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winterfleursblog · 9 months

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𝑨𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒎

☆ Pairing: Nanami x Fem!reader

☆ Genre: Alternate Reality, Comfort, Fluff

☆ Synopsis: The Shibuya Incident has just ended, and it has taken a toll on civilians and sorcerers alike. FemSorcerer!Reader is Nanami's fighting partner and lover. They are both fatally injured, but FemSorcerer!Reader was hit with a fatal blow to her eye to save both of them in a last effort to win against Mahito. Nanami, on the other hand, has deep scars prominent on the left side of his body that'll take time to heal.

☆ Warnings: Mentions of violence. The plot doesn't follow along with the manga's ending of the shibuya incident.

｡⁠*ﾟ⁠+

The Shibuya incident; a tragic night on the 31st day of October that made an impact on the lives of civilians and sorcerers alike. Lives were lost, injuries were inflicted, but the result was a hard-earned victory.

It was a cold winter morning at Tokyo Hospital. Christmas was about to come in a few weeks, yet everyone was still dealing with the aftermath of the tragedy.

It has been three days since you regained consciousness in the comfort of your hospital room, with bandages wrapped around your body, most specifically, your eyes. The first time you woke up, your lover Nanami was overjoyed even though he himself is still recovering from deep scars. Ever since then, he visited your room everyday to keep you company.

This day, the doctor had given you permission to take the bandages off your eyes after the surgery. Although you wanted to finally escape from the pitch black view you’ve only been able to see for the past few days, anxiety and doubt filled your heart as to how everyone will react to your new appearance. As a result, you requested them to only handle the outer layers of bandaging and leave the inner layer to you, if it’s possible. The medical staff agreed and complied with your request.

The nurses left the room and had a conversation with someone outside. Turns out, it was Nanami, whose voice you’ve recognized the moment he entered the room, bringing food as usual.

“Good Morning, Darling. I heard about the good news from the doctors. I asked them about your condition, and they told me that your eyes were healed already. I also asked them if the bandages may be unwrapped already, but they told me to ask you directly.”

You heard the sound of the stool being pulled from the side, as he sat on it to keep you company.

“I brought you breakfast, but I figured that it'd be more enjoyable to eat it while watching the snowflakes fall.”

You felt his cold hands carefully make their way to hold your right hand and used the other to support your back. When you were sitting in a stable position, Nanami cupped your cheeks and brushed off your hair, tucking them behind your ear.

“Darling, shall we remove your bandages now?”

His voice was gentle, especially his touch. It seemed as if we were dealing with a troubled child–ignoring the fact that he was talking to a woman the same age as him.

“Please don’t.”

The sudden response caught him off guard, causing him to give you a confused hum.

“Hm? Is there something wrong, dear?"

There was definitely something wrong–the purple eyes that your lover complimented the most were now damaged. Those eyes that once shined bright can only gleam from the right side and never on the left. Before, they looked like two gemstones, and now one has lost its light.

“Nanami … can you close your eyes while I unwrap my bandages..? I’ll tell you when to open them.”

“...And please prepare a mirror.”

You intended to cover your left eye first before seeing Nanami. After all, you asked a nurse on duty with you a few nights ago about what had happened to your eyes. She said that one eye was just injured by some debris and could be healed by medication. However, one eye was beyond repair, and the only solution was to get surgery done and to transplant a new one.

It was impossible to find purple eyes like yours; after all, your family lineage was a secluded one, and all of your family members were in healthy conditions. The last thing you’d want to happen is for them to give up their eye to transplant it to yours.

Just a few words in, and your lover understood what you were feeling. It pained him to see you like this, but just as always, he knew how to comfort the woman he so loved.

“Alright darling, I’ll do as you say so. But please, make it quick, I want to see my muse immediately.”

You started taking off the bandages wrapped around your eye, and you finally saw a faint light after weeks of only seeing darkness. When your eyes were completely revealed, everything was blurry. You felt your way through the blurry surroundings to get the mirror you asked for in Nanami’s hands. As soon as you looked at the mirror, you barely saw anything, but it was clear that the right iris was purple and the left iris was black. “It looks weird,” you thought to yourself, not realizing you said that out loud.

“What is weird, darling?”

You were shocked to hear Nanami’s response, so you immediately checked his face up close whether he really was closing his eyes. He indeed kept his promise as his eyes were closed.

You were insecure about how you looked right now–face full of healing scars, swollen left eye just from a surgery, and bandages still covering a third of your face.

“Nanami, I’m sorry but can you leave the room? I’ll hide under my blanket and you can go right after.”

Just after having said the last word, Nanami pulled you into a hug and rested his head on the right side of your neck.

“Darling, I know you’re not feeling well right now, but at least allow me to care for you. If you want, I can keep my eyes closed the whole time. But please, let me stay with you.”

As someone raised to be tough, you had to keep a flawless facade that never faltered. You believed that you should be perfect–in physical strength, appearance, and emotion. Everyone expected for a grade 1 sorcerer like you to remain composed, even through the harshest of times. However, things were different with Nanami. He didn’t bother seeing you vulnerable–heck, he’d even comfort you out of it. As a result, hearing those words made your heart swell with tears, and you finally melted into his embrace.

“It’s alright darling, you can cry on me until you’re feeling good. What is it bothering you? Does your surgery hurt?”

Still crying, you responded to him with a hoarse voice.

“I-it’s just that my eyes aren’t as they used to be–sniffles–M-my left eye is now–”

Hearing you struggling to catch your breath because of crying, he gently patted your back to signal his interruption.

“Shhh darling, I know about it. I’ve heard about it already a few days ago. It’s okay to feel sad about it, but please remember you’ll still be the most beautiful woman in my eyes–no matter how you look…”

You two remained in that position for quite a bit, until finally, you felt comfortable enough to sit straight and face your lover. When you pulled away from the hug, you couldn’t help but realize how he was also bandaged all over his body–significantly more than yours. He was also covered in deeper scars, yet you still thought he was handsome. Suddenly, you thought to yourself, “If I still think he is handsome with these scars, would he still think I’m pretty too?”

Your train of thoughts are disturbed when Nanami asks a question.

“So, can I see my muse now? Is it okay for me to open my eyes?”

You were hesitant to reply at first, but with his affectionate words and his smile, you just couldn't resist him. Finally, you agreed with a soft whisper and said “yes.”

As soon as he opened his eyes, his smile grew wider and he held your hand gently. He used the other to cup your cheeks, before affirming you with his words.

“I think I just fell in love with you all over again. What’s your name, miss? Can I court you?"

You giggled as his smooth-talk went on. He was acting as if you two hadn’t been together for four years and engaged. It didn’t take long until you found yourself swaying with your fiance to the jazz music played in your hospital room, while he whispers sweet nothings to your ear.

“You’re so beautiful, y/n”

“Should I call you darling or sweetheart?”

“Should I ask for your hand in marriage again?”

For the past four years that you’ve been together, he never failed to make your heart skip a beat. Even at this moment, you’re blushing so hard at everything he says, to the point that anyone would say you look like a smiling tomato.

Time has flown by quickly and after all the dancing and cuddling, it is now 9 pm in the evening.

“Nanami, you should get some rest now. You also need to recover, you know.”

“Alright, darling. As long as you wish me a Good Night with sweet dreams first. Also a kiss. Would that be possible?”

This man has many sides to his personality, but this one was the one you liked the most–him just being clingy and cute.

“That goes without saying.”

You give Nanami a kiss and wish him goodnight, as he walks to his room next to yours, about to drift off.

The winter night was cold, but your heart was warm after spending the day in Nanami’s presence.

｡⁠*ﾟ⁠+ The end ~

Notes: This is my first fanfic ever written, and English isn't my first language. Author-san (me) wrote this to cope with the pain of chapter 120 ༎ຶ⁠‿⁠༎ຶ

Please lmk if you're interested in a prequel and sequel ! I already have those in mind.

#jjk #jjk spoilers #nanami x reader #nanami kento #nanami comfort #comfort #fluff #tooth rotting fluff #alternate reality #au #fluff and comfort #jujutsu kaisen

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aconflagrationofmyown · 7 months

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Are any of Sarge and Elaine’s kids as beloved in the nation as Elvis was during his time? Do any of them particularly want to be in the spotlight, now we know Marie is a famous photographer and Daisy is an entertainer. I just think that the nationwide love Elvis brought out should be replicated in one (or more) of his kids because his impact is truly amazing.

2nd question, during the divorce Elaine gets pregnant? What’s the public backlash for that? Can’t even imagine them being kind to her.

