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dream-meltic · 11 months

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Hi, hello, I've been meaning to use my Tumblr account for like AGES but so far haven't. So I'm letting it be a space where I can just talk about Bedman (and Delilah)'s lore, development etc and have it as a resource for myself and others to refer back to. I'm just very autistic about him and express my love through analysis, okay

The thing with Bedman is that because his lore can seem a little all over the place or is hidden behind JP-only content, there's a lot of misconceptions about him floating around! I'm going to make two posts on the major misconceptions I see everywhere (one about Romeo himself, the other about the bed) and will talk about other aspects of his lore later.

So let's talk about a dreaded subject of mine: Bedman's age, and the really bad evidence people use when talking about it. It's going to be a long post under here just so I'm completely clear, so buckle up, and take a nice reminder that you can headcanon what you like and to just send an ask over if you want further clarification, evidence etc! (But please read all of it before you do just in case I answer your question during it)

Let's begin with the most obvious thing. Is his age confirmed? Do we have a number? No. Despite very common claims he is specifically either 14 or 16, neither of these numbers have ever come up officially in relation to Bedman's age. If you see someone saying this, chances are they heard it from someone else, and didn't really question where they got that information. The large majority of Guilty Gear characters are not given an actual age. Plenty of them still don't have a birthday, you know….

The main problem and misconception comes with the next part where people believe he is canonically, or canonically implied to be, a minor. Usually based on other character's dialogue. I'm all for headcanon, but when you begin insisting that it's canonical and start being rude to others over it I do have to draw a line there, so let me explain why the evidence used for him being either of those things is actually not good enough:

1. Chipp/Answer dialogue

In Xrd SIGN's story mode, Chipp and Bedman have a brief fight and during it, he calls Answer to try and figure out who he is and gives him a brief description of what he looks like. Here's a full quote of what he says to him:

"Looks human, or at least humanoid, but he's strapped to a person-shaped bed. Looks to be in the mid-to-late teens--the kid, not the bed. Caucasian, short purple hair, glasses. He's sleeping, but the bed's walking around. Too dark to tell eye color. He's wearing what appears to be a hospital gown... Getting anything?"

Later, when Answer becomes playable in Rev2, he repeats some of his exact same words from the Japanese version of this dialogue when selecting Bedman with him as your system voice.

These two are usually used very first when asked to provide evidence of him supposedly being a minor canonically, but people seem to miss out entire words of what both of them say: rather than saying Bedman is mid-to-late teens, they're saying he looks like he is mid-to-late teens. Chipp is describing his physical appearance to Answer- not his biological data.

When you consider another official line about Bedman, that there is "no official documents that can prove he exists", sorry to say that someone who just met him three minutes ago won't have a complete dead-on accurate guess of his age. Chipp isn't telling us Bedman's age range (which in the case of his dialogue specifically, would mean he is 15-19, which counts as an adult regardless), he's saying what he thinks Bedman looks like.

Answer is just repeating Chipp's dialogue. In other words, he's doing the exact same thing.

And just saying, as an adult, I get mistaken for a teenager all the time. It's very, very common especially with short adults.

2. Other character's dialogue- such as calling him "child" and "kid"

I have to make this a separate section because it's used less than Chipp and Answer's dialogue, but this is the other thing I see the most. Throughout the story mode you'll find Bedman is frequently referred to as a child or a kid. So I ask you to go back up to the previous section and ask yourself: how would any of these people actually know?

I'm going to use May here to prove a point. In Xrd alone, there are several cases of her being referred to with words like "little girl", "child", "kid", etc. However, Xrd May is at bare minimum in her 20s. This is also the case for her official profiles, where she's referred to with similar terms to Bedman.

If you didn't know May was an adult, congratulations on discovering the main joke with her. TL;DR: By Xrd, May is 20+. In the English dub, she even says "22", but because that's not present in Japanese we can't say that's her exact age. All we know is, by that point, she was in her 20s. So why does everyone still call her a little girl? Why do people still treat her like a child, Bedman included? The same reason they do it to Bedman: they are assuming based on her appearance.

In other words, why on earth are you taking Slayer's word as gospel of all people when he didn't even know he existed until he was beating his ass?

3. Bedman's height/weight

This one particularly infuriates me as an adult who does get mistaken for a kid for these things, but I'll let that anger slide to explain why you can't use this as evidence.

For starters… well, May, once again. I won't repeat my previous talking points, but you genuinely can't use Bedman's stature as proof when May, who is just the tiniest bit taller and heavier than him, is right there. Like, no actually, why are you using his height as proof??

Next, he and Delilah have the exact same height and weight. But they're not twins. In fact, they can't even be close in age, for a reason I'll go in depth on later just to keep this section about the evidence itself. Bedman is her older brother- Delilah being 12 at that height and weight, and then Bedman being somewhere in his teens at that exact height and weight is… um, impossible. Instead, we get an interesting confirmation from Faust about the reason for Bedman being as tiny as he is. Unlike other characters, Faust can be trusted on this information because he's an actual medical professional who may as well have seen this kind of situation before. He also isn't saying his age is one thing or the other, just talking about his appearance.

"They say children who sleep well grow up healthy, but that doesn't mean children who don't sleep aren't healthy. Hm... what is it that makes you look like - ah, your brain."

