#the Masterpiece to end all masterpieces!!!!
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💎A Night of Forever💎
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ღ Anthony Bridgerton x female reader (18+ sligth smut part at the end)
ღ Here's Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. To fully immerse yourself in this enchanting love story, I encourage you to start from the beginning. Enjoy the journey!
ღ Sumarry: Y/N and Anthony's wedding day is a joyous celebration of their love. After heartfelt vows and a lively reception, they share a deeply intimate and passionate first night together as a married couple, marking the beginning of their life of happiness and love.
ღ word count: 661 (words), 3,736 (chacters)
ღ Thank you so much for all the love on this series! This will be the conclusion, but I wanted to give you a little something before Season 3 comes out tomorrow. I hope you've enjoyed reading and escaping reality for a bit. I can't wait to create more short stories like this one for you. Just a small heads-up: since this final chapter is romantic, it’s rated 18+ for the slight smut part at the end. Enjoy!
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The day of Y/N and Anthony's wedding dawned bright and clear, the morning sun casting a warm glow over the grand estate. The gardens were in full bloom, their vibrant colors mirrored in the smiles and laughter of the guests who had gathered to witness the union of two hearts bound by love.
Y/N stood in her dressing room, surrounded by her closest friends and family. Her wedding gown, a masterpiece of delicate lace and satin, hugged her figure gracefully, the train flowing behind her like a river of moonlight. She took a deep breath, her heart fluttering with a mixture of excitement and nervous anticipation.
As the ceremony began, Y/N felt a calm wash over her. The chapel was adorned with fragrant blooms, the air filled with the soft hum of anticipation. When the doors opened, and she began her walk down the aisle, her eyes immediately locked with Anthony's. He stood at the altar, looking more handsome than ever in his tailored suit, his eyes brimming with love and awe.
The vows they exchanged were heartfelt and sincere, each word a promise of eternal devotion. When the officiant pronounced them husband and wife, Anthony's kiss was tender yet passionate, a seal of their love that drew cheers and applause from their guests.
The reception was a joyous celebration, filled with dancing, laughter, and the clinking of glasses. But as the night wore on, Y/N and Anthony found themselves stealing glances at each other, their hearts longing for the moment they would be alone.
As the last guests departed, the newlyweds made their way to the bridal suite, their hands entwined. The room was a haven of romance, lit by the soft glow of candlelight and adorned with rose petals scattered across the bed.
Anthony turned to Y/N, his eyes dark with desire. "You are a vision, my love," he murmured, his voice husky with emotion. "I've dreamed of this moment for so long."
Y/N's breath hitched as she looked up at him, her heart racing. "And I, you," she replied softly, her voice trembling with anticipation.
With a gentle touch, Anthony began to undress her, his fingers moving with reverence and care. Each piece of clothing that fell away brought them closer, the air between them charged with an electric tension.
When Y/N stood before him, clad only in her delicate undergarments, Anthony paused, his eyes drinking in the sight of her. "You are breathtaking," he whispered, his voice filled with awe.
He closed the distance between them, his lips finding hers in a kiss that was both tender and demanding. As their tongues intertwined, Y/N felt a heat ignite within her, a longing that had been building since the moment they first met.
Anthony's hands roamed her body, mapping every curve and hollow, his touch leaving a trail of fire in its wake. When he finally lifted her and laid her on the bed, Y/N's body was aflame with desire.
Their lovemaking was a dance of passion and tenderness, each touch, each kiss a testament to the love they shared. Anthony's movements were slow and deliberate, his eyes never leaving Y/N's as he brought her to the peak of pleasure again and again.
In the quiet aftermath, they lay entwined, their bodies glistening with the sweat of their shared passion. Anthony brushed a strand of hair from Y/N's face, his eyes filled with a love so deep it took her breath away.
"I love you, Y/N," he whispered, his voice raw with emotion. "More than words can ever express."
Y/N smiled, her heart overflowing with happiness. "And I love you, Anthony," she replied, her voice a soft melody. "Forever and always."
As they drifted into a peaceful slumber, their bodies still intertwined, the world outside seemed to fade away, leaving only the warmth of their love and the promise of a lifetime of happiness together.
#anthony bridgerton imagines#bridgerton fanfiction#bridgerton x reader#bridgerton imagine#bridgerton netflix#anthony bridgerton#bridgerton#anthony bridgerton x reader#bridgerton season 3#anthony bridgerton fanfiction#anthony bridgerton x you#anthony bridgerton imagine#anthony bridgerton smut
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Adorable prompt by @shxyerahol : Buck and Tommy date night at painting with a twist. Buck is not a great artist and has a hard time keeping up with the instructor but Tommy is phenomenal (headcanon taken by the fact that Lou is a fantastic painter IRL).
I really liked writing this one, hope you like it too ❤️
Buck should've probably seen this coming, but when Tommy invited him to a date night at painting with a twist, he eagerly agreed without stopping to think of the implication of that nor the reason why Tommy was so enthusiastic about the idea of painting together.
Truth is, he loves spending time with Tommy, no matter what they do or where they go, and he's absolutely enjoying this date, too, but he's also struggling. The instructor is nice and definitely very good at her job, but Buck's having a hard time keeping up with what she says. Or rather, he understands what she says but struggles to do what he's supposed to, because he sucks at drawing and painting, and art is not his thing at all.
He's trying, okay? He's trying to follow her instructions and use the right brush and the right colour but he's pretty sure he's making a mess, even if the instructor keeps encouraging and complimenting him.
It's date night, so they're supposed to make complementary paintings and they can't see each other's paintings until the end.
