#she IS faithful and her motive ARE genuine are apparent

[uzurimisery]

chapter 6: the fold. / coriolanus snow / nsfw

Rating: Explicit

WC: 5k

Warnings: MDNI, he's still insane and possessive, he's not a good guy but he's hot, not beta read

The time between then and the engagement party had felt short, going by too quickly, a whirlwind passing through you. It would be wrong to say you weren’t nervous, the sensation gripped you holding you close. Even if you did believe Coriolanus was sincere in his desire to be allies trusting him was another matter. Alliances were often forged with hidden motives.

You had seen firsthand the ruthless ambition that drove people to betray their allies, you had done the same, sacrificing presumed loyalty for personal gain. Trust was but a fragile illusion that could shatter in the blink of an eye. A fact made all the more apparent by your illusory relationship with him.

Despite the reservations, you were drawn to him. His ruthless and cunning nature mirrors your own, and there was no denying the sexual attraction between you both. But as the day of the engagement party loomed, the agitation never ceased.

You were about to take a leap of faith, place your life, your very future, and marry a man who had once been an annoyance to you. Yes, you had brought him back to the Capitol, but he had been more annoying than you thought. There was some hope, however. Coriolanus had recognised your strength, your potential, and he had been the one to extend the hand of allyship. Besides, as long as one of your parents lived he be hard-pressed to betray you.

A pin prinked at your side.

“Sorry! Sorry.” Tigris exclaimed as she rushed to soothe the wound. Her hands were cold against your skin.

“It’s alright. Hardly imagine it was intentional.”

“Of course not.” She was quick to get back to work, doing up the final adjustment stitch to ensure your dress fit perfectly.

It was simpler than Tigris had wanted it to be, insisting that your engagement party dress should be grand. You were able to convince her to focus on the wedding dress instead, which you were grateful for. Tonight could be simple, less caught up in the extravagant happenings of the Capitol. So your dress was simple. White silver chain mesh with a nude underdress and a solid white cape.

As she backed away she spoke again. “Are you nervous?”

“A little,” you admit, gently passing your hands over the soft fabric of the cap. Despite the simplicity, it was elegant. Slightly understated, but it suited you.

Her eyes were lit with concern. “Don’t be,” she was reassuring, voice laced with genuine warmth. “You look amazing.”

Looking great and feeling great were different things. Tonight, you weren’t sure if you’d be feeling great.

“Thank you Tirgirs,” your voice was thick with emotion. “One less thing to worry about.”

“Are you worried about him?” She was quick to pick up on your actual concern. Coriolanus Snow.

You steeled your gaze in the mirror and straightened your shoulders, trying to regain composure. “How could I not be?”

“He cares for you…” she trailed off. “At least I think he does. He’s different with you. More like the boy I grew up with and less, well, like he is now.”

You studied your reflection, searching for any sign of turmoil within. Your hair was in order, your makeup flawless, and your dress impeccably tailored. There was not a hint of emotion showing. Perhaps the shadow of the boy Tigris knew was the glimpses of warmth that you could feel from Coriolanus.

“I care for him as well.” The truth was easy, you did care for him.

Tigris paused. “That’s good then. The only thing worse than a political marriage is one where you hate each other,” her voice held a touch of sympathy.

Taking a deep breath, you turned away from the mirror. Speculation would be endless, but tonight you needed to focus on the present. Standing there trying to determine, or wish, that there was the chance for you and Coriolanus to have something real, reach your goals and build the lives you want, and have something real. The past year had been messy, with a constant fluctuation of feelings but between the lines moments had felt true. When the two of you were alone it felt real to you.

Despite his previous explanation, you refused to believe that the shock engagement had been calculated as he claimed. Somewhere inside him he cared for you, you knew it, relieved it like gospel. Faithful to the higher power of emotion, praying that it was true. That he was capable of loving you like you loved him.

“We moved past hate a long time ago.”

“That's good then.” Tigris paused for a moment, hesitating to ask the question, her eyes flicking over you. “Do you love him?”

“Love?” you echoed, voice breaking on the word.

“Yes, love,” she was persistent. “Do you love him?”

It was hard to love a man like Coriolanus Snow but you couldn’t say that you didn’t love him at this point. The months of closeness laid the ground for positive feelings, and at every turn, he surprised you. The soft touches, passionate kisses when you were alone, the unspoken emotions fogging up the air between the two of you-- they had fed the selfish desire within you to have Coriolanus to yourself. A need to have him by your side. Greedy passion clawing at your legs.

The model of love you had growing up was your parents. They weren’t a typical loving couple, unconventional in all manners, but they did love each other and worked as partners. Each picked up the slack where the other faltered. What you had with Coriolanus felt like that. The balancing act, the tipping of the scales.

There was a pause before you answered. “Does it matter?”

Your feelings towards him were inconsequential in the grand scheme. It’d be worse to have them thrown in your face and laughed at knowing that you would still be going through with the marriage for the sake of your ambition. Love and ambition were a dangerous mix.

“I think so,” Tigris was soft, hand smoothing out any wrinkles of your dress. “I’d like to think that you and I have become friends over the past year and… I’d like you to be happy. I saw what a loveless marriage did to my aunt and I don’t want the same for you.”

Her words broke you down, shattering the barriers you had up. She was always so gentle and caring, it felt like she had no ulterior motives whenever you spoke. There was one thing she wanted, and that was the best for everyone. Even Coriolanus even if she didn’t agree with his actions. Tigris was a kind and gentle soul, something so rare for the Captiol.

The truth bubbled over the surface, a moment of closeness so rarely felt. The feelings you had rationalized away, hiding them behind logic, spilling out. It hurt, like ripping off a bandage, stinging and sharp, exposing the wound.

“Must you have asked me this after my makeup was done?”You joked, trying to shake off the tears welling in your eyes.

“Sorry.”

You exhaled, breathy and burdened. “Love is a complicated feeling and a luxury I didn’t think I’d ever be able to afford. It’s hard to explain what I feel for him, I don’t even know if I understand the feeling myself. I know that I want him in my life, and the thought of him not being there, being someone I can depend on, makes me feel like I’m going crazy. He’s someone I know will always have my back as long as I have his.”

Tigris chewed on your words for a minute.

“So you do love him then?”

“If this is love, then yes I do.”

“Have you told him?”

“I can’t,” you stutter slightly. “It’d be risking everything over my feelings.”

“But do you think you can marry him without telling him? Go your entire life not telling him?”

You were terrified of that. Telling him was vulnerability and uncertainty, threading waters as the tide came in threatening to swallow you whole. Your feelings could cost you your ambition, your power, and at the furthest extreme, your life. But not telling him, marrying with this secret, was even more terrifying. Trapping yourself in a relationship with him where you could never truly voice your thoughts.

It was a cruel dilemma. The future you had always wanted, influence and control, and love. How could you risk everything for something so uncertain? How could you jeopardize everything for a man who might not even feel the same? But how could you wake up every day by his side, the feelings burning you, and expect to be fine?

“I’m afraid of what he’ll say, of what he’ll do, of losing him.”

“I know it’s easy for me to sit here and say you should tell him, but I think you should. If you do love him, you owe it to yourself to at least try.”

Her words held truth.

____________________________________

The grand ballroom of the Gaul estate was filled to the brim with the Capitol’s elite. The air seems alive with the hum of excitement, bouncing around the opulent decor, mingling with the clink of crystal glassware. Even the president, who had never been the same after the death of his son, looked to be enjoying himself. There had been no expense sparred for the engagement party, Coriolanus could only imagine what the actual wedding would cost. 

Surrounded by guests, Coriolanus found himself in the company of former Academy students. The conversation had been fine at the start, but the more that they drank to more it began to grate on him.

“You know I never thought you’d be the first to get married Coriolanus,” Apollo Ring hammered on. “I figured it’d be Florus.”

“Florus! I would have bet money on Io.” Domitia Whimsiwick chimed in.

Did they all have nothing better to do than bug him? The constant chatter, the forced camaraderie irritated him, like nails on a chalkboard they drug on and on. He knew that the party was about himself and you, but god did he hate having to put up with his former classmates. They thought themselves all to be friends, which included him in it. 

Of course, he engaged with them, laughing at their jokes and acting like he cared about the conversation. The whole like he was surveying the room, waiting for you so he could finally have an excuse to dismiss himself from the conversation. After 15 minutes or so, he finally saw you. 

Somehow, you had gotten more beautiful. It was a subtle shift in appearance, a change so small but it made you even more attractive.

Your hair was down, curling down your back, a change from your usual updos. Previously you told him they were “more practical” for working in the lab, but he did love it when your hair was down. He watched as you flitted from guest to guest, thanking them for coming with your signature red lipstick smile. 

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, a genuine one, breaking through his front. 

“Apologies everyone,” Coriolanus placed a hand on his chest and gave a slight bow. “The future Mrs. Snow has arrived.” The group wished him well, a few jokes about him being whipped, and went back to talking amongst themselves as he left.

His heart pounded with a mix of excitement and nervousness. The closer he got to you the more the feeling of contentment, something he rarely if ever experienced, settled in his stomach. 

“You look stunning,” he spoke while wrapping an arm around your waist, kissing your forehead, conveying the tenderness he felt. Then with practise poise, he greeted the guest you were speaking to. “You should wear your hair down more.” 

You smiled up at him. “Why thank you, Mr. Snow,” if hearing your voice was the reward he got for suffering the others, he’d suffer a thousand lifetimes. “I was just speaking with Mrs. Thornton about how you’re such a charmer.”

“Guilty as charged,” Coriolanus laughed a bit while turning the conversation the the older woman. “How could I not try and charm her when she’s this beautiful?” 

“Oh, young love! I’ll leave you kids alone. Congratulations on your engagement.” 

Coriolanus wanted to snatch you up and take you away from here. This was the part of politics he hated the most. The show of it all. Unfortunately, he was obligated to remain here until the last guest exited the building. His arm tightened around your waist, fingers drumming against your side. 

“How long do you think this will take? I’ve had my fill of pleasantries and if I have to listen to Gaius speak again I might lose it.” His exasperation at events often entertained you.

Your laughter, a melody from the heavens, danced around the air, drowning out the ringing hum of conversation around you both. “Patience, Coriolanus. This whole thing is just for us, so probably be a while before it ends. It’s not like we can sneak away either.” 

“You’re the only reason I tolerate these events, you know,” he whispered in your ear, watching the shiver run down your spine as he did. “Otherwise I’d have no problem avoiding them.” 

“Well now, that doesn’t sound like a man who's excited to get married.” Your eyes met his own.

“To entertain over a hundred people at an engagement party? No, I’m not excited about that. But to get married to you? That’s another thing altogether.”

There was sincerity in his words. As much as he hated the required socialising, he was excited to marry you, to finally have a visible form of ownership of you. The prospect of sharing life with you added to that. He could taste the future on his tongue. One filled with you, laughter, and love. One where the two of you sat upon a gilded throne and ruled over Panem together. 

