#I would find a way to highlight this parallel

[violentdelightshavevioletends]

Okay, everybody, here’s my over analysis because I’m living off breadcrumbs: and in case you didn’t get spammed by me REBECCA YARROS POSTED SHE’S WORKING ON BONUS CHAPTERS!!!

As far as which book she’s writing it for it feels like an easy deduction, let alone obvious from the scene itself. Still for the sake of reasoning:

❌ Fourth Wing already has 3 bonus chapters all of which were carefully selected to hide Xaden’s intinnsic abilities from any new audience members.

❌ Onyx Storm is too new (not to mention skipping a book to add bonus chapters too would be an odd choice of order) and once again this would have to be such a careful selection to make when she clearly would like Onyx Storm to remain full of questions we will only get answers to in the next book… really the only point I see in it’s favor is she’s writing on a beach; a setting we see frequently in OS, however the lines we were given don’t match up with Xaden’s Venin status.

✅ Iron Flame is the answer, at least to me. It feels pretty clear that she’s writing bonus scenes in Xaden’s POV for Iron Flame (something we’ve already been told is coming) and something the fanbase would love especially in their current state of panic; some Riorgail lines would be lovely (and we already got one just from this screenshot; which btw is heavily marked up… interesting as a bonus scene wouldn’t have much to spoil… though most likely just her trying to keep it interesting and this was a good place to start and end the teaser).

Now let’s talk about the scene: This perfectly aligns with Chapter 35 & 36 of Iron Flame, when Violet is being held prisoner and tortured by Varrish.

We know Xaden had to slaughter his way across the continent of Wyvern to get to her.

We know Xaden risked everything when he chose her over the risk it posed to the rebellion and Tyrrendor.

We know Xaden did all of this with Garrick by his side and a sword on his back.

And we know a large plot-line/foreshadowing in Iron Flame was the theme of “choice”. Starting with Xaden choosing to save Violet in the end of FW & beginning of IF (even at the risk of revealing everything), and ending with Xaden choosing to save Violet over well, again, everything; even his own soul. And this was one among the many choices when Xaden risked everything to choose Violet.

It’s not only a good choice — as it’s sure to be full of emotion; angst, love, heartbreak, madness. Entertaining in action, cameo’s from more of our favorites, and just generally great lines. Actually adding to the book not only from the room it has for another perspective, details and answered questions, character and relationship build up, even new plot additions and dynamics. While being a sure fanbase favorite. — It could give answers to Onyx Storm… and that is why I find this section so interesting…

This possible Onyx Storm hint is the main reason I post this: because if you’re going to pick a few lines from what is sure to be a chapter filled to the brim, why THIS? — Because Garrick says brother. BROTHER. The same word that has been haunting us for months because WHO IS THE NEW VENIN “BROTHER”? WHO would follow Xaden “to the end” and have him do the same in return?!

Xaden is talking about choice. A big choice in Iron Flame is when he becomes Venin to save Violet, but the plot doesn’t end there… that theme carries over into Onyx Storm, highlighted by a moment many fans call the parallel only that time “Xaden chose Sgaeyl” when he goes full Venin to save Sgaeyl (I think this is a reminder however: he didn’t stop choosing Violet in that instance either; I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I do believe he chose Sgaeyl, however, that choice does not mean he didn’t choose Violet; had he not saved Sgaeyl, Tairn would have died too, taking Violet with him… and even as Venin, without emotion, lost beneath the ice he still says he is hers.) … Why not take a moment discussing choice, discussing Wyvern, to hint at the Venin brother?

Final notes:

Why are we here again with the “I would die for Violet” monologue. XADEN. NO. DYING… THIS CANNOT BE FORESHADOWING REBECAAA!!

Garrick deserves some gold stars for giving the warning as he gets his jacket and goes; knowing Xaden’s answer, and his own (not only to follow Xaden, and save the world) but go get his friend (Violet) too.

My goodness if Violet had heard the speech about “fighting for the right to knowledge” Xaden would also be getting gold stars.

And can someone (*coughs* this chapter) explain why they have to kill the wyvern first/along the way? Not complaining, just curious…

& Also shoutout to Halsey once again appearing in “Rebecca’s Version”.

[frownyalfred]

we don’t have enough *coughs and raises voice* WE DON’T HAVE ENOUGH BATFAMILY ART OF BRUCE AND JASON WITH BOTH OF THEM ROCKING THE WHITE STREAKS IN THEIR BLACK HAIR

[midwesternfields]

BOOK REVIEW 📖

Last year I kept track of the series & films I watched; this year I've decided to keep track of whatever books I read! So this one is for the month of January – I'll share these sometime after the month is over, or if I read more than one book during the month, I will do their reviews as soon as I finish the book :)

[delinquentkru]

the narrative/visual cues in this scene from 1x01 are so important to how the show views mel and langdon’s dynamic and i need to talk about it lol

robby doesn’t really have any friends, nor does he want any. while he is obviously willing to mentor those junior to him at the pitt, he is also very clearly uninterested in their personal lives (with the exception of collins). he’s able to support them when it comes to difficulties on the job but it doesn’t go much further than that.

the issue there is that most of the characters are not leaving their work at work (including robby himself lmao). it is seemingly going home with them and impacting the other parts of their lives. ultimately, they all need to connect with others who understand that feeling and can help them navigate it. mel isn’t as guarded as the rest of them so she makes it pretty apparent that she’s looking for this kind of connection (speaking of, can everyone pls just be friends with her already??? jfc). langdon is more subtle about it, but he's also looking for the exact same thing.

his exchange with robby in this scene is so telling because he clearly sees robby as one of his best friends and robby can barely admit that they're friends at all (which....brutal). langdon is asking for emotional connection/reassurance in that moment and, essentially, being rejected.

and right as this rejection is occurring, mel enters the scene (both literally and figuratively lol). mel, who wants emotional connection and is very willing to give it in return. it feels like a little wink from the show letting you know that these two are going to be actual friends. it’s also a perfectly written starting point for the parallel between robby and langdon’s mentor-mentee relationship and the one that comes to exist between langdon and mel. whereas robby is not attuned enough to langdon to notice his struggles, langdon is constantly checking in with mel to make sure she’s doing okay and then offering up support when she needs it. langdon's not perfect at it and he missteps a few times when it comes to her, but it feels a lot like he is treating mel the way he wishes robby would treat him </3

you then have the added intrigue of robby watching langdon and mel interact for the first time and looking for collins immediately after. as if something about those two possibly reminded robby of himself and collins. i just find the choice to visually parallel langdon/mel and robby/collins in 1x01 to be very curious now that we know robby and collins were romantically involved. and i don’t have much more to say regarding that other than 👀👀👀

tl;dr the framing of mel and langdon’s first real interaction on the show really highlights how important they are/will be to one another.

[dio-icarticaae]

Superman Comic Rec List (Movie Edition!)

Hi! I finally watched the new Superman movie and absolutely loved it, especially because of the clear love the movie had for the comics it draws from. So, I thought I'd put together a list of Superman comics that the movie reminded me of!

Some of these you should be able to find at your library, especially if your library has a Hoopla or Libby subscription that gives you access to comics. Otherwise, I recommend a good adblocker to go looking for comics online.

If I had to pick 3 . . .

Superman: Birthright

Why: A wonderful and touching origin story for Clark. It's a fantastic introduction to his character, world, and supporting cast, all the way from Krypton to Smallville to Metropolis. Great art and a good grasp on Clark's character. Also, if you liked the Kents in the movie, this is a great comic to get to see more of them! Primary Themes: immigration, xenophobia, homesickness, hope, figuring out who you are

Superman Smashes The Klan

Why: Based on the 1940s Superman radio show's "Clan of the Fiery Cross" storyline, Superman fights the Klan. Explores Clark's background as an immigrant and how he feels about being different and other. The story itself centers on Roberta Lee, a young Chinese American girl whose family is being targeted by the Klan. Primary Themes: racism, police brutality, identity issues, internalized racism

Action Comics #792

Why: If I was asked to choose just one Superman comic to be my favorite ever, it would be this one. A self-contained story that highlights Clark's skills as an investigative reporter and his connections to people, and his determination as Superman to save everyone, no matter their importance. Primary Themes: the importance of life, hope, connection, community

More Superman Comics!

Superman Red and Blue

Why: An anthology of Superman short stories. Covers a wide variety of themes and times in Clark's life. There are some stories I like more than others present in this anthology, but they're all really enjoyable. Special shout-out to a particular Pa Kent story present in it. Primary Themes: hope, what it means to be a hero

Superman: For All Seasons

Why: A quick 4 issue exploration of Superman as seen by various people in his life - Pa, Lois, Luthor, Lana Lang - in each season, at a pivotal moment in his life Primary Themes: family, hope, community, connection

Superman: American Alien

Why: A 7 issue comic series following Clark at various points of his childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood as he figures out who he is and where he came from. Primary Themes: loneliness, figuring out who you are, alienation

Death of Superman + Reign of the Supermen + Return of Superman

Why: Great encapsulation of who Clark is as a character and what makes Superman Superman. Takes place during Clark’s comics death. Also, this is the first time that John Henry Irons (Steel) and Kon-el (Superboy) appear in comics! It's one of the best Superman stories ever written, especially in how it showcases Clark as a character. All of these are available as trades (collection of all issues of the arc) so are easy to find and follow! Primary Themes: what it means to be a hero, legacy, identity Trigger Warnings: exploitation, grooming (Kon does not have a good time here), major character death

Trial of Superman

Why: A great exploration of Clark and the impact he has on the world and people around him. It’s great fun, Clark gets kidnapped by aliens blaming him for Krypton’s destruction because of his distant ancestors and escapes. You can find the reading order for this arc here Primary Themes: justice, redemption, fairness Trigger Warnings: police brutality, incarceration

Superman: The Last Son of Krypton

Why: Clark and Lois adopt Chris, Zod's son. This story meshes really well with the general Superman mythos around his adoption by the Kents and parallels it strongly. If you enjoyed Clark's relationship to Ma and Pa in the movie, you'll like how he emulates their parenting with Chris. Also digs into what Clois are like as a couple and as parents. Plus, Chris is a wonderful character. Primary Themes: adoption, family, loss Trigger Warnings: abuse (happens to Chris from his bio parents not Clois)

Lois Lane

Lois Lane (2019)

Why: A 12 issue series of Lois uncovering a story involving corruption, conspiracy, and murder. A great examination of what Lois does as a journalist and her belief in the truth. Primary Themes: speaking truth to power, what is the truth

Superman: The Wedding Album

Why: Clois's comics wedding! Digs into their relationship a lot, especially how Lois feels about societal expectations around her getting married. Primary Themes: love, joy, communication

But honestly, the best way to get to know Lois as a character and enjoy her is to read Superman comics - she's pretty much the co-protagonist in most stories, so almost any comic you pick up for Clark will have Lois there as well.

Kara Zor-El

Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow

Why: Intrigued by the glimpse of Kara in the movie? This is a good comic to go from there! An exploration of Kara, from her kindness to her rage and grief about Krypton's destruction. Kara joins a girl on a mission to avenge her father's murder, taking them on an adventure across the universe on the trail of space mercenary. The art is absolutely stunning. Primary Themes: grief, justice, revenge, loss, kindness, survivor's guilt Trigger Warnings: see above

Kara is a character with a long history that I personally have only just begun to read, so I will refer you all to this reading guide for her if you're interested in more Kara after you finish Woman of Tomorrow.

If you're interested in more Superman comics beyond that, I highly recommend Triangle Era Superman - I have enjoyed it greatly. Especially if you wanted to see more of the Daily Planet staff - they really get a chance to shine here. And if you have any questions about other Superman characters, send me an ask and I'll do my best to point you in the right direction!

