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twitteringthings · 2 months

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Fresh Thoughts Chapter 57

After reading spoilers on twitter (no spoilers here though^^)

The way Yoneda uses bl stereotypes as a tool while also rejecting some aspects of the genre is so interesting to read. In most bl I've read, sex is seen as the epitome of love - the culmination of two characters' pining and is seen as the end goal that suddenly fixes everything. The dick and brain are one and suddenly everything magically makes sense. But in Saezuru, Yoneda uses sex to unravel the characters while twisting them up even more-so. I believe that sex has never been and will never be the answer for Doumeki or Yashiro, and I think that is what she’s getting at. That is the point of all these sexual encounters that yield no real progress. You need more than three words and some head, ding dongs!

Doumeki thinks that all he has to do is give Yashiro passionate and gentle sex to make him realize that he loves him and imo he has it all wrong. It’s almost like Doumeki doesn’t truly hear Yashiro when he speaks. There's a pause and then a kiss or a continuing of sex as we've seen. I really wish he would’ve probed even further with the questioning instead of giving into desire and kissing Y. To me, it looked like Y was ready to talk more or hear what Doumeki had to say in response to his ‘confession.’

I don’t think D realizes that this is about Y and his view of himself. It doesn’t matter if Doumeki treats him kindly and calls him beautiful. Every person in Yashiro’s life has had an agenda against him or a plan to use him for something (nana excluded). There are always, always strings attached and his heart cannot accept anyone having no intention at all, except to love him purely. I do think D is on the right track though, making Yashiro chase him in a way. Not giving anything away as to make Y either trust his intentions or distrust him, Y needs to choose for himself.

It’s so interesting how the relationship between the two of them is outwardly focused on the physical aspect (which is definitely important), but the story is about the hearts of men. Twisted and broken men. Men with baggage and secrets and deep wounds. Men who seem to be the upmost composed but in reality, the soft touch of a feather can send their entire fortress crashing down. That's what we have here.

Yashiro’s coping mechanism protects him but is also the cause of his continuous pain. Saezuru is about choosing the right pain, the pain that will numb you and have you walk through life as a ghost, or the excruciating discomfort in accepting a foreign act of kindness that you know will save you. And for Yashiro, being saved means there was something wrong done to him in the first place - which I don't think he completely realizes yet. This would mean everything he ever told himself was a lie, and that he deserved none of the cruelty. The truth that would destroy him the most if he truly chose and accepted kindness, is that he is a good person and that he deserves to love himself and to be loved. With Doumeki, this has always been Yashiro’s battle.

Vile actions accompanied by cursed words are what has held Y back all his life from the moment he was raped by his stepfather and throughout the continued abuse, even up to the most recent events post-timeskip. And I think the exact opposite is needed from both sides to finally free both of them from their mental prisons. They just need to hold out and to talk to each other for more than five minutes. I hope they'll get there soon.

Lastly, I'm sure it wasn't her intention to make such an impactful story that subverts a genre and goes against the grain - in a wonderful way. I saw something another person posted that said this story and these characters are just a result of good storytelling and great care and I could not agree more.

I haven't posted anything of actual substance in a while (stupid work is stopping me from my true passion - alas!). These are some messy thoughts; I can't wait to read the actual chapter for true understanding! I need to analyze every pen stroke, blush, and body placement. I just had to get this out of my head, now back to my essay that's due at 11:59 *sobs*

Edit 1:55 am: Still have not started essay

#saezuru tori wa habatakanai #twittering birds never fly #doumeki x yashiro #yoneda kou #saezuru spoilers #saezuru fandom #messy thoughts #twitteringthings rambles

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comradekatara · 1 month

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Hi! Been reading through your blog, and I really appreciate the nuanced way you discuss the themes and characters in atla. So I was curious about your thoughts on a take I’ve seen floating around (that I feel conflicted on).

I’ve seen people argue that, particularly in season 3, Zuko’s perspective and arc are prioritized at the expense of (all the characters, but especially) Aang’s perspective/internality.

For example, in the Western Air Temple episode, any complicated feelings Aang might have about Zuko’s role in his death and in the fall of Ba Sing Se (two events that shaped Aang’s struggle at the opening of the season) are hand waved, entirely untapped and unexplored. Everything that Zuko did in Ba Sing Se goes unmentioned in the episode, to facilitate the necessary next step of Zuko’s journey (joining the gaang), and the episode is primarily framed through Zuko’s POV, exploring his fears regarding whether the group will accept him and his desire for redemption through them.

Similarly, the focus of the succeeding episodes is on integrating Zuko into the group, leaving little space to expand on/build up to Aang’s central conflict for the season, meaning it’s crammed into/abruptly introduced in the very final episodes.

I think there is some merit to this critique (Aang aside, I also would have liked a bit more space for Toph in this final season too, her fraught relationship with her parents feels like a thread that’s left hanging). On the other hand, I think that one of Aang’s strengths as a MC is that he doesn’t overpower/dominate the entire narrative, and that other characters (Zuko, Katara, etc.) are allowed just as much significance and importance within the story, so…idk. Would appreciate another perspective, sorry for the long ask :)

forgive my slightly reductive claim, but I actually see each season as belonging to a different main character. book 1: water is very much katara’s season. she is the narrator who introduces us to the world, the catalyst for the inciting incident, and the entire journey to the north pole is her idea, her goal, her quest to master waterbending. most episodes in book 1 center on katara, her escapades, her blunders, her triumphs, her adventures; aang is also featured prominently, of course, but she’s by far the hero of this story.

then book 2: earth shifts focus, and focalizes aang instead. katara has achieved her primary goal of learning waterbending for a master, and now she’s mostly just along for the ride. she still has episodes where she is central to the plot and truly shines (eg, the chase, the desert, lake laogai) but she’s mainly playing second fiddle to aang, who has to contend with his position as avatar and the immense power he wields, learns earthbending (his most personally challenging element), suffers inconceivable loss as he grieves appa, the triumphant joy of their reunion, works through his emotional state with the guru, and finally, his defeat at the hands of azula. book 2 is, first and foremost, aang’s season.

so it stands to reason that book 3: fire is zuko’s. zuko has been focalized before, most prominently in the episode “zuko alone,” but this season is not about zuko in isolation, but rather his integration. the goal zuko has been striving for and the changes he has undergone and lessons he’s learned in the previous two seasons all culminate here, finally realizing the character arc they’ve been laying the groundwork for in the background of aang and katara’s journeys. so of course zuko is prioritized in zuko’s season. of course episodes like “the beach” barely even focus on the gaang whatsoever, with their only sparse scenes just there to establish combustion man as a threat.

and it’s not that we don’t get the gaang’s pov in “the western air temple,” because we very much do. we see them respond to their defeat at the invasion, we see them argue over whether to let zuko into the group, and yes, we do see katara acknowledge what happened in ba sing se, very emphatically, I might add.

and the following episode is literally about aang. yes, zuko is still the character whose point of view is centered the most, but it’s also a direct response to aang’s conflict in “the deserter,” and it provides a crucial aspect of not only zuko’s character development, but also aang’s. then, the episode after that is all about sokka. zuko features, of course, but he knows this is not his journey and he is happy to follow sokka’s lead. it’s a necessary episode as it marks the apotheosis of sokka’s arc. then, “the southern raiders,” which serves as katara’s apotheosis. yes, zuko is the one who orchestrates the plot, but but it’s katara’s emotional journey every step of the way. “the ember island players” is equally about aang, katara, and zuko’s horrified responses to this play. and then in “sozin’s comet” aang, katara, and zuko are each given equal weight in their final moments in the narrative.

i don’t think that aang’s central conflict feels rushed or abrupt whatsoever, because it was already addressed as far back as in “the avatar state” when he expressed fears regarding the scale of his power and the damage it causes. aang’s conflicting duty to the world as the avatar and duty to his people as the last airbender has been established time and time again since book 1, and is especially focalized in book 3 in episodes such as “the awakening” and “the day of black sun.” even a sort of dismissible episode like “nightmares and daydreams” centers his point of view and elucidates his anxiety.

but aang, katara, and zuko have always been positioned as a sort of prism that narratively refract and reflect one another, ever since the very beginning. each season focalizes one while still giving the others the necessary space to grow and develop, but if zuko does feel like the protagonist of book 3, it’s because it’s his season, and that doesn’t minimize aang or katara’s importance, because he is reflecting them each step of the way, just as they are reflecting him.

and as a sidenote: toph’s fraught relationship with her parents is actually explored sufficiently, in my opinion, via her dynamics with the rest of the gaang. her conflict with her family is resolved through finding unconditional and mutual support through her friends, and both her tension with katara as explored in “the runaway” and her vulnerability and faith in sokka (especially in “sozin’s comet”) illustrate how toph still struggles in some key ways, but has also grown so much since first escaping her abusive home.

