#paranoid reading

[victoriadallonfan]

I know I’m like half a year late to recommend it, but The Sin Squad just put out a great video on how difficult it can be to find actual dog whistles and problematic material in fiction versus paranoid reading (aka gearing yourself up to find a reading to such things where they might not be intended)

I recommend it for everyone to at least give it a few minutes if your time because it’s some solid work and high quality analysis!

[goblinfaggot]

https://hcommons.org/?get_group_doc=1003678/1629909863-sedgwick-1997-paranoid-reading-and-reparative-reading.pdf

Been talking about this with friends so I present to you, the cursed spectrum of media literacy

[zipper-ghost]

I'm afraid I'll forget everything again. What if I forget you, us, who I've become? I don't know if I can start over again

[lurukifennecfox]

Gotham was welcoming of Amity Parkers.

not as loving as with her own but she was way more patient with the people of her friend that any other outsiders.

so the people of Amity those Liminal and aware of her tried to pay her kindness back, to a reasonable degree of course but they could help and she let them stay so they did.

Paulina took it upon herself to make a nice place in the fashion district, she sold some charms to help with the curses as much as she could.

Sam being Sam opened a surprisingly Ivy Approved community garden and was very hard to convince not to join the Eco-terrorist but they managed to, thankfully.

the Fentons designed filters to help the 'Parkers but it was good for the city too if too little to do much.

Val hadn't moved here (yet) but she visited often enough and each visit volunteered somewhere.

Gotham grown to adore them almost as their own, she even hid them from the bats for a while to let them settle (and maybe help her more before her Knight inevitably got paranoid)

Gotham laughed when her King stumbled into her Red Knight, you could hear it in subtle ways the sounds of the night flowed just a little too much like a giggle.

Hood did deserve more good things she's proud of herself!

[ryanishyperfixating]

God I love this over dramatic man. Took the time to write out “…” for dramatic effect.

He felt himself falling asleep and thought

“AH YES, BUT FIRST, I NEED TO WRITE OUT ” …” FOR DRAMATIC EFFECT IN BETWEEN PARTS OF MY SENTENCE SO THAT WHOEVER READS THIS IN THE FUTURE CAN UNDERSTAND THE PACING OF MY BRAIN RIGHT NOW!”

And then he faceplanted onto the table and got possessed.

[lichqueenlibrarian]

…I suppose if you’re experiencing a lack of heirs you would naturally turn to Rogaine

[shavirlight]

The House Was a Funeral Pyre | Louis/Lestat, 74.6k words, rated explicit.

In the cold grime of 1910 Paris, with loud steps over wet pavement, an inebriated group of young bohemians were exiting a small theater and making their way home. They were shouting, rambunctious with laughter, and one of the men was dancing, bathed in the streetlight glow. He was beautiful. Louis watched from the above in the dark, from the top of the steps leading down to the dirty path. He stood between the shadows, and for the first time in almost one hundred years, felt the draw of the warm light below.

My Louis/Lestat role reversal AU fic is finally complete! There's seven chapters, each corresponding with an episode of season one, plus an epilogue. I worked really hard on this story, and I'm honestly pretty proud of it. If you choose to read it, I hope you enjoy!

Art by @alexassan ✨

[multiverse-singularity]

"I try to call you every day What can I say when the truth comes out? (Of my very own mouth) I've been working on a unified theory If I make it through tonight, everybody's gonna hear me out (now)"

~Touch Tone Telephone (Lemon Demon)

[fawnspotholiday]

Someone pointed out how Noelle closed her curtains for this conversation with Kris.

She uh... really wanted some privacy huh...

[everestgale]

Inspired by this un-cheated Cheated from @/itsonlypolite and by my un-broken Broken, I started to think about what would un-cold Cold look like (it was also a suggestion from @/neverpathia)

Specifically, I imagined how much Cold would change, wither and, quite literally, grow colder as the Narrator shoves the Long Quiet into the Good Ending. It was a fun exercise to see if I could figure out what Cold would look like before he gets traumatized by the eternity of nothingness and boredom. His frame gets thinner, his feathers get longer and more tattered, and his expression gets more and more done with everything :]

...and then this snowballed! And I started thinking about Paranoid, too:

...not that different from how I normally draw him, except he's got actual eyes! What happened to them?

