#like there's literally a similar post saved in my drafts
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Danmei and Baihe C Novels and Manhua Officially Licensed in English
Things are getting licensed fast enough that keeping a list like this up-to-date is basically impossible, but I saw someone asking in the tags so I figured I'd try. All titles are danmei unless otherwise noted (very little baihe is licensed so far). I've included Chinese titles and linked novelupdates for each title when I was able to find them, but sometimes publishers change the original titles so much that I can't track them down, apologies.
Basically: this is everything I know of as of April 12, 2024. There might be more. I tried.
For the latest danmei news, Danmeinews.com is a great resources.
Note that some of this information was sourced from this Carrd, last updated in March 2023.
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Seven Seas:
The full list of danmei novels licensed by Seven Seas is here. The full list of danmei manhua licensed by Seven Seas is here.
These titles are in various stages of publication, from "entire series released" to "license literally announced less than a week ago." As far as I know, all Seven Seas titles are available world-wide, through major distributors and libraries, and in e-book and print formats.
Mo Xiang Tong Xiu titles:
The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System (Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong).
Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (Mo Dao Zu Shi)
Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (Mo Dao Zu Shi) manhua
Heaven Official's Blessing (Tian Guan Ci Fu)
Meatbun Doesn't Eat Meat titles:
Case File Compendium (Bing an Ben)
The Husky and His White Cat Shizun (Erha he Ta de Bai Mao Shizun)
Remnants of Filth (Yuwu)
Meng Xi Shi titles:
Thousand Autumns (Qian Qiu)
Peerless (Wushuang)
priest titles:
Guardian (Zhenhun)
Stars of Chaos (Sha Po Lang)
Other titles:
Ballad of Sword and Wine (Qiang Jin Jiu) by Tang Jiuqing
I Ship My Rival x Me (Wo Kele Duijia x Wo de CP) manhua by PEPA
Run Wild (Saye) by Wu Zhe
The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish (Canji Baojun de Zhangxin Yu Chong) by Xue Shan Fei Hu
You've Got Mail: The Perils of Pigeon Post (Fei Ge Jiao You Xu Jin Shen) by Blackegg
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Rosmei:
Rosmei licenses are Singapore distribution rights only. There is a list of international partners organizing group orders here. I've personally placed my orders through Yiggybean, as discussed in reply to this ask.
These titles are only being released as print editions.
Eta: titles that weren't originally on JJWXC (of which there are several here) WILL have e-book editions.
Ning Yuan titles:
BAIHE: At the World's Mercy by Ning Yuan
BAIHE (I think???) The Creator's Grace by Ning Yuan
priest titles:
Coins of Destiny (Liu Yao)
The Defectives (Can Ci Pin)
Drowning Sorrows in Raging Fire (Lie Huo Jiao Chou)
Other titles:
Albert from Earth by Jie Mo Jun
The Bat (Bian Fu) by Feng Nong
Breaking Through the Clouds (Po Yun) by Huai Shang
Don't You Like Me (Ni Shi Bushi Xihuan Wo) by Lv Tian Yi
The Earth is Online (Diqiu Shangxian) by Mo Chen Huan
Everyone Loves the Cannon Fodder (Chuan Cheng Wan Ren Mi de Paohui Zhuma) by Qie Zai Shan Yang
Global Examination (Qianqiu Gao Kao) by Mu Su Li
Gold Class Enforcers (Jinpai Dashou) by Pao Pao Xue Er
How to Survive as a Villain (Chuanyue Cheng Fanpai Yao Ruhe Huming) by Yi Yi Yi Yi
Kaleidoscope of Death (Siwang Wanhuatong) by Xi Zi Xu
The Killer of Killers (Sha Qing) by Wu Yi
Nan Chan by Tang Jiuqing
Obsessed (Ki Ma) by Wu Chen Shui
Wine and Gun (Jiu yu Qiang) by Mengye Mengye
Wow, You Guys are Really Good at Gaming (Nimen Nansheng Da Youxi Hao Lihai O~) by Yi Xiu Luo
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Peach Flower House:
Peach Flower House titles are primarily for sale through their website and through some distributors, such as Amazon.com. Whether titles are e-book only, print only, or both varies by title.
Da Feng Gua Guo:
The Imperial Uncle (Huang Shu)
Peach Blossom Debt (Taohua Zhai)
Other Titles:
Golden Terrace (Huang Jin Tai) by Cang Wu Bin Bai
In the Dark (Zai Hei An Zhong) by Jin Shisi Chai
Little Mushroom (Xiao Mogu) by Shisi
University of the Underworld by Ziloi
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Via Lactea:
The full list of danmei novels licensed by Via Lactea is here.
Via Lactea titles are primarily for sale through their website and through some distributors, such as Amazon.com. All titles are either print-only or e-book + print. Only a handful have actually been released, the rest are licensed and presumably in progress.
Jing Shui Bian titles:
Salad Days (Jing Jiu)
Silent Hearts (Mo Mai)
Other Titles:
Dawning (Liming Zhihou) by ICE
Euthanasia by Feng Su Jun
Falling (Luo Chi) by Yu Cheng
Psycho (Feng Zi) by Xiao Yao Zi
Limerence (Wo Xichen Ni Nan Pengyou Henjiule) by Jiang Zi Bei
Lip and Sword (Chun Qiang) by Jin Shisi Chai
The Missing Piece (Maoheshenli) by Kun Yi Wei Lou
Raising Myself in 2006 by Qing Lv
Rose and Renaissance (Wo Zhi Xihuan Ni de Renshe [Yule Quan]) by Zhi Chu
Killing Show (Sha Lu Xiu) by Fox
Soul Vibration (Linghun Saodong) by Dr.solo
To Rule in a Turbulent World (Luan Shi Wei Wang) by Gu Xuerou
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Monogatari Novels:
It is unclear to me if Monogatari Novel titles are available for world-wide distribution, but there are group orders being organized or I think they can be ordered directly from their webpage; they are based in Spain. These titles can also be ordered from at least some major retailers. Note that there has been some controversy about Monogatari Novels.
BAIHE: A Clear and Muddy Loss of Love (Jing Wei Qing Shang) by Please Don't Laugh
BAIHE: Female General and Eldest Princess (NuJiangjun he Zhang Gongzhu) by Please Don't Laugh
How to Survive as a Villain (Chuan Yue Cheng Fanpai Yao Ru He Huo Ming) manhua by Yi Yi Yi Yi
The Legendary Master's Wife (Chuanshuo Zhi Zhu de Furen) by Yin Ya
The Silent Concubine (Ya Nu) by Qiang Tang
BAIHE: Soulmate manhua by Wenzhi Lizi
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Aloha Comics:
A tiny, Hawaii-based press focusing on manhua. Titles appear to primarily be available through Diamond Comics. There are also pre-orders on Yiggybean. All of these are pre-orders, though the earliest are coming out by the end of April 2024 (about two weeks after when I'm posting this).
All these titles are manhua!
Day Off by Qing Cai
Here U Are by DJUN
Link Click by Li Haoling and Haoliners (not technically danmei!)
Nirvana in Fire (Lang Ya Bang) by Hai Yan (not technically danmei!)
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Chaleuria:
As far as I can tell, Chaleuria has not updated their webpage since April 2023, so the current status of in-progress titles is unknown. All titles are digital and/or e-book, and I'm not sure how to purchase them as I haven't tried.
Complete Guide to the Use and Care of a Personal Assistant (Zhuli Shiyong Zhinan) by Why Radiance
Deep in the Act (Ru Xi) by Tongzi
Fake Slackers (Wei Zhuang Xue Zha) by Mu Gua Huang (no longer available)
From Body to Love (Leng Yan E Nan: Xian Shenhou Ai) by Wan Wan Yi Xia
Interstellar Power Couple (Xingji Qiangli Lianyin) by Kun Cheng Xiongmao (no longer available)
Intoxicated Friends (Zui Qing Zhi Pengyou) by Ye Shu Ying
The Long Chase for the President's Spouse (Zongcai Zhui Fu Lu Manman) by Three Thousand Crow Language
Reborn into a Hamster for 233 Days (Chong Shengcheng Cangshu de 233 Tian) by Yi Shu
Records of the Dragon Follower (Cong Long Ji) by Yueren Ge
Urban Tales of Demons and Spirits (Dushi Yaogui Lu) by Qie Er
World Hopping: Avenge Our Love (Ni Wufa Yuliao de Fenshou, Wo Du Neng Gei Ni Song Shang) by Xiaomao Bu Ai Jiao (no longer available)
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Honorable Mentions:
There are a handful of titles I know of that are official translations of C Novels, where the C Novels aren't danmei or baihe but are often treated as adjacent within fandom (as in: I've seen people shipping characters from them, lol). I've included two above under the entry for titles from Aloha Comics (Link Click and Nirvana in Fire) and here are a couple others I currently know of:
The Grave Robbers' Chronicles (Daomu Biji) by Nanpai Sanshu (six volumes are available in English from Things Asian Press
The Legend of the Condor Heroes (She Diao Yingxiong Chuan) by Jin Yong from St. Martin's Press
Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo Yanyi), attributed to Luo Guanzhong, available in multiple translations
The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants (Zonglie Xiayi Chuan), attributed to Shi Yukun, there are two translations to English listed at the linked Wikipedia page
Note that to the best of my knowledge both of these are considered very substandard translations. I've personally read the official DMBJ translations and... yeah... and I've heard the LOCH translation is also mediocre.
I will add to the "Honorable Mentions" list if I find any other more mainstream titles with official translations.
Please don't come at me for including a couple classics. The characters shippable, what can I do? I've written fic for Romance of the Three Kingdoms...
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A handful of other licenses are mentioned on the Carrd I linked at the beginning of this post; I have no idea the status of those titles and wasn't able to find information on them while putting together this post other than what was listed on that Carrd, so I've omitted them.
As a final note, I've personally purchased from every printer on this list EXCEPT Monogatari Novels (I'm holding off because of the controversy and will see how things play out) and Chaleuria (which I vaguely knew existed but nothing beyond that).
Seven Seas translation varies but the editing is general strong and the editions are sturdy and nice. Extras that have come with final volumes are lovely. I am buying literally everything they publish except for You've Got Mail, due to information about the author that was shared with me that the author is a transphobe. Note that Kinnporsche by Daemi is not danmei as it's Thai (and I've heard unsavory things about the author - I don't have a link for that as the information was shared with me on Discord, and I encourage you to do your own research rather than taking my word for it). No judgement if you make a different choice than me, to be clear, I'm just sharing the information I have and why I personally am not buying the books). Note that Seven Seas isn't without controversy, especially for treating their contractors poorly resulting in them unionizing. Some people have also been unhappy with the fidelity of their translations compared to the original Chinese (I've been satisfied personally but ymmv).
Peach Flower House has inconsistent inconsistent editing quality, but the books are very readable, and I'm excited that they're working with translators such as E. Danglars. I haven't bought any of their special editions so can't speak to their extras, but I've bought all their print translations and will continue to do so going forward.
I just got my first title from Via Lactea last week and finished reading it on Sunday, and the translation read very well and there were minimal errors. It also came with a bundle of cute extras, which I wasn't expecting and pleased, and writing this post has caused me to cave and spend $150 to buy the rest of their books. Thank you, tax refund. (Should I spend this money? No. Did I anyway? ...)
No Rosmei titles have actually shipped yet, so I can't speak to their quality, though the previews they've shared on social media (as outlined here, for example) read decently and I'm optimistic. The cover art is also lovely, and they've been communicative and responsive, for example they've already issued a statement related to a recent controversy over perceived poor marketing for At the World's Mercy.
Tl:dr, the above is absolutely everything I personally know about mlm and wlw Chinese novels and manhua that have been licensed for English publication. I hope it helps someone.
Now go forth, and buy some books!