Tommy's sitting opposite from him, their respective canvas in the middle, so he can't exactly see anything but his face, but he can tell that his boyfriend is perfectly at ease. He doesn't even ask questions to the instructor, he's lost in painting and there's a little wrinkle on the bridge on his nose that tells Buck that he's deeply concentrated.
It's a sight to behold, honestly, and Buck gets a bit distracted until the instructor prompts him to go on, giving him some advice. He's supposed to be painting a half-heart shaped wave, using the colours of the bi flag, and it's not that bad but he's not sure it's going to be nice either.
"I'm done," Tommy announces five minutes later, and Buck widens his eyes in disbelief.
"What? How's that possible?" He asks, frowning as he takes in his own painting. He's barely finished with the background. "I still have to paint the wave, you're cheating."
Tommy chuckles, tilting his head. "I'm not cheating, I'm done for real. You wanna see?"
"I wish," Buck says, rolling his eyes.
"You can, if you want," the instructor chimes in. "It's not really a rule that you can't see your partner's painting before you've done with yours, just something I suggest to make things funnier," she says, inspecting Tommy's canvas. "Besides, I think that your boyfriend here might be really helpful."
Buck is very, very curious now, so he stands up, rounds the table and– oh boy, Tommy has painted is a masterpiece. He's not an expert, but he can recognize a wonderful painting when he sees one, and Tommy's definitely is.
He's used the gay flag colours to paint the wave, and he's also added a lot of details that make it look real. He's stunned and speechless, and can't help but stare in awe at the canvas and then at his boyfriend.
"Baby, it's amazing. I didn't know you were so talented," he says, surprised. "You're an artist, and a damn good one."
"Uh– Yeah, I would call myself an artist. I never mentioned that but I– I paint in my free time," Tommy admits, smiling sheepishly. "I've started doing that a few months after I came back from my tour in Iraq, and it helped a lot. I've never stopped since then, it's something I really like and apparently I'm also good at that."
"You are," Buck says, squeezing his shoulder. "And it's nice that art is one of your hobbies. I'm so bad at it, but it's calming and it definitely helps to clean your mind."
"It does. It's the reason why I started painting in the first place," Tommy replies, and then stands up and pokes him in the ribs. "So, you could use some help?"
Buck chuckles, blushing as he nods. He sits in front of his canvas again, and lets Tommy guide his hand, his body strong behind his and his breath fanning the side of his face. He's even more distracted now, but he manages to finish the painting with Tommy's help and when they put their two canvases next to one another, Buck feels warmth spreading around his ribs. The painting is far from perfect, and Tommy's definitely better than his own, but it's theirs and he thinks it's wonderful.
#evan buckley#tommy kinard#bucktommy#buck and tommy#tevan#kinley#bucktommy fic#accepting prompts#tumblr prompt#allie writes#my writing#my fic#fluff#short ficlet#ficlet
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Nobody talk to me I just realized how fitting All Too Well (10 Minute Version) fits Gale’s relationship with Mystra
Specifically, these parts (but also like the whole song):
“And I know it's long gone, and that magic's not here no more And I might be okay, but l'm not fine at all”
- kinda self explanatory
“And I was thinkin' on the drive down, "Any time now He's gonna say it's love," you never called it what it was”
- how Gale talks about loving Mystra but it’s pretty clear she was using him and don’t feel the same for him
“And there we are again when nobody had to know. You kept me like a secret, but I kept you like an oath. Sacred prayer and we'd swear To remember it all too well.”
- let’s be real, there’s no way Mystra talked about Gale the way Gale talks about her
“Well, maybe we got lost in translation, maybe I asked for too much, but maybe this thing was a masterpiece 'til you tore it all up. Runnin' scared, I was there I remember it all too well and you call me up again just to break me like a promise. So casually cruel in the name of bein' honest I'm a crumpled-up piece of paper lyin' here 'cause I remember it all.”
- this bridge really takes me out
- it pretty much sums up how Gale tried to do something Mystra didn’t like even if it was for her and in response she cast him out and basically destroyed him
- it also pretty well shows how she refuses to acknowledge him until she needs him to blow himself up and then when he won’t she summons him just to tell him he has to bring her the crown
“They say all's well that ends well, but I'm in a new hell every time you double-cross my mind. You said if we had been closer in age, maybe it would've been fine and that made me want to die. The idea you had of me, who was she? A never-needy, ever-lovely jewel whose shine reflects on you.”
- yeah that tracks for the whole he was a young prodigy clearly used (there’s another word that should go here but I’m new to this app and don’t know if I can say it) by Mystra
- also again with the as long as he does what she says everything is fine because it’s all the will of the goddess
“Time won't fly, it's like I'm paralyzed by it I'd like to be my old self again, but I'm still tryin' to find it.”
- Gale still being pretty traumatized throughout the game (for obvious reasons)
“'Cause there we are again when I loved you so Back before you lost the one real thing you've ever known.”
- fuck you Mystra
“And I was never good at tellin' jokes, but the punch line goes, "I'll get older, but your lovers stay my age"”
- again, fuck you Mystra
“I'm a soldier who's returning half her weight.”
- she ruined him physically with that orb and emotionally in every other way
“Just between us, did the love affair maim you all too well?”
- we know it ruined Gale but Mystra is clearly doing fine
Like it just perfectly fits his feelings of betrayal but also his need to still seek her approval. It also perfectly fits the way Mystra clearly used him throughout the entire time she knew him and discarded him the moment he did something she didn’t like.
Alright TedTalk over, just needed to get this out into the world.
