#well! Thank you for coming to my ted talk!

[vaya-is-dead]

Welcome to hour one of my delusional city

SO ABOUT JINX.... we have plenty to discuss. :))

*act three arcane spoilers under the cut don't read if you haven't watched it especially the last episode!!*

I have a theory.

Now many of you will point at me and call me delusional but I'm sorry. I think I might be right on this one for a change. (or at least it might be implied.)

OK, if you watch the final episode, you know that jinx made the sacrifice taking Warwick with her while Vi screams for her. This scene absolutely broke my heart and for about a good 15 minutes I thought she was dead.

Until I went back and watched the last couple of scenes.

Something that I found interesting is that Caitlyn was looking at the blueprint of the vent system, more specifically where Jinx made her ultimate sacrifice. We all know that arcane is not a show that would just throw in details all without reason. Everything has a point everything is calculated to either imply something or show something.

Why would Caitlyn be looking at the blueprint and why would the show creators specifically zoom in on certain airways? Well, of course, then none other to imply that Jinx could've escaped through one of these, therefore possibly surviving.

Now with that alone, it probably doesn't mean anything. It is nothing but a skeleton of what possibly could be, it needs flesh and muscle for it to actually be a Working theory.

But then, as I watched the final scene before the credits, tell me why an airship from Piltover airship very similar to the ones that we saw in episode one where powder said that she would be flying one of those one day. Why was it flying away into the distant sky, then followed by the classic Jinx glitches with the words the end?

Tell me why a show that is so focused on each, and every small detail, from micro expression to touches that linger just a second too long for it to be nothing, Even the drawings and graffiti around Zaun. why would a show so focused on those types of details do something like that if Jinx was not alive? It does not make any sense. It would not make any sense for the show.

Need more proof?

if you pay attention when Caitlyn and Vi are talking, specifically towards the end where Vi leans into Caitlyn, the expression on her face is not one of relief, but rather one of knowing something. She was the one looking at the blueprint, and she was the one who noticed the potential escape route that jinx would know better than anyone because it wasn't her sort of Home in the vent system? How could she not know how to escape?

it's also very satisfactory to her character arc, it was only in season two where we started to see her perception of death start to shift, it was only when Isha came into her life that she really started to understand her own mortality and not completely disregard her life like she used. the prison scene with Vi, where she's sort of regresses back to the mentality of everyone around me will get hurt because of me. while in act three she did begin to disregard her life again, I would like to think that her talk with Ekko might've snapped her back into place. So instead of losing jinx's character development in its entirety, she continues on the same path where she was while still keeping her goal of letting VI be happy the same.

Plus the pink streak coming up the side of the hex gate tower, it's similar to the way that Jinx charges at Vi in their fighting scene.

Now, this is the part where you go into the comments and call me delusional and make fun of my theory but thank you for comming to my Ted's talk

[hehe-69]

All I gotta say is the first time Solavellan do it is gonna start off with Solas unsure of himself. What he’s allowed, how much he can trust himself after years of holding himself back and the fact he has never done this before. He has “neglected this area if study.”

But he would find his footing and I think it’d take a lot of reassurance. Levellan def ontop, omg who said that that’s insane.

Anyway it would definitely be loving and Solas would drag it out and want it to be slow but passionate. Real putting the Love in love making because it would be more then just sex.

It would be the physical depiction of what he’s already given her emotionally. So much of him has been twisted and taken from him, this is the last thing he has control over, the only thing that has been his.

And he gets to CHOOSE to give it to her, it was always her, always going to be her. She brought out his wisdom she listened to his council and respected his wisdom (not drinking from the well would show this. It would be hard for her to let all that knowledge be given to someone who’s not even elven. But Solas begged her and asked her not to and she respected it and did not overlook his council. Somthing Mythal never did. She TOOK him from the fade he loved so he would share his wisdom with her and then she didn’t even listen to it!)

Anyway, it would be slow and passionate and mans would be whimpering and grabbing ass the entire time. It would be more about third souls dancing and then finally giving into the delicate dancing around the inevitable physical connect between them.