Interested in other characters from the movie? I'm not as familiar with any of them but some people who are have made some great rec lists of their own:

Guy Gardner/Green Lantern

Michael Holt/Mr. Terrific

Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl

Rex Mason/Metamorpho

Angela Spica/The Engineer - she doesn't really have any rec lists on Tumblr for her but I asked a friend of mine who is an Authority fan and this is what he said:

so you like the engineer from the movie? cool! some things need to be made clear before you get into comics for her and the authority: wildstorm's the authority is a rated mature comic team as there are graphic depictions of violence and subjects that are triggering. as well, the engineer you see in the movie is both tonally and characterization wise different to the one in comics in every which way.

the engineer basic facts:

• her name is angela spica

• she's a professor from princeton university who graduated from there.

• she is a physicist and technologist.

• she swapped her blood for nine pints of liquid machinery in 1998 and now can use it to make things.

• she having met the previous engineer in his real life, was sent all his notes on nanotech from his time as the engineer when he died and started linking it with her work on human-machine fusion. her success with the notes and her work is how she became the engineer.

Comic to start with:

The Authority: Relentless

[tritoch]

why doesn't venat tell the convocation?

one thing you'll see come up from time to time: why does venat, the largest ancient, not simply eat the other sorry wrong notes. Why does Venat, who has access to time-loop knowledge, not simply tell the Convocation what she knows and try to fight the Final Days in her time?

it's an understandable question: why wouldn't you want to change the future, if you know what comes to pass? Answering this question does a lot to flesh out our understanding of the Ancients, as well as Venat herself, in fun ways. It also highlights the heightened tonal register FFXIV operates in where the Ancients are involved. Most crucially, it confirms that your ultimate victory in Endwalker is not due to time loop predestination, but because of the collective efforts of everyone along the way.

all quotes, as ever, sourced from xiv.quest (except for some stuff from the very end of myths of the realm which i pulled from gamerescape). spoilers through endwalker follow.

(post-completion edit: this got insanely out of hand and way too long and it's honestly not even very insightful. you were warned.)

The way I see it, there are two broad versions of this question: First, why doesn't Venat warn the Ancients about the Final Days? And second, why doesn't she reach out to the Convocation and try to nip it in the bud?

To start with, let's get the answer straight from the source:

Venat cannot tell the Ancients generally because she cannot trust that they will not panic. No judgment should be taken as unquestionable, obviously, but Venat is a nigh-immortal scholar and researcher who also did a long stint as traveling counselor and savior and friendly neighborhood video game protagonist, who repeatedly and fervently declaims her love of the people of the world and her belief in their ability to surmount any obstacle if they simply find the strength within themselves. She has also, in-fiction, seen the wider world unsundered. Our exposure to the Ancients, on the other hand, is: her; the ruling council of their people, turned evil dimension-hopping wizards; a slice of particularly detached academics in a mad science lab (comedy version); a slice of particularly detached academics in a mad science lab (horror version). That's it! And of course, the revelation of the Final Days ultimately does result in panic and a series of increasingly drastic measures. While we only have her reasoning to go off of on this one, I don't know that there's any evidence that goes firmly against her reading of the situation.

As to the Convocation, she's right: the first time Hermes got the full picture of the Final Days, he immediately turned against you and tried to wipe your memories to prevent you from using your knowledge to stop them before they start. And that's really bad, because Hermes isn't just pretty important to stopping the Final Days: without the benefit of time-loop knowledge, he's the guy who draws the conclusion that connects the Final Days to the celestial currents of aether!

"Having shed light upon the phenomenon, he dedicated to himself to devising a countermeasure. Were it not for [Hermes's] knowledge of the celestial, we would never have made the connection—and thence forestalled the Final Days." Elidibus strongly implies here that Hermes is the guy who conceived of the Zodiark plan in the first place, or at least came up with the the mechanism by which Zodiark could actually use aether to protect Etheirys.

Hermes is a guy you absolutely have to have on your team if you're going to respond to the Final Days, because he is not just the guy who knows about dynamis. He is also, as far as we know, the only Ancient with a meaningful knowledge of outer space and celestial currents. Meteion herself is pretty explicitly parallel to a prototype space probe, a first-of-her-kind interstellar traveler. Given that the Ancients use magical concepts for seemingly nearly all their technology (there sure is a lot of stuff going on with crystals, I'll grant...but crystals are just aether, sometimes with concepts inscribed in them!), he is the closest thing they have to an aerospace engineer.

Space in FFXIV is obviously weird (no one's wearing a helmet on the moon, Midgardsormr flies through it, etc.), but nonetheless we know that space travel is difficult, and Hermes highlights in his explanation that Etheirys is unusually rich in aether while aether is much rarer in space generally. And we can surmise no one before him devised a way for the extremely aether-dense Ancients to travel and survive in space, or presumably that would have informed his own designs and he wouldn't have had to turn to under-researched dynamis. And we know no one worked with him on Meteion or understands anything about all the dynamis and, celestial currents stuff; Hythlodaeus and Emet-Selch tell us as much.

Hermes might not be the literal only Ancient with knowledge of these things, but he is certainly the most knowledgeable, seemingly by a long shot. There is plenty of reason to believe the Ancients, while they have godlike power on Etheirys, don't have a huge body of working physics information. For example, the discovery and use of magnetism in creations was the signature achievement of Hermes' immediate predecessor as Fandaniel, per a Ktisis readable.

So you need Hermes, and cannot afford the possibility of losing him. Even with the benefit of the Warrior of Light's future knowledge, not having Hermes would fatally undermine any efforts by the Ancients to combat the Final Days—not only in terms of identifying which areas were likely to be affected, but also in terms of creating and implementing Zodiark, and with respect to any hypothetical "Ancients go to the edge of the universe to fight Meteion" plan.

That kind of full-spectrum involvement makes him only more dangerous. Sure, maybe you can approach the Convocation and convince them (and I'm not so sure of that: one of their members is there when you explain all this, after all, and he vehemently rejects the possibility right up until the moment the time-loop starts!), but how can you ever be safe with Hermes on board? Worse, what if this time he doesn't announce his betrayal? What's to stop him from building a flaw into Zodiark, or any one of the other plans along the way?

Well, but set the problem of Hermes aside for a second: why not approach other Convocation members? Aside from the information security concerns with Hermes, there's the fact that she already has some advance intel on that options. First, Emet-Selch already heard and experienced all these revelations, and he vehemently denied and rejected them. The only reason he ended up cooperative through the events of Ktisis is because "get to Hermes and stop Meteion" fulfills both your goals. You're literally out the door on your way to start the time loop post-Kairos and he's like "I still don't believe your future visions by the way! But if it's true then don't fuck it up!"

Second, if what you told her is true, Venat already has reason to believe Azem might not be willing to side with her. After all, one of the only pieces of knowledge you were able to pull directly from the records of the past is that even with 75% of the Ancient population sacrificed and preparations for the third sacrifice underway, Azem would not reply to the Anamnesis Anyder faction.

So she has good reason to believe her successor might not be willing to side with her, and she knows that successor's bestie will definitely counsel against trusting these future visions.

But what if she just shows them her memories and past events via the Echo? After all, reconstructing past events is a key part of your adventures in Elpis in the first place!

Venat can probably share her memories via Echo vision, but there's no reason to think that would work: after all, Emet-Selch was already there for most of these events and was still skeptical the whole way through. Plus, at that point you're really still just relying on Venat's testimony. Additional memory evidence certainly has some corroborating effect, it's not unimpeachable, particularly given the problem of Kairos. Hermes, Emet-Selch, and Hythlodaeus will all have memories that contradict Venat's because Kairos doesn't just erase memories, it straight up alters them.

But why not do the CSI crime scene reconstruction thing? Well, as Venat notes, those memories are prone to fading, and are etched on the aether of the world the same way memories are on the soul. So assuming, you were perfectly lucky and none of the aether got too altered by other events, you could reconstruct what happened from the moment Meteion connects to the hive mind . . . right up until everyone enters Ktisis Hyperboreia. Kairos functions by overwriting the memories etched into aether with yet more aether, and given that it targeted not just the group in the final room but the entirety of Ktisis Hyperboreia, it has presumably substantially altered whatever aetherial ripples remained of the day's events. Consider that if it's blotting out multiple days worth of memory over a large area (Ktisis Hyperboreia is a full-on spatial anomaly, after all), our only comparable event in lore is the Seventh Umbral Calamity. That's a lot of aether! Kairos moots any attempt to employ memory reconstruction as evidence.

So you can't tell everyone because they'll panic; you can't tell the Convocation because Hermes is untrustworthy; you can't tell the Convocation without Hermes because there's no point in recruiting the Convocation without Hermes because his expertise is what you actually need; even if you did want the Convocation without Hermes, there's reasons to believe that would go poorly; and you can't use the Echo to help you win them over because the well on memory-as-evidence is already poisoned thanks to Hermes inventing Kairos.

A brief interlude on the possibility of the Ancients getting to and fighting Meteion. Links to sources only because this post is already stupid long. Okay, pretend we perfectly secure Hermes on-side and rally all the Ancients. After making Zodiark early thanks to Venat's warning, the remaining 50% of the population sets to work on the problem of space travel to Ultima Thule. It'll be a lengthy process, since devising the propulsion systems of the moon took the Loporrits six thousand years, but sure, it's not like lifespan is a big issue for the Ancients. Then there's the matter of having enough energy to get there; Hydaelyn accumulates the aether of the Mothercrystal for over twelve thousand years to make that happen. But maybe we shortcut that with human sacrifice again. Okay, we've flown a spaceship full of Ancients to Ultima Thule. They can't do anything here because the dynamis is too thick for aether to do anything. Your allies can only reshape the reality of Ultima Thule to allow aether-based life to exist via dynamis in the first place. The Ancients themselves seem largely unable to interact with dynamis. Any familiars or entelechies they could try to use against Meteion would probably be overwhelmed by the transformative power of her own critical mass of dynamis. Probably your best bet is to send in wave after wave of Ancients to die in a delaying action while Hermes in the way way back with a megaphone tries to persuade Meteion to chill out? Part of the whole Endwalker thing is that the Warrior of Light's victory is an incredible piece of luck enabled by a whole host of actions both intentional and accidental. The thing about miraculous victories is they're miraculous because they were otherwise exceedingly unlikely!

"Well," one might ask, "shouldn't there still be something she can do? Couldn't she reach out to trusted friends to share this information and work to stop the Final Days and persuade the Convocation without accidentally reconnecting Hermes to the knowledge that caused this problem in the first place?" And the answer is: Yes, that's what she does! It just doesn't go great and results in the creation of Hydaelyn!

As you are departing, Venat confirms to you that she will try to find a different way to resist the Final Days. She also tells you that she will not take for granted that the future you have told her will come to pass, and will simply do her best to try to fight the Final Days.

We have a good sense of the results of her efforts because her closest and most trusted allies are left behind as the Twelve and the Watcher. Rhalgr and Oschon were literally just fellow travelers she met during his journeys. Nald'thal was a merchant. Nophica was a landscape architect. Probably the most outwardly accomplished members of their number were Halone (candidate for the seat of Pashtarot), Thaliak (brilliant university president), and Menphina (brilliant university student). They were, sometimes literally, just some guys she found by the side of the road.

The truth is that Venat's message and efforts were simply not that popular in the unsundered world. We see her efforts to reach the people, conveyed allegorically, in the Thou Must Live, Die, and Know cutscene: her appeal to the better natures of her countrymen fails. They cannot be deterred from their path of sacrificing the lives of others for their own comfort.

The result of Venat's best work to rally the world against the Final Days, outside the auspices of the Convocation, is the Anyder faction. And the Anyder faction, though it makes its case to the Convocation and to others, ultimately cannot win enough people over to shake the Convocation from its intentions.

The Ancient world in FFXIV often operates in a heightened register. From the name references that invoke Greek mythology and Utopia to aesthetic elements like their theatrical masks and genre-breaking art deco architecture, the game takes pains to emphasize how otherworldly the Ancients are. This helps make their stories work emotionally. Emet-Selch and Elidibus and Lahabrea are personally responsible for six worldwide genocides, plus countless other associated sins. Even in the already heightened fantasy world of FFXIV, trying to take their stories semi-seriously would break them down. Instead, the game uses a number of cues (Emet-Selch's dramatic nature and taste for literary allusion help considerably here, as does the English localization consciously adopting slightly archaic language) to indicate to the player that the Ancients' story is being told in an epic register, that they are a fairy tale, that their story is a creation myth.