Japanese dialogue:

"寝る子は育つといいますが寝ない子が育たない訳ではないですよ? 貴方のスタイルの必然性は･･･そうか、脳ですね?"

The Japanese dialogue makes this a lot more obvious, but Faust is asking why he looks like a child. And the reason is his coma.

…In other words, he and Delilah can't grow. Their bodies are frozen as is to stop them from dying. Without constant care, they'd both die in their coma without it. Now that Delilah's awake, it's possible we'll see some growth from her, but Bedman was stuck like that for who knows how long.

So yes, you can't use how he looks as evidence.

And thank god, that's about all the major points used. You can see why they're so shaky as evidence, can't you? All are based entirely on assumptions, which were based on appearance, being treated as confirmations. But they're not, they're just looks into how other characters view him- not how we, the viewer, should.

But let me argue for the other end of it here, that Bedman is implied to be an adult instead, just to prove a point about how bad the evidence is in comparison to the other side's.

Let me go back to what I mentioned previously- that he and Delilah can't be close in age. For this, the main answer is in Xrd Revelator's story mode, and more specifically his long talk with Axl Low. I truly believe it is extremely important for understanding Bedman and Delilah, so if you haven't yet, I highly recommend watching it!

From Bedman's dialogue both there and elsewhere, we learn the following about Delilah:

- She is far deeper in her dream world than he is, and her senses are "blocked off" so to speak from the outside world.

- She doesn't know her own mother.

- She only people that have even been capable of speaking to Delilah are Bedman and Ariels. However, Ariels has not known either of them all their life.

- She was born like this.

Why are all these important, you ask? Think for a moment, think about all those factors together.

Now, riddle me this:

Who raised Delilah, then?

Bedman had his mother, we know this. But if Delilah couldn't even feel anything happening to her in the outside world, how would their mother have raised her? How does Delilah know how to talk, read, anything at all? When you put how she refers to Baiken in with all this, the answer is kind of clear: Bedman was the one who raised her. Despite Baiken acting like a traditional parent, Delilah gives her the nickname of "big sis". Because these behaviors, to her, are a sibling thing. Delilah never met her mother to be able to know what a mother would act like. Who she does know is her big sibling.

Which means, in order for Bedman to be 13-17, he would need to have been 1-5 years old while that happened. I don't think you need me to tell you that for a non-gear, even a hyper intelligent one, that's just not happening. Especially considering that he is also inside of his dream and has seemingly only one person on the outside to raise and provide for him. When your brain is literally still in the earliest stages of development, you're not going to suddenly become a genius at age 3 and be capable of raising a baby on your own. You'd see that kind of insufferable intelligence come out more around age 7.

If you didn't catch the difference between that piece of evidence and the previous ones, here it is: the evidence used for him being a minor is based solely on dialogue from characters who have no way of knowing his age, and assumptions based on appearance. The evidence used here is based on Bedman and Delilah's own dialogue, two people that WOULD know this information, and some very basic literature analysis skills you'll learn when you're like 14.

When you're talking about character lore without a definitive answer written down somewhere, the priority must be put on their own dialogue and the dialogue of people who, canonically, would have access to the information you want. So unfortunately, Chipp saying he looks like a teenager has no weight compared to a major implication that he raised Delilah from the bedsiblings' dialogue. Thaat's how analysis works

So wow that was long! I just really wanted to make sure I was understood but in case anyone still has any questions, needs me to clarify something or provide more evidence of something, anything like that: just send an ask over. They should be open and anon should be on too so don't be scared, no judgment to be found here. My only hope is that I didn't sound like I was rambling nonsense…….

#long post #bedman #guilty gear #ill probably make tags to organise my blog when i actually post more #next post will be about the bedframe in strive so Stay Tuned

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carica-ficus · 4 months

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“Fourth Wing”

26/12/2023

Reading progress: 346/498 (69%) Read through since last update: 122

Another sick day, another rampant reading day. I've been noticing A LOT of inconsistencies and bad plot hole mendings in this section. Thankfully, this book is more than easy to read, so I should be done with it soon enough, but man... There's too much stuff that just doesn't make sense. Another thing I noticed and that I can't overlook is that this book is purely written as a "and then" narrative. There's a really good video from the South Park creators that break this concept down, so I'm not going to go into that right now, but yeah, I'm painfully aware why this plot doesn't work for this book (among many other things...) This time, I'm mostly ranting. I'm really losing my mind over this book, so I need to get some stuff off of my chest.

Thoughts today:

So, Violet talks about how she would, and I quote, "climb the man like a tree", but literally on the next page says she's not mad enough to do it.

And then the cringe part when she calls herself a masochist as a joke and he's intrigued. I'm guessing they'll have the most vanilla sex I have ever read.

I've just realized that it's kinda weird that Tairn and Sgaeyl are the only mated pair know in the book so far? I think it's kinda weird because this novel is filled with so much unnecessary information and now it seems to lack something that would maybe be useful. Or at least interesting.

I get that Dain is very strict with the rules, but his recent outbursts seem so out of character. Why wouldn't he believe Mavis tried to kill Violet? He thinks everyone is out to get her anyway.

We have so many unnecessary characters in this book, but then the other 2 wingleaders get introduced at page 245. (Future me: And then are never mentioned again. Just like 90% of all the characters in this book.)