...the Nightmare happened :]

(This was supposed to be a quick brush test, but then surprise! I really wanted to draw the moment his eyes "break" and turn into the static-y mess they are normally. Also pre-Nightmare Paranoid doesn't need gloves, too! It's only after the Long Quiet's body gets thoroughly paralyzed by Nightmare that he needs them as a sensory item, if that makes sense... I've got a lot of Paranoid HCs-)

[trappedinafantasy37]

Anybody else realize that it is news to Minthara to find out that Ketheric wasn't working alone? She knew about Orin this entire time, but still thought Ketheric to be the head of the Absolute. Obviously she knew Orin was involved with the Absolute and did something for them, but she didn't realize the extent of power Orin actually had. And I think it is pretty fascinating that Minthara "men are only useful for breeding" Baenre did not immediately presume that the woman was in charge or had any significant power in the Absolute.

Can you imagine how Minthara felt to find out that not only were Orin and Ketheric working together, but that they were equals? I think it only dawns on her how much danger she was in the entire time and just how little control she had over herself. She was made the personal plaything of one of the three prongs of the Absolute and was slowly being driven into the same kind of mad monster Orin was. So what would have happened to her if Ketheric fully claimed her like he had intended before Orin basically stole her? How much worse could Ketheric have done to her? Or was she only in her shit ass predicament, debased amongst goblin trash out of Ketheric's pettiness for Orin?

But like, she knows Orin is the Chosen of Bhaal so she already knows how powerful and dangerous she is. But it almost seems like after finding out Orin is Ketheric's equal, she kinda places her at the top of the hierarchy between the Chosen Three anyway and insists she is the most dangerous. By Menzoberranzan standards, she probably would see Orin as being the most deadly and dangerous. Because in her experience, the woman is the most powerful. Orin already did a lot of fucked up shit to her, but she realizes that Orin could have done so much worse.

It makes a bit more sense why Minthara's tone about Orin turns from rage to terror in between acts. She is the only character in the game that portrays Orin as a threat. Gortash, Sarevok, Fel - they all treat her like a joke, an annoyance, someone to roll your eyes at. But Orin has shown a side of herself to Minthara that others either don't see, or don't take seriously. Orin is cruel for cruelty's sake - she revels in the suffering she brings to others. Minthara has scars and nightmares left behind by Orin, and it ultimately meant nothing. No - Minthara's suffering empowered Orin. Chronologically, Orin probably got her hands on Minthara after taking out Durge and establishing herself as Bhaal's Chosen. She was on a winning streak. Minthara's torment was her celebration, her victory lap, a tool to establish herself as the true monster she wants to be seen as. Everyone in her life has overlooked her, so she created a victim who never will. A victim who is so paranoid, that she is constantly looking for Orin's presence everywhere she goes, because Orin could be anywhere... Orin could be anyone...

[silverskye13]

"I feel crazy," Helsknight said.

Tanguish blinked, the sound of Helsknight's voice pulling him awake when he was just on the teetering edge of sleep. His thoughts had started taking on the fluid, picture-like quality of half-dreams, all over-bright and surreal. The inside of the kitchen, the overhead lights, but in primary colors and tilting shapes. He hadn't even realized he was so close to sleep until Helsknight was speaking. Then Tanguish's eyes were open, and the world was decidedly more mundane.

Tanguish shifted, humming tunelessly, a filler for thoughts he was having trouble forming. At length he asked, "Crazy?"

Helsknight sighed. Tanguish heard it as a deep, hollow huff of air pressed against his ear, lungs filling. Helsknight had collapsed onto the couch, arms around the arm rest, head pillowed over the side. It had been a long day, and he had been tired, and Tanguish had collapsed on top of him, a forming habit. The cold of Tanguish's ice soothed Helsknight's feverish skin, soothed him restful, and Tanguish found the sound of the knight's heartbeat and the hand that occasionally stroked his hair twin comforts.