#danmei#baihe#mxtx#priest#priest novels#tang jiuqing#mu su li#meng xi shi#yi yi yi yi#this probably needs a billion other tags but oh well#i've been meaning to write something like this for ages#like there's literally a similar post saved in my drafts#but apparently today is the day i don't have the willpower to not#as also evidenced by my literally buying some of these books while in the middle of putting the post together lmao#i broke a windshield wiper on sunday and SHOULD spend money fixing that instead but here we are#at least it's the passenger side wiper???#anyway as always just tryin to do my part to get people to read more than just mxtx#not that i don't love mxtx#but please guys there's so much amazing stuff out there READ MORE BOOKS
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lover 🪻
pairing: charles leclerc/fem!singer!reader
type: instagram imagine, social media au
notes: this is another thing i thought of knowing i have hundreds of unattended drafts lolol lmk what u think! this is like very similar to something i've posted before but only w a slightly different ending... hehe also am using mother taylor's lyrics cause they're just too good
about: you and charles seem to be really quiet, it's either one of two things — you're over or you're about to release a masterpiece that shatters all break up rumors.
wagsoff1
liked by wannabewag, norrisfan, hamilec, and 25,439 others
wagsoff1 It has been 100 days since Y/N was seen in the paddock. Her last appearance was during the 2023 Australian GP. Any thoughts? 👀
leclercsainz yeah honestly the two of them have been really quiet lately... i'm scared
ynfan this is such a reach? 😬
lecsyn4eva are we forgetting that y/n has her own career, a pretty successful one at that, it's normal for her to not be at races at times?
wagsoff1 Hmm yeah but she's missed a ton of races, apparently rumors are only ever growing that they might be over...
lecsyn4eva maybe we stop sticking our noses where it doesn't belong 🤨
queenyn MOTHER WE MISS YOU pls come back
sainzstappen Classic pattern of broken up F1 couples lol miss a few races then suddenly statements are out 😆
popgirlstm stop i will literally jump off a bridge
yourusername
liked by zendaya, florencepugh, landonorris, and 2,340,923 others
yourusername At every table, I'll save you a seat.
My 3rd full-length album, Lover, is out tomorrow at 12 EST. Sorry for the surprise but see you at the premiere ❤️
lecsyn BITCH THIS IS WHY YOUVE BEEN QUIET
mothertay miss mam we havent heard from you in months how can you drop a bomb like this so casually
norrislaren IM CRYING I DID NOT SEE THIS COMING
midnightshouse y/n i need to know if i can shake my ass to this album or i will be destroying ice cream pints with tears on my face
ynalbums Judging from the title... it sounds like it's more on the romance side?
gucciluv oh my god there's hope for charles and her after all 🙏
charles_leclerc
liked by pierregasly, carlossainz55, scuderiaferrari, and 1,295,294 others
charles_leclerc My lover.
Beyond excited for your album, amour. Thanks for letting me be a part of it 🤍
lecsyncharles CROWD CHEERS OH MY GOD
hamilstappen im crying they broke the streak they're alive! WAR IS OVER
charlierari part of it... y/n ft. charles????
carlossainz55 Hey this counts as your musical debut? 😆
charles_leclerc I didn't sing...
carlossainz55 Yeah you shouldnt
c2lovers FUCK??ABSHBHWWH
landonorris Can't believe people thought you broke up you literally won't shut up about how you're in Silverstone and she's in LA
pierregasly Don't forget the calling Y/N every 10 seconds
charles_leclerc ??? Please shut up
Now Playing: Lover (Music Video) - The Dedication
charles_leclerc
liked by yourusername, landonorris, lorenzotl, and 2,109,294 others
charles_leclerc My forever lover.
tagged: yourusername
landonorris Will you save me a seat at every table?
yourusername Have my song memorized already, I see 😆
landonorris You know it!
lewishamilton Congratulations, Y/N and Charles! 🥂
danielricciardo I call taking most of the pictures 🙏
landonorris No???
ynlecs16 this is such a fucking surprise the two of you need to cool it down i'm hyperventilating
scuderiaferrari Best wishes to our favorite couple ❤️
yourusername Wait, I thought we broke up?
charles_leclerc Negative. You're stuck with me forever now 😘
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tagging: @slytherheign, @honethatty12, @siovhanroy
notes: taylor has got me wishing i was currently in love this is sick! anyway i only got this idea bc my tiktok fyp is swarmed with charles daylight edits and they are right he is so golden <33
#writtenbyrae#charles leclerc#charles leclerc x reader#charles leclerc x female reader#charles leclerc imagine#charles leclerc fanfic#charles leclerc fluff#charles leclerc insta au#charles leclerc social media au#charles leclerc smau#charles leclerc ig imagine#charles leclerc instagram imagine#charles leclerc instagram au#formula 1#f1#f1 imagine#f1 fanfic#formula 1 imagine#formula 1 fanfic#f1 x reader#f1 x female reader#formula 1 insta au#formula 1 social media au#formula 1 instagram imagine#formula 1 ig imagine#f1 instagram imagine#f1 instagram au#f1 social media au
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most to least likely to want you to make the first move
tae: the thing about taehyung is that he's a coquettte like he 100% loves to be pursued like i swear this happened irl but it always feels like i'm making it up bc i can never find the post but i think in 2020 there was a time period of like a month or two and we missed him soooo bad and then one day he randomly popped up and was like yeah i be browsing through here but i ain't say nothing bc i liked seeing y'all say y'all miss me like 😐 so yeah he loves the thrill of it all he loves the thought of having you wrapped around his finger me thinks gonna tata mic in yo face until you have no choice but to conquer him
jk: we have him on record saying "if you want me, come get me" so there's that but also okay i know jk ain't super shy no more but at the same time social settings still aren't his forte like he still has trouble figuring out when to jump into conversations and you can definitely tell when he ain't got a single thought running through his brain so i feel like you initiating will take the pressure off also this man is literally a perfectionist and a procrastinator like i feel like he been done took so long to ask u out u not even interested no more gotta strike when the iron hot with this one skskkslks
joon: he loves people he loves making connections and he loves reciprocal energy so if he's feeling you and you reach out first i think he'd love that fr like someone bold not tiptoeing around him not afraid to express what they're feeling it's gon do it for him every time
suga: i bet yoon really doesn't mind either way like he's not afraid to go and get what he wants and he appreciates people with a similar mind set
jin: i don't think he's opposed to it it's just that he needs to have you figured out before there's any forward movement and then after he figures you out he needs to figure out how he feels about it and you if it's even worth progressing forward so if you were to interrupt that process by moving before he's ready it would confuse him and he'd be very hesitant bc he doesn't wanna just outright reject you but he doesn't wanna just go for it either LOL he just needs a lil time; if he already knew how he felt about you however you making the first move would be awesome it'd save him some time and energy
hobi: he wouldn't be mad at it right but i feel like he's more traditional with it like ugh i love him so much he's such a gentleman so i feel like he'd wanna do the whole asking out pick you up for your first date at your doorstep bouquet of flowers in tow like he doesn't mind you being bold so if u wanna be an obvious flirt or whatever do yo thang but i do think he wants to take the lead
jimin: don't get me wrong i know jimin likes to be liked he likes to know that you know he knows you like him 100% but i get the feeling he likes the allure of the chase even more like you coming on to him may intrigue him for a good time but if you really want him i get the feeling that you gotta play the long game like very much give and take tease play his game until he has no choice but to give into it
a/n: luh calm post sumn breezy sumn light sksskls crazy thing about this is i've had this idea and ranking in my drafts for like a year and then this morning i scrolled past and was like huh that makes sense and then my brain kicked into gear and told me why LOL sorry i'm slow as molasses but take this snack as apology and i maybe 👀 hopefully 🙏 may have something a little more substantial before the year ends <3
#bts#bts fanfic#bts x reader#bts mtl#namjoon x reader#namjoon fanfic#jin fanfic#jin x y/n#yoongi x reader#yoongi fanfic#hobi x reader#hoseok fanfic#jimin x reader#jimin fanfic#taehyung x reader#taehyung fanfic#jungkook x reader#jungkook fanfic
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The Weaver's Song
Disclaimer: well I thought I had time to edit this properly and tidy it up, but joke's on me, apparently the entirety of HOFAS has leaked in Portuguese over night. That'll teach me (haha, never) to leave something in my drafts for months. So this may or may not be correct, and YOU might know that, but I'm not going to read the whole thing until I have the original version.
If someone has already posted this theory, I'm sorry!
Spoilers: this contains information from ACOTAR, TOG and CC series books 1 and 2. Please do not discuss spoilers in the comments until after HOFAS has officially been published, or in the reblogs without warning (and ideally a read more option)!
This may be fanciful, but I think I may know what The Weaver was singing about in ACOMAF... it was a metaphor for Prythian history and Void travel.
“There were two sisters, they went playing, To see their father’s ships come sailing … And when they came unto the sea-brim The elder did push the younger in.”
Theia's two daughters, as @silverlinedeyes has posted before, she thinks the second daughter brought Truth-Teller back to Prythian through a rift - though was there a third, unknown sibling, as @wingedblooms and I have theorised?
Playing - playing music? Music as the universal magic/language? Urd’s music?
Whether or not they're also Fionn's daughters, if literal, the ships could be people travelling through the Void/Rift to Midgard… the Feyre, the Nesta, the Elain come to mind, except maybe the Selene, the Eos and the Helios?
The Haldren Sea sounds like it could have a rift/portal in it (similar imagery to the Court of Nightmares/Hewn City). Port/portal?
Did Helena push her younger sister into the rift, to make her return through the Void and save Prythian from the Asteri, per @silverlinedeyes?
If this was then case then Helena knowingly sacrificed herself.
“Sometimes she sank, and sometimes she swam, ’Til her corpse came to the miller’s dam.”
Did she travel through multiple worlds until she reached Prythian, similar to Aelin as the red star? Or was this after returning to Prythian and living her life she then travelled again across the murky realm?
Miller's dam - dam could be their mother? The Mother? Silba?
A dam is also a body of water. The Cauldron?
Miller is one of the oldest human professions - milling grains for bread.
Miller is also a type of moth - moth wings at the HOW library, with their Cauldron/bowl-type statues at the entrance?
What if the Void/Cauldron is the Miller, and Chaos/Cauldron's water is the Dam?
“But what did he do with her breastbone? He made him a viol to play on. What’d he do with her fingers so small? He made pegs to his viol withall.”
What if the Void/Cauldron is the earth, Chaos/Cauldron's water is the dam, and the Miller is the hypothetical third sibling?
How do the underground waterways and/or the pool of Starlight in the Spring Court fit in?
The viol is an instrument; is the language of the universe a song? This would support my idea that Singing is a language of the gods, and Sight/messages from the gods could be a form of Singing.
Breastbone, spells and bonds are threads, viol strings? Pegs tighten/tune the strings. Witchy and sorcery spell vibes, but also hello PUPPET VIBES. Who is/will the Cauldron using as a puppet?
“And what did he do with her nose-ridge? Unto his viol he made a bridge. What did he do with her veins so blue? He made strings to his viol thereto.”
Nose - smells, Azriel can smell the Elucien bond… because it's discordant (theory on the way)? Amren could smell Feysand’s bond, how?
Bridge - I saw the painting in my mind: the lovely fawn, blooming spring vibrant behind her. Standing before Death, shadows and terrors lurking over his shoulder. Light and dark, the space between their bodies a blend of the two. The only bridge of connection … that knife. Paint that when we get home. - ACOWAR, chapter 69. Truth-Teller connecting with the Starsword.
"A violin bridge is a maple piece that sits atop the violin and lifts the strings above the fingerboard in a way that allows you to play both single notes and double stops. It transmits the string vibrations to the soundbox (body of the violin)." It's a conduit. Could Carranam be relevant here?
Blue - Azriel's siphons, the veins in Elain's eyes in the tent scene when she Looked for the Suriel. Can she see the threads?
Viols have six strings - three brothers and three sisters?
“What did he do with her eyes so bright? On his viol he set at first light. What did he do with her tongue so rough? ’Twas the new till and it spoke enough.”
Eyes bright - like Elain's when she's in pain? Pain is a link to the divine, do her eyes go bright when she's using her magic?
Eyes at first light - Sight/Singing at dawn? Eos?
First light - firstlight?
To set at something, to go after it… with an instrument playing him through the Void? Someone is after the firstlight and will go after it. The Asteri and Bryce. Mystics? Elain?
Till - as in the soil/gardening? More likely a boat's till/tiller; did Theia's second daughter’s tongue become the rudder that allowed “the Miller” to steer his way through the water/Void/space between… Lightsingers? Mystics? And there were three ships named after Feyre, Nesta and Elain Archeron.
Mor speaks the truth, Elain speaks what she Sees.
“Then bespake the treble string, ‘O yonder is my father the king.’”
“Then bespake the second string, ‘O yonder sits my mother the queen.’”
“Then bespake the strings all three, ‘Yonder is my sister that drowned me.’”
The father/king and mother/queen have been separated, and are in different locations.
Different worlds?