#alphatwin999 #asks #analysis #katara #aang #zuko #I need a tag for like…. their triangle #and #toph #I guess

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belit0 · 9 months

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Can I request Itachi x reader where reader is Sasuke's friend and has a crush on Itachi but she thinks that Itachi sees her as a little sister only?!?

Don't we all love a marvelous destruction of dreams and hopes?

I certainly do

(Y/N)'s attraction started as a game, a way to tease her best friend when he got angry, a way to make fun of him, and material to tease him. Her jokes regarding Itachi were simply that, jokes, of course, at least until she started to pay real attention.

During adolescence, when premature crushes and the first signs of development hit, she found herself entertaining the idea of Itachi as a boyfriend in a private way. Her usual banter began to mutate into something real, imagining a life with him before sleep, how his lips would feel on hers, whether she would let him touch her for the first time.

Her fantasies culminated in real goals, genuinely desiring the man who was once merely a prank in her mind, suddenly feeling self-conscious in front of him. Sasuke was the first to notice the changes, how (Y/N)'s cheeks would turn red every time his brother's name was mentioned, nervously playing with her hands, looking in all directions and waiting for the Uchiha to abruptly arrive.

While before the girl wouldn't stop talking and bragging about how she would marry the next clan leader just to piss him off, now she is unable to mention him without looking like she's about to pee herself.

As years go by and they finally enter adulthood, he expected his friend's crush to go away, but it only seems to intensify. Sasuke could choose to be selfish, a bad friend, to separate her from her fantasies, yet today he prefers the path of companionship, doing her a favor. He'll do his best to give her a chance, and if it doesn't work out, at least he'll rest assured knowing he did the best he could.

It would be fun to have her as a sister-in-law, though, he has no real idea whether or not his brother is interested in her either.

Itachi is a mystery even to those close to him, always off on some mission, rarely sharing dinner with them, constantly busy with different things. No one knows much about him or his personal life, least of all his younger brother, who thinks himself incapable of inquiring about his romantic interests. He prefers to assume fate is in (Y/N)'s favor, that Itachi has no secret girlfriend in another village, and that his absences are not due to anything of the sort.

When he asks his mother whether she has any idea of his older brother's whereabouts, he eats for breakfast some news about him being at home all afternoon resting, arriving shortly from a long mission. It's the perfect scenario for things to happen as they should, considering his father will be at the police station and Mikoto is busy with her women's club.

The house will be empty, only populated by Itachi, and Sasuke thinks of a million ways to make everything turn out. He wouldn't go to such extreme lengths for anyone but his best friend, determined to repay her extensive years of loyal friendship with a wonderful favor.

He arranges to meet her at his home once he has secured his older brother's arrival, having heard him say goodbye to Shisui at the entrance, take off his shoes, and lock himself in his room. When (Y/N) shows up, it is with the idea of drinking tea, sitting and chatting in the courtyard, oblivious to any agenda her friend may have.

The afternoon proceeds uneventfully at first, hot kettle and too much liquid in the small cups. The snacks they enjoy with their drinks soon drop in quantity, and it's the perfect excuse Sasuke uses to disappear from the place. They can't go on enjoying such a beautiful afternoon with nothing to eat, can they?

With the last pawn off the board, (Y/N) and Itachi are left alone for at least a good few hours, plenty of time for them to do what they have to do. Of course, if life wills it.

...

Bladder loaded with too much hot tea, (Y/N) feels the compelling need to go to the bathroom. She moves through the halls of the home as if it were her own, habituated to spend more time there than with her own family, a more than frequent face for those Uchiha.

It is Mikoto herself who often jokes about her being more of a daughter than her own eldest child, counting more on the girl's presence than his. Sleepovers at that place became a weekend routine, and (Y/N) cringes at the thought of how nervous she would get about walking past Itachi's door, even if he wasn't there.

A shiver of self-repulsion runs through her body at the thought of her younger self's wanderings, and she follows the familiar path to the bathroom.

She thinks she is alone, which leads her to confidently open the door, and wish she could die right there. If she had been paying attention she would have noticed the sounds inside, the shower turning off and the light on, the steam, but nothing stopped her from coming face to face with her crush drying his body, wet hair and totally naked in front of her.

Paralyzed and with a huge emptiness in her stomach, a sudden nervousness runs through the entirety of her body, unable to react and still standing with the door in her grip. Itachi, unmoved and turning his back to her, beams at her and smiles, wrapping the towel around his waist and taking another for his hair.

"It's been a while, (Y/N)." He says before finally turning around, the doorway separating them. The girl reacts enough to move her hand, allowing him passage out of the bathroom.

Hair disheveled and in a raw, vulnerable state, an image that no one but his family ever got to see, he watches as warm drops of water run down his chest, leaving a wet trail on his skin and giving him an appetizing appearance, water that (Y/N) suddenly wants to lick its way up to his neck, take him by the nape and fiercely kiss him-.

The world spins again as the Uchiha places a hand on her head.

"You've grown so much, keep up the good work." His expression is friendly, sober, innocent, not the one you would use to try and conquer anyone, and the way he pets her hair reminds her of how one would spoil one's dog.

Trying to process everything at the same time, she can't get words out of her mouth, watching him walk to his room half-naked and close the door behind him. Her fantasies begin and end in the same place, and she has no face to stay and wait for Sasuke to come back with more food for their tea.

The girl runs out of the house hoping either the earth swallows her on the way or some stray kunai buries itself in her throat, undone by shattered dreams and trampled hopes under the foot of the world's most beautiful Uchiha.

Life sucks.

#uchiha itachi x reader #itachi uchiha x reader #itachi x reader #uchiha itachi #itachi uchiha #itachi #uchiha clan #sasuke uchiha #uchiha sasuke #sasuke #naruto #naruto imagines #naruto shippuden #naruto x reader

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arepitademanteca · 1 year

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A large part of the public and the fandom affirm that Flapjack was Evelyn's palisman or was carved by her as a gift to Caleb, but really, those deductions are not solidly based or well argued. Dana's latest statements do NOT confirm that Flapjack belonged to Evelyn, she just states that Evelyn's spirit was NOT in Flapjack but Belos saw it as the culmination of his brother's corruption.

In Hollow Mind, inside Philip's mind we can appreciate paintings that frame his most important memories, and Caleb is present in all of them. There is one in particular in which Caleb is carving the characteristic mask that Philip would later adopt when changing his identity to Belos. But so what? Well, both the writers and animators don't put random details, rather they put them because they are important to a great extent, and they are worth noting, so the fact that they put Caleb carving the mask was not by chance, but because the painting itself is confirming that Caleb, from an early age, was a woodcarver. It can easily be deduced that Caleb was in fact likely to have started the Clawthorne tradition of palisman carving, rather than the other way around.

Caleb is depicted as a carver from a young age.

Hunter's wish was to carve out his own future, a wish that prompts Flapjack to join immediately. I highly doubt that a young witch who was able to travel between two realms would have so many conflicts for her future.

Now let's think about Caleb's future as an orphan who had to abandon his childhood to raise his younger brother, in a puritanical society in which absolute perfection was demanded of man. The ultimate goal of the Puritan community was to maintain moral purity in all areas of life. The Puritans held that God was the highest authority on any subject of the human being. Only divine grace had the ability to change people, who had to live according to God's precepts as thanks to his mercy. In this way, they thought that they fulfilled what God wanted from the human being and, therefore, they would access Paradise, since God had great plans for those who followed him. Doesn't look familiar? Flapjack's connection to Hunter must have antecedents regarding the desire that brought them together: Hunter wanted to have enough freedom to be able to choose his future for himself without any higher entity, family or society telling him what to do. And that surely was Caleb's wish; freedom, choice and criteria.