"Today I was fine," Helsknight said, blinking up at the ceiling. "I was strong, fit, and healthy. My hands didn't shake. My breaths were easy. My thoughts were mine. It was a good day."

Helsknight didn't frown exactly. His eyes were closed, and the scars on his face were pale traces that made the sharp plane of his cheekbone more obvious, and turned his eyebrow into odd segments. Those scars pulled together slightly as his eyebrows drew closer, a line creasing between them. Not a frown exactly, but something that wandered the same avenues of expression.

"It's like last week never happened."

Helsknight opened his eyes and blinked at the ceiling. He repeated, "I feel crazy."

"Life is good days and bad days," Tanguish said gently, treading his way carefully into the conversation. He rested his chin in the center of Helsknight's chest and gave another tuneless hum, something that rattled in his throat almost like a purr. He hoped it was soothing. "I'm glad you're feeling better."

"It feels shameful," Helsknight said, that furrow in his brow deepening, taking on the contours of a proper scowl. "Like I made a big deal out of nothing."

"You believed it was bad enough at the time," Tanguish offered, a reuse of the knight's own words, his oaths about lying. I believed it was true at the time, so no tenet was broken; no sin committed. "I could tell you were hurting."

"I was hurting," Helsknight agreed and sighed again, his eyes closing. "But I should have handled it better."

"Would you begrudge someone their fears over a broken arm, just because in a few months it's healed?"

"It hasn't been a few months. It's been days."

"Time heals needs differently?"

"Tanguish."

"I don't see any logic in these thoughts, Helsknight," Tanguish said gently, letting out another tuneless purr. "Chasing them, I mean. You were hurting, and it knocked you off your feet. You're better now, so today, you were back on them. And it was a good day."

"It was a good day," Helsknight agreed quietly.

"Enjoy it while you have it," Tanguish whispered. He waited patiently for Helsknight to respond, and when he didn't, added a very quiet, "Please?"

Helsknight sighed again. His hand moved to comb through Tanguish's hair with sword-calloused fingers. The touch was warm and gentle, and heavy with weariness.

"I worry about the next bad day," Helsknight said. "It will come again."

"Worry about it when it gets here."

"If I'm not ready and it knocks me off my feet again, what then?"

"Life isn't a siege, knight," Tanguish reminded him. "You don't survive it behind walls and moats."

"But I wouldn't wound anyone else."

"You didn't wound me. You didn't wound anyone." Tanguish tilted his head slightly. "You maybe wounded your own pride?"

The crease between Helsknight's eyes turned into a frown, with wrinkled nose and curled lip, baring half a flash of white teeth.

"It shouldn't hurt your pride to have bad days," Tanguish purred. "It only means you're human like the rest of us."

"I wish I wasn't, sometimes."

"Is it so terrible that I'm human?"

"No."

"And Martyn and EB?"

"Tanguish."

"Join us on the ground," Tanguish told him light-heartedly. "That pedestal looks uncomfortable."

Helsknight passed his hand through Tanguish's hair again, teasing its way through a tangle. Together, they lay on the couch and matched their breathing. The house was quiet and still, and Tanguish was warm and safe. He felt himself teetering again, eyes drooping. A feeling like tilting, and edge to fall over, a world of comfortable dreams opening up over the side. He knew if he opened his eyes again, the feeling would vanish, as would the strange colors and shapes of half-dreams. Ghosts and mists that slipped from remembered thought the moment they were no longer felt, so soft and surreal, they might not exist at all. In the morning, he might not even remember how they felt, only that they passed him over, a vague impression of memory.

"I will try," Helsknight said.

And they slept.

[backpackingspace]

Hi yes more unhinged penelope pleaseeee.

[bookwyrminspiration]

hey. the story of your life by ted chiang

[thirdeyeblue]

“Nine would have treated Martha better than Ten did”

I need to talk about this argument that never seems to stop circulating.

Note: Not a venomous/anti post. There’s more than enough of that across fandom spaces as is, and this is supposed to be a place for ✨sweet, blissful escapism✨

When making this argument, people seem to envision a scenario in which Nine never met Rose.

While I can appreciate a good hypothetical, recognizing Rose's significance to the Doctor (Nine and Ten) is essential to understanding why things with Martha played out the way they did in the first place.