I got to the orange part and if I haven't watched a review for this book a few hours ago where the reader mentioned the absurdity of this specific scene, I wouldn't even know what it's about. This might be the absolute worst fucking part in the book just because it's so random and has literally 0 context. (Future me: I understand what the orange was used for later, but the way this information was introduced is so forced. And lazy. Like damn.)

Hate hate hate that Xaden calls Violet Violence. She literally cannot kill anyone. She never picks a fight. It's used only because it seems quirky.

Okay, I knew the dragon fucking scene was coming on. I get it. I don't judge. In fact, I don't mind. I actually like when authors take the liberty of exploring sexuality in their work. Sure. But how does it make sense to build this whole shit up, to make Violet be overcome by lust, only for Xaden to teach her how to ignore it??? And after she is successful at it, THEN they kiss??? Why?? Why why why???

And then they don't even fuck. Bruh, what the fuck.

(I know it's because Xaden felt like he would take advantage of her, but what the fuck? What the fuuuuuck????)

"The only weapons we're allowed to have are the ones we earn." I've grown numb to all the stupid rules established as a ways to compensate for Yarros's poor writing skills, but this is by far the worst one I've heard. Y'all are in the military, for fucks sake! Shouldn't they provide you with weapons???

The whole squad as Violet and Xaden trash around on the matt:

I was just thinking how it's incredibly weird that Violet's mom hasn't inquired about her at all, only for her to finally appear again after 200 pages! Yay! I wonder what she'll say about her daughter that she forced into the position of a rider?! Still not happy? Shame. I'm so surprised.

What's the whole point of the games? I mean, they were fun, sure, but felt a little underwhelming, mostly because the last assignment was dull, in my opinion, and the rest of them were barely mentioned, let alone featured.

Yup, it makes perfect sense that Xaden doesn't reveal he can talk to Violet telepathically. And it makes perfect sense that the first time he does it is during an important briefing. Just to tease her. That rascal, him! He's so silly!

Speaking of which, that next kiss of theirs as they're leaving is so... unemotional. It comes out of nowhere. From Xaden who has suddenly, in 3 days, had a change of heart he hasn't experienced in the last 3-4 months they have been training together. Like, what?

Can you guess I'm getting a little frustrated? I am really searching for a way to connect to this book, but it's becoming so hard. There's a few good pages, then a dozen bad ones. Well... See y'all tomorrow.

#reading #reading journal #dnevnik citanja #dnevnik čitanja #fourth wing #rebecca yarros

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pretoriafics · 3 years

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Russian Roulette - Pt. 4

In this series, you will find: Alternative Universe, Soulmate plot, Angst, Fluff. In this chapter, you will find: Things finally make sense, and now you can fight. Word count: 2.069 Pairings: Reader x Platonic! Scott and Stiles Original characters of this chapter: Haytham, your brand new mentor. Warnings: English is not my main language <3 Yeah, it was based on Russian Roulette by Rihanna Russian Roulette series: Chapter Three | Chapter Five RUSSIAN ROULETTE MASTERLIST TEEN WOLF MASTERLIST

It wasn't hard to find the address the lady wrote you. That address took you to the limits of Beacon Hills, in a lonely and old church on the top of a hill. The wooden doors were open, so you came in.

"Hello? Mr. Haytham Conwell?"

You aren't seeing anybody. Actually, the church was pretty silent. Maybe you came to the wrong place...

"I've never seen you here."

You turn and see an old man, with an eyeglass on his face. He seems so confused as you.

"Oh, hi, good morning!" You give him a smile "I'm (Y/N). Do you know where I can find Mr. Haytham Conwell?"

"I am Haytham Conwell, lady. What do you need in the lord's house?"

Oh, you found him!

"Someone told me you can help me to find answers."

"What kind of answers?"

"A few friends of mine were hiding a secret, but now..." You let out a long sigh "I think this secret is worse than I thought. I mean, maybe you'll think I'm insane and-"

"Who sent you here?"

His expression became darker and, despite thinking about how an old priest could help you, you tell him the story about the ginger woman at the restaurant. Haytham's eyes become wider, scared.

"Show me your arms." He said, commanding.

You look at him, completely confused. What does he want to see in your arms?

"What?"

"Now!"

It was your turn to widen your eyes. You take off your jacket and show your empty arms for him. Haytham narrowed his eyes. To see your arms wasn't enough for him.

"Follow me." He ordered.

Without saying any word more, you'd followed him through the spiral stairs, going upstairs. He pulls an old key from his pocket and opened an old wooden door, revealing a huge library. Haytham points to a mirror that was close to a few tables.

"Go there, to the mirror. I need to see your back."

You blink your eyes repeatedly, without understanding why he needs all of this. Well, considering that a lot of things you don't understand have been happening, you had just obeyed him. You stopped in front of the mirror and Haytham stopped close to you, pulling your shirt a little up.

"Ha! I knew it the moment I saw you! The Devil's Mark!"

Your eyes go to the mirror.

"Oh my God. I haven't seen it before."

It was red lines through your spine, just like someone had slid nails on your skin. However, that lines were forming a quote. Haytham read it.

"Ad Lunae Lumina!"

You pull your shirt down, scared.

"What does it mean?"