#gale dekarios#gale of waterdeep#bg3#baldurs gate 3#baldur's gate 3#bg3 gale#listen#I’ve been listening to too much Taylor Swift#and I love song association
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The faces of the Dark Presence
I have written a theory that explains the Bright Presence, obviously, there must be a theory about the Dark one. What do we know about its history, what happened to it after the Clicker “filled its heart with light,” why Taken are so different across the games and what is going on in the second game. Again, I will address the Presences as “it” as well as “she/he” when it suits my needs, obviously, both of them are “it”, for there is no indication that the gender for them is a thing.
Let’s begin from the short introduction to the Dark Presence’s origin and nature. For those who are familiar with the Bright Presence theory, yes, the first part will be similar, since the whole argument was built on the Dark Presence’s dialog in the first place, but with a lot of changes.
Obviously, we have no knowledge about the origin of the Presences and the Dark Place itself, except for it all being in Ahti’s bucket, but we at least have some information to help us understand their nature and what actually hides beneath the waves of Cauldron Lake.
Randolph, the trailer park manager has this to say about it:
“The Indians thought the lake was a doorway to the underworld.”
Alan in the notes of his poem from Samantha’s shoebox, expands on this from his insider perspective:
"E can't see it. He's view is too narrow, limited. It's not a lake, it's an ocean, darkness before the act of creation, before the Big Bang, darkness upon the face of the deep, upon the face of the waters, before light, before the primeval atom, before the word, before THE POEM. I can be a creator, the creator. It has happened before, and it will happen again, many times."
The Dark Place and its entities are old, tremendously old. The Dark Presence spells it for us in the final confrontation in the first game:
“I’m much older than you. Older than your first work of art.”
She’s talking to Alan, of course, but it is pointless to compare this entity with him, he’s 31-33 (depends on what you ask: the guide that puts his age at 31 in 2010, or the memorial statue, that has his year of birth as 1977), and the Dark Presence was kicking long before his birth, as we know from Thomas’ story and the beliefs of the locals. She’s talking about humanity, about our first primitive work of art. Which puts her at least at around 50 thousand years old, plus this vague “much older than you”, which will put her at an even greater age, depending on what she means by that — where her definition of “you” starts. I mean, we talking hundreds of thousands of years now or even millions; what is evolution for her, really? She finishes with a promise to find someone else to dream her free, so her definition of humanity might do something with the first glimpse of imagination. And that is hardly something that we can establish properly. The Dark Presence might’ve been “born” with the Dark Place, or might’ve been “created” later.
So, what are the Presences? This House of Dreams gives the explanation about the Dark Place as well as its inhabitants:
In the end, he finally understood what he had to do, finally understood the true nature of the dark place that was hidden under the waves of the lake where they lived. The lake was an opening to dark place that was much bigger than the lake itself, in fact, much bigger than the whole universe we live in. He wrote one last poem, his masterpiece, a secret poem, a hidden poem, a poem that’s not among the poems I’ve found in the shoebox. And he took his girlfriend for one last dive. Together they sank down into the depths, far deeper than he had ever dived before. In the dream, I was there, diving with them. And from the depths, something, or some things, surged up to meet them. Things of darkness, but bright things of light as well. The diver explained that these things, or these presences, were forever fighting a war between the forces of light and darkness. A dark presence had taken over his girlfriend, and a bright presence now came to take over him. And he surrendered his body to it, but at the same time, the essence of who he was kept diving deeper, ever deeper, holding the essence of his girlfriend (their spirits? their souls?). The diver (or what was left of him, his true self) spoke the words of his secret poem. The poem described a new world, an island in this sea of darkness, a safe haven, a paradise, a “baby” universe. The nature of the dark place was such that anything dreamed up there, any dream or a work of art, would come true, just as true as anything in our world can be. And the poem came true and the essence of the diver and the essence of his girlfriend escaped from the darkness and disappeared into this new world to live there happily ever after; while their shapes, his now taken over by a bright presence, as his girlfriend’s had been taken over by a dark presence, surged up, through the opening in the lake to our world, to continue their battle there.
From this, aside from what’s spelled there, we can also take two important things: the Dark Presence might be the “evils of the world”, but the Dark Place is not — it is a home for the bright things of light as well and can create new universes for the sole purpose of someone living there happily, it’s impartial in its nature and grants wishes good and bad; and the Dark Presence is not the only dark creature living there, not even necessarily the biggest one of them.
Let’s expand on this a bit more, so we are on the same page. The Dark Place is, indeed, impartial and not good or evil by its nature, yet it’s not suited for humans:
We are built differently from all other habitants; maybe, we are more complex? Not ideas, but the whole package of ideas we have and create, rights and wrongs, emotions and perceptions, that’s why humans can dream anything in the Dark Place and the Dark Place will deliver. Different characters, who ended up in the Dark Place, show different ways humans can exist there: some make rules and hoops for themselves; some excitedly explore and observe; some just exist there, making maps and humming songs; some ascend and manage to make the Dark Place do their bidding to mislead and help someone else in ascension.
And the creatures there are not limited to the two Presences and their minions.
It even has a fauna! I know it’s irrelevant, but curious nonetheless:
Mr. Scratch also talks about the populace of the Dark Place and their goals (from his side, of course):
“And there’s so much darkness out there. It goes deep, and the thing that live in it are vast. Big bastards! They don’t mind getting a little bit of elbow room. All that chaos and madness, it doesn’t really do that much down there. It’s like pouring a glass of water into the ocean, right? But up here… Yeah, you can really make an impact. All they need is someone to bring them all the way though.”