Ooooh, how fun is this ask?! 😍Especially as the answer is two in one, just like the question. First off, meet Mr. Danny Presley:

Yes, yes I went and made it a little odd yet sweet by using darling John John Kennedy’s face, BUT HEAR ME OUT

1. I adore that man and he needs a fix it fic himself and in this universe we can start from scratch a bit, 2. I just always envisioned their last son being a distinguished darling of the nation in a political capacity, 3. he’s just terribly handsome and well…distinguished, I’ll use that again and has the down to earth goodness along with the charismatic gravitas that suits my vision for Danny.

Which leads us to those questions.

Oh the backlash is nasty. It’s awful as expected but for the first time in her life, Elaine Presley, though divorced and perhaps unforgivable for it by her husband, actually has Elvis’ full support under the media glare. This is thanks, in part, to Colonel Parker and his damned tabloid machine -which was always her nemesis and the bane of her dignity- being out of service due to the Colonel himself being neck deep in an immigration lawsuit. He can’t quite issue spoon fed statements about his investment’s behavior from a holding cell, not when the investment himself is rethinking his place as the head of his family while curled up in his ex-wife’s hospital bed talking to her barely protruding belly.

And Danny, oh sweet, their lovely Danny Boy. Made in the middle of such tragedy, you’d never know it from his easy presence and boyish charm, the way from the minute he can interact during Elvis’ later international tours he treats his Daddy’s fans like his own. He’s the one in the late 80’s and 90’s still passing out smooches to admirers, young and old, who still flock around the gate. He’s the one who gets invested in Memphian politics and continuing on what America got robbed of somewhere along the way. He marries Shiloh’s best friend Bee and he wins the senatorship, he’s straight and honest as they come… unless you wanna press an inquiry about some of those badges he gets his daddy. But no harm in those.

He coulda been known as the kid made when the two crazy Presley’s couldn’t stop hate-fucking. Instead he’s a recalled as a unifying legacy to everyone who ever dreamed about love enduring and good people making efforts to live for something bigger than themselves.

If it’s true you attract the love you give, then Danny’s his daddy’s replica to a T, and maybe it helps that they share a birthday. 😉

…the whole saga of him being made and the divorce and the reasoning and the reconciliation will be coming soon, I swear

As for the others, you have Daisy who is a significant performer in her own right and certainly a bit of a fame enjoyer, there’s Jesse who is similarly acclaimed but not as lead, and you’ve got Marie who as a photographer and filmmaker might be more of a artsy success but as far and household name and universal admiration and fondness as was felt for Elvis -I see that being Danny. Your Grandpa and your lil sister both think he’s pretty fly.

#sarge asks #danny presley #elvis presley #elvis fanfiction #Danny Asks

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croc-odette · 5 months

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One of the first conversations Sisko has with the Prophets is about non-linear perception; why would anyone want to experience time in linear progression, ignorant of what happens next? Sisko explains the benefit of linear perception through a baseball game– the game is only enjoyable if one is constantly wondering what will happen next.

SISKO: With each new consequence, the game begins to take shape.

PROPHETS: And you have no idea what that shape is until it is completed.

SISKO: That’s right. In fact, the game wouldn’t be worth playing if we knew what was going to happen.

The Prophets are associated with religion, faith, and non-Federation culture; aspects of Star Trek that were either taboo in the writer’s room or in need of ‘correction’ from Starfleet and its futuristic scientists. The Prophets raise a question for the viewer; is non-linear thinking also in conflict with Star Trek’s usual commitment to science and rationality?

Star Trek as a whole is both linear and non-linear. In linear fashion, it is a show about the future where technology has advanced humanity to the point that we can explore space, create matter out of energy, teleport, and meet extra-terrestrials. In non-linear fashion, episode premises are often about how familiar problems such as prejudice, war, sickness, and violence reoccur in the future despite the progress of technology and social causes. The show was originally set in an idealistic 2260s, but written to look constantly behind its shoulder at the current problems of the 1960s in the United States. The original series’ politics could be radical at the time it aired; but in non-linear back-and-forth fashion, a show written in the 1960s, set in the 2260s, and still watched in the 2020s reveals outdated and blatantly offensive tropes. At the same time, newer shows written in a post-War-on-Terror United States can feel more conservative than their predecessors. The quality or messaging of the franchise cannot be argued as a linear progression, but is itself a messy and changing reflection of the writers, the show’s subjective goals, and the political atmospheres it’s both created and viewed in. If the franchise (or the audience) was truly linear, then the older series (30-60 years old) would have no meaning or purpose to today’s viewers, and would have been discarded in favor of more recent series. Instead, new generations consistently still find relevance in older series.

Star Trek, especially TNG, tends to suggest advancement in technology as an obvious replacement for religion. The simplified linear idea is that a society begins with religion and ends at the ideal state of pure science. The Federation and Starfleet must be good, because they are our main characters, and therefore their exploration and desire to expand their purely scientific culture (linear) must be presented as a logical good.

DS9 challenges this concept not only by investing two of its main characters in Bajoran religion, but by overwhelmingly revealing the horror and tragedy still present in Federation societies with access to advanced technology. The Dominion War (much like the conflict with the Borg) kills tens of millions of people and seems hopeless. The scientifically advanced Federation still employs torture, assassination, forgery, and biological warfare in attempts to win it. Earth, a peaceful and insulated paradise, becomes wracked with paranoia when one Founder infiltrates. Bajor and the space station Deep Space Nine represent a gruesome history of colonization, occupation, and post-occupation, regardless of the occupying force’s technological capacity. The Federation, Bajor, and the Cardassian empire view each other in a barely held together truce with distrust, hatred, and disdain. Even when the Federation sends aid to Bajor, the limits of technology become more visible than they often are on Starfleet flagships. Machines for revitalizing polluted soil are fought over, and homes and land have to be obliterated for mining and energy. The space station itself was built by Bajoran slave labor and during the occupation was used as a dangerous ore processing facility. The toll of technological advancement becomes apparent in a way that Star Trek usually dodges; what does it take to build a space station? Who builds it, and under what conditions? Where does the material come from? Whose home is destroyed in order to get it? Who gets access to this technology? Who profits? If technology has to invent solutions to problems it created with past ‘solutions’ (see: the combustible engine leading to global warming), then has it created an objectively linear progression or a snake racing after its own tail? Is technology objectively advancing humanity if it still creates a massive imbalance of suffering and resource depletion where we choose not to see it?

The alternate simplified linear thinking is, well, okay then, religion is good and technology is bad. However, DS9 also critiques Bajoran religion rather than presenting it as an absolute good. Rather than bashing it for daring to exist at all, it pays attention to moments of corruption, fundamentalism, and power grabs. And technology in DS9, typically medicine, saves people and makes life in general easier. In an early episode called “Paradise,” Sisko and O’Brien crash on a planet where a previously stranded group of people have formed a cult without Starfleet technology. Later, it’s revealed that their leader had manipulated them into crashing, in order to forcibly deprive them of technology and shape them according to her own interest in ‘the ancient religions’; conveniently, she is at the top of their strict power structure. Rather than dismissing religion entirely, Sisko only coldly tells her “Perhaps one day you’ll even feel the hand of God on your shoulder.” The conflict is less about her shallow claims of technology versus religion, and more about her clear desire for punitive and total control over other people.

Both religion and technology are ancient aspects of human life, and cannot be simplified down to opposing or competing ends of a spectrum. Even for a non-religious society or individual, our interest in what’s mysterious or unfathomable about our world gives us humility, comfort, and curiosity; staring at stars or listening to music is not a ‘rational’ exercise that requires explanation in order to feel good. Modern humans evolved with a focused capacity on making and using tools, and the ability to teach and learn between generations, helping us survive and develop art and culture. Perceiving either our interest in the unknown or in science as the only ‘true’ way forward to a better life– however that may be defined– leaves little room for critique of either, and corrupt and exploitative power structures can grow without question. The idea that a single tool forward, a clear linear path, must be decided upon and committed to entirely– whether it’s to a futuristic utopia or existential salvation– tries to dodge the harder questions of personal choice, human behavior, and quests for control that often create the reoccuring problems in Star Trek no matter the time period.

Sisko understands non-linear perception of time more personally than other Star Trek characters we’ve seen. He’s studied history, specifically flashpoints of Earth. He’s deeply aware of the racism that would have prevented him from enjoying a 1960s Las Vegas casino. His grief over his wife’s death is what helps him understand the non-linear time of the Prophets, just as his love of baseball helps them understand linear time. He starts off doubtful and clinical towards the Bajoran religion and his posting near the planet, and by the end of the series is sincerely committed to Bajor.

