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artdecosupernova-writing · 7 months

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Fictober '23 Prompt No. 17/18 — "I never said it would be easy."/"We can't do this on our own."

Category: Original WIP: Partners trilogy Rating: T Timeline: pre-trilogy, 1940s CW: none Word Count: 862 Additional Notes: I can't be bothered with the math of it all but it's probably '43/'44.

***

Ben stared like a mopey child as Reagan counted out coins on the table. Only three other people occupied a single booth of the diner, closer to the door; a trio of young women enjoying a late-night dinner and laughing among themselves.

"Mm-hm," Reagan hummed definitively, taking his wallet back out of the breast pocket of his jacket and shuffling a dollar bill from its folds.

"Ooh, big spender," Ben grumbled.

As Reagan slid the wallet back into its pocket, he caught the eye past Ben's shoulder of at least one of the ladies in the other booth. He flashed them a smile and Ben could not see but heard immediate giggles and titters, indicating Reagan had once again loosed an impeccably aimed arrow of charm at complete strangers and nailed the target on the bullseye.

Ben rolled his eyes and turned to peer at the women. They'd gone back to their conversation, likely revolving around Reagan now, throwing him the occasional glance with blushes creeping across their faces.

"I've been talkin' to Haps over at the Crystal Swing," Reagan said quietly. "He's lettin' us take a couple nights to see how we do, and then, if we bring in a crowd, maybe he'll set us up for a stretch."

When Ben turned back, he took a sip of the soda from the straw in front of his face and shrugged. "Sure."

"Got somethin' to say?"

Reagan's tone was low and private, but the crooked grin on his face betrayed the fact that he knew exactly what was keeping Ben in a dour mood. Ben tried not to dwell too much on the fact that Reagan's attention was now unmistakably on him.

"Why wouldn't we bring in a crowd, Reggie?" Ben challenged. His brows pinched together. "Explain to me why we'd be shit up a creek without even gettin' a decent chance."

"Benny—"

The rise of Ben's ire summoned a muffled chuckle from within Reagan, but Ben ignored it. "Nobody's gonna take us seriously if we don't get our shit together and find a damn manager. We can't do this on our own."

"A manager is gonna cost us money we don't currently have," Reagan said levelly.

"Money we somehow had to buy the house we live in right now?" Ben didn't miss the smile dropping from Reagan's face. "Am I the only one takin' this seriously?"

Whatever levity Reagan harbored disappeared. He made a face as if he wanted to say something else, then shook his head and settled on, "I spent the whole week callin' around the city for a place that'll give us a chance. What have you done?"

Ben waved the admittedly precise point away. "I've been workin' on a song. Alright? I started some music, I just need the lyrics."

The smile he was rewarded then made the whole of Ben's insides cook to roughly the temperature of Reagan's still-steaming coffee. "You didn't tell me that."

Ben watched a man enter the diner and sit himself at the counter, setting a briefcase on the stool beside him. "Maybe I don't gotta tell you everything goin' on, ever think about that?"

Reagan leaned forward. "Uh-huh. You've been my best friend for just about fifteen years, we live together, we're trying to start a career together, we sometimes sleep in the same bed, and now you wanna establish boundaries?"

"Reggie," Ben pleaded. "We need a manager. One who will make all those asinine calls for us. One who knows the ins and outs. I don't know what kind of sick play you've got goin' here, but gigs like us are a dime a dozen. We've gotta stand out."

"We do stand out, baby," Reagan muttered. "Wanna know why?"

"I don't think I could handle it," Ben groaned.

Reagan ticked off a list on his fingers. "We go beyond brothers, beyond best friends, we've got in our pockets the best pianist this side of Vienna, and I've been known to carry a tune around with some semblance of grace."

Ben fought the urge to roll his eyes again at Reagan's unapologetic and dramatic downplaying of his own talent.

"We're gonna be okay," Reagan said. "I never said it would be easy. It's probably gonna be the hardest thing we've ever done. We'll get a manager in time. It's gonna work."

The smile he gave Ben this time was small, warm, confident. If there was anybody in his life that could make him feel as if he were the only one in the universe that mattered, it was Reagan.

"Okay," Ben said, taking another sheepish sip of his soda. "Fine. Just know I'm puttin' my whole life in your giant, baby-smooth hands."

Reagan brought his cup to his lips and blew some of the steam away. "And you know I got it cradled to my heart like it were mine."

It was Ben's turn to attempt to hide his furious blushing. "Okay. I get it."

They finished their beverages, paid the waitress a dollar after which Reagan insisted she keep the change, and on the way out of the diner, he didn't even bless the three young women with another look.

#fictober23 #Partners #pre-trilogy 1 #honestly the timeline of things is starting to look tight. gonna have to work on that I think

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eaglefairy · 8 months

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The more I've been thinking and writing about my series-wide xenoblade au the more I feel like 3 is a better story on its own, without either of the previous two games or future redeemed. Putting it in the wider context of the series I keep finding myself thinking about it more as "one really weird day in the post-canon of games 1 and 2" as opposed to a story in its own right, which feels like a disservice to the characters and story that it gave us.

#original tag #xenoblade chronicles #of course I love 1 (and I do like the core cast of 2 a lot) and I love fanservice based on those games so it doesn't bother me as much lol #but whenever I'm thinking about 3 it's almost always in the context of pre- or post-canon outside of aionios #which just feels a little weird. like being a part of the series did a lot of damage to 3's own identity #I don't know if I'll keep following whatever monolithsoft does next after this trilogy #but whatever it is I hope it's completely disconnected from these games. let the story end. start something new

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savage-kult-of-gorthaur · 1 year

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"A SINISTER AND FORMIDABLE BOUNTY HUNTER LIKE BOBA FETT NEEDS A SIMILARLY SINISTER AND FORMIDABLE SHIP..."

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on a selection of conceptual art pieces of Bob's Fett's Firespray-class Interceptor, Slave I, artwork by Nilo Rodis-Jamero and Joe Johnston, c. 1978-1979.

"A sinister and formidable bounty hunter like Boba Fett needs a similarly sinister and formidable ship to achieve his goals, and the memorable Slave 1 would soon prove an ugly-looking and intimidating, capable stand-out vessel of the "STAR WARS" saga."

-- STAR WARS AFICIONADO, "An "Empire" at 40: Creating "Slave I," April 2021

Sources: www.flickr.com/photos/randar/20648637293/in/photostream & https://starwarsaficionado.blogspot.com/2021/04/an-empire-at-40-creating-slave-1.html.

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retrofalsettos · 3 months

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Collection of pre-revival Falsettos/Marvin Trilogy bootlegs & other recordings

lmk in the notes if you have any you'd like me to add!

Full length (or mostly full length) off broadway/broadway/tours:

1993, (mostly) original broadway cast, unlisted youtube video

1993, same recording as above but a public youtube video

Most likely 1992, Carolee Carmello as Trina (act 1 only)

1994, Mandy Patinkin as Marvin

Falsettoland 1990

Other full length productions:

Hartford Stage 1991 (youtube link)

Hartford Stage 1991 (google drive link)

In Trousers, Trinity College (youtube link)

In Trousers, Trinity College (vimeo link)

Falsettoland, Trinity College

Other shorter recordings:

What Would I Do, Michael Rupert & Stephen Bogardus, 2009 concert

Father to Son, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Michael Rupert & Sivan Cotel

Father to Son, Mandy Patinkin

Four Jews in a Room Bitching, 2007 w/ Malcom Gets

The Baseball Game, OBC, on TV at some point in the 90s

Falsettoland (song), Japan 1994

March of the Falsettos (song), New Orleans 2000

I Never Wanted to Love You, New Orleans 2000

The Games I Play, New Orleans 2000

Unlikely Lovers, New Orleans 2000

You Gotta Die Sometime, New Orleans 2000

Love is Blind, Cape Town, year unknown (has the original MOTF blocking & lyrics which I think is cool)

Egads! Theatre, In Trousers clips

#falsettos #falsettos obs #falsettos 1992 #falsettos 1991 #falsettos hartford stage #falsettoland #march of the falsettos #in trousers

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nieded · 3 months

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#RAINBOWROAD for Rainbow Railroad Charity Drive Redux Pre-Orders are open!

