#this is barely a coherent post

[mossy-aro]

sometimes finding aromanticism in media isn’t literally about aromanticism… sometimes it’s about the deconstruction of love as a concept and the subversion of its perception as inherently humanising. it’s about the decentering of romance as a driving force in the narrative. and also sometimes it’s about love being central to the narrative but in a way that defies all traditional categorisations of romantic / platonic / anything else. it is the secret third thing yet so much more and less at once. the point is aromanticism is everywhere for those with eyes to see

[onewomancitadel]

I was crying again over the Dark ending yesterday and bf offered an interpretation which made me cry more but also completely transforms the ending for me and now I'm absolutely dead sure it was an intended interpretation and I'm going to claw my eyes out.

The confluence between Martha -> Martha and Jonas -> Jonas (the deaths/alternate selves) to me suggests a direct psychic/spiritual confluence, that is, they're not separate entities but the same (reincarnating) self, and the last scene where Jonas and Martha are together <3 and disappearing into angel dust <3 is kind of them both dying and living at the same time, because then it cuts directly to Hannah pregnant with Jonas (: and her recognition of the yellow rainjacket, which represents both Jonas and Martha.

So it's not even just a small promise of them finding each other again, it directly mirrors the previous ways Martha and Jonas had died and then reborn again. I hadn't twigged this element and it feels really intentional (that Martha dies -> Martha appears, Jonas dies -> Jonas appears, Martha and Jonas disappear into angel dust -> Hannah is pregnant with Jonas and the rainjacket is there). Then bf also pointed out that the same things happen in different ways in the alternate world, and it stands to reason that this is true of the original one.

Also I had originally read the angel dust scene as them dying, but it's not really that, and I was crying over the fact that Jonas and Martha are actually spared the mortal curse in the story, after they had been punished repeatedly. They're angels and cosmic mother/father of the world and they saved everybody and they're going to be reborn and find each other again (:

[americanmoths]

extreme home makeover

“Your father deserves a second Dementor’s Kiss just for buying that piece-of-shit vase,” Harry says in hour six of an intense argument with Draco, when he’s exchanged his legitimate gripes for pettier weapons.

Draco huffs. “Confrigo.” The vase explodes.

Right on schedule: Hour six is usually when they stop fighting with words at all.

“Bombarda!” “Protego!” “Incendio! INCENDIO!”

The curtains catch on fire.

When Harry first started sleeping with Draco, Draco had matching houndstooth-patterned furniture. His ottoman had gone first, after Draco met Harry’s conventionally attractive (male) Auror partner. Then the love seat, because Harry learned Draco’s mother didn’t know they were dating. Then the couch and the coffee table and the chandelier, when Draco told Harry he loved him and Harry hadn’t immediately said it back.

“Fuck you! Those drapes were handmade and imported and—uh!” Harry pulls Draco against him, both of them breathing hard, their bodies ready for hour seven of the argument, when they always find more pleasurable uses for anger and adrenaline. But first:

“Your living room looks like a battlefield, and you don’t have much furniture left.” Harry says. “Move in with me?”

--

for @drarrymicrofic prompt: inhale | on ao3

[casdeans-pie]

If I could pitch season 16 of Supernatural:

Dean wakes up and it turns out that everything from 15x18 was an Empty Nightmare because he actually grabbed Cas just before he got taken, so got pulled in too.

Sam and Jack have been trying to get them both out for 5 years.

Jack still got the God Powers but he's whimsical with them and retains his personality. He wants to try and preserve human free will. But also helps in small ways where he can. (and still pops into the bunker for a bowl of cereal from time to time)

Sam is the 'new Bobby' in the MOL bunker - sending out hunters and knowing all the lore about all the monsters. (Also he practices witchcraft on the side)

No blurry wife - Sam and Eileen are engaged - and no Dean Jr. But! they are considering having a kid soon. And! They can get married now that Dean and Cas are back!

Dean and Cas heartfelt reunion!!! Clinging hug!!!! Never let me go again!!!! We're not talking about the confession but we both want to!!!!! etc etc

Cas is still an angel and Jack offers to make him an archangel !! Cas feels like he should say yes out of obligation (even if he doesn't want to leave) but Dean actually FINALLY asks him. to stay? (Cas immediately declines Jack's offer)

Dean struggles with the memories of his Empty Nightmare. (It was just SO bad. But also he tries to describe Old Man Sam and his bad hair and that cheers him up.)

The original Death is back because he never really died, he just didn't want to be involved in all the Winchester shenanigans. But he's back now that all the world-ending chaos is over. (Tessa is also back as his second-in-command)

Billie is the new ruler over the Empty, and it's a place of eternal rest now. Very peaceful. Meg is there and she's having a great time relaxing.