#solas is a bottom #munch #im so not normal about them in any aspect of their relationship #im losing my fucking mind

If you made it this far thanks for coming to my ted talk pookie. Ima go play Veilgaurd for the 156th time and cry every time I see Varric😘

[johanna-swann]

Wait, wait. I just realised something incredibly funny. Glee aired from 2008 to 2015, right? And Tommy didn't come out until after he transferred to harbour. Which was around 2017, maybe 2018. So. Tommy also came out in a post-Glee world.

I know that Josh's speech wasn't just about coming out though, it was also about having the queer realisation for yourself and being closeted in a society that's not very kind to queer people. But we don't know when Tommy realised and accepted that he's 100% definitely super gay either?

He got engaged to Abby around the time Glee ended! Like. Maybe deep down he knew it wasn't going to work, but he was still "hopeful" enough to try and be happy with a woman anyway. He still thought that maybe he could make this work.

My point: I argue that Tommy had many of his important queer experiences post-Glee world as well. Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

(Besides it's not like the current political climate in the US is very queer friendly. It's not quite that bad for very masculine, white cis-men like Tommy and Buck who also happen to live in LA, there are much more vulnerable groups. But queerphobia is still very popular right now. And who even "benefitted" from Glee? That show was popular, but it was a teen drama. A biphobic teen drama. It's not exactly a key moment in the queer rights movement.)

[zer0brainc3lls]

Trans regulus being friends with Remus but not knowing he’s a werewolf and just thinking the “pains” Remus gets is period pains and he’s trans as well 😭 but he doesn’t want to just ASK because if anyone asked him he would freak out, meanwhile Remus is FREAKING OUT because he thinks regulus knows he’s a werewolf.. anyways here’s some quotes based on that

Regulus: *gives chocolate* y’know.. madam pomfrey has hot water bottles.

Remus: oh. Uhm- thanks

Regulus: yeah uhm.. bye lupin

-

Random Slytherin: why is that loony kid always in the infirmary?

Regulus: shut up mind your own business

-

Remus: Sirius. Did you fucking tell your brother I’m.. about my problem?!

Sirius: what??? No! I would never!

Remus: everytime the full comes around he like- he keeps giving me chocolate and pain potions!

-

Sirius: what do you know about moony??

Regulus: huh?

Sirius: if you tell anyone about his- his situation-

Regulus: why would I do that?! Y’know I’m.. like lupin.

Sirius: you’re not a fucking werewolf?!

Regulus: HES A WEREWOLF?? I THOUGHT- never mind. Never mind!

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

[agentofanarchy110]

Well, if you’re interested, here’s the reason I voted Apology Tour!

With Full Moon, I pretty much predicted exactly how it would go. The only shock to me really was the fact that Blitzo didn’t instantly reject Stolas and run, he actually did want it. Stolas just didn’t give him enough time to process, which goes ENTIRELY against the lyric in Just Look My Way: “I know better now, I must give you this choice.” Giving Blitzo an ultimatum and then instantly going “no, I know my answer”, is just so not cool. Don’t get me wrong, I am on neither side of the big Anti-Stolas/Anti-Blitzo debate, but that hit me hard. However, as previously stated, I basically expected Full Moon to go this way.

With Apology Tour, it hit me SO MUCH HARDER because of the sheer courage and inner strength Blitzo shows in going to find Stolas. If I’d known my ex was at a party with tons of people who hated me, I’d be running for the hills. The amount of strength it takes for someone to actively walk into a place like that, see all the ways these people imagine torturing you and actually verbally abusing you the whole time, and NOT running away? Blitzo is incredible. And when you see the face he pulls when Stolas sings All 2 U—at that point I was feeling over emotional just watching. I so badly wanted to just go and hug Blitzo.

And when he FINALLY faces Stolas and essentially opens up about his insecurities, a very drunk Stolas but nonetheless still to his face, and Stols STILL doesn’t get it—it’s just too much.

