#poignant narratives

[pebblegalaxy]

Tears of the Written Word: Books That Awakened Deep Emotions #BlogchatterHalfMarathon

In the vast library of human experience, there are books that possess an extraordinary ability to reach into the depths of our souls, to unravel our emotions, and to bring forth tears that flow from the wellspring of our shared humanity. These are the books that make us ugly cry, that strip away the protective layers of our hearts and lay bare the rawness of our emotions. From the very first…

[sparring-spirals]

Still emotional about Fy'ra Rai and Opal, actually. Thought dump time bc i. dont have the energy to cut this down effectively.

Because at that point in the episode, Opal is doomed. Not in the fun little "oh things are getting worse ;)" kind of way we'd been experiencing leading up to the fight, or even IN the fight. At that point in the fight, Cyrus is dead. Dorian and Dariax have their minds twisted, bodies clambering away from the fight. Morrighan has felt, firsthand, just how far gone Opal is, holes in her mind, her friend broken. The heartbreaking sentence of. "You can always come back." understands that she is gone already. She's lost already. Opal has forgotten Ted. Opal has forgotten herself.

So at that point in the fight, we know Opal is doomed. Us as the audience, the cast, the characters. Aabria is running through each of the other crownkeepers and it is more of a goodbye than a round of combat. Defying the Spider Queen invites death, with zero hesitation- Cyrus's body as physical evidence of that. The terms were very clearly set: You leave Opal, you let her be lost. Or you die. (Leaving Opal anyway).

and Fy'ra Rai then. Grasps the crown, understands intimately that she can break it off and it will kill Opal. (I will free you, if you want me to. We would lose you but you would not be taken). And asks, what do you want me to do. What do you want.

and Opal says, I want you to leave. (I want you to live.) and Fy'ra Rai functionally says. No. Sorry. That's not one of the options.

If you wanted to go. I will do that (your blood on my hands). If you want me to stay, I will. But I'm not going to leave you.

There was the point where Fy'ra Rai broke into the communication and I felt my insides sink because. Look. Lets be real, Aabria had already demonstrated the stakes here. The gesture would not be rewarded for the gesture alone. The Spider Queen's terms were: You leave Opal. Or you die.

And Fy'ra Rai said: no.

I don't think I'm overstepping to assume that if Fy'ra Rai had failed the intimidation check, she would have died. This entire thing hits me so hard because I think Anjali knew that too. I think Fy'ra Rai knew that too. Yes, Fy'ra Rai convinced a Betrayer God to negotiate. She carved a third option out of a non-negotiable situation. She knew what would happen if she failed and did it anyway, with no fear, no regret, no waver in her resolve. She had lost enough sisters. She wasn't going to lose anymore, no matter the personal cost. That's part of why it succeeded, I'm sure, but.

Just. Fuck me. The amount of resolve. The amount of love. The amount of conviction. "I am. A protector." You know your friend- your sister- is doomed. So no more negotiating away from that. You step to her side and you grasp her hand and say- doom me with her.

And in some, sideways way, this saves you both, at least for a little while.

Because this story is a tragedy. This ending is a sad one. We know this already. But think about- Opal, under Lolth's bidding, alone in the dark. Think about Fy'ra Rai, alive, intimately aware that she had failed to protect yet another sister.

And think about what we got, instead: the two of them, in deep darkness, danger encroaching- holding hands. Someone they love at their side. A champion. And her champion.

This is still a sad story. But it's not the same one. Fy'ra Rai stared down a Betrayer God and made her change her mind. She stared down a Betrayer God, and her love and conviction changed the nature of the story. It shouldn't have been able to. But she did.

Fy'ra Rai chose to doom 2 people instead of one, and the sheer strength of her love and will managed to save them both, at least for a little while. Isn't it funny how that works? Isn't it devastating? Isn't it. fucking incredible?

[iridescentmirrorsgenshin]

thinking about how the Sumeru Archon Quest can be read as a metaphor for Alhaitham and Kaveh's relationship and their progression and going crazy

Alhaitham is present during the quest, whereas Kaveh is not, and this causes Alhaitham to question why Kaveh was not present in saving Sumeru. Relating this to their thesis, although it made many bounds for Sumeru’s understanding of ancient languages and architecture which held promise for betterment of the future, it was abandoned before completion due to their clashing of views and personal attacks of each other. Alhaitham repeatedly questioning why Kaveh was missing hints that Kaveh should have been a part of the Archon-saving plan, in that, Kaveh was missing from the betterment of Sumeru. Once again, an opportunity passed by for them uniting for a mutually agreed cause. This is due to the dissonance between them and their lack of successful communication.

In the Archon Quest, Alhaitham is present, ready for reconciliation, to work together, whereas Kaveh is missing, unaware of the chance of reconciliation. Kaveh believes that Alhaitham deliberately stirred trouble in Sumeru, rather than saving it, due to his flawed perception of Alhaitham – just as he believes that Alhaitham wants something in return for allowing Kaveh to live in his house, rather than it being an invitation for reconciliation, due to his flawed perception of Alhaitham.