In some illustrations of the brothers, already as adults, Flapjack is present on Caleb's shoulder. If he were Evelyn's palisman, despite how close he could be to his owner's partner, it wouldn't make sense for him to be in the human world, it's as if they represented Luz and Ghost together, much less, that he was was so familiar with the house that it belonged to Caleb and Philip.

Many began to theorize that Flapjack belonged to Evelyn or that she had carved it as a gift for Caleb due to the Wagon Ride in Thanks To Them, in which in the intro, a bird that is obviously Flapjack appears surrounded by fire in the hand of Evelyn attracting Caleb. Such an act could be perceived as symbolic, since the Hollow Mind paintings show that Flapjack was not present at the meeting between the brothers and the witch, and we all know that Philip would not have overlooked such a detail important like that. What is a symbolism? The different forms of expression that use symbols to represent ideas and facts are known as symbolism. Symbolism is the idea that some things represent others. What we mean by that is that we can think of something, say, the color red, and conclude that it does not represent the color red itself, but something beyond it: say, passion, love, or devotion. Flapjack is a red cardinal and represents all of those symbolism for Hunter.

But it can also be associated with anger, aggressiveness, revenge and blood. The series usually handles a lot of color symbolism.

I could give an example of the symbolism of the forbidden fruit and the serpent presented in the story of Adam and Eve. The serpent tricks Eve so that she and Adam eat the forbidden fruit which, according to tradition, is an apple. This act is universally known as "original sin." As a result of their disobedience, the first human beings are expelled by God from Paradise. The supposed apple represents the "knowledge of good and evil". Specifically, having their own ideas about what is “good” and what is “bad” instead of relying on God's wisdom and moral law. The snake represents the human desire to investigate and understand the unknown; our curious nature tempted Eve to seek the forbidden fruit to find her own answers.

Dana is well known for putting, or wanting to put, religion-related references, and was apparently inspired by the fables of Adam and Eve for the story between Caleb and Evelyn, and Cain and Abel for Philip and Caleb. Evelyn fills the role of the apple, magic the snake and Flapjack the result of Caleb giving in to temptation. In the story of Cain and Abel; Cain kills his brother because he did not know how to control his jealousy when he saw that God appreciated Abel's offerings over his own. This can be understood, adapting to the mythology of the Islands, that Caleb pleased the Titan by learning and adapting to magic, and Philip kills him out of jealousy when he sees his brother being happy with magic, with Evelyn, with flapjack.

If Flapjack were Evelyn's palisman; he wouldn't have left after Caleb's death. Palismans seem to be passed down from generation to generation, and the only way they stand alone is because either their owners died, or they were abandoned. If Flapjack was Evelyn's palisman, and she only lived with Caleb, she wouldn't have gone off with the Bat Queen. We could explore and get to Dell's palisman, which is a yellow cardinal, similar to Flapjack, and which is surely Evelyn's real palisman, which was inherited until it was left with Dell. I don't think it was carved after Flapjack's disappearance and Caleb's death, because he also has a scar, and that may mean he was and participated in the conflict.

Flapjack is not attached to Eda, despite the fact that the series has made clear his similarities with Evelyn. Flapjack had seen her before Hunter, and even so, it didn't occur to him to go with her, nor with Luz, who was her companion. But he did seem to know the Clawthorne family and trust them enough, therefore, Eda. I gather that because she had no problem pushing Hunter out of the way at Eclipse Lake and calling on her when Hunter disappeared. He knew Evelyn, surely he loved her, but his behavior with Eda shows that he did not own her.

Caleb represents change and the desire for freedom, reasons why he was killed, certainly. Birds may be the symbol of the Clawthorne family thanks to Caleb, and it would be poetic symbolism. A bird is a universal symbol of freedom because it represents the ability of birds to fly through the skies whenever necessary, to escape and be free. In the same way, a bird in a cage is a symbol of the freedom that has been taken from it. The Gold Guard's mask may have been carved by Caleb like Philip's to play with, and said mask represents an owl. The shield of the Golden Guard, Gravesfield and even the Emperor; they are birds, and we know for a fact that they reference Caleb, who may very well have been fond of birds, and combining it with woodcarving, results in the Clawthorne lore and Flapjack, and if we go further, reintroducing from the palismans to the Boiling Islands, then I detail that theory. Quote: "Freedom is a bird with wings; you can fly. Birds have all the freedom. They don't have to stay in one place all their lives." It's very close to what we know of Caleb.

There are other reasons that may undermine the popular theory that Evelyn was the owner or carver of Flapjack, and I personally think those theories detract from Caleb's weight in the story. As I listed the reasons, I was asked questions as I wrote them down: If the Flapjack was Evelyn's and she had carved it before the events presented in the story, why would it have the name human food?

All of the birds that the Clawthorne family is inspired to make for their palismans and their family logo are human birds, including Flapjack himself, who doesn't have any whimsical island elements.

Caleb was a woodcarver, and surely that was his job in the human world. Is it not logical to think that it started the tradition of palisman carving?

They're throwing all that data in our faces for God's sake.

Belos, in his fit of rage, called out Caleb's name when he saw Flapjack, before Evelyn's. As Philip fatally wounds Flapjack, he says "Bye, Evelyn" mockingly, but before that he declares, "You wouldn't want me to hurt a precious palisman, would you? On second thought, I don't care what you want." And he proceeds to name Evelyn and impale Flapjack, with many taking those lines at face value. We don't know who he is addressing, when seconds later Hunter regains control of his body, which alludes that his control over his body was weakening, and it is likely that those words were directed at Hunter himself, who seconds later declares his desire to carve palismans. She could also say it to Luz, who she was looking at in the act and showed genuine concern for Flapjack, or Evelyn herself, but she never refers to HER palisman, she refers to ONE palisman. He could also be talking to Caleb, and it would make sense if we analyze that, later, he would enter a mild dissociative state in which he would refer to Hunter as such and after precisely killing Flapjack, he sees his ghost or his hallucination. His enthusiastic "Goodbye, Evelyn" is due to the fact that he ended the symbol of love, freedom and union that marked a before and after in Caleb and in his relationship with Philip, and could also be part of his teasing in his internal conversation with Caleb.

Caleb's first true connection to magic, which would define his decision to remain in the Demon World and become a witch, would be Flapjack. When a warlock carves a palisman, their souls are bound for life, and Caleb carved Flapjack. The series presents many parallels between situations, relationships and characters, and from the current events we can deduce how some previous events were; Luz carved her own palisman, with the help of Eda, who was the one who gave her the wood for the palistrom. And why would it be any different with Caleb? Eda gave her the wooden palistrom because Luz really wanted to be a witch, and maybe Evelyn saw that her good human friend, open-minded and non-extremist, is a carver, and well, it would be nice if she gave him a piece of wood and BOOM! Caleb carves Flapjack, and it would make more sense based on narrative and lore for Caleb to be the one to carve Flapjack, and not be a gift or palisman from Evelyn, since, in addition to detracting from Caleb's own actions and decisions about what he wanted in doing so removes the symbolism of his character and even the relationship between the bird and the Hunter. Going back to the subject of palismans, the fact of sharing souls and that, while Caleb was in the human world; Flapjack linked it to the Boiling Isles. Flapjack was the anchor, which ended up uniting the islands completely. Flapjack represents the link with witchcraft, and at the same time with Evelyn, the culprit that Caleb has known that world. Belos sees in Flapjack the magic that ended up anchoring Caleb to the Isles, and the magic was what separated him from him.

The parallels between characters is one of the best-treated topics in The owl house. Eda, Willow, and Amity can be compared to Evelyn from the point you see it, while Hunter, Luz, and again Eda to Caleb. And I think these scenes are an indirect response to what happened between Caleb and Evelyn.

It is thinking like: I want Maduro to suffer because I am destroying everything he ever wanted, which is everything related to Chavismo. Having already given these examples that are not personal at all and that obviously do not represent the national sentiment of an entire nation; having injured Flapjack, and about to kill him, is Philip destroying everything Caleb ever wanted, everything related to magic. That's why Hunter responds seconds later saying everything he wanted to do, even though Philip didn't care. They were words directed at a man he murdered 400 years ago, from whom he has taken and continues to fight to take everything from him, and that everything is what "pushed" them away in the first place. Obviously it wasn't you stabbing him in the back and chest that destroyed his family, of course not, it was a bird that your brother carved because he wanted to do magic and fly. Yes, Philip, you would make a very interesting case study for psychiatrists. And again, yes Philip, you deserved to be puddled and stomped to death.