"It means 'In the Moonlight', in Latin. Selene let a mark on you. More will be appearing with the time. Your mark is still being created. When it finishes, it will be like this."

Haytham pulls his shirt up and shows you his mark. However, his marks were different: Instead of red lines, he had black lines - just like a tattoo, with the same quote as you.

You sat on the chair close to you. What the hell?!

"What are all of this? I can't understand!"

He pulls his shirt down and sits in the chair in front of you.

"One step at the time, child. I think you should learn the basics first. The ginger woman was the only strange thing you saw?"

You denied with a shake of your head and begun to tell about the things that happened on the night of the party. He hit the table, making you jump in the chair.

"Werewolves!"

"I thought werewolves were just Hollywood things."

"No, they're not. Stay away from that friend of yours, stay away from Derek. They are Devil servants. I know it, I've been fighting against these creatures my entire life."

"But they saved my life!"

"They just want to kill you themselves! Never, ever, believe them. Come on, I'll show you something."

He got up from the chair and begun to walk between the bookshelves while you were following him. Haytham stopped in front of a huge bookshelf. He pulls a book, and both bookshelves open like a door. You'd never thought things like that would be in a church.

"Wow."

When the secret door was open, you saw an entire gun arsenal. Guns, grenades... Haytham has even swords! He looks at you.

"I'll give you a few books. You'll come here every day. I'll teach you to defend yourself and things you need to know about werewolves. Do you know how to shoot with a gun?"

"...No."

Haytham took a dagger and gave it to you. Then, he took a small gun.

"I gave you a silver dagger. Silver can harm them. This gun has silver bullets. Come on, I'll teach you to shoot."

"He's outside, and he wants to kill us!"

Scott wasn't sure about what else he could create to hide the fact that he, Lydia, Jackson, Allison, and Stiles were trapped in a school with a crazy Alpha. So, he lied and told that Derek was trying to kill all of them.

Desperate dominated the entire classroom they were trapped in.

"I'll call the police." Said Lydia, taking her phone.

"No!"

Stiles went in her direction, but Jackson held him. Suddenly, someone knocks on the door.

"Scott, I'd heard your voice. Open it! I'd received your message, what the hell is happening?"

Damn, it was you! Scott's heart almost stopped while he runs to the door to open for you. He pulls you inside of the room and closes the door.

"I- Hey! What are you doing?!"

"Keeping you safe!"

"Safe of what?"

"I didn't send you that message."

"...Oh. We're in trouble, aren't we?"

"Yeah."

"Fortunately, I'd brought my gun."

"Your- what?!"

You take the gun you earned from Haytham.

"My gun."

Stiles widened his eyes, while Allison let out a long sigh of relief.

"Thank god!"

Stiles comes close to you and Scott.

"Where did you got this gun? It's from Sebastian?"

"Maybe. Or maybe not." You gave them a smile "Who's trying to kill us?"

"Derek." You heard Jackson say.

You looked to Stiles and Scott. You have been visiting Haytham since last week, so you had learned a few things. You know, now, that there's some Alpha killing people in the city - the same who had tried to kill you. Considering that Scott and Stiles were there, and considering that you saw Derek's car outside, all you can conclude that was the Alpha was in the school.

"We thought that maybe we could get out of here through the ladder." You heard Allison say, pointing to the door close to you. Then, Lydia completed the info:

"But it's locked. We need the keys."

You cross your arms.

"Do you guys know where the keys are?"

"I know." You heard Scott say.

"Okay, here's the plan: You, you, you, and you," You said, pointing your finger to Stiles, Jackson, Lydia, and Allison "You stay here because we need to be discreet. Scott go take the keys and I'll cover him."

Allison got a step forward.

"No, he can't. It's too dangerous!"

Scott goes to Allison, trying to calm her down while Stiles goes talk to you.

"(Y/N) let Scott take the keys alone. You don't know what are you dealing with, you don't understand."

"Yeah Stiles, I know about what I'm dealing with. It isn't Derek."

Stiles looks at you, with his face becoming pale. Scott, with a completely terrified Allison in his arms, looks at you with the same amazement. That moment, they realized you found out the truth you were looking for. Then, you look for everyone.

"Someone should call the police. It will make him run."

Yeah, it could make sense. The Alpha wouldn't do anything with a lot of humans around. It could attract too much attention and too many hunters.

Lydia took her phone and begun to call someone. You opened the door and walk to the corridor, loading your gun with some bullets. Scott came and closes the door, and now you were completely alone with him.

"How did you found out about everything? It was from that day in the woods?" He asked, curious, while you were walking with him.

"Yeah, kind of. I met a guy who taught me a few things. He thinks you're a killer or something, but I disagree with him. You saved my life. I owe you one, puppy." You said, giving him a sweet smile. He smiles at you too. "Who's your Alpha?"

"It's complicated..."

"Oh. Got it. Where Are the keys?"

"I think it's here." Scott opens the door to the gymnasium and points his finger to the stands. "I'll take the keys. Wait here. Shout if you need something."

"If I need protection I'll shoot." You smiled at him. "Don't worry about me."

Scott goes to take the keys under the stands while you watch the environment around you, with your gun in your hands. A few seconds later, full of tension, you heard Scott.

"Found it!"

"Okay, come back, and let's get the hell outta here."