The final straw for me was the Verosika sequence, where she finally seems to realise what he’s going through and, if not forgiving him, then at least giving him a chance to begin redeeming himself in her eyes.

And the moment when Over U (?) began playing at the end in his van was just BRUTAL. The sheer agony in the way he hits that horn and then the cut to black. It had me crying.

Anyway, thanks for coming to my TED talk!

Apology Tour and The Full Moon fighting for dominance in the poll I see

[mossy-paws]

It’s 2am but the art urges are strong,,, hrrrrg

anyways I’m gonna be on vacation soon! And by soon I mean in like. A week and a half LMAO

because of this I am going to be speed running art before then :3! So expect some more TMA-PHIGHTING! Au teasers/misc art before I completely crash for vacay /silly

I don’t know when I’m actually going to be finishing the au- and by “finishing” I mean just getting all of the lined designs fully colored and then dedicating some time to fun little misc pieces about the au in between :3c I’m actually considering doing a small little teaser piece for each design but I feel that may be a bit excessive,, I don’t know! Maybe I’ll open requests and let yall give me some ideas for them! Questions/suggestions are definitely encouraged now though since they help me build up on the au a lot more then I would be able to without them so feel free to ask away as much as you lot would like! Plus I just enjoy seeing people enthused about my little ideas :3

Well! I just wanted to say this beforehand since good art pieces are BOUND to be slow with what I got on my plate- I’m defintely making sure to dedicate time to other projects though so I don’t just die while trying to get this finished LOL

[jolynejay]

Which one is it, Malleus

Malleus & Yuu/MC: having a Gargoyle Research Club meeting (aka going on a stroll at night infodumping at each other)

Yuu/MC: That reminds me, there is something I wanted to ask you.

Malleus: What is weighing on your mind, child of man?

Yuu/MC: Do you like gargoyles because they remind you of yourself - a living relic from a bygone time whose purpose has become largely obsolete due to the advancement of technology and society, only able to watch eternally from afar as people go about their lives without ever truly belonging to that world and no perspective for the future of your own as those you call kin slowly fade away?

Yuu/MC: Or do you like them "just because"?

Malleus:

[v88sy]

He 👏🏼 was 👏🏼 not 👏🏼 finishing 👏🏼 his 👏🏼 sentences 👏🏼 he 👏🏼 was 👏🏼 interjecting 👏🏼 his 👏🏼 own 👏🏼 snarky 👏🏼 ass 👏🏼 commentary. 👏🏼

[anonymous-dee]

I personally love LiuShen more than BingQiu, but it isn’t necessarily due to a dislike of Binghe. I do enjoy their 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴 for 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴 relationship and Binghe’s general obsessiveness and “yandere-ish” qualities—coming from the BSD fandom, I’m generally well adjusted to ships with weird or somewhat unrealistic (or dare I say fictionally toxic) dynamics. (Unrelated shoutout to SSKK and FyoLai specifically)

I don’t really see BingQiu is inherently toxic, but I do agree with OP that Luo Binghe’s character developement had a lot of untapped potential. I do want to cut MXTX some slack in this department since SVSSS was her first series.

Maybe I’m a little biased because Liu Qingge is personally my favorite character, but I find that the dynamic for LiuShen is super cute and also funny. And, there is also SO MUCH angst potential. I do also prefer LiuShen over LiuJiu as well.

I do want to note, though, that I love all of the Shen Qingqiu (Shen Yuan) ships and I also love how open the fandom is with shipping him with almost the entire cast LOL. As an avid multishipper I always have a great time.

And depending on how you play your cards, there are so many different fonts for LiuShen to exist within. Oblivious LQG? It works. Oblivious SQQ? Biblically accurate. Both of them are in love and oblivious? Yeah, I can see it. LQG being aware of his feelings but is just REALLY BAD AT FLIRTING? Fucking hilarious. LQG pining over SQQ but the author makes BingQiu the main pairing? I’LL JUST WEEP BLOOD, THANKS. (I’m still gonna eat it up) SQQ being aware of his feelings [RARE] and LQG is really SHY AND DOESN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO? Cute and also really funny.