I am so excited to announce that I am taking preorders for copies of the entire #RAINBOWROAD trilogy starting today! Preorders will be open starting today, February 14th (happy Valentine's!) to March 13th. It will close at 11:59 MST.

Please reblog so we can spread the news!!!!

>>PRE-ORDER HERE<<

This past summer, I did a print run of the first part of the series, Sit Tight, Take Hold and printed 94 copies for charity. Many readers asked for books 2 & 3, and I had many others express interest in a 3-part bundle who missed the first run. I've spent November, December, and January prepping the next parts for print, and I'm so excited to share them with you.

So, what is included?

Option for a 3-book bundle including:

Book 1: Sit Tight Take Hold 424 pages on matte 80lb text paper, color printing throughout. Cover has matte lamination in color. Dimensions of the book are 6x9x.93. Weight ~2 lbs Art by Blairamok (See cover art above)

Book 2: How do you solve a problem like Ezira?, Accept a Little Spin, and Oh, there's a long way to go 408 pages on matte 80lb text paper, color printing throughout. Cover has matte lamination in color. Dimensions of the book are 6x9x.93. Weight ~2 lbs Art by DustandHalos (cover art below)

Book 3: Fools Rush In and bonus content, 0-60 in 3.5 468 pages on matte 80lb text paper, color printing throughout. Cover has matte lamination in color. Dimensions of the book are 6x9x1.06. Weight ~2lbs Art by Pyracantha (cover art below)

PDF copies of all three parts

Option for a 2-book bundle including only Parts 2 & 3 + PDF copies. This is an option for people who already own the first book.

Limited option for Part 1 discounted damaged books (15 available). This does not include PDFs. These books have cosmetic damage to the covers from shipping. Damage does no affect the print quality of the text.

Limited postcards that were extras from the first run (only 8 available)

Remaining Corvette Crowley posters, including A/B grade options, 12x18".

$20 PDFs of all stories that will include all the formatting of the print run and cover art! (Screenshots from the PDF proofs below)

Where are the proceeds going?

Rainbow Railroad is a North American-based organization that works globally to ensure safety and asylum to LGBTQIA+ individuals. This is the same charity we donated to last time, and it was a resounding success. Last time, we were able to fundraise $1,600!

Continued FAQ below:

How much does shipping cost?

For US residents, bundles will cost a flat fee of $10. They will ship via media mail through USPS.

For anyone outside of the US, shipping has been estimated through the cheapest carrier, either USPS or UPS minus $10. Unfortunately, I cannot control the cost of shipping, and I know that it is extraordinarily high. The bundles will weigh anywhere between 4-6+ lbs, which is expensive to ship.

Wait, I'm from the US. Why am I paying more for Media Mail?

While Media Mail typically would cost $4-6, the increased price is to offset international orders, whose shipping will cost anywhere from $20-60 with the discount. I hope you understand. I want to make this as accessible as I can without personally eating any costs. I am not making any profit off of this project.

When do orders ship?

Once pre-orders close on 3/13, I will order the books. There is typically a 2-4 week turn around for them to be printed and delivered to me. I then have to package and ship everything from my house. I hope to have everything shipped 1 month after pre-orders close, but I am only human.

US mail should take 2-8 days. International orders can take anywhere from 2-4 weeks, so please be patient.

If you are only ordering a damaged copy or postcards, both of which have already been printed, I will ship those out sooner.

When do I get my PDFs?

The PDFs and book proofs are the same, and they are 90% done. PDFs will be delivered via email by me once pre-orders close. I am still doing small changes and edits to make sure they are perfect!

If I order a bundle, do I also need to order PDFs if I want digital copies?

NO! PDFs are included with the bundles and only the bundles. You will not have access to them immediately, only once pre-orders close and I email them to you! Like I said, they are 90% finished, and I am stilling making small adjustments. (Kerning, I loathe you!)

What percent of proceeds are going to Rainbow Railroad?

100%! This excludes the cost of printing and shipping. For reference, the first print run cost $1,254 for the books alone, not including shipping and packaging supplies. Anything remaining goes directly to charity. I am not keeping any costs for labor or making any profit on this.

Wait, there's bonus content?

Remember when I said I was done after the trilogy? Well, @tut557 popped into the Discord server and said, 'Hey, what if they played Mario Kart...' This spiraled into a long conversation about all the different media promos they might do, and then I spent this past November writing another 50k of the #RAINBOWROAD universe for NaNoWriMo. This is also available on AO3, and I will be posting weekly while preorders are open. You can find it here.

#rainbow road #charity drive #rainbow railroad #good omens fic #please reblog and spread the word!!

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fairfowl · 6 months

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As promised! Izzy-centric fic recs!

These are all gonna be pre S2 (and all Steddyhands because I was obsessed for like a year)

@crabgrave

Starting off strong with

1) Battle of the Boyfriends

This fic makes you laugh before it makes you cry. A steddyhands centric dramady mostly from Izzy's point of view, and I love this Izzy very much.

Isn't he precious? They absolutely hurt his feelings

2) Doldrums

This one is a two part series that starts with Izzy leaving the Revenge as Stede and Ed reunite post S1. He recruits Calico Jack and becomes captain of his own ship while he and Jack have a lot of sex (I actually enjoy Jack in this one lol) Ed and Izzy eventually partially work things out

The second part involves Izzy back on the ship in the beginning stages of steddyhands

I think the real strength of this series is Izzy's interactions with everyone, but especially Stede and Oluwande

3) The Nook is for Talking Shit

This is a Calico Jack hate!fic and I'm here for it. Also steddyhands because I've got a problem

In this fic Stede and Izzy bond offer a mutual enemy, and Izzy teaches Stede how to craft the perfect insult

I like that they laugh together, and I really like it when Stede stands up for Izzy ♡ (I also like that Izzy has a very good reason to hate Jack that involves him having been injured very badly)

4) Navigating By the Light of Your Stars

A delicious sandwich of a trilogy where the bread is BlackHands and Stizzy relationship studies, and the meat is steddyhands smut.

Featuring: GrayAce!Izzy, whump, Stede’s introduction to BDSM, and discussions of mortality ♡

5) A Pirate Triptych

Another steddyhands trilogy!

This is one I've seen on many recommendation lists and it is worth it. These men and their guilt I swear ♡

Post S1 Izzy schemes to get Stede back into Ed's good graces at his own expense.

If you like Izzy whump this is the fic for you

6) More Vivid than Sunsets, Brighter than Stars

On a shorter and sweeter note this little steddyhands bdsm fic explores Izzy running his mouth and Stede and Ed going a little too far in order to punish him. Everyone gets their feelings hurt ♡

Everyone is characterized well here but Ed is kind of the star of the show, he has to mediate this incident and he's hilarious

7) House of Mirrors

This one is pure Izzy whump with steddyhands caretaking. Izzy is sick, Ed spirals, Stede is Exhausted (tm)

I reread this one often

anyway I think this is what I have for now, I might post another list at some point because there are a couple of longfics that are very near and dear to my heart, plus S2 is not gonna stop me from reading new fic. I look forward to seeing more amputee!Izzy

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overthinkinglotr · 1 year

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People keep insulting the Amazon Lord of the Rings show by comparing it to fanfiction when really it's the EXACT opposite of fanfiction! It's so interesting/awful because it's like the ultimate ANTI-fanfiction! I was talking to someone the other day and wasn't aware that lots of people don't know about the insane complicated rights issues happening behind the scenes of the Amazon Show but it's wild. To give a quick summary of the Battle of the Five Rights Issues, as I currently understand it: 1. Amazon only has the rights to make a show about the pre-LOTR era as described in the Lord of the Rings books-- primarily in the appendices of Return the King, where a handful of pages give a brief timeline of some events that happened before the stories. In practice this means they are unable to use nearly all of the characters, places, and events people are familiar with when they think about Middle Earth. They have to make up everything out of whole cloth-- from characters to events to settings. This is either because of timeline reasons or for legal reasons or for both. Whenever they do manage to scrounge up the rights to something you might even vaguely remember (like Mithril) they announce it with enormous fanfare like they're a marvel movie introducing an avenger.