Being a fairy tale or myth means that things can be narratively true about the Ancients which would otherwise not work in FFXIV, a story which tends to shoot for some degree of psychological verisimilitude. A person can survive untold millennia as the only remaining sane member of their people, retain their sanity, and never waver in their mission or crack under the pressure. Three-quarters of the world rising up to spontaneously sacrifice themselves out of love and kindness and a belief in the value of the natural world. In Hermes' case, we are literally directly shown and told, by both magical empathic bird-girl and magical mood ring flower, that he is literally not just the Saddest Man in Elpis, but the Only Sad Man in Elpis. People often poke at this point reflexively ("Why doesn't Hermes go to therapy?"), but his despair is not just all-encompassing and overwhelming. It is literally inexplicable and unfamiliar to the Ancients around him.

Similarly, Venat, actual wandering superhero and benevolent demiurge possessed of an inexhaustible love for humanity and surpassing skill in every field, scours the earth and comes up with just thirteen people (or like, them plus a few) who are willing to stand against the Convocation. Venat does use her time-loop knowledge to spur on a parallel effort to fight off the Final Days. It doesn't work because the Convocation's plans not only have the weight of formal authority behind them, but because the Ancients overwhelmingly did not want to accept their losses, form a plan of action, and fight back. They wanted to undo their pain and suffering now, as fast as possible, and damn the consequences or whatever other lives it cost. If this feels unrealistically emotionally extreme, that's par for the course for the tone of the narrative around the Ancients.

The truth is Venat was just doing the best she could with the knowledge she had and the understanding she had of the arena she was in. She doesn't end up forming the Twelve and sundering the world because she heard about it from the Warrior of Light—the Warrior of Light comes from a world in which she formed the Twelve and sundered the world because that is what she always already would have done in this situation.

We can surmise as much from how the time loop works across the rest of the game: even though there is always at least one person in the timeline who knows about the time loop, events always play out in a way that requires other people to exercise their free will, and those choices end up aligning with the time loop even absent the knowledge of the future. Either the Warrior of Light or Venat (also Fandaniel, now that I think about it, but I don't know of any meaningful insights to glean from that) is aware of the possibility of the time loop at all times: she knows about it from Elpis onward, then shows up in the boat at the start of Endwalker to say "hey fyi you're entering the Time Loop Zone," then you end up in the past with future knowledge of stuff up until you hit the time loop reset point and the whole thing starts again. But in the game through Endwalker, that knowledge never controls events; you and Hydaelyn are only ever individuals on a board with many players, and much of making the time loop work ultimately relies on the Ascians, a group we can definitely say both lacks time loop knowledge (except, again, Fandaniel) and is actively working to frustrate Hydaelyn's ends. On a broader thematic note, consider Zenos: he's ultimately crucial to your victory, and he's a complete wild card whose most important actions you could not possibly have told Venat about because they only happen after your return from Elpis. You don't win because you are predestined to win. You win because many people collectively take small actions which happen to, luckily, line up with ultimate victory.

The Elpis time loop only functions because of countless and almost entirely unknowing large and small actions by more or less every character in the game, and results from and is defined by those actions, rather than structuring and defining those actions. It's not that Venat, armed with knowledge of the future, chooses the time loop instead of averting the Final Days. It's that the time loop results from and incorporates a future-influenced Venat doing everything she can to avert the Final Days.

[notlushi]

SPOILERS FOR EP 5

Here’s a ramble about the video I made because I can.

From episode 3 and 5 there were a couple of sentence that stood out including the two I used for this video having them parallel. What Jax is saying is contrasting in what kinger said which I find as a good choice of words. For changing the colors of the text I wanted to highlight words that stood out. I wanted to start transitioning to the change of colors in the words first though and hopefully I did alright with it having few highlighted words at the beginning and then as it progress full sentences would be highlighted. Still keeping the meaning in the message. For the choice of colors I did red to add a sort of negative effect in the word and or deeper meaning to it like when it said “loved and appreciated” to used those usually positive words and twist some sort of deceit into it but not in some sort of bad way for it is talking about Ragatha and her complex character. I for one feel she over does the positivity in order to make the other members of the circus not feel how she felt when she was with her mother or just how she feels in general. Having those word reflect on her character. The green color to for something positive like when it highlighted “care” and “hold on to”. The pink was to represent someone special someone who impacted their life. “Good memories” was highlighted in pink because good memories happen with the people you love and care for. Having “a lot” in green for impact. After that sentence it said hold on to them which I believe indicates to not only to hold on to the memories but also “the people” which is also highlighted in pink after that it said “around” in green. Cause even if you don’t find someone pleasant to be around it can change the mood and vibe if they were gone. Then it said “you” the word stayed white because there is no color to represent that word making it colorless unless it’s specifically indicating towards a person. And I wanted to keep it that way to give of a feeling. The end I did bother to put a transition for the word “worst” making it like a statement and or fact showing that it is a negative thing right away. With the red continuing in the word “wanted” and “loved” adding some doubt into them. I could go into a long ramble about my thoughts of the video but they are all over the place so ima shut up while I’m here. Sorry if this doesn’t make sense or if there’s a lot of spelling mistakes I did this on a whim and didn’t bother with the errors.

[sandraharissa]

Isha from the start rubbed me the wrong way but I ignored it.

I think they reason why I ignored it was that many times before s2 came out it did occur to me that Jinx would likely bond the easiest with kids. That since she’s so childish in a lot of ways it would be easier for her to interact and find common ground with a kid, it would be the first time in her life that the familial power dynamic would be reversed, it’d be interesting to see her in an irresponsible but fun big sis role. And initially it seems that that’s what they were doing with Isha so I wanted to give her a chance.

In retrospect I think the reason why it felt off to me from the start is that what they did in ep 2, which introduces Isha and reintroduces us to Jinx, was they gave us a metaphorical scene portraying Jinx’s grief, then we see her walking to music for a minute and immediately after that Isha falls into her lap. We saw nothing of Isha whatsoever before that moment and we never learn anything about her past, she was never a character. The story’s visuals create parallels between this meeting and Silco and Powder's meeting, and like many parallels in s2 it falls flat cos the parallel just highlights how those two are not the same at all.

In s1a1 we spend 3 eps with Silco and Powder individually, with it never occurring to us and the story never hinting at these characters ever coming together. After all this time of establishing what each character has going for them, what makes them tick, and with some visual hints sprinkled in ep 3 we get to their first meeting and even tho you’d never anticipate it the characters immediately click and you GET IT. The characters’ pains and emotions and connections and goals that we’ve explored for 3 eps slot with each other perfectly. What happened when Isha met Jinx for the first time? she fell into her lap. ok.

Like at this point in their lives Silco and Jinx were monsters, and with Silco you need to give me a good reason why this kid was special and he didn’t stab her, and in the same way you need to explain what’s so special about Isha that differentiates her from all the other kids that Jinx apparently orphaned or that one piltover kid (and more) that she gassed.

[ceoandslutler]

“For the sake of Ciel, I will...” & “If that is the way you prefer, I...”

How Elizabeth & Sebastian play matronal, self-sacrificial roles in Kuroshitsuji

A meta-analysis on gender roles in Kuroshitsuji and how Ciel's masculinity and femininity are defined by two of the most important people in his life.

Regardless of whichever way you see Sebastian and Elizabeth in Ciel's life (positive/negative, family/friend/neither), I believe it should be acknowledged that they are shown as harbouring complex feelings when it comes to each other and Ciel. This analysis is ultimately focused on Sebastian and Elizabeth more than Ciel, but in the narrative, they are presented as people who step on their own wants and desires for the sake of him so there inevitably will be a mention of him. This analysis will be on the almost-maternal sacrifices Sebastian and Elizabeth make for 'Ciel' as well as drawing comparison to Rachel. I highly recommend having the following chapters on hand: 2, 14, 37, 50, the Luxury Liner arc, 85, 99, 107-8, 117, 120, the return of r!Ciel (end of Blue Cult arc / start of Blue Memory arc), 133. I have chosen 10 images to include in this post, but you can find all the manga chapters and parallels I reference HERE. (Everything has been numbered and highlighted with clear explanations in the linked images for analysis post.)

From the earliest chapter of Kuroshitsuji, Elizabeth’s shoes were drawn as flats, from her first appearance in Chapter 2 though it is not visible when she is dancing with o!Ciel, you can see in the first panels she ever appears in that she is depicted wearing white flats (while Sebastian’s black stiletto heels were first seen in Chapter 13). It is also in chapter 2 where we get our first parallel between her and Sebastian with Sebastian teaching Ciel how to dance the waltz with her. We know Elizabeth would like to wear heels, but she can’t because she does not want to be taller than Ciel whose pride and masculinity she tries to protect and ultimately only gives up on protecting when she had to save his life through her swordsmanship. She and Sebastian parallel each other in the fact they’ve both lowered themselves to serve Ciel’s needs. Elizabeth’s hells represent her limitations as a woman and how she has to make herself smaller to fit in Ciel’s world while Sebastian’s heels reflect the nature that he is hiding from Ciel and his position as a servant (lowered a peg from a free demon). It’s fascinating how we see their heels and flats in the same volume of the same arc (Volume 13, chapters 58 and 61). In fact, this arc draws the most parallels between Elizabeth and Sebastian. For example, Ciel tears off Elizabeth’s dress to prevent her from being dragged down by it and proceeds to give her his tailcoat. It is while wearing his tailcoat that she begins to protect him. In this arc, both of Ciel’s protectors wear a tailcoat and when Sebastian, after fighting the BDs attacking the boat, is finally out of commission (falls over from injury), he is no longer wearing his tailcoat (as he’s given it to Ciel). Elizabeth even offers to carry Ciel while wearing that tailcoat. The clothing represents whether these characters are being protective or not. It’s even fascinating how they both apologise to Ciel for not being able to fulfil their respective roles (be a dainty, vulnerable lady who needs protection VS be a perfect, protective butler who never falters). They ought to sacrifice their own selves for Ciel. This is also reflected by their dialogue, in Elizabeth’s big character moment in the Luxury Liner arc (58), she says, “For the sake of Ciel, who is pushing himself to grow up fast, I wear my childish, low-heeled shoes and smile beside him.” On the other hand, Sebastian, in the Green Witch arc (99), expresses a similar sentiment, “However, if you are particular to my being such a devil, I shall act accordingly.” (Alt translation: “If that’s the way you like it, I will play the part of a devil.”)

Both the characters exist solely for a ‘Ciel’ and though their ideas of which Ciel to serve differs (r!Ciel vs o!Ciel). For the majority of the chapters, the only Ciel in the story is o!Ciel.

Visually, Ciel and Elizabeth parallel Vincent and Rachel, a gloomy bluish grey-haired man and a cheery blonde woman. Vincent is also portrayed as holding Rachel in a protective hold when they had died. However, Sebastian also has parallels to Rachel. We know Rachel would spank her kids, it’s even referenced by r!Ciel in the blue memory arc and we know Sebastian also uses corporal punishment as per the Luxury Liner arc. However, a parallel has been hiding in plain sight and I doubt anyone has seen it. In Chapter 133, when r!Ciel is upset his brother wants to go to London to make a toystore, Rachel takes Vincent’s ring and puts it on r!Ciel’s hands and tells him the ring belongs on his finger. A complete parallel to the Chapter 2 scene where Sebastian brings back the broken ring (fixed) after o!Ciel throws the ring out of the window (Elizabeth had thrown and accidentally shattered it earlier in the chapter). I think it’s insane that at the end of the memory arc, it cuts back to r!Ciel at the top of the stairwell and o!Ciel at the bottom of it, with Sebastian stood next to him and at the top of the stairs, Elizabeth appears. Both representations of Rachel stood next to the respective Ciel. In my mind, Chapter 2, Chapter 133 and Chapter 143 are intrinsically tied. The first time we see Elizabeth WITH o!Ciel (2) and the first time we see Elizabeth standing AGAINST o!Ciel (143) and with her rightful fiancé (the visual Vincent/Rachel parallel); the chapter that establishes OUR Ciel as the one who should be wearing the Phantomhive ring through Sebastian’s words (2) and the one that teaches us that  REAL Ciel should be wearing it through Rachel’s words (133). Again, both of these characters narratively serve the Ciels, even through their comparisons to Rachel (the twins’ mother).