Fionn/the father/king is in Prythian.
Theia/the mother/queen "sits" somewhere else… a hell/Hel realm? Sits on a throne?
The sister/Helena is in Midgard.
I really think that the Weaver was singing to nobody/Feyre about Prythian's ancient history, along with the crossover - and potential instructions on how to navigate the Void - all the way back in ACOMAF! When she just happened to be collecting a six pointed star sapphire ring (six strings?) for Rhys?
Will each sister become a magical, Singing tiller for the bat boys' wings (as rudders), guiding them through the Void? It gives a whole new depth of meaning to Papa Archeron's fleet going down in a storm!
This also fits for Vassien, with Lucien being the magical tiller and Vassa as the firebird. And even possibly More and Emerie, if her wings get healed, or she gets her own Pegasus! Could it parallel the way they had to fly through holes in the Wall back in the OT, before Hybern destroyed it with the Cauldron (which just happens to contain Void)?
Will they be the light in the dark?
SJM you wicked bloody genius, this cannot be a coincidence. 🙏🏻
PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO SPOIL HOFAS FOR OTHERS WITH DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THE LEAKS!
#hosab spoilers#crescent city spoilers#maasverse#acotar cc tog crossover theory#hosab#crescent city theory#elain archeron#feyre archeron#nesta archeron#acotar#the weaver#the weaver's song#maasverse theory#pre hofas#acomaf
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Chapter 137 thoughts!
Glad we’re continuing the ad lib scene to give some of the other character reactions. Seeing Miyako’s concern and Ichigo’s focus makes it easier to buy that they’ve been seeing this go down for the past couple of days.
More of the Ai focus this arc has been promising, as well as manga confirmation of what we already knew from 45510
The hundreds of saved drafts hurts my heart too, thinking about how the message in 45510 was probably the only one she had the courage to post, and it was deleted.
This imagery is absolutely horrifying and I love it. I feel like the narrative of Ai becoming an idol being a further victimization of her has always been in the subtext, but it doesn’t get much more main text than this chapter.
Also like the little confirmation that Ichigo understands Ai this well. Their relationship is still so mysterious but despite how comedic their dynamic was in the series I suspect he’s probably the person who understands Ai’s pain the most, being her guardian and the one who brought her into the industry in the first place.
Interested to see where this goes, Kana’s career after this movie has been a major subject of concern for me, and it’s too soon to tell if this’ll be a positive or negative step for her. The people who claim Kana has Kamiki death flags might get their wish though if she’s marketed well enough.
YESSSS THIS IS WHAT IVE BEEN SAYING. Ruby stays the twin with the most competent understanding of Ai and her wishes even without seeing both those DVDs. People have been already saying this plot was rushed and unnecessary, but I think they’re missing the point entirely. This wasn’t a fight subplot for drama in the first place, Kana replicated a challenge Ai faced, Ruby understood Ai more because of it, and then she rose above and overcame it because they are two different people with their own strengths and weaknesses. This has literally been her character journey this entire series, how can you call it rushed?
RubyKana shippers: We’re so back!
Seriously though I really liked this reconciliation. Their friendship has been one of the strongest throughout the series, having it fall apart just for the sake of Ruby being in a similar situation to Ai would be a shame. I feel like we got the best of both worlds here in a way that’s true to Ruby’s character. Sucks Kana has death flags now, but if Akane can live two death fakeouts, Kana’ll probably be fine.
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2.- was sasuke right? || 3.- were naruto's intentions with sasuke selfish? || 8.- show a screenshot of your latest draft with no context ((always gonna pick the excuse to see sneak peeks lol)) || 14.-openings or endings?
For the Controversial Naruto Take Ask
2 - was sasuke right?
I'd like to preface this by saying I find it utterly insane how everyone (in canon and also a bit in the fandom tbh) says stuff about sasuke needing to atone for his crimes and whatnot when he literally has never killed anyone in the whole series. Even Naruto has, and he hasn't. And it's explicitly said that he has gone out of his way not to, and that he has asked Taka not to either while they were working for him. So, of course, the whole barging in at the gokage summit thing was not very cordial, but compared to what most of the characters have done, he's pretty fine. (Kakashi kills a child in the very first arc, may I remind everyone.)
Anyway. If the question is "Was Sasuke right about wanting a revolution and to take down Konoha's government?" I mean. Yes, I think that genocide is bad and that states that have been built in a way that allows and, furthermore, have flourished on them, should be undermined. I don't know if he was going to have a plan for that that would have led to something more functional to be built, I'll give you that, but yes Homura and Koharu should have died in a jail cell decades ago.
The part where he went full "I am going to become an eternal god hated by all and ruling by fear" was probably ill-advised though.
3 - were naruto's intentions with sasuke selfish?
That's an interesting question because I've never thought about it like that? I think that one thing happening in their dynamic is that they have very similar problems and trauma, but very different ways to react to it. And so they can relate to the other's motivation, but tend to think "but you are being mistaken about the solution because I know how to solve this and it's not that". But the truth is they are both traumatised teenagers willing to literally die for attention and a feeling of accomplishment and purpose, so I don't think either of them really has it figured out 😭
I don't think that Naruto's intentions with Sasuke were selfish, in the sense that I think he genuinely was doing what he was doing with the belief that it was the right way and that it would help and save him (which, for a part at least, it did). But maybe it was selfish in that he wasn't able to consider that because just he is seeing one path out of his problems and pain, then that path has to be right for Sasuke as well. To consider that he was a different person who maybe needed to make different choices and that's okay.
Not to do my self-promo but actually yesdo this authors, it's good: this is part of what I wanted to explore in Take You Heart Above The Water. Sasuke cannot (and as a matter of fact, in canon, does not) come back to Konoha and integrate into it the way Naruto does. And it's not necessarily a good goal for him to have. They have different relationships with the village, the people, different needs, or maybe similar ones but different ways to meet them. Helping people grow and feel happy and loved doesn't always mean helping them have the same life as you do.
8 - show a screenshot of your latest draft with no context
The last thing I worked I just posted it, so I'm going to take sneak peek of the last WIP I've worked on. It's All Bones and a Beating Heart, my ShikaChou modern AU.
The breaks in his voice takes him by surprise like a tide rising while one’s looking away, only catching back their attention when the cold water reaches their feet. The admission he’s about to make has been building in the back of his mind for weeks, unspeakable but unshakable too, feeding on him like a parasite that will now gush out through his throat after having overgrown his guts, and there’s nothing he can do to stop it.
His lashes stick with tears when he blinks and his lips are dry when they part.
“I don’t want anything in me anymore.”
Fun times 👍
14 - openings or endings?
I'm gonna say endings just for Nakushita Kotoba.
Thank you for asking!!
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Okay, here goes. What's your ultimate Crocodad timeline? You can go as wild or as believable as you want.
I mean I made this timeline chart/post/thing.
But if you meant it in a more "how do you think things actually went down" specific kinda way, uhhhhh. Great question, not sure I know how to answer. Like.
The possibilities on what could've happened and how are nearly endless and all those options are so interesting to me. Even if there's ideas I feel like might be more likely than others, or I find myself more invested in some ideas, I can't fully like, dedicate myself to any specific idea for a plot point or a storybeat or anything, especially if there's nothing to suggest if anything even remotely similar could've happened.
Like, say for example, how did Crocodile and Dragon meet? There's literally infinite ways they could've met, to the point I'm not even really that interested in speculating on it, because more likely than not, any guess I make will probably be wrong. Like speculating about something like that feels almost pointless.
Compare that to say, how did Luffy end up in Garp's care? While we know like nothing about what exactly happened, we do have any theoretical information (ex: Garp and Croc should not know about each other, meaning there must've been a third party to deliver the baby, and it's more than likely that was Dragon) that we can get to much more specific when speculating about what might've happened. Like there's still plenty of options, but the options are far fewer, which makes the speculation so much more interesting, for me at least
But at the same time, I don't want to get too fond of any idea in because Oda could still prove me wrong and debunk it and I'd be sad if I got like fond of a concept and I ended up being dead wrong lmao
Mind you, for me, a big part of the reason I'm invested in the theory to begin with IS the possibility of it being canon. Like yes Crocodad would and always will make for fun AU fanfics regardless of if it's canon or not. But I am here to more or less speculate about canon.
So between my brain treating Crocodad as this monstrous, gigantic flow chart, and me not wanting to get too attached to any potential path on the chart... Yeah I don't know what to tell you anon, I'm sorry
Like. Just as an example. On how my brain processes this shit.
(Sidenote, this chart is like under the assumption that Croc and Dragon had mutually agreed that their child would be put in the care of Dragon's father. And while that makes the most sense to me by a long shot, technically it's totally possible Luffy was taken away from Crocodile by force by Dragon or something else) (THERE'S SO MANY POTENTIAL THINGS THAT COULD'VE HAPPENED, AHHHHHHH)
Like here, I think the most likely canon scenarios would be the "Respectful Rejection" followed by "Too Stunned To Speak -> It's Bad" routes, though personally I might be most interested in the "It Was Really Bad" route because it'd be really fucked up and sad
So like. Yeah. I have no idea what my "ultimate Crocodad timeline" would be, there's too much room for speculation to the point anything specific would leave the room of Neutral Canon Speculation and just turn into a plain old fanfic, and I'm just here for theorizing
But hey if you wanted a fanfic, here's a TL:DR;
(You know I say this is a TL:DR; but this got so fucking long it almost broke this post. Like Tumblr would not let me save the draft or post it anymore because there's a 4k character limit to "blocks", I had to break this into chunks man)
If Crocodile was betrayed by his crew after losing to Whitebeard and had to kill them himself in self-defence;
Who the fuck knows, maybe by some twist of fate our wounded/dying, exhausted and traumatized Crocodile drifted in the sea and his ship ran into Dragon, the man rescuing Crocodile from the kindness of his heart or something IDK
If the dude had to kill his own crew immidiately after Whitebeard crushed his hopes and dreams, Crocodile must've been just absolutely shell shocked. Depressed and withdrawn, just out of it. So maybe Dragon being there could've been great for Croc's mental state. Maybe. Big maybe.
If Crocodile did turn out to be the Rev Army's Secret Sugar Daddy then perhaps this is how that relationship kind of started: Crocodile could've paid Dragon in cash money as thanks for saving his life, and then just kept the money coming since Dragon had an army to run and needed the funds
(Like we don't know why Crocodile joined the Shichibukai anyways, but if it was only ever for The Benefits of not having to deal with the Marines chasing his ass anymore and if he didn't give a rat's ass about the Government... Like yeah, why not fund the Revolutionary Army, give money to the people trying to directly take down the fuckers while right under their noses.) (Who knows maybe Croc does have his own reasons for hating the WG and had like a genuine reason beyond just being a petty king and/or having basic human decency in understanding why the WG was corrupt and needed to be overthrown)
Thus begins a secret comradery where Crocodile every now and then goes and drops off some money to Dragon to help fund the Army, nobody on either side of the war any wiser (except maybe Iva-chan, they're allowed to be in on the secret, as a treat). It's their secret that they keep for years
Time passes
Whoopsie poopsie Crocodile's prégónánté
The two realize that their kid is going to be in so much danger for a pletora of reasons and that neither can raise the baby. Dragon knows his father would keep their baby safe and they both agree to leaving the child to him (not a happy decision, it's just for the best, for everyone's sake)
Anyway Crocodile's gender dysphoria goes into turbo mode during pregnancy. Maybe he never really realized it was there and/or what it was, but boy howdy, it's there now and it's really really bad. Like, if it wasn't for the baby he might just kill himself (and god knows once the kid is out and taken away, there's not going to be anything to stop him from doing just that)
Crocodile must've gone into hiding during the latter half of his pregnancy to keep it a secret from the Government, and I could totally imagine him being hellbent on being completely isolated. He is a Shichibukai, everybody knows him, he can't risk having even some random doctor recognize him and find out about the baby. Besides, it's not like he can do much while hiding anyways, like he might as well read 150 medical books to ensure he can deliver his baby by himself
(Sidenote but the narrator in OP has called Fuusha Village Luffy's "birth place" (think the term he used was "umereta machi", lit. "town he was born in"), and if that's true, then. Croc should've been hiding in and/or near Fuusha Village in Goa Kingdom. Additional sidenote, there are wild crocodiles in Goa, which are the Sir's favorite food.)