“Are you excited then? To marry me?” 

Warmth blossomed in his chest as Coriolanus gazed into your eyes. You were letting him see through the cracks and into your anxiety about the situation. You were still worried that he regretted the choice.

“Of course, I’m excited to marry you,” he admitted, voice soft and sincere, twinged with longing. “Who else can I trust to take over Panem with besides you?” 

There was something in your eyes he couldn’t read, a flicker so quick he almost missed it. Something was wrong. 

“First we have to endure this engagement party, don’t we?” you replied, cutting the conversation, while moving the two of you to continue flitting around the room and greeting guests.

It drug on for some time before finally everyone had been ushered into the gardens and the ballroom transformed into a dining experience. Coriolanus was glad, it meant there only be a few more hours until he was finally free from the party. 

The ballroom had been completely transformed in just 15 minutes by the staff. Where there had been ample room for dancing, was now tables filled with placements and decor. The lighting had been lowered, with candles placed on the tables to better illuminate them, creating a romantic and intimate space. He had to admire the efficiency of your family’s staff as another team of them began leading guests to their assigned seats one by one. He, of course, would be at the table at the head of the room, next to yourself, and with both of your families. 

After all the guests had been seated, Mr. Gaul rose and tapped against his champagne flute with a knife. He was well-dressed as usual, this time donning a black suit with white embroidery around the lapels. It was interesting that despite Dr. Gaul’s more prominent status, your father took over the majority of the public-facing events. Acting as her mouthpiece at a lot of them. 

“Welcome, welcome everyone,” he boomed as a hush fell over the room.“I want to thank you all for joining us here tonight in celebration of what is bound to be the most influential wedding the Capitol will see this generation. And I’m not just saying that because it’s my daughter,” he spoke with a sly smile, making the guests chuckle. 

Mr. Gaul paused, taking a sip of champagne, his eyes lingering on Coriolanus.

“Like any father, I had doubts on if Mr. Snow would be good enough to marry my daughter, but my doubts have been laid to rest. I’ve been lucky enough in my life to see love in all sorts of forms, and am glad to see the love shared between him and my daughter.” Coriolanus nodded at him, giving your hand a squeeze on top of the table where they were joined. 

“Before I talk your ears off, my wife has a few things to say.” As your father sat, Dr. Gaul rose. 

“Thank you all again for joining us this evening,” her sing-song tone echoed over the silence. “It truly is remarkable to witness the union between Gaul and Snow, two strong and powerful families coming together not for the sake of Panem, but for the sake of love.” Dr. Gaul's arms were wide as she faced the guests. 

“With their love, I have no doubt this union will create a new era of prosperity and power for Panem,” she continued, resonating with pride. “Coriolanus, my sweet Y/N, you are the future of this nation, and I am confident that your union will lead us into a brighter, more prosperous future.”

The room erupted in applause, whistles and cheerings cutting through. Coriolanus felt drawn closer to you at the moment, your hand in his sending a jolt of electricity across his skin and through his veins. The implications of your marriage were transparent. Once the two of you were wed, even now before that, it was clear that the future of Panem was dependent on the two of you. To the untrained eye it was a beacon of hope, a promise of prosperity, unknowing that Coriolanus and yourself were ruthless. You would rewrite the narrative of Panem, and transform it into something of your choosing. 

Beyond that, it was finally having you to himself. No more barrier between himself and access to you. It was a victory. His gross and sickly feelings of obsession, lust, and love, are being rewarded after months of wanting you. Your attention, your affection, your very being his. You were his prize, his trophy, his ultimate conquest and he’d place you on the highest throne beside his own. 

As the cheering died down, servants came in with trolleys full of food. The air filled with the scent of freshly baked bread, succulent meats, and vibrant exotic fruits. All just for the first course, as the guests began engaging in their own conversations, all of them sheep. 

He turned to you, voice low with anticipation, possession threatening to spill. “Soon all of this will be ours. Snow and Gaul leading the nation.”

You turned, facing him, big doe eyes peering up through your lashes. He wanted to make you cry again, watch the tears pool and trickle down your cheeks. It was neither the time nor the place, but he wanted to-- no needed to-- be inside you. He leaned in closer, his breath hot against your ear. 

“Tonight,” his teeth nipped at the ridge. “We begin our reign. We will conquer Panem, and we will rule it with an iron first.” Coriolanus pulled away, moving to give you a chaste kiss. 

When he kissed you, you didn’t smile into it like you normally did. You were passive, emotionless, simply going through the motions of it. A wave of uncertainty washed over him. What had changed in the short hours he had been apart from you? Why were you suddenly pulling away from him? He wanted to press you about the issue but this wasn’t the time nor the place. 

For the rest of the meal, it was all Coriolanus could think about. Worry builds with every passing minute. The gentle warmth you brought into his life now felt passive, and that passivity unsettled him. Your interactions over the past week replaying in his mind, trying to isolate the moment when the shift occurred. It had to be after you had left his side to get ready tonight. You had gotten ready with Tigris, so she could be the cause, undermining him.

The more he thought about it, the more the problem escalated. What had Tigris said to you? Did something happen while you were getting ready? The questions echo in his skull, overtaking his thoughts. Had it been something he did? Did he say or act out of place? The fear of losing your affection, coupled with the uncertainty of the situation, weighs heavily on his shoulders.  

Maybe you had learned the truth: his feelings for you. You had figured out his feelings and were pulling away to avoid addressing them. He knew that there was a very real chance that you were burdened by that truth. Coriolanus grappled with the fact that his attempts at subtlety had failed, exposing him and making him vulnerable. The fear of rejection, his emotions being laid bare for you only to be met with rejection, making him nauseous. 

When the meal finally ended and guests filtered out, you were missing. You had been by his side most of the night and had only gotten up to see out guests, just like he had. But now you were missing. 

Coriolanus walked the estate looking for you and failing. It was like you had vanished. 

He nearly screamed when Dr. Gaul appeared out of nowhere, startling him. “Looking for something, Mr. Snow?” Her smile is wide and crazed. 

“Yes. I’m looking for Y/N.” 

“How unsurprising. She’s in the greenhouse, and likes the solitude after events.” Just as quickly as she had shown up, she started to leave. “Oh! Don’t forget my warning Mr. Snow.”

Coriolanus made his way to the greenhouse, driven by urgency and anxiety. If he could just explain things to you he could resolve the situation and ease his worries. As he entered the building, the smell of damp earth and flowers assaulted his nose, a stark contrast to the rest of the evening. 

There, amidst the foliage of a massive monstera, he found you seated on a stone bench, your shoulders shaking. You were crying. The sight of it stabbed his heart as he hesitated, unsure how to approach you. 

With a deep breath, he spoke, soft and slow, careful to startle you. “Y/N?” He watched you jump, rushing to swipe your eyes as he sat down next to you, your back stiffening.

“Sorry, just overwhelmed.” Your excuse was weak. 

“What’s wrong? You can talk to me.” Coriolanus was not a man who pleaded or begged, but he would be a beggar if it meant calming you. 

“Can I?” You looked so small in this moment, fearful like a child. 

“Of course you can.” 

Instead of soothing you, you only began to cry more. He felt so helpless watching your tears fall. His control and composure crumbled with every tear. The usual confidence he had waning. He wanted to understand the cause of your distress, understand why you had been so different tonight, but the answer felt further away than it did at the start. The need for answers was overshadowed by the need to make you stop crying. 

His hand grabbed your own, running his thumb over the top of it as he often did. “Y/N, I want to help. Please just tell me what’s wrong?” for you it felt normal to beg. 

He wants Coriolanus Snow in this moment, he was just a man, earnest and sincere, watching his lover cry and unable to comfort them. The weight of your sadness pressing against him. All he wanted was to find the right words, the right actions, the right anything, to bring you comfort and make you smile again. 

“I just need to know if this is real. If I’m safe with you. If you don���t view me as another stepping stone. Because I can’t stay here, keep doing this with you, if you don’t feel the same way. It’s eating me alive.” your body wracked with sobs. 

He could only watch. Coriolanus had never seen you so raw and exposed, your shoulders trembling. It was you letting him in, in every sense of the word. This is where he had to put himself on the line. Did he have enough courage to trust love one more time? To be this close? To let you see the most broken and paranoid parts of himself? To lose control?

This is what he had wanted. You broke down and begged him for the truth, your own feelings finally exposed for him. He had wanted you so overwhelmed with your own feelings that they damaged you the way his own did. But not that he got it, had you are your lowest, he hated it. Coriolanus hated seeing you cry because of him. 

The decision was agonising. Fear of failure, fear of being exposed, but more so, the fear of losing you. Sitting here, listening to your choked-up sobs, mascara beginning to stream, beautiful at your lowest. The silver gown that started the change in him.

He had played such a dangerous game; he lost to himself when he started seeing you as a person. You were supposed to be nothing to him, another pawn, a reason for your mother to further his trajectory. How was he supposed to know that you’d be so perfect for him? Your strengths cover his weaknesses and his yours. Genuine connection, not possession. A revelation.

He would starve if he only ever ate on Sundays. He would starve if only had you on Sundays.

With a trembling voice, Coriolanus spoke, a final confession of his own feelings, of his sins. “I only want this with you.” his hands held your face forcing you to lock eyes. His eyes are bare of any calculation and ambition, just the depth of his feelings for you. “I look for you, always, and in everything I see. You’re in the grass, in the trees, in the lab, in everything, you’re everything to me.”

The tears streamed down your face, and he wiped them away. He was crying now. They blurred his vision, but you shone through it all. He kisses you, soft and tender, before continuing. 

“I’m so incredibly flawed.” his voice was thick, the self-doubt that whispered in his ears at night leaking out. “I don’t deserve you, and I could never deserve you.” 

“You’re death and rebirth to me. My reason to forgive, to let someone in. And every time you leave my side it’s like the world around me dims, and nothing shines anymore. It gets harder to breathe.” 

You tore down his defences and stripped him of protection. 

“I told myself I’d never let someone in like this again, to make room in my heart to house your own,” speaking it out loud felt like ripping off a bandaid. 

“But I’ve never felt this way for someone before. You’ve changed me, altered me so deeply that there are parts of you that took over parts of me.”

You had changed him and made him feel compassion and empathy again. The dormant emotions he swore off now are reborn and only for you. Your being had seeped into every aspect of his own, forever informing him of you. At this moment, Coriolanus’ soul naked and in front of you, the final walls came crashing down. 

“I was just so scared to admit it, to give away my final card. To admit that it all has no meaning if you’re not there beside me and that I need you to make it matter. But it’s more than that. I was scared that you wouldn’t feel the same way. I can never tell what you’re thinking, never control you like I can others, I just have to trust you.”