To sidetrack for a moment, Sebastian plays a role similar to that of Rachel’s in Chapter 133 but not just in Chapter 2, but also 14 (by letting Francis win and ‘teaching’ Ciel to lose), all of the memories in the Luxury Liner arc (where we see how he raised Ciel as an Earl), 107 (where he gives the ‘you are a leader of men’ speech), 108 (where Victoria compares Ciel to his father and Sebastian proceeds to tell him that if he rests well, he’ll grow taller) and 120 (where he tells him it is important to take care of the people on his land and we see the payoff of Ciel’s leadership of the Earldom under Sebastian’s guidance as opposed to r!Ciel, see: 151). We also have him inflict the same starvation he is suffering for o!Ciel’s soul unto the girls in Ciel’s life, notably Elizabeth (37) but also Sieglinde (107). He not only acts as a maternal teacher for o!Ciel (feminine dance partner, repeats the ring scene his mother had with his brother, echoes Queen Victoria’s words) but also as an etiquette teacher of femininity in general while plays a masculine role visually (for a paternal framing, see Dystheism in Kuroshitsuji).

Anyway, back to parallels between Sebastian and Elizabeth…

Other than the staircase scene during r!Ciel’s return where they are once again the protector and protected (though it’s ironic since Elizabeth technically protected r!Ciel through BCA but whatever…), we also get two visual parallels of Sebastian and Elizabeth in Chapters 14 and 37 where they are talking about Ciel/looking at him. It is almost sad how insecure Elizabeth is in her ability to make Ciel happy, which is why Sebastian consistently reassures her as his master’s happiness. It also makes chapter 117 even more hard-hitting where Sebastian questions why Elizabeth is attacking him if she wants to see Ciel smiling. However, it is not just Sebastian who thinks Elizabeth is quintessential aspect for Ciel’s happiness—it also goes the other way around. In Sebastian’s faux funeral in Chapter 50, Elizabeth cries and says, “Sebastian is a liar, he said he would be by your side forever!” And rejoices when Sebastian turns out to be alive. This implies that she is aware, at least to some extent, how important Sebastian is for Ciel to be alive, let alone happy. Sebastian immediately corrects her and says he doesn’t lie, which could just be his ego or another attempt at consoling her like he had done in chapters 14 and 37. He could just be saying he wouldn’t leave Ciel’s side, so she has nothing to worry about. He even apologises to her in the Luxury Liner arc for making her do his job of protecting Ciel.

What’s fascinating is that both of these characters are led into these roles as protector and protected for Ciel by the narrative but ultimately they are far more similar than they are different. Elizabeth suppresses anything that will take away from her femininity like her height, incredible strength and swordsmanship under the guise of cuteness, but Sebastian suppresses the aspects of him that make him weaker like his susception to injury from death scythes, his obsession with cats which he suppresses for o!Ciel’s allergies (Chapter 111) and most importantly, his humanity—or lack thereof—which Ciel questions and undermines (Chapter 107).

However, this does not change the fact that o!Ciel is portrayed as having a healthier attitude to masculinity and femininity. In fact, the twins have opposing viewpoints on class and gender, which again makes Our!Ciel far more sympathetic for the modern audience than Real!Ciel. As explained by Tanaka in Chapter 151, o!Ciel has pursued business that focuses on women and children as he had anticipated products aimed to these demographics would become more popular (likely due to the rights and protections of women and children steadily increasing), this is coincidentally also where r!Ciel mockingly calls his brother's toy business idea ‘middle class’ and ‘ridiculous’ which again reflects that his Earl Phantomhive status was realised by Rachel’s words “Only you can wear this ring… Only you can be Earl.” VS Sebastian’s “Here's your ring but you still need to work hard.” It is also ironic that he is the one who used Elizabeth for his protection during his recovery as a BD after being the one who inadvertently caused some of her biggest insecurities, while o!Ciel gives the people around him confidence and despite his relationship with Sebastian being toxic throughout the narrative is, the demon has taught him a healthier attitude when acting as a guardian (14, 107, 120)...

Overall, I adore Sebastian and Elizabeth very much and they are both deeply important to the function of the Ciels in this narrative. I think they are insanely complex and both deserve a lot of respect for how interestingly they are depicted. I could probably talk about them a lot more but I think it’s best I cut this off here. As always, please let me know your thoughts, I would love to chat about this topic!

Related analyses: Dystheism in Kuroshitsuji, Kindness in Kuroshitsuji (Pt1 & Pt2, optional read: Pt3), r!Ciel’s use of Elizabeth as a Bodyguard in Blue Cult arc, optional read: Why did Rodney stare at o!Ciel’s clothes/accessories in 214, more coming soon...

[starryeyedastronaut]

I can’t stop thinking about the Thunderbolts, I haven’t been this invested in a MCU movie in long ago. It’s not by any means perfect, like I think the plot would benefit from being given a slower pace and more space for the scenes to just. Breathe. Also not use a character throughout all the marketing promos only to kill them off 10 minutes into the movie. I don’t know. But the story itself and the characters? It’s just… There’s so much love in there, I was so happy when watching it and it makes me happy to think of it now, it has become a comfort movie in all senses of the word.

And I understand why everyone is having some sort of nostalgia due to Thunderbolts, because I have the same feeling. Not for the avengers though, neither for ‘the avengers live together in the Watchtower’ trope, I was never really into that.

What I’m nostalgic about is that Thunderbolts reminds me so much of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

And I can’t help but draw the similarities between both movies:

* The main antagonistic force being someone used for scientific experimentation in order to transform them into a human weapon.

* The REAL antagonist being a political authority trying to use said human weapon for their own gain and destroy everyone that gets in their way.

* A team running from the political authority trying to kill them as they fight to stop their plans.

* A blondie haunted by grief and loneliness, fighting hard to help the human weapon.

* Most importantly, love. Love ultimately saves both the human weapon and the world.

(I wanted to use the part where all the Thunderbolts are hugging Bob but I couldn’t find a gif of it, I think this one with Yelena saying “I’m Here” to Bob conveys the same feeling as the iconic “I’m with you ‘till the end of the line” moment)

*And also Bucky.

(Insert here two gifs from Bucky, one from CATWS and one from Thunderbolts. Which would be visible if only tumblr didn’t have a 10 image limit 😔)

But where Captain America: The Winter Soldier has a bittersweet ending with Bucky remaining alone. In Thunderbolts, Bob is able to stay with the team.

And there’s something poetic about the former human weapon being one of the people helping another in the same position he was in. And where Steve wasn’t able to get Bucky to stay, Bucky and the team made a home for Bob to live in with them, I like to think this brings some sort of closure to Bucky. It sure feels satisfying narrative wise, at least for me.

I have so many thoughts yet I can seem to find the right words, so let me just say that now Bob has a home in my heart too, just as Bucky way back on 2014.

I will end this by sharing an edit I found on TikTok that highlights the parallels between Bucky and Bob.

[startedwellthatsentence]

Finale spoilers

THEY. ARE. THE. SAME. PERSON.

Same brain on the same wavelength. Complete nonverbal communication — they just GET each other. Gurathin knows how to find it, knows how it feels, knows what it needs, because it IS him in so many ways.

(Side note: Gura linking up with his textually queer ex-hookup (in a drug and potentially also sexual context) and seeing that the guy has a kid and using that to exploit the kid’s dad to give him access to illicit data was MAGNIFICENT.)

On a metaphorical note that the show pushed SO FAR and I would love for fic to explore even farther,

Gurathin took ALL OF MB INSIDE OF HIMSELF. To great physical and mental detriment. EVERY PIECE OF DATA THAT COMPRISED MB’S NON-ORGANIC MEMORY WAS INSIDE OF GURATHIN’S AUGMENTS. For an undisclosed amount of time.

Now, in a story in which these were two separate people, that might lead to weird things like personality bleed, uncomfortable memories that don’t quite fit, etc. But they spent 10 episodes hammering home just how much (the TV versions of) Gurathin and Murderbot ARE the same person. How long would it take for you to notice that you have integrated parts of yourself that didn’t originate in your current body, when they match so well that they’re indistinguishable from your normal digital memory.

MB hums the theme tune to a serial that he realizes he’s never downloaded, because it’s actually a docuseries he’d never willingly watch. Gurathin reaches for a memory of something that happened in the first few weeks planetside and sees HIMSELF in the memory and gets vertigo. The possibilities are endless.

((Also also — there is a difference in the story between the books, where predominantly MB saves itself, and the show, where they save each other. Does it undercut its self-actualization arc, or does it highlight the kind of altruistic interdependence that the Preservation Alliance stands for and that we need to see more of in western media? And how does the fact that the main narrative parallels are on different sides of the saving play into that?))

Either way — I’m fucking STOKED for season two. I cannot wait for them to show us MB meeting its actual real life SOULMATE and them immediately fucking just … swatting at each other like two bitchy cats forced to share the same space. Forcibly grooming each other while they both try to pretend to appear like one single augmented human and ROYALLY fucking that up every step of the way. Two raccoons in a trenchcoat thinking they’re secret agents when they’re just highly dangerous trash goblins. CAN’T. WAIT.

[fanfictiongirlie]

Twilight: The Human and the Wolf Chapter Ten

Click here for masterlist

Parings: Paul Lahote x OC (First person, no use of Y/N)

Description: Bella Swan's twin moved to Forks with her sister. Whilst Bella falls for a vampire, her twin falls for a wolf. The story runs parallel to Bella's story in Twilight. But following her twin and her life with the wolves.

Rating: Eventually explicit.

Warnings: It's a little sad, little bit angsty

Chapter Ten - Did I do something wrong?

As I walked onto the beach, my shoes sunk into the soft sand, Paul's gaze was fixed on the horizon, the ocean breeze blowing lightly against his face. With the setting sun, his skin was aglow with a warm,, golden hue, casting a shadow across his face that seemed to highlight his solemn expression. 

"Why'd you do it?" I asked as soon as I was behind him a few spaces. Paul jolted slightly at the sound of my voice, clearly not expecting to hear it. He slowly turned around, his eyes focusing on me, a mix of surprise and guilt in his gaze. 

He paused, clearly at a loss for words. The usual confident persona he projected was gone, replaced by a vulnerability that he rarely showed.

"Did I do something wrong?" I asked, my voice breaking slightly. Paul shook his head emphatically, the guilt in his eyes deepening. 

"No, no no. You did nothing wrong, I swear" He lets out a heavy sigh, raking a hand through his now short hair, I hadn't noticed it before, but he had cut it, no longer was his hair touching his shoulders. It looked good short. 

"Then what?" I asked. 

"It was...complicated" He said, and then he paused again, looking anywhere but at me. "There was something I had to deal with. Something I couldn't handle and...I just thought it would be better...if I stayed away from you, I didn't want to drag you into it"

"You hurt me Paul...If you had just explained to me what was wrong...maybe it could have been different, but you hurt me" I said, the way my voice broke mid sentence annoying me. Paul closed his eyes, a mixture of regret and shame on his face. 

"I know...You have no idea how many times I've thought about that. But I...I was scared. I was dealing with things I didn't understand" 

"Jeez" I muttered "You're being so cryptic!"

Paul let out a bitter scoff, his frustration showing for a brief moment. He ran a hand through his hair again, clearly struggling with his emotions. 

"I'm not being cryptic on purpose. It's just...complicated" He hesitated, it was obvious whatever he was dealing with was serious, and that he was struggling to find a way to explain it to me. 

"Look if you just weren't that interested in me, you could of just said" I mutter turning away, not understanding there was any other reason. But he stopped me, his hand was on my arm, holding me in place, I looked up at him annoyed. 

"That's not it at all. I didn't...I'm not...that's not how is it, okay?"He said with a heavy sigh. 