To avoid suspicion and the risk of being found out, Dragon might've agreed to not go see Crocodile during this time, only agreeing to see his significant other after the child was born so he could then deliver the baby to Garp (after not just leaving the Marines but also starting a fucking revolutionary army, the dude probably didn't want his father to find out he had been dating a fucking WARLORD)
But surely he'd think Crocodile was insane if he thought he'd let Crocodile deliver the baby alone. Like no, somebody needs to be there by his side. Someone Dragon could trust, a fellow Revolutionary perhaps. Oh yeah, just send Ivankov, what could possibly go wrong
(Personal headcanon but since we don't know when Ivankov got their Fruit, I kind of want to imagine they ate it just a short time ago at this point and that they hadn't fully realized the potential of the Hormone Fruit yet. Like their genderfluid ass may not have understood the power they now held)
Iva-chan did not know Croc was prénánté, whether Dragon told Ivankov ahead of time why they were being sent to check on Croc is up or debate (if Iva-chan was aware of Croc being their Secret Sugar Daddy though then I'm sure they understood why Dragon wanted and was willing to help out Crocodile in this situation). Croc and/or Dragon probably lied through their teeth about the father of the child if Iva-chan ever asked about it, and whatever Iva-chan was told they clearly bought it since they never knew about Dragon having a kid.
When Iva gets there though they can see right away that something is fucking wrong with Crocodile, in ways even he can't understand. He is so uncomfortable 24/7 for seemingly no reason. So naturally Iva-chan pokes and prods at the dumbass until Croc has a break down and explains his weird feelings he can't even word properly and this is how Emporio Ivankov discovered transgenderism
What's that? You don't like what pregnancy has done to your body, doesn't feel like it's yours anymore? You feel love for your child but don't want to be its mother? Good news, you can be its father instead. Bad news, gotta wait until the baby is farted out. Aren't sure about it? No worries, there's time to think about it, and shit's 100% reversible anyways. Just hang in there for a little bit longer, you may feel god awful rn but that too shall pass
(Maybe this is how Iva-chan starts calling Crocodile "Crocoboy", just to get him to warm up to the idea that he could be(come) a man, get used to it etc)
Crocodile has an identity crisis of a lifetime. Like either he knew since he was a small child that something was fucky wucky, or he never realized it until now, either way, he must not have even been aware of the idea that he could trans his gender (which would make sense if Ivankov only recently got their Fruit just sayin'). So yeah. Enjoy that gender crisis, dumbass
Like he straight up just goes through the five stages of grief before he's like "god dammit if it'll make me feel less like I'll kill myself then it's worth a shot, don't care what Dragon ends up thinking"
At some point Croc must've contacted Dragon at least one final time just so they can agree on when and where they'll meet to hand over the baby once it's born (if Croc doesn't die at child birth. I mean they both know he'll be fine, Croc's survived worse. But if something did happen, Iva-chan will take care of the baby until Dragon arrives)
This is One Piece. Luffy was born at dawn.
Crocodile probably insists on getting the T literally immidiately after the baby is out. If he doesn't just pass out immidiately after giving birth. But like within 24 hours of giving birth. Iva-chan is probably like "Crocoboy you're exhausted, chill, your cooch needs to recover" and he's just like "why wait for it to recover when you're going to get rid of it, just do it"
(Iva-chan probably goes and gets Croc some emergency clothes and like bottles and baby food etc because god knows he's going to burst out of his old clothes and he ain't gonna have the tiddies to breastfeed that baby either)
Anyway he gets the rones and gets to enjoy gender euphoria for the first time in his life. Happy times, happy tears, a happy croc
Dude probably nearly shits himself when he tries to speak as he is now voiced by Ryuuzaburo Fucking Ootomo (even Iva-chan is like "HOLY SHIT your voice dropped") (like they probably agressively try to encourage Crocodile to speak more and let them hear that voice and Croc is like "ssssshhhhhhhhh stop yelling you'll wake up the baby!!")
Anyway he finally gets to fucking rest and relax and enjoy the sheer relief of not just being free of his dysphoria but also his baby boy being born and looking all healthy and happy. A happy dad
(If Crocodile was the first person Iva-chan helped transition, and under these circumstances specifically. I think seeing the guy and his sheer relief would give like Iva-chan a new mission in life. To help people like Croc)
(Ivankov: "It's like a great weight has been lifted off your chest... GET IT, 'CAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE TITS ANYMORE! HEEHAW!!" / 🐊: "If you wake up the baby I will skewer you")
Anyway if the Rev Army member stays with Crocodile for too long there's a risk of them getting found out and that'd be bad, so Iva-chan needs to GTFO (they have better things to do, like overthrow some governments and stuff). Also Crocodile needs to prepare because he can't have the Government wondering where the fuck he's been all these months much longer (god knows explaining his sudden manliness is going to be enough to deal with) and the kid needs to go into hiding. If Iva-chan asks where the child is going, Croc probably won't give a straight answer, just that there's a plan and he needs Ivankov to keep the baby a secret etc (perhaps that could be the blackmail Iva-chan brought up in Impel Down 🤔)
Crocodile gets to spend a little time with his baby boy (before and/or after Iva-chan leaves). Crocodiles (the animals) look after their babies for three months before they're on their own, so at most he stayed with his baby for three months, though I'd argue just 3 weeks, simply because that'd a painfully short amount of time that's just perfect for tragic storytelling
Perhaps that was the happiest time of Croc's life. No stupid Government to deal with, no pirates to fight, no villages to pillage. Just him and his beautiful baby boy. Not even the knowledge of knowing he'd have to say goodbye to his son forever would get in the way of his happiness at that moment.
(Did he ever think about what to name the child? Maybe Dragon had wanted Crocodile to name their child and Crocodile was supposed to think of something while expecting, before the baby was born. Or maybe, knowing he would never see that child again (until the Government blows up) he could not bring himself to think of a name. It'd be Dragon's father who'd look after the baby anyways, Dragon should name him)
Dragon comes. Either exactly at the agreed upon time, or perhaps a day early (dude was too excited and wanted to be with his wife and child, together as a family, even if it was for a day). Whenever he arrives;
See the chart earlier in the post
However things go down, Dragon and Crocodile go their separate ways. Crocodile leaves the island immidiately.
Well. I certainly became absolutely deranged writing this.
HOPE YOU FOUND THAT ENTERTAINING
#Moon posting#OP Meta#Asks#Sir Crocodile#Crocodad#You gotta go down the post for a surprise :)#Look. I just like the idea that Ivankov helped deliver Luffy and has no fucking idea#They find out and have a fucking breakdown because THAT'S THE SWEET LITTLE BABY BOY THEY HELPED DELIVER. HE'S GROWN UP SO FAST
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Let’s break this baby down symbolically
Originally this post was longer but my draft didn’t save so I’m doing a quick notes version; if you want more thoughts or have a clarification question please feel free to drop them in my inbox, but hopefully everything will still carry across
Light and dark motif with Callum unintentionally / unknowingly getting close to the darkness, with Ezran and Rayla more in the light. The surface world does not seem to be particularly stormy, more so bright and happy, which is a departure from the previous promo art(s) really highlighting the storm, and how often storms in TDP foretell transformation and disaster (1x01, 2x04, 2x05, 2x07, 2x08, 3x01 when Ez comes home, 4x01, 4x04 before Aaravos possesses Callum at dawn, etc).
The light-dark duality mirrors Callum’s worries of “What if I’m on a path of darkness” due to its associations with Aaravos: “In darkness, gaze upon a Fallen Star” and “already tainted with darkness, ad destined to play right into my hands.”
Darkness = dark magic; octopus tentacles have associations with dark magic (Claudia) specifically being used to drag people down (the boys) or catch them (Viren) in terms of control; dark magic / octopus tentacles = control. Control is attached to Aaravos
This is doubly true with associations of water and destiny (“Life is like a river - don’t try to control where the river goes”). If you’re interested in more thoughts on that, check out this meta
Callum perhaps being lured in with curiosity or magical impulse, only to realize he’s in way over his head / being dragged down by something he can’t escape (tentacles having similarities to puppet strings) and/or mirroring his dark magic dreams from 2x08
Ezran being closer makes sense, as he is emotionally closer and currently more reliable to Callum than Rayla has been due to their separation.
It’s also a nice parallel to Ezran saving Zym (another brother / soulmate) under the ice as well as Rayla and Callum then working to save him, as well, with now Rayla and Ezran working together to save Callum, especially since Ezran almost drowned and Rayla has a specific fear of drowning/water.
In the S1 novelization, Ezran states that his mother’s spirit helped guide him through the darkness to find the glowing (light) egg of the Dragon Prince. Given that Sarai also helped guide Callum towards the Sky arcanum, Ezran possibly carrying / embodying his mother’s spirit while saving his brother would be really beautiful.
As stated, Rayla being further away makes sense, but it does align her further with the light, and I do think her reaching for Callum (as opposed to a more generic swim pose) is purposeful due to Rayllum (and the show’s) consistent reaching motif.
Rayla’s fear of water isn’t literally about the water (after all, she saved Bait 1.5 days in when she and the glow toad had an immense mutual dislike of each other) but what it represents: shame, self-reflection, fear, guilt, trauma. Rayla left in TTM because she didn’t know how to love Callum and be scared to lose him at the same time in a healthier manner, leading her to majorly hurt both of them. Her swimming through the water could symbolize 1) helping to save Callum (per other foreshadowing as well) in addition to 2) her beginning to learn how to deal with that fear in a healthier way that also lets her stay and be/do what she wants to do.
And as always, the foreshadowing that Aaravos’ specific prison (darkness, dark magic, tentacles, ocean, etc) is underwater and it will be found / we’ll get some answers about the cube in S5:
#water motif#tdp#tdp spoilers#s5 spoilers#brotp: we're in this together#broyals#rayllum#if there is longing on the mirror of my heart#light and darkness motif#the dragon prince#s5#analysis series#analysis#arc 2#promo art#official art#two pillars
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Hi, Tamelee❤, I absolutely adore your art and your analysis.
Do you think Kakashi's choice of words regarding Sakura's feelings towards Sasuke "She's hurting from loving you" is a forshadowing? Is there any chance that both Sasuke and Naruto are fully aware that Naruto's "I hurt whenever you hurt" is a shonen-appropriate version of ILY? And in general,to which extent do you think Naruto is aware about the nature of his feelings for Sasuke post-vote2?
Hi @lilasskickergrimes !! thankyou so much! 💕 I apologize for this being so late. This post went into a different direction at first and then it was sitting in my drafts for a long time >.< sorry!! Hope you're doing well 🥹
__
Very long post, 🍵
Was Kakashi’s “she’s hurting from loving you” about Sakura to Sasuke basically Kishimoto telling the reader that if hurting because of the other person means they love them, then that is the same for Naruto and Sasuke? Since they hurt for each other, do they then love each other too? I mean, in a way, Kakashi's words can be used as another clue. It came up before and with other characters too (Sai), but I believe with anything- context matters.
Oh, Sakura was hurting alright, but why was she hurt?
Why was Sasuke? Or Naruto?
Kishimoto often uses parallels, but I feel like some don’t realize that a parallel doesn’t mean something is the same thing. That’s why storytellers use alternate timelines or universes to explain a parallel, but it is in the name, right? “Alternate”. They go in the same direction and are similar in nature but never touch. A comparison of sorts. That’s why it always matters why a parallel is linked to the alternate element and why it never touches- thus is different.
So, Kishimoto has shown what he values in romantic relationships for which he writes before. Like Dan/Tsunade, Minato/Kushina or even in earlier works like ‘Mario’. He always was able to convey a romantic relationship well if he chose to do so and if it was his intention. The same sorta clues are shown in earlier chapters where Naruto projects onto Sakura as she explains why she likes Sasuke and then he says that he understands her (pain) very well. A shonen-appropriate version (in your words) of “I completely understand how you feel Sakura, because if that's what it means, then I like Sasuke too and I feel the same way”. It is enhanced in the way he visualizes his art and message that Sakura is used as a tool (red herring) in order to mislead and yet have enough surface-level ammunition against criticism to make it seem like its otherwise. Unfortunately, those were the circumstances, but we wouldn’t have the story we do now if it weren’t for this..
However, Sakura hurting for “loving” Sasuke is not the same as Naruto and Sasuke hurting for the other. Kakashi even literally said that Sakura was hurting because she wanted to save Sasuke and she wanted him by his side.
Which means, Sakura is hurting because of selfish reasons. (Kishimoto’s words.) It is always about her and her wishes or what she thinks is best for another character without bothering to understand them first. (Note Naruto's expression as well.)