It hurt to expose himself. The kind of hurt that felt good. A cut on your hand that you can't stop picking at. A bruise that you prod. When you push yourself hard at the gym and wake up the next morning sore. The dull ache of injury, a reminder that through all the pain, all the suffering, you were still human. He was still human. 

“I love you, Y/N. I have for months.”

His voice trembled, the admission hanging in the damp air. He had never allowed himself to feel love like this before, to surrender so completely to another person. 

“I love you too,” the relief he felt was instant. “I’ve been trying to ignore it, focus on something--anything else. But I realised that I couldn’t marry you without telling you.” 

Coriolanus’ hands cupped your face and he kissed you. Deeply and wholly. His touch was tender, filled with the very depths of his feelings for you, the kind that words could only partially convey. It was more than just a kiss, it was your soul's entwining. The acknowledgement that both of you had toiled over something for so long. There was no urge to control the situation, only to be in the moment with you. 

As you kissed, the greenhouses faded. It was only the two of you, hearts beating in unison. The act dropped, the lines were forgotten, and the actors were just people. The politics were irrelevant. It was just the two of you, as it always should have been.

@serrendiipty @namelesslosers @glitteryblizzardsalad @harrysbitvh123 @secretsicanthideanymore @ayyyeeeeidk @hinata7346 @kisstheskin @sumo-b98 @duds31 @mrsjobarnes @whorefortim @joonvrs @sabrinasbd @itsmeduckieee @dangelnleif

[winepresswrath]

hi! i always love your MDZS/CQL takes; can i ask what are the questions you think CQL is asking, as compared to MDZS?

I haven't actually revisited either canon in ages, which is making me nervous. what questions the novel is interested in can be pretty contentious all on its own! @mikkeneko has an excellent answer in the notes here which I reccomend to everyone. My own thoughts are honestly pretty scattered- I keep on deleting things and going hm, that's not quite right.

So, for the obvious-to-me example, people reasonably zero in on the creation of innocent doctors/radish farmers who Wen Ruohan is holding hostage. In CQL it's easy to infer that Wen Qing and Wen Ning are maybe the only cultivators and almost certainly the only combatants among the Wen remnants, and their status is much more ambiguous in the novel, which I personally think is asking, essentially, "and so what? were they wrong to run, when they had a chance? Do they deserve what Jin Guangshan will do to them if they go back? Aren't they just people, actually?" Whereas the question that CQL is asking is more to the effect of "What does Wen Qing owe these people, when she is their only defence? What is she entitled to do to save them, at other people's expense? If she fucks up that moral calculus, what then? Does it matter if she's personally fond of some of the outsiders who are going to get hurt? If one of them saved her brother? Later, this question will flip to what Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng, and the parallel to Jiang Cheng's situation in particular is, I think, genuinely pretty fun. You're giving up the Wen as soldiers who've laid down their arms in exchange for Wen Qing also grappling with leadership and the question of how many horrors she can stand to look the other way on to protect her own people. one reason I keep deleting so much is that a lot cql's changes were motivated at least in part by censorship, which I think we mostly share a general and justified distaste for! but I also think that within the bounds of that censorship the creative team put a lot of work into actually doing something interesting with those changes. Or, for another example- nieyao! There's a much greater emphasis on the nmj-jgy relationship, it's unambiguously very close and they are clearly extremely important to one another, and I think that's because the cql team has a lot to say about love, trust, power, and the ways those things interact, and that reflects back on all of the other relationships in play, including Wangxian. Almost every time, when CQL chooses change a relationship they make the characters in question closer- that's true for Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji, for Wen Qing and the Yunmeng contingent, for Zixuan and Mianmian, and Huaisang and Meng Yao. It's even true for Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian, who have a close and trusting relationship in first life! CQL puts a much greater emphasis on "all right, so you care, what next?" How do you choose someone and then choose to be good to them? What if there's a massive power disparity between you? What if you seriously disagree about your priorities and morals? How do you trust someone who's betrayed you? When is it a stupid choice to trust at all? How do you have faith that you know someone well enough for that trust to be meaningful?

for legal reasons i would like to specify that it's not that mdzs isn't interested in these problems. i do remember wangxian's literal trust fall. cql is asking these questions all the time about everyone. also for legal purposes i'm not suggesting that cql lwj and jc love each other. but! they establish a three month wartime partnership looking for wwx and then jc immediately drops him on wwx's say-so despite apparently having a positive enough opinion of him to tell wwx he thinks they should make up twice. lan wangji will later tell wwx he thinks he should loop jc in on the second flautist! these are people trying to navigate some kind of relationship/shared interest/community, as opposed to a hateful void. cql wants to say hey, how do you go about this? while I'm here and rambling cql also puts a lot of emphasis on wwx's connection to yunmeng and changes things up so instead of feeling alienated right before he leaves our last glimpse of him there is happily picking lotuses and playing with a kid! in both stories the narrative is asking who do you protect? who do you leave behind? can you ever get it back? but the angles are very different.

[kijosakka]

Thoughts. okay so the total drama drama drama drama island special is interesting mainly bc of team e-scope but im going to take a moment here to ramble about his dynamic with other people here,,

(oh and i didn't have anywhere really to slot it into the other post or segue into it here but dodgebrawl as a Moment demonstrates how [this AU] noah can play the social game, just in a very very different way than how it's normally seen.

he knows what he's doing is going to bother his team and incentivize them to vote, i'd say in this au he even plays up the cockiness and makes veiled personal slights against specific people

(mainly those who would be annoyed enough to vote him off, see: heather, justin, leshawna, cody/trent to some extent if he said smth about gwen? < and gwen herself in that scenario. and to another extent beth, since hes playing up his outright mean traits, which would make lindsay vote with her. i dont think he would do anything specific to/with owen or izzy, since he may see izzy as too volatile and owen too genuine)

in the opposite way of whats expected, sure, but it is a social play. he can pick apart what these people are and what they show and push at it to achieve his own ends (and maybe its even some sort of way for him to regain control in this fundamentally uncontrollable situation he's found himself in; he can be the punishment in foucalt's imagining, to a much smaller degree))

so his teammates,,, do not like him tbh. his flagrant display during dodgeball and everyone being pissed at him after the fact is true in this AU, just coming with different motivations. even after the fact when the frustration of everyone fizzles out, hes still majorly offputting because of his detachedness, and deliberately makes his shown traits very unpalatable to experience in person combined with that.

the only two exceptions are izzy and owen respectively: owens mostly coming from a place of genuineness and im going to say while he wouldnt be able to verbalize it, in some manner owen would clock noahs behavior as a defense mechanism. maybe in the sense of 'hes just scared to open up to people!!' or something similar, but he definitely has a lot more faith that noah really isnt that cold and flat.

[*]izzy feels much the same -- except maybe it comes off more to her as strategic. izzy can act, and might recognize that in noah. if you wanted to you could write this in as to why she was eager to swap teams in the first episode, but it wouldnt change that he does get eliminated and thats all she sees of him until the special -- which, her intrigue in his lacking and the fact that it apparently wasnt strategic to get him further in the game, could help explain why she picks him in the team-up.

[*i have soooo much to say about izzy in this au actually. but ill save it for a diff post]

and speaking of the team-up: team e-scope!!!! :0

my au my rules eva and izzy became really good friends on the playa; izzy isn't afraid of eva (and curbing her anger before it reaches a boiling point) and eva is physically adept enough to restrain izzy from Shenanigans that might be a little Much. but eva doesnt really?? know anything about noah?? but izzy insists on teaming with him for the special (and unbeknownst to her noah wasnt even planning to participate initially) so he must be some level of Not Too Bad if izzy wants anything to do with him that doesnt seem to be related to tormenting the guy

and she thinks hes Fine. apathetic and detached and unpalatable (but then again, everyone in their little trio really is to some degree), but can kind of understand izzys intrigue: hes still A Guy, hes just hidden behind 20 layers of non-substance that are so offputting from the first meeting it makes people steer clear of him.

now with tddddi comes two other pertinent details: the justin line, and the Thing With Duncan.

i personally thing noahs 'he's the anti-me' line is really funny in the context of canon but if you squint it kinda works here? wherein justin is non-speaking yet flaunts himself to be the center of attention and clearly shows intent and capacity to scheme (underdeveloped or no, see: awakeathon), whereas noah speaks a lot yet lets himself fade into the background, showing vague hints of the capacity to scheme but no intention or palpable ambition behind it.

^ am i reaching? maybe. the other option here is noah somehow has seen him in-person before on a modeling or red carpet kind of gig and dislikes him on principle because of it/its a jab at it (smth smth they are both opposite ends of the same industry? justin is the face of it in a manner where noah stays behind the scenes and out of sight)

and the thing with duncan,, hear me out here okay noah does his whole song and dance, goes up to him and patronizes him, and duncan retaliates. however, he curses like a sailor and in noah's head has ruined the footage, therefore instead of further retaliating and potentially invoking actual physical harm he just. doesnt react. at all. duncan looks up at him and hes just dead-eyed staring down at him -- and then he leaves.

^ the scene has been ruined, and everyone else is doing so much that theres no reason to play it up any more. duncan and him arent plot important like how heather and lindsay were, theres no reason for the crew to painstakingly edit his swearing out. they just wont let it reach the final cut. duncan is understandably very confused by this, but at that point noah was already gone to find eva and izzy again (< this is when the cast having a running bet that noahs and android becomes Not a Joke)

but life goes on!!! and in the worlds worst comedy of errors (for noah), izzy ends up dragging him along into the lake, thereby leaving him as a confirmed member of the next season.

^ noah is so angry at this. popping blood vessels. he argues with chris endlessly, straight frothing at the mouth at only having two days of real reprieve before he has to deal with the Same Shit again. and chris gets this, to some degree, but also knows that if theres no explanation for noahs non-appearance to hand the producers, theyll be pissed (since all things considered, noahs pretty damn popular among the fans)

luckily for him, courtney just filed a lawsuit against the show!! and since chris is busy running said show, the producers do not want to deal with it and are willing to hand off the case to anyone else -- hence, chris officially signs noah on as his PA, and noah takes over the court settlements and whatnot.

< though i do imagine the producers would see it as a 'get out of the show' scheme, and thereby push way harder for his involvement in WT as a result

but noah does get a break!!! for now, at least.

[lunargazing-png]

Hey Lunar! I do hope you don’t mind me dropping an ask in here. You’ve got me very curious about Lt. Ikoleta Sylso, who is apparently Aspot’s momma, as crazy as it seems! It’s genuinely hard to imagine a woman this harsh-looking having a child at all…

May I ask, what’s her background? Was her apparent marriage to Az prearranged by their parents or other authority figures? Was Aspot conceived out of genuine passion or as part of their marital agreements, like a requirement or something? Why did they split up?