(Parenthetical: Another weird thing I noticed is that the series features practically zero quotes from Tolkien. I only counted about like 4 lines that were edited versions of lines from the books? While this is just a wild tinfoil hat theory, It does feel to me like there might've been some kind of limitation on the amount of Tolkien's words they were allowed to use, as well as the obvious limitations on characters and plot points and etc. The show has the rights to so few things and always REALLY wants you to know when it has the rights to something. It's desperate to remind you of the original books. You would think that, when it's unable to rely on familiar characters or places or events or plot points or music or etc, they would rely instead on Tolkien's really recognizable prose/poetry/language to form an emotional connection to the original stories. After all, language is the heart of Middle Earth, the author's love of language is the reason the world was created, and the unique prose of the story is kinda the soul of why it's memorable. And again, they theoretically have the rights to everything mentioned in the original trilogy right? Theoretically? So it's really odd that they don't use almost any of the language, unlike basically every other adaptation. It might just be a weird writing decision, but it's so strange that it really makes me feel like they were limited or at least dissuaded from including lines from the books.)

2. Amazon is legally Not Allowed to feature things that were mentioned in the Unfinished Tales or the Silmarillion, despite the fact that those are the books that contain most of the stuff about the era they're theoretically adapting. This leads to a bunch of really weird stuff where they introduce things you'd only care about if you read the Silmarillion, but can't include any of the things that would actually make you care about it. Like people who Aren't deep into the lore have literally zero emotional investment in Celebrimbor, but people who ARE deep into the lore know that you can't reference any of the reasons they care about it. 3. Amazon's series is NOT part of the same canon as the Peter Jackson/New Line Cinema films. They're not. However they obviously want to trick people into thinking they are because those movies are popular and a prequel to them would make money even if it sucked (see the Hobbit films.) But again, New Line Cinema still wants to make its own LOTR content based on the slivers of rights they've managed to grab onto, and don't want Amazon to step on their toes. So IIRC Amazon actually made a deal with New Line Cinema that they were allowed to imitate their movie franchise's aesthetic (to keep the brand popular and in the public eye)........ BUT if New Line Cinema ever felt like Amazon was infringing too much on their territory, they could step in and stop it. So the show just sorta looks and sounds like a bland knockoff of the New Line films, because that's all they're legally allowed to be XD. Like they're supposed to look/sound just enough like them to trick you, but they're not legally allowed to include the specific things from the PJ films that would actually make you feel nostalgic for them (like the famous musical leitmotifs.) 4. Part of the deal was that the Tolkien Estate could step in and change anything in the show if they felt it wasn't true to the lore-- which is ridiculous because again, Amazon basically doesn't own the rights to any of the lore so they're just making stuff up anyway. From what I can tell it seems like this basically means the Tolkien Estate can arbitrarily veto any creative decisions based on whatever they've decided “Tolkien would've wanted,” which obviously limits what Amazon is able to do (and likely prevents them from actually criticizing the awful problematic elements of Tolkien's worldbuilding)

5. Ok I don't have a fifth one. SO BASICALLY: Yes, the Amazon series is about a bunch of original characters in almost completely original settings featuring original events and original plot points that (for the most part) doesn't even include any of Tolkien's actual words, and also isn't affiliated with and doesn't include the recognizable things like musical motifs from the New Line Cinema films. But that doesn't make it fanfic. Because fanfiction is when you take another's person's characters and stories and write your own weird personal take on them, even if you don't legally own it. Who legally owns the copyright is irrelevant in fanfiction. Fanfic it's about writing a story with the characters and world you love, about transforming a story you're passionate about even if you don't legally own the rights. Amazon Rings of Power is what happens when an entire show is completely written around what you legally own the rights to. Every aspect of it only exists as an elaborate tap dance around copyright infringement. Again, I think the Amazon series is more interesting as "a study of how corporations/megafranchises can do massive harm and also weaken our ability to create good art" than it is as a tv show, alskdjfsdlf.

If fanfiction is "writing something you love regardless of whether you own the rights" then Rings of Power is "writing whatever fits within the extremely narrow box of the rights you happen to own." And that makes it....a very strange thing to exist! It’s kinda a shining example of how giant media monopolies and copyright laws designed to benefit them end up hamstringing everyone’s ability to create meaningful art, even the corporations themselves.

#anti rop #amazon #lotr #the was written under incoherent cold brain don’t @ me

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artdecosupernova-writing · 1 year

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Word Prompt

Word: Sip WIP: Partners Timeline: pre-trilogy CW: I should make it clear that the ages of Ben and Reagan in this piece are 17 and 21 respectively. This takes place in New York, 1942, where and when the legal drinking age was 18. I don’t think I have to spell it out for you but there are situations here which some readers may find uncomfortable due to all of the factors mentioned. Word Count: 1,593 Additional Notes: This is, in fact, the first time I have ever written this incident. It’s been referenced a bunch of times through the trilogy and shit but this is the first time I’ve actually written it, so that’s an experience for me isn’t it lmao

***

Ben gripped the glass in a sweaty hand, nervous eyes passing over every patron of the bar as if they would see him and immediately clock the fact that something was up. He brought the beer to his lips and practically inhaled the head, filling his whole mouth with just far too much of the bitter liquid, his throat squeaking with the effort of trying not to spray it everywhere and blow his cover.

Reagan swiveled on his stool, his face an instant picture of concern. "Hey," he said, taking Ben's wrist and lowering the glass to the counter. "You gotta sip it, Benny. Sip it—for fuck's sake, kid, what the hell was that…?"

Shaking his head, Ben swallowed as much of the beer as he could before squeezing Reagan's arm and breathing deep to compensate for the lack of oxygen and the bubbles exploding on his tongue. "I dunno if I can do this, Reg, that was fuckin' horrible."

"Okay." Reagan placed a calm hand on Ben's shoulder. "That's alright. You wanna head out? I can order you somethin' else."

"Gimme that..." Ben reached over to Reagan's tumbler, sloshing the amber liquid around before downing the entire shot in one go. "It's your—oh, this is gonna hurt, ain't it..."

Reagan watched the full-body cringe all but de-seat him entirely as the whiskey ran a trail of fire down his throat. "It's my birthday, yeah, but I think I'll pass on killing you to celebrate it this year."

"It's fine." Ben dabbed his tongue with the napkin that came with his pint and coughed as discreetly as he could muster. "I just wish someone coulda told me I needed twenty years of drinking experience for this," he added, throwing Reagan a very pointed glare.

Reagan grimaced, amused. "Well…the minimum age is eighteen for a reason."

"Forget it; just get me another one of those." Ben gestured to the tumbler. "This was your idea anyhow."

Holding up two fingers for the bartender, Reagan let out a gentle hum. "If I'd known you weren't gonna be able to handle it, I would've just said to stay home tonight."

"Look." Ben suppressed a burp and glanced around at the other occupants of the establishment and lowered his voice so as not to draw attention. "You must be out of your god damn mind. This could be the last one we get to spend together—"

"Ben."

"No, listen. You keep talkin' about moving into a place with Carolyn once I'm eighteen and…we both know..." He trailed off once the glasses of brand-new whiskey were set in front of them. "We need to make this special, that's all. You never know."