Sakura can’t hurt because of Sasuke.
Sasuke, apart from him and Sakura being teammates, never bothered with her and legitimately during the War couldn’t give a f- whether she lived or died. He didn’t have a personal bond with her, she was just part of team 7 and one he broke off the same way as everyone else excluding Naruto. She was never special nor precious as an individual. He reacted only to her intention of wanting to stab him in the back after she lied and had to knock her annoying ass out twice so she would stop following him because she selfishly thinks for some reason she’s more important to Sasuke, Naruto or even her team and the Shinobi world in general than she really is. But that is part of her character arc. Wanting to be included and then go beyond that so people will look at her back as she is insecure about the contrast between herself and Naruto/Sasuke, not just in terms of ability, but also the strength of their bond as said right before VotE2 where she points out what she lacks compared to Naruto. That she isn’t on equal terms in regard to Sasuke. Where she stops believing in both Naruto and Sasuke which she said she would after the bridge-scene, but then, yet again tries to interfere...
I mean... I have to give it to her, Sakura also does not give up when it comes to this.
That’s why Sakura fans, the very hardcore ones, that see Sasuke as some price that only belongs to her, blame him for her pain. They favor Sakura and her selfish wish and want Sasuke to repent and live a life full of guilt and regret for all he’s done to her. For all the pain he has caused their favorite character even though that’s totally unbefitting to all that happened. Which is kind of why that scene with Kakashi is mostly criticized because he sounds like an irrational fan. (I don’t believe that’s exactly why that was put there, but alas.) Her pain is her own. And as much as people dislike Kakashi defending her, I understand why Kishimoto put it there, especially amidst all the contrast and especially because it was placed right before VotE2 and it continued with a talk about love/hate with the Hermit. What usually is the ending of a story, is where Naruto and Sasuke’s journey still only begins... really.. considering the entire Shinobi world and what they were supposed to do :/
Sakura doesn’t know or understand anything about Sasuke that’s why she also can’t hurt for him.
She didn’t even try. And when Sakura did pick up on things here and there, she never bothered questioning those words like Naruto did and just went with the general narrative that Sasuke is a mindless criminal or that he’s changed for the worst. Therefore she stopped believing in him, his intentions and abandoned this version of Sasuke she didn’t like. She even had the time during the time-skip to do some research (as she did) as she had access to Tsunade’s notes, yet never, ever, once bothered to learn more about Sasuke to see if she could understand him. She only learned that Itachi is the one he wants to kill which was used as a moment to show that “she was going to do this whole thing with Naruto together” (and then failed multiple times). Like??
And also thought then it was okay to deliver Naruto to Akatsuki knowing he was a target if it meant “getting close to Sasuke-kun”.
Tbf, Naruto deliberately kept her in the dark about certain information and didn’t want to wait for her, hence his reactions when he finds out Sakura knows a few details too. Even later when Sakura asks him when Akatsuki started targeting him, he’s not fully honest.
When Sai later says that Naruto is also hurting because of Sakura, (for a different post) there is some truth to that as part of Naruto’s fear is letting people down.
That was the pain of the promise. It had nothing to do with Naruto wanting to keep it for her sake.
Sakura reacted very fake while ignoring Naruto completely who was bandaged all over, when she visited him after VotE1 to hear about Sasuke. Not a "hey Naruto how are you doing?" was heard or anything, but guilt tripping him in regards to the promise making even Shikamaru angry because he understood the hell Naruto went through.
Naruto didn’t take that well as you can see throughout the story. Maybe it looked that way at the moment because he’s somewhat of a people pleaser and hides his emotions well and he reacted with that Naruto-confidence, but it certainly did damage to their.... uh, friendship? Camaraderie? But that’s a different pain, yes? It stems from Naruto’s own character which made her treatment towards him worse just like Sakura’s insecurities and fantasies about romance aren’t Sasuke’s fault. At all. But because of it, they do clash, sometimes more subtle than other times.
I guess it was okay to Naruto as long as she could keep up. In times where she did, sorta help. But Sakura didn’t keep up, made her own resolve to get rid off the thing in her life that hurt her because she couldn’t stand seeing it, therefore tried to kill Sasuke and didn’t bother to understand, question or rely again on Naruto because she thought for some reason she was important enough to get through to him. Or rather lie to him as she did with Naruto. She failed what? 4?? 5??? times? Embarrassing. It just hurt her too much to not see that ideal image of Sasuke. That’s not love.
All those misconceptions that she holds hurt her too because it doesn’t reflect that ideal image she has of herself or Sasuke because her fantasy romance doesn’t exist. Not even Jun Esaka, her number one fan, can make it believable. Not even the sequel shows how rewarded Sakura was because even if "she got Sasuke", she never got his heart. She never received that love from him, but she can fake it.
Her ideal Sasuke is the one that stays by her side because otherwise she’d “just be as lonely as Sasuke was after the genocide of his family/clan” 👀 even though she made fun of orphans and then was willing to throw away her own friends and family even after Sasuke defended Naruto, all for this fantasy. She’d be willing to make light of Sasuke’s trauma by not giving a shit about her bonds as long as she would be together with him. It is the Sasuke she hopes that admits thinks of her in his heart as she preached about before VotE2, one she hopes she can be relevant enough to save even though she was never able to reach him. She didn’t go through some character assassination, it was always like this. The contrast was deliberate. Naruto said to her and Kakashi that after Pain’s attack, he understood why his words during VotE1 didn’t reach Sasuke. That’s because Naruto went through growth and development. Sakura never cared to find out and her plea is completely irrelevant and focussed on herself. And watch this!! We have a cover of Chapter 231 “a special power” with Naruto where the side text says:
“I won’t look away. I won’t give up. I am fighting for you.”
Which is about Sasuke as this is a Chapter during VotE1.. and then the very next Chapter is Sakura with these words:
“Straight ahead. I think. I wish. I believe. I am.”
Naruto faces what's coming but Sakura is stuck in this me-me-me fantasy. Come on!!!! If anyone doesn’t think any of Kishimoto’s author-narration is deliberate either then I dunno man. This is back-to-back contrast. All the other covers around them look different. There is a lot more of this but the point is, Sakura’s always been the same. Her pain is based on lies for which people blame Kishimoto it to be bad writing even though this is just her character. And that’s not me hating on Sakura, that’s just what it is. If anyone’s going to blame something, blame her lack of development, but that’s not always bad writing if it was a choice that Kishimoto made with a purpose... her selfish love was contrasting to Naruto for a reason. I hope the day exist where people can accept at least that.
It is okay to not like how an author portrayed a character, but don’t blame it on something else when it is a consistent thing, lol. She constantly wants to try and prove herself in a way that would make Naruto and Sasuke (even Tsunade by making fun of her age or her oh-so-dear-friend-Ino that she ditched) less, by putting them down or wanting them to look at her back out of insecurity. She wants to keep up, yet portrays herself as better- ...then fails. Badly. So of course, Sakura is hurt. But no one is to blame but herself and its completely based on her own persistence to be relevant.
___
Sasuke and Naruto share a history of similar pain even though they’re very different, opposites even.
Before that, Sasuke yells at Naruto that he doesn’t understand what it means to lose bonds with the people who are precious to you. And that is true.
But Naruto is scared, confused and about to lose Sasuke. As well as losing Sasuke to Orochimaru whom Naruto very much knows that he wants Sasuke’s body only (as he learned during his fight with Kimimaro too). And Sasuke, to Naruto is a precious bond as established in LoW who also just admitted that Naruto is his closest friend! Not only have they shared secret smiles before they even talked to each other, but Sasuke already sacrificed his own goals twice for Naruto and his body moved on its own to protect him and cushion his falls. Sasuke showed his vulnerable self (what he calls a weakness) to Naruto by showing he cared more about him than his own life. Hence them being so awkward with each other after LoW. Next to Iruka it is the first bond he’s ever had and it’s more than just a bond. Of course he fights so f- hard and would not give up even he didn't quite understand what it meant. Sasuke understands what Naruto means here though as his third tomoe awakens at the thought of breaking that bond with Naruto. Because it hurts.
Kishimoto spends 8(!!!!!!!!!!) pages visualizing how much Sasuke is in pain because of this and then some more. I want everyone to know how absolute insane that is. Not panels, PAGES.
Then, in order to avoid breaking that bond "on a whim" (okay Sasuke), Sasuke sets a resolve to gain power his own way by sacrificing years of his life to go to a man that only wants him for his body because of the resentment towards his brother, but mainly because he couldn’t kill Naruto. And the only way you can do something like going to Orochimaru willingly, knowing what his intentions are even if you’re afraid... is the Shinobi way, to kill your emotions as much as possible (at least not show them which is different, yay to subtext), but when it came to Naruto... Sasuke couldn’t get rid of his emotions and feelings. The only way to break off that bond, his past completely was by getting rid of all of Naruto. All he had left was Naruto. (Sakura who?) And no matter what he said afterwards, his actions speak louder than words. Throughout the story, despite his front, Sasuke is in a lot of pain.
Naruto spends majority of part 2, ‘pining for Sasuke’, which hehe yes, but it’s way more than that, right?
Naruto fought tooth and nail to hold onto his bond with Sasuke and when he was fed information about Sasuke having changed and him just being a mindless criminal, he fought against that too. He constantly questioned whether things were true and didn’t just blindly trusted the people that told them things as Naruto rightfully already doesn’t trust people that well, but despite his limited view, he trusted Sasuke. He never once abandoned him regardless of anything. No matter what he heard or saw, he knew what he felt and he knew that Sasuke would be able to look in his heart (bumping fists through fighting) where his resolve lied which completely contrasts Sakura’s. Naruto wanted to bear Sasuke’s burden together and if it came to it, die. To not be Jinchuriki or Uchiha, to not be pained with the burdens or see Sasuke hurt by them because of it..
Helloooooo~~~
Pain is a large chunk of that understanding between them that ultimately mutually happens as Sasuke says:
.. that they’ll now be able to share the pain in each other’s hearts. Among many other things. That not only did they look inside each other’s hearts, they accepted it all. That Sasuke too will open up to Naruto’s pain, that he accepted him fully, including their shared feelings. And with that, hope and dreams. Naruto and Sasuke in this kind of future where they are Ninja and peace is not certain, will most likely stumble upon conflict but then willingly hurt for the other as they share their burdens since they are able to live and work towards a future they both wished for in a way that doesn’t include self-sacrifice or people-pleasing. That was part of the promise of this chapter....
Naruto and Sasuke.
Not Sakura who decided on her own while lying to everyone to bear the Shinobi burden to kill the one she thinks she loves but doesn't believe in and painted as a changed-for-the-worst criminal because it is too painful for her. Then got brushed off with a brotherly forehead-poke. Wtf. Like actually? Lmao.
"And in general,to which extent do you think Naruto is aware about the nature of his feelings for Sasuke post-vote2?"
Naruto is very aware of his own feelings and it is for sure love. But what else can you say about it with an open-end (699) like that? I'm genuinely not sure but I feel like any more than what we got would've been perfect for a blank period story 🥲
#asktamelee#naruto talk#sns#long post#not for... dedicated sakura fans lets say#I hurt when you hurt#lilasskickergrimes
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hi hello i’m just dropping in to say i’ve had your leg theory jeans post saved in my drafts for like 6 months bc i love them sooo much and i’ve wanted something similar since i saw them. would it bother u if i were to make leg theory pants of my own? thanks & hope ur having a good day :+)
hi!! the timing of this ask is really funny because i actually made a second pair of leg theory jeans literally yesterday. anyway. it wouldn’t bother me at all and also you can do whatever you want forever :-)
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Why Izuocha works and how it fits the BNHA main theme - An analysis
As said before, I will stop posting Izuocha, I have seen one too many homophobic insult and one too many hateful anti bkdk posts. I wrote this draft before my decision, and the idea of finishing it makes me nauseous. Still, it is almost complete, so here you are, my last Izuocha post.
It will have manga spoilers
WHY IZUOCHA WORKS - THE MAIN THEMES OF BNHA
I wrote this thinking of old shounen I watched, from Dragon Ball to Slam Dunk, Saint Seiya, Naruto and many others. In some cases, we have canon ships, or romances, in some others we don't. In most cases, some female characters are usually relegated to the category of romantic interest and there they end up kind of trapped - mainly in the sense that most of the interactions they have with the protagonist are about that specific romance.
