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judas-redeemed · 7 months

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yes yes characters doomed by the narrative always slap BUT what about characters saved by the narrative? characters who have already given up hope and don't know they have a happy ending? characters who believe they are a lost cause, characters who feel irredeemable, characters who think there's nothing left for them, but the narrative does provide a way out? what about the characters who don't expect anything good, who don't even remember how to wish for it anymore, who get the things they need anyway? what about the characters who actively run from being saved getting saved in a way they can't stop or control. what about being saved by the narrative!!!

#this is inspired by joy from eeaao #but feel free to blorbo it up #judas talks #doomed by the narrative #saved by the narrative #fate #narrative #on writing #on healing #on hope

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little-pondhead · 9 months

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DP x DC Prompt

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There are no more heroes.

Well, okay. Rewind a bit.

Danny has been doing the hero thing for a while now. He’s had a big reveal; everyone has accepted him (including his parents), the GIW disbanded, the Anti-Ecto acts repealed, and generally, everything is going great. Some of the A-Listers are even training as junior ghost hunters to help give him a break from his rogues! (Being Ghost King makes things hectic sometimes, and he just needs the extra help. Sue him!)

The point is, literally nothing is wrong with Danny Phantom’s afterlife.

And then Valerie Gray, the Red Huntress, disappears in front of his eyes.

Danny is baffled! She’s just…gone! Valerie just popped out of existence, like she was never there. But no matter how hard he searches in the Ghost Zone, he can’t find her soul anywhere. His core isn't broken in grief. So she’s not dead. Which is good. So then, where is she?

Some of the others come forward with ideas on how to find her. A few ghosts volunteer to go out into the mortal realm, an area Danny had declared off-limits, to see if she was out there. Danny approves it. He rounds up some of the friendlier (i.e., discreet) ghosts and Amity Parkers and demolishes the outside travel ban.

So everyone spreads out, looking for their dear frenemy and teammate. But it becomes apparent very quickly that something is wrong with the rest of the world.

There are no more heroes.

Every single living superhero on the face of the Earth has just…vanished. Villains are running amok; the countries are in chaos! Some aliens are invading Earth, mythical deities are trying to take over, and society is crumbling to the ground. Everything is on the brink of collapse.

Well, Danny was still there. And so were his people. They were pretty spread out, so could they just…take up the mantles? He also knew where to find the souls of dead heroes in the Zone; surely they wouldn't mind coming out of retirement for a little bit, especially if they couldn't die again. Oh! And that skeleton army leftover from Pariah Dark's reign might be useful in repelling those invading forces.

Honestly, there were more than enough hands to go around! And with the heroes gone, Danny didn't mind letting everyone out for a little break, as long as they followed his rules. They wouldn't stop the search for the other heroes, but hopefully, when they found them, the heroes wouldn't mind Danny's intervention too much. :)

In other words:

Someone fucks up, and all of Earth's living heroes are either wished out of existence or are whisked away to some far-off realm where Danny hasn't checked yet. In the attempt to figure out what's going on, Danny lets the dead run amok over the Earth as they search for clues. The skeleton army repels the invading armies, the souls of dead heroes deal with the world leaders, and his rogues and other Amity Parkers set up shop in place of famous heroes, trying to get the cities under control again.

Basically, they just do their best to keep everything from imploding until the Justice League and others are back.

(And why is it that Danny hasn't disappeared? Well, whatever caused everyone to go poof! only affected living heroes. Anyone heroes that were dead in the first place, or even just half-dead, stayed behind.)

#pondhead blurbs #danny phantom #dpxdc #reveal gone right au #ghost king au #for plot reasons #it doesn't count if the hero had died and then came back to life #lots of heroes would still be around then #but this is me pushing the halfa!jason todd narrative work with me here he deserves the fun #deadman is there too #and he's just thriving honestly. it's so nice to be around his own kind even if the world is ending #maybe ellie is whooshed away too cause she never technically died but she took up danny's moniker when he was crowned #vlad is ecstatic cause danny put him in charge of several states while they looked for clues including Wisconsin #skulker is replacing superman and just has a shitty S painted on his chest and just eats kryptonite like candy the first time he meets Lex #Kitty and Johnny take over in gotham and sam is now the new wonder woman #idk man just stupid stuff like this #the press is flabbergasted cause the fucking KING OF GHOSTS just showed up and he's 14 and just looking for some friends #Danny: hey guys sorry about the zombies and fire i'm just here to find my coworker and lil sister and maybe the other heroes #Danny: in the meantime i'll just let my army into the mortal realm to defend it while we figure out what's going on pls don't yell at us :)#the press: how do we explain this to the justice league when they come back. how do we explain that earth was saved by a 14 year old boy-#also idk which heroes are technically dead but are still kicking so if you feel like someone deserves liminal status slap it on them idc #some villains are trying for world dominance and some are just trying to find their buddies. their fight buds. where'd they go? :(#joker gets bitch slapped by a skeleton two days in and waylon becomes bffs with wulf #danny uses the watchtower as a base of operations and it's the only thing he doesn't want to give up when the heroes are back #i have no plot ideas beyond this #i just want everyone to be baffled that an army of the dead showed up while they were gone and just made sure everything stayed cool #later danny realizes he was technically the ruler of the world for a bit since his people were everywhere keeping the villains in check