In an episode that focuses on Sisko’s identity as an African American and a Bajoran religious figure, he experiences a past life as a scifi writer in the mid-20th century United States on Earth. The episode explicitly raises non-linear thinking through Sisko’s questioning of whether he imagines the writer or the writer imagines him, and we as the audience watch a man from the distant future see himself as a man from our recent past. Racism, rather than being masked through genre allegory as prejudice against aliens, elves, or mutants, is undisguised racism– the episode deliberately draws the parallel and then removes it again when Sisko imagines racist cops as Cardassians for several seconds. A non-linear problem in Star Trek is it originated as a show interested in civil rights and social progress, and over time became so bogged down in convention and metaphor that fans openly and unironically raged at the idea (both for DS9 and Discovery) of a Black captain and perceived ‘political correctness’. The episode points to the linear through-line of scifi, when Sisko’s past self asserts that even though his story about a Black astronaut will not be published, the fact the idea existed at all proves it could one day happen. The events that lead from Benny Russell’s story to Benjamin Sisko’s existence, however, are hardly a straight line. Sisko’s actor, Avery Brooks, experienced racism on the set of the show, both from showrunners and lot guards who racially profiled him when he would drive in to the parking lot. Even in Star Trek’s stated premise of a future where prejudice on Earth has disappeared, the franchise itself has been plagued with overt racism, sexism, and homophobia. Sisko’s character, despite existing in a show that is supposedly post-racism, shows the way progress does not move forward in a neat line, but often double-backs and pulls constantly from both the past experience and knowledge of the oppressed, and from the past prejudice and control of the oppressor.

In the episode “Explorers,” Sisko’s fascination with history, Bajor, engineering, and being Jake’s dad overlap. He researches and builds a traditional 16th century Bajoran spaceship that ‘sails’ on solar energy. If Sisko wanted to warp across the galaxy or replicate a model of the ship, he easily could. However, the ship for him serves as a pleasurable hobby, a way to bond with his son, and a deliberate retreading of the past and the experience of the people who lived it. The Cardassian empire (which often justifies its occupation of the Bajorans by claiming them to be technologically inferior, overly spiritual, militantly unambitious, and further behind in the Cardassian empire’s ‘linear’ understanding of a civilization’s progress and therefore right to exist) turn their nose up at the ship and its capabilities. By the end of the series, the Cardassian home planet’s reward for its commitment to technology, nationalism, and imperialism is revealed; even before the planet is brutalized by Dominion forces, it is a hollowed out, deeply polluted, and barely livable core of an empire starving for external resources to continue feeding its survival and ‘linear’ expansion. To the Cardassian empire, linear growth of capitalism, the military, and imperial reach was the perfect goal– it ends inevitably with mass casualties of its own population and major divisions. The survivors of the former empire, rather than start over and regrow into the same plant so it can hit the same brick wall, have to stop and simultaneously consider their propagandized history, devastated present, and uncertain future. The only way to actually progress and break the cycle is by questioning what their society considers progress to begin with; unstable imperial domination or sustainable peace?

A scientific example of forcing non-linear science in a linear box is evolution. Evolution is sometimes falsely believed to be a process which will result ultimately in a superior, perfectly adapted species; a belief that at its most harmless is used to stroke our own egos as ‘the apex predator’ and at worst used to justify eugenics. However, evolution is a non-conscious process that simply creates and recreates species that can fill whatever niches exist in the moment. A species perfectly adapted to flight in dense jungles will fail completely if placed at the bottom of the ocean. A species adapted to both will waste bodily form and function on trying to check every box, and likely be edged out by more specific competitors. There is no end goal, only a series of events happening constantly, shaping, and reshaping, sometimes retreading genetic history for a pair of legs or a life in the water again, sometimes building up to something that does well until it doesn’t, from the largest whales to the smallest bacteria.

A more poetic way to think about all of it is Ursula K. Leguin’s quote, from the relevantly titled sci-fi novel, The Lathe of Heaven; “Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; re-made all the time, made new.”

Faith, technology, even the DNA of every species cannot be seen as arrows reaching a specific target, that once reached, will prevent all past problems forever onward. The argument is not that progress can never be meaningfully achieved, and neither is the argument that progress once reached will remain concrete and fixed. The argument is that any effort, making bread or a tv show or a better world, has to be constantly made, remade, pushed, held, and examined. When a modern problem arises in Star Trek, it is because the conscious effort necessary to solve that problem has grown stale or become forgotten. Characters solve their problems, with the help of technology, and in DS9 with the help of faith, but mostly with the will to confront the issue, to work collectively, to use intelligence and compassion, to bear what cannot be easily solved, and to understand the past’s continued relevance in the present and the future. Even as we perceive time in a linear fashion, and we hope to leave the world better than we found it in whatever way we can, we need non-linear understanding to consistently weave and mend our own places within history. In Star Trek, both Earth and the Cardassian Empire have similar technological advancements– but Earth only achieved warp-travel and replication technology after undergoing World War 3 and being forced to solve its social and ethical crises. Technological advancements in both societies veered into rapidly different results based on the differing cultures, and even then, future Earth risks settling into a fragile state of content ignorance rather than permanent utopia. DS9 implies that Earth’s progress depends on its capacity for maintained social self-awareness rather than technology. We need non-linear understanding to keep from kidding ourselves that we’ve permanently ‘solved’ some great problem of life, either through smaller phones or psuedo-spiritual epiphanies, and no longer need to worry about mistakes from the past. We need non-linear understanding to recognize when a step forward really has happened, and to make sure we remember that step has to “be remade all the time, made new.”

In the first episode, we watch Sisko calmly and rationally explain to the Prophets our reality; that we live from one moment to the next, and use our past experiences to inform our decisions in the present about our future. The Prophets start to understand, but they distrust linear life for what they perceive as aggression, adversarial behavior, and lack of responsibility. We watch a capable Starfleet officer and an intelligent human being explain the most intrinsic and inevitable part of our lives; that we can only move forward in linear time.

However, it is only once Sisko breaks down after repeatedly bringing himself to the death of his wife Jennifer, that the Prophets tell Sisko he exists in that moment and trust him. Beings moving through linear time do not do so carelessly; Sisko begs that he does not want to be at the moment of Jennifer’s death, that he wants to leave it behind; but he can’t. The moment existed, and will always exist for him. Sisko, crying, admits that “it’s not linear.”

#THIS HAS BEEN DRIVING ME NUTS TRYING TO EXPLAIN TO MYSELF.#ds9 #i still can't totally throw the dart at it but hm #i would even argue that by the end of TNG picard has changed from someone wholly married to 'we have moved forward thanks to the objectivity #of science' to 'damn i have experienced a lot of wild shit. oh the space god who's obsessed with me is here #again. sure why not'

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nicollekidman · 1 year

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huge huge huge huge win for the tragedy enjoyers, for the fans of a quiet small little life, for the Is It Even Love If We Don’t Die girlies

#tlou hbo

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most-tragic-character-tournament · 6 months

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It is very funny that Antigone and Lloyd have created so much discourse and that I was mentally ill about them at around the same time I in my childhood; but I digress. I feel that Antigone is a very tragic character and while I don’t know how long she’ll last against others, I would definitely say that she is a more tragic character than Lloyd Garmadon due to the nature of the medium she is conceived in. Antigone is imprisoned for keeping the burial rites for her brother, knowing this is just yet not lawful, and gets punished by her uncle, Creon, losing her chance for a happy future for a doomed family. Antigone mourns this fact, saying: “I am going — alive — to the scraped hollow of the dead/Ehat have I ever done against divine justice? (Sophocles Third Stasimon line 920-1). As a Greek tragic character, Antigone is punished by fate for things that long came before her and that she could not control. Lloyd Garmadon however, could be compared more readily with Odysseus in terms of tragedy, as while tragic events happen to them, by the end, they still have their family and friends, and while flaws within the world and the character influence them, they ultimately learn and grow from their mistakes and come through them as better people. Ultimately, while both medias are valid forms of enjoyment, I think that it would be wrong to say that tragic events to a character makes a tragic character; conflict is needed in a story! It’s why Albert Camus says Sisyphus is actually chilling!! It sucks to go through it, but we all do in a way, and I think the happiest thing of all is waking up every day saying Ninja never quit, because they don’t! I posit, instead, that what makes a tragic character is the tragedy of their end (be it in the story or their literal, well, death). Lloyd has many tragic events happen to him, but being the Green Ninja who fights evil a lot is a much better deal than being the product of mother-son incest maligned by your own extended family, even when the people and the gods call for your release. Ultimately, though, this is tumblr, and while I think Antigone is narratively the epitome of a tragic character, I think the funniest and most tragic thing of all would be her losing, because even in death she truly cannot win and would be very consistent with her life💀 but also I hope people read the Three Theban Plays out of this! We don’t need to think of things a “too intellectual to enjoy,” or that people “just wouldn’t get it.” Plays are for everyone, and I think gatekeeping is awful and leads to people not wanting to engage with works of art. All art is meaningful. Whether you like Ninjago or Antigone or both! :)

[Propaganda]

#propaganda #antigone #tw abuse #tw incest

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high-voltage-rat · 8 months

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Okay so like. Obviously Karlach's most glaringly obvious theme is that of a woman who was betrayed, sold into slavery, and managed to escape. But her secondary theme, and the one that we actually confront and grapple with most during the course of her story, is that of her infernal engine. Spoilers below for all acts, including the ending of the game.