Alan through Zane’s notes in the cabin expands on it further:
“Anything outside of writing is a struggle. I feel ill. I managed to make my way downstairs. There’s a shoebox filled with books and papers by Thomas Zane. It’s very hard to focus but I managed to read some of it. He’s a poet and a good one. He writes of muses and creators, summoning fabulous things from a magic lake, using its power to shape the world, of a realm of gods and dreams, and demons, dark things that wait for a chance to slip through, wearing the flesh of men as disguise.
Zane writes about himself, his girlfriend being taken over by a Dark Presence, about growing scared of the lake. Zane believes it’s a mirror to the gaping void of darkness above, where some Lovecraftian presence lurks. I crawled back upstairs. I’ll borrow these things for my story. They ring true. They fit.”
Alright, as I believe, the shoebox trick was added into Zane’s story by Alan, and also the whole “writing Thomas and Barbara out of reality” was him as well, but it doesn’t mean that all the contents were written by Alan; after all, in This House of Dreams we have two sets of poems — one by Thomas and another by Alan. It also fits into the Bright Presence’s story he showed Samantha, his own words in-game and what Mr. Scratch tells us about the Dark Place. So, I will count this information as the truth Alan borrowed, not as something borrowed becoming the truth. Although, it’s really exhausting — separating what Alan wrote into reality and what was the reality before Alan started to tinker with it.
Now we have a bit of an understanding of what the Presences are, where did they come from and what do they want. Let’s summarise: they are fighting an eternal war of light versus dark in the enormous, if not infinite, realm that has an opening into our world through Caldron Lake (among other places). They are insanely old and are not against taking humans faces to surge up. They are also drawn to our world, might be because of human’s ability to create something from nothing with just dreams or works of art; but most likely because the Dark Place is seen as a prison by them (the latter is also hinted at in the Dark Presence’s promise to find some who will dream her free; and in the Bright Presence’s acknowledgement, that he wasn’t able to find a way to leave the Dark Place for good; Mr. Scratch’s words about bringing “the big bastards” up here to make an impact). Although, the darkness and its minions are much more proactive when it comes to “find someone to dream them free”, as we see with the Dark Presence, Thomas’ story and Mr. Scratch. When both Presences in the bodies of Thomas and Barbara got out of the lake someone or something did put them back; the boys of OGoA (just a wild guess, there is only one thing that can tie them up to events of 1970 — the name of their first album, according to the now-dead site, was “The Memory of the Slaughter” and the release date is 1971)? The whole “we have bodies now, hell yeah” thing ended as they exhausted the freeing power of having flesh, but had no art, no story to sustain them being out of the Dark Place? Maybe this freeing power was exhausted in their clashing with no winner and they both retreated back. However it happened, back into the lake they went.
After that the story of the Dark Presence is pretty eventful:
We have her fighting with the boys of OGoA in 1976 and 1978, and them also keeping her always near. As Odin and Tor tell us:
“She’s been using you, boy. And you let her. You went and opened the door for her, didn’t you?”
“Now now, it was already open a crack. And whose fault is that? We’re morally corrupt, disease-ridden, old, and stupid.”
“Doesn’t mean he had to open it all the way, goddammit!”
“Ahh, pfah.”
“So tired...built the farm close to the lake. A place of power.”
“We had parties there, man. You...you should go there and have a party.”
And, taking Cynthia’s words, we can assume, they weren’t the only ones:
“I have been preparing for these times. The dark tides. You have found my caches, haven’t you? You can see the signs? Very few people can. […] We have both been touched by the darkness, young man. He saved us both with light. But the darkness stays with you, leaves a stain.”
This is an excerpt from The Alan Wake Files, from the “Bright Falls: A History” book:
“It is unknown whether these strange lights are related to the more recent rumors of illuminated messages found in the nooks and crannies around Bright Falls. None have ever been photographed, but multiple reports from disparate sources certainly point to a trend. Local law enforcement seemed less enthusiastic about these reports. “We’ve never caught anybody at it,” said our same anonymous source, “but you can bet that if we do, we’ll give these kids a little talking to. We’ve got our eye out for any kind of mischief.”
A survey of local teens produced blanket denials of vandalism, along with several shaky reports of sightings. “There were messages,” said one young woman. “I haven’t seen them myself, but my boyfriend’s cousin did and so has one of my sister’s friends. All different messages, too. Strange things, like, ‘Walk in Light’ and these odd symbols and arrows. Stuff like that.”
Despite the lack of photographic evidence, a few artists’ renderings of the strange messages have been recreated with the assistance of the alleged witnesses. A common thread that gives the story some credibility is that all witnesses have described the symbol of a torch alongside the bizarre messages.”
And the illustration for this bit is this:
So, there were more people touched by darkness to have the ability to see Cynthia’s magic paint. Which is to be expected, as I noted, the Dark Presence is very proactive when it comes to interacting with humans.
Now, in the second game we have a peculiar detail: the newspapers from 2010, reporting on the “Chaos at Cauldron Lake” dated 18th July:
It might be nothing, but it strangely matches how the Dark Presence was using Taken before Thomas wrote Barbara back. And the Bright Falls mini-series, where the protagonist, Jake, is becoming Taken in the few days he spends in the town. So, the question here: how comes we have this manuscript?
Loops, of course! The way the Dark Presence is in the first game is the result of Alan writing and rewriting reality to make the story into what we see: he doesn’t arrive by car at night in the driver seat, with Alice as a passenger, as it was in the Bright Falls mini-series, and there are no Taken, because he retroactively wrote the Dark Presence being asleep before he showed up. This way he can weaken her and give himself a fighting chance.