I sincerely hope this isn’t too much! You’ve just got me very curious about this mysterious, scarred lady. Thank you so much in advance! 😄

I love it when people send in asks about my ocs!! 😁 This is a formal invitation for anyone to ask questions about any of my mass effect characters, my ask box is always open to people's curiosity about them! Thanks for popping in about Ikoleta💃This might be long and very convoluted, but I'll answer all your questions to the best of my ability. I leap at the chance to talk more about her when given the opportunity, she's interesting to talk about. Ikoleta was born on Palaven, near the capital of Cipritine. A lot of the turians in her family are associated with the government there, playing roles that would be similar in concept to political administrators. She is downright faithful to her Hierarchy. She takes her background very seriously, and plays her part of public service for the good of her people, no matter the cost. She prefers her feet on active soil, but still carries the sharp tongue a politician would have. The Relay 314 Incident was the first time she experienced any real "threat" when it came to the security of Palaven, and was motivated to join the fight. Much like a lot of turians, it was not a brief skirmish in her eyes. This was war. Azailick and Ikoleta met each other during training and shared a lot of equal pride for their backgrounds. Their service during the war made their bond closer, and even after, she stood by his side during the rough patches as a close companion. Apsot's conception was a complete accident (oops) but her family was supportive and used it as an excuse to pressure her to come back home to continue as a public servant. Their union was simply out of necessity to keep a clean reputation (specifically for Ikoleta's family), albeit I think everyone knew there was something going on due to how young they both were. Two years after Apsot was born, Ikoleta had discovered paraphernalia Azailick kept from the war on Shanxi. A photograph of a human with a child, and a mysterious USB stick.

(Taken from Az's reference sheet. It's a picture of Kara and her daughter, Kenzie, as a baby. The USB stick is the research she abandoned from the colony. You can read a little more about their story here. Azailick didn't know that Kara was alive during this time- only eight years after the fact.) I think it's important to note that Ikoleta's feelings towards humans after the war were strained and full of deep distrust. She couldn't give a pyjak's ass about their politics and integration into the galactic community, except if it's only for the interest of the turians. Despite the alliance that the Citadel conjured up between the two species, she still has the perception that they're still "at war" with each other, but bends to the whim of needing constant change for the betterment of galactic society. Her own opinions on this are much different, as one could imagine. The discovery of these items made her LIVID. Years of deception, when Az knew how she felt about the war. How did her partner really feel, then? If he was so willing to hide something from her for so long. Azailick never told her his experience as a soldier during Shanxi, and everything coming to light honestly explained why he kept a tight lip about it. They got into a HUGE fight over it (honestly it was probably little incidents and that was the thing that broke the damn), and Ikoleta fully cut contact with him, which followed with a divorce. She considered him a complete failure in terms of turian pride and honor.

(I drew this awhile ago- and was planning to make better art for it, but never got around to it! Az is blue and Ikoleta is orange.)

I could go on about how Ikoleta feels about a human participating in raising her son after Kara and Az reconnect, but that's a whole can of messy worms- and I think we all know, honestly 😬 She still visits Apsot often but focuses heavily on pushing up in her ranks. The scar on her face is from an assassination attempt a couple years after, but she still works as if nothing has happened. She gets that hardened look from a mixture of everything that's happened to her... And from being a little bit of a hater, i think. 🤭

[earl-of-221b]

you’re so right i just got out of the theater and investiture of the gods SLAPPED HARD

It’s an amazing movie with beautiful design, acting and atmosphere, and the effort and skill and love that went into it is so starkly apparent - especially because this is an adaption of INVESTITURE OF THE GODS, which seemed for thee longest time to be impossible to adapt as movies. Many poor adaptions focus too much on the spectacle of gods and demons, but Creation of Gods knew the gods and demons were written into this real historical chapter to represent the struggles and turmoil of humans. It’s really a story about fathers and sons. The good father and son relationship that will foster a king, a king who will be a good father to his people in turn. What is a king if not a father, with duty and love for his people. In comparison to the toxic father and son relationship that gives rise to a tyrant, a tyrant king who eats his own sons, who really eats his own people. It’s staggering how good this movie was and how it got to be made.

I really love how they changed up the archetypical and frankly lazy interpretations of Yin Shou/ Zhou Wang as just a neglectful and gluttonous King, seduced and puppeted by Daji the fox demon. Creation of the Gods said no, Yin Shou is authentically a terrible man who was always going to become a uniquely bad despot with or without evil fox magics, and he has full autonomy over the many awful actions. (The entire hostage-son setup was also just a very smart way to exert political control, and maintain power in a personal cult of personality and family cult, making Yin Shou not only a skilled general but a great strategist.) He’s a great villain. And because he’s so good at what he does, it’s genuinely riveting to see and understand how Ji Fa can break away from that indoctrination through his real father and best friend/brother.

The actor for Ji Chang, Ji Fa’s elderly father and Duke of the West, in my opinion, was the highlight actor of this entire movie. He sold that prison food scene. He, forgive me, ATE. This actor is like almost completely deaf and he ate that role up like the absolute artist he is. His name is Li Xuejian (李雪健) and he was just on another level.

I felt that the actress for Daji was pitch perfect and she didn’t dominate the story like other adaptions. Her motivations being genuine adoration and gratitude for Yin Shou is similar to the 2003 Nezha tv show, which was very welcome for me. She really does feel like a cold body being possessed by a fox, a very unsettling allure.

Of course this movie has Jiang Ziya, Erlang Shen and Nezha in their earlier days. I enjoyed their how hilariously removed they seemed to be from mortals, overpowered fish out of water but taking their jobs Seriously. This is probably the most coolest and faithful adaption of live action Nezha EVER - I WAS SCREAMING AT YHE WAY THE WIND FIRE WHEELS AND ARMILLARY SASH WERE DEPICTED - NEZHA FLYING ON THE WIND FIRE WHEELS WAS AMAZING!!!

Again, the movie’s main narrative is so compelling and quite dark, that the three national heroes, Jiang Ziya, Erlang Shen and Nezha (each who have headlined their own animated movies in the last 4 years,) could be COMIC RELIEF.

AND IT WAS GREAT!

[blackstarchanx3new]

Creations AU FNAF 4, But I obnoxiously over explain it PT 3

FNAF 4 pages 60-90

*Warning ahead for heavily abusive language.

Oh boy I sure hope we get an answer.

Lmao mom and dad are fighting.

Yikes Diana that's not very nice.

Hah nope.

Okay but why did people think this genuine moment between William and his son was somehow malicious???

Dude is just talking to his son who is currently breaking down wtf is wrong with some people??? XD

This was after Sister Location on webtoon too so there should be no excuse for this bad faith reading of William's character after some of the scenes in that comic. I won't spoil but like...??????????

Like William is a bad person in cannon and this comic but it's legit-

William: *breathes*

Audiance: YOU BASTARD!!!!!

HE'S A PERSON TOO AND IS WRITTEN AS SUCH?

The reference to being a devil will only make more sense as the FNAF 1 ARC draws to a close.

Oh ho ho hooooooo.

So, that's why Sammy's a fucking weirdo about robots in the FNAF 1 Arc.

Also this gives context to the whole scene where Mike and his sister in law talk about Charlie still being alive while having a grave in the FNAF 1 Arc.

The one walking around is a robot.

So unlike everything implied in cannon: Creations William loves his children.

Is it always in a healthy/good way: NO. AND THAT WILL ONLY BECOME MORE APARENT AS FNAF 1'S ARC COTNENUES.

He even loves the one that indirectly KILLED one of his others lmao.

I just enjoy giving William an actual character. Lmfao. Unlike a lot of people who get on a high horse for making him a plank of wood. X'D

Yes. he's evil man you wrote the most basic boring bland mother fucker on the planet to be said antagonist. You're very cute making that your antagonist while not thinking about how making him that fucking boring and personalities affects the themes or ideas of your work. Here's a fucking cookie???

I hate this way of writing William if you can't tell lmfao.

"He can't have a motive or you're humanizing him" is such a horse shit take and I won't stfu about it considering how prevalent of an idea that shit was on Twitter. X'D

Idk if this is a wake up call that women can be abusers too but like, they can be lmao. Trust me on that.

Oops. The demon thing heard you.

William's default to dealing with Diana is to try and fix things and placate her enough to where she won't go nuclear. Which is sad, but he sucks in different ways.

Really they are a tale of "A match made in hell".

Everyone makes shitty choices here lmao.

Diana antagonizes somebody off their rocker and William's a spinless bastard to both his wife and his creepy demon.

He didn't wanna do it himself and I find that amusing.

The poorest of poor choices were made by everyone involved.

There's little sympathy for any parties here lmao. Except maybe Ballora. X'D

That instant regret lmao. "I MADE A MISTAKE WOOPS"

That's a repeat thing with our good ol Willy boy.

He makes a mistake, and then keeps repeating the same mistake lmao.

William is stuck in a loop of perpetually falling into making the same mistakes over and over and it is a theme of the series WILLIAM is the one who needs to solve HIS OWN problems.

William takes no accountability where it's REALLY NEEDED, blames and pushes it onto others can't find the strength to fight his own inner demons and falls into the same pitfalls over and over.

Hehe your house is a bit odd there William.

William's just fed up with everyone involved in this situation lmao.

I mean yeah, the demon thing IS a bad liar.

He directly cause Diana to die lmao.

And I like William calling him out on that. William in some part is scared of his own inner demons taking form as this thing that mimics him.

"The demon" as I call him is important and also a direct reflection of William's own mistakes. William not confronting or taking care of this "Demon" in any meaningful way part of the damn problem.

Why the fuck you lyyyyyyin.

Why you always lyyyyyyin'-

That bold faced lie will only become more apparent as the story goes on. This bitch has plenty of agency he just likes William to take the fall for everything.

Which in a way is fair. He is a result of William's as well. ;)

Once again have reached the image cap because WHYYYY

[breakingdawnpt2]

What are you editorial gripes with Long Legs?

spoilers obviously

God ok so like I’m stupid and not good with words but like like all the nun shit with her mother needed to be completely cut. I feel like the nun imagery was extremely forced and existed simply to suit the marketing strategy? Also I would cut anything that textually confirms the existence of the Devil and that he’s the one killing families and girls through evil dolls with evil orb brains? The dark cloud in Lee’s room sprouting devil horns was way too much I just don’t find the Devil scary sorry it would have been much scarier if it was never explained how some guy was entering these peoples houses and killing them without leaving any evidence he was ever there at all. Some fucked up guy acting in the name of Satan is 1000x more effective than showing me a lousy cartoon devil that requires heavy suspension of disbelief as a not spiritually or religiously inclined viewer. and IF it was absolutely necessary that the mom was threatened and had to agree to be his accomplice in order to save Lee’s life, a lottttt more emphasis should have been put on the looming threat of her letting that motherfucker live in their basement and be anywhere near her daughter. I needed like a repressed memory of Longlegs brushing little Lee’s hair like a doll or some shit to emphasize how close her mother allowed him to get to her child in order to save her life, how the work of the devil is something her mother has ALWAYS feared (have you been saying your prayers Lee?) and because of that fear she obeys a minion of a force she is too meek to overcome

From an editing standpoint the sequence where Lee wakes up in the basement and climbs upstairs to a ringing phone it’s like, genuinely confusing and not well executed. It took me until I left the theatre to realize he had been living under her house? Maybe I’m just stupid but it should have been more apparent and the stakes of that fact should have been more dire. I also don’t know why there’s a sequence of cuts to random rooms in the house when the phone is ringing right in front of her. If you want to do a bunch of cuts to random rooms in the house that’s fine!!!!! But give us a reason to be looking, put the phone across the house and design the soundscape around where the phone is in relation to each room shot. Don’t pull the audiences attention away to shit that doesn’t matter when suspense is your most powerful weapon. Speaking of suspense,

DON’T SHOW HIS FACE SO EARLY oh my god for a movie with like an actual Make You Forget Childhood Trauma Orb you would think they could resist showing the audience the guy whose face our perspective character has been repressing until she meets him herself?