In my opinion, Uraraka almost falls into the trope, before jumping out of it. A change of mind from Hori? Or maybe he wanted to write her like this since the beginning, given that he loves avoiding tropes.
Friendship and OFA
The main theme of BNHA, or one of the main ones, is friendship. For Deku, in particular, friendship comes as something precious and scarce. Uraraka falls right in the center of this theme. While Izuku has old friends (Bakugou) and new friends (Iida, Todoroki etc.), Uraraka remains the first person who positively accepts his friendship.
Even Iida and Todoroki are initially hostile to Deku, given that they work in a very competitive environment. Uraraka, instead, is the first one who gives a hand without expecting nothing in exchange and without distrust.
More importantly, she is also placed front and central in one of the main weakness that Deku has: his relationship with his new power, AFO. All Might sees Deku as a hero, once Deku saves Bakugou, but he is the only one. Bakugou himself, after being saved, doesn't really care for Deku's heroic ability. Iida distrusts him, the teachers seem harsh- Uraraka is the first person after All Might who truly believes Deku can be a hero.
And by first (well, second) person I mean in the whole world. Deku saves her at the entrance exam and she believes in him so much that she tries to convince the teacher to let them in the school.
This reciprocal support and friendship can be seen numerous times, for example during the tournament when Uraraka is the one who lifts Deku's spirit at the cavalrly battle, but also is represented by the parallel between Uraraka's speech and Deku's entrance to the school.
Where Bakugou was Deku´s first save on the path to be a hero, Uraraka is literally the gate to the path to becoming a hero, the UA school.
This is not just Uraraka helping a friend, but it is also her making sure that Deku knows she still see him as a hero and that he is still considered a hero. Similar to what she obtained (for him) when she fought for his admission. Horikoshi does love his parallelisms!
Admiration - Inspiration - Imitation
Another main theme in BNHA is the theme of admiration and ispiration. Uraraka is the character who gets the most development out of the ship. Canon crush, in this case, is one of the ways Horikoshi fits another puzzle into his big collection of "admiration" that BNHA revolves around. Starting from the tournament, we have Uraraka admiring Deku's spirit. Of course she wants to be a hero, but we see the difference in seriousness between Deku and her (especially during their first test with AM). So it is at the tournament where we see that Uraraka admires Deku's spirit because he is "always looking ahead to the next challenge".
Deku inspires Uraraka.
This is a central theme in BNHA. It can be found in many other relationships. We see it, of course, with Deku and AM, we see it with Deku admiring Bakugou and Bakugou being inspired by Deku into being a better hero, with Todoroki inspiring Momo by letting her know how much he trusts her, in Bakugou inspiring Kirishima and his unbreakable, etc.
And of course, as said before, the big inspiration being All Might for Deku, Todoroki and Bakugou, all three the only non villain characters to have an "origin" chapter around them WATCHING All Might and the way All Might inspired them. That is why those three are the mains characters who can also inspire others.
In BNHA, we have almost a net that goes from character to character, to inspire everyone. Starting with All Might, and Deku, but also Bakugou and Todoroki, the whole class and more ends up being touched by AM's (and Deku's) idea of being a hero. Here is a little representation of it. For example: Bakugou inspiring Kirishima, and Mina and Kirishima inspiring each others. Deku inspiring Ojiro and Todoroki, Todoroki inspiring Momo etc.
Uraraka is also one of the few relationships where the inspiration is reciprocal. In my opinion it only happens for Uraraka-Deku, Kirishima-Mina, Bakugou-Deku, Mirio-Deku, Tetsutetsu-Kirishima, Jirou-Kaminari.
In the case of Uraraka and Deku, Uraraka can inspire confidence in Deku, and Deku inspires motivation in Uraraka. Of course, the fact that Uraraka's new meaning for the name "Deku" is someone who can do things is the literal explicit representation of her influence over Deku.
Now, these relationships of inspirations all lead to different journeys. For Todoroki it is a journey of self acceptance and acceptance of his family, for Bakugou it is a matter of becoming a better person and a better hero... etc.
In general, these journeys often pass through the theme of imitation.
The biggest one being Deku so blinded by his love for AM that his imitation leads him to... not realize he can use OFA with his legs. Imitation is also pretty common among most characters too. We have Mina who "copies" (affectionately) Kirishima's unbreakable in a new move of hers, we have Deku using Bakugou's anger (copying it) against the villains and then copying his moves, we have Todoroki using a version of Endeavor's move, Deku using his legs like Iida etc.
The obvious one, in the case of Uraraka, is the way she adapts her costume. As for some of the other cases, this imitation is not just practical but comes from her character's evolution.
She initially wants to see people smile, be able to see them happy and she knows heroes can do that. Having a good job could also help her parents and bring a smile to their faces. She starts a bit hesitant, but being inspired by Deku she decides to copy his determination (I believe the reason she wants to be stronger after the tournament is also that). She sees how he saves people, she also herself fails to save people, going through the same hero journey Deku went through (ex. Deku failed to save Bakugou at Kamino).
Hiding her feelings, putting them aside, is just part of this journey. Because in BNHA affection, love, care, often revolves around inspiration/admiration/imitation, we have Uraraka being fit in here with her crush just like a puzzle piece. I'll come back to it in the last part, about Toga, but for now I want to add that the similar path is actually interesting because Deku and Uraraka are then apart for a big chunk of the manga.
And yet they both reach the same conclusion, going from taking hero work seriously, to wanting to save, to move before she can think, Uraraka also arrives at her need to save villains, at being able to see villains as people. This is something that only her and Deku share.
2. Toga
Toga is not there to take Uraraka away from the crush or to be a random villain, and she is definitely not a way to show Uraraka that her crush is unhealthy - the opposite.
Uraraka is not controlled by her feelings. She was able to put them aside, for now, because they were distracting her. And this is part of her wanting to be at least a little bit like Deku, able to focus on the job because the job is important, it is saving lives. I think it is also important to remember that Uraraka doesn't put away her feelings randomly, but she does so during saving-training to get her license.
Toga instead is absolutely controlled by her feelings. She obsesses about them, about her crush for Deku and Uraraka, so much that he hinders her job. She cares little for it, she sneaks out and changes into Uraraka to be able to see Deku, then se uses Deku's blood just to be able to trick Uraraka
Toga wants to be like her crush, in everything, it is possessing them and being them. Uraraka's desire to be more like Deku is still her having her own personality. She is insipired by Deku, she wants to be like him, but when it comes to it... she wants to save people because of her own understanding and experiences, she wants to save villains because of what she is and what happened to her.
Other parallel qualities are the way Toga's crush comes from intuition, one look and she decides Deku is her love (simply because of how he looked similar to someone else), one look and she sees that Uraraka is like her, so she loves her too. Instead, Uraraka's crush comes with time, she actually needs someone external (Aoyama and Mina) to aknoweldge it before she realizes, it also comes from understanding, from understanding Deku's spirit and his motivations... so much that this understanding leads both her and Deku through parallel roads: the need to save heroes.
And when the time comes to confess, Toga is quick to discard her feeling at the first flaws (well, flaws for her). Uraraka instead doesn't let go. Deku's biggest flaw (also said by Bakugou) is that he is selfless, to a fault, so much that he thinks he can do everything if he only pushes through. When encountering this flaw (when Deku leaves the school), Uraraka is the one who is shown by Hori both reading his letter and deciding to find a way to get Deku back. And she follows him, with the class, until he is back and safe.
As said, her love is not as flimsy as Toga`s feelings. But she is also not a copy of Deku, she has understanding of her feelings, of what Toga might be feeling herself, because of her journey, and maybe that is how she could save Toga.
To conclude, I just wanted to show that Uraraka's crush is not just another "shounen crush/romance". It is there because it is Uraraka's piece in the whole mix up of admiration/imitation theme of BNHA. It fits both in the story, and within the rest of the characters. Even if she has less screen time, she is still an important part of the narrative, not only that, but her love/crush is an important part of it.
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Talking to quite literally no one on here with the exception of like one person is not gonna get you the interaction you deserve on your fics and blog… just saying. Not trying to be mean, I just want to let you know that it’s a give and take on tumblr……..you can post just for you and that’s cool and fine, but building a community of mutuals or interacting with other writers wil help in the Long run
I am not good at socially interacting with other people, I am autistic. I reblog things I am interested in and support my mutuals, but I am also not very active here! I interact with others better on discord! I do not like answering personal messages because one on one conversation can be difficult and awkward for me unless I REALLY click with the person, and even then I only have so much social battery.
I don’t read a lot of fanfiction these days because there’s not a lot of content of what I LIKE available on tumblr. When I see it, I reblog it, follow the author, and make sure to leave nice comments.
I do not expect or want others to be social with me, like messaging me. Joining my discord and talking to me is the extent of what I want, but messages on here give me anxiety and I struggle to answer them. That’s why I answer asks and not messages.
Idk, for someone that’s only on tumblr to write(yes I write using tumblr drafts save me) and struggles to interact with others, I think I do okay. I will never be able to do things the same ways neurotypicals do, or even some other autistic people do.
And also… I don’t get a lot of people that want to be mutuals with me, or even interact with their own mutuals! I’ve posted saying I’d like to support the d reader/hxh x reader community by following/reblogging content by adult writers, and I didn’t get many people that I could follow(didn’t have an age on their account or wrote content that personally triggers me/I’m not interested in). Again social interaction is hard and I don’t want to ask people to be mutuals and I struggle to organically be good at making friends. Currently I only have a handful of people I consider friends, and only ONE of those people are someone I know IRL. I have ONE. ONE IRL friend.
I just vomit my thoughts onto this account pretty much! I’d like to make a few friends that have similar interests, but I’m not too stressed about it most days. Again I’d much rather use discord to interact with people. I’m not sure how you want me to interact with people? Reblog their posts? Publicly talk to them through reblogs or asks? 😭??
But anyways join my discord, we have a channel where you can share your fanfiction so people can see it and I can reblog it
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Dusting off the cobwebs from this draft because watching the Leithian rock opera today has brought this to the forefront of my mind again.
This is sort of related to this post, but I actually love sheltered princess Luthien a lot. Not naive, and definitely not spoiled, but in a similar position as the elves of Aman - aware that evil exists, aware of the memory and the threat of it, but blissfully free from any first-hand knowledge
The reason for that is that she and Beren would be on opposite journeys that would meet in the middle
Luthien is losing her innocence, experiencing horror and pain and cruelty for the first time. And as she does that, she comes to understand her own strength, and how she takes after her mother and can be a protector herself. Her first challenge is simply to run away from home, and then that becomes fleeing kidnappers, and then rescuing Beren from increasingly dangerous situations culminating in saving him from death itself. If Luthien starts out not knowing what she's capable of, this is such a classic Hero's Journey kind of story, which female characters in Tolkien, interesting as they might be, rarely get to explicitly go through. (Side note: "Sheltered hero, partially guided by Fate, overcomes escalating challenges and comes back home changed, before moving elsewhere to live happily ever after" is literally Bilbo's storyline.)
And then Beren, the flipside of that. So much of epic literature has men having to prove they're good enough as protectors, and that's literally the premise of Thingol's challenge to Beren. And you'd think, if anyone can prove their worth as a brave hero, it's Beren. Except, no. That's not his arc. Beren, whose entire life has been a nightmare, who has known nothing but horror and pain and cruelty all his life, who can fend off for himself because if he doesn't he's dead - that Beren - has an arc where what the narrative expects him to do is... trust the power of love, and believe sometimes good things happen to good people. Literally. Which cannot be easy! He repeatedly tries to get Luthien to let him handle everything, because that's what he's always done. Reading the story you can watch in real time how he learns to let someone else take care of him for a change. In fact, his ability to simply trust (and hope) increases so much that by the end of it, when Luthien tells him to wait for her goodbye in the Halls of Mandos, he just... does, no questions asked, apparently.
It's such an interesting dynamic, I think, because by the end of it, neither does Luthien join Beren in his life of fighting evil (though she's proved she could do that if she wanted to) nor does Beren seek the safety do Doriath (though I don't think he'd be unhappy there) - they both choose a third path, where they find a place where they have to rely on themselves to survive but seem to be able to find great peace. In a story about two kindreds coming together, that seems very meaningful
Does the text back me up in all of this? Eh. Kinda yes, kinda no. Do parallels make brain go brr so I like to have the whole story be two parallels the break the laws of physics and actually meet? Hell yeah
#i had like 95% of this written#why hadn't i finished it????#adhd is one of the most things of all time
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[Note: I've just learned that when you click on someone's reply to make a new post, it automatically saves it as a draft. This was supposed to have been posted days ago]
@shiro-s2e2-erukinzu replied to your post “10 days left until the Undead Unluck anime I'm...”:
@tokiro07 I was literally gonna bring up a similar thing like @italeteller about Spy X Family. When I joined Tumblr almost 2 years ago because of S×F, I was able to like and comment on all the posts about it, now I can't even keep up with everyone.
