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raayllum · 2 years

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Why S4 is Good, Actually: Part 1, The Rayla Edition

Re: basically just writing out my own thoughts but also responses to criticisms of Rayla’s characterization and (later) the Rayllum subplot this season. Not meant to change anyone’s mind, but to get my own thoughts out of my head so they can stop rattling around my brain. Also because this is the main part of the season I’ve seen people critique that I also care about discussing, mostly because all of it was some of my favourites and stuff I’ve come to enjoy and appreciate more and more about the season itself. As this is a meta post this is largely a one sided stance, I’m not particularly interested in debating, and I just wanted to write about how I appreciated the season’s overall consistency, what they did overtly, and what they left to implication to be expanded upon later. Okay? Okay.

To start with, we’re gonna talk about

Rayla in S4

Basically: they did a lot of interesting things with Rayla in S4 both overtly and heavily through implication that, when gathered together, paint a very clear and interesting picture of the ways she’s both stayed the same and has radically changed as a person, as well as why I think we’ll get to see a lot more of her psyche and what she (and possibly Claudia) went through during the timeskip.

So first, let’s start with the similarities:

1) Independent

Rayla is still fiercely independent in S4 just as she was in the previous seasons, if not in some ways more so, and to her detriment and her strength.

She also typically believes people can handle themselves with very little fuss, mostly because she generally can.

2) Cynical with a sense of humour

Rayla has always been a more cynical leaning person. Although arguably too idealistic and compassionate for her people, she is still typically the pessimist / wet blanket in the group (unless Callum is being grumpy over her safety and human impressions) and this carries over into S4.

She also still loves annoying Callum on purpose (“Ugh, I was teasing, Callum”) and maintains her typical more morbid sense of humour bordering on blase.

3) Protective and Compassionate

Rayla remains both protective and compassionate over the people she loves, rushing to Callum’s side when Claudia shows up, placing herself in front of the boys when danger arises, embracing and helping Zym mourn, and even being the one to check of whether Ibis was dead and keeping Ezran from having to do so.

4) Body language

Rayla still has her quirk of placing a hand over her left (previously bound) wrist when she’s uncertain and nervous. She does so in each of her reunion with the boys, and notably stands with both hands clasped when she first sees Callum again and is waiting to see how he’ll respond, and when she is at Ibis’ funeral.

5) Blame

The only phrase that Rayla consistently says is “This is my fault” or “all my fault” and sure enough, S4 delivers on that too when she realizes Soren has gone missing and that he may be in danger, as well as her repeated fear of continually “messing things up.”

6) Uncertainty

Rayla is a character often plagued by uncertainty, both concerning the choices she makes and where she belongs, and how those two things are deeply interrelated. This is particularly true in her imposed exile from the Moonshadow elves and being set apart from her troupe, her initial fear of the boys hating her in s1 and s2 upon learning about Harrow, her homecomings to the Silvergrove and to Katolis yielding very different responses. Callum basically completely iced her out even when she was braced for anything, and so it’s understandable she’s uncertain about how Ezran may respond, too (but more on the reunion scenes later).

Differences:

1) Purpose

Arguably the biggest difference between Rayla in seasons one to three and season four is her general lack of purpose in season four. This is not to say she doesn’t serve a purpose plot or emotions wise in season four for herself or other characters, but that she herself doesn’t have a mission anymore, and that’s behaviour we haven’t really seen from her (outside of TTM and even then, so much of it was dominated by behaviour and feeling like her mission maybe wasn’t actually over).

As far as we know (and again, I do think for a variety of reasons we will learn more in the future about what she and Claudia got up to during the timeskip), she comes back to Katolis to repair things with Callum, but seeing as he won’t talk to her, that’s basically a non-starter. And we see how rattled she is, given that in S1-S3 she always knew what she felt she should be doing - taking Zym back to Xadia, then freeing Pyrrah, then staying behind at the Spire due to loyalty to the Dragon Queen / royal family and her parents’ failures. But now just faced with her own failure without something to chase after, she’s not sure how to go about it.

She’s not even sure if they want her around. Furthermore, she’s been rattled enough by her time away / the response her return to not be sure about doing whatever she can to protect the world anymore, because she doesn’t want to impose, and because she’s been Ghosted once before.

The one moment she shows zero hesitation is when she sees Viren, and her old mission - her failed one - has been placed right back in her hands, along with a new one of hopefully saving her family. S5 is going to give her more than one purpose to chase, and I’m curious to see where it will go.

Although I started this section prior to the release of this interview, I also found this quote from the creators about Rayla in s4 and leading into S5 to corroborate this reading as well:

To me, one of the things about [the coin scene] actually has to do with [the fact that] Rayla has had to come back after two years of obsession and being mission-focused on finding Viren. Part of her growth is that she wants to be more normal and see if she can rebuild trust with Callum. Now, Claudia has basically handed her the next thing to be obsessed about.

2) Revenge vs Justice

So, like everyone else, I also drew comparisons back in the day when Through The Moon came out, and we had Rayla setting out on yet another mission to king of Katolis, a seeming reset of her inherently circular narrative that, like her first mission, would ultimately end up being fruitless, as Viren had to live to be villainous (or an obstacle) for another day). While the context was wildly different (Viren had done personal harm to her and her loved ones, whereas she knew very little about Harrow and even less about Ezran), even her letter reaffirmed the strong, mirrored similarities in her mindset from her first mission, plagued by grief and self doubt, and her second.

R (in 1x02): I have to do this. I’m sorry. I don’t want to, but I have to. R (in “Dear Callum”): You’ll wake up and try to stop me… from doing what I know I have to do. Leaving. But I can’t let you stop me, Callum. No matter how much I want to.

We know given Rayla’s “I can fix it” mindset and the deep shame she felt over her parents abandoning their mission and running away that she likely begged, or argued, for her right to go on the assassination mission to Katolis in the first place. We know that Rayla thought she was doing the right thing in going along on the assassination mission, that it was inevitable justice that could not be denied, a way to make up for her parents’ mistakes and to protect her people.

It’s not out of line for Rayla, once again lost, grieving, feeling powerless and fearful and so utterly ashamed, to throw herself into a quest to kill a human king. Yes, TTM was about Rayla wanting closure about her parents, but more so in some ways it was about her needing reassurance that Viren was dead. But after two years of nothing, she had to be feeling the weight of it. What if she can’t find something because there’s nothing to find?

I also think it’s important to consider both halves of her statement here as well.

R: We had something so special. But I became so obsessed with revenge that I risked losing the best thing I ever had. You.

The same way Rayla was able to let go of her anger in 2x07 at Callum doing dark magic, she’s able to let go (or at least try to) regarding some of her grief and obsession: “I can’t lose you like this. You mean too much to me.” Again, I’ll believe we’ll eventually see what made her come back, given it’s implied to be a very recent choice (roughly a week ago from 4x02) and she was furious at Viren as well (in addition to refuse risking losing Callum, as well: “I can’t risk you coming with me”).

So again, while ‘revenge’ wasn’t her primary factor in leaving in TTM, I can see how it would evolve into that after two years of relative loneliness and having little else but her thoughts to consider. It wasn’t like her decision to leave and go after Viren was ever well thought out, either. If revenge is something you take out of paranoia and grief, and justice is something you do for others, then yeah, I can see how that would fit Rayla’s definitions of each and move back and forth.