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bloodiedstar · 7 months

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The love was there. It didn't change anything. It didn't save anyone. But it still matters that the love was there.

Lyrics from I'm your man-Mitski

#trigun #vash the stampede #vashwood #trigun art #nicholas d wolfwood #trigun maximum #trigun 98 #trigun stampede #if nobody got me then neither does the narrative!!#how do you save your sworn ally when he is destined for death at the very beginning #angst #illustration

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hastyprovocateur · 3 months

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My Roman empire is how if Mizu hadn't doomed Akemi to her arranged marriage with the Shogun's son, Akemi would have never set out on the path of greatness.

Had Mizu not ruined her engagement, Akemi would've never run away from home, braved the world or met Kaji and learnt how to survive within her means.

Likewise, if not for Akemi, Ringo would've been stabbed and Mizu strangled to death. Had Akemi not attacked Mizu with her knife, Mizu's sword would be incomplete.

Without having betrayed Akemi, Mizu wouldn't have grasped the value Ringo, Taigen and Eiji have in her life. She wouldn't have understood the importance of love, friendship and weakness.

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fledermaus-art · 11 months

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I had a dream that I rescued Squirrelflight from the narrative and let her explore the multiverse

#ok to reblog #reblogs encouraged #warrior cats #squirrelflight #thunderclan #weirdcore #dreamcore #liminal spaces #fanart #leafpool #dandelionkit #jupinerkit #brambleclaw #bramblestar #hollyleaf #ashfur #saved from the narrative series #saved from the narrative

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sunderwight · 1 month

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If Luo Binghe had died at the end of PIDW (and Airplane had properly finished the story before his own sudden and unexpected demise), how much do you think that would change Shen Yuan's attitude after losing his shit over it and then transmigrating into Shen Qingqiu?

So much of SV only really happens because Shen Yuan is comfortable in his certainty that the world at least won't let Luo Binghe, even if he suffers. Eventually he realizes that he can't really stand letting Luo Binghe suffering either, but part of how he compartmentalizes his no-win scenarios with the System (like the Abyss) is that, well, Binghe will be fine in the long run. He'll conquer the world, win all the ladies, live in sprawling palaces, ascend to untold heights of power, and reach a point where no one can ever threaten him again because he's just too strong to be threatened.

But if the story ended with Luo Binghe's destruction, all that would go out of the window, wouldn't it?

The idea that the world would ultimately see Luo Binghe safe would vanish. Now, it's just that Luo Binghe gets to live until his death is deemed poignant enough. What if something Shen Qingqiu does makes that point arrive sooner? But also, it's gotta be possible for him to thwart Luo Binghe's canonical death, and he wouldn't accept otherwise.

He'd be so stressed out.

#svsss #bingqiu #shen qingqiu #luo binghe #scum villain's self saving system #scum villain #I just want to see shen qingqiu vs the system full warfare unhinged metagaming his ass off tbh #peerless cucumber fighting for luo binghe's life against the narrative

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carlyraejepsans · 1 year

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was it foolishness? (was it fate)

#biscia continues to experiment with painterly styles. more at eleven #HI I AM VERY INSANE ABOUT FRISK TODAY. DONT TOUCH ME #undertale #frisk #myart #this is not possession btw i know it looks like red soul puppet stuff. but i just wanted to depict ''fate'' somehow #the narrative is alive and it tripped you down a big fucking hole. rip bozo #anyway you know how flowey said the first time he was able to reset/use his save powers was when he was so afraid to die #that he clung to life with everything he had? i think frisk had the exact same experience falling down mt ebott for the first time

