#the rules of the genre

[themyscirah]

Just finished the Qi'ra saga (WotBH/Crimson Reign/Hidden Empire) minus some tie ins and I am....... not okay

Tragedy enjoyers you guys need to get on this one asap

[methoughtsphantom]

silly headcannon #2 that Bruce never got the reference that Jason always made of himself being short round (he always thought it was Jason saying he was short) until after he died and Tim, avid Indiana Jones fan made Bruce watch the movies with him, only the man breaks out crying., sobbing, full on breaking down over the two second scene that is Indy ruffling Short Round’s hair as he explains they first met when he caught the kid stealing from him, and then took him under his wing.

[nightshadeowl]

Decked Out really is a whole other game. It's running on Minecraft textures and programming, of course, but its visual identity is so distinct (Tango's block palettes go SO HARD) and the structure of the game is so brilliantly designed that it just. It's true. It's a whole other game.

[danandfuckingjonlmao]

a good animated show must have at least 4 of the following:

- gay

- existentialism/nihilism

- morally grey lead characters

- horrendously depressing themes/messages

- psychedelic weird shit that highlights the absurdity of life

i don’t make the rules (i do make the rules pls recommend me shows—i’ll put the ones i’ve watched in the tags, feel free to add any you think of)

[loriache]

neon genesis meshi

[shikai-the-storyteller]

I genuinely love how each character on the QSMP is living in a different genre, so two characters doing the same thing have different consequences, and it has different weight on their story / the QSMP narrative as a whole.

For example, Cellbit killing 4 Federation workers is treated very seriously, and we know his actions will have serious consequences in the future.

Meanwhile, Etoiles wiping out every single Federation worker on his way out of an infiltration mission is par for the course because man's living in a shonen anime.

[prentissluvr]

need sam winchester biblically and its such a crime i can't be binging spn rn, but that does mean i will be thinking about him all the time without spending said time watching him which means i will have thoughts about him which means i will have time to write for him which means that folks should send me sam requests i promise i'm nice and a decent writer heheheh

[project-sekai-facts]

Kanade's another cut for the Twilight Light 3DMV is a direct reference to her untrained The Dream I Saw Will One Day 4* card.

Screencap source

[scribefindegil]

Sometimes I think about Teru And The Narrative and lose my mind. like. I joke that he's the only character who knows he's in an anime and that can be funny, but the truth is that he's so desperate to find a story to fit into because that's the only way his life will Make Sense. No, his parents didn't abandon him; they just had to go somewhere else to keep themselves safe, and he has to be the one dealing with the threats because he's The Protagonist. It doesn't matter that he's a kid; the protagonists of the stories he reads are as young as him and they deal with worse than this all the time! He has to {learn to fight off adult attackers} {hone his powers so he's unbeatable} {violate the Geneva Convention} because that's what protagonists do!

And then he meets Mob.

But instead of the experience making him realize that he isn't in that kind of story, it convinces him that he is, but he isn't the protagonist. Mob is. (And obviously, from our perspective, he's right, but he has the genre wrong. Teru has never seen a story with themes as kind as Mob Psycho's).

So then: he's a side character. He's Mob's rival (complete with intense homoromantic adoration). He redefines his role in the story, but he doesn't redefine the rules that tell him it's okay that he lives alone and is constantly fighting for his life. In fact, he keeps going out to find more ways to get in trouble. He goes to confront the broccoli alone. He makes himself a superhero outfit and starts flying around Seasoning City hoping he could gain some fulfillment from playing superhero. His after-school activity is taking down terrorist splinter groups!

Because if he tries to change the genre or abandon the conceit, tries to live his life as an ordinary middle-schooler, suddenly he doesn't have an excuse anymore. For his parents leaving. For what he needed to do to survive. It stops being fun and becomes horrifying.

In Confession Arc, one of the things that he has to face is that Mob isn't the protagonist of the world any more than Teru himself was. I don't think that he's broken out of his narrative thinking completely (he still calls himself Mob's rival), but it finally shakes some of those foundations when he sets himself and Mob on equal footing for the first time.

So afterwards, maybe he can become the protagonist of his own life. Maybe, finally, he can start making decisions about the story he wants to be in instead of trying to adapt himself to fit the one he thinks someone else has defined for him.

[allgirlsareprincesses]

Stop calling My Lady Jane stupid! It's not stupid, it's actually a very deliberate and carefully crafted show FFS. They purposely made it anachronistic and whimsical and sexy AF! And it's good at being all those things!

Just like how Bridgerton isn't real history either and it's not trying to be, but it's very good at being a romantic fantasy!

Stop trying to prove you have refined taste and just enjoy things!

[thatincorrectquotegeneratorguy]

I'm bored and procrastinating, hit me with your longest hyperfixation rant

[hanzajesthanza]

(Adam Dudaczyk) The fact that vampires drink blood to get that *meaningful hand-neck gesture* - you made that up? (Andrzej Sapkowski) Yes, I didn't model myself on anyone here, I don't know anyone who wrote before me about the fact that vampires drink blood not to satisfy their hunger, but to satisfy their thirst for… entertainment. Texts: the guys sent me to get blood, I was flying drunk… The fun was great.

as i reread this i couldn't stop thinking of this meme

[tizeline]

Ok but if Mikey or Donnie can't sing the entirety of Custer by slipknot do they REALLY qualify to be running for president?🙄/j

Mikey being completely ignorant when it comes to human culture means he has no idea what Slipknot is, nor does he know any of their songs

Donnie knows about Slipknot and he's probably heard Custer, but I don't think he could sing it

Which means that alas they are both completely unqualified to become president😔

.....I like to think that Leo could sing it tho XD

[pathetic-gamer]

I am of the firm belief that Alan absolutely did not have to be trapped for as long as he was or driven insane trying to meet the inscrutable demands of the Dark Place, he's just Like that. literally everyone who tries to help him is like "brother in Christ it does not have to be this difficult" but he's soooo busy being soso sad and tortured.