Ummm and with all that shit cut we would have spent more time with our characters. I didn’t need to find out so early that Lee’s birthday is the 14th, nor Ruby’s for that matter. I wanted to know more about Lee’s beliefs and memories and motivations I wanted to know more about Longlegs and his workshop and his motivations and establish a connection between him and Lee which makes us fear for her life even after he’s been caught. Have Carter reckon with a person who commits unfathomably evil acts in service of a greater power he doesn’t even believe in, have him see the evil enter his home with his own two eyes and test his un-faith. He wasn’t really a character he was a plot device to give us a family to care about lol

Well anyway maybe I should have chosen screenwriter in that poll idk that’s like most of it. I think it’s a good two thirds of a movie! Up until her mother walks onscreen in a fucking nun costume but then that puts the whole thing under a microscope for me and I can’t not see all the ways it could have been done better if the focus hadn’t been entirely on creating provocative images but had also been on creating a meaningful (and scary!) context around those images. The opening scene with Longlegs and the part where Lee’s partner gets shot in the face point blank were pretty good tho. I liked the shit where he leaves the birthday card in her house but I also don’t feel she should have been given the answer so fast. The performances were great and Cage made me laugh whether or not that was the intent. Alright bye

[bestbonnist]

The anime messing with Kahaku slightly in a way that I don't like: Episode 9

HE'S uuuuhhgrrrrrhgghhhhh..... he's still wearing the Guardians' symbol even after learning what Hayase did to Fushi and their friends. In the manga he never wears it again, which indicates that he's no longer placing his faith in Fushi as a god but in Fushi as a person. And the anime staff apparently thought that Ooima just got tired of drawing it... Anime Kahaku still wants to be associated with the person who murdered Parona. Anime Kahaku is still attached to his position as the leader of the Guardians. Anime Kahaku learned nothing during the Uralis arc.

The fact that anime Kahaku has the audacity to be upset that Parona's gone when he's wearing the sign that Hayase appropriated / This fucking guy.

I'm going to try to explain why it's out of character for Kahaku to be upset that Parona's form at this point in time is missing as briefly as possible, which is difficult to do without turning this into a full-blown character essay, but I will manage somehow.

In Episode 8, Fushi told Kahaku that they still needed him, and that he should "enjoy these changes too." Kahaku, having learned the truth about the Guardians' origins and ostensibly ruined everything, had no hope for the future. After hearing Fushi's words, he realized that he could still be useful ("useful" and "loved" are the same thing to Kahaku), and decided to follow them again. So: Kahaku is currently in love with and devoted to Fushi as Fushi, not as anyone else. Arguably, that was always the case, and liking Parona was a convenient excuse because he didn't want to admit that he was gay. Kahaku continues to use his crush on Parona as self-defense mechanism in this new arc of the story, but for different reasons.

On its own, Kahaku's love for Fushi is too self-destructive. We've seen hints of this in the anime, and it's just going to keep getting worse from here. Fushi is a reason to die, not a reason to live. You can blame this one on the Guardians expecting their successors to sacrifice their lives for their cause and Kahaku's fondness for romance novels, kids. Getting married to Parona is obviously never going to happen—she's not even alive, Fushi would never agree to it, and Kahaku was never really in love with her anyways. Even though Kahaku is aware of this he continues to lie to himself—if he can just get through this, his dreams will become a reality—as a way of motivating himself.

All of which is to say that Kahaku should not be reacting with shock and dismay to Parona's form being stolen. Theoretically, he and Parona-Fushi will get married but practically she's just another one of Fushi's forms.

No stutter :(

You know I hate to say this after spending four hundred words praising Kahaku for genuinely caring about Fushi and estranging himself from his family but he is not the kind of person who would be glad that Fushi was fine by themselves. A character stuttering usually means they're unsure about something. Kahaku stuttering on the line "thank goodness" makes it sound like he's not actually grateful that they're safe. Coupled with his insistence on "proving himself" by killing a knocker later in the scene, he was probably hoping that Fushi would be in danger so that he could save them. Shitty, yes, but totally on brand and super interesting characterization. The conflict between wanting Fushi to be happy and wanting Fushi to love him is an ongoing struggle of Kahaku's in this arc. Why would they even change this line? It's such a small thing, why did the anime staff choose to take it out??

[np5enkidu]

team lancer thoughts (fsr spoilers)

in theory, chiemon and lancer jeanne could've been like. such a great master servant duo.

chiemons story is just lacking in depth, i want to like him more than i actually like him. they tried something with his wish being to open the gates of hell to reunite with his loved ones but it's like. so flatly told and doesn't really tell about him as a person.

comparatively, shousetsu and zheng feel very much more tangible (though their ambitions are more grounded) and i generally like them. chiemon is very confusing as an individual outside of the waxing moon ritual, while other characters have full lives, shousetsu is a military scholar, zheng serves his emperor, dorothea is a merchant, tsuchimikado is an onmyouji, takao leads yoshiwara. chiemon is what. seething alone? being edgy? gråtrunka?? like his only motivation is to bring hell on earth but there doesn't seem to be any other way for him to achieve it except the ritual? so what does he do outside of it?? apparently he is a magus of some sort and he knows combat. his profile states he comes to edo alone and with nothing in his possession?

this could've been a great springboard to write him as someone who's absolutely hollow outside of his goal, they could've write him full of determination to survive just to see his goal through. but his current state is just very barebones stuff, even though his design and voiceacting do a lot for him.

and then there's jeanne who'd be such an interesting perspective to follow if the plot was interested in that. she's someone who gets summoned 200 years after her death to serve in a incomplete ritual. and she gets corrupted by her summoners wish. while she still holds on to her faith and beliefs.

what you understand of jeanne is that despite her circumstances, she really wants to salvage those she can, even if it's only one person, even if it means following him to hell. it's the only thing she can offer and in the end even that is outright denied from her.

i would've loved to read her thoughts and motivations thoroughly and got to know her a bit more. her and chiemons relationship could've been explored further, as they're both christians who suffered horrific violence,

both of them could've gone farther than they did, and the things they did write were genuinely intriguing.

team lancer had such potential to be such a dynamite tragedy combo.

but it is funny that chiemon bans her from trying to save him and she enters battle and her first line is "let us pray"

[lottiecrabie]

🫣🫣🫣 analysis:

she seems to be motivated by her religious upbringing and the desire to adhere to the expectations placed upon her. there's probably an underlying motivation to find a sense of belonging and acceptance within her religious community specifically. she seems to have a negative perception of matty (sinful, disruptive and mocking). she experiences an internal conflict between her expected role as a devout individual and her suppressed emotions and his presence represents a conflict for her, as she perceives him as a disruption to her religious experience. she also interprets his laughter as him mocking the religious proceedings. she has a strong reaction to Matty's presence and behaviour. she seems to resent him for attending the religious service if he is only going to cause a disturbance. besides she could feel a sense of duty to defend her faith and prove her commitment to her faith. her discomfort stems from a perception that his gaze goes beyond merely seeing the mask she puts on for others. for some reason she feels that he has the ability to penetrate through her carefully constructed façade. the discomfort arises from the realization that his perceptive stare threatens to expose her. it may also stem from a fear of being judged for her true thoughts, emotions and desires. her fear of being exposed and having her true self revealed could trigger a defensive response leading to negative emotions such as resentment or hatred towards him. additionally, his ability to see through her may act as a reminder of the internal conflict she faces which could amplify her negative emotions towards him. the gaze represents an intrusion into her carefully crafted façade and challenges her ability to control how she is perceived. on the other hand, some part of her might envy his apparent carefree attitude. seeing him embrace a life that seems to defy the rules she feels bound by might intensify her feelings of resentment which could also contribute to her negative feelings towards him. alongside her envy, she may also feel a conflicting sense of admiration which might intensify her internal conflict, as she simultaneously longs to emulate his carefree nature while also resenting him for embodying the freedom she desires - this is a complex interplay between admiration and envy could contribute to her mixed feelings towards him.

she harbours unspoken anger and desires which she struggles to suppress and understand and despite her negative emotions (annoyance, discomfort, surprise and a sense of unspoken anger), she consciously tries to maintain a complacent and composed demeanor in front of her parents by masking her true emotions behind a smile thus conforming to the expectations placed upon her. instead of confronting her own internal conflicts she might project her negative emotions towards matty as a way to distance herself from her own discomfort.