If you read this far, thank you for your attention. English is not my mother tongue and in my degree they only give English applied to audio, so I don't have a good command of it. little things

#toh s3 #Caleb Wittebane #Flapjack Toh #The Owl House #Evelyn Clawthorne #Philip Wittebane #Belos toh #Eda Clawthorne #Luz Noceda #Toh Hunter

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xerith-42 · 4 months

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Stop blaming characters for bad writers

Seriously, stop fucking doing this. While this is a post that could certainly be applicable to MANY fandoms, I'm mainly directing this whole rant at my target audience which is mentally ill minecraft obsessed freaks.

If a character is written badly, gets badly fumbled by the creator, or has the ball dropped in regards to their arc in some way, a lot of people will blame the character, as if they're a real conscious person making these decisions. When they aren't. They're a block man literally being controlled by two people who just aren't very good writers and one or both of them are incredibly sexist, kind of racist, ableist, and just bad writers in general.

Yeah, Laurance does some pretty shitty things through out Season 2 of MCD, actively crossing lines he wouldn't have previously crossed. We as fans can cope by saying something something calling, or just saying Laurance is a bad abusive person, but the reality is that the writers wanted to force the series to fit a specific vision and as a result were willing to do anything to get the series to that point. In order to make Aaron the most favorable suitor for Aphmau, her previous suitors need to be out of the picture, or clearly inferior options.

Garroth suffered the out of the picture, being mostly absent outside of a few cutscenes here and there until episode 81 of season 2, but episode 81 is the culmination of the writers goals to make Aarmau happen. By the time Garroth has returned to the series, the damage has already been done. He's not getting the life he wants. And Laurance is written out of the picture as well, but only after being shown to be inferior because Jesson were pushing an agenda.

Laurance didn't deteriorate as a person due to neglect of his physical and mental well being after a severely traumatic experience. He deteriorated as a character because the writers stopped giving as much of a shit about him and instead were using the series as self indulgent fanfiction of alternate versions of themselves. That's not Laurance's fault.

And this applies to any character who was completely fumbled in MyStreet due to this similar focus on wish fulfillment from the writers. Jess has stated that the relationship between Aphmau and Aaron in Phoenix Drop High is reflective of her relationship with Jason, we all know this. This means that any characters who come off as total fucking creeps in that series (namely Gene), are not actually acting on the whims of their own autonomy or desires as characters. They are acting in service of telling a predetermined story that they are retroactively being added into for author fulfillment.

In this regard I fully support fandom cope and say that you should rewrite your little guys to your hearts content. But if you're going to criticize these characters for their actions, don't criticize them. They didn't do anything wrong. All characters are just puppets in service of the story or themes a writer is trying to push. If a character acts in an objectively terrible way, especially a way that isn't in line with their previous characterizations, that is a failing of the writers, not the character.

And I feel like largely a lot of us can and frequently do this. We're actively criticizing Jesson for being terrible low-key bigoted writers all the god damn time, it's like half of the content here. But when we get into character discourse I feel like some people cling onto bad actions of the canon too closely and I've seen more than a few posts presume some pretty terrible interpretations of characters based on these actions. Obviously Laurance is a character I and a lot of others are fixated on so a lot of discourse revolves around him, and it was seeing some... interesting takes on him that prompted me to start writing this post.

But this happens to everyone. Quite personally based on the character I was shown in MyStreet, it feels really weird that Garroth would make an insensitive comment about his brother's weight. Yeah siblings poke fun at each other and often cross lines, but if that was something Zane was seriously insecure about (which it seems like he might be) then it does make Garroth come off as a really insensitive brother, which just doesn't gel with how hard he tries to bond with Zane despite their tense relationship. And I don't think Garroth should be criticized for making those comments.

Whoever wrote those lines (Jess and/or Jason) should be criticized for writing a scene where a character is mocked by their older sibling over a physical insecurity even if said sibling would not normally do that. It's not Travis' fault that Jesson never decided to give him more of a character beyond "funny pervy guy" that's not funny in every anime they've watched until Season 5 of MyStreet. It's unfair to try and say Travis should be scrutinized for his borderline sexual harassment of some characters when it's not his fault that happened, he was written by writers who don't think this sort of behavior isn't all that bad if they make it out for comedy and punch him in the face.

And god dammit it's not Laurance's fault that his jealousy became the most prevalent emotion he felt. Laurance has always been a character to give into his vices and yet fight against them at the same time, it's what makes him compelling. If they were going to pull on those vices in order to make him a less appealing love interest, he never had a chance to really be his own character after a certain point. Because at a certain point in Season 2, Jesson stopped caring about the character they had been writing for over a hundred episodes at that point. They just wanted to canonize their self insert ship and were willing to do anything to get it.

Laurance isn't an abusive angry person who would have killed Aphmau if they got together. He's a flawed character being handled by incredibly flawed writers who are prone to making some of the worst decisions you have ever seen a creator make in regards to their character writing. He was caught in the crossfire of the adoration he received from a very dedicated fanbase, and the creator who would rather pretend he and his previous arc didn't exist for the sake of her fun. It's not Laurance's fault his arc was stilted, jerked around, and ultimately ended with him completely face planting. And yet still reliably dragging his bloodied body up at just the slightest glimmer of hope (Void Paradox).

It's deeply poetic and tragic that I can describe his character in universe and in the meta-textual sense that way, but we should never blame Laurance, or Aaron, or any other characters for things being like this.

They didn't write the show. Jess and Jason did.

#minecraft diaries #text post #aphblr #aphverse #laurance zvahl #garroth ro'meave #minecraft diaries laurance #mystreet #mystreet garroth #mystreet travis #bad writing #fandom discourse #fandom discussion #character discussion #character discourse

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hiwelcometothemonstersancturary · 4 days

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Going from a previous question ("Do people mistake Miss Delight as a human?"), do any of the other toys desire to go to do higher education? For example, Bubba or Marie? (Maybe even Poppy.) That does make me wonder why Delight wants to deal with college stuff. Is her end goal to become a college professor in the future?

Okay, so!!!!!

Bubba and Delight both get degrees. I decided that they probably get at least two each! Delight has a biology degree, and ends up deciding to go to med school and become a doctor. Her end goal is to make sure others don't have to go through medical trauma like she did in the past, and it all culminates on Delight working in a hospital relatively close to the farm!!! She and Bubba had to live away for a while thanks to college, and they both missed their chaotic family so much.

I still haven't decided what Bubba's degrees are! I'm thinking about physics and/or astronomy. He likes space a lot!

Initially I was thinking mainly about Delight and Bubba going to receive higher education, but with this ask I realized that it would make more sense if, given enough time, most of the toys that aren't locked into a child's mindset would get degrees.

Marie Long Legs def has a music degree. She would be a teacher if it wasn't for her temper and spending so much time having to be a mother to the other toys.

Catnap/Theo would either study literature or go to art school.

Craftycorn obviously goes to art school. I imagine her and Theo joining it at the same time so they wouldn't feel too alien when compared to their human peers.

History for Poppy because she already has an economics degree from when she was human.

When Bunzo finally becomes an young adult, he also studies music. Marie jokes about him copying her.

Picky eventually becomes a botanist!!!

I don't think Dogday or Kickin would be interested in going to uni. Dogday prefers to spend his days looking after the farm, and he's perfectly content with that. Same thing for Kickin, although his hobby as a streamer also makes him very very happy.

Crafty also learned how to animate by herself! She works as an animator from time to time post-uni.

If Angel was interested on a degree, they would be a botanist. They think it's neat :0}

#poppy playtime #poppy worldwide #save everyone au #ask tag #catnap #dogday #mommy long legs #the angel #craftycorn #picky piggy #kickinchicken #bubba bubbaphant #bunzo bunny #ppt poppy

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charmedreincarnation · 1 year

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I’ve been getting a lot of messages and asks saying their faith in the law is lost so I just want to make this post as a reminder since you guys have seem to forgotten you are god.

My friend whom I am helping to shift, came to me for motivation. They were feeling down and lost in their journey because another year has been added to how long it had taken them to shift. So I’ll tell you guys what I told her. I told her to think of watching a movie. Any movie you have already watched imagine it. I’m sure there were times where it was scary and you thought your favorite character had reached the end of the roast. but by the end the movies has a good ending and as usual everything was ok. Now Pretend to watch it again, when the bad things come in the same movie you’re not going to be as shocked because you already know the ending is good so why should it matter. Everyone else in the theatre will be turning, shocked and gasping. They will be mumbling to their friends, “what do you think will happen!” But not you. You will sit there content, unbothered, and bored because you know it turns out well. That’s your journey.