Suddenly, the stands began to close. Your heart almost stopped, while you look around, looking for something that could help Scott.

"Scott, hurry!!"

You saw Scott run in your direction, trying to escape being smashed by the stands. You gave him your hand and when he finally holds it, you pull him. Both of you fell on the floor, and the stands close.

"Damn!" You said, putting yourself on foot "You okay?"

"Yeah, you okay?"

"Yeah." You let out a long sigh "Let's go."

You and Scott began to walk in the classroom direction but, then, you saw the Alpha. It was on four paws, roaring for both of you. You took your gun up, ready to shoot, but Scott put his hand on your arm.

"Take the keys and go."

"No, I'll not leave you."

"You haven't a chance against him, you'll die!"

"But I have special bullets and some tricks."

"(Y/N), please, there's no time to be stubborn!"

The Alpha got a few steps forward and let out a roar. Scott fell on the floor, yelling in pain. He was in mutation. Damn. But you had an idea.

"Hey, moron!" You yelled in the Alpha's direction. You pull the trigger, shooting against it. He deflects of the shoot, stop roaring. Scott stopped to yell and seems like he's still under control. "This is for my lost high heels!"

You shoot again, and you hit it that time. The bullet got into the leg of the Alpha, and he let out a roar for you, in angry.

"Yeah, you know you're in trouble." You said, with your eyes narrowed. "Do you want more wolfsbane bullets? I have a lot of them to you."

Then, you shoot again, and surprisingly the Alpha back off. Scott stands up, with a heavy breath, and you shoot against the Alpha again. You shoot one, two, three times. It deflects again, letting out a low roar, looking at you. It was a warning, and you knew it.

"You know you have a problem bigger than Scott, don't you? That bullet will kill you."

Yeah, the Alpha knew about it. In a way to save itself from death, the Alpha turns itself and runs out of school. The battle has ended that day, but the war wasn't even close to being won.

"You okay, Scott?"

He was breathing heavily, but he nodded positively.

"Stay here." You said, unsure about how under control Scott was "I'll go to the classroom. Just try to stay calm. You can't lose control, okay?"

Scott nodded again, trying to stay calm. Then, you walked into the classroom's direction and opened the door. Everyone's was looking at you, scared. Allison was the first one to talk.

"Where's Scott?"

"He's fine but nervous. He needs some minutes to breathe. It's okay, guys. We can go now."

All of you heard the police coming. Relieved, everyone got out of the school quickly and terrified. While you were looking for the boys running out of school, again, you remembered the words of that ginger woman.

This truth will change your life forever, and your life will become a truly Russian roulette, girl.

Yeah, you felt a taste of it. But you know what? You kinda like this action.

#teen wolf imagine #teen wolf imagines #teen wolf fics #teen wolf fanfics #teen wolf fanfic #scott mccall x you #scott mccall imagine #scott mccall imagines #scott mccall x reader #scott mccall x y/n #derek hale imagine #derek hale imagines #derek hale x reader #derek hale fanfics #derek hale fanfic #derek hale x you #derek hale x y/n

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quatregats · 2 years

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Thots on The Brick (Les miserables aka my favourite book).....

Oooof okay....there are many......

Caveat that I read this over the summer and my memory for books is either I read them 20 times and have them memorized line for line or I just Don't Remember Shit, and unfortunately I'm not at the first stage with this book yet ://

The themes of the book were just <33333 aaaaaaa i love them perfect <33333 No that's not a real sentence but !!!!!! it was all about human dignity and second chances and generosity and idk what I was expecting but I vibed with it SO much. I was definitely very confused reading the first section about the bishop because I was like 50 pages in and none of the characters I'd heard of had appeared yet, but once I got further and started to understand what my pal Victor was going for with the narrative arc I have to admit that was one of my favorite parts of the book??? or like not because not much happens but it definitely was like there are good people in the world and doing good deeds sets off webs of interaction of goodness that perpetuate and I am a firm believer in this philosophy — that people really WANT to do good actions and be good to each other and it makes us feel good and happy, and this never ever gets emphasized as much as "humans are ultimately evil and bad and we only do good because some deity is watching our behavior >:0" so thank you Mr. Hugo for acknowledging that that's not true <33 Also redemption and second chances and acknowledging that a lot of what makes people bad is actually just Other People Treating Them Badly, oh no don't expose capitalism like that :0

Actually I liked the infodumping??? This is my Extremely Weird Take™ on the book but in case people haven't noticed (in which case you are very lucky to have escaped) I have been Extremely into worldbuilding over the past year, so I've been reading a lot of books to see how their authors do that and looking at things through that lens. How does this relate to Les Mis? Simple. I think that Victor Hugo was hands-down the best model for worldbuilding that I have seen this year, including Tolkien. The reason is because I feel like worldbuilding at its finest throws a bunch of stuff at you about the world, which the author completely understand and writes as though it's directed at people who are also In On It. And then as you go you start seeing how all of these things work and putting the pieces together and connecting the dots. I read this book knowing the bare minimum about French society and history: there was a revolution and also guillotines and a king that got deposed and someone named Robespierre and then there was Napoleon who got defeated at Waterloo. That was IT, I LITERALLY did not know anything else. Needless to say, pretty much none of this happens during the book, so I went in completely blind. And Mr. Hugo was just name-dropping people and events left and right like I was supposed to know them, and if I had tried to read it like a French person in the late 19th century, I would have probably just been taken out within the first 100 pages. But when I pretended like I was reading about a fantasy world which I wasn't SUPPOSED to know anything about, it suddenly felt like the juiciest worldbuilding ever, and it was SO GOOD. I learned SO MUCH about French history and France in general, and I literally would not have exchanged the infodumping for anything in the world. Now, is this a terrible bar to set for worldbuilding? Yes. Am I going to set it anyways because I'm dumb? Also yes. Anyways this is a very weird and cursed Fantasy Nerd™ take that nobody who actually cares about literature should pay any mind to, but it was an important part of me reading the book so yeah.