Matty's motivations remain somewhat ambiguous at first. however, his actions during the service suggest that he has a desire to disrupt and challenge - it's not clear if he wants to provoke the reader directly or if he's simply expressing his rebellious nature in general. either way, his behaviour seems to be deliberate. matty's attention towards her as well as his apparent enjoyment of provoking her hints at a complex dynamic and a potential emotional connection & fascination. regardless, his fascination with y/n is evident through his attention-seeking behaviour (lmao @ the attention-seeking). his attraction to her seems to stem not only from physical desire but also from a genuine interest in exploring and push the boundaries between their contrasting views. he takes pleasure in challenging her beliefs, questioning the existence of God and engaging in intellectual and emotional battles with her. his interactions with her reveal a strong desire for authenticity and honesty. matty's character also demonstrates a certain level of self-assuredness and confidence. there is an air of mystery surrounding him. oh and his actions and words reveal a certain level of self-awareness of the impact he has on her. his motivations become clearer as he reveals his atheistic views and his intent to challenge and question her faith. his rebellious and non-conformist nature explains his enjoyment of provoking and taunting her as well as his desire to provoke thought and challenge her beliefs. their dialogue delves into philosophical aspects examining the nature of faith, the existence of God and the concept of finding meaning and purpose in life. the clash between her belief in God and his atheism creates a philosophical tension that intensifies as their conflict escalates. the reader seems to be drawn to Matty's unabashed and honest expression of his thoughts. on the other hand, matty might find y/n's devotion and attempt to reconcile her faith with her inner rebelliousness intriguing and attractive. the attraction they feel for each other may also stem from a shared desire to explore their own identities. they represent something novel and intriguing to each other. there is a sense of mutual fascination and attraction which culminates in a kiss that for the reader represents a moment of liberation and a surrender to her hidden desires.

by externalising blame onto matty, she seeks to alleviate feelings of guilt and maintain a sense of moral righteousness. this defense mechanism allows her to preserve her self-image and uphold the façade she has constructed. it serves as a way to protect her ego and avoid confronting her own actions. she may be attempting to regain a sense of control over the situation and assert her own moral superiority. one possible reason why matty doesn't seem to take any real offense to some of the things she says is that he may have a level of emotional resilience and a nonchalant attitude towards conflict or personal attacks; another possibility is that he may possess a certain level of emotional maturity and self-assuredness that allows him to brush off things he doesn't really like to her which could suggest that he has a strong sense of self and isnt as affected by external judgments or accusations. it could also be more evidence that he has a deep understanding of her internal struggles and defense mechanisms and for that reason he may recognize that her unkind words are a product of her own internal conflict. in this case, by not taking real offense, he may be demonstrating empathy realising that her words are more reflective of her own struggles rather than a genuine indictment of him. another interpretation, and this one upset me a little, could be that he is unfazed by the blame because he has his own emotional walls or defense mechanisms. maybe he is accustomed to deflecting personal attacks (😞). but another theory is that he may be willing to overlook or downplay her behaviour in order to maintain their connection and pursue his interests which would suggest a certain level of strategic mindset on his part but it would inevitably end up in built-up resentment so yeah, not very wise but that doesn't seem likely as he appears to be very passionate and authentic and not necessarily someone who's manipulative and calculating.

with that being said, Matty displays a sharp intellect and wit which suggests a keen mind and an interest in intellectual stimulation. additionally, he displays a unique ability to observe (he seems to be one of the first to notice the façade she puts up) indicating a perceptive nature. his engagement in philosophical discussions and his ability to challenge others suggests a potential for high intelligence. despite being highly intelligent, these individuals often show disinterest in school as it doesn't provide the kind mental stimulation that they need. his observations about her true feelings and emotions also indicate empathy and emotional intelligence as he seems to understand something that most people fail to notice. he is also independent and has a desire to assert his own perspectives. however despite his outwardly provocative demeanor, matty exhibits emotional depth during intimate moments (👀). his reactions during intimate moments are very emotional which show he has a capacity to freely experience and express deep emotions in a passionate manner. but while he exhibits exceptional emotional depth in certain moments he also displays emotional detachment and a sarcastic demeanor (probably a defense mechanism) and his deliberate challenging of other people's beliefs may come across as confrontational & insensitive to others. therefore, while he demonstrates exceptional perceptive qualities, it is unclear to what extent he truly empathizes with others, i.e., it isn't clear if his focus on challenging beliefs and his seemingly detached nature may indicate a limited capacity for understanding and relating to the emotions and experiences of others. my psychiatrist also said he'd like to know if his rebelliousness has a purpose because it's not clear to him if he's driven by a clear purpose/philosophy. if he doesn't have a purpose, then his own actions can become destructive in the long run and lead to a sense of aimlessness or irresponsibility in his actions. if, on the other hand, he does have a purpose then he has a purpose.

final thoughts on y/n:

she exhibits a complex psychological profile. she strives for perfection and conformity seeking validation from her community and family. but her struggle with anxiety is evident throughout this first part. she experiences pressure from her family and society to maintain a flawless image, leading to a constant fear of falling short. her attraction to matty represents a manifestation of her hidden desires and a longing for authenticity which serves as a catalyst for self-discovery. the intense emotional and physical connection with matty provides her with a temporary escape but also adds to her psychological turmoil. her behaviour suggests an underlying need for autonomy and individuality since she seems to be dealing with feelings of being trapped resulting in a desire to break free and explore her authentic self. additionally, her experiences highlight the importance of identity formation at that stage of her life and the search for meaning. it is also possible that she feels unseen by those around her (including her parents). despite her efforts to maintain the façade and living up to societal and familial expectations, there may be a deep-rooted and paradoxical desire within her to be seen and understood for who she truly is. while she consciously chooses to maintain the façade, there could be an underlying (take a shot every time I say 'underlying') longing for someone to recognize her true identity. despite disagreeing with him, she may experience a sense of validation and understanding through her interactions with matty. she may feel seen in a way she hasn't before. matty's ability to see through her façade and engage with the complexities of her character may have awakened a desire within her to be seen and accepted for who she truly is beyond the expectations placed upon her. this is a common longing in people who feel pressured to conform and hide aspects of their true selves which creates a contrasting mixture of feelings: desire to be seen + fear of actually being seen. she displays a strong sense of responsibility and conscientiousness, a capacity for introspection and a rich emotional inner world. her interactions with Matty made it clear that she's a very curious person. she exhibits self-destructive impulses andd explosive outbursts. her desire for validation and fear of falling short indicate underlying feelings of insecurity and a need for external approval. she also seems to be quite indecisive at times. she oscillates between adhering to her religious beliefs and succumbing to the allure of temptation. finally, she struggles to assert herself and communicate her needs and boundaries effectively leading to internalized frustration.

and this is it 🫡

- 🐥💖

OH I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS!! i swear i have been religiously (ah) checking my askbox like When will i get this psychiatrist’s man thoughts on my porn. once again he is so careful and intricate with his analysis and it makes me so happy to see. (and you are very careful and intricate explaining his analysis, of course. i’m sure you had a big part in this) i think he went even deeper than i have, and he definitely drew an accurate portrait of their psyche which was Very interesting to see how someone with actual knowledge would therapize them.

ok here are my own thoughts, put under the keep reading line because Poor average crabette reader having to scroll through this novel

he has a great understanding of who reader is! everything he said was extremely truthful and well articulated. i think the important part of reader is that she’s an unreliable narrator. since she is so deeply into her own faith and resulting guilt, she sees the world in these very stark contrasts and tends to negatively perceive everything. we see her do it a bunch of times, referring to herself as a pit of darkness or whatever just for feeling horny. that also changes the way she sees matty. because she is ‘tempted’ by him, ie. she is attracted to him and doesn’t know how to reckon with that, she will push this sinful, serpent narrative on him. though his laugh in church was mocking and disruptive, the level at which she is bothered by it is because she is hyperaware of him. to me that’s what The Gaze represents, both matty genuinely seeing past her facade (he says in pfms2 that she has a ‘look in her eyes like she could burn this whole place. like she chooses not to.’ clearly indicating he does see beyond her mask, specifically recognizing the ‘unspoken anger’ she tries to hide) and reader wanting him to, sort of grandiosing this look because she pushes this narrative on him. a look can feel a lot more intense, a lot more meaningful when you want that person, and it’s a lot easier to deal with it by pushing the narrative that it’s all him, all his fault, all his doing. it happens most obviously when matty literally tells her ‘that cookie looks good’ and she snaps at him like he insulted her, like he’s taunting her.

he also completely hit the nail on the head with matty’s characterization. he is very much a rebellious, confident and honest person. i don’t think he has a purpose for that rebellion— he is uncomfortable in the town and hates the societal norms, so he provokes and rebels as a way of lashing out until he can finally ‘burn this place to ground’ or other emo expressions. he is definitely attracted to the depth she hides from people. he is fascinated by her and likes to tease and prod her to see her shed her mask. that’s part of the reasons he enters these philosophical debates and questions her faith; to then see her get angry and more ‘herself’. force her to reveal her true self, to feel. it’s because he coaxes these moments of sincerity out of her that she finally snaps and feels what she’s been trying to smother: anger, but mostly attraction. she finally kisses him.

matty not getting mad at her for pushing the blame on him is, as your psychiatrist theorized, because he does recognize that it’s a defense mechanism. it’s also pretty tame: she only says that he’s a bad influence and to leave her alone. when he teases her, she retorts by being angry and kind of merciless, which again only makes her act like her true self instead of this meek, complacent version, something he enjoys of her. it’s different from pfms2 when she didn’t exactly push blame on him, but more spoke that she was forsaken and disgusting, refused his touch, and then said not to ‘bring her with him’, implying he was forsaken and disgusting. that’s a lot more serious accusations and this, in contrast, actually hurt matty and made him stop speaking to her for while. the lack of severity and tame words are a big reason why he didn’t get offended that first time.

again, your psy completely understood the characters! reader especially with his ‘final thoughts’. it was so, so fun to read these Very official thoughts and analysis. thank you one billion times for writing it all down and making sense of what i’m sure was a long conversation. and for sharing it with me, it made me so happy to read i’m so so glad you talked to your psychiatrist about pfms (still surreal to think about😭😭) I LOVE YOU SO MUCH

[masquerain-with-a-mask]

So, in case you didn't know it yet, I originally created a tumblr account to post (one of) my warriors au, which resulted in the creation of what is technically my main blog ; @masquerains-twin-scars-au

The Twin Scars AU is a Dark Forest Ashfur AU I started writing in November 2020, which, if you were there at this period, was a VASTLY different period than now for the warriors fandom.

The Twin Scars AU is an au i am genuinely very proud of and most importantly, it's an au i want to finish, I got a story to tell and i will.

But you know, with how toxic the warriors fandom got these past 3 years (if you say it didn't you are lying to yourself <3) i was, at one point, not continuing the story not because of my lack of motivation, but because i was scared of getting backlash.

Because I am taking a very beloved character - Squirrelflight - and putting her in the Dark Forest, and only explicitely explain why she's here late in the story. Because I am trying to give more depth to a very controversial character - Ashfur - whom I think was done REALLY dirty in canon. Because I took decisions in my plot that people won't like.

I wanted to give up on a project that is very dear to me because this fandom fucking sucks and won't let people be creative and think outside of opinions that popular creators within the fandom have, because apparently, no one in this goddamned fandom can form their own opinion.

And then, one day, I suddenly realized that I don't give a FLYING FUCK about what these kind of people think of my story. Because they are not the target audience, but what I do give a fuck about is the fact that people are trying to tell others what they can and can't create. And yeah, I'm taking warriors as an example, because that's where I mostly saw it happen, but what i'm saying is the same for every fandom ; what someone creates is none of your goddamn business, and the internet isn't here to cater to your wants or needs, if you see something you don't like, then for the love of god or whatever else you believe in i couldn't give less of a fuck, PLEASE just go on with your day instead of being like me and writing a very angry post because it mildly annoyed you or made you mad.

Because this shouldn't make me so angry, but it does, because i've been watching it happen in the warriors fandom for 3 years and i saw this fandom become one of the most prissy and annoying fandom i've been in. AND I WAS IN THE MHA FANDOM.