Now let’s take a look at the event of the first game. In the “missing” week the Dark Presence is being the editor for Alan, making him write her free, using Alice as bait. But as much as Alan claims:
“But it seems I have an imaginary editor to help me. She’s an old woman in a funeral dress. I call her Barbara Jagger. She’s very strict. I’m writing faster and faster. My manuscript is being heavily revised. The edits are getting very aggressive and each day there’s less of me and more of her.”
She doesn’t notice when Alan starts to write himself into the story or summoning the Bright Presence to set him free. The Dark Presence doesn’t have the same intelligence as we do, doesn’t have much imagination, thinks differently. Her power grows in the story? Good. Writer does something else? No matter, her power grows in the story anyway. She’s tunnel-visioning her freedom or doesn’t understand where the creative process necessities end and Alan’s plotting starts. The Dark Presence even allows him to write manuscripts about her weaknesses and set-backs.
But let’s be fair, for the Dark Presence Alan might be the first to pull this off. We know only about how Thomas and the boys fought her and it’s nothing like with Alan, whom she held hostage. Her experience with humans and this kind of trickery can be very limited; and knowledge is power.
For the rest of the game she’s bound by the story and acts true to herself, but always loses. Because it was written. The Dark Presence is controlled by the power of the Dark Place that makes Alan’s writing into reality. Basically, she’s controlled by Alan.
At the end, when Alan jumps into the lake there is a brief moment, I believe, that was not necessarily written, but controlled by the dreaming and the power of the Clicker. In the New York flat and when the Bright Presence gave instruction of “fill its heart with light”, as well as the appearance of Mr. Scratch. The last one is a wild card; I can’t say for sure if he’s the Barbara’s Dark Presence’s minion or an agent of another dark being. He might as well be the Barbara’s Dark Presence’s yet another desperate attempt to stop Alan, and what we learn about him in AWAN is written by Alan himself, because, in fact, he has no idea of Mr. Scratch’s goals, but needs the grandiose one to make him the herald of darkness. And what herald of darkness he’d make if he wouldn’t be set on bringing the darkness into the world and just, you know, chill, killing right and left to his own enjoyment and harass Alan in the Dark Place?
But I digress. Returning to the ending of the game: judging by the text we need to burn with light, Alan is projecting himself to find the cabin, while he already is in the cabin, writing this journey. Ideas swirling around: phones, birds, shopping cards, but also dark ideas of Alice leaving him or them becoming like Barbara and Thomas. Alan pushes forward and there she stands: the Dark Presence, trapped in her own place of power, unable to even run or put up a fight. She says her last words:
“Now you will never get her back. I’m much older that you. Older than your first work of art. I will find a new face to wear. Someone else to dream me free.”
Then lets Alan insert the Clicker into her chest and just dies.
Well, “dies” is a very strong word for what happened; the Dark Presence as we knew her in the first game is no more, but the power and lingering goals, the essence of the entity, if you will, remain — in Alan. There are many clues. In The Signal DLC’s TV Alan says:
“The darkness wasn’t so bad. It was in him. he felt it. He knew the voice spoke the truth.”
And when we destroy his TVs with light, he screams “it burns!” and then, at the very end — “too loud. Too loud! I can’t think! It’s in my brain!” In The Writer DLC Alan-in-the-cabin keeps acting as the Dark Presence: sending Taken after his rational part, making Darknados and all those lovely things that launch themselves at you. The argument might be made that Alan just uses what he remembers, and it would be more plausible at the time of the DLCs. But, luckily, we have the second game.
But before we talk about it, we need to bring AW1 and AWAN together, because there we have two entities from the Dark Place, who have at least some agency in the constrains of the story, and their MO has similarities. The Taken are, maybe varying with Mr. Scratch’s creations being much more diverse, but have common things: they are shielded with darkness all over and, when killed, they dissipate in bright sparks. In AWAN we also have different, improved birds, the spiders are mostly not directly controlled by Mr. Scratch himself and good old poltergeists.
We have none of that in the second game. The rules are completely changed and Alan’s face is the face of the Dark Presence, that he’s calling (I’m sure in the loving memory) “Scratch”. Scratch in the second game is not Mr. Scratch from AWAN, they are not the same entity; aside from the obvious differences in their behaviour and demeanour, there is this little thing — Mr. Scratch, sadly, is utterly unalive, dead. He’s no more. So, the Dark Presence is a part of Alan; just like it was in the DLCs for the first game. Scratch is what remained of the Barbara’s Dark Presence, shaped by Alan’s mind — the result of Alan merging with the sheer force of the Dark Presence. His true dark half.
Scratch in the second game creates different Taken, who are not shielded by darkness all over; there are no birds or spiders, but there are wolfs; the poltergeists are abandoned for the walls of darkness with a suggestive “core”, where you need to burn it. And he’s kinda in love with the colour red — taking ideas from Hiss much? The difference in what we face in the first games and the second is stunning.