However, the way I think Rayla has actually changed the most during timeskip, is how much more

3) Jaded

she is in S4. This is the difference that stuck out the most to me throughout the season, largely given her scenes in 4x05 with Soren and even in the finale, yet it also provided an interesting and vivid contrast in her relationship with Callum. Whereas before in seasons one through three Rayla was typically a bit more cynical about their mission (“Great, I’m wet and miserable and we’ve saved no time at all” / “Really, that’s all we have to go on? Some mountain where the magical healer appeared three years ago?”) she still had a strong idealistic streak. She still believed that they, and herself, could make a real difference in the world. It was her relationship with Callum where she was a bit more skeptical, best shown when she clams up after their inopportune first kiss and subsequent misunderstanding: “We walk away, and this never happened.”

Now, that’s largely reversed in S4. She’s hopeful if unsure about coming back. She believes she can make a difference and they can talk things out, if she’s just patient (although more on that later) and gives him time, space, and understanding.

And despite witnessing the horror of his possession and hearing him talk about how it felt and how deep his fears run, she outright rejects his fatalistic conclusion. Perhaps because she’s seen him do the impossible before (connecting to a primal), because she’s seen his stubbornness and growth, and because she flat out refuses to consider the alternative that he’s right. How can she lose him and how can she possibly kill him?

However, this patient optimistic attitude, her steady belief in Callum’s survival, and arguably her core defining trait in previous seasons (“Rayla, you saved Bait!” “Rayla’s brave. She saves people” “That’s what makes her a hero. That’s what makes her Rayla’) is starkly at odds with her response to Soren in 4x05.

Being called a Dragonguard, a title that once made her nearly cry tears of joy for the way it honoured her parents, earns an eye roll here. A defenseless (not innocent) dragon surrounded by human guards was once enough to make Rayla leave her mission of taking Zym back to Xadia in order to free it. Now, in a scenario where she and Soren would have the numbers advantage, Rayla chooses to walk away without looking back and encourages Soren to do the same. Rayla cites that “There’s too much at stake,” but her priorities were vastly different before. Is it just doubt in her abilities after two years of failing to find Viren or Claudia and finding out they’d been causing trouble anyhow, trouble she could’ve prevented if she’d just been better?

Or did something else, more sinister, happen to her during the timeskip, an even greater failure that made her abandon her mission and choose to come home to Callum after all this time?

Either way, this was one of the most interesting scenes in the season to me, and I can’t wait to see it being expanded upon. But now onto some of the other changes, namely:

4) Patience

Rayla in S1-S3 is both a patient and impatient person. She’s caring and compassionate, as previously stated, but can also be impatient, perpetually pushing the boys to move forward faster, not wanting to waste time, etc. This doesn’t mean she doesn’t have room for some silliness or taking a scenic route, but even in her responses, she can be huffy and snarky.

However, in s4, Rayla never tries to hurry the group along. Partially because unlike before, she’s not the most experienced in the group (Zubeia is there for sections) nor does she have to keep the boys on task the same way as before. Their maturity, mixed with her uncertainty, keeps her overall more regulated.

This development is also in line with her gradual development from the first three seasons. Season three Rayla is far more patient, softer with the boys, and willing to indulge them than season one Rayla (even if she’s never quite the hard-ass she wants to be, most of the time) and part of this is due to her growing open-ness. 1x06 sees Rayla at her most impatient because she’s purposefully hiding something. In season four, given the way she left things, her impatience wouldn’t have much of a leg to stand on.

That said, we still see glimpses of Rayla being impatient and affronted, particularly with Rex Igneous

but it is fun to see the way she’s matured, in a small manner, anyway.

5) Failure

This one is kind of a middle ground, as it’s hardly a resolved element of her character, even if we do see Rayla begin to make real development in season four as well. Failure has always haunted Rayla since her very first scene and a concept she’s wrestled with throughout every season. In s1-s3, we see her struggle between “failure = worthlessness” with her mission and her people, versus her failing and attempting to maintain her relationship with the boys as well. (More on each of these topics later.)

We do see this come back around in S4, though, specifically in Rayla’s admissions that

So while her view of failure isn’t exceedingly different, her determination to fix it and keep going at all costs has changed and faltered, a bit.

This is compounded a few times in the season four finale in brutally quick succession. Rayla discovers that Viren was alive and she let him live this long thanks to her failure to find him; she fails to catch the coins her family is imprisoned in; and is tricked by Claudia, failing to negotiate for the map or to stop the dark mage from progressing in her evil quest. It’s no wonder that Rayla has a fucking breakdown.

However, the biggest difference in how she views failure is that now, when she fails, she will at least purposefully show up to face the music and/or want to come back home anyway, and that’s huge, after the Silvergrove.

With Callum no longer having to run after her to drag her back (or bail her out, come hell or high water) — at least for now.

Previous Season Context

Last but not least, as previously alluded to, we have context from Rayla’s behaviour in previous seasons to provide additionally inference given her behaviour, changes, and choices. She takes Callum’s anger largely the same way she took his and Ezran’s in response to Harrow, since we know from her body language, dialogue, etc. that she knows she messed up in leaving the way she did. (More thoughts later on what, exactly Rayla thinks she’s at fault for, though.)

There are some differences, though. Unlike in 2x03 where Rayla let Callum walk away from her and then waited for him to approach her again, Rayla does advocate to stay, giving him room to express his hurt as much as she can, even if he’s unwilling to take her up on it.

The other big point of contention I want to address is the apology, or lack thereof. Not only are Moonshadow elves from a society where you rarely apologize in words, and instead make amends through actions (re: Ethari offering Rayla his hand > an apology as just one example) but as the show goes on, we see Callum and Rayla explicitly apologize less to each other. For example, they both say some rather nasty things (“Oh, you have a nicer word for it? Honour, redemption? It’s just pride!” “Then you don’t know me at all! You never did”) and neither apologizes. They simply calmly and gently talk things out when he shows up to deliver new information, and resolve the issue together.

Then, we have Rayla’s actual apology she delivers to Ezran (who notably didn’t get a goodbye by any measure when she left, per TTM):

R: Hello Ezran. I didn’t know if you’d want to see me again after the way I left. I’m so sorry that I—

This mirrors some of what she said to Callum (“Callum, I know my leaving hurt you”) yet also shows an interesting peek into her possible frame of mind. Rayla doesn’t apologize for leaving, just how she left. She regrets that it caused pain, she holds herself privately accountable (i.e. “I became so obsessed” when Callum is asleep) but doesn’t voice any of it aloud (again, more on that later). This is also still in line with why she left, partially out of grief, fear, anger, and compounded by the patterns passed down by her parents, specifically Lain and Tiadrin.

I also wasn’t put off by her “He’s just joking” line to Stella regarding Callum, since it’s 1) a decent attempt at some typical downplaying Rayla humour and 2) is being used to placate her protective cuddlemonkey. I also think there’s a few other layers going on under the surface.

C: Oh, so you disappeared for two years for no reason at all?! S: [screeches] R: Shh, it’s okay! Callum’s nice. He’s just joking.