Now we know the law, the void, shifting (or whatever you desire) is real. And if it’s not then you make it real be the first person to achieve it if your seriously think every single person on this earth since the dawn of time is lying. It’s possible if you think it is. It’s up to you if you think it’s worth it. no one else can convince you otherwise. In 10 years while you have everything you could want and more..you won’t remeber these days, weeks, months or however long it took for you to get your desires. Do you think that’s worth it? If not then give up now. If you think unconditional amount of happiness for the rest of your immortal life or however long you want to do it is worth it, then persist.

I know it sucks. Hearing persist all the time. No one wants to persist, we all want our desires now and we should get our desires now. It’s like those videos you see of rich people who use to poor telling current poor people, I made it So you can too! I feel as I have won the lottery with discovering the law, spirituality and more. I have gotten everything good in the world culminated into one big gifted experience so I don’t ever want to come out seeming like said rich people. But it’s true.

The only barriers from our goals is ourselves. The brain is an amazing thing, and shifting, the void, lucid dreaming, astral projection literally whatever you want is amazing! it only makes sense side effects of our brain as perfection does not exist is making internal struggles for our own journeys. But you can get your desires and you will. It’s only up to you to decide if it’s worth the time and no one else can change that. No one is more spiritually better, or luckier, or destined to get their desires . I’m not better or smarter than you because I have. Maybe luckier if that’s how you perceive it…but your time will come when you allow it. We will all soon bear the fruit of our labor, and I manifest that day is today for all of you.

If you don’t believe me the proof is in your meer existence. Society you see today and the way the world works and the earth is spin is due to our imagination. We were once neondarthals and homosapiens wandering with no desire, besides to bear children and eat. Now we have purpose, sky scrapers, roads, communication, religion, and free will because we aspired that to happen. We created everything we see today and you still doubt your ability when it’s right in front of you. We were all born to do, and this isn’t a special new thing we discovered but our inborn right. Wake up and persist, reap the rewards you have sown. Now do the same for your life. That is all 💓

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my-fancy-hat · 10 months

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In the last few chapters I've noticing bits of similarities between some characters and the course of action with part 1 that, well, coming from the same author is kind of expected, but lately they've been more and more explicit and I can't help but think that maybe! there's an intention on mirrowing Denji's current development to part 1's while leading the plot toward the new "bomb girl" arc for part 2.

At first, Denji is introduced in the beggining of a new arc with an internal conflict about himself and/or his place in the world in the dichotomy of what he actually feels about his situation and what he SHOULD feel compared to someone else reaction: Aki's heartbreak for Himeno's death versus Denji's lack of empathy for the loss and the world living as it is in normalcy versus his discomformity about it. This opens a key question that will haunt Denji for the next chapters, looking for an answer capable of content him: "Do I still have a human heart?" and "Nothing beats a normal life?"

In the meantime and uncertainty, Denji is invited to hang out to a cinema date by a person who may are able to understand what afflicts him at the moment and so, influencing him:

In csm cinema is potrayed as a place of reflection and contemplation about life itself, and as Makima bringed on this concept, movies can change one's worldview. At the end of part 1 we discover that all the control devil wanted was to find an equal, to form genuine and equal relationships of mutual care like a family does; this by extention resonates with Denji because, even in his ineptitude to identify these kind of emotional issues due his lack of experience with other people and life in general, is what he wishes as well, connection, aceptance and companionship. This is why the last scene of the last movie touched both of them to the point of tears, as if the big screen did bring back to life and exposed before their eyes their most hidden desire.

On the other hand, one of the main goals Denji had was to achieve a normal life, pushing him foward since chapter 1 to secure it and do what he has missed of life or what he should be doing as a teen of his age. Such want seems not to be unique of Denji because Yoshida has also vocalized (when the oportunity is given) on wanting to know what normalcy is about, tagging along with Denji in multiple occasions, between classes, skipping classes, getting treats and coffee in their way, talking about girls, etc. Going to school, hanging out, a home to return to, good memories of childhood to look back, to have a lovely family and friends, I think is what both wish or wished to have, and so it's projected on screen in a familiar scenario, maybe a callback to the token of part 1 tragedies-accomplishment of this way of living, a little girl that could possibly be Nayuta with her schoolbag, heading to school?

But, where the view was hindered by tears of catharsis, now it is by the corpse of a demon that spattered its blood on the screen. The answers were deliverated, but Denji stills comes to his seatmate for the final confirmation:

...to both of them leaving him alone behind in the realization of this induced epiphany. While with Makima it was a relief, that in fact he has a heart capable of love and care therefore capable of connecting with others, Yoshida leaves a sour taste in Denji's mouth. The normalcy that Denji dreamed of is not what he found; that reality also contemplates loneliness, boredom and disappointment too.

In other parallels that are worth notting are the assignation of a new bodyguard replacement for Denji by Makima and Yoshida to facilitate vigilance and security over him:

And, how Denji's reaction to this isn't that welcoming making him disappointed of their new partner even tho his bodyguards are, in fact, big fans of chainsaw man:

Culminating on, as for now, with the introduction of a "friendly" pretty face hybrid:

With all this I want to make it clear that I do not want to pretend or demostrate that Yoshida = Makima, that sword man will be Denji's new love interest or smth or even worse to compare Beam with Fumiko for have approached Denji without his consent, like, no. These characters are playing similar roles already potrayed by someone else in part 1 now with Denji in part two conserving their own traits and unique issues. I don't know if authors put this much thought on their writting to come up with these kind of things nonetheless I'm so excited how things will play out this time for Denji since, if we follow bomb girls course, Sword man appearance may not hold many good intentions for Denji, explaining why Yoshida assigned Fumiko to protect him in anticipation of this new enemy, just like Makima did against Reze.

EDIT:

hmmm🏴

#denji #makima #yoshida hirofumi #fumiko mifune #beam #miri sugo #sword man #reze #chainsaw man #chainsaw man spoilers #csm #csm spoilers #also. if hes alive so much reze can come back and literally making this the new bomb girl arc lol

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driften-sea-snake · 2 months

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there was only one strike

marika’s shattering of the elden ring and radagon’s attempt to repair it were not two separate events. it was the same hammer strike, done for two different reasons by two different people. though they shared one body, they did not share the same individuality. it’s the perfect culmination of marika and radagon’s story.

radagon is something like a fragment, clone, or bud separated from marika. however, the nature of subjective consciousness meant his journey turned him into a distinct person with his own experiences, desires and character. when he returned and rejoined marika’s body it was not the reunion of two halves of the same person. in this way it's an example of elden ring’s exploration of consciousness and individuality. regression is the pull of meaning, and all things share a yearning to converge. yet, just as life cannot return to the shared unity of the crucible, marika and radagon could not simply merge again. their different memories, emotions and relationships combined with the passage of time to create distinct individuality. when they reunited they did not find the comfort of one’s self, but all the intimacy and horror that goes along with the mortifying ordeal of being known.

marika’s story is defined in large part by a key contradiction. she wished to free herself of the golden order, disillusioned with the elden beast as its promises of eternity and a larger plan in the universe were called into greater and greater doubt. however, the golden order was also the source of her godhood. even if she was only a figurehead to exploit, the people of the lands between worshipped her because of it. to separate herself from the golden order and the power of the erdtree controlled by the elden beast would mean losing this status. based on their different personalities and histories, marika and radagon came to reflect the opposite sides of this contradiction. marika represented the possibility of rebirth, that destroying the elden beast and/or usurping its power would allow her to be an eternal god in truth. radagon embodied the ostensible safety of stagnation, which would mean coming to terms with the golden order and trying to save it. to do so would mean continuing to be trapped within those confines, but it would preserve her place as revered god. there is a comfort in misery, especially one that is known for a long time; the unknown can offer the hope of change and rebirth, but also uncertainty and the possibility of something worse.

this all ultimately led marika and radagon to bring their hammer down on the elden ring, but contained within that strike were the contradictions of two people and two goals. for marika, becoming a god in truth by usurping or destroying the elden beast, for radagon strengthening or reforming the elden ring in an attempt to allow the golden order to persist. marika yearned out of hope and ambition that she might become a god in truth while radagon trembled at the thought of losing the power and stability of her current position. it was an attempted resolution of their contradictions, both within themselves as distinct individuals and the golden order that empowered and trapped them.