We also have a brilliant opportunity to look into the mind of the Taken: with Nightingale’s segment and with manuscript pages. In the first game we have a few pages that describe how people were becoming Taken; for all of them it was a horrible experience, for those, touched by darkness as well: we see that Rose is screaming inside in terror as she does what the Barbara’s Dark Presence told her to, same as Serena Valdivia in AWAN — while she flirts with Mr. Scratch, she’s screaming deep inside in horror. The last one of the Taken of, let’s say, first generation, that we see is Nightingale. First, he says that he’s lost and it’s dark, he needs someone to show him something. Then, as we walk him towards the Bookers, he says “please… can you hear me?” and then slowly the voices start to appear. After the first Scratch’s jumpscare, he sobs and starts to hear his own taken-voicelines. What do the Bookers tell about that encounter? “He was acting crazy, shouting weird shit at us”, thinking that he must have been on something. We never hear him shouting, because we are inside of his head, where he’s lost, confused and terrified, the shouts come from the outside, quiet and disturbing, he only breathes in distress. He even sees the Cult of the Tree as the Taken, when in fact, he’s the one with distorted voice and, probably, covered in shadows, not the cultists. For all we know, the Taken of the first generation were not aware of their own actions and suffering inside. What about the ones, that are taken by Scratch? We have few examples, but all of them are quite different from the first games: for Emmett Elwood it is a satisfying experience, for Gail Borrows, even if he knew he was dying, it felt good, he worshiped the darkness and even made a sacrifice to it in blood, Anna was overcame by vertigo, Thornton and Mulligan gave in to their guilt. Cynthia is the only person, whose corruption was violent, but after that?
“Cynthia Weaver smiled. Lost without her lantern? Nonsense. Cynthia felt giddy as a young girl in love. […] She sank into dark water. Into Tom.”
Some of these were edited by Alan, but some — not. Constrained by the story or not, Scratch tends to make Taken differently; even when he rails them up for the fight, they are filled with violent glee. It goes very well with what we see after he makes his story come true.
Let’s talk about what exactly happens when Scratch gets his hands on the Clicker. Bright Falls welcomes Alan with the Deerfest, sunny and happy day, revolving around the “Return” and how good it is. The Dark Presence in the first game wanted to take over the world, too, but, boy, she would probably cringe so hard she wanted twisted and evil things, as Mr. Scratch said about other dark presences, not this eternal celebration of Alan Wake! Even Alan is in awe, claiming this is not what he expected.
But, really, he is so clueless. He treats Scratch as the Barbara’s Dark Presence, but they are different to the core. The Barbara’s Dark Presence was in possession of a body with no soul, the shell of Barbara Jagger, taking from her only this much; Scratch is not only sharing the body with Alan, who is very present and aware (at times), but is entangled with his very being. The Barbara’s Dark Presence had agency and her own goals; Scratch, still being the Dark Presence, has an echo of that, but twisted by Alan, fed on his insecurities, fears and desires. And, most importantly, the Barbara’s Dark Presence needed someone to dream her free; Scratch, being so tightly connected with Alan, can dream himself free just fine: he wrote the first draft of Return after all. And the rules for changing reality are pretty clear:
Scratch is capable of performing a genuine act of creation; something, that was not available to the Barbara’s Dark Presence. “While the god is asleep, the devil rewrites reality” — one of the echoes, that describes exactly what happens with Alan and Scratch in the Dark Place. If Alan is not in the driver’s seat, Scratch takes over, benefiting from this tight connection greatly.
With all this said, Scratch is still the Dark Presence: he has all the powers of the Dark Presence, hunts Alan, can possess other people, create Taken, send Taken from the lake to retrieve the Clicker, turn into a mini Darknado, and wants to take over the world. But he’s sort of the next evolution: the essence of the entity, entirely alien to us, learnt humanity in its own twisted way. Alan notices that Scratch has an insecure need for fame and praise and questions if it was drawn from his own psyche. And it was. More so, the clinginess is from him as well: as Alan is lost without Alice, Scratch is lost without Alan. His lines during the chase in the Wellness Center are that of a puppy:
You are home!
We should be one!
We belong together!
Welcome me back home!
We can have this!
Happy ending!
We are the heart!
We are one!
Our story! Our ending! Our book!
We made this!
Everyone loves us!
We won!
Everything revolves around us!
Fame! Worship! Alice!
And in the writer’s room Scratch is gladly jumping into Alan’s head at the first invitation “come home” (welcome me back home).
In the end, the Dark Presence, actually fulfilled its promise: it found a new face to “wear” and someone to dream it free. Only not someone “else”, it was freed from the Dark Place by Alan, yet the freedom came with a cost. I will not dive into the ending of the Final Draft here, but I believe the Dark Presence is still inside Alan, it’s just balanced with the light (or the Bright Presence, hmm?). It’s not a demon anymore, not an entity, Alan puts all the blame for any wrongs — his or not his — onto, it’s an essence, a power, a shadowy flicker in the corner of an eye, not real enough to properly exist, but accepted and merged with Alan too much to fade away completely. Back to the beginning, to the manuscript from 2010.
In the end, it's never just the light you need
When balance slays the demon, you'll find peace
In the end, it's never just the dark you seek
When balance slays the demon, you'll find peace
#alan wake#alan wake 2#alan wake game#alan wake ii#alan wake remastered#rcu theory#remedy connected universe#remedy entertainment#remedy games#the dark presence#the bright presence#barbara jagger#mr scratch#mr. scratch#scratch#alan wake's american nightmare#awan
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Each of my portraits will have a sappy little thing tagged onto it- but for now I just want to say a few things;
Thank you so much, to every single person in the FableSMP cast. With your community and skill and teamwork, you've created a masterpiece for all of us to view. Each character fleshed out, each story told through their highs and lows.
That is something that is so special about this medium you have all portrayed your characters and this astounding story through. Being able to see every character's POV is something inherently special about minecraft roleplays. While some books also utilize this, it's usually not to the extent that minecraft roleplays use it. This collage of an ensemble medium, cleverly crafted with each other, only made stronger by your own friendships outside of the game, is something that shines so bright through the stories you have told with these characters, and the stories you will tell with all of your other ones.