"Tell me how it is then" I pleaded. He stared back at me, desperation and guilt evident in his eyes. His grip on my arm loosened as he let out a defeated sigh. 

"I care about you, a lot. And that's what scares me so much, okay? What I'm dealing with...it's complicated, it's messy and if I drag you into it, I'll end up hurting you" His voice was low and filled with anguish, as if he was torn between his feelings for me and something else weighing heavily on his mind. 

"Don't I get a choice in this? I would of stood by you, through whatever, because that's the kind of girl I am, Paul!" I snapped, my voice almost drowning in the sound of the waves nearly crashing against our ankles. 

"I know, you're nice, and good, but..." He exhaled heavily, his shoulders slumped in defeat. 

"But what?" I asked, feeling dejected and hurt, I was ready to walk away, but something, and I didn't know what, kept me there. 

"I can't..I can't tell you. Not yet. But please, trust me, okay? This is for your own good" 

"At least give me a proper goodbye this time" I mutter. Paul hesitated for a moment, his eyes were locked onto mine, and I found myself blinking away tears as I looked up at him. Had he gotten taller?

"I...I can't promise I'll be able to stay away. But I..." He sighed, his voice low and regretful "I'm sorry, for hurting you, for everything"

"Apology not accepted" I mumbled. He winced. 

"I...I deserve that" He looked down at the sand, his shoulder slumped over in defeat.

"Tell me Paul, what's bothering you" I ask, not ready to leave him just yet. 

He let out a shaky breath, his eyes still fixed on the ground. 

"It's not something I can explain" He said, he then looked up at me, his eyes pleading for me to understand. 

"So where does that leave us?" I ask, my heart not ready to walk away, despite the argument in my mind, screaming at me to turn away. 

"I don't know...To be honest, I...I don't know where that leaves us" He pauses for a moment, gathering his thoughts before continuing in a quieter tone "I want things to be okay, I swear I do. But... I can't...I can't explain it to you right now, okay? Just...Just give me some time?" 

"I don't know if I can do that" I admit, and it was the truth, he had hurt me, I'd never let a boy hurt me as much as I let him. I couldn't just...ignore that.. Could I? I'd be just as bad as Bella, Edward had hurt her and then she got herself hurt, and I complained for weeks. I couldn't...

"I know, and I don't blame you for feeling that way. But...please, trust me. Just give me time, and I'll tell you everything. I just need a little time to figure things out, to sort through my thoughts" He explained, his eyes pleading me. I sighed heavily. 

"Fine...You have a week. And after that, if you can't...well then, I guess we'll be done" I say, feeling a little harsh with my words, but I had to protect my heart, I didn't care that he winced at my words, he looked hurt from my words, but right now, that wasn't a me problem. 

Paul nodded solemnly. 

"A week. I'll...I'll tell you everything by then. I promise" 

"Okay, well, text me I guess" I say quietly, taking a step back. 

"Wait.." 

"What Paul?" I asked, stopping my tracks and looking to him again. He stared at me for a moment. 

"I...nevermind"

"No...what were you going to say?" I asked. 

"God.. I just wanna tell you everything, but it's so difficult" He sighed, his voice a little louder than before. 

"Like I said, a week. You can tell me now, or in seven days, but I won't wait longer than that, I can't" I say my words slowly becoming more of a whisper the longer I spoke. 

"Please don't...don't say that. You have no idea how hard this is for me" 

"What is so bad you can't tell me?" I ask, stepping closer to him, anger and hurt swirling through me. 

"It's complicated, more complicated than you could ever imagine" He sighed. 

"You can trust me" I whisper. 

"I know I can trust you. I do trust you, more than anyone. But..." He trailed off, the words caught in his throat. 

"But?" 

"But...this isn't about trust. It's about...it's about danger. There are things, things I need to protect you from" He said, sighing. 

"What do I need protecting from in little ol' Forks?" I say sarcastically, scoffing at his words. 

"I know you think it's stupid. But.. you need to understand, you don't know what I've seen. This town...it's not what it seems"

"Tell me then" I plead. 

"Have you heard of the Quileute legends, and the cold ones?" He asked, I cocked my head, confused at the sudden change of conversations. 

"Not really, Bella's mentioned the cold ones, she's a little obsessed with those stories truthfully" I answered, the confusion laced in my voice. "What does this have to do with anything?" 

"Everything, it has everything to do with what I need to tell you, they're not stories, they're real" He says, his voice strained. 

"I'm not following you" I say, my voice distant. Paul took a deep breath. 

"The stories, they're real, this town...there are vampires in this town" 

"Vampires?" I say, my tone amused "Paul, I get you're a funny guy, but it's not really the time for jokes" 

"I'm not joking! They're real, and I need to protect you from them" 

"Right...Okay, let's say vampires are real" I say skeptically "What does this have to do with you?"

Paul took a step closer to me, his eyes locking with mine. I stepped backwards slightly. 

"Promise me, promise me you won't freak out. Promise me you'll let me finish explaining before you say anything" He pleaded. 

"I...I promise" I say, a little unsure. He was making me feel nervous, all this talk. I didn't understand it. 

"There's...there's something you need to know about me. Something I've been keeping from you. And...and the vampires are part of it"

"Right, I'm listening"

Paul took a deep breath. 

"What I'm about to tell you is going to sound crazy. But I need to you believe me, okay? I need you to trust me, no matter what"

"I'll try Paul" I whisper. 

"Okay...okay. Here it goes" He whispers, he pauses for a moment and takes a few steps away from me, I went to step closer to him but he put his hand out to stop me. When he was far away enough from me, his whole body started shaking. And then suddenly his body changed and instead of a human in front of me, a wolf stood there, a huge wolf. 

I screamed loudly, falling down onto the ground, I dragged myself backwards against the sand, my breathing was so heavy it was all I could hear. 

"What the fuck!" I scream loudly, the dusty grey wolf looked at me, his eyes reflecting Paul's sadness from before. 

"S..stay t..there!" I snapped at the wolf. The wolf, paused for a moment, he sat down on the sand, his body dropped down against the sand and he rested his head on his paws, looking up at you, with those eyes. Paul's eyes, without a doubt. 

"P..Paul?" I asked, my voice a whimper. The wolf's head perked up, his ears twitched slightly.

"C..can I?" I ask, shakingly holding my hand out to him. Slowly, carefully, he inched forward and nuzzled his muzzle against my hand. I laughed nervously as I stroke his fur. 

"Soft" I mutter. "Can...I..Can you be human Paul, again, pl..please?"

After a brief moment, he began to transform back into his human form. In no more than a few seconds, the large wolf was gone, and the boy was back, kneeling in front of me.

"Holy shit, you're naked!" I squealed. 

"Ah, that's what happens when you transform into a wolf, you lose your clothes as well"

"What the fuck Paul? Why do you turn into a wolf?!" I asked, my voice loud and booming. He winced at the sharpness of my voice. 

"I...my family is part of the Quileute tribe, some of us have the wolf gene..Sam knows more about the legends than I do...we turn into wolves, that date we had, that was the start of my transformation, Sam helped me through it, Jared too"

I listened intently, still completely shocked, still considering running away. 

"But why do you change into wolves...wait, you said vampires..holy shit" I muttered. 

"Yes, it's all real. I've seen them myself, they live in that big mansion on the edge of town, the Cullens...they're vampires" 

"You...Fucking...What...The Cullens?" I snapped, suddenly more stressed than I was a few minutes ago. 

"Yeah, they definitely are, Sam told me" 

"Oh no..no..no..no.. oh no" I mumbled, my breathing becoming heavy and ragged. 

"Hey, hey, breathe. I know it's a lot to take in but I swear I'm telling you the truth" He said, he took a step forward to wrap an arm around me, but he stopped obviously remembering he was still, very naked. It was dark around us now, the sun had fully disappeared. 

"Paul, you don't understand! Bella...she's dating Edward Cullen! Oh no...Are they gonna eat me sister!" I asked, panic surged through me. 

"Damn it.. I didn't know that. But...but they don't feed off humans, they drink animal blood"

"And you believe that?" I ask, snapping at him. I felt bad for a moment, my anger not aimed at him anymore, but to those Cullens. I knew something was off, I could never imagine it was something as terrible as vampires. 

"They don't have red eyes, like human drinking vampires" Paul said with a shrug. 

"Right...fuck...my sister. I...do you think she knows he's a vampire?" I ask, my words stuttery. 

"I don't think so, she seems too normal for that"

"This is such a mess...fuck..Paul...what do I do? I wanna go home" I whimpered, I started walking away from the beach and back towards my car. Paul followed me, I reached my car and reached in grabbing my coat, throwing it to Paul, so he could finally cover up his nakedness. 

"Hey, it's okay" He whispers putting a hand on my back, I rested my head against my car, trying to calm my breathing. 

"Holy shit, you turn into a wolf...what the fuck is my life right now" I sigh heavily. "Look, I won't tell Bella, that you turn into a wolf...okay?"

Paul sighed in relief. "Thank you" 

"I'll text you, okay?" I say, looking at him again. He nodded, understanding that I needed time. I climbed into my car and drove away, needing to get to the safety of my room. 

Once I was home, I walked in, seeing Bella with Edward in the living room. I tried to stay calm as I sit in the arm chair, Edward looked at me, his expression something I couldn't read, but his eyes were burning into my skin. It made me feel even more on edge. 

"Uh no dad?" I ask Bella. She shook her head, her gaze momentarily flickering from me to Edward. 

"No, dad had to work late, why?"

"J.,.just asking Bella" I cursed myself silently, not wanting to sound awkward. 

"So what did you get up to today?" Bella asks me, her demeanor happy as she spoke. 

"Uhh Jake and I hiked...I saw Paul, nothing too eventual" I answer, Paul turning into a wolf on my mind again, I shivered at the thought, not in fear, but definitely something. I looked back over to Bella and Edward and Edward's expression had changed slightly, his eyes were wider as he looked at me. 

"Paul?" He then asks, surprising me. 

"Uh yeah" I answer awkwardly "My...well, I don't know what he is, we're close, I guess?"

Edward's expression remains stoic, but there was a flash of interest in his eyes. 

"Close huh? What do you mean by that?" He asks. 

"Why do you care?" I answer, maybe a little too snappy. 

"Just making conversation" He said with a shrug, the action looked strange on him. 

"Shit... yeah, sorry" I mutter remembering Paul had said he was a vampire. I shouldn't piss him off. It could end badly for me. I watched as Edward's lips twitched slightly. I excused myself, needing to be away from this weirdness and rushed off to my bedroom. Once in my room, I finally have a moment to breathe and collect myself from the situation I've found myself in. 

Taglist:

@jaybbygrl, @strayteez3staner, @8crazy-freak8, @idontliketoread2137, @bonni-98

[lostpai]

Xià Fěi and Vein’s Dual Powers

Vein and Xià Fěi hold the powers of Foresight and Hindsight – here's how I came to believe it. Get ready for a lengthy post—this is the first in a series. (30 mins read).

Have you heard of the dual power theory? Let me explain this beautiful theory first caught by @miyamiwu (GIFs and correlating posts can be found here and here).

For those who missed it, Vein and Xià Fěi’s frames in the LULL Bridon arc credits feature VFX that spill into each other’s frames. As seen in her post, this does not happen with any of the other four characters, all of whom have confirmed powers. We know that Link Click never does anything without a reason! What does this mean, and why are these two characters highlighted over the others? Well Miyamiwu threw it out there that maybe it correlates to them having a dual power. And that theory makes so much sense.