#elden ring #marika #radagon #elden beast #golden order #radagon of the golden order #queen marika #maria x radagon #shadow of the erdtree #fromsoft #soulsborne #i should write all my thoughts but i'm throwing this out there

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evolvingmonkey · 6 months

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Shikhandi: The Gender-Defying Hero of the Mahabharata

Hindu philosophy holds a simple yet profound belief: within each person resides an everlasting atman (spirit or soul) that exists independently from the physical body, surpassing characteristics such as race, gender, and sexual orientation. Stemming from a common divine origin, every atman forms a spiritual kinship, deserving of love, reverence, and fair treatment.

In the epic Mahabharata, there is a captivating tale that revolves around Bhishma's commitment to celibacy, which leads to a grand swayamvara (a ceremony or event where a bride chooses her husband from a gathering of suitors). This ceremony is where Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika are given the opportunity to choose their life partners. However, Bhishma's interference in Amba's love life sets off a series of events that ultimately culminate in her tragic destiny.

Amba's heartbreak is twofold - first, her intended husband Shalva rejects her, and then Bhishma, bound by his vow of celibacy, refuses to marry her. This leaves Amba in a state of despair, fueling her desire for revenge against Bhishma. Determined to seek justice, she pleads to the mighty god Shiva for assistance in her quest to end Bhishma's life. Miraculously, Shiva grants her wish, but tragically, Amba chooses to take her own life to expedite her ultimate goal.

There are various versions of the next part of the tale. According to certain narratives, Amba is born as the daughter of King Drupada. Upon learning from Shiva that she will eventually undergo a transformation into a man, Drupada names her Shikhandi and raises her as a boy. In this particular version, a formidable entity residing in the forest indeed bestows upon her the transformation into a man. However, in alternative accounts, Shikhandi is born as a male but develops a trans-identity due to Shiva granting them the ability to recollect their previous life.

As the Mahabharata unfolds, Shikhandi emerges as a formidable warrior who defies societal expectations of gender. Their participation in the battle of Kurukshetra serves as a powerful symbol of authenticity, challenging the conventional gender roles imposed on individuals. Shikhandi's strength goes beyond mere physical abilities; it stands as a testament to the immense power that comes from embracing one's true identity.

Shikhandi's character is truly captivating because of their personal quest for self-discovery. They challenge societal expectations of gender and proudly embrace a non-binary identity. This exploration of identity is a key theme, showcasing the intricate and ever-changing nature of being human.

As we come to the end of our journey through Shikhandi's story in the Mahabharata, we honor a figure whose legacy surpasses time, defies conventions, and forever marks the intricate fabric of mythology. Shikhandi, the ageless fighter, still instills bravery and self-exploration in the souls of those who come across their legend.

#mahabharata #shikhandi #indian mythology #lord shiva #gender identity #queerness #hindu mythology #curse #myth #myth stories #nonbinary #brave

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finalgirlkell · 11 months

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Final girl (Noun): An Introduction.

According to some, I guess I owe them an explanation. But let's start at the beginning - at least.

What is a Final Girl?

Coined by film theorist Carol J. Clover in her 1992 book Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film.

The Final Girl is a character (classically female presenting) who is the last person alive to confront the killer/monster, and often the sole survivor. The final girl is a trope in horror films (particularly slasher films ).

A common plot in many horror films in which several victims are killed one-by-one by a killer amid increasing terror, culminating in a climax in which the last surviving member of the group, the final girl, vanquishes the killer (at least until the sequel).

Why would I want the moniker or call this blog Final Girl Kell?

The final girl trope has evolved throughout the years, from early final girls most often being DIDs (Damsels in Distress), saved by a strong men to more modern final girls who are more likely to survive due to their own abilities.

For many, the final girl is the living embodiment of stereotypical conservative attitudes of what women "should be"—virginal, subservient, untouched by the menace of the outside world. But as the trope evolved, the trope was used to force the audience to identify with a woman in the climax of the movie. The person you root for to win. That became a very powerful sword to wield. It allowed new points of view in horror storytelling.

When women won, they were able to force men to watch them step into their own power.

The name Final Girl Kell is a large part wish fulfillment.

I'm not here to trauma dump, nor give some sob story - at least not all at once and not for the public to twist and use against me as some things have been in my past. It's what the public does to victims of abuse when they speak out and that fall out I know all to well to try again.

The quick notes version is I've been the innocent who was forcefully defiled by the monster of men. I've had my life completely derailed by others selfish needs and desires - others fears and needing to single out someone to hurt to deal with their own insecurities - and I've had to bear the brunt of that fallout, living in a life feeling confined to a box others made to try to kill me.

I'll give them it was a trap my own naivety caused me to fall into - trusting the wolves in sheep's clothing - but the Final Girl always makes it out of these traps. They always fight and claw their way back out to come back and take those monsters down. They make it out to see another day. To live another day. To be free of the monster hunting them down.

As a survivor, especially one a lot of people see as "not perfect" I identity with that.

I've been to the edge and back and I've gotten free. I've won to see another day. As someone still dealing with picking up the pieces of my trauma and more recent battles - I hold on to the trope like a mantra. I will survive, and I will thrive. I will be free to see the light of another day.

As a child who grew up on whatever I thought sounded cool at Blockbuster and loved all things spooky - Final Girls like Nancy, Sidney and Laurie always stuck with me. My inner child and adolescence begs me to tap into the power those Final Girls had - and I have to honor that.

What is the goal for this blog?

Benny: But I still want to know what happens! Buffy: Everyone gets horribly killed except the blonde girl in the nightie who finally kills the monster with a machete but it's not really dead. Jennifer: Oh my God. Is that true? Buffy: Probably. What movie is this?

— Cut dialogue from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I can't say what I plan for this blog to be totally.

Part health journeys - with my mental and physical health in some serious need of TLC.

Part writing out ideas for horror screenplays based on the insanity I'm dealing with and the terrifying situations living in Atlanta brought me into.

Part just spooky stuff I like, and showing off the positive progress I've made. Be it showing off a cool skill I've taught myself (like with ghost hunting) or musings about Halloween Horror Nights and showing gratitude for the things and people who make me want to never give up.

I can't say I have everything figured out, but I'm down to start this blog journey and I hope others are excited to read, listen, watch and hopefully relate.

We're all final girls here.

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serene-sundisc · 6 months

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My collected thoughts on the themes of Canto V (Extremely heavy spoilers for Canto V)

So, Canto V is probably my favorite so far, (which is surprising based on how good Canto IV was), despite some issues I had with pacing, it felt like it culminated extremely well in the dungeon of the chapter. While I appreciated the expanded lore (and a whole new Color!) of a Nest, it did make the early parts feel a little disjointed (though I guess that was on purpose, to communicate the chaotic nature of the Great Lake). The thing that really got me though (besides the angst between Queequeg and Ishmael oooough doomed by the narrative yuri) was the extremely strong theming of the chapter, which I wanted to write and share my thoughts about. Again, fair warning that this is extremely spoiler heavy, and very rambley as well.

**First, the Whale in the room:**

This one is kind of cheating, as it's given to us directly by the game (and is also already a common phrase), but I still think it warrants investigation. The White Whale, and whales in general symbolize great purposes. Ishmael describes the whale oil as something that could "turn others just like them," and that people are alike because they seek to paint others like themselves, to "fill them with things that make us." In this sense, Whales are a perversion of the natural human desire to bond with others and to be like others. To be consumed by a Whale is to lose yourself and what makes up who you are as a person. Living Whales turn you into a Mermaid, while dead Whales "\[scatter\] your sense of self, until there is nothing of you left." Mermaids are made up of people who have been consumed by whales, and who have lost all sense of reason and simply lash out blindly. We can think of Ahab like a Mermaid, and as a Whale. Ahab is not only a Whale in the sense that she is Ishmael's target, her hunt, but because she swallows up others. She makes them lose their purpose, and lose their reason, their personalities, for her own goals. She concocts a story to absolve Pip of his guilt, and to preserve the lie that she would never allow her crew to die without her permission when Stubb is about to turn. She even almost manages to convince Dante to give up the Bough in their head for the sake of killing the Whale. She fills the lost and purposeless with her words like Whale oil, and she spreads madness as well as any Calamity.