Crowley comes back as a human for a second chance. He's still kind of an ass but he's lovable with it.

Lots of reunions and cameos. It's magic you can bring all sorts of characters back to life - a lot of them died unfairly in the first place. Bring them all back!

Dean! and! Cas! Kiss!

I want all the genres of kiss. Confused. Desperate. Relieved. Passionate. Tender.

The season is all very character focused and character driven and ties up any loose ends the show had left.

The drama comes from internal character struggles and with Dean and Cas figuring out where they fit into this 5 years on world now. (The answer is together doing whatever they want to and Dean comes to the realisation he wants to retire, but he struggles with reconciling that he wants to retire and Sam doesn't and they have to go on different paths now).

The series ends with the big Sam/Eileen wedding and it's just a huge party and gathering of all the cameos you can possibly think of. Friends, family, frenemies, some beloved characters who only appeared in one episode... they're all there.

Dean proposes to Cas by taking the loop from Baby's keys out of his pocket and getting down on one knee and using it like a ring stand-in (it's way too big but it's symbolic and cheesy and sweet and it doesn't matter)

Of course he says yes.

The end.

[moonlightandpalmtrees]

so at this point everyone’s made a crack at Watson and Holmes for going years living together and never telling each other about their respective brothers. But like. Watson never told Holmes about his brother because he didn’t like talking about him. He and his brother had a complicated relationship and I’m sure Watsons feelings about him only got more complicated after he died. Holmes never told Watson about HIS brother just cus he’s weird like that and almost as soon as he does get talking about Mycroft, he’s singing his praises.

I have this idea that when Watson found out about Mycroft at first he kinda rationalized Holmes never telling him about him by going “well, maybe they just aren’t close. maybe there’s a little hostility there. Maybe Holmes is jealous of him or something or other.” because, well. That’s why he didn’t tell Holmes about his brother. He couldn’t fault him if that was the case.

Until, of course he actually meets Mycroft in person and it’s very clear that Holmes was being completely genuine in his praise of his brother. And they don’t seem like they have a strained relationship at all. In fact, they’re happy to see each other. And they’re so alike in personality. Mycroft is pleasant to him on first meeting. He and Sherlock fire deductions back and forth like it’s a game to them, and in all honesty it might be. He writes that being reminded that Holmes has a family reminded him of Holmes’ humanity.

Do you think that Watson looks at the Holmes brothers dynamic and feels a little bittersweet remembering his own brother?

[dreamspring]

ismene/antigone; on being left behind

all highlighted excerpts from sophocles’ antigone, trans. hugh-lloyd jones // other excerpts in order: louise glück - tango / jodi picoult - my sisters keeper / unknown / mine / halsey - graveyard / unknown / mine / seamus heaney - the burial at thebes / mine

[theharellan]

Another thing that I felt should have been present in DA4 but wasn't is the question of elven identity in relation to the revelation that their oldest ancestors were once spirits.

If it was in the game I either missed it, or it was discussed too briefly for me to be satisfied with what we got. In the initial conversation, elf!Rook can question if they are a spirit and immediately be met with "you were conceived naturally" which sort of circumvents the point of discussion. It isn't about what Rook is, but their ancestors were.

The only banter I recall was one between Emmrich and Bellara where it felt more like two people who just had their fan theories confirmed rather than grappling with the history of her own ancestry. Then one between Davrin and Taash where Davrin insists he isn't a spirit (which he isn't) but nothing more.

I don't think all elves, upon learning the truth, would turn and look at spirits and think "are they my people, too?" but I think some would. I think some would feel horrified, some would wonder if they are demons because they have been taught that spirits are just demons waiting to happen, some would reject it entirely or choose not to think of it. I think there would be a thousand permutations of reactions upon learning the truth, and it would have been nice to get at least two. Davrin sort of falls into the "I'm not thinking about it" category, but Bellara clearly is and we seem to get no indication to what that is. She literally has a spirit trapped in an object in her room and it doesn't matter.

The revelation is treated as practical- we can't tell people the truth because people hate elves, and people hate spirits. The connection is sort of rationalised out of existence.

It is such a point of frustration when so much of Solas in DA:I is being forced to reckon with the opposite idea: that these physically birthed elves are, in some manner, his people and what it might mean if they are real. DA4 confirms theories we've had for ten years but then doesn't really reckon with them in any manner that is narratively satisfying to me.