I recently read all of UU & became a fan, so I'm excited to have more people apart of the fandom, but I also agree that it can be little sad seeing people who've been there from the start being drowned out by the newcomers...
What's interesting is that this is kind of a new experience for me in a way
When Medaka Box got its anime, it was pretty poorly received, so our close-knit fandom didn't really expand all that much, even though this phenomenon is more or less what we expected
On the opposite end of the spectrum, I found out that Horikoshi Kohei, one of my favorite authors, was going to be getting a new series about superheroes going to school, and I thought "great, no one's going to translate this one and it's going to get canceled before I ever even hear a peep about it..." and literally before I knew it, it had already exploded in popularity, with everyone on my dash at the time talking about it by chapter 12!
When was the last time you heard of a manga becoming explosively popular? The tag was unnavigable looong before the anime was even announced! I didn't even have time to know that there was a fandom before it had become too big for me to keep up with (though that didn't stop me from trying)
Demon Slayer, I didn't care enough about to keep up with the fandom, so while I'm sure there were voices who got drowned out once the anime hit, I wasn't there for it. Same for Jujutsu Kaisen
This could be the first time I'm going to be present for a series I love becoming big, and I'm going to be able to say "I was here from the beginning" in a capacity that doesn't involve me qualifying it with "but I didn't care until X happened." It's a novel experience, and one I'm not entirely sure I'm prepared for
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BioShock/Sinking City/Vampyr - Ultimate Evil AU
I’ve had this one sitting in my drafts for a while now. I was hoping to finish my main story for BioShock/Sinking City/Vampyr first before posting this one, but this is too perfect for Halloween to wait.
In my BioShock/Sinking City/Vampyr multiverse, this is the worst possible world. Here, we’ve got Bad Ending Jack, Worst Ending Delta, Worst Ending Reid, and Abandonment Ending Charles. Of course, the worst ending in Sinking City is Annihilation, but that pretty much destroys the world long before the events of BioShock and BioShock 2 can take place, so here we go!
Subject Delta chose to harvest every Little Sister he came across, destroying not only his soul, but Eleanor’s conscience as well. After forcibly assimilating her father’s ADAM and taking his powers and knowledge for herself, Eleanor leaves in Sinclair’s craft.
Taking inspiration from Sinclair, she then sells Rapture’s technology to the highest bidder, raising much-needed cash. To her surprise, the winner of the auction is none other than Jack Ryan, and he’s not too happy about the amount of money he had to spend in order to maintain his monopoly on Rapturian technology.
In Rapture, Jack Wynand chose to harvest every Little Sister he came across, gaining power at the expense of the innocent and helpless. Tenenbaum took the Little Sisters she had saved and fled Rapture while Jack’s splicers, bribed with Fontaine’s ADAM, aided him in boarding and hijacking an American nuclear submarine.
After making it back to the States, Jack killed the splicers and then began rebuilding Ryan Industries with the money he gained from selling the submarine and its warheads. Jack had embraced both of his “fathers”, Andrew Ryan and Frank Fontaine, taking up the former’s surname and the latter’s ruthlessness and business strategy. Jack Ryan, the secret son of Andrew Ryan, rose to rebuild his father’s company after his untimely death with amazing new technologies, supplementing his income with crime, especially in the production and sale of a horrifying new drug, produced in the bellies of kidnapped little girls.
After the auction, Jack meets with Eleanor, learning that they are both children of Rapture. Eleanor is surprised and happy to learn that Jack is very similar to her; he was her inspiration for escaping Rapture, and he is just as ruthless and power hungry as she is. Seeing the other’s similarities to themselves, and also the potential benefits, Jack decides to mentor Eleanor and nurture her ambition and power.
Through Jack and his connections, Eleanor gains an introduction into the world of high society, business, and politics as his ward, “Eleanor Ryan”. With Eleanor, Jack gains good PR for adopting an orphan, a veritable genius to aid Ryan Industries’ R&D department, an agent to carry out the most dangerous and illegal of criminal assignments, and finally a protege to carry on after him.
And in private, the two of them find...comfort, with each other.
While at university, Eleanor meets a “Johannes Van Der Berg”, who she senses knows far more than he lets on. From him, she begins to learn about things far from the beaten path, old, mystical, and eldritch things. Through him, she learns of an isolated Massachusetts town, cut off from the world since the ‘20s, and of the secrets hidden within.
After piecing together the little puzzles that Van Der Berg gives her to solve, Eleanor learns of the greatest secret of all time - a way to gain ultimate power, to become a literal demigod. It would also involve unleashing a horror beyond comprehension upon the world and destroying Humanity, but that’s of small consequence when becoming a being of untold power.
Eleanor knows that Jack wouldn’t go for it, though. As power hungry as he is, he likes the life he has built well enough and wouldn’t be willing to destroy the world to become a near-god. Being a powerful CEO/crime lord is enough for him, but Eleanor believes in dreaming big, and she’ll need the resources of Ryan Industries to realize her dream. And all she has to do is kill Jack and two other men.
From Johannes, she learns that in order to unleash this “Hidden Daughter”, she needs to become the “Seed” - a person who was chosen to choose whether to awaken the Hidden Daughter or to restart the Cycle. However, the Seed of this Cycle, a man by the name of Charles Reed, chose to walk away. Because of him, there is a zone of unnatural flooding and reports of monsters extending from somewhere in Massachusetts.
In order to become the Seed, Eleanor will need to take the essence of the Seed from him. A man by the name of “Ebernote Blackwood” tried and failed to do so; however, Reed’s decision to walk away has made the forces that chose him willing to allow another to become the Seed. All Eleanor needs are the abilities of an “Ekon”, a vampire, and she will be able to become the Seed herself and finish what Charles refused to do.
Johannes knows of the perfect man-well, Ekon, for the job: Dr. Jonathan Reid, who terrorized the night shortly after the First World War in 1918. A heartless monster, he used his silver tongue and gifts of medicine to keep the citizens of London alive and healthy while he learned their secrets to maximize the purity of their blood for maximum power. Not even his own mother, butler, and best friend were safe from him. After losing his vampiric love, Reid returned to war-torn Europe to take out his rage and thirst on any unfortunate enough to cross his path.
All Eleanor needs is for him to turn her into an Ekon. The good news is that Dr. Reid doesn’t need to be willing; all she needs to do is to take his blood. And with her Big Sister needle, that’ll be as easy as pie should he refuse her.
Jack is the first to go. On the anniversary of the day they met, Eleanor and Jack, her hero, her inspiration, her ward, her mentor, , and her secret lover, have one last roll in the hay. After Jack falls asleep, Eleanor takes out her Big Sister needle and aims to kill Jack with one good jab and take his ADAM too. It turns out Jack wasn’t as deeply asleep as she thought, and the NYC penthouse where they reside becomes the site of their battle. Bullets riddle the walls, fire and electricity burn the furniture, and in the end, Eleanor stands triumphant over Jack’s body, his ADAM and mind joining Delta’s.
With Ryan Industries’ connections in the media, Eleanor is able to pass off Jack’s death as an assassination at the hands of Soviet agents, tears running down her face on live TV. Later, she is completely dry-eyed as she officially inherits Ryan Industries and all its assets, both legal and illegal.
With Ryan Industries’ resources at her fingertips, Eleanor is able to fully devote herself to the search for Dr. Jonathan Reid and Charles Reed. Finding Reed is easy enough; after Boston flooded, he’s stayed one step ahead of the strange events extending outwards from Massachusetts. As he’s useless without the bloodthirst of an Ekon, Eleanor orders her men to keep an eye on Reed, while the search for Dr. Reid continues.
Finally, after some hints from Van Der Berg, Dr. Jonathan Reid is found. Eleanor is able to set up a meeting between herself and the good doctor. Eleanor finds him charming, in the same way that she is charming: All polite words and gestures, with a tension like a coiled snake waiting to strike.
Dr. Reid listens politely to Eleanor as she outlines her offer to him: In exchange for turning her into a vampire, an Ekon, he will gain access to Ryan Industries’ connection with the Human trafficking business - they have to get their little girls for ADAM production from somewhere, after all. He’ll be eating well and easily for as long as Ryan Industries exists.
After giving her offer, Dr. Reid smiles and tells Eleanor that while her offer is generous, he prefers to hunt his prey rather than have it handed to him - and then he grabs at her. Putting his hand to her forehead, he begins to try and override her mind so that he may more easily feed on her. He is surprised when he is resisted and then thrown back - while she may have drained their ADAM against their will and imprisoned their minds within her subconscious, Jack and Delta aren’t going to let some bloodsucker kill their girl.
The fight between Eleanor and Dr. Reid is very different from her fight with Jack; Dr. Reid’s Ekon abilities are a far cry from the powers granted by plasmids and gene tonics, blood and shadow giving him advantages that no splicer could hope to have. Despite these advantages, however, the combination of Eleanor’s original Big Sister powers, Delta’s powers, and Jack’s powers, is more than enough to beat him.
After draining Dr. Reid of every ounce of his blood, Eleanor sets his body alight with Incinerate! She watches as one of the most powerful vampires of the modern age burns to ash before injecting the contents of her Big Sister needle into her veins. The rush is nothing like anything she’s ever experienced before. In fact, the last time she was as close to death was when Sofia Lamb smothered her.
Upon awakening, Eleanor feels like Hell itself. She is beyond thirsty, the only color she can see other than black and white is red from bloodstains, and other than the strange chanting, everything she hears is muted and distant.
Upon leaving the meeting room, a group of silhouettes approach her, each black with a cardiovascular system within. One of them moves to help her from falling, and that’s when she falls upon its neck, bites down, and drinks deeply. A few minutes later, the color comes back to the world and the horrified cries of her bodyguards reach her ears. Standing up from the bloodless body of one of her bodyguards, even as his final thoughts sound through her mind and his memories are archived in her mind, she orders them to have someone remove it.
A few things change. Eleanor can no longer go outside when the sun is out, so she conducts business from the safety of her office and board room with the blinds drawn. She only appears for social events if they take place while the sun is down. She no longer eats, now drinking blood from the poor souls that she orders from the Human traffickers they buy from and faking a lack of appetite during social dinners. With every new victim, her new powers grow and adapt.
She finds her final victim trying to ward off his hallucinations and memories with alcohol in a seedy bar. In his state, it’s easy to overwhelm Charles Reed’s mind and walk him out the door and into an alley. Despite the state of his mind and body, Reed’s blood gives her the most she’s ever had from a meal. The Seed dies in a dirty alleyway, and a new one stands over his cooling corpse, looking down at him as she reviews his memories.
When Charles Reed chose to abandon his destiny and leave Oakmont, he wasn’t alone. He took Joy Hayden with him and tried to build a life with her back in Boston, but the madness stayed with him, prompting him to take up drink to cope. His relationship with Joy soured and she left him, their unborn son going with her. That son, “Jonathan Hayden”, is none other than Johnny Topside, Subject Delta. Without a father in his life to teach him the value of justice, Jonathan Hayden never developed an instinct to protect the innocent, hence his ability to harvest Little Sisters. Eleanor looks down at her “grandfather” one last time before leaving him alone.
The next night, a fully empowered Eleanor Ryan leads Ryan Private Security as they penetrate the security measures set up around the “Massachusetts Quarantine and Disaster Zone”, making for the very center of it. Between her powers and the armaments her men possess, Eleanor has no doubt of accomplishing her mission.
Over the past 50 years, Oakmont has gone ever further into Hell. The floodwater have only deepened and the rain is now a permanent torrential downpour (or a blizzard during the winter). The Wylebeasts haunt the entire city now; few places are safe from them. Those originally trapped in the city are all dead, their surviving descendants now few in number and all members of the various cults that sprang up as social order finally dissolved. In the wake of Charles’ flight from Oakmont, stagnation, decay, and insanity now rule the day.