The first is Rayla calling Callum nice even when he’s actively yelling at her and saying just about what could possibly cut her the deepest, yet also something she’s had to come to terms with in order to come back. However, on the prior point of apology, Rayla didn’t leave for nothing: she left to protect him.

I’ve got one more gift for you, Callum. It’s not cake or kisses, but it’s something more important than that. I’M GOING TO KEEP YOU SAFE. I have to. I love you too much not to.

She just has nothing to show for it except mutual heartbreak. Furthermore, we see Rayla take this straightforward, yet blasé stance before.

To me, the most important thing in the Reunion Scene isn’t that Rayla is overtly casual; she’s a mess and barely hiding it, clutching her wrist, constantly looking at and distracting herself with Stella as a coping mechanism, trailing after Callum with each perpetual wall, and fighting just to be able to stay and sit silently on a couch next to her boyfriend all night after he tries to leave the room and completely ices her out. (And Callum has a right to be angry, but say it with me: more on that later.)

She didn’t expect Callum to take her back and welcome her home like nothing ever happened. She hoped for it, maybe; braced for his temper and an argument. She had all day and all week to emotionally prepare for seeing him again, while he was caught completely unawares. What catches her the most off guard is that, in every situation she likely imagined, Callum not wanting to talk to her at all was not one of them, and given that he was a kid who liked to talk about everything, she’s not off base to feel that surprise, either.

She doesn’t see his eyeroll and his anger before he turns around; those happen with his back to her. The furthest they get is:

C: Rayla, what are you doing here? R: I came back. C: Yeah. I can see that. R: You look nice, Callum. (Cue post-sleep crusties almost confession levels of diaster) C: Right. Well, thanks. R: You too, Bait. All day, all week really, I’ve been feeling so nervous and kind of edge-frazzled, you know? But now, finally seeing you, I feel... still nervous.

He says short, clipped sentences to her that are mostly confused, heartbroken, and then awkwardly unsure of how to respond and process what’s happening. Nothing up to that point indicated any anger.

She’s not wrong to be thrown by an icier form of his temper, and she’s not wrong to stand her ground in the storm, either.

Verdict / Conclusion

Originally this meta was also going to include a further breakdown of Callum and Rayla’s characterization and arcs in S4 explicitly related to each other, but 1) I’m tired and 2) this is long enough, so the more Rayllum-y companion meta piece will be posted under “Why S4 is Good, Actually: Part 2, The Rayllum Edition” sometime later this week.

As for some closing notes, I’ll say this:

It is perfectly on brand for us to not get more insight on Rayla’s emotional state in S4 because she refuses to share it (just as she often refuses to share negative emotions or experiences) and particularly because she’s attempting to reconcile, and I’ll touch more on this emotional de-valuation and de-prioritization of herself in the accompanying meta because it’s one of the things that stands out the most to me in S4, tbh.

And precisely because she hasn’t fundamentally changed at all in the ways she needs to, that leaves Rayllum in both a simultaneously very dynamic yet very stagnant state that I think is heartbreaking, interesting, and a surefire work in progress in ways that can push them both to grow in the ways that they need to.

In many ways they’ve concurrently switched roles and are also more like each other in general, good and bad, than ever before, and I’m really excited to talk about it.

One of the most important things about Rayla has always been what she doesn’t say and even then, to not take her “I’m (obviously not) fine” ass at face value. Season four isn’t any different, I still think it reveals and nudges her character to where it needs to be at this point (also reframed with slower pacing in general in mind) and I’d be far more concerned if the season hadn’t ended with her running after Viren than I am with how it ended(?) at all. I’m excited to see where she (and everyone else in her immediate emotional arc periphery, such as Callum and Viren) go from here and how season four may be further re-contextualized.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed reading, and perhaps, that this put you a little more at ease regarding our favourite Moonshadow elf assassin girl and her big broken, compassionate heart.

#rayllum #tdp rayla #rayla #caylangst #s4 #tdp #the dragon prince #tdp meta #analysis series #analysis #listened to 'fast car' while writing this like a Freak #arc 1 #arc 2 #characterization #parallels

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algrenion · 9 months

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that person said you were racist on your wyll post because ppl who dont even bother to properly interact or understand his character will post the worst takes in his tag and then go "oh oops i didnt mean to be racist 🥺 i was just complaining abt the only black character that i didnt bother to learn anything about"

wyll is nothing like a tory hes self sacrificing, unspoiled and the only character who actually stands up for other groups of ppl in game (even having a line saying a disabled character is not worthless for being disabled!!) and even if you meant it as a "rich spoiled kid" way, did you really not think of the other implications of calling the only black man in the group a tory...

i get it you didnt mean to say it in any bad way but it came across that way regardless of intention especially since wyll already gets so much undeserved flack and in his own tag from people who admit they know nothing abt his character, so

Okay, I understand why the post has been received badly and in that case I’ll delete it. I don’t want to actively upset anyone.

That said I would like to add that I’m very aware of Wyll’s background and character traits and in fact I find them insanely relatable; I am also a black (albeit extremely white passing - but my connections with the black community almost entirely stem from racism I’ve experienced merely for the knowledge of me having a black father), disabled woman, and I’ve suffered pretty tremendously at times, under Tory leadership for that. I’ve even got well to do family who I’ve drifted away from — his story is extremely relatable.

I’m also very familiar with the colloquial use of the word “Tory” as a light jab, usually referring to people that sound posh. I get called it all the time by my friends, it’s ironic, we laugh about it. And I think that regardless of Wyll’s extremely positive traits and background as a character, you’d be hard pressed to deny he has the flavour of a rich kid. I think Larian purposely wrote him that way, and that’s not a bad trait, just something I find humour in. I’m not saying he is “like a Tory” in any other sense than speech and body language.

Of course, that is only my experience and my opinion. I just don’t think it’s that serious or that any racist implications were in my post.

Knowing how some people react with real bigotry toward Wyll though, sometimes at a very subconscious level, I think I’ll remove the post to avoid any doubt. Just wanted to make my intentions clear first, though it sounds like you kind of understood them anyway.

I hope I covered that okay, I just woke up and I’ve not had my pain meds yet, so

#also I disagree that Wyll is the only character who stands up for others - I think Karlach and Halsin are also very good examples for this #also I apologise for tagging - I tag posts for later access on my own blog and I sometimes forget it’s how other people find content #i just hop around oh recommended blogs

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snow-143 · 2 years

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late nights gaming- bts smau (ongoing)

pairings | athlete!jimin x phychstudent!reader (fem)

genres | smau, crack, fluff, college au, strangers to lovers, idiots to lovers

summary | working in a successful cafe and being a psych major is hard but you wouldn’t change it for the world especially when you end up falling prey to a tiktok trend hiding your number in one of the many vinyls for someone to find. but when yous both make up a secret identity and make it an unspoken competition to find out who the other is first things gets little less boring. that and the one cute regular that you have been seeing around everywhere recently.

warnings | swearing, on purpose lowercase, grammar mistakes, they’re probably going to bully eachother, sarcasm, dry humour, just bad humour tbh, dad jokes, CRACK, non of this is meant to be taken seriously, kissing, may include some nsfw scenes but i will warn you before hand, this is going to be a mess, probably cliche, irregular updates, probably some plot holes, might stray from the original description, kys and suicide jokes. lmk if i missed anything.

