#narrative lenses

[crimson-and-clover-1717]

It’s fascinating how the show plays with narrative lenses and allows the viewers to reassess Stede through Ed.

It’s said Stede should be killed for incompetence in episode one. Badminton calls him pathetic and mocks him mercilessly. We see the disdain of Stede’s father, and how ostracised Stede feels within his marriage. Jackie thinks he’s a loser within minutes. Blackbeard’s interest in Stede is ambiguous. Stede’s own self-loathing is evident. The only kindness we glimpse is Olu, Buttons and the indigenous islanders, none of whom seem to truly know or understand Stede.

Interestingly, Izzy seems to clock something of the power of Stede early and the threat to his status quo. Izzy does as much as he feels able to keep him from his Boss. It’s not quite clear though at this stage as to the reason why.

Finally, Blackbeard arrives on the Revenge, and gives us an entirely different lens in which to evaluate Stede Bonnet even before they’ve properly met: this guy is fucking fascinating.

The viewer needs to reassess who Stede is from this point on. And it makes us look at ourselves and go, ‘oh…OH!’

[devilsainz]

carcharlando

[metanarrates]

ive always had sort of a weird researcher studying a bug fascination with romance fiction. absolutely alien world to me. kind of a scary place. mostly this has manifested in me reading a lot of bodice rippers and m/m fanfiction on the downlow but for about two years now it's resulted in me reading a rather absurd amount of otome isekai. i feel like half the time the popular sentiment online w/ arospecs having this approach to romance fiction is like "well i don't understand this fantasy but it's nice that people are having fun and i like rotating it in my head 🥰" but I'm not like that at all. there's a lot of totally unexamined reproduction & upholding of nasty societal stuff in romantic fantasies and that's why I feel compelled to examine them from the outside. i want to dissect it

[cosmic-walkers]

I have so many thoughts about Jane and how her main goal was to be viewed through the eyes of men. She was a product of their consumption.

The silent, one-sided rivalry going on between Thomas and Henry over her is one of the most defining parts of the season. And perhaps, rivalry is not the correct word, but they both want her, they both desire her, Henry wants her because he needs an heir, and a wife, and for all the tears he doesn’t really care about her after her death. On the other end, Thomas wants her because he believes he could’ve been a better husband to her. He proclaims it at her death, and like Henry, he is left crying and shattered.

Between Henry and Thomas, Jane was propped up as a Madonna figure; an innocent doe, a virgin queen, someone who was untouched, and must be protected, and someone who is innocent.

She was very much seen and desired through their eyes, and their eyes alone. Even when she was in the company of other women, those women were drowned out, her relationships with them were not as strong as her relationship with Thomas or Henry.

She existed mainly for the consumption of men, to marry her, to impregnate her, to desire her from afar, to believe they could treat her better, etc. It reminds me of the movie Milena, if you’ve ever seen it or part of it. Where you have this beautiful woman, but her life/person is viewed through the eyes of men, and she is overly desired by them. Even the ‘good’ ones. This isn’t really a good or bad thing in Jane’s case. I just find it interesting how at least to me, she is a character propped up by men, and viewed through the eyes of men. There is hardly a scene with Jane where she is alone, without Thomas or Henry.

[mihai-florescu]

Hyperfixated on learning, special interest in being smart

[wardensantoineandevka]

I alluded to it in the tags about how I have another Spahr post to percolate on and think about, but I have to write a post about like, arguably, in terms of narrative role, Spahr IS the Trust.

I mean, not in like the people are shaped by institutions and cultures BUT institutions and cultures are composed of people way, though there's a lot to be said about that I'm sure. In that way, the Trust exists in all its agents and adherents, but I'm talking in a narrative iconography sense.

But, in a sense that like Spahr and the Trust sort of share a vitality, and they spiral at the same time, and you can trace the state of the Trust in parallel to Spahr's own narrative footing. In a sense, arguably, Spahr's arc follows that of the Trust. Spahr can be argued to be the highest narrative representation or stand-in or embodiment of the Trust as a social structure and hierarchy for a mechanical parallel, as an incarnation of its health as a structure: it breathes as he does, and it falters as he doubts, and it is lost the moment he walked out with his clarity.

I have to write a post, I have to write a post articulating all this bc this is just abstract high concept rambling that isn't really laying out the logic here.

[horsemage]

It’s really no one’s business how many times I’ve listened to this

[littlestsnicket]

eeee!!

[maekarlargenaturals]

Not to be a touchy ndn or anything but some of y’all non natives do earn a side eye from me when you clamor to be cheered for representation in art and writing irt the stark’s and northmen/wildlings when you make them vaguely northern indigenous. Mish mashing 5 different tribes and concepts together without understanding what they mean or why the regalia is like that is like… not good representation. It’s Really Bad Actually.

[wreckedhoney]

cant fuck with fandom takes that defuck extremist characters. blorbo set fire to multiple buildings killed dozens and will do so again. every incident is accompanied by a rant about some warped issue or pathetic self perspective and a lot of bared teeth. then enough people who watched the same thing i watched will just.. not register that this is an angry personality. objectively bad and toxic. among other things. like suddenly seeing takes about this genuine asswipe being a normal chill person. where did u see this. what happened. where is my genuinely unwell off-putting blorbo. who the fuck is this

[zigzagspam]

“Chihiro is trans fem” “Chihiro is trans masc” NO Chihiro is a cis guy and Mondo is a stealth trans man.

[sleepygaymerdisease]

something ive noticed a lot in fantasy media is that the religions are either obviously evil/hyperbolized/meant to be mocked/etc or the gods are like Actually Real. which is honestly odd to me. especially the second one. like idk, as interesting as the concept can be i dont think that any religious figure needs to prove their existence (or that their existence has to be proven false) for the audience to take their impact on the characters or society seriously. like idk the way that religion is written to have a "correct" answer is really telling i guess

[dogwhizzer]

i am GOING to write an essay on the transgender narrative of whizzer brown and i am going to publish it so help me god

[little-fandom-dump]

can we. use our media literacy skills for five seconds and realize that it’s okay for different people to feel different ways about the season’s end. can you do that for me please.

[blueiight]

Coming slowly to know his evil, or being catapulted into it ... was all the same. I wanted none of it finally. And, deserving nothing better, I closed up like a spider in the flame of a match. And even Armand who was my constant companion, and my only companion, existed at a great distance from me, beyond that veil which separated me from all living things, a veil which was a form of shroud. (IWTV, 1976)

[ludinusdaleth]

i try my absolute best to be nonbiased and withdrawn when discussing meta but sometimes you have to admit to biases you fight and orym is fascinating because he really is, even without any of his dark progression in story, the kind of guy i would end up getting into a fight with. i process grief faster than i should by just accepting shit happens (this is not a brag, im sure it's Bad, but ive experienced no ill effects so far), ive had my chance for justice (revenge) and know it fucking sucks and isnt worth it, i see big picture and find small picture problems tedious, and i hate people who try to be a bastion of explicitly Normal status quo morality. also he's clean shaven and an excercise nut. hes a great character but i would actually probably strangle him in real life