From the moment we meet her in Act 1, Karlach is dying. From the very earliest part of her character quest, she is told her engine cannot sustain her forever- she is living on borrowed time. Further, she is isolated from the world because of it- she can't hug her friends, can't take a lover, can't even interact with the world like the rest of her peers. She is constantly conscious of her body and the way that it is different- she has to be. She's told that if she returns to the state she was in before, even more isolated and fighting a constant war that she will never truly win, she can at least survive. When she refuses this option, when she expresses that it isn't an option at all, that she would rather have an enjoyable short time than a miserable long one, it is in many ways framed as her "giving up".

This, to me, speaks to the story of a terminal or chronic illness, or a disability. A life spent fighting your own body, restricted by your condition, desperately wanting to be like everyone else. Being unable to have physical contact or intimacy, whether because of the risk to your health, or simply because you can't even form the connections to get to that point in a relationship with someone because your experiences are so different or your condition takes up your time and mind. And if you decide to forego treatment, if you decide the benefits of it aren't worth the consequences, you're told you're giving up, pushed to keep fighting.

Now, in Act 2, with the help of Dammon, Karlach is able to upgrade her engine enough to be able to protect others from the consequences of her engine. She can hug people, she can have physical contact. She's full of joy, even as Dammon is reminding her that she's dying- because she's finally getting the chance to live again. She's finally done letting her condition dictate her life, and she throws herself into everything that means.

In Act 3, we see her experience ups and downs within that. We see the grief over her coming death suddenly hit her, we see her mourn herself, the life she could have had. We see her get angry, at the people who put her in this position, at the people around her who are living "normal" lives, even a little bit at herself. Even though she's accepted the path that will lead to her death, she's still grieving it.

At the culmination of her arc, we see her volunteer to become a mind flayer in order to save the world. She's dying anyway, she argues, may as well do it saving the world. It's not just a heroic offer of sacrifice- to her, it's the logical conclusion. It's pragmatic. It doesn't matter what form she dies in, it'll happen regardless.

Only... it doesn't. If she transforms, her engine stabilizes. More than that, she starts to feel even more like herself. She's hideous, in a form that is reveiled by society, her body permanently altered- people don't look at her and see Karlach. They see a mind flayer. Her friends offer her pity, her allies immediately take to referring to her as an illithid regardless of who she was before. And yet, she says, she feels more of herself than she ever has. She has a future, she has hope, she's happy.

I see this culmination as an allegory for the use of aids or the receipt of radical treatment. You can be the healthiest and happiest you've been in your whole life- but if you take medications, if you use mobility aids, if you have scars from a life-improving surgery, anything that makes it visible that you're embracing and working with your condition... that's when the sympathy starts pouring in. That's when you're viewed as a tragedy, or something gross and unfit for being seen in public. That's when people recoil and ask what happened to you, even when they never reacted at all when you were at your worst. People stop looking at you and seeing you, and start seeing your condition. Despite all of that, though, finding aids that fit your needs or getting the right procedure can revolutionize your life. It can set you free, and it can empower you to find joys you never knew were possible.

For Karlach's story, I honestly feel like becoming an Illithid is the best ending- because it does that for her. It's not a fuzzy warm perfect ending- but it sets her free. It gives her agency over her life again, and regardless of what anyone else sees when they look at her, she can be proud of what she's accomplished. Of the future ahead of her, of the person she's become, of all the parts of being Karlach she now gets to explore.

She never gets to live a "normal" life. But she gets to be happy. And she saves the goddamn world.

#late nights with ali #ali plays bg3 #bg3 #baldurs gate #baldur's gate 3 #karlach bg3 #karlach cliffgate #I told y'all it was coming. I may have more thoughts upon finishing the game with her romance route #but from my first playthrough? yeah.#anyway I love her and her story and UGH I cried seeing her get excited for her future

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classicslesbianopinions · 6 months

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I think for me it's like - sure, I'd be sad if Lloyd won, because I love Antigone, I wanna talk about her, and I want others to know (or learn!) about her and love her like I do! But there's no real gain to winning a silly Tumblr poll other than a but of happiness. So the fact that the second Antigone pulled ahead everyone immediately went "oh, those shitty Greek mythology fans, they WOULD pull a cheat like this to get ahead, especially after how they've been treating Ninjago fans this week".

Because, like, I'm not gonna say there haven't been some jerk Antigone voters in the notes. But first of all - nearly all the 'mean' Antigone voters in the notes are saying things like "How are we losing to a Lego ninja show??" which, while not kind, isn't exactly worth the demonization to immediately assume we're obsessive shitheads who would get bots together OR SPEND MONEY (what classics tumblr user has money to spend on dumb stuff like this, are they real, how can I live like them, let me know blease) to freak out over a. a Tumblr poll. (I'm not talking abt the people who are saying watching a kid's show makes you immature or uncultured, that's silly and wrong.)

Second of all, for as many mean Antigone voters, there are JUST AS MANY Ninjago fans in the notes going "Wow, vote Lloyd to fuck over Greek mythology fans" (augh Antigone isn't even Greek mythology, stop conflating everything that's old and Greek with mythology. Actually, stop conflating everything that's Greek at all with ancient Greece and mythology, but that's a tangent-), "These pretentious shitheads deserve to lose", "Greek tragedy enjoyers are classist and no one even knows who Antigone is these days, vote Lloyd because they deserve to lose", that kind of thing. Like, nothing TERRIBLE, but it's wild to me the leaps in logic right over their hypocrisy. It's shitty to shit on someone's interests because it's media intended for a younger audience, and it's shitty to shit on someone's interests because its media written a long time ago. But now that thoodleoo and Friday Afternoon are swinging in all these Antigone voters (because surprise, just because a story is over two thousand years old and some of us had to read it in school doesn't mean no one likes it! People have always been people, regardless of their time period, and people have always written stories worth reading that people will care about! It scares me seeing so many of my generation reject classic works out of hand! There's a kneejerk reaction to call something old pretentious, dull, irrelevant, and/or problematic, without actually engaging and understanding why it has been so long-lasting, and it's also scary seeing my generation refuse to understand that they are not inherently better just because they are newer, humans have always been writing beautiful and meaningful works!!! Sorry this was also a tangent!!!!!!) suddenly it's "Wow, with the way Antigone voters have been treating Ninjago fans, it's no wonder they're awful enough to rig a vote."