disclaimer | i am a college student myself with a part time job so my updates will not be regular however i will try my best. also this is my first smau and post in general so please bare with, interactions and constructive criticism would be amazing but don’t be too mean i’m sensitive. also non of this work actually represents bts or anyone else i may mention.

profiles one | profiles two

one- sugar daddy

two- vmin vs sope

three- vinyl boy

four- winter

five- reeking from your pores

six- screams for help

seven- hide your bitches

eight- mama bear

nine- on your wedding day

+more

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fictionkinfessions · 1 month

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Anonymous asked:

The way I want absolutely nothing to do with other Hearts in any way shape or form bc it makes me question how valid I am compared to them (among other reasons) even tho I know for a FACT there's only one of me 😭😭😭😭

My kintype is just so distinct in its lore and how different it is to other ones…… Becoming "Whole" was abandoned centuries ago, "taking control" is becoming God-like, we didn't live in any "headspace" we lived in a city between worlds!

And yet I'm still so connected to being Heart, in-spite of all that. I may be unimaginably distinct, but I will still hold every consistent quality that makes me Heart: hating Mind, being the emotional side, association with purple, black, night and the Moon, bad eyes, pretty much everything personality and appearance-wise, and boy, oh boy, do I love to walk.

I feel bad because sometimes I meet CCCCkins who I genuinely think are cool, but it's like they have someone apart of them who identifies as Heart, or a hearttype (heh) of Heart, or even so much as a synpath of Heart and I just want nothing to do with them after that.

In all honesty, I just wanna see Soul again. He was always fed up with me, sure, and he was very emotionally distant. But he was what I could only imagine the closest someone like me could feel to a father.

I don't get parents. I don't understand them. Even in this life, parental love is something I cannot comprehend.

He was my Host. I was his parasite. It may not seem like there was something there, but by the burgundy stars in our galaxy it mattered. Someone of authority, someone I could worship, respect, listen to, bask in the light of, what a marvel! No human could ever understand the pure ecstasy of having someone you live to impress, yet still find gravels of affection bitten between the apathy.

Even Mind I find myself missing at times. I just want to hear the ire in his robotic voice, pronounced like cold iron scraping on concrete as his rancorous words tear from the module on his throat.

Oh, and Soul Two was canon to my source too. That's… that's a bit awkward, but trust me, he was pretty neat too. A boring fella but one with a sharp wit and humour darker than the eternal night that enveloped our city.

I think I just needed to mindlessly ramble a bit. Nothing about this miserable world is right. It's just hounds and goats snapping and wailing for their sad little place in an even sadder even smaller world. And yet here I lie, indistinct from them. Without a Host. Without a purpose. Alike all the others of my kintype, yet distinct at cyclopean levels. Orphaned from the brilliant light of its Morningstar.

I really wish I could go back. I'm not meant for this world. I don't want to be human. This isn't my biology.

Where is my mind?

~The Heart - Chonny's Charming Chaos Compendium, mixed with the Robber from Chonny Jash's Ain't no Rest for the Wicked ("Villain Heart") @blogurl

(Also I wasn't lying about loving to walk. It's an obsession. My legs are cramping. I walk so much in a day that I used to triple FitBit's daily goal every day. I've been doing this years before I kinfirmed Heart. I truly do love to walk.)

the rules page https://fictionkinfessions.tumblr.com/rules

Source calls. This is not a call blog. Here is a list of call blogs. [blog page] [blog post] Don’t sign confessions with blogurls or @/mentions. Don’t leave social media links to oneself, such as discord IDs, twitter user names, etc. Don’t ask people to reblog, comment, like, or interact with ask messages in order to make contact with others. These messages will be deleted.

#fictionkinfessions #fictionkin #chonnyscharminghchaoscompendiumkin #heartkin #seekin #mod party cat

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mwebber · 1 year

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ok i think my thoughts on the gender neutral bathroom insta story can be narrowed down to (cutting out all the preamble and disclaimers and everything i do to ensure there’s nuance for time purposes but it all still applies)

1. most likely, it’s just something funny and doesn’t mean anything further. and honestly in the grand scheme of gender neutral bathroom discourse the people nitpicking all the problems of signs like that (while i acknowledge and agree with them) are generally people who’ve missed that western society is still in the early stages, i.e., normalizing the gender-neutral bathroom in the first place

2. less likely but also possible, he’s done some soul-searching and doesn’t see Gender as some off-limits topic he isn’t allowed to breach lest people on twitter swarm him about it anymore. perhaps this is a small sign that he even Accepts the breakdown of the gender binary to a degree, enough to find humour in it rather than minimize it for the purposes of humour

3. likelier than the second but sucks more, he hasn’t changed/developed his viewpoint in years and remains stubborn about the whole “it’s fine as long as they don’t rub it in my face” mentality and actually this was meant to be a “look at how ridiculous this is getting 🙄” post

other possibilities than this but these are the main three popping up in my brain.. obviously i know it’s not that deep and doesn’t matter lmao sorry for thinking about Possibilities and the implications of a potential mark webber redemption arc

#i love succinct writing i love condensing a thesis into bullet points #it’s like being a cheese connoisseur to me

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riversimmone · 11 months

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Not So Innocent

RiverOfTheSand

Summary:

He spent years ignoring it, avoiding it, and pretending he didn't need it. But after mistaking a whorehouse for a hotel, Sasuke realised he had just been fooling himself: of course he wanted sex. Semi-AU and rated M for a reason.

Notes:

Cross-posted from fanfiction.net. . Original Author Notes: Welcome to my side project, my beautiful, beautiful, side project... A short reprieve, and a long time coming: its main purpose is to wet my SasuSaku appetite ‒ and hopefully yours too. Yes, that innuendo was intended. I don't know if this is funny enough for the "humour" genre, but there's nothing else that really fits, so it'll do. This isn't canon. Have fun with it – I certainly did. ;) . Disclaimer: This story is very parody and humour along with romance and though it was likely one of my most popular fics on fanfiction.net it also attracted a few flames that complained about how absurd it was. So fair warning: This story is not meant to be some serious take on SasuSaku or how they'd interact. It was inspired by similar humour/parody fanfiction. It's fun, it's interesting, it has smut; so if anyone complains, know your comment will not be taken seriously either. Also: This is not edited and it is an old story so don't be expecting perfect spelling/grammar, but it's not horrific. I hope you enjoy.

This is a COMPLETE multi-chaptered story you can find on AO3 and ff.net.

XXX

#sasusaku #sasuke x sakura #fanfiction #my ao3 #All images are not mine #MULTICHAPTERED FANFICTION

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noxexistant · 1 year

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🤝👴🩸🎟️😈

thank u for the ask!!! ily!!

🤝 which character are you most like?

[head in hands] jack kelly. i actually didn’t really connect to him much, or at least didn’t feel like i did, the first time i watched livesies, but watching 92sies knocked something loose and ohhh my god. he just like me fr and all that. parentless and lies about it not bothering him, has this big easy personality to cover up any ounce of vulnerability, always ends up in charge of situations looking after everybody, no real home just the kids he loved and looked after in each place he stayed, avoidant, dreamer, bisexual, stupid. he’s me.