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canisalbus · 5 months

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I've been following you for years, and I love your art. Seeing you repost your older art pieces reminded me how much I loved the angry, bitter, miserable Machete art and how it resonated with me... but a part of me is also so happy to see the current art of him being happy. Cute art of him as a unicorn, or chilling in a bathtub with Vasco. Like, we're all growing and healing :')

#thank you!#he's been angry and bitter and miserable for so long it feels nice to give him an ounce of happiness for a change #some reasons to live besides spite and sense of duty #answered #anonymous #I always saw him as a character who's unsalvageable corrupted and doomed by narrative #and that the only way out of his miserable existence was a well deserved death #it sounds extremely cliche but I genuinely had no idea it would be so cathartic to view him through a lens of like #hope and healing and being worthy of love and saving despite your evident flaws and failings #unplanned redemption arc kapow #Vasco really just sauntered in and flipped the whole situation on it's head #sorry folks he has a boyfriend and gets regular pets and hugs and kisses now

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nancywheeeler · 1 year

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hopeless time loop. the way out isn’t to save everyone. the way out isn’t to save even one person. the way out isn’t to change anything. the way out is accepting how it happened the first time is how it always will be. that’s how you acted, that’s how they acted, that’s how you would have acted every time if you weren’t given the curse of hindsight. the way out is accepting you can’t fix the past; you can only forgive yourself for it.

#there's this game i love called little hope that plays with these ideas (though not with a time loop)#i do love time loops narratives that explore how a person is confronted with their life and their choices #when forced to live the same day over and over again #and i LOVE time loops that try to reverse mistakes made and lives lost #but to see a character put themselves through loops upon loops upon loops #trying to rectify past mistakes (especially in the case where people died) only to be confronted with the reality it isn't working #and even in a loop where they save everyone the loop just resets #because the universe is essentially saying 'no that isn't how it happened and you know that's not how it happened'#it compels me!#i feel similarly about time travel where time 'fights back'#like this idea that there is a central timeline that time does not like being diverted from #so it will try to course correct itself #you save lincoln from an assassination only for him to die in a train crash #it's a cool way to confront the idea of fate #anyway all tragedies are hopeless time loops thank you for coming to my ted talk #a shout into the void #1k

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catarium · 4 months

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He left without paying child support 😔

#Last one before I start being actually productive #One piece #portgas d rouge #portgas d ace #i wanna save all shonen women from their narrative #They deserve better

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katabay · 6 months

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ALAN WAKE

god GOD what a fucking game. easily game of the century. to me. its so much better than I ever could have imagined it being, and I have been thinking about Alan Wake daily for thirteen years. so so so many thoughts turning around in my head about it, but I wanted to get a drawing of Alan down first because I Cannot Contain My Enthusiasm for this game. holy shit. what an experience.

bsky ⭐ pixiv ⭐ pillowfort ⭐ cohost

#someday im going to be able to afford to replace my laptop and when i do. i will then save up to buy this game #alan wake #alan wake 2 #anyway i have Thoughts. about violent intimacy. wrt to alex casey and alan wake. those two have something going on in a certain kind of way #same fever. the bitter twist of a narrative. the penetration of a time loop.#also absolutely ADORE every scene where saga and casey drink at the same time. this game gave me everything

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angee1011 · 11 months

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So, like. Had more time to ruminate on it. And Across the Spiderverse is what a story about a super-powered kid should be. It’s a story about this kid who wants to be a hero more than anything. He is a hero. But he’s a kid too. And he says, “Why can’t I save everyone?” Why can’t he? What is the point of being a hero if you don’t try to save everyone. And then movie sits you (the audience) down and spells it out: you see all these kids? Yeah, they’ve LOST the people they love. It’s a sacrifice for being this way. *shrugs* That’s just how it is, kid. And we can’t change it because we lost that fight already.

And Miles. Oh man, this kid. He’s says, “Fuck that. I write MY story and no one else.” And then he’s an anomaly and he wasn’t even supposed to BE the hero.

And you stop. And you think. That’s the point. It doesn’t matter whether or not you’re supposed to be the hero. You choose it. It’s not destiny. It doesn’t matter if the spider bit you or someone else. What matters is that you’re a kid and you’re gonna save the people you love no matter what because that’s what you choose to believe in.

Idk, man. Maybe stories about heroes should be more about hope and love and defying expectation and less about the tragedy of giving up everything for the sake of the world. Maybe some times you DO save everyone. You know, as a treat.