Reagan hesitated before taking his glass in hand and holding it out to Ben. "You are…absolutely right."

Ben clinked his glass against Reagan's. "To you."

"There is no me without thee," Reagan corrected, and he downed the whiskey right alongside Ben, who pounded a fist on the counter right as the alcohol hit his taste buds. "Big boy, now."

Ben released a very low, slightly less pained growl and cleared his throat. "Yep. Yep. Keep 'em comin'."

Reagan flashed a charming smile at the bartender and somewhat sheepishly gestured for refills. "Pace yourself. The idea is to keep the shit down."

An hour crawled through the bar and despite taking it easy after his third whiskey, Ben found himself later nursing a sweating glass of water, holding his head up on the counter with a hand and grinning stupidly at Reagan, who watched him like a hawk over the rim of his own final whiskey.

"So how's it feel bein' twenty-one," Ben slurred, all giddy. "Any better'n twenty?

Reagan exhaled smoke from the cigarette between his fingers almost without blinking. "So far…not by much."

Their knees had interlocked somehow over the course of the hour. Ben draped his leg over Reagan's knee and knocked his own into the underside of the counter, though he didn't feel it. "Wanna get out of here?"

Reagan's hold on his glass tightened imperceptibly and he took one last drag of the cigarette before calmly tamping it out in an ashtray. "I could hail us a cab, yeah. You wanna go?"

Ben nodded.

Reagan counted out a handful of bills to leave for the bartender before hauling Ben off the stool and through the front door, where the dampness of the night and the sounds of the city slammed into both of them in two separate ways. With a firm grip on Ben's arm, Reagan steered them to the corner of the street and craned his neck to watch for cabs.

"Fuck," Ben grunted, leaning into Reagan with a frown. "It's hot!"

"It's the middle of August. Where we goin'?"

"I don't..." Ben paused, Reagan's shoulder pressed into his chest. "I don't wanna go home."

Reagan turned his face to him. "You don't wanna go home?"

"I just…I don't want this to be over. I love Carolyn…an' I love you…but..." He swallowed as his pulse jumped in his veins. "Sometimes comin' home is…a bit like gettin' a knuckle in the tooth, y'know." He rested an elbow on Reagan's shoulder. "I want you to myself sometimes. Y'ever jus' want someone to yourself sometimes…?"

"Where we goin', baby?" Reagan murmured, gaze darting from one end of the dark street to the other.

The tone of his voice sent a shiver directly down Ben's spine and over his skin but he was in no headspace to place why. "It doesn't even fuckin' matter, does it? We gotta go home eventually, it doesn't even fucking matter."

"Shh shh shh…" Reagan took hold of Ben's arms and backed him into the wall under the more severe shadows. "Hey, settle down, we've got time. It ain't even midnight yet."

Ben used the wall as support and his head lolled against the brick, surrendering to the pressure of Reagan's hands rubbing his arms. He looked him as straight in the eye as he could with what felt like eighty-two liters of alcohol sloshing around his skull and the world threatening to upend itself. "I'm gettin' overemotional again."

"'Sokay," Reagan assured him, brushing a palm over his cheek. "You know I wouldn't have you any other way."

Unexpected to both of them, Ben threw his arms around Reagan. He reciprocated the embrace, smoothing his hands up Ben's back, and Ben screwed his eyes shut and curled his fingers into Reagan's soft hair, willing his eyes to stay shut when Reagan breathed into his ear a little short and cupped his jaw and tilted his face toward him. He felt the brick against his back again, a fistful of Reagan's shirt, and a mouth…on his mouth...

Alcohol. A lot of it. Tobacco. A soothing swipe of a tongue. Knees buckling. Strong grip on either side of his head. His heart slamming into his ribcage, screaming at the top of its lungs about how in sync he was right now, how his entire frame hummed with unadulterated ecstasy and the grin stretching across Reagan's preoccupied, surprisingly soft lips, and—

Oh.

No no.

Ben jumped fast into lucidity and he struck Reagan across the face with a half-open fist and most of his strength, not displacing him much save for the sharp whip of his head to his right. The smack of it all echoed down the alley and the world felt like it stopped on its axis and Ben's eyes became huge in his head.

Reagan stood stunned for all of three seconds before grinning wide and assessing his jaw with his fingers. A chuckle bubbled up from an unknown depth of his chest.

Something unnecessary happened within Ben upon nearly grasping what had just transpired. He couldn't catch a breath, his knuckles stung, and his lips and whole damn self tingled like pins and needles. Sweat gathered at the base of his throat that had nothing to do with the heat of mid-August. There settled only shock in his system, only amazement that Reagan had summoned the courage to do what he'd simultaneously feared and dreamed he had the capacity to do, and he was terrified and desperate for more.

"Okay," Reagan said, taking a couple of steps away instead of reading his mind. "You still wanna go somewhere else?"

It took a minute for Ben to come back into himself enough to realize that Reagan was acting like nothing had just happened. Unable to argue or inquire, Ben merely shook his head.

Reagan jogged to the corner again and flagged down a cab. They made it home in distinct silence. Somehow, nothing had happened. They were home, and it was what Ben didn't want before nothing had happened and then he wanted nothing else but to be home.

But Carolyn greeted Reagan at the door with a kiss on the cheek. She tutted in disapproval at the stench of booze on them but didn't give them too much grief. It was Reagan's birthday, after all. Ben wanted to brag, to rub it in her face, but how could he when nothing had happened? Reagan let Carolyn take his hand and she said goodnight to Ben and he wanted to wrench their hands apart but how could he when nothing had happened? Carolyn led Reagan to their room to sleep off the night. Nothing had happened.

Reagan made eye contact with Ben and smiled before disappearing into the master bedroom.

"G'night, Benny."

So Ben stood in the living room alone, fevered, very drunk, and wishing Carolyn was dead for nineteen whole minutes.

#word prompt #Partners #pre-trilogy 1 #repost

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raayllum · 4 months

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Mirrored Paths Trilogy #2: In the Name of Love, I Would Do Anything For You —Callum & Viren

Part 2 of a mini meta trilogy dissecting Callum, Karim, and Viren's parallels, with a special emphasis on S5. For the general overview, and if you want to read Karim and Viren's parallels, you can read that analysis here. It is useful to read but not necessary in order to understand this one, as this meta is Part 2 and will discuss Callum and Viren.

Now, I've talked a lot about Viren and Callum. Like, a Lot a lot. Therefore, I'm not going to repeat too much of their Arc 1 buildup here, and focus more loosely on their S5 parallels in particular. However:

If you're interested in their pre-season 4 buildup, check out these metas: How Callum and Viren have parallel arcs in S2, Relics, Rage, and Magic: The Callum-Viren Foils Meta, the foils screencap compilation post I've been cultivating since Nov 2019 pre S3 (updated to include past that point)

If you're interested in post-S4 thoughts, check out these metas: The Interlocking of the Cycle’s Wheel with Viren, Claudia, Callum, and Rayla, How Viren and Callum stack up flaws wise, I sure do love foils that switch, How Callum's morality differs from Ezran and Rayla's (and always has)

If you're interested in post-S5 thoughts, check out these metas: What did Viren and what does Callum want?, How Callum and Viren sacrifice (written post-S4 but updated with S5 screencaps), Why ramp up the foiling?

Now I'm not gonna expect you to read all that because 1) I'm aware I have a problem, 2) it'd be time consuming as hell, and 3) I'm going to summarize the most important takeaways for you to understand the foundation this next section of meta is built on. (None of it is complicated, mind you, but just to make it clear where I'm coming from.) If you have read all those metas, or even made it this far on this one, thank you for enabling me reading and I hope you('ve) enjoy(ed).