I just love them so much and I think they have the ability to be cute and soft with each other THANK YOU FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK (which is mostly just me yapping to the void

BINGQIU VS LIUSHEN/ANY OTHER SHIP WITH SQQ PART 1

BEWARE I HAVENT READ SVSSS IN A WHILE AND I MIGHT’VE MISSED SOME STUFF! Feel free to correct and give your opinions about this.

Theres gonna be two parts to this bc tumblr can’t take all my writing sooooo 😛

In the SVSSS fandom, I’ve noticed that compared to other mxtx’s novels, the mc gets shipped with half of the cast more often and is more widely accepted in the fandom compared to the tgcf and mdzs fandoms (if you ship Hualian or Wangxian with anyone, it will get you death threats, istg 😓). However, with Shen Qingqiu, while of course he gets shipped with his love interests, another really popular one is him with Liu Qingge and many other characters in the novel. I do think this also has to do with the fact that the fandom is more chill than the other two fandoms. Shen Qingqiu in general is just VERY shippable. But why? Why do some people like liushen more than bingqiu? Obviously, I know this is simply a preference, but why do people prefer it more than the canon couple? Well, I have some speculations. First, while I love Bingqiu, I can admit that their relationship is not for everyone; even for me, they’re my least favorite main couple of the three (it's just my opinion, DONT ATTACK ME🙏) because their dynamic can be seen as somewhat toxic. Luo Binghe is very obsessive and kind of yandare like in the novel, and yes, he does have character development and regrets his actions and never really wanted to hurt Shen Qingqiu. I personally don’t feel like we see as much of this development until the very end. At least for me, I feel like we should’ve spent more time with a changed Luo Binghe, and I KNOW he was influenced by Xi Mo. I still didn’t feel completely satisfied with the Luo Binghe arc. I do think we see more of his development in the extras, which is what made me like Bingqiu a lot more, but I just wish we could’ve seen this in the main story instead of optional extras because I think the extras really show Luo Binghe’s growth and his love for Shen Qingqiu in a healthier way. I am aware this boy is very mentally ill. While I’m not a writer, as a reader, I think mxtx could’ve done more for him because he can end up more dislikable for some people and just less appealing of a love interest. I personally LOVE Luo Binghe and how chaotic he is, but again, that is not for everyone, so I can definitely see why some people don’t like him as much. With Shen Qingqiu, this is a bit different. I felt that by the end of the novel he had massive progress and huge development for his character; even if he still has his flaws, you can really tell he has changed and grown throughout the story, but he’s still himself if that makes sense. I felt wayyy more satisfied with his arc than Luo Binghe's; however, I will say that Shen Qingqiu has this sort of shame. While I wouldn’t necessarily call it internalized homophobia, he does have this sort of stigma towards gay people and him being gay himself. And while it can be funny, if you really think about it, even by the end of the novel and in the extras he still has this shame of sleeping with Binghe and showing basic affection, but I won’t really criticize this much because he does improve in this a lot by the extras. By that point, it really feels more like shyness than the shame he felt at the beginning when he first discovered Luo Binghe's feelings. So I will argue that Shen Qingqiu arc is pretty well done and concluded by the end of the book; at least to me, it really did feel like he changed. Okay, so the second reason is because Bingqiu got together when they were both still ‘not at their best’. What do I mean by this? Well in tgcf Xie lian had to endure a lot of torture and experience several traumatic situations and almost released face disease and killed a bunch of people with it. He was clearly very mentally unwell! And for Hua Cheng, he also went through a lot of trauma with his mom dying when he was young and the abuse he went through from his father and the kids who made fun of him to the point where he wanted to end his life, and then later he became a ghost with his parasocial attachment to a god. We see these characters at their worst, but when they get together, they are already 800+ years old and have lived a long life and matured and learned from their experiences.