Also this kind of ties in with point one but when he waxes poetic about philosophy and humanity (like in those sections where he comes at you with his Thoughts™)....Unparalleled. I wanted to hang quotes on my wall so I could look at them every morning and Understand. Literally some of the most beautiful writing ever <33

I can't think of other things but there definitely were other things, it was absolutely a page turner in the parts with plot, I loved the characters, I loved how everything tied together across such a long book and how every little vignette of something that you were like what's the point of this Victor actually turned out to set off chains of events that perpetuated forward, basically it was a Very Enjoyable Read and I loved all of its heady philosophical ideals and its minutiae about French history and its VERY long plot and basically everything about it, 11/10 would read again

#sorry to go off on the worldbuilding tangent it makes zero sense but that was where my brain was when reading it #i think the Human Goodness part of the plot caught me unawares and that's why i liked it so much <3 #i hate reading books with depressing and pessimistic views of humanity like get over yourself #but victor hugo was NOT that and now i see why people like this book so so much #anyways hope that answered your question <33 #asks

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verobatto · 4 years

Text

Destiel Chronicles

It was a love story from the very beginning.

Vol. XXXVI

Goodbye my Love. Goodbye Stranger.

(8x17)

Hello My Friends! How are you? Another important meta from season 8, and we are here... We are in the crypt scene!! Our hearts will break... 😭

I want to say thank you to my friend @agusvedder she made the gifs for this meta and discussed with me the episode.

Okay... Let's do this... **Deep breath**

Sam knows

In episode 8x17 Goodbye Stranger, Sam and Dean knew Castiel was behaving weird.

Although that, Dean had prayed to him because he was worried about Sam, but as we learned in the previous volume of this Chronicles, he didn't pray just for that, but also, because he wanted to see Castiel. Because Dean missed him and he was worried about him too.

So, when Sam discovered Dean was praying to him, even knowing Castiel was acting weird, he didn't just ask once, but twice about why his brother prayed to him...

This first time, Sam is in awe, but this second time... With the whole thing digested, and with Castiel off, Sam is more direct.

DEAN: Well, he puts the "ass" in "Cas," huh?

SAM: He's definitely off.

DEAN: Off? He hasn't been right since he got back from Purgatory. We still don't know how he got out of there

Okay, this is a discussion the brother had had already, maybe a lot of times. They both were agreed about Castiel behaving weird. Then... Sam has this clear, but it caught his attention Dean's doesn't have things clear apparently, because he prayed to him. So... Here is the question, direct, and without anesthesia...

And Dean's face is acting everything. Okay, you can argue with me about this point, because later on this episode we will have this dialogue...

SAM: I'm fine.

DEAN: No, you're not fine. You haven't been fine since the first trial. That's why I called Cas.

Yes, Dean prayed to Castiel because he was worried about Sam, we already knew that... But... What we know too is... He prayed waiting for Castiel to appear right there in his room, remember? So... One of the reason, the big one, is the necessity of Castiel to heal his brother, to protect him, but the Hidden One, that one that makes Dean try to hide, and put himself flustered when Sam asked him the reason why, I because he wanted to see Cas, because he's worried about him, and he missed him. Because he loves him.

So here he had the perfect motive again to show his brother he called Cas because he was worried about his little brother's healthy... Perfect... No homo there my friends... Just a worried brother calling for his totally platonic bro/friend to help him.

But Sam is insightful and clever, I want you to jump with me to the last scene... We can do that because we all know this episode like our names, so... A little more of Sammy knows...

After the crypt scene, they were back on the road in baby, Castiel had left, as we know, and this is what Dean says to Sam...

SAM: So... what happened? I mean, Cas touched the tablet, and it reset him to his factory settings or something?

DEAN: I don't know. And I don't care. All I know is that he is off the reservation with a-a heavenly WMD. Listen, man, I can't take any more lies -- from anyone.

Dean is mad, Sam gets it immediately, he's mad. But not at Sam. Sam gets that too.

Because when Dean avoids a topic... Is because that's really affecting him...

And then... This song starts to play... And watch Sammy's face...

These are the lyrics from Goodbye Stranger

It was an early morning yesterday

I was up before the dawn

And I really have enjoyed my stay

But I must be moving on

Like a king without a castle

Like a queen without a throne

I'm an early morning lover

And I must be moving on

Okay, this is a lover of one night, a lover that doesn't get strains to anyone. After Dean confessed his feelings to Castiel on that crypt, Castiel decides to run away with the tablet, leaving Dean alone, heartbroken and feeling unrequited. Again.