This, in turn, creates a space in the narrative for the two to join together of their own accord, however, the two need to be in the same mindset for reconciliation. As established in Kaveh's Hangout and A Parade of Providence, this can be brought about by the mutual understanding that their clashes do not stem from overall differences in thinking, but their way of communication. Rather than their relationship being based on the opposition of their thinking, it should be based upon the potential that can be borne from identifying good in the balancing of viewpoints – which their thesis had achieved.

Their development as individuals ultimately lies within the other as they possess what the other lacks in order to fully complete their understanding of each other, and themselves. Alhaitham is the grounding for Kaveh’s ideals and the push for him to prioritise himself in his pursuit for happiness for “all” (as established within a parade of providence), whereas Kaveh is the breach in Alhaitham’s rationality and allows him to understand the sensibility of others around him, enabling Alhaitham to possess an enhanced version of his truth.

(Update: For more analyses like this, the essay this is taken from is now uploaded! It can be accessed here and here as as a pdf <3)

[lunarharp]

being attached to that moment qifrey held a baby one time and my ideas for the future :)

[baronvontribble]

did y'all know that the credits song to BG3 is a waltz

[jagcedes]

in an alternate timeline, the partnership of these two can be traced all the way back to 2005 ... (+ boycott hp and puma!)

[yavin42]

just finished the second season of black sails and i gotta say i understand why it makes queers go feral

[straylaughs]

this honestly might be one of my favourite conversations in the manga

[larrythefloridaman]

WOAH, HE'S BIGENDER? I DIDN'T KNOW THAT!

[wereoz]

me when (according to him in the second chap of the book) eduardo only became marks friend out of pity but he couldn’t predict how much he’d love him and ended up doing everything for him and was the punch line of his own annoying rich boy joke and that he’s the second saverin who had to move for safety and he’s okay to bear that pain and separation from home like his dads dad had to and he wants to make his father proud so he’s purposely mild, but he fucks that up and maybe he’s a bit too soft for his dad, but no one can make him madder than mark and now his dad won’t talk to him bc his anger is rare but just as embarrassing :((

[angorwhosebabyisthis]

every time i see someone claim the ancients were a magical indigenous utopia to aspire to (with 'a few little problems'), and any criticism of them as a society is apologia for native genocide, i clutch my head in agony. never change, twitter

[hell-heron]

joking because I'm unable to articulate in words the variety of things this juxtaposition makes me feel can a lotr boy and an as*iaf girl fall in love...?

[flurrin]

sometimes i think jar jar binks is the fandomwide proof that no one ever understood luke skywalker

he and the gungans represent the people. full stop. all of them. especially jar jar, he's annoying, he's a troublemaker, he lacks 'common sense'. saving jar jar does the OPPOSITE of rallying the gungans to the colonist naboo people's cause, padmé has to make her own plea. he's worthless. qui gon very specifically doesn't save him because there's anything special about him, he saves him because he's alive and in a position to stop him from dying. that's all. but jar jar is still the reason the day is saved, because he is the people, the people are him.

you have to save people you dont like. people you don't agree with. people you think are worthless. because they are alive, and you are in a position to stop them from dying. that's all.

that's what luke is.

[ryanxross]

Sorry but i do not think quiet on set is a good documentary like. At all

[storytellering]

I really, REALLY hope that CAPCOM never reveals who Nero's mother is. I don't think I can take losing all the steamy Dante/Vergil Mpreg fanfiction and fanart!😥

Oh anon, I highly doubt the art and fanfic would disappear just because capcom gave a face to nero's mom! Even if they were to actually make her a character, I think me and everyone else who's deep in the hc would just keep going as if nothing had happened - after all, I highly doubt Vergil being Nero's actual mother would ever be made canon, so why care about what canon says on the matter? It fits incredibly well with his character and with the general vibe all of the spardas have that make them so close, at least in my experience, to the (specifically transmasc) non-cis experience, but it's one of those things that was likely just a happy accident and as such will probably never be recognized by the creators, even. Though while I think it's clear that the official intent of purely canonverse is to imply Vergil had a ONS with a random woman who got pregnant with Nero, I personally don't think it would serve the narrative to make her a full fledged character - something like that would muddle the story a bit too much. I think it works perfectly as a "yeah this thing happened but how or the details don't matter, what matters is that now Nero exists" thing rather than having its own detailed branching off plot. I just don't think DMC is the franchise to explore that - and besides, I think capcom, so far, hasn't seemed too interested in exploring that, which honestly I appreciate not just as a shipper (because again, like I said, at the end of the day what canon says matters relatively little) but from a narrative perspective.

[dollsome-does-tumblr]

this is going to be the least popular or relatable thing i've ever said, but since i keep it real on this blog: i finished s1 of ajlt earlier, and i am actually enjoying this show a lot, i find it very cute and charming and a pleasant fun-watch with a nice melancholy streak.

throw your rotten tomatoes at me if you must!!!!!!!!!!! i understand!!!