👴 favourite oldsie?

oldsies my beloved! they’re all my dads. i’m not sure if this means the characters or the actors, but for the characters i love snyder and pulitzer, they’re such fantastic villains - and that post you sent me about bunsen being the real villain for being the one to make the suggestion to raise the price!! fantastic. also, nunzio shoutout. i know that, whatever he gets paid, it is not enough.

🩸 opinion on blood drips heavily on newsies square?

genuinely a cinematic masterpiece. like, even without the context of newsies and it being the cast, if i stumbled upon it i would still love it. i love ridiculous campy horror, and i love boys having fun.

i would give anything to know the discussions and conversations that went into every single scene, particularly each that involved getting other people involved.

🎟️ favourite cast member(s)?

george crawford (uk morris) and matthew duckett (uk crutchie) my absolute beloveds. i’ve met them both twice now and they were both unbelievably sweet both times, they bring amazing depth to the characters and are both insanely talented (especially george covering jack kelly) in playing every part of the characters from humour to honesty to the depths of their traumas, and they’re both hilarious on social media. i miss alex jh (original uk oscar) so dang much, he was also unbelievably fantastic. and mike faist and brendon stimson (obc morris and oscar respectively).

😈 any unpopular opinions?

oh boy. i feel like almost all my delancey opinions are unpopular opinions, mostly boiling down to the fact that they’re not mindless monsters and they’re not meant to be. they’re villains and assholes, obviously and unquestionably, but there’s depth there and there’s always been depth, built right into the script (“i guess he didn’t take care of me”, etc etc), and intentionally dug deeper by practically everyone that’s played them.

also, the newsies are scrappy and ruthless and rude. they’re trouble, and they do it on purpose. they’re assholes almost every chance they get. they’re all kids in rough situations, and kids like that will do anything for a bit of power. it’s not necessarily a reflection of character, it’s just how stuff like trauma manifests, particularly at that age. characterising them as well-socialised and always well-meaning, etc, is a disservice.

#answered #sparkedblaze

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ariddletobesolved · 2 years

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FROZEN III

Being direct, aren't we? I don't know what you're asking of me, anon, is this meant to be a writing prompt or something? Since you're not being specific, I will just share my opinions/thoughts on Frozen 3. Assuming you know that I ship Helsa and I like Hans (else, why are you asking me? I don't often interact with general Frozen fans here), I'll probably bring it up in this post. (Warning, this will get personal.)

My first thought when I saw the announcement was, "Well, someone has to milk they cashcows at some point, right?"

I wasn't thrilled, in fact I was rather sceptical. I don't like Frozen 2 for a lot of reasons (I won't elaborate it because it's exhausting having to repeat it, I'd rather not talk about it or see anyone paraphrase it for me, thanks), and in my head the franchise is done, just like that. Some people I know also lost their interest in the Frozen fandom, prompting me to do the same (the only things keeping here are my friends, Helsa, and Frozen the Musical), so am I excited to have my love for Frozen rekindled? Not really. But am I excited to see the fandom revived and the possible new contents that will come along with it? Absolutely!

I'm rather indifferent about Frozen 3, honestly, and I have ZERO expectation about it, whatsoever. At the end, Disney is a multibillion dollar company, and they are likely to prioritise profit over quality content. But if it ends up getting a good writing, that's good for them, I guess. Though, I'm personally planning to avoid any news related to Frozen 3.

I would like to see them explore other places too, tho, maybe The Southern Isles? I wouldn't mind a redemption arc for Hans (although the chance seems highly unlikely, lol, that's how low I set my bar). I don't need Helsa to be canon, but maybe and interaction would be nice to see (or I could write my own enemies to lovers fic for self indulgence purposes instead, idk).

If I had to guess the plot, however, I'd say Frozen 2 is just a fever dream but the moment Elsa goes about her day, she hears that 4-note siren call, and she goes on a journey but *gasp* there's someone behind the bushes, at least Anna is there with a sword looking cool like in that trailer, etc. (this is a joke, please don't take it seriously), or maybe it could be assassin!Anna, spy!Elsa, and telepath!Olaf trying to prevent a war from breaking out (again this is my attempt at humour, based on a conversation I had with some friends), who bloody knows? Anything could happen, really.

All I'm saying is that, try to manage your expectations and maybe mute tags/keywords of topics you wanna avoid for your own sake (I do that, and my online experience has never been better). I hope these answers are satisfying for you, anon.

#mary answers #my attempt at humour #frozen 3 #helsa #can i tag that #prince hans #frozen

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smalltownfae · 11 months

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Books Read in 2023: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (reread)

Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐

Almost everyone knows the story of the Lord of the Rings nowadays. If not through the books, it is because of the famous movie adaptation. This first book starts with Bilbo Baggins, the main character of "The Hobbit" (that can be considered a prequel), throwing a birthday party that is also a farewell party since he is leaving his home in the Shire. When Bilbo goes away he leaves a mysterious ring behind for his dear young cousin that he took under his wing, Frodo Baggins, and let's Gandalf, the wizard, do the explaining. As it turns out the ring belongs to an evil lord and it must be destroyed. That starts Frodo's journey through Middle-Earth, gathering companions and running away from those who want the ring for power.

I will first get most people's complains out of the way by saying that I loooooove Tolkien's writing. It is very descriptive and the pacing is slow, but it is also occasionally really funny and that is just the way I like it. I also like the many songs that show up in the book and I don't skip any, like I know some mad people do. As a post I once saw described: surprisingly, the books are a musical and the movies are not. So, these complains a lot of people have are not shared by me.

This was a reread for me and the characters are more complex than I remembered. Not all of them, but there is a lot that can be said for the main hobbits and Gandalf at least. More than I gave them credit for the first time I read the book. I also love that they care deeply for each other.

This time I noticed that Bilbo and Frodo say the exact same thing as they are leaving home, but one word is changed. While Bilbo says he is leaving with "eager feet" since he is excited for a new adventure, Frodo uses "weary feet" because he is not yet ready to leave, but he must and his journey will be harder. That is a very nice detail.

Now, even though I like the immersive beautiful writing, the characters, the themes of courage and friendship, this book isn't perfect. I love it, but there are a few things that were not to my liking.

I will start by admiting that I still don't care much about Tom Bombadil's chapters. I find them too long and the purpose they achieve could have been obtained in another way. However, I noticed that the descriptions of the hobbits' surroundings become more detailed after this encounter and after them gaining a deeper appreciation for nature. That, intentional or not, is a cool detail. Unfortunately, that means even more descriptions that a lot of people dread. Thank Tom Bombadil for that one.

There is a fat joke in this book because Bombur is mentioned. Fortunately, he is only mentioned once so I can sigh, roll my eyes at that and move on. It's an improvement on "The Hobbit" that has absurd amounts of this and that is one of the reasons I am not much of a fan of that book.

Some of the character are flat, at least so far. There isn't much I can say about Legolas and Gimli yet, for example. The fellowship also moved on pretty fast after losing Gandalf. It is mentioned that they are still grieving, but Tolkien is so good at showing deep emotions in other occasions that it feels missing in these scenes.