Now for the key takeaways:

S5 went basically exactly where I've thought Callum would go since S1/S2 and Viren since S3 re: Viren giving up dark magic and having an atonement arc/breaking away from Aaravos, whereas Callum — in order to free and save someone he loves, specifically Rayla — chooses to chain himself further to Aaravos

Although still very different, Callum and Viren are worryingly, exceedingly similar in many ways, largely in their agreement that dark magic can be a useful last resort and in their devotion to their loved ones (aka "in the name of love" + the "I would do anything [for my family/loved ones]" parallel

Where Viren is willing to put certain things (the kingdom, his own quest for power, humanity) above his family (and wrongfully so), Callum is not. He says he would do anything, and means it (thank you post-s2 me, you were the realest bitch)

Rayla and Aaravos are foils, particularly in their dynamics with Callum and Viren respectively. They are both banished, exiled elves who were seen as being/are too sympathetic towards humans, they mentor high mages of Katolis, hunt each other's high mages, and S6 will put Rayla and Aaravos vying for Callum's destiny (control) to the test as his two paths (although choosing Rayla over Aaravos may not be mutually exclusive, but that's another post). Rayla killing Viren unintentionally put him on a path to stray from Aaravos, whereas Callum saving her / their relationship is what has consistently putting him on a path towards Aaravos

Now, S2 and S4 definitely have more parallels between them structurally for our two high mages. S2 is linked above, so I'll focus on S4: asking to die but being refused by Claudia and Rayla respectively; being reunited with someone they love after two years; Callum attempting to shut down his feelings in Rayla's absence / upon her return much the way Viren did in his time as high mage; the mirror and general framing, particularly in 4x01; sharing a (re-)birthday; their impatience in 4x02, which is also a parallel with Karim; the pawn intros; Rayla interrupting Callum's investigation of the mirror while Viren likewise attempts to diverge paths; picking up what they'd been refusing to all season in 4x09 within seconds of each other, and similar framing to boot, since dark magic led to Viren's destruction, and Rayla will possibly (unintentionally) lead to Callum's:

Let's get into it: S5

Now, S5 is less obvious in some ways. The one big framing parallel they get, beat for beat, is Callum going to investigate Aaravos in the library, placing his book on the same table, being interrupted by the librarian (which is honestly more of a running gag than something tangible), the script being magically washed away, etc.

Therefore, with all of the above out of the way, we have three main things to consider:

1) Their dark magic dreams from 2x06 and 5x03 respectively, in which they face mirrored reflections of each other

I wrote after S2 that I thought Callum refusing his dark counterpart in 2x08 was ultimately going to end up being more about actively being a dark mage than doing dark magic ever again, mostly because — while we didn't know if the show would ever put him in said position — I always figured Callum would do dark magic again in well, about the exact circumstances canon forced him into in 5x08. (And it was extremely satisfying, lemme tell you.) Viren giving up dark magic was more surprising, but they've always been switching foils, so the exchange makes perfect sense on that level.

I talked really briefly about some of the similarities between their dreams, but I wanted to touch on some here as well:

Their choices are both framed around objects of Aaravos. For Callum, it's a key he initially rejects. For Viren, it's the mirror, but instead of connecting to and looking to Aaravos to help him, he looks to and accepts himself.

Viren has to reach forward and connect with himself, whereas Callum pulls away from his mirror self

Viren's dreams are about dismantling his justifications (or the why) behind what he did, whereas Callum's skip over his justifications and instead focus on what he did. Both of these accordingly inform their identity

Viren is saved from literal drowning upon waking up, Callum is saved from a more metaphorical kind

Freedom is the cornerstone of both reflective scenes. Viren and Callum both leave their initial dreams being free (or freer than before). While this holds true for Viren until the current end of his arc (5x09), Callum in 5x08 is handed a sharp reminder that freedom is no guarantee, and how that may continue

The path metaphor that was running loosely throughout their arcs ("I am offering you a path forward [with dark magic] / Callum's tendency towards shortcuts / "I'm afraid, Rayla. What if I'm on a path of darkness?") is now being brought to the forefront here through Viren both being made actively aware of his choices per path ("Because I have followed a dark path") and him deciding to get off of it in 5x09.

2) Both being driven to desperation and resolve to try and save someone they love (Claudia, Rayla)

I figured that, per Viren getting an atonement arc at all, that what would make the most sense is S5 forcing Viren and Callum to confront their moral horizon lines about what they were, or were not willing to do, in order to save Claudia and Rayla pre-S5. For the S4 reasoning behind that, I'll recommend one of the metas linked above regarding those four and the Interlocking of the Cycle's Wheel. I was very pleased to see a decent chunk of it come to fruition. I figured Callum would be able to save Rayla at a steep cost, and Viren would be unable to successfully save Claudia (cause consequences have to catch up to you sooner rather than later, and they tend to catch Viren first and Callum second).

This is, of course, perhaps most exemplified by the show chipping away to the core of dark magic, which is what are you willing to do to save the people you love, even against their will, and that Callum has every good reason to be worried, accordingly, about a very exploitable part of himself.

Which we'll talk about more when we get to:

3) Viren revoking dark magic and Aaravos, whereas Callum does dark magic again and worries he's further tethered himself to Aaravos

In season 5 in a lot of ways, Viren comes to fully understand and accept Harrow's rebuttal to dark magic in 1x02, which was, "We may not pay now, but we will pay the blood price eventually! What do you think got us here? Dark magic!" The blood price went from Sarai's unintentional death, to Thunder's purposeful one, to Zym's false one, to Harrow's 'real' (?) one, and so and so forth.

Viren tried to ignore the sunk cost fallacy by believing it was already too late to turn everything around, and that doubling down to skirt consequences would continually work... until it didn't, and he had to accept the only person writing his fate was himself: "Every step forward is a choice," and thereby another chance to do the right thing, or make better choices, under the circumstances you have — to at least try.

This parallel, then, between Viren doing what he can to set himself free vs Callum chaining himself further to Aaravos is, in a lot of ways, both the most dreadful and happiest potential parallel and contrast between on a few different levels. Let me explain:

S6 as the Fall, S7 as the Rise

I talked about this pre-S5, citing it as a reason I believed Viren and Callum were ultimately switching rather than solely contrasting foils — re: Viren getting better in S5, and Callum getting worse in S5/S6 — simply due to the fact that given that S6 will be TDP's 11th hour, things might be going okay for the antagonist crowd, but the protagonist side of things, particularly Callum, will need to be hitting rock bottom.

Thus, it seemed pretty obvious from a structural standpoint, as well as Stars (and destiny by extension) having an association with Aaravos that S6 would involve Callum playing his part in Aaravos' plans, with S7 being the reclamation of his agency and therefore defeat of his narrative Rival for well, narrative control. S6 being Callum's fall, S7 being his rise — stronger than before, and freer and more magically in tune than ever.

Prior to S5, it was typically accepted (by myself included) that while purposefully very similar to one another in both framing and personality, that mirroring would eventually shed, and, come S7 Viren would ultimately provide a contrast to Callum, with Callum breaking away from Aaravos in ways Viren was never able to, and this would be the Big Defining Difference between them in terms of like, narrative cohesion and plot. (Emotionally, the biggest difference has always, arguably, been that Viren is more world focused — to his detriment in arc 1 in particular — than focused on his loved ones, whereas Callum is deeply and sometimes dangerously devoted to the people he loves.)

However, S5 makes that previous contrast prediction untrue, because Viren does break away from Aaravos (in fact, just an episode decidedly before Callum seems — metaphorically at least — to take a step towards him). Therefore rather than just being a contrast, Viren is meant to be a true mirror in equal measure, simply because by virtue of letting Viren break away from Aaravos' control, when Callum eventually does so, he will likewise — once again — be following in Viren's footsteps, just in a positive way rather than a 'negative' way like before. If Viren was meant to solely be a contrast — as has been theorized previously — than Callum staying under Aaravos' control would actually be the provided ending. Of course the show isn't doing that for Very Obvious Reasons, but I think it's worth noting that now, in order for Callum to have a happy ending at all, he has to follow in Viren's footsteps — all of them. Rather than being one of solely warning and foreboding, Viren's narrative has turned into one of hope for Callum, too.