The hours I've spent watching Fable lore and brainrotting with people over here on tumblr is innumerable. And I'm a person who started watching around the end of s2, start of s3! But I've become so enraptured with this masterpiece of a story that glows so bright with all the care and effort and passion you as a cast put into it that I simply couldn't turn away.
Thank you for sharing that beauty with us. And thank you all, for everything.
You've told us your story, and it's something that will live within me and many of us fans on through our lives.
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(beware beware, spoilers are there, the devil's chord, you are going toward)
One, I loved this episode. It was fun, it was silly, it was tragic and for fuck's sake it's only the second episode of the season! Could have had a bit more Beatles in it, but Paul and John being silly literally defeating a god is the funniest thing ever.
And I LOVE that we're building on this Pantheon thing with the Giggle. I'm thinking that it's a family matter, but to be fair the entire thing surprised me really pleasantly (it's been a while since The Giggle, I did kind of forget that the Toymaker was going to send legions)
The Maestro really did serve cunt and mothered the place down. Not to mention their actor being actually brilliant? Like what? Amazing villain, really really well done. HOWEVER........ unfortunately the Maestro is now on my most wanted list because they attacked that old grandmother. Biggest red flag (as if stealing all music isn't a red flag but)
As always, time to praise our lord and saviour Ncuti Gatwa because what the fuck was that. YOU STELLAR BITCH YOUR ACTING IS LITERALLY BEYOND TIME AND SPACE!? The terror as he realises who the Maestro is, the fear and uncertainty, the love for music, he's the most tragic man ever and I love him for it.
Some favourite moments
- Ruby Sunday literally writing a masterpiece for her heartbroken lesbian friend???
- "I thought that was non-diegetic..." PLEASE I LITERALLY DID DIEGETIC AND NON-DIEGETIC SOUNDS TODAY IN MY MUSIC CLASS STOP CONNECTING WITH MY LIFE AND FOCUS ON RUBY INSTEAD I CACKLED
- "Where's my mum?" yeah no worries I didn't need my heart anyways
- I LOVE that the Doctor Who theme actually exists in the Whoniverse. That's his little song!!!!
Also is Doctor Who a musical now or what (release Ruby's gay composition and There's Always a Twist at the End on Spotify)
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Take It Easy☀️
#haikyuu#hinata shouyou#haikyuu fanart#anime fanart#fanart#madsart#digital art#anime#I just finished the Haikyuu manga#good god#what am I supposed to do now????#go work for all my hopes and dreams?????#literally the best manga ever#I’ve never felt so alive#so happy#I cried like 7 times#just between the nekoma match and the end#god#so good#a masterpiece#I’m so very proud of Hinata my baby
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at least we’ll always have Archie: The Musical
#riverdale#beronica#Betty Cooper#Archie andrews#Veronica lodge#jughead Jones#gay Kevin#clay walker#Cheryl blossom#Toni topaz#Julian blossom#and everyone else#my art#I have so many mixed feelings about s7 but above all at least we got this glorious masterpiece of an episode#I had to pay tribute and apparently draw the most complex time consuming art piece I’ve completed in two years.#t#riverdale I love you forever I will miss you until the end of my life
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like if spn were a show not written by american liberals enamoured with the trappings of conservativism. it might've been better at delivering its core thematic: that the perpetual fear of a monstrous Other just further isolates the nuclear family, only pushes them deeper into reactive violence against any perceived external threat. but also, the flipside of that unquenching fear over monsters encroaching on the family home - means the doubling down on abusive violence within your home. the father must double down on rigid control over his family, in case someone lets that monstrosity in. in case that monstrosity already exists within your family. there's no room for tolerance when only the fear over what you might lose is the most powerful thing in the room.
#polisci students of spnblr i need your full analysis on spn and authoritarianism and the nuclear family#the thing is. all of these anxieties are at the heart of a lot of hollywood horror over the decades#and spn being a giant postmodern mishmash of every horror ever but especially the ones about family#just ends up being an. accidental? masterpiece exploring this very topic#my meta#j.txt
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flood
~♫
#caligosto loboto#dr loboto#psychonauts#nightmaretheater#if you havent noticed i reaaally like flood by tool#this took 10 hours combined time of drawing 🕊️🕊️🕊️redid the sketch like 5 times lik#this is actually kind of personal to me….#as a child i had a reeaaaallly oppressive fear of my house flooding#like. i couldnt bare to hear a faucet running. thats how bad it was#all those flood damage relief commercials on tv scared me.#i very distinctly rememebr on of a house flooding thru the floor vents very quickly. and at the end the front door broke down.. scary#the psychological damage young me endured from the commercials#also ignore the wonky perspedtive on the crib i kind of exploded after trying to perspective for like an hour straight#its okay. it works. geometry is just weird in the psychonauts world#sheds a tear#oh the horrors..!.!.!!.! yipes#this is my ‘bobo exposed heart image’ to the cycle knots fanbase. real ones would know#drawing this was an experience man#thats why i vanished for a bit… sorry. ‘hey johnny got into str-‘ dont care im making a masterpiece#okay enough rambling im sorry#tips down glasses. send post
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I've been falling off the quackity sexyman train despite having made a propaganda post for him, but it's 4am and i'm kind of obsessed with the idea of him winning now. i was fully ready to call it here and maybe i will be again tomorrow but right now. quackity covered in blood, quackity increasingly desperate as everyone he knows falls around him, quackity alone in the world against a bunch of strangers who have all murdered his friends, that kind of melodramatic imagery as well as the 4am insanity that lets me actually think about dream smp lore again in the way it deserves—i don't know, guys, i actually think it would kick the most ass ever if he managed to win.