Eleanor Ryan and Ryan Private Security hit the city like a thunderclap, their boats and helicopters making landfall and complements of troops and drones swarming into the city. The Wylebeasts emerge from their hiding places, ready for a fresh meal, only to be slaughtered in droves by Eleanor’s powers and her men’s bullets. Crazed cultists attack in droves, only for Ryan Private Security Drones to swarm them. A few hapless men fall to the beasts, to the cultists, and to the tentacles that dwell in the water, but Eleanor calls for no retreat.
While her men and drones slaughter the beasts and the cultists, Eleanor retraces Charles steps, his memories guiding her all the way to Cthygonnaar. As she slips beneath the water in her new and improved Big Sister suit, Eleanor smiles at the irony of her returning to the waves once more.
It’s easy for Eleanor to avoid going mad from the strange, huge sea creatures that live beneath Oakmont; she’s got Delta, Jack, Dr. Reid, and Charles playing defense in her mind. As for the aggressive fish that patrols the waters, she does what Charles was unable to do and kills it. With that done, she proceeds into Cthygonnaar.
Despite all her preparations, Eleanor was not ready for the sheer horror of Cthygonnaar. She walks through a recollection of Rapture, London and Oakmont, memories of Delta, Sofia Lamb, Grace Holloway, Stanley Poole, Dr. Alexander Gilbert, Father Simon Wales, and even herself, accosting her mentally, saying things that she remembers perfectly, and things she has no memory of. Worse, the memories of Delta, Jack, Dr. Reid, and Charles Reed haunt her as well. Scenes of atrocities committed in London during the Skal Epidemic, in Oakmont when the Flood arrived, and in Rapture during the Civil War. Then, a long walk as citizens of London, Oakmont, and Rapture give into despair.
The last is a woman whose clothing changes from a young girl’s dress, to an Edwardian ensemble, then to a Rapturian outfit, and finally to the Rapturian outfit but torn and stained with dirt and blood.
“This world values children, not childhood,” the woman says, her eyes blank and cold. “There’s a profit to be made...and men who make it.”
After she disappears, Eleanor ventures into a pit of bones, of the Seeds who came before her. She looks up at the memory of one sacrificing himself to restart the cycle, this cosmic wheel of blood, shakes her head, and continues forward.
At the crossroads, she removes the Seal from the pedestal which Charles had chosen, allowing him to escape his destiny. The first Seed to choose not to sacrifice himself, and he chooses to run away? “Pathetic,” Eleanor says to herself.
She takes the Seal to the middle pedestal, the one in front of the cyclopean, eldritch door. Further on, she can see the pedestal that’s been chosen before again and again, the one that would restart the cycle.
Without a second thought, Eleanor places the Seal on the middle pedestal and the massive door slowly rises. Eleanor walks forward, ready to greet the Hidden Daughter. From the strange, ghostly shadows emerges dozens upon dozens of tentacles, surrounding a huge circular maw. Rising into the air, Eleanor screams as she feel her body being destroyed on a molecular level before being drawn into the Hidden Daughter’s mouth.
Back up in Oakmont, the personnel of Ryan Private Security look up at the huge incoming tidal wave and scream in fear. The cultists cheer with insane joy and triumph, and the wylebeasts give up one last roar just before the waves engulfs them all. First Oakmont, then Massachusetts, and finally the entire eastern coast of the continental United States is consumed by the monstrous wave.
From the waves now covering the completely sunken city, the Hidden Daughter, Cthylla, the greatest of all the children of Cthulhu the Dreamer, emerged from the depths. Johannes Van Der Berg appeared to greet her, casting off his suit, both the one of cloth and the one of false Humanity, revealing his true self: Hastur, the King in Yellow. For an eternity, he waited patiently for her to be allowed into the world, so that they could finally consummate their nuptials. The kiss they share is loving, and beyond disgusting.
Far off in the Pacific Ocean, the Dreamer Himself, Cthulhu awakens and rises to the surface, beginning his journey. After all, he is needed to give his daughter away to her new husband now. This wedding will be one to remember the world, and reality, over.
A little ways away from Hastur and Cthylla, Eleanor, or the Thing Who Was Eleanor, rises from the wave herself. The pain of destruction had quickly given way to the bliss of creation as the Daughter remade Eleanor in her own image.
Eleanor became a fusion of Human traits, and of the Great Old Ones. The upper half of her face could pass for Human, were it not so big and only had one pair of eyes. Her mouth, on the other hand, was now like a great leech’s, and could protrude out from her face like a butterfly’s proboscis. The form of her upper torso was still Human, but colored black and green and perpetually moist. Her legs were gone, replaced by a multitude of tentacles, almost like a living, squirming long skirt. More eyes and leech mouths dotted her body; when a mouth or eye closed, it would open to reveal that it had become the other. The palms of her hands now each had one such eye/mouth, and her nails were replaced with huge great claws. Two huge wings like a bat’s extended out from her back, perfect for flying through the air or swimming underwater.
Eleanor could feel her power, now increased beyond anything she could have ever imagined or comprehended before. Her senses, Human and Vampiric, are greater than ever, allowing her to see the entire electromagnetic spectrum and beyond, to hear sounds and thoughts from a continent away, to taste emotions and thoughts, to feel the Earth’s, Moon’s, and Sun’s gravitational and magnetic fields, to smell the decay of the atoms, and so much more.
She admires her new form in her reflection before looking back up. It’s exactly like the day she escaped from Rapture, the sun now hidden behind a dark bank of clouds, water pouring from the sky, lightning flashing, and now corpses rising from the ruins of a destroyed city to float on the water’s surface. The world had indeed changed, and they had never seen her coming.
Half an ocean away, as Brigid Tenenbaum, Charles Milton Porter, Subject Artemis, and Geoffrey McCullum battle Orrin Lutwidge and his Mutants, they are all struck by a realization that something horrible has happened. Rapture itself then shakes around them as a huge shape ascends from the chasm where Sinclair built Persephone, its bright glow dimming as it awakens. The four would-be saviors of a dying city, having spent years building a new Thinker to create the cure for ADAM, are almost overwhelmed by a single, huge thought.
Tonight, the Good Hunter joins the Hunt.
#halloween post#bioshock#BioShock 2#the sinking city#vampyr#jack wynand#jack ryan#subject delta#johnny topside#eleanor lamb#Charles Reed#dr jonathan reid#everyone is evil here#except charles#he just ran away from oakmont and his destiny#i would love to hear feedback about this#everything just seemed to fit together#worst ending eleanor is perfect for this#thoughts?#johannes van der berg#who can guess what the last paragraph is referencing?
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So, I already edited and added to this one before and it took two hours and then tumblr glitched and saved none that and instead posted my original messy draft and I didn't realise for several hours and was very annoyed which is why this is coming now rather than sooner.
I've decided to save my full David and Syd analysis until after watching season three, so this is just my stray observations post while watching the last three episodes of season 2.
- If David hadn't been off fucking Future Syd maybe he could have prevented the delusion spreading through Division 3 and maybe Ptonomy could have survived. Also, I know they were limited timewise, and I know they haven't really known what to do with Ptonomy since season 1, but couldn't we get at least one shot of his friends mourning him?! If not David and Syd, at least Melanie? Wasn't it implied they worked together a significant amount of time at Summerland? I know his consciousness is being kept alive in a computer or whatever, but they didn't know that at the time!
- I want to know how Clark and Syd's 'girl talk' moment came to be. Do they meet for tea regularly? Talk about their love lives and exes? I'm not sure how I feel about Clark's story about the boy in the army he loved who kept jumping out of planes to get away from him. I feel like it might have been better to get something more real in that moment than bizarre (especially when we know he had a husband and son that he lost due to his obsession with David). I read a review that treated the army boy story as serious and emotional but like... he parachuted away from him, and then one day his parachute didn't open?! It's just occurred to me thst I might be taking this too literally like the autistic stereotype I am but honestly in a show like Legion that's the sort of thing that would be intended to be taken literally and not as a metaphor so I don't even know anymore...
- Literal or not I did not miss the parallel of Syd jumping out of a plane and parachuting down to get to David. Honestly, parachuting into the desert and immediately kicking your boyfriend in the shins is such a power move.
- In general it feels like the show doesn't know what to do with Clark, and I worry that he'll meet a similar fate to Ptonomy as a result. Hopefully not!
- Admiral Fukuyama was created to keep the secrets safe from the telepaths...now he works with them? I liked seeing some of how he came to be, but it honestly it left me more confused. Also, if all he has is the metalwork around his head, I don't really get why he wears a basket...its probably just a meaningless visual I'm reading too much into... I love the visuals of Legion a lot, but I do feel like sometimes 'this would look cool/weird/strange' is the only reasoning behind things and it doesn't always land with me.
- So this absolutely should have gone in my TUA comparison post, but I remembered writing it, got confused, and thought I'd already posted it rather than stuck it in a stray observations draft...whoops. David choosing to not tell anyone his plan as Farouk would read their mind and instead manipulating them all as an alternative - it's the first time David, as David has acted based on his own thoughts and feelings and I'm questioning if he's doing the right thing. I couldn't help but think of Five Hargreeves line to Viktor in The Umbrella Academy, 'You know what they call a superhero who acts alone and doesn't listen to anybody? A villain.' (Having now reached the end of the season I wasn't wrong)
- Farouk previously talked about David's white father taking over and telling his people what to do (sidenote: who are Farouk's people? I thought he might mean mutants, but the white part of the line then doesn't make sense. It's unclear if Farouk is Moroccan like the comics or Iranian, since he speaks Farsi, but in this universe, did Professor X colonise Morocco/Iran?!?) He also talks about white people being cast as the heroes when speaking with Future Syd, and he's got a point, but the show needs to commit if it truly wants to address this. Yes exoticism has been used as short hand for villainous in the past, yes the writers of Legion didn't create or name Amahl Farouk, they're just (loosely) adapting the comics, and yes David does reveal himself to be a villain rather than a hero. But like...Farouk is still also a villain? So yeah, your blonde blue-eyed white man might be a monster, but that doesn't erase all the things Farouk has done (including helping turn David into a monster). Also, him being free at the end is down to his manipulations and control of others, right? Because the whole of Division 3 isn't so stupid as to let him walk free, right?!?
- 'You're the song they play outside a hostage crisis to keep criminals from thinking clearly.' This is just a great line I wanted to highlight. Syd could have just called Lenny a distraction but went with this beauty instead.
-The show that talked about delusion and moral panic then tries to blame technology for helping create narcissists and not seeing others as real people. It feels like that stupid 2014 video that claimed using our phones meant we'd miss out on meeting the love of our life because we won't ask her for directions. It's such nonsense. I've seen people who watched it when it aired say that technology is just a framing device for discussing narcissism and not meant to be seen as the blame, but if that's the case, sorry, they did a shit job because it absolutely feels like its proselytising about the evils of tech. It feels so incredibly out touch and tactless, and I wish they cut it, especially as the John Hamm narrative segments had reached a natural conclusion just the episode before. Having enjoyed the segments until now, it's disappointing that this is what they were building to.
-I think they were aiming for 'the desolate' or 'desolation' but 'Le désolé' just means 'the sorry' I checked with a French friend to make sure, and they confirmed it. You can use désolé to mean desolate, but only if there's a noun in front of it so this doesn't work.
- I'm not sure if the two David in David's mind are meant to be alters or like a devil and angel on his shoulder (really hope it's the latter because DID has been demonised enough and I don't trust the show to not be another Split honestly) but as someone who watches with subtitles I got the fun insight that their names are apparently Divad and Dvd.
- I've seen some people say Legion is set in the '60s/70s but we're never given a year, right? Considering it's a parallel universe I thought it was just another present day low/no tech AU like The Umbrella Academy or Manic. Especially as a lot if the tech we see feels more steampunk than 1960s . I get why a reviewer called the depiction of an MRI scan in season 1 anachronistic now, since MRI was only invented in 1977 (sidenote: as a student radiographer I will still never get over that scene. I was so ready to just accept it as a made up experimental scan and then they said the words MRI and I had to pause it, I was laughing so hard because it's sooo bad)
- I watched two whole seasons of this show and thought Melanie was played by Kim Cattral, but she isn't, she's played by Jean Smart! TWO SEASONS. I hadn't heard of Jean Smart before now, but honestly her and Kim Cattral are twins.
#legion#legion season 2#david haller#amahl farouk#stray observations#the umbrella academy#but only a brief mention#can someone get me a gif of Syd parchuting out of the sky to kick David in the shins please?
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