Where have we seen the use of dual powers? We've seen dual powers used before with Lu Guang and Chéng Xiǎoshí, as well as with the siblings Li Tianchen and Li Tianxi. So, this isn’t something new. In fact, of the 7 confirmed characters with powers, 4 of them are in pairs. This makes it highly probable that two new complimenting characters who act as a duo are also connected in this way. The symbolism is clear: the two share something deeper, just like the other powerful pairs. If four others can have dual powers, why not Xià Fěi and Vein, a pair so tightly connected both in contrasting personalities but equal and parallel in their relationship? Now that I've explained this dual theory my goal was to figure out and prove which powers makes the most sense for either of the two to have. To help me I've set up two cannon-bound rules that helped me find what it is. Rule #1 Dual powers means the characters would either have parallel powers with complementary abilities or opposite powers that act as a counterbalance to each other. Vein and Xià Fěi are constantly contrasting in these frames. Not only do the characters themselves contrast personality-wise, but their friendly dynamic complements each other. Given this dynamic, their powers would either need to complement or contrast with one another, or exist in the fine line between. It also goes to show that assuming Vein has smoke or immortal/resurrection powers would not work, because it needs a fitting connecting power.

Rule #2 There’s no reason to assume Link Click's powers are elemental. Based on what we've seen, Powers are tied to photography, time travel, or something related to the body or the mind. Introducing elemental powers would, in my opinion, mess with the established lore.

Assuming Xià Fěi has light powers doesn’t quite fit, even if it aligns with Rule 1 about having a parallel or opposite. Similarly, the theory of Xià Fěi having fire powers falls short if Vein’s doesn't seem like he would complement or contrast with that power in any way. In my quest to narrow down the possible powers, I couldn’t help but find a loophole that had me wondering why Xià Fěi and Vein's eyes always glow so brightly, as if their power is constantly active. Even the other main characters' eyes dim when their powers aren't in use. This led me to a third rule—more hypothesis than canon-based, so your free to ignore it— My biased Rule #3 - If both character’s power is one that stays on, it could be a passive or constant ability, always active but perhaps unnoticed until the right moment. This rule genuinely backs you into a corner, but it only managed to put my last two remaining theories on a pedestal... So, after digging myself into dozens of holes including loopholes to find potential powers that actually fit within a time-travel story, I finally hit on foresight and hindsight—and suddenly, everything clicked. Maybe its called link click because everything always clicks into place. hahaha....just pretend I'm funny. These concepts not only make sense for both characters story arcs, but they’re backed by existing theories and new evidence I've uncovered. Now, I’ll dive into each of their respective powers, explaining the why, how, and what that support my theory.

Vein: "Immediate Foresight" Memory that does not transcend time, but transcends a series of moments.

GIF by ydotome

Vein’s foresight works differently from Lu Guang’s—while Lu Guang’s power transcends time, Vein’s memory doesn’t carry over through each reset. I will stand by my belief that Vein didn’t know or recognize either Lu Guang or CXS before they were introduced to each other in episode 3— otherwise he would have simply killed them both.

While it looks like Lu Guang is on the edge of having both foresight and hindsight, I'd like to argue his power is more akin to clairvoyance. The difference in these powers is significant, but different enough for it makes sense for characters to have such similar abilities. Let me explain further. Vein's power is PREDICTIVE Lu Guangs power is TRUTH

Foresight - Vein's power is about predicting what might happen, based on the present circumstances. It’s more about a sense of anticipation or intuition—He would know what’s likely to happen. The where and how is clear, while the why and when remains predictive until within that moment.

Clairvoyance - Lu Guang’s power is about seeing specific details of the future, present, or past. He wouldn’t just predict what might happen; he has seen and experienced clearly both the past and future as if it were happening right in front of him. It’s about truth—the direct and clear perception of events, like he’s watching a film. 

Since the director mentioned that Lu Guang always stays within his own timeline, I don't believe their powers see different timelines or possible outcomes, but rather 'the timeline's current outcome' in varying levels of clarity. This view of Foresight aligns with Vein's almost superhuman reflexes,

Next 3 GIFs by ydotome I invite you to take a look at this scene until you REALLY understand it. On second glance there's something subtly off about the timing of Vein's reactions.

Study how swiftly Vein moves—it looks effortless. Too easy. Upon closer inspection, it even feels like Vein's own movements anticipate a frame or two before than the other even prepares to strike. Like he is one full moment ahead of each strike. I have several frames here for example (this gif is originally 69 frames long)

While many anime characters can dodge like this, few do it with their eyes closed for three full swings without some kind of 'extra sense perception.' So I'm calling it evidence. Here Vein is showing complete confidence in his knowledge that he won't get hurt. 

Just the fact that he stands still with that smug ass little smile screams that he is in control of the situation. I'm hypothesizing that Vein learns the truth of the moment only within that moment; everything before is predictive. The closer he is, the clearer the information becomes. In that instant, he can dodge every strike because their next move shifts from a probability to a complete certainty. This gives him a sense of control and explains why he often looks so pleased.

I believe Vein is constantly downloading new information about his opponent and surroundings mid-battle, making him the perfect, constantly adapting adversary. Vein is the embodiment of 'right place, right time,' and I doubt need to elaborate further. But I'll show some more GIFs instead.

This post is kinda long already but I also invite you to look into the Vein vs. Shao Yuanyuan fight as well. Because it feels like another use of his foresight abilities (Video link here) and finally Vein's fatal limitation.

If too much is happening in too short a time, it’s possible to slip through the cracks of his foresight. He may fail to react to an immediate danger simply because his attention is divided between too many things. While he might have the right information, he is still human. In a scenario like this, Vein could potentially be open for attack but never taken completely by surprise. So why was Vein blindsided by his own death?

There could be better theories to this part specifically, but maybe Vein never saw the possibility of the attack coming, because Vein's death was never supposed to have happened. It was too fast, and everything he thought would happen changed too quickly. Simply because a more powerful third party had inserted themself into the situation. (From what I understand Lu Guang changed something in their timeline and Vein had never been killed before).

GIF from @shantechni The REAL genuine fear shown when Vein is called by his real name, and during the heart attack show how caught off guard he was. His mind racing, dare I say it had little to do with the fact that he couldn't breathe, but that there was a flaw within his foresight. That he was finally unable to take control of his precious moment. He didn't know what was going on until it was too late to prevent it. But there is nothing wrong with Vein's foresight, because he still figures it out. But at the moment of his realization, Vein's death is already in motion—an attack happening in real time without even touching him, its not something that he can run away from. And it is this eye opening realization on the brink of death where Vein is given the answers he's looking for.

He knows his killer, he knows what happened... and all he can do is laugh at having been one-upped. It's all so very interesting—and he would love to see who plays the next piece in this game of chess. Vein's death is now a certainty. His own tricks used against him. And his final words,

“So that’s how it is…” I'd like to slide in another extra piece of proof for my Foresight theory. This is the 6th episode's cover art. I think its pretty self explanatory.

Screenshot @mysterialistic (posts relating to this sentence here, here, and this) Thank you so much for bearing with me, but we're only halfway done! I already cut this bad boy into two separate separate posts too! Next up....

Xià Fěi: "Hindsight" The tragedy of only ever figuring it out in hindsight. Power born from memories and a grief that transcends the present...

"I’ve made up my mind. No matter how bizarre the truth, I’ll find out what happened."

The idea of hindsight comes from it being the inverse of foresight, and fitting Xià Fěi's potential character development. 

I propose that he always had the power and it wasn’t 're-awakened' until Vein’s death. With Vein’s foresight gone, Xià Fěi's hindsight is born.

I think Xià Fěi always had the ability but was too young or traumatized to use it. His time at Chéng Wěimín's school raises questions. There’s a solid theory that the school was full of children with powers. (here and here).

(if you look up this scene you'll see Chéng is mouthing something, and from there we never see young Xià Fěi's eyes again, as they remain cast in shadow). There are a lot of inconsistencies with this new information, wasn't Felix only an exchange student for college? What's with this scene? What did "it's time," mean? Here me out, what if Xià Fěi's memory was altered by Chéng Wěimín? Xià Fěi seems unaware of what 'Bahati' was. He doesn't seem to know about the fire or the meaning of the word. If he remembered he could've helped them- or maybe warned them. But instead he was perfectly comfortable helping CXS question his previous boss, as well as Vein. Also how interesting is it, that he ended up working once in the same place that he went to school in at one point?? Xià Fěi feels like a character that follows the theme of returning back to the past. If not during the Bridon arc, that at least because we known off screen he's going to dedicate his life to finding out what happened to Vein. Another thing that stood out to me during episode 3 was when (time stamp 14:30) when CXS said "Bahati" there was a magical sound effect. I study these Link click sound effects a lot and they're always happening. Mostly when someone notices something or when one could make the case that someone is subtly using their power. For example the sound effect shows up the most around Vein and Lu Guang. And its always the same sound effect. What if Xià Fěi remembers when the name is spoken, but anything related to CXS's father is a trigger word for a memory wipe on the subject? Another piece of Xià Fěi's story. (Found by @joyokosuka, post here)

I want to believe Vein's interest in Xià Fěi has to do with their close connection and not just because there was a subliminal connection that comes with dual powers. If you believe in fate and all, which I’ll get into the next post. But I don't think either were actually aware of Xià Fěi's power, as it wouldn't have re-manifested until Vein's death. It also makes sense, because Xià Fěi was open to powers existing. Xià Fěi discovering his own past, and using his gift of hindsight would open up a whole can of worms for everyone. The good and the bad, and the past that should've stayed buried.

I imagine Xià Fěi will be pretty upset when learning about the past and revisiting his memories before Vein’s death. It’s going to destroy him if he figures out that Lu Guang and CXS were involved. I could see him using his power in a way that might allow him to re-experience or analyze past events but not actually go back in time. He will constantly search and long for for what he missed out on.

And if not to attempt revenge… then for closure.

Xià Fěi is taking up the gauntlet of an unwanted legacy for closure. How sad and ironic that Vein could've potentially been using his power along side him but Xià Fěi never realizes until the death of his counterpart. Xià Fěi's power gives an ulterior meaning to what he told our mains.

“but I’ll remember the time I spent with you guys forever”

It's so haunting. Knowing he was backstabbed by his friends. This feels like a self-fulfilling prophecy. The tragedy of hindsight.

Now after explaining where Hindsight would fit into the plot, I'll share the rest of the evidence for why Xià Fěi's power is Hindsight, more than just because he is Vein's inverse/parallel. In another post by @miyamiwu (Click here) beautiful theory by the way. There was one thing she said that stood out to me.

She explained that “In Mandarin Chinese, time is viewed in a vertical fashion. The past is above you, while the future is below you.”

Because of this I asked my friend for an impromptu lesson in Mandarin, to help me analyze that the name 夏斐 (Xià Fěi) can be linked to the idea of time. Thank you so much to Yuqianqian 🌸💕 for dealing with my madness.

In Mandarin the past and future is viewed in a vertical fashion only through a spoken fashion.

Let me introduce you to “The Four Mandarin Chinese Tones” which are used to identify the TONE (shēngdiào) of a word. You use each tone to help you pitch your syllables. All Chinese words have tones.

First tone: a level and higher pitch Second tone: rising, start from a lower pitch and end at a slightly higher pitch Third tone: falling rising, start at a neutral tone then dip to a lower pitch before ending at a higher pitch Fourth tone: falling, start the syllable at a slightly higher than neutral pitch then go quickly and strongly downwards

The reason the future is viewed downwards And past is viewed upwards is because they pitch upwards and downwards when you say it!

Fun fact you can figure out out which tone both the first and surname are in by using these diacritical marks.

1st tone:  ā 

2nd tone:  á 

3rd tone:  ǎ 

4th tone:  à

Neutral tone - a  (no pitch)

So Xià (is the 4th falling tone) followed by Fěi (the 3rd falling/rising tone). 

Chinese people usually give their kid a 2 words name or 3 words name. If the words in a first name were both the same tone it’s would be hard to pronounce. 

谐音 is a literarily trick similar to how a writer can use homophones in English to symbolize something. 

谐音 is when words can sound the exact same but be are spelled completely differently. 

“By, bye, buy” “To, too, two”  “Flour, flower” “Knight, night”

夏斐 Xià Fěi’s name actually uses 谐音

夏 is Pronounced Xià it means “summer”

下 is also pronounced Xià it means “down”

It changes meaning depending on the word next to it though, but other meanings of Xià still include; Downwards, Under, Below, Descend, Fall, Give birth too, Spate...

'Second of two parts'... guys is it obvious I ship Veinfei 下 is not typically not used anymore unless it refers to very specific instances of time, directions, or positions.