It's just this - hypocrisy, I think, for me. A lot of these people have come to the conclusion that because they are fans of children's media they are being persecuted, but on Tumblr, that's really not true. Most of active Tumblr watches children's media and cartoons, and that's great! There's a lot of good shows out there for kids that have great stories and messages! But they refuse to see they're doing the exact same thing they're accusing us of doing - rejecting a work and a work's fans because of how they generalize the culture. IE, classics culture has to be petty, pretentious, and shitty. That's what's making me upset. I know we have a bad rep for a reason (behold, the scores of shitty cishet rich white men and what they do with classic asethetics and work, good lord) but the same can be said of shitty kid's cartoon fans (I will not go into that kind of person but you know what I mean). There's always going to be bad people who like good things! But equating all people who like what has been a revolutionary and culturally germane tragedy for two thousand years because it is personally relevant and important to them with snobbish jerks who hate you just because you like cartoons, and then deciding there can't possibly be enough of us to win so we have to be cheating... Ugh. Sorry for the rant in your inbox.

yeahhh i just feel like people are making a lot of assumptions which like. yeah that's what people do. but it's frustrating, and also honestly if you reject ancient literature out of hand you might miss out on stuff you'd like! which i mean is also true of just about any media, like i'm not really into kids' shows but also if i mocked and refused to watch any kids' show i would be worse off for it.

there definitely are some antigone voters being genuinely nasty (and particularly in the replies to the poll there are a couple people who really feel the need to belittle people) but i also feel like i've seen pretty nasty stuff from both sides and it's just like... well it would be nice if it weren't like that! And Also most of what i've seen has been pretty lighthearted/all in good fun. so i don't really get the point of acting like either side is 1. a monolith and 2. universally acting in bad faith

i do think it would be silly for antigone to lose in round three of a poll about who's the most tragic character but it's not that big a deal 😭 and also yeah like. who's paying for this. i'm a phd student and i have to pay rent i am not out here buying tumblr votes

#mod felix #tragedy poll

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raayllum · 1 year

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Gosh yes, your tags on that last post. Like, I don’t blame people for liking Viren, for enjoying his character, for finding him sympathetic (or attractive, even if I personally don’t). He’s a compellingly written character! But don’t be offended if people hate him or find him evil… he’s the villain, that’s literally his role in the story

"How dare this villainous character do villainous things" / "how dare the protagonist get narratively rewarded for making good choices" like do y'all even hear yourselves sometimes, y'know?

especially when - and i cannot stress this enough - tdp is for children and will ultimately have a happy ending. this isn't a grown up drama or tragedy or even a grimdark fantasy by any means. it's a hopepunk high fantasy story. people who further retaliation and violence and push people into inherently defensive positions are the 'bad guys'

like i love viren! i think he's very well written and interesting. he's a great examination of how we can lie to and martyr ourselves in a search for security that is also about status & wanting to feel special, about the harm done when trying to win a rigged system rather than solidarity in tearing a system down and making a new one. i appreciate his dry/deadpan sense of humour. he's also one of two primary antagonists in the first 3 seasons. and like, all that can coexist? it's multifaceted character writing? we all presumably passed grade 10 english class?

i also cannot emphasize the importance of being able to separate audience reaction or response from what a piece of art is actually doing or saying enough. "this story is bad because it was personally upsetting to me" without examples given or analyzed it is not well, analysis, it's just a currently very unfounded opinion. and sometimes stories are supposed to be personally upsetting, so like. you also gotta know your lanes

it's why subjective analysis is very useful but learning structural (objective) analysis is arguably more important. something can be structurally pretty weak but very enjoyable (frozen). something can be abysmal enjoyment wise but very structurally solid (1984, which i'd argue isn't meant to be enjoyed, either). and it's important to know the difference if you want to write actual analysis rather than opinion based stuff. analysis isn't necessarily better than opinion based pieces but analysis is more expansive because it can cover the subjectivity and the objectivity and more. which is precisely why i can read "the iliad" and think "wow that was good" but if i wanted to write an essay on it i'd have to do a lot more thinking because i'm demanding something greater of that artistic experience by virtue of wanting to expand on it

a lot of people take "art for art's sake" as a statement regarding the fact that art - which is inherently symbolic in its construction, even in what meaning we construe to words themselves - doesn't have to mean anything and fighting back claims that art should mean something. but i think of "art for art's sake" is more worthwhile to examine under the lens of "this art doesn't exist for the sake of capitalist consumption, but amid it, or sometimes precisely in spite of it" and like. very few things artistically have zero meaning precisely because meaning is also "what was the reasoning behind this" and if there is none (think a tattoo you got "just because") that's typically a subjective reflection of the creator and still indicative of their personality. sometimes the meaning is meaninglessness (nihilism is still a creation in response to us searching for meaning, after all)

i'm getting into the weeds now but the point is that there's definitely been an upswing in recent years of people thinking opinions = analysis and while that often is the case (particularly if that opinion is expanded upon enough to be grounded in the text and the text's context) it absolutely is not as often actual analysis as people think it is

#the english major strikes again #thanks for asking #i was in the atla fandom casually from 2013 to 2016 and when i say Head Empty fandom dear g o d #and ppl get very butthurty about it y'know? which i think stems from a general anti intellectualism #bc who needs the fucking humanities and History in times of crisis am i right #but like. legitimate experts in their fields do know more than 16 yr olds online who think #the curtains aren't blue for any particular reason #like to engage with a text you have to operate under the assumption that Everything has meaning and then #parse out the patterns and then debate what meanings are being ascribed #how they may be integrated interpreted or completely unintentional b the author but still very much ther #tag ramble #anonymous #i feel like ppl very much shield themselves with their own perceived intellectualism and #i know so many ppl who are significantly smarter than me and i fucking love it bc i get to learn #it's not a threat it's an opportunity #what's that one socrates quote??? 'the first step to knowing is knowing you know nothing'#or something along those lines

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prisonguards · 2 years

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Trying and failing not to think about how every. single. duos. potential win would be made infinitely sexier if the bonds break in the end when I’m an angst and tragedy enjoyer

Tango and Jimmy… forced to kill their partner, the only one who has uplifted them every step of the way, believed in them when no one else would, stood up for eachother through thick and thin. It would break them. They would be inconsolable. Like first of all it would be no small miracle for them to be the final two standing, but just the absolutely crushing devastation. All their joy immediately decimated when the bond breaks and they realize what has to be done. It would have to be a Scarian-style thinly veiled self-sacrifice from one of them because I don’t think they could have the heart to do it for real, to actually fight eachother to the death.

Ren and Bigb… their messy on and off again relationship coming to a head. Could they really ever amicably come back together? After all their issues they’re always reunited by convenience, but will those feelings and frustrations and fears that we saw at Scott’s Relationship Ranch surface again? Will they make a honorable fight of it, or will Ren’s rage and Bigb’s resentment surface again? They were always so good at making issues with eachother when there weren’t really any there...

The Divorce Quartet would all make such interesting face-offs, because it shows the defeat of the system set in place. Cleo or Scott would have already lost their chosen soulmate, so maybe it would be easier for them, less feelings to get in the way of the job that has to be done.

Cleo and Martyn… wouldn’t it be such a grand show of valor, as the Soulbound who couldn’t provide, who endangered his partner, for Martyn to sacrifice himself? To let Cleo win? Though he was never very good at giving Cleo what she wanted or needed or asked for, he always was a bit too selfish, despite what hes always thought

Scott and Pearl… Scott doesn’t seem to think they’re making it to the end again, he’s said he’d rather kill himself than let Pearl wreck havoc as Red. But if they did make it to the end… the hatred between them is so much. Pearl has no sense of self preservation, she would take so many risks, so it could go either way. She could either win because of her lack of hesitation, or not be careful enough and slip that way. Also the concept of a repeat winner in Scott has me shaking, to be the champion of the traffic games by rejecting the very rules each set in place (Boogey and Soulbounds)… It would be incredible.

Joel and Etho… well they’re repeating fate. Last Life again, instead of the others who will repeat 3rd Life. An even more familiar memory. But Joel has been so loyal all season, so loudly devout. When they have to fight, will Joel continue to show servitude, or will his bloodlust get the better of him? Will Etho be able to turn fate and defeat him this time, or will he be forced to relieve it exactly the same? Their fight in Last Life was so satisfying to me too, it would just be a joy to watch them fight no-holds-barred again.

And those who would have to repeat 3rd Life…

Bdubs and Impulse… oh wouldn’t it just be everything? Wouldn’t it just be beautiful? I’ve seen the dash theorizing about Bdubs betrayal all night already, and I’m with you guys, narratively it would be beautiful. A clock couldn’t really save Impulse… Oooh to be doomed to repeat fate, oooh for Bdubs to prove himself a betrayer once again, after all that love. Oooooh for Impulse to either lay down his life and let it happen again, prove his love, or to reject his repeated fate, turn on Bdubs first or harder, not letting himself make the same mistake twice (not the lack of the clock, it was just trusting Bdubs)

Scar and Grian… Scar and Grian.

It seems like this whole game was set up so what happened in 3rd Life could never happen again. So Grian wouldn’t have to beg the ghosts that couldn’t just the both of them win it together? And for that to collapse at the very last moment, to prove that it will always come back to this, that there will always only be one, no matter what the games seem to promise…

It was set up so 3rd Life could never happen again, so Grian wouldn’t have to kill Scar again in the very end, but they’ve been on the rocks the entire game. Grian’s been trying to outrun what fate has given him again, a physical tether to Scar this time, instead of just one of obligation. He’s been trying to outrun it, and now he finally has his out, he’s no longer bound with Scar.