In the third series, the Doctor is grieving. This grief is deliberately threaded into nearly every script, whether spoken aloud or not (and these are just a few examples):

He's burning in Rose’s wake the entire time Martha travels with him, which is why it’s so frequently called upon: It’s 100% deliberate in framing his grief. He grieved as Nine too, of course— having been fresh on the heels of the Time War — but then he met Rose, which changed everything.

Back then, he was still a rude, traumatized pain in the ass, but we watch Rose soften more of those jagged edges with every episode as they grow closer; as he lets his guard down and forms a deep connection with her.

He falls in love (against his better judgment) and it's game over.

And yes: provided S1E1 had been titled 'Martha', one can realistically assume things might have unfolded similarly to how they did with Rose. However, it wouldn’t have been that way just because the Doctor was Nine and “Nine was different” — it would be because he wasn’t already in love with someone else. The same can't be said for the start of S3.

Think of it like this: if Rose AND Martha had been in that cellar — if Nine had taken both of them along with him in S1 — we’d eventually be looking at the most melodramatic love triangle ever, what with him living in close quarters with two brilliant, gorgeous, compassionate young women... But Doctor Who is plenty “soap opera” as is with just one woman in the TARDIS.

(I certainly wouldn’t object to reading that fic, though)

Now, regarding the unrequited elephant in the room…

His inability to be romantic with Martha isn’t because he thinks her lesser, nor is it for lack of compatibility. It isn't because Rose is any better than her. It certainly isn’t just because he’s Ten.

It’s really only for one reason, which can't be denied — and now I’m a broken record:

He is still in love with Rose.

(cut from a tenrosedaily gif)

Nine is Ten, and Ten is only such a mess in S3 because he’s just lost the love of his life. Martha merely got caught in the crosshairs of a volatile Time Lord in mourning, and yes — it sucks. Absolutely.

But it also feels dismissive to chalk Ten and Martha’s relationship up to little more than some sort of mindless dance of pining, jealousy, and toxicity.

Ten trusted Martha with his life over and over again — and hers, with him. He constantly praised her brilliance, happily carting her around time and space with no intention of letting her go. In the BBC’s extended universe of novels/comics/cartoons/etc, there’s so much depth to their relationship: love and trust and trauma and sacrifice. They had their own special bond as mates, their own complexities — so it’s a bummer that it's forever overshadowed by the other things.

I’m not denying that there was a lot of stuff that sucked/was for sure toxic about Ten's S3 behavior, but so many of the things I've seen him catching flak for can be directly attributed to being A Clueless Fucking Alien Idiot (not a trait that’s unique to Ten) — as well as his flat-out obliviousness to Martha’s feelings.

So yes, I agree: if Rose never existed, he would have treated Martha differently as Nine. He also would have treated her differently as Ten. Certainly.

But Rose did exist, and when discussing canon, it matters.

“He tells me that he absolutely, 100% loves Rose... He tells me how my daughter; my wonderful, beautiful, clever little girl saved him from himself before… And he says that’s all because of me! I made her into the Rose Tyler that saved him.”

-Jackie Tyler, Flight Into Hull!

Martha got the short end of the stick in S3. She came round at the wrong place and time, but that doesn't mean it was all bad. It doesn't mean the Doctor didn’t adore her. It certainly doesn't mean the time they spent together was wasted or worthless. They were brilliant!

Sure, he could be a twat, but let it be known that he was a twat with Rose as well, both as Nine and Ten. I’m sure Tentoo can be plenty infuriating, too. So while I'll defend Ten (and Tentoo) into the ground forever and ever and ever, I'll concede that he's fucked up.

The Doctor is a certified Pain In The Ass. It’s one of the things I love so much about this character — dynamics.

But never forget that Martha was goddamn tough as nails and overcame every bit of it. She moved on with her life, and the Doctor moved on with his. One can only pray that, when they inevitably drag her back onto the show (which feels inevitable if I'm honest), we see at once that she's been living her best life for all these years.

[deityofhearts]

so much respect to people who love horror movies, yall are so much braver than I am