I know Tolkien is praised the most because of his world building, but to be honest world building is one of the things I care the least about fantasy. I know that this is shocking coming from a fantasy fan, but I am not that interested in deep lore and it can sometimes be boring. Tolkien isn't appreciated enough for his exploration of themes and his humour. Now that is what I care about.

This reread was a very enjoyable experience and there are so many scenes I love in this book. I especially like the first five chapters and the last one. It shows by the amount of colorful markers I used on those pages. So many gems.

I am glad to say that this book is still very much worth the read and meant to be reread often.

#lotr #tfotr #j.r.r. tolkien #2023 reads

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moonspirit · 1 year

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Embarrassing TFLM Brainrot here

So this is a brainrot post meant mainly for myself - I spent too much time on this story and I want to get my thoughts on it out of my system so I can move on to other ideas. Also so I can come back to this post later. Contains stuff that inspired certain moments/scenes and intentions behind other details.

Story is here btw.

Mentions and links here are because your post/fanfic/artwork inspired some scene or dialogue etc xD You absolutely don't have to read this, it's VERY long and messy lmao.

1 - Rope Pulling

This scene served three purposes:

to drive home the point that there is no longer any room for racial bias and hate, which is especially problematic given that even though all six Alliance members (except Mikasa, since she's no longer there) stopped the Rumbling together, only three (Armin, Jean & Connie) are from Paradis and therefore, face more prejudice on Fort Salta than the Warriors - both from the Marleyan inhabitants and also the Eldian refugees of Liberio.

to show that the others will have Armin's back when he makes decisions and hesitates to put forth his ideas because of his low self-esteem. Imo Armin's decision to stay on ground with the people is very much in consonance with his style of leadership, which is more gentle and less commandeering. It is implied that Muller's charged speech is written by Armin (boy is eloquent af, okay, and manipulative, hence using the children to spark motivation) but the reason he gets Muller to deliver it is not only because he lacks Erwin's charisma, but also, had he himself delivered it, the ppl on Fort Salta would be like "Oh, so now a devil from Paradis commands us? heck no". They would've listened to him ofc, but he wouldn't have achieved what he wanted to achieve with standing along with everyone else. It's a plea for "See us as humans too. Just like yourselves."

A plot point to get a celebratory mood going on the Fort.

2 - Breakfast

Really nothing much to say here except to lay down the foundation for the setting of the fictional country of Kald. Felipe (OC) was just an accessory to explain this. I'll flesh it out in the sequels, but my intention to feature Kald as an extremely friendly and accepting country, along with the bountiful nature it possesses is a symbolism I've always wanted to write about - that after decades of hate and bloodshed, here is a country that simply wants to celebrate the miracle of life, the miracle of living. Kald is also a projection of everything Armin has dreamed of. It's also an excuse to get our six tortured characters to finally live normal lives, doing ordinary, mundane things haha xD Also I suck at politics, so giving them a peaceful country to go to is convenient for me lmao.

Also since Muller dissolved the Marleyan military, there is no longer any authority (with the exception of Armin who still carries a title) and so the young boys finding the crates of rum was to show that there is unrestricted and free access to basically everywhere and everything. Just a silly lil detail lol.

3 - Children

This scene was just designed for plain humour - another opportunity to get Armin teased and flustered - but it became more than that. The children are a symbolism of their own childhoods which they were very quickly robbed of. Hence, the kids don't have names (it was annoying to write 'boy' so many times but welp) and the blond kid is basically Armin as a child himself. Armin lost his parents to curiosity, his grandfather to the titans and was bullied severely. He was shielded over and over again by his fiercely loyal friends (EM) - and so when the kids refuse to leave the injured blond boy alone, that too is a parallel (tho this is very obvious in the writing itself).

@ master-of-insects made a post here where they pointed out how manga Armin has brown/hazel eyes and so I thought - amazing! Let's give the blond kid brown eyes, so then he's different, but also very much a young Armin.

The children are way too innocent, have not yet realized they are now orphans and so that one line where one of them says "like my mother gives my father a big kiss" is funny, but also really sad.

It also allowed for these children to be treated exactly like children and with plenty of kindness (Armin offering to race them down is an extension of the kindness he has always shown everyone) so that despite having lost their parents, they are still going to have some good memories in a free-er world outside Liberio, teaching them that everybody in the world is equal and worthy of love.

Acts as a plot point to be invited to the dance later.

This scene was also meant to let our four big boys do silly things like race each other down a hill and bet on potatoes - something they probably would have done as kids, but never could.

Gave me an excuse to make Armin a dad for a brief period of time lmao.

The Annie references here were to show that Annie's always thinking of him and her quiet displays of tenderness to even children, by way of tending to one when he's hurt - and Armin finding out indirectly and accidentally that she sees him as more than anything she actually says in words, making him fall in love with her even more. He already knows that she's kind and caring and so pushes the blond kid to thank her later, knowing it'll give her great relief.

4 - Sunset

Ahhhhhh now this scene. JeanConArmin has a very special place in my heart. With Mikasa gone, they are the only ones left from Paradis - and they cannot go back to Paradis for now. These three share so much right from their (non-existent) childhood - the same country, the same culture, the same people, the same folklore(?), the same kid's games(?) etc. Throughout the manga there have been so many instances where the three of them have interacted and relied on each other beautifully so I wanted to expand on them post-rumbling. In 139, when they go back to Paradis, it really is only the three of them who are truly "going home".

The equipment cleaning idea came from Season 1, when Armin recalls repairing/fixing gears together with Marco. I've always thought it was something they probably did very often - performing maintenance and so it seemed fitting that they would perform their very last maintenance after the Rumbling. After all, the 3DMG, the blades, the wires, the thunder spears were all designed to combat titans, which no longer exist. It is the end of an era.

The little moment where Armin remembers Hange while looking at the clouds was inspired by this fanart by @ annawayne It was a last minute addition really, but I had to get Hange in somehow and in this artwork, Hange is looking empathetically at Armin, which gave me the inspiration for that whole moment.

JeanKasa comes to an end so that I can neatly add references to JeanPiku in future sequels (tho I prolly won't ever write proper JeanPiku cuz Pieck is too smart for me and I will suck at it.)

The whole Fondue thing is homage to Sasha. I've never eaten Fondue myself so I'm now kinda scared cuz I'm prolly going to butcher this whole plot point when I get around to it in sequels.

5 - Bonfire

oh welp, okay, so after a LONG time we get to Annie here and we see what she's struggling with. A whole avalanche of messy emotions and thoughts, garnished with a generous sprinkle of inner-conflict and extreme guilt. I wondered often while writing if this made Annie very OOC but then thought, oh why not, it's realistic because all she ever wanted to do was go back to her dad before she died from Ymir's curse. Death was always a certainty and now it's not and she's reeling from the possibilities that gives her and refuses to believe she's worthy of any of it. Annie's always been kind, she just never got to live a life where she could afford to show much kindness. She's also severely touch-starved and dying for more physical contact but Armin's too busy. I mean, if I were Annie, I would've like, exploded in anger on the spot lmao.