[turtle-ly]

did you know that macaque's staff has a name in jttw too? It's called the "acquiescent staff of iron"/ “Acquiescent Iron Pole Arm” (随心铁杆兵, "Suíxīn tiěgǎn bīng"), or Tùy Tâm Thiết Can Binh in vnese. It clearly mirrors wukong's staff in name, the “As-You-Will Gold-Banded Staff” (Ruyi Jingu Bang), or Như Ý Kim Cô Bổng.

Now here's me being crazy based on the vnese translation alone, do NOT think of this as truth but there's at least a smidge of sense in my rambling because vietnamese is very close to chinese due to our history (the fancy names above and our old literature used a kind of phonetic translation of chinese called Hán Việt) and the meaning of chinese words more or less can be inferred by our Hán Việt version:

So the word "Như Ý" in wukong's staff name in almost only used in the phrase/blessing "Vạn sự như ý" in modern vnese, which means "may all things go your way/according to your wishes". Meanwhile, the phrase "Tùy Tâm" is used when asked about some sort of favor, for example a charity when asking for your donation will ask you to give an amount "according to your heart".

You see it right? "Như Ý" is more passive, you wish for it but not necessary go out of your way to achieve it, and "Tùy Tâm" being used in situations where your own conscience/empathy is judged, it demands you to actively question yourself to make an action. I've decided the names can play into mtwgo shadowpeach's mental states. Wukong wants freedom but afraid to pursue it at the cost of his sworn brotherhood, while macaque has always assessed the effort it takes to join in a fight, but ultimately he decided to go through all that hardship to right this wrong.

Furthermore, "Ý" means thoughts/ideas/will, which is one of the reasons the book has wukong store his staff in his ear/take the staff out of his "head", "Tâm" means heart in its literal sense and feelings in a slightly more abstract sense, so thats why i have macaque pull his shadow staff from the magic core in his chest. Fun detail isnt it? :3c

One more thing is that theres a chinese saying that goes like "mind-monkey, will-horse" (Tâm Viên Ý Mã) so Tâm -> Mind is also a very wukong/mac thing. That says, in mtwgo macaque's staff/ his strength to fight is summoned to serve wukong :)

The altered form of wukong's staff that macaque gonna use in mtwgo will be called Suixin Jingu Bang (As-You-Feel Gold-Banded Staff or Tùy Tâm Kim Cô Bổng), combining macaque's resolve/loyalty and wukong's strength. When he swings that staff with its body painted in his own color, his victims will also know wukong's might when the golden glint of its ends becomes the last thing they see.

[sesamestreep]

sexy himbo jock interpretations of James Tiberius Kirk are silly and do a disservice to the character for a lot of reasons, not least of which is that it fundamentally ignores all the times in canon when Kirk is faced with a scientific discovery or oddity and you can see the effort it takes for him not to clap and skip with excitement. like in ‘the devil in the dark’ when Spock posits that they might be dealing with a silicon based life form and McCoy’s like “but that’s impossible!” and Kirk literally crosses the room to flirt talk excitedly with Spock about the prospect and how it could work! and what it would mean!

What I’m saying is, Kirk’s gotta be smart and a huge dork because how else could he pull a bad autistic bitch like Spock?

[reboren]

[call-me-copycat]

I'm so sleepy... If you are someone I regularly message with, I'm going to be very very slow the next few days! Things could get better earlier, or they could stay busier for longer. Either way I'm just going to issue a warning (and apology) about taking forever when it comes to replying back >⁠.⁠< I read every message I get as soon as I get them! It's just it takes awhile for me to actually respond sometimes (⁠T⁠^T⁠)

Other than that, the letters will still be filled! A lot of them are actually on que right now ^⁠_⁠^ Thank you all for your patience and I'm sorry for the inconvenience!

[abigmessofablog]

i love you, characters who have the explicit purpose of representing entire concepts in the narrative. i love you, characters bigger than themselves. i love you allegorical characters. i love you characters so wrapped in metaphor and the creator philosophizing through you it eclipses you as a "person," i love you characters who haunt the narrative long after you're gone. i love you characters who are doomed because the thing that they represent are doomed. i love you characters who are more lesson then character.