[boygirlctommy]

i love the bit from oct 17 2020 when tommy and quackity trapped wilbur in a cobblestone box to keep him from pressing the button... wilbur punching through the blocks with his bare hand to try to get to the button... tommy frantically replacing the block in front of him yelling for quackity to do something... the moment when tommy stops, blocks the exit, and tells wilbur to do it. press the button. but then theyd die with him. quackitys like "wait, wait-" but tommy holds his ground and wilbur. ohh wilbur. "why'd you have to make it so hard?"

[grechsblog]

i think isafrin dynamic, especially postcanon, is so funny to me because (among other things) isabeau is the notorious Gets Scared When The Horrors Appear type of dude, but also happens to be madly into a guy who, for lack of better words, can be aptly described as The Horrors

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

On Kurapika's Self-Imposed Isolation

While I recognize that probably everything I'm about to say is going to be super obvious, I just wanted to briefly touch on Kurapika's self-isolation, and the reason behind his not picking up his phone or exchanging anything more than clipped words and business after Yorknew.

I think the obvious answer is that Kurapika doesn't want his friends in harms way, or to be used as a bargaining tool against him. This is an understandable and probably accurate conclusion. After all, Gon and Killua did get taken hostage, and Kurapika was forced to negotiate an exchange. Chrollo picked up on Kurapika's "weakness" right away - that he values his friends' safety before his revenge. Fortunately for Kurapika in this situation, Pakunoda was a whole lot more similar to him than he would've cared to admit, as she placed a value on Chrollo's life even though everyone in the Spider was intended to be replaceable. So, now that he's been through Gon and Killua having potentially gotten killed or seriously hurt, and Chrollo knows that he has a soft spot for them, it does make sense that he would try to push them away for their safety and for the sake of not having an exploitable "weakness" in future. He may also not want to burden them more when they have their own lives to live - he does slip off without telling Gon and Killua for the sake of not distracting them from Nen training, after all.

Except that he already tried all this earlier in Yorknew arc. He tried to tell them they shouldn't get involved, and they all agreed that the risks were massive - but his friends agreed to undergo the risks anyways to help him. Kurapika was even grateful for it - "I have been blessed with good friends."

So, for him to push them away solely for this reason after the fact, knowing that this was very much a likely situation to happen, is a little odd to me. Kurapika knows full well that Leorio would be frustrated, Killua would be offended and Gon would worry. So, I think there's a little more to it than that, and I actually would venture to say that "keeping his friends out of danger" is more a secondary reason for his actions - one that would come across as more of a reasonable excuse to others.

The primary reason is likely a lot more selfish than that. Kurapika has to ensure his mission comes first. And unfortunately, he is fully aware that his path and choice in abilities is deeply self-destructive.

Kurapika needs to make sure that he doesn't have exploitable weaknesses, sure, but he also just as much needs to purposefully worsen his headspace - and he can't do that with those three around.

Think back, what are the happiest moments we see from Kurapika in the series? The one that comes to mind first, and the one I'm sure most of us will think of immediately, is this:

[ID: A screenshot from the 2011 anime adaptation. Kurapika smiles - he looks at ease. End ID.]

It's one of the sweetest scenes of the series imo, right before the whole group is reunited for the first time since the Zoldyck Family arc, and it's even more notable because it comes immediately on the tail end of this...

[ID: Three panels from HxH Chapter 101. Kurapika removes his contacts over the sink. His expression is distant. End ID.]

...and this...

[ID: A panel from HxH Chapter 101. A close up of Kurapika's vacant and furious expression, his eyes wide and dangerous as he says "It might as well be you." Though the art is in black and white, it's apparent his eyes have gone scarlet. End ID.]

...and this.

[ID: A panel from HxH Chapter 101. A distant Kurapika speaks on the phone on a rooftop at night, the cityscape of Yorknew around him dark, but speckled with lights and stars. He says "The Spiders are dead." His face is not visible to the reader. End ID.]