Ishmael, without a purpose in her life, joined the Pequod to "hunt a Whale," to find a purpose, but she didn't feel the same purpose that the others on the Pequod did. When she fell into the dead Whale's oil, it reveals to Ishmael how lost and insignificant her life feels even aboard the Pequod, before she is offered a "rope" (literally, and in a metaphorical sense) by Queequeg. Through bonding with Queequeg, she finds a purpose in her life, until Ahab's reckless mission to kill the Pallid Whale takes everything away from Ishmael. In the same way that Ahab sacrificed her crew, Ishmael begins lashing out and isolating herself from her busmates; they both begin to lose anything that could be valuable to them in pursuit of this singular goal.

We can see Pallidification as an extension of the White Whale; people can resist it as long as they hold fast to a meaningful goal (which, for Pequod Town, was to kill the Pallid Whale itself). When Queequeg's conviction in this ultimate goal wavers, when she saves the sinners from taking the unstable bridge against her Captain Ahab's instructions, when she digs up her heart and bears it to Ishmael once more, she is consumed by the Pallidification. Perhaps the Golden Boughs, as a manifestation of Light and which connect to the psyches of the Sinners, protect against Pallidification due to their inherent link with the sinners' goals.

To be swallowed by a living Whale is to lose yourself to an irrational, all-consuming purpose. To be swallowed by a dead Whale is to lose everything, even the purpose itself, as Ahab did when Ishmael stole the kill of the Pallid Whale from her. It is to realize the futility of a purpose, or to concede to the ultimate meaninglessness of that purpose, to have actualization stolen from you. Ahab's betrayal of her crew leaves no one to mourn her or lament her fall to madness, a fate that Ishmael narrowly avoids by working with her busmates. There was no crew left of the Pequod, no Pequod itself, no Pallid Whale for them to hunt, and with no crew, ship, or whale, there was no Captain Ahab. As Starbuck says after pulling Ishmael out of the dead Whale; "Dying in that oil... would've left nothin' for nobody to remember."

**Another one obvious one is rope:**

The rope symbolizes the precious connections made with others. Purpose found beyond Whales. Ishmael describes the rope tied between her and Queequeg as "one that could never be severed" (despite the actual rope snapping quite quickly). However, in response, Queequeg says "That rope. It snapped." We could take this literally, but both Queequeg and Ishmael mean it as a bond. She meant that her bond to Queequeg could never be severed, shown by how Ishmael further says, "No, no... We can make it whole again... we can tie another knot. She is hoping to rekindle her relationship with Queequeg when they hopefully both escape the whale ;\_\_;). However, even in the sense that the rope represents their bond, it has snapped, at least for Queequeg. Queequeg never knew if she would ever see Ishmael again after being swallowed by the whale, while Ishmael held steadfast in the belief that Ahab (and, indirectly, Queequeg) still lived on. So, she abandoned her hope of seeing Ishmael again and devoted herself entirely to killing the Pallid Whale, lest she become Pallidified before either could happen. This is why Queequeg says "To meet you again... I have to escape. Have to kill the Whale. But do that, I had to... cut the rope. I... buried you." And when the sinners finally escape the Whale, the rope she sees that "she has a feeling won't snap" symbolizes her connection to Dante and her busmates, her friends, her newfound purpose in seeing their journeys to their ends before going her own way.

**Another metaphor lightly touched on by the two is burial:**

Ishmael said she wanted to be buried at sea to escape the mundanity of her life in the Nest, while Queequeg said where she comes from people are buried underground to be forgotten. Ishmael never "buried" Queequeg, but Queequeg felt she had to bury Ishmael. Queequeg put her "heart to sleep", devoting herself to the same Whale as Ahab. This is the moment that Queequeg "becomes" Ahab, as Ahab says in her GasHarpoon EGO. When Ishmael reconnects with Queequeg, Queequeg is able to open her heart to Ishmael again, to realizes she wants to choose her own path again, to the point when she pleads for Dante to help Ishmael find her own path again as well. Though she is unable to defy Ahab again, she has a brief moment of clarity before dissolving, where she "sees the sunset" in Ishmael's hair, and speaks her name again (another sappy tragic lovers moment aaaaa).

**Parallelism & foil between Ishmael and Ahab:**

This one is also fairly obvious, but I think worth discussing because of how different Ishmael ended up being in the end. Though Ishmael was said to dislike long hair because it was bothersome, she ends up growing her hair out between the crash of the Pequod and her joining of the Limbus Company. Why? Because Queequeg says that it reminds her of the sunset, and that she liked the color. So, perhaps, she lengthened it out as a gesture of remembrance to Queequeg. This is a fairly easy read of, but there is also a metatextual reason for this. Her long, unruly hair also makes her resemble Ahab's. While her bright, orange hair reminds us of warm sunsets, Ahab's drab, grey hair is cold and comfortless. While Ishmael became like Ahab in her pursuit of vengeance, suffering the same obsession and shortsightedness to the degree of being willing to leave her busmates behind if they delay her from finding Ahab, she ultimately "scorns" her Whale by not only refusing to kill Ahab, but taking her kill, taking her Whale.

**And that's it for my thoughts!**

This was pretty long, so if you bothered to read it all, thank you, and I'd love to hear your thoughts too. There was a LOT, to this Canto, stuff I noticed but either felt really obvious/not that deep such as the sunset, compasses, and butterflies, or that I didn't understand well enough to touch on (did you catch the religious themes? After being dropped in the dead Whale oil, Ishmael says she was "reborn that day, maybe," almost like a baptism, and the heart-within-a-heart of the final battle with Ahab resembles a Chapel, bathed in white, almost holy light, sinews mimicking stained glass windows, not to mention Ahab being a Hebrew name. Does this have any metaphorical significance? Maybe. I haven't thought about it enough).

This is unrelated now so if you don't like this take then ignore it but NOOOOO HEATHCLIFF QUEEQUEG ID I DONT LIKE THE IMPLICATIONS UGH. Heath has grown on me more but I just don't like it. I don't see him as a particularly soft or caring person in the way that Queequeg was, and he's certainly way more abrasive. I guess he also is singularly-minded in his motivations, but... Ugh.

#limbus company #spoilers #limbus company spoilers #canto v spoilers #ishmael suffered more than jesus

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ravenssh1t · 1 year

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Midnight Kisses - X.T.

telekenesis!reader, Wednesday’s twin!reader, gn!reader, mindreader!reader (lmao), fluffy, SFW

AN: hey beautiful people! this is my first fic that im acc publishing so please be kind. that being said i am always open to constructive criticism. if you enjoy this, please let me know, and if you’d like me to write more, or for other characters, just drop me a message or an ask! I will write for a whole plethora of characters so just let me know which characters and maybe a small prompt if you so desire!! i hope you enjoy!! <333

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I looked over at my alarm clock. The bright red number glared 00:34 back at me. I'd only been at Nevermore for a week or so, and already it was a torturous experience. The glares from Barclay and her minions, the rumours, everyone walking on eggshells around Wednesday and I. It's a miracle neither of us had pulled another 'piranha incident'. There was one thing that never seemed to care about the rumours though. Well, one person. Xavier Thorpe.

Wednesday had met him before. His godmother's funeral. Allegedly, she saved his life, which is rather unlike my dear sister. However, in the long run it's been rather helpful.

Since starting at Nevermore, I had only really become close to two people. If you could even call it close. Our new roommate, Enid. And Wednesday's old acquaintance, Xavier.

Right now, I need a distraction. From the thoughts that clouded my mind and prevented the graceful release of sleep from my grasp. Enid, Wednesday and Thing were all asleep. I decided to head down to Xavier's dorm. Since Rowan was expelled (killed, left, whatever) I've ended up in Xavier's room a few times. Once for stalking purposes, once for homework, once for... well I'm not entirely sure how to define it. But I know that he's what I need right now.

I crept out of the window, and distracted the housemaster with an illusion of a hamster that I know he loves. I crept up the stairs and knocked on Xavier's door. No answer. I knock again and poke my head in and softly say "Thorpe? You in here?" Nothing again. He must be in his art shed.

The brisk walk through the grounds was not unwelcome. It gave me quiet. I saw the lights on in Xavier's shed and picked up my pace a little. Something about that man makes me feel a weird tingling in my stomach. It's a new unfeeling. But not unpleasant.