This play on words of Xià and the concept of 下 “down” works in tandem with the 4th tone. And brings us back to the original idea of “the future being below you.” It perfectly relates the idea of time to the name, while also holding symbolism. The future is below Xià Fěi.

And who is future?

Vein's name is first pointed out by @rainibao (here). That Vein’s true name - 萧未影 Xiāo Wèiyǐng relates to the concept of the future! 

I’d like to add that 未 by itself does not mean future, but rather it’s 未来.

未来 - Future 未 on its own means “not yet”  Both are falling tones.

Just in case I made this pretty confusing. I gave Xià Fěi's name as proof to show that he is RELATED TO TIME and related to VEIN. Meanwhile every example of Vein points to downwards symbolism as well. And even though Xià Fěi should represent Upwards symbolism, the fact that he also represents downward symbolism felt like it does help my case in relate to hindsight as well. But either way, heres some pretty obvious Upwards symbolism for Xià Fěi too.

This is a post by miyamiwu (here) guys wtf I already ran out of image space Here with the water Lu Guang is drowning and falling downwards into the Future Vein pulls Xià Fěi upwards above water into the past. Once again it also references unwanted legacies left behind by Vein.

In the end we see the huanting idea of Vein as a concept of life after death Xia Fei as a concept life before death  And Lu Guang representing death itself

Thank you so much for listening to my theory! I feel like this theory has revolutionized the way I see these two. Feel free to contact me or disprove or add to my theory. I took like a whole weeks to make this. Soon I will release the second part of my theory (yes I have more evidence). This time in relation to Liú Xiāo, how he fits into this entire equation, and what his other power may be. And what happens Post-Vein's death. PT. 2 (TBA)

[romchat]

The Time of Fever (Ep. 1-3) visual analysis: The Metamorphosis

Ho-tae: "I woke up to find myself transformed into a monstrous insect, lying in bed"...What is this? A story about a guy turning into a bug? Dong-hee: If I turned into a bug one day, would I still be Kim Dong-hee or just a bug?

From this piece of dialogue and the cinematography alone I know The Time of Fever is going to cause me a lot of pain. The only way to describe its style is palpable.

The moment our two main characters, Kim Dong-hee and Go Ho-tae, appear together, we can see the friction and unnamed longing between them.

Notice how often the first episode uses shots with three distinct compositional layers to provide depth and complexity to the relationships portrayed on screen:

In most of these shots, the composition places Dong-hee in the background with Ho-tae on another layer completely--they're distant and never quite aligned on what they want out of the relationship. Despite how these two characters were brought together by their mothers' friendship--I love how the second screenshot uses their bodies in the foreground to frame Dong-hee and Ho-tae--it's that very connection that also creates a wall between them. Although Ho-tae is excited about rekindling their friendship after moving away two years prior, Dong-hee doesn't want to betray his aunt's trust by admitting his romantic feelings for him.

And so he recedes into the background, alone and inscrutable.

The fact that Dong-hee also compares himself to Gregor from Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis hits like a sucker punch.

Like Gregor, Dong-hee lives a sort of transient and almost functionalist lifestyle. After being kicked out of his home by his abusive father, he focuses on his school work and trying to get by. He is isolated and his queer awakening only makes him feel more disoriented and misunderstood--he feels like Gregor in his insect form.

And yet we still see moments where he allows himself to yearn for something more and how Ho-tae begins to do the same.

(Side Note: I love love love the show's use of backlighting to highlight the lines of the actors' bodies. It's so simple but intimate and erotic as if the camera is acting like Dong-hee's artist-eye trying to memorize Ho-tae's muscular beauty.)

One of my favorite stylistic choices of The Time of Fever is how it uses close-ups to represent the characters' subjective POV and desire.

Like Dong-hee's sketches, these shots are the fragments of everyday life that are so small yet feel oh so significant while on the path towards self-discovery.

They're gloriously tactile, the shallow depth of field eliminating extraneous detail, allowing us to experience the heady excitement of accidentally grazing your crush's skin or looking into their eyes during a rainstorm.

I don't think I've seen desire that achingly displayed in a hot minute.

And so it makes sense that as Ho-tae begins to undergo his own metamorphosis and understand his own feelings, we see more and more visual parallelism in how their desire manifests.

(Side Note: The second screenshot above is such a gorgeous shot. That inky black negative space not only showcases Ho-tae's gaze at Dong-hee's lips but also his reaction to the realization that hits him. Great 2 for 1.)

I can't wait to see what visual storytelling the next three episodes bring.

[kellysue]

The Suit-Making Metaphor

[Written in January, 2024] The cold eventually got bad enough that the Grandma, the kids and I fled to a hotel while Matt stayed at the house with the dogs. We were fortunate to be able to that of course, and sharing a room in a nice warm hotel was not suffering by any stretch of the imagination. Even so, it was stressful. We brought ipads, paints, books and needlework to keep the kids entertained and alleviate some anxiety, but time also had to be made for school work—especially as they would be going back to class just in time for finals. We made lists of their classes, what they had to study, what we could help with and what questions would need to be put to their teachers.

Henry’s 16 now (!!) and instead of an exam, his Humanities final was a personal essay. We chatted a bit about his writing process, what he liked about what he had done so far and what was frustrating for him. Though he had a terrific topic, he’d written and rewritten his opening paragraph several times and wasn’t making any real progress.

Been there, buddy.

As we talked, I stumbled on a metaphor that I found helpful, and so I’m going to try and share with you roughly what I said to him, and perhaps some of you will find it helpful too.

I get it, I do. It’s exactly my inclination as well. But writing like this-- where you try to perfect everything as you go, effectively writing the third draft before you finish the first--it’s like trying to make a suit from the top to the bottom. You can’t make a suit like that. You can’t start with the collar and get that perfected and then move to the shoulder. You can’t topstitch the upper part of the button placket before the bottom even exists. And even if you could figure how to do it that way, your suit isn't going to fit. Because that’s just not the best way to make a suit. Finishing the thing from top to bottom is not the best way to write, either. You start by choosing your fabric—your topic. What material are you going to craft the suit from? What’s the subject of the essay? You want to write about your relationship to various monsters. That’s terrific! That’s like a nice wool; there’s heft there—memories and feelings and personal details that resonate as truths; it should make a rich and interesting suit. Now, instead of cutting out the collar immediately, let’s choose a pattern. We need a pattern to help us cut the wool into the proper shapes. The pattern is the very basic structure of your essay. How might you organize your thoughts and feelings about monsters? The order isn’t as important as the categories. For the suit jacket, we’ll need right front, left front, sleeves, collar, lining etc. For the essay, what monsters do you want to write about? King Kong, the Rancor, the Minotaur and Bernard the Bull. Perfect. Cutting the pattern pieces out is equivalent to gathering your thoughts on each monster. Write freely about each one, taking the time to remember in as much detail as possible where you first encountered each monster, how old you were, etc. Go through each of your senses to help you recall the moment. What did you see? Smell? Taste? Feel? Who was with you? How did you feel in your body? How did you feel in your heart? Include everything that jumps out at you, you can always edit it down later. In our metaphor, this step is not just cutting out the pieces but also taking the time to transfer the pattern marks. You might not need them all, but you're sure to make a finer suit if you have them all available. Once you have the pieces, the next step is to see how they fit together. Read through each monster and look for connections. Is there an order that suggests itself? Rearrange and then edit and expand to highlight those connections. The first pass of this is basting stitches—loose connections just to test the fit—once you’re happy with the shape you can go ahead and lay in seams. Here is where our parallels start to fall apart: For the suit, you’ll want to do all the finishing touches—the handstitching, buttons, pressing, etc.—and then try it on and style it. But in writing your essay, these steps are reversed—styling is crafting the last paragraph, bringing the piece to a close. Your essay doesn’t have to wrap up neatly, in fact, you don’t want it to be too matchy-matchy. Just as an outfit’s style is improved by personal idiosyncrasies, a piece of writing is enriched by the author's capacity to engage with complexity and ambiguity. With the styling done--when you really know what it is you're trying to say--now you can go back with needle and thread and do that hand-stitching: tighten the prose where you can, polish rhythms, word choice, grammar and voice. With the whole of the thing in front of you, you now have what you need to do the kind of “third draft” finishing work that was impossible to begin with.

This might be the very definition of beating a metaphor to death, but I surprised myself with it. It was as revelatory for me as it was for Henry--probably more so.

And with that, I need to get back to those now-422 emails.

Cheers,

Kelly Sue

PS New creator-owned book coming out late fall this year--first launch in a decade or so, I think? I do need to figure out this whole newsletter/blog conundrum sooner rather than later. Advice and opinions welcome.

[sflow-er]

Henry and Simon’s dynamic over the three seasons

For YR Faves Fest 2024 organised by @youngroyals-events Prompts: 2. Favourite teen side character (+ 7. Favourite not-quite friendship)

In one of my replies to the recent side character ask game, I briefly mentioned being partial to the dynamic between these two. So for this Faves Fest, I decided to elaborate with an analysis post (featuring screenshots of variable quality)!

I want to preface this with a brief acknowledgment of Henry’s privilege and classism. It is not my intention to diminish them. I do, however, feel that it’s a bit apples-to-oranges to compare them to Simon’s views (citrus pun intended). 🍊 is politically active and has put in the effort to form his own beliefs, while 🍏 shows us time and again that he is ignorant of the world outside the elite bubble and not inclined towards deep reflection. He is largely a product of his upbringing and the (liberal conservative) values imparted by his parents.

While Henry doesn’t grow enough to change his core views and values in the canon timeline, he does change his views on Simon. This isn’t enough progress for them to become actual friends before we leave off (I doubt Simon could be friends with someone who only exempts him), but I would still argue that they end the show on amicable terms.

And yes, I mean that in a mutual sense, even if Simon doesn’t soften towards Henry quite as much as Henry softens towards him!

So, let’s dive in!

Dialogue taken from the English CC and [abbreviated or corrected].

1.01: the tax debate

Henry: “Take my dad’s estate, for example. They’re struggling to make ends meet because of the high taxes.” [Simon chuckles and explains his views] Simon: “Like your dad. [Do you know how much he gets in EU subsidies every year]”? Henry: “And what the fuck does your dad do?”

Like most viewers, I find it a lot easier to relate to Simon’s views than Henry’s here – but I do think Henry often gets judged quite harshly for insulting Simon at the end. His comment does not come out of nowhere (cf. Stella’s unprompted dirty look at Simon and Sara when she talks about welfare scamming).

Henry only knows that his father has said their estate is struggling, so of course he won’t take kindly to Simon suggesting that they are actually getting undeserved subsidies instead. It’s also important to note that this estate isn’t just any old farm. It was granted to one of his ancestors as a reward for their services to the Crown, which makes it a core part of his family history. As we learn in 1.04, Henry is a Society boy and very proud of his noble ancestry, and Simon’s comment likely feels like an insult to his entire family. So although his retort is unquestionably rude, it is understandable that he lashes out.

Also, Henry has no way of knowing that Micke is a deadbeat. He is just applying a common stereotype (and potentially making assumptions based on the views Simon just expressed on welfare).

1.02: parallel but separate experiences

Early in this episode, we see Simon side-eye Henry and Walter for the paid tutoring. He decides to follow their example, but as we know he can’t actually afford it, we can already guess it won’t go as well for him as it did for them.

Next, we see Henry in the group as the rowing team ignores Simon at morning training. The camera also pans to him and Walter when August gives that bizarre speech about Simon’s class journey.

These moments highlight how different life at Hillerska (and beyond) looks for Henry and Simon. They are technically coexisting and even doing the same things, but their experiences are nothing alike.

However, there is also some potential for development here. August’s words about rowing bringing people together (and also about the class journey) should absolutely be taken with a heap of salt, but as we no longer see any open animosity between Henry and Simon, we can still wonder if rowing played a part.