V: I am free, and so are you.

But in order to talk about salvation, we have to first talk about destruction, namely:

Dark Magic and Death

Dark magic and death have long been associated with each other in series. Dark magic requires killing or consuming a magical creature — elf, dragon, or otherwise — to be used/harvested for power. It affects the souls of those being used as spell parts (Through the Moon) and you can use any part of the body within reason, even their ashes upon cremation (1x03, 2x09), or their final breath (against their wishes in 3x06). Hell, dark magic makes you smell like death (3x01), turns you into a more corpselike appearance, and season two novelization just furthers this association outright during the passages of Callum's dark magic visions/dream:

Callum turned the cube frantically to see which primal was glowing. How could any of the primals glow in this dark place? Something about this cube tied his stomach in knots. It wasn’t natural. A vision flickered in front of his face. Dozens of dead animals in a field. A dead butterfly. A dead deer. A dead unicorn. Cackling laughter. He chucked the cube away from him with all his might. The glowing rune was dark magic. It represented death.

Thereby in 2x08 itself, the rejection dark magic symbolized by the cube is pretty simple. Callum rejects being a dark mage as his primary magic use, he rejects the 'easier' road, he still believes he can possibly access primal magic, and in doing so, he rejects death. He won't become a dark mage, he won't seek out his death or others in order to have control/power, and he won't become a corpselike figure.

But a couple seasons later, we see S4 and S5 reverse and complicate that in 1) having him, literally, seek his own and Aaravos' deaths in order to feel in control/have power, and therefore 2) perfectly foreshadowing his eventual dark magic use/relapse, for lack of a better word. Just as the show leans farther away from "dark magic is easy" (and it is, in some ways, emotionally easier to deal with consequences when you can change them) and more into "dark magic will destroy you — your identity and your body — if you keep using it".

S5, likewise, also starts to break down the negative associations of dark magic being linked to death, and indeed the negative associations with death itself. For most characters in the series, death is solely a tragedy, but for Harrow and Viren of themselves, staring their own deaths in the face — and choosing to die — instead became a vehicle for repentance, change, and subsequent self-actualization.

Death, for Harrow, and more importantly for the sake of this meta, is not just doom and gloom, but a choice and therefore a culmination as well as a chance for transformation. Just as Viren's death in 3x09 allowed him to be re-born with clear eyes (a literal Re-Birthday, if you will), him choosing this next death shows the full scope of his character arc. Previously, he died because he was chasing all the things he didn't have with Aaravos' aid, and by 5x09, he's rejecting Aaravos' help and dying alone in the woods with nothing, yet it feels like a tragic sort of victory all the same.

We also see a more complicated view of dark magic alongside ideas of self-actualization. Previously, dark magic was seen as something that would make you routinely lose yourself (Viren, Claudia) until you had by and large become the worst version of yourself. S5 complicates this a bit more by connecting Callum doing dark magic to his ability to access the Ocean arcanum, as he remembers/mimics the motion of crushing the slug before connection (and parallels Viren's 5x03 hand symbolism to boot):

Whereas Viren unmakes his choice to take on Aaravos' deal in 2x07, Callum unmakes his choice to refuse to do dark magic when it means saving his loved ones. As he states:

To love is simply to know this: the tides are true as the ocean is deep... You don't control anything. But you already knew that, didn't you? Because it's the secret of the Ocean itself. The arcanum. The Ocean arcanum is about accepting depths you can't see, parts of yourself you can't understand, and things you can't control.

Callum fears not having control, and therefore fears his part of himself, where he is now more aware than ever of just how far he'll go for his loved ones, and how exploitable that is, thanks to Finnegrin. And it's not as though dark magic has lost its death associations, merely that those death associations have likewise been transformed. This is particularly evident if you line up 5x08 as the end of Callum's S5 arc (which it is; while 5x09 is fun, it doesn't further any of the main trio's emotional arcs except Rayla, and even that is decently minor)

If dark magic is still linked to death, then both Viren and Callum choose to step towards their own deaths in the end of their respective arcs, just with different meanings and arc placements. If we take Viren's step further that real death vs dark magic death are two different things, then we still have Callum stepping towards his own dark magic death to prevent someone else's (the same way Rayla is spared) even if that means throwing potentially 3+ innocent people and Domina Profundis under the bus in 5x08. But more on that here.

For now, let me break it down more simply:

In 4x09, Callum and Viren both pick up the symbol of something they've been trying to ignore / pass off to others all season. Viren has avoided his staff and left it for Claudia to wield, much the same way Callum passed Rayla off to Ezran and Soren in the previous episodes. Viren refuses to leave the staff behind. Meanwhile, Callum picks up and finally starts fully acknowledging the loss and love he feels regarding Rayla, who he let go on without him. The staff is symbolic of Viren's relationship to Aaravos as well, and it's what ultimately dooms him. Rayla's sword, although quickly discarded so he can help the actual Moonshadow elf, is also a symbol to Callum in the scene that he loves/is still mourning his friend/partner.

In 5x08 and 5x09, Callum and Viren are both goaded by a vengeful elf seeking freedom into doing dark magic to create a secure future for each mage. The elf wants to use them as further vessels for their own freedom/revenge scheme. Viren refuses to do dark magic and instead chooses death, reaching self-actualization. He does this mostly motivated by his own regret and love for Claudia. He refuses to sacrifice Sir Sparklepuff to save his own life and breaks away from Aaravos. Callum demonstrates a willingness to sacrifice others in order to save Rayla, in addition to resorting to dark magic in order to save her. He refuses to sacrifice her to save/keep his own soul free from Aaravos' clutches, even if that means possibly walking steadily closer to his own death. Likewise, this allows him to reach a new stage of self-actualization, but at a steep emotional cost.

Where Viren's ending is tragic but victorious, Callum's season ending is victorious but tragic. But like I said earlier, Viren's story in S5 offers plenty of hope to Callum's future storyline, namely exploring how

Love Can Destroy and Save You

Now, anyone who's been following me for a while knows I love a good "this thing can save and destroy you" and that I have been really fucking excited for S4 taking that undercurrent in arc 1 and bringing it up to the forefront, with a big hitch to Rayllum as a sweet lovely, devastating bonus.

“Wow. So they look identical but they might kill you or they might save you,” Callum said. “Exactly. Just like me…” Rayla smiled.

—Book One: Moon novelization + Callum and Rayla being routinely determined to save each other, even if that means immense danger and harm to themselves (Callum's love for her made him leap off the mountain to save her, and his love for her allowed him to grow wings and save both of them).

This has always been a theme in the show and particularly within their dynamic — "Alright, enough almost killing me" in 1x05 with the lightning spell, only for Callum to save Rayla's life with the exact same spell by the episode's end — most prominently brought to the forefront in 4x07 with their whole "I need you to kill me" "I'm afraid I'll hurt people I care about" [cuts right to Rayla] conversation. If you're interested in more Rayllum thoughts on this, I would recommend my original meta on the subject (pre-S4) and my post-S4 followup.

We even see this theme of the same thing — in this case, Callum's love for Rayla and commitment to saving her — play out as a perfect microcosm in 5x08. As previously mentioned, Callum does dark magic again (a failure in his own mind) and unlocks the ocean arcanum (a victory) precisely because of what he was willing to do out of love, both of these things being good and bad. The dark magic use is bad because it makes him more vulnerable to Aaravos and reaffirms how he'll bend morals he otherwise wouldn't and is upset over it, and it's a good action because it lets him save Rayla. Unlocking the Ocean arcanum is a good thing, because it symbolizes a deeper understanding of himself — good ol' self-actualization — and more useful, magical prowess, but it's also a bad thing because he's upset by this realization of himself to the point of not even really being excited by it.