Like good for you if you're enjoying your stay in this fandom, but I sure as hell aren't. Cause I don't know about you, but between the poor reading comprehension, the bashing of characters because of poor reading comprehension and just blatant bad faith just isn't cutting it for me.

[catholic-character-tournament]

Round 2 - Resurrect Bracket (Losers Bracket) Side B

ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to [make it to the finals]

Propaganda below ⬇️

Akane

Ok miss “only God decides who lives and who dies” who recently killed several dozen people across multiple timelines. I love her so much.

i genuinely don’t know how she ended up christian. she was raised almost exclusively by her big brother and that bitch *definitely* doesn’t believe in any god. they’re not even in a christian majority country. she spent nine years executing an elaborate time travel (kinda. long story.) scheme to prevent her from being murdered at 12 and still apparently believes in god

I guess Akane’s religion is debatable , she talks about God a few times throughout the series but also acknowledges that God couldn’t be real because she is above it/she has been through so much trauma that she has lost faith in the idea. I personally think she could also be Jewish as some of her theological ideals are a bit closer to that but she makes no mention of Judaism or Jewish law and that is simply a hc

she was described by the creator once as “i tried to write the worst possible female protagonist” and shes everything to me. there is literally no other character like akane kurashiki, NOBODY is doing it quite like her, shes unhinged and i adore her. one time she gaslit her love interest into thinking men get pegged As A Constant by intentionally misunderstanding what he was saying about elevator travel.

women will kill like at least 3 people at most 22 to 6 billion people [depending on your rules] and then turn to god and ask him what he did to look away in disgust at you

Raphaniel Charlock

He is, first, called a bishop, and ministers to a diocese. There are archbishops and a high single leader, as well as many schisms and heresies. The degree of control his religion has in choosing and in the government emulates that of pre-Enlightenment Europe. The Bulb (his god) is very Christian God. There isn’t really so much of a version Mary analogue (sad because I love her) or a Jesus analogue, though.

So far this man has only existed for one episode but GOD does he have some shit going on!! Described as being "built to lie" by his player, Raphaniel has mysterious motives and loves to play the part of a sweet old man. Even when someone questioned his sect of the church to his face (I'm sensing a church split is about to occur) he just smiled along and talked about how the Bulb shines on them all.

[struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor]

Pachinko really hits you. I cried so much. I think the most interesting thing about the drama is how, for the most part, the characters are not motivated by love or money, but rather by pride and a sense of dignity and injustice, starting with Sunja's decision to leave Hansu.

At first glance, it seems like Sunja was being brave and making the right, moral choice for herself and that Hansu had only used her, but reality turned out a bit different. Of course he should've told her he was married, and he wasn't perfect by any means, but he was also not wrong in anything he said. Sunja is very strong and brave, but I'd argue that she took the "easy" way out (morally) by rejecting Hansu's money, so as to not sully her and her mother's reputation any further or endure more humiliation. It was a matter of pride for her, yet pride doesn't feed her, her son, or her mother. She could've lived in wealth and raised her son well (given him good food and education, and kept him safe and sheltered from the reality of being Korean in Japan or in a Japanese-occupied Korea); perhaps she could've arranged to move her family, including her mother and "sisters", somewhere else; she could've even left Hansu once her son got older. Although her son would've had a father who wouldn't publicly acknowledge him, and who would've pressured him a lot as well, she'd been used to living from day to day and knew how hard that was.

But Sunja and her mother would've become town pariahs and she'd rather leave her mother, and subject herself and her son to poverty, than go through that humiliation. She hoped to work hard to provide for her son so he wouldn't lack anything, but was she being naive? Was her decision to leave the right one, or was it selfishly motivated, at least in part? Was she being brave or "cowardly", in her own way? Sunja got lucky that a handsome, kind, good-looking man with some money practically fell into her lap and offered her a dignified way out of her mess. She still had to leave her mother, but wouldn't have to be alone or poor. Yet this miracle turned out different than expected as well and she was blindsided a second time by a man she thought she knew. Like Hansu had warned her, being Korean was already hard in Korea but much harder in Japan. Sunja gambled her and her son's life and chose to trust a man she didn't know, to leave behind her mother who she never saw again, and to emigrate to a country even more hostile to Koreans than Korea. Brave or reckless? Maybe both? She was young and placed her faith (literally and figuratively) in a man who seemed capable of saving her. But hadn't she been motivated by a sense of pride and justice, perhaps she would've chosen differently. Perhaps she would've chosen a comfortable life for all her family and swallowed down the humiliation even if it burned in her veins.

While Sunja's life worked out fine, again like Hansu had predicted, in the end, her good, idealistic husband couldn't take care of her (lucky guess on Hansu's part but Isak was sick so he could've died as well); she was unknowingly saved by Hansu multiple times. Furthermore, what happened to Isak deeply affected Noa and was apparently one of the reasons he died (or left?). Perhaps her son would've lived had she stayed in Korea, since Hansu was healthy and wouldn't have "left" Noa (it's implied that Hansu protected Solomon when he got arrested though he isn't his grandson). Noa was raised by a kind, loving, and brave father - unarguably a much better human being and father than Hansu was - but a parent who stays is perhaps a bit better that one who is brutally ripped away from you at such a young age. In Sunja's defense, though, she couldn't have known Hansu genuinely loved her (I believe him giving her his watch clears any doubts on that matter) and that he wouldn't have abandoned their son (his motivations are not yet clear as it seemed he wanted an heir, but we should still give him some credit).

I'm really not trying to say Sunja was wrong, but rather point out that doing the "wrong" thing may be just as hard as taking the high road. There's a reason why people do the "right" thing, and that reason is often us and no one else. Most of the time, right and wrong are, as we all know, subjective.

But Sunja wasn't the only character to choose pride and dignity over safety. The Korean singer on the boat that took Sunja and Isak to Osaka bravely and rebelliously sang Korean to a room of Japanese and then took her own life. Her actions were brave, yet, one would argue, futile and foolish. Suicide was her only way out of the constant humiliation she had to endure and which money could not make bearable (only worse). I'm not saying her actions were meritless, on the contrary, but again pointing out that the one thing many people choose over money, love, or even their own life, is their pride and dignity. Living without dignity or without recognizing the contours of your own body (as that Korean rebel in Osaka explained to Isak so beautifully) is a fate worse than death. People would literally die to avoid feeling that way, for whatever reason: Isak's brother couldn't bear the humiliation of being saved by women and would rather face poverty; Hansu's father couldn't take the humiliation of Hansu paying his debt (though he was mainly motivated by love for him); Hana left her family because she felt humiliated and less than Solomon and his family; the lady that refused to sell her land for a shitload of money didn't want to give the Japanese anything else of hers; and, finally, the humiliation of being fired drove Solomon to turn his back on his family in many ways and choose vengeance.

Most of these actions are motivated or rooted in the context of the Korean subjugation by the Japanese, but I believe there is another side to it that is more universal than that and that I found equally interesting (and unique) about the drama.

Regarding Pachinko as a whole, I liked it a lot (I'm pretty sure there'll at least be another season). I was quite surprised by Minho's acting; his backstory episode was very moving, even if weirdly placed in the series, and it's interesting how Hansu and Sunja's stories are identical in many ways and how Sunja could've turned out like him had she not been surrounded by good people all her life. It's funny that Sunja and Hansu are alike in everything but their morals, but the part of her that is more similar to Isak is too cynical and realistic for them to truly be alike. Surprisingly, Hansu ended up being the most fleshed-out of the characters (actually, Solomon takes the number 1 spot), and I'm not very fond of Sunja, particularly older Sunja who is a mystery to me. I love Solomon and Hana, and Etsuko and Naomi were also interesting characters. These 4 are rather unique and refreshing. Of course, I like the Baek family too (Isak, his brother and his sister in law).

Anyway, the ending was a bit abrupt, but I'm sure more episodes are to come, although I don't know if this will be a standard 16 episodes drama, or if they're thinking of adding more episodes if things go well given that this isn't exactly a kdrama, or even a Japanese one.

So far, I give this show an A/A-.

[biblioflyer]

Thoughts about Admiral Clancy and Starfleet Antagonists, Picard s1e2 Rewatch

Narrative and (Un)Reliable Narrators

Should we always trust that the protagonist is right in Star Trek? Was this true in the pre-streaming era of Trek? Is this still a safe assumption? I don’t personally think it has ever been completely true and it definitely isn’t wholly accurate now.

This is part of a series of essays reevaluating Star Trek Picard and interrogating the widely held fandom criticism that Picard made the Federation into a Dystopia.

A topic I’d like to discuss at length is Admiral Clancy’s meeting with Picard. This scene is one of the most hotly debated in some circles as to whether or not the Federation presented in Star Trek Picard has become a dystopia or if the situation was one of those slow running tragedies that happen in environments of terror and limited information.

Clancy is very much taking up the same role as the Interviewer from the previous episode in that she provides more exposition about the Federation’s apparent abdication of its interest in the outside universe and the Romulans in particular. She also acts to reinforce the audience’s perception of Picard acting alone against a hostile and fallen Federation.

I think there’s every reason to think that Clancy is a good faith actor. 

Let me explain what I mean by that. She greets Picard warmly and seems to start off by being cautiously interested, if not concerned for him as one might for a friend or mentor who just lost his chill on live interstellar tv and has had a bit of a cloud hanging over him. Her frustration with Picard doesn’t seem cynical or calculated, she seems genuinely convinced that Picard is waving off inconvenient facts in pursuit of some wild conspiracy theory.

Narratively, Clancy definitely seems like she is supposed to present as self assured. 

Against the broader backdrop of the Star Trek universe, ought we, the audience, to agree with her? 

On a surface level, certainly not! 

After all, Picard is the title character and our hero, therefore he should be unquestionably correct in all things, right? Right? 

As I’ve said before, I think that this show may either intentionally or accidentally be presenting a more complex moral question and thus is pulling its punches when making the case for the Federation’s isolationist and martial turn in order to make it that much more plausible that it can ultimately reclaim its idealism when proven wrong.

Sympathy for the Devil

Characters who narratively function as obstacles may be antagonists, but not bad people.

One of the frustrating things about life, in the real world, and life in the fictional world is that we don’t always know people’s motives or background. What do we know for example about Admiral Clancy’s motivations?

To be frank, we don’t know. Yet if we wanted to conjecture a sympathetic character whose narrative role is to be an obstacle to Picard, it really wouldn’t be hard. Perhaps she’s someone whose experiences in the Dominion War hardened her.  Perhaps she was never a hero in the conventional sense. Perhaps she rose through the ranks commanding depots and shipyards, ensuring supplies got where they needed to be and refits finished on time. 

How many Starfleet officers actually spend their time thumbing their noses at space gods and how many do milk runs to out of the way colonies delivering subspace relays and industrial replicators?