#across the spiderverse #spiderman #miles morales #I am in love with this movie #there’s a doctor who reference at the end #but I loved the narrative of this movie #like we should question why are these stories always so depressing when it’s meant to be about saving the people we love #these stories are about love #across the Spiderverse spoilers #spoilers #so many thoughts

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nibbelraz · 6 months

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More Shang Twins because I think a nervous wreck running Mobei's entire Kingdom while accompanied by his wild ass twin brother would be fun

#svsss #shang qinghua #original shang qinghua #Shang Twins #Shang brothers #scum villian self saving system #scum villains self saving system #I have a couple more drawings ideas of this au so look forward to that #I think the concept of both of them existing would be great in a cool narrative sense but also in the funniest way possible #Shang Qinghua: Im a spy for a demon #OG Shang qinghua: Cool #Shang Qinghua: Im also running his kingdom #and ive mightve married him #I also think it would be funny if they Both worked for Mobei and The OG then finds out his brother is getting married and he's shaking #My art #nibbelraz

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lovegrowsart · 3 months

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it's pretty wild to me that people don't see that aang running off to save katara in CoD is his luke in empire strikes back moment, where he runs headlong into his want and attachment and he's narratively punished for doing so and not learning his lesson - aang runs after katara despite guru pathik's warning, like luke runs after leia and han from yoda on dagobah despite yoda's warning; similarly, as a result, things go to hell in ba sing se like they do on bespin - aang enters the avatar state before he's ready and gets killed, and ba sing se falls to the fire nation, luke fights vader before he's ready, loses a hand, and symbolically commits suicide after vader tells him he's luke's father.

the difference between their character arcs is that george lucas and co. actually went thru with luke's hero's journey and understood the fundamental difference between attachment and love, whereas I don't think bryke understood this difference and then dropped this from aang's arc pretty much completely and replaced it with aang digging in his heels into his want and attachment and he gets rewarded with energy bending from a lion turtle, the avatar state from a random pointy rock, and his forever girl from the self-indulgent white men that couldn't bring themselves to give their hero a compelling character arc that meant he might not have gotten everything he wanted at the end.

#the wasted potential of aang's arc gets to me so bad #the narrative and thematic set up is entirely there and they just shove it in the bin lmao #it especially irks as someone raised buddhist and dealing with writers that invoke these themes out of a fascination #with the religion and philosophy but then a complete unwillingess to actually commit to what those themes require of the character arcs #anyway sorry to say it #but zuko's arc does a better job embodying buddhist themes than aang's does in the end #despite all misappropriated aesthetics to the contrary #aang critical #but its really the writing like i LIKE aang i love his potential i hate how self indulgently he's written by the end of the show #atla critical #meta*#holly talks bs #also yes it would've been better narratively for aang katara zuko to the go the way of luke leia han #even if katara couldn't have been revealed as aang's surprise secret twin lmao #the thematic conceit of the triangle is the same in that luke and aang get over their infatuation with the first pretty girl he sees #and becomes the hero he needs to be #meanwhile hanleia and zutara are saving each other and being cool and kissing #anyway

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beneath-themilkytwilight · 7 months

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"something so scary the tardis ran away 😨😨💀" babe this is nothing new name one episode where the tardis doesn't vibe w the energy and just fucks off to who knows where until the conflict is resolved,, bye guys I'll catch you at the end of the episode

#like yeah i get that the doctor saves people because its good and kind blahblahblah #but like most of the time he has no choice because the tardis just strands them there 💀#tbh peak doctor who is the doctor being like “oh shit i dont think we can get out of this one!!”#and the camera just panning to the tardis already fading away like lol bye bitches good luck undooming the narrative #see you at the end of the episode #doctor who #tenth doctor #donna noble #fourteenth doctor #the doctor #rtd era #tardis #i talk too much

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kcrra · 1 month

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[eye twitching] yeah it's fine that i've spent the last year and a half trying to convince people that house of the dragon should not be reduced down to "teams" or medieval euphoria because in reality it's supposed to be a complex, borderline shakespearean, poetic tragedy about the downfall of dragons and their royal line, highlighting how war corrupts and destroys even the strongest of us; representing a critique on monarchy, patriarchy, familial violence and trauma. [eye twitches extra hard] and then hbo just went ahead and released "team green" & "team black" trailers. yeah no it's totally fine im calm about it [eye continues twitching]

#i like that we got more footage that way but damn. truly the LOWEST hanging fruit and fuels how absolutely stupid people are gonna be #house of the dragon #hotd #rhaenyra targaryen #alicent hightower #i can see the 'teams' in people's bios now. nothing will save us from the narrative reduction i fear #what absolute stupidity #can you tell my excitement is fading as i clock back into reality damnnn

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