He would do anything for her, he's realized now that love doesn't necessarily always make him stronger, that this is exploitable, and it scares him. It really does.

Because Rayla saves him and destroys him. And in S5, fortunately, Viren's children do the same for him.

Even though saving Soren is what seemed to truly begin Viren's descent in earnest...

the harm his path has inflicted on Claudia is one of his motivations to finally stepping off of it.

Ezran himself acknowledges the way love interplays with the Cycle in the thematic turning point of the arc, and the series in many ways, back in 4x03 — that love is not in opposition to the Cycle, but indeed one of its many cogs, and the choice lies in how we choose to let that love manifest:

I had a speech planned for today. It was about peace and love and hope. But I think I left something out. [...] We all want peace and we all want love. But violence tests us. In a twisted way, it converts us to its cause. Because pain and loss feel so terrible inside, you want to hate. You want to hurt someone else. So what do we do? How can we stop this cycle? [...] We have to acknowledge the weight of the pain and loss, but open up our eyes and allow ourselves to hope and maybe forgive and love again. We have to give today’s children a chance to inherit a future filled with peace. To give them that, we have to hold pain and love in our hearts at the same time.

If Callum does destroy himself / risk the world for love in S6 (perhaps taking a risk he knows may lead to being possessed, or releasing Aaravos to spare Ezran or Rayla from an immediate death) then love, it seems, is also posed to be what accordingly breaks him out of the possession and brings him back to himself, the same way it allowed Viren to deviate from his previously chosen/enforced path. Reconciling dualities rather than enforcing strict binaries is one of the main things S4 was concerned with, after all ("Just have two cakes!").

All of this, for Callum, ties back into:

His dynamic with Rayla and all its variances (the light to his dark / pain and love / literally freeing himself while metaphorically chaining himself in order to save her / his love for her being his strentth and weakness / "Now you're back. That's kind of good, and it's kind of bad").

His connection to the Key ("I have a feeling that cube thing could help me" to "It's the Key of Aaravos, Callum. No good will come of it!")

Light and dark being both good and bad, and Aaravos heavily representing that trade off ("In darkness, gaze upon a fallen star [...] already tainted by darkness" + the cube flashing a bright glowing white before Aaravos picks him up as a pawn).

The fall (becoming Aaravos' prey / playing into Aaravos' hands) in s6 and a rise in S7 (breaking free by defeating Aaravos)

If dark magic is death, and Aaravos is likewise death / worse than death ("if he takes control of me again, you have to kill me")... death, like for Viren in 3x09, can be Transformation for Callum in 6x09. He just has to 'die' (metaphorically) — to fall, to fail, to succumb to his predecessor's negative footsteps — in order to rise, fly, and follow in his predecessor's positive footsteps while also carving out another new path for himself.

Because Love is salvation just as much as it is destruction, and the story will always hold true to those things.

Other Parallels

Although there aren't as many prominent framing parallels in S5 as there were in S4 — the mirror, on the battlements with Soren, sitting on the Storm Spire, picking up the staff and sword, etc etc — (beyond the hand clasps as symbolic chains my beloved), the most obvious one is from 5x01 in which Callum goes to the library to research Aaravos just like the high mage before him, down to the portrait over the table they place the tome on.

Then there is also framing that furthers the connections they share between Callum-Viren and Claudia-Rayla, diving after someone you're desperate to save (and often from drowning, to boot). Hand outstretched one pictured above, so here's another:

There are also the Aaravos-Magma Titan Callum-Viren parallels that others have pointed out, with Ezran standing in for Sarai:

Given that 4x01 begins and 5x09 ends the arc of Viren's 30 days, and by and large binds S4 and S5 together as 1 arc of sorts (with S6 and S7 being the final arc), it tickles me particularly pink that it opens, in many ways, and then literally closes accordingly with Callum and Viren staring at the moon:

Misc:

In between writing the first meta and the second one, I got loose 'confirmation' that I'm on the right path with my deductions (even if, of course, 'personal path' can mean many things, but I still think it's cool!) from Aaron Ehasz on twitter. Cool beans

I also think it's fun that Viren tries to save Claudia from a 'symbolic' death in the ocean ("Stop! That wave, it will swallow you up!") and Callum saves Rayla from a more literal one of being devoured by a sea leviathan.

Conclusion

First off, if you read All of That, thank you and I hope you enjoyed it. I've been itching to talk about these two and how S5 both built on the parallels they already had, pushed some to the forefront in overt ways ("I would do anything" and 5x08 on Callum's end was beyond validating in every way), in addition to setting up more to come, both good and bad.

I may return to S5 in this manner to touch more on other parallel relationships in the future, such as Viren-Rayla in S5, Callum-Claudia, and Claudia-Rayla, but for now the next proposed foil meta is looking at a dynamic I have not talked much about in Callum and Karim. This will conclude this little 'trilogy' of metas, and I hope you stick around for it, cause it's going to be very interesting.

Callum and Viren have always been my favourite foils relationship in the show, and I hope this meta did a good job of demonstrating why. Thank you for reading and I'll see you in the next one!

—Dragons out

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alexlovesfanfics · 2 months

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Part 2 of changes I would have made to Heros of Olympus.

Obligatory disclaimer: I do not think I am better than Rick Riordan and what he has created is amazing but that doesn't mean we should not criticise it and it's important to be able to step back and see the issues or missed potential of a piece of writing

There would be at least 1 year gap b/w the PJO and HOO and both Percy and Annabeth would be 17, making them significantly older than most of the cast who all (with the exception of Jason for reasons I will get into) would be 13-15. This means Percy and Annabeth would be mentoring them.

Also as a benefit of the gap I would love to see Nico and Percy's relationship be slightly better though that's just because I love them

Grover would take the place of Coach Hedge and help Percy and Annabeth with mentoring the others. Also he and Nico would talk about Bianca as he was in the quest with her and her friend. Grover would help Nico with accepting that Bianca's death was mainly the fault of Talos.

Jason would still be 16 along with Reyna and Octavian. The three would have been friends pre-HOO (I have a whole trilogy planned for them that I will Inshallah write in the summer) and Octavian would start dating Jason shortly before TLH. He would also assume that Reyna would have assassinated Jason for political reasons (credit to @percabeth4life for this entire arc idea)

Jiper would become canon shortly before Mark Of Athena in the months after The Lost Hero. Octavian would be extremely upset about this and this would probably cause issues.

Percy would be called Perseus among the Romans

Percy would help Octavian search for Jason and get all the water life and Pegasi to look for Jason which would bring the 2 close and create a point of tension between Percy and Jason as Percy would be upset on Octavian's behalf that Jason went and dated Piper without even breaking up with Octavian (BC he didn't remember their relationship at first)

Percy also wouldn't sleep for months and instead wake up at the owl house (it was supposed to be wolf house but it's funny so I'm'n keeping it) at the same time as Jason showed up on the bus and he would be Praetor for several months slowly regaining his memory

Instead of just remembering Annabeth, he would also remember Grover because of the empathy link

Nico and Hazel's relationship would receive more focus. In the Cupid Scene, Hazel is there instead of Jason and Cupid instead of out right outting would instead subtly hint at him to do so. He'd talk about queer ppl in the myths and how being gay is okay and how you should accept yourself and not hide it and make Nico promise to try before giving them the staff. Hazel would ask and Nico would admit his crush on Percy. While surprised (40s kid) she would accept him unconditionally because that's her brother

Frank would be 14 and they wouldn't get together until a few years after the books

Hazel and Frank would have more focus and would have interest they still took part in like Hazel still drawing (maybe doodling in the corners of pages during meetings)

Percy and Annabeth wouldn't be as interested in moving to CJ. Like yeah Annabeth would immediately use it as a reference for New Athens but Percy hates strict rules and CHB is both Percy and Annabeth's home. It's also close to where a majority of their support system (Sally, Paul, Chiron, Annabeth's siblings, Clarisse bc you pry her friendship with them out of my cold dead hands, e.t.c). Also Annabeth is v ambitious and seems like someone who would eventually want to go to a very prestigious university. Emphasis on eventually as I think both she and Percy would take a break from school to recover from their trauma and get in a better headspace for dealing with all that

Tartarus would be far worse but while Annabeth would freak out at the Akhlys thing, she certainly would understand why Percy did it and wouldn't make him promise not to use those powers again

Piper and Annabeth would not get along at first. Annabeth enjoys girlie things and was friends with Silena so Piper insulting the Aphrodite cabin and looking down on girls for being feminine would not fly with her. While I do think this would change as Piper accepts her femininity (see previous post ABT changes I would make to HOO) I think Annabeth would be closer to Hazel and be like an older sister to her

Also Hazel would have dark hair and dark eyes like a normal black girl. No exotic bs. Same with Piper.