He just has to do it again.

And the result either way, if he repeats it, if he becomes the trafficgames champion, by having to strike down his oldest ally both times… or if he can’t do it again. If instead of Scar hitting at air and letting Grian overtake him, after already offering up his life before the fight, if Grian takes the fall. He lets Scar have this one. His obligation over, his service of a life. They’re even now.

#double life smp #dlsmp #trafficblr #desert duo #<- tagging them cause I went the most deranged abt them. sorry #this ones just a complete 1 am stream of consciousness ramble guys #you can see Im a repeating fate and self sacrifice enjoyer sorry I repeated that sm #language in this esp the desert duo part is influenced by meta by habeascorpseus *thumbs up smiiile*#I cannot possibly credit all the bdubs theorizing that was going on on the dash tonight #there was so much and I didnt save any of it but it was fun :) great ideas yall #that said #I try not to theorize or engage much with theories cause I dont wanna get my hopes up abt things that Will Not happen #but I couldnt help myself really. I sent a 7+ minute voice ramble to my best friend and decided I had to write my thoughts out for real #but maybe think of this as a sexy au instead of like an actual 'I want/need this to happen.'#also I Am caught up with every single persons pov for double life. but these are just my personal reads on the dynamics so #not the end all be all #my meta #prisspeaks

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canonicallysoulmates · 8 months

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I'm starting with what I didn't like and making my way to what I did like about TVA because I wanna end this post on a positive note.

I'm starting with what's probably an unpopular opinion but I refuse to believe I'm alone in this, there has to be somebody else that feels the same way about this man: I don't like Marius. He was already on thin ice at the beginning of this book but the end made me hate him.

I've already said that I'm not a fan of Marius and Armand's romantic relationship and I've given some of my reasons why but I'm gonna go into a bit more detail because, from the beginning, we start off on the wrong foot because Marius rescues Armand from the brothel where he has suffered a lot of trauma including sexual abuse, and the first thing he does... is engage in sexual acts with him while he bathes him. Motherfucker you couldn't wait? Armand had been starved for days when he found him he couldn't even feed him first 🤨

And they end up in this very unhealthy dom/sub type dynamic where Marius wants to be in control and whips Armand when he angers him, and literally one of my notes about one of those moments is just 'Armand dump his ass'. It's when they get back from Kiev and Armand is basically finding himself but Marius wants him to go back to the studies that he had planned for him and when Armand tells him no, leave me alone (paraphrasing) Marius grabs a switch and hits him, and then when Armand rightfully angry calls him out on just wanting him to be an obedient little pupil he slaps him! Like sir!

And actually, this reminds me of something else I don't like about this relationship as a romance, after that event happens the next night Marius tells Armand that it's difficult for him to treat him as anything but a child even though he's not a child. That's part of the problem there's no development in this relationship there's no point where they become equals even in present time Armand continues to think of Marius as "Master". These two should not be together. I love toxic, twisted, fucked up ships but I don't love every toxic, twisted, fucked up ship and these two just don't do it for me. There's nothing that makes their toxicity fun or enjoyable, they're just toxic.

However, as I said the first time I mentioned my dislike of this relationship I can understand why some people would like it even though it's a no from me. But Marius relationship with Armand is not the reason I ended up hating him, no, it was that after Armand trusted him with his children he went ahead and turned both of them without consulting him. That is a breaking of trust. That is a crossing of boundaries. Also, I'm expected to believe this character is wise, and knowing and yet he turned a 12yr old.

In TVL Marius says turning Armand as young as he did is the worst crime he had committed and warned Lestat to never turn someone as young. Armand was 17. Lestat ignored what Marius said and created Claudia who was way younger at 5 and whose story ended in tragedy for both her and her parents. But Marius learned nothing from this and turned Benji at 12.

He's gonna have to work overtime in Blood & Gold to win me back.

Another thing with this book is that it does have some inconsistencies with things that were stated in previous works. Like in TVL the way Armand being turned is presented is as if Marius had decided it that it was time but here Armand was dying, Marius didn't have a choice it was either he gets turned into a vamp or he dies.

I know this is from Armand's pov and he's gonna see things differently so I don't know if this counts as an inconsistency but to me it kinda does, the way that he describes and talks about his and Daniel's relationship to me has a very different tone and presents a different story than how Daniel described their relationship in QOTD. These two build a life together for a period of time when Daniel was mortal but you would never guess that from the way Armand talks about their relationship.

And then there's Claudia's head. In this series, up until this point, decapitation had remained a consistent way to kill a vampire but then in this book Armand reveals he played Dr. Frankestein with Claudia before she got tossed outside, and removed her head to re-attach it to Madeline's body. Where's the logic? Why did he think this would work? Even if it had, she wouldn't have been able to blend in.

I'm getting double use of this gif

If this happens in the show I need to see Louis reaction to finding this out.

Was this an attempt by Anne to make his involvement in Claudia's death seem less awful because he tried to give her what she wanted? Cause it kinda feels that way but with me, it had the opposite effect, it reverted me right back into disliking him for a minute. I might like him now but I'll never forgive him for the shit he's pulled on Louis and Lestat during IWTV and TVL.

I wish we had gotten a more clear explanation as to how Armand somehow momentarily ended up in Sybelle and Benji's room and was able to kill her brother and then go right back to burning to death outside.

We have entered the pet peeve section.

There are some mentions of how David became a vampire. I hate it. I don't need to be reminded. Trust me I wish I could forget but I never will.

David. He was so pushy about Armand telling him his story, it was so annoying. He and Marius would get along wonderfully cause they both think they're oh-so-smart. He's probably the next character I'm gonna end up disliking/hating.

I am definitely in the Gabrielle defense team because the way Armand described her like who is he to judge her for not showing up every time Lestat gets in trouble, I don't remember him showing up to help when Lestat was crying, pleading and scared stuck inside a human body so he needs to shut it and deal with his bitterness over her never liking him.

And that brings me to what I did like about this book! Starting with Gabrielle we don't see a lot of her but I loved her scenes. She is the one vampire that could say 'I don't like you, and I never will' and mean it because she hasn't liked Armand since day one. She tore into him and I was totally on her side while feeling bad for him.

I don't like how or when they got turned, but I do like Benji and Sybelle as characters. And their turning aside I do like the very end with Lestat showing up having come out of his coma, wanting to keep hearing Sybelle play.

I really liked learning more about Armand. I've been wondering since the first book what is wrong with him and now I have the answer to that question, he is the way he is because he has gone through a lot of really horrible and traumatic things. There were several points in this book where my heart just broke for him. I wasn't sure if I was going to like this book because up until now I hadn't been his biggest fan but now that I understand his character more I do like him. And I feel like for all the flaws in the writing we do see his growth, he seems and comes across as much more mature. Like he knows himself better, and who he is and is ready to start entering into healthier relationships which is good cause now he has two kids to take care off. I really do like the character development that he gets.

For me the highlight was seeing his pov in regards to his relationships with Lestat, and Louis. He has so much affection and love for Lestat. They have such a fascinating relationship and it's interesting to see it go from basically enemies to genuine friendship. It's quite sweet, I actually like them being friends. And then him talking about his relationship with Louis, why he fell for him, and how time eventually destroyed their relationship- it's funny because the way it's written like the way that Armand talks about his and Louis's romantic relationship lines up in some aspects with the way that I view their romantic relationship like him saying the reason Louis stayed with him after Claudia's passing was because he had to in order to be able to keep existing and then he learned to be alone. I was nodding my head in agreement the whole time.

I feel like it might not seem like it but I did really like this book a lot more than I thought I would, and the positives outweigh the negatives so I'm happy to say that this is staying a 4-star read ⭐

#the vampire armand #tva #the vampire chronicles #tvc #anti marius x armand #this is so long i might come back later and put it under a read more #i finished this book two days ago but it took me a while to gather my thoughts #mine #non spn

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auralina33 · 10 months

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moondrop moony the moon guy and ukmmmmmmm fucking nightmarionne

MOONDROP

First impression: Would you believe me if I told you I originally really didn't care about this guy at all. I thought the design was sort of neat but for some reason my brain was just like "This guy's only barely gonna be a character. Common random enemy." or something like that.