Being on the same sports team is an entirely new frame of reference for these guys. They are no longer just the sosse and aristocrat who have been going to school together since pre-canon and clashing over their views; they are crewmates. They may be able to ignore each other for most of the time, but they may also have to do some team activities or even cooperate on occasion. At the very least, they will be around each other several extra times a week from late September/early October to Christmas break. This could definitely help to put them on more neutral ground.

1.05: Henry pays attention to Wilmon

In this episode, Henry learns more about Wilmon than the average Hillerska student knows. He is present when August tells the Society that Wille and Simon “hang out”, and also when Wille changes the plan from Simon to Alexander.

What’s more, he actually looks fairly thoughtful leaving that last meeting. We don’t know if it’s just shock over Wille’s ruthlessness, if he’s thinking about the plan to set up Alexander, or if there’s something else on his mind.

Now, this may veer into overinterpretation, but for the sake of thoroughness, let’s also include the blink and you’ll miss it moment before the Lucia procession where Henry notices Wilmon texting each other. In this cropped screenshot, you can see him looking at Simon, who has just put his phone down and is looking over at Wille.

1.06: Henry shows restraint

As we know, Henry is the only classmate who tries to treat Wille normally after the video, asking if he “saw the match yesterday” (he absolutely knows Wille didn’t). What is perhaps less noticeable is that he also shows more restraint than most of his schoolmates when the rumour mill gets going.

In this scene, Henry is pretty dispassionate reminding Walter that Wilmon sat next to each other at movie night and the two of them talked about it. There is a stark contrast to Walter, who absolutely pounces on that bit of gossip.

This one quick scene could just be a coincidence, but the same thing happens again when Wilmon return to school. Instead of engaging with the others who are all eagerly talking and whispering, Henry is already sitting at his desk minding his own business when Wille arrives. His only reaction to Simon showing up is this quick look, which is immediately followed by his show of kindness to Wille:

So the restraint does look very intentional.

As an aristocrat, monarchist and Society boy, Henry is loyal to Wille, who he now knows has been carrying on with Simon for a while already. He also knows how far Wille went to protect Simon, despite the fact that Simon had actually supplied the drugs, so he is going to side with Wille.

What’s more, Henry’s behaviour in these scenes also confirms that he isn’t hostile to Simon. We can surmise he probably doesn’t think Simon is the most appropriate choice of partner for the crown prince, but he is willing to take his cues from Wille. We never see him sneer, joke, or say anything nasty about Wilmon as a couple (cf. Stella and Fredrika joking about surrogacy).

We are also shown his reaction to Wille hugging Simon before we move on to season two.

2.02: the floorball hug and walk-by

The first interaction between Henry and Simon in S2 is them celebrating a floorball goal with a spontaneous hug, as seen at the top of this post. What a difference a term makes!

Now, I don’t think this moment is meant to signify that they are friends all of a sudden, and I do feel it comes slightly out of the blue. I suspect it was included as a nod to those who already liked Henry after S1, but I for one would’ve preferred to actually see their reconciliation.

But then again, if their initial antagonism was always class conflict rather than personal beef, maybe there was no need for apologies…? Maybe each of them just accepted that the other was going to be around and decided to try and get along (potentially aided by their shared rowing team history)? Henry is following Wille’s lead as we already saw – and as for Simon, I doubt he would be hugging Henry even in the heat of a game if he held a grudge. Whether we saw it or not, they have moved on.

In the same episode, we also have the locker room scene.

Contrary to popular opinion, I don’t believe Henry actually overhears the entire conversation, but he may have still heard something about them having to wait two years (as Simon did raise his voice for that). It’s also possible he comes out of this scene assuming that Wilmon still “hang out” in secret. In any case, he probably assumes that Wille wants to keep the whole thing quiet, as per the usual “policy” on queer relationships among the upper classes. In addition to his monarchist ways, he also seems to be casually friendly with Wille in S2 (keeps inviting him to do stuff, from coffee to pranking Sprucewood). So it makes a lot of sense for him to keep whatever he overhears or suspects to himself.

2.03, 2.05 and 2.06: book report scenes

While Henry must be a nightmare to have in the group, he and Simon are nice to each other in all the book report scenes. This is further proof that they are in a place where they can talk civilly and even work together.

They start the project before the rowing race and only present it the day before the gun range scene, which means they had these group sessions for at least a few weeks (the timeline is a bit wonky here).

2.04: Henry snitches on Wille and Felice

The lunch scene at the start of the episode starts with this bit of vicarious interaction, as Henry and Simon (and Wille too) are amused by the nonsense Walter is spouting about girls:

Also, Walter's monologue feels more comphet every time rewatch it, but I digress.

As this post is focused on Henry and Simon, I’m not going to dig too deep into Henry’s role in spreading the story about Wille and Felice. Suffice it to say that he did tell his canonically gossipy bestie Walter, and it was recently pointed out to me that he seems to have let something slip to someone else as well. In the common room, Walter goes “det var du som sa till…” [you were the one who said to…] just as the focus shifts to Wille and Nils, which suggests that Henry either purposely told someone or misspoke without realising it. The latter would explain why he seems genuinely appalled when Wille confronts him, but it’s not a hill I’d be willing to die on!

If Henry did spread the story on purpose, I assume it was because getting with Felice was considered a credit to Wille and also “fair game” to tell, unlike the relationship with Simon that Wille wanted to keep hidden.

Still, Henry and Simon are definitely on better terms in S2. Even though Henry inadvertently causes pain to Simon with his part in the Wille and Felice thing, they still keep working together on the book report without any animosity.

Insofar as Henry’s lacklustre effort can be called working. Simon is a bigger person than I am for not blowing up at him when he announces right before the presentation that he won’t be taking any questions because he barely read the book.

3.01: background Henry

We start S3 off with this one-sided interaction where Henry reacts to Wilmon kissing with a mild smirk. No more waiting or secrets to keep.

3.02: double standards on the camping trip

It’s not entirely clear what Henry is thinking when he says the infamous line about gay couples being allowed to share but not straight ones. I think some people read it as him deliberately putting Wilmon on the spot, but personally, I doubt he even realises it’s going to make them uncomfortable. He’s just noticing the double standard and pointing it out to mess with the teacher.

While Simon is very clearly not pleased with Henry for the comment (glares at him while saying to Wille that people are going to think they plan to have sex), he does not seem to hold that against him. Because what we do see them doing soon?

Sitting next to each other by the fire, even though Henry could’ve easily sat with Walter and Simon with Wille:

Also, it seems Henry isn't new to camping, as he tells Wille that part of the fire is too hot to grill a sausage in.

The part where things get interesting is when Henry acts classist towards the Marieberg students.

Henry seems to be down with meeting Rosh and Ayub, who are there as Wille and Simon’s friends. But after Fredrika brings up New York, he agrees that the situation turned “stiff as fuck.” That stiffness was entirely Fredrika’s fault (I think she is at least semi-consciously trying to mark herself as the most compatible partner for Stella there), but Henry seems to feel it was more about Rosh and Ayub not fitting in.

He also sneers and makes nasty comments when the other Marieberg students get into an altercation with Malin, which elicits a frown from Simon.

And yet, Simon does not condemn Henry as strongly as he might have done in the past.

Importantly, Simon tells Wille “it wasn’t the right time for everyone to meet.” This indicates that he could’ve imagined them all getting along at a better time, and it’s pretty clear that includes Henry. Furthermore, “you [meaning Wille and the others] don’t realise how privileged you are sometimes” is actually a pretty neutral way of putting it. Simon would have been entirely justified if he had called the others classist pricks, but he blames their privilege and lack of understanding instead of their character.

All of this forms a backdrop for my interpretation of the scenes in the next episodes.

3.03: First of May

Simon: “You do know that you’re not off so you can party the day before, right?” Henry: “Uhh…what?” Simon: “It’s the First of May.” […] “The day of the labour movement?” Henry: “Okay, so what’s their style? How do they celebrate?” Simon, scoffing: “You don’t celebrate. You demonstrate.” [Henry and Walter share a chuckle]

This may be a controversial take, but I don’t think Henry is being particularly nasty to Simon here.

He actually looks and sounds quite sincere asking how the labour movement celebrates. When he and Walter laugh, it reads more as “there he goes again, our very own sosse, saying wacky things!” than the kind of disdain he expressed towards the Marieberg students in the last episode.

Simon also doesn’t take the laughter as an insult; he’s just stupefied by their ignorance. Also, note that he already scoffed at Henry’s question, marking it as silly.

This exchange is immediately followed by Vincent attacking Simon for his beliefs, which feels like an intentional trick to create contrast between his and Walty’s treatment of Simon.

3.04: the lollipop

In this scene, Henry starts out asking quite nicely and seriously if Simon has another lollipop, as if they had that kind of rapport. Simon makes a face, but then he just shakes his head and nicely says no. It’s only then that Henry switches to offering money for the already half-eaten lollipop, to which Simon reacts with disbelief.

He does not, however, get snarky with Henry. He settles for exchanging a look with Wille as Walty go on to complain about the hunger strike. Only when Henry isn’t present anymore does Simon point out to Wille how ridiculous he was being.

In a sort of parallel to the lunch scene, Simon and Wille now share a chuckle at the wacky thing Henry said:

Feel free to disagree, but I actually wonder if this could be a common pattern between Simon and Henry. They have accepted that they aren’t going to see eye to eye on many things, but instead of getting into conflict, they just roll their eyes/laugh at how the other can seriously believe/say such things. Then they let the conversation move on to something else.

Which is a perfectly valid dynamic. They can acknowledge that their outlooks on life are wildly different without hating each other for it.

3:06: Henry includes Simon

Look, I dislike the library scene as much as the next person. The talk that Henry interrupts between Wilmon was so much more important than anything he could possibly say. It was just a moment of comic relief that didn’t add anything to the story.

Except… Now that we are tracing Henry and Simon’s “not-quite friendship” arc, this scene does give us a conclusion.

Henry: “Hi! Uh, what are you wearing tonight?” [He rambles on about clothes] Wille: “I don’t know if… If I’m coming.” Henry: “Okay…?” Simon: “I don’t know if I can come either.” Henry: “Oh come on, you two have to come!” [He rambles on about how much fun it will be] Simon: “Yeah, we’ll see. I have to go now.” Henry: “The point is that we have to be together! This is the only night we have together, maybe ever. [I mean, we are brothers!]”

In Swedish, Henry goes “vi är ju bröder” just as the music starts. This has been translated to “we are like brothers” in the English CC, which is already quite something, but the little word ju makes the original even stronger. It means that something is true, so instead of just saying they are like brothers, Henry is saying that is what they are.

(In the dub, there is an audible pause after like, so Henry is actually using it as a filler word. They should have put a comma in the CC to denote that.)

Given that Henry prefaces this ramble with “you two have to come” and barely stops to acknowledge Simon’s exit, there’s every reason to assume he is still talking about all of them. He is saying he considers himself, Wille, and also Simon part of the brotherhood that will be disbanded indefinitely come morning and wants them all to have one last night of fun together.

Simon never hears the brothers part and is of course frustrated with Henry for interrupting, but he still takes his leave on a casually friendly note. He gets that Henry wants him to come and have fun (Henry is likely unaware that Simon doesn’t drink when he tries to persuade them both by talking about the alcohol). Thus, Simon politely says “we will see” even though he has zero intention of going.

We do not see them interact at the party when Simon turns up after all, but we do hear Henry being ushered away when Simon comes to talk to Wille. We don’t see it’s Henry, but someone insists that he wants to stay just as we see Walter and Alexander leave, and all three of them were there moments before:

I’m tempted to end this with a parallel to Wille’s initiation party.

Way back in 1.01, Henry and Simon were explicitly shown discussing the first party with their friends. They never talked about it with each other or interacted there – Henry attended as part of the in-crowd, and Simon only got to go because he supplied the alcohol. But for this last party, Henry is the one to get the alcohol, and he specifically invites Simon to come. They still don’t hang out at the party as they are both there with their respective friends, i.e. in their own bubbles, but those bubbles do bump into/brush past one another without clashing.

Kind of like Henry and Simon’s lives.

Thank you for reading this marathon post! I hope my take on these two brings something to your next rewatch, whether you agree with me or not!