Now I believe in what you say

Is the undisputed truth

But I have to have things my own way

To keep me in my youth

We are still talking about Castiel here.

Like a ship without an anchor

Like a slave without a chain

Just the thought of those sweet ladies

Sends a shiver through my veins

Castiel deciding to leave again, he rejected Dean's feelings (from Dean's POV) and help. He's a lone wolf. B

And I will go on shining

Shining like brand new

I'll never look behind me

My troubles will be few

Goodbye stranger it's been nice

Hope you find your paradise

Tried to see your point of view

Hope your dreams will all come true

And we had reached Dean's POV at this point, he's mad, and very very angry. Because he was rejected and Cas didn't trust him. So he's saying goodbye to him.

Goodbye Mary, goodbye Jane

Will we ever meet again

Feel no sorrow, feel no shame

Come tomorrow, feel no pain

Dean pushing down all his feelings again.

Sweet devotion (Goodbye, Mary)

It's not for me (Goodbye, Jane)

Just give me motion (Will we ever)

To set me free (Meet again?)

In the land and the ocean (Feel no sorrow)

Far away (Feel no shame)

It's the life I've chosen (Come tomorrow)

Every day (Feel no pain)

So goodbye, Mary (Goodbye, Mary)

Goodbye, Jane (Goodbye, Jane)

Will we ever (Will we ever)

Meet again? (Meet again?)

This is Dean trying to say goodbye to his feeling for Castiel, is not for me, goodbye sweet devotion, because he feels so hurted and heartbroken, he decides to push everything down, because he feel unrequited.

Now... Let's come back to one important thing right here... Megstiel time...

Megstiel brought us Jealous!Dean back again

The classic Megstiel scene, is quite interesting, because Meg can't stop to seduce Cas by throwing at him a lot of sugestives quotes... I won't talk about the whole conversation, Agua is making a gifset I will relate with this meta because sadly, I just can put 10 gifs to show you all the things I saw, but what I want to point here is an idea I constructed in my head since I met Castiel. Please read this mini meta here I wrote time ago, about Castiel's seduction techniques.

And you will catch what I need to show you now in this piece of dialogue...

CASTIEL: These wounds have festered. [CASTIEL wraps gauze around one of MEG's wrists.]

MEG: You really do know how to make a girl's nethers quiver, don't you? [MEG is sitting on the couch, holding an open bottle of booze, she's been cleaned up a bit.]

CASTIEL: I am aware of how to do that. Although it doesn't usually involve cleaning wounds.

Did you read that?!!!!!! Cas is aware about seduction techniques!!

As I said on my mini meta, I'm pretty sure Castiel used his seduction techniques with Dean... And he still does that! Because HE KNOWS HOW TO DO THAT!!

Plus his innate sexiness... BOOM! HERE YOU HAVE THE HOTTEST ANGEL ON THE GARRISON.

Irresistible... PrayxDean.

Okay, let's talk about Jealous!Dean. We had two scenes in which we had Dean feeling jealous in Meg presence.

First scene, and how writers and producers are very aware of the fandom's ships... And they use it.

Dean is saying this with disgust, why he feels jealous always about Meg? Well, maybe because Castiel kissed Meg so passionate that time? And they had that special friendship in season 7???

And then this one... Dean acting like cockblocker, really Dean? Control your jealous face please 😏

The Crypt Scene

Okay, we're here, Carver era, crypt scene, a place in which Dean had to say I LOVE YOU to Cas, making Destiel canon, but he did, because Jensen's was so right back then, Dean wasn't prepared...

But... What happened in this crypt? Everything!

Okay, First of all, I need you to rewind the video, at the beginning of this episode, remember that scene with a lot of Dean's killed by Castiel, with Naomi watching? Yeah... She made Cas kill a lot.of Dean bc she knew what Cas felt for him. So she needed to be sure Cas will kill Dean when it will be needed. She was a bitch...

Then... When CAS and Dean were alone at the crypt, and Dean had the angel tablet in his hands... The program in Castiel's head started to roll. Dean noticed Castiel was trying to get the tablet, and he didn't trust in Cas because he was acting weird... So... He tried to get from the angel some truth... Like... How he had been pulled out from Purgatory...

CASTIEL: I can't let you take that, Dean.

DEAN: Can't or won't?

CASTIEL: Both.

DEAN: How did you get out of Purgatory, Cas?

Immediately, after seeing that wasn't HIS CAS, Dean threw that question.

The entire scene flips between the crypt and Naomi, and how CAS is trying so hard not to obey and keep Dean safe.

DEAN: Just tell me how you got out of Purgatory. Be honest with me -- for the first time since you've been back -- [DEAN nods towards the stone he's still holding] and this is yours. [CASTIEL's blade drops into his hand.]

Dean needed to hear the truth. Everything, he needed to hear too... Castiel didn't stay because he didn't want to come back with him... He needed Cas to say that was a lie too...

DEAN: Cas. Cas, I don't know what the hell is wrong with you, but if you're in there and you can hear me, you don't have to do this. [CASTIEL attacks, DEAN blocks the blow with the stone.] Cas! [Flashes of light, thunder rumbles.]

Dean sees Castiel isn't there, he's defending himself against a robot, where is his friend? He tries to call h back, to drag him to reality. He tries because he believes he can reach him.