This is, up to this point in the series, Kurapika at his lowest. In contrast to Gon, who is happy to hear that the Spiders are dead already because now Kurapika can focus solely on finding his peoples' eyes, Kurapika... is clearly not happy - and that's because killing the Spiders himself isn't just revenge. It's penance. It's survivor's guilt. Kurapika's powers, which Izunavi even comments sound much like he is chaining himself in the process of chaining his enemies, are oh-so-beautifully prophecied to destroy him - and Kurapika was aware of this from the moment he set off down this path of revenge.

(As a side note, this is why I'm really hoping we see Gon and Kurapika interact again after the Chimera Ant arc - while Gon has always been pretty attentive to Kurapika's emotional state, in Yorknew, he lacks a true understanding of why Kurapika would go so far... but as of now, he understands rage fueled by guilt and grief all too well. I know we're all rooting for Leorio to reach Kurapika, but barring that, I really think Gon could get through to him - after all, they are similar in several ways, and I find it fairly apparent that Gon reminds Kurapika of Pairo.)

But back to the main point here - I do suspect Kurapika expects (if not wants) his revenge mission to destroy him. I think a lot of times, we forget just how young Kurapika is, and how much his character is dictated by honour, and the abandonment of it.

Certainly, he can and will go against his principles for the sake of his mission... yet, almost paradoxically, he's bound to his promise to his fallen clan; a promise to avenge them made in anger.

But Kurapika... doesn't come across as a naturally angry person to me at all.

He seems like the stoic, vengeful type on his initial introduction... and then we get his panic at Gon's recklessness

[ID: A panel from HxH Chapter 2. Kurapika and Leorio wear matching expressions of panic in front of Gon, calling him out for his recklessness. End ID.]

...and his near-immediate forgiveness of Leorio after getting the first inkling of his character - of someone who cares just as fiercely as he does.

And after that point? Almost all through the Hunter Exam? Kurapika smiles so readily at them. He's sharp and funny. He mediates at times, but is stubbornly prideful in others. He's very amused by his friends' antics, and it really does seem like he starts to enjoy himself, with them. And, more than that, he counters Leorio's initial impression of him as an independent loner - on several occasions. He decides to follow Gon because Gon intrigues him. Asides from Gon, it is Kurapika who is the most unwilling to fight each other at the bottom of Trick Tower. Kurapika who makes the first move to team up with Leorio, even though that arrangement benefits Leorio much more than it does him. Kurapika who refuses to abandon Leorio to his fate in the cave, and who checks on Gon after noticing his bad mood. Who was furious enough watching him get beat down by Hanzo that his eyes went scarlet for the first and only instance outside of Spider mentions and Emperor Time. Who quite readily detoured to help rescue Killua.

[ID: Three screenshots from the 2011 adaptation Hunter Exam arc. In the first, Kurapika smiles at a sleeping Leorio. In the second, Kurapika stifles laughter as he pretends he's asleep. In the third, Kurapika has an open-mouthed smile as he acquires the airship tickets for them, Leorio and Gon standing behind him. End ID.]

Look at him! He's so bright! So happy!

...too happy. Too happy to do what he promised himself he would do. And that's his biggest fear, isn't it. Without his rage... what is he left with?

[ID: A panel from HxH chapter 2. A close up of Kurapika's eye as he says "I do not fear death. What I fear is that my rage will one day fade away." End ID.]

Kurapika is far, far less mired in anger when he's with his friends. I actually dare to say that at certain points, he was able to go for lengths of time without thinking much about it - alternating between almost forgetting in one instance and being hit like a sledgehammer on exposure to a reminder in the next. This violent swing is... actually the beginnings of the natural process of healing from loss and trauma. But to Kurapika, who's made a promise to his people's memories, this is not a relief. This is betrayal.

I think that actually scares him, that he can almost picture it. A life beyond his guilt. That he, too, could learn to be happy, even after unimaginable loss.

