never about the killing for killing's sake - if anything it was the hunting for hunting's sake, first out of curiosity and then as a dance they'd stepped into that was whirling too fast to know how to step out of. Hallowrove didn't start thinking about the Vake as in any way relatable to them until a few weeks after its death, and then it was the horror of existing as a complex whole and being split into more easily definable parts that got them, not the power fantasy. I don't see Hallowrove as an inherently or unfailingly good person, but as far as the reward for killing every Veils aspect goes, he was never going to make full use of that. In my timeline Veils' factories are now worker-owned, its surface assets disbanded, and its hoards quickly dwindling as the flow of goods from where they're made to where they will be used is allowed to continue. Dola Hallowrove grew up learning to keep her head down and aged into a life of long shifts and brutal foremen. There was never going to be a universe where she would step into Veils' shoes.

The marks are still there, sure - they do use the monetary reward and connections quite liberally, and they've never quite been able to adjust to not having a hunt on the go again - but I think the difference in perspectives is the difference between there still being a monster after the fall of Veils and there not being, to the various degrees that is true between the two of these guys. Absolute power might corrupt absolutely, but Veils' power was never as absolute as it wanted you to think it was, and the lie of no choice in the matter can be as dangerous as being complacent in the idea that "the monster" died with the individual.

It's been more than two entire years since I finished BaL and now I'm using mobile data at work to be angry about Veils. Okay so. Here's the thing.

When it hunts, Veils paints itself as a beast. It tells you it's only natural for it to kill, that its appetite must be sated, that its confinement down here is to blame for its actions. This creature, who controls the silk industry in Victorian London, claims instinct is its only motivator and to accuse it of strategy or power-hunger is absurd. But when you want to kill it? Then of course it's an incredibly complex being, so much higher on the chain than you, with plans and strategies beyond your feeble human mind. The whole point of the narrative Veils paints around itself is to both excuse itself of accountability and lift itself above the very idea of being fallible, by manipulating its image to fit either mastermind or animal as it sees fit. And people fall for it. I'm not going to yuck anybody's interpretation of the story (very genuinely I love and value differences in that across players) but I see very very few people acknowledge Veils as a political threat or essentially member of government, and many more focus on the monstrousness of it and the role of instinct in its reasoning.

Bag a Legend is in many ways a story about "violence begets violence", about cycles and corruption, but it's also (as many many stories in Flondon are) a commentary on authority. Veils is, at its core, an authority figure who extended its role from political violence to at-will physical violence against its own charges. Its base role, even if it hadn't become the Vake, is violent. It is heavily involved in the Great Game as well as controlling a vast chunk of London industry, and was actively negotiating the purchase of the Sixth City when the PC killed it - a political action in the interests of the Bazaar that would have killed a vast swathe of people it has no reason to care about beyond as a resource. Even if it had never sunk claws into a person, it would still be violent and extremely dangerous. April knows it, the nuns know it, but it seems a part of Veil's strategy is to get any prospective hunters to forget about that part of its role only when it's convenient and remember it only when it's intimidating.

Incompetent when questioned and all-powerful when threatened. The parallel to real-life corrupt authority is just. Infuriatingly familiar. Excellent job, Failbetter.

[hypertechnica]

i’m going to make fiddauthor art with fidds wearing his wedding ring and you are NOT going to like it

big obligatory banner that says “cheating is bad don’t do it i just like stories with relationship drama”

closeted, internally homophobic gay men who are married with kids has to be the trope i’m weakest to. no person involved is escaping the despair brought on by a relationship built on a well intentioned, desperate lie, born out of a desire to be normal and good

he WANTED to love her so fucking badly. he felt no ill will towards her and he loves their son more than words can say. he thought the attraction, the way she felt about him, would come with time. it didn’t. he doesn’t want to hurt her yet was doomed to from the start, and he’s truly, truly sorry. this does not absolve him of anything whatsoever and she has the full right to never want to speak with him again. he lied! he pretended to feel the same when he never once felt anything but platonic affection! he’s been in love with someone else this whole fucking time! and their kid… he’s caught in the middle of it all, too young to understand why his father would hurt his family like this.

and then he disappears and never comes back. imagine you’re 5 and your dad goes to the middle of the woods with his buddy for science shit, all of the sudden your parents are yelling on the phone and signing papers, and then he goes MIA. for years.

imagine your husbands “buddy” was the one he was thinking of all this time, not you, never you. and the first chance he gets to run away from you, he takes, and you should have been suspicious by the rushed frenzy of it all, the phone calls getting shorter and shorter until it fizzles to nothing. he forgot to get you a christmas gift. he hand-made him two. there has to be something wrong with you, it has to be your fault. you wish you married the man he becomes when he’s in his presence.

he folded when you started questioning him directly - he’d been to neurotic to ever be a good liar. you thought he was the one. he thought you were nice.

by the time the divorce is finalized he’s different in a wrong way. confused, angry, forgetful, insane - if the giant homicidal robot pterodactyl you’ve been harassed by is any indication. (he’s had a bad habit of building homicidal robots when he’s mad since they met -engineer things- but it was never directed at her - thankfully it never actually does anything) he’s clearly abusing drugs - you’d feel bad if he hadn’t abandoned you with the burden of explaining why your son can’t see his father anymore.

it’s a rotten bit of your soul, but time heals you. you move on and no longer think of him. trust in your career. find a man who truly loves you with no motives attached. raise your kid to be a good man. and in a fashion not unlike shakespearean dramatic irony, this makes him move to gravity falls to find and take care of his father. you couldn’t care less what hee doing now, but damn it, it’s his father, what is the kid supposed to do? but its futile- he appears to have no remorse, hell, no memory of the incident in the first place. (this isn’t his fault but how are they supposed to know that?) so he grows bitter and cold just like his mother used to be.

imagine that.

all over a mans inability to do anything but live in denial. to force himself to live in a box and pine like a dying man over the right one at the wrong time, destined to crash and burn. to take denial to a new level- a cult, brain damaging radiation, a total ego death - just to take the edge off. take off that damn wedding ring

[thatswhatsushesaid]

psa that the day there are no jgy stans left on tumblr dot com is the day i am dead

but rest assured i'll go to my grave exactly as i lived: obnoxiously proclaiming to everyone within earshot how great lianfang-zun is. narratively, metaphorically, spiritually. sexually, too, like why limit myself. i like to keep my options open