Impression now: Then the game came out and the demons consumed me. This guy climbed into my hyperfixation list and comfort character list. Moondrop is an important character in FNAF SB to Me... they give me fucked up and different vibes compared to the others, like whatever's wrong with them is slightly to the left from whatever's wrong with everyone else.

Favorite moment: As much as I complain about it, Moondrop's bit of the entire Parts and Service sequence activates the hyperfixation so hard for me. WHEN have you ever seen a FNAF character just attack and kidnap someone? On-screen? In the main game? In a cutscene? And the fact that NO other character ever attacks Glamrock Freddy? (There's Vanny ig but she only ever does so indirectly). DUDE. That scene's such a goldmine and I'm so mad Moon's involvement on it was just forgotten about by the end.

Idea for a story: So fucking many of them. I kind of want to write something about Luna in the Nowhere to Run (Ruin DLC) AU because that's getting me insane lately. But I also have been considering... I've wanted to write a symbolic conversation with Luna himself in Hacked!Luna times since forever. I also want to write Luna and Melody talking about being aroace and generally having a sibling bonding moment. And that's just the ideas specific to my solo Memento Mori based AUs. On a NOT Luna-specific note, I have ideas for Moondrops from different AUs too.

Unpopular opinion: I'm Moondrop's biggest apologist and their biggest defender. They're NOT fucked up and murderous by nature they don't WANT to be doing this!! CANON LAY YOUR HANDS OFF THE HARMFUL "EVIL SPLIT PERSONALITY" STEREOTYPES OR DIE BY MY BLADE.

Favorite relationship: Sunnydrop and Moondrop as a positive, caring dynamic is my absolute favorite thing, at this point it's my headcanon they're specifically made to support each other. Also there's so much untapped potential on Moon with Vanny and I want people to explore that so badly.

Favorite headcanon: Aroace Moondrop for the win. Asides from that, okay, let me think of something that's an important headcanon to me without being 100% Luna specific- When people make Moon kind of awkward and/or lonely without painting them badly for it an angel gains its wings. Also I'm a huge fan of Moondrops who were more on the softer side personality-wise before they were hacked.

NIGHTMARIONNE

First impression: So, you need to know two things... 1. I had a Nightmarionne lover arc too 2. I was a FNAF4 girlie for a while and LOVED the Nightmares, but was also a Toy enjoyer and therefore was massively miffed there were no Nightmare Toys. I tried to make them up myself. I'm telling you all this because the day we got the first teaser hinting at a Nightmare version of the Puppet I was so fucking excited I looked at that image so many times.

Impression now: NIGHTMARIONNE MY POOR UNDERRATED FAVE. I'm not as insane about him as I used to be anymore but I still LOVE Nightmarionne and yes I understand he doesn't get much in terms of lore but I want people to utilize him in AUs more. The day Scott Cawthon confirmed Nightmarionne isn't canon was a tragedy to me.

Favorite moment: Honestly, just the entire experience of watching FNAF4 Halloween Edition for the first time and seeing this guy in the flesh. IT WAS SO COOL. The incredibly dark renders that most of his body blended into, the constant staring at the camera with glowing white eyes, the footsteps being replaced by the My Grandfather's Clock music box, which in the old games meant you were safe from the Puppet but here means it's getting closer... GOD. I don't like his post FNAF4 appearances nearly as much, even if I don't think they're bad.

Idea for a story: I've never considered writing fanfic of this dude... Mainly because my fanfic arc started when the FNAF4 hyperfixation left. It's a good idea though I do need to write him someday.

Unpopular opinion: Nightmarionne getting to be a proper antagonist instead of just a symbolic thing or a mindless monster makes me so happy but that goes for the Nightmares in general to be honest. Ok, here's a Nightmarionne-specific one, the tentacles and noodley limbs are super meh to me, I wanted to like them, but I'd honestly much rather would have had him moving around like a creepy gigantic rickety wind-up toy. His voice is also meh to me, I don't like it being so deep and monstrous, I would have loved it if it'd been a soft, calm, almost soothing sort of creepy.

Favorite relationship: Nightmarionne and Nightmare have a lot of potential to me, Nightmare Fredbear is a good addition too. Also in any AU where the Nightmares are physical animatronics I REQUIRE Nightmarionne's dynamic with William to be explored. Nightmarionne and the Puppet can be a hit... sometimes... I do love me some wicked mirrors.

Favorite headcanon: Nightmarionne just has daddy issues to me at this point because of my old AU but that makes me sound insane. Ok, here's a fun one, Nightmarionne's sense of balance is ASS with how thin and tall he is. A sufficiently angry 12 year old kicking the back of his leg could knock him straight to the ground.

#asks #aura answers your inquiries #this one is probably the one that makes me sound craziest thanks Nightmarionne

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denimbex1986 · 5 months

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Sometimes watching Doctor Who feels like getting through a task that you don’t really want to do, like cleaning your teeth or changing the bedding. As a Whovian, there’s no possible way you simply can’t watch it, but a lot of the time, it’s plenty of effort for very little payoff. But then, the payoff comes.

After a murky few years trying to find its footing, with rays of light here and there during Peter Capaldi and Jodie Whittaker’s eras (Heaven Sent, Sacha Dhawan, The Flux being among the more enjoyable elements), we’re finally back to basking in the warm glow of its brilliance - and after the excellent episode Wide Blue Yonder, I am delighted to say that The Giggle can only top it - especially if you like your Doctor Who on the angsty side!

Unfortunately, it only took the return of iconic duo David Tennant, Catherine Tate as the Doctor and Donna Noble, and Russell T. Davies as the showrunner, to get to this point - and the trio’s reunion has been all too brief. Unfortunately for me, I was also only given a little over half of the episode to review, so didn’t even have the chance to be immediately charmed by Ncuti Gatwa, as I expect I will be. No, right now I’m still wrapped up in the Doctor and Donna’s final adventure, and can’t wait to see how it consoles.

So what to say about the episode? The Giggle kicks off with more shenanigans with the Doctor and Donna as they return to 2023 following their adventures in a spaceship on the edge of the universe, only to find out that the world has turned to chaos.

Without revealing any spoilers, the BBC’s synopsis for the episode reads: "The giggle of a mysterious puppet is driving the human race insane. When the Doctor discovers the return of the terrifying Toymaker, he faces a fight he can never win."

To say more would be the give away details of a plot that is rife with all of the wit, humour and pathos that we would expect from any RTD finale, and Neil Patrick Harris is an absolutely epic addition to the cast as the chameleonic, attention-seeking Toymaker.

With The Giggle already standing, in my view, as one of the show’s best episodes in literally decades, it seems a tragedy that the DoctorDonna aren’t around that little bit longer for us to enjoy them, and the finale made it all too clear to me that I wasn’t ready for their flash-in-the-pan appearances to be over. To partially quote the Tenth Doctor himself… I don’t want him to go.'

#Doctor Who #60th Anniversary #The Giggle #David Tennant #Catherine Tate #Donna Noble #The Toymaker #Neil Patrick Harris #Russell T. Davies #Peter Capaldi #Jodie Whittaker #The Flux #Sacha Dhawan #Heaven Sent #Ncuti Gatwa #Bi-generation

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eagle-warri · 1 year

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Watchers play favorites.

They try to be impartial (something about Watch all, judge none, but they judged Grian and he turned out fine, so whatever), and if you asked any of them straight up they would deny it, but eavesdrop anywhere and you’ll probably hear the topic come up.

It started when they just Watched Evo, the server where They got Their name. Then Third Life came about and some of the Watchers followed Grian in, to keep an eye on him (no pun intended). More followed, then suddenly most of them were Watching, in one way or another. When Last Life started, They changed the game, life trades and boogeymen sparking betrayal. Double Life brought its own shifts, red strings of fate between the pairs they thought would best (or worst).

And now they, we, prepare to Watch again, hearing the first strains of the games come from behind the curtain. We prepare to lose again, knowing our favorites will die in the end. It’s inevitable, the end of the games with tragedy. Why do we Watch? We all have our reasons, though some of us may be unwilling to say. But maybe we don’t need a reason. The enjoyment of a game who’s only winning move is not to play is reward in itself.

#third life smp #last life smp #double life smp #currently unnamed 4th smp #trafficblr #this has been in my drafts for a while #now that it seems like the game is starting soon it’s a good time to post it #also i had to reference the fact that the Watchers are a viewer metaphor #eagle's ficlet

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masterthespianduchovny · 2 years

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My thoughts on the Better Call Saul series finale is complicated because my thoughts on various concepts, systems, etc are complicated.