For Annie, Armin has become so important that even the smallest of disappointments sets her off - like not knowing about the time he got drunk, or his dismay at being left out of the festivities. Also, she's been pessimistic for as long as she's lived, so when the four kids (because they were shown some love and played with, they now return the kindness (good karma!) by getting the dancers to invite our characters to the celebrations) come to call them, it's a shock - she never that was ever a possibility. So a new door has opened for her in this instance and she sees how Armin's got what he wanted, exactly how he wanted. This is the point where she begins to understand how Armin works, what drives him to be how he's always been and the rewards of his humane/gentle approach.

6 - Dancing

We see this also from Annie's POV because she's new to all this, and it also has to feel new to all of us. Someone like Annie who was always driven to finish what she had to do, as fast as possible, so that she could return home and die - cannot comprehend the celebrations. It feels alien to her. So everything that happens in this scene is messy, frightening, and confusing. And yet she is GOOD at it lmao, ofc Annie's good at dancing, she's a graceful fighter, why wouldn't she be good at it? Very slowly she begins to let her guard down and enjoy it but enjoyment doesn't come easily when you're also feeling extremely guilty of enjoying it (a vicious cycle). So the blond kid dances with her, tells her a thank you, and effectively, puts a small band-aid on her aching heart. She then dances with Armin and it is at this moment that the dance, which was confusing, scary and messy until now, becomes magical, beautiful, a lovely thing to behold.

the whole lanterns thing was inspired by this YouTube comment I took screenshot of in a separate post here

So I really really agree with what this person says, Armin's always seen the beauty in things. Freedom to Armin is being able to see beauty, being able to enjoy the simple moments of life, so when for him, embers look like floating lanterns, Annie is SHOOK lmao. And so she begins to wonder if someday she too can see the world like him. It serves to open another door for her - where living, with Armin, could be a beautiful experience, not something to fear. Which is why, when she in turn tells Pieck that they are not embers, but lanterns, it is her willingness to accept the wondrous prospects of a long, long life.

many of the lines Pieck says during this dancing scene, eg, "that's all I am now" referring to being human, and "soak in the bliss, there's nothing quite like it" referring to being loved by someone else, and "we are alive, might as well enjoy living" are realizations Annie makes throughout this scene, just that we need Pieck to be the one to say it out loud. Also, Pieck smart okay. Best girl.

7 - The Kiss

inspired by this fanart by @NaityNain on twitter.

everyone is always consoling Armin but now it's his turn to give someone solid courage and that someone happens to be our ice-cold kitten Annie. I don't really have many thoughts about this scene tbh.

ah but yes, Idk man, it was supposed to be sweet but became too heated with tongue and all and welp.

I think most AruAni shippers agree that Annie isn't very vocal with words of affection and love, at least, at the beginning, so it just made sense that Armin would be able to see the emotions swimming in her eyes. And he remembers how he wasn't able to get a single answer from her for four years (S4) when inside the crystal and now she's right there, eyes open, and he just has all the answers he needs. So she doesn't really need to say it out loud, he gets it, but he tells it in proper words back to her because she needs to hear it, and also Armin won't ever hesitate to tell her what he feels.

8 - Conversations, etc

building hope in this scene. The Neptune thing is a reference to the prequel in this series and also, a symbolism for hope. It gives Annie a new dream to hold onto, and Armin a new book to look forward to reading since he no longer has his old book with him.

Annie also finds out things like his birthday because she wants to know everything there is to know about Armin and her heart is starting to open up to the wonders of living and loving.

also building sexual tension hahaha

yeah sorry for the really bad jokes here, couldn't help it lmao

when that whole drinking fiasco takes place with Annie, well ofc the reason it happens in the first place is bec she's mortified that everyone knows the stuff she told that blond boi - dumb of him to babble huh? But I didn't want her to resort to violence like kicking Reiner or punching Jean because ever since that dance with Armin where she "playfully" kicked him and then felt guilty about it, imo she's thinking - "violence has been always a means to an end, but these five people are my close friends now, and they do not deserve to be treated with violence anymore." And so she does something silly and stupid instead and stalks off. Armin figures out why she did it and here we see his low self-esteem again, this is a problem that will take a very long time to get over and when drunk Annie reveals her feelings and boosts his self confidence, he's beyond touched.

gave me a chance to write more tooth-rot and contract diabetes.

9 - Mr.Leonhardt

honestly Mr.Leonhardt wasn't going to play any part in this story. My entire portrayal of Mr.Leonhardt in this fic is heavily inspired by @ distortedclouds 's excellent takes over here on Annie's relationship with her father and vice versa, and her character analysis of Mr.Leonhardt here is just fantastic. I agree with all of this. However, because Mr.Leonhardt isn't going to really feature in the story anymore, this scene was really just to contrast the two men in Annie's life - one who treated her with cruelty since day1 and one who treats her with nothing but love.

also a chance to show how much Armin thinks of her and everything he wants to show her and do with her (i.e that embarrassing ice cream part haha xD)

also enables Armin to come back to his tent and go through several memories in his head, of the current day's events and of things from his past, finally ending with thoughts and memories of Annie. That's why we have that little portion that goes "... Green eyes. Annie's eyes." Because thinking of Eren gives him pain, thinking of Annie gives him happiness.

10 - Morning

I really, really enjoyed writing that portion where Annie wakes up to a sweet and affectionate Armin, it gave me all the butterflies myself lmao. Why doesn't Armin exist irl ffs.

the scene that was especially cinematic in my head was the one where the six of them are the last to board the train. With the bundles of gear swinging over their shoulders, and with Armin being the only one wearing the cape with the Wings of Freedom - and Annie watching his back - was inspired by a fanart (for which I can't find an artist, so I can't link it).

A small significance of that moment where Armin's blades reflect the morning light and throw an iridescent halo (let's just fuck the physics here ok?) over the train and speckle some children's faces with shards of rainbow light - this had an intention behind it. Armin never used his swords much to kill. He never took (m)any lives with it, Titan or human. So when his blades instead reflect rainbow light, coating some young children's faces with several beautiful colours - that was to show that Armin's blades were never meant for death, they were meant for something beautiful, meant for life.

11 - Final Scene

okay so Pieck and Annie, I really think there's so much potential here because Pieck is the perfect balance of easy-going to Annie's tightly controlled emotions. There are things Annie can talk with Armin about, but not everything perhaps (or atleast, not at once) and with the whole muddle of how to get by with these feelings of love, Pieck is sort of like her sister figure. Especially since Hitch isn't there atm. For Pieck too, Annie can be someone she can talk to about her relationship with Porco. Now, honestly I ship PokkoPiku because they seemed to have a great vibe going on, ofc before Porco, well, died like that, and because Pieck has this carefree personality on the outside that could result in her being very quiet and guarded inside about deeply held emotions - Annie can be her pillar of support to grieve and move on from that. Or so I hope to write such a thing.

that letter, yeahhh…. Isn't Armin so good with words? T_T Anyway, some little details I managed to put in here is that throughout the story, Armin hasn't once (directly) mentioned Eren's name until in the letter. Also during that portion where he honours all the people - it goes in order of dead to alive with Annie being the last, because she's an integral part of his entire future, of his life, of him. The letter is also basically Armin making a promise to himself, giving Annie something to look forward to and also, by asking her to keep the letter for him, showing her she's that precious to him.