And while this is happening and Cas began to hit Dean, Naomi tries to keep him under control, because Castiel is fighting back strongly, Naomi wants him to protect the tablet and kill Dean, and Cas wants to protect DEAN.

NAOMI: Do you realize what that tablet can do for us?

CASTIEL: I...

NAOMI: For heaven?

CASTIEL: I won't hurt Dean.

NAOMI: Yes. You will. You are.

The scene is too intense, and Cas keeps hitting Dean, and Dean keeps calling him. Till... This happens...

Look at Dean's hand, trying to reach Castiel...

Dean is not just trying to reach Cas with his hand, but also with his words... He's sure Castiel is there, and he's sure he will listen, and he's sure Castiel will come back to him. That's why he tries with everything he has... With honesty. Tries to get him back with honest feelings and words... We need you... Not hell... Cas... I NEED YOU. The same words he used when he convinced him to follow him in Purgatory. I need you, don't leave me. This I NEED YOU is so so important, is the replacement of the I LOVE YOU that never happens. So is the big I NEED YOU. Dean's naked feelings. His last shot. His bare soul. Right there. Chest open, heart beating.

Dean is waiting for Castiel's reaction after his confession, and immediately after that honest I NEED YOU, Castiel breaks connection, and he's back again.

Not the tablet, why not? Because the I NEED YOU is what makes Cas stop. And when he touches the tablet, and Crowley reveals the tablet was what kept Castiel disconnected with Naomi, why he still was disconnected after losing the tablet? Pure logic, my friends, the tablet had nothing to do with this disconnection, it was Dean's I NEED YOU, who worked, and brought Cas back. The love. The Profound Bond.

And it hurts a lot, because while Castiel was hitting him, Dean was grabbing his forearm, with fear, he thought Cas will kill him... But he just couldn't stop grabbing him, he couldn't stop being close to him like that. He has to get his angel back... And when CAS reach's his face with his hand... Dean grabbed Castiel's forearm again, you have to rewatch the scene is so romantic and angsty, Dean was terrified, but he just remained there... Kneeled... Tryin to make Cas to hear him, and trying to get him back, and he did it.

The big question the writers left to us, we already know the answer...

DEAN: Well, w-what broke the connection?

CASTIEL: I don't know. I just know that I have to protect this tablet now.

DEAN: From Naomi?

CASTIEL: Yes. And from you.

Castiel said this, because it was Purgatory all over again, and Leviathans chasing after Cas, but this time, were Angels and a dangerous Naomi, so he needed to put that tablet safe and far away from everyone, and from Dean, to protect him again.

But what Dean understood here is CAS DOESN'T TRUST ME, AFTER I CONFESSED MY FEELINGS, HE DOESN'T TRUST ME. And his heart broke again, and we had to hear that song in the car... Dean is heartbroken, as the first half of the season showed us, tons of broken and eaten hearts... He's disappointed with CAS... And he's feeling rejected and unrequited...

To Conclude:

This episode showed us Sam Winchester getting the idea of what Dean feels for Castiel.

We also had Megstiel as a tool, because it brought us back Jealous Dean and we got the idea about how Castiel is conscious about seduction techniques.

But the most important scene, one of the most emblematic of Destiel scenes, was the Crypt scene. The I LOVE that never happened, but a huge love Confession from Dean to get Castiel back.

The confession brought Castiel back, but when the angel ran away from Dean, Dean felt rejected, heartbroken and unrequited, and he began to pushing all his feelings down again.

I hope you like this meta, I suffered a lot, but we'll.. I love this scene...

See you in the next one!

Tagging @metafest @magnificent-winged-beast @emblue-sparks @weirddorkylittlediana @michyribeiro @whyjm @legendary-destiel @a-bit-of-influence @thatwitchydestielfan @misha-moose-dean-burger-lover @lykanyouko @evvvissticante @savannadarkbaby @angelneedshunter @trickster-archangel @dea-stiel @poorreputation @bre95611 @thewolfathedoor @charlottemanchmal @neii3n @deathswaywardson @followyourenergy @dean-is-bi-till-i-die @hekatelilith-blog @avidbkwrm @anarchiana @mishka-the-angel-of-saturday @dickpuncher365 @vampyrosa @foxyroxe-art @authorsararayne @anonymoustitans @mybonsai1976 @love-neve-dies @wildligia @dustythewind @wayward-winchester67 @angelwithashotgunandtrenchcoat @trashblackrainbow @deeutdutdutdoh @destiel-is--endgame @destiel-shipper-11 @larrem88 @charmedbycastiel @ran-savant @little-crazy-misha-minion @samoosetheshipper

@shadows-and-padlocked-hearts @mishtho @dancingtuesdaymorning @nerditoutwithbooks @mikennacac73 @justmeand-myinsight @idontwantpeopletoknowmyname @tenshilover20 @teddybeardoctor @pepevons

If you want to be tagged, just let me know.

If you want to read the previous metas from Season 8, here you have the links...

Vol. XXXI, Vol. XXXII, Vol. XXXIII, Vol. XXXIV and Vol. XXXV

Buenos Aires November 5th 2019 8:11 PM

#destiel #destiel chronicles #destiel meta #supernatural meta #season 8 meta #vol. xxxvi

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