[greenerteacups]

Never a Romione shipper but tbh, love Harry and Ginny or at least the potential of them. It always irked me to no end that JK Rowling reduced Ginny to "hot cool girl who likes Quidditch" when, in reality, that girl's been through some stuff. There was so much missed opportunity here for them to bond on a deeper level i‘ll be mad forever. Hello?? She knows what it's like to have Voldemort in her head, she was possessed for like a year at ELEVEN. That's insane, only to be brought up literally once

This is what I'm talking about with Early Installment Weirdness! The transition from children's book to Y/A involves a major pivot in how serious you can be about the almost-dying stuff. Plus, if you take it on face, Chamber of Secrets is by far the darkest book. The main plot is a slasher thriller stapled onto a murder mystery. There's an 11-year-old girl being possessed by a malignant spirit. There's a dead girl haunting the bathroom. Threats are painted in blood in the walls. Dumbledore warns Hogwarts might have to "close forever." Harry's hallucinating a whispering voice in his head saying "hunt, hunt" and "kill, kill." It's all gothic as hell and fucking awesome, but also, uh: "children's book"? HEWWO?

This is part of the reason I cut Ginny's possession arc in Lionheart. It's a shame to take a major plot beat away from her, but I didn't feel that Book 3 or Book 4 gave her any space on the page to deal with it, and by the time she loops back around to being a major character in Book 5, it's been two years and the book's so crowded I can't imagine where an arc for her would fit.

[louisianna]

I could write an entire essay (and perhaps one day I will) on how 'Furiosa' is Gothic fiction, a Gothic romance in particular, but I just need to talk about one key aspect of the relationship between Furiosa and Jack for a minute. A lot of discussion surrounding them has been about the nature of their relationship. Most people seem to love the ambiguity, myself included, and I think looking at it through a Gothic romance lens can help us understand why it works so well.

Most Gothic romances feature a heroine who is trapped inside a literal and/or figurative domestic space by a domineering man, typically a father or husband. Poor Furiosa gets both. Dementus imprisons her in the role of daughter. Immortan Joe imprisons her in the role of wife. These are restrictive domestic roles which have been forced upon her and which she cannot freely walk away from. Gothic romance is at its best when it is exposing and critiquing the cruelty of a patriarchal society and the unfair limitations it places upon women.

Furiosa evades attention by disguising herself as a boy. When Jack realises she is actually a woman, and that she is determined to leave the Wasteland, he immediately offers to help her get to wherever she needs to go. No questions asked. And what does Jack expect in return? Absolutely nothing. The trope of a good man, with experience, skill, and social standing, selflessly assisting the heroine, is quite common in Gothic romance.

Jack's words to Furiosa are never paternalistic. They speak to one another as equals. Dementus wanted to shape Furiosa in his own image, but Jack only wants to pass on what he knows. He doesn't want her to stay his protégé or sidekick. He wants her to be able to take care of herself. Until she asks him to come with her, he has every intention of letting her go her own way, leaving him behind.

Jack never comments on Furiosa's appearance. They dress as equals. Immortan Joe put Furiosa in delicate fabrics and planned to use her body for his own selfish desires, but Jack only ever touches Furiosa for her own sake. He doesn't want to possess her. He wants to protect her. He cleans and stitches up her wounds. He will place a comforting hand on her shoulder, only for as long as it takes for her to relax beneath his touch.

It's important to remember that this is a thematic tale being told to us by a History Man, a framing device which is extremely befitting of the Gothic genre. Within this legend, Jack and Furiosa's disregard for clearly defined domestic roles draws a stark contrast to the priorities of Dementus and Immortan Joe. It serves to highlight that their dynamic is free from patriarchal dominance. Whether their relationship is sexual or platonic, romantic or familial, is irrelevent. What matters is that their relationship is based upon genuine concern, deep respect, and unwavering trust. This is the lesson of their story, and it is a lesson for all to the hear. Jack does not merely represent a good father or a good husband or a good mentor. He represents it all. His character is fluid and multi-dimensional. His relationship with Furiosa is ever-shifting and all-encompassing. This allows him to be a role model to all men. But I digress from talking about Gothic fiction!

True domestic happiness for the Gothic romance heroine is only possible once she finds a companion who treats her as a peer; a social equal who gives her the freedom to choose and define the role she wishes to have in his life. It also requires finding or creating a refuge in which the heroine is safe from male power and violence. Furiosa found a more than worthy partner in Jack. Unfortunately, they didn't succeed in reaching freedom together.

Perhaps, in a less Gothic setting than the Wasteland, putting a name to what they were wouldn't have mattered so much. As it was, "my Jack" and "my Fury" was enough.