one of the things that draws me to cquackity the most is his rage. he's always so confident in the righteousness of his anger, in the inherent justice of his cause, and god knows he gets into fights. especially fights he knows he can't win. he gets so caught up in his convictions, and his trauma is so, so clear in everything he does. you can see this in his fierce anger against perceived injustices, in his constant need to prove himself, in his desperation, in his short-sightedness being his own downfall, again and again and again. but he gets back up! he gets back up every fucking time! even at the end, he gets up and he rebuilds because he literally cannot do it any other way. he can make himself into something abhorrent, but he can't give up and die.
i won't campaign against joe hills, who has also thoroughly earned my respect, but i will keep campaigning for quackity, the last member of the dream smp left standing. the only one, in the end, to hold his fucking ground and fight to the bitter end. and he will fight, because there's never been another choice for him.
dear god, i want him to win. i want him to win for every one of his fallen friends, enemies and allies that should have been stronger than him, but fell while he slipped through the cracks into another slim margin of victory. i want him to win for himself, because no matter how awful he is, he's a goddamn masterpiece in his own right. i want him to win for me, because i am fucking insane about him.
and win or lose, i think i am going to write a goddamn fic.
anyway, dsmp people, vote for quackity. he's the final girl we deserve.
#quackity#mcytblr sexyman poll#mcyt#it's a toss-up whether i'll reread this tomorrow morning and think it's a masterpiece#or just be completely embarrassed#either way this definitely belongs in a 2027 tumblr fandom cringe compilation#but for now#it feels like the end of a rainstorm#i won't go down by myself but i'll go down with my friends#(i am listening to mcr while writing this if it wasn't obvious)#also disclaimer yes it is also just a silly poll. it can be two things. nothing but genuine respect for all other competitors o7#top ten errorryx insanity moments. aaaaand post
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And by the way, the best fanfictions are the ones rated M, between 10 and 20 chapters and which have not been updated since 2013. I don't make the rules.
#cherik#erik lehnsherr#charles xavier#x men#i'm talking about a Cherik pirate AU#literally a masterpiece#but no update since like 2012#but i made like 30 different endings in my head so all good
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the "i am not throwing away my shot" "just you wait" foreshadowing in nonstop still goes SO HARD even a decade later. lin was insane for this. truly a mastermind
#is he saying 'just you wait' to the people who doubt him?#or is the narrative haunting him because he WILL end up throwing away his shot in the duel with burr?#OR is it his loved ones asking him to stop and wait for a second before jumping into impulsive decisions?#YEAH. TO ALL OF THAT.#you can criticize hamilton all you want but if you try to deny it's a lyrical masterpiece you're either dense or stupid#hamilton#musical#alexander Hamilton#nonstop#lin manuel miranda
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hey if u guys r sad about ofmd and want another show with gay people to watch you should consider watching Deadloch. It’s really good it’s really really good uh it might get a second season if the creators decide to do that.
if you watch good omens you’ll be able to watch Deadloch they’re on the same service. Uhhhh One of the actors from ofmd is there shes one half of the main duo (the other half is played by Kate Box who’s an amazing actor and Dulcie is now one of my fav characters ever) gets to wear an open Hawaiian shirt for like 3 of the 8 episodes which is a bonus. It’s extremely gay and it’s fun and beautifully written and no queer characters die and it’s satisfying and funny and Please watch it I’m begging you please watch itPLEASE
#ofmd#deadloch#PLEASEEEEEE please Im begging Im on my hands and my knees PLEASE WATCH THIS SHOW#It’s not shy about being gay it practically opens with gay sex ok please pleaseee watch it#It’s got so many amazing characters every character is so well written it’s a detective satire that ends on a pretty openly anti cop note#The main characters work so well together and the actors have such good chemistry and the storytelling is so good and well done#Literally my only my singular criticism of the entire show is that I think the lighting in some scenes could be brighter so you can#Actually tell what’s going on bc it’s sort of hard to at certain points#THATS MY ONLY CRITICISM AT ALL ITS THAT GOOD#Ive watched it 10 times now I’m still finding new stuff and connecting things it hasn’t gotten old yet#It’s seriously like unironically a masterpiece of a show. I would like it just as much if everything else was the same but the characters#Were straight#Though given how much of it is tied to gay and specifically lesbian culture it would be sort of hard to do that LOL#but still. like hypothetically. If it was straight I would not like it any less I would still be just as crazy about it
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just finished watching jimin's docu and my god I'm so grateful for the producers who worked on face. they were SO encouraging and so accepting of jimin's ideas. especially pdogg. incorporating jimin's ideas into the songs with such enthusiasm and telling him that they're good (they were!!) and telling him it's okay and encouraging him when he was having a hard time with the lyrics. they created such a great and comfortable environment for jimin to make his album 🥹 so so so thankful for them truly.
#it was suuuuuch a surreal experience watching these amazing songs be made from scratch.#i kept getting goosebumps every time they finalized on a lyric or melody or an effect like#“that's what we heard in the final track!!! that's how they thought of it and incorporated it!!”.#thank you jimin for letting us watch the making of such a masterpiece 😭🫂#i teared up at the end lmaooooo 💀#watching the docu via clips from twt did NOT justify the process at all HDJDJDJEJ#and yet it made it feel so proud of jimin 😔😔😔
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THE WAY I JUST FORGOT ABOUT THIS?????
#HELPPPP?????#i was legit reading it in awe of the fact that i wrote this masterpiece and then it ended before the good part#IM SO MAD>>>????#ig we all know what will be worked on next...#ada speaks :)#adas hard hours#txt smut#yeonjun smut#am i in a yeonjun mood? in time for his birthday? yes
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