No assessment of any show can exist in a vacuum, esp when enjoyment is subject. I forget who said it, but the quote, “all art/media is political” sticks in my mind.

Where you’re from, your station in life, your politics, etc reflects in what you create. It is a statement whether or not you know it.

It’s hard to think of Jimmy’s ending as just or happy (which is doing a lot of heavy work) due to what we know of the BCS world as well as real life.

For starters, we have Marie and others—even Jimmy—espouse about how Hank and his partner were good men who were just trying to put the bad men away. I don’t have a doubt that Hank was good at his job, however, when it comes to cops and federal agents, good can mean many things. Some of which doesn’t equate to ethical, moral, or legal.

Good at their jobs is also an implicit way of saying they were good men, which Hank wasn’t. Perhaps he was a good husband, but this dude was a condescending asshole to Walt, I believe (I’ve only seen the series once and most in real time) and casually racist.

But the larger problem is that there is a whole fucking storyline—Mike’s emotional arc—about corrupt cops. How Mike once was a corrupt cop, his son dabbled in it, and his son got killed as a result of it by other corrupt cops when he tried to walk it back.

BCS doesn’t even take a stand of their being good cops and bad cops. If the focus isn’t about Mike’s guilt as a former corrupt cop and how this isn’t some exception type thing, the show is neutral on them. Yet, because Hank and Steve tried to take Walt down and died, we’re supposed to be pro cop, sympathize, and feel sorry?

I don’t think we’re supposed to condemn Jimmy, but we’re supposed to think his initial speech to Marie was wrong and he should go to jail for the part he played.

It’s confusing and inconsistent messaging because now they treated cops on BB isn’t how they treated them in BCS, so the tone is off.

Jimmy going to prison is deserved because he helped Walt and Jesse where as Jesse is free because he’s suffered enough, despite some/most of his decisions being voluntary. And some of those decisions were fucked is, like trying to sell to addicts trying to kick their addiction right after their meeting.

It almost feels as if Jimmy is serving other peoples time since their either dead or missing.

Prison isn’t for rehabilitation. As a nation, we’re a very punitive country. Many citizens don’t want intimates to get better, they want to lock them away and punish them. How does prison help Jimmy? Are they looking to help him? Does he deserve the harshness of his sentence?

And all I could think about was the tragedy of Jimmy’s life. Him wearing his con man personality as a protective cloak until it served as an albatross. Him not wanting to be a mark, him trying to make a living, him trying to protect himself from being hurt, etc etc etc. And when this behavior was transferred into legal creativity, that was shunned and looked down upon. A part of me gets why in some cases, but this was a man who, despite everyone loving him, he wasn’t accepted. He didn’t feel like he was enough. He didn’t have help. He didn’t have resources. He wasn’t waving, he was drowning.

But he thrived as a con man.

And looking at him in that interrogation room, and then the court room, all I saw was lost potential.

This man Jimmy fucking psyched a man with a 100% win record into crafting a plea for 7.5 years in prison, to the prison of his choice, and a specific brand and flavor of ice cream every Friday! Keep in mind, his original sentence was supposed to be life + 190 years.

He could’ve gotten out in 7.5 years!

I forget what stood out to me about his court performance, but i remember thinking, it’s such a loss as to what lawyer Jimmy could’ve been with a better support system. I’m not saying Jimmy isn’t partially at fault for his situation, however, I think about the choices people make when they feel they don’t really have any choices. Or they know it’s an illusion of choice.

And remember the shit Chuck pulled? How he kept Jimmy for being hired as Jimmy worked his ass off taking care of Chuck? And Chuck was emotionally manipulative and looked down on Jimmy knowing how much his brother admired him and would do almost anything for him. And then the cruel shit he said before he died? All because he resented Jimmy.

I think about how the law supports Jimmy being there, although the law also supports legally fucking over people, which has happened to Jimmy and Kim in the show. You know, a trick up Chuck’s sleeve when he used it against Kim and there was nothing she could do about it.

How many lawyers looked down on Jimmy’s theatrics, yet will employ similar tricks for a larger payout under the guise of it being for the client. I.e Howard having the client unnecessarily use a wheelchair I believe.

So the ending doesn’t hit for me because Jimmy is both taking accountability and internalizing all the bad shit people ever thought about him and thinking he deserved this lifetime sentence. Despite the hypocrisy, corruption, legal abuse of the law, etc that others partake in. Despite the multiple systems that are failures and failed him along the way.

And, as usual, only Kim is beside him and sees this for the tragedy it is. Because, even if she believes he deserves to serve time, it sure as hell isn’t 84 years.

The tragedy is that these are two people who believe they deserve a lifetime of punishment and willingly accept it. They can’t and haven’t moved passed their traumas. It’s too deeply engrained in them. They weren’t bad for each other, they just were caught in a system that fed into their worst impulses. And, now, the question is: can they be good for each other?

I think Kim will try to get him out. Jimmy may resist, but I don’t think Kim will be okay with the sentencing and Jimmy rotting in prison. And she or they will find a way to appropriately handle the civil suit.

This time around, they’ll use their powers for good.

ETA: I forgot to mention how capitalism plays a part in this as well. I’ll probably elaborate later on how this plays a role with Saul.

#better call Saul #bcs spoilers #better call saul spoilers #jimmy mcgill #saul goodman #kim wexler #mcwexler #bcs season 6

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wyvernseeker · 2 years

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Analysis - 4Kids And One Small Detail They Added To Yugi and Joey's Duelist Kingdom Match

4Kids, for all of their numerous, meme-able faults did try to make the shows they imported from Japan enjoyable for their audience. In several cases, they actually managed to make edits that improved upon the original, such as Yugi and Mai's duel and the reason for the former struggling against her early on. Another would be Kaiba legitimately beating Gozaburo in chess without cheating (which would be easily spotted by an expert player). And a change they did to the episode where Yugi and Joey duke it out in the Duelist Kingdom finals is one more thing they did to try and make a good product even better.

In the original dub, after Yugi uses Magical Hats to protect Dark Magician and keep Joey's Black Skull Dragon at bay, their friends do a recap of the duel up to this point, which admittedly feels rather pointless, especially given how they give commentary throughout the duel spanning 2 episodes. In the 4Kids dub, this scene is replaced by an internal monologue from Pegasus, which needs to be added in all it's glory:

"That's the way life goes, Joey. Never as you planned! The world is a very arbitrary place, isn't it? It's a place where you can be locked in battle with your dearest friend for stakes neither can afford to lose. Oh, I know you'd like to think that your friendship would be enough to sustain you through any mishap or misfortune... but that's not the way the world works.

No, the world is a place where fate intervenes when you least expect it, with consequences that can turn your world upside down. Just when you think you've etched the perfect portrait of your future, and your life couldn't get any better. Just when you let down your guard at last and open your heart—when, against all odds, you've found that one special person in all the world that fills your heart with joy! The person you know you're destined to spend the rest of your life with...

That's when tragedy strikes. When fate hits you with the cold slap of reality and shows you who's boss. Yes, the world has taught me that only the strong and the ruthless survive. In memory of all I have lost, I fight on with all I possess—and I intend to win!"

Here, we get some foreshadowing of what Pegasus truly desires and what made him into the suave and somewhat sadistic bastard in the present day. We were given hints from Kaiba's interaction with him in the dungeon of his castle as well as the scene with that cult of his where he mentions how the power of life over death is still beyond his grasp (another 4Kids element that better conncts story elements). Enough but not all the details on what exactly happened to his wife Cecelia in that scene (no, she literally did not turn into a flower and explode), and for observant viewers not just blinded by the magic and monsters can piece together that losing her utterly broke him. Unlike him, Yugi and Joey had their friends there to catch them when life knocked them down. When Pegasus became a widow, no one was there and his heart turned bitter and cold. While we still want Pegasus to get his just desserts, this helps let more observant members of the audience know how much of a broken man Maximillion J. Pegasus truly is.

Another thing this scene accomplishes is serving as a borderline Harsher In Hindsight moment for Battle City. In that saga, Marik forces Yugi to duel a mind-controlled Joey, with Téa's life hanging in the balance should the former choose not to duel at all (or possibly resulting in a draw) In that duel, the fate of the loser in this bout between friends is to be dragged to the bottom of the sea to drown. The stakes are so high neither the mind-controlled Joey or Yugi can afford to lose.

#analysis #Yu-Gi-Oh!#yugi moto #joey wheeler #maximillion j. pegasus #maximillion pegasus #harsher in hindsight #4kids entertainment #original post #4Kids

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