Perhaps one might think that having to resort to starting so many sentences with “perhaps” is a sign of bad storytelling or bad worldbuilding. Perhaps the audience ought not to have to rely so much on imagination or invention. 

Is there a difference between a streamlined narrative to ensure good story momentum and a plot hole? I personally think so. Maybe I’m just a crusty old compassionate soul, but I guess my instinct is to be charitable to fictional characters and non-fictional writers, directors, producers etc.

Author's note: I found myself with a sort of Mandela effect wherein I could have sworn that after looking it up, Admiral Clancy was Admiral Yancy, but when I re-looked it up, it was Clancy. If you see any lingering Yancy's, then I am a variant and please don't report me to the TVA or Starfleet Temporal Affairs.

[otnesse]

That's also a complaint I have with Belle currently as well. However, I have slightly differing reasons for why I have my complaints about Belle merely being a bookworm than what was offered in there. Her literacy I'm actually downright terrified of especially knowing the setting of the film (Glen Keane indicated that the film was set during the events leading up to the French Revolution). That complaint you mentioned about how women wouldn't be able to tell fact from fiction regarding them reading novels. That unfortunately ended up being proven true with the French Revolution and the motives of the revolutionaries (only it wasn't JUST novels, it was treatises by the likes of Voltaire and Diderot, also Rousseau and even the Marquis de Sade). It also didn't help that evidence existed that Voltaire and his ilk DELIBERATELY mixed up fact with fiction specifically with the intent of destroying people's faith in God due to spite against the latter, pushed propaganda in other words. Oh, and it wasn't just WOMEN who weren't able to tell the two apart, not even the MEN could tell it apart, sought to recreate society to match up with Voltaire and Rousseau's puerile writings. Just ask Louis Saint-Just, Maximilien de Robespierre, and the like. And given we don't have ANY indication that Belle is even capable of discerning good literature from bad literature (which her original counterpart was at least somewhat capable of doing), I can't help but get the feeling that once she reads Voltaire, she'll end up blindly agreeing to his statements and become a mass murderer. You know, sort of like Sephiroth after he read those science journals at Nibelheim before promptly "going to town" on that location after coming to the conclusion that the Ancient Cetra were backstabbed by humanity and that his mom was a Cetra (when in reality it was a LOT more complicated: Namely, his mom, at least her cells used to create him, WAS the reason why the Cetra were nearly driven to extinction). At best, she might act like Cecile Cosima Caminades and to a lesser extent Big Boss in this video here (and she was even WORSE in the Japanese version where she actually gave a fangirl squeal to Snake even mentioning Sartre's reference to Che Guevara's status as the most complete human being of the century. The English version toned down her reaction to the extent that while she did agree with Sartre's philosophy, it's left ambiguous as to whether or not she actually agreed with him on Che, unlike the Japanese version where her squeal indicated she fully embraced that as well. And bear in mind Kojima specifically intended for Che being treated as a guy who walked on water to be taken as fact as can be seen with various tweets by his secretary, and he clearly intended for Cecile to be in the right due to Snake agreeing with Sartre's views when she explained them to him despite portraying her otherwise as a blatant airhead). Seriously, if THIS is what getting ideas and thinking entails, I'd rather NO ONE, man or woman, have those at all, especially if it means blindly lapping up everything like a trained seal just because a professor or philosopher said it (I'd even rather I NOT have that if that's what it entails, that's how far I'd go regarding not wanting it in any capacity).

It also doesn't help that I had a genuinely terrible experience in college, particularly with the literature departments where all the literature professors I had since 2011 at least tended to really push leftist views in lieu of, heck, even WHILE teaching literature, didn't matter if it was American Literature, American Poetry, or even Chaucer. Expect them to basically flaunt their leftist leanings, including implying they'd rather participate in OWS over proctoring midterms, or how apparently Christianity "invented" misogyny (despite it predating Christianity by a good while, actually existing as far back as Hellenistic Greece), heck, even occasional comment indicating Jane Eyre was a lesbian or referring to ourselves prejoratively as the American Empire. Also claiming Gregory Mendel claimed that nature "was a whore which must be raped." Yeah, let's just say I had ROTTEN luck with literature professors, which unfortunately killed any chance at regaining some love for reading after it was damaged by being forced to do book reports since Elementary school to "prove" I've read the material despite having disgraphia at the time (leaving it painful to write). So I have reasons to worry that Belle will end up having her bibliophilia buying wholesale Voltaire's forgeries against Christianity without a second thought, much like my literature professors did (and they HAD to be literate just to teach literature courses).

In fact, forget the French Revolution, we even have a case of this with Jean-Paul Sartre, especially when he's a huge bookworm (a philosophical giant in France as well, even being called the Absolute Intellectual), yet constantly sang praises to tyrants such as Stalin, Mao Zedong and Che Guevara, not to mention pushed a truly nihilistic view of society that's basically an extreme version of a dog-eat-dog world. Thanks to people like him, I literally have no confidence in Belle being any different (heck, if anything, it's precisely BECAUSE of her intellect and literacy that I fear she'll turn out like those guys [and I would have felt the same way if she had been a guy and literate/intelligent]. After all, they're intelligent, yet they ended up going mad and either slaughtering people themselves, or otherwise condoning or heck, even mentoring others to massacre people in the most sickening ways).

A definite way to improve upon Belle if you ask me is to make SURE to address that bit and make sure she is indeed capable of DISCERNING literature as being good or bad, not simply blindly reading whatever she finds and agreeing with it just because it's in a book or written by an author who has a reputation for being intelligent. Maybe include a scene where she reads Candide and realizes what he's doing is stirring crap and that his writings would spell doom in the future. That's definitely something that even the remake failed to actually address. We fortunately got some hints at her maybe not being supportive of it in later entries (namely Rebel Rose where, while somewhat sympathetic to the Revolutionaries, ultimately decided they weren't good, and also Belle's Discovery which implied that the French Revolution was occurring during her childhood yet Belle herself had no real interest in contrast to her peers), but unfortunately that's not necessarily canon to the original film (even less so when Linda Woolverton implied she held solidarity to Communist views in her Maleficent movie and made a direct tie between that film and her work on Beauty and the Beast in overall themes). I mean, even Ariel showed more signs of critical thinking than Belle did in her scene with Ursula (at least Ariel ATTEMPTED to question Ursula's logic of using her voice as payment for legs due to the bit about how she can't really hope to communicate with Eric, much less win him over without her voice, while Belle we never get that sense at all despite the narrative).

I'd suggest expanding upon that bit to also address the French Revolution bit. You have to admit, that IS a genuine reason to be concerned with Belle at the very least (especially if she buys into Rousseau's "Noble Savage" and "General Will". At least Prince Adam we can safely assume would disagree with that notion due to personal experience regarding how those views simply do not work thanks to that curse and his behavior that led up to it), especially considering actual real life examples of intellectuals of Belle's caliber blindly following and promoting huge tyrants up to and even including mass murder for their viewpoints, if not actually putting it into practice.

On a side note, I REALLY wish Linda Woolverton didn't make the whole female literacy thing a conflict in the film (especially when that if anything was downright disrespectful of the original authors of Beauty and the Beast Villeneuve and Beaumont. Funny how no one complained about THAT bit, yet gave Disney grief over a mere changed ending to The Little Mermaid by comparison [and all that DESPITE otherwise keeping quite a few stuff from the original tale and even expanding on those stuff anyways].).

Why Some People Don't Like Belle, #8

"She’s framed as unique and special, but she’s just a generic bookworm."

The film’s opening musical number consists of Belle’s neighbors all singing about how “funny,” “peculiar,” “odd,” “different,” and “strange but special” she is. But by realistic standards (some argue), there’s nothing unique about her. She’s a bit of an introvert, she dreams of adventure, she loves books, and she dislikes Gaston: that’s all. Are we really supposed to believe that no one else in town would share Belle’s dreams of a more exciting life? Or that no other villager would be turned off by Gaston’s arrogance and boorishness, despite his good looks and popularity? Or that in a town with a bookshop, no one else would share Belle’s passion for reading? And don’t offer the silly old argument of “Women didn’t read in those days; they were expected just to be housewives and mothers.” That assumption erases the thriving culture of intellectual women in 18th century France: the very culture that produced the original tale of Beauty and the Beast, which was written by a woman in 1740. Realistically (some critics argue), Belle would have been respected for her reading and intellect, not a misfit! Especially because otherwise, she’s an ideal young woman of tradition: graceful, feminine, polite, personable, and beautiful. At least the 2017 remake tries to portray her as more truly “different” by making her slightly more tomboyish and eccentric, and by having her be the inventor instead of Maurice. But even that version uses the cliché of “girls weren’t educated” and shows the villagers bullying Belle for teaching a little girl to read, as if 18th century France weren’t filled with well-respected literary women!

My view: I’m slightly tempted to agree with this complaint. Unless most of the townspeople are illiterate (and given that the village has its own bookshop, I doubt they are illiterate), would Belle realistically be the town’s only bookworm? Or for that matter, wouldn’t a realistic town include at least one or two other sensitive, adventurous-hearted dreamers, or just a few other people annoyed by Gaston? I accept the conceits that Belle is the only one because the story is a fairy tale, but maybe she is portrayed as more of a misfit than she really would have been. Still, I disagree with the argument that she wouldn’t really be a misfit at all. There’s a duality in how book lovers are viewed. On the one hand, intellectuals and well-read people are respected, but on the other hand, “get your head out of those books and pay attention to more important things” is a common sentiment, and that was just as true in 18th and 19th century France as it is today. Many people in that era condemned novels as a frivolous waste of time, and they were often considered especially bad for women, because they supposedly enflamed unseemly “passions” and made women unable to tell fact from fiction. Belle’s special fondness for fairy tales and love stories, rather than more “sophisticated” subjects, only reinforces why her neighbors view her as too dreamy and too “dazed and distracted.” As for the 18th century French salon culture of intellectual women… I understand feeling annoyed that the movie ignores it, especially since it produced the original tale. But unless I’m mistaken, that culture was chiefly an upper-class phenomenon, not working class. Isn’t it only natural that in a poor peasant village, women and men alike should care more about “practical,” everyday work than about reading fiction, even if they’re not illiterate? Belle might not be a fully “radical” woman, but she truly is out of place in the village.

Solution in future retellings: If you want to portray Beauty as different from the people around her, then make her truly unique. Give her unusual interests and talents that aren’t shared by thousands of others. Follow the 2017 film’s example and make her more eccentric, or gender non-conforming, or socially awkward – not just slightly introverted yet ladylike and charming. Or if you want her to be a simple bookworm and dreamer, then don’t frame her as unique for that reason. The plot doesn’t require Beauty to be “strange,” after all.

[orphanofkos]

i feel lie the writers were fighting over kai winn about whether or not she would be a morally grey or outright evil character and i'm really disappointed that they stuck with the easy way out and just made her bad :/