And so, as Kurapika continues his mission offscreen, finding more and more gruesome reminders of the cruelty inflicted on his people and losing more and more pieces of himself in the process (in his own words, no less), he prioritizes his responsibility to them, and pushes away his distractions. He cannot be a soul at peace until his work is done; he must be in turmoil. He pushes people away who he cares for, and binds himself, and keeps his people's eyes on him, quite literally, because respite, for him, is unacceptable. Perhaps that guilty part of him even hopes, by the end of this, that his soul will be so unrecognizable as to be fundamentally unsalvageable. But the truth of the matter is, or at least what comes across to me, is that Kurapika cares much more fiercely than he hates. He knows what matters most. And for as long as he does, he still hasn't truly lost himself.

[ID: A panel from HxH chapter 350. Kurapika looks down at baby Woble with a gentle, yet complicated expression. The inking is somewhat softer. End ID.]

Kurapika's soul is kind, really. And it wants to heal - but for the sake of his mission, he needs it damaged and bleeding. And so, he forces himself to exist in that pain. All alone.

[ID: A panel from HxH Chapter 344. Kurapika, dressed in a black suit, sits with his back to the reader, looking down at a photo in his hand. He is slumped a little before the church vigil he has prepared, all his clan's eyes lined up in their jars and honoured with flowers and candles. He thinks to himself "There is no home for me to return to... and nobody to welcome me back. I have nothing left." End ID.]

[the-travelling-witch]

Something I keep coming back to when thinking about Jamil is that, among the OB! Students, he might be the one who’s twisted from a disney “good guy” as much (or even more) than from the respective villain. And yes, I’m well aware that none of the characters are very one-note Disney villain, but with Jamil it just strikes such a chord with me.

Of course, he represents Jafar who has always resented being second best and who betrays the sultan to overtake the Nr. 1 position and all the power that comes with it. And during Book 4 (and now also Book 7), we can see Jamil equally backstabbing Kalim and planning to continue with the other housewardens and the headmage. That’s not a hot take, I understand that (whaaaat Jamil is twisted from Jafar?? Who would’ve guessed /j)

But with Jamil, I feel like his motivation for striving for power is a little different. For someone who has grown up in the world of the Asim family and has been with Kalim his entire life, I believe Jamil equates power with his actual goal in life: freedom.

So when he says “You really are my genie of the lamp, Azul” it felt sooo ironic to me, because it’s you! You are the genie, Jamil!

Just like the Genie’s “phenomenal cosmic power, but itty-bitty living space”, Jamil objectively has a lot of intelligence, talent and drive to excel at something, yet the space he has in which he can live and cultivate those aspects of his personality is very, very limited.

Both characters are also forced into their prison by the circumstances of their birth. Jamil was born into the Viper family, Genie was born a genie, and now they have to spend a lifetime of granting the wishes of other people.

For them to gain the freedom they so desperately want, both characters rely on the mercy of the people they serve, who they are useful to. But deep down they know their wish won’t ever be granted.

Genie has been promised his freedom a lot of times, just for the person’s third wish to be for their own gain after all when push comes to shove. Jamil has heard Kalim call him his best friend, just to turn around the next second and demand something else of him, wielding his power over him once more.

Besides, even if Kalim did give Jamil his freedom (if he even can, considering his family might step in), it’s shown that Jamil cares very deeply for his family, so I don’t think he would consider it “freedom” if his family was still serving the Asim household, which has an even slimmer chance of ever changing.

So yeah, I find the inspiration Jamil’s character takes from the Genie so interesting and at the same time it makes me want to tear out my heart. Please, he deserves so much (peace and quiet most of all) and I want to give him everything ㅠㅠ

[secondbeatsongs]

it's so funny trying to talk to people about Speed Racer (2008), because it's like...what if there was a guy who drove a car so well that he defeated capitalism

[bookshelf-in-progress]

Now that I know more about writing, I'm upset at all the writing advice that urged new writers to find the one best way to write stories, when they should be telling us to play with writing techniques like toys.

Don't tell us to avoid certain points of view! Don't box us into the one currently popular prose style! Let us play and see what effects different techniques achieve, so we can learn the best ways to make use of them! Give us a whole ton of possibility instead of one cookie-cutter template!

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

your honor they're everything