He doesn't answer when I knock, but I can hear the not-so-delicate sound of Deftones playing through decrepit doors, so I doubt he heard me. I decide to just walk in, and he's got his back towards the door, so I just take a seat on one of the stools and watch him paint. Something about him seems to draw me in. I can't help but admire the way his hair looks in a messy bun with the front strands poking out. The way his tall stature towers over his canvas. His masterful hands sweep the paint in particular ways just to fit his liking.

I accidentally knock over a plastic cup full of multicoloured paint brushes and he jumps and turns around swiftly and catches me and says “Jesus Christ, Y/N! Do you make a living out of scaring this shit out of people?” and I smirk and say “No, but that is the goal.” He scoffs at my retort and saunters over to me while he asks “What’s wrong?”

“Who said there’s anything wrong?” I ask slightly bitterly albeit unintentionally.

“Drop the tough guy facade, we both know that Wednesday and Enid are asleep, so you found me. Now, what’s wrong?” Damn. He read me like a small children’s book.

“I couldn’t sleep. Needed a distraction. For some reason my brain seems to find your company tolerable.”

He decides to ignore the last statement and instead questions “Do you want to see my new painting?”

“If I must.”

We walk over to one of his canvases and he spins it round. It’s me. Well, my hand. My hand in the middle of culminating an illusion with my powers. The deep crimsons and maroons contrast against the vibrant scarlet just like they do in real life. He even got the rings I wear down to a T.

It’s incredibly rare that I am rendered speechless. But alas, here I am. My mouth ever so slightly agape, mind void of all language. Just pure astonishment. He breaks me out of my trance by saying “Sorry. I know it’s a bit creepy. I can get rid of it if you want-”

“Xavier,” I interject. “It’s beautiful. I love it.”

He smiles at this and the tip of his nose and his cheeks turn a distinct rose-tinted pink. He lifts his hand over the portrait and animates the picture. It moves exactly as mine do. The astonishment I first felt came sweeping back over me like a tidal wave. “Thank you, Xavier. This is amazing.”

“Amazing enough for a hug?” He questions boldly.

“Fine.” My reluctance is entirely feigned because the one thing I need right now is a hug. He practically jogs over to me in excitement and wraps his long arms around me tightly. My head sits just at the nave of his chest and it feels like the final two puzzle pieces finally slotted together. “You can hug back, you know?” He (not so) subtly hints as his chin rests on the top of my head. “I know.” I grumble back stubbornly. I hesitantly wrap my arms around him. Oddly comforting. Something in me tells me this is exactly where I’m meant to be at this moment. I don’t notice myself relaxing into the embrace and tucking my head impossibly closer to his chest, but he does. “We can do this more often if you need it.”

“I may just take you up on that, Thorpe.” We stay there for a few seconds longer, then he lets go, and I do too. I wander back over to the desk and take a seat on the oak plank. He follows me and leans over me to ‘grab a paintbrush’ or so he says. He gently places his hand on my hip as he does, and I feel my face flush bright pink. He catches this and says “Am I that good?”

“You wish you had that effect on me, Thorpe.”

“Oh, I know I do, Addams.”

“How’s that then?” I query, genuinely hoping he is completely oblivious to the way I feel about him.

“You’re a dick to pretty much everyone here. But with me? You had a soft spot almost immediately. You blush every single time I touch you. You watch me paint for hours on end while pretending that you’re doing homework because you don’t want me to notice that you’re staring at me. It’s obvious!” He chuckles out the last statement with the cockiest smirk on his smug, beautiful face.

“Well, what about you Mr Loner who can’t seem to want to spend enough time with me? You touch me every chance you get. You painted a picture of my hand for God’s sake!” It’s possible I may have gotten slightly defensive.

“Y/N. I never said it was a bad thing.” He etched ever so much closer to me until he was only two inches away from my face. He placed his strong hands on my delicate shoulders and gazed into my eyes. “Can I kiss you?” Speechless once again. I try to force out something, anything coherent, but I just stammer silently. “Ok, answer me this,” He notices my nerves. “Do you want to kiss me?”

‘Yes! Yes, Xavier Thorpe! Of course I want to kiss you! It’s my dream, my livelihood, my reason for being alive!’ is what I want to say. No. What I want to scream from the rooftops. But all that comes out is a hushed and hesitant “Yes.”

He puts his long pointer finger under my chin and lifts my head towards his face so I have no choice but to stare into his beautiful green eyes once again. “Speak up, sweetheart.” If he wasn’t standing in between my legs right now, I would be forcing them closed. “Yes, you dick.” I force out, it comes out slightly louder than I expected, but the excitement is evident in my voice. “Then can I kiss you?”

“Yes.” I assert firmly this time.

His hands move down to my hips, and he squeezes them gently. He leans down and pecks me on the cheek, then the lips. Feeling unsatisfied, a sudden overwhelming confidence regains control of me. I wrap my hands around the back of his neck and suggest that “If you’re going to kiss me, you should at least do it properly.” He smirks again. God, he loves doing that. If it wasn’t so attractive I might just complain about it. “Like this?” He asks, grasping my hips harder this time and before I know it, our lips collide again. This time, it’s not as soft and fast-lived. It’s passionate, deep. If I thought the hug felt like two puzzle pieces fitting together, this is ,oh, so much better. Our lips move together in perfect harmony. My hand moves up into his hair, and I tug it gently, which covets a deep groan from the bottom of his throat into my mouth. I had never heard such a beautiful noise in my life.

He pulled away softly. “Yeah. Like that.” I mutter breathlessly.

“Thought so. Let’s go back to my dorm.” Yet another bold move from him.

“I’m not that easy, Thorpe.”

“No, idiot. You’re staying in my dorm tonight. You’ll sleep better.”

That makes me smile. “Okay,” I accept. “but I expect more kisses.”

“You read my mind, Y/N.” Oh, the irony.

#xavier thorpe #wednesday #xavier thrope imagine #xavier thorpe fluff #xavier x y/n #xavier x reader #fanfic #series?#oneshot?

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goblins-riddles-or-frocks · 4 months

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dudes....enough about the dorkling. i want to hear more of ur alina meta bc i KNOW its delicious

This is a pretty broad topic! There’s a lot I could talk about. But generally, I think, for all the flaws in the execution of the story, Alina is a very good protagonist for what the series is about. A lot of books aren’t constructed with much intent, but thematically she really carries the story— as imo is evidenced by the gaping hole she left behind in KoS.

Alina is where all of the main ideas of the trilogy come together in one person. She carries the burden of the political and spiritual hopes of the nation, of the Grisha who were left bereft when the Darkling betrayed the monarchy, of the Darkling’s own desires. The gulf between those things and who she actually is and wants to be is incredibly important. What she must do to fulfill any of these expectations put on her and who she might become on the other side of it, when the church, the monarchy, and Grisha power seem to all culminate in evil one way or another.

Her personal character arc is about her asserting her identity and struggling for autonomy— literalized by the amplifiers— against the Darkling. But everything going on with the world feeds into it and is designed to further these themes.

This is what frankly makes the ending really gutting lol. It’s a story about growth until she’s like forcibly dragged back into regression. Presumably because Bardugo realized she wrote a story about the cost and corrupting nature of power, and thought to answer that by removing the opportunity for corruption. (I’d argue the same thing happened to Nikolai in KoS with him abdicating instead of reckoning with all the moral complications of monarchy) It’s frustrating!

Her personality and perspective are really important to how the plot progresses. Her being a peasant means she’s jaded about both the monarchy and the upper class that the Grisha in Ravka have become. Her *complete* lack of ambition and political drive juxtaposes really interestingly with the Darkling’s (and Nikolai’s, Zoya’s, the Apparat’s) desire for influence and power. Her main goal is just Not This, and having the freedom to live as she pleases basically? As opposed to being under someone else’s thumb.

I’ve also talked before about how I think the first book particularly is a direct deconstruction of immortal love interest paranormal romance tropes, and that’s very integral to her arc.

But yeah the books just… don’t work without her. Things get lopsided imo! Anyway she’s my daughter and I love her and the fandom is SO mean to her! Leave her alone shdhff

#grishaverse #shadow and bone #alina starkov #i ramble sometimes #all the bendy punctuations #a mysterious stranger has appeared

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