OH FUCK I FORGOT FALCO AND GABI IN THE LETTER???!!!!!

Last few words at the ending "By the light of a new Sun" were taken directly from the ending of Interstellar hahahhahaa xD (I love that movie)

This is a MESS, but now I'm done. Boi, I feel free.

#own fic brainrot #aruani fic tho #its too long #and too messy #FREEDOM FROM BRAINROT WOOHHOOOO #sorry for putting this on your dash #and sorry for rambling #ig this is very embarrassing lmao

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jjmorelikeotp · 2 years

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The ending of you is horrifying. Not in the good entertainment kind of way, but in a bad type of way. And I will only post about it this once because I refuse to give this any more attention afterwards.

Not only is it a huge slap in the face, it also portrays what pychopathic people get away with just because of money or the failure of a system. But what really, REALLY bothers me is that there is an obvious Intention to create an emotional bond to the fucking character.

A serial murderer with obsessive, narcissistic traits. And no, I will not take a joke on that.

Have you seen how many people on tumblr have just posted about joe's obsession with a man? "Homoerotic", really? Yall need a reality check.

"This was not gay enough 11!!1!!!" and completely ignoring the fact that he murdered him?

And even worse, they find him hot, they pity him, they emotionally connect with him.

This is what this show does and it is fucking dangerous. Believe it or not, shit like this slips in your unconciousness if you do not pay attention and i dont feel like you do. How likely are you to actually "date a red flag" as you call it and laugh it away on tiktok, for example?

It's one thing to find an actor who plays a character hot. It's another to be drawn towards the character of a murderer he plays.

"But they do that on purpos it's film!!" Bitch I work in the film industry I know.

They do EVERYTHING on purpose. Every light, every camera angle, every song in the background. And I know there is a possibility of this sending a message trying to tell people "hey, look what rich people get away with! Pay attention!" But this, this is way too humourous.

There was a comical undertone, which absolutely did not belong there. Why? Because this makes severe character traits of absolutely insane people look charming and that is fucked up. I know it is meant to be provoking at yes, it may have served its purpose. But it was NOT satisfying. It was disturbing. It did me, as the audience, not give me what I needed or wanted.

The monologue in the end was just 0815 - kind of boring like a teenage movie monologue. I mean cmon.

It's like it expects from the audience to be rooting for the main character (which, again, is probably on purpose & the way joe sees the world).

This forms a picture in people's minds about "omg iconic serial killer couple" and it's DANGEROUS.

If a show like this exists, there should be more open TALKS about these topics. There shouldn't just be a disclaimer about the suicide scene, but about being aware of the mental manipulation as well.

Please be aware of how manipulative the plot is behaving while watching this.

#you netflix

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catonator · 1 year

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Lol, internet

The largest imageboard in Finland, Ylilauta and its offshoot Northpole (rip in peace) had a major faux pas this week. Threads older than 2 weeks are now placed behind a paywall. Imagine if Discord set message history behind a Nitro subscription, and you have the gist of it. The latter board was just flatout killed off due to legal issues.

This majorly pissed off the users, and as a result my fringe alt-imageboard (won’t name the one, rules of the internet 1 & 2) got a surge of new users. However, the results weren’t as I feared! While Ylilauta isn’t really representative of smaller corners of the internet like it once used to be and nowadays is closer to a modern social media platform, the users who showed up were still willing to play along the rules of the smaller board, even if they ended up mostly asking stupid questions. Watching the entire thing unfold was quite fun, actually, and really reminded me of the kind of stupid shit I used to do online about 15 years ago.

The noob raid ended up reminding me of how you actually learn to be a fun part of the communities you happen to stumble upon. Observation. Lurking. You learn new things by reading the old users and seeing what this place is just about. It’s an image board, you don’t even have accounts! You can just stick around and watch!

Search engines and the internet didn’t die because of corporate greed and SEO. Well, just because of corporate greed and SEO. The internet died, because we, the users, collectively all jumped to places like Twitter, Tumblr and Discord. Especially Discord. The internet has always been a haven of user-generated stuff (for better or worse…), but sometime in the past 10 or so years we all decided to stop making it available. Twitter is a collection of barely coherent thoughts in posts that can barely encompass a full sentence. Many good posts are spread across dozens of tweets, usually out of which one at most is indexable, but often the entire thread is missing. Tumblr is a blogging site where the users stopped blogging, and the blogs aren’t visible to outsiders because fuck you. Discord is an instant messaging application meant to compete with fucking TeamSpeak that through sheer user laziness and insane overreach managed to overtake forums, and the message history is completely inaccessible unless you have an account and an invitation to the server.

The result is that all of human knowledge is now contained on like 5 sites, most of which are never going to be accessible to outsiders. For the past decade, we have unknowingly waged a war on lurkers, and in the process driven them all into extinction.

The issue is, lurkers are mostly those who aren’t newcomers. They’re the ones who have learned to keep their mouth shut and try finding a solution first and foremost. The questions they do eventually ask are also the ones that are going to be the most specialised, and also useful to other lurkers. They share personal experience and anecdotes, ideas they tried out but didn’t work for their purposes. They share abstract, multilayered concepts that simply aren’t something that can be demonstrated or proven algorithmically.

The sites that exist and rule the landscape today are practically fraud. What they sell is not funded by them, nor is it created by them. They sell the writings, media, humour, anecdotes and other forms of bizarre interactions that we, the consumers create. Without any user activity, these media megastructures would simply shrivel up and die, as there’d be nobody driving eyes onto the site. They don’t really deserve anything besides maybe being paid for the server costs, which still constitute a fraction of a fraction of the total revenue generated.

But nothing prevents you from just leaving. The internet doesn’t suddenly end when you walk out of YouTube or Instagram. Sure, you can’t just upload your data onto The Internet itself, but the way the web was constructed means that you haven’t lost your rights to obtain a small webhost and an address and setting up your own ramshackle site. You’ll just pay in discoverability.

Internet users need to be reminded that the concept of the internet isn’t just a technology that transmits data to a small number of applications, it’s an interconnected series of servers, clients, more servers and more clients. A server can be any computer you can find with a little tweaking, and as long as you have a router and an internet connection, that’s all you need. You can forward the computer’s IP address and make it behave like a website. The internet was created by users, for users, and so far there’s nothing that can take that away from you.

The change isn’t going to manifest itself overnight, and I also wouldn’t recommend jumping out headfirst into the abyss, leaving everything else behind. It’s just good to know the possibilities anyone can have at their fingertips, as I’ve seen more and more people wallow in misery over the state of current and future internet. Maybe if enough people create wacko self-hosted sites as side projects, we may one day not need sites like the one I’m publishing this text on right now. And if you’re you’re interested and are willing to dive through some tech jargon, this talk by Mr. Cory Doctorow was an incredibly fascinating listen, and provides some solutions to fixing the issues from the perspective of a higher-level operation. It still contains some tidbits of info for you, if you’re concerned about how you’ll move your userbase from one platform to another with as little compromise as possible.

Now, I’ve had enough of this wistful nostalgic hopes bullshit. Next time I’ll just write a story.

#monthly blog #internet #enshittification

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