Frank would have dyslexia too because I am living proof that Asians can have learning disabilities too.

These are all for now. Will probably add more

#percy jackson #annabeth chase #heros of olympus #jason grace #nico di angelo #percy jackson and the heroes of olympus #rr crit #percy jackon and the olympians #anti hoo #hoo crit #piper mclean #hazel levesque #frank zhang #reyna avila ramirez arellano #octavian #shut up alex

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datcloudboi · 4 months

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List of Video Games Turning 10 Years Old in 2024

Alien: Isolation

Assassin's Creed: Rogue (the one where you play as an Assassin turned Templar.)

Assassin's Creed: Unity (the one set during the French Revolution.)

Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky

Azure Striker Gunvolt

The Banner Saga

Bayonetta 2

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea (the DLC where you go back to Rapture)

A Bird Story (a sort of spin-off of "To the Moon")

BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel! (is this a sequel to 1 or a prequel to 1? I forgor)

Bravely Default (in North America)

Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (the one with K*vin Sp*cey)

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 (to date, the last new Castlevania game to release)

Child of Light

The Crew (going offline at the end of March)

D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die (a wonderfully strange game from the guy that made Deadly Premonition)

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (in North America)

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (in North America)

Dark Souls II

Deception IV: Blood Ties

Demon Gaze

Diablo III: Reaper of Souls

Disney Infinity 2.0

Divinity: Original Sin (from the team that would go on to make Baldur's Gate 3)

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

Dragon Age: Inquisition (the winner of GOTY at the very first TGAs)

Drakengard 3

Earth Defense Force 2025 (EDF! EDF! EDF!)

The Evil Within (from the creative director of Resident Evil)

Fable Anniversary

Fairy Fencer F

Far Cry 4

Freedom Planet

Guilty Gear Xrd Sign

Hyrule Warriors

Inazuma Eleven (in North America. And digital only.)

Infamous: Second Son (as well as its expansion, First Light)

Kirby: Triple Deluxe

The Last of Us Remastered (just one year after the original version came out...)

The Legend of Korra (the game from PlatinumGames that you can't buy anymore)

Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham

Lego The Hobbit

The Lego Movie Videogame

Lethal League (from the team that would go on to make Bomb Rush Cyberfunk)

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (the third and final chapter of the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy)

Lisa: The Painful (yes, really)

LittleBigPlanet 3

Lords of the Fallen (not to be confused with Lords of the Fallen, which came out in 2023)

Mario Golf: World Tour

Mario Kart 8 (the original version)

Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes (the prologue to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which came out 18 months later)

Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Might & Magic X: Legacy

Murdered: Soul Suspect (it's like Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, but not as good)

Natural Doctrine

Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty! (a from the ground up remake of the first Oddworld game from 1997)

Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2 (yes, it got a sequel. I don't know how or why.)

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth

Pokemon Omega Ruby & Pokemon Alpha Sapphire

Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy (the last time that Professor Layton himself was the protagonist. At least, until the New World of Steam comes out)

Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Pushmo World

Risen 3: Titan Lords

Sacred 3

Samurai Warriors 4

Shadowrun: Dragonfall

Shantae and the Pirate's Curse (the 3rd one)

Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments

Shovel Knight (yes, really)

Skylanders: Trap Team (the 4th one)

Sniper Elite III

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric

Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal

South Park: The Stick of Truth

Steins;Gate (in North America)

Strider (the one from Double Helix)

Sunset Overdrive

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS (or Smash 4 for short)

Tales of Xillia 2

Tales of Hearts R

The Talos Principle

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call

Thief (the reboot)

This War of Mine

Toukiden: The Age of Demons

Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark (this game merged the storyline of the War for/Fall of Cybertron games with the storyline of the Michael Bay movies. I’m not joking)

Transistor

Valiant Hearts: The Great War

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

The Walking Dead: Season Two

Wasteland 2

Watch Dogs

The Witch and the Hundred Knight

The Wolf Among Us (sequel this year!)

Wolfenstein: The New Order

Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z

Yoshi's New Island

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lorcandidlucienwill · 2 months

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Ima be real i haven't read past acowar cuz i just stopped reading her books by the time the 4th book came out. HOWEVER!

dude i didn't know that the idea of rhys becoming high king was canon. i thought that was made up for a fic where the inner circle was the enemy.... why are they so different after the trilogy?? I mean they were already a little off but from looking at what people are saying (and reading a lot of fics with inner court slander) they've gotten weird weird weird

Quotes from ACOSF: “But you, Rhysand, are not.” Amren nodded to the still-rotating weapons. “With these three blades, you could make yourself High King.” The words clanged through the room. Cassian slowly blinked. Rhys said tightly, “I don’t wish to be High King. I only wish to be here, with my mate and my people.” Amren countered, “All seven courts united under one ruler would give us far better odds of survival in any upcoming conflict. No bickering and politicking required to dispatch our armies. Malcontents like Beron would have no ability to threaten our plans by allying with our enemies.” “We would have to fight an internal war first. I would be branded a traitor by my friends in other courts—I’d be forced to make them kneel.” Azriel stepped forward, shadows trailing from his shoulders. “Kallias, Tarquin, and Helion might be willing to kneel. Thesan will kneel if the others do.” Cassian nodded. Rhys as High King: he could think of no other male he’d trust more. No other male who would be a fairer ruler than Rhys. And with Feyre as High Queen … Prythian would be blessed to have such leaders. So Cassian said, “Tamlin would probably fight, and lose. Beron would be the only one standing in your way.” As for the Inner Circle being OOC... I think Rhys has remained the exact same since book 1. And that's actually a huuuuuge problem. He has had absolutely zero development, he's still an absolute dick, and somehow everyone licks his boots. Cassian I'd say went through a retcon through ACOSF. I genuinely shipped Nessian (even tho I despised the idea of the IC) until this book and it just ruined the ship and Cassian's character for me entirely. Mor...I mean she has had some character development but she was a fucking bitch to Nesta which I can't forgive. Amren I think is OOC in ACOSF too. This bitch should've stayed dead in ACOWAR. SJM ruined her sacrifice thing by bringing her back (also she's 100% ace, why did SJM make her heterosexual???) and then proceeded to have her trash Nesta in ACOSF. Pre-ACOSF Amren wouldn't have cared enough to be a bitch. Anyway the Inner Circle gets worse with each book and I hate how some people act like Rhys is the perfect selection for High King. If SJM goes down the High King road, the only High King I'll ever accept is Lucien.

#anti rhysand #anti cassian #anti azriel #anti ic #anti inner circle #anti mor #anti amren #anon asks

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ashyy-slashyy · 5 months

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ash williams transition timeline through the original trilogy:

evil dead 1- pre-T and pre-op(top+bottom)

evil dead 2-taking T, post top surgery, pre-bottom surgery

army of darkness- developed results of T, still pre-bottom surgery

all in all ash williams is a damn beautiful pre-op transman

#ash williams is trans #evil dead #ash williams #80s horror #horror #ashley joanna williams #army of darkness

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