[hiemaldesirae]

you knwo what. you know what. i can never fucking escape the game system trope no matter what fandom it is im just gonna play into it now

so actually the original concept for this was isekai where vox ends up getting booted into hell via a universal mishap but i think its funnier like this: where vox dies and since he did technically die for his friends, he ends up ascending to heaven but is greeted by a different angel instead of the seraphims who asks if he'd like a second chance instead

vox says yes thinking he'll just get sent down again and be back w the vees- this does not happen. instead he ends up back at the very first day he fell into hell with a "system" - one that tells him its a "gift" from heaven, no less, thats supposed to guide him through his time in hell to like . minmax his gains + his losses (emotional and material) if that makes sense . so the system walks him through his time in hell but suddenly there seems to be a problem . turns out an unanticipated side effect of the system is that vox has a similar presence to an archangel (the one who Gave him the damn thing) so a lot of people end up assuming hes some kinda fallen angel which makes it like 100% harder for him to go thru life^3

alastor in PARCTICULAR takes a very odd interest in him, wondering and asking if he has wings or if they were "burnt in your fall" meanwhile vox isnt quite sure whether he wants to take the chance to get close to al this time or just leave since deep down he knows itll end badly for him either way. the system makes the choice for him and starts to steer him away from al who in turn becomes even more intrigued by the fallen angel, who for whatever reason he swears feels familiar

[moonlightandpalmtrees]

“ ohhh, why does Holmes put up with Watson he’s not even useful (WRONG) “ “ ohhh why does Watson put up with Holmes he’s such a jerk (ALSO WRONG) “ BECAUSE THEY LIKE EACH OTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holmes respects Watsons skills as a doctor and an army man. He enjoys his company, and Watson makes an EFFORT to understand him in a way very few people have done before. He genuinely cares for Watson and way too many adaptions seem to forget that detail. He plays violin to help him fall asleep, he‘s always tries to bring Watson along with him on cases, “it’s both or none”, “You're not hurt, Watson? For god's sake say that you are not hurt!”, “I am lost without my Boswell”

Watson finds Holmes interesting and we have years of him cataloguing all of Holmes’ mannerisms and habits to prove it! If he found Holmes’ bad habits or quirks annoying, he wouldn’t follow him around like a puppy just to call him brilliant. If he didn’t want to go on cases with him, he wouldn’t go on the cases simple as that. “I won’t leave you, not unless you order me to”, “It was worth a wound, it was worth many wounds”, “During my long and intimate acquaintance with Mr. Sherlock Holmes-“

[bikefuckersoftheworldunite]

following from this post

this passage about vale’s (lack of) relationship w max biaggi:

vs some of vale’s actual quotes:

That line “For example, if I were betrayed by a friend, then yes, I could hate him” is addressing Sete, it’s literally about him (something which @ batsplat discussed with me at length in dms, so credit to her). It has to be presented as a hypothetical because their friendship has been erased from the narrative, both in Vale’s autobiography and also just in general. Some articles might mention offhandedly that they were friends but pretty much nobody, and especially not motogp journalists, ever asks “But what does it actually mean?”

Anyways, Valentino chooses to frame Qatar fallout in terms of it being a betrayal (of their friendship! of Vale!). Isn’t it fascinating how he uses these terms to talk about something his literal direct competitor has done (allegedly)? Why? Because they had a personal relationship, something that could be ‘changed’ or ‘betrayed’. They were friends, actual friends who would spend time off the track with each other, not just polite coworkers. Not close friends, obviously, but good enough. And crucially they’ve been friends for years before becoming rivals, before Valentino even joined the premier class, in fact.

And then the rivalry made that relationship even more intense, especially in 2004 when the stakes couldn’t have been higher for them both. And that wholly personal intensity tinges everything about this rivalry. Sete really got under Valentino’s skin as a rival. That’s why Vale acted the way he did post fallout. The comments, the post race celebrations and all those (three!) t-shirts. This was not just Vale having ‘a laff’ while remaining unaffected himself. It was the opposite and it was born out of desire to delegitimize Sete as an opponent, make it all into a joke and not something that could ever strongly affect Vale. The key point here is that he wanted it to be that way not that it was like that in reality. Because on track? It couldn’t have been more serious. Phillip Island 2004 is not about some abstract desire to win or whatever; it’s about risking it all to win over That Particular Guy. Likewise, Jerez 2005 is about making a desperate last corner pass because under no circumstance That Particular Guy should ever be the winner. And then making a show out of it afterwards, while mocking the guy for being in pain. And not just anyone but someone who used to be a friend. Crucially it was not something he was ever fully comfortable with. It’s all about making a show of it and having the audience as a buffer. Not being able to engage with the guy in person, avoiding even looking at him etc.

And Valentino is not ‘crazy’. He is actually very good at accessing the risks and generally being levelheaded……..

vale when asked if he ‘let sete win at welkom 2003 [in this interview after jerez 2003]:

vs these assorted quotes about phillip island 2004, but particularly:

…….until he throws all that out of the window. For one particular person, regardless if they were direct title rivals or not anymore. There is a certain obsessive and possessive quality to this rivalry. Like Valentino really wanted to twist the knife that badly every chance he got on track (and off it).

Let’s conclude this post with an excerpt from this article published right after Le Mans 2005:

[most of the quotes here are autotranslated from italian]